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Note: If you would like a good Ron/Hermione romance with a fresh, original writing style, read JJMel's "Perfection!"

"Late. For yet a second time today, Miss Granger."

Damn Draco.

"I apologize profusely, Professor."

His thin lips curled up into a smirk. "Indeed. However, I believe I will have to add yet another hour to your detention sentence this evening because of your apparent disregard for promptness."

"That's ludicrous, sir! We're already staying until 11!" Ron protested.

Professor lowered his face until it was mere inches away from my boyfriend. "Did I ask for your opinion, Mr. Weasley? I think not. Now, I want these ten buckets of frog hearts cut into exactly 3-centimeter strips and placed on my desk in four hours. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" I said brightly.

"And Mr. Weasley? Please refrain from expressing physical affection with Miss Granger this evening. I would hate to add yet another detention onto your sentence."

Ron stared at him dumbly.

"He means no snogging, Ron," I whispered, bewildered as to how Ron could be SO DAFT.

"I will return in four hours." Snape gave us a rather nasty glance and made moves towards the dungeon door.

"Excuse me, sir?' Ron called sweetly. "I was just wondering where you were going."

"As if it's any of your business, Mr. Weasley, I must meet with the headmaster and then talk to the Slytherin Prefects."

"That's not such a good idea, Snape," Ron snickered under his breath as he watched the Potions Professor walk down the dungeon hallway. "What if I decide to.."

"You'll do nothing of the sort, Ron," I said firmly, knowing fully well what words were about to come out of his mouth. Something lewd and suggestive, obviously. Although I certainly wouldn't object as long as his intended actions were PG rated- or perhaps PG-13. Naughty, naughty thoughts, Hermione!

"Well, I reckon we ought to get to work," I sighed, placing my hands on my hips as I contemplated the ten buckets of slimy frog organs before us.

"You look cute when you do that." Ron flashed me that adorable lop-sided grin that instantly turned my legs to jelly. However, I firmly stood my ground. There was going to be NO snogging until I found out just what he and the Ice Princess had been doing on their "walk."

"So, what do you think of Cassandra?" I asked casually, tentatively picking up a frog heart and holding it AS FAR AWAY FROM ME AS POSSIBLE.

Ron's whole face lit up. "She's wonderful, Hermione!" He said animatedly. "Honestly, she is! I don't see what you find wrong with her."

I was sorely tempted to share with him my 100-item list, but now was certainly not the time.

"There's nothing WRONG with her," I chose my words carefully. "It's just that our personalities seem to clash a bit."

Ron clearly was not listening to a word I was saying. "She's intelligent, witty, excellent at Quidditch, and, bloody hell, she's hot!"

"Do you forget that you're in the presence of your GIRLFRIEND?" I snapped.

Ron blushed. "Sorry, Hermione. You know I love you. But I am a living, breathing 17-year old bloke. You can't blame me for looking."

"You're not satisfied with what you have?'

Now the tip s of his ears were visibly coloring. "No, no, no!" he squeaked hastily. "You're wonderful, Hermione. It's just that, well, it's something blokes can't help but doing!"

"I surely think you can help it."

"Tell me you've never checked out any other bloke?"

My face burned as I thought of Draco's dashingly sexy good looks.

"That answers my question. And I having seen you doing so. One bloke in particular..." I knew he had me. It was best to admit it, apologize for my mistake, and give him a juicy snog.

"Yes- Draco Malfoy," I sighed.

"Harry," Ron finished, and blanched as the full force of my words hit him. "DRACO MALFOY? ARE YOU CRAZY, HERMIONE? HE'S A BLOODY GIT! THE LOWEST PIECE OF SCUM THAT WALKS THIS EARTH! A BAST..."

"He's also undeniably good-looking," I said softly. And then before I remembered I was talking to a person of the opposite sex, I added, "Don't you think so?"

Ron snorted. "Are you questioning my sexuality? And stop dodging the topic- that YOU THINK MALFOY IS SEXY!"

"He is."

"I would have to agree with Granger. I most certainly am."

"There is no way in Merlin that is the voice of Draco Malfoy," I pleaded loudly in my mind. "It is just my overactive imagination. He is not standing in the doorway, watching me with mild amusement and looking VERY yummy. No bloody way!"

"Sod off, Malfoy," Ron growled. "I don't remember inviting you to join this discussion."

"But, if it involves me, why not?" Draco smirked. "I do think I ought to have the right to defend myself."

Ron made an odd sort of sound- a snarl intermixed with some choice language. "I do think you ought to get the bloody hell out of here," he sneered, face turning red with fury, "Before I am forced to stick a pointy object up your ferrety ass."

"I can sense that I am not wanted here." Draco winked at me, most fortunately unbeknownst to Ron. "I will be on my way now. I only stopped by on my way to my dormitory to see what in Salazar was the matter- the racket you two were making could be heard halfway across the castle!" He strutted arrogantly out of sight, calling back, "Granger? Remember. Tonight is the night."

Ron pulled me roughly by the shoulder. "What is HE TALKING ABOUT?" the sexy redhead demanded furiously.

"How am I supposed to know?" I struggled to get free from his muscular arms. "I don't associate with Malfoy." I was so, so, SO sorely tempted to inform Ron with a straight face that I was to meet Draco in the Astronomy Tower at midnight for a shag, but considering the circumstances, I didn't think that would be a wise idea.

The youngest Weasley brother visibly relaxed. "I thought- I thought for a second that you- you and Draco- were- were..."

