A/N- Finally pushing some chaps out! This one is a long'n, and it covers a few important happenings, so I hope you enjoy!

As always, thanks to the wondermous Accio, Be11a, & Cheesy for the beta! Beta's certainly help the wordses flow betterer ;)

This chapter covers chapter 3 of the original!

oOo

Ron woke up with a head-throbbing pain. There was a rancid taste in his mouth that made him grimace in disgust, and he was fully clothed in what he presumed was last night's outfit.

Even though he hadn't opened his eyes yet, the light from his window was much too bright, and he covered his face with his arm, blocking out what he could without moving too much. Everything hurt, and by the sore muscles in his upper body, he had a very strong suspicion that he had puked his guts out last night- more than once. Just when he was contemplating gathering the strength to try and open his eyes so he could figure out what time it was, he heard his door open.

"Ronald Weasley! How dare you sneak out! I am absolutely disgusted at your behaviour!"

His mum's voice caused him intense pain, and he covered his ears, unable to handle the volume. Molly Weasley, however, had zero sympathy for her youngest son and continued ranting in her shrill voice, every word feeling like a stab to his skull.

"I woke up with a feeling that something was going on! Your brothers tried to cover for you, but I could smell the secret from a mile away, and I immediately knew who they were covering for!"

"Mum, pleaseeee," Ron groaned. He pulled his pillow over his head, desperate to make the noise stop, but to no avail.

"This whole room smells of alcohol and vomit! And just look at the state you are in!"

His mum continued for what seemed like hours, but was probably only several minutes. When she was finally finished, she disappeared with a slam of his bedroom door.

The door opened up again only several minutes later, and Ron heard Ginny's voice. "You are in so much trouble. Mum is downstairs going off like a madwoman. Dad is trying to talk her down, but you'll probably be grounded until the end of time."

Ron didn't respond to her words, instead using his sister as a means of information. "What time is it?" he asked as he pulled the pillow off of his head to look at her.

"Six thirty," she responded, handing him a full glass of water.

Ron hummed in appreciation as he took it from her, downing most of it within a matter of seconds. "Bloody fucking early," he muttered.

"Another party at Dave's?"

Ron gave her a small nod, but the action made his head pound even more. "Yeah, I-" he froze, his chest tightening, everything from last night coming back.

A sick feeling that had nothing to do with his hangover washed over him.

He remembered getting to the party and getting smashed before talking to a nameless girl who'd sat next to him on the sofa. He'd divulged his feelings for Hermione, and the girl had somehow convinced Ron to tell Hermione how he felt about her. In his drunken state, it had seemed like a great idea, and Ron remembered feeling so optimistic, so excited and sure of his plan- like nothing could go wrong. He remembered getting into the car with Dave, and he even vaguely remembered the short drive to his house, the way he was unable to stop smiling the whole ride. He remembered getting dropped off in front of his house, and then...nothing.

fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

"Gin," he croaked. "Please, I need your help."

"My help comes with a price, but sure, what do you need?"

"I need you to check my desk- around my desk- the floor, the windowsill- everywhere. Look and see if there are any notes. I need to know if I wrote with Hermione last night."

He closed his eyes and bit his lip as he prayed to every magical being there was that she wouldn't find any. He heard Ginny shuffling his stuff around and sighed with relief when she came up empty-handed.

"I don't see any, Ron. But Fred and George told me they had to carry you in from outside, so I doubt that you felt good enough to write to her after they got you into bed."

Ron let out a shaky sigh, his quickened heartbeat starting to slow. It would have been disastrous if he'd been successful at telling Hermione how he felt about her, and despite how shitty he currently felt, it relaxed him knowing that it could have been so much worse.

"Thanks, Gin. I owe you one."

"That you do." She paused. "Well, I assume you want to get back to laying there and moaning, and I have stuff to do, so I'll see you later."

Not bothering to open his eyes again, Ron waved her off, and Ginny was gone, closing his door behind her. Only several minutes later, Ron heard the sound of the pail tapping against his window.

"Ermynee," he whispered, trying to send her an apology without using the words, as there was no way that he was able to move yet. The walk over to his window might as well have been a walk up Mt Everest in his current state.

