Chapter 20

Hermione closed the door of her room and sighed.

What was it about her and Ron? They had been flirting for ages. They had been flirting, even before the kids their age knew what the word meant. Hell, they had been flirting even before they actually knew what flirting was. And now…well now he was doing that again! He was charming her in a way he needed no actual magic for. And he knew it worked, didn't he? She was falling for him again. Wait! She wasn't. She had never stopped loving him, so technically she couldn't be falling, right?

And what was that whole thing in the corridor the other night? He had…he… but
Hermione Granger stuttering in her own thoughts! That's a first!

NO! Thou shall not think about Ronald Weasly! Understood?

She bent down and started to make her bed when suddenly feeling, rather than seeing, another presence in the room. She straightened up, adrenaline pumping through her veins and reached for her wand. When someones hand landed on her shoulder from behind, she quickly swung around and shouted: "Petrificus Totalus!"

Seconds later she faced a petrified Ron, who was giving her a rather glareish look, or was at least trying, since the body-binding spell gave him little chance to do so.

She smiled sweetly. "Oh! Sorry Ron! Didn't realise it was you!"

Ron glared at her some more, but lost his balance as Hermione poked him in the chest with her finger. The glare was replaced by panic, as he toppled onto the bed. Hermione decided that he looked too helpless like that and removed the spell with a flick of her wand.

She had expected Ron to give her a lecture about not hexing her boss, but instead his face was once again showing her that mischievous grin of his.

"For a moment there I thought you were going to take advantage of me in this… position of total helplessness."

"In your dreams Ron!" She said, offering her hand to pull him up.

Ron took her hand. "Well, in my dreams…" Instead of getting up he pulled her down on top of him. "…it happens quite often." He rolled her underneath him.

See this is exactly what I was talking about earlier. If this is not flirting, then what is? This is too obvious… even for Ron! This is almost beyond flirting! This is…

Her brain didn't have more time to process the thoughts she was having, because Ron had leaned in closer and now their lips were only inches apart.

"I'm sorry Ms. Ganger! I totally forgot about you and Mr. Weasly!" Niles had just walked in. "Oh… I'll…come back later…I'll just go now…" He closed the door behind him and left, but the moment was already ruined. Ron got up and pulled his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… Actually I came to tell you that I'm going to take the first watch." He looked somewhat nervous as Hermione got up and straightened her clothes.

"Yeah, fine. Come wake me up, when it's my turn."

"Yeah. I'll just hope your wand is out of your reach." He grinned at her, having obviously gained his composure and left, muttering, "Good night", when closing the door.

If Ron had gotten back to normal in a matter of seconds then Hermione was still shaken by he whole 'thing'. Ron was definitely doing something to her mind and that was far from good. Whenever they were closer than one meter from each other, she got butterflies in her stomach and could swear that she must have been allergic to his touch. Whenever they accidentally brushed hands, she could just feel the tingling run all over her body. This was far from normal and should not be happening. She should be as cool as she was when she was with Harry. She could handle it, when she and Ron were meters away and there was someone else in the room with them. On such occasions, he acted like a perfect gentleman. Okay, so not gentleman, but still all Ronnish, instead of flirting with her. She had to draw the line. No flirting with Ron, unless he said that he lo… Wait! That'll never happen. It's just her mixed up emotions. It was just Ron's way of dealing with stress and since there was no other female around, other than her and Ginny, he just had to settle for her. It would be so much easier if he were gay! With that last knowledgeable thought she fell asleep.

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Ron closed the door to his room and leaned against it. He was losing it! What was that all about? Pulling her down on the bed with him… almost kissing her…thinking about… no…stop it! That was sheer insanity! If somebody had asked him to testifybefore the Wizengamot, he would have claimed temporary insanity.

He was supposed to walk in, tell her in a business-like manner that he'd take the first watch and ask that, would she, so kindly take the second, wish goodnight, and walk out. Almost kissing and…thinking to do god-knows-what-else with her, was never part of the plan. He was supposed to professional, take responsibility for his actions and keep his bloody hands away from her. With Hermione around that seemed like the most difficult task in the whole wide world. Didn't she know what she did to him? Just by standing there, smiling and throwing those witty comments at him. The moment, she said 'In your dreams Ron', was the moment he lost it. He lost his mind. Totally and completely. And the worst thing was – he liked it. He wished he could just be as friendly with no other intentions towards her, as Harry was.

