Hello! Not much to say really, I hope everyone is well. I am in the process of packing up to move here soon, so I've been a bit busy!

Again, thanks to Accio, Be11a, and Cheesy, who are the kind souls who helped with beta-ing this fic! Go check out and comment on their fics! New or old stories- comments are great to get- even if a word or two!

I (unintentionally) lied in the last chapter's A/N though- we are still not caught up on the first chapter of the OG PS, and I'm pretty sure we will be getting there next chapter!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

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"Oi!" Ron hissed as something hit him in the back of the head. It was Friday, it was the last class of the day, and he had been dozing off. When he looked to the floor he saw that what had hit him was a crumpled up piece of notebook paper. He turned to see Dave smirking at him from the back row, and Ron shot him the bird as he smirked back.

Snape, their science teacher, had forbidden them from sitting next to each other, so they sometimes resorted to passing notes back and forth. Ron turned back around, and using his foot, pulled the piece of paper under the desk before leaning down to grab it off the floor. He glanced at Snape, who was still droning on, and when he felt it was safe, Ron unfolded the paper to read what Dave had written.

You coming to the party tonight?

Ron grabbed a pen, and trying to be inconspicuous, wrote his own message under Dave's.

Hell yeah, I'm there!

Just when he was about to crumple the paper up and throw it back to Dave, a shadow fell over his desk. When he looked up, he saw Snape standing there, glaring down at him.

"What's that Weasley?" he asked in a cool voice even though his eyes were narrowed in irritation.

Ron shrugged. "Well sir, it looks like paper- but I don't know, maybe it's a secret map or something?"

Glaring even further, Snape grabbed the paper and unfolded it, his eyes scanning the contents as his long oily hair fell in front of his face. He looked down at Ron, who was leaning back in his seat as cool as a cucumber.

"Detention on Monday, Weasley," he said before turning around to head back to the front of the room.

"Why?" Ron shot back, even though he knew that he should keep his trap shut. Snape disliked him, and it seemed as if he were always waiting for Ron to step out of line so he could punish him. "Because I get invited to parties?" Ron asked in a sarcastic tone. "I bet you've never been invited to a single party in your entire life, sir!"

Snape froze, and Ron could feel the tension in the room. It was like every student in there had stopped breathing and were waiting to see what would happen next. Ron turned to glance at Dave, whose awestruck mouth was wide open. Snape turned around, his face red. He lifted his arm and thrust it towards the door.

"Out!" he bellowed, his eyes wild.

Ron bent down and grabbed his backpack up off of the floor to put away all of his stuff. He took his time, as if he were in no hurry, and he could tell that this aggravated Snape even more. Once he was done, he stood up and turned around to the rest of the class as he started walking backwards towards the door, giving several exaggerated bows.

"It was lovely to share class with you today, everyone!" he said, a smile on his face. "I'm sorry, but I must leave you now!"

Ron saw Dave in the back clutching his stomach, erupting into hysterical laughter. Ron knew he was trying to stay quiet even though it was nearly impossible by the way he was laughing. The rest of the students were either gaping at him, or finding it funny as well, and he even saw a few girls eyeing him in a way that made him think that they were impressed.

"OUT!" Snape snarled, apparently fed up over Ron's slow exit.

Ron reached the door and opened it, throwing Snape a salute before entering the hallway and shutting the door behind him. He knew the drill by now, and he turned left to head to the Principal's office. When he reached the front desk, he watched Ms. Sprout let out an audible sigh at the sight of him.

"Mr. Weasley, what have you done this time?" she asked, shaking her head.

Ron put on his most charming smile. "As if I would ever do anything to warrant being sent here."

The woman shook her head, exasperated. "All you have to do is keep that smart mouth of yours shut, and you would be fine."

"Ah, you know I can't resist," Ron said sheepishly. "This time, I can take the blame, but the last few times? I didn't start it!"

Ms. Sprout held her hands out. "It's not me you have to explain this to. Go on ahead, she's not with anybody right now."

