A/N: So this is my first Harry Potter fic, which I wrote a little while ago because Cursed Child won't let me go, and I've become obsessed with the series all over again, especially Ron and Hermione. Finally got around to publishing it.
"When the days get long and the nights get a little bit colder
We hold each other"
-Hold Eachother by A Great Big World
This is just my idea on what would happen for Ron and Hermione the night after the Battle of Hogwarts, because Hurt/Comfort stories are my favorite for them. Hope you enjoy!
Hermione breathed in deeply as hot water cascaded down her shoulders, inhaling the steam and the comfort that it brought. She hadn't had a proper shower since before leaving the Burrow all those months ago. It was not only the hot water that she cherished…it was the first symbol, however small, that things were returning to normal.
Not that things ever had been normal, not by others' standards. In fact, life was probably about to be more "normal" than it had been in seven years. For the first time in a long time, Voldemort was no longer a threat. He was gone, and they were safe, and she didn't have to constantly worry about losing the people she loved.
There was the quip, the detail keeping "normal" from ever being reached: she had already lost people she loved. Things would never be the same. Never the less, the running was over. Gone were the nights of sleeping in forgotten forests, not knowing if they'd live to see morning. They were safe, staying at Hogwarts and soon, she assumed, the Burrow. For her, Harry and Ron… Ron: now that was something that was abnormal in a completely different way.
Hermione turned off the water and wrung out her curls, which were still singed at the ends. After patting herself dry with a towel, she stepped out into the bathing area and slipped on the clothes she had laid out.
When she arrived back at the dorm, Ron was already waiting there, sitting on one of the beds. She hadn't even had to tell him to come: he simply knew.
"Hey" she said, and he turned to look at her. His face was a horrible sight, still pale with fear, his eyes darkened with exhaustion. He, just like her, was covered in cuts and scabs, some of which she was certain would develop into scars.
"I hope you don't mind" she continued, staring down at his large woolen sweater, which she was currently wearing as a dress. "You accidentally left it behind in the tent the night when…while you were gone I sort of grew accustomed to sleeping in it. I didn't think now before putting it on"
"No mind at all" he said. "It looks good on you"
She smiled softly. There was a moment of silence between them. Neither really knew what to say or do about anything. The whole castle was filled with silence like that in a way, silence that hung over the loud cheers and celebrations of victory.
"C'mere" Ron whispered, motioning for Hermione to join him on the bed.
"I'm still all wet" she argued.
"You think after everything we've faced in the past months, I care if I get a little water on me?" Ron exclaimed. He stopped and looked at the floor, not meaning to have grown rash with her.
"I just need to hold you" he muttered.
Hermione wanted to cry upon hearing his voice. It was weak, and broken, and in it she could hear everything she'd felt in the last 24 hours. Without a word, she walked over and joined him on the bed.
They laid down and his arm slipped around her. Her head lay softly on his chest, and she let herself curl up into a ball next to him. After a moment his hand reached for hers. She held it lightly, and he rubbed circles on the back of her palm with his thumb.
It felt like an hour that they stayed like that, pressed close together. Words did not need to be spoken; they both knew what would've been said: the war was over, they'd almost lost Harry forever, so many people they loved were dead, they were…well, they were something new.
"You know" Ron finally whispered. "For the longest time, I was sure one of us wasn't going to make it out. I couldn't bear it…but I was sure. It seemed so likely that one of us was going to die."
"I know" Hermione said. "I thought the same thing."
"If you had….if I.,,"
"I know" Hermione repeated. He did not need to finish the sentence. They both understood: to have lost each other in the war would've been unbearable. Without Ron here, Hermione knew there was no way she would survive the pain.
More silence came then. The world was quiet, and still. It was like the two of them were the only things that existed, and that was the only way Hermione wanted it to be from now on. Suddenly, she became aware of the fact that Ron was shaking. She looked up and saw tears falling from his eyes. He didn't need to say why.
She moved farther up on the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck. After she laid her head on his shoulder he pulled her in closer. It was like all his weight fell onto her, weight she never thought she'd be able to hold, and yet here they were, and she was ready to carry him miles through a storm. There were times when he'd been her strength, and times she knew when he would be again, but for now she was his.
Hearing his tears she felt herself begin to cry too. They had always been one, whether she was aware of it or not. His pain had always been hers too, and now she understood that more than ever. She couldn't imagine what he was feeling. She'd loved Fred as well of course, but he was Ron's brother. She could never understand what it was like to lose someone like that.
After a while he pressed a kiss to her head, and she burrowed her face into him. This was the only place where she could think to be. Ron had always been her home, no matter how oblivious to it she had been. After living through a world of pain, home was the only place she needed to be, and she was certain now that home was right here, in Ron's arms, and that that's where home always would be.
"It's going to be okay" she whispered. "We'll make it through this"
"I know" he said. "I have you now"
"You've always had me"
He kissed her head again and they slid back down to their original position. Feeling Ron's arm around her, and his chest underneath her head, Hermione knew for once that she was safe. She let herself begin to close her eyes and before long her breathing started to slow.
"Hermione…" Ron whispered. "I love you, by the way. I know it's all very sudden, but I just felt I needed to say it"
Hermione knew she should've been shocked. Her heart should have stopped. She should've been afraid. She'd only just kissed him after all, and hours ago. But something felt so different here, so incredibly…normal. It was like they'd always been like this, and in a way, she supposed, they had.
"I love you too" she whispered. "Always have"
The pair smiled, and Ron brought her closer yet again. It wasn't long after that they'd fallen fast asleep, and miraculously, it was sound. No demons came back to haunt them that night. The only thing they had to worry about was that they were still there, next to each other.
They spent every night like that for months, and once they were married, it was always how they went to sleep. When nightmares came, they were there to hold each other close, to still their trembling forms, and to soak up all their tears. Amongst all the darkness, they'd found home, and it was something neither one of them would ever take for granted again.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
(P.S. Hermione wearing Ron's sweater(the one with his initial on it) as a dress is my new favorite headcanon)