Insecurities

"Hermione is everything alright?" Hermione's mother, Jean Granger, ask her only daughter who sighed and explained

"Mum that I tried and tried so hard to get Ron to notice me" a sixteen year old girl, Hermione Granger, who was about to start her sixth year of Hogwarts, and she was desperately in love with the one and only Ronald Weasley ever since the second year when he protected her from Malfoy's hurtful words even though, it backfired she still thought it was sweet of him to do that for her and that day she started to have a crush on him that started to develop into something more

"Well sweetheart, he's a boy, they are a bit slow" Hermione agreed with her mother "he likes you, I saw the bliss look on his face when you hugged him goodbye when you finished your fifth year" Jean remembered Ron's blushing face when Hermione hugged Ron before leaving, her daughter blushed and looked away from her mother's gaze

"Are you excited of going to his house?" Hermione nodded and said

"I don't know what to say to him" she confessed making Jean shake her head at her daughter's silliness, she placed a comforting hand on Hermione's shoulder and said

"How about something simple like, Hi Ron I've miss you, how have you been, just act normal" Hermione looked at her mother weirdly and raised one of her eyebrow

"Mum, I don't think that I can act normal around Ron, Ron's my best friend and whenever he's near me like when I'm helping him with his homework, my heart races, my palms get sweaty, I can feel myself blushing" Hermione started to ramble on while Jean just laughed at the way her daughter was talking about her best friend

"Sweetheart, hey sweetheart breathe" she made her daughter sit down on her bed before sitting next to her "I know you fancy Ron but remember boys are slow and it took your father a whole year to ask me out and tell me how he felt about me, come on you need to pack because in the morning your father and I will drive you to Ron's house" she left Hermione to pack.

In the morning, the Granger's woke up quite early so they could get Hermione to the Burrow on time, Hermione knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it, after a few minutes Molly came out with a warm smile on her face "Hermione, Jean, John please come in" Molly ushered them in the Burrow "Tea?" she asked John and Jean shook their heads

"I'm sorry Molly but John and I need to go" Molly nodded then Hermione's parents turned to Hermione and gave her a kiss on the forehead and said goodbye to Molly and Hermione and left

"Would you like some tea Hermione?" Molly asked Hermione who nodded and followed her in the kitchen and sat at the table and watched Ron's mother make two cups of tea "how's your summer been Hermione dear?" she ask to spark a conversation at Hermione who drank a bit of the warm sweet liquid before answering

"It's been okay Mrs Weasley but it was kind of boring, being an only child and all also my parents always working" Molly sighed and cooked breakfast for the family who was still fast asleep

"Hermione could you wake up Ron" Hermione nodded and was about to go upstairs but Molly called out to her "Harry is coming this afternoon and Ron is sleeping in his own room okay?" Hermione nodded again and started to walk upstairs, first she went into Ron's room which was on the top floor

"Ron?" she softly called out as she knocked on her door, when she didn't hear anything, she opened the door carefully and saw Ron sleeping peacefully and she could hear him snoring softly "Ron?" she called out again to her best friend who didn't move at all, Hermione frowned and opened the curtain to let in the light, she heard Ron groan in annoyance at the light disturbing his sleep "Ron wake up, your mother has breakfast waiting" Hermione saw Ron open his eyes as he got up and stared at Hermione who had her mouth gaped open that Ron wasn't wearing a shirt, in front of her was a half naked Ron, Hermione could see that Ron muscles got bigger than the last time she saw him and his strong firm abs, the bushy haired girl couldn't help to blush

"Is something wrong Hermione?" Ron asked worriedly to her best friend then looked down and saw that he was not wearing a shirt, he quickly grabbed his sleeping shirt that he took off last night due to the summer night heat, he put it on and look sheepishly at Hermione "sorry Hermione it was boiling last night and I felt that I was going to be cooked to death" Hermione didn't still didn't say anything she was still thinking about the shirtless Ron "Hermione?" Ron waved his hands in front of Hermione who still had a dreamily look on her face then she snapped back in reality

"Huh?" Ron look weirdly at Hermione "did you say something?" she asked to Ron who shook his head and said

