Chapter 11

Hermione awoke slowly. Eyes still closed, she felt exhausted and incredibly stiff, her calves were throbbing, and she ached all over. What the hell had she been doing last night? Running a bloody marathon.

She inhaled deeply through her nose, and opened her eyes. Disoriented, she looked around a bit. This wasn't her room. She tried to move but there was a weight pressing heavily across her abdomen and the left side of her body. She looked down to find an arm slung possessively over her stomach, and further on down, a long leg cradled between both of hers.

She rolled her head to the side searching for the cause, and found Ron close to her sleeping soundly. His bangs were hanging a little into his eyes, and the morning sunlight softly danced across his red hair and freckled face. She felt her heart swell. Merlin, he was beautiful.

In that moment, the previous night's exploits came flooding back, and she smiled lazily at the instant heat washing through her. Her memories were now coming back in flashes. They had alternated between intense lovemaking and light napping. The memory of how she got back to his room and what had happened immediately after made her giggle and grow incredibly warm.

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Ron had left her in the shower to "do something" in his room. She suspected he was cleaning madly so she wouldn't know what an incredible slob he had become.

As she reached down mindlessly and turned the water off, she contemplated the wrongness of her actions. As erotically distracting as he was, she should have been strong, and forced him to listen.

'But what can you do when you have a wet, naked Ron in your shower?' She teased herself.

Hermione climbed out of the tub, and wrapped the towel around her small frame. As her determination to have things settled grew, her actions took on a hurried tempo. She was not going to let this go on for one more minute. It was beyond ridiculous now.

Her jaw set firmly, she aggressively collected her wet clothes with a vengeance. She opened the door of the loo, and the shocking cool air of the hallway instantly served to reinforce her resolve.

'No, I will definitely go back to my room, put on my pajamas, and then go for a heart to heart.' She counseled herself.

She would knock, he would answer, and she'd just say it.

'Ron, I'm not with Roberto. He's just my friend… my gay friend.' And then she'd wait for the tirade to begin.

She marched resolutely down the hallway, but hesitated by his door. She could here him moving around restlessly, and the image of him nearly, if not completely, starkers flitted through her mind.

Without warning, his door swung open shocking her from her daydream, and he stepped out bumping right into her. His hands came up instinctively to grab hold of her arms, and as he gazed down at her, she felt the will to do the right thing seeping out of her. It took him a full five seconds, but he finally released her and stepped back into his room.

He was clad only in his Chudley Cannons boxers and nothing else. As she stared into his cobalt blue eyes, she knew she was fighting a losing battle. Her mind was insisting that she keep a move on back to her own room, but her body refused to obey.

Suddenly, he reached out and pulled her into his room. Everything from that point on was a blur.

She heard the door shut firmly behind her, felt herself pushed up against it, and then his lips were on her devouring every piece of bare skin he could reach; her mouth, her neck, her shoulders. She was panting so hard that she was quickly running out of breath.

His hands. Merlin, his hands were roaming her greedily stroking, and grabbing, and caressing, and coaxing until she thought she was going to shatter into a million pieces.

She couldn't take it anymore. She pushed him away, and raked her eyes over him.

His breathing was laboured, his eyes were dark and clouded, and his full lips were red and swollen. He was thoroughly unnerved from being so rudely forced away from her.

She needed to take control. Craved it. She seductively reached up, unraveled the towel from around her, and dropped it to the floor. In a breath, he had gone from being the possessor to the possessed.

She caught and held his eye. Taking her time and never breaking eye contact with him, she sauntered closer. When she was a breath away, she dropped to her knees, and pulled his boxers down freeing his painfully hard erection that seemed to be straining to reach her.

He stepped out of them and swallowed nervously, knowing what was coming next. Running both hands from his ankles, up his calves, over his thighs, and finally coming to rest on his delicious arse, she began to kiss and lick his hipbones, thighs, and stomach carefully avoiding the one thing that yearned for the most attention. He began to tremble uncontrollably at her excruciatingly slow kisses and bites.

Leaving her left hand to firmly grasp his delectably tight bum, she slid her right hand around his hip and grasped his length.

She heard him call out to her, and she looked up and smiled devilishly in response before giving him a few gentle strokes.

