Hermione whipped around, confirming what she thought a few seconds earlier. "Hi Tonks."
"Looks like you've figured me out. It's been a fun two years though." Tonks smiled weakly from beneath her now long pink dreadlocks and her normal face. Hermione got up to go embrace the girl in a hug.
"You two can close your mouths now." Hermione turned to Ron and Harry who seemed to be getting over the shock that the girl they had been hanging out wasn't actually Alex.
"That would explain how she knew to get home then wouldn't it?" Ron queried amidst taking a drink of his pumpkin juice.
Tonks nodded her head in response. "I knew it'd be a matter of time before Hermione figured it out. I just wish it wouldn't have been something like this to bring it out." She sighed, hanging her head.
"Me too," Hermione said in a small voice.
*~*~*
"I don't have to go 'Mione. I can stay here, I am sure Luna wouldn't mind." Ron said to Hermione while they sat at the kitchen table of their flat.
"It is alright, I'm knackered from all the moving. You can go and have some fun." Hermione responded.
After getting Hermione's stuff packed, they moved everything, including Hermione's parent's bodies back to the boys' flat so she could make herself at home and plan a funeral for her parents. The bodies, for obvious reasons, were taken to Grimmauld Place for safe keeping.
"Are you sure, it can be postponed…like you said we did just move you in. It is your first night here, maybe I should be here."
"No, no it's your first date with Luna. I don't want you to ruin it by not going because of me. We both know I ruined the whole Harry and Cho thing. I don't want to do that to you. You go ahead and I'll see you in the morning." Hermione started to stand.
Ron stood as well and enveloped her in a hug. "I am glad you are here 'Mione, I just wish it was because of different circumstances."
Hermione could only nod. She was tired of crying, she didn't want to do it anymore. "Have fun and tell her hi for me." She whispered as she walked towards her bedroom.
She shut the door behind her and stared around her new room. It reminded her faintly of home. The boys had specifically left this room open for her whenever she was going to come back. Two walls were dedicated specifically to books. Half of them were already filled she noticed with books that rivaled the Hogwarts library. The rest remained empty for her collection.
She collapsed on her queen size bed and stared at the ceiling. It was charmed to mimic the sky based on her mood. Right now it was a grey stormy mess.
*~*~*
Ron gulped nervously and tugged at the collar of his robe as he waited outside of the Golden Dragon. He wanted to get to the restaurant early instead of making her wait. He really wanted to make a good impression.
Luna was standing off to the side as to not be seen. She was standing there staring at her date while he was waiting around nervously. Finally, she started making her way over to him.
"Hello Ronald." Luna said dreamily.
"Hi…wow." Ron said staring at Luna with his mouth wide open. She was wearing this beautiful deep red dress robes and her long hair was cascading down her back in loose curls.
"Thank you and you as well." Both of them smiled and walked inside.
*~*~*
Harry came home from Order headquarters. He had been called over after Hermione had gotten settled. He told Ron to look after her while he was gone because he knew she was in an incredibly fragile state. He knew how that was.
Lupin basically wanted to just go over with him what had happened and that he was really lucky that they had friends in the Ministry that were able to get rid of the illegal portkey information. Harry knew he was lucky but he was mostly interested in getting back to Hermione. He was definitely unsure of how all these new feelings were playing out, but he knew that she needed him now more than ever now that her parents were gone.
"Honey I'm home!" he bellowed as he apparated into the entry of their flat. They had set the wards up so that their flat would only recognize the three of them. They didn't want any unknown visitors.
When no one returned his call, he immediately got a little worried. He pulled his wand out and began to stealthily maneuver down the hallway towards the bedrooms. He peeked into Ron's room and found nothing but dust bunnies amidst the chaos of Cannon's posters and dirty clothes strewn about. He continued down the hall to Hermione's room. He leaned his ear against the door and heard what sounded like crying. "Hermione?" he shouted. He waited a couple of seconds but received no response. "Hermione? Are you alright?" Again nothing. "Alright, I'm coming in."
