Chapter 6

- Hermione -

Ron stood at Hermione's door at ten to eight.

"Good trip?" she greeted him.

Ron laughed. "Yeah."

"You're early."

"Because I live next door."

"You could've waited ten more minutes."

"Ouch!" Ron pretended to be hurt but grinned widely. "And then what? Twiddle my thumbs until it was time?"

"Yeah?" Hermione joked.

"Well, are you going to let me in, or do I need to prove it's me first?"

Hermione stepped aside and let Ron in. "It's been a while since we had to frantically ask everyone who came in if they were who we thought they were." Hermione walked inside and leaned against her desk, mainly because she didn't know what else to do.

"True," said Ron, sinking into the chair next to her. "Even though we always exchanged passwords, I always knew it was you," he said, looking at her with a crooked smile.

"Oh yeah?" Hermione felt herself growing warm. "How so?"

"Just by the way you acted. How you smiled when I opened the door. How you clutched your bag under your arm, knowing there were likely dozens of books hidden in there. How you always touched your hair when you walked in as if you preferred to immediately find a mirror to see what the wind had done to your hair."

"Wow, you paid close attention," said Hermione admiringly.

"I've known you for so long, of course, I noticed those things," said Ron. Suddenly, he seemed a bit shy, like the uncertain Ron he had been before going to university.

"Well, okay," he said resolutely, getting up. "Shall we start?" There was nothing of the shyness from earlier in the grin he put on.

"Okay," said Hermione, slightly nervous. She picked up her wand from the desk and pointed to the record player in the corner. It immediately started playing a soothing three-quarter time tune.

"Cool," Ron said approvingly as he looked interestedly at the thing. "Muggle technology, right? Dad would go crazy if he saw this."

Hermione smiled. "I got it from my parents when I went to university. As a reminder of the world I come from. But okay…" She took a step forward. "Is it okay if I...", she began tentatively, moving a hand towards his shoulder and leaving it hanging just a few inches above. She was now very close.

"If you touch me?" Ron laughed. "You'll have to, right? If you're going to teach me to dance." He grinned at her in a way that caused a very interesting sensation in her body.

Hermione felt her cheeks warm as she let her hand drop onto Ron's shoulder. Why was that shoulder so delightfully solid under her hand? And why on earth did you have to stand so close during dancing? Don't hesitate now, Hermione told herself, just keep going.

With her other hand, she took Ron's hand. He looked a little surprised at her. "Do you have to hold that?"

"Yes, indeed, I'm going to teach you a few simple steps of a waltz. For that, we hold hands."

"And this one?" Ron asked, waving with his other hand.

"You can put it on my waist."

Ron looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Your waist?"

"My waist, yes. You know what a waist is, right?"

"Yeah, I just want to make sure I have the right spot in mind."

"What in the world… Oh, forget it." With the hand that was first on Ron's shoulder, Hermione took Ron's hand and planted it on her waist. Annoying boy.

"Sorry," Ron grinned. "This is all new to me." He looked straight into her eyes, a slightly more serious look now, and what Hermione saw in his eyes was completely new to her. His eyes were set to 'intense', they seemed much bigger than Hermione was used to. The thin blue rim around his dark pupils suddenly seemed very bright.

"'Mione?" Ron asked.

Hermione realized she had been staring at him for a few seconds. "Um, so," she said quickly. "We start with this leg, I move it back and you forward."

She stepped back, forcing Ron to step along. "That's count one. Then we step sideways like this…"

They stepped sideways. Did people always stand this close during a waltz? She hadn't been so aware of it with the other boys during the dance course.

"That's count two," she stubbornly continued, ignoring the confusing butterflies in her stomach. Fortunately, Ron was so tall, she could just stare at his shoulder instead of his face.

"Now there's one count left, because a waltz is in three-quarter time, and then we step forward again, for you backwards…"

Hermione tried to step forward, but Ron's leg was in the way.

"That leg, Ronald, needs to go backwards."

Ron looked at her, grinning. "I told you you can call me Ron, didn't I?"

She looked at him irritably. "Ron or Ronald, doesn't matter, you need to move your right leg backwards."