Luckily, Hermione wasn't persistent, and after the initial taps, Ron heard nothing else. He lay there in bed, still trying to conjure up last night's missing events, but was unable to do so. Before he knew it, he felt himself falling back into a blissful sleep.

He was with Hermione. They were holding hands, which wasn't unusual, of course, but there was a different look in her eyes this time, one that made him feel like, for once, his feelings were not just one-sided. For a reason he couldn't understand, he knew with certainty that if he tried to kiss her right now that she would kiss him back.

So, he did.

It was wonderful- the best thing ever. Her lips were so soft, and she tasted like...well...like Hermione. He pulled her tighter against him, and as he did, he vowed that as long as he was alive, his lips would never leave hers again- no matter how impossible that idea was. He would live off her lips, fuck doing anything else. His hand was on her lower back, and he moved it under her shirt. His hand started to creep higher to feel more of her and-

Ron was awoken by a weight sitting on the edge of his bed, and without opening his eyes, he could tell that it was Hermione. Even though he was always glad to see her, he was irritated that she interrupted the dream he'd been having. It had seemed more real than any other dream that he'd ever had, and he would have done anything to see where it was heading.

He knew that she was there to berate him for getting so drunk, but he didn't feel like dealing with it- especially after being pulled out of his bubble of bliss- the closest he'd ever be to kissing her.

"Bloody hell, Hermione, this is not the time for a lecture," he groaned, feeling guilty for snapping at her. He was crushed, and he felt like shit, but he knew she wasn't at all to blame for that. Ron opened his mouth to apologize, but she cut him off before he could.

"I didn't come to lecture you Ronald," Hermione responded in an irritated voice. "I told you last night that I was going to come and check on you first thing, so that's what I'm doing!"

At her words, Ron's heart stopped. He had talked to her last night. He had talked to her, but he couldn't remember a bloody thing.

To say that he was terrified was an understatement. There was a real possibility that he had told her that he was in love with her. What if she'd come over first thing to let him down gently? Or she had already let him down last night and had come over out of guilt to check on him? How was this going to go? He was going into this conversation blind as a fucking bat, but he knew he needed to find out what had happened.

He uncovered his eyes with his arm to look at her, his heart beating so fast that he felt like he might start vomiting again. "So I wrote with you last night? I asked Ginny to check, but she didn't find any new papers anywhere…" he trailed off, hoping that she could start filling in the blanks without him having to outright ask her. As he stared at her, he watched her face fall, and it was almost as if she were...disappointed?

She swallowed before responding. "Well, no, technically, we didn't write. You actually came to the side of my house and called for me until I came down... remember?" Ron tried with all of his might to remember this scenario, but nothing was coming to him. "You don't remember anything at all, do you?" she asked him as she let out a sigh.

Ron gave her a slow shake of his head, his fear scaling even higher. "No, sorry, I don't."

He knew he needed answers, so he tried to be brave. Gulping, he voiced the question that needed to be asked. "Did I...did I happen to say anything, I dunno - weird?"

Hermione looked confused by his question, her eyes squinted in concentration as she stared down at him. Unable to take her gaze, he looked away from her, moving his body to sit up.

"I mean, did I say anything that was, you know- out of the ordinary?" he pressed, his hands on either side of his face as he massaged his temples.

"Well, not really," she replied in a slow voice. "You told me that you missed me, and then you called me smart." At that, Ron gave her a small smile. "You also reassured me that Dave wasn't drunk when he drove you home, and then you had the brilliant idea to get him a badge for it."

Ron couldn't help but let out a light chuckle, even though he could tell she still had more to say."That's all?"

She smirked at him. "No. You told me that I smelled good, and you were kind of... sniffing my hair." He grimaced as she giggled. "You told me that you wanted to cut some of it off and shove it up your nose so you would always be able to smell me."

He looked up at her, his mouth agape. This was getting too close for comfort. "I did not."

She nodded her head, laughing at the embarrassed look on his face. "You did."

"Ughhh," he groaned as he ran both of his hands down his face. "And that's it?" He hoped she was done.

