Advice for the Summer

Dear Hermione,

Hello! How is your summer? Mine is not very summer-like, as usual. Instead of relaxing, now is the time for me to be playing quidditch very hard! Hopefully we\'ll be able to play at the World Cup again, perhaps I can get you tickets then, yes? If not, then perhaps we can arrange for you to visit when I have spare time. Or I could come to England again? I would love to see you, Hermione. It seems with You-Know-Who back, you are very busy, which I guess I understand, as you are friends with Potter. Please write back soon anyway, let me know if we can arrange a time!

Truly,

- Viktor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione stared at the letter, her mouth drawn in a tight line. This was getting to be a problem. How to tell a guy you like him, but not in that way. Hm... Maybe Ron knows.

She craned her neck nearly backwards, looking up to the bed. \"Hey, Ron?\" They were in his room today, doing practically nothing again as the heat of summer rolled on. How horrible, I\'m starting to sweat already. It\'s not even noon!

\"Mmm?\" Mumbled Ron from his quidditch magazine. Hermione stood up, stretched, and flopped down next to him. She wormed her way underneath his arms, and leaned her head on his chest. \"Y\'know, I\'m trying to read here.\"

She grinned against his shirt and retorted, \"I\'m more important. I want to ask you a question.\"

He grunted and threw the magazine across his bedroom, frisbee style. \"Ask away then,\" he said with a sigh, as if he was being terribly burdened and imposed upon. Or extremely magnamimous, and how wonderful it is for him to take time from his busy schedule to answer her trivial question. She gritted her teeth a bit, thinking about this.

Just ask him, Hermione! \"Ah,\" she began, not quite sure how to phrase this. Ron got excited rather easily about things like this, and she didn\'t think he ever got over Viktor taking her to the Yule Ball. \"Well, you see, ah, it\'s like this. I got this letter from Viktor today, and,\"

That was about as far as she got before Ron interrupted with another grunt. \"And what\'s Viktor have to say, hm? Any more dealings with the dark arts? Any invitations and offers of romance?\" My, he\'s in a snide mood today.

\"Actually, yes, he did make mention of \'arranging some time together\'. What I\'m trying to ask you, if you\'ll stop getting in a snit about it, is how can I let him know that I\'m not interested? He\'s a great friend, Ron, I don\'t want to lose that.\"

Ron was quiet for a moment. He looked off to the side at his wall-- another Chudley Cannons poster. \"Well, it\'s not like I have much experience in this sorta thing, but I\'ve heard using that friendship line on a guy does nothing to help. You could always tell him you\'re dating me, not that he remembers.\" Hermione had the strong impression that Ron was doing an eyeroll out of her sight.

She gave a loud sigh and said, \"He remembers you. But he\'s not entirely fond of you. You did accuse him of practicing the dark arts, after all. And I believe you did again just now. Letting him know I\'m taken is one thing. But I don\'t think he\'d look on it too kindly if he knew I was dating you.\"

Her words were met with a \"Hmph\" and nothing else. Cheeky prat!

\"You know,\" started Hermione. \"I\'m not trying to say I\'m embarrassed about us. I\'m just trying to be cautious here!\"

Ron finally turned his head around and looked down at her. \"Can we talk about this later?\" He said with a slight whine in his voice. Is he really that bothered by all of this? He can\'t be that insecure about this, can he? I hate it when he avoids issues like this!

She felt his lips pressing against her forehead. Okay, later. She swung a leg over his hips, and pulled herself up, straddling his body.

\"Uh...\"

She leaned down, and before Ron could make any other noises, kissed him. Beneath, something throbbed against her. She grabbed his hand, like last time, and slid it under her shirt. Ahhh, there! ...How far are we going this time? Her mind started to panic. What was she doing?! Any one of Ron\'s family members could storm in without warning, catching an eyefull of herself with Ron\'s hand groping her! But didn\'t you want this? Didn\'t you read aaaaall about this? Didn\'t you stay up all last night thinking about what you would do if you two were alone again?

She was scared, but she felt a rush of exitement as well. It was a heady feeling; her mind felt clouded. A lust induced haze? \"Ron,\" she exhaled. \"We... Y\'know, ah, what if your mother or someone else catches us?\" She mumbled breathlessly.

Ron\'s face turned pink, but he chuckled. \"You do realize, you started this!\" he whispered. He didn\'t stop rubbing her body, though, his hands moving up and down from breasts to hips. \"And,\" he muttered. \"Neither of us want to stop, eh?\"

He had a point.

No, Hermione, be the responsible one!

At this point she decided to not be responsible for once, let something else take the blame (namely teenage hormones), and worry about things later. Sometimes it was good to indulge.

She slid sideways onto the bed, crushing her mouth against his. And then... Her mind couldn\'t stop thinking, thinking, always thinking! Despite her previous decision to no longer worry about responsibility, she was still worrying about responsibility. \"Ron,\" she said again, against his lips.

\"Mm?\"

\"I, we, well,\" said Hermione, trying to figure out what exactly she wanted to say. It wasn\'t working. Her hands were moving of their own volition along his side and chest, working downwards, down to... Oh my God, you\'re touching his--! Her rational mind was screaming in alarm, reacting to what her emotional parts weren\'t.

Ron\'s body tensed up almost immediately. \"Mione, what--?\"

She breathed slowly. \"I don\'t know,\" she hissed. He pulled his face away and stared at her, a mixed expression of shock and confusion in his features.

At that moment, a very loud and almost shrill voice called, \"Hermione and Ron! Come down for lunch!\"

They both breathed a collective sigh. \"Bloody hell,\" said Ron. \"Er, I guess, we should, yeah?\"

Hermione sat up and pulled her shirt down. \"Yeah,\" she said slowly. \"I guess we should.\"