Ron smiled. "Good, we all know that the chair across her desk belongs to me."

The woman let out a loud laugh before covering her mouth as if she had been wrong to find his words funny. "Go now Weasley, you comedian, you," she muttered.

Ron walked to the Principal's door and gave it a couple of knocks before opening it and sticking his head in. McGonagall was sitting at her desk doing paperwork and didn't lift her head.

"By the sound of that knock, I have a strong suspicion as to who you are," she said, still not looking at him. "I had a feeling that you would be coming to see me today- the last few days have been too quiet."

Ron stepped all the way in and shut the door behind him. "Have I told you that you look extremely lovely today Principal McGonagall?"

The woman looked up, her lips pursed in disapproval. "Ronald Weasley. You should know by now that flattery doesn't work with me. What have you done?"

"I was passing notes in class," he said as he plopped down in the chair in front of her desk. "And then after I got caught, I might have accused Snape of being jealous of me." McGonagall opened her mouth to say something, but Ron continued before she could. "But in my defense, Dave passed the note first, and Snape never busts him, it's always me!"

The woman sighed as she sat back in her seat. "I could sit here and waste my breath like I have many times before Ronald, but I'm tired today so I'm going to skip that part. What do you think your punishment should be?"

Ron put his hand on his chin in contemplation. "I guess a week's detention?" he suggested, knowing that if Snape were to try and have a say, it would be closer to three weeks. Detention was only for an hour after the end of the school day. It wasn't too bad, but he didn't like going simply because when he did he lost time with Hermione.

McGonagall nodded. "Very well then. Every day next week. Since the last bell rings in ten minutes, you can go ahead and go. Don't leave the grounds until it rings though."

"Of course," Ron responded, and McGonagall waved him away with a gesture of her hand. "Great chatting with you," he added, chuckling.

"I better not see you in here again," she responded.

Ron left McGonagall's office and walked back to Snape's classroom to wait for Dave. It wasn't long before the bell was ringing and all of the students were hurrying out. When Dave spotted Ron, he let out a loud laugh and came to clap him on his back.

"Ron! What you did in there earlier? It was fucking great!" He elbowed Ron in the side. "After you left, I even heard a few birds in the corner saying that you must have big bollocks in order to talk to Snape like that."

Ron shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "Reckon it's true," he said with a smirk.

"Anyway," Dave went on. "My Uncle Peter is going to get us lots of booze for tonight. You want to come over now and hang out until the party?"

Ron thought of Hermione and shook his head. "Can't. But I'll meet you there later."

Dave nodded. "Alright, see you then."

Once outside, Ron walked to the bike rack and unlocked his bike. Ever since befriending Dave at school, Ron had been going to his parties and was now considered a 'regular' there on Friday and Saturday nights. Dave was known for being the school's 'bad boy' but when Ron had gotten to know him better, he found that there was more to him than that. Sure, he wasn't any parents' dream friend, he drank and smoked and partied, but he was pretty nice, and he shared Ron's crude sense of humor. He also was fun, and Ron enjoyed spending time with him both in and out of school. Ron passed a group of students who would also be at the party tonight.

"See you at the party, Weasley," they called out, and Ron smiled and waved at them.

As he continued, his thoughts turned to Hermione. He had tried many times to get her to come to one of these parties, but she was vehemently against the idea. She claimed that she would, under no circumstances, drink alcohol when she was legally not allowed. Ron had told her that it was fine, she didn't have to drink, but still she refused. She had always told Ron that she just didn't enjoy spending time with people her own age besides him, and even though he felt a bit flattered about this, it also frustrated him. She should at least try to fit in with his other friends. What was so hard about that?

Ron rode the few blocks from school towards his street, but instead of heading to his own house, he went to Hermione's. As he parked his bike on the sidewalk, he saw that neither of her parents' vehicles were there but hers was. Smiling, he walked up the sidewalk and let himself in the front door, not even bothering to knock. He walked upstairs, trying to be loud enough so that she would know that he was there as she was easy to spook. When he made it to her room, her door was open, but instead of her being hunched over her desk as usual, she was standing up, putting what looked like new books on her giant bookshelf. He walked up behind her, planning to hug her from behind when she spoke.