"Like this?" asked Ron, taking a huge step backwards. In doing so, he naturally pulled Hermione along because his hand was still on her waist. Hermione fell forward but didn't go far because she was caught by Ron. He caught her so effortlessly it seemed as if she could only weigh twenty kilograms.

"Ron!" she protested as she stood back on her own feet, feeling her cheeks grow even warmer.

"That's better," said Ron, satisfied. "My name is indeed Ron."

"Am I going to teach you to dance, or do you want to continue discussing your name?"

"Teach me to dance, then," said Ron, as if he had to think about it for a moment. "Okay. Lesson one: don't take such big steps. My legs aren't as long as yours. And now, on the beat. One, two, three…"

The next fifteen minutes didn't go much better. Hermione tried her best to teach Ron the simplest steps of a waltz, but he wasn't getting it. Instead of focusing on which foot to move first, he found it more interesting to casually tell anecdotes about his first few swimming lessons and to make all sorts of silly remarks, like how her hair curled funnily and that she was actually quite short.

"I'm not short!" Hermione exclaimed indignantly after the last remark.

"For me you are," Ron said happily. "I can see right on top of your head."

"Ron, are you taking this dance lesson seriously? You don't want the opening of the Summer Ball to be embarrassing for you, do you?"

"And let's not forget for you, if I mess it up," Ron said cheerfully.

Hermione let go of Ron and stepped back, shaking her head. "I give up for today, you're a lost cause," she said. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw Ron's guilty face.

"I promise I'll behave better next time, I'm just a bit distracted today," he said.

"Distracted? How come?"

"I'm just happy about becoming a coach! And... I'm also just happy that we're friends again," he said, grinning.

Hermione laughed back. "I'm glad too."

"And 'Mione, what I thought of is that we haven't even talked about what you get in return for this."

"What do you mean? I don't need money for this, if that's what you're thinking."

"You won't get any, because I hardly have any," Ron said in a whiny voice. "No, I mean, is there something I can help you with? Maybe my unconditional help for manly tasks like catching mosquitoes in your room?"

Hermione pretended to gag. "Manly tasks you call that. Well, now that you mention it, maybe you can get those few spiders from under my bed." She smirked at him.

Ron pretended to look shocked. "Spiders? Never. I won't even touch those disgusting creatures with one finger."

"Still afraid of spiders, huh?"

"Not afraid, they're just... not my favourite creatures."

"Hm, too bad. Then I don't know what I want in return for the dance lessons."

"Don't you want to learn how to swim?"

"I can swim, I learned it with all the other Muggle kids when I was five."

"I bet you can't do a proper front crawl."

"Um... what's that again?"

"That's what I mean. Sounds like you need a swimming lesson."

"Well," said Hermione thoughtfully. "That could actually be fun."

"Do you mean it?" Ron asked excitedly.

"Yes, okay. Give me a swimming lesson."

"You'll be taught by the best! Trust me," Ron said confidently.

"Is that your tactic? Do you often give girls swimming lessons?" Hermione asked, making a flirtatious remark in a sudden burst of confidence. Immediately afterwards, she wanted to cover her mouth with her hand.

But Ron grinned mischievously at her. "Only if I have something to gain from it," he said.

That last remark lingered in Hermione's mind as she lay in bed later. What did he mean by 'having something to gain from it'? He was surely referring to the dance lessons. After all, he wanted to pay for the dance lessons through swimming lessons. Yes, that must be it.

- Hermione, more than a week later -

Ron had just left when there was a knock on the door again. When Hermione opened it, Parvati was there, her hair already in the usual two braids she always made before going to bed.

"We need to talk," she said, grinning as she stepped into Hermione's room.

"Um... okay?" Hermione still had a vague smile on her face. As always after the dance lessons with Ron, she felt light, happy, and fantastic.

Parvati sat down on Hermione's bed and leaned against one of the large cushions with cheerful patterns. "I just saw Ron coming out of your room again," she began, watching Hermione's reaction closely.

Hermione laughed. "That's right. I'm giving him dance lessons, remember?" She picked up a glass from her desk, filled it with a non-verbal Aquamenti spell, and sat down next to Parvati on the bed.

