Sorry for the late updates.

It's the holidays, and I'm a mom. So of course, motherhood comes first. I'll try to update this be other stories as much as possible.

After this chapter and the next, we will be joining up with Harry, so updates will probably speed up a bit then. I'm really excited. I have sooooooo many plans for Deathly Hallows.

Anyways,on with the fic :)

Chapter 188: Twelve Fail Safe Ways

After Hermione's arrival, life at the Burrow sped by very quickly, as Ginny, Hermione, and I had fallen into a daily routine. Since Mum insisted that just because Hermione and I were of age, didn't mean that we could join the Order because we were still in school, we had to be out of the kitchen by 9, whether we were finished with breakfast or not. Order members started coming around at 9, and they would meet as little as about two hours, or sometimes stay up until past dinner. Chores would take up most of our mornings, and if the Order were there still at lunch, Mum would have us picnic outside. From there, we would lounge around, sometimes go swimming, or fly around a bit, as I had finally convinced Hermione to take to the air with me. After dinner, we would play chess or other games and then go to bed.

Bill had fully recovered by the middle of July. He still had the slash marks deep in his face, but they had healed to where they wouldn't bleed anymore. He was still the same old Bill, only he took his steaks more rare.

Ever since the night that Hermione had slept in my bed, she hadn't done it again. We had gone back to bickering over nothing, icing each other out, and then making up. We hadn't talked about any of the somewhat intimate moments that we had. It was starting to irritate me. Like those moments had meant nothing to her, when they meant everything to me.

"Wotcher there, ol Ronniekins." said Fred as he and George came unto my room as I was relaxing. It had been a pretty lengthy morning of arguing with Hermione over the state of my room.

"What do you two want?" I sneered.

"Trouble in the marriage?" said George.

"Sod off, you."

"Well, well, that certainly does answer the question." said Fred. "You wanna know what your problem is, baby brother?"

"Not entirely, no."

"Your problem is that you really don't know what to do with your little bookworm." said George. "You want her to be a bit more, but you still treat her like one of the blokes."

"I do not." I said, sitting up. "Hermione and I...well we...that is to say..."

Fred and George looked at me stuttering and smirked. I knew my face was probably beet red from the embarrassment of me stumbling over my words.

Fred put his hands up as if he were surrendering a fight. "Look, we're not here to take the mickey for once. We're here to give you some tips."

"Or rather, a book of some tips." said George, pulling a pale pink book out of his pocket and handing it to me.

"Twelve Fail-Safe Ways To Charm Witches by Fenwick and Guinevere Pekne?" I said, looking at the golden cursive writing. "You're giving me a book on how to pick up witches?"

Fred and George looked at the book with admiration. Which kind of made me nervous.

"Brilliant, that book is." said Fred. Taught me how to be...what's that word again, Forge?"

"A sap? A Nancy boy? A right tosser?" suggested George.

"A gentleman." said Fred, sneering at his twin.

George scoffed.

"Look, just you want to be a male slag for the rest of your days, doesn't mean I have to be." said Fred.

"Sounds like something Angelina would say."

"Why are you giving this to me?" I asked loudly, not really caring about their little argument.

"Well, the bookworm seems to like that type, and you seem clueless on how to be an actual man." said Fred.

"I am not fucking clueless!"

"This book will help with how to be more...tactful with her." said Fred, ignoring my protest. "You have to admit baby brother, you can be a bit brash at times."

"It's not like I'm trying to be." I said defensively. "Hermione just knows what to say to get to me sometimes. She does the same to me as I do to her, you know!"

"They all do that, Ron. I'm inclined to agree." said George, crossing his arms.

"Don't listen to him, Ron. You'll be alone for the rest of your life. Just read and take some initiative, okay? It's more than just how not making a complete ass of yourself in there." said Fred with a wink.

"The only chapter worth reading." mumbled George.

I looked down at the book and then back at my brothers. I gave a nod, mainly to Fred. He seemed to favor the book more than George did.

The two of them left my room. I laid on my bed and cracked the book open, turning to the table of contents.

Introduction: So You Want To Charm A Witch

Chapter 1: Manners and Compliments

Chapter 2. Communication

Chapter 3. Being a Comfort

Chapter 4: Dealing With Feelings

Chapter 5: Conflict Resolution

Chapter 6: Reading The Signs

Chapter 7: Gift Giving

Chapter 8: The Birds and the Bees (not to be read if under 16)

Chapter 9: Do's and Don'ts of Dating

Chapter 10: Ending Relationships

Chapter 11: No Means No

Chapter 12: Signs Of Love

Ending Thoughts

As I sat and began to bounce around to different chapters, I discovered that I was in fact, very tactless and very oblivious to what girls were saying and doing, as well as how they were feeling. Some of the passages had me thinking that I had been extremely stupid for a very long time. The chapter on conflict resolution had me thinking that both Hermione as well as I handled the Crookshanks/Scabbers situation worse than we should have, and that I really should have been a better person during the Firebolt situation. There was no denying that that entire fiasco was indeed my fault. All that arguing or lack of arguing over a piece of fucking wood.

