This began out of sheer boredom between SS Lupin and I. It almost has no point but it served its purpose: to entertain us for a few hours. And face it, everyone loves Titanic. If you say you don't, you're probably lying.

"What's this?"

Hermione pushed back her sweat-dampened bangs and looked up from where she was arranging her clothes. Ron was standing near the shelf where she kept her books and scanty collection of movies and music, holding up a videocassette box. She blushed a bit when she realized which one it was. "Um, just a movie."

Ron read the title of the movie aloud. "Titanic. What's it about?"

Hermione pushed away her embarrassment with the information she had read about the tragedy. "The Titanic was a luxury cruise liner. It hit an iceberg on it's maiden voyage from England to New York on April 14, 1912 and sank the following morning. An estimated 1,490 passengers died."

Ron's face lit up. "You mean… there's stuff crashing?"

Hermione stared at her half folded t-shirts in thought. She could already see where this was going; she had taken Ron on their first real date to the movies, and Ron had loved the action movie they had seen. "I suppose so."

"People jumping off the ship?"

"Yeah, but–"

"Some guns, maybe?"

"There was one pistol, but–"

"Great! Let's see it, then!"

"You needn't sound so excited, Ron. Don't you see the couple on the box? It's a tragic love story, too."

Ron's face fell a little. "Does that mean you'll be crying and stuff?"

"Weeping, actually." Hermione was exaggerating a little, but she was a tad desperate to discourage Ron from seeing the movie. She just wasn't in the mood to sit for three hours on the edge of her seat, even if she knew how it would end.

He seemed to be mulling something over as he turned the tape over and over in his hands. "Is there any nudity?"

"Ron!"

"What?" He asked in an affronted tone. "I'm just curious!"

She felt herself blushing again. "Yes. There's some nudity."

"That settles it. Let's watch it!"

"Oh come on, Ron. I don't really want to. Besides, I've seen it more than once. I'll be reciting the lines under my breath and annoying you."

"Well, we have nothing better to do."

"I'm still cleaning!"

"Come on, Hermione. Pleeease?" His voice was dangerously close to a whine.

Hermione reconsidered. She could always clean later. Then, of course, there was the opportunity to sit close with Ron in her sitting room's couch while her parents were out with the lights turned down low…

Although now she was more enthused, she kept her voice exasperated. "Okay, fine." She got up, snatched the tape out of Ron's hand, and motioned for him to follow. She instructed him to sit on the couch and feeling she might as well go all the way with this movie thing, fixed a large bowl of popcorn and some drinks. She closed the drapes and shut off the lights.

"What'd you do that for?" Ron asked through a mouthful of popcorn as she struggled with the last drape.

"I figured then we could feel like we were in a real theater."

"Well, your telly isn't that big, so it's not really the same."

She brandished the tape as if it were a weapon. "Do you want to watch the movie or get back upstairs?"

Ron's face spread into a wicked grin. "Since you mentioned it…"

"Cleaning."

"Oh. Movie. Definitely."

She smirked. "I thought so." She put the tape in, pressed play, and walked over to sit next to Ron. His arm automatically went around her waist and she settled her head on his shoulder.
An hour and a half later, Ron was feeling a bit restless. He almost regretted saying they should watch the movie. The only advantage seemed to be the snuggling on the couch. "Blimey, how long is this movie anyway?"

"I dunno. Maybe two and a half or three hours."

"Three hours, Hermione? That movie we saw last was less than two hours long!"

"Do you want to see the ship sink or not?" In his complaining, Ron had shifted, making Hermione slide into an uncomfortable position.

"Yeah." Ron yawned, stretching his arm in that tell tale way to get it around her shoulder.

Hermione leaned back into him by way of assent, and his arm was around his waist once more.

Finally -finally- the credits began to roll and the same ridiculously sappy song that had played during the movie began playing once more. Ron turned to ask Hermione why they kept playing that bloody song over and over again but was astonished to see her eyes glazed with tears.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his voice alarmed.

Hermione shook her head, feeling completely ridiculous. "Nothing, nothing. It's just that Titanic makes me so sad."

Ron watched her wipe her tears away and rub her nose. He didn't understand why she got so upset over something not real, when she had seen so many fight and lose their lives in the war.

"It's just that so many people died trying to save their lives, and they didn't even have any magic to help them."

"It was tragic… and they were definitely Muggles. One Warming Charm and that Jack bloke would've been fine."

She couldn't help but laugh. It was such a Ron thing to say and his own unique way of offering comfort, as was the awkward way he was patting her shoulder. She couldn't help but think through the romance that had been so central to the story. Truth be told, the Jack and Rose love story had been clichéd and yet...

"Ron..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we're like Jack and Rose?"
"You mean if I think we're gonna get on a boat that hits a big chunk of ice and splits in half and then I'll freeze to death?"

"No, more like we're a couple who fought the odds against them to be in… love."

He replayed her words over in his head, liking the sound of them. "Yeah. Yeah, I reckon we are. I never really thought about it that way."

Hermione smiled into his shirt. "Pity I won't have a rich beau on the side that'll buy me a blue diamond necklace."

"If you get the beau, then I get to draw a nude portrait with you as my model."

"You have yourself a deal. Although I wasn't aware that you could draw."

"I can always learn," Ron informed her. They sat in silence a few moments until Hermione finally spoke up.

"Ron?"

"What?"

"I think right now would be an appropriate time for us to kiss."

"You're always right," Ron said before bringing his lips to hers. When they finally broke apart, he grinned down at her. "See, wasn't that a lot better than cleaning all day?"

- end.