A/N: Hey! Thank you reviewers! Well I was gonna post yesterday but I didn't have too many reviews but her is my update now! Yay! So on with the chapter!

Chapter 17- Ferry Rides

The first thing Ron noticed when he woke up was that he felt completely better. He turned his head and looked at the clock on the TV. Again they had slept late it was 11:30. Ron saw Ginny on the other couch. There was two cups of coffee in front of her. Harry came out of the kitchen and sat down next to her. He started laughing when he saw Ron.

"Feel any better?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." Ron answered.

"Well that'll teach you a lesson next time you want to snog in the rain." Harry laughed. Ron glared at him.

"Isn't that old?"

"No, it gets funnier every time." Ron looked around for something to throw and saw the remote on the table in front of him. He tried to reach for it but couldn't move without bothering Hermione. Harry was now laughing harder. Ron ignored him and settled back on the couch. Hermione shifted in his arms and opened her eyes.

"Morning." She said sleepily.

"Mornin'." Ron replied. Harry opened his mouth to speak.

"Shut up!" Ron and Hermione said together. Harry looked taken aback.

"I was just going to say good morning." Ron and Hermione glared at him before sitting up.

"You two fell asleep early. When we got home you were out cold and we had to clean up your mess." Ginny said.

"Sorry about that." Hermione apologized.

"Yeah we had a headache." Ron said. Again Harry opened his mouth but all three of them cut him off.

"Shut up!" They exclaimed. Harry closed his mouth but sniggered slightly.

"What do we want to do today?" Hermione yawned.

"I don't know." Ginny replied. Harry and Ron shrugged.

"Well we could either swim or maybe go to the beach again. I don't know what you want to do. Or maybe we could take a ferry ride. That would be fun." Hermione suggested.

"A what?" Ron and Ginny asked together.

"A ferry. It's a boat ride. It takes you over to the other side of the water and back. There are some nice restaurants on the other side of the water too and we can walk around and stuff. I whish I didn't throw out that schedule. I guess I could make a new one." Hermione replied quickly. Ron looked to Harry for an answer.

"I don't get it." Ron said.

"You'll see." Harry said. They all went upstairs to get changed. Hermione and Ginny went into their room and started to rummage through clothes. Ginny had chosen a white tank top with a beaded yellow flowed design and a black skirt. Hermione decided on wearing a cherry colored cami and jean skirt. She clipped her hair half up and fixed her make-up. They met Harry and Ron in the kitchen. Harry opened his mouth to speak again but received similar reactions.

"I swear I will jinx your mouth shut if you say another word about it." Hermione warned holding her wand in front of his face.

"I was just going to ask if we were leaving now." Harry said. "Am I not aloud to talk anymore?" Hermione and Ron ignored him and walked out through the back door. The ferry would leave at one and it was around twelve now. They reached the port at around 12:30 so they had time to look around. Ron's eyes grew as big as galleons when he saw the giant ferry as they were walking inside of the building. The ferry had four floors including the roof and plenty of outside seating and windows to look out of from the inside. There was a tall building next to it where there was a gift shop and place to pay for tickets. Hermione smiled at the reaction on his face. They paid for their tickets and stopped at the gift shop. Ron and Ginny looked around at everything in the gift shop. They both decided the to get their father a toy boat that he might find interesting. Harry bought something too but Hermione didn't get to see what it was. When they were done in the gift shop, it was around 12:45 so they got in line to board the boat along with everyone else.

"Is there food on this thing." Ron asked in a desperate tone. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Yes there is. Do you think I would let you starve?" Hermione replied. Ron smiled and they walked onto the boat. The first thing they did was walk over to the edge of the ferry and looked down at the water. Ginny and Ron nervously hung back as if they were afraid they would fall in. "Your not going to fall in. Look it's starting to pull away from the dock." Ginny and Ron timidly walked over to the edge. Harry put his arms around Ginny and stood behind her. They watched as the dock became smaller and smaller. "So shall we get something to eat and then maybe we could walk around the boat or something?" Hermione suggested.

"Sure." Ginny and Harry said.

"Well let's hurry, I'm starving!" Ron exclaimed. Hermione again rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm.

