The phone rang, startling Hermione. She glanced at it, then glanced away, sure that her parents would pick it up. After a few more rings, she sighed and reached over, shutting her copy of Hogwarts: A History (revised edition) as she did so.

"Granger residence."

"Hermione?" Ron's shout blasted well past the receiver. "Are you there? Hello? Hermione? Is Hermione there?"

"Ron! Stop shouting!" She shook her head. "I thought I'd explained that it wasn't necessary."

"Well, I don't know how these blasted things work. How'm I supposed to know if you can hear me?" He grumbled softly under his breath. "Stupid things. Why don't you just have your parents hook you up to the floo network? Be so much easier."

"They're a little put-off by random wizards stepping out of their fireplace. Or by their heads suddenly showing up while Dad's reading the paper." She chewed her lower lip. "Besides…Never mind."

"Never mind what?"

"Nothing, Ron." Hermione shook her head, picturing him rolling his eyes as he usually did when she tried to divert a conversation away from her. "You haven't told me why you're calling."

"Oh! Mum wants you and Harry to come to dinner."

"Tonight?"

"Yeah. It's dad's birthday, so we're celebrating in true Weasley style." He snorted. "Which means there'll be too many people at the table, too much food, so loud you can't hear yourself think, and Fred and George will add a few more gray hairs to Mum's head."

"Sounds lovely."

"Dad said he'd get your house hooked up to the network, if your folks say yes. He'd even unhook it the next day, after you went back home." His voice seemed suddenly higher, excited. "Say you'll come?"

"You really want me there?"

"Course." She could picture him nodding, sunlight spraying over his red hair. "Ginny's chomping at the bit for a little girltalk."

"Oh."

"And, you know, it'd be nice to see you and Harry again."

"Yeah." She smiled, unsure why she was disappointed. "I'll ask my parents as soon as they get home."

"Well, how'm I supposed to know you're coming then? I can't just lug this box around with me. 'snot like we've got a fellytone, is it?"

"Well, I can't just say yes, Ron." Her tone was clipped and irritated. "My parents aren't like yours, are they?"

There was a long silence and when Ron spoke again, his voice sounded stung. "What d'you mean by that, Hermione?"

"They're not wizards, Ron. They don't understand all of this. They don't know about Voldemort and they walk around Diagon Alley like they're on some sort of bizarre movie set and people walking in and out of their fireplace confuses them! They're dentists, Ron."

"Yeah, and not very good if it took magic to fix your teeth then, are they?" He seemed to realize what he'd said the instant he'd said it. "Hermione. I didn't…"

"Goodbye, Ron."

She hung up the phone, tears stinging her eyes. She thought they'd gotten past the fighting. At least most of the fighting. The past year, due to everything that had been happening both with Harry and at Hogwarts, they'd fought less, been better friends. Been something more, she thought.

She'd obviously thought wrong.

The phone rang again and she stared down at the receiver. She just watched it as it rang, closing her eyes as the machine picked up, her father's voice sounding so calm and matter of fact. Please leave your name, phone number and a message.

"Er…Mr. Granger? This is Ron. Er, Weasley. I go to school with your daughter. Hermione. Not that you don't know who your daughter is. Uhm…hmm. I'm looking for her. Er, to talk to her. I sort of…could you just tell her I'm sorry? That I'm an ass. Only don't say ass because if my Mum hears that she'll spell me into next week. Er…not that wizards are violent or anything…er…bye."

Hermione sniffed back her tears, unable to keep them all from falling. She shook her head and got out of the chair, moving over to the machine to erase the message. "Bye, Ron."

"You haven't heard from her?" Ron paced the small room, his face flushed. "Not at all?"

"No, Ron." Harry shook his head for the hundredth time. "I haven't seen or heard from Hermione. I figured she was here."

"She's not been here!" Ron wailed. "She's been at home. She's not written to me or Ginny or anyone. I even owled Neville." He fell back onto his bed and bounced his head off the wall. "I can't believe I was so stupid."