"And how's that going?"

"He's getting better. Actually, you could now say that he's bad at it, instead of awful."

"That's not what I meant, of course. How are things between you two?"

Hermione sighed, but then a grin appeared on her face that she couldn't suppress. "It's... nice," she admitted. "I think our friendship is restored."

"Your friendship, hm?" Parvati laughed. "I don't believe it for a second. Has he tried to kiss you yet?"

"What?" Hermione almost choked on her water. "Of course not!"

"I'm just asking. He always looks at you in the Great Hall as if he wants to kiss you. Or something more, if you know what I mean."

"Nonsense. No, Ron and I are just friends." But there was a voice in Hermione's head that said it could never be completely true. Because what girl would feel like cuddling up close to her friend every time she saw him, running her hands all over his body and pulling him into bed? Not really a feeling you should have for 'just a friend.'

"Hm, too bad you don't tell me anything," Parvati said, grinning. "I hope you'll tell me if something does happen."

"Well, okay," said Hermione, feeling the need to talk to someone about it. "It could be that Ron has been... flirting with me lately. Or something."

"HA! I knew it."

"But don't jump to conclusions too quickly!" Hermione said hastily. "I'm not sure. I'm so bad at these things."

"What does he do then?"

Hermione blushed at the thought of what Ron had done half an hour ago. "He gave me a hug when he came in and kissed me on the forehead, for example."

"Cute," Parvati remarked.

"And although it's very nice, there's also a kind of tension or something. It seems like he has to say or do something funny every second. And he's not really focused on the dance lessons themselves, actually. He constantly distracts me. I'm starting to wonder why he even wanted dance lessons from me."

"I think you know the answer yourself," Parvati laughed. "Think about it carefully. Well, I'm going to sleep, otherwise Potions will be a disaster tomorrow. Goodnight," she said, giving Hermione a hug.

"Goodnight."

- Ron, a few days later -

It was Sunday. Sunday! He felt insane standing outside Hermione's door at eight in the morning. Especially considering he was with her for a dance lesson just last night. Before he could second-guess himself—perhaps because it seemed rather stalkerish—he knocked on her door.

After a few moments, he heard hurried footsteps. Then a brief pause, followed by more hurried steps toward the door, which opened to reveal a somewhat bleary-eyed Hermione. She was wearing a thin, pink dressing gown with flowers on it. Her beautiful, slender legs emerged from underneath. Her face was framed by the usual tangle of unruly hair.

"Hey," she said sleepily. It was clear she had just gotten out of bed.

Ron couldn't understand why his body was reacting so strongly. He ignored the signals from a part of his brain telling him to push her back into the room and passionately kiss her. Maybe on her bed. With fewer clothes. But although that seemed like the most tempting and perhaps only correct course of action at that moment, he had a feeling it might seriously ruin their recently improved friendship.

"Hey," he said instead, leaning against the door frame. "I noticed it's going to rain today. Looks like we won't be able to do anything outside. Shall I give you a swimming lesson?"

Hermione stared at him blankly for a moment. Then she cleared her throat, swept a strand of hair over her shoulder, and said, "Ron... I expected a lot of things, but not for you to wake me up because it's raining."

"Not because it's raining, but because I have the swimming pool at my disposal twenty-four seven. And now there's no one around. Plus, it's raining, so we have nothing better to do." He grinned eagerly at her.

"I was sleeping, Ron. I already had something to do."

"It's already eight o'clock."

"On a Sunday! I can't believe we're having this conversation. A few years ago, Ginny and I used to have to wake you and Harry up when we were at the Burrow, or else Molly would come upstairs with a bunch of pot lids."

"And I'm still grateful that you prevented that from happening and woke me up with your lovely voice," Ron said, grinning.

"Are you always cheerful nowadays?" Hermione grumbled. "The grumpy Ron was occasionally quite fun."

"I'll see if I can bring him back at the start of the school year. When I have to go back to Potions or something. But are you coming?"

Hermione sighed, fiddled with another strand of hair, and then said, "Fine. Let me grab my things and change. I'll knock on your door in fifteen minutes."