Chapter 2: Pneumonia sucks!

I don't know how much time I passed in a daze, I vaguely remember coughing so much I couldn't speak. I remember sleepless nights when I heard someone begging me to be all right; to stay with them. I remember flashes of red hair, and the occasional glimpse of black, but the one flash of red hair I wanted to see so dearly I did not see at all. I remember one night when the fever got really bad, and I started shivering all over. I heard the unknown voice begging me to be okay, and eventually crying with emotion. I suddenly recognized the voice.

"Ron." I groaned weakly. It was now dawn, and I had enough light to see the red head shoot up and blue eyes fill with joy. "Hermione!" he said, and jumped forward to clasp my hands. I sat up weakly, ignoring his protests. "Have you been staying up at nights just to keep watch over me?" I asked, a weak smile beginning to tug at my lips. He colored, and mumbled, "Yes." I grinned with all the strength I had, and he smiled a little too.

Just then, Mrs. Weasley burst into he room in her bathrobe, causing Ron to jump back. "HERMIONE! YOU'RE ALL RIGHT! OH THANK GOODNESS, FOR A WHILE THERE, THINGS WEREN'T LOOKING SO GOOD." Said Mrs. Weasley, hugging me with enough strength to crack ribs. "Can't…breathe!" I gasped, and she jumped back, thoroughly abashed. All the rest of the Weasleys burst into the room, not excluding Harry. "Hermione! You're all right!" yelled Ginny, throwing herself at me and giving me a hug that rivaled her mother's. "Good to see you again, Hermione." Said Harry, his hair very messy from bed and pajamas still on.

Mr. Weasley let out a breath that he had been holding and smiled. George was even there, and he sniggered when he saw Ron. "Well, now. Since we're all up, let's get some breakfast, shall we?" said Mrs. Weasley, bustling them all out of the room. I was now alone in the room, but Harry and Ginny soon burst back in. "Was Ron in here last night?" asked Ginny, excitedly jumping up and down. Harry and I smiled at her antics, and I said, "Yes, he has been here every night, not just this one."

"Yes, I knew he didn't have it in him to stay away from you." She said, doing a VERY crazy happy dance. "What?" I asked, bewildered. "He hasn't visited you all this week, that we knew of. George reckoned that he was spending nights declaring his love for you and crying by your bedside! I guess I owe him that Galleon, then." Said Harry, grinning at the last part. I was very indignant, to say in the least. "Harry! How dare you bet on Ron with George! It's very rude." I finished, not noticing that Ron had also slipped into the room and was grinning at all that he had heard. Harry noticed him and burst out laughing, and was quickly followed be Ginny.

I squeaked and asked, "How much did you hear?" Ron's grin grew bigger. "Every single word." He said slowly, savoring each syllable. I was mortified, and I guess my face showed it, because Ron soon joined in laughing with Harry and Ginny. "It's not funny!" I said, looking down indignantly. "I beg to differ, my soon-to-be-sister. Now, Harry and I will leave you two lovebirds alone so that you can sort things out!" said Ginny, smirking at the blush that was creeping onto both of our cheeks. "Bye!" said Harry, waving happily as Ginny dragged him by his collar her out the door. I snorted at their antics, but colored again when I noticed that Ron and I were alone.

"I guess they're right, we should get this sorted out." I said, nervously motioning for Ron to take a seat next to me on my bed. He took the seat and asked so quickly that I almost didn't hear him, "Why-did-you-kiss-me-during-the-war?" I gave him a bemused look that clearly stated that either he was asking that for a joke, or he was just incredibly thick. "What? I thought you wanted to do this properly." He said, annoyed by the look I was giving him. I laughed for what seemed the first time in years, and even Ron cracked a smile. I then composed myself so that I could give Ron an answer without bursting into laughter.

