We see a cocky and arrogant side to Ron on this one," says Rupert Grint about the awkward but lovable carrottop he plays. "He's on the Quidditch team [as starting goalkeeper], he's got a girlfriend, and he thinks he's quite cool." On the flipside, "at times he can be a bit cocky and he annoys Hermione quite a bit," Grint adds. Says director David Yates: "There's a sort of middle-aged quality that develops in the character, which is incredibly frustrating and irritating but very charming at the same time."

Yates says the story "deals with the politics of romance." Ron must balance the affections of Lavender Brown ("Lavender's completely crazy," says Grint) with his long-gestating liaison with Hermione (Emma Watson). "I think Hermione's beginning to acknowledge the fact that she has feelings for him, which she's never done," says Watson. "She's always been in denial." Adds Grint, "All the stuff with Lavender makes her go a bit crazy."

"The whole thing with Harry and Ginny is quite confusing for Ron, because he's quite protective," Grint says. But one scene featuring the three, where Ron obliviously plonks himself down between the two lovebirds, should be good for DVD bloopers: "I have this real problem with laughing through a take and that scene was quite hard," Grint says. As for the hanky panky between Harry and Ginny, "It's very odd because I've known Bonnie since she was about 9," Radcliffe says. Wright agrees, sort of. "It is strange, but also it's more comfortable with someone you know rather than just a random person."

"There's so much kissing going on in this book!" Watson says. And fans aren't the only ones who get excited by the Hogwarts smooch fests. Radcliffe admits he was disappointed he missed the kiss between Ron and Lavender, "Just 'cause I thought it'd be pretty funny."

According to Matthew Lewis, who plays Neville Longbottom, kissing scenes are usually shot on closed sets, "so no one can go in and start laughing in the background," but Ron and Lavender's kiss was filmed in front of most of the cast. The reserved Grint describes the scene's filming as "quite embarrassing," but says, "I had a room full of people cheering." Well, he must be doing something right.

The relationship between me and Michael really built up over that time," Radcliffe says, adding that the two have similar senses of humor. "When you know that you're both going to have to work together very closely doing very difficult stuff, you really need to very, very quickly find something that you can bond over."

"[Harry's] want -- or his need -- in this film is basically to kill Voldemort, and he realizes that the way in which he'll do this is to become Dumbledore's favorite foot soldier," Radcliffe says. "That's the role you'll see him gradually moving toward in this film."

Says Radcliffe when asked if the relationship between Harry and Slughorn will be as strained on screen as in the books: "I think Harry ultimately likes Slughorn. I think he thinks he's a very good person and his heart is in the right place, but he's just very opportunistic and totally self-obsessed."

"I wanted to get Quidditch in the last film but we were so overstuffed with things that it was really hard," explains Yates, adding that the fun gaming sequence in 'Prince' is "kind of comedy Quidditch."

Not everyone on set was thrilled about the sport's heralded return though -- or at least shooting it. "I have to say it was bit of an anticlimax," says Grint. "I really sort of built it up and thought it would be great fun even though [Daniel Radcliffe] said it was painful. He was definitely right. It's not the nicest experience." Their director feels their pain: "[Brooms] aren't the most seat-friendly contraptions."

"It's really nice to take him to a higher level, rather than just being an annoying git at the back of the classroom," Felton says. "It's really nice that he's grown, he was quite a two-dimensional character in the previous films." He's also got a girlfriend in this installment, Pansy Parkinson (Scarlett Byrne). Felton's favorite scene this go-around? "To be able to stand on [Harry's] nose has been a lifelong dream."