Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, Fred, George, and Charlie, who was on vacation from working with dragons, were sitting around the Weasley kitchen table. Ron sat across from Hermione, and Harry, who was next to Ron, sat across from Ginny. Fred sat next to Ron, and George sat next to Harry. The twins kept nudging Harry and Ron, making Ron blush fiercely and making Harry turn pink. Hermione and Ginny were also pink, but instead of embarrassment, they were trying to stifle giggles.
"What's going on here?" asked Charlie suspiciously.
"Nothing – Ow, Fred! – is going on," said Ron, as Fred dug his elbow into Ron's side.
"Yeah, sure," said Charlie.
"Charlie, dear, it seems that Ron has finally asked Hermione to be his girlfriend, and it also seems that Harry has asked our Ginny to be his girlfriend," said Mrs. Weasley, beaming.
"Well, finally!" exclaimed Charlie. "I thought that you two would never get up the nerve to ask them out." Ron and Harry looked down toward their food so hard that they were actually looking at their laps. Just then, everyone heard a "pop" in the hallway. Mr. Weasley walked into the room.
"Arthur, just in time!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley.
"I'm sorry, Molly, but I had to stay at work a little longer. Someone brought in this wonderful specimen. It was one of those felly tone things, but this one works from everywhere. I think it was called a bell phone."
Hermione stifled a giggle. "Mr. Weasley, it's a cell phone," she corrected.
Mr. Weasley smiled brightly. "That's just brilliant!" He sat down to his dinner. "So, what has been going on today? Obviously you four have decided to come back."
Ron blushed deeply and glanced at Hermione uncomfortably, Harry returned his eyes to his plate, as did Ginny, but she also had the Weasley blush creeping up her face.
"Ah, so it finally happened?" asked Mr. Weasley casually.
"Isn't it wonderful dear?" asked Mrs. Weasley excitedly.
"Did everyone know about this besides us?" asked Ron, irritated.
"Yes," replied Harry. Ron looked at him sharply.
"YOU?" he exclaimed.
"Ya know, Ron, it was quite obvious. And we all knew that you would be oblivious to your feelings, but we were all surprised at Hermione's lack of noticing her feelings," said Charlie. Hermione blushed as Charlie said this. "Of course, perhaps she had her own reasons for not noticing." Hermione gave Charlie a grateful smile, and then it was her turn to look down at her plate. Ron wished that she would give him that smile, although he knew that he probably had had that smile in the past, and probably would sometime in the future. He hoped he would get one in the future.
Mr. Weasley looked at the four teenagers and saw their discomfort. "So Hermione, do you know more about these Bell Phone thingies…" Dinner went on peacefully, and with little more unease.
That night the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione sat around the campfire once again. It was a gorgeous night. It wasn't too humid, and there was a light, cool breeze taking the edge off of the summer heat. They were talking Quidditch, so Ron didn't notice the lack of participation in the conversation on Hermione's part. After finally exhausting the topic of Quidditch, Ginny brought up the open position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.
"I think Lupin should come back. He was the best DADA teacher we had," commented Ginny.
"That's true, but Professor McGonagall won't hire him. Although she was good friends with Dumbledore and Lupin, all the parents know that he's a werewolf, and would be livid if he were re-hired," reasoned Ron.
"Besides, I think he really likes where he is," added Harry, smiling.
"Where's that?" asked Ginny. Ron also looked at Harry. He had no clue that Lupin had another job.
"He's head of relations between the creatures of the forest and McGonagall," explained Harry. "This will hopefully at least keep students out of danger if they do happen to go into the forest. But don't tell anyone that that's why he's in there. McGonagall still doesn't want students in the forest."
Ron now noticed Hermione's lack of participation. This was a topic she normally would be in the middle of. Ron put his arm around her shoulders, thinking that she was just tired from a day of excitement, mainly the excitement of Mrs. Weasley. After a couple of minutes he felt her shiver.
"Are you cold?" he asked quietly, looking at Hermione. What he saw alarmed him. Even in the dark with only the light of the fire, he could see that Hermione's face was extremely pale.
"No, I'm just fine," said Hermione quietly. Or had she said it weakly? Ron knew that something was wrong.
