Love Found At Summer's End

Hermione stood nervously waiting at the front door of the Weasley's house. She patted her hair down as best as she could and straightened her clothes while standing as straight as possible. Her mum and dad were right behind her, waiting patently. It seemed like a full minute until somebody was heard making a grab for the door handle. Hermione immediately froze and her heart pounded into her chest as she waited for the door to open...

But the door didn't open right away. It seemed as though someone was standing with the knob in their hand, waiting to see if they should really open the door or not. This made Hermione shift nervously from one foot to the next, wondering why this was harder than it should be. She hoped she didn't look as nervous as she felt. Then suddenly, the door in front of her slowly creaked opened.

Hermione felt the urge to run away while there was still time but stayed put. Surely her parents would catch her and stop her from getting too far. The door was half way open now and Hermione could tell almost automatically that it was Ron even though she couldn't see his face yet. He seemed to be hiding behind the door for as long as possible; although only half his body was hidden. Then, finally, the door opened fully...Inside it was empty. There was nobody standing in front, waiting to invite her in. Hermione's insides lurched. What if Ron actually didn't want her here after all? Taking a deep gulp, she looked up at her parents still standing behind her. They were standing, starring inside the empty looking house with confused expressions on their faces.

"Hello?" Hermione called, turning back to the Burrow and taking a step forward, still not quite inside yet. She reached her arms in and pushed the door back as far as it would go. She heard a muffed "mph" from in between the door and the wall. She stopped pushing back on the door, rather taken aback by the strange noise. It only took her a second, however, to realize that Ron had not only opened the door but had gone on back with it in the process.

"Ron, get out of there," Hermione exasperated with a slight note of indignation in her voice. What a rotten trick to play!

Ron slowly crept out from behind the door and came on out into full view, starring down at his shoes guiltily.

"Sorry," he mumbled, head still down. His ears were visibly turning red. But Hermione wasn't looking at his head; she was looking at his torso. Hermione couldn't help but goggle. What did he DO over the summer? For once, Hermione was glad Ron wasn't looking at her when he spoke.

"Its-its okay..." she squeaked, losing the ability to control were her eyes wondered. For some reason, she just couldn't look up at his face; which he had slowly risen. Her eyes just wouldn't relent from starring at his chest and shoulders and arms. They seemed to be more...more toned out. They actually weren't all too much bigger, but Hermione could tell the difference. He was also wearing some different clothes she had never seen on him before. Finally, she snapped herself out of her trance and actually FACED Ron for the first time sense school was let out. His face had reddened considerably when she looked up at him and Hermione felt herself do the same.

"So....can we come in?"

Hermione forgot that she had left her parents outside.

"Oh!" She quickly rushed over and ushered them inside. They looked slightly impatient again, but relieved to be noticed again.

"Hello Ron," said Mrs. Granger, giving him a friendly smile and winking at him. Ron felt himself go even redder; if that was possible.

"Hullo," he answered, smiling back sheepishly. Mr. Granger patted him on the back and said his hellos. Suddenly Mrs. Weasley came in into the living room, looking rather ruffled.

"Oh, hello Mr. and Mrs. Granger! How are you doing?" she said, walking over, smiling fondly at them. Mr. and Mrs. Granger smiled and shook hands with her. They did, however look a bit uneasy at her sudden appearance. They had always been a little, well, tense around these magic folk.

"Hello, there! Just bringing our little Hermione over to stay with you fine people," said Mr. Granger looking extremely grateful, suddenly getting over his nervous state. "Thanks a lot! We needed this vacation!" Hermione gave her father a slight frown, but knew he had only been joking when he gave her a playful wink.

"Don't mention it!" Mrs. Weasley waved off, "We are always glad to have Hermione over! She's a real treat!" Mrs. Weasley then came over and gave Hermione a big hello hug. Hermione reciprocated, smiling beside herself. Ron stood awkwardly, looking from one person to the next with a patience Hermione had never seen in him before. There was changes in him. Both outside and in, from what Hermione had observed. He had obviously done some kind of working out this summer. He also had some nice muggle clothes on that looked GREAT on him what with his new, more built look. Hermione thought if she hadn't of come in taps with her liking him before in the car, she would surely have realize them just by looking at the stud in front of her.

