Ron got out to the lake to see Harry and Ginny splashing around. "Where's Hermione?" he asked. He had taken extra time to change, and thought that she would be out there already.
"I don't know mate, wasn't she with you?" asked Harry, smirking. Ron's ears turned a little pink.
"Well, maybe she's just being a slow-poke. She'll come soon enough," said Ron, although he was thinking just the opposite. It wasn't possible for her to come soon enough.
After about 5 minutes, Ron got worried. Where is she? Is she hurt? Did she fall and slip on something in her tent? Ron's brain was filled with images of Hermione lying on the floor of her tent, unconscious. "I'm, uh, I'm going to check on the fire and, ya know, make sure it's not too big," said Ron.
"But Ron, we can see it from here, it's just fine," said Ginny, but Ron was already out of the water and walking toward the girls' tent. Harry and Ginny gave each other knowing smiles.
Ron stood outside of the tent. What am I doing? She's just getting ready! Ron tried to calm himself down. He noticed that he didn't hear any noise coming from inside the tent, though. Shouldn't I be able to hear 'Mione moving around? Ron wondered to himself. "Hermione?" he asked nervously. "Are you in there?" There was no answer, Ron opened the tent door ever so slightly, "'Mione?" But there was no one in the tent. Ron looked back toward the lake, but Hermione still wasn't there.
"Harry, Ginny, Hermione's not in here!" Ron called, trying to think of what could have happened, while at the same time trying to not think of what might have happened. Ron looked back into the water, and saw Harry and Ginny splashing around, oblivious to what Ron was shouting. Ron ran into the water panicking. "Harry, Ginny, she's gone!"
"What are you talking about, Ron?" asked Ginny.
"Hermione, she's gone! She's not in her tent!"
"Ron, I'm sure she's there, why don't you just go and look again," suggested Harry.
"Harry, I just looked and SHE WASN'T THERE!" shouted Ron.
"Ronald Weasley, what are you shouting about!" Ron spun around, and there was Hermione, her head poking out of the tent.
"'Mione!" shouted Ron as he ran to the tent. He stopped right in front of the tent, breathing hard. Ron couldn't resist, he pulled Hermione into an embrace and said, "Where were you!"
"I was right here, silly," said Hermione. "Now, will you let me breathe?" she asked in a strained voice. Ron pulled away, bright red from the tips of his ears to the nape of his neck. Ron couldn't believe what he had just done. Bloody hell, how could I have done that! Way to stay cool, Ron! He looked passed Hermione into the tent and saw something on Hermione's sleeping bag.
"What are you doing with Harry's invisibility cloak!" exclaimed Ron. Hermione just gave him a wicked smile.
"Did I worry you?" asked Hermione, trying to sound serious, but cracking up. Ron turned even redder, if that was possible. He turned around and looked at the lake to see Harry and Ginny laughing. Ron couldn't help it, he started laughing, too. After a little bit, Hermione stopped laughing and looked at Ron curiously. "Did I worry you?" asked Hermione again, this time a little more seriously.
Ron's ears turned pink again, "Well…yeah, you did. I guess it's just reflex, ya know, with the war and stuff. Although now that it's over and I know that you're safe, 'Mione." Ron looked away from Hermione's face. She must think I'm such a fool. Of course she's safe! We're all safe now. If I don't stop this "Big Brother" act soon, she's going to figure out what's really behind all this.
"What did you call me?" asked Hermione timidly, moving her face to catch is eyes.
"'Mione. I'm sorry, it just slipped out. I won't call you that anymore." Hermione took a step closer to Ron.
"No, I like it," Hermione replied, blushing a little bit. She had just the tiniest bit of a smile on her pink lips. Wow, she's beautiful, thought Ron. He had finally given up on trying to beat his thoughts down. They just kept coming, and it took too much energy to ignore them. Ron looked into her eyes, then he looked at her lips. He wanted to kiss them so badly, and he thought he could feel Hermione lean closer to him, but he heard a splash behind him and he snapped out of his trance. I can't do this! There are more people here than Hermione and me! I have to keep remembering that Harry and Ginny are here, and I have to keep these feelings in check. If I don't, I'll probably ruin our friendship!
Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and he drew in a large breath, surprised at the sudden contact. "C'mon, let's go!" Hermione and Ron ran into the water, holding hands until they touched the chilly lake.
Later that night, the friends were sitting around the campfire.
"So, Ginny, do you have any more stories of Ron when he was little?" asked Harry, a mischievous grin on his face.
Oh no, here we go again, thought Ron grudgingly. Ginny was the sibling that knew him the best, and she had the most stories, and she loved to share them. Especially the embarrassing ones.
"More stories? I have books of stories!" exclaimed Ginny, an excited gleam in her eye.
"Ginny, please don't do it," begged Ron.
"No, I want to hear!" exclaimed Hermione. Ginny gave a wry smile in Hermione's direction, then she hummed like she was thinking hard.
"Oh, let's see, what's a good one…Oh! I've got one!" Ron groaned as Ginny started telling the story.
"Okay, so you both know about Ron's bear being turned into a spider. Well, that wasn't the end of it. Ron would get dreams that his other animals were turning into spiders and attacking him. We shared a room when we were little, and I could hear him tossing and turning at night. Once in awhile he'd scream at the top of his lungs and bounce out of bed, hitting his animals and slapping himself like there were spiders all over him."
Harry was roaring with laugher. Hermione tried to stifle hers politely for Ron, but she glanced over at him and doubled over in laughter. Ron just scowled.
"I was little! It's all Bill's fault. He shouldn't have terrorized me like that!" said Ron, trying to defend himself.
"I'm sorry, mate. I know it was probably traumatic. But you have to admit that it's pretty darn funny now!" said Harry.
"Yeah, I guess it is," replied Ron with one small laugh. "Maybe we should hear a story about Ginny now." Ron looked over at Ginny with an evil glint in her eye. Ginny's mouth dropped open and she had a small look of horror on her face.
"Ron, I don't think they want to hear…"
"Oh yes we do!" shouted Harry with a grin from ear to ear on his faced.
"Okay, so when we were still sharing a room, Ginny used to push her blankets back and set up all her stuffed animals in a semi-circle on her bed after the lights were turned out. Then she'd have a tea party with them," said Ron. "It was quite the crowded bed. How many animals did you have in there at a time? 20? 30?"
"What Ron's not telling you is that I would invite him over for tea, and he would almost always accept the invitation," retorted Ginny, a triumphant look on her face.
"Wow, Ron. Weren't you afraid that they would turn into spiders and drink your tea before you could?" asked Harry, smiling wickedly.
"Humph," was all that Ron said.
"Oh, lighten up Ron, we all have those stories," said Harry. "I remember when Dudley used to play 'Superheroes' and I was always the bad guy. His way of fighting the bad guys was to jump on them like a wrestler." Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all winced at the thought of Dudley Dursley landing on top of them. It was not a pleasant thought.
"But you didn't have a choice, Harry," replied Ron.
"Oh, I did stuff like that, too," said Hermione. The three gave her strange looks. "No, I don't mean jumping on top of people like a wrestler. I remember that I used to have my friends over, and we'd pretend to live in an RV with our babies," said Hermione.
"What's an RV?" asked Ron.
"It stands for Recreational Vehicle. It's like a mini-house that can drive. They're really small, but I like the idea of it because everything was right at your fingertips. It would be like having the kitchen and living room all in one."
"Oh, cool," said Ron, practically drooling at the thought of a kitchen in the living room.
"Don't get too excited Ron!" chuckled Hermione.
"Well, I think it's about time for me to get some sleep," said Harry, yawning and stretching.
"Goodnight, Harry," said Hermione.
"Yah, g'night mate," said Ron.
