"The fact that there's no classes to get in the way of your eating?" Harry suggested as he took another chocolate frog from the pile on the grass between them. "There's no classes, period? There's no Snape? No Filch?"

"There is absolutely no reason that I have to get up from this lovely patch of grass for three more weeks." Ron sucked the last bit of ice off the stick and tossed it into the pile of their wrappers. "And that, to me, is bliss."

"It's supposed to rain tomorrow."

"Pardon?" Ron raised his head just enough to see Luna's pale eyes.

"It's supposed to rain tomorrow. So you may not want to continue to lie there." She glanced over at the book Hermione had held out to her. "Oh, that's lovely. Is that a Hoopbloom?"

"Er, no." Hermione tugged the book back into her lap. "I don't think so."

"You might want to check it out. I think you'll find it may be." Luna turned her attention back to Ron. "Although they say rain is quite good for your skin."

Ginny prodded Harry with her finger. "Let's go flying."

"I'm stuffed, Gin." He rolled onto his back and smiled up at her eager face as she leaned over him. "'Sides, Hermione and Luna aren't big on flying."

"I'll fly."

Ron glanced at Hermione who was still looking down at her book, her face set. "I'm too full to fly. Maybe I'll just hang here with Hermione."

"I can fly, Ron." She snapped.

"I didn't say you couldn't."

"Good, because I can."

"Yeah, just not well."

"Here we go again," Ginny sighed.

"Well, if you'd ever bother to take the time to teach me, rather than just snapping at me when I do things wrong or berating me for not being up to your standards…"

"My standards? Suddenly it's outlandish for me to expect you to be able to stay on a broom for more then ten seconds?"

"Maybe if you'd bother to find out why I had such trouble instead of just assuming that I'm an idiot."

"And I'm just supposed to ask you? Is that it? I'm just supposed to ask you why you have such a hard time on a broom, why you can't fly to save your life and why you…"

"I'm scared!" She clamped her mouth closed, her lips a white line in the red flush that covered her face. "I get scared, Ron. And if you'd ever bothered to ask me, you'd know that and you wouldn't give me such a stupid, hard time and we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

"I didn't know."

"That much is obvious." She sighed and raked a hand through her hair. "You guys go flying. I have some reading to do anyway." She headed off to the house, leaving the four of them standing around staring after her, looking at anything but each other.

"Maybe we should…"

"We should fly," Ron decided. "We should fly and leave her alone and let her calm down." He watched her disappear into the house and sighed. "And I'll apologize to her later."

"Hermione?" Ron tapped on the door of the twins's room and opened the door. Hermione was sitting at George's desk, writing something that she rolled up and set aside as he walked in. "Why're you in here?"

"Ginny's working on something on her desk. I didn't want to move it all. Besides, with the twins hardly ever here, I figured this was the best place to try for some peace and quiet."

He nodded and ran his hand over his head, pushing his hair down then standing it up. "Look, about earlier…"

"It's okay, Ron."

"Nah. It's not really. I was, believe it or not, actually trying to be nice when I started out."

"I know you were. I just get defensive when it comes to that." She shrugged and folded her hands in her lap. "I don't like things I can't do well. They make me angry with myself because I know that it's stupid, of all the things to be afraid of that are real, to be afraid of something that's in my head."

"The things in your head are scarier," he acknowledged, sitting on the edge of George's bed. "Because you don't know how real they are."

"You're talking about Harry."

"Yeah, a bit. There's other stuff too. I get scared of things that I think about and I go a little off my nut." He grinned. "Not that you'll find that hard to believe, huh?"

"How is Harry?"

"He's…okay. I mean, he's not talking about things, but that's pretty typical of him, isn't it? Not wanting to burden all of us with his problems because he thinks he's supposed to handle 'em all on his own. You'd think he'd learn by now."

"Harry wants to make sure his parents didn't die in vain. And now, with Sirius, it's going to be worse."

"He told me that he and Remus laid flowers for him."

"Did they?"

"Yeah." Ron rubbed the worn spot of his jeans just above his knee. "Listen, why don't we do something tonight? Just the three of us, just like old times? We could sneak out of the house and go out into the woods and just hang out. No siblings, no significant others or anything. Just us."

"I'd like that."

"It'll be like old times. Like at school only without the constant danger of one of Hagrid's Forbidden Forest buddies."

"Or Snape and Filch threatening detention."

"Just us." Ron smiled.

Hermione smiled in return. "I can't wait."

