Harry poured his morning coffee with an odd sense of melancholy and day-dreaming. He had received an owl from Hermione earlier in the morning, saying that she would be arriving at the Burrow soon. Apparently, she had written to Ron as well, but the message was never received. Harry's stomach turned in the grim knowledge of what had happen just the night before. The eeriest part of it all was, not a sound evaded from the room.

"Good morning." His head spun around to Regina, who walked into the kitchen in an old button up shirt that fell just above her knees. He recognized it as Ron's, but the new figure it embraced was tantalizing and chillingly beautiful. He stared at her with a certain awe and swallowed his throat. A long fiery red braid was all he could see as she started to pour herself a cup of black coffee and sip it slowly. She turned back to him with those icy blue eyes and asked "Sleep well?"

"Y-Yes…" he took a seat at one end of the kitchen table, cradling his mug in his hands. "And you?"

"Yes I did," she sat down at the opposite end and smiled at him softly. "It's been a while since I've been home, so sleeping in my old room made me feel a lot better."

He nodded a little, taking a sip or two of coffee and watched her move. She lifted her slender fingers slowly to drop a sugar cube into her drink. He played with the rim of his own mug and stared out the window, soft and wistful trying to take his mind off her. She took another sip and declared: "I don't mind it so much if you think about me."

Harry jolted up with a surprise. "P-Pardon?"

"Not to be rude, but I can read your thoughts. And they are quite oblivious at that. And I have a freckle on my left hip if you want to be a little more accurate." Harry felt his jaw drop and he swallowed hard. A deep crimson flushed over his cheeks and he looked down shyly to his cup.

Regina watched him, almost laughing at this pure shyness that over took the Great Harry Potter. She had read about him when the nurses would get the news papers, or from the daily letters from Mum or Ron. But he was the Boy who Lived in person- and all he could do was blush and think about what she looked like in panties.

Maybe she just expected more from him. In every letter that he wrote, Ron told her how great a guy he was: how brave, how loved, how perfect. But he seemed like the average Joe in front of her eyes; timid, passive; unsure of how to act in front of her. This didn't seem like the traits of a hero, maybe it was because of all the fairy tales nurses would tell the patients at the hospital. Something to make them dream about when they weren't spitting food or screaming like, well… Crazy people.

"I'm sorry for my behavior…" He murmured quietly, pushing his cup to and fro on the table. Regina rose her eyebrow quizzing his apology. "I-I shouldn't be thinking of you like that… Not when you and Ron…"

"Hey Harry!" He perked up at the call of his name as a more normal Ron entered the room. Ron's face was more vivid and lively, a flush of healthy red rose in his cheeks and he grinned from ear to ear. A breath of relief left Harry's lungs, he was gazing at his best friend again. But still, something seemed… Different. He watched as Ron walked across the room, poured himself a cup of coffee and kissed Regina on the lips, as if nothing was wrong with it. Harry turned his face away and blushed slightly. "Did you sleep ok? Sorry I was a bit of an ass to you last night."

"It's alright Ron," Harry tried to ignore their obvious PDA, keeping his mind clean and out of Regina's reach. "Did you get Hermione's owl?"

"Hermione sent an owl? When?"

Regina jolted up slightly, a stretch of jealousy clear across her face. "Who is Hermione?"

"No one, Regina. She's just my friend from school?"

"Then why is she coming here?"

Harry sensed a rift in Regina's calm manner, and kept sipping as Ron spoke. "Reh ni tseretni on evah i."

"Norym, ehs si ohw neht?"

"Dneirf ym si Enoimerh…" He said softly, "Xaler os."

What ever he appeared to have said, did not calm her one bit. She left out a frustrated huff and sat down again. She played with the rim of her cup like a child, and pouted till she was going to get what she wanted. Ron sat down with her and started a conversation with Harry. "So when is 'Mione coming?"

Harry shrugged. "She said she was coming today."

"Today! Ah hell, does Mum know?"

"She has the spare bed in Ginny's room made up as usual, so I guess she'll be sleeping in there. Is your sister still mad at me?"

"Not that I know of…"

"Does Hermione stay at the Burrow often?" Regina interjected with sudden vigilance.

Harry nodded a little, trying to keep the conversation free from an angry air. "I do too, it's a lot better then staying with my own family."

"What is wrong with your family?" Not good enough? She knew his parents were dead, but his immediate family must have been nice to him.

"Those cunts?" Ron snorted into his coffee sup. "Lot of good they are, I've seen them myself Regina… His uncle is a volcano of lard, his aunt looks like a horse, and his cousin is an even fatter dunce…"

Regina frowned. She hated when Ron spoke so lowly of family. Yes, her own family sent her to that mental ward, and yes: She was separated from Ron for seven long years. But that didn't mean she didn't love her mother or father, or her other brothers and sister. It just meant that they did something bad, and she loved Ron more. She couldn't help it if they weren't so excepting of their relationship. But Ron hadn't seem to forgive them for the endeavor…

"Apologize about families, Ron."

Ron looked at her and frowned. "No."

She repeated, only slightly different: "Norym seilimaf tuoba ezigolopa …"

"Anierym ton lliw I…" Ron snorted, unfazed by her demand.

She pouted like a child, this time declaring. "Then I shall hate you until you do!"

Ron kissed her again, as if it would make her forgive him. But in the midst of it, the door opened. "I swear Ronald you should at LEAST have the decency to…"

Hermione Granger was stopped dead in her tracks when she witnessed Ron kiss a total stranger.