The break up chapter made me feel even more sorry for dragging on my meaningless relationship with Lavender. I read how it wasn't nice to keep something going when you know it should end, and that I should have been more mature and tried to end it before she started trying to have sex with me. My stubbornness kept something that should have ended that night going for months. I made a mental note to have a proper conversation with Lavender and apologize to her for leading her on like I did.

Some of the tips on the book didn't seem to fit Hermione's character. She had never been the type to worry about someone holding a door for her, or carrying her books, despite the fact that Harry and I both would offer to do so from time to time. Hermione didn't like being treated like she was a fragile flower. She didn't like someone hanging on her every word, agreeing with everything she said, even if you knew it was wrong. Hermione liked to debate. She liked to be challenged. She liked to be told she was wrong just to show how right she felt she was. Simply giving into her wouldn't do.

I did however pay close attention to the compliments chapter. It made me realize that though I had said nice things to her about what she had said or done, I really held back a lot of it because I thought it was barmy, or I didn't think she would like it. I made another mental note to compliment her more, to make her feel appreciated.

And then I turned to Chapter 8. As I looked on, I seen exactly why it was marked for boys under 16 not to read.

It was fascinating. I learned more from that chapter than I had learned that night from Bill and Charlie years prior. There were diagrams, proper directions, tips on how to make a girl feel comfortable, pointers on how to last and how to give the most pleasure. I read over that chapter twice before I moved onto another.

By the time dinner was ready, I had read through the entire book. I didn't even notice that I had practically missed the entire day.

I closed the book and hid it in my underwear drawer. I then decided to do a quick clean up of my room. I wanted to see if she would actually pay attention.

When I got downstairs, only Mum, Ginny, the twins, and Hermione were present. Hermione gave me a harsh look, showing that she was still annoyed at me over our earlier row. I decided to take a tip from the book to see if it would work.

"Evening Mum, family." I said, giving Mum as kiss on the cheek. "Here Mione, I'll pull that out for you."

I pulled out one of the chairs that was at the table and pointed to it for her to sit down. Hermione gave me a very cautious look, as if she thought I was going to trick her. For a second, I thought she was going to refuse.

"Thank you, Ron,"she said in a nervous voice as she sat down slowly in the chair, as if she was waiting for me to pull it out from under her. I gave her a genuine smile and sat down beside her.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to apologize for earlier, Hermione," I said, giving her eye contact so she could see I was being sincere, as the book said. "I should have cleaned up my room earlier. I did, and I found one of my missing chocolate frog cards that is very important. So thanks for that."

Hermione gazed at me as if I were foreign. "Ummmmm...you're welcome?" she said slowly, not breaking her gaze.

I smiled at her and took a bite of my food. It was then that I noticed Fred glancing over at me with a grin on his face.

Later that night as I was playing chess against myself on my bed, Hermione came up to my room. She looked around it, admiring the cleanliness.

"It looks nice up here, Ron," she said approvingly.

"Thanks. Fancy a quick game?" I asked, pointing to the board.

Hermione scrunched up her nose. "You know I'm going to lose," she said as she shook her head.

"I know, but just play anyways." I joked.

Hermione laughed and threw a harmless spark my way with her wand. She sat on my bed in front of the chess board and we started to play.

After a couple of games, I noticed that she seemed off. She was talking and laughing, but it seemed forced. As if her mind was elsewhere.

"A Knut for your thoughts?"

Hermione looked up from the board. "Oh, it's nothing," she said, looking back down at her chess pieces.

"Talk to me, I'm here for you." I said, thinking back to the chapter on comfort. I had comforted Hermione many times before, but the book did provide some tips on how I could do better, and how to make her feel better without looking like a sod.

"I'm just worried about my parents." sighed Hermione. "I'm wondering how they are getting on. How Australia is treating them. If they sometimes have the feeling of someone missing..."

She trailed off with her words, looking out of my window at the night's sky. It was cloudy, just like her mood.

Hey," I said, reaching out and taking her hand. "It's gonna be okay, yeah? You did what you had to do to save them. The Death Eaters wouldn't dream of going all the way to fucking Australia to look for them. And when this whole thing is over, they will remember again, I promise."

"You can't promise that." whispered Hermione.

"I can hope so, can't I? And you should too." I said, giving her a small grin.

Hermione nodded. She moved the chessboard to the side and moved her body closer to mine. She put her arms around me, resting her head on my shoulder. I circled my arms around her body as well, hugging her close to me. She sighed as if she were content.

I don't remember how long we sat like that. It really didn't matter. She must have felt pretty comfortable, because after awhile, I felt her breathing change, as she had fallen asleep.