Disclaimer: Not mine!

Author's Notes: I'm starting this somewhat early. Thank you to all my reviewers! I love you guys! These past few weeks have been crazy. There's been absolutely no time to start this next chapter! First, there was the band trip, which was immense fun, by the way. Next, I caught up on sleep and then I went to Las Vegas. After that was a week of school but I had this crazy huge project on Oliver Twist to get done, not to mention I had to finish reading the book. That was due last Friday. And then, I went to Pennsylvania. So, now I'm home and I have enough time where I can at least begin the next chapter in our adventure here. I lost my original plans, but there's only going to be 3 more chapters in this story, plus I have plans for a sequel if you guys are interested. And no need to worry because I remember what I was going to write about anyways. Once again, a huge thanks to my reviewers who have not lost faith in me and continue to read and review. This chapter is for all you guys. Enjoy!

Chapter 12: Lost and Confused

The sunny day at the amusement park had turned into a storm, internally. All of the Hogwarts eight (as they had nicknamed themselves on the ride there), were each fighting a battle. Ron and Hermione were the couple, and they were facing their own battles alone.

Hermione could not stop huffing for the rest of the day she spent with her roommates, and inside, she was kicking herself.

She had jumped to conclusions, and she knew it. She had a tendency to do that and she often tried to avoid such situations. But he wasn't being the best person she knew he was. He wanted to deliberately ditch a member of their party to go off on their own, and she did not have it in her heart to do such a thing.

But she overreacted. She yelled at him and he had yelled back at her. And while, thank goodness no words of hatred or insults had been exchanged, otherwise she might just feel ten times worse than she did already.

She leaned her head on Ginny's shoulder as they walked forward, to some unknown destination, and her friend let her, doing the best to soothe her and make her calm down.

"It's okay, Hermione." Ginny said to her, and Hannah and Luna muttered the same things to her as they walked still, and they eventually settled down at a picnic table, and Hermione let a few tears fall.

"Thanks, you guys," She said, and wiped a tear from her eye. "I still can't believe him, though!"

"Yeah, my brother can definitely be a thickhead." Ginny said back to her, and everyone, Hermione included, laughed slightly, "Hermione, do you want us to get you napkins or something?"

She nodded. "Okay."

So the two sixth-years and the fifth-year got up and went over to a nearby napkin dispenser, retrieving several paper parcels from the dispenser.

"So, the plan is on, right Ginny?" Luna whispered, when Hermione was out of earshot.

"Yeah. They got together when they were fighting. Surely they can make up over one, too. They have before. It's in their history, after all. The only problem now is finding the guys." Ginny responded, with a hint of worry in her voice.

"But you and Harry have a plan, right?"

"Yeah. I just hope we find them in time."

Meanwhile…

Ron angrily threw a baseball at the tower of bottles in hopes of winning a prize. In truth, he wasn't really after the prize, but this was the only activity Harry could think of that would let him resolve his anger without hurting anyone. At least, Harry hoped he wouldn't hurt anyone.

Clearly, he was wrong. All the guys around him flinched as the bottles flew off the shelf, hitting the employee in the back of the head and causing him to fall over, and the others to break, with great force, against the walls of the tiny booth.

"Er- Ron? Let's move on to something else, shall we?" Harry asked him nervously, grabbing his shirt and attempting to lead him elsewhere. Ron eventually left, tossing Neville the teddy bear he had received.

"Give that to Luna, from you." He said, through gritted teeth. Neville just caught the bear, and looked at it.

"Thanks." He said quietly. Macho as all of them were, they were all somewhat frightened of Ron now.

Ron navigated himself to the dart board with the balloons. He slapped a 5 dollar bill on the counter and received fifteen darts from the employee.

"Whoa. Ron, I don't think darts is the best activity right now, either." Harry said, grabbing the darts, but Ron's reflexes were quicker than Harry's.

