The Phoenix Prophecy

Chapter Eight: The Picnic

Saturday- July 12th

Hermione

I awoke because Harry’s head was lying on my forearm and it had gone to sleep. Along with the prickles, my elbow was aching from not being able to move. I gently eased my arm out from beneath Harry’s head and started to massage my forearm. After the feeling returned to my arm I rolled onto my stomach and looked across to Gretchen.

She was lying on her back with Ron curled up next to her with his hand inside her nightgown. I was shocked and confused. Did she know where Ron’s hand was? Had Ron taken advantage of her while she was sleeping for some kind of cheap thrill? I just lay there staring at Ron’s arm disappearing inside her nightgown. All of a sudden another thought struck me. Did Gretchen convince Ron she was ready and this was the morning after? No, no that just couldn’t be. They wouldn’t do that; especially not right here in the same tent with all of us. There has to be some other explanation.

As I lay there, I found myself fascinated and just a little excited, by the fact that they seem to be sharing something so intimate together. I felt a small pang of envy that they had reached a stage in their relationship that Harry and I hadn’t. Our time will come when we are ready for it, I told myself. They are both seventeen, Harry and I will be shortly, so I guess it’s natural that Ron and Gretchen will do things before we will.

While I was trying to push the envy from my mind and replace it with reason, Gretchen turned her head to see me staring at her. My face must have been an open book because Gretchen started to look puzzled and then her expression changed to that of understanding. She smiled a little sheepishly and put her finger to her lips, indicating for me not to say anything. She gently removed Ron’s hand and placed it on the bed beside him.

Gretchen carefully swung her feet out of bed and stood up. She gathered some clothes heading for the bathroom motioning for me to come with her. I was still somewhat shocked but managed to get out of bed, grab some clothes and joined her in the bathroom.

“Hermione, I think we need to talk, but not in here. Let’s get dressed and go outside where we won’t wake anyone. The guys are beat and need more sleep.”

We dressed quickly and quietly tiptoed past the guys and out into the yard. The sun had just risen and the sky was clear. It was going to be a beautiful day. I started to ask what was going on just as soon as we were out of the tent. Gretchen shushed me and started walking towards the table under the oak tree. Once we reached the table, I sat down facing her and said.

“Gretchen, what is going on?” I asked rather shrilly. “I wake up to find you two lying there, like nothing out of the ordinary is going on, with Ron’s hand buried in your nightgown.”

Gretchen smiled at me. Not a put down or anything like that, more like just a happy, satisfied smile.

“Hermione, before I answer your question, and I will answer it, I need to know are you angry or jealous?”

My jaw just dropped and I was speechless. I tried to answer but my voice just wouldn’t work. Gretchen sensed my acute distress, reached over, and took my hands in hers.

“Hermione, just relax for a moment. The reason I want to know what you are feeling is so that I can give you an answer that will be satisfactory.”

We sat there for several more seconds with Gretchen holding my hands and smiling warmly at me. Finally, I managed to find my voice.

“I guess I’m both angry and jealous. No angry is the wrong word. I’m confused; especially after all we talked about last night with Martha and Walt.”

“Hermione, I deliberately placed Ron’s hand on my breast just before we went to sleep because I love and respect him and wanted to share something special and very personal with him. It is the next step in our relationship that will eventually lead to the complete union of our bodies as well as our spirits. By offering to share this part of my body with him, I am telling Ron that I truly love and respect him as the man that I want to share the rest of my life with. This is something we can share without any of the consequences we discussed last night. Does what I am telling you make sense?”

As I thought over everything, she had said I realized she was right. You shouldn’t go from a kissing relationship directly to making love without all the little steps in between. The journey was as important as the destination. Now that I understood why she had taken this next step I was no longer confused or jealous, I was just plain envious.

“Oh Gretchen, even though I am just green with envy, I am also very happy and excited for you and Ron. I know this is prying a little, but was it everything you expected?”

“Yes it was that and then some. I know this might sound corny, but it felt as if Ron touched the very core of me. Beyond that, you are going to have to wait until you have a similar experience yourself to fully appreciate its meaning.”

Harry

I awoke to find the bed next to me empty. I looked at the dent in Hermione’s pillow and felt longingly for her presence. The past couple of mornings, waking up to look at her lying next to me, had been the most wonderful in my life. I was continually amazed at how quickly I had gone from just liking her to loving her.

I heard Ron starting to stir in his bed. Sirius and Madelyn were sleeping. Well they were getting older; I guess they just naturally needed more rest. Ron and I got up quietly so as not to wake them and went to the bathroom to get dressed. As we were leaving the tent I looked down at Sirius and Madelyn, she was sleeping with her head nestled on Sirius’s shoulder with her leg over Sirius’s legs. Sirius had one arm around her shoulder. They looked very natural, as if they had been with each other for a long time. I hoped that maybe Madelyn would be the woman for Sirius so that he might start living a normal and happy life.

We walked over to the table under the oak tree where we found the girls talking very intently. As soon as they saw us, they stopped talking and I had the distinct impression they were discussing Ron and I. Hermione had a peculiar look on her face.

“Ron, are your ears burning?” I asked him. “I think the gals have talking about us behind our backs.”

I looked at Ron and noticed that his ears did look a little red. His face was expressionless and he was being unusually quiet.

“See, I said. “Just look at Ron’s ears. They are burning too. Now exactly what have we done? We just got out of bed.”

“Harry, why do you think we were talking about you and Ron? Hermione asked me. “We were just talking girl stuff, you know like clothes, makeup, that sort of thing. Now that you are awake and out of bed I would like a kiss good morning, please.”

As I bent down to kiss her, she placed her hand behind my neck and kissed me very passionately. When she let me pull back from her, I could see the intense desire in her eyes. I was a little surprised and wondered what had brought this on so early in the morning. I told her that I loved her and sat down next to her.

As soon as I sat down Hermione put her hand on my thigh and started gently rubbing her hand along my thigh.

“You must have had some terrific dream last night,” I said grinning at her. “I hope I was the object of your desires.”

She suddenly looked quite embarrassed and removed her hand from my thigh.

“How did you two sleep?” I asked Ron and Gretchen.

“Best nights sleep I ever had,” Ron replied glancing at Gretchen who was smiling back at him.

I thought I heard Hermione choke when Ron said this but I wasn’t sure.

We were trying to decide what to do about breakfast when we saw Walt come down the porch steps and head in our direction.

“Up bright and early I see,” Walt said as he came up to the table and sat down. “Martha should be along shortly. She was just finishing with Laurie when I left the house.”

True to his word, Martha joined us at the table a few minutes later and sat down next to her husband.

“Walt and I don’t know how to thank you enough for what you have done for us,” Martha said to us.

“What are you thanking us for? I asked her.

“Oh, didn’t Sirius or Madelyn tell you last night?” she replied.

“No, they were asleep by the time we got back to the tent,” I said.

“While you were at the rain forest, Gawain brought us a wagonload of supplies, tools and other household items that will make our lives much better. He acquired the goods with gold Sirius gave him to buy what we needed. He said he purchased the wagon and supplies from a shopkeeper that doesn’t ask questions as long as he’s paid. Gawain somehow ported the wagon and its cargo here so that no one would be able to trace it. In these times it’s good to keep a low profile.”

“Oh, that’s great.” I said. “We all wanted to find some way of repaying you for all that you have done for us. Without you this trip would probably be unbearable.”

As we were all telling them how much we really enjoyed the time we had spent with them and how we were looking forward to the rest of the days we would be spending together Martha suddenly started to cry.

Walt just held her for several minutes while she blubbered on and on about how wonderful we all were. When Martha managed to stop crying Gretchen went, sat next to her, and gave her a big hug, which Martha returned whole-heartedly.

“I feel truly blessed,” she said. “Now I have ten kids to love instead of just six.”

We were all feeling quite emotional as well. If everybody were as nice as the Blyths were, the world would be a wonderful place. Just as Martha finished wiping the tears from her eyes, Sirius and Madelyn came up to the table and sat down.

“And how did you two sleep last night?” I asked them.

Sirius and Madelyn both got guilty looks on their faces; but said they slept quite well. Maybe we aren’t the only ones being chaperoned, I thought to myself. Well if the two of them had something going on between them, I couldn’t have been happier. Especially for Sirius who had endured so many years of suffering. I let the others talk and just watched the two of them. Whenever Sirius or Madelyn would look at each other, their faces showed genuine affection. If there was to be a wife in the future for my godfather, Madelyn was as good as I could ask for. Their personalities seemed quite suited for each other, even if they were both a bit bossy.

While the others were talking, Martha and Walt’s kids showed up at the table and sat down with the rest of us.

“Martha and I would like to know if all of you would be interested in going on a picnic to the lake, where we go to relax and swim?” Walt asked us.

Everyone agreed that sounded like a great way to spend the day. The lake was about an hour away by wagon. Since we couldn’t all fit in the wagon, Hermione, Gretchen, Ron and I would go by broom and give the Blyth kids their first broom ride. The guys went to hitch the horses to the wagon while the gals went to pack the food we would need for a day at the lake.

Gretchen

After we finished packing the food we needed for the day at the lake Madelyn, Hermione and I went to the tent to get our clothes, bathing suits and towels. We decided to put our bathing suits on here in the tent and then just pull shorts and shirts over top. Madelyn’s suit was a jet-black one piece with three diagonal strips running top to bottom. Hermione’s suit was a chocolate brown two-piece that looked fabulous against her skin and matched her eyes. Mine was a lavender two piece with little wiggly designs on the top and bottom.

“I think the guys will like what they see,” I said to Hermione and Madelyn, placing my hands on my hips and rocking back and forth.

Madelyn just laughed at us.

