A/N: Don't forget to read and review/comment, it's what keeps me going.

Chapter 29 – Slow

Harry watched his friends in amusement.

The three of them, Harry, Ron and Hermione were in Ron and Hermione dorm room. They were trying to figure out how to make a watch for Hermione, since they all knew who she was and they could openly discuss everything they knew about Voldermort and the Order.

Hermione was currently sitting cross legged on the floor leaning against her bed as she read some of Ron's old notes. Ron sat propped up against the door, a ridiculous distance away from her and Harry was literally sitting between them. He was supposed to be checking the mechanics of his and Ron's watch but he found his friends behavior much more entertaining.

He pretended not to notice but as he was sitting between them he noticed every move they made.

It was quite hilarious really and he had to use his complete will power to stop from laughing out loud.

Hermione had Ron's notebooks on her lap and was reading through them but she didn't seem to make much progress. Harry glanced over at her and saw she was still on the same page she had been on for the last hour. Hermione was alternating twirling the pencil in her hand and chewing on the end of it with her mouth, every now and then she looked over at Ron before blushing and looking back down at her lap.

Harry glanced over at Ron and saw his face was tense, and to anyone else it may have appeared as though he was carefully taking apart a new watch that he had bought for Hermione, but Harry knew differently. Every now and then Ron's attention was diverted, usually when Hermione chewed on her pencil and every time, the wand in Ron's hand slipped and the little pieces of the watch in his hand flew up into the air.

Ron would swear before quickly using his wand to collect the little pieces back together again.

Harry wasn't sure if Hermione knew the effect she was having on Ron but if she did, it was definitely a cruel way to treat someone. Clearly the two of them had made progress over the last few days but what kind of progress he didn't know and he was pretty sure that it would be crossing a line to even ask but still he wondered.

Harry stopped observing his friends and picked up his watch to check the time.

"Ginny should be here soon, I'll go get her," Harry said as he stood.

He heard Ron drop the watch in his hand at his words and he was only able to get a few steps down Hermione's secret passageway before he burst out laughing.

"So…" Hermione began once Harry had left the room.

She stood up and stretched her arms in the air.

"How about we take a break for a bit," she said looking over at Ron.

She saw his face was completely red and he had been staring at her stomach but when he noticed her looking at him he looked away quickly.

"U-uh ye-yeah…sorry what?" He stammered looking at the watch in hand as though it was the first time he noticed it was there.

"Let's just take a break until Ginny gets here," she explained walking over to him.

She saw Ron tense up the instant she took a step towards him. He looked like a caged animal being cornered and she stopped instantly. His back was pressed against the wall and he was gripping the wand in his hand tightly.

"S-s-sure…s-sounds…gr-great!" he tried to sound enthusiastic but she could practically see the beads of sweat dripping off of him.

"Ron…"

"Yeah?" he looked up at her, blushed and looked away again.

"Ummm…" she began not sure how she was supposed to go about saying this, "Do you plan on kissing me any time soon?"

Ron froze completely and she started to worry that he wasn't breathing but then he looked up at her – or at the space just above her left shoulder.

"U-uh…"

She sighed before sitting down on the ground across from him.

"I know you said you can't control your…urges around me," she heard Ron laugh nervously at her choice of words before sighing.

He rubbed his face tiredly before looking at her properly.

"I don't want to hurt you," he said running a hand through his hair making it looking windswept, and she so wanted to run her fingers through it.

"You won't," she said softly inching towards him.

"I don't want to force you to do something that you're not ready to do."

"You won't," she repeated moving even closer now.

"I don't know if I can stop myself once we start…."

"If we start off slowly it won't be so bad and I'll stop you if you go too far."

She saw Ron swallow nervously before looking up at her. He started when he realised how close she was now.

"I don't know about you but I really enjoyed kissing you," she bit her lip embarrassed and looked down at her hands clenched in her lap.

She heard Ron chuckle.

"Oh I enjoyed it very much…" she heard him sigh again, "Hermione…how do you feel about me?"

She looked up at him surprised.

"I like you…a lot," she added feeling her face flush with embarrassment.

She saw Ron frown and wondered what was worrying him and she felt the nagging doubt return.

"I – I..." Ron took a deep breath and tried again, "Hermione, I lo – "

"We're back!" Harry announced pushing the panel away so that he and Ginny could walk through.

