Hi! No news really, but here's a new chapter! As always, thx for reading

oOo

"So, are you coming to the party tomorrow night?" Dave asked as he threw a small ball up into the air, catching it in his hand moments later as it fell back down towards his face. "You haven't been to many lately, man. You're getting boring on me."

The two boys were up in Ron's room, something that didn't happen very often. Dave's house was bigger, less crowded, and way more private- something Ron loved to take advantage of when he could. However, Mrs Weasley had informed him that he'd been away from home too often lately and had forbidden him from leaving the house so he'd invited Dave over for dinner.

Sitting at his desk and paying more attention to his homework than to his friend, Ron shrugged in response. "Maybe, yeah."

Exasperated, Dave turned his head to look over at Ron from where he was laying on the bed. "You've also been super moody lately. What's up?"

Ron sighed. He knew Dave wouldn't be able to understand his frustration over not being able to go to prom, but after a moment he decided to talk to him about it anyway. "Remember how I called Snape an uptight bastard?" he asked after setting his pencil down on his desk and turning towards the other boy.

"Hell yeah." Dave smiled. "It's only my greatest wish to have been there when it happened."

Ron chuckled. "Well, I got banned from attending the bloody prom because of it."

His friend's face screwed up in confusion. "I didn't even know you wanted to go to prom, Ron. Usually, you don't have any interest in school functions."

Trying to seem nonchalant, Ron cleared his throat. "I mean… usually yeah. But it still sucks when something like that is taken away from you. I mean, you only get one prom night, right?"

Dave gave a slow nod. "I've actually got two prom nights," he informed. "One at our school, the other at Charlotte's."

Ron sighed. "Lucky you," he grumbled.

Dave grunted in agreement, but after a few seconds he sat up and snapped his fingers. "I've got it!" he exclaimed. "Just come to Char's prom with us! She's on the prom committee so I'm sure she can get a few extra tickets no prob. She was talking about inviting others as well. It's not our school, but it's better than nothing right?"

"Isn't Char's school like three hours away?" Ron asked skeptically.

"Yup." Dave grinned. "But beggars can't be choosers, can they?"

Ron leaned back and let his eyes roam his ceiling while contemplating this new idea. "I doubt Hermione would be willing to travel that far for a dance," he finally said, more to himself than anything but Dave clearly heard.

"You were going to ask your neighbor to prom? I thought she didn't like other people?"

"She doesn't like parties," Ron corrected. "She prefers…she's more of a one-on-one kind of person."

His friend raised his dark eyebrows and Ron shot him a warning look. "You know what I bloody mean."

Shrugging, Dave laid his body back on the bed. "Whatever. Char's on the prom committee so she can get the tickets if you want them. Just let me know soon so I can tell her." Ron didn't say anything in response and Dave continued. "Charlotte's uncle runs this little motel out there and we are getting a room for half off. If you and Hermione want a room, you gotta let me know that soon as well."

Ron's heart almost stopped at the thought of spending the night with Hermione. No way would she agree to it. But yet…."

"Do you think you'd be interested in that?" Dave asked, pulling Ron from his thoughts. "You've said that you two aren't-"

"Oh, we definitely aren't," he cut in. "But I'm considering."

Sleeping arrangement aside, the idea of having the most amazing night, though far-fetched as far as Hermione agreeing to go was concerned, was sounding better by the second. Maybe Ron's dream of taking her to prom was something that was achievable after all- if he could work it all out.

"Go ahead and tell Char we're coming," he finally said in a moment of boldness. "If Hermione says no, then Char can just give the tickets and room to someone else. I'll pay you my next paycheck."

oOo

"Hello?" The rushed-sounding voice that Ron immediately recognized as Harry's picked up the phone after only two rings.

"Hey, mate," he started. "It's Ron."

"Oh, hey!" Harry said, his tone having changed into something more pleasant. "How've you been? How's Hermione?"

Ron smiled. "I'm good. Hermione's good too. She's also busy as hell, but that's nothing new."

Harry chuckled. "What's up? Sorry to be short but I'm about to head out to practice and-"

"It won't take long," Ron interrupted, "I was just going to ask you if you- and Seamus and Dean as well- were going to prom?"

A pause. "Prom? Well, yeah, we're going," Harry said, now sounding confused.

Ron smiled. "Awesome! If I can convince Hermione to go, she and I will be there too-at your school, I mean."

"At my school?"

