AN: This is really rather weird, R/H. I hope that you like it. This is my second fan fic so don't flame me too badly!! Have fun reading it! I want to thank everyone who reads this, though I don't know who you are yet, but thank you anyway! You make my work worthwhile. *Sniff* Anyway, thank you and enjoy!
Wonderful SummerIt was the summer after their sixth year at Hogwarts and the three friends were having fun. This was the summer before their last year at Hogwarts. None of them had really discussed what was going to happen when they did finally graduate but it had been on their minds for a while. None of them wanted to discuss it, especially Hermione, who was still trying to figure out a way to show Ron that she liked him with out being an idiot about it. She couldn't imagine not seeing him everyday of the week.
Hermione had talked to Ginny about this a lot, though it was hard at first. I mean, is there really an easy way to tell a great friend that you like their brother? (AN. The answer to that would be no). Ginny listened and told Hermione things that she might try to say to get Ron to understand how she felt about him. The talks with Ginny were a great help to Hermione, if only by making her feel more comfortable about talking to him. She could never form the right words when she tried to tell him.
The focus of this summer was to watch as much mindless television as possible. Mr. Weasley had just bought a television from a garage sale at a nearby muggle house. They all enjoyed sitting around it, watching various shows. Fred and George, who were now well on their way to being the proud owners of a gag shop, were practically addicted to it. They liked the 'magic' shows best of all. It seemed very funny to them that the muggles thought a few tricks were magic. Today our three heroes were getting ready to start watching.
"What should we watch today?" Ron asked, plopping himself in front of the TV.
"Let's watch the Discovery Channel. It is very educational you know. Just the other day I saw a program on Elephants. It really was fascinating." Hermione told her two friends.
"It sounds simply intriguing." Ron said sarcastically.
Hermione glared at him but decided it was better not to fight with him. "There might be something interesting on today." She protested instead. She grabbed the control before either of the two boys. They groaned as she turned onto an English version of the Discovery Channel. A boring old English man appeared on the screen talking about the life habits of owls. They listened to his droning voice. Hermione was glued to the television but the two boys seemed to be dying of boredom. After a few minutes, Ron became angry with the 'reporter'.
"This guy doesn't know anything about owls!" He complained.
"Well, he isn't a wizard so he doesn't know they have a magical side to them. It is good to look at things from more than one point of view. If you don't, you will not get the whole story. He is talking about the non-magical side of owls. I think it is splendid."
"This is going to be horribly boring if we have to watch this stupid old man talk about useless facts on owls all day long. Everyone who owns an owl already knows how they act. I could probably do a better speech on owls than this quack." Ron complained again. Hermione glared at him across the couch.
"I doubt it." She said under her breath. He ignored Hermione and pretended to actually be watching for another second before he lunged at her. Hermione lurched backward, bumping into Harry. Ron reached up trying to grab the control from her hand. She held it just out of Ron's reach. He tried to reach it once more by leaping up and almost crushing Hermione before losing his balance and falling on top of her. Harry grabbed the control, shaking his head and laughing.
Hermione laughed and pushed Ron onto the floor. She breathed slowly, thinking that would clear her dizzy mind. Truthfully, though she hated to admit it, she had liked Ron for some time and the previous incident had made her a little light-headed from being so close to him. She recovered, though not as fast as she would have hoped, and she watched as Harry began to turn the channels.
"Perhaps I should find something for us to watch." He said happily. Hermione looked up at him with an annoyed frown.
"Fine. At least we won't have to watch cartoons again. I can't believe that you still watch them. We are turning seventeen after all Ron." She told him, smirking.
"Shut-up Mione!" Ron said, blushing a little and throwing a pillow at her. She threw it back starting a very loud pillow fight between them. Harry chose to stay neutral.
"Will you two stop fighting?" Harry shouted over their voices. They were now yelling at each other. It was a good thing that everyone else was out of the house. They ignored him and continued to bicker. Harry began to flip through the channels again. Finally, he stopped when he heard the familiar sound of a game show. They stopped fighting to see what it was. Harry looked at his watch and groaned.
"Sorry guys." He said sadly. "I am already late enough for summer Quidditch practice. I have to go." They nodded. "And please try not to kill each other while I am gone." He tossed the control to Ron, who cheered, gave Harry thumbs up, and left.
"Welcome back to the Dating Game!" The announcer declared in a happy British accent.
"The Dating Game? What is that about?" Ron asked in an interested voice, listening to the corny music that now played. There was a very lovely girl sitting on a stool at one side of the screen where the announcer stood with his microphone. On the other side of the screen, three rather handsome males sat, eagerly waiting to see if she would pick them. Hermione wasn't too interested. The three guys were handsome but not nearly as cute as-
"Ron, our first Bachelor is from Manchester, England…" The announcer said introducing the first male, who waved at the crowd. Hermione turned pink in spite of herself.
