A/N: This is my first Harry Potter fic, and it's been awhile since I've written fanfiction, so I'm a tad rusty. I plan to write multiple Ron/Hermione one-shots like this, gathering inspiration from a theme table I stumbled across on LiveJournal. Please enjoy! : D
Stupid
The signs had always been there. Whether he'd meant to or not was irrelevant, Ron Weasley had been dropping hints since puberty. Unbeknownst even to himself, he had been in love with her long before then. After coming to the realization that he was, indeed, in love with her, he decided that he had preferred being in the dark about his feelings.
Being in love made Ron Weasley irrational. Even before Scabbers' disappearance Ron had resented her cat, if only because she would defend the fur ball instead him. Or how, when the Yule Ball rolled around, he managed to find a flaw in every other possible prospect yet couldn't find the Gryffindor courage within himself to ask her. With fifth year came impatience. Ron's infatuation was obvious to the entire school and yet she continued to seem blissfully unaware.
Was it possible she still couldn't see it? Even after she'd seen the way he'd gazed at her letter to Viktor-eyes alight with a mixture of both envy and hope? Hope that it was an incredibly articulate "Dear John" letter? Or the way his face had fallen upon hearing the news that she hadn't been present for his first incredible Quidditch triumph, during which he'd been hoping to impress her? By sixth year it seemed Ron was pleading with her to notice him. Ron finally concluded that for the smartest witch in their year, Hermione Jean Granger could be incredibly stupid.