She paused before nodding her head, but Ron could tell that she wasn't being completely truthful, and she even looked a bit upset. Maybe he had told her after all, and she was just hoping that he wouldn't remember so she could go on pretending to be oblivious to how he felt about her. The thought stabbed at him like a knife to his heart, but Ron tried telling himself that if he had said anything, then Hermione would have been honest and told him the truth. Letting out a sigh, Ron laid his head back again and closed his eyes.

"Your dad gave me a time limit, so I have to go," Hermione said in a quiet voice. "I'll wait for you to use the pulley when you feel better."

When she stood up, Ron already missed her. At the dejected look on her face, Ron gave her a small smile, hoping to make her feel somewhat better. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, trying to convey that he was apologizing for getting grounded and not being able to spend any time with her. She left, and he again closed his eyes, hoping that he could get back to his dream.

oOo

Although his mum had wanted longer, his dad talked her down to grounding Ron for only a week. The week was boring as hell and other than school, Ron was pretty much bound to his bedroom, only allowed to come out for mealtimes and bathroom breaks. He used the pulley to talk to Hermione as much as possible, which was about the only positive about being stuck in his room- he didn't know how he'd be able to survive without her.

They wrote each other off and on every evening, and she had to deal with all of his complaints about how boring his life was now that he was grounded, while she repeatedly reminded him that it was his own fault.

Although she'd said nothing to him, Ron sensed that something was bothering her, and he had a suspicion that it had to do with the night he didn't remember. He'd tried and tried and tried to remember anything about their interactions that night, but unfortunately, he couldn't remember a damn thing.

As boring as it was, the week flew by, and once his mum gave him permission, Ron rushed over to Hermione's house and hugged her tight, twirling her around her room as she squealed at him to put her down while he told her how much he had missed her.

The following week, he spent as much time with her as possible, overjoyed to be able to touch her again- although it wasn't quite the way he wanted to. Although it was a busy week, and he hardly had any alone time with her, Ron was at least glad that he spent some time with her every day and planned never to get grounded again. Losing Hermione's closeness wasn't worth it at all.

oOo

Ron skipped Friday's party to spend some extra time with Hermione but decided to go out on Saturday at Dave's insistence. He, of course, invited Hermione to come along with him, but as usual, she refused. She did, however, offer to walk with him to the end of the street to wait for Dave to pick him up, and Ron supposed it was a start. When they headed out, it was already dark, and Hermione was unusually quiet as they walked.

Ron took her hand. "Everything okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

They got to the end of the street and stopped. Ron turned to face her. "You're sure?"

She gave him a small smile. "Yes, Ron. I'm just worried about you. With everything that happened at the last party…" she trailed off, and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm not drinking that much again. Trust me. I don't want a repeat of that."

At first, she narrowed her eyes as if she didn't believe him but then let out a sigh. "You promise?"

"Cross my heart," he grinned, making an X shape on his chest with his finger.

Hermione's eyes went behind him, and Ron turned to see Dave's car coming towards them. He turned back to her. "See you later?"

She nodded. "Have fun, Ron."

He pulled her to him for a quick hug before hopping in the car, waving at her as they drove away. He said nothing to Dave, not turning forward until Hermione was out of sight. He felt his ears pinken in embarrassment when he realized that Dave was giving him a curious look in the rearview mirror as he drove.

"That's your best friend, right? Hermine, or something like that?"

"Hermione," Ron corrected. "And?"

Dave shrugged. "She looked pretty sad to see you go."

Ron gulped, all of a sudden overcome with guilt. She had seemed melancholy. "I'll see her later tonight," he said, trying to act nonchalant, grateful when Dave dropped the subject.

When they got to the party, Ron went to play beer pong, kicking everyone's ass as usual. He drank, but not near as much as the last time, determined to limit himself. As he played, he noticed a girl eyeing him, and as the night went on, she didn't stop. He'd never seen her before, and when he asked Dave who she was, Dave told him that she was Charlotte's friend, and her name was Kimmy.

Once Ron was officially crowned the beer pong champion- again- he felt brave enough to saunter over to her.

She leaned against the living room wall, wearing a skin-tight shirt and a teeny tiny skirt.

"Ron," he introduced himself, sticking his hand out for her to shake.

"Kimmy," she responded, biting her lip as she took his hand.