“You two could show up in gunny sacks and Ron and Harry still wouldn’t be able to keep their hands off you,” Madelyn said while shaking her head and muttering something to herself that sounded a lot like ‘kids.’

“Madelyn, I don’t think you have been totally ignored by Sirius on this trip,” I said to her. She started to reply, changed her mind, and smiled to herself.

When we had finished packing all our clothes, we went looking for the guys. They had driven the wagon up to the front porch and had just finished loading the food and other items we would need for a day of fun in the sun at the lake. We threw our bags into the wagon and the guys hurried back to the tent to get ready.

While we were waiting, I walked over to Tom and asked how he was feeling today. He quickly blushed but said he was doing Ok.

“I don’t make you nervous, do I? I asked him. He blushed even more and somewhat stumbled over his words as he said ‘No I didn’t make him nervous.’

Just then, the guys returned with their bags and placed them in the wagon with the rest of our things. They were wearing baseball hats with a Gryffindor emblem on the front.

“Where did you get those hats?” Hermione squealed when she saw what the guys were wearing on their heads.

“Sirius got them for us,” Harry answered her. “Do you like them?”

“Oh I love them; they look great on you two.”

After Martha and Walt double-checked to make sure we had everything we needed, they climbed onto the wagon along with Sirius and Madelyn who were each holding one of the twins.

“Well if you two don’t make the perfect couple,” I said to Sirius and Madelyn with a huge smirk plastered across my face.

Madelyn just smiled but Sirius looked just a tad embarrassed.

Walt gave us directions to the lake, which was about five miles to the north through the forest that adjoined their farm. It would take them about an hour to reach the lake in the wagon. As we got ready to take the Blyth kids on their first broom ride Sirius said not to go too far from sight. He was a constant worrier.

I had Annie with me, Katie was with Hermione, Ron was taking Alec and Tom was riding with Harry. The kids were seated behind us with their arms wrapped around our waists as we took to the air.

As we left the ground, Annie gave out a little squeal and was holding onto me very tightly.

“Annie, are your eyes open?” I asked her.

“Noooo.”

“Well open them up and look around,” I told her. After a few seconds, she said to me.

“Oh, this is really weird,” she said sounding a little shaky.

After we had been in the air about ten minutes, I could see the lake just beyond the edge of the forest that separated the Blyth’s farm from the foothills that started to climb into a mountain range to the north. The lake was shaped like a pear. At the north end of the lake was a small rapids where the water cascaded down from the hills into the lake. The lake had a sandy beach that stretched for about five hundred yards around the top edge of the pear on either side of the rapids. Just to the west of the rapids was a grassy field about five hundred feet across and two hundred feet deep that had several tall trees scattered around it. The wagon trail through the forest ended in this clearing.

We circled the lake on our brooms and landed in the center of the clearing. We had been flying for about twenty minutes. The wagon with the adults and the twins should be here in about forty-five minuets. It was just after nine o’clock.

While we were waiting for the adults, the kids started showing us around the clearing. As we walked down to the beach, Harry asked Tom if they ever saw any wild animals at the lake.

“Sure, we see them all the time,” Tom replied. “We get deer, foxes, bears and several times we have even seen a cougar.”

“Really?” Harry asked sounding quite impressed. “The only animals I have ever seen have been in a zoo.”

“They don’t bother you do they?” Harry asked him sounding a little nervous.”

“Never had any trouble so far,” Tom replied. “But I wouldn’t want to get too close to a cougar though. They could kill you pretty easily.”

Hermione was standing beside Harry, holding his hand, while Tom was telling them about the wild animals, started looking around nervously.

“Relax Hun. I’m sure we are going to be perfectly safe,” Harry reassured her.

“There is a natural water slide on this side of the rapids,” Alec told us. “It runs for about one hundred feet and shoots you out over the lake ten feet above the water. Once the sun comes up a little higher it will warm the stone so that it’s not so cold on your butt when you slide down.”

“This I got to see,” Ron said to Alec.

“Me too,” Harry chimed in. “What about you gals?” he asked us.

I wasn’t about to be left just standing here and told Ron that he couldn’t get away from me that easily. Annie, Katie and Tom said they were going to stay on the beach and wait for their parents.

The guys were talking and hiking up the path not paying the least bit of attention to us. I yelled at them to wait up.

“It would be nice Mr. Weasley if you would be so kind as to carry me the rest of the way up the path. My legs are worn out from all that walking we did inside the queen’s lair yesterday,” I told him trying to sound very pathetic and in need of his sympathy. To my complete surprise, he scooped me up in his arms and I threw my arms around his neck.

“You know this is good practice for when you carry me over the threshold when we go on our Honeymoon,” I said to Ron.

“How about I just carry you over behind those bushes and we can practice for the rest of our Honeymoon,” he said to me, grinning wolfishly.

“Do you think this establishment has room service?” I asked him.

“Room service? What do you need room service for?”

“Why, to order the Champaign and Caviar, of course.”

“You’re too young to drink alcoholic beverages.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.”

“Ron?...”

“Yes dear?”

“Are you going to be one of the bossy husbands that tries to control everything his wife does?”

“You know I would never try to boss you around,” he said trying to sound shocked that I would even think such a thing.

“Well I’m glad to hear that, otherwise I would have to find someone else to marry.”

“I don’t see too may guys standing in line waiting,” he said looking around as if to see who else might be willing to take his place.

“Ron, isn’t it customary for the husband to kiss the bride when he picks her up just before he carries her across the threshold?”

“How would I know? I’ve never carried a bride across the threshold before.”

“Ron…”

“Yes dear?”

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

Ron did as I asked and kissed me very passionately for several seconds. He then started jiggling me lightly up and down in his arms.

“What are you doing? Trying to determine how well I bounce.”

“No I was just wondering if I would still be able to pick you up when we got married?”

“Hey, just for that remark you can go on the Honeymoon by yourself.”

“Does this mean we aren’t going behind those bushes and practice for our Honeymoon?”

“What do you think?” I said looking at him devilishly.

“I think we are going to continue up to the top of the slide,” he said putting me down.

I took his hand as we finished climbing to the top of the slide. Ron and I fit together like a hand and glove. I really enjoyed it when we seesawed back and forth with our dialogs. I just knew being married to Ron would never be dull.

Ron

As we hiked the rest of the way up the path to the top of the water slide, holding Gretchen’s hand, I was thinking very fondly of last night when Gretchen placed my hand on her breast. The look on her face was worth as much or more than the feeling of her breast beneath my hand. It almost seemed as if the two were somehow connected. As I gently moved my fingers to caress her soft warm flesh, her eyes looked back into mine with a misty warm glow and it seemed as if we were one. She looked as contented and peaceful as I had ever seen her before.

After she rolled onto her back, holding, my hand in place I lay awake for several minutes just marveling at the naturalness of the way she had bound me to her. I knew that when she felt that we were ready for the next step in our relationship it would happen as naturally as the step we had taken last night.

When we reached the top of the path Alec showed Harry and I where the water slide started its descent to the lake below. While we were looking at the water slide and the girls were admiring the view of the lake from the top of the rapids, Harry whispered to me so that the girls couldn’t overhear what he was saying.

“Ron, Tom and I cooked up a little prank to scare the girls,” he said. “All that talk about wild animals was just a setup so they would think that there really were dangerous animals in the area. Tom snuck up here the back way and when I give the signal, he is going start-making noises like a cougar. Then we start screaming and grab the girls hands pulling them back down the hill as if we are running for our lives.”

“Harry, I don’t know if this is such a great idea,” I told him. “Scaring the crap out of them may not be the best way to start the day.”

“Oh Ron, they won’t stay mad for long. What do you think they are going to do? Beat the crap out of us. Besides, we need to lighten the mood around here. It will take their minds off the dangers that lay ahead.”

“Well ok, I sure hope this doesn’t backfire on us,” I told him.

Harry started looking around woods and bushes that surrounded the top of the rapids. He spotted Tom and gave a slight nod of his head. A few seconds later Tom started making loud growling noises and thrashing around in the bushes about fifty feet from us.

Hermione and Gretchen looked around just as Harry yelled, “Run for it, there’s a cougar somewhere really close by.” Hermione’s face was twisted in fear as Harry grabbed her hand and started pulling her back down the path. I grabbed Gretchen’s hand and started pulling her with me down the path after them.

After we had run about fifty feet, Harry stopped running and started laughing uncontrollably. Hermione just starred at him in disbelief.

“Harry, why are you laughing, what’s wrong with you?” Hermione shrieked.

“You should have seen the look on your face when you thought that a cougar was about to attack us,” he said to her, still laughing.

“You mean this is all some big joke?” Hermione screamed at him.

“We were just teasing you. What’s wrong? Can’t you take a little joke?” he asked her still chuckling.

“Harry Potter! Damn you! You nearly scared me to death,” Hermione shouted at him and started swinging her fists at Harry as hard as she could. She was hysterical; crying, screaming, hitting and scratching at Harry, who was completely taken by surprise at the sheer ferocity of her attack. Harry started backpedaling as Hermione landed several blows to his face and scratched his cheek so deep she drew blood.

I knew at once that we had made a dreadful mistake. I let go of Gretchen and quickly grabbed Hermione, trying to get her to calm down and to stop attacking at Harry. I just managed to pull her away from Harry. She was almost impossible to handle. I had never seen a girl go totally berserk before. It scared the hell out of me.

“Hermione, please calm down,” I screamed at her while shaking her by the shoulders trying to get her to snap out of it. “I’m very sorry we scared you and Gretchen. It was a bad joke, I’m really sorry.”

Hermione turned around and looked at me with a loathing I could almost taste. She suddenly slapped my face with all her might, then kicked me in the shin, shoved her way past Harry and went running down the path sobbing.

“Well, I sure hope you two are proud of yourselves,” Gretchen said to us. She was absolutely furious. When she looked at me, I could see the terrible disappointment in her eyes.