"Can you step out for a moment I need to get change" Hermione nodded and waited outside so Ron could get changed, after a few seconds Ron came out wearing dark blue jeans, black trainers and a red plain t-shirt, Hermione smiled at her red haired best friend who may be poor but she didn't care about that and Ron didn't let something like money bother him and he made the best out of things he had, like his muggle chess set that seems worn out but Ron took care of it well "Come on let's get something to eat"

Last night, Ron tossed and turn in his bed because he couldn't get a certain girl out of his mind, Ron looked at his watch that was on the bed side and squinted his eyes to read the time, it was one in the morning, Ron groaned in frustration and sat up, Hermione Granger, the girl always invaded Ron's mind, ever since he saw Hermione in the Yule Ball two years ago, he couldn't stop thinking about her, when he saw Hermione with Viktor it made him green with jealousy that Viktor went with the most beautiful girl in school "Hermione, you're all I think about" he gasped out as he stared out his window and still thinking about Hermione, there was a reason why Ron didn't ask Hermione to the Yule Ball, the first reason was that he didn't want to be an embarrassment to Hermione because of his dreadful dress robes that Molly could afford because of their finically issues but he didn't blame his family for the lack of money, another reason was that Ron knew that Hermione would pick Viktor anyway, he was a quidditch star, rich, famous and why on earth would she pick Ron who was poor, no name, not very handsome.

Over the summer, Ron worked as a small waiter at a small cafe in the time nearby, but he earned enough money but he was saving money for a special occasion but no-one in his family knew that he was working at the cafe except Ginny who caught him working there and he made Ginny promise to keep it quiet, the two went down and started eating their breakfast, Hermione was still blushing when she saw Ron half naked, Ron was rushing to finish his food "Ron slow down will you, the food won't disappear" Molly told off her youngest son who quickly stood up and put the plate on the sink

"I need to go mum, be back around seven" Ron told his mother who was about to speak but Ron was already out the door

"Well, that was rather odd" Molly commented to the family who agreed at what she said except for Ginny who kept her mouth shut, Ron was running as fast as he could into the cafe where he worked, he quickly got into through the back door and got changed into his uniform which was a plain black long sleeve dress shirt that was rolled up to his elbows with a dark blue tie, black slacks and black shoes

"Ronald good your here, come on the tables won't wait on themselves" Ron's boss was Mason Waters, he was about the same age as Ron's parents, he had light brown hair and caring brown eyes, he was a great boss, he wasn't bossy or gets angry when you were late, Ron apologized for a being a bit late, throughout the day Ron waited lots of table and got generous tips mostly from girls, Ron looked at the clock and saw he only had an hour left before he went home, there were not much people in the cafe around this time people were just walking around town Ron took this chance and went into the kitchen quite hungry, he ask the Cafe chef, Wesley Thompson who had black hair and blue eyes "Hey Wes can I have something to eat?" Ron asked the chef who smiled and replied

"Of course Ron, how about Lasagne?" Ron nodded and watch the chef cut a piece of Lasagne onto a plate and handed it to Ron who thank him before eating the delicious Lasagne, Ron moaned in satisfaction

"Ohh this delicious Wes thanks" the Chef smiled and continued cooking for the costumers, William went inside and raised one eyebrow towards Ron who smiled sheepishly towards him then Ron's boss rolled his eyes and said

"Ron two girls need to be served" Ron put the plate in the sink before going out, then his eyes widen in surprise at who the girls that needed to be served it was Ginny and Hermione, Ron sighed and walked slowly over to them and said

"Hi my name is Ron and I'll be your server this evening, how can I help you?" Ron asked in an unhappy tone, Ginny tried so hard not to laugh while Hermione was shocked to see Ron working here and serving them, she secretly thought that Ron looked very handsome in his waiter uniform; Ron was glaring at Ginny who smiled innocently at her brother

"Can I have salad please" Ginny said trying not to laugh at her brother who was serving them, Ron wrote down her order then looked at Hermione with caring eyes

"What would you like, Hermione?" Ron asked sweetly at Hermione who blushed and said

"Can I have chicken mayo wrap please" the waiter wrote down her order and smiled that Hermione wasn't one of those girls that worried about how many calories were in their food, Ron went into the kitchen and gave the order to Wes who started cooking for Ginny and Hermione, after a few minutes he was done cooking, Ron took the foods and served the two girls.