"No, Harry. I need to do something. And throwing things is the only way I see fit to let my anger out. I can't use… you know… right now, either." Ron was referring to magic, but being in the midst of a muggle, all of the guys caught Ron's drift, and the employee looked confused.

"Go on, Ron."

Ron seized a dart, and plucked it nervously between his fingers, and threw it with built up anger and force at the board in front of him. It popped one balloon.

He grabbed another, throwing it harder and harder as he went through more darts. His face was turning a shade of purple, one similar to that Harry had seen on Uncle Vernon, and his knuckles where white from his tight grip.

"How could I do that? What kind of bloody prat am I to get his own girlfriend away from him?" He threw each dart harder after every few words. He put his head down low onto his chest and shifted all his weight onto his hands, where he held onto the counter.

When he lifted his head a few minutes later, his voice was shaky, and he seemed to be very worried and nervous.

"Harry?" He said, putting his head down again, and lifting it to look towards his best friend.

"Yeah?" Harry answered.

"I miss her. I miss her so much." He said, and he let go of the counter and faced the other way, with his back on it, and slid down until he was sitting on the floor, his back supported by the counter, and he was holding his head in his hands.

Harry clapped him on the shoulder, "I know you do, mate, I know you do. But you'll both move past this. The best couples, after all, can last through fights, arguments, and teasing."

"Thanks." Ron muttered softly, looking off in the distance.

Harry extended a hand, and Ron grabbed it, and Harry helped him up off the floor, and Ron dusted off the bottom off his muggle pants, which had retained some amount of dirt in the brief period he spent on the ground.

"Let's go roam the park for a bit, okay? We don't have to go anywhere in particular. We can play more games or go on more coasters, if you'd like. It'll be fun! In time, you'll get better, and then you'll be well enough to face her." Harry said, offering both comfort and amusement to his hurting friend.

Ron's expression changed. The red-head suddenly appeared rigid behind his eyes, and he seemed to be trying to hide his hurt, and use some mental strengthening charm on himself. However, though the mask of lies hid well, everyone knew better, and that the strong Ron was still a fragile, delicate young man, and they knew they had to respect that.

He nodded, and the guys began running off in search of nowhere.

"Want another cotton candy?" Hannah asked Hermione, drawing out another green bill from her pocket, which was getting smaller and less puffy by the second.

Hermione nodded, and another swab of light pink sugar was handed her way. She picked at it, taking small fingertip-fulls, and placing the sweet gently into her mouth. Her mind was still elsewhere, on the topic of Ron Weasley, and his red mop of hair seemed to be entrancing her mind.

Her roommates and best friends enjoyed the sweets as well, and were generously helping her polish off her third stick of cotton candy.

"Cheer up, 'Mione, it'll get better." Luna said, stuffing a rather large piece into her petite mouth and getting part of it stuck to her face.

Hermione just sighed, her shoulders shrugging for her, and nodded her head simultaneously, as if automatic. "I hope so."

Ginny looked to the sky, licking the sticky sugar off her fingers. The afternoon was beginning to fade, and the mesmerizing colors of a sunset seemed to be taking place on the western night sky. The faintest line of salmon pink was visible on the horizon, and the sun itself was setting low.

"Hey, let's go up on the Observation Tower. We can watch the sunset from up there." She offered, and the other two wiped their fingers on a napkin, and looked toward Hermione, rising from their seats on the rusting, wooden bench.

Hermione let a small smile escape from her lips.

"Alright." She said, and rose from her seat as well. The other girls smiled and they all picked up their bags and headed toward the rather short line of the Observation Tower.

For the guys, 'nowhere' led them somewhere, as it always seems to do with the male species, and 'somewhere' happened to be the back of the line for a nighttime ride on Alpengeist.

The four of them were anxious, as going on the frightful coaster was one thing, but riding it in the complete darkness was a whole different experience.

From the line they had watched the sunset, not caring all that much, being guys and all, and had only anticipated the ride to come.

