Mrs. Weasley had been watching Ron and Hermione out of the corner of her sparkling eye on Dumbledore's orders; she studied the whispered conversation between the two and noted that at one point, both of their faces had turned a dazzling scarlet color. She smiled to herself as they hurried out of the kitchen heading in different directions, Those two can't see what's right in front of them, she thought as she followed their retreating backs with her eyes, Ron was running to his room and Hermione was going to bury herself in the study with the trunk load of books she had brought with her. Sighing to herself, she turned back to the stove and resumed cooking.

Before Hermione's arrival, she had received an owl from Dumbledore explaining the importance of Hermione's stay at The Burrow. He didn't give a lot of details but somewhere in his research; he had unknowingly stumbled upon an instance that could help Harry defeat Voldemort. If everything was as the Headmaster expected, Ron and Hermione could be the basis of an ancient magic, closely resembling the one of Harry's mother's sacrifice on the night of Voldemort's downfall.

Half an hour later, Hermione seemed to be deeply immersed in Hogwarts, a History but really her mind was spinning, what just happened? Was that just an accident? What if he thinks…oh no no, he can't possibly know…

"Erm, mind if I join you?" Hermione looked up to see Ron standing uncomfortably in the doorway waiting for her response.

"Oh! Of course not! Come on in!" she said very flustered as she indicated the open seat beside her.

He smiled and sat down on the other side of the small couch, "Thanks" he said as he settled in his spot.

After a couple of seconds Hermione asked, "Um Ron? Where's your book?"

Ron, who clearly hadn't thought of this minor detail, hurriedly grabbed a book from the small desk beside him, "Oh! Here it is!" he said with fake enthusiasm, he cracked open the book and stuck his nose in it.

Hermione was having a hard time controlling her laugher now, "Ron?"

He looked up and his face was bright red, "Yeah?"

"Why are you reading a Muggle phonebook?"

Slowly, Ron looked down at the large book in his hands. Then he raised his eyes to Hermione's face, he gulped and said, " I…uh…was looking for Harry's number."

"In a Norwegian phonebook?"

Ron gave her one of his lopsided grins, "No wonder I couldn't find it!"

Hermione laughed, "Ron why did you come in here if you didn't have a book?"

"I…uh…uh…I just…" Truthfully, he had been checking on her, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

"Never mind now, just borrow one of mine, okay?"

Ron gazed at the large old volumes laying on the floor, " Aww 'Mione do I have to?"

Hermione laughed again, "Don't worry, I have just the thing." She rummaged through the stack of books and pulled out a set of brightly colored ones, "Here, I brought these just for you."

Ron looked down at the titles, 'Spiderman', 'Superman', and 'Teen Titans'. "What are these?" He asked.

"They're comic books Ron! Muggle boys read them."

Ron nodded and opened the first one, Hermione watched him as he read noting the amused expression on his face change to a concerned one and then into a relieved one. About 15 minutes later he closed the book and smiled at Hermione, "Wow that was really good 'Mione! Thanks a lot!"

She smiled back at him and scooted just a tad closer to him on the couch just as Ron scooted a tad closer to Hermione.

Ron picked up the next comic and began to read so Hermione cracked her book open once again. After a couple of minutes they both scooted closer to each other again and that continued for awhile until they ended up with their legs and arms touching, a jolt of electricity shot through both of their bodies. They both sensed neither of them was reading anymore.

Finally Hermione spoke, "Ron?" she wasn't laughing anymore.

"Yes 'Mione?" he sounded worried.

"What's going to happen to us?" she asked, voicing the concern she had been harboring all summer.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Ron asked, knowing perfectly well what she was talking about but was surprised to hear his private worry spoken aloud after a long couple of weeks.

"I mean, we both know that something happened at the Ministry that we don't understand." Hermione said as she watched Ron's face out of the corner of her brown eye.

"I know that 'Mione" Ron sighed, the visit to the Ministry was still fresh on his mind.

"What if, what if Harry has another dream and it's just a trap? What if we get captured by Death Eaters? What if one of us ends up hurt or…or dead?" Hermione choked slightly on the last word and Ron could tell she had been waiting to ask him this since her arrival.

"Hermione." Ron said after a moment, trying to think of what words of comfort he could offer his friend, "I can't promise that none of that will happen, but I can promise that I'd never ever let anyone hurt you without me doing everything I can to hurt them back."

Hermione burst into tears, "Oh Ron." She sobbed, her shoulders shaking.

Acting on an impulse, Ron snatched Hermione into his arms, slipping his long freckled arms around her waist and just holding her. He felt like that was what she needed. After awhile, Hermione pulled back and looked him in the eyes, which gave Ron the opportunity to see how tired she looked. "'Mione you haven't been sleeping well lately have you?"

Hermione shook her bushy head; "No I haven't slept a full night in weeks, to tell the truth."

Ron was shocked that she hadn't been sleeping either, "Have you- have you been having…nightmares?"

Hermione nodded again, silently willing the tears in her eyes to go back into her head, "The same one, over and over."

Hermione was surprised to hear Ron say, "Me too."

Hermione gasped, not quite believing that they both had been having nightmares about the Ministry. "Does yours have anything to do with those brains?"

Ron shook his head, "No, I always dream about…you getting hit by that curse." He admitted. "Hermione, I may not have been thinking straight, but when you got hit by that curse something inside of me was telling me you weren't dead and that if I could just get to you, you would be alright. I tried to get to you but those…things just held on tighter."

"I always dream about you getting attacked by those brains. It's so scary watching them latch onto you arms and your chest and not letting go. And…and I feel like I'm experiencing everything you are. That's how I felt at the Ministry too."

Ron drew a quick breath; I've been feeling that same thing since the Yule Ball!

He opened his mouth to say just that, but Mrs. Weasley called them to dinner.

They both came to their senses and noticed that Hermione was practically sitting on top of him and Ron's arms were still around her waist. Hermione covered the awkward moment quickly by giving him a quick hug and saying, "Thanks Ron, you're a fantastic listener. I really needed to get that off my chest." They walked out of the room together, following the smell of dinner that was wafting down the hall towards the kitchen.

As the pair exited the room Mr. Weasley, who had received a letter of his own, quickly emerged from his hiding place and with a strange look in his eyes, quickly apparated down the stairs into the kitchen. Good old Dumbledore, I think he's right again.