Happy Meghanmas(what I call my birthday)!Here's my present to you all, because I turned sixteen today!

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Pigwidgeon came back today from Hermione's house. He's empty-handed, again. Damn it.

I've written her six letters in the past month, and I haven't gotten one measly piece of parchment from her yet. It's so surreal- Hermione is usually a novelist when it comes to writing letters. Last year she sent me a letter that was ten pages long! She wrote about her muggle friends, that stupid cat, her parent's dental clinic, the OWL exams, and anything else you could possibly imagine Hermione writing about. I complained about having to read them back then, but now I miss the "novels".

"Ron! Mum wants you!" Ginny bellows up the stairs. I groan. "Be right down Gin!" I scream back.

Getting up from my desk, I run out the door, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. I'm met by an obviously crazy woman who looks just like my mother. She opens her mouth and what seems like hundreds of angry words flows from her mouth so fast I can barely understand her.

"Ronald, where've you been? Harry will be here any minute, and I fell asleep for a couple hours so the house is still a mess!"

I open my mouth to reply, but she very rudely interrupts me. "Don't talk, just listen. Set the table, clean up the living room a bit, and sweep anything that you can sweep!"

Then she bustles off, stopping briefly to yell at Ginny. "Keep dusting Ginevra, those picture frames better be spotless when I come back!"

Ginny gives me a look that clearly says 'Our mother is a nutcase' and continues to work. With a deep breath, I walk over to the cupboard and start taking out plates, glasses, and salad bowls.

"So, did she write you back yet?"

I turn to see Ginny leaning against the door to the living room, with a rag in one hand and a feather duster in the other.

"Who?" I say casually, although I know exactly who she's talking about.

She laughs. "You know exactly who I'm talking about. I see you staring out the window waiting for Pig to come back every day, and every time he comes back empty handed you sulk until bed time."

I scowl and turn away, pretending to be busy counting out the forks. How did she manage to figure me out?

Ginny moves over to the table and sits down in mum's chair. "Come on Ron, I've lived with you all my life. I know when something's wrong, especially between you and Hermione." She leans back in the chair, pressing her fingertips together like a muggle psychologist. She smiles knowingly. "So big brother, what did you do wrong this time?"

I set all the dishes on the table and start to distribute them. Her question is a tough one- for a whole month I've been wondering the same thing. I've gone over every little thing I said to her the last day at Hogwarts and on the train, and I've read everything I wrote to her in my letters over in my mind. I can't think of a single thing I've done to upset her. I usually know when I'm being a prat.

"Ginny, I honestly haven't done anything this time," I say, frustration clear in my voice. "We were fine the day of Dumbledore's funeral- she was crying on my shoulder, I was holding her and stroking her hair. I felt like we had a connection. We were okay on the train too, so there's nothing I could have said to piss her off. What the bloody hell is wrong with girls? Do you just get mad for no reason?"

My sister bursts out laughing. "No, we don't. There's always a reason. Sometimes it's the stupidest reason in the world, and sometimes it has nothing to do with you, but we always have one."

I run my fingers through my hair. "Then what's up with her? I honestly haven't given her any reason to get upset, I've even written to her more than I usually do!"

Ginny stared at me sympathetically. "Maybe it's not you, Ron. Maybe it's something going on with her."

"What, like something's happened to her?" I yell, getting louder with every word. "Maybe there was a Death Eater attack. If any of them have hurt her I swear to god I'll kill every single one of them."

"Ron, get a grip on yourself. There wasn't a Death Eater attack. If she was attacked Voldemort's followers would've left the Dark Mark, right? So the Ministry would know about it, which means Dad would know, which means we'd know," Ginny explained. "Make sense?"

I pause for a second. "Yeah, I guess so- but what did you mean about something going on with her?"

Ginny sighed. "Hermione's been kind of conflicted lately. I don't know what about, so don't ask- I just sense this war going on inside her, you know? I have a theory that she might be in the process of accepting some of the stuff that's happened, or even that she's realizing that she has really deep feelings for someone and she's trying to cope with having to tell him. Maybe it's both. I don't know exactly what, but Hermione's one of my best friends, and I have a feeling that she's been doing some serious thinking this summer."

"Ginny- who do you think she has feelings for?" I say quickly, rage bubbling up. I swear I'll kill him, whoever he is. I'm way overprotective of Hermione.

She looks at me like I've just asked her how to spell OWL. "Ron, if you honestly don't know, you are really stupid and I am ashamed to call you my brother."

