We walk into the old, dusty room, and get started. "Your mum doesn't come in here much, does she?"

"No, not since before he left. No one comes in here."

"Sorry."

"Nah, its alright. We are finally going to put this room to good use."

Ginny opens the first chest to the left, which contains some of my books, "Hermione! How many books do you have?"

"About two chests."

"I knew you loved to read, but I didn't know you loved it that much," she says opening the other chest with all my books.

"Well, they are not all school books or even related to the magical world. I have a bunch of muggle books in there too. You might like to read some of them this summer."

"Uh, I don't think so."

"They're not as bad as you think. And most of them are pretty easy to read."

"Whatever you say," she says finally coming to the chest with stuff other then books. "Now this is what I was looking for."

"There is going to be nothing in there that you will like. Just a lot of clothes and pictures."

"I know you don't own anything like Lavender," a man's voice says.

I turn around and see Ron sniggering. "Why you!" I exclaim.

"What? I know it's true."

"And how do you know that?" I inquire standing up to my full height against him, yet I still have to look up.

"Because I saw what Lavender owns, and I know you would not even think about looking at the sort of stuff she has."

"I wouldn't be so sure Mr. Weasley."

"Prove me wrong."

"Fine, I will. This Saturday, after Harry gets here, you two will take Ginny and I out on a date."

"What?"

"You heard me. If we are going to be married, than we should go on at least one date before we actually are married. Unless of course, you are too scared."

"Fine. A night on the town it is."

"Good. By the way, what were you doing listening in on our conversation? I thought you were flying."

"I was flying, and now I am on the way to my room. Okay with you?"

"Of course, just curious."

"I'll be upstairs if anyone needs me," he informs us leaving.

Wow! Where did that come from? I cannot believe I just did that. I have an outfit like Lavender? Yes I do, but I never thought I would actually wear it, ever. Darn it! Way to go Granger. Why did I do that? Stupid Lavender, she still makes me mad.

As soon as we know for sure that he is gone, Ginny starts going ballistic, "You really have an outfit like what Lavender use to wear? We're going on a date? And I'm going with Harry?"

"Yes, yes, yes."

She breathes for a second before sitting down on top of one of the closed chests, "Wow! I never ever thought I would get to go on a date with Harry, I mean it's just awesome. What am I going to wear?"

"What ever you want to wear."

"What are you going to wear? You said you have an outfit like Lavender. I cannot believe that."

"I do. I've never worn it, but I have it. My dear old aunt in France loves fashion, and she sent me this awful outfit for Christmas last year. Mini skirt and all. I hated it when I got it, and threw it in the back of my closet never wanting to see it again. But I had to go and say I have an outfit like Lavender."

"Yup you did." I glare at her. "Oh, Hermione, it's not that bad. It's a double date after all. We go places together all the time."

"Yes, but never on a date. And it is that bad. I mean, oh I don't know what I mean."

"So," she pauses for a second, "Are you going to show me your outfit?"

"No, I think I will make you wait just like Ron."

"You're mean!"

I laugh, "Yup, now let's go through this chest." And we do. On top are tons and tons of pictures.

"Hey, Hermione, I never knew you had this many pictures."

"Yes, and I have a bunch of photo albums too that I made myself. I have wizarding ones and muggle ones. Maybe we can look through them later."

"Cool." Under all of those are some of my muggle things.

"This is a stereo, isn't it?" she asks pointing to my purple boom box.

"Yes and these are CDs. You put them in the stereo and you can listen to them. But I am not sure I will be able to use any of my muggle things that need electricity."

"I bet once we get things figured out dad can help. I am pretty sure he can put a spell on them or something."

"Yes, I am sure he can. I will ask him when I get a chance."

"Great." We spend the rest of the morning looking through the one large chest, finding tons of pictures, CDs, clothes, and a few other nonsense things I had in my room.

We have not even gotten to the bottom when, "Mum says it's time for lunch." I turn around and see Ron standing at the door. And before I can turn towards Ginny, she is out the door.

"She must be really hungry," he says putting his hand out.

I laugh and grab his hand. He puts me up from my kneeling position. "Thank You," I say blushing.

Ron and I walk down the narrow stairs in an awkward silence, "So, is that what you have been doing all morning?"

"More or less."

"What fun." We do not say anymore, but go into the kitchen and see Ginny shoving food down her throat. Ron whispers, "Told you so," in my ear. I can feel his hot breath on my neck making me shiver.

"Ah, Hermione dear. I set up a cot for you in Ginny's room. You will be staying in there for the time being."

"Of course Mrs. Weasley."

"Well, dig in you two." And I do. I had no idea I was so hungry, but I guess going through your things will make you that way. And after all, it is Mrs. Weasley's cooking. After a very filling lunch, Ginny and I go back up to Percy's old room. We spend the rest of the day going through two of the three chests. We still have not gotten to my computer when, BOMB. Ginny screams, and drops the book she was holding. I look out the dusty window and see it starting to pour.