“Gretchen, we’re really sorry. I realize that was a very stupid thing to do to the two of you,” I said feeling like crap for having completely disappointed her.

“Of all the days that you could have picked to pull this idiotic stunt, why did you have to do it today?” she demanded of us.

“Oh, I understand now,” Harry told her, after a short pause.

“No, you don’t understand Harry. You don’t have a clue. In addition, as for you Weasley, consider yourself lucky. If it had been me, I would have kicked you somewhere a lot higher that you shin. You would be singing soprano from now on.”

Gretchen shook her head in disgust and ran down the path after Hermione.

“Well Harry, we are really in the dog house now,” I said to him disgustedly. I was madder at myself than I was with Harry for letting myself be talked into scaring the girls. I had no idea how we were going to get out of this mess. I hadn’t felt this miserable since my wand backfired during second year and I burped up slugs for a couple of hours.

Just when everything was as perfect as it could be with Gretchen I had to go and blow it. I’d be lucky if she would ever talk to me again, let alone sleep next to me.

Just then, Harry erupted into fit over Hermione and Gretchen’s reaction to our prank.

“What the hell is the matter with them?” he screamed at me, blood running down his cheek and from the corner of his mouth and nose. “It wasn’t that big of a deal. From the way they were carrying on you would have thought we actually put their lives in danger.” Harry wiped the blood away from his mouth, turned and walked down the path looking at the ground and muttering to himself as he walked.

My face hurt almost as much as the knot in my stomach and the ache in my heart. As I started to walk down the path after the rest of them, I was suddenly reminded of my throbbing shin.

Gretchen

When I reached the bottom of the path, I started frantically looking around for Hermione. I was furious with the guys and was very upset with Ron for even thinking of doing such a dumb thing. I spotted Hermione sitting with her back against one of the tall oak trees with her face in her hands crying uncontrollably.

I walked over and sat down beside her. She looked up at me, tears streaming down her face, started to say something but couldn’t manage to get the words out. I reached out to put my arms around her and she threw her arms around my neck and sobbed miserably.

After several minutes, she stopped crying and said to me.

“How could Harry do that to me? After all, we have been through in the past few days, why would he think scaring me out of my wits would be funny. What were they thinking of?” Hermione said sounding totally dejected and bewildered.

I had managed to calm myself down while I was holding Hermione as she was crying. I realized that we were still young and the guys probably thought it would be cute to give us a scare. I was still upset with them but I wasn’t as furious as I had been.

“Hermione, I know that what the guys did was wrong. Nevertheless, you have to remember that we are all still young. This is the kind of thing that older brothers or sisters would do to you. I know you don’t have any brothers or sisters so you have never had to deal with teasing from other members of your family.”

She was listening to me, but I wasn’t sure if what I was telling her made any sense. I decided to try another approach.

“Hermione, how would you like it if Harry was totally predictable and never surprised you in anything he did? Imagine if every day when Harry came home from work he kissed your cheek, sat down to the table with his face buried in the newspaper and ate without noticing what you had cooked for him. And every night after dinner you just sat on the couch watching the same TV shows and then went to bed.”

“Would you like that kind of a life?” I asked her.

“No, I would like that at all.”

“Well then, since we want our guys to make life interesting we are going to have to accept the fact that every once and awhile they are going to pull some dumb stunt we won’t appreciate.”

“I suppose you are right. However, I am still mad at Harry. I was expecting some large cat to leap out the bushes and devour one of us while the rest of us looked on helplessly. I was so scared I almost wet my bathing suit.”

“Yes, I know you were terrified. Nothing else would account for the fact that you went berserk and started beating the crap out of Harry. I never thought you could get that violent. You really smacked the guys a good one. I bet it must have really smarted when you slapped Ron’s face.”

When I mentioned what she had done to Harry and Ron, Hermione started to cry again.

“Harry’s going to hate me,” she said in between sobs. “Gretchen, what are we going to do?”

“Hermione, the first thing you are going to do is stop crying,” I said to her rather forcefully. “Here, take these tissues and dry your tears. We are going to wait right here until the guys come and apologize for scaring us like that. One look at Ron’s face as I was telling them off, told me that he really felt terrible about what they did to us. I’m sure we won’t have to wait too long.”

Ron

I caught up with Harry at the bottom of the path. I could see the girls sitting over by one of the large trees.

“Harry, we have to go and apologize to the girls right away for scaring them,” I said to him.

“What, apologize to Hermione after what she just did to me? You must be crazy,” he yelled at me. “I play a little trick on her and she practically kills me. Look at my face. How could she do such a thing? I’m not about to say I’m sorry until she does.”

I could see from the look on Harry’s face that he was dead serious about not apologizing to Hermione until she apologized first. When Harry decided to be stubborn there was no changing his mind. When he was fixated on something, he was blind to everything else. Nevertheless, I had to at least try.

“Harry, don’t you think it’s possible that the reason Hermione attacked you is that we scared her so badly that she completely lost her self-control and lashed out at you in a fit of rage?” I asked him.

“It doesn’t matter if I did scare her, how could she attack me like that if she really loves me? No, she must apologize to me before I say I’m sorry for scaring her and that’s final,” he said to me, then turned away from me, and started walking towards the lake.

I now had two dreaded and difficult tasks to perform instead of one. First, I had to apologize to Gretchen. I hoped she was going to forgive me. Second, I had to figure out some way to get Harry and Hermione to apologize to each other. I wasn’t looking forward to a day at the lake and worse yet the rest of our journey, if Harry and Hermione weren’t talking to each other.

I swallowed hard and headed over to where the girls were sitting. When I reached them, they both looked up at me, not saying a word. I sat down opposite them and pleaded my case.

“Gretchen ... Hermione, I am truly sorry for having frightened you needlessly. It was a totally thoughtless thing to do and I don’t blame either of you for being extremely mad at us. I promise that I will never play any more practical jokes on you. I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive us for our boyish instincts that we haven’t completely grown out of. Gretchen please remember that I love you above all else. Hermione, I’m sure the same goes for Harry.”

They didn’t say a word or change the expression on their face’s while I was apologizing. After several seconds of silence, just as I started to get to my feet Gretchen placed here hand on my knee and said.

“Ron I accept you apology on the condition that you truly meant what you said about not ever deliberately causing me that much anguish ever again.”

I felt a wave of relief wash over me as Gretchen accepted my heartfelt apology. I noticed several tears were running down her cheeks. I leaned forward to kiss her, half expecting her to say no. Just as our lips touched, she placed her hand behind my neck so that she could control the duration of the kiss, which turned out to be much longer that I expected or deserved.

When Gretchen pulled back and looked into my face, she was smiling warmly. Just then, I realized that Hermione must have been feeling terrible because Harry wasn’t here to apologize to her. I quickly looked at her to see tears running down her face and her chin was quivering. She was on the verge of breaking down into another crying fit.

This girl was the most emotional female I had ever known. However, we had been friends for all of our days at Hogwarts and my heart went out to her in this time of extreme emotional crisis. Partially because I felt, I was personally responsible for her current emotional state and because as a guy it’s almost impossible to have a girl sit in front of you crying her eyes out and not feel sympathetic towards her. Females should not be allowed to cry in front of us guys. It gives them an unfair advantage over us.

All of a sudden, Hermione started to stand up. I knew she was going to run away and be worse off that she was right now, if that was at all possible. I jumped up before she could run away. I grabbed her around the shoulders and hugged her to me tightly. At first, she tried to fight me to get away. After several seconds of weakly trying to get away, she put her arms around me still crying.

I looked down at Gretchen with an expression of ‘what do I do now’ on my face. I was half expecting Gretchen to look somewhat jealous. Nevertheless, to my relief she just continued smiling warmly at me as I stood there with my arms wrapped around Hermione. Gretchen got to her feet and started talking to Hermione.

“Hermione, you have to stop crying so we can help you. I’m sure that Harry still loves you. This whole ordeal has been very hard of the both of you. Since neither of you have any brothers or sisters you haven’t had any practice in compromising when it comes to dealing with others that you love.”

Hermione had stopped crying and was listening to Gretchen. My shirt was soaked with her tears and her face was a mess. I let go of her and she stepped back from me. I pulled off my shirt and began to wipe the tears from her face.

“Can’t make up with your boyfriend with a face full of tears,” I told her trying to sound casual and optimistic.

“Do you really think Harry still loves me after how much I hurt him?” she asked us.

“I’m positive he still loves you,” I told her.

Hermione looked at me, gasped and said.

“Ron, did I do that to your cheek?” she said gently touching the cheek she had slapped earlier. “I’m so sorry,” she choked starting to cry again.

“Hermione, no more crying,” I said to her as kindly as I could. “My cheek will be fine, it just stings a little.”

She stopped crying, leaned forward, and gently kissed my cheek. “I hope that helps make it feel better. It’s the least I can do,” she added.

I blushed so red that I doubt if you could still see the red mark left from where she had slapped me. Gretchen just laughed at me and kissed my other cheek.

“Well it’s obvious that you won’t be fooling around with any other girls without my knowing it,” she said to me.

I tried to look hurt as I said, “Dear, you know I would never look at another woman.”

Just as I said this, I spotted Harry walking towards us. When the girls noticed that I was looking beyond them, they turned to see what I was looking at. No one said a word as Harry walked up and stood in front of Hermione.

The both stood there looking at each other for several very long seconds. Then as if they had timed it, both of them began to shed huge tears that overflowed their eyes and ran down their cheeks. Within seconds, they had leapt into each other’s arms and were crying and kissing and hugging all at the same time. Neither one of them was making any sense as they both tried to apologize to each other between kisses and sobs.

The crying quickly died out and the kissing took them over completely. After a minute, it looked as if their kissing was going to get quickly out of hand.