"C'mon, it's this way." She led them into a door on the boat. Harry and Ginny followed as well and Hermione led them through a sitting area where there were chairs along the windows in the boat and in between walkways. She brought them down a flight of stairs and to a food court. They all got in line and ordered food. They sat at the booth and started eating. By the time they were done eating Harry and Ginny decided that they were going to go sit outside. They left Hermione and Ron.

"What should we do?" Ron asked.

"Wanna just walk around outside on the deck."

"Sure." Hermione led him out of a door and they were out on the deck. Wind started to blow. Hermione took the clip out of her hair and fixed it so it had all of her hair in it and it wouldn't fly all over the place. She interlaced her fingers with Ron's. "So are we going to that restaurant tonight. You know just the two of us?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. So it counts as our first official date right?"

"Second!"

"Second?"

"Yeah yesterday was the first." They smiled at each other.

"So have you thought much about what you want to be when you get out of Hogwarts? Are you still going to be an Auror?"

"Well I don't know. Harry and I were talking about it the other day. He's not sure either. Now that You-Know-Who is gone I think the idea of being an Auror isn't as fascinating. I'm not exactly sure."

"Well you have plenty of time this year to decide."

"Yeah that's true. So what about you are you going to expand on spew?"

"It's S.P.E.W Ron! And I don't think I'm going do so much more about it. I can't even get you and Harry to care-"

"Hermione, you know I love you, I would do anything for you and Harry and I are your best friends but we really could care less about the house elves and how they're treated." Hermione frowned and looked a little disappointed. "So what are you going to do if your not doing that?" Ron said quickly so the subject would change. Hermione looked sheepish and had a little bit of a blush in her cheeks.

"Well I kind of wanted to own my own book store. I know it's stupid, but I always wanted to do that." Hermione said quietly. She looked away from Ron, as they stopped by the railing, and into the water.

"I don't think that's stupid. Mione, you love books and owning your own bookstore would be perfect for you. Where would you put it Diagon Alley?" Hermione looked less pink and smiled up at Ron.

"Well no because there's Flourish and Blott's there but maybe in Hogsmede." (A/N: Forgive me if there is a bookstore in Hogsmede . If so just pretend that there isn't:)

"That's a brilliant idea. You could do that!"

"You really think so."

"Mione, you could do anything. You could probably write your own book on the unfairness of how house elves are treated." Hermione's smile grew bigger and she kissed Ron on the cheek.

"You know that idea isn't half bad."

"Really? Not Half Bad!" Ron smiled triumphantly. They continued walking along the side of the boat. When they had walked around the floor they were on twice they started up the stairs and started to walk around the next floor. "So you're really going to write a book on the mistreating of house elves?"

"Something like that." Hermione smiled.

"What are you going to do?"

"Oh, you'll see." Ron smirked. She always did this and never told anyone what she was up to. So Ron didn't bother trying to get it out of her. "So what about the Quidditch team this year? Katie is leaving so you'll need a new chaser right? Is Harry going to stick with the rest of the team?" Ron was shocked that Hermione was talking about Quidditch when she didn't even like it.

"Well the rest of the team is staying but yeah we're going to need a new chaser. I guess it'll be Dean Thomas because he would have made the team if Ginny, Katie, or Demelza hadn't made chasers." Ron said.

"Oh." Hermione responded.

"So why do you want to talk about Quidditch? You hate it."

"I don't hate it! But I thought that since we were on the topic of next year that I would bring up Quidditch."

"Right, you don't hate it." Ron laughed.

"I don't. I just don't understand it." Ron laughed again.

"Really, something that you don't understand? Why Hermione I'm shocked." Ron said and put a hand on his chest. Hermione slapped his arm.

"Well at least I understand important things." Hermione said.

"Yeah, you got me there." Hermione laughed and pulled Ron onto a chair next to her. They sat down and stared out into the water. "So I take it your excited for N.E.W.Ts?"

"Of course! You know me better than that." Hermione laughed.

"Yeah, true. I wish I could say the same."

"You know maybe if you pay attention-"

"If I promise to try and pay attention this year can we change the topic?"