"Alohomora," he muttered. He breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't bother to heavily ward the door because it opened with ease.
As he entered the room he found her curled up in the fetal position on her bed sobbing while she snuggled with what looked to be an old ratty doll.
"'Mione," he said softly as he sat next to her on her bed. He stroked her hair as she cried. He wanted nothing more than to take away her pain. He hated seeing her like this.
She continued to sob, letting all her tears flow freely. It felt good for her to get it all out.
Harry continued to rub her back soothingly. He tried to think of something comforting to say but he couldn't think of anything.
*~*~*
Dinner went over surprisingly well. Ron had thought that he would make a total fool out of himself, but it didn't happen that way. There weren't too many awkward moments either. They were able to find plenty to talk about. He was surprisingly fascinated by all the things she had to say. He wasn't sure if it was truly because she had interesting stuff to say or because he was really falling for her hard.
"So do you want to go get some ice cream Ronald or are you ready for round six of dinner?" Luna chuckled with a smile.
Ron rubbed his stomach appreciatively. He had gotten the all you can eat pasta and breadsticks while Luna had only gotten a salad.
"Ice cream it is." Ron smiled and got up, going around to help Luna put her cloak on. It was bound to be chilly later. Some of what Mrs. Weasley taught him about being a gentleman had managed to stick.
"Thank you Ronald." She leaned up and kissed him gently on the cheek and turned to make her way out of the building.
"Anytime, anytime," he muttered with a smile. He quickly paid the bill and met Luna at the exit of the building.
They soon found themselves outside of the Golden Dragon and on their way towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. They made small talk as they passed the Magical Menagerie.
Luna had decided on having a scoop of strawberry ice cream in a regular cone while Ron had three scoops of double fudge in a waffle cone. Since the parlor was so crowded with kids on the surprisingly warm evening, they decided to walk and eat. Ron decided to summon his Gryffindor courage and reached out and grabbed Luna's hand, interlocking his fingers with hers. He internally sighed with happiness that she hadn't pulled away or commented on it.
They had been chatting for a little while when they walked past Flourish and Botts and heard a familiar giggle, but didn't think anything of it. They continued walking over to mildly deserted park and they both took a seat on an empty park bench.
"I am having such a wonderful time Ronald." Luna said amidst eating her ice cream.
"So am I, so am I." Ron said while licking at his cone.
They sat in relative silence, enjoying their ice cream. Luna started to chuckle. "Ron, you have some ice cream there." She pointed to the corner of his mouth and he licked.
"Nope, you missed it," she added with another giggle. She decided to take matters into her own hands.
Ron was about to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand when he saw that Luna was grinning and leaning in closer to him. He tensed up at first, knowing what she was going to do. Then he heard that giggle again and turned to find its source, causing Luna to kiss his chin.
Luna grunted and noticed that Ron had a very tight look on his face. "What is it?"
*~*~*
After what Harry felt like was an eternity, he opened his eyes and found himself on his back staring up at the…sky? It dawned on him a couple of seconds later that he was still in Hermione's room. He moved to get up and realized that he was pinned down. He and Hermione must have fallen asleep sometime during the course of her sobbing.
She had curled up next to him, resting her head on his chest, and her arm across his body. His arm had somehow snaked its way around her, his hand ending up along her waist. He shifted slowly, trying to get out but all it did was cause Hermione to pull herself closer to him.
He gulped when it dawned on him that they were very close together. He should have been an uncomfortable bumbling mess right about now, but he felt so comfortable. It seemed like that was truly where Hermione belonged. He just didn't want to hurt her.
He turned his gaze down past her trademark bushy hair to her calm face. It startled him to see her big brown eyes staring up at him, analyzing him.
"Hey you," he said softly.
"Hey," her voice croaked.
"How are you feeling?" He smiled and brushed some of her hair out of her face.
