Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Ron and Hermione sat and held each other for what seemed like hours. In reality it was only about 15 minutes. They were so content and relaxed that they jumped when they heard the rustle of leaves behind them. It was almost as if they had woken up.

"Found you!" shouted Dean. "Did I interrupt anything?" he added mischievously.

"No, sorry mate. Nothing going on here," said Ron, winking at Hermione. He noticed her cheeks become pink as he did so.

Much to Ron's dismay, Hermione's face fell. "Nothing! You call that nothing! All that I did for you tonight, that doesn't mean anything to you?" Ron's eyes grew wide in horror. What did I say now! Dean didn't interrupt anything! Of course it meant something! I love her, and she loves me, but we were saying that as Dean walked up!

Hermione walked behind Dean so he couldn't see her face. Ron assumed that she felt like she was going to cry and didn't want Dean to see, but when Dean wasn't looking at her, Hermione caught Ron's eye and winked. Ron decided to play along.

"Well, I mean, it's not that it hasn't been done before…" Ron trailed off. Dean looked intrigued by the conversation going on between the couple.

"What? Did you just say what I think you said!" Hermione said quietly, but dangerously. Ron could nearly see the steam coming out of her ears, and he was sure that Dean noticed it too. Wow, is she a good actress, thought Ron.

"Oh, c'mon Herm. It's not like other girls haven't –"

"RONALD WEASLEY YOU KNOW I DON'T LIKE THAT NAME, AND I DON'T CARE WHAT OTHER GIRLS HAVE DONE TO YOU, DO TO YOU, OR DON'T DO TO YOU!"

Dean's eyes were lit up. Ron could tell that he wanted to know every detail of what supposedly had happened between Ron and other girls. In truth, nothing had really happened, except that embarrassing incident with Lavender during their 6th year. Ron looked at Hermione and saw that her face was bright red, and she was breathing hard after her yelling fit.

"Mione, you know that I've never –"

"Just shut up Ron. Keep your bloody trap shut! You know, maybe going out with you was a mistake. You obviously don't care about me, or what I do for you, so maybe we should just call it quits," said Hermione. Ron was becoming nervous. This was way too real. He wished that Dean would turn away so Hermione could give him another wink or other sign that told him that she was still acting.

"Dean?" Hermione said. Dean got a nervous look on his face. Hermione's shouting was fun when it wasn't him that was about to be yelled at. He had nothing to worry about, though.

"Yeah?" Dean replied cautiously.

"Are we the first ones that you found?"

"Yeah, you are."

"Good, then I'm off to find the others. Ronald, I hope that you get lost and a Blast-Ended Skrewt finds you before you figure out where you are," said Hermione. With that, she sauntered off, careful to look at the stars to make sure she was headed in the right direction.

Once she was out of sight, Dean whistled. "Wow mate, that was quite the row you had. Tell me, what did you do to make that happen? I know you denied something, but what could be that bad?"

Even after all that, Dean wanted to find out what Ron and Hermione had done in the woods.

"I don't know what I did, or didn't do," replied Ron, looking at the ground. He started to feel somewhat nauseous. The fact that Hermione had left made him wonder even more if she really was upset at him. "I just told her I love her and—"

"Wait, you told her that you love her? Mate, what did you do that for!" asked Dean.

"Because I do," said Ron simply. "I love Hermione." The words felt wonderful coming from his mouth. He wanted to say it again, but feared that Dean would think him crazier than he already thought Ron was.

"But look at what happened! She broke up with you, mate. Now it was all for nothing," said Dean. He started to walk toward the edge of the forest in the same path that Hermione had.

"I think I'm going to catch up with her, and try to fix this," said Ron.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, mate. Don't you think she wants to be left alone?"

"Usually that's the case, but this time I need to talk to her right away," said Ron as he hurried to catch up with Hermione.

I hope she was really just acting. Oh, please let her be just acting… Ron started to jog, and by the time he caught up to Hermione, he was panting.

"Ron! Why are you breathing so hard?" asked Hermione as she stopped to let him catch his breath.

"I…gasp…had to…gasp…catch up with you," said Ron, regaining his normal breathing pattern.

"Why on earth did you have to do that?" asked Hermione. Ron realized that Hermione was mad at him.

Bloody hell, now I have to explain myself…

"Welllll, I ah…"

"Oh, Ron, you can say it."

"Ithoughtthatyouwerereallymadatme," mumbled Ron quickly, hoping Hermione wouldn't hear, but be satisfied. His efforts were not rewarded, though.

"What did you say?" asked Hermione carefully.

"I thought that you might really be mad at me, but I can see now that you're not, so let's just forget it," said Ron, looking at the ground.

"Oh Ron, you didn't have to be worried about that, I was just going along with the game," Hermione said, chuckling a bit. She put her arm around Ron's shoulders, and Ron sighed.

"What is it now?" asked Hermione with a concerned tone in her voice.

"I just can't believe I was so stupid! I mean, I was the one who started the bloody game, but you were just so damn convincing…."

"Ronald Weasley," chided Hermione at Ron's swearing.

"Sorry," he said meekly.

They stood there for a bit, waiting for Dean. When he caught up he looked at them suspiciously.

"What's going on here?" he asked, surprised at the contact between Ron and Hermione. He still thinks were on the outs, thought Ron.

"Dean, it was all a joke. Nothing's wrong. We're fine," said Hermione.

Dean looked from Hermione to Ron, then from Ron to Hermione. His mouth opened into a huge grin.

"What?" asked Ron.

"You did it! You actually did it Ron, and Hermione didn't run away!"

"I did what, Dean?"

"You told her you loved her!" exclaimed Dean.

"Ssssso?" stumbled Ron.

"Mate, we've been waiting for this for years! I mean, first you two start dating, which we've all been waiting for, and now this! Next thing you know, you two will be married, just wait," said Dean excitedly.

Ron went stiff at the word marriage, and he knew that Hermione felt it, since her arm was still around his shoulders. He peeked at her with the corner of his eye without moving. He saw Hermione's eyes open wide. I wonder what she's thinking. Is she scared at the idea of marriage? Disgusted? I mean, I've always hoped that we'd end up there…someday. Talking about it now is way, way too soon. Bloody hell, Dean…

Hermione took her arm from around Ron's shoulders. "Why don't we go and find the others?" she suggested quickly. She also seemed a little stiff. Ron hesitated, then took her hand as they walked out of the woods. They both walked off, preoccupied, as Dean hurried ahead in search of the others.

A/N: Sorry for the long interim between chapters, but you'll have to live with it :) I'm back at school, and the homework load and work load are much bigger, but I promise to get the chapters out as soon as I can! Thanks for staying with me!