"I know you're there, Ronald."

He reached out a hand to grab hers, turning her around and pulling her to him, wrapping her in his arms.

"Of course you do," he said into her hair. "You know everything."

She pulled away from him far too soon for his liking, her face lit up with excitement. "I finished my work early today and I drove to the book store and bought some new books!" she squealed as she picked three books from her bookshelf and showed them to him.

They both sat on her bed as she started explaining the summaries, or whatever it was about them, but Ron wasn't really paying much attention to her words. Even though he couldn't care less about her bloody new books, he loved when she got excited like this. Her happiness was infectious, and he swore he could watch her animated face forever as she rambled on. When she was finished talking about her books, she asked him about his day, and he admitted that she had gotten in trouble with Snape again, which earned him a reproving look. He managed to change the subject pretty quickly though, and they started talking about the upcoming party.

"I want you to come," he said, giving her his best puppy dog eyes.

She shook her head. "You already know that I won't Ronald. It's not my thing, and frankly, I don't even know why it's your thing."

He huffed as he fell back on her bed. "Why cant you ever have any fun?!"

He regretted the words as soon as he saw the look that crossed her face.

"Do we not have fun together Ron?" she said in a hurt voice. "We have spent hours and hours of our lives together, and you're telling me that none of that was fun?"

Ron reached over and grabbed her hand and brought the back of it to his lips. "No. Of course that's not what I meant," he said earnestly, his lips on her skin. "I have more fun with you than I do anyone else, honestly! Just never...party fun."

She gave him a small smile as she pulled her hand away. "Like I said, I'm just not interested, and I'm sorry."

"Fiiiiiinnnneeee," he groaned. "I guess I'll just have to tell you how I kicked everyone's arse at beer pong again without you seeing it for yourself."

She laid down next to him, reaching out to ruffle his hair with a laugh. "You're so dramatic."

He turned his head. Her face was close to his- much too close. Ever since that day several weeks ago when he first realized that he was in love with her, he had had to keep himself in check so he wouldn't say or do anything that would let her know his true feelings. Right now, being so close to her and looking into her eyes, it was all he could do to not lean forward and kiss her. He wanted to- wanted to so badly that his whole body ached. He sat up and cleared his throat, the temptation too great.

"Okay. I guess I'll just pulley you after the party?" he asked, trying not to sound too disappointed.

She sat up too. "Good. You know I sleep better when I know you're safe in your bed." She laid her head on his shoulder, making his insides grow warm with affection.

He put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest, and she was a perfect fit. "We'll do something together tomorrow then, yeah?" he asked. He almost felt like skipping the party altogether just so he could stay here and spend time with her, but ultimately decided not to. He didn't want to be too obvious with his feelings, and if he never hung out with anyone else besides her, she might start to suspect the truth.

"Sure," she answered. "Anything you want."

"No schoolwork?" he asked her, leaning back to give her a pointed look.

She rolled her eyes but nodded her confirmation. "No schoolwork."

Ron leaned down to kiss her on her forehead, closing his eyes and allowing his lips to linger there several seconds before pulling away.

"Okay, well I'm going to go shower and get dressed then," he said with reluctance. "Why don't you read one of your new books while I'm gone?"

She let out a teasing laugh. "Ronald Weasley, it's like you know the inner workings of my heart."

If only, he thought.

He stood up, and she did as well. Knowing that he had probably already hugged her too much in a short period of time, he opted to squeeze her hands with his instead before telling her goodbye and stepping back. He made his way down the stairs and out her front door, feeling like he was leaving a part of himself behind every time that he walked away from her.

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A short while later, Ron arrived at Dave's house. The party was already in full swing, and as usual, Ron went straight to the beer pong table in the front room. As he entered, several of the regular party go-ers let out groans, making Ron smile. He was well-known for being great at beer pong, and no one had beat him yet. These parties were like a whole new world to Ron who, until recently, had never partied. He had found out pretty quickly that he quite liked drinking, even if he had crossed his limit several times and regretted it the next morning. When he was drunk, he was happy, everyone else seemed happy, and he loved the atmosphere.