"What d'you want?" Ron glared at Fred, holding the door handle tightly. "Don't you have a store to run?"

"We're closed for the evening, little brother." Fred leaned against the jamb and crossed his arms, smiling indulgently at Ron. "Do I need to know the password or something? Was I not made aware of a change in the Weasley door policy?"

"You live at the shop, why're you always hanging around here?" He lowered his voice and quickly glanced over his shoulder. "Things are going well today and I don't need you here mucking them up."

"So you've told Hermione you fancy her then?"

"Why do you keep going on about that?"

"If you don't know, Ron, I'm certainly not going to tell you." Fred put his finger against Ron's nose and pushed, guiding his brother backwards. "I'm here, if you must know, because I have a date with Hermione."

"She's got other plans for tonight."

"Really? Doing what? Sitting around and watching you and Harry play chess?" He moved around Ron and sank down on the couch next to Ginny. "Hullo, sis."

"Fred!" She batted his hand away as he mussed her hair. "You're worse than George, I swear."

"Not possible. We're bad in equal degrees, just in different ways." He got up and grabbed Luna's hand, kissing it softly. "Miss Lovegood, you're looking as smashingly scatterbrained as usual."

"Thank you."

"And Mr. Potter." He looked down his nose at Harry. "You're going to lose the game if you move your knight there." He pointed to a different square. "Trust me."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because someone had to teach Ickle Ronniekins to play chess, didn't he?" Fred grinned. "Mum?"

"In here, Fred."

"I'm George, Mum."

"Oh. George. Where's Fred?" She bustled out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. "I thought he was supposed to be here to pick up Hermione."

"Kidding, Mum." He kissed the top of her head. "I'm Fred. It's really quite sad that my girlfriend can tell us apart…"

"I'm your girlfriend now, am I?" Hermione asked from the bottom of the staircase.

"You assume so much, Miss Granger. I could be talking about any one of the scads of women that follow me around like the God among men that I am."

"Why don't you go and bother one of them then," Ron suggested, glaring at Fred.

Hermione stepped off the bottom stair. "I'm not your girlfriend, you know."

"I do know, and I do so regret that I've maligned your name at the expense of a cheap joke."

"A fair enough apology, I suppose." Hermione linked her hand around his arm. "Do I dare ask what you have planned for tonight?"

"Well, doing so would spoil the surprise and most likely cause Ron to go into convulsions, so I think it best that my designs remain a mystery for a while longer."

"Mum? You're hearing this, right?"

Molly smiled at Hermione, her face only slightly worried. "Have a nice time, dear." She reached out and grabbed Fred's ear and twisted it, pulling him down to her level. "Have her home by eleven or you'll answer to me, Fred Weasley."

Fred's face burned as he rubbed his ear. "Yes, Mum."

"Now then. Enjoy yourselves."

Hermione glanced at Ron and smiled. "I'll see you later."

He grinned in return, content suddenly that she'd remembered, hadn't forgotten their plan, their promise. "Right."

"Where are we going?"

"Nowhere fancy." They walked down the street away from the Burrow and toward the small town just to the north. "I thought dinner."

"Yes, it's good that we didn't let anyone else in on that plan."

"Then I thought we'd get a room at the inn and I'd ravage you senseless." He winked. "Or, barring that, I thought maybe we'd go for another ride."

"Oh, no. I'm never getting on another broom with you, Fred Weasley."

"I'm not asking you to." He stopped and turned, looking down at her. "I'm going to give you lessons."

"I don't…"

"And I know that you don't want to and I know that you're worried that you're not good enough and you're probably scared because when you're worried, you can't help but be scared, but with everything that's going on, Hermione, you need to be prepared."

"Is this the part of the date where you frighten me?"

"You're not frightened. You're determined. And I know that, if you think of it that way, if you think that this is a skill you might need to help you when it comes down to the fight against You-Know…fuck, Voldemort, then you'll be able to do it. You may not ever do it for fun, and you may never enjoy it, but you'll do it and do it well when you have to."

"This sounds more like one of Snape's classes than a date."

"Thank you for comparing me to Snape. I can safely say that, not only is my life over, but you've completely squashed any sexual drive I had as far as you and I are concerned."

She started walking again. "Your mother, I'm sure, will be relieved to hear that."

"Are you?"

Hermione stopped and looked back at him. "Am I what?"

"Relieved?"

She started to shake her head then stopped. "What are you asking me, Fred?"

"What I said in there? Would you be all that opposed to it?"