The gesture reminded Ron of Hermione, and he felt his heart do a little flip in his chest but tried to ignore it. She was certainly not his Hermione.

She squeezed his hand, and Ron couldn't help but compare it to Hermione's hand. Like hers, it was small and soft, but something felt...off. It didn't feel right. Maybe it was because she was lacking the little calluses that Hermione had from gripping her pencils all the time, he wasn't sure.

Before he was able to say anything else, Kimmy was gripping his shoulders and pulling him to her, her lips crashing to his in an enthusiastic kiss. After a while, Ron broke away, pulling back to get some air. He had snogged plenty of girls but had never been kissed so...intensely. This girl was different, and it dawned on him that this girl possibly wanted...more.

Just when he had that thought, she turned, pulling him across the room and up the stairs to where Ron knew the bedrooms were. Once they were up, Ron saw four doors, all of them closed. Kimmy tried to open the first three, but they were all locked. Ron could do nothing except stare at her, his brain void of all cognition. She let out a huff of irritation before trying the fourth door, which was unlocked. She opened it, pulled him inside of a bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. Ron felt awkward, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Kimmy threw herself at him again, her arms going around his neck as her lips found his. They stood there snogging for a good minute before she pulled away.

"Counter," she whimpered before starting to snog him again.

Ron didn't really know why she had said 'counter', but then he realized she probably wanted to sit on it. He backed her up a couple feet, and lifted her, placing her on the counter as gently as he could manage with his mouth still busy devouring hers, her legs wrapping around his waist and pulling him closer.

"Touch me," she demanded.

Ron was confused. He was touching her. One of his hands was splayed out on her back, the other was on her hip. Not to mention, her legs were still wrapped around his waist.

"Where?" he asked, wanting to know exactly what she meant.

She pulled back and threw her shirt off, leaving her chest bare. Ron tried not to gawk at her, he really did, but he couldn't help it. He felt what had been only half of an erection harden even further at the sight of her, leaving him painfully trapped inside of his jeans.

Kimmy smirked at him. "Like them?" she asked coyly.

His eyes still on her tits, he nodded. She reached down and grabbed both of his hands, placing them on her chest. He kneaded them greedily as they started kissing again. Without warning, he felt her unbuckle his jeans and pull his cock out, humming in appreciation as she felt him. He let out a gurgle as she started to stroke him, holding tight to her hips.

"I'm wet," she moaned, gripping him harder as her hand continued to move up and down.

This was happening so fast, and Ron couldn't think straight, could only focus on the feeling of what her hand was doing. He almost audibly groaned when she removed her hand from him, his brain still not having yet caught up.

His heart stopped when she pulled a condom out of her skirt pocket and thrust it out towards him. He took it from her and held it, his eyes widening. She wanted to shag?? Sure, he should have realized this when she'd led him upstairs, but still, it was a shock. Still frozen in place, he watched as she removed her knickers from underneath her skirt, tossing them carelessly behind her before looking back at him.

"Put it on!" she demanded. "It's not going in without it!"

Ron licked his lips, his face burning as he unwrapped the condom and rolled it on. Was he really about to shag this girl? In a bathroom? Before he could think too much about it, she was wrapping her legs around him again and pulling him closer, taking his cock in her hand and positioning him so that he felt her warmth at his tip. Not having a clue as to what he was doing, Ron gripped her bum and moved forward, groaning as he slid halfway into her. As he started pumping his hips, hesitantly at first, he found that sex felt much, much better than wanking.

He still hadn't gone all the way in, afraid of hurting her, but she then slid to the very edge of the counter, pushing him in deep. They both let out satisfying moans, his face on top of her shoulder, his eyes closed as he focused on the sensation. Soon, with her encouragement, Ron was thrusting hard, and by the noises Kimmy was making, she seemed to be enjoying it, but after only a few minutes, it became too much, and Ron let out a loud gasp as he came.

When he came down from his high, he stood frozen, breathing heavily. Kimmy unwrapped her legs from around him, and Ron shuddered as he stepped back and pulled out of her. He removed the condom and wrapped it in some paper towels before throwing it in the trash can next to the toilet. He did his jeans back up, then turned to look at Kimmy, now feeling self-conscious about what had just happened and unsure what to say to her.

