At that point Ginny apparated back upstairs from the door of the living room to the bedroom she was sharing with Hermione, who was sitting on her bed, with, unsurprisingly, a book sitting open in front of her.
"Well." said Ginny flopping onto her own bed. "That was enlightening,"
Hermione looked up. "You haven't been listening at the door have you?"
"Course not. The Extendable Ear from the box George sent me did." Hermione rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't be eavesdropping."
"But it was not a lost cause. You may find quite a lot of it interesting."
Hermione slammed her book shut. "I'm not going to get any peace until I listen am I?"
"Nope." said Ginny happily.
"Go on then. Let's hear the worst."
"Well, none of it was bad as such..."
"Just talk would you Ginny? Hurry up, I want to get back to my book."
"What are you reading anyway?" asked Ginny.
Hermione waved the book vaguely. "A Short History of Wizard Giant Relations. I borrowed it from Hagrid months and months ago. It's quite interesting though."
Ginny shook her head. "You're completely mad."
"Anyway, Ginny?"
"Oh, yeah. Well. First thing is, when I'm finished Hogwarts, Harry and I will probably get married."
"Ron told me that one earlier." said Hermione lazily opening the book again.
"And..."
"Ginny, cut the suspense, it really doesn't add any atmosphere to what you're about to say."
"It concerns my brother."
"Which one? You have five, don't you?" she said, and felt an almost undetectable plunge in her stomach. Five. It used to be six. She hoped Ginny didn't get depressed about Fred's death. It had affected her almost as badly as George. The twins had always been close to her, Fred had been her protector her whole life. Hermione knew that despite what she might say, Ginny still missed him.
But Ginny waved the comment away. "You know perfectly well which red-haired freak I'm talking about."
Hermione sighed. "Might you be referring to your sibling Ronald?"
"Indeed I might."
"What, Ginny? Honestly, you're the worst person in the world to talk to when you want to read."
"Okay. It's...well it's not the same as me and Harry." Hermione froze at this. Was Ron breaking up with her? After what she had said earlier. Hadn't he rebuked her for claiming she'd get a kiss inevitably? Had he been discussing his options with Harry?
Just as Ginny opened her mouth to speak however, the door burst open. Ron knocked Hermione down with a rugby tackle and they lay there on the bed with him laughing into her hair as she put her arms around her neck. She saw Harry roll his eyes as he sat down next to Ginny.
"Do you two never stop all the 'I can't live without you' stuff?"
"Nope." came Ron's muffled voice. Hermione giggled, now confident that whatever Ginny had to say it could only have been good. Ron rolled off her and they sat up. He picked up her discarded book.
"A Short History of Wizard Giant Relations. Why would you read this?"
Hermione snatched it off him. "Hagrid lent it to me. Fascinating stuff."
"I'm sure it is," Ron said with mock sincerity. Hermione stuck out her tongue. Ron pretended to look shocked.
"Just for that." he said pinning her back down. Hermione simply put her arms round him again and kissed him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry and Ginny talking quietly, their hands clasped. Of course, Ron had never been as subtle as Harry, and considering a lot of his romantic experience had come from six months of having Lavender Brown hanging around his neck-
The door burst open again. "Ron Weasley! Out! Not under my roof you don't!" Ron stood up very quickly. Harry moved away slightly from Ginny.
"Downstairs fine, but not up here! Go on you two, back to your own room!"
"But Mum-" started Ron. Hermione gave him a stern look.
"I'll see you in the morning okay?" she said.
"Yeah." said Ron. "And I am so going to beat you in chess as well."
"I'll believe it when I see it." said Hermione and kissed him before he and Harry left for the attic.