The Dream:

"Ron! Hurry up! Harry and Hermione will be here soon!" Ron Weasley sat up in his bed at the sound of his mother's voice. He blinked around at his violently orange room. He yawned wondering why his mother was waking him when he suddenly remembered. He dressed quickly, eager to see his friends. He was just pulling on his socks when he remembered the dream he'd had the night before.

He had been on top of the Astronomy tower when he heard a girl scream. He ran over towards the voice and found Hermione slipping from the roof. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to safety, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Oh, Ron, I was so scared!" She sobbed into his chest.

"It's okay, 'Mione," He answered, running his hand over her back. "I've got you now," And with that he cupped her chin in his hand and kissed her softly.

He made his way downstairs, scoffing. That was absurd... He didn't want to kiss Hermione. And why were they on top of the tower at night? Besides, he definitely did not want to kiss Hermione. He shook his head. Nope. No way. He told himself. It was just a stupid dream.

He reached the bottom step and ambled into the kitchen and there was Hermione herself, being hugged by Mrs. Weasley. Ron smiled at them from the doorway. "Hi, Hermione."

She turned and beamed at Ron. She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. "It's so good to see you! Thank you for having us."

He felt the heat creep up his neck to his ears and he patted her back awkwardly. "It's good to see you too, Hermione. And it's no problem."

Harry, having escaped Mrs. Weasley's hugs and kisses, walked over to the pair. "Hey, mate. Good to see you," Ron said, putting out his hand.

Harry smiled slightly and shook Ron's hand. "Good to see you too, Ron."

Ron could tell that Harry was still upset over the death of his godfather, Sirius, earlier that summer. He didn't like the thought of his best mate alone in that house with those awful muggles, reliving the death of his godfather all summer.

Soon, Hermione began jabbering about school and exams, asking if the boys had done their holiday work yet because of course she'd done it ages ago. Ron felt more relaxed to hear Hermione sounding so normal. He hoped that she would nag them so much that Harry wouldn't find the time to think about Sirius. When she finally paused for a breath, Ron jumped in. "Let's go put your stuff upstairs and then we'll have a chat with Ginny."

He dragged Hermione's trunk to the stairs, Harry following him with his own trunk, Hedwig's empty cage under his arm. The three trooped upstairs to Ron's room which Harry would, as usual, be sharing with him. Harry set his trunk at the foot of the extra bed, and put the empty cage next to Ron's quite full one. Pig hooted happily from inside, flapping his small wings against the cage. Ron rolled his eyes and threw his old dress robes over the cage before walking back out of the room, beckoning the others to follow.

They walked back down a flight of stairs to Ginny's room, Ron and Harry keeping up a steady flow of Quidditch talk, much to the dismay of Hermione.

Ron knocked on her open door and Ginny looked up from the piece of parchment she was scrawling on. "Hey, Gin. What're you doing?" He asked craning his neck to see the parchment better.

"None of your business," She replied curtly.

"I see...writing to Dean, are we?" Ron growled.

She sighed. "If you must know, yes." Ron's face turned sour.

"He's too old for you, Ginny,"

Ginny stood up, outraged, ready to reply when Hermione stepped in.

"I think it's cute," She interjected. "They really like each other. Besides, it's normal for girls her age to have boyfriends." She said, smiling at the younger witch. Ginny beamed back.

"You don't have a boyfriend and you're a year older than her." Ron retorted coldly. The moment the words left his mouth he bit his tongue. Hermione glared at him, and turned to leave the room, and as she did Ron saw tears in her eyes.

"Good job," Harry said. "It's been only five minutes and you've already managed to make her cry." He clapped him on the shoulder. "I think you've set a new record."

"It's not funny, Harry...I didn't mean it...it just sort of came out." Ron said, looking down at his rather large feet.

"Ron," Ginny sighed. "When are you going to grow up?" She stormed out of the room.