“If you two keep this up, your going to need a room,” I said quite loudly.

Their ears must have still been working for they quickly stopped kissing. Both of them looked a little embarrassed but managed to smile. Just then Hermione noticed the damage she had done to Harry’s face and was about to break into another crying fit.

“Hermione, I absolutely forbid you to shed one more tear today,” I said to her, sounding as stern as I possibly could.

This shocked her so much that she just looked at me and then after a short pause she started to smile and said ‘Ok’ in a weak voice.

Just then, we heard the Blyth kids calling to their parents who had just entered the clearing. We walked hand in hand, to where Walt had stopped the wagon. As soon as we reached the wagon the grownups stared at Harry and then at me.

“Harry, what in world happed to your face?” Sirius asked him looking totally bewildered.

“I had a run in with a wildcat,” Harry answered him with a straight face.

“And I suppose you had a run in with this same wildcat?” Sirius asked me rather sarcastically.

“Actually that is exactly what happened,” I said trying to sound sincere.

“Well it’s obvious that those marks on your faces weren’t caused by a fist fight. So that rules out an argument between you boys,” Madelyn said looking directly at Gretchen with a penetrating gaze.

“I am responsible for the condition of their faces,” Hermione interrupted.

The four grownups just stared at her in total disbelief. After several seconds of awkward silence, Harry spoke up.

“I’m afraid it’s all my fault. I begged Ron to help me convince the girls that a cougar was about to attack us at the top of rapids. Once Hermione discovered we had tricked her, she kind of got hysterical and started beating me up.”

“Kind of beat you up,” said Walt smiling. “It looks more like you actually tangled with a real wildcat.”

“So how did you manage to get the shiny red cheek?” Sirius asked me raising his eyebrows.

“I tried to stop Hermione from beating on Harry and she took out some of her anger on me as well,” I answered him.

“I suspect it will be a long time before either of you two guys pulls another prank on Hermione,” Madelyn said shaking her head and laughing at us.

“Well it looks like you gals are over being mad at the guys,” Walt said to Hermione and Gretchen. “Let’s get the wagon unloaded and start having some fun.”

Harry

As we helped unload the wagon, I couldn’t help thinking about how badly I had misjudged what Hermione’s reaction to a silly prank would be. I would never have guessed in a million years that she would get totally hysterical and actually attack me. As I thought this, I touched my face gently as if to verify the fact that she had actually beat the crap out of me. I made a mental note never to get Hermione fighting mad at me ever again.

Hermione had been acting peculiar ever since we got up this morning. I think Gretchen knew the reason for Hermione’s strange behavior. She wasn’t mad at me, or a least she wasn’t right up until the time I scared her with the cougar prank, if anything she was strangely affectionate. It was almost as if she wanted to be the dominate person in our relationship. Up until today, she would always follow my lead when it came to passionate kissing and touching. Now it seemed that for some reason she wanted to intensify our passion.

I was going to have to get her alone for a while and have her tell me what was going on. What ever was bothering her, I was sure we could come up with a solution.

When the wagon was unloaded, the food set on a table Walt had brought to the lake on a previous outing and the blankets were set out, Alec came up to me and asked if we would like to go swimming and perhaps play a little water ball. I told him sure and the others readily agreed.

The gals took off their jerseys and shorts, which they had over their bathing suits. There is something very alluring when a girl takes off some of the clothes she is wearing. Even though Hermione had her bathing suit on under her jersey and shorts, I felt a deep arousal as she pulled her jersey over her head and wiggled her shorts down her legs. There is something about the movements a girl makes doing these simple tasks that accentuates all of her feminine charms and rivets a guy’s attention to what she is doing. I hoped the lake was cold, I knew that’s what I needed most right at that particular moment.

Alec and Tom had a couple of balls about eight inches in diameter tucked under their arms as we all ran for the lake. The water was cool but not so cold that we couldn’t have a good time without freezing. For the next hour, we swam and played water ball and I forgot all about my pain and the troubles.

Ron

We all decided to take a break from horsing around in the water and waded out of the water and onto the beach. The sand was almost too hot under my feet, but it felt good as the water was a little on the cool side.

I grabbed my towel, quickly dried off, spread the towel on the ground and sat down with my arms behind me acting as props, like legs on a lawn chair. The sun was beating down on my face and chest. Its warmth felt good after being in the water for so long.

As I was lying back propped up by my arms thinking, this was the life, Gretchen kneeled down straddling my hips and started shaking her wet hair all over my face and chest.

Startled, I sat up quickly grabbing her around the waist to hold me up. I ended up with my nose against her chest just between the cups of the top of her bathing suit.

“Find everything you’re looking for?” she asked me with a chuckle.

I pulled back a few inches to appreciate the view while smacking my lips and then I pushed her hips back so that she was sitting on my thighs so I could look at her face to face.

“Dear, you must be freezing,” I said.

“Freezing, no I’m anything but freezing. Why do you ask?”

“Well either certain parts of you are frozen or you have a couple of acorns caught in your halter top.”

She looked down the front of her halter-top, and then she looked up at me, stuck out her tongue, and grinned.

“They do kind of stand out don’t they? Anyway, what are you doing looking at my chest that closely for? Treasure hunting, are we?”

“Gretchen … will you stop wiggling.”

“Sorry, I’ve never been very good at holding still.”

“I’m sure that someday I will greatly appreciate that quality in you, but right now I’m trying to tell you something.”

“The day I stop looking at your chest or any other part of you for that matter …”

“Yes Ron …

“The day I stop looking you need to call the undertaker. I have died and you have failed to notice. The only polite thing to do is bury me before I start to stink up the place.”

“I’ll try and remember that dear,” she said patting my face affectionately while wiggling her hips again.

“You do love to tease me, don’t you?”

“Tease … am I teasing you?” she asked wiggling some more and grinning wickedly at me.

Since my legs were pinned down, I had little choice but to sit there and let her tease me. I decided to just lie down on my back, close my eyes, and ignore her.

“What’s wrong? Can’t a big strong guy like yourself take a little teasing,” she mocked me.

“I’m dreaming, please don’t interrupt my fantasy.”

“And what fantasy are you dreaming about?”

“Two very lovely red heads that are especially good to their boyfriend,” I said grinning the most wickedly lecherous grin I could fake.

“Oh, that really is a fantasy.”

Gretchen rose up off my legs and lowered her face just inches from mine. I still had my eyes closed but I could feel her hot breath on my face.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather settle for one blond in the flesh instead of two red heads in your dreams?” she said very softly so that only I would hear her.

I opened my eyes and looked into the most beautiful face imaginable. We just searched each other eyes for several long moments. Even though I truly appreciated the rest of Gretchen, it was her eyes that were the most enchanting and captivating to me. I could spend the rest of eternity just looking into those beautiful blue eyes that could say more in a single blink than a thousand words could express.

Gretchen slowly lowered her lips to mine and kissed me gently. Her lips were incredibly soft and warm. She continued nibbling my lips until I felt like I was going to scream.

“Gretchen, if you don’t stop right now I am going to have to spend the next hour in the lake just trying to cool off.”

She kissed me hard and then quickly got to her feet reaching out her hand to me. I took her hand as I stood up and whispered in her ear that “I loved her now and for all eternity.”

“Let’s go see what’s for lunch,” I said to her as I led her in the direction of the table where Martha and Walt were sitting with the twins in their laps.

As soon as we reached the table, Gretchen reached out and took Lazarus from Walt. She cradled him in her arms and kissed him gently on his forehead.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” I asked them.

“Well if you would take Laurie, Walt and I will start getting things ready for lunch,” Martha said to me, handing me her infant daughter.

“Are you sure there isn’t anything else we can do to help,” I said again.

Just then, Annie and Katie came running up to the table and started to help their mum and dad.

I asked Gretchen if she wanted to take a short walk while the Blyth’s were getting lunch ready. We started walking aimlessly around the clearing just enjoying each other’s company. After we had been walking for about five minutes, Gretchen stopped and looked up at me with a warmth and tenderness that words cannot possibly describe.

“Ron, whenever we are holding the twins I am overcome with an intense desire to make love to you so that we can have a child of our very own to love and cherish.”

I was momentarily at a loss for what to say to her. Gretchen didn’t say what she had just said as some kind of come on so that I would think she wanted to make love in the very near future. For Gretchen it was a statement that confirmed her deep and total love for me. She was telling me that she wanted to share the greatest and most precious gift a man and woman could possibly share, namely a child, conceived with love and tender passion, nurtured by their love and guidance, and sent into the world to repeat the process for generations to come.

“Gretchen, nothing in the world could make me happier than to have you as my wife and the mother of my child. I would be blessed beyond anything money could buy. I would gladly stay right here in the Realm, take you for my wife, raise as many children as your heart desires, grow old together and love you with all of my heart and soul now and for ever.”

“Oh Ron, right now I can’t think of anything that could possibly make me happier,” she said to me, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

I gently kissed her tears away as they ran down her cheeks and then kissed her very tenderly for several long and wonderful seconds.

The twins seemed to be fascinated with our kissing as they started making cooing noises as we were kissing. I know they didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. I like to think they could sense the love and compassion between us.

“I think lunch must be nearly ready, we should probably head back,” Gretchen said smiling at me taking my free hand in hers and squeezing it warmly.

Hermione

As we headed to the beach, I grabbed Harry’s hand, pulled him to me, and kissed his cheek very gently. I still couldn’t believe what I had done to him in the fit of rage that followed the prank he pulled on me this morning. If anyone had told me that I was capable of directing that much violence against someone, let alone the man I loved, I would have said were crazy. However, Harry was living proof that inside all of us lives an unfathomable beast capable of unspeakable brutality. I shivered as I thought what I was capable of when I lost my self-control.

When we reached the beach, I handed Harry my towel.