He watched as a couple headed upstairs together, wicked smirks on their faces. He knew that people were having sex in the bedrooms, which was something that he tried not to think about. He hadn't done that before, of course, though the idea excited him. He occasionally felt eyes on him from girls around the room, but he always stuck to playing beer pong with the boys, not having enough confidence to try and flirt with anyone.

He was sixteen bloody years old. He hadn't even kissed a girl before and he felt pathetic. He figured that he would eventually build up enough courage to do so one day, even though truthfully the only girl he wanted to kiss was Hermione. Although he had seen many pretty girls, both at school and at parties, he had yet to have any real desire to do anything with any of them. To him, they might as well have been another species entirely, and even if he was interested, he had no idea how to approach any of them.

Several games later, Ron was tipsy, if not drunk, and as usual, was beating every single person he was playing against.

Dave walked over next to him, a smile on his face as he nudged Ron with his elbow. "That bird's been checking you out for the last few hours," he whispered, his eyelids drooping with happiness, and Ron could tell that he was both drunk and high.

Ron turned and was surprised to see the same girl that had given Hermione a dirty look at the shopping centre on his birthday. He had seen her around since that day, and it did seem as if she were always staring at him.

Dave nudged him again. "Go talk to her mate, she wants you."

"She wants me?" Ron repeated, drunk and still not grasping the concept. He realized that he probably shouldn't have drank as much as he had.

"Definitely," Dave confirmed. "Go get her."

He nudged him towards the girl, Ron stumbling and almost losing his balance at the unexpected push. He recovered quickly though, and headed over to the girl, trying to walk straight. When he reached her, she gave him a shy smile.

"Hey," he started. "You were staring at me."

The girl's eyes widened, and he knew that it had been the wrong thing to say.

"That's- that's fine!" he spluttered. "I mean- really, I'm flattered."

"I suspect there's a 'but' in there," she said in a slow voice.

He shook his head with a smile. "Nah, no buts."

She studied his face. "I saw you at the shopping center a while back, and there was a girl-"

He let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, that's Hermione. She's my best friend."

Even as he said the words, they stung.

"She looked like more than a friend to me," the girl answered, her eyes studying him.

"Apparently you're not the only one," he muttered, thinking of the twins and Ginny and every bloody one else thinking that they were together when the reality was he had zero chance.

"So she's not your girlfriend?" she asked, eyeing him with a hopeful look.

He shook his head. "No, she's not."

She looked happier. "So, apparently you're the king of beer pong?" she asked, taking a sip of her own drink. He wasn't sure what it was that she was drinking, but it smelled strong.

"Fuck yeah!" he puffed out his chest with pride. "That's me. Want to play?"

She took a step closer to him, her hand landing on his chest, making him gulp.

"No. I'd rather snog," she answered, her eyes blinking up at him.

"Sn-snog?" he stuttered, shocked at the sudden turn of events. Sure, he figured that she fancied him a bit, but he hadn't expected to be snogging her tonight. He only worried about that for a moment, because before he could think more on it, she was on her tiptoes and pulling his neck down and smashing his lips against hers.

His hands instinctively went to her waist as he tried to keep up with her mouth. She was really going at it, her tongue pushing into his mouth. There were no fireworks, and he certainly had no feelings for this girl, but he found that he rather liked snogging. Her tits were pushed to his chest and he felt himself growing aroused, and his grip on her waist tightened. They went on like that for a while, but finally he broke away, unable to breathe.

"I like you Ron," the girl panted, a smile on her face. "I've liked you for a while actually. I think we should give this a try, don't you?"

Ron's jaw dropped. He hadn't seen this coming. Granted, he hadn't seen the snogging coming either, but he knew that he needed to end this before it even started. It wasn't fair to drag this girl along when he was in love with somebody else, no matter if that love was not reciprocated.