The two girls started eating their foods, then girl entered and swayed over to a table and took a seat, Ron sighed and walked over to the girl and forced a friendly smile "Hi Ron, miss me" she flipped her blond hair and her cold grey eyes looking at Ron hungrily

"What would you like to order?" Ron said not being effected with her beauty because in his mind Hermione who was the most beautiful girl, he has ever seen in his life.

Over at Hermione and Ginny's table, Ginny was too busy eating her salad while Hermione was watching Ron and the girl called Amy who was clearly flirting with Ron who didn't really pay attention to her which made Hermione sigh in relief, Ron wrote her order down and go to the kitchen and came out again with her order. Ron went over to Hermione and his sister who were almost finished eating their food "Hey guys can you wait for a moment, I'm almost done working, I just need to get change and I'll walk you girls home" the two girls nodded as Ron grabbed their plates and put it in the sink then he got changed in the staff room into his normal clothes

"Hey Will, I'm going now" Ron called out to his boss who asked for him to wait for a moment

"Ron hey, here's your pay check for this week" he handed Ron muggle money that he would change at Gringgots, Ron thank his boss and told him that he will see him tomorrow for work again, the three walked home, there was an awkward silence between them when they got home, Ron told his parents that he got a job which made them proud of their youngest son making his own money and they were happy for their son.

It was around midnight, almost everyone was asleep except for Ron whose mind was filled of Hermione's smile, laugh and beauty, Ron groaned and ruffled his hair in annoyance before getting up before carefully tiptoeing down the stairs not wanting to wake anyone up, Ron was going to make himself a cup of coffee when he got to the bottom of the stairs he saw a soft glow came from the kitchen, Ron went inside the kitchen and saw Hermione sitting on the table drinking tea while deeply thinking "Hermione what are you doing up?" Ron asked quietly making Hermione smile at Ron

"What are you doing up, Ron?" she said back to Ron who raised his eyebrow at Hermione

"Hey, I asked you first Hermione" he said playfully at Hermione who rolled her eyes before answering the question

"Had a nightmare" she squeaked out to Ron who felt sorry for Hermione "what about you?" Ron made himself coffee while talking to Hermione

"Just thinking of something" Ron saw Hermione raised one of her eyebrow at him wanting to get more information from him, after a few seconds he sighed and replied "okay fine someone" Ron sat down across Hermione, drinking his coffee "what was your nightmare about?" she blushed and looked down at her cup of tea not wanting to answer his question "Hermione, you know you can tell me anything and I promise I won't tease you about it" Ron had worry in his eyes and she hates seeing his eyes full of worry and concern, she took a deep breath

"Have you ever loved someone but someone else took them away from you?" she asked Ron who instantly thought about the Yule ball but he didn't want to say what he was thinking so he just shook his head and Hermione continued "in my dream a boy I love left me for somebody better" she lowered her head and looked down but Ron lifted her head with his hand and made her look at him

"Then he was the most stupidest boy to have left a beautiful, smart, kind and amazing girl" Hermione looked away with a light blush on her face from his gaze at what Ron said to her when he realised what he had said and quickly clamped his mouth shut before anything embarrassing came out

"Thank you Ron for being a great friend, your friendship means the world to me Ron" Hermione got up and placed her cup into the sink before saying goodnight to Ron and going back to sleep, leaving Ron alone in the kitchen who was mentally kicking himself and Hermione's words echoed "your friendship means the world to me, I'm too late" her words meant that she didn't want to be something more, Ron finished his coffee before going back to bed.

