Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Most of thecharacters, Hogwarts, and many of the spells and objects belong to J. K. Rowling, as i'm sure you know if you are reading Harry Potter fanfics! :)

The Fight

Ron Weasley couldn't wait to pick up Hermione for the rest of the summer; they would have so much fun! Harry was coming too, but he couldn't come for another week because the Dursleys were on vacation and had left Harry with a Muggle. He was sitting in his kitchen waiting for his dad and brothers to be ready to leave. He knew they were going to be late, since George had 'accidentally' knocked the bucket of Floo Powder off the mantle piece this morning they couldn't go by Floo Powder, the fastest way for wizards who can't apparate to get places. Luckily, the Ministry of Magic had an extra car that they were able to use.

"Hurry up guys!" Ron yelled up the stairs just as his dad reached the bottom, "Dad, do Fred and George really need to drive me? They only want to tease me."

"Yes Ron, they have to," Mr. Weasley smiled at his youngest son; "Your mother and I have a meeting and no other way would be legal."

"Ready to go pick up your girlfriend Ron?" the twins grinned at him from the stairs.

And it starts. Ron thought, out loud he said, "Shut up guys."

The ride over to Hermione's was torture. Fred and George seemed to have taken a long time to come up with ways of bugging Ron. For one they wouldn't stop talking about his 'girlfriend' or taunting him about random things. He hoped they would die down once Hermione was in the car with them. Fat chance! Frustrated, he looked out the window and saw with relief that they were in Hermione's neighborhood.

The car drove up Hermione's street and stopped at her house. Ron got out of the car (with a bit of difficulty, because Fred was on the side that had the door and didn't want to get out of his way) and went up the walk to the house. Halfway up he stopped, Hermione was on the porch with a boy. Kissing a boy. Ron turned and quietly ran back to the car. The twins gave him a questioning look, but didn't ask any questions as he leaned up against the car waiting for them to break apart. Why did he feel so crushed and down, and why couldn't he swallow? Hermione could have a boyfriend, what did he care? Why was he getting these feelings, and why did he want to punch that boy so badly? This was Hermione, not Ginny! When they finally stopped making out, he started up the walkway again. He decided to pretend he hadn't seen anything but them talking.

Hermione Granger stood in front of her mirror, trying to get her bushy brown hair untangled. This is hopeless! She thought, but she kept working at it anyway. She really wanted to look good when Ron and his dad came to get her. She was going to spend the last month of summer there. Harry and Ron were her two best friends from Hogwarts and she couldn't wait to see them again. She finished doing her hair and went to make sure the fireplace was pretty clean, sure that the Weasleys would come by Floo Powder. She looked up at the clock, they were late; she sighed and went over by her trunk to wait.

She had only been sitting there for a minute when she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and saw Nick Smith. Nick had been Hermione's summer love. They had done everything together, but not very long ago he had told her that he wasn't ready to have a girlfriend and they hadn't talked since. So what was he doing here?

"Um, hi Hermione," Nick sounded kind of shy.

"Hi Nick," she replied eyeing him warily. There was a long pause, then, more to break the silence then anything, "Um, did you want something?"

"Oh, right, um," he stuttered, "Well, my mom said that you were leaving, and I wanted to um, say goodbye."

"OK, well, goodbye," she said, relieved. She had thought he was going to try to get back together with her, "Now you've said it, you can leave."

"Well, actually, there was something else." He said looking kind of nervous, "Uh, could we talk outside?" Hermione agreed, even though her parents had left to go to work and weren't home, the breeze outdoors would be good. They went out and sat on the porch swing.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" Hermione looked at Nick. He didn't say anything, but sat there and looked at her. He's acting kind of strange she thought, smart as she was she didn't see what was coming. He moved closer, she moved to the end of the bench. He moved right next to her, he then looked at her again. If he's going to tell me something he better hurry up, she thought. She heard a couple cars go by as they waited, and then he leaned closer. She had been facing the other way, so it was a surprise to her when she turned around to find their noses almost touching. He moved closer still, and pulled her into an amazing kiss, that turned into them making out on the swing. After a few minutes, she realized what she was doing and pulled away from him.

"Nick, we're over, we've been over for weeks. Please don't ask me to take you back. I can't do that, you were right we weren't meant to be together." Hermione pleaded. Nick sighed and backed off a little bit.

"Who's that?" He asked accusingly, looking out at the lawn.

Hermione looked down the walkway to see who Nick had seen. She saw a tall boy with red hair and freckles. Ron! She had totally forgotten that he was coming! What should she do, she hadn't told Ron or Harry about Nick, what would she say now? What would she do?

