(A/N) OK, I've finished reading the book (which, fyi, is awesome! So totally read it!) And now am on a roll with this story, Read and review! Thank you:)
Hermione flicked her wand absent mindedly as she waited for Rory to get over the fear of messing up the fire charm for a third time in a row. Even Harry, who loved his sister more then Hermione thought possible, was looking immensly bored as he watched Moody try and talk Rory into trying again.
"Come on, Gilmore! You can do it, you are a powerful witch, just focus!" Moody growled as Rory still looked uneasily at the leviating log she was meant to set on fire.
"But what if I catch Lupin's robes on fire again," she squeaked looking back at Remus Lupin who was now standing safely on the other side of the room.
"Do it, Rory," Ron encouraged.
Rory took a deep breath and aimed her long wand at the leviating wood, concentrating hard she tried the fire charm again. Everyone held their breath as she yelled, "Flagrate!" and steady flames shot form the end of her wand. Hermioen shut her eyes tight as she waited for screams of terror to fill the air but she could only smell burning wood. When Hermione opened her eyes she saw that it was only the log that had been lit and nothing, and no one, else.
"I did it," Rory cheered. "Jess, I did it!" she called and Jess looked up from his novel and gave Rroy a charming smile.
"I knew you could, babe," he replied then turned back to his book.
Draco came down into the basement where they had been practicing and sat down next to Hermione. He was changed into a green tshirt and loose blue jeans and had fully recovered from yesterday's battle. Hermione gave him a quick smile before turning to Rory who easily cast the water spell and extinguished the flames. She knew that Ron was watching them, he hated Draco talking to her so it was probably not the best idea to be too friendly in such close quarters while Ron had his wand in hsi ready hand.
"How's she going," Draco asked cooly from her side.
"Fine," she replied quickly. "Certainly had got some power in her."
"Yeah, I watched Mrs. Weasley Lupin's burns," Draco sniggered and Hermione felt a smile break out.
She wasn't listening to what Moody was saying to Rory, she was trying her best not to look like she was having a good time talking to Draco, she still felt Ron's eyes as they burned into her skull.
"You know if Ron really loved you, he'd get over the fact that you like me," commented Draco.
"We're just dating, he doesn't love love me," she whispered but Draco laughed.
"Who are you kidding, he loved you from the moment he laid eyes on you," he said, then added. "Who could blame him."
Hermione couldn't help her smile from growing wider and wider, did Ron love her? Sure they loved each other as friends and did want each other romantically... but did he reallly love her? The idea of him loving her unconditionally made her insides flip around with joy. Suddenly she saw that Ron was glaring, red faced, at Draco as he smiled at Hermione's beaming smile. He didn't what they were smiling about, and judging by the look on his face, he still didn't beleive the 'just friends' excuse.
"Do you have a death wish?" Hermioen hissed at Draco quietly, the change of her mood had taken him off guard and he furrowed his brow. "Ron is looking over this way, go sit somewhere else!"
"No, I will not move becuase Weasley wants you all to himself," Draco replied stuburnly.
"Well, I'm certainly not yours," Hermione replied before she could stop herself. Draco sat up straight and gave a short suprised laugh.
"Is that's what making you all flustered," he whispered, "You think that I fancy you in that way." he asked, his blunt way of asking her made Hermione stumble on her words.
"I, no – Well- I don't," she fumbeled. "Well I'm muggleborn so I guess no..."
He gave her a luagh and let his long fingers rub her shoudler. "I've changed my ideas on 'pureblood' and all that," he whispered.
"Well, if you do like me that way I don't think we can still be friendly," Hermione whispered. "I'm with Ron, and I can't just throw that away."
"Hermione, You're a great witch, but I'm not interested in you for anything," he said with a chamring smile. "But your friendship!"
Hermione gave a huge sigh of relief and smiled back. "Good," she muttered, they had both looked away from Rory and Moody and now just smiled at each other.
"I wouldn't want to screw up what you and Ron have," Draco said. "No mater how much I hate the fact that everyone around here has found love but alas, I have not!"