"To owl Neville?"

"No." Ron sighed. "I sort of…well, I was sort of a jerk to her."

"I thought you said you hadn't seen her."

"Well, I hadn't. I called her. On that thing."

"Telephone?"

"Yeah. And I invited her to the house for Dad's birthday and while we were talking, she made me kind of mad…"

"What'd she say?"

"It's really not important," Ron assured him, his face flaming brighter. "Anyway, I sort of lashed out at her and I think I hurt her feelings. I tried to call her back but I didn't get to talk to her, just her dad and he was pretty quiet about it all, just wanted my name and phone number and message, but I didn't want to talk to him, but I did and I asked him to tell her I was sorry, but I haven't heard anything since and for all I know she could be captured or kidnapped or held hostage or dead somewhere."

"She's not." Harry and Ron both turned to look at Ginny who was standing in the bedroom doorway. She waved a parchment at them. "I just got an owl."

"From Hermione?" Ron leapt off his bed and clamored over Harry as he tried to stand, reaching for the paper in his sister's hand. Ginny pulled it away and kept it from Ron's grasp. "Give me the letter, Ginny."

"It's not addressed to you, Ron. It's for me."

"But it's from Hermione, right? Tell me what it says." He reached for it again, earning a slap on his hand for the trouble. "C'mon, Ginny, you didn't bring it in here to torture me with it."

"She might have," Harry smirked.

"You're not helpin', Harry." Ron turned and glared at him, using what looked like his own distraction to try and snag the letter from Ginny again. She slapped his hand a second time and shook her head.

"No, Ron."

"Let me read it."

"It's not addressed to you." Ginny broke the seal on the letter and unrolled it, jerking her hands back out of Ron's reach. "Stop it."

"Read it aloud, Gin." Ron's blue eyes met and held his sister's. "Please?"

She considered him for a long moment then nodded once. "No." She sat next to Harry on the bed, a small amount of distance between them. He turned slightly to watch her read the letter, his knee brushing lightly against her thigh. "But she's fine. She was on a trip this summer, that's why she didn't write. She doesn't have an owl, remember and her parents aren't likely to want to go to a lot of wizarding places." She blushed and glanced at the roll of parchment in her hand. "So she's fine."

"If that's all it says, let me read the letter, Ginny." Ron took a step toward her, attempting to be intimidating.

"No." She got to her feet and headed for the door. "It's my letter, Ron. I don't go around asking to read your letters. Of course, why would I care about the Chudley Cannons newsletter?"

"Gin…"

"Mum's calling." Ginny stuck her tongue out at Ron. "So I guess you're just out of luck."

"This isn't a good idea, Ron."

"Shush." He stuck the tip of his wand near the lock on Ginny's door. "Alohamora."

It opened, swinging in. Harry closed his eyes and shook his head. "Ron…"

"She wasn't telling us everything, Harry, and you know it. You're the one who said it, and Hermione's our friend and, as friends, we have the right to find out what's going on in her life." He gave Harry a knowing look, the gaze heavy with meaning. "What if something's wrong?"

"Ginny would have told us."

"What if it's something that Ginny wouldn't understand? What if it's in some sort of code that only you and I could understand and that Ginny wouldn't know and, if it is, she can't just come out and say to show it to us, since that would give it away that it was code." He smiled triumphantly and grabbed the roll of parchment of Ginny's desk. He shoved it at Harry as soon as he realized his hands were shaking. "You read it."

"Dear Ginny…"

"Skip to the good part, would you?"

"We don't even know that there is a good part," Harry reminded him as he unrolled the paper further. "Settle down."

"Right." Ron sat on his bed, his nerves jangling, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Sorry."