"Well, Ronald," I started, already having trouble keeping a straight face. "It could have something to do with the well-known fact that I am in love with you." Ron grinned in delight, but it quickly left his face for a look of indignation when I fell over laughing. "It's not funny, Hermione!" he moaned, running his hand through his tousled hair. "Oh contraire, Ickle Ronnikins, it is the height of comedy!" I cackled, rolling on the floor with laughter. "I'm going to kill George for teaching you that one." Muttered Ron, than proceeded to grab me of the floor and pull me into a tight embrace.

My face was an inch from his, and I let out a strangled giggle. "Hermione! Keep a straight face will you?" he moaned again, as I reverted to my previous state of giggle fits. "Sorry, Ron. I'll try to contain myself." I said, struggling to keep my face straight. "What I was going to say until I was so rudely interrupted," said Ron, rolling his eyes as I burst into another fit of giggles. "was that I love you, Hermione Jean Granger, and I always will." He than kissed me straight on the lips, and my giggling was ended rather abruptly.

The door suddenly burst open, and there was a bright flash of light, quickly followed by the cries of, "MUM! LOOK WHAT I CAUGHT ICKLE RONNIKINS AND HIS NEW GIRLFRIEND DOING!" Ron and I broke apart, and Ron was running after George screaming bloody murder (literally) before I could even get a word in edgewise. I ran out the door and in the direction that they had gone. I saw Harry and Ginny rolling on the floor in fits of laughter out of the corner of my eye as I raced past and rolled my eyes.

I found them in the living room fighting over a photograph and making everyone look on amusedly. I leaned against the top of the rather rickety staircase and crossed my arms with an amused look on my face as I watched them fight. "GIVE IT BACK, GEORGE! IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" roared Ron, making a lunge at him from across the coffee table. "On the contrary, Ickle Ronnikins, I think that everyone here has a right to know about your escapades with Hermione!" cried George with glee, dodging him and making magical copies of the photograph while throwing them about the room. It suddenly occurred to me that Mrs. Weasley was outside with the wash and the Ron was making a desperate attempt to save his dignity.

Harry and Ginny had followed me and were now laughing as hard as I was. With the combined noise, George and Ron finally noticed us. Ron whirled around and pointed at us accusingly. "See what you've done George! You've turned them against me!" he said, glaring at me. Bit my lip and giggled a bit, but then burst back into laughter. Ron rolled his eyes and turned back to see that George had handed Mr. Weasley a photo. Ron and I held our breath, but Mr. Weasley just shrugged as he put it back down, and said, "Oh well, I suppose it was going to happen sometime or another. Just don't do anything rash."

"Okay, dad." Said Ron, than gave George the evil eye. George held up his hands in mock surrender, and said, "What? His reaction wasn't all that bad! Wait 'till mum gets wind of it, than you'll have something to be sorry about." Ron's eyes widened, and he said, "You wouldn't dare." George grinned raucously and winked. "GEORGE! COME BACK HERE YOU GIT!" Ron yelled, while jumping over the table after the fast-retreating George.

Percy had come down to see what all the noise was about, and picked up one of the pictures. He looked up curiously at me, then shrugged and moved on to sit next to Mr. Weasley. Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny had recovered from their laughing fits and were now looking at me with bemused expressions on their faces. I rolled my eyes, sighed, then went back upstairs to dress properly. When I got out of the shower, I was still horrified at my appearance. I had a rather large scar across my forehead that hadn't quite healed yet, and my eyes had massive bags under them. I dragged my wand across the scar and watched as it disappeared right in front of my eyes. I did the same thing with the bags under my eyes, then sighed; finally satisfied with my appearance.

I magically dried my hair and threw on some jeans and a T-shirt. When I got down, I saw that Mrs. Weasley was brining out breakfast, so I went to help her. Once we had the table set, all of the rest of the household instantly appeared. I watched in amusement as Ginny slipped into the chair next to me and Harry pushed Ron out of the chair directly across from her and sitting there himself. They fought over it for a minute, but Ron realized that Harry's vacated chair was facing me, so he cleared his throat in discomfort and sat down without further fuss. I heard Ginny and George snort and start to giggle when Ron's face started going red with embarrassment. Harry started chuckling and even I couldn't hold back a giggle.

