Her eyes snapped open. She panicked, not sure of her surroundings at first. This wasn't the girls dormitory? An assortment of briefs and boxers covered the floor, along with dirty socks and scarves and cloaks. The girls dormitory was much cleaner than this. And who's long, pale, freckly arm was wrapped so tightly around her waist? She turned as slowly as she could to face Ron Weasley. His arm stayed firmly around her waist as she stared at his sleeping face. His eyes were shut softly, flickering from time to time, indicating that he was dreaming. His hair was just as messy as hers. She began to trace her fingers softly underneath his hairline. He had a rough graze just above his left eyebrow, patches of dust and dirt covered his cheeks and chin. His bottom lip had two fresh cuts as her fingertips reached them, feeling the torn flesh. The war was but a blur as she continued to caress his features gently with her fingertips. Her gaze suddenly wandered above Ron's head at Harry sleeping in the bed next to them. She had never seen him look so at peace. With a slight smile on his face, his eyes, like Ron's, softly shut, he looked completely relaxed, and she knew as well as anyone he had deserved it. Her eyes stung from the lack of sleep she had had but she couldn't sleep. So much was different now. The war was over. They had won. Harry had done it. They were free and Ron, he was finally hers. 'That's my girlfriend, you numpty!', he had shouted only hours ago. His girlfriend. How long had she waited to hear those words? She didn't know, and she didn't care. She cupped his cheek in the palm of her hand, smiling weakly at him as he continued to sleep. Harry had fallen asleep long before they had. She had stayed up to comfort Ron, who cried for what seemed like hours for the loss of his brother, Fred. She had never seen him open up like that, but then again, who could blame him? He sobbed hard and hysterically, collapsing into her arms as she ran her fingers through his thick ginger hair and she had to use the Muffliato charm so they were careful not to wake Harry. She had no idea what to say, and, she thought to herself, maybe she didn't have to say anything at all. Maybe it was enough for her to just be there and hold him in her arms as he mourned.
"Morning", his voice croaked. She jumped, her eyes instantly meeting his. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you", he chuckled weakly. "How long have you been up?".
"About an hour", she replied.
"Hermione! You should get some more sleep", he told her. His hands meeting her face as he used his elbow to support himself. It was only when he sat up like this that Hermione truly saw the effects the war had had on him. There was a dry cut just underneath his jaw, more dust and dirt covered the skin she could see. And his face was completely tear stained, sadness plastered all over it.
"I'm fine, honestly", she told him. "You should go and have a bath".
"Why? Do I smell?", he began to panic, sniffing under his armpits. Hermione couldn't help but chuckle.
"No. No you don't. You're filthy though", she smiled warmly at him. Ron raised his eyebrow at her before picking out a twig from her larger than life hair. "I didn't say I didn't need one!", she protested. Ron chuckled. "You'll need to have those cuts looked at as well", she told him.
"Cant- cant you do it?", he asked shyly. Hermione smiled warmly at him once more. There was nothing sordid about the request he had just made. Hermione could see it in his eyes. He just wanted her to be with him. Nobody else. Just her. Hermione nodded slowly before getting out of bed and grabbing her beaded bag. She pulled out some clean clothes for Ron and herself and placed them neatly on the bed, putting her bag on her shoulder. Ron gathered his clothes together as, he too, got out of bed. Hermione held her hand out for him to hold and as soon as their hands had joined, she lead him out of the dormitory and into the common room. There were only two people that occupied the common room. Neville Longbottom was sprawled out across the sofa in front of the fire whilst Ginny slept soundly in a nearby armchair, her face as tear stained as Ron's. Careful not to wake them, the pair made their way out through the portrait hole and into the corridors of Hogwarts. The castle was silent, as if not a single soul was there but them. As they wandered along the seventh floor, hand in hand, Hermione spotted a lonely door that wouldn't usually be there. Instantly knowing what it was, she lead Ron to the door and opened it slowly. The blaze that the Room of Requirement had been just mere hours before was now completely transformed into an enormous bathroom. A large tub occupied the middle of the room, similar to the one in the prefects bathroom. Hermione let go of Ron's hand to turn on the large taps of the tub as soapy warm water flooded its base. "Um- you wouldn't happen to have any swimming trunks in that bag of yours?", Ron blushed. Hermione chuckled softly before reaching into her bag and pulling out some blue swimming trunks and a violet bikini. "You're brilliant, you are", he smiled warmly at her. He had spoken those words so many times before and each time he did it made Hermione's heart flutter. She passed him his trunks before disappearing behind a nearby folding screen to change into her bikini. She suddenly became nervous. She had seen Ron out of his shirt so many times whilst he and Harry had made their quick changes out of dirty and wet clothes in the past year, but this would be the first time she would present more flesh to Ron than just her neck and above and her legs. She heard the water suddenly swish which indicated that Ron had gotten in tub. She took a deep breath before appearing from behind the folding screen and making her way towards the tub, her arms wrapped around her bare stomach. Ron turned to look at her and showed no disgust or regret, he just smiled warmly at her as she got into the tub, placing her bag on the side.