"Dear Ginny," he glared at Ron as he opened his mouth, turning back to the letter as it snapped shut. "I'm sorry that I haven't written yet this summer, but I've been very busy. Just a few weeks after school ended, I got a letter from Viktor asking me to come and visit him for the summer. I hadn't planned to go, but some things happened and I decided to take the trip. My parents had some vacation time, so we all took the train."

"Viktor?" Harry looked up, his eyebrow raised. "I thought that was over." Ron's face was frozen, a pulse beating hotly at the base of his jaw. Looking back at the letter, Harry continued reading, "Durmstrang is nothing like Hogwarts, as you can see from the enclosed picture. We weren't supposed to know how to get there, but Victor showed up in a beautiful carriage and took us there. Karkaroff is still missing, and there are some very nice people on the campus. Apparently, their equivalent of Slytherin is the big house, the sought after one, much like Gryffindor is for us."

"Great," Ron muttered through clenched teeth. "She's snogging a dark wizard."

"We toured the campus and ended up staying for three weeks. Several of the teachers who stay year round seem quite impressed with me, and by extension, Hogwarts. A few of them have asked me to stay on as a student, including the Headmaster. He's quite an imposing figure, nothing at all like Dumbledore. He has a large raven that sits on the edge of his desk. It's rather creepy, following you around the room with its black eyes. It sort of reminded me of Snape, which was more than enough reason for me to turn down their offer. Can you imagine a whole school full of Snapes?"

They both shuddered and Harry turned to the next page. His eyes skimmed the content and he stopped. "That's it."

"There's a whole 'nother page, Harry." Ron's voice was soft and dangerous. "Read it."

"I think it's girl stuff, Ron."

"Harry." He didn't look away from her, his eyes strange. "Please?"

He broke the eye contact and nodded, keeping his head bowed. "Viktor was the perfect host the entire length of our stay. He was very respectful to my parents and, since he was acting as a liaison for the school, always on his best behavior. I'm sure Ron and Harry are keeping up with his Quidditch career, so let them know that he always had time set aside during the day for practice. He's working on some new techniques that I'm sure Harry especially will be thrilled with although they make no sense whatsoever to me."

"Oh right. Just Harry." Ron sneered at the letter. "Let's forget that both Ron and Ginny play bloody Quidditch."

"Of course, now that you and Ron are on the team, you're probably just as enamored of things called 'The Falstaff Feint' and 'Queensbridge Quarrel'. I'm going to spend my entire sixth year hoping desperately for one conversation not about Quidditch, aren't I?" Harry snorted and laughed, rolling his eyes. "And we'll spend our entire sixth year wondering if Hermione's ever going to stop lecturing us to study for our N.E.W.T.s."

Ron looked up as Harry paused, his teeth worrying his bottom lip as he contemplated the words in front of him. "What is it, Ha…"

"He kissed me, Ginny."

The silence in the room was thick enough to cut, Ron's breath caught somewhere in his throat. "It was during our last week there. My parents were eating dinner with the headmaster and his wife, who is just as frightening as he is, and Viktor asked me if I'd like to see the Aurora Borealis. We went up to the astronomy tower, even though it wasn't necessary and we were standing there and I turned to look at him to ask him a question and suddenly he was kissing me."

Ron's eyes closed and he looked away from the concerned gazes that Harry was giving him. After a long moment, Harry started reading again, his voice soft with concern. "It was nice. Not at all what I expected. Not that I expected…Lavender and Parvati talk about it all the time and it sounds rather…wet and unpleasant, but Viktor was very nice and I think I rather liked it. He asked me to stay at Durmstrang so I'd be closer to him. He said that now that I'm almost of age, we'd be free to really date and that he'd like that a lot. That he'd like to be my boyfriend."

Ron got to his feet and left the room, not hearing the entire last word.

Ginny glared at Harry from the doorway where Ron had just brushed past her. "Why stop? There's more."

