Ron's POV
The Burrow seemed cold and empty. No body had spoken more than a few words sinces we came back. Occasionally someone would break the silence by finally letting their unshed tears fall. I couldn't stand seeing my family like this. Mum shut herself in her room to cry and Dad locked himself in his shed. Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Ginny sat silent in the living room. Percy went to help Kingsley get a head start with paperwork at the Ministry. Fred and Geroge sat on the kitchen work tops while Me, Harry and Hermione sat at the table.
"How long do you think this will go on?" Hermione broke the silence. "I-I mean the misery"
"We did lose a lot of people in the battle Hermione" Fred chimed in.
"Yes, of corse I know that but shouldn't we start being thankful about the people we didn't lose?" She had a point but I couldn't bring myself to speak yet "Like you Fred, we all thought we lost you, but by some miracle you're still here. We should be grateful that we didn't lose everyone we love"
"She's right" I finally found my voice. I could see in Hermione's eyes she was glad I defended her. "We should do something special, to honour the people we lost and celebrate the people that survived"
"That's a brilliant idea Ron" Dad had just walked in. His eyes were red and puffy, he had obviously been crying since he left the house.
"Thanks Dad, when should we do it?"
"Well, how about Saturday? Andromeda said she would bring Teddy round then." Harry chimed in to the convosation. Remus and Tonks asked him to be Teddy's Godfather and now that he no longer has them in his life, Harry wants to be there for Teddy as much as possible, despite still being so young. Andromeda has agreed to help him as much as possible with her Grandson.
"Good idea" Dad agreed. He left the kitchen and ascended the stairs, probably to comfort mum.
Suddenly we started to hear faint, muffled crying.
"Oh no" George got up and looked concerned into the living room towards the source of Ginny's sobs. "I can't stand seeing our baby sister like this, I'll go talk to her"
"I'll come to" Fred responded.
And the two of them left the kitchen.
This was the first time the three of us had been alone since the end of the battle. It had only been a few hours but it felt like so much longer. I needed my best friends, I know they need me to.
I rested my hand in the middle of the table, after a few seconds Hermione laid her hand atop of mine, a few seconds after that Harry joined.
We said like that for a few minutes silently staring at our joined hands. We all knew that what we shared over the past year, running and hiding from Voldemort, Death Eaters and Snatchers bound us into an ever lasting friendship.
"I can't believe its over" Hermione once again stirred us from our slumber of silence.
"Me either" replied Harry "I'm so happy, yet so terribly miserable"
"I feel the same way" I feel more comfortable talking now with only the three of us in the room. "We can finally have a normal life again"
"Our lives were hardly normal to start with were they?" Hermione answered with a small chuckle.
The three of us sat there for a while sharing a small laugh but no more words. eventually Harry stood.
"I think I'm going to head of to bed" the two of us nodded. He started to make his way towards the stairs when I abruptly stood.
Silently I walked towards him and hugged him, I did not care about my manliness. I was just so happy that my best friends survived this war with me. we shared a brotherly hug for a few more seconds then broke apart. We smiled, nodded then Harry ascended the stairs.
I moved back to my chair next to Hermione and we sat quietly for a few more minutes.
"Ron?" once again she broke the silence, this is become an habit.
"Yea?"
"About what happened during the battle...uhm..you kow.. the uhm...kiss" She became hesitant but eventually continued. "What are we, I mean what does that make us?"
I remained silent for a few seconds "What do you want us to be?"
"I w-want to be with y-you" she said as she looked down at her hands on her lap.
"I want to be with you to" I replied with a small smile.
She looked up and smiled back at me.
"R-ron, I love you s-so much, I've loved you for so long" her eyes started to mist over and she began to look down again. "H-how do you feel about me? I'm sorry but I need to know" she was looking at her hands again.
"Hermione" I hooked my finger under her chin and lifted her head so her eyes were in line with mine. "I have had feelings for you for as long as I can remember, I realized those feelings were love in forth year and I have not stopped loving you since" her eyes were watering and she had a loving smile dancing on her lips. I leaned down and kissed her gently, her lips were so soft and this kiss was nothing like before. This was slow and magical yet still passionate, just like a first kiss should be.
We broke apart and looked at each other for what felt like a year. I could never get bored of her majestic doe like eyes.
That's it, I am finally with Hermione Granger. My Hermione Granger. After so long and I am never going to let her go.