Author's Note: This is my very first try at fanfiction. I own nothing. Enjoy!
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Ron was sitting on his bed, flipping through the latest Quiddich magazine an owl had delivered earlier that morning. The Chudley Cannons were doing horribly this season. Ron read with disgust going through the list of their latest disabled players. Honestly, how could a bout of some silly Muggle disease affect the whole team? From what Hermione had told him, chicken pox mostly affects children. Yeah, well that's how they had been playing most of the season…
Just then there was a soft knock on the door. Hermione peeked her head into Ron's room, "Are you busy Ronald? I wanted to show you something I've been working on."
Losing interest in his magazine anyway, Ron threw it to the floor and said, "Sure Hermione, what's up?"
Hermione smiled a small smile and entered the room. Behind her back Ron could see she was holding a rather large book. Oh please don't let this be something educational. Summer is for goofing off, not studying! How many times had he told her that!
"I wanted to show you the scrapbook Ginny and I have been working on. We just finished. Put the final touches on it not 5 minutes ago. I couldn't wait to show you." Ron could tell she was excited, so he tried to show enthusiasm, even though he thought scrapbooks were, well, girly.
"Sure," he gulped, "let's have it then."
Ron scooted over on his bed, making some room for Hermione. She smiled and bounced happily onto his bed. They sat comfortably, both leaning again the headboard. Hermione said, "Now don't be too judgmental. I'm not a very crafty person and this is my first scrapbook, so no negative remarks, unless of course, they can be considered constructive criticism."
"If you're not a crafty person, then why have you been spending every waking moment for the past 3 days chained to the kitchen table covered in glue and bits of paper? I swear every ten minutes I would hear either you or Ginny complaining about a paper cut..."
Hermione glared at Ron. "Because this is important Ronald," she said rather seriously. "Just look at it, will you?'
She handed the large book over to Ron. He sighed, took the book and laid it in his lap. He knew she was watching his face with anticipation, waiting for some kind of reaction. Ron was starting to get worried with what he might find in the pages of this scrapbook.
He finally opened to the front page. There written in Hermione's distinctive handwriting were the words: The Story of Us. Below these words was a picture of Ron, Hermione and Harry from the previous Christmas. The moving picture showed the trio sitting on the couch in the Griffindor Common Room, smiling and laughing at something Neville had said just seconds before. Ginny had been the brilliant one who snapped the picture. Ron's face immediately broke into a smile and memories of that happy day came flooding back to him.
Ron turned to Hermione and smiled even bigger. "This is brilliant! Is this entire album full of pictures of the three of us?" Ron eagerly turned the page. This next page displayed pictures from their first year at Hogwarts. Still in the awkward phases of their pre-adolescence, Ron looked uncomfortably at the few photos from that year. Dropping his smile for a split-second, the memories of being childish and making fun of Hermione's buck teeth came back in a flash. He quickly turned the page again, not wanting to relive those memories. How could I have been such a git back then?
"Well it's not strictly the three of us," Hermione answered. "Most of them are, but I also included some of Neville and Luna and Hagrid, you know, the people who make Hogwarts home to us." She laughed as Ron turned the page which displayed a photo of Ron and Fang, Hagrid's loyal hound. Fang was resting his rather large head on Ron's lap and drool was dripping down the front of Ron's robes. The look on Ron's face was priceless; the perfect combination of disgust and misery.
Ron joined her in laughter. The next page showed pictures from the Yule Ball. Hermione looked so beautiful that night, Ron thought to himself. His eyes lingered on her figure for a few seconds before he recognized Viktor Krum staring in the background. Ron quickly turned the page again, this time revealing an entire page of just Ron from his very first Griffindor Quiddich match. I looked rather good that day, Ron thought to himself. The Chuddley Cannons would be lucky enough to have me as their Keeper…
Hermione flipped through the next couple pages. "This one is my favorite." The picture she was referring to showed the three of them again, sitting by the fire at the Burrow. Ron wasn't exactly sure when the picture was taken; it couldn't have been that long ago, perhaps it was earlier that summer? His Mother had probably taken it because it didn't look like any of them knew that a picture was being taken. The three of them just sat there talking and smiling, enjoying each other's company. The light of the fire was doing wonders for Hermione. The combination of her radiant smile and the glow from the flames made her look more stunning than he had ever seen her before. Why did it take me so long to realize her beauty? Ron thought to himself.
"So you like it?" Hermione asked hopefully, "The scrapbook I mean." Ron just nodded, continuing to stare at the image.
"I really hoped you would," Hermione continued. "I thought it would be helpful to have something like this to look at from time to time, you know, with the journey we have ahead of us."
With this statement Ron looked at Hermione. Her eyes were starting to well up just a bit. They just stared at each other for a moment, contemplating the future; not know what the upcoming months actually held in store for them. Hermione continued, "Do you think it will work? I mean, do you think we'll be able to find and destroy all the horcruxes? Can we actually do this?" With this last question Hermione sounded less hopeful and her words were filled with doubt. Her eyes began to sparkle with tears rising to the surface.
Ron closed the scrapbook and placed it at the foot of his bed. He slowly put his arm around Hermione's shoulders and she leaned in for a hug. "We'll be fine," Ron said. "We've got Harry on our side, remember? He knows what to do. Dumbledore left all the instructions with him. We'll be fine. Don't worry." By now Hermione's tears were rolling down her face and falling onto Ron's shoulders. He hated to see her cry. He wasn't sure what else to say, so he just held her for a few moments.
Hermione eventually let out a sigh of content and said, "I feel so safe with you." Ron, obviously loving the moment, felt the need to lighten it and joked, "Why would you feel safe with me? I'm just Ron, Harry's sidekick." He chuckled to himself, hoping to lift her spirits.
Hermione pushed away from Ron and looked him square in the eye, obviously hurt by something he had said. "No you're not," she said seriously. "You're Ronald Weasley, my best mate." She just stared at him, trying to make him understand.
Ron, still trying to keep the mood light, joked, "But I thought Ginny was your best mate."
Hermione looked away, trying to figure out how to make this boy understand. "Well, Ginny's my best mate for girly things, like scrapbooking and talking about boys..." she smiled slightly and turned back to Ron, "but you've always been my best mate."
Ron slowly returned the smile and pulled Hermione back into their hug. They snuggled down his bed a bit, just laying there in each other's arms, trying to remember this moment; trying to live only in the present because the future would get here soon enough. Ron began to play with her hair, running his fingers through the curly strands.
"Do I really make you feel safe?" Ron whispered into Hermione's hair. She didn't say a word. She only nodded her head and hugged him tighter, taking in his wonderful scent, as she slowly drifted off to sleep.