I do not own Harry Potter. It all belongs to JK Rowling. Thank you for allowing us to play with your characters. And thank you once again to Valkyriexx for BETAing-she's swamped with her own story, work and getting ready to go back to college, so I really appreciate the time she took to read through this.
A one shot on Ron's feelings overwhelm him after the battle.
Ron's head sunk further into the slowly dissipating bubble covered water, the warmth enveloping him. He allowed his body to relax and as he did so, he felt new spasms of pain from areas of his body he hadn't realised he had hurt. He raised his head to the surface, drawing in deep breaths. Then propping himself up on the side of the large bath, he began to rub the soap through his hair, scratching his nails into his scalp, attempting to remove the detritus of the last months on the run. He sank once more under the water, washing the suds away. Head submerged Ron felt his body begin to float in the deep waters of the Prefects bath. But as it did, his mind began to relax and the feelings of everything that happened in the last few hours washed over him. Anguish, anger and grief came in waves upon him as he remembered Fred's lifeless body and George and his mothers wailing. Then he remembered Hermione kissing him. And the feeling of happiness overcame him. He couldn't quite believe it had actually happened, the one thing that ... Oh alright, the raging hormonal Ron inside his head admitted, one of the things he imagined doing with Hermione-had happened right in the middle of the battle.
Feeling completely overwhelmed by the strong feelings that were overtaking him he surfaced once more, but upon hearing a gasp and then an exclaimed "Sorry!" he whipped around to see a girl heading to the door.
"Hermione?"
"Sorry!" Hermione called out to him again, keeping her body firmly facing the door. "I didn't realise anyone was in here."
Ron felt himself blushing. "Urm, s'okay!" He called out to her. "But I think, maybe, you er might want to wait outside."
Hermione rocked on her heels "Yes... Right! I'll just ... er ..." and she disappeared through the prefect bathrooms door.
Ron emerged five minutes later, tracksuit bottoms and white t shirt on, towelling his hair. Hermione was perched on a bench in the corridor.
She looked up and blushed as Ron smiled down on her.
"I think maybe the automatic locking charms on the door might have been damaged in the battle." She said quickly, before grabbing her towel that sat beside her on the bench and heading towards the bathroom.
Ron gently put his arm out stopping Hermione in her tracks.
"Hey, don't run off."
Hermione glanced up at Ron and then down to where his hand was almost resting against her stomach.
"I wasn't running off; I just needed to get cleaned up. I'm still covered in the dirt from the battle. Someone beat me to the bathroom." She looked up smiling at him.
"Well, someone fell asleep in the big chair in the common room when we were all talking." Ron smiled back at her. "You must have spent too much time with me and Harry that you find us so boring!"
Hermione blushed and looked down at her feet and mumbled something.
Ron attempted to lean down and catch her eye. "Sorry, didn't catch that Hermione."
"I said!" Hermione said with a huff "I could never find you boring Ronald."
"Really?" Ron's smile grew and he pushed out his chest "Hermione Granger doesn't find me boring!"
Hermione playfully slapped his arm "Arse!" she said and made to move pass him and into the bathroom again.
"Hermione?" Ron called after her.
"Mmmm?"
Whatever Ron was about to say, he seemed to lose confidence and he slumped slightly. "I'll, er, I'll just wait here for you" He said pointing towards the bench where Hermione had just been sat.
"I might be a little while."
"It's okay, I don't mind."
"If you're sure."
"I'm sure." The smile crept back onto Ron's face "Besides I think I need to stand on guard, just in case someone tries the door."
Hermione's blush deepened as she realised what Ron was hinting at. "You wouldn't dare!"
Ron laughed. "No, I wouldn't, I can be bloody stupid at times, but I'm not that stupid!"
HPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Hermione emerged half an hour later, feeling cleaner than she had done in months. The corridor was dimly lit and she could just make out Ron lying on his back on the bench she had been sat on earlier.
"Ron?" Hermione called out to him softly, wondering if he had dozed off, waiting for her to emerge.
Ron propped himself up before swinging his legs round so he was sitting upright. The deluminator glowed in his hand.