"I don't know that he can take more." He skimmed through the rest of it, trying very hard to ignore the heat that pooled between them as Ginny sat down, seeming too close as his eyes grazed over words like kiss and love and touch. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to pay attention to what he was reading and not the shy gaze that watched him through golden red eyelashes.

"It gets worse."

His eyes almost closed at the sound of her voice, that sweet, honeyed sound that slipped past her lips, slightly breathless as if she could feel it all too. "How?"

"She's coming here. She got an owl from Dumbledore asking her to come back."

"Oh."

Ginny reached over to take the parchment from him, her hand covering his, her fingers resting lightly on his as he ran it over the letter. "She's coming tonight." Ginny glanced at the clock on the wall and then back at Harry, stilling, caught in his green eyes. "Now."

"We should warn Ron," he suggested, swallowing, completely incapable of looking away from her.

Ginny nodded. "We should."

"D'you…" Harry cleared his throat and tried again. "D'you really think it is?"

"What?"

He blushed, wondering if she would know what he was talking about, unable to say the words, the action, only conscious of how close they were, sitting side by side on a bed. "Wet. And unpleasant."

"Oh." Ginny blushed to the roots of her hair though her gaze never left Harry's. "I thought…you and Cho…"

"Well, that was sort of," he shrugged. "You've never…?"

"Just once. Neville." She grinned. "It was sweet."

"Yeah?" She nodded, and Harry wondered briefly if Neville was doomed to always be the other man in his life. The other boy who could have been the boy who lived. "What about Michael Corner?"

Ginny made a soft, noncommittal sound and Harry nodded, realizing she didn't want to talk about it. None of them wanted to talk about anything. "We should really tell Ron."

Ginny nodded, her eyes closing as Harry leaned in, his lips brushing hers. She made a soft sound and Ron and Hermione and everything else around her was lost, the world narrowing to the warm brush of Harry's lips, the slide of his tongue against hers. Her mouth opened to him and he groaned, the softest hint of agony in his voice. Pulling back, he looked into her chocolate brown eyes, his green ones alive in a way she hadn't seen since Sirius had died. "Ron can wait, don't you think?"

Ron stomped into the living room, slamming himself down into a chair. The springs squeaked and groaned in protest and he glared at the threadbare material until the sound subsided.

"Ron?"

He ignored his mother's voice, kicking the small footstool in front of him and sending it skittering across the room. A large puff of stuffing trailed behind it, the sunlight streaming in the windows causing it to sparkle.

"Ron?" Mrs. Weasley stuck her head in from the kitchen. "Is everything all right?"

"It's fine, Mum."

"Are you…"

"It's fine." He snapped, getting to his feet. "It's just fine, isn't it? What's not to be fine? I mean, no one else cares that I've never owned anything that's mine except for my Christmas sweaters which are always maroon, which is a color that I cannot stand, by the way, and everyone else in the whole ruddy school got a new wand and a new pet and mine ended up being a minion of Lord Voldemort, didn't he? What isn't fine about that, Mum?"

"Ron?"

He ignored the hurt in her voice, too caught up in his rage to care. "And I've never had a moment's privacy in my whole entire life and I can't even do something that someone in this blasted family hasn't already done, can I? And I'm tired of being poor and the twins are out there doing something and making money and I'm just going to school, but that's not enough, is it? It's not enough that I'm there for her all the time and I sit by her stupid hospital bed when she's gone and gotten herself hurt and it's not enough that I've been studying really hard this summer and I just wanted to apologize for being a stupid git, but none of that matters, because she's been off snogging Viktor bloody Krum and's probably going to go to Durmstrung just so she can be near him and graduate from there and she doesn't care at all about me and Harry and how much we need her around."

"Ron."

"And she's not going to care that I don't want her kissing him, because…because…"

Hermione's voice was soft and far too close. "Because why, Ron?"

He whirled around, his eyes wide, his face aflame. "Hermione!"

She gave him a weak smile and tilted her head, obviously not willing to let his words go. "Because why, Ron?"

