Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Harry Potter, especially not Percy Weasley. They are JKR's. There may be spoilers from Deathly Hallows so don't read if you haven't read that. :) Slash pairing, eventually. PercyOliver. No cussing in this chapter. This chapter is an unrequited HermioneRon interlude, with implied RonHarry. And Hermione is trying to get Ron to...Well, you'll see. Just a warning.
–giggles- Anyways, on with the show! Enjoy!

Her mouth is hot against his, one cold hand creeping under his shirt, the other slowly making its way towards his belt buckle. He holds back an open laugh; she won't find anything to work with there. He takes the hand that is now trying to undo his belt and keeps a firm grip on it. Hermione pulls back and sighs annoyedly,

"Okay, Ron. I am going to give you ten seconds to tell me what the hell is wrong with you today."

Ron can feel an amused smirk creeping to his face, but forces it back and says in mock surprise, "What? Nothing's wrong, 'Mione." Uck. That nickname he gave her, which only crept out because he was eating at the time, felt like acid in his throat. He had hoped this would distract him from other matters, but unfortunately it had only brought them to the front of his mind.

"How can you say nothing is wrong?! I have been at this with you for at least an hour now, and still—" she gestured at his blank expression and his crotch area, "—you're not doing anything! Do you not want to do this? You could just tell me…"

The rest of her rant about how unresponsive his manly parts were to her supposed feminine charms faded out as Ron decided he didn't care. He remembered their first kiss well; she had thrown herself at him in the Room of Requirement, right in front of Harry. He had responded enthusiastically, but for the wrong reasons. Many more kisses had followed, desperate, heated attempts at keeping his attention on her. Ron vaguely wondered whether, in her heart of hearts, she knew what was going through his mind. It would explain how desperate she was for his attention.

"Ron? Ron? Are you even listening to me?! Oh, never mind, obviously you've got no interest in what I say whatsoever. Just forget we ever happened."

Ron watched her walk away, uttering an absent-minded, "Yeah, bye," belatedly realizing he had probably just made her more upset. He watched her walk away, tutting at himself when he noted her feminine curves and caramel curls. It was a waste of a beautiful girl, he thought, all the while reminiscing about black hair flying back from an alabaster face, and leaf green eyes behind glasses watering as a skinny yet utterly magnificent boy plummeted towards the earth on his broomstick.

He thought of Harry, so graceful and powerful that it stole breath from his lungs and made his words die on his lips, catching that elusive golden orb with fluttering wings that beat softly against the Seeker's callused hands. He could remember it well; for Harry had clenched the Snitch so tightly those scars on the back of his hand, spelling, 'I must not tell lies,' stood out against his pale skin.

Ron sighed, leaning his head back against the headboard of his bed, and then smiled, remembering moments he and Harry had stolen in dark corridors and broom cupboards, Ron's freckled hands clenching in those raven locks, all through fourth year until Harry had gotten with Ginny. Even then, they'd had occasions when they couldn't help themselves. No one suspected a damn thing.

Ron swore fluently under his breath, making a note to ask Harry to stop playing games with his mind.

Getting up and attempting to straighten his hair and clothes, before making sure he looked composed (or as composed as Ron Weasley could look), he made his way down to the dining room, where most of his family sat. Nodding to them, he asked his mother,

"Hey, um, Mum, did Harry say when he was going to be back?"

Molly Weasley sighed, putting down her knitting, "Oh, dear. Is this what made you upset Hermione?"

"Umm. No?"

This response drew a collective sigh from the assembled Weasleys (and Oliver), including Percy and even Ginny, who looked at Ron tiredly and said, "Look, Ron, everyone's figured it out. Its part of the reason why I don't intend to get back with Harry."

Ron fought down the infamous Weasley blush as he said nonchalantly, his voice an octave higher than usual,

"Um. Ah. I…don't know what you're, um, on about."

Arthur Weasley looked at his youngest son with a knowing look in his eyes, "Ron, with all due respect, you make your feelings very…obvious." Ron looked at his father resignedly, before sitting down with a sigh, "Apparently not to two people. Hermione and Harry himself don't know…"

"Know what?" Hermione had just entered the room with her hands on her hips. Again Ron couldn't help but admire how pretty she was, before he shook himself and said, "Erm…well…Could I speak to you privately?"

Hermione sighed agitatedly, and dragged him into the kitchen, shutting the door before saying in a low voice, "Now. Tell me what it is. Does it have anything to do with why you won't…you know?" Ron smiled softly, "It pretty much explains it." He sat down on the cold kitchen tiles and said, as Hermione joined him, "It involves me using you. I didn't mean it at the time, y'know, in the Room of Requirement…but I guess its what I've been doing, really, and I know that's horrible and everything but please don't judge me before I finish—"

A small, sad smile came to Hermione's lips as she interrupted Ron and simply asked, "Who is she?" Ron blanched, then flushed bright red, "Well…it isn't really a she…" Hermione gaped, and he pleaded, "Look, 'Mione, don't judge me before I explain. I've liked him since about third year, and I thought it was just hormones and that…then fourth year, we started messing around, y'know, and I thought he didn't feel the same…but even when he got a girlfriend we still did it. I thought he was being greedy so I broke it off, literally a few weeks before he broke it off with his girlfriend—"

"Ron," Hermione said, her voice ringing clear in the artificial silence, "Is it Harry?"

Ron looked at her disbelievingly for a second, then dumbly nodded and turned his red face away. Hermione saw the broad shoulders on her now ex-boyfriend shaking, heard a tiny mumble of something that could've been 'I'm so sorry', and numbly watched him fold his arms on his knees, put his head down, and cry in earnest, no doubt wishing Harry would feel the same, or he would feel the same for Hermione.

Hermione put her arms around the boy she had always thought so tall and strong, and cried for the love that could have been.

Author's Note: So what did you think? Short-ish, I suppose, but I wanted to include Ron/Harry (which may or may not be reciprocated later on) in the story so I can have one of my favourite Hermione pairings later. This whole thing is basically exploring some relationships that could be built after the war, really, so there will be some other interludes with other pairings. However, the main focus is PercyOliver, so don't expect many interludes at once. :) Anyways, remember to review! Percy and Oliver are back in the next chapter.