"This is a horrible, mindless show. If you are going to sit here wasting your time watching this then I am going to leave. I can't believe people would watch this for fun." Hermione snorted as the girl waved pleasantly to the cheering crowd. "I bet that girl doesn't have a single cell in her whole empty head."
"Why does she need brains when she looks like that?" Ron commented, transfixed on the TV screen.
"Oh grow up!" Hermione said in an angry voice, getting up from the couch. She felt rather jealous that Ron would look at a stupid girl on a TV show instead of at her, though she knew that the girl on the television was much prettier.
"Come on 'Mione. I was just kidding. Really, I was just teasing you. You are so sensitive about that stuff." Ron smirked at her. She was determined not to let his smile make her heart melt so she tried walking past him. He grasped her wrist. He was certainly stronger than she was and he easily pulled her back onto the couch. She landed awkwardly in his lap and quickly scooted over as far away from him as she could, cheeks burning.
"Truthfully, I would much rather date someone with brains than someone who looks," His voice became soft and he spoke very slowly, "perfect." Hermione smacked him as he pretended to go back into a trance. He laughed and said, "It seems like a relatively funny show if you ask me." Hermione groaned but she did not attempt to get up again. She hated Ron sometimes but she couldn't stop herself from smiling when he said that he would rather date someone with brains. It actually wasn't that bad. Hermione was getting into it. She shouted at the TV several times before Ron began to laugh at her. She scowled at him.
"Is there a problem?" She asked in a rather annoyed voice.
"No." He told her laughing more as she yelled at the screen again, when the first bachelor, Ron, had not been chosen. "Why did you like him so much?" The real Ron asked in an interested voice.
"No reason," She told him blushing. She would have paid anything to stop doing that. It had been happening a lot lately and it was very obvious. Ron didn't notice, he continued to watch the television, which now had a housewife displaying the many uses of soap.
"You know the people on the television can't hear you. She would have picked Thomas even if you had yelled ten times louder." He smirked at her as she continued to blush. When the game show was over, Ron turned off the TV, yawning.
"So, what do you want to do now? I'm sick of watching television."
"Hmm, you can read."
"'Mione, it's summer! I would like to do something fun." He complained putting his feet up on the table in front of them. Hermione pushed them off, getting angry with him for not wanting to do something mildly educational.
"This is your last year at Hogwarts. Don't you want to make a good impression on the teachers this year? You could finish the homework early. I could help you, I finished it all already." She expected him to say something rude about her already finishing everything but he stayed quite for a long time. He put his legs back up on the table and Hermione flicked at them to make him take them off.
"It's our last year this year." He repeated quietly with sudden realization. Hermione smiled.
"Did you just figure that out?"
"Well, I didn't realize it obviously." He sat up, taking his legs slowly off the table. He made an odd face as he turned toward Hermione. It seemed as if he were trying to figure out how all of this had happened. He looked at Hermione with a new respect. He didn't take his eyes off her for a long time. Hermione wasn't that bad looking. Actually, she was rather beautiful now that she had grown older. She had grown up a lot since he first met her six years ago. Ron wondered why he hadn't noticed it before. Obviously, he had noticed at the Yule Ball but he was too dense to do anything about it then, let alone realize what she really meant to him.
Hermione hit him softly to make him stop staring because her cheeks were sufficiently darker now. "What is wrong? Will you stop doing that!" She said becoming very embarrassed. Ron ignored her, still looking at her as if she was someone new.
"Can you believe that we have known each other for six years?" Ron asked finally.
"Yes." Hermione said quickly. Actually, she couldn't believe it. "Why? You don't believe it?" She asked, her temper fading a little.
"I believe it. I know it is true, but it seems like such a long time ago that we defeated that troll. That was the first time I was actually your friend." He sighed; trying to understand how so much time could have passed with out him knowing it. Hermione thought back to her first year at Hogwarts and smiled, remembering the time that her two friends had saved her from the troll, even though she had been a horrible prat to them before that.
"You're right. It does seem like a long time ago. I guess it is hard to realize that six years have passed. It seems like everything just flew passed us." Hermione remarked. "At least we haven't had anything as bad as belching slugs since then." She smiled at him, feeling a tight knot of warmth rise in her chest. She had almost forgotten what he had done for her in their second year.
"Yeah. You have to believe me when I say that you never want to do that. Those things are horrible. They are all slimy and they tasted disgusting. Then when they come out-"
"Ron! I really don't want to know ok? Trust me, I won't try it."
