a/n: There are a few references and quotes that are nearly identical to those in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling.
The original quote is:
"She's gone a bit funny. Lost her nerve. Women," he said wisely to Harry, "they're easily upset."

"So, Hermione..." Ron began hesitantly during their walk to Hogsmeade. They were heading for apparation practice, something which Ron really needed. He had wanted to ask her some questions about "them" for a quite while now, and the long stroll to Hogsmeade was ideal for it. Hermione looked up at Ron, her bushy hair hidden partly under a woollen bonnet. It came out from under it, looking frizzier than ever. It gave her a pretty, girly look, accentuated by a pink woollen scarf, wrapped around her neck. Ron had never been any good at talking about his feelings, and that night in the common room, where he had told her most of his feelings for her, certainly didn't make it any easier. Every time he wanted to talk to her about it, he had chickened out because of the look in her eyes. The look she was currently giving him.
"...why are you coming with me to Hogsmeade? You hardly need the practice, you've got those three C's nailed."
"D's," Hermione corrected, "and I thought you might like the moral support. I know you think you can't do it, but you really can. It's all in your head."
"Are you trying to tell me I can't apparate because I'm mental?" Ron joked. "I should have known earlier. It would have saved me a whole lot of stress and effort."
Hermione laughed merrily. She seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself in these sorts of private moments with him. Ron sure did.
"Do you love me?"

Ron had let it slip before he had even realized he had said it. He clasped his hands in front of his mouth, knowing that would not make take the four words back. He looked at Hermione, who had stopped laughing and was looking back at him with a small smile on her face. She said nothing, merely looking into his eyes. Ron got the message. It's odd how much you can actually say without doing any actual talking. Ron looked around. They were walking on the path to Hogsmeade alone. He reached out and grabbed her hand. Their fingers intertwined and in silence, they walked to Hogsmeade.

The apparation practice would take place outside Zonko's. A large group of people were standing outside, waiting to hear where they were supposed to apparate to.
"I don't see any hoops," Ron said, "Do you think we're supposed to apparate to someplace far away?"
"No, I think we'll have to apparate to the inside of a shop or house in Hogsmeade."
Ron and Hermione were still holding hands when they joined the group of people waiting outside Zonko's. They let go quickly when the examiner apparated into their midst.
"Right you lot, today's assignment is to apparate from here to a shop called Madam Puddifoots Tea Shop. I trust you all know where this shop is located?"
A brief silence showed that everybody knew where the shop was located. The examiner told everyone to pick a spot for themselves and to concentrate on what they were doing. While he walked around between them, he continued to give pointers and tips to people making mistakes.

Hermione was standing next to Ron and was looking at him with a silent smile. When the examiner turned his back, she crept a little closer to Ron, who was really starting to feel like an idiot.
"I can't do this, Hermione," Ron whispered, "I haven't even moved an inch by apparation. How am I ever going to get to the other side of Hogsmeade?"
"Ronald," she whispered in a singsong way, "I'll be waiting for you outside Scrivenshaft's. I won't wait there long, so if you apparate to Madam Puddifoots, you might just make it in time. And trust me, you don't want to miss this."
And with that, she apparated out, leaving only a scarlet Ron, a swoosh of wind and quiet plop.

Ron started to concentrate harder then ever. He tried to drown out any other thought than Hermione. Madam Puddifoots Tea Shop started to swim in front of his eyes. Harry had taken Cho there once. It had been a horrible date, with Cho crying and leaving him stunned at the table. Ron had thought about asking Hermione out and taking her to Madam Puddifoots during their fifth year. After Harry's debacle, he decided he'd rather take her to the Hog's Head than there.
Would Hermione be at scriveshafts by now? Ron thought. Maybe she's already waiting.
Ron tried to force every other thought out of his mind. Madam Puddifoots started to swim in front of his thoughts again. He could see couples of people sitting by the tables, holding hands or kissing each other. Suddenly, the thought of bringing Hermione to Madam Puddifoots didn't seem so bad any more. It would certainly offer some interesting benefits over the Hog's Head.
Has Hermione given up on me yet? Is she still waiting for me?
Ron's thoughts wandered back to Hermione. He was starting to think about running to her. Perhaps I could still make it if I run hard enough.

The third time was a charm. Ron closed his mind and tried to focus entirely on the task at hand. He cleared his mind of all things unimportant and thought about where he wanted to be most. Hermione waiting at Scrivenshaft's floated by in his mind.
I've got to get there in time, Ron thought, I've just got to...
Suddenly he felt a strange feeling in his stomach, slowly spreading over his entire body. He gasped for air as he felt like he was being squeezed through a small tube.

*CRACK*
"MERLIN'S BEARD RON! You scared the bej... Hang on, you did it! Ron, you finally did it! You've apparated!"
When the squeezing feeling had left, Ron realized he had apparated exactly in front of Scrivenshafts. He was standing right in front of Hermione, perhaps only an inch away from her. Hermione was getting completely estatic and started hugging him and kissing his cheeks. When they realized what was happening, their reflexes told them to let go. Only, they didn't. Ron felt his lips slowly closing the (currently rather small) gap with Hermione's. For a moment, he was sure it was going to happen. For a moment, he was sure she would allow him to kiss her, sure she wouldn't mind.
"I'm sorry Ron, but you already have a girlfriend."
Ron was so close to her, he could have kissed her. She wouldn't have minded. He was sure of it. He only needed to press his lips against hers and it would be done. A fire had awoken in him. A fire that would not be quenched. He could smell Hermione's perfume, her hair, her lipgloss. Everything in him told him he wanted to kiss her, and it took everything to keep him from doing so.

