A/N: Well, here's chapter six! I shouldn't even bother apologizing for the late update anymore, right? You guys all know how bad I am by now! :)

I hope you all enjoy this! It isn't a terribly exciting chapter, but it clears up an important issue…-cough-Ron-cough-.

So, cheers everyone!

Jess

Disclaimer: Guess what! Last night, I wished upon a star to be J.K! And, you know what guys? It totally, completely and entirely…didn't work. -tears up-

Getting Rid of the Problem that is Ron

"Oh, come on Ron! Just open the damn door already!"

"I don't want to talk to you, Granger. If you're looking for somebody to chat with, why don't you just go find your darling Fred?"

Hermione balled up her fists in frustration.

"Why must you always be so childish?" she demanded.

"Well excuse me for not being as mature and perfect as that dear brother of mine! I suppose that the fact that he's an older guy is what made you fall for him in the first place, huh? Why don't you just go and date my Dad, then? Or even better, I have a grandfather who isn't quite dead yet! He has to walk with a cane when it's humid outside and I'm pretty sure that he's well over 90 by now, but all the more fun, right Hermione? " Ron barked.

Hermione let out a growl of frustration. "Quit being so stupid! You're not even making any sense, Ronald!" she yelled.

"That's bloody rich coming from someone who's going out with a guy who's literally her polar opposite! Tell you what Granger, why don't you just run along and go shove that intelligent little tongue of yours down my brother's throat! I'm sure that his tonsils will come up with some brilliant theories of life that'll make much more sense than whatever it is that I have to say!" he shouted.

"You-are-such-an-idiot!" Hermione screamed before kicking the door with all her might.

"OW!" she hollered, collapsing down to the floor and bringing her aching foot to rest between her hands.

"Who's the idiot, now?" Ron exclaimed wryly.

"Oh, how I'd like to wring that pale little neck of yours." Hermione hissed as she massaged her sore toes.

They both fell silent then, Ron probably too angry to continue and Hermione too concentrated on her pain to think of any more decent arguments.

"Hermione?" Ron asked warily after a minute of tense silence had passed between the two of them.

"What?" she asked tiredly. All of her rage seemed to have disappeared in that kick.

"Your foot okay?" he asked quietly.

Hermione raised her eyebrows cautiously, even though she knew that Ron couldn't see her look of disbelief.

"Yeah, it just smarts a bit. Why do you care?" she asked.

Ron took a minute to answer.

"Maybe because I feel a little bad." He admitted.

"Have you finally realized how much of an asshole you've been during the past hour, then?"

"Have we really been yelling at each other for an hour?" Ron asked, ignoring her insult.

"Yes. Time flies by when one's having fun, doesn't it?" Hermione replied scathingly.

There was a heavy sigh from the other side of the door and Hermione watched with satisfied eyes as it finally eased open. Ron hesitantly made his way out to come sit down next to her.

"Sorry." He mumbled, looking down at the floor.

Hermione sighed in relief. "It's alright."

Ron turned toward her with suspicious eyes. "Really? You're forgiving me?"

Hermione shook her head with a teasing smile. "No. I do have my conditions. And you aren't totally excused for everything either, just the stuff regarding Fred. I haven't forgiven you about the things that you said about me the other night, and that'll take more than a quick "sorry" to fix."

Ron nodded glumly. "I'll make sure to redeem myself," he said. "I don't know how, but I'll think of something."

"You could just curse your tongue off." Hermione suggested.

Ron snorted. "Thanks. I deserved that."

"Yes, you did." Hermione agreed.

"So," Ron continued, "what are the conditions to my most immediate forgiveness."

Hermione tapped her index finger against her chin, organizing her thoughts. "First," she began slowly, "you are not to insult Fred, mock him or give him any grief about us dating. Second, you're to do the same when talking to me. Third, you should make an effort to not act nauseated when you're around us, and that means no pulling strange faces, gagging or turning green and or blue. And fourth, you are to never call me an idiot ever again." She finished. "All clear?"

