A/N: This is going to be a missing moments Ron/Hermione story from SS to DH. Now I know what all of you are thinking ("Not Again!" "What ever happened to creativity!" "I've read about 50 of these!") But please, hold out for me! I'm re-reading the series for the up-tenth time, and I really felt the need to create my own version of the missing bits that add up to what makes Ron and Hermione, well, Ron and Hermione. I am trying to avoid moments that have been done numerous times, but bear with me if you have to endure my versions of some of them... they're too good to pass up writing!

I'm am going to try my best and update this once a week, but I'm doing them as I come across the moments in the books, not to mention that I start school in a week, so I can only do my best when life gets in the way. I have no set amounts of moments for each book, it's just whatever I come across that I want to write!

The title for the story comes from the chorus of the Alan Jackson song "There Goes" because I am completely not creative when it comes to titles, and I am rather fond of the song: "But there goes your paralyzing eyes; There goes your tantalizing smile; There goes my act of playing it cool; And there go the words I meant to say; There go the games I wanted to play; There goes my heart, falling for you"

So without further ado, enjoy the first chapter, set during chapter 13 "Nicholas Flamel" of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

DISCLAIMER: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and his world. Alan Jackson and his people own "There Goes" I just hopelessly admire their work and dabble.

Chapter One- Protecting Harry.

"Come on, Hermione, just one game."

"We both know you'll win, so what's the point?" Hermione said sourly.

Ron shrugged. "Practice. You can't get better at it if you never play. Besides, what else have you got to do?"

"Study, Ron! Exams are only weeks away. Aren't you at least slightly worried about them?"

"No," said Ron simply. Hermione huffed at him before returning to her Transfiguration book, which was spread out against the arm of her chair while she copied its information onto the stack of notecards in her lap.

Ron sighed and slumped back into his own armchair next to Hermione's, near the Common Room fire. Harry had left the pair of them for Quidditch practice, and ever since Hermione had buried herself in her work and left Ron to hopelessly try and convince her to play a game of chess. Harry would have played with me, he thought bitterly, missing his best friend even more by the second.

The morning after they'd saved her from the troll, Hermione had sat across from them at breakfast, and he and Harry had included her in their conversation. As though it was some unspoken agreement, from that point on Hermione tagged along with them, and they'd become a sort of trio. Friends. Admittedly, she'd gotten a lot better since the day they'd all first met on the Hogwarts Express. Now that she'd broken the rules once, by covering for him and Harry, she seemed a little less concerned about doing it again... and a relaxed Hermione was a fun Hermione.

Unfortunately, it seemed like whenever Harry was gone, things grew more awkward between she and him. As soon as Harry had left today, they'd grown quiet and stared at each other blankly for few moments before Hermione had muttered something about homework and pulled over her school bag. It was like they couldn't even talk to one another without Harry there between them. Ron was beginning to wonder if she was perhaps still secretly mad at him for what he'd said on Halloween. Maybe she didn't really like him at all, and only put up with him because she wanted to be friends with Harry. He gulped. Surely that wasn't it?

As this new panic set in he tried vainly to get her to turn her attention away from her schoolwork, once again. "I think I know what it is," he said hotly, in a last ditch attempt, "You just can't stand the thought of losing at something. You don't want to play chess because you know I'm better at it than you, and hate being anything less than perfect all of the bloody time."

Hermione's cheeks flushed and she finally looked up from her book to glare at him. "That is not true Ron."

But from the color still on her face Ron could tell that what he'd said was really quite correct, and she couldn't stand him for it. He locked his eyes on hers and they sat there mutually glaring at each other until Hermione finally spoke. "Pull out the board then," She said with a groan, gathering up her notes and shoving them into her bag. Ron felt like punching the air with joy as he set up the pieces.

Five minutes into the game, Hermione had already lost several of her black pieces, and Ron was only down a couple of pawns. "How did you get so good at this?" She asked as he took one of her knights.

Ron looked up at her. She seemed genuinely curious. "My brother Charlie taught me. I've always done well at it."

"Oh," Hermione replied, moving her piece to take his castle. How had he not seen that? It was all her fault for talking when he was trying to concentrate!

A few silent moves later, however, and he was back in the lead. "Don't worry, i'm sure you'll get better eventually," he grinned jokingly. She shook her head.

"Haha," she said flatly, but even she was smiling a bit. They were having fun, the two of them! She can't possibly hate me after all...

Ron stopped intently planning out his next move to address that still nagging thought. "You aren't still upset with me about Halloween, are you?"