Watching her closely, he groaned when she licked her lips and then tentatively lathed the head of his penis with her tongue. His hands shot into her mess of wet brown hair, and she took him fully into her mouth. She began to suck him slowly, gently at first but then she quickened her pace and began to pump his shaft with the hand that held him tightly.

This was his breaking point. He could only take so much before he would begin to thrust uncontrollably into her mouth. As incredible as it felt, he had other plans as to how he wanted to entertain them both. Breathlessly, he grabbed her shoulders and hauled her up to face him.

"Oh no," he muttered, "not tonight you don't, Ms. Granger."

Giggling coyly and biting her bottom lip, she placed her hands on his hips, and slowly began to back up toward the bed pulling him with her. When her calves hit the bed frame, she released his waist, sat down and leaned back on her elbows, staring up at him with a dare in her eyes.

"And if I do. Will you spank me for being a bad girl?"

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She felt her whole body quiver and flush at the memory of what happened next.

Suddenly, a gentle snort from the man beside her brought her back to the present. As gently as she could so as not to disturb him or lose his hold on her, she rolled onto her side to face him. Lovingly, she continued to watch him sleep.

Extending her right hand up, she couldn't resist brushing the bangs from his forehead with one finger. His eyes fluttered open, and upon seeing her, he smiled sleepily.

"Good morning," she mouthed softly, and his smile widened into a full-blown grin.

"I love hearing you say that."

He propped himself onto his right elbow, and leaned toward her. She met him half way, and pressed her lips to his in a soul-searching kiss.

It didn't take long, however, for the embrace to intensify as he deepened the kiss, and pulled her to him. She moaned lightly into his mouth, and laced her hands through his hair as he pressed her onto her back.

Shifting, he moved on top of her, and nestled himself between her thighs. He pulled his mouth from hers, and began an all out assault of her neck and breasts.

They were well on their way to an absolutely fabulous morning shag when a knock came at the door.

He dropped his head to the crook of her neck in frustration for a moment, and then raised his head and called out impatiently. "Yeah?"

"Ron, it's Harry."

He groaned slightly, and she had to suppress a giggle. Their best mate really had the most impeccable timing.

"Just give me a second mate." Ron called back.

"Listen, hurry up and meet me down stairs. We have a lot to get done today. We have to pick up the dress robes, confirm with the officiating wizard, talk to the florist about the arrangements, drop in at 'The Three Broomsticks' to make sure those guest rooms are still on hold…"

Harry sounded like a nervous wreck, and the wedding was still a whole day away.

"I get it Harry. I get it… I'm coming."

Harry growled loudly, and then his footsteps could be heard trudging down the hall.

They looked to each other for a moment and then started to chuckle madly.

"He's a mess," she said as her laughter began to wane.

"He just wants it to be perfect for Gin."

Ron reluctantly climbed out of bed, and shuffled across the room nude and very aroused. Hermione rolled onto her stomach to better appreciate the view. When Ron finally looked back at her, he caught her lecherous gaze and flushed.

"Merlin Hermione, your liable to make a bloke bust if you look at him like that for too long."

"Sorry, can't help myself. Haven't seen this in ages. I have to make up for lost time.

His face fell at the mention of their estrangement, and he quickly pulled on his shirt, boxers and jeans.

"When are you going to be back?" She asked, sounding more needy than she would have liked.

"Don't know. Like Harry said, we have a lot of running around to do."

She nodded slightly, and gathered her courage. "Because you and I still need to talk."

His hands stilled, and he regarded her evenly. "No, you need to talk to Roberto first, and then we talk."

She sat up in bed, pulling the sheets up to cover her. "Ron, I'm serious. I need to tell you something."

"So am I, unless it's that you've already chucked him, then I don't want to hear it."

She pinned him with a frustrated glare. He could be so bloody stubborn sometimes.

"I'm pretty sure you do, Ronald."

"Well, it's just going to have to wait until I get back."

He walked over, placed one knee on the bed beside her, and cupped her face in both hands. Slowly, he leaned in, and she felt her breath grow shallow at the anticipation of his touch.

Just before she felt the gentle brush of his full lips over hers, he whispered. "I love you, 'Mione. You know that, right?"

She trembled at the sincerity of his proclamation and kissed him fiercely, placing her hands on his lower back.

Before they could get carried away again, he pulled back and gave a shuddering breath.

"Talk to him… Please…" He pleaded almost inaudibly.

And with that, Ron was gone leaving Hermione happy, excited and completely terrified all at the same time.