“Harry, would you please be a dear and dry my back for me,” I asked him.

“Sure Hun,” he replied and started drying my back. He started at my shoulders working his way down my back. When he reached the edge of the bottom of bathing suit, I asked him to dry my legs too. After he finished my legs and stood up, I turned around to face him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.

“I take it I am completely forgiven for nearly scaring you to death this morning,” he said to me.

“Yes Harry, you are forgiven. You have already paid a terrible price for that,” I said feeling very sorry for having hurt him so badly. “Does it feel any better?” I asked him, gently touching his cheek.

“I think the cool water of the lake has helped quite a lot. Most of the burning has gone. My lips and nose are still very tender.”

“Would you prefer that I don’t kiss you until your lips are no longer tender?”

“No, I am more that willing to suffer the pain rather than to forgo the pleasure of your kisses,” Harry said grinning, but quickly wincing from the pain of his swollen lip.

I laid my head on his shoulder while we wrapped our arms around each other. I just snuggled against him for a couple of minutes.

“Let’s spread out our towels and lie down and soak up some warm sunshine,” I suggested to him.

“Great idea,” he replied. We spread our towels side by side on the hot sand and lay down on our backs so that the sun could warm our bodies.

After we had been laying down for about five minutes I rolled onto my side facing Harry.

“Harry, did you ever get see any Muggle movies while you lived with the Dursley’s?”

“I only saw one movie I can remember and that was what I think they call a comedy about a bumbling detective trying to solve a murder. Why do you ask?”

“Well my parents like the old classic movies. There is one in particular they liked very much. The story takes place in Pearl Harbor during the Second World War. An officer falls in love with his superior’s wife and they have this very torrid love scene on the beach where the waves wash up over their bodies while they are kissing passionately.”

“I was just thinking how romantic and passionate it would be if we could do something like that. Don’t you think so Harry?”

“Hun, wouldn’t it be rather distracting to have waves continuously washing over you while you are trying to concentrate on kissing. Besides you would probable ending up getting a mouth or nose full of water and start choking into each others mouths.”

“Oh Harry, your missing the whole point. It’s the sensuousness of having the warm ocean water caressing your body while you are kissing your lover that makes the whole thing so romantic and passionate.”

“Hun, I just know this question is going to end up embarrassing me but, all most girls more romantic at certain times during the month than others?”

“Harry! What kind of question is that?” I said to him while gently punching him in the ribs.

“Ow, that hurt,” he whined, pretended to be hurt.

“Give it a rest Harry. I barely touched you.”

“Hun, you still haven’t answered my question.”

“I have no intention of answering your question.”

“Why not? I’m just trying to figure out why you seem so preoccupied with kissing and feeling today.”

“Preoccupied! I’m not preoccupied. I just want to be close to you, that’s all.”

“Ok, sorry I didn’t mean to upset you. Just forget I ever asked the question.”

I rolled back over on my back wondering if Harry was being a little standoffish because of the way I hurt him or was there some other reason. After another five minutes had passed Harry rolled over to face me.

“Hun, I’m sorry if I upset you. I’m just a little confused by all the emotions I have had to deal with over the past week. I’m just trying to sort them all out. But one thing I am absolutely certain about is that I love you more than anything else in the world.”

“Oh Harry,” I cried rolling over and pushing him onto his back. I started kissing him hungrily until he said ‘stop, his lip was starting to throb.’

I quickly stopped kissing him but he was smiling at me with his green eyes sparkling warmly.

“Hun, do you think we could go and get some lunch? I am starving.”

“Oh Harry, you and Ron are always starving. I’m beginning to think you are both bottomless pits.”

We got to our feet and headed over to where everyone else was standing around the table, getting ready for lunch.

“It’s about time you two showed up,” Sirius said to us. “We were just about to send out a search party.”

Harry

Lunch was basically a ‘make your own’ and anyone who had any complaints could file them in the lake. There were a couple of different types of breads, cheeses, sandwich spreads, plus assorted fruits and pickled vegetables. To drink we had apple juice or water. It wasn’t as fancy as the food at Hogwarts, but it tasted great. The fresh air and hour in the water had given us all excellent appetites.

We sat on the ground on blankets that were scattered around the table. Hermione and I sat with Alec and Tom. Annie and Katie were sitting with Ron and Gretchen. The grownups were sitting at one end of the table with twins sleeping in small makeshift cradles.

Alec and Tom suggested that after we had let our lunch settle we should try out the water slide. Hermione seemed a little leery of shooting down a one hundred foot slide and then dropping ten feet into the lake.

“Hun you’re a good swimmer, you won’t have any trouble handling the water slide,” I said to her. “But if you would rather not that’s fine.”

“Well I suppose I could try it once,” she said tentatively.

I asked Ron and Gretchen if they were going to try out the water slide.

“I wouldn’t miss it for a sack of gold,” Ron replied. “And since I’m a poor wizard that’s saying a lot. What about you Gretchen?” he asked her.

“Ron, you may not have any gold but you are rich in human kindness and I couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m very scared of going under water, however since we are going to be doing exactly that tomorrow I guess this is a good place to try and get over my fear.”

“Annie, Katie do you go down the water slide too?” I asked them.

“Oh yes, we are good swimmers and really look forward to the water slide on our visits to the lake,” Annie replied.

Hermione, Gretchen, a word of warning,” Annie said to them. “When you shoot off the end of the slide into the water, make sure you cross your arms over your chest or you are likely to end up losing the tops to your bathing suits.”

“Thanks Annie,” Gretchen answered her. “I wouldn’t want to embarrass Ron so I’ll be sure to remember your warning.”

After we had finished eating lunch we moved the blankets out into the sun and lay down to soak up some sunshine. Gretchen and Hermione invited Annie and Katie to join them on the ‘gal’s blanket’. Alec and Tom joined Ron and I and we ended up explaining what Quidditch was and how it was played for the next hour. Alec and Tom seemed really impressed as Ron recounted my exploits as Seeker for Gryffindor House. Ron over exaggerated my contribution to the team, as usual. To hear Ron tell it you would have thought I was a one-man team.

At about two o’clock, we decided it was time to try the water slide. Walt said we would be heading back to the farm around six. He didn’t want to travel through the forest at dusk or after dark. We would have a late supper once we returned to the farm Martha added.

Everyone except Walt, Martha and the twins climbed the path to the top of the rapids. Alec and Tom explained that the ride down took about thirty seconds and then you shot out the end of the slide into the lake ten feet below. It was only a short swim to the bank of the lake. You went down either one at a time or in pairs. Usually they managed about three trips down the slide because it was such a long climb back up the path.

From the top of the slide, you could see where the slide emptied into the lake. Alec and Tom said they would go first so we could watch them as they plummeted down the slide and landed in the lake. Alec lowered himself onto the smooth rock that formed the slide and let go of the sides. The rushing water sent him careening down the slide and off the end out into the lake. Once he fell, into the lake, we could no longer see him but we heard him as he shouted up to us that he as out of the way.

Tom then jumped in the slide and shot down the waterway into the lake. After he called out that, he was out of the way Ron and I looked at each other.

“Age before beauty,” I said to him.

Ron

 “Are you ready Gretchen?” I asked her. I could tell Gretchen was very nervous as she didn’t say anything, she just shook her head ‘yes’ and held my hand while we got ready to sit in the slide.

“Gretchen, sit behind Ron with your legs around his waist, “Annie said to her. “When you shoot out the end of the slide, Ron you dive to the left and Gretchen you dive to the right, got that?”

“Thanks Annie,” I said to her as I lowered myself into the slide and held on the edges as Gretchen sat down behind me and wrapped her legs around my waist.

“Are you ready dear?” I asked her looking over my shoulder at her.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied her voice just a little shaky.

I let go of the edges and we started down the water slide. We picked up speed quickly as we shot around three turns and suddenly we were flying threw the air over the lake. We had both been speechless on the way down. Just as I felt that, we were starting to fall I yelled ‘Dive’ but Gretchen just through her arms around my chest and clung on as if her life depended on it. Luckily, we dropped straight down into the water with tumbling end over end.

We hit the water like a big splash and sank several feet beneath the surface. Gretchen instantly let go of me and started kicking for the surface. I surfaced a second after she did and tried to calm her nerves.

“Gretchen you did great,” I told her holding out a hand to her. I wanted to get her to shore before she started thinking too much and started to scare herself. I motioned towards the shore and followed her as she swam the fifty feet to the shore. Once we were half way to the shore, I yelled up to the top of the slide that we were out of the way. As soon as the water was shallow enough for us to stand, we started wading out of the water. As soon as we were out of the water, she through her arms around me and shivered for several seconds.

“Are you alright dear?” I asked her.

“I’ll be ok Ron. Just hold me for a minute or two, until I stop shaking.”

After she stopped shaking, I gave her a quick kiss.

“Gretchen what part of the trip down the slide scares you the most?”

“The slide part was fun, it’s the putting my head under water that I am frightened of.”

“Do you want to try it once more?”

“Yeah the slide was great. Maybe next time you should go ahead of me and I come next by myself. Just stay close in case I need your help, Ok?”

Harry

Once Ron called up when they were out of the way, Hermione and I readied ourselves to run the slide. As soon as Hermione was seated behind me and ready, I let go of the sides and we whooshed down the twisting slide and shout out into the air. As soon as we were, in the air I felt Hermione push off towards my right and we splashed into the water about six feet apart.

As soon as we both broke the surfaced, we were shouting and laughing at each other.

“What a rush!” I shouted at her.

“You sure got that right!” she shouted back at me.

We started swimming towards the shore. When our feet touched bottom I shouted up that we were clear. By the time, we had waded ashore Annie and Katie came rushing down the slide and splashed into the lake. They were also laughing and giggling from the rush of the fast trip down the slide and the sudden drop into the lake. We waited for the girls to make it to shore and started back up the path to the top of the rapids.