"You- uh- you didn't?" he asked, gesturing towards her.

"Come? No, I didn't," she answered.

Ron stepped forward and put his hands on her thighs. "Show me how?"

She smiled as she grabbed one of his hands and pulled it in between her legs.

oOo

A little over an hour later, Ron was pacing in his room. He knew that he needed to tell Hermione about this, but he wasn't quite sure how to go about it. He wasn't even entirely sure how he felt about it all.

He'd had sex.

Sure, it hadn't lasted long, and he hadn't gotten her off until afterwards-he internally thanked Kimmy for being patient with him as she taught him, as at first, he was fumbling around blindly- but he had eventually done it.

He wondered how Hermione would react to his news. Would she be impressed? Disgusted? Jealous? The last possibility left him hopeful. What if this was the news that made her finally care about him like he did her? Maybe the fact that someone else had found him 'shaggable' would also make her find him that way as well. No longer wanting to put it off, he wrote down his message.

Guess who lost their virginity tonight?

He opened his window and stuck the piece of paper in the pail. His hands were shaking as he pulled the rope, and he clanged it over and over against her window, anxious to see her reaction to his news. When he saw her face appear in her window, he placed a large grin on his face.

Ron watched her pull out the piece of paper, her face showing no emotion as she did so. She turned to the side and bent down out of his view, and Ron knew that she was going through the drawers of her desk looking for a pen. She stood up and put the same piece of paper into the pail before sending it back to him. He picked it up and read the words, not knowing what to expect.

I don't know, Dave?

What the fuck? Was it really so impossible to her that someone would want to shag him? Ron hid his annoyance, pretending to be amused by her answer. He forced himself to laugh before shaking his finger at her, letting her know that her answer was wrong. He bent down to write another note, trying to contain the hurt he was feeling.

Dave's girlfriend Charlotte brought her friend (name's Kimmy) to the party tonight, and she and I really hit it off. By the end of the night, she was pulling me into the bathroom, and I ended up shagging her right on the bathroom counter. (I've never been more grateful for my height in my life! haha)

Once she got the note, she bent back down out of his view before coming back up with her reply.

Good for you, Ron. I'm going back to bed.

Before he was even done reading her words, Hermione was slamming her window shut, along with her curtains, leaving him standing there, bewildered. She'd acted angry and he hadn't expected that reaction at all. Maybe she was jealous? He decided to send her one more note, just to see what her reaction would be.

I don't know why you're upset, Hermione. I thought you'd be happy for me.

He sent it across, only barely tapping her window, not wanting to press his luck and make her even angrier. He stood there for several minutes, but she didn't come back to the window, so he eventually closed his own, leaving the pail with the note in it on her side.

He walked to the bathroom and took a shower. Although he hadn't planned to, he started wanking, imagining the events that had happened tonight, only this time it was different. He imagined that Hermione was sitting on the counter. Hermione was wrapping her legs around him and pulling him into her. Hermione was making those little whimpering sounds as he thrust into her. Ron came violently, leaning his body on the tiled wall. Exhausted, he dried off before heading to bed, falling into a dreamless sleep.

oOo

The next morning, Ron was pacing in his bedroom. Hermione hadn't contacted him at all and had never even responded to his last note last night. Was his suspicion right? Could she be jealous? The thought brought so much hope, and he couldn't help but feel elated. However, on the other hand, she was ignoring him, so she must be pretty mad. He had tried several times already that morning to contact her with the pulley- but nothing.

Ron finally reached the point where he couldn't stand it anymore, and he made his way downstairs, grabbing a few slices of toast and eating them as he walked out the door and headed to Hermione's house. As he walked up, he saw that neither of her parents' cars were in the driveway, so he knew they had to be out. The front door was unlocked, and he made his way inside, walking upstairs to Hermione's room.

He knocked on her door, but when there was no answer, he pushed it open. To his astonishment, Hermione was asleep on her bed. Ron had only seen her sleeping a few times in his life, and he walked over to study her when her eyes opened, widening at the sight of him.