"Sorry!" he said as he clicked the deluminator once more and the corridor was flooded with warm light from the chandeliers once more. "I, er, was miles away there."
Hermione came to his side. "Where did you go to?"
"What?"
"You said you were miles away there. I was asking where you had gone to."
"Oh, er, nowhere really. I was just thinking through everything that's happened in the last year."
Ron's eyes scanned the corridor. Through one large hole at the end of the corridor the Forbidden forest could be seen. "I can't believe we're here."
"I know." Hermione said softly sitting herself next to Ron.
"I mean, we could have died. We lost so many tonight Hermione. Lupin and Tonks... Colin Creevey. If Lavender survives, she's going to be scarred for life..."
Hermione could feel the gap that Ron had left, avoiding saying his brother's name.
"Ron ... "She said reaching out for him. But Ron shaking his head looked down at the deluminator he still held in his hand. "It's okay you know."
But Ron just shook his head. "I just feel..."
Hermione moved closer to Ron and placed a hand on top of Ron's holding the deluminator and waited. Ron averted his eyes from Hermione's, squinting down the corridor as if trying to work something out. "It just feels too much." He turned to Hermione. "Do you remember when Harry came in after that DA class, when he'd kissed Cho? And when you explained everything that she was feeling?" Hermione nodded her head, smiling back on the memory. "I said that someone would explode if they felt that much?"
"That's when I said that you didn't really have a full range of emotions."
"Actually what you said is that I had an emotional range of a teaspoon."Ron smiled at Hermione.
"Did I say that?"
"Yeah, you did" Ron said.
"Oh, I am sorry!" Hermione grasped Ron's hand again.
"No you're not Hermione, and you don't have to be. You were right. You always are."
Hermione blushed under his gaze. Ron took a deep breath before continuing. "But that's how I'm feeling right now. I just feel it's all too much for one person to be feeling, that I'm going to explode."
"I know Ron. I mean, I can't begin to imagine what it's like, to lose..." Hermione tailed off, not wanting to say Fred's name, making his death more real to them sat there on that bench.
Ron looked away, squinting off into the distance once again. "It hurts Hermione, it hurts so much. And it's a physical pain too. You feel you can't breathe anymore and that it should have been anyone but him. And then you feel wrong for thinking that some other family should go through what we're going through. It's so fucking unfair!" Ron jumped up and started pacing.
"Ron..." Hermione stood up and watched his frantic pacing backwards and forwards. He suddenly came to stop in front of her.
"And then there's you." He said looking at her, the anguish in his face lessening. "I'm feeling all this and then I remember." Hermione blushed under his gaze. "You kissed me Hermione."
"I did." Hermione's blush grew to rival even the greatest Weasley blush.
"So now, on top of feeling so shitty about ... everything, I'm also feeling..." Hermione held her breath as Ron took another step closer to her and placed his hands on Hermione's hips pulling her towards him.
And there, Ron kissed her. Not with the urgency that Hermione had caught him with in the Room of Requirements, but slow and gentle. Hermione sighed as Ron released his grip on her and stepped back.
"Wow!" Hermione whispered, running her fingers across her lips where Ron's had just been.
"Yeah" Ron smiled down at her. "That's how you make me feel. You make me feel ... Wow!" Taking Hermione's hand in his he lookied into her eyes. "So does this mean I can do that again?"
Hermione smiled up at him and began to close her eyes. "Yeah, I think you can."
"Cool!" Ron said and leaned in for one more kiss, but stopped. Hermione's eyes flickered open to Ron gazing intently at her.
"What?"
"Well, on top of all these other feelings, I have one more." He licked his lips and smiled nervously.
Hermione looked puzzled at him. "What's that?"
"I was, er, wondering, what you saw, you know, when you were in the bathroom."
"Ron!" Hermione became uncomfortable under his gaze.
"So you didn't see anything?" Ron asked.
"I didn't say that!"
"So then, what did you see?"
Hermione blushed under Ron's intense gaze and a small smile appeared at the side of her lips.
"Enough." She replied coyly.
Ron's smile stretched into a lopsided grin.
"Bloody brilliant!" He said as he leaned in to kiss Hermione once more.
Thanks for stopping by and reading!