Night was approaching fast, and the darkness grew and grew. The moon was becoming more visible and the sun, less.

Finally, the four were able to see coasters pulling out of the gate as they had reached the very front of the line. Yellow-tinted, luminescent light poured out of the lamps overhead, spotlighting those about to go on the ride. Moths and gnats were buzzing around the lights, as well as the heads of those below them. Several hands swatted at the pesky insects.

While waiting in line, Ron busied himself looking at inscriptions and doodles left by former passers-by on the chipping oak barriers. Remarks of love seemed to be the most common, as well as people named Matt and Zach, who apparently were there some time ago.

He was quite drawn to one in particular, which was a small heart with an arrow through it and contained the letter 'H' inside it. Whether it was left by a girl or guy was unknown, but it still contained the letter of his Hermione. He traced the heard with his right forefinger and smiled slightly. How he loved her, how he missed her.

He chuckled at some of the inscriptions, which were cuss words and proclaims of certain individuals "coming out of their closet." How muggles could be so foolish and careless. They were all the same, regardless.

Seamus was the one to snap him out of his reverie, and he waved a hand in front of Ron's glazed face.

"We're next in line." He said, still waving his hand.

"What? Oh, yeah." Ron said, remembering they were waiting in line. The air was cool now, and he folded his arms across his chest in an ability to circulate body heat.

At long last, it was their turn. Now pumped and full of energy, all four of them jumped into the coaster, excitedly, and strapped themselves in. They were in for a wild ride.

From 150 feet up, the surrounding area was breathtaking. The sun was just beginning to set, and it cast an aura of tranquility and romance over its land. Colors of pale orange, salmon pink, and ruby red were the most vibrant in the sky, though the midnight blue was taking over fast.

Leaning over the edge of the tower, all girls seemed to sigh in unison. It was a beautiful sight. A slight chill crept over each of their bare arms, and each shivered slightly.

The moon was full and bright, and clouds shifted from its position, revealing the full intensity of the galactic glare. It was such a nice night. Not the best day, maybe, but it was turning out to be a gorgeous night.

"I wish Neville were here." Luna sighed dreamily, folding one hand under her shin and looking out at the landscape before them.

"Why? So you two could snog in that corner?" Ginny teased, nodding her head to the far right, where a dark corner was barely visible against the receding light.

Luna laughed and pushed her gently, "Shut up. You know if Harry was here, you guys wouldn't have noticed this sunset. Heck, you guys probably wouldn't be even breaking for air."

Ginny blushed scarlet. She knew it was true, Luna it was true; They all knew it was true.

"Let's cut to the chase. All of us know if each of our guys were here none of us would be talking, we'd be too busy snogging them senseless." Hannah said matter-of-factly.

They all nodded and said, at around the same time, "Yeah, you're right."

Hermione remembered why she wasn't with Ron at the moment, enjoying the beauty of nature, and she frowned slightly, just enough so her friends could catch her unhappiness. They all got her into a small one-armed hug, and they walked back into the elevator, supporting her.

"You'll make it through this, Hermione. We know you can." Ginny said, and embraced her like a sister.

The coaster pulled back into the station, well after dark, and off of it came four very adrenaline-rushed teenage boys, who appeared to be ecstatic with amusement and filled with laughter.

"That was… awesome!" Seamus shouted, at the top of his lungs.

"Sheer brilliance!" Neville agreed.

Ron and Harry simply beamed and joined in the laughter and happiness that each of the boys emitted.

Harry looked at his muggle watch, "Hey, it's almost 9, we should start heading back to the buses."

The other guys nodded, and began walking off in the path which they believed they had come, off into the direction of the stars and the midnight twilight of a clear, spring night.

After settling for some ice cream ("Comfort food!" as Luna had explained.), the girls were just sitting around under the stars, looking up at them occasionally and sighing, each one thinking the same thing, except Hermione.