"I suppose. What do you want to change the topic to?"

"Oh, I don't know… anything." He moved closer.

"Would anything be this?" She met her lips with his.

"Could be." He kissed her again. After a few minutes on "the new topic" they got up and started to walk around the floor again. After reaching the top of the ferry and enjoying the scenery, they started to look for Harry and Ginny because the ferry was reaching the other dock now. Hermione and Ron started by retracing their steps and walking down the flights of stairs but they were nowhere to be seen, they wandered inside although they still couldn't find them. "Where do you reckon they are?" Ron asked as they walked around the outside of the first floor for the millionth time. They stopped in front of a door and Hermione's face fell.

"Exactly where they shouldn't be." Hermione pointed to the door. Ron looked at it. The door read: No Passengers Aloud. He turned to Hermione hopefully.

"Maybe they're looking for us and we keep missing them." He suggested hopefully. Hermione made a disbelieving noise as the door opened and who should walk out but Harry and Ginny. They froze when they saw them and Ginny put her hand behind her back. Ron stared open mouthed and Hermione looked at them disapprovingly. Ginny opened her mouth to speak but Harry beat her to it.

"If you don't say anything about this I won't say a word about you two and the other night again." Harry bargained he defiantly didn't want to tell Ron what had just happened. Hermione looked at him like she wasn't sure what to say and Ginny looked at Ron and Hermione hopeful, she wasn't sure that Ron wanted to know what happened. Hermione looked to Ron.

"A-Alright." Ron said meekly. Hermione didn't argue or say anything. They all went to the other side of the ferry, not saying a word, to watch it dock. Soon the ferry stopped and they followed all of the other passengers off of the Ferry. They had four hours until the next Ferry would leave and it was two now. They got off and walked onto the sand by the dock. Along the street there were a few shops and restaurants. Harry and Ginny separated from them to go look through shops while Ron and Hermione sat on the edge of the pier talking, although they couldn't seem to find much to talk about after witnessing that before.

"So…uh…?" Hermione started unsurely.

"Uh…" Ron finished equally stumped on what to say. "…Nice day." Ron said stupidly.

"Yeah it is." Hermione sighed looking up at the sky. Ron looked up too for they were both unsure of what to say. They had agreed not to say anything about what happened before but since they didn't know what happened it was very awkward.

"So…uh…wanna walk around a bit?" Ron looked at her.

"Yeah sure." He stood up and pulled her up along with him. They started for the main street with all of the shops and restaurants. Hermione brought her hand together with Ron's and they walked on silently. Ron was looking down at their hands and saw Hermione's bracelet it brought back the memory of Harry's party.

"What was the deal with everyone at the party questioning us?" Ron asked. Hermione looked down at her bracelet too.

"Well according to everyone we were destined to be together so they probably wanted to know if it was true because it took this long and Mogonagall was wondering if we were too young to be in love." Hermione said.

"I don't think we are." Ron smiled at her. "It must have been weird to have a teacher questioning you about that stuff, was it?"

"Yes!" Hermione exclaimed quickly. Ron laughed at the fact that she answered too fast. Hermione blushed. "Well it wasn't as bad as Tonks asking me if I fought Lavender for you. Fred and George were telling some stories about that."

"Yeah, Kingsley was questioning me about how I punched Seamus. That was bad. You know, Dumbledore didn't say anything about it, thank god!"

"I saw him looking and smiling at us a few times. Your mum seemed pretty happy though."

"Yeah, she really likes you so I guess she was happy about that." Hermione smiled but then realized something.

"I still have to tell my parents." Hermione smile quickly evaporated as she realized this.

"What's wrong they don't like me."

"No, they like you, I just don't know how they would feel if they knew I spent the whole summer in an unsupervised house with my boyfriend." Ron frowned. "They trust me and all but…"

"Oh right." He said, looking at the ground with a frown. His frown turned into a slight smirk. "Boyfriend?" He asked with a smile. "It sounds different." Hermione looked alarmed at Ron. "Different, but good." He finished hastily.

"But I'll tell them when they get back. I expect they'll be some what happy."

"When are they getting back?"

"About two days before we leave for Hogwarts. We're going to your house though the day before, your mum wanted us to, right?"

