When Harry and Ginny returned that evening; Hermione and Ron were sat on the sofa tucking into the chocolate cake Kreacher had made them.
Ginny headed into the flat first, followed closely by Harry who was pretending to cover his eyes. "Is it safe?" Ginny smiled as she crossed the threshold.
"Why would it not be safe?!" What did you think we'd be doing?" Ron couldn't help but smirk at Hermione as he said this. She was sprawled on the sofa wearing only Ron's newest Christmas jumper and a pair of knickers, her legs thrown casually over his lap. The jumper reached mid-thigh, but he was finding this sexier than if she were naked and if Ginny and Harry hadn't chosen this moment to come home, he probably would have fucked her right there on the sofa. Instead he helped himself to another forkful of cake off the plate they were sharing.
"Well I don't know... romantic meal, chucking us out of the flat for the evening. Harry was worried he'd have to decontaminate the whole flat - or move out, which ever was easiest!" Ginny helped herself to a slice of cake and hovered in the living room. "Which would have made me sad because I like having this place to come to..."
"Only 'cos mum wouldn't put up with you having Harry in your room unless you were married..." He scowled at his sister. "Not sure I should be allowing it; you should be sleeping in the spare room..."
Ginny made eye contact with Harry and smirked slightly. "Yeah alright, and I'll tell mum exactly what you two have been up to tonight..." She laughed as both Ron and Hermione blushed. "Good night, don't stay up too late - we have a midday train to catch..." She laced her fingers with Harry's and led him to their room.
Ron scoffed, feeling quite indignant. "She's bloody younger than me..."
Hermione laughed and fed him the last bite of the cake. "And they've been doing this a lot longer than us..." She watched as he predictably raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything more.
Ron paled. "She told you?"
"Oh yes," she smirked. "We're dorm mates now, and us girls gossip about everything. I can't wait for that long train journey back to Hogwarts tomorrow..." She put the empty plate back on the coffee table and started to get up from the sofa. "Come on you, I need help packing the last of my things..." She gave him a quick kiss before leading him back to their room.
The next morning, Ron woke early to the sound of Hermione humming. He frowned momentarily as the bed was empty but then he spotted the door to his ensuite was open. Smiling, he stretched then slid out of bed; not bothering to put any clothes on. He stopped at the door to the bathroom and knocked on it.
"I'm missing you in bed..." He smiled down at Hermione, who was sat in a bath full of bubbles.
"I woke up early and I didn't want to wake you so I thought I'd have a bath before breakfast..."
"Can I join you?" Ron didn't wait for an answer, but grinned as she shuffled forward to make space for him. He climbed into the bath behind her and pressed a few kisses against her neck. "You okay?" He slid his arms around her and closed his eyes happily.
"A bit sore, but I'll survive..." Hermione rubbed his arms softly.
"I'm sorry..." Ron started, but Hermione shook her head.
"Please don't be - last night was so special. I'm very glad we started having sex... it's just going to make it a lot harder for me to leave you this morning..."
"Ah I know, but I'm prepared... I've got the list of all of Ginny's Quidditch games as well as the Hogsmeade dates and as soon as I start training I'm going to make sure I book them off. I'll be seeing you as soon as February and that's theoretically less than a month away now." He pressed another kiss against the back of her neck. "Plus it will only be seven more months and your exams will be over and then you can move back here for good."
"I guess it's not that long really. Just feels like a while..."
"Can you imagine how good the sex is going to be after 7 months away from it?!" Ron teasingly slid his hand over her lower stomach, pouting playfully as she swatted it away.
"Is that all you can think about?!" Hermione laughed and laced her fingers with his.
"Well now I know how good it is..." He frowned momentarily. "Actually, I thought about it a lot before... probably since the Yule ball actually..."
Hermione let out a mock gasp. "Ronald!" She laughed happily, resting her head back to look up at him. "And when I'm home we'll look for a place of our own, yeah?"
"Yep!" He kissed the tip of her nose. "And then I can make an honest woman of you and we can start working on that massive family we're going to have!"
"At least 10, yeah?" Hermione grinned up at him, her eyes sparkling.
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice love, I am a Weasley after all..." He went to laugh but then frowned. "Hermione, last night... did you, you know - do a charm?"
Hermione paused for a moment, chewing her lip as she thought about it. Eventually she shook her head. "No, but it's okay. Last year, before I came to the Burrow I visited my GP - that's a muggle doctor - and put myself on the pill. They regulate periods but their most important job is to act as a contraceptive."
"Why? Expecting some romance in the tent were you?!" He wriggled his eyebrows at her with a smile.
"No..." She frowned before hesitantly continuing. "I guess I was concerned that being the only female, I'd be more at risk of some forms of torture that you and Harry wouldn't be..."
Ron took a moment before frowning too. "But they didn't, did they?!" He all of a sudden looked angry, his hands curling into fists in the water.
Hermione pushed herself up quickly and turned to kneel between his legs in the water, ignoring the cold brush of air across her skin. "No, oh Ron of course they didn't. They did a lot of awful things to me..." Her finger moved to the Mudblood scar on her arm, almost out of habit. The scar had faded over the past few months; but hadn't disappeared completely and Hermione wasn't sure she wanted it to go completely. "But not that. It was just in case..."
Ron sighed and pulled her as close as he could given the awkwardness of the bath. "I'm sorry that you even had to consider it, but I'm glad you were prepared." He pressed kisses against every inch of skin he could get to. "I'll learn the charm; you shouldn't have to take a pill just because I'm lazy. My dad always taught us to think with our brains and not with our willies after all..." He grinned when this had the desired effect and Hermione started to laugh.
They stayed in the bath together until the water got cold. Their goodbyes were short, Hermione and Ginny had decided to go to Kings Cross alone this time to save time, but eventually they were on their way back to Hogwarts.