Giggling, Lavender Brown led Ronald Weasley by the hand up the spiraling staircase that led to the astronomy tower. Ron followed in a daze, baffled by the fact that a girl finally wanted him. Even though she wasn't the girl he desired most, she was still a girl. Ron was just happy to finally have someone to call his own, since the girl he truly loved was not an option. The girl he truly loved was far too good for him. In fact, she had out shown Ron in every possible circumstance during his entire career at Hogwarts.
Hermione would never love him, so Ron used Lavender to fill the void.
"Ron Ron! It's so beautiful up here!" Lavender squealed, breaking Ron out of his thoughts.
They had emerged outside at the top of the astronomy tower. A cool breeze ruffled Ron and Lavender's hair gently and gave the scene a relaxing feel.
Just as Ron began examining the sight before him, Lavender rammed her lips into his, causing him to stumble backwards slightly.
The kiss seemed to go on forever as Lavender attacked Ron's face with her own. She practically ate his face off while groping his hair and back violently. Ron could not help but wonder if snogging was always this painful and bland.
Luckily, Lavender was far too caught up in her own fantasies to notice Ron's complete lack of response.
Ron closed his eyes, trying to block out Lavender's image from his mind. He let his thoughts wander as Lavender clawed her fingernails into his back.
He imagined what kissing Hermione would be like. Would Hermione be so violent and ruthless with him? Certainly not. Hermione had morals. She was a smart woman. In fact, Ron could only assume that kissing Hermione would actually be an enjoyable experience rather than the torturous one he was currently sharing with Lavender.
After a terribly long amount of time, Lavender finally released Ron from her desperate grasp. Her face was mostly unreadable, but showed small traces of disappointment.
"Well Ron Ron, it seems you're tired. I'll just be going then…" Lavender whispered, looking offended, before hurrying into the castle and dashing down the spiral staircase.
Ron, relieved to finally be alone, moved to the edge of the tower and leaned on the railing, gazing out into the bright stars that danced and twinkled gracefully in the moonlight. He felt a bit guilty for upsetting Lavender, but he was quite glad to be rid of her. She had practically glued herself to him for the last few weeks, effectively ruining he and Hermione's friendship and putting an awkward damper on he and Harry's.
On the rare occasions in which Ron would finally get chances to speak to Hermione, Lavender would suddenly appear, causing Hermione to dart away as quickly as possible with tears in her eyes.
The sight of Hermione nearly crying would send sharp stabs of pain and longing to Ron's aching heart. He never wanted to hurt her, not even in his first year at Hogwarts when he had thought of her as a foul, know-it-all brat. Something about her just sent shivers up Ron's spine every time he looked at her.
It all had started in his first year, when Ron and Harry had saved Hermione from the troll in the bathroom. The sight of the smart-alec girl with the bushy hair crying had touched Ron's heart in the strangest ways. Even at eleven years of age, Ron felt protective of Hermione. He would have done anything to keep her from harm, even then.
In the trio's second year, Ron's feelings grew even further at the sight of Hermione petrified in the hospital wing. He remembered looking down at her frozen figure and wishing desperately that it could have been him who encountered the basilisk instead of Hermione. In the privacy of their dormitories in the middle of the night, Ron had, on multiple occasions, required reassurance from Harry that Hermione would indeed be unpetrified eventually. The thought of Hermione never returning to scold him about school and other pointless things sent Ron's mind waves of regret and shame.
It wasn't until his third year when Ron felt his first pang of jealousy for Hermione. He had been lying with a badly injured leg in the hospital wing. Hermione and Harry had diligently presided over his bed for hours until a very determined-looking Dumbledore entered the room. After a brief conversation of which Ron was not a part of, Hermione wrapped a strange looking necklace around she and Harry's necks and began turning it. Before Ron could comprehend the situation, Harry and Hermione were spiraling out of existence together. In between the time they disappeared and the time they reappeared at the entrance to the hospital wing just moments later looking exceptionally relieved and battered, Ron was attacked by a twinge of jealousy which engulfed his mind completely. Hermione and Harry had left to go on some wild adventure without him. They had left him lying helplessly in a bed with his leg all propped up and bandaged. Worst of all, a part of Ron longed to be the one that Hermione took with her on whatever adventure it had been. He wanted to take Harry's place; to be her protector and partner.
Ron's fourth year consisted of more jealousy and even a bit of anger as he watched Viktor Krum win Hermione over. That was the year in which Hermione took part in her first ever kiss, and, much to Ron's disappointment, that kiss was with Viktor Krum, the internationally famous Quidditch player from Bulgaria. Hermione also had her first dance that year; a dance which she also shared with Viktor Krum. Ron silently watched from the sidelines of the ballroom as Hermione's breathtaking smile lit up the room and guided she and Viktor Krum in an intricate dance of lifts and waltzes. The sight had made Ron sick to his stomach. He wanted to be her first dance. He wanted to be her first kiss.
Their fifth year was the first year that Ron got to spend alone time with Hermione. Before that year, Harry had usually been Ron's priority companion, but, seeing as Harry was still at the Dursley's, Ron spent the majority of his time at Number 12 Grimmauld Place by Hermione's side. In their short but meaningful time together while the Order of the Phoenix plotted, Ron and Hermione had grown quite close. It was in that year when Ron had decided that he wanted to be Hermione's boyfriend. He had attempted on countless occasions to ask her the burning question, but never could he find the words. Hermione usually ended up associating Ron's mindless stuttering with a lack of sleep. She immediately would order him to stop fooling around and go to bed, which did not help Ron's case at all.
Now, Ron found himself in his sixth year and hopelessly in love. Ron's first kiss, which he shared with a very overly-excited Lavender, had come as an extreme disappointment. He had always heard fairytale stories in which a person's first kiss was full of burning passion and fireworks. That, however, was not the case at all. In fact, shortly after the kiss, Ron even shed a few tears of regret. It was then that he had realized that he truly was in love with Hermione Granger.
Sadly, however, as Ron stood on the astronomy tower looking out at the bright night sky, he knew deep in his heart that Hermione could never be his; not any time soon, at least.
He looked down at his chapped fingertips and sucked in a deep breath.
Someday he would get Hermione to love him. He just needed to prove to her that he was the right choice. He needed to grow up.
"You'll love me someday, Hermione, and when you do, I'll be waiting here with open arms. I'll always wait for you for as long as it takes." Ron whispered to his hands, shivering as a cold breeze blew past.
Little did Ron know, Hermione was perched beside her window in the Gryffindor dormitories, promising herself that she would wait for him… for as long as it takes.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello readers! This was just a little one-shot that I thought of while working on my current story, Seventeen Forever. Reviews are welcome and strongly encouraged; I really love feedback. Just FYI, this one-shot is not in any way related to Seventeen Forever. However, if you're not already a follower of that story, it would be great if you could go check it out! I'm really loving writing it, and it would be great to get a few more readers! Thank you for reading!