Ginny looked to the muggle watch that was visible on her wrist. Dumbledore had given all of them a watch, in hopes that since they could not use magic, they might make use of some of the simpler traditions muggles had set, and possibly appear back to the Knight Buses on time. It was a hope he had wished to fulfill.

"It's 8:55," She said, "McGonagall wanted us back at the buses at 9:15. We should start heading back there now.

"I suppose." Hermione said, scratching the back of her head and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Before they vacated the little pavilion where they had gotten the "comfort food", Luna whispered to Ginny, "Is the pearl in the river?"

"The pearl is in the river." Ginny responded, worry evident in her tone.

Luna nodded, half-excitedly, and sent a nod and a wink over to Hannah, who tried her hardest not to smile. The plan was beginning.

"Hey Harry?" Ron asked, looking around, "Everyone else is heading that way," he pointed to the left, "shouldn't we follow them?"

"No." Harry said, firmly, "Going straight is a shortcut. Believe me. I checked the map before."

Ron looked hesitant and looked down at the ground, which was just enough time for Harry to wink at Seamus, who winked at Neville, who all nodded in agreement. They knew what the wink meant, for Harry had told them precisely what it had meant before.

"Yeah, Harry's right, Ron. I saw that too. This will slide many minutes off our walking distance, which is good, because we're already running late. Just think of the time we'll save! Good thing Harry knew the map!" Seamus said, and nudged Harry slightly.

Harry rolled his eyes. He had told them to play along, not to be over-dramatic.

FLASHBACK

While Ron was in the loo, Harry had pulled Seamus and Neville aside, well out of Ron's earshot even if he was outside the door.

"Is he going to mope about Hermione all day?" Neville asked, kicking a small rock.

"That's why I pulled you guys out here." Harry said, checking over his shoulder constantly to make sure his best friend would not walk up behind him and hear what he was saying. "I have a plan."

"Don't sound like The Godfather, Harry. Just tell us." Seamus laughed.

"You can't tell Ron."

"What can't we tell Ron?" Seamus shouted loudly, and Harry slapped him on the head.

"Knock it off! I'm being serious here! He can't know."

"Alright, alright." Seamus said, rubbing the spot where he had just been hit, "You can count the secret safe with me."

"Neville?" Harry asked, turning to his other roommate.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm trustworthy." Neville said, stepping back, for fear he, too, would be slapped.

"Ok. Then I have to tell you guys something." Harry said, taking on a very serious tone.

They just looked at him, ears funny intent on listening to his every word.

"Ginny and I," He began, and Seamus immediately clapped him on the back.

"Way to go, Harry! You stud!" He said, and jabbed his fist in the air.

"No!" Harry said, rounding on him, "Not that!"

"Oh." Seamus looked slightly downcast and Neville was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

"What I was going to say was that before we took Ron and Hermione, she and I made a plan. When we're traveling back to the buses, we're going to get lost, on purpose, until they made up. We just need to get them isolated from everyone else." He concluded, and they nodded.

"How do we get them isolated?" Neville asked.

"Just follow my lead."

END FLASHBACK

"Hermione Granger? Hello?" Hannah was waving a hand in front of her face as Hermione began drifting toward the left as they were exiting through the iron gates from the park.

"Oh. Everyone's going this way." She said, pointing her left thumb toward the area she had been wandering towards.

"But they don't know the shortcut." Ginny chimed in, nudging her roommates in the arm.

"There's no shortcut…" Hermione said, being the smart witch she was.

"See those people walking out there?" Ginny pointed to several small figures walking in the darkness, illuminated by several dim streetlights that lined the many-mile parking lot.

"Yeah," Hermione said, "what about them?"

"They're using it, too." Ginny said lamely, and tugged on her friend's arm, who went less-than-willfully, straight ahead, instead of left, the real way to the buses.

15 minutes later…

"Harry, where the bloody hell are we going?" Ron asked, looking around, slightly agitated, "I don't see the buses."