Hermione looked into his eyes and kissed his cheek.
"That was your reward." Hermione said. "Let's go back to Puddifoots and report you in."
Ron opened his eyes. Hermione had been so close. He had been so close to her. So close to being with her, not as just a friend, but as her boyfriend.
"Funny isn't?" Ron said after coming back to earth.
"What is?" Hermione asked.
"That I overshot the target and ended up right in front of you." Ron lied, "What would be the chances of me doing that again?"
Hermione smiled at him suspiciously. She knew that Ron was lying, just as he knew that she knew that he was.

After going to madam Puddifoots, Ron and Hermione decided to go to the Three Broomsticks. Hermione walked in first, the door curtiously held open by Ron. She walked all the way to the back, where she chose a silent corner table to sit at. Ron sat down next to her and looked at Hermione. She had removed the bonnet and scarf, revealing the frizzy hair he had come to love so much. For a while, they merely sat there, looking at each other, not knowing what to say.
"So, do you think that Harry has gotten into the Room of Requirement yet?" she eventually asked, breaking the (slightly un)comfortable silence.
"I don't know," Ron said, "but I think he's getting rather obsessed with Malfoy these days. Missing a quidditch match was stretching the lines, but sending house elves to tail him was crossing them. Malfoy might be acting odd, but hasn't he always? I mean, that suit of armour could have done a lot more damage if it had been a bit heavier."
With the uncomfortable silence broken, Ron and Hermione were having regular old fun again. Dean joined them shortly afterwards, accompanied by a Hufflepuf seventh year that had failed his first exam.
"One more drink, dears?" Rosmerta asked.
"Sure Madam Rosmerta," Dean exclaimed, "One last butterbeer for the road."
Rosmerta laughed and left to get the drinks. Everyone's spirits were high, and several people had been telling jokes. When Ron was about to tell a joke, Rosmerta rejoined them with five butterbeers.

"Go on Ron," Hermione said quickly, "Tell us the joke."
Ron flushed scarlet. Rosmerta had been a nice fantasy for quite some time now.
"A hag, a healer and a Mimbulus Mimbletonia were sitting in a train. Suddenly the train passed into a tunnel, and for a minute, all lights went off. When the train exited the tunnel, everyone was covered in green slime. The Hag thinks: The Healer must've tried to put a spell on me, and must've hit the Mimbulus Mimbletonia. The Healer thinks: The hag must've tried to curse me and must've hit the Mimbulus Mimbletonia. The Mimbulus Mimbletonia thinks: Next tunnel, I'll squirt at them again!
Everyone seemed to think the joke was quite funny, except for Madam Rosmerta, whom seemed to be rather unimpressed.
"But tree's can't think. I don't think it's funny."

Ron and Hermione waited for everyone to leave, before going back to Hogwarts. When they were sure they were last, they clasped their hands and walked back again. They enjoyed their secret walk so much, that they were completely silent all the way back. Just before they rounded the last corner, Hermione told Ron they had to keep pretending nothing had happened.
"If you want more of these walks, you'll have to end it with Lavender. You understand why, right?"
Ron looked at his feet. "I won't let her know how much I've enjoyed myself today. When I end it with her, I won't tell her I've been in love with you all along. No one will know about us until you're ready."
Hermione walked up to Ron and kissed his neck. Ron froze at the spot, that fire suddenly reawakening. But before he could kiss her back, before he could even manage to say something, Hermione had already stepped away.
Ron stood there in silence, completely taken aback by Hermione's sudden kiss, and the fire that had awoken in him. Lavender never made him feel like that. Lavender would never be able to make him feel like that.
"Oh, and Ron?" She said when they resumed walking, "Don't forget to check your pockets tonight."
When he felt into his pockets, his fingers found a small piece of parchment, left there by Hermione. He made sure it wouldn't fall out of his pocket, thinking he would check it out later that day.

Harry hadn't gotten any further with finding Malfoy. He had spent alll morning trying to open the room of requirement. He had met Tonks on the sixth floor though. Harry told them she was behaving rather badly.
"She's gone a bit funny. Lost her nerve. Women," he said to Harry while glancing quickly at Hermione, "They're easily upset.'
For just a moment, Ron and Hermione looked into each others eyes. She had gotten the hint, just like he did.

In the dormitories, Ron finally had a moment to himself to check the parchment in his pocket. It was smaller than the others, yet smelled slightly like Hermione's perfume.
Scented riddles.. What will she think of next?
When he read the parchment, Ron was amazed once more by Hermione's ability to make riddles. This one was the shortest yet, but (and he knew it) it would probably prove to be the hardest.

"Of the five everyone has,
I might be called 'the foremost'".

- Hermione