After a few seconds of this the level of amusement heightened when Ron pulled at his collar and went completely red as Mrs. Weasley gave him an odd look. I couldn't help it, so I started laughing hysterically and was quickly followed by Harry, Ginny and George. Mrs. Weasley was now looking at us as though we had suddenly sprouted an extra arm from our foreheads, and said shrilly, "Has everyone gone mad?" This caused me to fall over, and the rest of the table to give in to the laughter. "Would someone care to tell me what is going on?" she asked, looking more bewildered by the minute. George opened his mouth, but Ron quickly slapped his hand over it before he could even emit a squeak and said, "I'll tell you later, mum. Just one of George's jokes."

Ginny finally took pity on me, and helped me up, although she too was still laughing. Ron caught my eye, and I couldn't hold back a sort of convulsive giggle, and he rolled his eyes. Halfway through breakfast, I started swinging my feet under the table, and my foot caught one of Ron's. I saw Ron smirk out of the corner of my eyes, as he put his foot over mine, causing me to blush. We kept knocking our feet into each other throughout the remainder of breakfast, and I couldn't hold back a large smile.

After breakfast, Mrs. Weasley asked if Ron and I could go De-gnome the garden, and we agreed, never knowing her nefarious plan. Halfway through De-gnoming the garden, a gnome that I had held for a little too long bit my finger, drawing blood. "OUCH!" I yelled, and threw it as far as I could. Ron immediately looked up and asked, "Are you all right? Do you need mum to take a look at it?" "It's just a gnome bite, Ronald, honestly, I've been bitten by them before." I said, playfully trying not to laugh at the expression of concern on his face.

"I was only asking." He said, coloring a little and turning back to work. I grinned and walked over to him, giving him a small peck on the cheek. "Thank you for your concern, Ron." I said, laughing lightly at the blush that was creeping it's way across his neck. "Oh, you're going to pay for that." He said, getting up and grabbing my waist while spinning me around. "HEY!" I said, still laughing while he started to tickle me. Just then we heard the front door open, and Ron put me down hurriedly while I tried to stop laughing. Mrs. Weasley stepped out with a look of triumph on her face.

"Aha, I knew it! I knew George wouldn't have broken his own camera! Well, carry on then, don't mind little old me." She said, her plans complete. She then turned around and went back inside, closing the door after her. Ron and I looked at each other, bewildered, before we heard hysteric laughter coming from the window nearest too us. George leaned his head out the open window and yelled, "The game's up, Ickle Ronnikins! Mum finally got wind of your new girlfriend thanks to yours truly! That will warn you not to break my camera next time!" At this, Ron made a very rude gesture, and I started to back away before Ron could remember what we were doing before.

It's not that I didn't mind, in fact I tough it was brilliant, but I didn't want to give Ron the feeling of satisfaction when he won. Ron had just finished mouthing a string of particularly nasty swear words, with George mouthing back even worse ones, when he noticed that I was gone. He turned around and finally caught sight of me, and almost yelled, "Oh no, you're not getting out of punishment that easily, Hermione!" As Ron chased me around the front yard (and eventually caught me, thanks to his height) I heard everyone laughing at us and having a fun time teasing Ron from the window.

As I was caught by Ron, I knew that there was no other place I would rather be in the world, and I had finally gotten the home I wanted. The only thing to do now was find my parents. I stopped running from Ron and gasped, "Bloody h*ll, my parents! I forgot them!" Ron, who had not gotten the memo, apparently, had not stopped running and now bowled me over, causing me to be flattened on the grass. My breath caught as I looked into his infinitely blue eyes, which were once more cheery, and he said, "Can't we do that tomorrow?" I definitely agreed, and was duly rewarded for my compliance. Ahh, now that was the life! I wanted to stay that way forever, but I decided that tomorrow would be a new day, and more time with Ron.