"Worshiping you like a god among men?"

He sighed, suddenly nervous in the face of her teasing. "Being my girlfriend."

"Would you like me to be?"

He didn't think, didn't consider. Simply nodded. "Very much."

"I'll let you know at the end of the night."

"After the flying lesson?"

She nodded. "It'll give you some incentive to be nice to me, won't it?"

Fred fell back on the grass, laughing, rolling to avoid Hermione's half-hearted kicks. "I'm sorry," he gasped. "But you have to admit it was funny."

"I was upside down!"

"And adorable."

"In a skirt, Fred Weasley!"

"I know," he tried to stop laughing but failed. "I didn't look, I swear."

"Oh?" She asked archly. "What color are my knickers?"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her down on top of him, rolling back over so that she was pinned to the grass. "Hermione? I can assure you that if I were thinking about your knickers? I wouldn't be laughing." He got off her quickly and stood up, helping her to her feet. "Now, come on. Admit it was funny."

"It wasn't funny. I could have been killed"

"You were three feet off the ground."

She fought her smile. "Still."

He caught a lock of her hair and curled it around his finger. "C'mon. Admit it."

"All right," she acquiesced. "It wasn't horrible."

"Be still my heart." He tugged gently at the lock of hair. "You are lovely."

"Hush."

"Eyes bright. Cheeks flushed." He brushed the ends of her hair over her cheek. "Lips all swollen from all that nervous biting." The hair caused her lips to tingle. "Awfully kissable."

"Flying makes me kissable?"

"Flying makes you look kissable." He continued teasing her lip with the curl of hair. "You're always kissable."

She shook her head, giving him a look. "You'll say anything to make me not hate flying."

"This is true." He released her hair, his finger brushing her lip. She shivered slightly and he pretended not to notice, catching her hand in his. "It's late though. I should get you home before Mum decides that a howler is not nearly enough punishment."

"I'll vouch for your character, if you'd like."

"Yeah?" He watched her with smoky eyes, unreadable in the dimness. "And what would you say?"

"I'd say you were a perfect gentleman."

"Which she'd never believe." He rubbed her fingers with his thumb as they walked. "Have things gotten better? At the Burrow?"

"What do you mean, better?"

"With Ron?"

"Oh." Hermione shrugged. "I think so. He and I seem to set each other off with the slightest provocation. In fact, I'd say the three of us are a veritable powder keg, given that there are very certain subjects that you don't discuss with Harry. But today he apologized for something he said and we're all going to try to get our friendship back on track."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She bit the inside of her lip and looked at him. "Does that bother you?"

"What?"

"Me being friends with Ron?"

"You know, I'm not sure that I shouldn't be offended that you both think I'm that shallow and unfeeling about your friendship with my brother and that you think my own charm and sex appeal is so lacking that I couldn't sweep you off your feet even if Ron wasn't being his normal gitty self."

Hermione laughed. "Don't be offended."

"I think I might."

"And end our date on a sour note?" She gestured toward the Burrow. "It's almost over, you know. The date. The night."

"The night," he argued, "is still young. The problem is so are you." He stopped outside the gate and pulled her closer, his eyes dark as they met hers. "Tell me you had fun."

"I did."

"Even upside down on the broom, showing off your purple knickers?"

Her mouth opened and she slapped his arm. "You did look!"

"I did no such…ow!" She shoved him away from her, laughing, then took off at a run. He grinned and shook his head, loping after her, his longer legs making catching up to her easy. He grabbed her robe as she reached the porch, slightly out of breath. "I guessed."

"You guessed purple?" She jabbed him in the chest. "You looked, you rat."

"I thought perhaps you were showing them off on purpose."

"Is that the kind of girl you think I am?"

"Mmm. That's the kind of girl you are when I dream about you." He kissed her on the forehead as he reached out and opened the door. "Night, Hermione."

She fought the rising disappointment as he pulled away and jogged down the steps. "Night, Fred." She watched him until he suddenly wasn't there anymore, the sharp crack indicating he'd Disapparated. Sighing, she slipped inside the house, surprised to see Ron, Harry, Ginny and Luna all sitting in the living room. "Er, hello."

"Hey," Ginny waved. "How's your date?"

"It was nice. What are you four up to?"

"Harry's teaching us how to play, what's it called, Harry?"

"Life."

"Yes. We're playing life." She nodded. "I think Luna's winning."