Ron had always looked pretty good to her before, but hell, she had to admit he had never looked THIS good before. But, after a bit of thinking, Hermione realized he hadn't really changed at all. He still looked like Ron. He had the same vibrant red hair, freckles and big sparkling blue eyes...no, all that was different was his new not-so-gangly-anymore look. Yes, this was still her Ron from what she could tell...

When Hermione's parents finally left, she was able to finally talk to Ron; or so she thought. Mrs. Weasley soon was leading her away from Ron and into the kitchen, talking fast. She gave a small, sad look over her shoulder as Ron was left behind, standing in the same spot he had been in sense her parents had been there. He stood, watching her leave into the kitchen with an intent look. To her surprise, she could see that he was looking at her hair...as if trying to really see if she had, in fact, changed it in anyway. Hermione whipped her head back to Mrs. Weasley and began to converse with her about her summer at the beach resort.

"So, did you have a lot of fun?" Mrs. Weasley said, guiding Hermione into the nearest table chair. She then went over to the stove to start what looked like a pot of tea.

"Oh, yes, tons," said Hermione, craning her neck to see if Ron, still standing in the living room, would be joining them in the kitchen; she still had a lot of observing to do, after all.

"Oh, well, that's really good to hear!" said Mrs. Weasley, fussing about in the kitchen, trying to collect some tea cups and the sugar. She then looked up at Hermione, whom was still preoccupied by trying to get a glimpse at Ron and smiled. "Ron! Come in here and great you guest, why don't you!?"

Hermione jumped as Mrs. Weasley called Ron into the kitchen. Had she seen her trying to get his attention or something? Ron soon came in at his mother's call and found a seat right across from Hermione. He looked down at his shoes for some time and then finally said "Hi."

"Hey, Ron," Hermione said unevenly. He didn't seem to be so excited to see her there. Ron finally lifted his head up and for once looked at Hermione; and smiled. She couldn't help it. She just HAD to smile back, there was no option. The smile on Ron's face was small, but meaningful. The smile that spread across Hermione's face, however, was a whole lot bigger. It showed happiness, relief and gratefulness.

"Its nice to finally see you again," she said, her smile not even close to fading. Ron now got the message and his smile grew as well.

"Yeah, you too," he said. As of now, they were both kind of smiling at each other like idiots, but neither really seemed to notice or care for that matter.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Ron's smile faded instantly. He suddenly looked scared and nervous, with his eyes grower bigger with every second. His attention turned away from Hermione and he looked quickly at the stairs. Hermione slowly turned to where Ron was starring and heard him groan. Confused, she looked back at Ron with a quizzical look. What was that noise and why was Ron so upset about it? Well, to her, the noises sounded like someone banging a door shut and thudding down the hall or something... She heard Ron groan again and looked back at the stairs. There, both in red shirts, jeans and a grin, stood the two Weasley twins. They both looked at Hermione and then back at each other, evil grins spread across their faces.

"Hey, Hermione," they both said together, slowly walking over to where Ron and Hermione sat. Hermione didn't know whether to smile or look suspicious. She chose to smile.

"Hey," she replied slowly, trying her best to hide her skeptical look with a small smile. She glanced back at Ron who now had his head on the table, resting in his folded arms. She was about to ask him what was wrong when suddenly she felt two hands rest on both her shoulders, causing her to jump and look up.

"So....come to stay for a whole week, have we?" George inquired, smiling down at her mischievously.

"Yeah, that's right," she answered, suddenly getting the feeling as if she really didn't want to be there at that time.

"Oh...." Fred trailed off, taking his hand off her right shoulder, causing George to do the same. They both then took a seat at the table at the far end. They both sat as if they were lawyers that would stop at nothing to pull the truth out of their opponents. This only made Hermione feel even more uneasy. Ron still had his head in his arms, shaking his head slightly in despair.

"Okay you guys," Mrs. Weasley suddenly popped up, holding a tea pot and several tea cups, "let them alone." She looked at them in a menacing way. As if daring them to say something. The twins just shrugged, still grinning, and got up to leave. With one last evil grin at Hermione, they left to go back up to their rooms. Ron gave a relieved sigh and pulled his head back up, looking flushed.

"Thanks, mum," he mumbled, looking at Mrs. Weasley gratefully.

"Don't mention it," she waved off, smiling knowing at him. She then poured the three of them some tea and took a seat next to Hermione.

