Oh brother, I can't, I can't get through
I've been trying so hard to reach you
Cause I don't know what to do
"Ron, we need to talk."
Ron looked up to see Hermione standing in his doorway. He nodded at her to come in, and she did so, shutting the door quietly behind her.
She sat on the end of his bed so she was facing him; he was on the opposite end with his legs out in front of him. Her eyes found his and locked his gaze on her serious expression. Ron only stared and took a sip of the firewhisky he had on his bedside table, watching as she raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Hermione's expression twitched into disapproval and she held out her hand. "Give it to me."
Ron looked challengingly at her, but decided it was best not to refuse her, and reluctantly handed the glass of firewhisky to her. She took it in her hands without leaving his gaze.
Oh brother, I can't believe it's true
I'm so scared about the future,
And I want to talk to you
Oh, I want to talk to you
"Ron, the war ended over three weeks ago."
His eyes suddenly pierced hers. "Yeah, Hermione, I know that." He knew exactly where this was going.
Hermione looked at him curiously. "I know I should be leaving you alone, especially since of…Fred." She hesitated in saying his name, afraid of his reaction. When Ron said nothing, she continued. "But I've given you three weeks."
"Hermione, where is this going?" asked Ron irritably, suddenly needy of the firewhisky that she held in her lap.
"Where this is going, Ron, is wherever you want it to go as long as you hear me out!" yelled Hermione, her hands shaking with fury around the glass.
Ron was silent, deciding he had learned not to fight with her while she was this testy.
"I want to know, Ron, where we're going."
Ron, completely lost, stared at her. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, come off it, Ron!" said Hermione exasperatedly. "I know you've been thinking about it too! I know you've been thinking about what I did in the middle of the battle three weeks ago!"
You can take a picture of something you see
But in the future where will I be
You can climb a ladder up to the sun
Or write a song nobody has sung
Or do something that's never been done
There it was. The one thought that had inhabited Ron's brain for the last three weeks (along with memories of Fred and the last few months on the run) but also the one thought about which he had been too much of a coward to confront Hermione.
Ron stared curiously at Hermione, his face getting redder by the moment. For the last three weeks, he hadn't been shy around Hermione. It no longer was worth the time tiptoeing around her when he was sure he loved her. He hadn't kissed her as she had during the battle, but he hadn't completely ignored her either. It had been like it had on the hunt. He would embrace her when she needed it, and she would do the same for him. They held hands at times, and they would say things to each other that implied that they loved each other, but that was about it.
But he knew exactly what she was questioning him about. In a way, they were still dancing around each other; they were still playing games with each other. Ron wanted something more, something like what they had when Hermione had kissed him in the middle of the battle.
While all this was going through his head, Ron opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water for a few moments before he finally got out, "Well…what do you think of it?"
Are you lost or incomplete?
Do you feel like a puzzle, you can't find your missing piece?
Tell me how you feel
Well I feel like their talking in a language I don't speak
And they're talking it to me
This seemed to take her by surprise, and she blushed too. "Well, I don't know, I asked you first!"
Ron almost laughed. "Hermione, I know that if you took the time to come in here and try to talk to me that you must have some thoughts on this topic. Now why did you kiss me?"
The question came out of his mouth along with cockiness; therefore he had no means of stopping it. Her head snapped up and she stared at him. He looked away in horror as his face grew nearly purple. To his utter shock, she began to laugh.
He looked at her like she was mental, and she only laughed harder. Finally she spoke with tears running down her face.
"Why are we so embarrassed?" she asked, crawling closer to him and causing his bloody hormones to go into overdrive. He thought of what she had said, and chuckled.
"I have no idea. You would think we'd be kind of used to each other, after seven years."
Her eyes were piercing his again, and she licked her lips thoughtfully. "I'm going to tell you why I kissed you, and we're going to try not to make this embarrassing, alright?"
Ron grinned as he failed completely at her challenge when he felt his face glow red. "Alright."
So you take a picture of something you see
But in the future where will I be?
You can climb a ladder up to the sun
Or write a song nobody has sung
Or do something that's never been done
Or do something that's never been done
Hermione took a deep breath. "I kissed you because I'm in love with you."
Ron could only stare at her with round eyes. Could she really be thinking exactly what he was…?
Tears were welling in her eyes. "I kissed you because I was so afraid we were going to die, and that I would never see you again. And when you said that comment about the house-elves…it just pushed me over the edge, and I had to kiss you. I needed you to know that I cared about you and that I've loved you since fifth year, just in case...you…you were killed, or I was."
Ron inched closer to her and wrapped her into a tight embrace, kissing her head.
Was this really how she had felt all this time? If so, they had wasted so much time they could've had for some much needed togetherness…
So you don't know where you're going, but you want to talk
And you feel like you're going where you've been before
Is there anyone to listen when you feel ignored?
And nothing's really making any sense at all
Ron took her face in his hands, and locked his eyes on hers. "You really love me?" Hermione nodded vigorously. At this, he started to laugh, and his kissed her forehead. "That's such a relief, because I've loved you since I saw you in that bloody dress at the Yule Ball."
Hermione smiled weakly and began to laugh too. This completely made Ron lose all control and he could take it no longer. He gently guided her lips to his and kissed her.
When they broke apart, after possibly an eternity, he said, "So are we really together now?"
She only kissed him again in response.
Let's talk, let's talk
Let's talk, let's talk