A/N: This one- shot is dedicated to my best friend Xisca :) Happy birthday! Ich hoffe die Geschichte gefällt dir.

Romance en pleine nuit

Ron looked unhappily in the mirror, observing the embarrassing robe his mother had bought for him. He frowned and started to pull on some ladders on the end of his sleeve in a futile attempt to rip them away. 'This is so pathetic.'

Harry, who had watched Ron for a couple of minutes now, smiled warily at him and stood up. "Mate, it's getting really late. We have to go, the feast is starting soon and the Champions have to be a couple of minutes earlier than the other students."

Looking at his mirror- self for a last time, Ron gave up and slumped his shoulders. "Harry, I'm looking ridiculous, right? Everybody's going to laugh at me."

They went out of their room and down to the Great Hall, where the feast was going to be. "Nobody's going to laugh at you. I mean although your robe might be a little… unique it looks okay on you. Don't worry about what the others may say and just have fun, "Harry said in an attempt to soothe Ron, patting him on his shoulder.

Ron felt somewhat relaxed from his best friend's words and straightened visibly up. "You're right, this is my first feast at this school, and I'm not going to let it be ruined by this horrible costume. C'mon, let's go!"

Padma, who was Ron's date for tonight, was already awaiting him at the end of the staircase. She was wearing a beautiful purple dress and had her hair up in a bun. Ron couldn't help, but think that she looked really gorgeous. He offered her his arm and she immediately linked their arms, blushing a little.

Ron was feeling proud of himself. Although he had waited until the very last moment to search for a girl, who wanted to accompany him on the ball, he had been lucky to get a positive reply from Padma. Hell, he had even asked Hermione, so desperate was he to get a dance partner.

Speaking of Hermione, where was she? He turned to Harry, who was speaking with Lavender vividly. "Hey, have you seen Hermione?" Harry quickly glanced around and spot Krum, standing alone at the end of the crowd, constantly looking at the staircase.

Ron followed his friend's line of sight and grinned mischievously. 'Deserves you right, Krum. Now everybody's going to make fun of you for not being able to have a partner for the first dance.'

Suddenly Harry nudged him in the side, interrupting his sardonic thoughts. "Look, isn't that Hermione?" He pointed towards the stairs and when Ron looked up, his heart started to beat faster.

Standing there on top of the staircase was a beautiful girl, dressed in a wine red robe, which accentuated her curves in an almost seductive way. She started to descend, swaying her hips with every steep she took, a few stray locks caressing her slender neck.

Ron didn't even realize that he was ogling, until the beauty was walking right past him, a sweet fragrance filling his nostrils. She only grazed him briefly with her hazel brown eyes, a strange glimmer in them. "Ogling is for idiots, Ron. See you."

Before Ron could react, she was standing next to Krum, laughing with him about something he said to her. He couldn't believe it! "Hermione is Krum's date?! No way!" Harry scratched his neck and watched the pair standing at the far end of the room.

"Well, she did say she already had a date…Why does it make you so furious?" Just then Hermione flushed slightly and Krum smiled charmingly at her, showing off his white teeth. Ron averted his eyes, not able to bear the sight for another second.

He ignored Harry, who shrugged his shoulders and continued to chat with Lavender. Harry was right. Why was he so furious about this? Was is, because Hermione had turned him down?

Ron stole another glance at her from the corner of his eyes. She was breathtakingly beautiful tonight. Hermione suddenly turned around and for a second their eyes met and she raised an eyebrow at him.

He tried to smile at her, but all he could manage was a grimace. Why hadn't he realized this earlier? Hermione was and had always been beautiful. He had just been to ignorant to notice before.

Padma tried to get his attention back and pulled at his sleeve. "Ron, are you nervous? This is my first time to hang out with a guy to be honest. I'm really glad you asked me out though. Cause…I've liked you ever since I first saw you."

Ron stared at her, not even hearing what she was saying. Now that he was looking properly at Padma he didn't think she was beautiful anymore. Sure, she was pretty, but nothing compared to Hermione's beauty.

He realized that she was looking at him with an expectant expression on her face, but since Ron hadn't listened to her at all, he didn't know what to say. Luckily he was saved from giving an answer, when McGonagall cleared her throat and told the Champions to row up in front of everybody else.

Then the doors opened and music started to play. At first only the Champions with their dance partners waltzed around the Great Hall, but when the classical song ended and modern music filled the room more and more students and teachers started to fill the dance floor.

Ron tried to forget about Hermione and have some fun with Padma and so he hit the dance floor as well. He could tell that Padma was really happy with all the attention he gave her and he felt a little guilty for only using her to distract him from his friend.

A friend. Yes, that's what Hermione had always been to him and would probably would always be. Yet, why did his heart cry for more? Where did this feelings suddenly come from? Ron grew more and more restless, until he couldn't take it any longer and led Padma to one of the free tables standing at the walls.

"That was so much fun, Ron! Let's dance again, okay?" Padma looked pleadingly at him, but Ron only nodded his head absent mindly. He sighed and stood up, not looking his supposed date in the eye.

"I'm gonna fetch some drinks. I'll be back in a minute." Padma was obviously disappointed that he left her behind, but Ron didn't care.

