A/N: Surprise: this is part 2 of three. Part three is coming up shortly tonight. Rated T for those of you in County Devon. Stay tuned for Part 3...

"Where are we going?" Ron followed Hermione out of the Great Hall and away from all of the first years clamoring for his attention.

"I'm on duty tonight for rounds. No one would switch with me so I have to do them."

"Ah. OK. I'll come along. I want to see the Head Girl do her thing."

"I'm not as bad as my fifth year, so I'm told. Someone," She side-eyed Ron with a smile, "taught me the value of discretion and tempering my adhering to rules."

"Yeah, who was that?"

Hermione pushed open one door and found no one in the empty classroom. "You, Ron." She closed the door behind him and pushed him into the door, kissing him breathless. "I figure making you wait hours to do that was long enough."

"Damn right," He turned her around and pushed her into the wood door and reciprocated gladly. "Think we can lock the door?"

"I'd rather have you in your room rather than on some dusty desk where a professor could walk in," she replied demurely. "Not that I haven't thought about you bending me over the desk and having your way with me."

Ron stood speechless. "You fantasize about me? And bending you over a desk and shagging you rotten?"

Hermione stepped back from him and opened her robes. Under the black material, she was wearing a form-fitting jumper. Ron goggled at her since it was obvious she wasn't wearing a vest or bra under it. "Bloody hell, Hermione!"

"I know it boggles you, but I ache for you. I've missed you terribly these past 2 months. And as much as I want you to ravish me here, if we did, I'd neglect my other duties."

"So you're not saying no, just not yet."

"When we finish our rounds, I want to lock and seal your door and then you to have your way with me."

Ron pulled her to his chest and offered her promises with the touch of his lips. "Then let's finish and get back. I'm ready for you, too."

Hermione closed her robes and cloak, covering her stocking clad legs and her barely covering body. "Now we can go." She opened the door and winked at him before walking out.

Ron adjusted his trousers and kept visualizing revolting thoughts to quell his raging hard-on. It eventually worked until he saw a flash of leg or her smiling over her shoulder at him.

"Hermione, how much longer?" He whined a few minutes later.

"Oh, we'll be another couple of minutes, including a walk-up the astronomy tower."

"Up there?"

"Unfortunately, Ron. Now come on."

"Oh all right," he pouted and made it to the first steps. He stopped again when he saw that she had shed her cloak and was wearing only her skirt and jumper, along with the knee socks he loved on her legs.

"Coming, Ron?" She cheeked.

"Bloody witch," he growled and started running up the stairs two at a time. He stopped her on the first landing, penning her to the wall. "Why are you teasing me?"

"I'm not. I've tripped a couple of times wearing my cloak walking up and down these stairs and I don't want to get hurt, not tonight." She gave him that private little smile, reserved only for him, to show she did know what she was doing. "And it's foreplay, too. I want you randy for me when we get back so you can have firsts and I can enjoy seconds and thirds, of you."

"Thirds?"

She slipped under his arm and continued up the stairs. She stopped on the second landing and sent a couple of fifth year Ravenclaws back to their own tower. "Yes Ron: thirds. Since I am excused from lessons tomorrow, I thought you might be hungry." She gave him her best innocent look before trudging up the next long flight of stairs.

He ran up after her, falling in beside her. "Can you get breakfast sent up? I think a bit of a lie-in might be in order."

Hermione stopped on the fourth landing and used her wand to illuminate the dark corners of the landing. Sure enough, she spotted a couple of sixth year Gryffindors and called them out before they could start shagging. "And Miss Turlington, see Madame Pomfrey tomorrow. If you're going to act like an adult, I don't want you having consequences of such yet."

"Yes, Miss Granger." The girl threw on her jumper and cloak before running down the stairs.

"How'd you – "

"I do listen, Ron, when I'm in places with other students. Just like you listen in the locker room and from gossip at camp, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." He watched her start towards the stairs leading to the top of the tower. "But I never talked about my crap with Saunders. So how did you know?"

She stopped and turned back around to him. Her face was bathed in moonlight, while the rest was in shadow. "You're not the only one who sends me letters, Ron. Ginny writes Harry daily and Neville writes her too."