"Hi Ron," she called out cheerily. At least he didn't see us kissing, she thought with relief.

"Hey Hermione," Ron said back, coming up the porch steps, "What's up?"

"Nothing really, I guess." She shrugged.

"Wait, Hermione I thought you said you weren't going to d—" Nick snapped.

"Nick," she quickly interrupted, Nick was about to say 'date anyone else this summer' and she didn't know how Ron would take that. "This is Ron Weasley, one of my friends from school." She emphasized the word 'friends', "Ron, this is Nick Smith."

"Oh!" Nick warmed up a little bit and stuck out his hand to shake. Reluctantly, Ron shook it. Hermione noticed that Ron didn't seem to like Nick very well. Luckily Fred and George bounded up the walkway.

"Hiya Hermione!" Fred exclaimed.

"Want to try a toffee?" George asked. Hermione looked up at Ron, who shook his head.

"Un, no thanks," she said, "Would you two go inside and get my trunk, it's by the fireplace." Fred and George agreed and went in to get it.

"Hermione, do you always let this guy make your decisions for you?" Nick asked curtly, nodding his head at Ron.

"I don't make decisions for her!" Ron glared at Nick.

"Yeah? Well, I asked Hermione a question, and you answered for her now didn't you?" Nick yelled back ignoring Hermione's pleas to both of them to stop.

"Yeah well at least I'm not trying to be cool by putting everyone down." Ron yelled, "Oh, and reality check, being a big jerk, well it only makes people hate you, so if you even want to be worthy for a girl like Hermione to look at you—" That was it, Nick punched Ron hard in the stomach, knocking him over.

"RON!" Hermione screamed running over to him, "Stop Nick! STOP!" She tried to get Nick off while he continued to punch Ron as much as he could. Fred and George appeared at that moment, and taking one look at the scene (Ron on the ground, Nick beating him up, and Hermione pulling Nick, trying to get him away from Ron) they dropped the trunk and ran over. They pushed Hermione back and each grabbed one of Nick's arms, pulled him off their brother and dragged him to the other side of the porch. They each raised a fist to punch him.

"Fred! George! NO!" The twins turned around still holding Nick. Hermione had fallen backwards onto Ron, and was now trying to get off him without hurting him, which was hard, because Nick seemed to have bruised him pretty badly and broken his arm. "Don't hurt him."

"But Hermione," Fred exclaimed, "Look what he did to our brother!"

"Guys," Ron said weakly, when Hermione had finally managed to get of him, "Just let him go."

George turned to Nick, "If you know what's good for you, you'll get out of here now!" As soon as he was released Nick ran to Hermione, and forced her into a kiss making sure that Ron could see, and making sure that Hermione was between him and Fred and George. Then he ran as fast as he could away. The twins glared after him. Hermione looked at Ron, he looked like he wanted to kill Nick, but she thought that she could also see hurt in his eyes – but no, Ron was just in a lot of pain she tried to convince herself, and it worked, she thought. But then, why couldn't she meet his eyes?

"You OK, Ron?" Fred asked. Hermione ran over to try to help Ron, but he pushed her away and wouldn't talk to her so George fixed him up as well as he could. When George finished, Ron still had some bruises, but it was the best he could do. They got in the car, Fred and George up front, and Ron and Hermione in the back seat with her trunk, (there was no back compartment in the car) which didn't leave enough room for two people to sit comfortably next to each other.

"You know George," Fred said loudly when Ron and Hermione had complained about this for 5 minutes, "I reckon if they don't shut up soon, Mum'll understand if we're a little late because we had to pull over and put Hermione on Ron's lap to stop them complaining about having no space." That shut them up right away. For a long time, Fred and George talked in whispers, while Hermione tried to talk to Ron. Ron however, was still too upset at her for the first time he had seen her kiss Nick (Why? He kept wondering) and his experience with Nick now didn't help much.

Finally, towards the end of the ride Ron spoke, "Hermione?"

"Yeah?" she replied, happy that Ron was speaking to her, but nervous— she knew what he was going to say.

"Who the bloody hell was that Nick guy?" he asked dreading the answer, "And, why did he kiss you?"

She had been afraid of this, "Um… Nick is… well, was… sort-of my… boyfriend this summer, but we broke up a week ago. I guess he wanted to make you jealous or something, so he kissed me."

"What? HE WAS YOUR BOYFRIEND? You went out with that loser? And– why would it make me jealous if he kissed you?"