"You'll find love Draco, you just haven't found the right girl!" Hermione enthused. Draco let his hand run down from her soulder to her finger tips and they both smiled, but their intimate moment of friendship was shattered in an instant.
"I'll duel Malfoy!" they heard Ron shout from behind. Both Hermione and Draco whipped around and saw Ron satnding, wand pointed straight towards Malfoy. His eyes blazing with fury. Rory looked intently interested at the scene, Harry had burried his face in his hands and shook it lightly. Ginny was nervously chewing her finger nails as she watched Ron brreathe heavily.
"Excellent, excellent," Moody said and pointed his wand at the floor where a long thing purple rug stretched the room. "Stand on opposite ends of the dueling rug," he barked and Ron quickly hopped onto his side, Draco slowly sauntered to his.
Hermione ran to Ron's side and tugged at his sleeve, he glanced dpwn at her and when he saw her eeys swelling with fear he just looked straight back at Malfoy.
"Ron, what on earth do you think you're doing?" asked Hermione as Moody went through the standard rules of a dueling match.
"What, you don't want you're boyfriend hurt?" he asked coldly, his words cutting into her heart like a knife.
"Ron, we've been through this he's," but Hermione couldn't carry on because Ron interupted.
"He's not your lover, you're 'just friends'," Ron said mimking her voice.
"Its not that I don't want to see him hurt," Hermione said quickly. "But Draco is a proud person, I don't want him to hurt you!"
Ron's anger seemed to fall away but Moody wasd now stepping away from teh mat so that nothing was between them. "Harry beat him..."
"There was a snake, and I could speak parsletoungue!" Harry hissed from behind Hermione."Technicaly Snape finished the battle..."
"Ron, pull out now, people die in these battles," Hermioen whispered, her hand wrapped itself in his and she smiled hopefully.
"Colloportus!" Draco shouted.
"Potego!" Ron yelled and the body binding curse hit the wall just above Lupin's head who ducked out of the way from the falling rubble.
"You see, Gilmore," Moody was saying across the room. "Youhave to mean your surses for them to actually be effective."
"Densaugeo," Ron shouted the tooth enlarging spell at Malfoy who deflected it just as Ron had moments before.
"Levicorpus!" Ron shouted again and suddenly Draco was dragged up by his ankle and he dangled there his head skirting around the purple rug. As he tried to aim a curse at Ron upside down Ron began to swivle his wand and Draco began to rotate in circles.
"There Malfoy," Ron shouted. "I'll teach you to mess with my Hermione!"
"Your Hermione," repeated Hermione, Ron still twisting Draco in the air looked over at her.
"Well yeah..." Ron muttered, afraid of Hermione's reaction.
"So, you-you love me?" she aksed, to Hemrione there was no wizarding duel, Draco was not dangling in mid air but she and Ron were alone, and finally finalising how they felt. Finally they would end the guessing game.
"Yeah, I do!" Ron almsot shouted over Draco's screams of indignant protest.
"Why didn't you tell me then," she shouted back.
"I did, when we were in The Three Broomsticks..." her replied. "Do you love me?"
There was a small pause while Hermioen thought about her answer. Did she love him? Did she love his sometimes pompus attitude? His angry out bursts? His quidditch fascination? No, she didn't... But she did love his red hair, his long arms, his bright blue eyes that seemed to always undersand her. His smile when he laughed out loud. His chivalry and his constant need to defend her honour. And those things made up for all the things she didn't love.
Fear had etched into his blue eyes that stared into her own while she contemplated, and when he was jsut about to turn around and take his heart break out on the leviating Draco she yelled, "I think I always have!"
This made Ron jump out of his skin, so much so that his wand lost concentration and Draco fell hard onto the floor, though Ron didn't notice. He had turned and dragged Hermione close to him, kissing her deeply, she felt his hands travel from teh back of her head to her shoulders as he pressed the pair of them together, as if he tried with all his might he could mend them so that they could never part. And Hermione suddenly wanted the same thing, to have Ron closer to her then she had ever had him...
"Conjuctivitis!" Draco yelled and Hermione felt Ron's arms slip away as he yelled the sheild charm, bu instead of sheilding himself he had protected Hermione.
