Sorry for the lateness. I tried posting last weekend, but I kept getting errors and then I was away Yesterday and Friday. But enough of my excuses, read on!

Chapter Seven

As Ron sat up in his bed and played with his Deluminator, he would frequently pause and look up in the direction of the room Hermione was in.

When Harry settled into his own bed, Ron sucked the lights into the Deluminator for the night. He laid down, but didn't try to immediately fall asleep because he was too busy with the war going on in his head over whether or not he should tell Hermione what happened when the locket opened.

It took him a couple of minutes to finally ask, "Harry?"

"What?"

"What did you tell Hermione about the locket, you know, when we destroyed it?"

"Nothing more than what you heard me say. Why?"

"She wants to know more."

Harry realized what Ron was getting at, "Oh. But you don't want her to."

"No…Oh I don't know!"

"Ron, you know her, she will find out eventually, and she'll probably drive you mad until you do."

"She's been driving me mad since the day I met her!"

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Harry said sarcastically.

"This isn't funny." Ron said with a bit of an edge.

Harry chuckled a little at how serious Ron was, "Sorry," He cleared his throat, "Sorry, erm, I suppose you really just don't want her to know about that one part with…those two people that looked like Hermione and me."

"Obviously."

"Do you want my advice or not?" Harry retorted.

"Yes." Ron said weakly.

"Okay. Now let's think. If you do tell her, you don't have to include the very last part with them, or you don't have to include them at all. You can change who appeared or you can just say you heard You-Know-Who's voice. OR you can just tell her the truth."

"What do you think I should do?"

"Tell her the truth. Ron, I don't think she'll care as much as you do about what those apparitions did. She would never actually say any of those things and she will tell you that herself. If you tell her like you did with your 'tiny ball of light,' you will probably make the whole thing more dramatic and make you look sensitive and heroic or something."

"Heroic? Hmm, maybe you're right."

"That's probably the best thing to do. Okay, night." Harry quickly finished and rolled onto his side.

Several seconds later, Ron added, "I can start telling her and see how she reacts to figure out if I should continue or not. You think that's a good idea?"

"Yeah, whatever." Harry grumbled.

"Yeah." Ron smiled to himself and got comfortable. He would fall asleep imagining Hermione throwing her arms around him after finding out what a horrible ordeal he had to go through and saying how brilliant he was when he stabbed the locket. Yes, this could work out very well.

Ron was actually looking forward to getting up in the morning. He had spent all night thinking of the right words to use and how to say them to have the best effect on Hermione.

He got up and followed the scent of fresh toast to the kitchen. He chose the seat where he would have the best view of the living room and Hermione coming downstairs. No, wait, he would bring some breakfast to her. Yeah, she would love that. Ron smiled at how clever he was.

As he finished eating, he heard someone laughing outside. He felt his stomach drop a bit. A few seconds later, the front door opened and the laughter became louder. Then, Harry and Hermione walked past the doorway to the kitchen. Hermione stopped laughing when she saw Ron.

She ignored Ron and turned to Harry and asked, "Will you be all right?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

She briefly touched his arm and then walked away.

That did it. The confidence Ron had built up crumbled and doubt entered his mind.

She likes him better. All that talk last night was just her being sorry for me. But Harry said he loves her like a sister, and he loves Ginny. Maybe I'm just overreacting. It was just an innocent walk. They probably weren't even together the whole time. That touch was nothing; Hermione has always been a very comforting person. I'm just overreacting, right? Yeah, I must be. I have to be. You know what, I'm going to talk to her. I have to sort this out once and for all.

"What were you two doing?"

Harry sighed, "Calm down Ron. I went and visited Dobby's grave and Hermione joined me right before I was going to head back inside."

"Oh." Ron tried to say nonchalantly. "But what was so funny?"

"You really want to know?"

"Yeah."

"You."

"Me? Why?"

"She asked me about the locket—"

"Did you tell her?" Ron exclaimed in a panic. Was she laughing at his fears?

Harry narrowed his eyes, "Do you not trust me? Of course I didn't tell her. I only said you would tell her eventually."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, sorry for doubting you. But you still didn't say what was so funny."

Harry shook his head, "Nah, it's wasn't that funny."

"Come on, tell me Harry."

Harry had a hint of mischief in his features, "I said you would tell her once you found a way to put me back into the story."

"Great, now she thinks I'm going to make up the whole thing. Now I'll have to tell her exactly what happened!"

Harry was puzzled, "You were going to lie to her?"

"What? No. Just… tweak some parts." Ron felt a bit ashamed of himself.

Harry glanced over his shoulder and then turned to Ron, "Ron, please listen to me. Go and tell her everything and get it over and done with already. All your whining is getting to be annoying and, hopefully, now I'll be able to be in the same room as her and not have to dodge all of your jealous glares.

"I don't give you jealous glares."

"You do. Now, go and do it before it's too late."

"Fine," Ron stood up, "I'll do it."

Saw the Deathly Hallows Part 1 deleted scene with Ron and Hermione skipping stones and oh my gosh it was so adorable! I also read some of the reviews from those lucky enough to see an advanced screening of Part 2 and the Ron/Hermione bits sound uber great, I can't wait to see it!