Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Ron woke up and felt Hermione's eyes upon him. He turned and looked toward her and gave her a faint smile.
"How are you feeling this morning?" Ron asked quietly.
"Much better, thanks to you," Hermione replied, blushing slightly.
Ron wondered what Hermione was blushing at, and then looked at himself. He had forgotten that he was in his pyjamas.
"Why didn't you just admit that you didn't feel well last night?" asked Ron.
"I don't know, I guess I just didn't want to have everyone's attention, and to have everyone doting over me," said Hermione.
"Well, you didn't admit that you were sick, but you have it anyway."
"I know, and thank you," Hermione replied sheepishly.
"Now, to check your temperature," said Ron, getting up. He got out of his bed and walked over to hers and kissed her on the forehead. She still felt a little warm, although it was much better than last night.
"What are you doing?" asked Hermione.
"You mean you don't know about this?" asked Ron. He was amazed that Hermione wouldn't know the home thermometer trick.
"No, I mean, I noticed last night, but I was just too tired to say anything. My mom always used a thermometer. After a minute it would beep, and a digital readout would tell you your temperature.
"Well, I like this way better," Ron said, smiling. "Now, you lie down and get some rest, and I'll bring you up some breakfast. How's your stomach feeling?"
"It's just fine, although I am a little hungry," replied Hermione.
Ron went down to his room to change into some real clothes, then he went to the kitchen. As he was putting a tray together with toast and a little bit of orange juice, Ginny walked into the kitchen.
"How's Hermione feeling this morning?" asked Ginny.
"Much better, although she still has a little fever, and she still looks tired," replied Ron.
"I think it's wonderful how well you're taking care of her. It's probably just what she wants. I know that if I was sick, I wouldn't want anything more than for Harry to take care of me like this," said Ginny.
"Don't let Mum hear you say that!" smiled Ron. He picked up the tray and headed up the stairs to Hermione.
Ron opened the door quietly, in case Hermione had fallen asleep again. "Mione?"
"I'm awake, just come on in," said Hermione. Ron heard a growl coming from inside the room. Hermione blushed.
"AHA! So I'm not the only one that makes those noises!" proclaimed Ron.
"Oh, shut your mouth," said Hermione. Ron handed her the tray and sat on his bed, watching her.
I hope I'm not doing too much. What if Ginny's wrong, and Hermione doesn't like being taken care of like this? Does she think I'm being too pushy? Ron's face hardened a little at these thoughts, as if he were in concentration. Hermione gave him an odd look.
"Is everything alright?" she asked, her brow furrowed at Ron's facial expression.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Ron replied, snapping out of his train of thought.
"Good, then will you please stop staring at me like that? I love you an all, but it creeps me out when people watch me eat."
Ron laughed. "I'm sorry." He busied himself by making his bed and straightening out the room. He felt a gaze on him.
"Mione, I don't like it when people watch me clean," Ron said in a snotty voice. He heard Hermione laugh. She set down her tray and put her hands in her lap.
"I'm sorry, it's just something I thought that I'd never see, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss a second of it!"
At that comment, Ron picked up a nearby pillow and threw it at Hermione. She caught it with ease.
"Ronald Weasley, you don't throw pillows at sick people!"
Ron strode over to Hermione's bed, put his face about a foot away from hers, and said, "I do when they're being snotty!" When he said "snotty" he spit a little. Hermione groaned and wiped the spit from her face.
"Eeew! Ron germs!" squealed Hermione.
"You don't seem to mind my germs when I do this!" Ron pressed his lips ever so firmly on hers. Hermione held for a little bit, then she broke away.
"Ron, I'm sick," she said quietly, still looking at his lips.
"I don't care," Ron replied, kissing her again. This time Ron felt Hermione melt into the kiss, and he broke away reluctantly. Hermione moved over to one side of the bed, and Ron sat next to her. Hermione put her head on Ron's shoulder.
"Ron?" said Hermione quietly.
"Yeah, Mione?"
"Thank you for taking care of me. It means so much to me, and it feels good to have someone dote over me like this," she said, snuggling closer to Ron.
Ron put his arm around her shoulders, "You're welcome, it's been my pleasure."
The two sat there for awhile quietly. After a couple of minutes, Ron looked at Hermione's face and saw that she was asleep. Not wanting to get up and disturb her, Ron figured that he might as well close his eyes and take a nap as well.