Once we reached the top of the slide Alec and Tom asked us how we liked it.

“It was awesome,” Hermione, answered them. I had never seen her so excited by something this physically thrilling before.

“That’s great. I’m glad you loved it,” Alec replied to her. “Annie and Katie are going to go first because they get cold quickly and want to go and lay in the sun to warm up after their next trip down the slide.”

Annie quickly disappeared down the slide followed by Katie once Annie shouted the all clear. After Katie had finished her second turn, Alec and Tom took their turns.

“Would you two like to go before us this time?” Ron asked us.

“No, you two go ahead,” Hermione quickly answered them.

Ron went first, screaming out a cry of delight all the way down. He called out to Gretchen when he was out of her way. Gretchen quickly seated herself in the slide and took off. Several seconds later Ron called out that, they were out of the way. We could see them just emerging from the water and following the rest of the kids over to the blankets.

“Ready Hun? You look a bit nervous is anything wrong?”

“No I’m fine Harry. I’ll be right behind you.”

Since we had decided to go solo this time, I went first at Hermione’s request and positioned myself in the water slide.

“See you at the bottom,” I yelled to her as I let go and shot down the slide and out into the lake.

“All clear,” I yelled up to her.

Ten seconds later, she shot out the end of the slide and into the lake. After several seconds she didn’t surface, I started to panic and swam to where she had hit the water. Just as I reached the spot, Hermione broke the surface of the water right in front of me.

She had a strange look on her face as she quickly threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. Something was different I thought to myself and then it struck me like a bolt of lightning as I placed my hands on her sides pushing her back so that I could keep my head above water. She wasn’t wearing the top to her bathing suit. I looked down at the refection of her bare chest in the water. I could see the shimmering outline of her breasts in the clear water. I was absolutely speechless.

“Harry, what’s wrong?” she asked me as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

“Hermione, what happened to the top of your bathing suit?” I asked her, totally freaked out.

“Harry, don’t get so upset. I forgot to cross my arms as Annie told us to and my halter-top came off when I hit the water. See I have it right here in my hand.”

“Hermione, you have to put it back on right away,” I said total panicked that someone might come back to the shore and notice she wasn’t wearing the top to her bathing suit. “I’ll turn around while you put your top back on,” I said to her.

“Harry, don’t you even want to look at me or touch me. There is no one here but us.”

“No, you need to put your top on right now. This doesn’t feel right. Please do it quickly before someone sees you,” I begged her. “I’ll head for shore and wait for you there.”

I swam to shore as quickly as I could. I was confused. Why was Hermione being so casual about losing the top to her bathing suit? She had always been so shy. I would have thought she would rather drown that surface half-naked.

When I reached the shore and looked back towards Hermione, I could see that she had just finished getting her top back in place. I watched as she swam to shore and waded out of the water.

When she reached me, I said. “Boy that was a close call. I’m glad everyone else went to the blankets or I would have been totally embarrassed.”

She just looked at me for several seconds. She looked as depressed as someone who had his or her heart set on something and then didn’t get it. Tears started to run down here cheeks and without saying a word, she took off running for the middle of the clearing. I watched her run, totally bewildered by her behavior. She finally sat down behind a tree at the far edge of the clearing. I felt totally lost. Was this normal behavior for girls? I didn’t have a clue as to what I should do next. I decided that I would ask Gretchen to go and see what the matter with her was.

Gretchen

As soon as we reached the blankets, Ron and I helped each other dry off. When we had finished Ron lassoed me with his towel, pulled me to him, and kissed me.

“Have I told you how much I love you, yet today?” he asked me.

“Yes you have, but I never tire of hearing it, so keep on telling me,” I answered him.

I turned to look for Hermione and Harry. I was beginning to wonder what was keeping them. I saw them standing on the shore of the lake and then Hermione walked away from Harry, ran across the clearing, and sat down behind a tree.

Now what’s going on? I wondered to myself. Ron also noticed that Hermione had run away from Harry and turned to look at me with a questioning look on his face.

“I hope those two aren’t fighting again. Until today they haven’t even had a cross word between them and now it looks like two fights in one day,” Ron said to me.

“It sure looks that way,” I agreed.

I knew Hermione was feeling envious of the intimacy Ron and I had shared last night. I wondered if that had anything to do with her unusual sensitivity today. As I was looking to where Hermione was sitting, Harry came up to Ron and me and said to me.

“Gretchen, would you please go and talk to Hermione? Somehow I have managed to upset her again and I really don’t know what I did or what to say to her.”

Harry looked so miserable I couldn’t help feel sorry for him. I knew Hermione could be quite moody if she wanted to.

“Sure Harry, I’ll go see what’s eating her. Just wait here with Ron. I’ll be back as quick as I can. Try not to worry too much.”

I left Harry to talk with Ron. I was sure Ron would be able to help Harry take his mind off his troubles. I walked quickly over to where Hermione was sitting by herself.

“Hermione, what’s wrong?” I asked her.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she snapped back at me.

“Doesn’t sound like nothing,” I said. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

“No, I don’t want to discuss it,” she answered me, with a flash of anger in her tear-filled eyes.

“Alright, if you feel like talking I’ll be over with the guys,” I said a little testily and regretting it almost immediately. “Sorry Hermione, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

I started walking back to where the others were seated or lying on the blankets. I really didn’t want to fight with Hermione. I liked her a lot, but she could get on my nerves when she got into one of her moods. As I neared the guys, I noticed Martha looking at me. When I looked at her, she raised her eyebrow asking silently what the problem with Hermione was. I decided maybe Martha could get through to her. After I told Martha about my conversation, or rather lack of conversation, with Hermione she said she would go and see if she could help her.

I went over, sat down beside Ron, and told Harry that Hermione wouldn’t talk to me, but not to worry because Martha was going to go and talk to her. If anybody can help, it’s Martha, I told him.

Martha

I walked over to where Hermione was sitting on the ground with her legs pulled up with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head on her knees. I sat down beside her and asked her if she would like to talk about what was troubling her. She didn’t answer me but she started shivering from sitting in the shade in a wet bathing suit. I wrapped the towel I had brought with me, just in case she might need one, around her shoulders.

As I finished wrapping her in the towel she looked up at me, her eyes filled with tears. She had the most sorrowful and pitiful look on her face that I could ever remember seeing. Her jaw started quivering, she threw her arms around me, and she started sobbing with her head leaning against my chest.

I let her cry herself out while stroking her head and just holding her in my arms. After several minutes the heavy crying subsided and she just laid very still while I continued to hold her. Finally, she raised her head and wiped her face with the corner of the towel.

“Hermione, you sure are having one hell of a day. Aren’t you?”

She looked at me, then down at her hands, and shook her head ‘yes’.

“Do you feel like talking, because if you do I feel like listening,” I told her with genuine sympathy for her anguish.

“You know, it doesn’t get much harder that being a sixteen year old young woman,” I said to her, lifting her chin so that we could look into each other’s eyes.

“Now tell me what has happened between you and that handsome young man of yours that you love so much? In addition, no more tears,” I added as I could see she was about to break into another bout of crying. I want to talk to you as a woman not a little girl, so that means tears will just get in the way of solving the crisis that has put you in so much anguish.”

“Harry… He… I…”

“Calm down and take a few deep breaths Hermione and then start again.”

“Harry is… a.a.ashamed of me.”

“I can’t believe that. Why in the world would Harry be ashamed of you? He loves you as much as any man could possibly love a woman.”

Hermione then told me of her envy of Gretchen and Ron and the whole story behind the disaster that ended with Harry swimming away from her in the lake.

“Hermione, you are trying to force the relationship between you and Harry to be just like the relationship between Gretchen and Ron. That can never be because you are not Gretchen any more than Harry is Ron. You and Harry are unique and different. You are individuals, each at a different point along the path from childhood to adulthood.”

“Gretchen and Ron just happen to farther down the path than you or Harry. There is nothing wrong with that. If you try to force Harry or yourself into things you are not yet ready for then you are going to have nothing but grief and heartache. Remember the single most important part of growing up is the learning that you do along the way, not the fact that you reach a certain age. The choices you make in going from child to adult will determine the quality of life you will have as an adult. Let the events of life come to you; don’t try to force yourself to them. As each event comes to you, absorb it into your personality and grow with the knowledge it gives you.”

“Today you tried to force Harry into something he wasn’t ready for and he rejected it, just as he should have. Harry wasn’t rejecting you or his love for you. Someday, possibly quite soon, Harry will be ready for more than just a kissing relationship. With interpersonal relationships you have to feel your way very carefully.”

“Hermione, that wasn’t meant to be a play on words, so stop snickering.”

“Ok, Martha, it’s just that you were being so serious and then you said ‘feel you way’ and I couldn’t help but laugh.”

“Hermione, what would you have done if Harry would have become very aggressive in wanting to go farther that just seeing or touching your breasts?”

“I don’t know, I guess I didn’t think that far ahead.”

“A maturing physical relationship can be like a house of cards. The trick is to remove one card at a time without causing the entire house to collapse. You must remove the cards at the edge before you can remove the more intimate inner cards.”

“Hermione, you are a very intelligent young woman who is just now starting to come to grips with her emotions. This is a very difficult and trying time in your life. The best thing you can do is just relax and absorb life as it comes to you.”

“Does everything I am telling you make sense to you?”

“Yes Martha, at least I think so. You are telling me to enjoy what I have today, without trying to force what will come tomorrow into today.”

“That’s it exactly. Live for today and tomorrow will be here soon enough.”

Hermione smiled very warmly at me and gave me a big hug.

“Thanks Martha, I don’t know what I would have done with out you. I know my mum would be very pleased that you were here to fill in for her.”

