AN: I actually wrote this a long time ago but never uploaded it. So I thought I'd get it out of the way. See if you can figure out what their playing aha!
During all the chaos that Bill and Fleur's wedding had caused and Mrs. Weasley always breathing down the trios necks, it became total bliss to take a break for a half an hour just to sit up in Ron's little secluded attic bedroom.
Everyone was off doing chores, but Ron had managed to snag some time, and to his delight, so did Hermione.
He sat back on his bed watching her impatiently tucking her hair behind her ears and flipping through book after book in the corner of the room.
Watching her became one of his favorite activities. By now he could probably write a book on her little compulsions and habits.Whenever he found himself gazing at her he just couldn't manage to wipe the stupid grin off his face that always resulted in nudges and kissy faces from Fred and George. He abruptly stopped smiling at the thought.
The sun was changing directions.
The way it hit Hermione made it seem like it was going to grab hold of her and carry her away. The way the rays made her skin look so soft, and how it made her hair glisten and her eyes sparkle made him with he had a camera, that way he would never have to let go of that image of her, sitting there in the sunshine.
She looked up timidly feeling his eyes on her and caught his eye for a moment, blushed furiously and returned to her book.
"Honestly Ron, If your going to sit there, you could at least do something useful." She said to cover up her apparent bashfulness.
"Fine" he replied wearily. His head drifted to the side "…or we can take a break. We could play cards or something."
"I dunno, I think we should stay focused on the task at hand. We don't have much time to get everything ready to go." Her voice drifted at the thought of leaving, not going back to Hogwarts, and barely having any sort of plan at all. She shook off the thought and went back to what she was doing.
"Awh come on, once we leave we'll never get a chance to do this sort of thing, just one game?"
Hermione sat debating with herself till she finally gave in. "Oh all right, I suppose one game of cards shouldn't take too long."
"Great" said Ron "I'll deal"
They sat down on the floor and Ron shuffled the cards. The game started and they played quietly enjoying each others company, only breaking the silence to saying something like "got any fours?" and the occasional "yes" or "no" until finally a conversation aroused.
"So" piped up Ron "find anything useful?" he asked "oh, do you have any fives?"
She nodded and handed him the card "Not much" she said "do you have any threes?" Ron shook his head "there are a few that I'll definitely be packing just in case." She gestured to the small pile of books to her left.
"Well thats good isn't it?" Ron said reassuringly "we don't want to lug around a load of books everywhere we go." He thought for a second "Plus, you're probably the only one of us that's actually gunna read them." He added as an after thought.
"I know. It's just... I'm not even sure what to look for, whatever I find useful could end up being totally useless…." Her voice was shaking slightly.
"I'm sure we'll use whatever you think will be helpful, and if something comes along and throws us off track, we'll figure something out, we always do, right?"
"I dunno, Ron.." Her voice was so small he almost couldn't hear her, light tears were beginning to fall from her big brown eyes.
More than anything, he hated to see Hermione cry, especially since he was the one who brought up the excursion in the first place. She seemed to get more and more weepy the closer it got to their departure. It made him so angry with everything that was happening.
It was like he lost control of his body. He put down his cards moved closer to her, and the next thing he knew, he was kissing her face. Anywhere he could, her eyes, her cheeks, her forehead, her chin, only avoiding her lips.
She wrapped her arms around his middle and he embraced her and gave one of her shoulders a squeeze.
"It's so much." She managed to choke out.
"I know, but-but I think its gunna be okay, I really do." He said, almost like he realized it himself that he had confidence in what the tree were throwing themselves into.
"Of course" she said into his chest. "We all knew this would happen eventually. It's just so… different. …I sound ridiculous."
"No no, I know what you mean." He said starting to pull out of their hold. She spoke again.
"I'm proud though, I'm proud to be a part of this, to help Harry with anything. I don't want to feel this way. I don't even know what it is I'm feeling in the first place." The tears started again.
"Mione… you shouldn't worry about that." He paused "We're all in the same boat, we're all feeling the same way. -Well maybe not exactly the same- but similar. There's nothing wrong with what you're feeling, and no one would question your loyalty to Harry."
This was pretty insightful for Ron, and Hermione looked a tad shocked that he replied to her statement at all, rather than just going slightly red in the ears. However, since Dumbledore's funeral, he was much more comfortable with her confiding in him, and he was more at ease consoling her when she needed it.
She pulled him back into a hug and he kissed the top of her head. They remained in that position for some time.
Hermione sighed "we'll be alright" she breathed into his shoulder.
"Sure we will" he replied optimistically. He shrugged and threw her a lopsided grin.
"Thanks, Ron" she said moving back to her original spot on the wooden floor.
They returned to where they were sitting in the first place and picked up their cards once more. Ron smiled to himself.
Something about the way she said his name made Ron feel like he really didn't have anything to worry about, and that he was complete, whatever he had to accomplish was nothing to that of knowing that deep down Hermione really loved him, and when she spoke his name, he was sure she did.
He looked down at his cards and ran a thumb over his lips.
"Got any kings?"