"I think I might've taken a wrong turn." Harry said, looking around, pretending to look worried.

"Blimey, you have." Ron said, "now we're lost."

"Let's backtrack," Neville suggested, and pointed back to the way from which they had come.

He wheeled around and came face-to-face with Fred Weasley.

"Fred!" Ron asked, wide-eyed, in disbelief.

"Fred!" Harry said at the same time, with just as much shock.

"Little brother!" Fred said, mimicking his shock, and then laughing as Angelina, George, and Katie brought up the rear behind him.

"What are you doing out here?" Harry asked him, eyes still wide.

"I should be asking you the same question." George piped in, looking at the four sixth-years inquisitively.

"Faulty detour." Ron muttered, eyeing daggers at his best friend.

Harry sighed inadvertently, and said, half-believably, "I thought this was a shortcut back to the buses."

"Well, Harry, my boy, you're lost."

"What about you?"

"We only followed you." Fred said, smiling slightly.

"Dear little brother, are you lonely out here without your Hermione?" George asked, clapping the youngest Weasley man on the back.

"I bet he's just aching for a good snog right about now." Fred joined in, putting his arm around his youngest brother.

"Right you are, partner-in-crime. He's probably coming up with all kinds of fantasies right now. Oh, are we making you uncomfortable Ickle Ronnikins?" Fred sniggered, seeing the angered look on Ron's face, and his flaming red ears.

"Bugger off!" Ron yelled, yanking himself from the arms of his two older twin brothers, who still had a bit of maturing to do.

"What's gotten into him?" George asked, more to Harry than anyone else.

"You know," Katie started, more joining the group "you're going to be a Daddy soon, George, you might want to start acting a little more mature."

George smiled innocently, "Immature? Me? Nah…"

Katie smiled at him and laughed a little, pulling him in to a tight hug, as George kissed her temple.

"How touching." Ron said bitterly, crossing his arms and sitting down on the curb a couple feet away.

"What's seriously wrong with him?" Angelina asked to Harry, gesturing over to Ron.

"He had a rather large row with Hermione." Harry said simply, and Angelina nodded.

"Poor guy. How long do you think it'll take for them to make up this time?" She asked quietly.

"Harry? What are you guys doing out here." came a small, no believable female voice.

"Oh, Gin. Hey!" Harry said, hugging her, and very obviously acting.

"I saw people out here so I thought this was the way to the buses." Ginny said, trying to sound both worried and confused, and obviously doing a bad job at it.

"I'm not the best navigator." Harry suggested.

"You mean…?" Hannah piped in, walking up next to her.

"We're lost." Harry said simply.

"Well that's just great, Harry," Hermione said, angrily, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Hey 'Mione…" He said, a little afraid.

"Hi." She said, looking at him resentfully.

"Hey all!" It was Parvati Patil.

Harry mentally cursed himself. Blimey, this was not going at all as planned.

"Lavender? Parvati? Dean?" Luna looked at them, knowing the plan, and knowing that they definitely weren't part of it.

"What are you doing here?" Seamus asked, looking from Harry to the other Gryffindors with slight amusement, as well as shock, similar to the expression Harry had worn when he saw the twins earlier.

"Following you guys, of course!" Lavender said cheerily, "this is the right way, isn't it?"

"No." Ron huffed gloomily from his spot on the curb.

"Then where are we?" Parvati asked, looking around inquisitively.

"I don't know," Harry said, half-honestly, "I think we're out in the middle of the parking lot, but I can't tell which way's which."

"Well isn't that just perfect?" Ron said, angrily, getting up from the curb and jumping to the height of his best friend and staring at him with rage, "we're lost out here in a place we've never been to before, it's pitch black out except for the bloody streetlights which offer no light whatsoever, and to top it all off, I had an awful row with- Hermione!"

His gaze had shifted from their angry position on his best male friend, to his girlfriend, whom he only had noticed was there.

"Ron." She said, exhaling, now finally acknowledging his presence.