"Ginny, I think we have been at this long enough. What do you say?"

"Yeah, I think you are right. And I'm hungry again."

"We just ate!"

"No, not really."

"Whatever you say. I'm not really hungry. So, I think I am going to take a shower."

"Okay. I think you remember where it is, right?"

"Ginny!" I exclaim.

"Just making sure." We both leave the room, and walk down the stairs together. I stop at Ginny's door and walk into the bright room. I see a nice little cot set up next to Ginny's bed and my Hogwarts chest at the foot of my bed. I take out my toiletry bag and an oversized t-shirt and pajama pants. I walk back up the familiar stairs and into the bathroom. Spotless, as always. I set my bag down on the counter and get out all of my shower stuff; my blue lufa, liquid soap, shampoo, and conditioner. I take a big fluffy towel out from under the sink, and put the floor towel in its place outside the shower. I take a long hot shower scrubbing myself roughly trying to feel clean after today's events.

So, what happened today? Oh, nothing. Just, Ron and I are going to get married. That's nice. Not! What is the world is going on? I am very ready for Friday to be here, but I am also dreading it. What is Harry going to say? And worse, what is Mrs. Weasley going to do? I know she knows this is true, I just think she is just trying to put it off as long as she can. With Ron being her youngest son and all. Why did you say yes? Wait, did you even say yes? Are you and Ron really going to get married? How does Ron feel about this? Are we going to live here once we are married? Am Ron and I going to share a room? Why was this "law" passed? Who said, "Yes, make it a law"? I ponder over these and many, many other questions, scrubbing myself raw. When I am pruny enough I turn the water to cool and rinse off very well. I grab the fluffy white towel, and dry off my body and then my hair. I brush my teeth, get dressed, grab all of my stuff, and head back to Ginny's head. As soon as I open the bathroom door, I see Mrs. Weasley with a big basket of clothes heading up the stairs.

"Ah, Hermione, good shower?" I nod in reply to her question. "Wonderful. Just put your clothes in Ginny's hamper, dear. And I will wash them too."

"Thank you."

"You are most welcome. Goodnight dear. I will see you in the morning at breakfast."

"Goodnight Mrs. Weasley." I walk quietly down the rest of the stairs to Ginny's room.

"Took you long enough," Ginny says looking up from her magazine.

I put my clothes in the hamper as Mrs. Weasley told me to do, and then I sit down on my bed. "If you say so."

"I am so ready for bed," Ginny yawns. I'm not.

"Was cleaning that tiring?"

"Nah, just has been a long day." Not long enough.

"Oh, okay." She lays down on her bed, and I copy her. "Well, goodnight, Ginny."

" 'night," she calls back sleepily. I lay in my cot knowing I am not going to fall asleep any time soon. I look over at the bedside clock, 10:30. I just lay there, not doing anything. I don't even try to think, not that it works, but I am trying hard to get some sleep. I hear Ginny snoring quietly. I fidget, flip sides, lay on my stomach, my back. Nothing is helping. I look over at the clock, 10:59. I count backwards from one thousand. Didn't help. Two thousand...nope. I name all the Headmasters Hogwarts has ever had. I look over at the clock again, 11:42. Alright, this is not working. Frustrated, I silently get out of my bed. I put on my soft-soled shoes. Quietly, I sneak out of the room without waking Ginny. I gently close the door behind me, take a deep breath, and tiptoe down the stairs as softly as I can. Finally, I make it to the bottom. I look around the family room, see the dieing fire, and then a figure.

I take in a breath of surprise. "Ron, you scared me," I whisper through the darkness.

"Sorry, I thought you saw me."

"It's alright." I walk over to the couch and sit next to him.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"No, you?"

"Nope. To much going through my mind."

"I know what you mean." We sit quietly next to each other on the couch for a while. He is leaning on the arm of the couch, gazing into the almost dead fire. I am sitting in the middle with my back against the couch, idly playing with my thumbs. "Care to talk about it?"

He does not answer right away. I do not push him, but just sit quietly. "Yes," he says turning his gaze toward me. Giving him all I attention, I nod for him to continue. "Well," he begins, "I don't know what I am doing. This is all just coming at me too fast. It's just I, oh I have no bloody idea what is bothering me."

"I do."

"You do? What?"

"This whole thing, you and I getting married, what we are going to do once we," I do not finish for he has stood up, left the family room, and is running up the stairs. "Just when I needed someone to talk to." I move over to the spot where he was sitting, curl up, and cry into the arm. I do not know how long I have been crying when I hear the stairs creak. I sit up roughly, hastily wiping the salty tears from my cheeks. I look over toward them and see Ron. "What do you want?" I snap.

"To talk."

"Where did you just disappear to? Because in case you didn't notice, we were talking."

"Sorry, I just wasn't ready, but now I am." He walks over to me and sits in the middle.