"So, I suppose you two have a lot to catch up on?"Mrs. Weasley said, sipping her tea delicately. The two just nodded, sipping down their tea as well.

When they had finished their tea, Mrs. Weasley picked up the cups and set them nicely in the sink. Ron and Hermione didn't speak. They didn't even look at each other. The tension between the two was noticeable by both and they were just too shy to break it.

"Ah! Hermione!"

Hermione jumped as her named was shouted and looked over at where it was coming from. Ginny had just entered the kitchen, wearing a pair of cut off shorts and a purple tank top. Her long, flaming red hair had toned down a bit and was pulled back into a playful pony tail. Hermione smiled brilliantly and jumped up to walk over to her one and only female friend around.

"How are you Gin?" she said, pulling Ginny into a hug.

"Oh, just fine! I'm so glad to have some female company!" Ginny said in relief, pulling herself gently out of their friendly embrace. Ginny smiled at Hermione and then turned her attention on Ron, who was watching the two girls in what was obvious jealously. Ginny realized that she must have gotten a bigger welcome than he did and smiled at him devilishly.

"Oh, Ron, you won't mind if I borrow Hermione for a second do you?" she cooed, putting her arm around Hermione. Narrowing his eyes at his sister, he shrugged and turned to look out the window.

"Good. Come on Hermione, I have something to show you!" Ginny said excitedly, pulling Hermione by the arm toward the stairs. Hermione gave Ron one last look for closure, realized that he wasn't going to look at her and then headed up stairs with Ginny.

~*~*~

Ron sat in his room. He was bored. There was nothing to do. Hermione was with Ginny in her room. Ron sighed and flopped down on his bed. He began to think

"Man, Hermione has changed!" Ron thought out loud, tucking his arms under his head. Hermione had changed. She was older looking. Believe it or not, she had even grown a couple of a good few inches. She had gotten some curves as well. She didn't quite have that hourglass look or anything yet, but those small curves were visibly making themselves known. She got new clothes too. New shoes as well. New shoes that made funny noises. New shoes that showed all her foot and went FLIP-FLOP went she walked around.

Oh and her hair. Her hair was great! It still looked nice and long but was somehow more...more tamed...Well, maybe not exactly less bushy, but it did look different...Different in a good way, though. She had also gotten a tan. That was obviously done while down there at that beach resort she had gone to. Man, she had changed.....Or had she? She still looked like Hermione. She still had Hermione's beautiful smile and chocolate brown eyes. She still sounded and acted like Hermione....Getting frustrated at all these confusing thoughts, Ron got off his bed and went over to his muscle machine and started pumping away. What else was there to do?

Then he heard it.... Giggling....

Ron stopped pumping iron immediately and strained his ears to hear more, his arms still in midair with the metal handles pounding into his hands. There it was again and it was defiantly coming from Ginny's room. It grew louder and went on longer this time. Dropping his weights with a loud CLANK! he got up and rushed over to his door. He opened it slowly and peered over to Ginny's door that was only four steps away and shut tightly. There it was again. Loud, shrilly giggling that was easily, noticeably coming from Ginny. When he heard Hermione repeat the same process, Ron couldn't take it anymore.

"What's so friggen funny!?" he demanded quickly to himself as he slowly made his way over to the front of Ginny's door. Looking around quickly to make sure no one was around, he pressed his ear against the door.

"Oh, I just love your cute hair cut Hermione!" Ron heard Ginny shriek with glee from behind the door, "its just so...you know....cute!"

"Thanks Ginny!" Hermione said. "Do I look too different, do you think?"

"No, I don't think so," Ginny said, "you didn't really cut that much off....Its really pretty though!" There was pause.

"Do you think Ron likes it?" Ron heard Hermione say nervously. Ron blinked blankly and pressed his ear harder against the door.

"Oh, I'm sure Ron thinks it looks...you know...."

"Cute?"

"Yeah! Cute!"

Ron rolled his eyes at his sister's wonderfully large vocabulary.

"So Ginny, what did you want to show me?"

Ron pressed his already sore ear up even harder again the hard wood door.

"Oh, yeah! Look at these!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly. Ron heard Hermione gasp.

"No! Really?! He...he actually writes you?"