Ron awoke about an hour later to a knocking at the door. As the door opened he could hear Harry's voice. "Mate, I know you love her and all, but can't you keep your hands off of her for two minutes! She's sick!" Harry finished opening the door. When he saw a sleepy-eyed Ron with his arm around a sleeping Hermione, he stopped and whispered, "Sorry Ron, I didn't know she was sleeping."
"It's alright. Hey, my arm is falling asleep, do you think you could help me?"
Harry walked over to the bed and helped Ron ease his arm off of Hermione's shoulders without moving Hermione more than necessary. Hermione shifted a bit when Ron's arm was taken away, but continued to sleep soundly. Harry then steadied Hermione's legs and Ron took her shoulders and they lied her down and covered her up on the bed. Ron saw a faint smile on Hermione's face.
"One moment," Ron whispered to Harry. He quickly wrote a note saying that he'd be back to check on her in awhile, so Hermione wouldn't be worried when she woke up and Ron wasn't there. Then he nodded at Harry and the two left the room.
"So, what do you want to do?" Harry asked Ron.
"How about a game of Quidditch? Just one-on-one? We haven't done that in ages!"
"You're on! I hope you don't mind be pummeled!" said Harry, racing to get his broom.
Ron went to the shed to get his broom and met Harry out in the large field behind his house. "Okay, we'll play one "hoop" each. If I get it in that tree, I score, if you get it in this tree, you score. But I really don't see that happening anytime soon," Ron said with a wry grin. He pointed out the two trees. "First one to….10 goals? How does that sound?"
"Sounds great…see ya up there!" Harry said as he kicked off toward the sky. Ron quickly kicked off behind him. Harry had been carrying the quaffle, so Ron quickly got to his tree to defend it. Harry threw the quaffle hard, but Ron's keeper reflexes allowed him to catch the ball easily.
"Remember, you may have been the younger seeker in 100 years, but I'm still a keeper!" Ron warned. He flew toward the tree Harry was guarding.
"Oh, but you're forgetting something. You may be a keeper, but I've got – oof! – talent," retorted Harry as he caught Ron's attempt at a goal.
The two had been playing for an hour, and the score was only 2-1 in favor of Harry. Ginny came outside with her hands on her hips. "Is this all that you're going to do all day? Play Quidditch without me!"
"Of course not! Get your broom! You can help Ron here, he needs it!" said Harry, smiling.
Ginny went to the shed to get her broom. When she had it, she ran to the field, kicked off, and joined Harry and Ron in the air.
"I have a better idea than helping either of you," said Ginny, a mischievous look on her face.
"Do I want to know?" asked Ron.
"You'll find out if you want to or not," said Ginny simply. She flew back to the ground and went into the shed one more time. The boys looked at each other, shrugged, then went back to playing. Ron was zooming toward Harry with the quaffle in his hand when he felt a whoosh next to his ear. He turned his head and Harry grabbed the quaffle out of his hands. Ron hardly noticed, because he saw what had nearly beaned him: a bludger. Ginny had gotten the bludgers out and decided to play beater. Not only was she going to not help either of them, she was going to go out of her way to interfere with them both! Of course, she's going to go for me, because I'm the brother, and not the boyfriend. Wow, boyfriend. Harry is Ginny's boyfriend. That sounds so weird…
Just then, a bludger hit Harry's leg and he wobbled on his broom. Okay, so maybe she will go for Harry. Ugh, that sounds so dirty… Ron shook the thought out of his head and went back to the game. He took advantage of Harry's moment of weakness and grabbed the quaffle from his hands, like Harry had done just minutes before. Ron scored, then started to descend.
"What're you doing mate? Do you realize that I'm still winning?" Harry asked, befuddled.
"We've been out here for almost two hours. We're never going to get to the end of the game, and I wrote Hermione that note saying that I would check on her. Can you imagine what she would do if I didn't check up on her because I was playing Quidditch!" Ron exclaimed. He touched the ground, put his broom back into the shed, then hurried into the house. Did I seriously just end Quidditch early so I could see Mione? Bloody Hell I must have it bad!
A/N: Thanks to those who keep reading and reviewing! I have had a couple people ask if the last chapter was it, and no it was not. I will let you all know when the last chapter has ended. Hopefully by then I'll have an idea for another story! But don't worry...this story will keep coming!