A/N: None of these characters belong to me. I’m just playing with them while their rightful owners are asleep. I’ll put them back in the box when I’m done, I promise!

I know there are a lot of these “Ron and Hermione fall in lurve at the Burrow” fics around at the moment. I didn’t pinch ideas from any of them. I suppose some might consider this unoriginal because there are others with the same premise, but you’ll have to take that up with my muse.

Any and all feedback is gratefully accepted. Flames will be used to toast marshmallows.

*

It was in the Summer Break after their fourth year at Hogwarts that Harry and Ron began to notice a change in Hermione. Her appearance at the Yule Ball had come as a (not entirely unpleasant) surprise, but her behaviour after that fateful evening had settled into their usual patterns: arguing with Ron, hassling he and Harry about study, yelling at them for swearing and, when it all got too hectic in the common room, charging off to the library to get some of her own work done. On one occasion, Ron had been unwise enough to suggest that, since Hermione felt such an unnatural kinship with Madam Pince, she might consider becoming a librarian herself. He was rewarded for this kind vocational advice with a slap, and a rather cutting remark about his own occupational prospects. Harry was wise enough to stay well out of it.

But when Hermione arrived at The Burrow, after less than a month's separation, things were quite different. Her hair, for instance, was shorter - just past her shoulders – and now a mass of wild curls.

The clothing Hermione wore at the Burrow was, if anything, more casual than they were accustomed to seeing her wear at Hogwarts - in anticipation of being in a house with Fred and George, and also of the frequently rough-and-tumble activities there, she had packed mostly jeans and shirts, the same sort of clothing she had selected when visiting her Uncle's farm the previous week.

This new, relaxed Hermione looked great. Ginny wondered, as she excitedly hugged her friend, what had happened in the previous month, to make her so... confident. Ginny made a mental note to ask her. She knew that she could use a little more confidence herself.

"Hi, Hermione," Harry greeted her. "You look great!" Hermione smiled, while Ron could only look on, agape, vaguely resentful of Harry's ability to talk like a normal person. This expression cannot have been entirely unsatisfactory, as Hermione smiled shyly.

Ginny broke the now awkward silence. "Come on. Let's get your stuff upstairs." Ron looked distinctly relieved to escape the situation, and chivalrously volunteered to carry the aforementioned trunk. As Hermione followed him up the stairs, she couldn't help but admire the musculature Ron seemed to have developed. It couldn't have happened overnight, Hermione reasoned, more likely it had been happening all year, but the Hogwarts robes were scarcely designed to emphasise such things.

"Oof!" Ron grunted as he set the trunk down. There didn't seem to be much space for it, as another bed had been jammed into Ginny's tiny room.

"What do you have in there?"

"Books, mostly," Hermione admitted with a smile.

"I should've guessed, really. Well, that's that," and Ron left Hermione and Ginny to become reacquainted.

*

The following morning, Hermione awoke early and decided to have a quick shower before the Weasleys woke up and she'd have to compete for it. Gathering her wash-bag, towel and a change of clothes, Hermione set off to find the bathroom, walking softly on the outsides of the steps to avoid squeaking.

The shower left her feeling happy and refreshed, and as she dried off, Hermione reflected on the events of the previous year. So much had changed, and yet so little, she thought as she dusted her body with talcum powder.

At that moment, her reverie was interrupted with a *click* as the door opened. Hermione yelped and reached for her towel, as Ron progressed from wide-eyed shock to covering his eyes and rambling.

"I'm so sorry Hermione, I didn't think anyone was in here," he moaned.

"GET OUT!" Hermione shrieked. Had Ron been able to see her, he might have noticed that somewhere amongst the anger on her face, there was also amusement. But Ron was still blindfolded with his own hand as he backed out of the Burrow's surprisingly spacious bathroom.