“You’re very welcome Hermione. Now let’s go and see what the others are doing. I’m sure Harry is very anxious for your return.”

We got up and walked back over to where the others were seated. As we walked, Hermione had her arm around my waist and I had my hand on her shoulder. I was glad I was able to help her along the path to becoming a woman whom I felt certain would be an excellent wife and mother. As soon as we reached the blankets, Hermione whispered ‘Thanks’ and hurried over to sit beside Harry. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds and Harry picked up her hand and kissed it tenderly. They would make it just fine I thought to myself.

Harry

When Hermione came over and sat down beside me, I didn’t know what to expect. She looked at me and smiled with a slightly guilty look on her face. I was so relieved that she was even smiling at me I didn’t care what she was feeling guilty about. She was here, that’s all that mattered. I picked up her hand and kissed it.

“I love you,” I said to her.

“I love you to Harry,” she replied and leaned over and kissed my cheek.

Ron and Gretchen just smiled at us and Gretchen kissed Ron lightly on his cheek. I reverently hoped that today would not see any more emotional crises to deal with. I was mentally exhausted.

It was about three o’clock. We had about two hours before we had to head back. I wanted to get up and do something.

“Does anybody want to play some kick ball?” I asked.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Ron replied.

Everyone else thought that was a good idea, even the grownups decided to join in. Therefore, for the next hour we divided into teams and tried to kick the ball we had been playing with in the water past each other. We had a lot of fun. Not as much as Quidditch, but still we all had a good time. I told Ron someone should write some rules and make a real game out of it.

“Harry, you have really had a deprived childhood,” Gretchen told me. “Muggles play this all the time. They call it Soccer. It is very big on the continent. I’m sure Great Britain even has a team.”

After an hour of running all over the clearing, we all decided to call it quits. We all took one last swim and prepared to return to the farmhouse. After we had repacked the wagon, we flew back to the farm where the girls started preparing supper and we guys tended to the livestock.

Just as we finished feeding the animals and gathering the eggs from the henhouse, the adults drove up to the house in the wagon. We quickly unloaded the wagon. Alec and Tom took the wagon to the barn and unhitched the horses. Martha told them to hurry, as supper would be ready shortly. Ron and I carried the girls and our belongings to the tent. While we were there, we changed out of our bathing suits and headed back to the house for dinner.

Just as we reached the porch, we meet Hermione and Gretchen. They said they were going to change out of their bathing suits before we sat down to supper.

“Gretchen, do you need any help?” Ron asked her with a lecherous laugh.”

“No Ron, I think I can manage by myself after all these years,” she answered him patting his cheek affectionately. “If I find I do need help I’ll be sure to call you.”

Hermione just smiled at me. I decided not to press my luck by trying to say something witty. This just hadn’t been my day.

“We will wait for you on the porch,” I said to them as they hurried off.

In what seemed like no time at all they were back and we went in to join the others for supper.

Hermione

After supper was over and the dishes were done, Harry asked Annie to go outside with him. He smiled at me as they went out onto the porch and told me they would be right back. I knew he was up to something. He had that guilty, sneaky look I had seen so many times before back at school.

When everyone went out onto the porch to relax in the cool of the summer evening, Harry and Annie went back into the house.

“We won’t be too long,” he told me and kissed my cheek.

About twenty minutes later, just about the time I was starting to get a little annoyed at what could be taking so long Annie and Harry emerged from the house.

“Harry, just what are you up to?” I asked him. “You look as guilty as the cat that just swallowed the canary.”

“You’ll see,” he said holding out his hand to me. “Thanks Annie,” He said over his shoulder as he led me down the porch steps, grabbing one of the blankets we had used at the lake that was hanging over the railing.

“Harry, where are you taking me?” I asked him starting to get a little excited. A feeling that continued to grow each time he looked at me with those gorgeous green eyes that were sparkling in the setting sun.

We walked just out of sight of the porch and Harry spread the blanket on the ground and asked me to lie down. I’m not sure why but every nerve in my body seemed to be alive. After I had lain down on my side, Harry sat down beside me so that we could look into each other’s eyes.

“Hermione, I have some things that I want to say to you. I would greatly appreciate it if you would let me say them without interruption.”

“Ok Harry, I will listen to what you have to say. And I promise not to say anything until you have finished.”

“Hun I know that I have disappointed you twice today. Ah… you promised not to say anything. As I was saying I disappointed you by playing a thoughtless and cruel prank on you and then again when I was too embarrassed to look at you when you wanted to share an intimate moment between us.”

“I want you to know that I think you are beautiful beyond anything else in the world. You appeal to me physically so much that at times I don’t think I will be able to control my desires. This afternoon when I turned away from you, it had absolutely nothing to do with your desirability as a woman. It was my own self-doubts as to how I should react when you suddenly found yourself partially naked through no fault of your own”

“So to try and make amends for my behavior I have composed something I would like to read to you that expresses my feelings for you.”

“Ah... not yet. When I have finished reading, then you can have your say.”

When you call on me,
When I hear you breathe,
I get wings to fly,
I feel that I’m alive.

When you look at me,
I can touch the sky,
I know that I’m Alive.

When you bless the day,
I just drift away
All my worries die,
I’m glad that I’m Alive.

You’ve set my heart on fire,
Filled me with love and desire,
Made a man of me,
I’m glad that I’m alive.

I couldn’t get much higher,
My spirit takes flight with you,
Cause I am Alive.

When you reach for me,
Raising spirits high,
I’m glad that I’m alive.

Through good and through trying times,
And it’s only begun
I can’t wait for the rest of my life.
I’m know that I’m alive.

When you call on me,
When you reach for me,
I get wings to fly,
I’m glad that I’m alive.

“Hermione, I hope you will accept these words as my most sincere and heartfelt apology. I love you much more than even these words can ever express.”

I had tears streaming down my face as I looked upon Harry with utter astonishment. I threw my arms around his neck, pulled him down to me, and started kissing him with a desire so strong that my consciousness shrank to just the two of us.

I could fell the heat from Harry’s lips burning themselves into my soul. I suddenly realized that Harry’s hand was softly caressing my breast. I started to cry from the intense pleasure of knowing that I truly appealed to Harry as a woman. When he realized I was crying he started to remove his hand. I quickly placed my hand over his and told him not to stop. We continued to kiss while Harry caressed me for the most wonderful minutes I had ever experienced.

After several minutes, I knew we had to stop or I would lose all my self-control. I took his hand in mine, brought it to my lips, and kissed it gently while looking into his beautiful green eyes that spoke only of love.

“Thank you Harry, from the bottom of my heart,” I said to him, “You are my love, for now and forever.”

Gretchen

After Harry and Hermione had left the porch, Martha looked over at me and said.

“Gretchen, both you and Ron look like a couple of ripe tomatoes. I have some lotion that will take away the pain and make it possible for you to get some sleep tonight. Would you like to use it?”

I was starting to feel pretty uncomfortable from having spent too much time in the bright summer sunshine. I should have known better as I burn very easily because of my light complexion. Ron was pretty well cooked too.

“Thanks Martha, I’m sure that if I don’t do something I will have a miserable night and tomorrow won’t be much better.”

Martha told Ron and me to follow her into the house and then into her bedroom. She retrieved a bottle of cream-colored lotion from a shelf in the corner of the room and handed it to me.

She checked on Laurie who was sleeping in her crib and left the room pulling the door curtain shut as she went out.

I handed the bottle of lotion to Ron and pulled off my jersey very gently as my skin was really hot and starting to hurt. I tossed my jersey on the bed and turned my back to Ron.

“Ron, be a dear and rub some lotion on my back.”

“Yes dear, you’re the boss.”

“I’m glad you realize that,” I said gathering my hair on top of my head so that it wouldn’t be clogged with lotion.

“Be gentle Ron. My skin is pretty sore.”

“No kidding dear. Apples don’t get as red as your skin is now.”

Ron started with my shoulders and worked its way slowly down my back. When he first touched my skin with the lotion, I jumped because it felt cold on my hot skin. He very gently and slowly applied the lotion, working his way down my back.

“Ron, pull my shorts down a little so that you can get all the way to the bottom of the burn line, please.”

“Dear, how far is a little?”

“Well let me put it this way sweetie, if you pull them too far down, I’ll slug you. Does that answer your question?”

“You know of course, that I like to live dangerously,” he chuckled.

Ron pulled my shorts down about an inch. It was just enough so that he could get lotion on all my sunburned skin. No guts, I thought to myself and smiled. I knew that I could always trust Ron to do the right thing, even though he would tease me otherwise.

“That finishes your back. Would you like me to put some on the back of your legs dear? They are pretty red as well.”

“Please do,” I said letting go of my hair and pulling up the cuffs of my shorts so Ron could reach the top of my sunburned legs. After he finished my legs and stood up, I turned to face him.

“Now be a dear and do my chest and tummy, please?”

Ron applied lotion to the skin that was sunburned, taking care not get any lotion on the unburned parts. Watching Ron’s face while he rubbed lotion on my chest and stomach was a very entertaining. I could tell he was trying hard to be very ‘matter of fact’ about what he was doing, but the slightly sheepish look on his face told me he wasn’t missing anything.

“Are you having trouble concentrating?” I asked him impishly. I knew I was being a naughty tease, but I just couldn’t resist.

Ron looked at me with straight face, with just a hint of a grin hiding behind his poker face. I could tell by the gleam in his eyes that he was enjoying being ‘most helpful’ in treating my sunburn.

“No dear, I’m not having any trouble concentrating. I can’t see any reason why I should have trouble concentrating,” he answered me as if were discussing rubbing lotion on my feet.

“Ron you’re a brat! Just for that I won’t rub lotion on your sunburn,” I said to him pretending to be hurt by his lack of appreciation of my feminine charms.

