The Burrow was, as always, full to the brim. People were bustling around, often bumping into each other, giving jovial apologies, and wandering on their ways.

All the Weasley children were there, along with Harry, Hermione, Neville and various new wives and children. Bill and Fleur were around with their two daughters somewhere, as were Charlie and his new wife and son.

In the midst of all the madness, Ginny and Ron were trying to move out to their new flats. Ginny and Hermione would be sharing a flat that was coincidentally a floor above Ron, Harry, and Neville's new flat.

"Ron, you can't just throw things in a box like that!" Hermione chided, watching Ron pack. He was picking up things from around his room, quidditch artifacts, pictures in frames, clothes, and a book every now and then, and randomly throwing them into the nearest box.

"Why not?" he asked, grabbing a pile of old sweaters and dumping them into a box.

"You have to be more organized! You'll never be able to move in correctly if you pack like this!" she cried, running to a box and re- packing it. Harry, who was lying on Ron's bed playing with a snitch, chuckled.

"Hermione, he's not organized now. What makes you think he'll want to be organized there?"

"Well, fine," she huffed. "You can pack like this and your new room will be a sty. I'm sure you'll be perfectly comfortable."

"I'm sure I will," Ron muttered, poking at an unidentified green blob that had been hidden in a corner of his room.

Hermione sniffed disdainfully. "I'm going to go check on Ginny and Neville. I'll be back in a minute."

Hermione left the boys to what they were doing and wandered down the hall to Ginny's room.

"Ginny?" she called, softly knocking on Ginny's bedroom door. Hearing giggles form inside, Hermione cautiously pushed the door open. What she saw made her giggle as well, and she covered her mouth so she wouldn't be noticed.

Neville seemed to be trying really hard to pack, but because Ginny kept hitting him with a pillow, it wasn't going too well.

"Gin, could you hand me that—" She whacked him with her pillow. "OK, I'll just get it myself." He began to stand but Ginny grabbed onto his hand and wouldn't let him. He sat back down and looked at her expectantly. She hit him with the pillow.

Hermione decided to leave the two alone and slowly shut the door. She turned around and headed back up to Ron's room.

She was glad that Ginny and Neville had been busy. If they hadn't been, they would have both been bugging her to talk to Ron. They had both uncovered her feelings long ago, and had been bothering her a lot lately to tell Ron how she felt.

What they didn't know was that she'd tried. She'd tried so many times! But every time, she tripped over her words or was interrupted. She could plan, staying late into the night, how she would tell him; but when the time came, she would shut down.

Lost in thought, Hermione wasn't watching where she was going. She suddenly bumped into something very solid. She looked up and saw none other than Ron looking down at her.

"Oh, Ron, I'm so sorry!" she said, turning red. Ron also turned quite red. He avoided looking in her eyes.

"No, um, it's ok. I was just going to get something to eat..."

"Ok, well...I'm going to go ahead up to your room with Harry..." she trailed off. They awkwardly maneuvered around each other and continued on their separate ways.

Hermione sighed as she opened the door to Ron's room. She'd never be able to tell him and she knew it.

Harry was still lying on Ron's bed, playing with the snitch. He didn't look up when Hermione walked in.

"Did you find her?" He looked up. "Oh, hey Hermione. Ron was just looking for you."

"He was? Well, I guess he changed his mind. He went to get something to eat."

"Oh. Well, he thinks there's a boggart in that trunk over there." He nodded at a trunk in the corner. "He was coming to ask for your help, but I guess it's just you and me now." He stood and joined Hermione in the corner. He gave her a sideways look. "Ready?"

Hermione tried to think of her greatest fear. For a long time, it had been going home to find the Dark Mark over her home. The fear of that had been greatly reduced since Voldemort's demise, but there were still Death Eaters loose. She imagined the Dark Mark being turned into a neon pink 'Happy Birthday' sign and nodded.

Harry stepped forward and magically opened the trunk. A dementor stepped out of the trunk and advanced slowly towards Harry. Harry, looking quite bored, waved his wand, saying "Riddikulus."

The dementor's hood suddenly fell, exposing a skinny, white poodle's head sticking out of the cloak. Harry gave a short bark of laughter. The dementor hesitated, then turned to face Hermione.

A small popped sounded and then, standing in front of Hermione was Ron. Totally unprepared, Hermione racked her brain to find a way to make Ron look funny. While she was thinking, Ron walked up to her.

"Hermione, I'm sorry. I don't think of you like that. And now, knowing your feelings, I don't think we should be friends anymore. I'm sorry."

Hermione gasped and backed away, falling onto Ron's bed. That was her worst fear? And Harry had just seen. Oh, Lord. Well, at least Ron wasn't there.

But he was. Ron quickly walked into the room. The dementor quickly popped into a giant spider. "Riddikulus!" Ron shouted. The spider's legs fell off, and he quickly exploded into wisps of smoke.

He turned to Hermione. She felt her eyes widen, and she quickly turned away. This was not how she'd wanted Ron to find out.

"I'll...I'll just be leaving, then," Harry said, shuffling towards the door.

"Me too," Hermione said, quickly standing and following Harry.

"No, Hermione, wait," Ron called before she could leave.

Harry smiled apologetically and closed the door. Hermione stayed by the door. She refused to move; she refused to turn around.

"Hermione," Ron said softly. Hermione was surprised at his nearness.

"Hermione, you don't need to be afraid." He grabbed her hand and turned her around. "Your boggart couldn't have been more wrong." He smiled down at her.

"Really? You mean...?"

He turned a bit red and nodded.

She jumped up and hugged him tightly around the neck. Grinning into his shoulder, she couldn't have been happier.