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Creeping quietly back into the room she was sharing with Roberto, she found him sprawled out on the bed covered only by a sheet snoring softly.

'Wonder how his evening turned out? Hope he had as much fun as I did.' She smirked to herself.

She snuck over to her suitcase, and flipped through it for a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. She shimmied into her jean shorts, and removed her nightshirt.

As she was in the middle of pulling her own shirt over her head, she heard the door open, and she scrambled to pull it on the rest of the way.

Pushing her head through the neck hole and spotting the new arrival, she said. "Sweet Merlin, Percy. I'm trying to get dressed here."

Thoroughly shocked by her shrill voice, Percy turned his back, and averted his eyes. "Sorry. Sorry. Forgot you were in here. I just… came to grab some clothes from the dresser."

"It's fine. I'm done now." She snapped at him.

Roused by their voices, Roberto stirred and opened his eyes. Taking a few full breaths, he began to stretch like a cat, and smiled happily up at them.

He rolled onto his elbow to face them, and his smile took on a playful twist. "Good morning. Well, don't we look like we've been… what's the word? Shagged rotten."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock, and she glanced at Percy to gauge his reaction, but he had already turned toward the dresser.

"Roberto, please. Not in front of Percy." She pursed her lips and gave him a threatening look.

Roberto's grin faltered, and uncertainty flashed in his eyes.

Hermione looked again to Percy to find him still busy with his back to them digging through his clothes.

"I can't believe you would say that in front of someone Roberto." She shook her head and made a face at him to play along.

His eyes shifted from her to the back of Percy's head and back again. "Sorry Bella. I guess I just wasn't thinking."

"Um… Percy, do you mind giving us some privacy." She said coolly.

Percy spun around and leveled her with the same snotty, pompous expression she was so used to from school. He eyed them both haughtily, and snorted.

"Not at all. I'm done here anyway." He spat out pointedly.

He gave them both a withering glare and stormed out of the room.

Roberto sat up quickly and watched him leave, and then his eyes snapped back to Hermione.

"That was very rude of you, Hermione. This is his old room, and you just ordered him out of here."

"Oh, please. Percy the Prat will get over it. We need to talk."

Roberto stiffened slightly at her tone. "Yes, we certainly do. But first, I need to use the washroom."

He got up, but as he stood Hermione realized he was naked, and she turned away with a gasp.

"Oh really, Bella. It is not like you have never seen a naked man before… Even within the last twelve hours I'd say." He said as he put on his boxers and a tee shirt.

She wheeled back around crossing her arms in front of her chest, and glared at him.

"I may be a while." He said as he crossed the room.

"But…" She sputtered.

He stopped at the door and considered his parting words carefully. "You know I adore you, but this needs to end Hermione. I've met someone very special, and I don't want to risk losing him because you're too afraid to be honest with Ronald. I know you're scared, but he's going to find out I'm gay sooner or later."

With that, he left the room and a very stunned Hermione.

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As Hermione set the table with Ginny for the rehearsal dinner, she pondered over the incredibly frustrating and unproductive day she'd had thus far.

She had tried to find Roberto to talk more, but he had been suspiciously absent for the first part of the day and tied up helping Mrs. Weasley cook the dinner all afternoon. Mrs. Weasley had insisted that they were not going to some restaurant for the rehearsal dinner when it was a family affair and therefore should be kept to just the family.

Ginny was a ball of anxiety talking incessantly about all the arrangements, how much she loved Harry, and how she hoped the weather would be agreeable among other things. To Hermione's utter amazement, Ginny had been incredibly organized and prepared leaving her not much more to worry over except to try and calm the young woman's nerves.

To make the day complete, Ron still hadn't returned from his day of errands with Harry, and she was growing anxious to see him.

Hermione was only half listening as Ginny continued to ramble on. She looked around the garden at its other inhabitants.

Mr. Weasley was reading some Muggle newspaper while sitting in the armchair. Bill and Percy were playing wizard's chess. Fred and George had the honour of de-gnoming the garden as punishment for accidentally blowing up Harry and Ginny's wedding cake. In the kitchen, Charlie was playing taste-tester for Mrs. Weasley and Roberto.

Hermione was seriously beginning to doubt the boys would ever come back when she heard it. It was soft, but she could place it anywhere. It was the gentle but persistent sound of Harry griping and complaining.