At Kings Cross station, Harry was already on board the train, searching for an empty compartment, while Ron helped Hermione put hers and his trunks on in the train before getting on the train and meeting up with Harry but somebody stopped them it was Malfoy with a smirk on his face "hey Weasley, Granger had fun snogging" he taunted the two who blushed while Malfoy pulled a disgusted face at Hermione "eww Weasley, how can you kiss that thing" Ron growled in anger and stepped forward looking like he was going to punch him

"Say one more mean thing about Hermione and I will punch you so hard that you will go flying, come on I dare you to say one more thing" Draco was about to speak but was stopped when he saw Ron's blue eyes flashed with anger and his fist getting tighter

"Y-you don't scare me Weasley" Draco said shakily to Ron who smirk on his face and stepped forward making Draco step back in fear of what Ron will do to him "better be careful, you filthy little mud-" the blond hair boy held his right face in pain because Ron punched him "Arrghhh" he groaned in pain "that hurts" he complained making Ron roll his eyes and said

"I did warn you" Draco threw a punch at Ron who in one quick movement, grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind him and Draco shouted in pain, Ron pushed Draco who quickly ran back to his compartment trying to hide his tears, Ron turned to Hermione who was shocked at what Ron just did "Wes taught me a few moves to protect myself" Ron explained to Hermione who mouthed thank you before the two searched for Harry.

It was their first Transfiguration lesson in their sixth year; Ron was sat in the back of the classroom with Neville who looked like he was almost asleep and the desk in front of Ron was just Hermione alone in the desk, Ron just stared at Hermione who had her hair in the bun, her hair was the perfect shade of brown, it wasn't too dark or too light it was just right, Ron loves it that Hermione wasn't one of those girls that only cared about clothes and make-up, Hermione didn't wear clothes that was revealing that made their figures, she wore comfortable clothes and it still showed her figure but very subtle, wear makeup because she looks pretty without it,

"Ronald Weasley" McGonagall called out to Ron who snapped out of his daze

"Yes Miss?" Ron blushed a bit when everyone turned around to look at him

"come up here" Ron got gulped and walked towards the front with wand in his hand "can you please perform this spell" the red head looked at the board, they were learning to change water into fruits, Ron took a breath and prayed that he gets the spell right, he waved his wand at the cup of water, closed his eyes and held his breath, there was a bang and a flash. Everyone leaned forward wanted to see if Ron actually did it, McGonagall took the cup in her hands and searched inside then pulled out a ripe looking red apple, Ron smiled proudly that he got the spell right but his smile didn't last long when McGonagall cleared her throat and said to Ron

"Sorry to disappoint Mr Weasley you made the apple but" McGonagall puncture a hole in the middle making water come out, Ron frowned as he watched the water pour back into the bowl "you didn't do the spell fully" Ron nodded and walked back to his desk "with a bit more practice you can master it, 5 points to Gryffindor" the Gryffindor students murmured happily while the Slytherin students rolled their eyes in annoyance.

It was lunch, Ron sat across Hermione and both of the reached for the ketchup, when their hands touch they felt shocks of electricity run through making their hands pull slightly away from the ketchup, both of them blushed "You have it first Hermione" Ron handed her the ketchup and Hermione mouthed thank you and used it before passing it back to Ron. The red head went outside with the Gryffindor quidditch team to practice for the upcoming match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Hermione went to the Library to do her homework, she was working by the window where you can see the quidditch pitch where the Gryffindor team was practicing, and Hermione sneakily gazed out the window and saw Ron prevented the quaffle going inside the three goalposts, and she could see how hard Ron was trying to stop the quaffle, Hermione's looked at Ron's icy blue eyes that always made her feel like she was in a trance and couldn't look away, blue was Hermione's favourite colour because it was Ron's eye colour, Hermione noticed that Ron gained muscles that made him look more manly, she started to daydream about Ron and her but she didn't realised that she was daydreaming for a long time.

Ron was searching for Hermione she didn't turn up for dinner which made him worry, he had a hunch that she was in the library, when he entered, he smiled when he saw her staring at her book "Hermione?" he called out but she didn't reply which made Ron frown and put both his hands on her shoulders making her scream and scowl towards Ron who had a smirk on face

"what is wrong with you Ronald?" she kept slapping him on the arm making him laugh while he tried to catch her hands with his when he finally caught both of her hands, Hermione blush at how her lips was inches away from Ron's lips that she wanted to kiss since her third year, Ron slowly leaned and Hermione just closed her eyes and waited but something stopped him

