Happy Tuesday, everybody!

Thank you so much for all your reviews so far, I do really appreciate it! It's good to see a lot of you feel the same as me about Ron/Harry's bromance, or rather lack thereof in the movies. I know some of you were a little disappointed to see Ron give in to Harry so quickly, but I can assure you that it won't be the last you hear from it. I'm not going to give too much away though, so you'll have to wait and see! :)

This chapter is pretty fluffy. It's mostly a Ron/Hermione chapter, with an important realization on Ron's part. There is a little twist at the end though, hopefully it will keep you on your toes!

Don't forget to review with your comments/suggestions, and don't forget to enjoy! :)

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Chapter 11:

"It's not working," fumed Draco, sitting up from his laying position on his bed. "I thought it might have been for a while there… they hadn't been seen together in a week. But for the past few days they've been joined at the hip like they always are!"

Crabbe shrugged and fidgeted in his spot where he was leaning against the footboard of the bed in front of Draco. "Maybe they didn't see the papers then?" he asked innocently.

"I put them in his bloody trunk!" snapped Draco. "No, I think they just don't care like I thought they would. Apparently their friendship is strong than Potter's paranoia," spurted Draco in a mocking tone. "I'll have to come up with something else. Something more… definitive…" he trailed off, trying to mull it over in his mind. His mind flashed to what would happen to his mother, his father and himself if he were to fail and be found out, and his blood boiled and pumped through him at an unhealthy rate as he shuddered inwardly at the Dark Lord's threats.

He had been in and out of the Gryffindor common room for a week now disguised as Seamus, trying to figure out whether or not Harry and Ron's friendship had deteriorated after he placed some very incriminating evidence in Ron's trunk and put it in Harry's mind that someone close to him was a Death Eater. He had hoped that would be enough to cause Harry to think it was true, but he wouldn't still be associating with Ron if he had honestly believed him to be a Death Eater. He would have to come up with something better to push him in that direction.

He was trying to think of something certain… something that would guarantee for Harry that Ron was not on his side. After a few minutes, an idea then popped into his head, and he smiled devilishly at the thought of it. Goyle, noticing the smile on Draco's face, then began to smile wickedly and nod his head in a knowing way, chuckling to himself like he had just heard and approved of Draco's plan.

Draco snapped his head over to Goyle and stared at him with one arched eyebrow, his face frowning and full of confusion. "What the hell are you laughing at?" he asked viciously.

Goyle shook his head and relinquished any form of evil expression, blinking his eyes and looking innocent. "Oh, I thought you might have had an idea," he said.

Draco simultaneously rolled his eyes and shook his head as he walked past his friends and exited the dorm. Sometimes he wondered how Goyle even made it through any of his classes without his brain bursting like an Exploding Bonbon.

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Ron and Hermione were in the library, sitting at one of the far back tables where Hermione usually liked to sit when she had some studying or reading to do. Ron had requested she help him with some homework as he was getting behind in his Charms studies, which was something everyone knew Hermione excelled in, much like everything else.

It had made him quite happy to have her accept his request since they hadn't spent a whole lot of time studying together for a while. She had refused to assist him back when he had been dating Lavender, and he hadn't spent a whole lot of time alone with her over the past few days after his reconciliation with Harry. He and Harry had been catching each other up over the events of the week they had spent apart from each other, as pathetic as that sounded. But tonight Harry was off with Ginny, and he really did need help with his work, so he asked Hermione to join him in the library to assist him.

He was trying his hardest to genuinely listen to Hermione's instructions and help with the homework, but he was finding it quite difficult to focus on it tonight. Every once and a while he would have to remind himself that he wasn't going to pass unless he paid attention to the help he was receiving, but it was no use. A simple flick of her hair over her shoulder as she leaned over the books and papers was enough to stray him again and he found himself openly staring at her, completely oblivious to the words coming out of her mouth about various charms and their effects. He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't a little disappointed in himself for letting a girl have this kind of hold on him, but the more he dwelled on it the more he realized that this wasn't just some girl. This was Hermione, and she had always had that effect on Ron, no matter how much he had been willing to deny it when he was younger.

Now he was lost at the sight of her again, his breathing slow as he rested his head on his right fist, which was being propped up by his elbow sitting over top of some papers that had been spread out over their table. Hermione pulled her head up from the textbook, turning her head to face him with narrowed eyes. Realizing that she was annoyed about something, he quickly snapped out of it and shook his head to clear his lingering thoughts of what her hair might feel like and how soft her skin must be.

"Are you even listening to me, Ronald?" she asked irritably, throwing her quill on the table and sitting up to cross her arms over her chest as she stared daggers at him.