He smiled slightly. Then gloom set over him as he remembered exactly why they were talking about the past. "What are we going to do when we get out of Hogwarts? I don't even know what I want to be. But besides that, we will never see each other again. I would die if we couldn't talk to each other." Ron told her, sounding a bit panicked.
"Oh come off it Ron! Do you think Harry would stop talking to you just because you graduated?" Hermione asked reasonably. Ron looked at her awkwardly.
"I wasn't talking about Harry. 'Mione I was talking about you." Hermione looked at him suspiciously to see if he was making a joke. She didn't want to act stupid in front of him, especially if he wasn't serious. He looked very serious to her.
"Oh come on Ron, like you would even miss me!" She said, her voice uneven as if she were about to cry. She had been worrying about that ever since they had returned on the Hogwarts Express a few weeks ago. He turned and sat cross-legged facing Hermione, who now looked very pink again and was very light-headed.
"How could you even say that?" Ron asked, rather hurt. "Of course, I will miss you." Hermione looked at him carefully.
"You know, you shouldn't lie." Hermione told him, her voice growing thick.
"'Mione! I'm not lying. Why can't you believe me? Everything I am saying is true." He replied helplessly.
"How can I not believe you? Every time we talk, you find some way to make me feel horrible. You can't go through one day with out making some rude comment about me." She swallowed hard, begging herself not to cry. Ron looked at her guiltily. He saw her rub her eyes furiously. He really hoped that she wouldn't cry. It tore him apart to see her sad, especially when it was his fault. This seemed to be one of those times. He just couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut when he needed to.
"'Mione, I," He stopped to find the right words. "I'm sorry for all of the stupid things I say all the time. I can be a real jerk sometimes." He stopped again and there was an awkward silence. He tried to start again but he couldn't find words to express what he wanted to say.
"I know you are sorry. It isn't always your fault anyway. I start my share of the fights don't I?" She asked, feeling a little better.
"No Mione. You don't have to be sorry. If I wasn't such a stupid bloody git all the time," he trailed off. "I guess what I am trying to say is," he took a deep breath and opened his mouth. No sound came out. "What I am trying to say is, you mean a lot to me." He stopped again, knowing he had to keep going now that he went this far. "You mean more to me than anyone else ever has and I care about you a lot. I never meant to get mad at you. It isn't as if I enjoy fighting with you. I'm sorry that I always act like such an idiot." He fell silent and
Hermione stared at him, unable to speak. He flushed under her stare. His cheeks were burning darker than even his hair. Hermione still sat in silence. She wanted to say something to him. She mostly wanted to say what she felt about him but her mouth wouldn't open.
Ron sighed sadly and looked away. "Never mind." And before she could stop him, he got up and walked out of the room.
She watched in silence. Why did she have to be so stupid? Why didn't she say something? Did he really say that to her? Her mind was racing and she was very confused. All she knew was that Ron probably hated her now. She needed to talk to him but she figured now was probably not the best time. Before she could calm herself down, tears rolled down her cheeks. She rolled up into a ball on the couch and fell asleep.
***
Hours later, Hermione woke up to find the house dark. She wondered vaguely, where Ron was, but the thought made her feel horribly empty inside. She looked around and tried to find a clock, but she gave up when she remembered there were none. (AN: How the heck do they tell the time?!) She decided that whatever time it was, she didn't want to stay up any longer so she headed for Ginny's room. She ambled up the stairs and reached the small room. With out knocking she entered. Ginny was not inside, and Hermione sat down thankfully. Soon, however, she heard a mad rush of feet and realized that Ginny was running up the stairs to her room.
"Hermione?" She called through the door. "Are you in there?"
All Hermione wanted was to go back to when she was talking with Ron and tell him, instead of acting like a dork. Since this was never going to happen, she called back to Ginny. "I'm in here." Ginny opened the door cautiously and closed the door behind her.
"Hermione, I met Ron downstairs and he said that if I wanted to know what was wrong with him, I would have to ask you." Hermione let out a small, weak sigh, and rested her head on her knees. "What happened? Did you have another fight?" Hermione nodded.
"Well, not really. I don't know if you would call it a fight." Hermione finally spoke up.
"Ok, what happened? Tell me everything. Don't leave anything out." Hermione began to tell Ginny about everything and when she got to the part where Ron told her that he cared about her, Ginny began to giggle.
"What is that for?" Hermione asked, a little hurt.
"Hermione, I didn't mean to laugh, I just think it is funny that Ron can act like such a kid sometimes. And besides, it was rather cute what he said. I always told you that he really likes you. What did you say after he told you this?" She asked
Hermione looked down at her feet, "Nothing." She replied in a rather guilty voice. Ginny was silent. "He must hate me dreadfully now." She continued on, trying desperately to hold back tears. She really wished she had done something when she had the chance. Ginny smiled sympathetically.