"Ron!" She yelled form behind the invisible layer as his wand continued to conjure it. His eyes had suddenly become goopy and slowly they shut and the goop that had leaked onto his eyelashed hardened and now Ron coudln't open his eyes. He stumbled a bit, but kept his wand pointed at Hermione, she looked down and saw taht she had stepped onto the rug! Any spell cast their way would indeed hit both of them, if Ron hadn't have protected her.
"Rictusempra," Draco continued and Ron, despite his glued eyes began to laugh uncontrollably as he staggered from left to right. Hermioen tried to run at himf rom behind teh sheild spell but it hadn't worked.
"Locomotor Mortis!" Draco yelled and suddenly Ron's limbs snapped together, his wand falling by his feet, the sheild that protected Hermione fell away and now only Ron's mouth moved with laughter. Hermione grabbed Ron's wand and looked up at Draco who stared down, his face showed remorce but Hermione still couldn't hide teh angry tears welling up in her eyes.
"Winner is Malfoy," Moody began then he turned to Rory, completely forgetting about Ron. "Now Gilmore, I am now going to try and teach you all the spells used, we have only a week before we go back to Hogwarts.
Hermione looked into Draco's steel eyes and shook her head, drawing her own wand. "Are you proud?" she asked, Draco stepped back instinctevly, thinking that Hermione woudl turn it on him but istead she grabbed onto Ron's clothes and held her wand in the air.
"Disapparate," she muttered and the room faded into darkness and Hermione momentarily felt as if her eyes were buldging out of her skull as all air momentarily left her body. But in a flash she had transported them back to her and Ginny's bedroom and lifted Ron, with much difficulty, onto her bed as her mind raised for reversing spells. She turned to teh windows and flicked her wand to shut the heavy curtains that cut out almost all of the light.
"Wipetiam," she whispered and a light blue light oozed from her wand and suddnely Ron lay still, his eyes flew open and he gazed at the ceiling. His bretahing was fast paced as his eyes darted around as if expecting Draco to hop out at any moment and finish him off.
Hermione placed her hand on his own and Ron finally realised she was in the room. His breathing calmed down and he smiled at her. He sat up on her bed and looked around, the sun was still high in the sky but still did not shine through the curtains.
"Are you ok," she asked him as his eyes looked around the room.
"I really hate Malfoy," he muttered darkly, then added in a much more interested tone. "Where are we?"
"My bedrrom, and Ginny's," she replied looking, it suprised her how easily the two of them had moved into the room and called it their own.
"So," Ron began looking at Hermione as she to sat down on teh bed, on leg up on the red bedding the other dangling off the side. "It's official, we've locked this thing down. Us, I mean."
"Yeah, no going back now," Hermione muttered, a smile moving across her lips. "We're officially together."
"I hope we stay like this forever," Ron said, his hand moving to Hermione's. "You want the same, right?"
"Of course," Hermione said. "I never want us to end!"
"I don't think we will," Ron replied.
He tugged on Hermione's arm and she fell on top of him, before she could sit up Ron had pressed his lips to her own and brought her closer to him. His hands travelling up and down her back, she finally propped herself up that she looked down at him, her brown hair brushing against his shoulders and cheeks.
"You seem to be recovering nicely," Hermione muttered as he nibbled her earlobe.
"Why thank you," he laughed as his hands tucked themselves into her jean's pocket and brang her even closer.
"Ron, what do you think you're doing," she asked, trying to use her most stern voice but she just came across as coy. He bit his bottom lip toyfully and raised his eyebrows. He brought his face up again and slowly kissed her neck.
"What, here?" Hermione aksed. "In Harry's house while The Order trains Rory to kill Voldemort?"
"Yeah, you're so beautiful right now," said Ron. "And if the world is ending then I want to die with you in my arms."
Hermione drew her wand and locked the door to her room and put a silencing charm on it, then turned back to Ron who was smiling from ear to ear.
"We don't anyone bursting in," Hermione explained and then allowed Ron to lay her back down on the bed, and they truly sealed their relationship with a kiss, and much more.
(A/N) In the next chapter Ginny returns to school and shows Rory around to the life she never knew