"I'm really sorry I was rude about your parents, Hermione. I didn't mean to be. I sometimes say things that are stupid, but you know that, because you're well acquainted with how stupid I am, since I seem to like to show it off around you, but that's mostly because I'm trying to show off around you, but there's…" He stopped, realizing he was babbling. "Because I want to kiss you."

Hermione nodded. "That's what I thought."

Ron stared after her as she moved past him as if he'd never spoken, giving his mother a hug. The two of them disappeared into the kitchen, leaving him behind.

"So, Hermione, how was your summer?"

"It was really nice, Mrs. Weasley. Mum and Dad and I toured Durmstrang and I got to go to a few practice Quidditch sessions with Viktor's team."

"That's nice," Molly smiled and passed the plate of potatoes to Ginny. "And how is Viktor?"

"He's doing well, although he's unsure if he should continue to play in light of all the trouble that's brewing."

"You'd think they'd thrive on it there," Ron muttered. "They must be thrilled that You-Know-Who's back."

"Ron!"

"Sorry, Mum, but you said it yourself, Hermione. They're all about the darker aspects of magic there. And it's not any secret that Karkaroff was a death eater. And it's not like he's done anything to redeem himself. He just said he was under the curse, didn't he? And we all know that was a lie."

"How do you know what I said about the school, Ron?"

He realized his tactical error and glanced at his sister, knowing immediately that she was not going to help him out. "You were at the TriWizard tournament, Hermione. You saw as well as the rest of us what they were all like."

"Actually, if I recall correctly, Ron, I was defending the school and Viktor to you most of the time." She pushed her plate away. "So how did you know what I said about the school, Ron?"

He met her gaze defiantly. "We read your letter."

"We?"

"Er, Harry and I."

"Why?"

"Why?" He looked at her as if she were crazy. "You disappear for the whole summer, you don't write and finally a letter shows up, addressed to Ginny of all people, and we're supposed to just sit back and wonder? In case you've forgotten, Hermione, in case its slipped your mind, Vol…You-Know-Who is back in town and he's not exactly playing nice with all of Harry's friends."

"And you think I'm incapable of taking care of myself?" Her voice was dangerous, but he refused to heed the warning.

"Given that you were hanging out at a school notorious for being on the wrong side of the fight, yeah."

"Lord Voldemort came from Hogwarts, Ron." She glared at him defiantly. "Our school. The same school that Lucius Malfoy went to, that Professor Snape went to. The school Salazar Slytherin helped found. Other than Karkaroff, name one wizard from Durmstrang that was a death eater. Name one that's tried to take over the world."

"Well, fine then, Hermione. Why don't you just go back there. Go back to snogging your dark wizard boyfriend. Don't let us stop you. I mean, what are we? Just your best friends, but that doesn't matter, since we only go to Hogwarts."

"He's not a dark wizard, Ron Weasley! And maybe, just maybe, if you weren't so stupid, Viktor wouldn't be my boyfriend. Maybe, if you'd think for just a second, maybe I'd be here snogging you!" She shoved her hair out of her face. "But you don't think about anyone else, do you? You don't think about the fact that you got a new broom last year, although according to you, you don't ever get anything new. And you don't think that you've got this great big, loving, caring family that understands everything about you and your life, unlike me and Harry, and you don't think that you can just be who you are, whether you like your sweaters or not, and you don't have to worry about anyone looking at you funny or with fear or like you're some sort of freak they don't understand."

The entire table was silent, no one moving as Ron and Hermione glared at each other over the top of the table, both of their faces red. She shook her head and pushed her chair away, getting to her feet.

"You may not have any money, Ron, but you've got everything else. And I'd bet you that Harry'd trade all his gold in an instant to have a tenth of what you've got." Tears stung her eyes as she continued to look at him, her face starting to fall. "Excuse me."