"Er- hi." He said, somewhat dully, not even realizing his eyes were still narrowed at her, as memories from before came back to him.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked, narrowing her eyes back at him.

"Harry." He said, gesturing to his raven-haired friend, who was the culprit behind the heist, "you?"

"Ginny." She said, pointing to his younger sister.

"Well, I believe the happy couple is responsible yet again for putting their noses in our business." Ron said, glaring daggers at the two, who decided to turn to Fred and George and engage in some kind of conversation as quickly as they could.

Ron clenched his fists, but Hermione stopped him from going any further.

"Ron. It's not worth it. They're just trying to act in our best interest, whether it works or not." She said quickly, with one arm out in front of her on him to stop him from hitting their friend. She felt his tension ease up slightly, and she dropped her arm.

"Hermione, this is ridiculous." He said, softening his expression a little bit, and he took her hand and led her over to the curb, only to see that, at the moment, it was being temporarily occupied. He stopped on his tracks and silenced his girlfriend softly.

Katie Bell was sitting on the curb, with an expression of confusion and shock on her face, as George Weasley was standing close to her, looking more nervous than his little brother had ever seen him, and a smile on his face, while his ears and face were in a deep crimson blush.

"Katie, you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met, and by far, the most fantastic. You're exceptionally kind, caring, loving, funny, and compassionate, as well as passionate about those people and things you care about most of all. You have a bravery that surpasses what most women have, and it is your courage that I was first drawn to. I love you more than life itself and I would love nothing more than to spend eternity with you." His blush was growing deeper and deeper with every word he spoke, and his smile only grew.

He got down onto one knee as tears began to fall from his girlfriend's eyes as she realized what he was doing. She put a hand to her mouth and he took the other one in both of his hands. He kissed it softly, then looked back up deeply into her eyes, and said softly, "Will you marry me?"

Tears kept falling from her eyes and she nodded, the biggest smile evident on her face, as she said, "Yes!" eagerly.

George let out a huge sigh of relief, and smiled back up at her. He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small box, and opened it, revealing a beautiful platinum ring, with a rather largeone carat diamond in its center. Katie gasped, and George put the ring onto her left ring finger.

Katie pulled him up off the ground into a huge hug, and George kissed her passionately on the lips, and she, of course, kissed him back. They stayed like that for a few minutes, and their world was still, except for them. They whispered "I love you" to each other at least a dozen times, and it was the sweetest sight any of them had ever witnessed.

They all applauded them, and George raised he and Katie's intertwined hands and shouted, "This lovely woman and I are now engaged to be married!"

Everyone, already knowing this, continued to applaud them, while the others,went to go congratulate the newly engaged couple, giving hugs to each of them and admiring Katie's ring.

Ron and Hermione just watched the sight, for the moment.

"Wow." Ron whispered softly.

"It makes you realize how precious love is." Hermione said, wiping a tear of her own from her eye with her small hand.

"I love you, Hermione." Ron said, and looked far deeply into her eyes.

"I love you, too, Ron." She said, and they hugged, each of them smiling.

"I'm sorry for what I did earlier today," Ron said softly, into her ear, still hugging her. He pulled back, and asked, "forgive me?" He threw the famous lop-sided grin in there that he knew she adored, and she broke out in a smile of her own.

"I'm sorry, too," She said, and continued, "I forgive you, and I hope you forgive me, too."

"You know I do." He said, and he kissed her sweetly on the lips. She kissed him back, just as sweetly, and after they parted, the couple went, hand-in-hand, to go congratulate Ron's elder brother, and his soon-to-be sister-in-law. Times were good, yet again.

A/N: I'm really sorry that took so much longer than expected. What'd you goys think? Did you love it or hate it? Please let me know. I promise I'm going to try and get the next chapter up before finals begin, which is in 3 weeks or so. Oy. Anyways, thanks to all who have stayed by me, and please continue to review!