"Are you sure? Do you want to go inside? It's okay if you do. I'll even come with you."
"I'm fine, Ronald," said Hermione through her teeth. She stared into the fire, her eyes drooping. Ron saw worried looks on Harry's and Ginny's faces, and confused looks on his family's. He could see that they were thinking the same thing that he was. Hermione wasn't well, but she wasn't going to admit it. He had to do something to get her inside.
"Well, I'm a little cold. Would you mind coming with me as I grab a sweater?" It worked, and Hermione nodded. They got up to walk toward the house. Ron's parents just smiled at him, but Fred and George started cat-calling and whistling. One stern look from their mother stopped that quickly, though, and by the time Ron and Hermione had reached the house, all Ron could hear were the words of conversation coming from around the campfire. Once they got inside, Ron steered Hermione toward Bill's old room, rather than his own.
"Ron, what are we doing in here? No offense, but I'm really not in the mood to –"
"I know, and that's exactly why we're in here." Ron motioned for Hermione to sit in the bed. "Accio Hermione's pyjamas!" he exclaimed. Soon a pair of pastel plaid boxers and a t-shirt flew into the room. "Here, I'll leave the room for a minute as you put these on." With that Ron left the room and closed the door behind him.
"Okay, I'm decent," called Hermione from inside a couple of minutes later. Ron re-entered the room, finding Hermione sitting on the bed, looking exhausted. Ron pulled the covers back from the bed, and helped Hermione climb in.
Once Hermione was under the sheets, Ron tucked her in gently, and kissed her forehead. It was burning hot.
"Hermione, how long have you felt ill? You're burning up!" said Ron in a worried tone.
"Oh, Ron, it's nothing. I'm sure that it's just a 24 hour bug or something like that," responded Hermione.
"Well, you should have told me anyway. I'm going to go downstairs and fix you some soup." Ron turned and conjured a roaring fire in the fireplace to keep Hermione warm and hopefully break the fever. As he turned toward the door to leave and make the soup he promised, he saw that Hermione was already in a deep sleep. Deciding that the soup would just go to waste, Ron pulled a chair up to the bed and held onto Hermione's hand.
A couple hours later Ron opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep by Hermione's side. Her hand was still entwined with his, but she had moved while sleeping. He let go of her hand and put the covers back over her shoulder. When he did Hermione snuggled deeper under the covers and into her pillow. A small smile graced her face. How can one be so sick, yet look so beautiful? Ron asked himself. He slowly bent down and kissed Hermione's cheek softly. Then, to check her temperature again, he kissed her forehead. It was still hot, although not at hot as before. He heard a scuffling outside of the door and turned.
Mrs. Weasley walked in, a concerned look on her face. "I was in here earlier, dear, but I saw that you were both sleeping, and didn't want to disturb either of you."
"Did you look at Hermione? Is she going to be alright? I just checked her forehead again. She's not as hot as before, but she's still hot," said Ron quickly. He paused to catch his breath.
"She'll be just fine, Ron. You've taken good care of her. I don't think it's a 24 hour bug, but I do think that it's just the flu," Mrs. Weasley said. Some of the worry on Ron's face faded away. "I did bring something for you, though." As she said this, Mrs. Weasley flicked her wand and Ron's bed and nightclothes flew into the room. He smiled gratefully at his mother. At the same time, he couldn't get the idea out of his head that Mrs. Weasley was condoning him sleeping in the same room as his girlfriend.
Oh, stop it Ron. She's sick, and you're taking care of her. Your mother would never let you do this otherwise! Despite this, Ron smiled to himself. He glanced over at Hermione, who was fast asleep, lying on her side facing the wall. He quickly changed into his pyjamas and curled up in his bed. He looked over at Hermione one more time to see that she was sleeping peacefully, then fell back into a deep sleep.
A/N: I'm so sorry this is later than I said! Things have been popping up and such. You know how it gets. Also, I know my chapters have been shorter. I've been devoid of magnificent ideas lately, and haven't had much time to develop the ideas I do have. I'll try to do better in the future. I need some more "boring time" which I surely will get soon!