They all sat silently as she left the room, her broken sob echoing back into the dining room. Ginny glared at her brother. "You're an ass." She pushed her chair back and stood, smacking Ron across the back of the head before hurrying after Hermione. Ron bowed his head to stare down at his food before shoving his chair back and storming out of the house.

Ginny knocked softly on the door to her bedroom, peeking around it. "Hi." Hermione didn't look up. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, her forehead resting on them. Moving into the room, Ginny sat on the edge of the bed, forcing her mind away from the kiss she'd shared with Harry to the more immediate issue. "He's an ass."

Hermione made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a snort.

"But I think it's because he likes you."

"It's not about whether or not he likes me," Hermione lifted her head, shrugging slightly. "It's the fact that he thinks he doesn't have to do anything. That I'll just be waiting around for him."

"I don't think Ron thinks that."

"I told him after the Yule Ball not to wait. I practically told the whole school that all he had to do was ask." Hermione sighed. "And he still hasn't."

"There's been so much going on…"

"Right. So much." She shrugged. "Never mind that Harry wasn't around us so much this year because of Cho and everything else with Umbridge, or that, as Prefects, we spent a lot of time alone together." She huffed out a breath. "Never mind that he didn't even notice the mistletoe I stood under for ten minutes while we were decorating for Christmas."

"Oh."

"Oh, no. I take that back. He noticed enough to ask me why I was just standing around and making him do all the work."

"Oh." Ginny's expression was caught between amused and sad. "Ron really is an idiot."

"I know."

"But it's not doomed, right?" Her tone changed, her gaze intent on Hermione. "I mean, you're not really going to leave Hogwarts, are you?"

"No."

"And you're not in love, are you? With Viktor?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. I'm not in love with him. And I'm not going to leave. All my friends are at Hogwarts."

"Most of your enemies too."

"Should I count Ron in both groups?" Hermione laughed softly, sadly. "What do I do now?"

"Maybe you and Ron should have a talk. Without fighting."

"You think that's possible?"

"No." Ginny laughed. "But maybe whenever he says something stupid, you could just kiss him."

"I don't want to kiss him."

"All right," Ginny nodded her understanding. "So whenever he says something stupid, you grab him, pull him against you, and just stand there until he gets the hint."

"So I should do that the second he opens his mouth?"

Ginny giggled. "And stand there until the end of time."

Hermione smiled then sighed. "Are all boys this stupid? This clueless?" She got off the bed and stormed over to the window, looking down at where Harry and Ron were sitting, both of them gazing up at the house. "Is Harry this stupid?" When Ginny didn't answer, Hermione turned around, her grin widening at the dark blush staining Ginny's face. "Ginny!"

"What?"

"You and Harry? Are you…did you?"

She shook her head, not looking at Hermione. "We didn't…we…well," she blew out a long breath. "Damn."

"What did you do?" Hermione rushed back to the bed and sat down, pulling Ginny down beside her. "Confess."

"I thought you weren't interested in gossip."

"This isn't gossip! This is two of my best friends! Kissing?" She titled her head, smiling impishly. "Did you kiss him?"

"He kissed me."

"Oh." Hermione fell back on the bed and sighed. "I knew I should have fallen for Harry. At least his head's not in his bum."

"Oh, it is, but not as often as Ron's." Ginny paused. "That sounded wrong out loud."

Hermione laughed and sat up, hugging Ginny tightly. "And you like it? That Harry kissed you?"

The redhead nodded. "Yeah."

Hermione sighed happily. "Good for Harry. It's about time he noticed what was right in front of his face." Her smile twitched, curved knowingly.

"So maybe there's hope for Ron?"

"Ron's hopeless," Hermione assured her. "But that doesn't mean Harry can't teach him a thing or two."