“That’s ok dear. I’m sure Annie or Katie would be only to happy to rub lotion on my back.

“Ron not only are you a brat, you’re also a cad. I think I’ll trade you in for someone more considerate.”

“Dear, no one is ever going to be more considerate of you than me. That’s because I love you so much and couldn’t bear the thought of living my life without you beside me,” he said with genuine affection in his voice. Then he kissed me on the tip of my nose and smeared a dab of lotion on the spot he had just kissed. He then very tenderly applied lotion to my forehead and cheeks.

After Ron had finished applying lotion to all of my sunburned skin, I told him to take off his shirt. He handed the bottle of lotion to me, pulled his shirt over his shoulders, and threw it on the bed.

The action of taking off his shirt caused him to naturally flex his chest and arm muscles. I know it was silly but the sight of Ron’s bare, smoothly muscular, chest sent a shiver down my spine.

“Ron, turn around and I’ll do your back first.”

“Yikes, that’s cold,” he said with a shiver.

I continued rubbing the lotion on his back and shoulders. After I finished his back, I had him turn around and I applied the lotion to his chest.

Just as I finished with Ron, Laurie started to fuss in her crib. I picked her up, cradling her in my arms, rocking her gently back and forth while singing softly to her.

When I looked up at Ron, he was looking at me holding Laurie, with her head nestled against my breast. For a moment, I thought he was going to cry because his eyes looked as if tears would start flowing at any second. He quickly wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands.

“Dear, I sure hope Laurie doesn’t wake up hungry, cause if she does, she is going to one very frustrated little girl,” he said to me with a grim returning to his face.

“Goodness, let’s hope not,” I said grinning sheepishly.

After a couple of minutes, Laurie was sleeping soundly so I laid her back down in the crib. Just I finished putting Laurie back in her bed; Martha called to us through the curtain and asked if she could come in to get some clean diapers for Lazarus. Ron looked a little nervous as I wrapped my arms around him and told Martha she could come in now.

By the time Martha entered the room, Ron had placed his arms around me so that we were just standing there hugging each other, looking at her as she said.

“Sorry to interrupt kids, but Lazarus has gone through everything and I need some clean diapers and PJ’s for him.”

“No problem Martha,” I said looking at Ron who was looking at me with an expression of ‘Are you sure this is such a good idea’ on his face.

Martha quickly found what she needed and started to leave the room.

“Martha…”

“Yes Gretchen.”

“Are you shocked at seeing us hugging each other, while naked from the waist up?”

“Heavens no Gretchen. Why would you think that?”

“Just checking, that’s all.”

Martha turned to leave the room but turned back just as she reached the door. She looked at us affectionately for a couple of seconds.

“You two remind me of Walt and myself at your age. Ron’s hair is redder than Walt’s is and both of them are built about the same. Gretchen you and I may not look much alike, but we are definitely from the same mold.”

“I am not worried about the two of you in the slightest. I’m sure you both will slip into adulthood without even realizing it. I won’t need to bother you any more,” she said, turned, and left the room.

I could feel Ron exhale and start breathing again as Martha left the room. He smiled and kissed me passionately for several seconds.

“Ron, relax, Martha wasn’t upset by our being in this room alone. You heard her. We could have been in bed under the sheets and she would only have said ‘Excuse me for interrupting; I’ll just be a second’.

“Ron…”

“Yes dear?”

“While I have your undivided attention there is something I would like to say to yooou… Ron I can’t concentrate on what I am trying to tell you while you are caressing me like that. Now pay attention… damn that feels good … Ron … I’m hot enough already… O hell …”

I looked into Ron’s beautiful eyes and pulled his lips to mine, kissing him passionately while he continued to caress me. I was moaning softly from the sheer pleasure my body was experiencing from the touch of Ron’s lips and hands. Finally, I knew I was at the limit of my self-control. I think Ron realized the same thing as he stopped kissing me and looked tenderly into my eyes.

“Ron…

“Yes….”

“If you don’t stop now I am either going to break your arm or take you to bed and finish what you have started? If I break your arm, I will feel terrible and probably take you to bed just to make it up to you. Therefore, the only outcome I can see is us in bed if you don’t stop making me feel like I am going melt in your arms. Please ...”

“Gretchen, I wouldn’t want you to melt. I like you much better firm with softness in all the right places,” he said grinning at me and placing his hands around my waist. I kissed him quickly but softly.

“Now where was I? Oh yeah now I remember.”

“I’m listening dear …”

“Ron, I am absolutely certain that we are both ready to take the final step in our relationship. I think you feel the same thing. But I also feel that this is not the right time or place for us take that step.”

“Gretchen, as usual you are one hundred percent correct. I know we are ready because I would not feel the slightest guilt that we had done something we were not truly ready for. Moreover, I agree with you that this is not the right time or place. However I’m not sure I completely share your view that Martha wouldn’t bat an eye if she found us in her bed.”

“Ron, sometime in the near future, whether that is a day, a week, a month or longer, we will join body and soul and it will be as natural as opening your eyes when you wake in the morning. We won’t have to look for the perfect moment to cease being two and become one. It will find us and we will look back on that moment with nothing but fond and happy memories for the rest of our lives.”

“Gretchen, I look forward to that moment and beyond when we will have each other and children to love cherish until the end of our days.”

“Mr. Weasley, is that a proposal?” I asked him grinning so hard it hurt my sunburn face.

“No, the proposal will come with me on bended knee, ring in hand and if you’re a really good girl, a rose in my teeth. Today I am pledging you my promise to love and honor you above all else, with the hope that someday you will accept my proposal and you will then be Mrs. Ron Weasley.”

“Oh Ron, You make me so happy,” I said laying my head on his shoulder and crying softly.

After a minute, I looked up at this loving and gentle man holding me tenderly in his arms. He wiped the tears from my eyes with his thumbs and kissed me again.

When we broke from the kiss, I started to shiver from the cool air on my hot-sunburned skin.

“Dear, we need to get a shirt on you before you get chilled,” Ron said quickly grabbing our shirts off the bed and helping me slip mine on over my head and shoulders.

After Ron slipped, his shirt on we kissed once more before joining the others sitting on the porch watching the last minutes of a beautiful sunset. Despite the fact that most of my skin was sunburned, I felt happier now than at any other time in my life.

Harry

It sun had just set when I told Hermione that we should probably be getting back. I know she wanted to lie here all night. I still felt guilty for all of the pain and anguish I had caused her today.

“We should probably go back to the house,” I said to her.

“Harry, can’t we just stay here for a little while longer? Please …”

“Sure Hun, I don’t think anyone’s going to come looking for us for a little while.”

“Does your face still hurt where I hit you?”

“Just a little. I’m sure it will be fine by morning. Please don’t fret over it.”

We lay there watching the sunset and when the color started to fade from the sky, I said we really should be getting back to the house. I was sure Sirius and Madelyn wanted us all to turn in early so that we would be rested for tomorrow’s ordeal.

I got to my feet and held out my hand to help her up. We walked back to the house with our arms around each other’s waists. Hermione was leaning her head on my shoulder.

When we reached the porch, everyone was sitting around talking. Ron and Gretchen were sitting on the steps. Both of them looked beat but very content. As we sat down opposite them, I caught a fleeting glance of acknowledgement between Hermione and Gretchen. They didn’t say a word, but I had the distinct impression that they both understood what the other was thinking and feeling. I wondered if girls are somewhat telepathic.

“Well Harry, has Hermione forgiven you?” Ron asked me.

“Yes I have,” Hermione answered him, kissing my cheek and then the back of my hand, which she had, not let go of since we got up off the blanket.

“Herm, I haven’t seen you look this happy all day,” Ron said to her.

“Well it has been one hell of a day, that’s for sure. But since it’s ending on a high note I am not going to think about all the bad stuff that happened,” Hermione replied.

“I am going to snuggle into bed next to my man and sleep like a baby,” she added smiling at me.

“Speaking of bed,” Sirius interjected. “It’s time we all headed for bed. As I’m sure tomorrow will be an exhausting day.”

We all said goodnight to the Walt, Martha and their kids and headed for the tent. Ron and I let the girls use the bathroom first. When they reappeared Gretchen was wearing an oversized tee shirt, which Martha had given her, instead of here usual nightgown. From the color of her skin, I’d have bet that she wished she didn’t have to wear anything at all.

Ron and I quickly used the bathroom. Ron had decided not to wear a top because he was sunburned almost as much as Gretchen was. I felt thankful that Hermione and I weren’t as fair skinned as they were. Those sunburns looked very uncomfortable. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t be doing much cuddling tonight.

As soon as I climbed into bed, Hermione rolled over next to me and gazed into my eyes with a very sleepy but warm look on her face. We continued just looking at each other until Sirius and Madelyn were in bed and Sirius turned down the lamp.

“Harry, thank you for making the end of this day the best evening I have ever had. I love you now and forever,” Hermione said softly to me, quickly kissing me.

“I love you and will try to never disappoint you again,” I replied to her.

After a long trying day, we both fell asleep within seconds of closing our eyes.

Ron

When I climbed in bed, I noticed that Gretchen was shaking.

“Dear, what’s wrong? Are you cold?” I asked her thinking she must be shivering from the sunburn.

“Ron, I’m scared stiff. I am terrified of what I have to do tomorrow when we get to the Sea. Maybe you should put me under a sleeping charm so that I can get at least some sleep.

“I have a better idea,” I said as I moved over next to her so that I could curl up behind her and lay my arm over her hips to stop the shivering. “Now, close your eyes and remember I will be with you every step of the way tomorrow. I am not about to let anything happen to the future Mrs. Weasley.”

She stopped shaking as I gently stroked the top of her head. She mumbled ‘I love you’ and within a few seconds was breathing softly. I said that I loved her too and within several minutes, I was fast asleep.