"It's a long story. I'll explain later. Anyway, I just wanted to see if you lot were going so I can use that bit of information in order to further persuade Hermione to go."

"Ah," Harry replied. "Well, we'll be there. Hope you and Hermione will be there as well, it would be great to see you two again."

"Right. Well I'll keep you updated."

"Good luck."

"Later, mate."

"Later."

oOo

His eyes on the tall, full-length mirror, Ron turned his body first to the left, then to the right. "Tell me the truth. Do I look ridiculous? Is it too much?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "As much as it pains me to say this, the suit actually looks really good on you, Ron."

With a smug grin, he turned to his sister. "See? You are capable of being sweet!"

She laughed. "Only on very rare occasions." She flipped a page in her sports magazine. "Where'd you get it, anyway?"

"Oddly enough, Fred and George. It was a gift."

"That is odd," Ginny confirmed. "But whatever. Are you done checking yourself out? I was enjoying my quiet time."

"Brat," he muttered in a playful manner before opening the door and strolling out of his sister's room.

"You're welcome for letting you use my mirror!" she called out after him.

Ron chuckled as he made his way to his own room. Once inside, he changed into his regular clothes, making sure to hang the tux carefully in his closet. After that, he grabbed his keys and wallet and made his way downstairs.

"Where are you going?" his mum asked as he headed for the front door.

"Need to go shopping," he informed her. "I won't be long."

"Alright," she relented. "Be safe."

Whistling, Ron walked outside and down the sidewalk to where his car was parked on the street. Even though he knew she wasn't currently at home, he snuck a glance over towards Hermione's house. His plans for asking her to prom were coming together nicely, and he was getting more and more excited about it all. The day before, he'd looked into his rose petal idea only to discover that real rose petals were extremely expensive- at least for the amount he planned on getting. However, he knew that the dollar store sold fake ones and decided that they would have to do. Along with the petals, he also wanted to buy some candles to light Hermione's staircase like he'd once seen in a romantic movie.

As he'd informed his mum, Ron's outing didn't take long at all and he was back home within the hour. To his surprise, Hermione's car was already parked in her driveway when he arrived and his heart gave a small flip at the sight of it. It was inevitable, and instead of going to his house, he headed over to hers, only to see her walk out of her front door before he'd even reached it.

"Well, hello stranger," Hermione said with a smile.

"Hello," Ron greeted, not hesitating to pull her in for a bone crushing hug. "How was your day?"

"Pretty good," she replied with a small laugh, her voice a bit muffled due to his hug.

He let go of her and stepped back. "Were you coming to see me?" he asked.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah." She nudged him. "And because I was hungry."

Hermione's parents had left for a convention earlier that week and she had been over to the Weasley's every night for dinner at the insistence of both Ron and his mum.

Ron chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders before leading her towards his house. "Well, it is about that time," he confirmed.

Hermione stared at the paper bag in his hand that held the petals and the candles. "So, what did you buy?"

"Just a few ingredients for mum," he lied.

You'll find out tomorrow night, he thought to himself.

oOo

Ron checked his watch for the hundredth time. "What's taking her so long?" he muttered to himself.

After letting himself into Hermione's empty house, he'd set it up just as he'd planned and now, at nearly eleven, he was pacing her small bedroom, waiting for her to come home from work. He was wearing his new tux, but he was second guessing this decision as the anticipation he was currently feeling was causing him to sweat bullets. He checked his watch again only to see that thirty seconds had passed.

"Bloody hell!"

Willing himself to calm down, Ron sat down on Hermione's bed, doing his best not to disturb the rose petals that were generously spread atop of it. It was then he heard the sound of the front door opening downstairs, and he shot to his feet, his heart hammering in his chest.

After a moment he heard Hermione's voice call out from somewhere on the stairs. "My goodness, I wonder who did all of this? I sure hope they know that they will be the one who will be cleaning it all up."

"Oi!" Ron replied loudly. He'd tried to sound offended, yet he couldn't help but grin. It was obvious that she knew just who was behind the setup.

Hermione came into view a second later, her tired eyes sparkling at the sight of her petal-covered room. "What is all of this about, Ron?" she asked as she leaned her body against the doorframe.

"Stop asking questions, Hermione!" he demanded. "I'm the one who is going to do the asking around here!"

Arching her brow, Hermione crossed her arms. "Okay. Go on, then."

Ron dramatically cleared his throat before throwing his hands up in the air. "Hermione Jean Granger-" he started.