Harry. He should be in the corridor, not leaning against the door, dreaming about Hermione.

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After two hours of patrolling, rather pacing, back and forth in front of Harry's doorstep, nothing had happened. He was so bored that he even tried to listen in on, whether Ginny was in Harry's room or not, but he didn't hear a sound. That morning Harry had convinced him that he had nothing but good intentions towards his sister. He had decided it was time to let Gin go and stop being that overprotective towards her. His brothers would do that for him.

He checked his watch. It was time to go, wake up Hermione. He almost groaned at the though of going to her room, finding her asleep there in that little thing she called a night-gown. It was more of a shirt…a way too short T-shirt that in Ron's very imaginative mind, when it came to Hermione, showed more legs than was good for his health to see.

He walked to the door and opened it slowly. He stepped in and walked to the bed, only to find Hermione fast asleep with moonlight playing on her face. He would wake her up now. Any second now, he would say: 'Hemione, it's time to wake up', in his most professional voice and give his tired body some well-deserved rest. He would shake her arm now. Any moment now. Very soon, he'd just give her a few more minutes. He stood there, mesmerised, watching her sleep.

Forget it! He just couldn't do it! He turned away, before he could come up with another silly thing to do…like kissing her, and walked out of the door, closing it behind him. As he stepped out, he almost run into Niles, who had obviously been down to the kitchen to make hot coca for himself, as Ron could seconds later feel, the hot liquid all over his shirt.

" I'm sorry sir. I'll get it washed in a moment."

"Ne, ne. It's all right. " Ron flicked his wand against it and the stain was removed, instantly.

Niles bid him goodnight and walked back to his room, slightly surprised about what he had just seen.

Ron muttered "Muggels"(Spellchecker offering: Muggers), and started to make his way back to Harry's door when he heard a small noise from inside Hermiones room. He stood still, holding his breath, wondering whether he should bustle in. The noise failed repeat itself in ten minutes, so he walked to Harry's door to keep watch once again.

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Hermione woke to the silent summer voices of birds singing outside her window and bright sunlight hitting her face. She opened her eyes reluctantly, fully waking from her beautiful dream. The dream had been about Ron. He had come in and looked at her… She shook it off. It was morning and no stupid fantasy/dreams were allowed! It was morning! Strangely she didn't remember waking up and patrolling every two hours. Something had probably happened and she had been sleeping! What if Ron and Harry are... No, it can't be! It just can't! She jumped out of bed and grabbed her wand from the nightstand. She was about to take off when she noticed something that hadn't been there in the evening, when she fell asleep. An envelope. She hesitated, but slit it open nonetheless. Out came a drawing. The woman on the drawing was her, sleeping. Hermione dropped it and it glided onto the floor, light as a feather. It took her a few moments to realise what she had been so nervous and worried about before she found her 'present', but when she did she grabbed the drawing and sped to Harry's room.

No signs of fighting, her brain registered, as she opened the door. The bed was made and hadn't been slept in. She turned on her heel and headed towards Ron's quarters. For a moment she found herself thinking whether she should knock to avoid finding Ron with little or no clothing at all. She could almost laugh at herself for doing that, if there wasn't the worry of finding Ron and Harry dead somewhere. She reached the door and opened it. Ron's bed hadn't been slept in either.

She searched the whole of the second floor, but didn't meet a soul. All the rooms looked like they hadn't been used, except Ginny's. It was still messy and showed signs that somebody had actually been sleeping in it.

She rushed down the stairs, almost braking her foot in the process and reached the dining room doors. She pushed open the double doors expecting to find a bloodbath of some sort, but instead she walked into a perfectly normal moment - Harry, Ginny, Justin, Colin and Ron sitting at the table having breakfast. She just stood there, panting, in her miniature night-gown, her hair a huge mass of curls hanging down her shoulders, her wand raised and clutching the now crumpled drawing of herself in the other.

Nobody made the slightest sound. They were staring at her, wide-eyed, until Colin let out an approving whistle and Ron smacked him hard on the arm.

"Ron…we…need…to…talk." She panted out.

Ron, unable to speak, nodded and got up, leading Hermione back to the living room.

"What has he got that I haven't?" Colin asked with mock surprise plastered to his face.

"It's more like what you have got." Justin said grinning, pointing at his camera.

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