Hermione ignored the first two questions, "Well, you saw how he acted when you came up to the porch, he thought… well, that we were… you know… dating." She hesitated before adding, "Or at least thought that you liked me."

"WHAT?" Ron was surprised, "Why?"

"Because you were acting like it little bro," George called from the front seat, "You should have seen your face when he kissed her."

"Or when you saw them sitting together on the swing–" Fred joined in.

"–Or when she introduced you two–"

"–Or when you came back to the car after you went up the first time and they didn't see you–"

"–Assuming that you saw them." Hermione gasped, no, he couldn't have come up earlier, that would mean he had seen…. She looked at Ron, he was biting his lip.

"Ron, when did you come up the first time?" she asked.

"Earlier"

"When specifically, what were we doing?"

"Um… you were… um…" he didn't want to say it, "Well… you were on the swing… and you were… um… making out." He said the last two words as quickly as he could.

"Oh my gosh," she quickly put her head in her hands.

Fred looked from Ron to Hermione, "You were making out with that jerk? Ron, why'd you come back? Why didn't you give that guy a good smack up the-"

"Fred!" Ron slammed his head on the window. I'll kill you! and right now he really wanted to.

(Later) They got home after riding the rest of the way in awkward silence. When they pulled up in front of the Burrow, they were greeted by Ginny.

"Hi Hermione!" she exclaimed, and then to everyone, "What took you guys so long?" It was an innocent question, but they all tensed up none-the-less.

"Uh, we had some trouble finding Hermione's house," Ron lied.

"Hermione dear," Mrs. Weasley came out of the kitchen and wrapped her into a huge hug, "How have you been? Oh, look how you've changed!" It was true; she had changed a lot over the summer. She had found an easy way to fix her hair so it wouldn't be as bushy as it normally was, she had started wearing a little bit of make-up, and she had matured a lot. She beamed as Mrs. Weasley went on, "My! You've gotten even more beautiful than when I last saw you!"

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley." She replied, and she looked around at everyone. After Mrs. Weasley's comment, everyone had turned around to look at her. Ginny hadn't seen her because Hermione had been in a hug the whole time she was there, and the boys hadn't really looked at her because they were too busy with the fight. "Why is everyone looking at me?"

"Well… because…" Ron stuttered, "You're… mum was… we… you—"

"What Ron's trying to say is that Mum's right, you have changed a lot—" Fred started.

"—and that he agrees with her that you're beautiful." George finished.

"What? I never said that!" Ron denied.

"But you thought it!" Ginny joined in. She knew that her brother liked Hermione; probably the only people who didn't know were Ron and Hermione. Ron didn't say anything, but glared at his siblings; Hermione smiled, did Ron really think she was beautiful?

"Come, come now dears," Mrs. Weasley chirruped, breaking the silence that had fallen, "Supper is almost ready. Ginny, please help Hermione bring her things up to your room. Fred, George, please get rid of the boggart in the basement, Ron went down their earlier and was frightened terribly."

"I didn't know it was a boggart, I didn't know there was one down there," Ron muttered.

Mrs. Weasley continued "Ron, come inside and for heavens sake do something about your room. I walked in there today and nearly fell down the stairs coming out." Giggling, the two girls dragged the trunk up the houses narrow stairs. Once Hermione's things were all in Ginny's room, the two girls flopped down on the beds (Mrs. Weasley always put an extra bed in when someone else stayed with them).

"So Ginny," Hermione said, "How's life been for you?"

"Alright, I guess," Ginny replied, "But Fred and George always need test subjects for their new creations, and unfortunately, Ron and I are the victims."

"Why don't you just say you don't want to?" Hermione wondered.

"This is Fred and George we're talking about." Ginny pointed out, "Do you really think they would let us just say no? NO! There's always either a threat, or they just force us to, they're bigger than us so it's really quite easy for them to get their way."

"That's terrible!" Hermione exclaimed, "Just because you're the youngest, shouldn't mean you get picked on all the time. You have it bad!"

"Not really actually, compared to the stuff they do to… never mind." Ginny looked nervous.

"What?"

"Nothing, forget I said anything."

Later: After dinner that night Mr. and Mrs. Weasley said that they needed to run a few errands and they left, leaving Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione alone in the living room, Ginny and Hermione reading, Fred and George plotting about what to do for their next product, and Ron drawing. After about ten minutes, Hermione heard Ron yelp and drop his quill. She looked up and gasped, "George, what spell did you use on Ron at my house?"

"Oh, um, the recuperatium spell. Why?"

"Well, I don't think it was permanent."