"You know, this was the same thing that happened when Harry told me. Of course, I said something," She laughed, "and Harry doesn't take everything as personally as Ronny does." Hermione half laughed half cried. "You should talk to him. He still likes you. He feels horrible. He thinks he made a fool of himself for telling you. Ron things that you don't like him." Hermione sighed. "He is outside." She told Hermione as she watched her friend get up and reach for the door handle.
Hermione didn't know what she would do or say when she did meet Ron but she would have to do something. She couldn't avoid him for the rest of the summer and it was pointless to even try. Hermione desperately wanted to stay inside, she didn't want to face Ron but she had to. This was the only chance she had. She must talk to him now. Hermione opened the door to the backyard silently. He was sitting with his back turned toward her, throwing pebbles at some chickens pecking at the ground.
She sighed nervously and walked forward. He didn't notice, or didn't care, that she had sat silently next to him. Her stomach knotted and her breath was shallow. They didn't say anything to each other for a while. Hermione sighed and picked up a smooth pebble. She played with it nervously until she couldn't stand staying silent any longer. She cleared her throat to make sure that she could talk.
"Ron," She started, her voice very uneasy. "I'm sorry." She stopped again. He was ignoring her. "Did you really mean that?" The words just fell out of her mouth clumsily. He stopped throwing the pebbles at the chickens; who were now running about, hollering madly, and turned to her.
His expression wasn't pleasant. "No 'Mione, I lied so that I could play another joke on you. You know how I love doing that." He said sarcastically, sighing and turning away. "Of course I meant it." He flushed again and threw another pebble.
"Ron, I didn't want to make you think that I didn't like you. It's just…no one…I never expected anyone to tell me something so like that." He didn't speak and he kept his back facing her. "Ron, please listen to me!" She said almost pleadingly.
"You know that isn't something I go around telling everyone." His ears grew red. "If you haven't guessed, it isn't that easy." He sighed and turned to face her.
No matter what she said to him, he still seemed very angry. Hermione swallowed hard, trying to calm herself down. She knew what she had to, and wanted to, do for the past six years. She bent down on her knees in front of him. He was much taller than she was so she had to look up at him. "What are you doing Hermione?" He asked, his voice was hurt and it broke her heart to hear it.
She didn't answer him. Instead, she stood up and took Ron's hands, pulling him up in front of her. She took a deep breath, gaining enough bravery to attempt what she had been planning to do since the first time she saw his bright orange hair. She leaned in and kissed Ron gently on the lips. It wasn't very long, more like a peck than a kiss. He moved away after a second to look at her better. He saw how nervous she was and his heart broke.
"You know," He told her after a second. "You could have told me you were going to do that. I had always wanted to be the one who started it. It really is my job." She smiled a little, feeling better. "Can we try that again?" His voice cracked a little. She smiled and this time it lasted longer than before. (AN: I'm sorry! I am horrible at writing kisses!!) Ron even had the guts to wrap his arms around her. When they broke away, Hermione rested her head on his shoulder, wanting to stay like this forever. She cried out of happiness but Ron became alarmed by this reaction.
He pulled away and looked down at her. "Did I do something wrong again?" He asked. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"No, it's nothing, I just feel so happy." She mumbled into his sweater. "Can we stay out here for a while?" she asked. He nodded and kissed her forehead.
"Hermione?" They heard a familiar voice call. They turned quickly to see who it was and found themselves blushing again. Ginny stood on the steps. She smiled quietly as Ron became extremely embarrassed.
"Ginny, uh,"
"It's fine Ron. I am not going to tell anyone if you don't want me to." She grinned from ear to ear and made a face that told Hermione very sternly, 'You had better tell me about this.' Then, she smiled, said bye, and left them to themselves.
"Do you think she will was telling the truth? She might tell." Ron told Hermione after a few seconds.
"Does it matter if she does tell someone?" She asked. "I don't mind if people know that we are…" She stopped. He looked at her, understanding why she had stopped. "You see...I don't really know what we are." She continued quietly.
He looked at her and began to smile. "I was hoping that you would want to, uh, you know, be my girlfriend." He said rather quickly. She smiled, wrapping her arms around him again, and kissing him on the cheek.
"Of course! Come on, it's getting cold and people might wonder where we are." Hermione said, unable to hide her joy.
"Good idea." Finally, something in his life had turned out all right. He had two great friends and this year, when they went back to Hogwarts, he would have a great girlfriend with him too. As they walked into the kitchen, Ron slowly slipped his hand into Hermione's, thinking happily, about how wonderful the rest of his summer would be.