This is my first one-shot and my first Ron/Hermione fic, so I hope I did well. Please review and check out my other story: Staying Strong Enjoy!
Hope. Hope was the one thing that he had always depended on. Hope was the one thing that had gotten him through the long and depressing camping trip. It was the thing that made him think maybe she loved him, even though the cold voice that dwelled in the depths of his heart while he wore the locket had always told him otherwise. Hope was the thing that made him stand up straight and smile, even though the loss of his brother made him want to close out the sun, burrow under blankets, and cry until he was physically unable to continue.
Maybe things would get better. Maybe his life would be rebuilt. Maybe he would have a genuine smile again. Maybe his Mum would stop crying. Maybe is Dad would stop looking so expressionless. Maybe his twin-less brother would stop looking so heartbreakingly empty. Maybe, just maybe, her kiss hadn't just been an I-want-to-kiss-someone-before-I-die kiss. There's always hope.
He felt a small, warm hand on his shoulder and looked up into her beautiful brown eyes.
"Are you okay?" she asked softly.
Okay… was he okay? Yes, Voldemort was dead, but so was his brother. The brother that had mercilessly teased him; the brother that he had yelled at and swore he hated. The brother that he really had loved just as much as he loved the girl standing next to him. He had thought his best friend had died. Lupin, Tonks, Mad-eye, Lavender, and so many others really had died. Was he okay? No; he wouldn't be for a while.
Unable to form the words that seemed jumbled up in his brain, he just shrugged.
She sat down next to him, so closely it made his heart race, and squeezed his hand.
"Ron, I'm so, so sorry about Fred. And I understand if you don't want to talk about him, but you need to know that he didn't die in vain. He died fighting for justice; he died trying to make the world a better place. He died trying to make sure that the thing he loved most, making people laugh, could continue. And I bet, wherever he is, that he's pretty damn proud about succeeding."
He looked up at her, almost smiling.
"Thanks. Thanks for that, Hermione, I needed it," he hated how weak and broken his voice sounded. "But you're right, I don't want to talk about it. There is something I do want to talk about, though." She looked at him earnestly and he took a deep breath.
"You-you know a few hours ago w- when you erm, kissed me?" She nodded, looking apprehensive, but never letting go of his hand.
"W-well," he continued nervously, "did you actually mean it, or was it just because of the battle?"
"Oh Ron," she seriously, looking deep into his eyes, "both. I've been waiting for you to kiss me for a long time, but eventually I thought you must not like me, because you never did. So I guess it was because of the battle that I did it. I just thought, if I was going to die, I wanted you to know that- that I love you. I really do." His blue eyes widened and seemed to regain some of the happiness that they had lost during the battle. He gently took her face in his large hands and kissed her forehead.
"Hermione, I- I love you too. And I know it's love now, it's not just a crush like it used to be. I don't feel the same way about you that I did about Lavender. I don't feel like I have to snog you all the time to be happy; just you sitting next to me is enough. I know I love you by the way my heart races when you touch me. I know I love you, because when we fight, I'm never really mad at you. I know I love you because I know everything about you, even the weird and annoying things, and those things aren't enough to drive me away. I know I love you because every time I look at you, even if you had just woken up, you take my breath away. I know I love you, because I can't see myself loving anyone else."
He looked down at her and saw that she was crying. She buried her face in his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her and put his chin on the top of her head.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
There were a few moments of silence when all she could hear was the beating of his heart, and all he could hear was the chirping of the birds in the Forbidden Forest.
"This is going to be hard, Ron," she said, suddenly sitting up and looking at him, "you know, with everything going on. It's going to be a while before things are normal again. But we can get through it. We can get through it together."
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