Walk like a man.
"Harry I still think you need to think about this" Ron started.
"We have always thought that you would become more powerful than Voldemort but what if that's not true? What if you can defeat him but just because your special not because you are more powerful. From what you have told us the prophecy only say you can defeat him and I believe you can but what about all of his Death Eaters? Did the prophecy say anything about you being able to beat all of them?"
"No Ron I told you exactly what it said and you know it."
"Look Harry I know this must be starting to get old but bear with me. You have a power Voldemort doesn't have. You have friends or to be more precise friends who love you. That's the power you have. Love is what saved you in the first place. Think about it for a second. You couldn't really hurt Lestrange in the Department of Mysteries because you didn't have enough hate or anger to really want to hurt her. Well hate and anger are both emotions so if some emotions can make a wizard more powerful then why not others?"
"I guess that is possible." conceded Harry.
"You also have one other advantage that Voldemort doesn't. You have people who are going to go with you and fight with you no matter what happens. If things go bad for Voldemort his followers will fade away like a bad dream. Well except for Bellatrix, she is totally off of her nut. The whole point is Harry you are trying to do this alone and in doing so may damn us all."
"Damn it Ron I'm trying to save your lives." shouted Harry.
"Harry" Ginny said softly "What if you can't defeat Voldemort without our help then aren't we all going to die anyway?"
Harry shock his head. "I don't know Ginny I just don't know."
"Face it mate it's Voldemort and his Death Eaters vs. You and the DA. Oh and the Order as well. See we have them outnumbered already." he laughed flashing Harry a grin.
Harry laughed "I don't see how you can just laugh about going into battle with Death Eaters."
"Well Harry I've seen death and it's not nearly as bad as advertised. Also I think we're going to win and when we win we will be heroes and all the girls will love us."
"Ron mate you remind me of Sirius more and more every day."
"You know I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"Well your not anywhere near as good looking as Sirius." smirked Ginny.
"So big brother let me change the subject for a second. How are you going to tell Hermione you fancy her?"
"Well for one I don't fancy her. I...."
A loud crash came from the door way where Hermione had just dropped a plate of food. Tears welled up in her eyes and she ran back down the stairs.
Ron jumped up and chased her down the stairs as fast as he could run.
Oh bloody hell no, not this time.
Ron caught Hermione in the common room about four feet from the stairway to the girl's dorms. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off of her feet.
"Ron put me down right now." she yelled angrily between sobs.
Ron walked over to the only empty chair in the common room and sat Hermione down in it. Then he knelt down and put a hand on both arms of the chair.
"Hermione Granger I'm not going to let you up until I've had my say. If you still want to leave after I have said it then I won't try to stop you. Do you understand?"
Hermione shrank back into the chair tears still rolling down her cheeks.
Ron took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
It kills me when I see her cry. This had better be the last time I cause it.
"Hermione you heard me say upstairs that I didn't fancy you right?"
Hermione nodded her head and the rest of the Gryffindors looked stunned.
"Do you know what I was going to say right after that?"
Hermione slowly shook her head.
"I was going to say I don't fancy Hermione because is that not the right word. You fancy a game of Quidditch. You fancy a piece of pie. You fancy going to a movie. You don't fancy the most wonderful woman ever to grace this undeserving earth, you adore her. I did not love you at first sight. Love at first sight is a myth created by bad authors and hormonal teens. I have come to love you over years as I have come to know you. You are kind and good. You care for others and refuse to be cruel even to those who are cruel to you. I have known you for years and yet to this day my heart starts to race when you smile at me. The very fact that someone as beautiful, kind and intelligent as you would even consider being my friend has amazed me for years."
"I have one more thing to say." he continued." "Then I will let you go if you want me to."
"When I was falling from that tower in Egypt the last thought I had before I passed out was how much I was going to miss you."
Ron removed his arms from the chair and rocked back on his heals looking at the floor.
Harry and Ginny where standing at the doorway by the dorm stairs having followed Ron down. Harry looked around the room and all the girls were crying and he was pretty sure that both Neville and Seamus were as well.
Ron looked up at Hermione. She had both of her hands covering her mouth and was still crying.
Well at least she hasn't jumped up and runaway yet.
At that point Lavender spoke up "I swear to Merlin Hermione if you don't kiss him I will."
Laughter rolled over the common room.
Hermione however looked sharply at Lavender and then threw herself out of the chair at Ron.
Ron barely had to wrap his arms around her before she kissed him.
The moment their lips touched he felt a shock go through him.
How can her lips be so soft? How can her skin be so warm? How can she smell so good?
As their kiss deepened Ron lost all sense of time and place, overwhelmed with warmth and joy.
"I can't believe I have to stand here and watch my brother snog his girlfriend." he heard Ginny laughing.
At that the rest of the Gryffindor's started to howl with laughter.
Ron and Hermione broke off their kiss but neither laughed. Ron was looking at Hermione who just looked stunned.
I swear she gets more beautiful every second.
Ron heard Ginny's voice rise above the laughter. "What I want to know is how my great big git of a brother suddenly became so smooth?"
"I personally think he took a Bludger to the head this summer." Harry snickered.
"Maybe it was all those chocolate frogs he ate." chipped in Seamus
Hermione reached out and brushed Ron's hair back her eyes widening in surprise.
"Ron is that an earring you're wearing?"
Ron smiled "Yeah I got it in Egypt. Do you like it?"
Hermione blushed "Yeah I do it's kind of sexy."
"Hermione I will thank you not to use the word sexy in a sentence about Ron." Ginny started.
"I blame Bill for this, you go off with him to Egypt for three months and you come back with an earring and you have a girlfriend the first night of school. What other surprises do you have for us my dear brother?"
Ron blushed and looked at the ground rubbing his arms.
Ginny walked over to where he was still kneeling and grabbed his arm quickly pulling up the sleeve.
"Great Merlin you got a tattoo?" she all but shouted.
Everyone started to talk at once.
"What is it of?"
"Where is it?"
"Did it hurt?"
"Does Mom know?"
"Ok calm down everyone it's no big deal. I got two tattoos one on each arm. I will show you guys once but then that's it."
Ron took off his robes and pulled his shirt over his head. "If you are going to see them right I need to take my shirt off. They sit pretty high on my biceps."
"You didn't hear me complaining." Lavender said softly
Hermione shot Lavender a look but Lavender just laughed.
"Just because I won't eat your food doesn't mean I can't admire what you ordered." laughed Lavender.
It was said so matter of factly that Hermione had to chuckle.
Each of Ron's biceps had a large gold lion sitting. On the left arm there was a silver otter sleeping and on the right arm there was a silver stag sleeping. The appearance was of the lion guarding both of them.
"Hey Harry isn't your Patronus a Stag?" called Neville.
"Yeah it is." Harry answered with a huge grin. Then he said "Hey Hermione isn't your Patronus an otter?"
Hermione just blushed and nodded. Then she reached out and traced a finger around the gold lions.
"They are magical as well. If either Harry or Hermione are in danger the lions will stand up."
"That is the coolest thing ever." Dean said enviously.
"Now that you have gotten half naked and made your love life public are you ready to tell us what happened in Egypt?" Seamus asked.
Ron laughed "Sure everybody grab a seat."
"Do you want your shirt?" Hermione asked
"Nah it's warm enough in here without it."
Ron sat down on one of the couches and reached for Hermiones hand. With a smile she took his hand and he pulled her into his lap. She laid her head on his shoulder with a smile and he turned to the crowd.
"Harry mate come sit here please. There are parts you know that I don't and it would help things make sense. Bring Ginny with you as well, she always knows more than most people."
"It started with the fight at the Ministry."