Ron's eyes widened at the sudden outburst. To be honest, he hadn't heard a word she had said for quite some time. But from the look on her face, he thought he'd better not tell her that. "Err… yeah, of course I am. I'm listening… of course I'm listening, Hermione, honest!" he stammered, completely aware of how pathetic and phony it sounded.

Hermione rolled her eyes and he instantly knew she could see through his weak attempt at convincing her otherwise. "Alright, Ron. What was I just talking about?" she asked smugly, knowing he probably wouldn't be able to answer her.

"Err… well… you were just talking about how, err… how I wasn't listening! Even though I was," he said, knowing that that wouldn't sit with her but feeling he should try anyways.

Hermione continued to glare at him with a furrowed brow. "Honestly, Ron, if you're going to make me sit here for hours to help you with your homework so that you don't fail, you could at least make an effort to pay attention!" she said in her best motherly-tone. "There are other things I could be doing besides clearly wasting my time sitting here with you."

"Alright, I'm sorry. Keep going then," he said as nicely as he could, motioning towards the book and hoping she would continue. Despite the fact that he was hardly getting any work done, he still didn't want her to leave.

To his dismay she continued to glare at him. "Why should I keep going if you aren't even going to pay attention?" she asked stubbornly, her arms still folded tightly across her chest.

Ron rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. "I am paying attention; I just drifted off for a couple minutes, that's all. Please?" he asked again, giving her his best puppy-dog eyes.

Her face finally softened and she rolled her eyes once more before uncrossing her arms and arranging herself to be closer to the table again. "Alright, fine, but you need to pay attention this time," she said sternly, finding her place in the textbook once more.

Ron nodded vigorously in agreement and pulled his chair closer to her so that he could follow along better with what she was saying. He stopped pulling his chair when he felt their knees touching, and decided he was close enough. Snaking one arm around the back of her chair and propping the other on the table with his elbow, he rested his chin in his hand and looked down at the book with her, waiting for her to resume.

After a moment of silence passed, he asked "So, are you going to keep going then?"

"Oh, err… yes," she said stiffly, suddenly sounding somewhat nervous about something. "Sorry, I just… can't remember where I was." She sounded almost as astounded as he was to hear those words come from her mouth.

Ron snorted in amusement. "Really," he said, a teasing tone to his voice. Hermione almost never forgot or confused anything, so he certainly wasn't going to waste a perfectly good opportunity to rag on her about it. She turned her head to look at him with her signature stern glare, but as she turned her head they both became aware that their faces were only a couple inches apart since Ron had pulled his chair in closer.

Ron immediately felt his breath catch in the back of his throat at the proximity of her face to his, and he could feel his blush beginning to burn through his face as his eyes now stared directly through hers. His eyes were then immediately drawn to her mouth, and Hermione's own face developed a slight tint pink before she quickly looked back down at the textbook. Ron looked down too, clearing his throat before saying with a broken voice "Right, so just, err… yeah, go ahead and find your spot then."

Hermione nodded her own head and began scanning the text, trying to find her place. A few seconds later she said shyly "Oh, right, here it is," and then carried on, trying to behave as if nothing had happened.

Ron tried his hardest to listen to every word she said at the risk of her asking him what she was talking about again, but he couldn't stop thinking about how close his face had been to hers. A couple inches were all that had kept him from taking her lips under the mercy of his own. He wanted so bad to just reach down and steal a kiss, but he knew it wouldn't be appropriate, and he wasn't entirely sure if that's what she wanted herself. He could only imagine what would happen to the bloke who tried to kiss an unwilling Hermione…

The words coming out of Hermione's mouth began to fade into the background once more as he processed the intimate position they were still in. She might have turned her head away in a moment of closeness, but if she wanted to, surely she could have scooted even a little bit further away from him. And yet here she sat, her back now pressed up against his arm around the back of her chair as she rambled on about his Charms homework.

Homework was one of his most hated things on the planet, but something about doing it with Hermione had always managed to make it bearable. He'd admit he spent a large portion of the time just zoning out with his thoughts as he stared at her, but if it had been anyone else he probably wouldn't even bother to do it at all. Something about the way she talked about school in such a sure and confident manner made him crazy for her.

He peeled his eyes away from the textbook in order to catch a glimpse of her lips moving as she talked, but instead he came face to face with another irritated look. Apparently she had stopped talking, and he hadn't any idea of how long ago she had stopped.

He winced at the look on her face as he braced himself for another scolding, but was confused to see her frown contort into a smirk as she rolled her eyes and looked down at her lap, letting a few quiet giggles escape her mouth. Ron couldn't help but smile and chuckle with her. "What's so funny?" he asked, still amused by her display.

