As she lay in bed that night, the night of Voldemort's defeat, Hermione Granger contemplated what this meant. No more fighting, no more fear. A calm sense of peacefulness and security washed over her, making her feel safe in her old four-poster bed again. In the last couple years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, nothing had seemed safe anymore. She had barely had time to herself to think. Now… although she was ecstatic that the Wizarding World was back to peace again, she couldn't help but think about the future. What would happen to them now? She would go find her parents in Australia and restore their memories, of course, but what after that? She'd never be able to fully return to the Muggle World, even after Hogwarts. She was a witch through and through. She never wanted to go back to her old life before magic ever again. But what of her friends? After defeating the greatest dark sorcerer of all, they had to stick together somehow. She wouldn't be able to bear being separated from them.
She sighed and stood to her feet, deciding to take a walk to clear her thoughts. She was sure that people would probably still be awake downstairs, throwing off fireworks and Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Not any of the Weasleys' themselves, of course, but some of Fred and George's old clients, perhaps. She pulled on her robe and put on a pair of slippers, walking downstairs to the common room.
Sure enough, her fellow Gryffindor friends were busying themselves by drinking Butterbeer, eating sweets, setting off mini firecrackers, and chatting happily amongst themselves. She truthfully had no idea how she had tuned all of this out a few minutes ago as she had been thinking upstairs. She decided to see if one of the armchairs were open so that she could just sit and think, but as she walked over there, she noticed that only one of them was already occupied.
Ron Weasley was curled into one of the comfy armchairs by the crackling fire. He remembered back to his first years at Hogwarts. Although none of his years at the school had been completely normal, the common room had always given him a sense of security. But now, although he felt much safer by the cozy, crackling fire, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen now. He supposed that Harry was going to be given a ton a praise. Heck, he was already a hero in everyone's eyes tonight. Although he was deliriously happy that Voldemort was finally gone, he wondered what was to become of himself. He'd keep in touch with Harry, Hermione, and all of his other friends, he supposed, but what would happen next? Once he went home for the summer, nothing would be the same. The clock on the wall that showed all of their locations would no longer point to Mortal Peril all the time, he'd be able to go out into the world and make something of himself now that he was of age, but most of all, his brother would be gone. Fred would be gone. And without Fred, what was George to do? He couldn't run their wildly popular joke shop by himself, and even if he could, he wouldn't want to without his twin. The Burrow was going to be a lot less bright without him around.
Hermione knew that tousled red hair anywhere. She sat in the armchair beside him with a small smile. "Hi, Ron." She greeted him.
Ron looked over at her and felt a little stupid for sitting in a fetal position, with his knees to his chest. "Hey, 'Mione." He said back, using his little nickname for her. It always cheered them both up, and Lord knows, he needed a little cheering up right now. He stretched his legs out in front of him and put his hands behind his head.
Hermione could tell he wasn't himself. She could thoroughly understand why, of course. She knew how close he was to his older brothers. She had always wanted an older brother or sister, and she had always envied Ron for having not only one older brother, but five! She would never know what losing a sibling felt like, and she wasn't so sure she wanted to know. "How are you?" She asked, immediately feeling somewhat stupid for asking such a blunt question after such an exciting night.
Ron shrugged. "Alright." He replied. "What about you? Why aren't you celebrating?" He asked her. He had a reason to feel sad tonight, but he didn't see why she should have to sulk with him. He didn't want his own grief to rub off on her. So, of course, he tried to cover it up.
Hermione shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've never been much of a 'party person.'" She chuckled. "You know me, Ron."
Ron couldn't help but laugh at that one. "Trust me. If I don't know you well enough by now after helping Harry defeat You-Know-Who, then you have every right to call me a fool."
Hermione smiled and laughed again. She already felt better, just sitting next to him, talking to him. And she hoped that she was brightening his mood as well as he was brightening her own.
Ron whipped out his wand and pointed it at the table of drinks. "Wingardium Leviosa." He said, levitating two bottles of Butterbeer towards them. He dropped one from the air and caught it, handing it to Hermione, and then grabbed his own right out of the air. He cracked it open, as Hermione did the same with hers, and held it out towards her. "To a free Wizarding World." He chortled and clinked his bottle against hers.
As they both took a drink from their bottles of Butterbeer, Hermione wiped the frothy liquid from her lip and smiled. "So, what's next for us?"
Ron looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?" He asked. "We go home for the summer, and then we decide what we want to do in the world." He said. "You know that."
Hermione shrugged. "I just don't know. I'm not sure the world's going to be completely normal after this. This is going to mark us forever."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because we're high and mighty war heroes now, huh?"
Hermione giggled. "I guess you could say that." She laughed. "But really, Ron, are you going to go home this Summer and forget all about this? I'm definitely not going to be able to go back to the Muggle World and fit right back in." She sighed. "I wish my parents were wizards. It must be nice to have been born and raised in the Wizarding World."
Ron shrugged. "It's not all that it's cracked up to be." He muttered. "When you already know that magic exists from the very moment you can walk and talk, there's not the same excitement when you first start out without knowing magic was real."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Just be lucky you didn't grow up in the Muggle World, Ron. It's not all that exciting either."
Ron smirked. "Well, if the Muggle World is really such a terrible place, then I suppose you and Harry will just have to come to the Burrow this Summer then." He proposed.
Hermione grinned. "I'd like that, Ron." She said with a smile. "I'd like that a lot."
Ron smiled into his Butterbeer. "No problem." He murmured before he took another sip.
