He sat up in his bed with a start when he heard his sister's voice. He silently thanked her for intruding on the nightmare he was having. "She's going to be here in a couple of minutes," Ginny said, laughing at her older brother's shock. "Tell Hermione that I'll be down in a few minutes," Ron said groggily.
"She's not yours," Ginny replied with a serious smile on her face, "She isn't your girlfriend or anything. She's my best friend as well as yours." His sister didn't realize that those words had just torn down his entire world and cut through his heart with something more painful than being stabbed by any basilisk fang or Sword of Gryffindor. "I know," Ron spat angrily, "I just meant that if she happened to ask, idiot." Ginny scowled. Ron stood up to begin getting ready as his sibling ran downstairs.
As soon as she reached the living room, Hermione arrived by floo. "Ginny!" exclaimed the brown-haired young lady, stepping into the Burrow for the first time that summer. "I'm so excited to see you, Hermione!" squealed Ginny as she and Hermione embraced. "Ginny, I don't mean to be rude, but… where's Ron?" Hermione said as her chocolate brown eyes glimmered. "He's up in his room," Ginny simply said, purposely failing to mention that he was changing. Hermione said that she was going to go up and visit him and that she needed to tell him something important. Ginny offered to take Hermione's bag to her room and Hermione ran up the stairs to the room of Ronald Weasley. She opened the door to a topless Ron.
Before she had opened the door, though, Ron had been looking at himself in the mirror, looking at how he'd actually built up a bit of muscle this summer. "Take that, you Krummy son of a..." Ron was saying to himself as the door flew open and the face of Hermione Granger was in the doorway. Her jaw was dropped as he turned to her. She immediately looked away as her face turned a bright crimson.
"Hey, 'Mione," Ron smiled kindly and said, "You can look at me. It's not like I'm a girl. It's just shirtless." She tilted her head back up but didn't move her eyes back towards him. Oh, gosh, when did he become so… ripped? Hermione asked herself. Ron invited her in and she habitually closed the door behind her, and walked to sit on his bed. "Oh… okay," Ron murmured confused at why she closed the door. "Oh! I'm sorry; it's a force of habit," Hermione apologized. "It's fine. I guess now we can make this conversation more private," Ron grinned as he made his way to the bed, pulling on his favorite Chudley Cannons t-shirt.
"Nothing is private with Ginny Weasley in this house," Hermione laughed. "I heard that!" screeched Ginny from the hallway. "Which just proves my point, Gin," Hermione giggled as she stood up to put silencing charms on the room, "I'm going to make it impossible for you to hear!" After charming the room, she locked the door with a spell that Ron didn't recognize. She began to return to the bed but tripped over Ron's pajama bottoms. Ron shot up and caught her in his arms. She looked up and he returned the gaze. After a moment, she pushed off of him gently and sat herself down on the bed.
Ron was again confused. He sat down next to her and asked what she wanted to talk about. "Oh, yes… well… have you spoken to Harry at all this summer? He hasn't replied to any of my letters…" she whispered in an extremely worried tone. "No… he hasn't written me back either," he said quietly, "But I'm sure it has to do with his aunt and uncle. But he's probably going to come in a few weeks… we might go to pick him up." "Oh, I know that it may just be his family, but…" she began, before she began to burst into tears, "I am just so worried about him." She threw herself against Ron in search of comfort. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her consolingly.
However, what he had wanted to talk about was being thrown from his mind. It's obvious she loves Harry and not you , a voice inside his head hissed. Why would she love you anyway? You're the sidekick; the second-hand man; the loser . "Bloody Hell," he mumbled. Hermione pulled up from his chest to look him in the eyes. "I've been having nightmares, too," Hermione continued through her tears, "That's mainly what I'm upset about. In them, Harry and my parents are killed by You-Know-Who and his army… and you… well, a lot of other stuff happens and it's just terrifying, Ron."
Ron's downheartedness kept growing. She skipped over what she was going to say about you. That's proof enough , the voice taunted him again. Even though he knew he should let go of her, he pulled her in tighter, burying his face in her sweet smelling hair, so she wouldn't see or notice the tears trickling from his eyes as well. "I've had similar nightmares, 'Mione. They… I don't know. All I can do is tell you that those are just dreams. Harry isn't going anywhere for a long time, and neither are your parents, if I can help it," he tried to choke out without sounding like he was crying.
Hermione continued to sob into Ron's chest. He cried quietly into her hair. As soon as he could dry up his tears, Ron quietly uttered with an almost bitter tone, "You really love him, don't you?" "What are you talking about?" Hermione muttered as she looked up from Ron's chest and into his sparkling blue eyes. "You love Harry. I don't blame you. I mean, you have every right to love him. He's a handsome git, and he's famous. He's your best friend; he's kind and loving, a powerful wizard, and practically a superhero. He's perfect. He beat The Dark Lord when he was only an infant and laughs in the face of danger every day he decides to get up and take a breath. I understand why you'd love him," Ron spoke with tears trailing down his face, letting go of Hermione.
"Oh, Ron… I… I do love Harry," (A/N BAM! Didn't expect that, did you?) Hermione said while cupping her hand over the side of Ron's face, "But no more than a best friend. I love… someone else." "It's Viktor Krum, isn't it?" Ron cried loudly, "That stupid Krum, ruining every chance I get to prove myself worth something…" "NO! It isn't Krum, Ronald. It's… It's you," (A/N Okay, that was totally predictable… Sorry XD…) she admitted with a smile and more tears. Ron grabbed her face and shoved his lips up against hers passionately. She returned the kiss lovingly and they pulled away unwillingly after a few minutes.
"Uh, 'Mione?" Ron said, stroking her hair. "Mhhmm?" she replied. "Why did you skip over me when you were talking about your dreams?" he asked, feeling almost hurt just at the thought. "You… get… tortured… and Bellatrix… she… she… k-k-kills… y-y…" Hermione stammered while weeping. "I understand. My nightmares mainly consist of you being tortured and killed, too," he pressed her against his chest, "and I swear I will never let anyone torture you. I love you, 'Mione."
"I love you, too, Ron."