"Sweet Dreams, Harry," said Ginny, somewhat shyly. Ron looked over at Ginny, surprised that his sister, who was so excited before, was suddenly quiet. He was a glint of the sadness he saw this morning in her face. He looked in the direction that Ginny was looking to see the tent that Harry had just entered. Then it clicked.
"No way!" Ron whispered loudly. He looked from Ginny to the tent, then looked at Ginny and pointed to the tent. "You…" His head kept swiveling back and forth between Ginny and the tent.
Ginny looked at Ron with a somber look on her face. She gave a small nod, then silently got up and headed to her tent. When Ginny was safely inside with the door zippered up, Ron looked at Hermione. "You knew about this, didn't you!"
Hermione shrugged, "She didn't tell me anything, but I could tell."
"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Ron, who had gotten up and was now pacing behind the bench he had been sitting on.
"Because I didn't know anything for certain. Besides, it's Ginny's business, not mine, to tell," said Hermione. She got up, walking over to Ron, and put her hands on his shoulders. Then she steered him toward the bench in front of him and sat him down. She sat down next to him.
"I thought she was over Harry," said Ron.
"Well, I guess not, although I sincerely doubt that this was like last time," responded Hermione.
"What do you mean?" asked Ron.
"Last time she liked Harry because he was famous. All the girls were fawning over him, don't you remember? He was, and is, a celebrity. When he arrived at Hogwarts and was re-introduced to the wizarding world, everyone was obsessed by him. Ginny just got caught up in the flow of things, and was amazed when you became friends with him."
"And this time?" asked Ron quietly. Hermione slid a little closer to Ron on the bench. Her leg was now flush with his, and he could feel a burning sensation where they touched.
"This time, she really knows him. She knows him almost as well as we do. This time, she likes him for who he is. I think that she's afraid of what she's feeling, and doesn't want to ruin the great friendship that they have formed in the past 2 years or so," said Hermione, looking into Ron's eyes. Their eyes locked together, and Ron couldn't look away.
To Ron, it was as if Hermione could read his mind. It was exactly what he had been thinking, but not about Ginny and Harry. Ton thought that he could see something different in those chocolate-colored orbs, but he couldn't tell what it was. He was getting hot, and his heart was racing. He looked away, breaking contact with Hermione's eyes and settling his heart. What's happening to me? Ron thought. He felt a shiver on his leg, but it wasn't coming from him. Hermione was shivering, and she was sitting so close that her leg kept hitting his as she shivered.
"Are you cold?" asked Ron.
"A little," admitted Hermione quietly. Ron was shaking, he hoped that Hermione couldn't tell. He slowly and gently put his arm around her shoulder, holding her to him in an attempt to warm her up and in an attempt to keep her close to him. He could feel her relax under the weight of his arm.
"Is that better?" Ron asked so quietly that it was almost a whisper. What am I doing? This isn't how we normally act! Hermione seemed to not mind, though, and Ron just kept acting on his instincts, however abnormal they were for the two of them. Hermione laid her head on Ron's shoulder, and his heart started to pound wildly. Ron wondered if she could hear it.
"What are you thinking about, Ron?" asked Hermione quietly.
Ron was panicking. How in the world was he supposed to think when Hermione was so close to him! Also, why would she ask a question like that!
"I don't know, just about how nice things are without the war, just being here with you guys." And sitting here with you, Ron thought to himself. To his surprise, Hermione nuzzle a little closer to his side. Ron's forehead started to sweat. He didn't know what to do. He was all warm and his mind was fuzzy because Hermione was sitting next to him. No, she was really in his arms. He wanted to wipe away the sweat before it got to his eyes, but he didn't want Hermione to know that he was sweating, and he didn't want to move in fear that she would leave his side. He snuck a look down at her face. Hermione's eyes were closed, and she was breathing slowly and deeply. She had fallen asleep. Ron didn't want to wake her, so he leaned against the back of the bench, closed his own eyes, and fell asleep, his arm still around Hermione.