"Listen," he said in a low voice, both not wanting to hurt her feelings, and not wanting her to freak out. "I'm not- I'm not that kind of guy."

She furrowed her brow. "Not what kind of guy?"

"The- the boyfriend type. I have- uh- commitment issues, you see, and-" The girl's face started turning angry and hurt. "The snog was excellent!" he added hurriedly. "I just- I don't want to be in a relationship, that's all."

She pushed him away. "I wasn't asking you to marry me," she said in a bitter voice. "I was just hoping for a date or something."

He shook his head. "I don't want to lead you on though. You seem like a nice girl, and you're really pretty- but it's just not gonna happen."

"Noted," she spat out before turning around and walking away.

He felt someone come up to his side, and when he turned his head he saw Dave standing there staring after the girl.

"You must really suck at snogging," he laughed, and Ron felt his ears heating up.

"No, she just wanted more than I'm willing to give," Ron responded, causing Dave to give him a quizzical look.

"Nothing," Ron muttered, no longer in the partying mood. "I don't feel good, I'm gonna go home."

Dave nodded, no longer paying attention as a pretty girl walked into the house. He clapped Ron on the back, his eyes still on the girl. "See ya later, mate," he said before walking away.

Ron made his way through the crowd and out the front door. The fresh air sobered him up some as he let out a yawn and started walking back home. It was a nice night, and everything was quiet as he started the five block walk back to his house.

Although he liked it at the time, Ron now felt sick about kissing that girl- he didn't even know her name! He felt that, in a way, he had just cheated on Hermione, even though that was ridiculous and he knew it. Now his first kiss was yet another secret that he had to hide from her.

Or did he?

He stopped walking, an idea forming in his mind. Maybe he could use this to his advantage. It was stupid, he knew, but maybe her knowing that he had kissed someone else would make her think about it, maybe make her see him in a new light. If she acted jealous, then he would know she returned his feelings, at least a little bit. And if she didn't act jealous? Well, maybe he could make himself truly move on for good, if that was even possible.

He reached his house and made his way upstairs as fast as he could while still being quiet so as not to wake anyone up. He scribbled a note to Hermione before putting it in the pail and sending it to her.

Wake up sleepyhead.

Luckily she was a light sleeper, and he never had to tap more than a few times to rouse her. She opened her window and leaned out to grab the pail, her eyes tired and her hair wild from sleep.

Hey, you okay?

I'm fine. Something happened tonight.

And that would be?

I snogged someone.

He waited with bated breath, his body almost shivering with nerves and anticipation. He watched as her eyebrows raised as she read the paper, obviously not expecting that to be his answer. It stung. By her reaction, she apparently thought he was incapable of getting female attention.

Wow. How was it?

Nice. She kind of pounced on me, but yeah, I liked it.

Well, I don't know what to say...congratulations, I guess.

You're happy for me?

If you are happy about it Ron, then I'm happy for you.

Thanks.

He didn't know what else to say, but already felt the sharp sting of rejection.

What are friends for?

'Apparently, friends are for ripping your heart out' he thought bitterly as he read the words. He had been right-she didn't care, not at all- at least not in the way he wanted her to. There was no jealousy from her whatsoever, and she was 'happy' for him. He had known that she didn't fancy him back, but still, it felt like a punch to the gut.

I wonder when you will snog someone for the first time?

He just wanted to see what she would respond with.

What is this, a race? If so, you've already won. Besides, I haven't met anyone who I would like to snog yet, so it's not like it will be anytime soon.

As he read the note, he resisted the urge to let out a frustrated groan. She hadn't 'met' anyone that she wanted to snog, so it was a safe bet that she hadn't once considered him. She probably had never even thought about the fact that he had a penis. He was just her friend, and to her, he had no potential to be anything more than that.

Ok. Well, I just had to let you know. Because I tell you everything and all.

Yeah, I'm glad you had fun Ron. What are we doing tomorrow?

Not sure. I'll come over when I wake up and we can discuss it.

Okay. See you tomorrow.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.