"But I never said anything. Then there's the letter yesterday and you're calling out an Auror on the owl intercepts and I'm boggled how you knew because I never told you."

"Neville let it slip in a letter to Ginny, that there was an Auror who was a bad apple, but had it out for you. Harry didn't say anything but Neville did. So for the last 3 letters, I've had it charmed to read one thing if the charm was broken and another if it was. I knew from the context of your letters that someone was intercepting the owls and reading them before you."

"What did your writing say?"

"The broken charm ones were the raunchy ones. The unbroken ones were the tame ones. That's how I knew what was happening."

"But how?"

"I asked Auror Jones. She told me that letters are read over before they leave camp, but they are supposed to be untouched for coming in. When I mentioned it to her that an Auror was reading your mail to everyone before you had, she went ballistic and started her own investigation. She suggested the idea that I would write all those things in your letters, as tempting bait for the particular Auror."

"Hermione! The blokes at camp –"

"Yes, I know they think I'm a scarlet woman. I don't care because it's you. But I thought you'd have cottoned on since I'd never speak so… bluntly in letters to camp."

"I admit it was mortifying at first, but then when I heard some of the raunchy letters the other blokes were getting in camp, I thought it was just part of the culture there." He blushed hard and wouldn't look at her. "They'd take the piss some and then get back to their own letters."

"I thought you knew better. I'd not speak of that in public for any reason." She sighed. "But I came to understand a bit better after talking with Auror Jones. She said that they run you like worn out hippogriffs while at camp, training twelve hours a day sometimes and then classroom instruction and conditioning. It's a wonder that you get four hours a sleep a night, if that, so she says it.

"But when I mentioned to her about that particular one, piecing it together from Harry's letters to Ginny and the one from Neville in particular, I asked her about him. Her face went hard and asked me to repeat the particular Auror's name. I did and she muttered something about that sodding bastard and left the room immediately.

"I thought she was mad at me but returned an hour later, apologizing to me but said that my information was to be kept private, since it was now Auror business."

"I never suspected. I just thought he was a git taking the piss from everyone."

"Well, he is, but seems that he was more than just a git."

She started the final climb and he fell in beside her. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't think that you'd use your cunning to help me. I just thought you were trying to help my morale by being randy."

"Oh I am, but you're also one of my best friends, and my lover. You don't need scandalous letters to keep your morale up. What you need from me is my love, praise, and words of encouragement. Those other letters weren't me but yet they were – the me that only you get to know and appreciate."

"But the blokes at camp now know."

"Do you think I care what they think?"

"I care," he said quietly before stepping close to her. "I don't want anyone thinking less of you."

"And Tuesday morning, Auror Jones will be there and explain it was a sting to catch Auror Saunders and his illegal activities."

"But the sods at camp know you're with me."

"And how many there besides Harry know our current situation?"

"Neville."

Hermione crossed her arms. "Anyone else?"

"Not that I know of."

"That's exactly my point. If Auror Jones says it was a sting operation, that preserves my reputation, especially since they were only scandalous the last few letters, right?"

Ron bowed his head. "You really are brilliant, Hermione."

"I know. But I did all of it to protect you, Ron. I love you so much and I know you can handle your own issues but sometimes, you take too much and don't stand up for yourself enough, even from me." Hermione took his hand and kissed the knuckles once. "Now come on. I bet we catch three more couples upstairs before we finish."

They made the floor beneath the tower roof and found four couples, including Dean and Luna in various state of undress. Hermione refused to look at the various couples, or Luna's bare back as she redressed.

"If I catch anyone the rest of the week, points will be deducted. Now off with you."

She waited until the four couples were gone before laughing to herself. She pulled her wand from her pocket and non-verbally charmed the room. Sure enough, there was one other couple present.

"Harry, Ginny, finish up whatever you're doing and come back to the tower. I'm staying with Ron tonight so you have the room. We'll take the long route back to the tower. I don't want you sealed out tonight."

Hermione turned and started down the stairs.

"How'd you know?"

"Made sense since we went out on rounds and they were too goggle eyed at one another over dinner. I figured Harry would bring his cloak along for some privacy with Ginny away from everyone else."

A/N2: Part 3 will be posted as chapter 111 of The Drabble Series. - DG