Hermione smiled and bit her lip. "So… in the Wizarding World, besides playing Quidditch in your backyards, what do you do for fun?" She asked. "Is there any such thing as a roller coaster park or a movie theater?" She asked, very subtly hinting at the idea of them going on a date this summer.
Ron nearly choked on his Butterbeer as she said that. He may not be as book smart as she was, but he knew what she was trying to get at. The corner of his lip pulled up in a smile. "Oh, I don't know, Miss Muggle. Maybe we'll just have to meet at The Three Broomsticks sometime then, maybe go get you your own broom sometime." He suggested with a grin.
Hermione's eyes widened. "Really? Wow, I don't really have any Wizard money though." She told him regretfully.
Ron raised an eyebrow. "You know, my dad is still really quite fascinated by 'Muggle artifacts.' I'm sure you could sell some of your old junk to my dad for a good price. We'll talk." He joked.
Hermione laughed and curled up comfortably in her seat. She felt so comfortable around Ron all the time, although now, she felt as if her heart were trying to bore it's way out of her chest, it was beating so hard. She nibbled on her bottom lip nervously and swung her legs out of the armchair. "I'm a little chilly." She mentioned casually, sitting down on the floor next to the fire.
Ron waved his wand towards the staircase. "Accio blanket!" He called quietly, and the cover to his four-poster bed came floating down to the common room. He slid down off of his chair and joined Hermione down by the hearth, wrapping the blanket around their shoulders. He held the ends of the cover around them with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her shoulders.
Even though she was completely comfortable in this situation, Hermione's heart began to beat unusually fast. She bit her lip and prayed that he couldn't hear it.
Ron, however, was much too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice her heart's rapid beating. He was trying to remember back to a time when he was this happy. All of those times were when he was with Hermione. Obviously, anyone could've probably figured that out with minimum thought. He wasn't all that hard to read.
Hermione's thoughts wandered elsewhere. She was thinking about her first year at Hogwarts, when her only aspiration from the very beginning was to become a great witch. Then, as the years passed, although she was still one of the smartest in their class, her mind focused less and less on academics and moved towards other things, that seemed just as important. Over a course of seven years, she had fallen in love. She had come to love the tall, freckled, red-haired boy she had seen on the Hogwarts Express the first day she came to school. She giggled as she remembered how much she had hated him when they had first met.
Ron looked down at her with a grin. "What's so funny?" He chuckled, her brilliant smile brightening his mood even more, if that was possible.
Hermione laughed. "I was remembering our first days here. It all seems so distant now." She said with a contented sigh.
"No, really?" Ron asked, clearing his throat, and speaking in a high pitched voice. "'It's Lev-i-oooo-sa. Not Lev-i-o-sar!'" He quoted her from one of their first Charms classes together, the morning before their fight with the Mountain Troll in the girls' bathroom.
Hermione couldn't help it. She burst out laughing at the memory of levitating feathers that Halloween during their first year. She smiled and pulled her knees up to her chest, leaning her head on Ron's shoulder. She continued to recall many fond memories. "Remember when you tried to turn Scabbers into a water goblet in second year?" She asked.
Ron laughed. "Yeah. Good thing poor Pettigrew deserved it."
Hermione pressed her lips together, suppressing a laugh. "And in Fourth Year, when you were convinced you wanted to marry one of the Beauxbatons girls?" She laughed.
Ron silenced her by tickling her stomach at that point, so that Hermione giggled so hard that she could no longer speak. "Hey, why'd ya have to bring that up, 'Mione? I thought we were having a moment." Ron laughed.
Hermione smiled up at him. "Are we having a moment, Ronald?" She asked, intent on seeing his ears turn pink, his signature blush.
As his ears indeed turned a light shade of red, Hermione laughed, successful. "Well, I believe we are." She answered for him, leaning up to kiss his cheek. She smiled and leaned on his shoulder again, letting out a short yawn. It had to be past midnight by now.
Ron brought two fingers to her face and stroked her cheek gently. "Tired?" He asked, watching as Hermione drowsily nodded her head against his shoulder in response. He smiled and turned to the side, picking her up easily and gently as if she were spun glass. He effortlessly carried her to the couch in the common room and laid her down gently, draping the blanket over her.
At that point, he randomly remembered back to a conversation he'd had with Fred a couple years back. Ron had tried to get Fred to tell him how he had scored his date with Angelina Johnson to the Yule Ball so easily.
Fred had laughed. "Well, apart from the fact that I inherited all the charm and boyish good looks… hmmm… I dunno. Why do you ask, little brother?"
At that point, Ron's ears had turned pink, and he had denied a reason, which led Fred to guess that it was about Hermione. Ron was a terrible liar. Fred then began to tease Ron unmercifully about sucking up his courage and just waiting for the perfect moment to come along when he would sweep Hermione off her feet.
Ron chuckled to himself at the fond memory, knowing that his brother would be missed. However, he had given him one decent piece of advice: Wait for the perfect moment. This is one's for you, Fred. Ron thought as he knelt beside Hermione and lightly touched his lips to hers.
As Hermione felt him kiss her, her heart soared in her chest. She kissed him back willingly, lifting her hand to touch his face. As the kiss ended, she opened her eyes and smiled up at him. "I love you, Ron." She whispered, looking up into his eyes.
"I love you, 'Mione." Ron replied, pressing his lips to her forehead and brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "Sweet dreams." He whispered with a final smile, before he turned around and walked back up to the boys' dormitory.
He climbed into bed and rested his head on his hands, looking out the window at the starry sky outside. He already knew it was going to be a great summer.