My first Fanfiction. Obviously I do not own the wonderful world of Harry Potter.

He was finally alone. With Hermione. That had been happening a lot lately, and Ron was sure liking it. Wood was calling so many Quidditch practices that Harry was hardly ever around anymore. Though most of the time spent with Hermione was devoted to studying, he enjoyed every second of it. He loved the way her soft, brown bush of hair rested on her shoulders. He found it amusing to watch her gorgeous brown eyes worry when she was afraid something she'd just written didn't sound right, because it always was. It didn't matter if she was nagging him to get on with his homework or talking about the latest book she'd read, he found himself getting swept away by her words into daydreams. Daydreams where Hermione was his girlfriend.

Ron had no idea where these thought were coming from, he'd only ever thought of Hermione as his smart friend who could be bossy at times. He supposed that he was only just noticing- really noticing- how amazing she really was because Harry wasn't around. Usually Harry had Ron's un-divided attention, and Ron had his.

Harry. Harry. Should he tell Harry these things that he'd started noticing about Hermione? No, Harry wouldn't understand; he'd probably just laugh and tell Ron to give the joke up! But what if he did understand, and then he too started noticing how wonderful her hair was, her amazing eyes, her beautiful voice, and even other things that Ron hadn't had a chance to think of yet! Everyone almost always noticed Harry before Ron. Heck, they noticed Harry first every time! And why wouldn't they? Harry was great! If it came down to it, there was no doubt for Ron that Hermione would choose Harry over him, what with his damned scar, his wild, jet black, his Quidditch skills and of course how unbelievably nice he was! He was a brilliant friend! Ron's best friend! He really was. He wouldn't take Hermione away from him, but Ron still decided against telling him. Save myself the embarrassment, he thought.

'-because we've mixed the wormwood with the-RON! You're not even listening to me!' Ron snapped back to reality at the sound of Hermione addressing him. Maybe if he could get her to stop paying so much attention to her work, even just for a couple of minutes, she'd be able to notice him like he'd noticed her.

'Look, seeing as you're not paying attention and I've finished my assignment, why don't we just finish this off tomorrow when Harry's with us? I'm tired anyway and I want to go to bed,' Ron let out a weak, 'Yeah. Ok. Night,' disappointedly and trudged off to bed as well, feeling slightly cheated that he wouldn't be able to start this noticing thing the next day.

Ron was studying with Hermione again in the common room. Without Harry. He wondered for a moment where he was, but shrugged the thought off. It was an extremely cold day, and this tempted Ron to squish up next to Hermione and give her a cuddle more than it did usually. But he knew he couldn't, because if he did, it would be extremely awkward, seeing as they were just friends. And Crookshanks would probably dig his claws into Ron, seeing as the crazy cat was nuzzled up next to Hermione. The dumb, stupid cat. How unfair was it that Crookshanks got to be near her inst- this was getting pathetic! Ron was becoming jealous of a cat! A pathetic little cat! He realised he needed to tell someone how he felt about Hermione so that he wouldn't get so aggravated.

He'd already decided against Harry, and Fred and George would never let him live it down. Ginny would be nice to talk to about it, maybe, she was a girl after all. But then she'd probably just gossip about it to her dumb friends and then the whole school would know. His mother would just embarrass him by getting overly excited about his first crush and knowing Percy, Ron would just receive an unnecessarily long lecture about how he was far too young to be worrying about girls and to move on with his life. There was only one person left to tell. Coincidently, that person happened to be Hermione. Even if she didn't feel the same way she'd probably have a highly logical explanation as towards why it was perfectly normal for him to fancy her. He'd be too busy rolling his eyes at how she always had an answer for absolutely everything to worry about being embarrassed.

'Hermione,' he said,'I have something to tell you.'

'Yes?' she asked simply. The look on her face was making the tips of his ears turn red.

'Hermione, I think I li- what the bloody hell are you doing?' he yelled. Hermione, along with a few nearby Gryffindors, had started rolling around on the ground, the strangest sounds erupting from their mouths. Suddenly, they'd changed. Instead of their standard Gryffindor robes, from neck down they had the bodies of spiders!

'ARGH! ARGH! HERMIONE!' he screamed, his breathes becoming quicker.

'Tap dance for me Ron!' she yelled to the echo of the other Gryffindor spiders ('Tap dance! Tap dance!). He tried to tell her again, after all she was still Hermione, no matter how much her spider body was freaking him out.

'I WANT TO TELL YOU THAT I THINK I FAN-'

'TAP DANCE!' she yelled, 'TAP TAP TAP!' screamed Hermione and the others, slowing bringing their terrifying spider bodies closer and closer….

'The spiders!' yelled Ron, 'They want me to tap dance! I don't want to tap dance!' Ron was in his bed, hands sweating. The whole thing had been a dream. Harry was in his bed, reading the marauders map. Clearly amused, he replied, 'You tell those Spiders Ron.'

'Yeah, yeah I'll tell them,' he murmured. Maybe this time they'll listen.

Ron and Hermione were on their way to the library. Wood had once again pulled another surprise practice, so Harry was down at the pitch instead of catching up on his schoolwork. This was Hermione's current subject of complaint.

'Quidditch isn't going to matter later in life when Harry has a proper career! How will being able to catch a golden snitch help him achieve a bright furture?' she questioned. Ron nodded his head every now and again, his mind clearly in another place as usually now would be the time he' be furiously disagreeing with Hermione. Just say it, he thought as they reached the library. Whatever happens can't be as bad as your dream. Just be straight up and tell that spider how you feel. He grinned at the thought of spider-Hermione, which now seemed quite hilarious to him.

'This isn't a laughing matter Ronald! It's Harry's future!' she whispered angrily, which received and ugly glare from Madam Pince.

'I know, Hermione,' he replied seriously. She smiled.

'Maybe I'd feel better about it if Wood just made the team read more about the history of Quidditch and the way it's evolved into the sport that it is today. It would not only improve the team's skills, but it would help with their literature too! Oh! Speaking of Quidditch books I spotted one the other day on the Chudley Cannons that I think you might like! Wait here while I go get it for you!' she said with excitement, knowing that for one Ron would actually be reading something she'd given him.

Chuckling, he quietly said to himself, 'I love you Hermione,'

For now, he was fine with just admiring her from afar.

AUTHORS NOTE: This is the first ever fanfiction I've written, and I'm glad it's a Harry Potter story featuring Ron and Hermione. I would greatly appreciate reviews, I'd love to know about areas in which you think I can improve on to make the story better!