Hermione instantly jumped away from Ron.

"Hey Ginny!" she stood up and walked over at her friend to give her a hug.

"Have you asked Ron yet?" Ginny asked while Harry walked over to Ron.

"Not yet, we were busy."

Ginny arched an eyebrow at her and she laughed at her friend.

"Not that kind of busy."

"So you say," Ginny smiled.

"Oww!"

Hermione and Ginny turned around to see Harry rubbing his shoulder.

"What was that for?" Harry questioned Ron.

Ron simply glared at him before picking up the watch on the floor and examining it again.

"Honestly, between you and Hermione, I'm going to have more bruises then I do after a game of Quidditch."

"Did we interrupt something?" Ginny whispered to her.

Hermione shrugged before walking back to her bed. She sat down and showed Ginny the notes.

Ron looked up from the watch and noticed Hermione and Ginny whispering together on her bed.

"By the way," Ron began looking at Hermione and Harry, "Mum asked if you two would like to come stay for the holiday."

"Sure," Harry replied instantly a smile on his face.

"Oh…" Hermione trailed off looking nervous, "I don't know…I have other plans."

Ron felt a knot form in his stomach.

"Plans?" he repeated

'Holiday with her parents kind of plans? Or going on dates kind of plans?'

"Yeah well…someone already asked me to stay over for the holidays," she explained looking at him apologetically.

"I see," he said slowly, "That's fine, I'll just tell mum you can't make it…"

He licked his lips before looking back up at Hermione.

"So this friend…um who is she?"

He heard Harry laugh but he tried to cover it up with as a cough.

"She's just a friend from Hogwarts girls," Hermione answered.

Ron saw Ginny biting down on her lip to stop from smiling but she wasn't doing a very good job.

"I see…"

"She might have a cute brother though so you might have some competition,"Ginny said seriously.

"Ginny!" Hermione scolded her.

"Okay," he said cutting of anything further Hermione was going to say, "I'm going to take a walk."

He handed Harry the watch before walking out of the room.

He had only just made it down to the common room when he heard footsteps running behind him.

"Ron, wait."

He turned around to see Hermione running over to him, she reached over to touch him but he moved back.

"Sorry," she said dropping her hands, "Sorry about Ginny, I – "

"It's okay, I'm okay…just needed to get some air," he explained trying his best not to look at her lips, "you'd better go back in case someone comes in."

"I –" she looked up at him before continuing, "No."

"Well…what?"

"No. I'd rather do this instead," she said before pulling him down by his tie and kissing him on the lips.

It was a pretty chaste kiss but she continued to hold onto his tie after she had pulled away.

"Don't make the assumption that you're the only one with urges," she said before pulling him down towards her again.

He smiled despite himself and wrapt his arms around her waist. He heard her gasp when he lifted her off the ground before placing her on a nearby desk.

He placed both of his hands on the desk to steady himself as they deepened their kiss.

Suddenly Hermione pulled away.

"Should we –" she gasped when he began to kiss her neck.

"S-should we go somewhere –" she tried to say but broke off and moaned instead.

He felt her fingers trail up his chest and she had on hand holding onto his shirt and the other running through his hair.

"…private."

"Uh-huh," he said before his lips found hers again.

He felt her hands trying to undo his shirt and that's what stopped him.

He pulled away and looked at her. Her eyes were hazy and her lips were a bit swollen.

"What?" she asked confused as to why he had stopped kissing her.

"Your hands are shaking," he said pulling her hands away from his shirt.

"Well I'm nervous," she said biting on her lip.

He took a deep breath and looked at her eyes instead of her mouth.

"I don't want you to be nervous…I just want you to feel…"

"Ron?" he felt her hands on his face.

"What is it?"

"I love you," he said softly.

He wasn't sure if she had heard him because she simply looked at him blankly. The next moment she was crying.

"Why are you crying? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to – I just…Merlin I'm so stupid!"

"No," she said wiping the tears from her face and he noticed she was smiling, "I can't believe that you would say that – I didn't think I would ever hear anyone except my parent say that."

He felt relief wash over him.

"Well I'll say it as many times as you like," he said kissing her softly.

"I love you," he said holding her face in his hands.

She closed her eyes and leant into his hand.

"Say it again," she whispered up at him.

"I love you, Hermione Granger."