"Don't be silly- we're not!" I rolled my eyes. "At least not yet," I added silently. "I loathe Malfoy- and you know that!"

"I guess I overreacted." Ron lowered his head sheepishly. "But I did have a valid reason. Just right after you finish saying that's he's sexy..."

"Calm down, Ron." I massaged his neck, hoping to relieve some of his anxiety. "So, you think I check out Harry?" I asked cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes."

"And that does not worry you?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Because Harry is currently in love with MY baby sister, and you are currently in love with ME. Is that a good enough answer?" I could detect a hint of doubt in his low voice, though. Ron was SO insecure.

"However, Harry is not hard on the eyes at all, I'm afraid. That irresistibly messy black hair of his...those deep emerald eyes...that lean, muscular, and very sexy body of his..." I ended my spiel many minutes prematurely, seeing the state of distress that Ron was now in.

"But I'm better looking than both Harry, and (he practically spat out the word) Malfoy combined... right?" He asked with a bit of desperation.

"Of course," I lied through my teeth. Just Harry himself beat Ron by over 10 points on the sexiness scale Ginny and I had devised. And Draco? A good 15. Still, there was no real reason to share that with the object of my affections...even if he WAS eyeing up a certain twit. "You have nothing to worry about." "Unless," I added silently, "You continue fraternizing with a certain ass-of-a-Cass."

Fifteen minutes later, I was reassured beyond all doubt that I too had little to worry about.

"Um, Ron," I mumbled against his delicious lips, "You do realize that we would get in BIG trouble if Professor Snape were to walk in on this."

"This?' He raised a red eyebrow innocently. "We're doing nothing inappropriate. Just a little snogging."

"A lot of snogging," I corrected him, just realizing then that during our quarter of an hour of passion he had slowly backed me into the cold, slimy dungeon wall and was now 1.5 centimeters away from my body.

"Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Not exactly..."

"Brilliant. I agree. It's not like we're shagging or anything. That is, unless you want to. We could, right here, right now..."

I laughed nervously as I quickly pulled away from him.

His face took on a wounded expression. "Merlin, Hermione, I was just JOKING! No need to move away from your incredibly sexy boyfriend..."

"It's not that." I inhaled deeply, trying to control my ragged breathing. "I just think we really ought to get to work."

Ron looked at me as though I had lost my mind- or told him that Snape was sexy, which was, in essence, the same thing. "Work?"

"Yes. Is that an unfamiliar word to you?"

I heard him audibly give a snort of disgust and gingerly picked up the bucket closest to him. I sighed.

While snogging Ron always felt good- hell, it was bloody brilliant! - it seemed that each session grew longer, more passionate, and more tempting. And that honestly scared me. Although his hands had never moved below my neck (we tried to keep it G-rated-just some light or not-so light snogging), I was a smidgen frightened that one day he'd get carried away. We both would. There was no question about it. The feelings and desires he invoked in me...And while I had joked lightly about shagging, it was definitely an act that I reserved strictly for marriage. Along with all other deep intimacies. And I didn't plan on ever going back on my vow of absistence. Until my wedding night, that is. I didn't want our physical relationship to begin escalating from innocent snogs to "things" not so innocent. (A/N: Yes, had to put the whole absistence thing in...it's something I firmly believe in, and much too many fanfictions have Hermione and Ron, who in my mind are honorable, upstanding, moral characters, jump in bed together and shag like there's no tomorrow- honestly, do you really think they would do that? Furthermore, is that right? I don't wish to offend anyone with this...I reckon everyone's entitled to their own opinion of what they put into their stories...).

"I'm sorry Ron," I said softly. "I was just worried for a second."

"Worried?"

"That one day we'll have problems stopping."

"Stopping?"

"Yes, s-t-o-p-p-i-n-g! The opposite of s-t-a-r-t-i-n-g."

He threw a particularly disgusting heart at me, but fortunately missed by three feet. The organ landed with a small splat on the stone floor. "I knew that," he pouted.

"No need to begin launching objects at me," I sniggered. "Once in a while I feel that I have to spell things out for you."

"Are you insinuating I am an idiot?"

"Compared to Draco, yes!" That nasty little voice in my head snickered. WHOA! Where in Merlin did THAT come from? "I must banish all thoughts of a certain delicious Slytherin from my head," I chided myself firmly. "Especially in the presence of Ron."

"No, no, no," I said hurriedly. "Far from it." My mind wandered to just what Draco could be doing- or attempting to do- to Cassandra at that very moment. I felt a small flicker of jealousy. "Eeek! Do I really want Draco to be doing those things to me?" Heehee. The answer wasS O obvious.Although I had only known the "good" Draco for a time span of 12 hours, there was something undeniably attractive about him. Alas, he had ALWAYS been very good looking- no doubt about that. He was the one bloke that pratically every single witch at Hogwarts could agree on- from Hufflepuffs to Slytherins.But now that he had seen the light..and had undergone an excellent personality change (at least when in my presence), he was quickly becoming more and more tempting. ."You have Ron,"the voice of logic reminded me obnoxiously. "But for how long?"I asked myself. Any sense of hope that I had felt while his lips were crashing against mine immediately disappeared as I remembered just who I was up against. Someone just as clever as me. Someone who was drop-dead gorgeous and had an excellent figure and non-poofy hair. Someone who was only sinking her claws deeper into the object of my affections as each hour passed. Someone named Cassandra.

A/N: Coming up next Saturday...Draco's "seduction!"