"Luna's car keeps veering off the beaten path," Harry grinned up at Hermione, noting her flushed face and slightly erratic breathing. He shot a look at Ron and noticed he'd seen it too. "What'd you and Fred do?"

"Flew." She grinned. "He gave me lessons. Well, he tried. And then we ran."

"Ran?" Ginny's brow furrowed.

"Well, we were talking, teasing. And he said something and I just," she blushed. "Er, ran. To the house." She sat down next to Harry and Luna, across from Ron. "You been playing long?"

"Just a bit. You want to join us?"

"Sure. I…" They all looked over as the door opened and Fred grinned at them, his hair wind-blown and his face red. "Fred?"

"I forgot something."

"Oh?" He nodded and walked over to her, grabbing her hand. She stood and followed him to the doorway, extremely conscious of everyone's eyes on them as they slipped out onto the porch. "What'd you forget?"

"This." His hands framed her face and his thumb teased her lower lip away from the upper one, parting them so he could taste her shuddering breath. "I'm going to kiss you, you know."

She nodded and closed her eyes, rising on tiptoe as he lowered his head, their lips meeting somewhere in the middle. Fred uttered a soft noise that thrummed through Hermione as it curled off his tongue into her mouth, sliding along her nerve endings as his fingers curved slightly, putting the lightest pressure on her head, guiding her in the kiss.

Her hands grasped at him, fisting in his robes as he pulled away then immediately kissed her again, sucking her tongue into his mouth, reveling in the quiet noises of pleasure she was making. She released his robes and slid her hands beneath them, smoothing them over his shirt, her palms splayed over his nipples. He grabbed her hands and pulled them away, moved her away from him, distancing her from the suddenly very apparent reaction of his body.

He smiled down at her as she licked her lips, looking up at him dazedly. "See? Extremely kissable." She nodded and he kissed her again, quickly this time. "Can I see you next Friday?"

She bit her lip and nodded again. "Yes."

He grinned and stroked her cheek. His voice was husky and warm. "Are you my girlfriend?"

She blushed and nodded, turning away from him and disappearing inside the house, closing the door behind her.

Hermione glanced around the living room, surprised to see Harry packing up the game. "What's going on? Where'd everyone go?"

"Upstairs."

"Oh." She shook her head. "Why?"

Harry sighed. "Ron wasn't pleased that Fred showed back up. Probably even less pleased that you went out on the porch with him."

"We were just talking," Hermione insisted, her telltale blush giving her away. She sank down opposite Harry. "What should I do, Harry?"

"You're asking me for relationship advice?" Harry laughed. "Don't get the boyfriend of the girl you like killed. That's about the only life lesson I can give you."

"You didn't get Cedric killed, Harry. It happened. It wasn't your fault."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You never do." She shook her head. "I'm sorry." He turned his head and she shook hers again. "No, you know, I'm not. You've got to talk to people, Harry. People you trust. You trust us, don't you? We're your friends, your best friends. You know that Ron and I would do anything for you, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Or do you think we just say that to placate you and don't really mean it?" When he didn't answer, she sighed. "We followed you into battle, Harry. Maybe we didn't make it out unscathed, but we followed knowing that. We followed you knowing we could die. If we can trust you with our lives, can't you trust us with your feelings?" She got to her feet, still staring at him, willing him to meet her eyes. When he didn't look up, she sighed. "I'm going to change."

"Are we still on for tonight?"

"Do you want to be?"

He finally looked up, his green eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "Yeah."

"Then I'll meet you on the landing at one?"

"Yeah." He folded the game board and closed the lid. "Just the three of us."

Ron hung in Luna's doorway, swinging one foot along the wood floor. "Er," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Was a fun game, huh?"

"Oh yes. I especially loved the pink pegs." She smiled and sat on the edge of the bed. "And driving."

"You weren't really driving though, were you?"

"Well, it's sort of about pretending, isn't it? And imagining." She noted Ron scowl. "Are you thinking about her again?"

"What?"

"I'm just wondering if you're thinking about Hermione. Because if you are, you should probably go to your room. If you're not, I suppose it would be all right for you to come in and sit for a while. We could talk."

"Talk?" He looked seriously puzzled. "About what?"

"I'm sure there's something." She smiled, assured. "But not if you're thinking about her."

"I'm not. I don't think about her. I mean, I'm concerned for her, because my brother's a git, but it's not like…" He bit off his words at her grin. "Right. You want me to," he gestured toward the hallway with his thumb.

"No."

"No?"

"I'd like you to come in, Ron."