"Yeah, she wants to make sure we get on the train alright. She worries too much."

"Well she has a good reason to worry. She probably doesn't trust you to get on the train by yourselves after what happened in 2nd year." Hermione laughed and Ron scowled.

"Am I never going to be able to live that down? And it was all Dobby's fault. If he hadn't closed the barrier then we wouldn't have to fly there." Hermione laughed harder. "Shut up." Ron muttered.

"Or what?" She laughed.

"Or else..."

"Or else what?"

"I don't know I'll get back to you on that." Hermione stopped laughing but kept a grin on her face. Harry and Ginny appeared in front of them and the grin slid off of Hermione's face and into a worried look. She looked from Ron to Harry to Ginny.

"Hermione, do you want to come look in this store with me?" Ginny asked. Hermione took a fleeting look from Ron to Harry and saw Harry's head give a slight nod urging her to go.

"Yeah sure." Ginny started walking forward and Hermione followed. Hermione noticed they walked past the store and further away from Harry and Ron. "Gin, we passed the store." Ginny turned around.

"Oh!" She started walking back but Hermione grabbed her arm.

"What's going on?" Ginny turned back around and started walking with Hermione down the street again.

"Harry…told me that he loved me." Hermione smiled.

"That's great Gin! What did you say?"

"Well I told him that I loved him too. That's why we were in there. He wanted to tell me privately so he locked the door using a spell so the muggles couldn't get in and everything and told me. He gave me this ring." Ginny held out her hand and revealed a ring with a dolphin on it as the jewel. Hermione suppressed a laugh and realized what Harry bought at the gift shop. "Ok, I know it's not the ideal ring but he said it's a place holder till he gets me a nicer one. I told him it was perfect just like this."

"Do you even know what kind of animal that is?"

"Harry said it was a dollyfin or something like that. I think it's pretty."

"Dolphin," Hermione corrected.

"Right that. So he's telling Ron now. You don't think his reaction will be too bad do you?"

"I actually think that he will be reasonable about it. He knows what it feels like to be in love so I'm betting he'll be understanding." Hermione said. Ginny raised her eyebrows but Hermione just shrugged.

"Well here they come." Ginny said darkly, stopping and turned around. Ron and Harry approached them.

"Hermione, Ron told me you two were talking about Quidditch, since when do you like Quidditch? I thought you hated it." Harry said.

"I do not hate it!" Hermione exclaimed angrily. Harry raised his eyebrows. "I don't."

"Right she just doesn't understand it." Ron said with a smile.

"That's true." Harry laughed. Hermione punched them on the shoulder. Ginny was looking from Ron to Harry trying to find a sign that Harry told Ron. When she didn't notice any difference she took his arm and pulled him aside. Hermione looked to Ron for some explanation.

"Is that all you two talked about?" Hermione asked nervously.

"No, Harry told me. I knew it would happen eventually, I guess I was just more prepared for it now."

"Good Ginny was worried you would freak out."

"Me freak out? Who would think something like that?" Ron said sarcastically.

"Well hmmm… let's think." Hermione put her finger on her chin in mock thought. "What about when Harry told you he liked your sister and you freaked out."

"I got over it though."

"Yeah true." Harry and Ginny returned to them. Nobody said anything about it so Hermione followed everyone else's lead as they started down the street.

"So how did you two end up on the topic of Quidditch?" Harry asked starting a conversation.

"We were talking about next year and I wondered who you were going to pick as the new chaser." Hermione said.

"I'll probably just have try outs again. I have to find someone who fits in well with the team." Harry answered.

"What about…" Ron started but them realized that Dean Thomas didn't exactly like Harry too much and vice versa. "Never mind." He finished.

"So Harry did you start reading that book on the N.E.W.Ts?" Hermione asked.

"Uh… I decided to read the other one first on Defense Against the Dark Arts." Harry said.