"Yeah! Read them!" Ginny shouted in glee. Ron pulled a confused look and frowned at the door. Just WHO was the HE that was writing to Ginny?! There was a long pause.

"Oh Ginny!" Hermione whispered, "Wow....."

"I know!" Ginny exclaimed, "Should I write him back?"

"Yes! Do it Ginny! Don't keep him waiting with a letter like that!"

Ron felt like flinging the door open and demanding who was this guy that was writing to his baby sister, but thought better of it. There then came another fit of giggles from the room as the two girls could be heard getting up from Ginny's squeaky bed. All this giggling stuff was more then Ron could handle. His ear getting really sore and red by now anyway, he pried himself away from Ginny's door and went back to his room feeling rather grumpy. Carefully shutting his door shut, sighed and scratched his neck in frustration. But the minute the door shut, it was soon whipped back open again in such a rush that it startled Ron so badly he flew back onto his bed.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you," came Fred's sarcastic voice as he made his way into Ron's room in a strut. George came in soon after, closely the door behind him. Getting a hold on himself, Ron shook himself out of his scare and sat up on his bed, shutting the twins a deadly glare.

"What do *you* what?!" he snarled at them as they both took a seat on Ron's bed, directly across from him.

"Whoa, touchy, aren't we?" George commented with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah, just chill out, Ron," Fred said, putting his hands up a gesture to calm Ron down. Ron folded his arms and cast them a skeptical look.

"Oh, and why should I? What with you two parading around, making fun of me!" Ron suddenly went red but held his ground.

"Listen," George started, smiling, obviously amused, "we didn't come here to start trouble." Ron raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Okay, just listen Ron, we won't tell Hermione that you're madly in love with her," Fred stated, smiling brilliantly.

"I'm not-"

"Because we feel it would be better and more...uh...*amusing* if it were you that did it," George cut him off, smiling knowingly.

"Listen, you guys," Ron said, starting to get really annoyed now, "I told you, I don't fancy-"

"It would probably be more meaningful and fair to Hermione this way too," Fred said, winking. Ron sucked in a quick breath and let it out slowly.

"Okay," he said, trying to act calm, "what do you want?"

"Just to give you come advice," said Fred simply.

"Advice?" Ron inquired, cocking an eyebrow.

"About girls."

Ron was taken aback. He could have sworn he had already gotten this talk already.

"B-but, I...I already know-" he sputtered, dumbstruck.

"No Ron," Fred laughed heartily, "Not *that* talk!"

"Oh," Ron said, feeling himself go red, "then...what?"

"Well, for one, you have no clue on to how to be romantic."

"Oh, and you do?" Ron commented, snorting sarcastically.

"Well, I DO have a girlfriend, Ron," Fred stated indignantly. Ron still didn't know what all this was about. Sense when did the twins ever want to give him some true, real advice? And if they really were serious about this, what did they want in return?

"Why are you doing this?" Ron cocked his head to one side and looked at them suspicious.

"We told you, it wouldn't be fair for poor Hermione to have to be deprived of a romantic first moment."

"Why do you care?"

"Hey, we're doing this for Hermione! We just so happen to like that girl and its really a pity that she had to go and fall for our prat of a brother, honestly."

Ron swallowed hard and looked down at his shoes.

"Hey Ron, she likes you," George said, "and you like her, just don't screw this up."

Ron continued to stare at his shoes.

"Listen, we'd be willing to share a few pointers with you if you want to hear them." Ron didn't look up but nodded his head feebly.

"Okay, so Ron, whenever you're around Hermione, act cool," Fred stated.

"Yeah, even if it is a bit hard for you," George winked mischievously.

"Look yourself over. Make sure your fly is zipped and nothing's hanging from your nose." Ron grimaced but didn't say anything.

"Now, because she's a girl and its what girls' do, she'll most likely play hard to get."

"Yeah, even though Hermione's a pretty level headed gal, she's still a gal and is expected to do just that."

"So, if she does, just follow along with it. Play hard to get back and don't let it get to you. She's into you Ron, you just have to keep that in mind."

"Yeah, pretend it doesn't bother you and then when she least expects it...." Both of the twins got up and started heading for the door. Ron sat, stunned at all the input he just got.

"What?" he inquired, desperate to hear what the next step was. The twins smiled at each other.

"Sweep her off her feet," they both said in rhyme just before leaving the room.