For slavetothepen's contest. Never thought I would write a Ron/Hermione romance fiction. I'm not even goo-goo for them. But whatever, I thought it went along nicely.

Enjoy!


He couldn't believe it. He just could not believe it.

Hermione had kissed the wrong Ron.

Sure, they did look nearly identical, but that was no excuse!

Wasn't it bad enough that they were in a different dimension, parallel universe, whatever?

They'd all had a long, long day. Harry had almost gotten himself killed… again. He had decided to go all hero and crash Lord Vo- Well, the Serpent King's, party? Though Ron couldn't really call it a party, seeing as it was a slave auction, but nevertheless. He had Apparated right up next to the dictator of this world and Apparated away, quick as a… well, a snake.

Harry was raving mad.

But… bloody brilliant.

With the next Horcrux safely stored under Dumbledore's watchful eye, Ron was starting to think things were finally getting a bit simpler.

Things, unfortunately, were never simple.

Ron faintly remembered a time, back at Hogwarts. It was after a great Quidditch match. He felt like he was the king of the world, untouchable. That girl - he couldn't even remember her name - had been eyeing him all night.

Yeah, they snogged - they snogged a lot. But she was the one who kissed him first.

Later, when he found Hermione crying, just sobbing, with Harry at her side for comfort… and then she sicked a swarm of enchanted birds at him… well, he just felt terrible. And still did to this day.

But he had let that girl pull him along, up the stairs, away from his friends. Off for more snogging.

Now, he was getting a taste of his own medicine. And it hurt.

And this wasn't even a real kiss. Just a cheek peck.

But still, a kiss on the cheek of the wrong Ron.

Hermione was obviously partially lost in her own little world. He wasn't even looking up as she muttered a soft thank you to the other Ron.

Ron almost lost it right then and there. "Oi!" He said, suppressing the urge to punch the bloody light out of his other self. He looked at Hermione with a strange mixture of rage and sadness. "Hermione!"

"Oh my goodness!" Hermione was blushing almost as red as Ron's hair. "I am so sorry! I wasn't thinking…"

Ron could see that 'other world' of hers fade out of her brilliant eyes. Why, Hermione? He wanted to shout. WHY? Ron sputtered, trying to form a sane sentence. "Now that I don't believe," he muttered gruffly. "I can get away with that excuse, but you're always thinking, Hermione."

Ron glared at his darker, scruffier looking twin. The other Ron seemed lost, unsure what to do.

Harry stood up. Having witnessed the whole thing, he decided to break the thick tension. "Hey Hermione," he said with a small laugh, "just because they're both Ron Weasley doesn't mean you can have them both!"

The members of the Order laughed as well. It was enough to quell the inner battle going on between the two Rons.

Hermione took her Ron by the hand as she led him down the hall.

Ro was still fuming. Did I do something wrong? Am I replaceable? Doesn't she love me? What just happened?

Ron looked at the back of her bushy head numbly, too wrapped up in his internal conflict to notice she was speaking.

"…am so sorry."

Ron shook his head a little, finally looking Hermione in the eyes.

"I really didn't mean to…" She put her hand gently on his shoulder. "I really did think it was you that opened the door for me…"

Though her apology seemed sincere, Ron wasn't ready to accept it. You could blame his stubbornness for that.

"So the fact he hardly resembles me didn't faze you?" Run huffed. "You didn't notice the stubble he has that I don't or the fact that his hair nearly reaches his shoulders or that he has a nasty scar across his nose?" He had crossed his arms, trying to both console himself and keep up his angry face. Ron knew he wouldn't be able to stay mad at Hermione; he never could. "Is the red hair all that catches your fancy?" he spat.

Hermione looked to the side, a bit ashamed. "You're right Ron, I wasn't thinking."

Wow, never thought I'd hear her say that.

"Or rather," she continued, "I was thinking too much. You know how I get when I'm thinking too hard on something, the world could burst into song and I wouldn't notice." She looked up at him, "And if the red hair was all it took to catch my fancy, trust me, I would have gone after one of your more level headed brothers."

Ron's forgiveness took a step backwards."Oh really then? And what, pray tell, is stopping you?"

She smiled. Ron couldn't hold up his barrier for much longer.

To him, her smile was magical. It just peeked out through her lips, the edges of mouth just crinkled a little more, eyes sparkled a little brighter. "I prefer my Weasleys to have an abnormal amount of Gryffindor courage," Hermione skillfully uncrossed Ron's arms, holding his hands in her warm ones. "Yet still witty enough to beat even the most challenging and enchanted chess games. I like my redheads to be strong in the face of danger, but human enough to get jittery over spiders," she said with a chuckle. Ron had to restrain a smile. "And of course," she said, contemplating with a hand on her chin. "a strong supporter of S.P.E.W doesn't hurt at all."

Damn her way with words!

Ron tried to look away. The corners of his mouth were threatening to split into a smile and give him away

Aw, hell with it.

He pulled Hermione close, the anger vanishing completely. "Have I told you 'I love you' yet?"

Hermione smiled cheekily. "Not in this universe, Ronald."

Somewhere in the back of Ron's mind, something squirmed at the full use of his name. But he ignored it. There was something much more important, standing right in front of him.

"Well then, I love you, Hermione. Just… look before you kiss next time."

"Will do, Mr. Weasley." She chuckled, "I don't think I've kissed you today."

"Not in this universe, you haven't."

And she kissed him.

He ran a hand over her brown hair gently. Ron beamed through their lips' soft embrace.

He loved her.

And he would love her, no matter what happened.

Wrong Ron or no.


So, I'm not expecting any reviews for this... prove me wrong?

- smileyfox5150