"Er, you would?"

"Yes."

"Hmm." He nodded and walked in, closing the door until it was almost shut, a small beam of light coming in from the hallway. He walked over to the window and glanced outside, his face growing hot, then turned back to Luna. "You ever had a boyfriend?"

"Not really. I kissed a boy when I was younger, but it wasn't serious."

"Anyone I know?"

"Maybe." She watched him prowl the room. "Ron?"

"Yeah?" He looked sharply at her, about to head for the door. She shook her head and he stopped, waiting. "Yeah?"

"Would you like to kiss me again?"

He looked trapped for a second then he smiled, his face relaxing. "Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You're easy to kiss." He sat down on the opposite edge of the bed, keeping some distance between them. "I don't feel that pressure, you know? Like everyone's watching me or about to criticize me."

"You kiss very nicely. I can't imagine what there'd be to criticize."

"I'm sure people could find something."

His face looked stormy and she sighed. "Ron?"

He faced her, shaking himself out of his reverie. "Hmmm?"

Luna reached out and touched his cheek, her lips parting as she stroked his skin lightly. "Kiss me."

"Right." He nodded as he leaned in, his eyes closed, his mouth open as it moved over hers, his tongue sliding easily between her parted lips. Luna made a soft sound that sent a shocky thrill through Ron's body, her hands moving up over his shoulders, supporting herself as she moved closer, sliding across the bedspread to press her leg against his.

Ron groaned and threaded his hand through her hair, his palm hot against the nape of her neck. She dropped one hand, letting it stroke lightly over the tense muscle of Ron's thigh. His whole body stiffened and he groaned again, his fingers tightening on the base of her skull, sucking her tongue into his mouth.

She whimpered, moving forward, her chest brushing against his. Ron gasped and pulled back, sucking in huge gulps of air as he stared at her with wide eyes. Luna looked at him dreamily, her tongue darting out to lick at her swollen lips. Ron watched the pink flash, unable to look away, slightly awed by her rough breathing.

"Luna?"

Her smile deepened and she closed her eyes, leaning into him again. Ron reached out and touched her shoulders, squeezing them gently. She shook her head, her hands capturing his wrists and dragging her hands down to her breasts, resting them over the firm, supple mounds.

"Oh…" Ron searched for a word, his brain swimming with heady sensations as he rubbed his palms over the hard tips of her nipples, his fingers constricting slightly in an attempted caress.

He watched his hands move, open-mouthed, breathing erratically. He let them slide up slightly, his thumbs focusing on the nipples, closing his eyes briefly as they tightened beneath his touch. He licked his lips and slid them to the side, applying and easing pressure on the supple skin.

"You know, Ron, they won't vanish if you take your eyes off them." Luna said the words softly, almost whispering. "And I do still have other points of interest."

His eyes snapped up to her face and he flushed hotly, jerking his hands away from her. "Sorry. Sorry."

She reached for his hands and guided them back to her chest. "Maybe you could just try to do two things at once?"

"Two?"

Luna kissed him softly, sliding her tongue over his lips then inside his mouth as she tightened her hands around his, causing him to stroke the swell of her breasts. She pulled back so she could speak, too close to even see into his eyes. "Two."

"Oh." He nodded and found her mouth again, raining gentle kisses over her lips as he teased her nipples. His kisses stopped occasionally as his hands moved down her ribcage then back to her breasts, resuming as soon as he realized he'd stopped. "I like kissing you," he murmured against her lips.

"It's mutual," she assured him, her hands tracing his jawline. Her voice was breathier than normal, hitching as he caught her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, plying them to tighter peaks with soft, gentle tugs. "Oh."

"Oh?" He purred against her ear, his teeth grazing her lobe before his tongue darted to the hollow beneath it.

She pulled back from him and swallowed, struggling to catch her breath. Without looking away from his dark eyes, she reached down and unfastened the top button of her shirt. Ron's eyes darted down then back up, wild and shocked, to hers. She gave him a smile that he couldn't quite read and let another of the pearly discs slip free of the fabric.

"What…what're you doing?"

She reached for his hands again and placed them against the vee of fabric, guiding one finger to brush along her sternum. "What are you doing, Ron?"

His fingers seemed too large and clumsy as he tried to manipulate the rest of the buttons, his hands shaking as he worked her shirt free of her waistband, undoing them all. Her shirt suddenly seemed too big on her as it fell away from her small form and he gulped audibly, his whole body throbbing with hunger.

