Ron Weasley rocked back and forth on his heels on the sidewalk outside the pub, waiting for a group of four or five blonde women to finish fawning over his companion. He was more than used to this by now. When your best mate was the most popular footballer in the league, this sort of thing happened every time you went out. They never noticed him, lowly and un-famous as he was. They occasionally asked him to take a picture for them, one even asked him for a pen, but none of them ever even asked his name. He didn't really mind. He wasn't much for attention anyway, but he did wish Harry wasn't so bloody attentive to them.
It took them sometimes twice as long as it should have to get to and from places as Harry never could let himself off with a friendly wave. He insisted on stopping to talk to every single fan, man or woman, gladly taking pictures and signing autographs.
"You ready to go, mate?" Harry asked him, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"I was ready and hour ago." Ron said, rolling his eyes. Harry grinned sheepishly and lead the way into the pub.
The Hog's Head was crowded tonight, Ron noted. They pushed their way to the front of the bar and ordered two pints, managing to snag their favorite table in the corner.
Ron watched Harry scanning the crowd for a few seconds. "So, who's it to be?" He asked Harry.
Harry looked at him uncomprehendingly. "Harry, I have known you since we were 11, I know one of your pulling outfits when I see it," Ron said calmly. "Who's it to be, I'll play wing man."
Harry blushed but said nothing for a moment, scanning the crowd again. "That one." he said gesturing to a table across the pub where a blonde man sat with two beautiful women. One was pale and elegant looking like the man. The other had a head of wild, curly hair that fell past her shoulders and skin the color of his mother's chocolate cake. As Ron watched, she laughed at something the elegant woman said. The sound carried across the bar, causing Ron's stomach to flip.
"Wh-which one?" Ron stammered.
"The blonde." Harry said, his voice sounding rough.
Ron finally tore his eyes away from the curly haired woman to look at Harry. "How do you even know he likes blokes?" he asked.
Harry shrugged and the gesture seemed overly casual. "I've seen him in here before." he said.
Ron narrowed his eyes. "Am I an accomplice to a stalker?" he asked.
Harry blushed harder than before. "Of course not!" He said defensively.
Ron grinned, "Alright, alright," he said. He scooped up his pint and took a big gulp. "Lets get to it."
Ron approached the table, stumbling a little. "Hello, ladies." he said, winking in an exaggerated manner.
Harry came up behind him looking harassed. "I am so sorry." he said. "My friend forgets his manners when he's in his cups."
The elegant woman smirked and the Blonde, one perfect eyebrow raised, opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted. "Holy cricket, you're Ronald Weasley!"
Ron blinked, and looked over at the curly-haired woman, who was the source of the outburst. "Y-yes," he stammered, confused, "That's me. How did you know my name?"
The curly-haired woman beamed at him. "You're one of the best chess players in the UK, that's how." she gushed, offering a hand which Ron took, blushing from the roots of his hair, all the way, he was certain, to his toes.
Hermione Granger." The woman said by way of an introduction. 'I watch the chess finals every year with my dad. You're brilliant."
"You do realize Harry bloody Potter is standing a foot away from you?" the blonde man drawed loudly, saving Ron from having to respond to this astonishing pronouncement.
Hermione blinked and shifted her gaze briefly to Harry, who waved. "Hello." she said somewhat uninterestedly, and turned her attention back to Ron. "Can I buy you a drink?" she asked him.
"Erm, yeah. Alright." Ron said and let Hermione lead the way to the bar. Once there she hopped up on a stool and patted the one next to it.
Ron smiled nervously as he slid onto the stool. It's not that he never dated. He did, but not a lot and rarely did he do so around Harry. Next to all that fame and athletic talent, Ron just became invisible. It was a reality he had dealt with pretty much since primary school.
There was a comfortable anonymity to it all. He was able to experience things that he wouldn't have otherwise. VIP rooms, and travel and beautiful women who only talked to him because he was Harry's best friend and it was not in the other man's nature to ignore anyone, especially not Ron.
"So," Hermione began, "What do you do when you're not winning chess tournaments?"
Ron blushed, more subtly this time, "I haven't won in years." he said softly, but forged on to answer her question "My brother owns a joke and novelty shop, well a chain of them now, and I keep the books and help out with suppliers and things."
Hermione smiled. "Do you have other siblings?" she asked.
Ron almost laughed and had to wait for Hermione to give the barkeep their order before answering. "Yeah." he said. "Four others besides George."
"Oh, wow." Hermione replied, her eyes wide. "That must be so...loud."
Ron did laugh now. "Yeah, it's definitely that." he said. "Don't have a big family, I take it?" he asked.
Hermione shook her head. "No. Just me and my mom and dad." she said. "I've always wanted siblings though."
Ron smiled at her. "Don't get me wrong, I love my bothers and my sister and I wouldn't trade them for the world, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like for it to just be me." as he said it, it occurred to him that he hadn't said that out loud to anyone in a long time.
To be fair to himself, no one had ever seemed interested. Besides Harry, of course, but they didn't really have to talk anymore. They practically communicated telepathically.
He suddenly realized that Hermione was talking again and he cursed at himself. "Sorry, what was that?" he asked quickly. "Got lost in thought for a second."
Hermione blushed. "I said being an only child isn't all it's cracked up to be." she said. My parents are very over protective."
They talked for several more minutes before Harry came jogging up. Ron had almost forgotten he had come with him. "I'm going to take off with Draco." Harry said, sounding a little breathless.
Ron raised an eyebrow. "Draco?" he asked.
Harry looked anxiously at Hermione. "The blonde." he said mostly through his teeth.
"Alright." Ron said, grinning at him. "Call me later, yeah?"
Harry nodded briefly before taking off toward the door.
Once Harry was gone, Ron turned to Hermione again. "That Draco bloke is your friend, right?" he asked.
Hermione nodded. "Since Prep."
"Is he..." Ron's voice trailed off. "Is he a good guy?" he said the last so softly that Hermione barely heard him.
She felt her face soften. "He's a bit of a prat, actually, but he won't treat Harry badly." she explained with a gentle smile.
Ron looked so genuinely relieved that Hermione felt something in the vicinity of her stomach flip over.
"How long have you and Harry known each other?" she asked.
"We met when we were 11." Ron said. "He was...Harry didn't have a very good childhood. I think I was his first friend."
"I've known Dray and Pans nearly as long." she said. I'm very protective of them too." Ron opened his mouth to speak, she was sure, in defense of Harry, but Hermione cut him off. "I have the advantage of Harry being in the public eye." she said. "He seems sweet."
Ron smiled fondly. "Clueless, but sweet, yeah." he said.
They were silent for several minutes, sipping their drinks. It was a comfortable sort of silence, though. Hermione was the one to break it. "Do you want to get out of here?" she asked.
Ron was momentarily stunned, but he managed to recover himself. "Yeah, alright." he said. Hermione took a few bills out of her purse and practically tossed them at the bartender and they headed out of the bar side by side.
When they stepped into the cool night air, Ron turned to look at Hermione, and an urge that was unnamed until he gave into it overtook him. He curled one arm around her waist and pulled her into him slowly. He wanted to give her every chance to smack him soundly or run away, but she did neither. He lifted his other hand just as slowly and threaded it through her thick, slightly coarse hair.
Hermione tilted her head to the side and he felt her shiver slightly as his lips touched hers. The kiss was light, soft, and too short for Hermione's liking, but when they pulled away from each other they were both smiling.