Ron sat across from Hermione, watching her eat and laugh with the others who had come. Along with Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny, Ron's entire family was there. Added to the crowd were Seamus, Dean, Neville, Luna, Angelina, and Katie. There was hardly any elbow room, but the meal was delicious and everyone was happy and having a good time.
Hermione laughed again, and Ron looked up from his overflowing plate. That laugh got him every time. Throughout the meal he had been stealing glances at Hermione, and it may have been his imagination, but he thought she saw him steal a couple of glances, too. No way. Ron thought. She must see me glancing at her…I've gotta stop this! She's my best friend!
"Earth to Ron…wake up!" said a voice to Ron's right.
"Wha- Oh, I'm sorry Dean, what were you saying?" said Ron, coming out of his stupor.
"You up to a game of Quidditch?"
"Yeah, of course! Who else is playing?" asked Ron, glad to have something to take his mind off of Hermione.
"Harry, you, Ginny, Seamus, Fred, George, Katie, Angelina, Hermione, and me," replied Dean.
Ron nearly choked. "Hermione!"
"Yeah, is there a problem with that?" Ron swung around to see Hermione standing there with a broomstick in her hand.
"Uh, no, of course not! It's just that you never want to play Quidditch. You hate flying!"
"Well, I have to learn sometime, now don't I?" said Hermione, her free hand on her hip.
"Well, yeah, I guess," replied Ron, red creeping up his face showing how embarrassed he was at questioning Hermione.
"I am going to need someone to help me, though. Ron, would you help me while we play?" Hermione asked, cocking her head to one side.
"Uh…sure, I guess," said Ron, wondering how he was going to be able to keep his mind off of her if the only way he had to clear his mind was suddenly invaded by exactly what was always on his mind.
The ten of them kicked off, Harry, Seamus, Fred, Angelina, and Ginny on one team, and Ron, Hermione, Dean, George, and Katie on the other team. As the players flew around, tossing the quaffle back and forth, Ron flew next to Hermione and shows her the ropes of the game. His nearness to Hermione for such a concentrated amount of time gave Ron butterflies in his stomach. He passed them off as just nerves due to the fact that he had to watch out for her, along with watching out for himself and the quaffle.
"Hermione, duck!" yelled Ron as Fred sent a bludger his way. Hermione ducked down, and nearly fell off of her broom. She hung upside down from her broomstick, shaking.
"I got it, I got it!" shouted Harry as he grabbed the golden snitch. The players all slowly descended to the ground, save Ron and Hermione, who were trying to get her right-side up on her broom so she could make the descent safely.
"Here, drop your legs so you're just hanging on with your arms…that's it. Now, I'll raise my broomstick so you can sit on it. There you go," said Ron, getting Hermione safely onto his broom. As they descended, Hermione grabbed Ron's waist for extra security. He could feel her entire body trembling with fright.
When they were safe on the ground, Ron put a comforting arm around Hermione's shoulders and led her to a lawn chair that was sitting next to a fire pit. "Why don't you sit here for awhile and calm down. I'll bring you some lemonade."
"Thanks Ron," mumbled Hermione, looking down at the ground. Ron figured that this must have not only been frightening, but embarrassing for Hermione. She was so good at everything, that when there was something she found that she wasn't good at, it embarrassed her to show that weakness in front of others.
"I wonder what possessed her to try to play Quidditch," said Ron to Ginny and Hermione as he walked by to get the lemonade he had promised Hermione. "She has always been afraid of flying, and she hates to show her weaknesses." Harry shook his head, showing that he had no idea. Ginny just shrugged her shoulders, but Ron could swear that he saw the tiniest hint of a smile on her face.
Ron brought Hermione her lemonade and took a seat next to her. "I'm sorry Ron. I don't know what got into me. I had no business trying to play Quidditch when I'm so afraid of flying. And now here you are, trying to take care of me when there are all these guests here."
"No, don't worry about it Hermione. You're okay, and that's all that matters. I think I'm going to start the fire. Will you be alright if everyone comes over here?" Hermione nodded, and Ron went towards the house to collect more chairs for by the fire.