A silence comes down over the room. I try to make sense of what I've just been told. Ginny is making it pretty obvious; is there a chance that the one Hermione is thinking about is me?

"Do you mean me, Gin?" I ask, sounding rather dumbfounded, as if I'd just heard that Gilderoy Lockhart had become Minister for Magic. Ginny bursts out laughing again, although I don't see what she finds so funny.

"Wow, took you long enough, didn't it? It's been almost seven years, the betting pool was abandoned long ago," She tries to say crossly. She doesn't manage it though; her eyes are twinkling and she seems thoroughly please with herself. "Look, she's liked you more than a friend since your second year, and probably in first year too. You've just both been such total idiots. You two have both been way jealous, valued pride over friendship, and basically didn't see what was right underneath your nose. The rest of us are all sick and tired of the constant bickering the two of you love so much, so why don't you just skip the whole 'I-like-her-does-she-like-me-back' stage and ask her out somewhere? Take her to a muggle movie or on a picnic. I don't care, just do it before the end of the summer or I swear I'll blurt this entire conversation out at the dinner table the last night before you three leave. Alright? Do you understand?"

I nod, although I'm not sure why. I like Hermione, and I admit there's something there that I've been avoiding in our conversations, but the thought of asking her out is totally terrifying. I'd rather face Malfoy, Snape, Fenrir Greyback, and Wormtail all at once than ask Hermione out to dinner. That's the funny thing about dating; no matter how many times someone tells you a girl is interested, and no matter how true it seems, there's always that fear of rejection.

I'd rather never hear the words "I'm sorry Ronald, but I only like you as a friend" in my life.

Ginny smiles at me, eyes twinkling once more. "Alright then, we're finished here. Now you might want to finish setting the table, mum will be furious if she comes down and sees we've done next to nothing." She walks back into the living room, rag and feather duster in hand.

I jerk back into work mode, setting all the plates where they're supposed to go. All of a sudden I think of something. "Gin, where's Fleur? You'd think she'd be helping mom clean up."

"She went to get her wedding robes fitted for the millionth time," Ginny yells as she stands on the tips of her toes to dust the top of the grandfather clock. "This is her second last fitting. Thank goodness mine was done a couple of weeks ago; I don't think I could stand another four hour trip to that bridal boutique in Diagon Alley."

I laugh to myself and walk into the living room. Folding the afghan on the sofa, something comes to mind. "So, have you kept in touch with Harry at all?"

Ginny freezes, and for a split second I think I made a mistake. However, just as soon as it came the discomfort was gone. "We sent a couple of letters back and forth. We're trying to stay friends." She pauses for a second. "He'll never be able to just settle down and let someone else conquer all the evil, will he?"

I try to think of a nice way to say no, but I can't think of anything. "Honestly? No. He's the one who has to finish You-Know-Who off in the end."

Ginny looks confused, and I know I've gotten myself in too deep. "But why does he have to? The whole Ministry of Magic is looking for You-Know-Who, Harry doesn't need to put himself in any more danger than he already has."

Wow, this is going to be hard to explain without giving her any more information. "Gin, there's a whole lot more to this whole thing that you don't know about. I want to tell you, but it's not my decision. There are probably only three people alive who know the whole story, and that's Harry, Hermione, and I."

Ginny stares at me like she can't believe what I'm telling her. "So you're just going to tell me there's more to it and not give me any more information. Nice, Ron. That's real nice. It's not like I can't be trusted!"

Uh oh. I'm in trouble now. "If I could tell you I would Ginny, but I can't betray Harry's trust."

She glares at me defiantly for a second, and I'm sure I'm going to get it, but her shoulders suddenly drop. "I guess I can understand that," she says softly. "I just hate being the odd one out with you three."

I'm about to reply- not that I know what to say- when the kitchen door bangs open. "Honey, I'm home!" Dad yells. A grin stretches across my face as I walk into the kitchen. Dad, Professor Lupin, and Harry are standing in the doorway.

"Hey Harry," I say, unable to disguise the happiness in my voice. "It took you three long enough to get here."

Professor Lupin smiles at me mischievously. "We made a pit stop on the way."

I stare at them, confused. "What kind of pit stop?"

My question is soon answered. As Harry moves his trunk into the kitchen, I see another person, previously hidden by him.

My jaw instantly drops.

"What are you doing here?"

Thanks to all the reviewers! As you can see I'm working on getting the chapters longer so that you guys have more to read. Anyways, review if you like it, or if you don't!