Ron kicked the stone wall, not feeling the pain. He turned around and refused to look at the house, sitting down on the wall as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Harry sat down next to him, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets, not looking at Ron. They sat silently for a long time until Ron finally spoke. "Look, I know I'm being a prat. Mum and Dad are the best and I'm damn lucky. You've had so much happen to you and I know that your parents' and Sirius's gold don't make up for everything. For anything." He sighed. "So I'm willing to sell you Fred and George for 500 galleons each."

"That's awfully nice of you."

"They are a matched set though, so you can't just take one."

"I'm not sure I have room for both of them in my trunk."

"You could shrink 'em, maybe?" Ron smiled. After a few moments, he looked away, unable to meet Harry's gaze. "I'm really sorry I've been such a bastard, Harry."

"It's okay, Ron." Harry shrugged. "I haven't exactly been the nicest guy myself."

"At least you've got a decent reason," Ron huffed, clearly annoyed with himself. "You barely got to spend any time with Sirius before…" Ron's voice died out as Harry's face tightened. "I really am sorry, Harry."

"I know, Ron." Harry sighed, forcing himself to relax. "And I want to be able to talk about it. And if I do, when I do, you know it'll be to you, right?" His green eyes looked young, lost, scared.

"Oh sure," Ron nodded, carefully controlling his emotions as they threatened to slip out of control. "You'll tell me when you're ready."

Harry nodded, the familiar mixture of rage and grief churning in his stomach. "I will." He wanted to let it all out, tell Ron everything. Instead he fixed his gaze on the house, the flickering firelight setting the window aglow. "Did you guys…"

"Ha." Ron shook his head. "She won't even look at me."

"What exactly did you say to her?" Ron's lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure if he should. He glanced down at his hands then over at Harry. Understanding lit Harry's eyes and he nodded. "Look, you don't have to tell me. I mean, I know that it sucks, me keeping things from you and…"

"I insulted her parents." He sighed. "And then on top of that, I insulted her looks."

"Ouch."

"And then, before I knew she was in the house since I didn't know she was coming, I was ranting and raving and I admitted that I wanted to kiss her. Well, I did know she was there for that part, but it doesn't make it any easier." He sighed. "Speaking of me not knowing she was coming…"

Harry felt heat creep up his cheeks and he looked away from Ron, unwilling to face his best friend. "Well, we were going to tell you."

"We. That would be you and Ginny?"

Harry glared at him, his own eyebrow mimicking Ron's. "Yeah."

"Right."

"And we…well, we got distracted."

"Distracted, eh?" Ron chuckled, unable to keep his laughter in check in the face of Harry's obvious embarrassment. "Right. You were snogging my sister, weren't you?"

"No. Well, yeah." Harry sighed. "You're going to kill me, aren't you?"

"I'd kill you if you were snogging Hermione, Harry. I actually kind of like the thought of you snogging Ginny. Er, well, no. I don't. She's too young to be doing any of that, but if she's going to be doing it, which it seems she is, since she's been dating longer than I have, I suppose I'd rather have it be you than anyone else." He shrugged. "You're my best friend, Harry. I trust you with my life. I think if I can do that, I can surely trust you with my little sister."

Harry sighed, relieved, relaxing slightly until he looked at Ron who was glaring at him, his blue eyes narrowed with sharp disapproval.

"However, you hurt her and I'll personally make sure you have detention with Snape and Filch for the rest of your stay at Hogwarts. Then I'll serve you up on a platter to Vold…Voldemort." He looked back at the house. "And if you so much as touch her and I hear about it, I'll let you see exactly how it felt to be barfing up slugs for a day or two."

"Touch her?"

Ron glared at him. "You know what I mean."

"I tell you what, Ron," Harry fought his grin, trying to keep his expression serious. "I won't do anything to Ginny that you wouldn't do to Hermione." Harry continued as Ron's eyes widened and his mouth opened. "Since she's like a sister to me."

"You're right evil, Harry Potter."

Harry nodded. "Don't let that whole 'boy who lived' thing fool you."