Later that night, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Dean, Seamus, and Neville were still sitting by the fire. Neville and Luna had left, saying that they both had to get up in the morning. The twins, Angelina, and Katie had gone inside to look at Fred and George's latest inventions.
"I sure hope that those girls are still alive at the end of the night," said Ginny, looking at the house. "I really don't get what they see in those two."
"What do you mean?" asked Ron, oblivious. The rest of them snorted.
"You don't see what's going on?" asked Hermione, flabbergasted. "They fancy each other! Everyone can see it."
"So I'm not everyone," huffed Ron. The others looked everywhere but at Ron and Hermione. They could see that another row was starting, and they did not want to get into the middle of it.
"I never said that, Ronald. I just meant that most people can see what is plainly in front of their eyes!"
Before Ron could retort to Hermione's comment, Harry burst in, ready to end the row before it got too bad. "Okay, we get the point. Ron, now you know what's going on between the twins and the girls. Thank you, Hermione, for pointing that out to him. Let's drop it and go on to other topics." The others gave him grateful looks.
"School this year is going to be so weird, what with no war and all," said Ginny.
"Yeah, we're going to have so much weight off of our backs," replied Harry.
"Finally! Now maybe you can all concentrate on your schoolwork," smiled Hermione.
"Ha, I don't think that's going to happen," replied Seamus. "This year I'm concentrating my new found energy into Quidditch."
"Hear, hear!" shouted Harry, Ron, and Dean.
"Well, I guess you do deserve some fun after the war," Hermione conceded.
"This is enough for me," said Ron. "Sitting around a campfire, in the open, smiling, talking with friends. It's like heaven."
"I agree with you, Ron," said Hermione. "I'd much rather just sit here and relax, and be with friends." As she said this she looked directly at Ron, who was glad for the dark night and dancing campfire light that masked his rising blush.
"Well, I must be off. My mum will kill me if I stay out too late," said Seamus, stretching after sitting so long by the campfire."
"Same here," echoed Dean. "She'll think I'm up to no good if I'm not home soon."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny watched as Seamus and Dean Apparated home. For a couple of minutes, they just sat there, staring into the flickering flames. The campfire was almost like the light at the end of the tunnel. They had been through so much together. They survived, and now shared this light that celebrated that survival.
Ginny yawned. "Well, it seems that I am ready to go to bed. Have a good night everyone, see you in the morning!" Ginny got up and walked toward the house. As she did, Harry started to get up.
"Bed sounds good to me, also. Goodnight and I'll see you at breakfast." Harry walked up the slight hill to the house, and Hermione and Ron continued to sit there. They both gazed into the fire. Well, Ron also gazed across the fire, and watched Hermione as she gazed into the fire. As he watched the reflection of the fire flicker in her eyes, he thought about how the fire illuminated her face just perfectly. Suddenly, Ron saw Hermione's eyes meet his, and at the same time they both said, "I'm sorry."
They both dropped their gaze to look around for a bit. Neither of them had really ever apologized before, and to do so at the same time somewhat unnerved them.
"I should have never gotten so worked up about what you said. I knew what you meant. I just felt so stupid, not seeing what everyone else did," said Ron, still averting his gaze from Hermione.
"No, I should have never said anything to make you feel ignorant." Hermione cracked a sly smile. "It's not your fault that you're so dense."
"Dense? Who are you calling dense?" replied Ron. He gave Hermione one of his lopsided smiles that girls fawned over.
"You, of course. Or are you so dense that you don't even know how dense you are?" As Hermione said this Ron got up from his chair.
"That's it, you're going to get it now," Ron said as he moved toward Hermione's chair. Hermione got up just in time and Ron chased her to the house. They both slowed down to a walk as they neared the house, not wanting to wake anyone up. They stood outside the door, and just before walking into the house, Hermione got on her tiptoes and kissed Ron on the cheek.
"Goodnight, Ron. See you in the morning." Hermione walked into the house, leaving Ron behind, his hand on the cheek she had kissed.
"Goodnight, 'Mione," he said to himself.