Harry, Ron and Hermione had been sitting in the Gryffindor common room for nearly four hours, and it was terribly late into the night. Professor McGonagall had given them an remarkably challenging essay to write, and there were books and ink spilled galore. Surprisingly, Ron and Harry were actually working on it. "Bloody hell," said Harry, exasperatedly. "McGonagall is barmy, giving us this much work." Ron's tired blue eyes met Harry's own, who had begun to close ever so slowly. "Wake up!" yelled Ron, promptly slapping Harry across the face. "Thanks, mate," he said wearily, rubbing his raw cheek. "Hermione, how do you recite a proper Conjuration incantation? This textbook is ruddy useless," asked Ron, however, his question went unanswered. Hermione's head was lolling to the side, ink spilled all over her front, and her quill tilting uncertainly out of her fingers. "If Hermione's out, I think it's time for me to go to sleep," Harry said, yawning. "Are you coming?" Ron had decided he wanted to stay down here if Hermione still was, almost too quickly. "Well no, because Hermione's head is on my shoulder," he said, only realizing how that may have sounded to Harry when he had finished speaking. Harry raised his eyebrows, suppressing his laughter. "Okay," he said, chortling silently. "Come up to bed when you've finished creeping on Hermione." Ron's cheeks went red, his freckles inaudibly mixing into his face. Harry's footsteps echoed up the stairway, meaning he was in fact, out of earshot.
"Hermione?" said Ron meekly, poking her on the shoulder. "Hermione, you're about to let your homework for McGonagall's class go unfinished." Hermione's eyes shot open, and her head whipped upwards. "What time is it?" she asked, hurriedly. "Around 1:30," he said, straining his eyes. He was virtually done his essay by now, but he felt compelled to stay down in the common room. "Oh no, I still have four more inches to finish..." Hermione looked panic-stricken; it seemed that she always had her homework down by now. "You're such a goody-goody, Hermione." said Ron, who had been squirming around in his seat. She would have countered him with some kind of droll comeback, if it wasn't right then that his hand moved on top of hers. The feel of his fingers sent what seemed to be electricity through her nerves, and she felt unable to speak, but she did not move. Ron, who had also been sitting there in silence, felt like his heart was going to pummel its way out of his chest.
Ron had decided right at that moment that he was going to stop being naff, and he was going to man up. "What're you doing sitting here in the Gryffindor common room if you can't even tell a girl you like her?" He breathed in sharply. Mind you, he didn't just like Hermione. He loved her. And then, there was Lavender. Maddening, girly, outrageously dim witted, flamboyant, claptrap Lavender, who he had snogged, a lot. When he had been in the hospital wing, he had broken up with her unknowingly, and it's the best thing he's ever done without a recollection of doing so.
Hermione sat next to him, pink-faced and nervous. She wanted to tell him, she wanted to so badly. "You're in Gryffindor for a reason. You should have been in Ravenclaw, but you're here, so now's your chance to see why." She turned to him, ignoring the homework that had been her top priority a few minutes ago. "Ron," she began, trying her hardest to steady her voice and maintain that composure she retained daily. He could not speak to respond, so he merely nodded. He was scared his voice was going to crack. It's funny, what nerves do to you. "When you were in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey gave Harry and I a certain time of day that we could come in and visit. And sometimes, I would sneak in after hours with Harry's invisibility cloak to see you," Ron's eyes lit up slightly, his heart pounding ever faster than it had before. "And I was so worried that you'd never be well again, so I would stay with you all through the night, and I guess what I'm trying to say here, is that, I, well, love you."
The setting may not have been romantic, but that didn't matter to Ron or Hermione. All that mattered was that she had finally said it, and it was correspondingly dazing to both of them. Her kisses were softer and more inviting than that of Lavender's. "Hell, Lavender doesn't even rank up to Hermione," he thought to himself. The kiss grew deeper, leaving them both only just breathless. They broke apart only just, there to look into eachother's eyes. "I love you too, Hermione." he said, smiling.
"Finally," said a voice from behind. They turned to find Harry, leaning against the wall on the staircase. "It took you two much too long. Ginny and I knew it from the start." Harry chuckled. "Well, I'm off to bed, truthfully this time. I assume you two will be too busy snogging for sleep?" And as Harry vanished up the stairs, they had done just what Harry presumed.