Ron chuckled at her last order. "Yeah, all clear." He said with a grin. "Sorry about that." He added.

Hermione giggled her acceptance.

A more comfortable silence fell upon them.

Hermione couldn't help but feel immensely relieved. Things between Ron and her definitely weren't going to be perfect for a long while, but at least they'd be able to act civil now.

A sudden thought occurred to her. She grimaced as she realized she had forgotten to mention the most important issue at hand.

"What?" Ron demanded, noticing her look of discomfort.

Hermione took a deep, steadying breath. "I've been meaning to ask you about your feelings, Ron…regarding me." She said quietly, turning pink as she said the words and staring at her toes.

"Oh." Ron said, clearly uneasy and surprised. Hermione didn't even have to turn her head to know that he was probably crimson by now. "Well…I guess that what I said about you being…mine…well, not really said, but implied anyway, was kind of based on shock. I mean, I won't deny that I did used to have a crush on you 'Mione, but over the years, those feelings have kind of…faded. Seeing you guys together so suddenly must have made them rush back, somehow…or maybe it was just me being possessive or something. I dunno." Ron shrugged anxiously. "Point is, those feelings are gone now, and you definitely shouldn't be worrying about them coming back. Not that you're so horrible that they can't come back," he added after catching Hermione's strange look, "it's just that you're way too much of a sister to me for me to feel anything other than platonic love toward you. Anything else would just be incest." He finished with a shudder.

Hermione laughed at his look of disgust. "Okay, sounds good. I was just checking to make sure that we were all on the same level, regarding that subject."

Ron nodded understandingly. "So…I suppose that you'd like to go see Fred now, huh?"

Hermione grinned. "Wow. You managed that with hardly any cringing at all! You must really be making an effort."

Ron rolled his eyes and stared at her insistently as he waited for her actual answer.

Hermione just looked down at the floor again and sighed heavily. "I guess I should go and find him." She muttered.

"Not breaking up already, are you?" Ron asked, trying to hide the hopeful edge to his voice as best as he could.

Hermione shook her head. "No, he's just mad at me."

"Why? What did you do?"

Hermione gave him a significant look. "I came to talk to you." She replied.

Ron rolled his eyes again. "Ah, I see. He thinks that you should've just left me here to rot, huh?" He asked grimly.

"Precisely." Hermione agreed.

Ron seemed to consider this for a minute. "Well, I guess I deserved it." He finally said.

Hermione laughed. "Yeah, you probably did."

"So, why'd you come talk to me, then?" Ron asked.

"Because I'm too bloody nice for my own good." She sighed, getting up and dusting off her jeans.

Ron smirked. "Sounds about right." He approved, getting up as well.

"Any ideas on what I should say?" Hermione asked nervously, wringing her small hands together.

"Just mention that you casually murdered me by sticking a can of poisonous gas inside of my room. That'll make him happy." Ron said, lifting his arms up to the sky and stretching them until the joints popped.

Hermione shook her head, trying to suppress her giggles.

"Actually, Hermione, he's quite right. I would've forgiven you immediately."

Hermione whipped around at the sound of his voice.

"Hi, Fred." She mumbled quietly.

He didn't look mad, at least. He just seemed a little irritated with his arms crossed against his chest and one eyebrow raised up higher than the other one.

They both stared at each other for a long moment.

Fred finally exhaled heavily and uncrossed his arms as Hermione continued stay motionless, too nervous to budge.

"Come on," he said softly, extending a hand toward her, "we need to talk, babe."


A/N: So, not all that great and exhilarating, huh? But, at least the Ron problem is completely taken care of now and we can move on to pure Hermione/Fred fluffy moments…or can we? Dum, dum, duh! Guess you'll just have to wait until the next chapter to find out! Bwahaha!

So, please leave a review if you have a few seconds to spare! It'll make my day even brighter!

Love you all!

Jess xx