She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Oh Ron," she said before hugging him tightly, "Where would I be without you?"

Ron chuckled and hugged her back.

"That's my line."

"Oh," Hermione pulled back and looked at him, "I need a favour."

"What do you suppose they're doing?"

Ginny gave Harry a 'are you stupid' look and he laughed.

"Good point. So Gin –"

"You know, Lavender is actually pretty nice once you get to know her," Ginny began laying back down on Hermione' bed.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Ginny replied.

'Okay, lets hope this works.'

"I'm going to help her apply for a job with Allan before we go out."

"Where are you two going?"

Ginny glanced over the notes to look at Harry, he was intently looking at the watches in his hands.

'I knew he wouldn't care.'

"Allan thought we'd go for a walk before getting a drink at the Hogs – "

"What do you mean Allan?!" she heard him say.

She sat up when he walked towards her.

"I told you, Allan and I are going out – on a date," she watched Harry's face carefully for his reaction.

"Are you serious?" he said incredulously.

"Very," she replied.

"He's way too old for you!"

"Who's too old?" Ron asked as he and Hermione walked into the Room.

Ginny smiled when she noticed their clothes were not as neat as when they had left.

"Allan! Did you know Ginny's going out with him?" Harry said to Ron.

"You are?" Ron questioned.

Ginny simply nodded.

"Oh well, Allan's a nice guy, and he's only a year older than us, two years older than you – that's not too bad."

Harry simply gaped at Ron evidently he had expected a different reaction from his friend. Ginny looked over at Hermione and saw her friend nod at her, clearly Ron was in on the act.

"B-but – she's only a kid she shouldn't date anyone, what would your mother say?"

Ginny dropped back down on the bed.

"My mother trusts me to make my own choices," Ginny replied.

'Darn, I'm still unsure if he's jealous or being over-protective, and since Ron knows we can't compare his reaction. I really don't understand Lavenders plan at all.'

"Ginny, I think you should get back now," Hermione said sitting down beside her.

"Okay," she sighed sitting up.

"Harry could you take her back? Ron and I will pack up."

Harry simply nodded though he was still scowling.

The walk down the secret passageway was both quiet and tense. Just before they reached the exit Harry stopped and turned around to look at her.

He held his lit wand up to look at her.

"Why are going out with him?"

"He seems like a nice guy," she replied.

"You don't even know him that well."

"Lavender told me about him."

"And suddenly we trust Lavender do we?"

"You're the one who took her with us to save Ron, and you wanted to save her from the Slytherins," she shot back at him.

"Well…saving someone and trusting them are two different things."

"Why do you care so much who I go out with?" She questioned trying to hide how nervous she felt.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt – and we hardly know anything about this Allan guy."

"Well you can come with me to his store tomorrow if you'd like, so you can talk to him before we go on our date."

"Maybe I will," he said this as though it were a challenge and she rolled her eyes at him.

"I'll be going there with Hermione and Lavender, so just meet us at Allan's store."

"Fine."

"Can I go now?" she said sarcastically.

He stepped aside and let her pass.

She shook her head and walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"What was that about?" Ron asked Hermione the instant the other two had left the room.

Hermione was packing up the books and handing them to him.

"Is she really going out with Allan?"

"I think so," Hermione replied.

"Why'd you ask me to just go along with it? That guyis too old for her," Ron said as he placed the books on her desk.

"I'm sorry I made you lie to Harry but…" she trailed off as she returned his watch and placed the others on top of the books.

"What?"

"If I told you to just trust me and not ask any questions would you?"

He looked at her for a moment before sighing.

"Is Ginny in any trouble?"

"No."

"Is she going to get hurt?"

"No, not physically anyway."

He looked at her skeptically.

"What does that mean?"

"This is normal," she said placing her hands on his shoulders, "You do know that Ginny has had a crush on Harry since she was a little girl right?"

Ron nodded his head.

"Well I just think it's a good idea for her to date other people first to see if she really likes Harry."

Ron looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Not everyone is as lucky as we are," she said trailing her fingers up his neck, "Not everyone can be certain of how the person they like feels about them."

Ron frowned at her and she was wondering if she was acting a bit too pushy – she wasn't exactly an expert with boys.

"You know that is really not fair," he said suddenly.

"What's not?"

He smiled at her.