"Fine, since you are ready now, what do you want to talk about?"

"Hermione, I said I was sorry. You are not the only one going through a hard time."

"I know that."

"Good. I wanted to talk about us." I look hopefully at him.

"How do you feel about us? And this whole dilemma?" He turns away from me. "Ronald, please tell me. I need to know how you feel about this."

"Honestly, I don't know how I feel about this. I wanted to get married when I was older, of course."

"Then why in the world did you come up with this?"

"Because," he trails off looking at his hands.

I put my hand on his shoulder for support, "Please?"

"Because I can't, because I can't lose you again."

"What do you mean, again?"

"Vicky."

Now, I turn away from him. "It was never like that, and you know it."

"I know now, but I didn't then."

"I am sorry."

"It's alright."

"Ron, there is so much I want to talk about, but first I have to know why you did this."

"Because I can't lose you," he repeats.

"But why?" I inquire farther.

"Because I care about you Hermione. I really care about you."

"Friends care about each other, but they don't just go off and marry each other."

"They do when they," he mumbles something I cannot recognize.

"Wh.." CREEEEAK, we both snap our heads toward the stairs.

"Oh hello you two. What are you doing up so late? You should be in bed," Mr. Weasley says.

"We couldn't sleep, so we were talking," I reply.

He gets a glass of water from the kitchen, "Well, don't stay up too much longer. I know you both have a lot to talk about, but please do try and get some sleep tonight. Well, Goodnight."

"Goodnight Mr. Weasley." He walks sleepily back upstairs. I turn back to Ron, "What did you say?" He mumbles something in reply. "Ronald, I cannot understand a word the is coming out of your mouth."

"Then why does it matter?" he asks raising his voice.

"Because I need to know!" I say getting irritated.

"Why?"

"Merlin, tell me why you did this! Ron, I really need to know why you decided to do this."

"No." I storm out of the family room, and head directly back upstairs to Ginny's room. I slam the door shut behind me waking Ginny.

"What, is it time to get up?"

"No, go back to sleep." I scurry over to my cot, and throw myself down. I am not crying, but I am very upset. I finally fall asleep in a horrible mood.

"Hermione? Hermione? It's time to wake up," I hear someone say. And then I am being shook.

"Alright, alright. I'm up." The shaking stops and I open my eyes. "Good morning Ginny."

" 'Morning!" she replies happily.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" I ask starting to move about.

"Oh, nothing." We hurriedly get dressed, and go downstairs for breakfast.

"Ah, good morning girls," Mrs. Weasley greets us.

"Good morning," we say back. We sit down at the table and wait while Mrs. Weasley finishes cooking.

As she is setting the food on the table Ron saunters in, and murmurs, "Good morning."

I do not even look at him as he sit down diagonal of me. I butter my toast roughly when I hear, "Hermione can you pass the butter?" I ignore him and finish buttering my toast. He repeats, "Hermione could you pass the butter?" I am finished buttering my toast and am pouring myself a glass of milk. "Hermione? Please pass me the butter," Ron asks again raising his voice.

"No," I scream and with that I storm out of the kitchen and into the pouring rain. I don't walk anywhere in particular; I just walk and walk quickly.

I am passing the lake, when I hear, "Hermione!" I turn my head quickly, and see it is Ron. I say nothing in reply, just keep walking. "Hermione, wait up." I speed up, but some how I feel a hand on my arm, "Hermione, stop!"

"Why?"

"Because we need to talk."

"We were going to, last night."

"I'm sorry, okay?" I shake his hand off my arm, and continue on my rampage. "Hermione, please."

I turn around so quickly that he runs into me, "Please what?"

"Please listen."

"Listen to what?"

"Me."

"And what do you have to say?"

"That I am sorry about last night."

"And your point?"

"That I am sorry." I turn around and cross my arms stubbornly. "I didn't want to lose you again because," he pauses for a moment, and I turn around slowly to face him, "because Hermione, I love you. And I have loved you for the longest time."

Tears are starting to fall down my face mixing with the rain, "Truly?"

"Truly." I run into his arms and bury my face in his shoulder squeezing him tightly. And he squeezes me back just as tightly if not even more. He whispers, "I am so sorry for what I did last night. I just couldn't do it. Forgive me?"

"Yes," I say happily into his shoulder.

So, how was it? Really bad? This chapter was soooo hard to write. I think I did a pretty good, if I do say so myself. But please, if you differ tell me. Even if you think it is pretty good too, tell. I think I have some ideas for the next chapter, but if you have any ideas that you are not going to use yourself, please tell me. I need all the help I can get. I am so sorry about not updating sooner, but 9th grade is pretty hard. Really hard when you skip 8th. But I had to get this out before my 14th birthday (Saturday the 14th/ my golden). So, this is my birthday present to you. Thanks for reviewing.

I have one question:

Do you think I need a beta? If so, any suggestions?

Teaser question for future chappies: Why did Ron go upstairs?