She shot up in bed, and when she did so, Ron took in a sharp breath when he noticed the spaghetti-strapped shirt she was wearing was twisted, exposing almost the entirety of her left tit. He wanted nothing more than to take advantage of this situation and stare, but he knew doing so could lead to the loss of his bollocks, and besides, he wanted to be a gentleman. With his lips pressed tightly together, he moved his eyes to the ceiling, giving her time to fix herself. He heard her scrambling and knew that she had realized as well. He gave her several seconds before speaking.

"Good?" he asked, still staring at the ceiling.

Hermione let out a grunt in reply, and when Ron looked at her, she threw herself back onto the bed and covered her whole body with her blanket.

He couldn't help but chuckle as he walked over and sat next to her, his weight making the bed sag a bit, causing her leg to touch his. He felt disappointed when she pulled it away as she scooted closer to the wall.

"Hermione, it's okay," he tried to reassure her, even though he still found the incident quite funny. "It's not like I haven't seen a boob before," he added, trying to make her feel better.

She pulled her blanket down a bit to glare at him. "You haven't seen mine. And they are called breasts."

He smiled. "Ooh. I like it when you talk dirty, Hermione."

At his words, she stuck her arm out and hit him on the shoulder. Ron pretended that she had hurt him, and he grabbed his arm and fell backwards, his upper body stretching across her as he played dead. He closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue for dramatic effect.

Hermione, though, was apparently not in a playful mood, and she flopped around under him, trying to push him off of her.

"Ron, get off!" she yelled.

He opened his eyes and pulled himself up, a puzzled look crossing his face. "What's wrong with you lately? First last night, and now this morning? In the whole time that I have known you, I have never woken up before you, Hermione. I'm worried."

"I just don't feel good right now, Ron," she huffed as she turned her body towards the wall.

Ron laid down behind her, running his hand up and down her bare arm. "Hermione, what's wrong? You know that you can tell me anything, right?" he said gently, his voice sincere.

He saw her shoulders rise and fall as she took a deep breath. "I- I just have cramps. That's all."

He didn't say anything for a few seconds, not sure if she was telling the truth or if she was making an excuse, but feeling concerned nonetheless. "Well...that might explain the behavior then as well," he replied, trying to joke with her and make her laugh.

She turned around to face him, his breath hitching when he realized that their noses were now only a few inches apart. They stared at each other, and Ron reached out his hand and brushed a few stray curls away from in front of her eyes. It was obvious that she was upset, and Ron wished so bad that she would confide with him and tell him why, but he also didn't want to press and make her uncomfortable.

"D'you need anything? I can go get you some meds or something? You want breakfast in bed? I think we have some leftover toast…"

"No, nothing. Thanks."

She was too close, and it was taking all he had not to kiss her, so Ron sat up, rubbing the back of his neck as he cleared his throat. "So, what are you going to do today?" he asked casually.

Hermione sat up as well, her face now unreadable. "A few more revisions. Since I'm homeschooling and can go at my own pace, I've done some calculating, and if all goes according to plan, I'll officially be done with high school in only one month."

Ron's eyes widened as he slowly shook his head back and forth, amazed at this wonderful person next to him. "You're amazing, you know?" he said earnestly. "I can hardly comprehend your level of achievements. You're going to be running the fucking world one day, and I cannot wait to see it, Hermione Granger."

Hermione's eyes welled up with tears before she threw herself at him, nuzzling her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, his hands running up and down her back. They stayed that way for a bit before he spoke again.

"Just promise me something, alright?" he said quietly, his face against the top of her head.

"Hmm?"

"Promise me that when you're all big and successful- at whatever you end up doing- that you won't forget the small people like me."

She leaned back to look at him. "What do you mean by that, Ron?"

"Well-" his eyes moved to the wall, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I just mean that you're destined for greater things- far greater things than I am. And one day, you won't need a tall and annoying ginger as your best friend anymore."

Hermione shook her head before leaning back into his chest. "You're wrong. I'll always need a tall and annoying ginger as my best friend. No one else could ever take his place."

Ron felt his own eyes welling up with tears, feeling grateful that she couldn't see his face. "You mean that?"

Ron felt her nod her head, and tightened his arms around her as he leaned down and kissed the side of her forehead. When they let go of each other, the moment was gone, and Ron ended up staying for the day, flipping through sports magazines silently as she did her work.