Her laughter caused him to stop speaking and point a finger at her. "Listen here, young lady, I will get this out, but I need you to-" he sighed. "Well- frankly, I need you to shut the hell up so I can finish asking you what I came here to ask." Tightening her lips, she waved her hands and gestured for him to go on. "Okay, then," he continued. "Hermione Jean Granger. Will you-" he paused for effect. "-go to prom with me?"

Instead of answering, Hermione looked around her room. "Well," she started, "I might have accepted if you had used real rose petals."

"Uggghhh!" Ron threw his hand to his forehead as his eyes rolled up to the ceiling. "I'm tight on funds right now Hermione, you know that!" he grumbled. "I got a whole giant bag of these things at the dollar store! They do the same damn thing and they look real enough so stop being so bloody difficult."

Her fingers playing with the hem of her shirt. "Out of all the girls that you know, Ron, why are you asking me to prom?"

He shrugged. "Because you are my most favorite," he said earnestly.

"You flatter me," she replied before tossing her bag onto her desk. With a sigh, she flopped down on top of her bed, scattering the fake rose petals everywhere.

"No," he said. "I just tell the truth. Now give me an answer. But you better say yes or I'll cry."

Hermione let out a small laugh. "If it means that much, then yes Ron, I'll go to prom with you. I don't want to be the reason for your tears."

His heart leaping, Ron's face broke into a wide grin. "It was the tux wasn't it?" he joked. "You like?" Lifting his arms, he turned slowly around.

Hermione watched him, a soft smile on her face. "Yes, Ron, you're absolutely beautiful."

"And the truth comes out." He smiled before dragging her desk chair next to the bed and sitting down on it. "There's a bit of a catch though," he started, now nervous that she would change her mind and tell him no once he gave her all the details.

"What's the catch?" she asked, now eyeing him warily.

"Well, I was actually told that I won't be able to attend prom at my own school..."

"Ronald!" Hermione sat up, clearly ready to scold him. "What did you do this time?"

"I- well," Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "My science teacher-"

She nodded. "Snape."

"Well, he really pissed me off last week and I might have called him an uptight bastard…" Hermione shook her head in disapproval as Ron went on. "Mcgonagall said that she felt for me, but Snape was pushing for expulsion so she said that her hands were tied." He sighed. "She agreed not to kick me out of school, but she had to take prom away from me."

Hermione looked confused. " Why are you inviting me to prom then, if you can't even go?"

Steeling himself, Ron continued. "Well here's the thing! You remember Dave's girlfriend, Charlotte?"

Hermione nodded. "You've talked about her before, yes."

"Well, she's on her prom committee, and she reckons that she can get a bunch of us into her high school prom. It's a bit of a drive, but it's better than nothing."

"Hmm."

He took her hand in his. "Plus, Harry, Seamus and Dean go to her school as well, remember? I've already told them that we are coming and they said that they will all be there. How cool is that?"

Hermione smiled at the mention of the names. "So we drive for three hours to go to prom?"

"Oh, yeah that," Ron said, trying to not sound as nervous as he felt. "Charlotte's uncle runs this little dingy motel out there and can get us a room for real cheap. That way, we don't have to drive home so late at night, y'know?"

To Ron's surprise, Hermione smirked at him. He rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, Hermione, I promise to keep my grubby hands to myself!" He held up his fingers and waggled them in front of his face.

She laughed. "Okay. Sounds fun."

Ron felt like he was floating on a cloud. Hermione had agreed so easily and things had gone even better than he'd imagined. "I thought you would be harder to convince, actually," he admitted.

Hermione laid back down and closed her eyes. "Long day," she explained. "I'm exhausted so I suppose that I'm too tired to argue with you about it right now."

He grinned. "Not a good answer for my self esteem, but I'll take it!"

She yawned. "I really need to take a shower and get to bed, though."

"Ok." Ron stood up. "I'll clean up my 'mess' while you do that."

Grabbing some pyjamas, Hermione headed towards her bathroom for a shower. By the time she came out, Ron had picked up and put all the rose petals back into their bag.

"You didn't have to pick them all up," she said as she looked around the room. "I would have helped you."

"Nah, It's fine," he assured her. "I might even save them for a later use or something. They're pretty cool."

"Scoot over," Hermione ordered, and before Ron could respond she was pulling up the covers on the side of her bed and scooting in next to him. "Why are you still here?" she mumbled, her eyes already closed.

