Here's another chapter cause I felt bad that I haven't been updating in a timely fashion.

The girls walked out of the shop with their dresses wrapped safely in their bags away from the snow. Both were smiling as they tucked their bags under their arms, very proud of their choices.

"Hermione I love the dress you chose."

"Well it's more like you chose it for me Gin." Hermione arched her eyebrow at her friend.

"I didn't hear you complaining about it." Hermione could only roll her eyes at the younger girl. True Ginny was the one to suggest the dress but Hermione had to admit that she did love how she looked in it. It wasn't the kind of dress that she would normally have picked out for a school ball but seeing as no one would know who she was she thought it would be a safe enough choice. Walking up the street they noticed the boys were headed their way, no doubt they were finally going to look for dress robes.

"Hey did you guys find anything good?" asked Ron.

"Yeah we both found great dresses," Ginny responded excitedly.

"Well can we see them?" Harry asked reaching for Ginny's bag.

"Absolutely not, Mr. Potter," Ginny said swatting his hand away.

"Why not?"

"Because you're not supposed to know who's who, remember?"

"Oh I see. So you're trying to be a mystery are you?" Harry asked smoothly.

"Something like that." Ginny answered in just as a flirtatious tone. Ron just rolled his eyes at the two.

"Alright come on Harry we need to get our dress robes. See you girls at the castle." Ron practically had to drag Harry away from his sister.

The boys didn't take very long to find their robes and quickly headed back to the castle to escape the freezing whether. Once back inside the Harry and Ron played a game of wizards' chess (ending with another victory for Ron). Not wanting Harry to be drawn into another game, Ginny asked Harry for some help with her defensive spells. This left Ron and Hermione alone in the common room since the majority of Gryffandor opted to play in the snow before the whether got worse.

Hermione was still reading her book and looked as though she had no intention of putting it down. Ron took the opportunity to just look at her. The light from the fire made her skin look a bit tanner than it normally did. It looked like she was glowing in a way. He noticed that her eyes reflected the flames in the fireplace. They seemed to dance around in her eyes, just like the shadows moved across her face. The more Ron looked the more he thought the flames in her eyes had always been there. Like a spark of her spirit or something. He wasn't sure how to really describe it. The only thing that he was sure of was that he could stare at her face for hours and always come away finding something new. Hermione was a mystery to him and he honestly wouldn't have her any other way.

Hermione felt someone watching her and looking up she locked eyes with Ron, having caught him staring. The look on his face was an expression that she was somewhat familiar with. She didn't know exactly what it meant but he'd been looking at her with that look ever since the end of the war. The first time she had noticed it was when on the night that it all ended.

Flashback

They had been separated in the chaos of all the fighting. She had left his side when she saw one of her old classmates, Pavarti, was dueling two Death Eaters at once. Hermione knew that she didn't have a chance if she left her to fight on her own so Hermione went to help. Ron had been too busy fighting off a Death Eater of his own to notice she had left until he had finally downed his opponent. When he did notice her absence he shouted for her in a panic. It wasn't until the fighting was over that he found her standing in a pile of rumble helping up a student who looked as though she had a few bad cuts from being blasted against a wall. Seeing that she was okay sent a wave of relief though him, but he wouldn't be content until he had her in his arms. He called her name and when she turned she smiled when she saw him. Ron ran over to her and hugged her tightly. When he pulled back to look at her the look on his face was something Hermione hadn't seen before. For a moment she thought it was happiness but looking a bit closer she noticed that there was a hint of something else. She couldn't quite place it. The look on his face didn't change as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. She could feel the roughness of his fingers from all the dirt and grime but it didn't bother her. All her attention was on Ron's eyes. The cool pools of blue that always managed to entrance her whenever she had the chance to look deeply into them. His eyes shimmered like the way a pond does when a single drop of water lands causing ripples, seeming still but moving ever so slightly with the emotions that fill the ocean of his eyes.

End Flashback

That's the look that Hermione saw in him now; the look that could only be described as a mixture of every emotions combined. She blinked a few times before coming back to her senses and asking Ron what was wrong.

"Nothing's wrong," he answered with a smile on his face, his skin turning a light shade of red.

"Then why were you staring at me?"

"Ummm…" Now Ron was a little stumped. "You have a bit of dirt on your nose." It was a stupid excuse but that was the first thing that came to his mind.

Hermione rubbed her nose in an attempt to remove the "dirt". Unfortunately she had some ink on her hand left from when she had been writing an essay earlier and it smudged onto her nose.

"Did I get it?"

Ron tried his best not to laugh. "Well you got the dirt but now you have a bit of ink on your face."

"What?!" Hermione tried rubbing her nose again but she only ended up smearing it more. Ron stood up and sat next to her. He grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her face.

"Stop, stop. You're making it worse. Here." He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and licked part of it. Ron leaned forward and was going to start cleaning her face when Hermione pushed his hands away.

"Urgh, Ron. I don't want your spit on my face."

"Oh relax it's not like you're not going to clean your face properly later." Moving her hands aside Ron cupped her face with one hand while the other diligently cleaned off her smudged nose. Hermione took this time to stare at him for a while. She noticed the light freckles that were splashed on his nose and cheeks. They seemed to trickle down his neck and under his shirt onto skin that Hermione could no longer see. Hermione blushed slightly at the thought of wanting to see just how far down his freckles really went. When he was finished Ron looked at Hermione and caught her staring.

"Have I got dirt on my nose?" he asked jokingly.

Hermione blushed a little at being caught. She blinked a few times before she looked away from his eyes. Not answering his question. After a moment of silence Hermione looked back at him and saw him shift slightly away from her. He looked down at his hands and began to rub them together a nervous tick he always had. Taking a deep breath Ron faced Hermione and looked like he was serious about something.

"Hermione can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. You know you can ask me anything, Ron." Hermione shifted so that she was facing him too.

He must have been really nervous because he was tapping his fingers on his knees as he avoided her eyes.

"Are you… I mean do you…?"

"What?"

"Are you going to the ball with anyone?"

Hermione was surprised at his question since she was under the impression that no one was supposed to have dates, which she told him.

"Yeah but I was just wondering if… anyone you know asked you or something."

"And if they had? Would that be a problem with you?"

Ron opened his mouth to respond but nothing seemed to be coming out. Hermione took his lack of response as a way of confirming that he did have an issue with it. Furious she stood up and shouted down to him.

"Are we really going to have a repeat of 4th year Ron? I thought we were past that… Who I go out with is none of your business." She glared at him towering over him.

"Sorry I didn't mean to be in your business. I was just curious to see if anyone asked you or not." Ron knew that this may not have ended as he would have liked but he didn't think Hermione would be so angry at him at least inquiring.

"What were you going to use me as a last resort again?" Hermione snapped at him.

"Look I'm sorry alright. I was just curious to know if you had a date is all." His frustrations were rising and he knew that it was time for him to step away from the situation before this became a serious argument. Taking a deep breath he turned and walked away. But before he walked up the stairs to his dorm he looked at Hermione once more. "Oh and I wouldn't have asked you as a last resort. You would've been my first and only choice."

Hermione didn't know what to do as he walked up to his room. She sat back down on the couch thinking of what Ron had said to her. She felt as though she should go and apologize to him for being so rude but her pride kept her rooted to her spot. The only thing she was capable of doing was staring into the flames hoping they would give her the answers.