"Well you should really read it, it will help in the long run…" Hermione trailed off into a lecture on the N.E.W.Ts and directed it to Harry and Ron. Harry was happy to see that Ron exchanged the same look with him that they did whenever Hermione went into lecture mode. Nothing really changed except Ron and Hermione's feelings were out in the open. "…so if you make and effort this year there actually might be hope for you. I know that Dumbledore talked to Snape about letting people who really wanted to be in potions and got a decent grade on their O.W.Ls in so you got lucky with that one but this year you need to work harder…" Ron was actually getting tired from listening to the lecture. "…Harry…" He figured that if they stopped right now and sat down he might actually fall asleep. "…Ron?" He stopped when he heard his name and looked at Hermione.

"Yes?"

"Good." Hermione smiled satisfied. Ron looked alarmed he had no idea what he accidentally agreed to. He hung back a little and Harry followed his lead.

"Do you know what she just said?" Ron muttered.

"No clue." Harry responded. They both looked to Ginny for help but she was silently laughing at the two. Ron and Harry glared and Ron went back to his position next to Hermione. Hermione glanced at her watch and noticed that it was only four-thirty. They walked on for a few moments before talking started up again.

"Who do you think the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know. But whoever it is might actually be able to stay for more than a year this time." Harry said.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Because Dumbledore told me that ever since Voldemort asked for the job and Dumbledore turned him down he's never been able to keep one longer than a year. But now that he's gone for good it might be different." Harry answered. Nobody flinched at the name anymore. Ginny and Hermione could actually say it. Ron probably could if he wanted to but never did.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. Harry went into an explanation on how he had asked Dumbledore, last year, why no one could hold the job for longer than a year and how Dumbledore explained it to him.

"That explains a lot." Ron said.

"Yeah, I hope it's not someone from the ministry again, I'm getting sick of that." Ginny said. Last year they had a ministry person again because Dumbledore was unable to find anyone but Fudge did allow them to use magic in class because he now knew that Dumbledore wasn't trying to build an army of students against the ministry. The Ministry person gave of the distinct impression that he didn't want to be there.

"Dumbledore will be able to find someone this year." Hermione assured them all. They walked around for a little longer and stopped at the pier. At five they went their separate ways for dinner. Ron and Hermione chose a nice little restaurant that overlooked the water. After they ordered it was silent for a minute, they kept glancing at each other. "So your really ok with studying for the N.E.W.Ts nightly starting tomorrow?" Hermione asked.

"What?" Ron responded in disbelief.

"You know what I said before and you agreed to it." Hermione said with a frown playing at her lips.

"I thought you said…uh… not…uh studying nightly starting tomorrow." Ron lied.

"Admit it you weren't listening."

"No I real-" Hermione raised her eyebrows at him and he changed his words mid-sentence. "Well no, I'm sorry but when you lecture like that I kind of get lost in…uh… how wonderful your voice is so it's hard to pay attention."

"Oh, yeah right!"

"You didn't really say that we were going to study nightly starting tomorrow did you?" Hermione scowled.

"No, I didn't." Hermione replied exasperated.

"Well could you maybe give me the shorter version?" Ron asked hopeful.

"I asked if you were going to try harder and make an effort this year."

"I told you I was going to try and make an effort." Hermione looked at him skeptical. "Hermione, this is my last year at Hogwarts and I promise to try extremely harder this year." He smiled at her hoping to receive one back. Luckily he did.

"Fine, but I'll hold you to it."

"I know you will." Ron was grateful for the waitress showing up and bringing their food that caused the topic to change. After they ate they went back to the pier to meet Harry and Ginny. Fifteen minutes later they were back on the ferry. Hermione was tempted to not allow Ginny and Harry to go off on their own again, but Ron convinced her. Hermione and Ron found seats by the railing on the boat again. Soon the color in the sky started to fade and they watched the sunset. Ron wrapped an arm around Hermione as they looked up at the sky. They spent most of the ride like that. Towards the end, before the ship docked, they went inside and found Harry and Ginny inside talking. When the ferry stopped Hermione drove them home and they all fell asleep almost immediately because they were worn out from the day.

A/N: Please let me know what you thought! I put the part in about the DADA job and Voldemort from the sixth book becuase it's for the sequel! In the next chapter we will find out about what Ron and Harry want to do! So reveiw please! I promise that if I get at least ten reviews by this time tomorrow I will update!