Ron thought for a moment then gave Harry a sly grin. "I'll tell you what, I'll agree to this on the condition that you can't kiss Ginny again until I kiss Hermione."

"You kiss Hermione, or you and Hermione kiss?" Harry asked. "Because if I wait for you to do it, I won't be kissing Ginny until we're right around 80." Harry paused. "If I survive that long."

"I'll kiss her!"

Harry nodded, disbelief and amusement in his eyes. "Sure you will, Ron."

"Hell, if bloody Viktor bloody Krum can do it, I can do it." He started to stand then stopped. "Can I ask you a question, Harry?"

Harry nodded. "Of course, Ron."

"The stuff…everything that's going on with you?"

"Yeah?"

"You will tell me, right? Someday?"

"Yeah, Ron. I will."

Ron stopped moving, only stepping forward when Harry collided with him. "What the…?"

"Hermione."

"Oh." Harry moved around Ron, heading for the door. Ron grabbed his arm.

"Where're you goin'?"

"Inside."

"You can't."

"I thought you were going to kiss her," Harry chuckled. "If bloody Viktor bloody Krum can do it and all that."

"Right." Ron nodded defiantly. "Come on, then." They walked up to the house, stopping at the base of the steps leading onto the porch. Hermione stood in the doorway, her arms crossed over her waist, a tentative smile on her face.

"Why didn't you come out, Hermione?" Harry asked. "We haven't been just the three of us in a while."

"I thought you and Ron might want some time."

He shrugged and grinned at Ron. "I'm already sick of him." Ignoring Ron's noise of disgust, he looked seriously at Hermione. "Besides, we're all three best friends, Hermione. Always. That won't ever change," he looked from her to Ron then back again, fighting his smile as they both blushed, "even if everything else does."

He slipped past Hermione into the house, turning as he reached the steps, watching them through the window. He felt Ginny's hand light softly on his shoulder and turned just enough to draw her in front of him, his hand resting gently on her hip, his chin on her shoulder. "What do you think the odds are?"

"That they'll kiss?" She shrugged. "Good, I think. Why?"

"I sort of made Ron a promise."

"Oh." She leaned back against him, smiling slightly, allowing the warmth of her older brother's protectiveness to settle over her rather than fight it as usual. "You think you'll regret it?"

"The promise?" He shook his head. "No."

Ron looked at his feet, kicking away a ball of dust, then looked back up at Hermione, his face flaming. "Er…I'm an ass."

"Yes." She nodded, her voice stern. "You are."

"Well, you don't have to be so…" He stopped and took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I don't think…I do think that you're pretty, Hermione. I didn't mean what I said about your teeth. Or your parents."

"I know that."

"And I didn't mean to sound like an ungrateful git. I know I'm lucky. I can't imagine what Harry goes through and I never thought about how hard it must be for you to pretend this doesn't exist when you're home." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it. "I was scared."

"Scared?" She asked softly.

"When you didn't write or anything, I just got scared. That Vo…Voldemort had gotten you. I read the Daily Prophet every day and Dad checked the Muggle papers, because we knew it'd be in them if anything happened to you. I was scared, Hermione."

"Because I'm your friend."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head, barking out an annoyed sound. "No, not because you're my friend." He kicked the step in front of him and glared at her. "Quit being deliberately stupid."

"I'm not being stupid, Ron, as you so charmingly put it."

"Yes, you are," he snapped. "You're playing dumb because you want me to say it."

"Say what, Ron?"

"That I…Bloody hell." He slid his hand beneath her wild tangle of hair and pulled her to him, the stairs erasing the difference in their heights. "C'mere," he breathed as he pressed his lips to hers, gasping with soft emotion as her mouth opened under his and suddenly, simply, they were kissing.

Harry turned Ginny around and smiled down at her. "Finally."

I ran up the door, opened the stairs, said my pajamas and put on my prayers - turned off my bed, tumbled into my light, and all because he kissed me good-night! ~Author Unknown