"Nothing," she said nonchalantly as she smirked up at him again, their faces dangerously close once more. "Sometimes I just wonder what's going through your mind. I mean, I know this stuff isn't the most exciting stuff possible," she said, motioning towards the textbook in front of her, "but it's been about 2 minutes since you said you would pay attention and you're already zoning out."

Ron chuckled at the unusual change of mood. "You don't want to know what I'm thinking about," he said, still smiling down at her, contemplating what it would feel like to scoop down and take what he had wanted for so long. For a moment she stared back at him, not daring to move from their current position, but eventually she laughed under her breath and looked back down at the textbook, closing it and collecting the papers around her.

"Right. Well, I think we're about done here," she said, still smiling as she began stacking Ron's things for him.

"Oh, err… okay," said Ron meekly, lifting his head off of his hand and untangling his arm from around Hermione as he started to help her clean things up. "Sorry I wasn't much help tonight," he added, feeling genuinely apologetic for always wasting her time like this for homework help. It seemed selfish to ask her for assistance knowing that he mostly sought her help so that he could gawk at her all night, but she never seemed to mind helping him too much.

"That's alright," she responded politely. "I know you try to stay focused, but sometimes our thoughts are more powerful than we'd like."

He smiled at how true her statement was, almost as if she knew what he was going through from her own personal experiences. "Well, thank you anyways. I'll try to work on it, promise."

Hermione smiled back at him and then picked up her quill and packed it away, closing her bag and sitting it on her lap. "Well, I think I'm going to head up to the tower to my dorm." She went to go stand from her chair, but Ron instinctively put his hand over her forearm before she could rise, stopping her in her tracks.

"Wait!" he said, immediately wincing at the desperation in his voice. He wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this, but for some reason he just didn't want to end their time together yet. "I was err, hoping we could hang out and talk some more. You know, since Harry's still off with my sister. I don't fancy sitting in the common room alone before going to detention with Snape." He inwardly congratulated himself at the quick excuse.

"Oh," said Hermione, looking a little surprised to hear that. "Alright, I suppose I can keep you company for a little while longer," she said, reaching for his textbook again with her right arm.

Ron caught her hand in his own though before she could open it. "Oi, no more studying!" he said amusedly as he pulled her hand away from the textbook and under the table. "I meant we could talk about something that's not school related."

Hermione blushed at the sudden contact. "Oh, right…" she said shyly, darting her eyes around. A strike of confidence shot through Ron at the sight of her blush and embarrassment. He realized he was still clasping her hand in his on top of his lap with a relatively strong grip, but rather than releasing her hand completely, he simply loosened his hold on it.

"So, err… what did you do today?" he asked politely, taking the initiative to start a proper conversation.

Hermione seemed somewhat less tense at the attempt at conversation, and smiled just as politely back at him as she thought about her answer. "Well, lets see. I went to breakfast with you, Ginny and Harry. Then I went to my morning classes, which you were also in. And then I had lunch. Again, you were there," she said, a sense of amusement now prominent in her voice. "You've pretty much been around the whole day, actually."

Ron chuckled at her answer. "I suppose I have been. Except for right after our afternoon classes." Hermione laughed with him at how silly it now seemed for him to have asked her what she had done today. "Alright, fine then. What did you do in that short time frame between the end of classes and when I came and met you at the library," he asked sarcastically, not wanting to seem like a complete idiot.

"Oh, well actually I went up to the owlery to send a letter to Viktor," she said casually.

Ron instantly clenched his hand around hers at the mention of Viktor's name, and he felt his eyes roll. "Oh, great," he said sarcastically. "I didn't know you guys were still talking. How's he doing then?" he asked grumpily, not actually caring about how Viktor was doing. It wasn't a secret that Ron disliked the bloke.

Hermione giggled at his change of mood. "Well you don't have to sound so excited," she said sarcastically, knowing that Ron didn't care for him. "And he's doing fine. Not that you actually care," she said knowingly.

Ron laughed again. "It's like you can read my mind. Honestly! Is he still bugging you about visiting him in that god-awful country of his?" He could sense the envy in his own voice but was hoping Hermione wouldn't notice.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He may have mentioned it again, but it's nothing to get jealous over. I'll still be staying in England for the summer," she said playfully. He wasn't sure if she could detect the jealousy in him or if she was just joking around, but either way he felt the need to defend himself.

"I'm not jealous," he quipped. "I just don't think you should be off with other blokes in strange countries. You belong here with us, not with him."

