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Chapter 16:

"Look! I can't believe it's her."

"Is it really the head girl? Sure doesn't look like her."

"Look at her hair, it's normal, oh my god. I never imagined it would look so beautiful."

Hermione heard the whispers all around her. Every student in the common room was practically staring at her. It felt an awful lot like the night of the Yule ball. She was once again the center of attention, and she had to admit it did feel flattering. She glanced at Ginny one last time, and left to the spot where Ron was standing; his back turned to her, as he was talking to Dean Thomas.

She gently tapped Ron's shoulder, and waited for him to turn around. Dean who was standing behind Ron, dropped his jaw at the notice of her. Ron slowly turned around smiling, as he said "Finally, took you lon…" He lost his words when he saw her.

Hermione noticed his gaping and blushed harder then she had all night; she looked down at her feet and waited for him to say something, anything.

"You…" Ron coughed nervously. "You… um… you look…" he stumbled for words.

"What?" Hermione asked in a whisper, looking up at his blushing face.

"You look mesmerizing," said Ron, looking down at his date disbelievingly.

"You really think so?" she asked nervously.

Ron nodded his head, being too shy to say anything else. An awkward silence followed for the next minute, before Hermione offered to exit the common room, since it was already half empty.

They walked silently toward the great oak doors. Most of the students were in the packed hall, awaiting the doors to open. Ron and Hermione just stood next to each other silently, they didn't bother to talk since the hall was filled with chatter so loud, they would never hear each other over it.

Once the doors finally opened, the couple walked out into the fresh air and down the familiar path to Hogsmeade. Hermione was curios as to what Ron had in mind. Had he planned something for them to do that day? Or did he figure he would let her decide?

They walked rather silently, having small talk every once in a while. The topic of their small talks was usually Harry, and Hermione couldn't help but feel disappointed. Knowing they were on a date, they both acted uncomfortably around each other, which was bound to ruin the mood; yet neither of them could have helped it. This did feel weird.

Hermione shrugged the feelings of awkwardness out of her mind, assuming it was just nerves; she looked up at Ron smiling, Ron returned the smile nervously, leading her into Hogsmeade.

"So," Ron started, "I was thinking, we could browse around the shops if you wish, and then have a lunch or something at Madam Puddifoots," he offered nervously, the tips of his ears turning redder by the minute.

"Sure, sounds good to me," smiled Hermione.

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Ginny was seating in the Three Broomsticks, with Luna and Neville for company. She was curious as to what Hermione and Ron were doing at that moment. How was their date going? Were they getting along well enough? She really hoped things would work out between them, after all, they were two of her favorite people.

Neville left for their drinks while Ginny stayed by Luna. Luna was reading her father's magazine and talking about some sort of worms that could eat a person's flesh. Ginny just smiled at her, and continued looking into space. Then she saw a group of Slytherins enter the pub.

It was Draco Malfoy, with Pansy Parkinson practically glued to him. To his left stood Zabini, while Crabbe and Goyle hung around in the back. The Slytherin's walked past their table, shooting angry sneers in their direction. Ginny gave them the dirtiest look she could muster and turned her attention back to Luna.

Neville was making his way back with their drinks, stumbling across the way; when he spotted the Slytherins, his legs felt like he was hit with the Jelly Leg curse and he fell, hitting his face hard against the cold floor. The three bottles of Butterbeer broke, spilling their contents all over the pub. Neville stayed lying on the floor with a very miserable and embarrassed look on his chubby face.

Ginny ran to Neville, and helped him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking around at the enormous mess that was caused from the incident.

"I'm fine," mumbled Neville. "I'm sorry for the Butterbeers, I'll go get us three more bottles," he added nervously.

"Don't," Ginny stopped him before another catastrophe could be caused. "I'll take care of it," she added quickly, making her way to the counter.

The Slytherins were seated by a table near the counter. As she walked by their table Ginny couldn't help but hear that the topic of their conversation was her.

"Does she think she looks pretty dressed like that?" sneered Pansy.

Crabbe and Goyle grunted, not taking their eyes off of Ginny's legs for one second. Pansy noticed their pathetic stares and turned her attention to Draco, while Draco ignored her completely; he was engaged in a whispered conversation with Blaise.

"Go for it, right now!" he ordered Blaise.

"Are you sure right now is a good time?" Blaise asked.

"As good as any. Did you see her bloody legs?" smirked Draco.

"Yeah," answered Blaise dreamily, as he left the table and headed towards Ginny's direction.

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Ron and Hermione walked around the shops in Hogsmeade. They didn't buy anything in particular, although Ron offered to pay for whatever Hermione wished. Hermione didn't pick anything out because she knew Ron's family suffered great money problems and she didn't want him wasting the little money he had on her.

At around 2 p.m. they headed to Madam Puddifoot's for a romantic lunch. They entered the restaurant, and were seated in a far booth. Ron smiled at Hermione nervosouly, and she returned the smile, wondering what they will be doing for the next hour or so, when they didn't have anything but food to distract them from each other.

"What would you like?" Ron asked, when the waitress brought them the menus.

"I'm not really sure. Something light, I had a big breakfast," said Hermione, looking at the different varieties of salads.

At the end, she settled on a garden salad with grilled chicken, while Ron ordered roast beef with mashed potatoes. They sat quietly, each playing around with their foods. Hermione knew that if they would have sat there as friends, they would have had an endless conversation that would have covered every single topic. She couldn't understand why there was a weird tension between them. They both liked each other very much.

Was it that their friendship was so strong that they couldn't really be anything more then friends? Or could it be that she anticipated the moment so much, that now when it finally came it just wasn't it. She sat there, looking at Ron; he was eating his food and seemed to enjoy every bite. She wondered if he felt that there was a tension between them. Did he feel as awkward as she did, or was the problem only with her?