Luna tilted her head and watched him. Ron stared at her creamy flesh, his eyes occasionally darting away from the nearly see-through lacy wisp of her bra. Her nipples were pressed tight and hard against the thin fabric, the darker flesh like a beacon. He swallowed several times, his Adam's apple bobbing frantically as he lifted a hand, reaching out tentatively to touch the skin he was admiring.

Luna closed her eyes and shuddered, causing Ron to freeze. She shook her head, arching her back slightly in encouragement. Ron bit his lower lip and forced his hand to keep moving, groaning out loud as lace met skin and he was feeling her. His other hand curled around her waist and she was against him and her hands were on his chest and he was touching her. He buried his head against her neck, licking and sucking the smooth column with more enthusiasm than style or grace.

Luna's nails scraped the back of Ron's scalp and he muttered something against her skin, his body jerking. With just a slight amount of pressure, she pulled him toward her, the sheets cool against her body, Ron beside her and on top of her, lost in the feel of her skin as he slipped his hand under the restrictive cup of her bra.

"Luna," he breathed hotly again and again, his hips rolling toward her, his body carefully not touching hers. She turned slightly, finding his lips with her own and kissing him, insinuating herself against him. Ron tried to stifle a groan and failed, the sound sending shivers of desire along her exposed skin.

She reached out and brushed his hip, curving her hand over the sharp lines of him, sliding it down to the warm curve of his cock as it strained against his jeans. Ron's body thrust forward and he gasped and scrambled away, jerking her with him as his hand got caught in her bra, palm still pressed hotly to her breast. He finally freed himself and pulled back, falling off the bed and backing up on his hands and feet until he felt the solid wall behind him.

Luna ducked her head and started buttoning her shirt, not looking at Ron as he blushed ferociously. "I won't apologize."

"You?" His eyes snapped up and he blushed redder, averting his eyes from the little flesh that was still exposed. "I was the one…"

"Who did exactly what I wanted him to do." Luna focused her wide eyes on him. "I liked what we did, Ron." He bit his lip hard enough to feel the blood pulsing through his flesh, the majority of it still pounding through his cock. "Didn't you?"

"We went too far."

"We stopped."

"Too late."

"Too late for what?" Luna gathered her nightgown and robe and tilted her head, observing him as he looked away. "I'm going to go change. Will you be going back to your room?"

The thought of facing Harry horrified him. He thought quickly of where else he could go. He didn't even consider Ginny's room. And the twins's room would mean being surrounded by Fred's things, which would only serve to remind him of Hermione. "Er…would it be all right if I stayed here for a bit? Just until…" He blushed and darted a glance down at his erection before crossing his legs to hide the bulge from her knowing eyes. "For a bit."

"Sure." She walked over to him and straddled his legs, squatting down and leaning in to give him a quick kiss. "Stay as long as you like."

Ron sat on the floor beside Luna's door, staring down the hallway through the portion he'd left ajar. Luna snuffled in her sleep behind him on the bed as the clock downstairs chimed low.

"Harry?" Hermione's soft whisper seemed to come from right beside him and he shivered, closing his eyes.

"Right here." He slipped down the last few steps from the attic and glanced around, spying Hermione and moving over toward her. "Where's Ron?"

"I was about to ask you the same question."

"He, er…he came down earlier."

Hermione turned her sharp gaze onto Harry. "He came down earlier? Or he didn't come up at all?"

"Hermione…"

"So you think he's in there?" She nodded toward Luna's room, the shadows of the hallway making the door seem closed. "With her?"

"Maybe I was already asleep and he didn't want to wake me, so he's in Fred and George's room?"

"Have you been asleep, Harry?"

"Well, no." He glanced down at the doorway her gaze was fixed on and sighed. "Hermione."

"It's okay. She's his girlfriend. I'm sure they just wanted a little privacy and he lost track of time." She shrugged and gave Harry a trembling smile. "You still want to go?"

"We can."

"But it won't be the same." Her chin trembled slightly. "I understand."

"It's not that I don't want to spend time with just you, Hermione."

"I understand, Harry." She nodded and pressed her lips together. "Please don't try to explain. Knowing your knack for saying things and mine for misunderstanding them, it's only going to make things worse."

"Hermione." He grabbed her arm and held it for a second before pulling her into a quick hug. She hugged him back then pushed him away, wiping her eyes as she slipped through the door into Ginny's room.

Harry glanced at Luna's door and sighed before turning and heading up the steps into the darkness.