Hermione rolled her eyes again at him. "I said I was staying, Ronald," she said, a smile still drawn upon her face.

"Well, good. Are you going to be staying at the Burrow this summer?" he asked casually. The look on her face made him instantly regret it though. Her eyes were wide and she was biting her lip, looking thoroughly confused at the question. He had asked as if it was obvious that she would be, but in reality they hadn't discussed it since because of their spat while he had been dating Lavender. At that point it had been apparent that she would not be joining them at the Burrow, but now it had been several weeks and they had been on good terms, although neither of them had brought it up.

"I mean, err… I just assumed… You don't have to of course, it's just you usually stay for a little while" he said quickly, hoping to not seem too forward.

"No – no I know," interrupted Hermione, looking a little awkward about it. "Yes, I was planning on it. Ginny's actually already invited me. I'll be going home for a few weeks first, but then I'll come to stay for a while before school." She gave him a small smile and he felt relief flush through him at hearing that she still wanted to spend parts of her summers at the Burrow with him. A few months ago she probably would have laughed in his face if he had asked if she would be staying at the Burrow for the summer.

"Brilliant," he said eagerly, giving her a big grin. She nodded and smiled back at him, the awkwardness appearing to have vanished from the conversation. "Now someone else can de-gnome the garden in my place," he said jokingly, giving her a big grin.

Hermione gave a mock gasp before laughing with him. "Absolutely not. I feel so bad for those poor, little gnomes. I can't believe you just toss them over the fence like a piece of trash! You wouldn't like that if it was you being thrown over the fence like that." She pouted for the gnomes, but there was still a sense of amusement in her face.

"That may be, but if I ever refused to de-gnome the garden it would be me being thrown over the fence, courtesy of my mother," he said jokingly, though partly believing it. He certainly wouldn't be one to find out what his mother's limitations would be, that's for sure.

Hermione laughed loudly at his joke before saying "Fair enough." She smiled up at him for a while and then lowered her head to smile at their hands, still entwined together and resting on Ron's lap. He could feel her start to play with his fingers like she had before the other couple times their hands had found each other, and he smiled to himself at the contact of her finger tips tracing the palm of his hand asit sent shivers up his arm.

"That tickles," he said quietly with a small smile as he moved his eyes from her face to her fingers going round and round on the surface of his hand.

"Sorry," she responded just as quietly, though not ceasing to circle his palms.

A large amount of time went by as the two sat in the same position, both watching as Hermione traced her fingers on Ron's palm over and over again. Their foreheads were now supporting each other's weight as they looked down at their hands. All Ron could think about was how content he was to sit there in the silence with her. Rather than feeling bored or awkward, he actually felt quite fulfilled.

If his brothers or most of his friends saw him now they'd probably think he was some sort of mushy git, but he was starting to admit to himself that maybe he was. If he was being completely honest with himself, he would probably prefer Hermione's company much more than anyone else's. Even if it meant sitting here not talking about anything with her over a good game of quidditch with the boys. He wouldn't exactly say he was a romantic-type, but with Hermione he felt like he could be.

There was definitely something about Hermione that made him behave this way. He had never had similar feelings for Lavender, despite the seemingly constant snogging that she put him through. He had actually more often than not found himself wanting to be away from her. The way she clung to him had been incredibly annoying, but if Hermione were to cling to him now like she had, he would be absolutely ecstatic. He craved her touch more than anything else in the world. His feelings for her were much stronger and unlike any he had ever had for anyone else before. He was certain there had to be a reason for it.

A terrifying word popped into his head and he felt his insides clench at the thought of it. If he didn't know better, he would say he was on the brink of falling in love…

A sudden clearing of someone's throat tore him out of his thoughts and he snapped his head up to see Harry standing behind Hermione, looking more bashful than either of them for having intruded. As much as he loved Harry, he was quite confident that Harry was one of the biggest… moment-ruiners… on the face of the planet. He reluctantly disentangled his fingers from Hermione's as he sat up straight, only feeling slightly embarrassed at having been caught by his best mate. It had happened on so many other occasions that it hardly had any effect on him now.

Hermione meekly sat up as well, evidently a little more embarrassed by the situation than Ron. "Hello, Harry," she said, trying to keep her voice as even as possible.

"Hi," he said smugly, sliding into the seat across from her and giving them both a knowing smirk. "And what are you two up to all alone here in the library?"

Ron narrowed his eyes at him and gave him a warning look before answering "We were just working on my homework before my detention."