"Wha-" George looked up, "Oh boy."

Fred and Ginny then looked up and Ginny screamed, "RON! Ron what happened to you?" But Ron just moaned and clutched his arm.

"Oh my gosh!" Hermione shrieked turning to Fred and George, "Do something! He's got bruises all over and his arm just re-broke!"

"What do you suggest we do?" Fred yelled, "The spell George did was the strongest spell we know for that kind of thing!"

"GO LOOK IT UP!" Hermione roared, "NOW! HE'S GOING THROUGH THIS PAIN AGAIN BECAUSE OF YOU! YOUR MUM MUST HAVE A SPELL BOOK THAT HAS THAT KIND OF SPELL IN IT!"

"OK, OK we're going, keep your hair on!" Fred and George scurried out to find a book.

Hermione then turned to Ginny, who looked like she was going to start screaming again, "Ginny, we'll explain it all in a minute, but you've got to stay calm and not scream okay?" Ginny nodded but still looked scared. Hermione then ran over to Ron, "Do you need us to stay here until Fred and George find a spell?" Ron shook his head slowly, so Hermione turned back to Ginny, "Go see if Fred and George have found anything, then bring back some ice." Then she ran upstairs to her trunk and began rifling through it. I've got to have something she thought franticly I've got to have packed it! She sighed with relief as she pulled out a large scarf and ran back to the living room where she found Ginny back by Ron's side, holding an ice pack up to his arm. "Did they find anything?"

Ginny looked up, "The only thing they could find was a potion. They're making it now."

"OK, how are you doing Ron?"

He looked up at her, "Not so good, it's worse then the first time, and is hurting more and more by the minute."

"Is it just you arm?"

"Mostly"

"OK, here, this might help, but you need to stand up first." The girls helped him up and Hermione tied the scarf like a sling. After a few minutes in which Hermione explained everything to Ginny, Fred and George came in with a small vial.

"That's not very much," Ginny said, eyeing it warily, "Do you think it will do it?"

"We hope! See, we kind of need something of the jerk that did this to him, for it to fully work," George said slowly.

"What? But, we don't have anything of Nick's! And he's a Muggle, what would we say? 'Oh, hey Nick, I know I never told you this, but I'm a witch, and I need something from your body for a potion; would you help me out?' real good plan." Hermione said sarcastically, "That's the only potion you could find?"

"Yeah, but we researched this in sixth year and there is a way to make it work without anything directly from him, but—"

"But what?" Hermione asked warily.

"Well, to make a long story short, you'd have to kiss him," Fred finished.

"What?" Hermione and Ron exclaimed together.

"I think we want to hear the long story Fred," Ginny said.

"Well, since Nick —that is his name right? — was Hermione's boyfriend and they kissed a few times today—"

"—as well as how many other times before today, if she kisses Ron, it will give him what he needs since because he kissed Hermione, his saliva resides in her—" George continued. ("Eew!" the girls exclaimed.)

"—so the only way to make Ron better before Mum and Dad come home and see him is if she kisses him," Fred finished.

Ron and Hermione eyed each other warily. "You mean there's no other way?" Hermione asked anxiously, "You're absolutely sure?"

"Well, the potion wouldn't fix that arm without the kiss, but it would fix all the bruises," George answered slowly.

"But, there has to be an un-breaking spell that you could do!" Hermione half-asked in a panic.

"Not if we use this potion, and there aren't any spells that really work for all these bruises," Fred said calmly.

"Hey Ron," Ginny suddenly piped up, "What do you think about this?"

All eyes turned to Ron, "Um… I think, um… I don't mind keeping the arm then! I can hide it from Mum and Dad."

Fred looked alarmed, "Bad idea Ron! They always know when something's wrong."

"Well, if Hermione helps me keep it hidden… then won't it work?"

George looked at the book, "Well, if we give it to him now, you'll have a week to change your mind."

Hermione tried to take it all in, "So if I don't kiss him now, but in like three day Mrs. Weasley starts getting suspicious, I could kiss him then and it would still work?"

"Yup" the twins said together.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, "Wait?" Ron asked.

"Wait" she replied.

"OK, it's your choice," said Fred, looking skeptical.

"Here Ron, drink it" George said, handing the potion to him.

"Right—ok" Ron took a deep breath and gulped down the potion, "Ugh!" he made a face, "It's horrible!"

"But it's working," Ginny pointed out. And indeed it was; the bruises and cuts were all disappearing. "Ron, you sure you don't want to fix that arm now?"

"Well, um, yeah, I'm— I'm sure."