"Right. Lets have a look at those cuts", she spoke softly, taking a sponge that lay nearby and soaking it with water, ready to clean Ron's wounds. She first started with the large cut underneath his jaw, dabbing gently at it with the sponge.
"I should probably go and find mum and dad after this", he told her. Hermione's heart stopped in her chest. Her parents! They were somewhere in Australia! With absolutely no clue that they even had a daughter. Hermione hadn't even thought about them in the past 24 hours. "Hermione? Are you alright?", Ron asked worriedly. Hermione was quickly snapped out of her thoughts as she looked at Ron.
"Yes. Yes I'm fine. That'd be a good idea", she replied quickly. She didn't want to worry him. He already had so much on his mind. After cleaning themselves up, the pair got changed into their clean clothes and left the Room of Requirement in search of Ron's parents, finding that they needn't search far as familiar voices came from the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Hermione made their way back through the portrait hole hand in hand to find Mr and Mrs Weasley sat with Ginny and Neville around the warm fire. All eyes were suddenly on them as they entered.
"Oh Ron", Mrs Weasley jumped to her feet, rushing towards her son to hug him. Ron still held on to Hermione's hand as he wrapped one arm around his mother. Mrs Weasley stood back, smiling at her son, before instantly noticing their joined hands. "And- whats this?", she suddenly asked, raising her eyebrow at them.
"Molly-", Mr Weasley left his seat to stand by his wife.
"What do you think it is?", Ron rolled his eyes. But his gaze quickly met his mother's once again, worried of what her reaction might be. Hermione looked everywhere she could find but at Mrs Weasley in that moment.
"Well, its about time!", Mrs Weasley exclaimed happily, throwing her arms around her son once more. Ron and Hermione sighed in relief. "This family could do with a bit of happiness! Hermione, you will come back to the Burrow with us, won't you dear?", she asked. Hermione nodded quickly, touched by how happy the news of her and Ron had made her. "Neville, sweetheart, would you mind going and getting Harry for us?", she spun around to face Neville. Neville nodded quickly before jetting off up the stairs towards the boys dormitory.
"Wheres George?", Ron asked suddenly. The room fell silent. Hermione could tell by the look on Ron's face that he wished he had never opened his mouth as the smile on his mother's face suddenly dropped.
"He's-", Mr Weasley cleared his throat, "he's with Fred, son".
"He's still here?", Ron asked in amazement. Mr Weasley nodded slowly, his hand meeting Mrs Weasley's as she tried with all of her might to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.
"Harry!", she suddenly exclaimed as Harry appeared in the common room. She rushed over to him, throwing her arms around him as she had done with Ron. "How are you feeling?", she asked him. Ron's grip on Hermione's hand became tighter and she looked up at his face. He looked angry as he watched his mother fuss over Harry. But Hermione couldn't understand why. As Mrs Weasley continued to ask Harry questions upon questions, Ron took the opportunity to leave and lead Hermione back through the portrait hole.
"Ron?", Hermione spoke as the portrait of the Fat Lady closed behind them. "What is it?", she asked. Ron took a deep breath, staring into space as if he were completely alone.
"I want to see Fred", he told her. Hermione didn't know how to reply. She couldn't say no, could she?
"If that's what you want", she spoke softly, wrapping her other arm gently around his.