Ron felt a bit hurt at the question. "You didn't say goodbye, so I couldn't leave." He took one of her hands and interlaced his fingers with hers.

Instead of responding, Hermione merely pulled her body closer to his and laid her head on his chest. After a moment, Ron wrapped an arm around her and started to run his hand up and down her back. They lay there together in silence, neither of them saying anything, the sounds of their slow comfortable breaths now the only sound in the room. Ron could feel Hermione drifting off to sleep and knew that it was time for him to go.

"Are you awake?" he whispered.

She nuzzled further into his chest. "Yes. Barely."

"Maybe I should go home," he suggested despite wanting to do nothing less. "You're right knackered," he added with a chuckle.

"No. Stay," Hermione replied with a whine.

Ron raised his eyebrows.

Stay.

Hermione was asking him to stay. Surely she just meant for him to stay until she fell asleep or something, right?

"You want me to stay the night with you?" he asked slowly, trying not to sound too concerned with her answer.

She nodded. "You're warm." Her words were slurred. She almost sounded drunk and Ron couldn't help but chuckle again.

"And you're absolutely delirious," he retorted.

"Stay," Hermione said again. "I don't want to be alone."

There was that feeling in his chest again- a pang that stood somewhere between elatement and pain. "Okay," he finally responded, his voice now hoarse. "I just- I'll have to go to my house and...uh, brush my teeth and stuff." He looked down at himself. "I can't very well sleep in this, either."

Seemingly annoyed at having to let go of him, Hermione released his torso. "Hurry," she demanded.

Ron stood up and made to go before getting to her doorway and turning around to study her. She was so beautiful and she looked so small there alone in her bed, her eyes closed, her lips parted, her still-wet hair spread wild about her pillow.

Gods, she wanted him to stay with her- he wanted to stay with her. Yet he was conflicted. Sleeping in Hermione's bed with her all night was going to be bloody torture. As soon as Ron had that thought, Hermine opened her eyes, a question in them. Knowing he'd been caught staring at her like some kind of creep, he forced a small smile and gave a nod before turning around and leaving. As he made his way downstairs, he made sure to blow out the remaining still-flickering candles.

His mind was in absolute overdrive as he headed back over to his house. He couldn't believe that this was really happening. For as long as they'd been friends, he and Hermione bid each other goodnight before retiring to their own beds. This was done either by one of them leaving the other, or with the pulley. It's what they did- it's what they had been doing for years.

But this time, he wasn't going to have to say goodbye because he was going to spend the night with her.

Together. In her bed.

Sure, the two of them had napped together several times before, but that had always been accidental and certainly not all night with her parents away. Her parents. Maybe they were the only reason for all of this. After all, it wasn't like Ron was allowed to spend the night at her house under any other normal circumstance. But then again, her mum and dad left town quite often and Hermione had never invited him to spend the night with her before.

Trying to put a stop to his frantic, back-and-forth thoughts, Ron paused at his front door, his hand frozen on the doorknob. He shook his head vigorously, hoping that the action would help clear it and force him to calm down. When he did walk inside, he was thankful to find the living area empty of people, his family members having already retired to their own rooms.

Yeah, he was definitely overthinking things, he thought as he quickly yet quietly raced up the stairs towards his bedroom. Hermione only wanted his company because she was feeling lonely. There was no ulterior motive on her part, no reason other than she didn't want to be by herself. In her mind it was innocent- just as it always had been.

Ron had planned on just brushing his teeth and changing into his pyjamas but then decided to take a shower as well. He had sweated earlier, and besides, he knew he probably should have a quick wank because there was a chance that his traitorous body would get the wrong idea and react to Hermione's close proximity. That would certainly scare her off from her wanting to spend the night with him again.

By the time he made it back, Hermione was already asleep but stirred as Ron lifted the covers and crawled into bed next to her .

"You showered." she mumbled, her voice cracking.

"Yeah," Ron confirmed as he gathered her into his arms and pulled her to him. "Shh," he soothed. "Go back to sleep, Hermione." He ran his fingers through her hair, willing her to do so. Not for the first time that night, she nuzzled closer to him, her arms encircling his torso and squeezing him tight.

Her breathing evened out within minutes, and Ron could tell she was once again sleeping. He was tired, but there was a part of him that refused to close his eyes, wanting to soak in the moment. How he wished that every night would be as great as this one was. He wasn't sure what she wanted from him, but there was one thing for certain.

Hermione Granger was going to be the death of him.