AN ~ Ah. . .it is indeed rhapsody to be back in the zone again. I thought that hiatus was going to make me spontaneously combust. At last I was inspired again, this time by "Drops of Jupiter" by Train, but tarry not - this isn't a songfic (for once). takes place at the beginning of 5th year. enjoy ;-)
P.S. ~ Something you R/Hr nuts just have to see! A Ron and Hermione music video! Check it out at http://romiones.tripod.com/welcome.html (sorry I don't know how to insert a link.)
***
My Star
-dutchtulips-
***
"Tell me, did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded,
And that heaven is overrated
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star,
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?"
--Train, "Drops of Jupiter"
***
October. It was a chilly Saturday morning, one in which Hermione normally would have enjoyed by sleeping in for an hour or two, snuggled down in the soft scarlet blankets of her four-poster bed, listening to the wind rattle the windows, except this weekend morning was different. It was Harry's first Quidditch practice of the season, and she and Ron had made it a custom to sit up in the stands and watch, until they could meet up with him afterwards for a nice, friendly breakfast in the Great Hall.
But even as she mounted the stands to join Ron, where he was already sitting midway up, calling out to Harry, Hermione somehow knew that this morning would be particularly unlike the past weekends. A nagging feeling inside of her had constantly been alerting her of this, and as she pulled her cloak a bit more tighter around herself, approaching Ron, immediately she had the feeling that she should trust it.
Slowly Hermione dropped down next to Ron, holding a paper napkin full of a few slices of cinnamon toast, and extended it to him, saying cheerily, "Come and get it while it's still warm."
He turned towards her on the bench, taking some toast from her. "Thanks, Hermione."
They were both quiet for a long moment as they munched on their impromptu breakfast, watching the action of the Gryffindor Quidditch practice. It seemed to be ages before either of them spoke again, and when one of them did, Hermione was surprised that it turned out to be Ron.
Gently turning to face her, the redhead said quietly, stammering, "You know, I actually wanted to tell you, when we had a chance to be by ourselves. . .how, er. . .how nice it is. . .to see you. . .again."
Hermione laid the napkin aside and gave Ron a warm smile. "Yeah, I know. The summer holidays seem to last a lot longer when you're apart from your friends, don't they?"
He returned her smile awkwardly. "Yeah, uh, I, er, I missed you. Actually, I thought you were angry with me."
"Angry?" Hermione asked, confused.
"Yeah, you know, because you didn't come to the Burrow. At first I thought it was because you'd gone to Bulgaria with. . .Krum. . .but then when I got your letter in July, I figured out you were at home. I mean," he started to smile, "I knew there was no way in bloody hell Pig could've made that journey. Or at the very most, so quickly."
Hermione couldn't help but grin back. "Hmm, probably not."
A moment of silence cut through their conversation for a moment, until Ron finally prompted her, saying, "So. . .?"
She pulled her eyes away from Quidditch and lock eyes with him, saying softly, "Oh, Ron. . .I wasn't angry. Not at all. Why would you think so?"
"You know. . .because of. . .him. . ." The redhead mumbled, looking away.
"You really don't like Viktor, do you?"
"It's not that!" Ron exclaimed, almost shouting. "It's just. . .it's. . ."
Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly, letting her best friend have a moment to compose himself. He was still stuttering from some sort of response when she turned back to him again, so she decided to try and rationalize with him.
"I know we agreed on Boxing Day to not discuss this anymore," she began gently, "but it doesn't do us any good to brush all of our emotions under the rug and pretend they've never been." Hermione paused again, thinking, and then continued, "Now, there's something I want to say, and I know there are a few things you want to tell me. Am I right?"
Meekly, Ron nodded, almost dreading whatever defense attack she was about ready to launch. But what she said next was so far away from what he expected that it disconcerted him.
"Isn't it almost a blessing that Viktor Krum came into our lives?"
The redhead's brow furrowed as he gazed over at Hermione. "What?" Pause. "What do you mean, a blessing?"
"Look, Ron," she went on, moving a little closer to him, "Just think about it for a moment, and you'll see. Someone did you and I a huge favor, allowing Viktor to come into our lives when he did. At least I know it's made a very big difference for me."
"Why?" He scowled suddenly. "Because you fancy him?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, Ron, it's not because of that, because I don't. He has because, without him, I wouldn't have figured out a few very important things about myself that I've been denying for so long. And he's changed you, as well. I mean, listen to yourself, Ron - the mere thought that I might have anything to do with Viktor drives you up the wall. And you know why that is. Think."
His blue eyes opened a little wider as he stared at her, almost unable to believe what she was saying, but somehow, he knew exactly what she was talking about. "I was afraid, I guess. Afraid that you wouldn't think Harry and I were good enough anymore. Afraid you'd just think that I wasn't. I s'pose I thought you'd just forget about me. . .forget about us. . .like you had to get away and find a different atmosphere. . .find a better one. Stars, Hermione, I didn't want that to happen. I didn't want you to throw away everything that we've had together. . ." Ron almost couldn't believe that was his voice, that those were his words coming from his mouth.
But they were.
She reached over and took Ron's hand just then, nearly making him swallow his tongue. Smiling softly up at him, Hermione continued to speak, her tone a bit more tender now. "Except you should have known that I wouldn't. That I never would. You mean so much to me, Ron."
He sighed gently. "But Hermione, surely you can understand. . .understand the way my life has been. All my life the spotlight has always been on someone else. With you. . .I don't know. . .with you, it's not like that. You make me feel worthwhile, Hermione. Like I'm unique and special, and that the spotlight is on me, for once."
Hermione beamed as she reached over and took his other hand, saying, "Now do you see? Now doesn't it make sense that Viktor's coming into our lives was a blessing? We might have never stopped beating around the bush and realized how we really felt. I suppose maybe that's why I kept to myself for the whole summer holidays, stayed at home, and didn't visit very much of anyone. I really had to take my time to try and make sense out of all this. I guess I kind of had to take a ride through space. . .sort of, find myself."
Ron couldn't help but grin - and blush slightly - as he replied, "Well, aren't you finished yet? I really want to tell my best friend how much I care about her."
Hermione didn't reply with words, she simply reached up, snaking an arm around the nape of his neck, and gave Ron a soft, sweet kiss. He kissed back with gently, sliding his arms around her, pulling her as close to him as he could. The pair were so lost in the moment that they didn't even break their embrace until a voice suddenly spoke, clearly amused.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?"
Ron and Hermione immediately let go of each other, blushing furiously as they turned to look at their best friend. Stammering, Ron quickly said, in an effort to ease the awkwardness, "Er, phenomenal today on the Quidditch pitch, mate."
Harry smirked as he swung his Firebolt up on his shoulder. "How would you know?"
As he started down the stands, the two of them got up and followed Harry across the field and back up to the castle, where they met up with the inviting aroma of pancakes and sausage, no doubt coming from the Great Hall. As the trio trekked across the yard and up to the front doors, Ron's arm somehow found its way round Hermione's waist, and when she looked up at him, he had a funny smile on his face.
"What?" She wanted to know, beaming right back at him.
"I was just thinking. . .it's just. . ." His expression suddenly grew worrisome and, biting his lip, Ron said, "I hope that I could make as happy as Krum could. . .I mean, after all, he's a famous Quidditch player, and rich. . .he's a star, Hermione."
"Oh, Ron. . ." She slipped her arms around Ron and hugged fiercely. "It's you, Ron. You're the star. You're my star."
***
el fin