"Running your fingers through my hair can be very distracting, you could hardly expect a guy to think straight when you do that, especially when you're pressed up against him."

She blushed and began to pull her hands away, she hadn't even realised that she had been doing it.

"No don't stop," he said and she saw his face turn red, "I like it."

She simply giggled and stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

Someone cleared their throat and they both jumped apart.

"Sorry to interrupt," Harry said with an annoyed expression.

"Get out of here already."

"Ron!" Hermione chided, even though she did agree with him.

"Just wanted to get my watch and then I'll be out of your way," Harry said walking over to collect his watch from Hermione's desk.

"Snog away," Harry said before closing the door behind him.

"Git," Ron said before turning round to look at her.

"As much as I'd love to continue, we really should get to bed."

"If that's what you want," he wriggled his eyebrows at her causing her to laugh.

"Sleep, I meant sleep," she laughed before throwing a pillow at him.

"Says the girl who attacked me in the common room."

"Attacked?" she said turning around to look at him. What she didn't realise was that Ron was standing right behind her.

He had a smirk on his face.

"Why you."

She raised her hand to hit him but he grabbed her arm and the smile on his face dissapered. He held her hand in his and squeezed her hand.

"Don't you realise by now that I love teasing you," he said just as he leant forward to kiss her.

Hermione jerked away and looked at him with a frown.

"What do you mean?"

"You're always so cute when you're mad," he explained.

Hermione simply stared at him.

"But we've hardly spent any time together when I've been a girl."

"Yeah, but I knew you were a girl so -"

"What!"

Ron released her hand and stepped away from her.

"How long have you known I was a girl?"

"Uhh..."

Hermione glared at him.

"W-well actually," he paused and ran his fingers through his hair nervously, "I've known since that time I knocked you unconcious in our DADA lesson."

Silence fell between them.

"Okay, before you freak out, I wasn't being a pervert or anything like that - I just...argh!" he rubbed his face in frustration before continuing, "I knew that you'd leave if anyone found out that you were a girl and I just found out that the girl I liked was at the same school as me. I wanted to take the time to get to know you better and...well to be completely honest I didn't want you to leave."

'He didn't want me to leave?' she thought to herself before a warm feeling spread through her.

"You idiot," she said before kissing him.

He looked back at her dumbstruck.

"You and Harry both know I'm a girl now dont you?"

"Yeah," he answered caustiously.

"And I'm still here aren't I?"

"Yeah...but...huh?"

Hermione placed her arms around his neck.

"Don't you know that you're awfully cute when you're confused," she giggled.

"Cute? I am not cute. Guys don't do cute," he said indignantly.

This only made Hermione laugh harder.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that," he threatened before he pinned her to the bed.

Hermione stopped laughing instantly.

Ron was leaning over her, he held her hands abover her head and had a smile on his face. Hermione felt her heart raced as he slowly bent down to kiss her. She closed her eyes.

She heard Ron laugh.

Her eyes snapped open just as she burst into uncontrollable giggles.

Ron was tickling her.

"Stop! Stop!" she laughed trying to push his hands away.

"Not until you say I'm not cute."

"Okay you're not cute," she giggled trying to get away from him.

He released her hands and she caught her breath.

Then Ron kissed her. He ruffled her hair before speaking.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear causing shivers to run up her spine.

He watched her carefully for a few moments before stepping away.

"Now we really need to get to bed," he said moving further away from her.

"Ron?"

"Just give me a minute," he said avoiding her eyes.

"It's okay," she replied, "I'll see you tomorrow."

She gave him one more look before closing the curtains around her bed.

She lay in her bed hugging her pillow tightly trying to ignore the sinking feeling her stomach.

'Why do I feel this way? I'm happy but I can't help this feeling of unease. What can it mean?'

A/N: Thanks for all your comments.

CutewithAcapital-Q: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you're enjoying this story.

Avanell: LOL Ron definately is having difficulties but looks like he's slowly getting better ;)

Spicysweetchica101: LOL I agree, but I'm sure Hermione would say that she loves her red-haired idiot XD

TiffanyM: 'oh la la' lol really? Well I think you should prepare yourself for more steaminess and about time I'd say.

marauders rox: I love Ron too, just in case you couldn't tell lol

IsI Wisi: Thanks! But don't be afraid to give me constructive criticism :)