Ron was now holding Hermione and stroking her hair while she sobbed into his shoulder, tears dripping from the end of his own long nose. Lavender Brown looked mutinous as she watched Ron and Hermione.With a miserable gesture, Harry got up. Ron looked up at him, still stroking Hermione's hair.
"Harry...We'll catch up with you...ok?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Said Harry, not really hearing Ron, just wanting to get away from here. He walked off leaving Ron and Hermione alone as people left their seats.
Hermione sobbed loudly into Ron's shoulder and he reached up and wiped her tears away with his sleeve. He looked at her, he hated seeing her like this. He wanted nothing but happiness for her. He couldn't help but think about how he felt about her. Even though he knew this probably wasn't the right place to tell her how much he cared about her, he desperatly wanted to. The only problem was, he was too shy. He was scared of her reaction. What if she didn't feel the same? What if she just laughed at him? What if she cried some more? What if this messed up their friendship? All of these thoughts scared him to death.
Ron continued stroking her hair for quite some time. It wasn't until everybody else had left the seating area that Hermione looked up at him. He seemed to be completely lost in thought and she didn't want to disturb him so she rested her head on his shoulder, no longer sobbing but tears still fell silently down her cheeks.
Ron finally decided it was time. He didn't want to lose her to someone else and he knew if he waited someone else would realize how truly amazing she was. He didn't want to feel like he did when she walked into the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum back in fourth year. That seemed so long ago.
"Hermione?" He whispered softly into her ear. She looked up at him with a startled expression.
"Ronald?" She whispered back. She loved using his full name, rather than calling him just plain 'Ron'. She was the only one of his friends who called him this; it made her feel special, in a way. Espacially since he always objected to his mother or any of the teachers calling him 'Ronald', but never when she called him that. In truth, he liked the way it sounded coming from her mouth.
"I...I..There's something I need to tell you." He started, mentally cursing himself for sounding so stupid when he was about to finally spill his heart out to Hermione Granger.
"What is it?" He bought himself some time but wiping the tears from her eyes with his sleeve. He didn't know how to say this. But he couldn't possibly back out now. He had to know how she felt about him...but then a thought struck him. What if she felt the same? Then what? And what would happen if they were together and then broke up? What would happen to their friendship with Harry? Would it be the same? No, he answered himself. If they were together and broke up, Ron barely stand thinking about it, it would be awkward. But Ron had to know...
Ron must have been thinking for a long while, as Hermione pulled away from him and said again "Ronald? What is it? What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong...I just don't know how to say what I want to...Bloody hell." She looked into his blue eyes and thought about what he could possibly want to tell her. Ron took a deep breath.
"Don't curse, Ron." He ignored her. She constantly told him not to curse. He never listened.
"The thing is...," He began, "I...I love you." He looked down at the ground. He had really done it now. He couldn't look at her. Hermione stared at him in shock; this had not been what she was expecting.
"W-what?" She stuttered, hardly believing this to be real. It had to be just another of her dreams, as they usually included some variation of him spilling his feelings to her. But, then again, how could this be a dream? There was no funeral in her dreams.
"I love you," He said, still not looking at her, but his voice had become slightly stronger, "I love everything about you.Your laugh, your smile, the fact that you go mental over your grades, how you always call me 'Ronald', how you always tell me not to curse even though it's bloody annoying, how I can always find you in the library, that look you get on your face when you check my homework, I love how we always argue, everything. I love you Hermione." He still wouldn't look at her, not directly anyway, he stared at her shoes. She remained sitting in shocked silence. She knew she loved him too...but she was scared of how much they loved each other. What if they lost each other in this war? She wouldn't be able to stand it.
"Say something." He said, finally looking up at her to see her expression.
"I...Love you too," Hermione said, finally speaking, "I always have." They both blushed, hardly daring to believe that they had just told each other how they felt.
"You...do?" He said, just as shocked as she was.
"Ronald, of course I do," Hermione said not believing that he had a doubt in his mind that she didn't love him, "I thought it was pretty obvious..." She added quietly.
They sat in silence for a while. They didn't know why they weren't talking. They usually had something to say to each other. Maybe it was that they had never really planned on telling each other their feelings, they just liked dreaming about it. But Ron's infatuation with Hermione had long ago lost innocent crush status. Hermione never even considered it an innocent crush; she had loved him since she first laid eyes on him, telling him he had dirt on his nose. She smiled inwardly at this thought.
"What now?" She finally said. This was slightly awkward, not at all like her dreams.
Ron thought about it for a minute. He knew what now. He looked around to make sure that no one was looking but there was no one around. Everyone, it transpired, had gone back inside the castle. He turned back to her and, without hesitation, placed his lips on hers. Her eyes widened in shock at this sudden movement but she put his arms around him and closed her eyes. He put his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss. It was a wonderful sensation, finally kissing the girl of his dreams. He pulled her closer just as someone walked up and stared at them, almost in as much shock as Hermione was when Ron had finally confessed his love for her.
Harry Potter had come to find his best friends and this really wasn't the scene he was expecting. He didn't know what they were doing but Ron had told them that they would catch up and when they didn't, he got slightly worried. He wasn't sure if he should speak or not. He cocked his head at the pair of them. He always knew Ron had something for Hermione, but standing there, watching them kiss, made his relationship with Ginny seem like nothing. They were kissing with such a love and passion that Harry wasn't sure if he had really ever loved Ginny, maybe he had just fancied her. Now he was confused. He really didn't want them mad at him for killing the moment...but he couldn't watch them any longer and it was getting late in the afternoon. The Hogwarts Express would be leaving soon and he wasn't even sure if they were packed.
"Er...Hello?" He said, lamely. Ron and Hermione broke apart, blushing, and stared at him.
"Harry...we...well..." Ron tried to explain.
"We were going to catch up..." Hermione said, sounding a lot more confident than Ron.
"It's...ok...I was just...shocked, I guess...It's not everyday you get to witness a kiss like that..." Ron and Hermione both blushed deeper.
"We-we should probably get going..." Hermione said. Ron was too disgruntled to talk. Did Harry have to interrupt like that? Could he not have waited just five more minutes? All the same, Ron replied "Oh..yeah, sure." And stood up with Hermione.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked back up to the castle. Ron let Harry get a little ahead of them and reached over and grabbed Hermione's hand. He squeezed it and she looked up at him, remembering Professor McGonagall's words "Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world."