Hermione's brown eyes widened and she shook her head furiously, her bush of hair moving along in the same motion. "What would make you think that?"

"I don't know," Ron said quickly, not wanting to reveal the real reason, that he knew she liked Harry more than him.

"How could I possibly be still be mad at you? I mean, that troll would have probably killed me if it hadn't been for you. Your wingardium leviosa charm was brilliant, and you even finally managed to pronounce it right!" She smiled at him knowingly.

"But you never would have been in there with the troll if I hadn't said that thing about the amount of friends you have," Ron pointed out stubbornly, trying to keep from grinning at her compliment. Did she really think that about him?"

"But if I you hadn't said that and I hadn't been caught by the troll I would probably still have no friends. It turned out to be a good thing for me, really."

This time he really grinned.

"It's still your turn," Hermione said eventually, motioning towards the board.

"Right." He tried to refocus and assess the board. It was a lot more difficult after Hermione had said those things about him. She actually cared about him after all, at least a little. Just as he was about to take her second knight, Harry staggered back into the common room, and took the seat next to him. "Don't talk to me for a moment. I need to concen-" Ron stopped abruptly when he caught sight of his friend's face, which looked as if it had just gotten hit with the troll's club. "What's the matter with you? You look terrible." *

It didn't take long for Harry to tell them... Snape was referring the next Quidditch match. Ron and Hermione locked eyes, seemingly thinking the same thing: this could not be good.

"Pay attention, Ron!" Hermione snapped, staring over at the redheaded boy, who just happened to be making multi-colored sparks erupt through the air.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Ron replied, not really sounding sorry at all. Nevertheless he decided to amuse her by lowering his wand and having another look at the open textbook laid out on one of the desks. Hermione had run off to the library to find the brown-leather covered volume, and the two were currently following its instructions on performing the Leg-Locker Curse in an empty classroom.

After Harry had told them he still planned to participate in the match refereed by Snape, Hermione had insisted they secretly try and learn a curse to cast on the Professor if he tried to pull another stunt on Harry, like bewitching his broom again. Ron had suggested the Leg-Locker Curse immediately, remembering Neville hopping through the portrait hole after Malfoy had cast the incantation on him. Their mutual need to protect Harry had kept Ron and Hermione from enjoying their free periods on more than one occasion, as they practiced the jinx whenever it was possible without being discovered.

"Try it again then," Hermione's voice boomed out from behind him. Ron's head shot up from the book and he turned to face her, raising his wand once more. He cast the spell loudly, and managed to get it completely right for the very first time, as Hermione's legs sprung together and she fell back with a thud onto the cushions she'd accioed in earlier, unable to keep her balance. Ron quickly hurried over to her to perform the counter curse and saw that she was smiling broadly at him.

"Well done, Ron! At this rate we'll be able to really catch Snape off guard he tries to start something. Alright, let me have another go." She pulled herself from the floor and drew her wand, pointing it at Ron. She was equally successful at the curse, but Ron managed to miss the pile of cushions and fell painfully into a desk on his way down. "Are you alright?" Hermione screeched fearfully, running over to unlock his legs and help him up again. He scowled and rubbed his back, which he could feel bruising already, in response.

"Maybe we should stop for the day Hermione. The match is only a half hour away, we should head down to the pitch to get seats. Besides, we've already gotten the spell completely memorized! Snape won't know what hit him."

"I suppose you're right. I still can't believe a teacher could be so cruel! I wish we knew who Flamel was, then we'd be one step closer to getting Snape sacked. He's just so horrible."

Ron looked at her, impressed. Although she had finally accepted that Snape was after whatever it was the three-headed dog was guarding, Hermione still rarely let on how much of a prat he was, at least compared to him and Harry's constant criticisms about the Potion's master. Hermione is really too kind for her own good, he thought.

"We'll-well actually it will probably just be you-will find out who he is eventually. You have to have read ninety percent of the library by now."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she gathered up the cushions in the corner of the deserted classroom and packed away the book that had taught them the Leg-Locker Curse. "Thanks for that Ron, what a compliment."

"No problem." He opened the classroom and motioned for her to exit, following out after her. From behind, he couldn't see the hint of a smiling lighting up Hermione's face as she shook her head at him, one of her best friends.

*quote taken from page 217 of the USA edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

A/N- Until next week, thanks for reading! Please take the time to review, I would really appreciate any tips/thoughts/comments/questions you have to offer. Also, I would like to apologize for my highly minimal knowledge of chess. Sorry about that.