"Better, well as good as I can be I suppose. It's just so hard to believe that they're gone." She sighed. She wasn't going to cry anymore. She'd cried enough.
"Yeah but it'll get better. Trust me, I know from experience." He half-heartedly chuckled, trying to make light of the situation.
"So how do you do it then? How do you move on?" She asked in a quiet voice.
"Well I've just surrounded myself with the best people I can. Ron, Ginny, the rest of the Weasleys, Luna, Lupin, and you. You especially 'Mione. I really don't know what I'd do without you. You're like the constant in my life, even if you were an ocean away."
Hermione's eyes started to tear up again after hearing his words.
"Hey hey hey, don't cry 'Mione. I don't want to upset you." Harry soothed in an almost alarming way. He really didn't want to make her cry.
"I'm not upset. I just can't believe you feel that way about me." She said.
"Why is that so hard to believe 'Mione?" he asked.
She bit her bottom lip, debating on whether or not to divulge the information. She figured it's now or never. She had to know how he felt about her.
"Because I feel the same way about you…" she responded in a barely audible whisper.
She transfixed her eyes down towards his navel, not really wanting to look into his eyes. She was nervous. She had never really said anything remotely like that to Harry before. She was afraid of rejection.
Harry was floored by her response, and it made his heart swell.
Hermione felt his thumb and forefinger gently grasp her chin and lift it towards him so he could look in her eyes.
*~*~*
Luna turned to follow Ron's glare and cringed when she saw what the cause was. She had known about Ginny's secret but being best friends, she had been sworn to secrecy. She couldn't betray her friend like that, even if she did fancy her friend's brother.
"Oh I am going to kill him…" Ron grumbled underneath his breath. His face had instantly morphed into the same color as his hair. He was watching his sister and Draco Malfoy hand in hand in a remote area of the park hidden by trees.
He lost his appetite as he watched them kiss and tossed his cone away. He stood, ready to stalk over there and show Malfoy that he didn't mess with his family. As he stood he felt a hand on his arm.
"Ron wait, don't do it." Luna said matter of factly. She knew he was going to be like this. He had the trademark Weasley temper.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hex that greasy git away from my baby sister?" He huffed all of his words out, eager to get over there.
"I can give you more than that. Number one, she's not a baby anymore Ronald. She hasn't been for awhile, but you've just been too blind to see that. Number two, she's happy. Don't you want her happy more than anything else? And number three he's surprisingly good to her as hard as that is to believe." She spoke in an even pointed tone. She was right but she didn't know if he would listen to her.
Ron continued to mutter obscenities under his breath all through Luna's answer. "Wait, you knew about this? Well how long has it been then huh? Go on."
"Well she's confided in me since the middle of last year really. I don't know how long before that." She hoped that Ginny wouldn't be too terribly upset with her. She figured that if they wanted to be together then it would have to come out eventually.
Ron stared, stunned at Luna's revelation. He didn't know how they could have been getting on like that without him finding out. He slowly went back to his place on the bench, his face still flushed in anger.
Seeing that he was at a loss for words, Luna spoke for him, "We can go over there, but only if you promise to be civil," she continued to speak before he spoke his protests, "I don't mean go over and hug the man, I mean be civil. Otherwise Ronald Weasley, this date is over."
Ron stared back at the woman he was falling for with an open mouth. He had never heard such force in her voice before. It was almost scary. He sighed reluctantly and stood offering her his hand.
"I knew you'd see it my way," she said with a sing-song voice and placed a soft peck on his cheek.
*~*~*
Hermione inhaled sharply as she felt Harry lift her chin up. She gazed helplessly into his pools of emerald green. He ran his thumb gently along her bottom lip. She couldn't help it any longer, not caring about the consequences of their friendship and she leaned forward so their lips came together softly.
Hermione felt herself melt against his body. Tingles were shooting up and down her spine. When their lips parted, she warily opened her eyes to see what Harry had thought. Just as she opened them, she felt Harry's lips crash down on hers. This time a little more passionately.