"Ron? Harry wants to see you!" it was Ginny searching for him, Ron and Hermione quickly pulled away from each other with a blush on his face, Hermione was silently cursing Ginny for ruining a moment and almost kissing Ron "oh was I interrupting something?" she asked and the two sixth years blushed deeper and shook their heads

"I need to go see Harry" Ron kept his head down as he passed Ginny not wanting her to see the blush on his face, when he was finally gone, Hermione groaned as she sat down and buried her face with her hands

"I almost kissed him, Ginny; I wish you came a bit later" Ron's little sister looked sheepishly at Hermione with an apologetic smile on her face and replied

"Sorry Hermione, I didn't know" Hermione pulled her hands away and shook her head

"it's not your fault" Hermione sighed and looked out the window while Ginny sat next to her, there was an awkward silence between the girls, finally Ginny broke the silence by putting a comforting hand on Hermione's shoulder and said to her

"Ron loves you, Hermione, he's just shy and well you know boys are slow and stupid" Hermione nodded because she agreed what Ginny said "he is just insecure about not being worthy of you" she shook her head in disbelief and said

"Not being worthy of me" Ginny nodded and explained to her

"he is always overshadowed by his brothers and me, Hermione, Ron liked you since the second year but he thinks that you like Harry because you two spends lots of time together and since Harry is famous, he is just mostly known as Harry's Potter's best friend and he told me that he feels like a third wheel and he was going to ask you at the Yule Ball first but he saw Viktor ask you and that made him lose confidence in himself, he thinks that he didn't stand a chance because you were asked by a quidditch star and champion" Hermione just stared blankly on the table and kept listening to Ginny "whenever Ron tries to ask you out, he thinks about his flaws and his insecurity take over which make his courage to ask you out on gone" Ginny finished explaining about Ron's feelings while Hermione looked distraught and sad at how Ron was thinking that he wasn't worthy of her

"I need to see Ron, I will prove to him that I only want him" Hermione got up and started searching for Ron, who was currently at the lakeside.

Ron was sat against a old oak tree, just watched the blue water of the lake then he noticed Hermione come over with anger in her eyes, Ron slowly got up and was a bit scared of the very angry Hermione "Hi Hermione" Ron said shakily but when Hermione was face to face with Ron, she gave him a hard slap, Ron held the red cheek with his cool palm and was truly shocked her action "Hermione what did I do?" Hermione didn't say anything but she gave him another stinging slap making Ron back away a bit from Hermione "stop slapping me, just tell me what's wrong" Ron held both of her hands and pulled it away from his face

"How could you think" she started making Ron a bit confused, Hermione started crying "think that you're not worthy of me" Ron eye's went wide open and frowned, he muttered under his breath

"I'm going to kill Ginny" Hermione got her hand out of Ron's grasp, Ron closed his eyes ready for a slap but Hermione just cupped one of his red cheek making Ron open his eyes and looked deeply into her eyes

"Why do you think you're not worthy of me?" she asked but Ron shifted his eyes "please Ron tell me" she pleaded making Ron sigh and explained to her

"You deserve better than me, you deserve someone who is smart, kind, handsome and well not me" Ron gave her a sad smile but Hermione shook her head not agreeing with him "Hermione I'm not smart like you, I'm not very handsome like Harry or Cormac, I'm not rich I can't buy you expensive things you deserve, I don't know how to make you happy, I can't even-"Ron was cut off by Hermione's soft pink lips, Ron kissed her back when they parted Hermione spoke to Ron with honesty and love in her voice

"Ron you are the most handsome man I have ever met, your kind to your family, friends and protect them without thinking, you are smart, I don't think about Harry like that, he is like a brother to me, I don't care about money I just want to be with you and you make me very happy every time I'm with you" Ron gave her a small smile and mouthed thank you to her but she wasn't finish "I love how you do your best being a keeper, your wonderful blue eyes that's always filled with happiness and kindness, your smile always made my knees weak" Ron smile got bigger "your fiery red hair just makes you Ron, and I love you for that" Hermione blushed and Ron gave her a kiss, both of them felt electricity run through their bodies and they both swear they heard fireworks, they broke for air and stared lovingly at each other

"I love you Hermione" Ron and Hermione shared another kiss again