"Ah, I see," Harry replied, obviously enjoying the discomfort he was causing them. Ron knew he found it amusing, especially after being put through the same awkwardness on a regular basis from Ron when it came to Ginny. "Well, just thought I'd come and find you guys while I was in the area. Want to go back to the common room with me? Or would you prefer to stay here all by your lonesome," he asked, putting extra smugness into the last word and smirking at Ron again.

"Well actually, I have to get going to my detention. I'll walk with you guys as far as the moving staircases though, if you'd like?" He was directing the question more towards Hermione than Harry, but it was Harry who answered.

"Oh, sure," he said teasingly. "I'm sure we would love that. Wouldn't we, Hermione?" He and Ron both looked at Hermione who was blushing down at her knees.

"Sure, that's fine," she said plainly, trying to hide her embarrassment. Ron couldn't help but smile at the sight of her.

They got up from their table and Ron packed his things. Then they swiftly exited the library, turning down the hall to head towards the staircases and making some light chit-chat before parting ways. Ron waved goodbye to both of them before making his way down to the dungeons. To his confusion, he again saw Seamus Finnigan walking away from the dungeons, and once again he ignored Ron's friendly "Hey" before disappearing around a corner. Deciding Seamus had simply just gone insane, he continued his walk to the dungeons and tried to process what his feelings for Hermione truly were.

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Harry was sitting on the sofa near the fire in the Gryffindor common room, talking with Hermione about various things while trying to work on some of his own homework. He had apologized for making her feel uncomfortable after walking in on her and Ron's strange sort of embrace in the library, but she brushed it off and insisted there was nothing to apologize for because nothing happened between them that would cause her any sort of embarrassment. Harry knew better though, and as much as she was willing to deny it he knew something was going on between them.

The conversation had since shifted at the hand of Hermione, who evidently was not interested in talking about her relationship with Ron, something that only increased Harry's amusement with how obviously they both wanted each other. She briefly asked him how things were going with Ginny, and then she asked about any new developments on the Horcruxes he was learning about through Dumbledore. Unfortunately there hadn't been much new information to report as the subject was restricted from the regular sections of the library, and the only source for that kind of information that he had now was Dumbledore.

"It's quite genius though, isn't it?" asked Hermione, a clear sense of intrigue in her voice. "To have yourself divided and spread across the land in order to ensure you're that much more difficult to destroy."

"I suppose it is," replied Harry coldly. "But the fact that it's being put to use by Voldemort makes it much more evil and dark, than genius. I don't know how Dumbledore is going to-"

"How Dumbledore's going to do what?" interrupted Seamus, plopping down in the seat on the other side of Harry on the sofa.

"Oh, err- how he's going to react when he finds out that some first years have been making fun of… his, err, his… beard! Yes, they have been making fun of his beard. Saying it looks like he stuck his face in a candyfloss machine, and what-not," he answered awkwardly, feeling slightly irritated with Seamus for having burst into his conversation like that.

"Oh?" said Seamus awkwardly. "Yeah, I suppose it does kind of look like that, doesn't it?" He laughed darkly at the resemblance before ceasing his laughter and staring at the fire with a small, distant smile.

Harry turned to look at Hermione with an arched eyebrow, only to find her giving him an identical confused look. "Anyways, I think I better head up to bed soon," he said casually, putting his books away in his bag and reaching for his quill and ink. Just as he was about to put them away, a sudden voice pierced through the silence from in front of them.

"Ron Weasley was the one who put the Imperius Curse on me," the voice said plainly.

Harry's eyes widened and his head instantly snapped ahead of him to see who had uttered such a phrase, desperately hoping it wasn't who it sounded like. The sudden reaction from Harry caused him to spill the jar of ink he had been holding in his right hand all over Seamus' pants and shirt. He barely noticed Seamus' "Oi!" as he stared at Katie Bell in front of him, unable to believe the words that had just come out of her mouth.

"What was that?" Harry asked, an astonished look on his face and tone in his voice. He could feel his blood pumping through him and his heart racing as he desperately hoped he had somehow misheard her.

Katie looked down at him with a neutral look on her face. "You said to tell you if I remember who it was that did it. Well I remembered. It was Ron Weasley." The words made it feel like his heart had dropped into his knees as he stared at her with wide eyes, unable to respond to the accusation.

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I'm sure some of you are quite irritated with me for leaving the ending like that, but such is life! The next chapter will give you a little more insight as to where the hell that came from, so don't worry!

Hopefully that gave all your Romione shippers your fill as well since the past couple chapters didn't have a whole lot of them alone. The next chapter will be very interesting for their relationship, as well as Ron and Harry's, so hopefully you'll stick around until next week to see what's up!

Leave your reviews and thanks for reading! :)

-ArticulateFiction