Harry couldn't believe that he was lying on Hermione's bed snogging with her. He was so nervous at first but once she took the initiative and kissed him, he knew that there was no way he was going to ever stop doing it. He felt way too much for her.
The both broke their kiss as they each needed a breath. Their lips were swollen and faces flushed as the looked at each other.
"Wow…" they both whispered at the same time.
They both stifled a laugh when they realized that they had both said the same thing.
"Since when?" she asked shyly. Her curiosity for knowledge always got the better of her.
"At least since fifth year, maybe even longer…" he responded. "You?"
"Possibly since the day I met you, even if you were a prat," she grinned, playing slapping him on the chest.
"It was worth it wasn't it?" He grinned as if he had caused it all to happen.
"Most definitely." She agreed, and leaned forward pressing her lips against his knowing that her dreams were finally coming true.
Harry felt content as he kissed her, running a hand through her hair. A sense of dread panged in his insides however. He knew they'd have to talk about her new threat, but for now he just concentrated on the love of his life.
*~*~*
"Ron!" Ginny shouted as she stumbled to stand up and let go of Draco's hand. "Wha, what are you doing here?" She shot a worried look over to her blond haired friend who was smiling next to Ron.
"I was on a date, what are you doing?" Ron said looking from Ginny to Draco.
"We're enjoying each others company in the park Weasel." Draco said smugly.
"I can bloody see that." Ron grumbled as Luna took his hand in hers, trying to keep his raging anger in check.
"Quite a lovely evening for a date don't you think?" Luna chimed in trying to break the awkwardness.
Ginny just nodded her head. She was too afraid to speak for her voice might crack. She didn't like the look that she was getting from her brother. She knew that she should have just told her brother in the first place, yeah he would have been mad but at least he would have known.
"How long has, has this been going on?" Ron sputtered as he pointed to each of them.
"Since before summer holiday." Ginny said. "I know you're angry but honestly Ron, I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."
"So I've been told," Ron grumbled.
There was a long period of awkward silence with everyone glaring at each other, except for Luna who always has a happy look about her like she was actually enjoying herself.
"Gin, we should be going." Draco grabbed onto her arm and started to walk in the direction that Ron and Luna had just come from.
"Wait a minute. I have a wonderful idea." Ron smirked and paused for dramatic effect, looking directly into Draco's eyes. "You should come to the burrow tomorrow afternoon. We're having a welcome back party for Hermione. I'll tell Mum to expect you."
Draco's eyes went wide as he looked to Ginny with a pleading look to try and escape the party. He knew that he wouldn't fair too well in the Weasley household, especially with all her brothers and Harry in one place.
"So what will it be?" Ron said with a big grin coming across his face as he saw the instant fear in Draco's eyes.
"Draco, you would enjoy their company. Besides if you guys have been dating this long, I think it's time you broke the news to her parents." Luna stated.
"We'll be there," Draco grumbled as he pushed by Ron, dragging a now scared and worried Ginny with him.
Ron turned to watch them go with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"I think you just sent Draco to his death tomorrow," Luna stated as she softly swatted his arm.
"You think I don't know that? You don't think I actually want that ferret around do you? If I can't get rid of him, I know my family will." Ron grinned with an evil glint in his eye.
"Oh my little sneaky underhanded tactician," Luna replied and she turned to him standing on her toes to place a firm kiss on the lanky redhead's lips, taking him by surprise.
**A/N: Ah such a fun chapter. It took a little while to for us to figure out where this chapter was going, but we hope it turned out alright. We think it's about time our girls got what they wanted. Just a little update as far as the writing process is concerned, we have barely started chapter 11, which should be about Hermione's welcome back party so we're hoping to have it done by next Wednesday's update so please stick with us. We'd like to thank everyone who has been reading and reviewing. We never expected such a response to our little story. It really feels amazing.**