Hermione decided to throw the thoughts away from her mind, and started on her salad. It was very delicious, and very light. Exactly what she wanted. They both sat in the restaurant, eating, and smiling at each other from time to time.

When they finished with their entrée's the waitress came back and asked if they wanted some desert. They settled on a fruit platter with some yogurt, and sat there, waiting for the waitress to bring it.

"So…" started Ron, "How was your salad?"

"It was very good. Thank you," smiled Hermione.

"The roast beef was good as well," said Ron, another awkward silence followed his words.

A minute later, Ron tried to break the ice once again.

"You really do look beautiful Hermione," said Ron, moving a little closer to her.

"Thanks," she blushed, looking down at her knees.

"You don't need to blush," said Ron, "I am being honest," he said as he brought his hand to her chin and lifted it.

Hermione felt so nervous, Ron was touching her face, he was getting closer; she expected to feel the familiar butterflies zooming around in her stomach, but they never came. 'What's going on?' she thought to herself.

Ron leaned in and planted a soft and sensitive kiss on her lips. Hermione returned the kiss, hoping it will bring her butterflies back, but it didn't. She just sat there, kissing Ron; doing something she had wished to do for a very long time, and there were no butterflies. Not even one. What was wrong with her? What was wrong with them?

They pulled away from the kiss, and looked in opposite directions, both blushing with embarrassment.

"Hermione," said Ron, hesitation audible in his voice.

"Yes?" she asked, turning her head slowly, to face him.

"Did it feel weird to you as well?" Ron asked, the tips of his ears turning a brighter red than Hermione had ever seen.

Hermione didn't say anything, she just nodded in reply.

"Why does it feel weird? In your opinion?" he asked, his cheeks flushing with heat.

"I don't know," confessed Hermione, "Maybe we're too close as friends."

"Maybe," Ron agreed, and they sat there in the most awkward silence yet, eating the fruit that arrived while they were engaged in a lip lock.

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"What do you want Zabini?" Ginny's cheeks flushed with anger, as Blaise Zabini placed his arms on both sides of the counter around her.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that question?" he asked, smirking.

"No, I just asked you for fun," remarked Ginny sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I want you," said Blaise, coming closer to her.

Ginny snorted, and looked up at him, stifling a laugh as hard as she could. "Well, welcome to the club."

Zabini smirked at her, and couldn't help but love her reply. He knew Ginny Weasley was not the type of girl to take shit from anyone, and he had to admit that that was the main reason he felt so attracted to her.

"Now if you don't mind, get out of my way, my friends are waiting for me," Ginny said, holding three bottles of Butterbeer with an impatient look on her pretty face.

"But you see, I do mind," Blaise came even closer to her, looking down at her body with a sexy seductive look.

"I warn you Zabini, one step closer to me and you will find yourself on the floor clutching onto your balls, while crying with agony!" Ginny shot him a warning glare.

"Do you always threat Weasley?" he asked, standing his ground with a sexy smirk across his pretty boy face.

"Not always, only when I'm around prats."

"Well, you should do it more often, you look damn sexy when you're angry."

"Honestly Zabini, fuck off," said Ginny, trying her best to go back to her friends.

"Feisty, I like that about you; and honestly Weasley, why don't you want to give me a chance?"

"Perhaps because you can't even call me by my first name," fumed Ginny.

"So if I call you by your first name you will give me a chance?"

"I didn't say that."

"Well, I won't let you go until you do say something."

"Fuck off! There, you got something."

"You know Ginny," said Blaise, implicating her name. "You have a pair of killer legs."

Ginny rolled her eyes, and tried to get away from his grip, which was a mistake because he was closing in on her.

"Just tell me you'll have a drink with me and I'll let you go," he said, teasingly.

"I don't want to have a drink with you."

"Well, I'm afraid I can't let you go then."

"Your crew is looking at you," said Ginny, hoping to get off that topic, and be left alone.

Blaise shot one glance in their direction and noticed Pansy staring at him with an open mouth, Draco sat on the chair lazily, smirking in his direction, and Crabbe and Goyle were looking at him with their usual confused looks.

"I really don't care," Blaise shrugged his shoulders.

"Well I do."

"So have a drink with me."

"No."

"So let's skip the drink and just shag," smirked Blaise,

"NO!" yelled Ginny.

"What's going on?" Ginny heard Luna's dreamy voice. "Ginny, what's taking you so long?" she asked, totally ignoring the fact that Ginny was cornered against the counter.

"That git won't let me go," huffed Ginny, glaring at Blaise.

Blaise leaned closer to Ginny, and whispered "You can run, but you can't hide," into her ear, in a very seductive voice. Ginny shuddered and sighed with relief when he finally let her go, and went back to his table.

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"So what do you want to do now?" asked Ron, while he was taking care of the lunch bill.

"I don't know, maybe go to the Three Broomsticks and have some Butterbeer; we'll probably meet Ginny there, maybe even Neville," offered Hermione.

"Okay, I guess we can do that," smiled Ron.

Holding hands, they walked to the Three Broomsticks; Hermione felt nervous and embarrassed because she could feel her palm sweating in Ron's hold. She wanted to bring her hand to her side, but thought better of it; the date wasn't going as planned as it was.

In the Three Broomsticks, Hermione and Ron spotted Ginny sitting along with Neville and Luna. They joined them, and together the five friends had two rounds of Butterbeers, and a very intense discussion about the current state of war. The time seemed to fly by in an instant, and before any of them could have realized it, they were walking back to the castle.