Hermione scanned the path for any sign of them. Apparently, Ginny had also heard Harry's voice because she was now perfectly still.

Suddenly, they came into view, and Ginny bounded over to them throwing her arms around Harry's neck. All of his agitation from his nasty day drained away leaving him beaming at his girl's exuberance. He dropped his packages and threw his arms about her lovingly.

Hermione watched them with a certain amount of envy. 'That is why these two are getting married tomorrow.'

She felt someone watching her, and glanced over to find Ron smiling at her softly. The look of pure adoration in his eyes sent a thrill straight down her spine, and she had to look away.

She felt him draw near, and his hand slipped into hers. She looked up into eyes that reminded her of the sky on a perfect day.

"I missed you today." She murmured only loud enough for him to hear.

He went a lovely shade of red, and graced her with his wonderfully lopsided grin.

Suddenly, Mrs. Weasley and Roberto came out of the house levitating all of the food and Ron's good mood completely vanished.

He wrenched his hand from hers.

"What the hell is he still doing here? Didn't you talk to him?" He whispered viciously.

"Yes, Ron. I did, but…"

"Boys, go wash up. Dinner is ready. Everyone else, have a seat." Mrs. Weasley announced.

Ron shot an evil glare at Roberto and stormed inside behind Harry. Moments later, the two men emerged from the Burrow and took their seats, Harry beside Ginny and Ron across from Hermione.

Suddenly, Mrs. Weasley jumped up. "I forgot the potatoes," she announced and scampered off back to the kitchen.

Everyone at the table started to engage in some form of friendly banter. Everyone, that is, except Ron. He was fuming. He obsessively watched Roberto and Hermione sitting side-by-side chatting amicably as if still happily together.

Hermione glanced to him, and was instantly struck by the fury firing in his eyes. She smiled at him apologetically, but he simply stared back with unflinching rage. She tried to plead with him silently.

His eyes slowly shifted from her to the man beside her, and she knew the storm was about to hit.

"Roberto, tell me something. Can't you take a hint?"

"Excuse me?" Roberto answered shocked by Ron's aggression.

"Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley scolded as she was returning to the table with the potatoes in hand.

She came to stand in between Mr. Weasley at the head of the table and Bill.

"It is alright Molly. I should have seen this one coming. Yes Ronald, I can take a hint. Whether I choose to pay attention to it is another matter."

This answer infuriated Ron to no end, and he snapped back. "Why the hell are you still here? She's not in love with you anymore."

Everyone at the table had grown silent watching the ensuing argument. Their eyes darting back and forth between the two men like they were taking in a Quidditch match.

"She was never in love with me, Ron."

"What? Wait… What?" Ron was thoroughly confused.

"Just as I have never been in love with her."

"I don't… I'm sorry… What?" Ginny asked joining the fray.

"What we have is deep and abiding, but it cannot hold a candle to how she feels about you, Ron."

Ron felt himself flush all over. 'I must look like a tomato,' he thought in passing, but something still wasn't sitting right with him. They had never been in love with each other? Was that what he was to understand? Ron felt himself growing red for an entirely different reason. If they were never in love, why the hell were they together for three years?

With a forced calm, he asked. "So, since you two don't really mind breaking up, why are you still here?"

"Well, I've met someone who makes me feel the way Hermione feels about you."

"You've fallen in love with someone?" Charlie asked to clarify.

Going a deep scarlet, Roberto answered unable to look up. "Yes."

"Really?" Hermione smiled happily at him.

Roberto met her gaze, and offered her a goofy grin. "Yeah."

"Who?" Asked Ron feeling a growing unease in his gut.

Hermione's eyes grew large with fear. Was Roberto really going to announce not only that he was in love with someone but in the process totally come out of the closet to Ron and the Weasleys?

Roberto looked around anxiously at all the expectant stares. He was so torn. As much as he wanted to scream it from the rooftop that he was madly in love for the first time in his life, he knew now was not the best time for anyone.

"It's really not…. I mean it's… It's…" He stuttered.

"It's me." Came a voice from the other end of the table.

All eyes snapped to the speaker wide with shock. A deafening silence descended upon the garden. Even nature seemed to recognize the gravity of the moment.

Mrs. Weasley's left eye twitched slightly as she clutched tightly to the bowl of potatoes.

"Percy?" She whispered.