He was confused. He knew he shouldn't be feeling this way towards Hermione. They had been friends since that incident during their first year and although they had been quarrelling sometimes they had always come along so well.

He didn't want to fall in love with Hermione, he was afraid of admitting his feelings even to himself! Suddenly Ron saw Harry standing lonely at the bar. Changing his direction, Ron walked towards his friend.

"Hey, what's up? Standing all alone?" Harry, who had been staring at someone dancing in the mass in front of him, flinched slightly and turned to face him. "Oh, it's you. I thought it was Lavender again. Honestly, she was talking so much that I couldn't bear it anymore. I told her I was going to grab something to drink for her and left."

Despite his inner conflict, Ron had to grin. "Did the exact same thing with Padma." Ron was silent for a few seconds, looking at Harry thoughtfully. Should he talk about this with him? He was his best friend after all and Ron trusted Harry with his life. And this feeling inside of his heart, when he thought about Hermione, didn't want to be ignored any longer.

Ron pulled himself together and shoved Harry away from the crowd, trying to get more privacy. "Ron, what's wrong?" Ron glanced around to make sure they were indeed alone and nobody could hear what he was going to say next except for Harry.

"Harry, I think…I've fallen for Hermione." Harry choked on the glass of butterbeer he had picked up and coughed violently. "What?! Hermione??"

"Ssh! Not so loud you idiot!" Ron leaned a littler closer and was now whispering. "I don't know what to do. But everytime I think about her, my heart seams to scream her name and all I want is to embrace her and never let her go again."

Ron buried his head in his hands. "Hell, I wish I wouldn't feel this way! This is my friend Hermione I'm speaking about! What if I tell her and she never wants to see me again or something?" His eyes started to burn and his hands were shaking madly.

Harry immediately grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him up. "Ron! Pull yourself together! If you really feel that way for her, it's okay! It's not bad, it's wonderful you have romantic feelings for her! Don't ignore your love for her, it will gradually eat you up!"

Ron swat away Harry's hands and glared at him. "What are you talking? You haven't even been in a relationship, let alone been in love before and you try to tell me how to deal with …with my love?!"

Suddenly Harry's expression saddened and Ron instantly regretted his words. But before he could apologize, Harry started to speak. "You know…I've been in love with a girl for some months now. I wanted to go to the Yule Ball with her, not Lavender. And seeing her laughing with another man is killing me."

Ron didn't know what to say. Harry smiled at him and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "It's okay, Ron. I should've talked about this with you, but I never found the courage to. But at least let me give you this advice. You should at least talk to Hermione. She's a clever girl. I think she's on the balcony right now. I wish you good luck." And with that Harry disappeared into the crowd, leaving a helpless feeling Ron behind.

He glanced over to the balcony. It seemed to be so far away. 'Okay, Ron, you can make this! Just tell her and then … yeah, then we'll see.' Ron inhaled deeply and then confidently walked to the balcony.

The confidence left him all too quickly though, when he caught sight of Krum standing in front of Hermione, bending down. And then he kissed her. All kind of emotions flooded Ron at this moment, rage, anger, jealousy. But out from all of these despair was the biggest. He was too late. Hermione had already chosen her man.

He didn't notice that Hermione had already pushed Krum away, glaring at him angrily. "I'm sorry Krum, but I think I made myself clear that I didn't want more than friendship with you. I already like another person."

Hermione didn't wait for Krum's reaction and just walked past him, right into Ron, who was still standing at the entry. At the sight of the redhead, Hermione stopped mid- step and stared at him. "R- Ron? What are you doing here?"

Her voice was shaky and her cheeks started to redden. After another second Hermione had regained her composure again and her hands stopped shaking. But Ron noticed. He smiled inwardly. Maybe he really was thick headed like his mother kept saying. The signs had been there all the time. He just hadn't noticed.

"Hermione…I have to tell you something." Hermione was surprised at the serious tone coming from Ron and she had to restrain herself from becoming nervous again. "What?" She tried to sound confident and non- caring, but Ron could tell that she was as nervous as he himself right now.

Ron smiled warily at Hermione and took one of her hands into his. It was soft and warm. Hermione didn't pull her hand back and Ron took that as a good sign. "Hermione, when I saw you standing on the staircase before…you literally took my breath away. I didn't know what to think then. When I saw you laughing with Krum, my heart seemed to burst my ribcage, so hard was it pounding."

Hermione was speechless. There she was standing and in front of her one of her best friends, obviously confessing to her. "Ron, I – "

"No! Please don't say anything now, I need to get this out!" Hermione grew silent again, a blank expression on her face. Ron inhaled deeply, before continuing.

"At first I didn't know what this feeling was. But then I realized that it was love. I've fallen in love with you, Hermione. No, that's wrong. I've been in love with you for such a long time, I just wasn't aware of it. No, I mean –"

Ron let go of Hermione's hand and ran it through his hair, searching desperately for the right words. 'Come on, stop talking bullshit, Ron!' "You know it's true, I am really stubborn and unaware of anything. Even though it took me so long to realize my feelings for you I hope that you give me a chance."

He sighed and slumped his head. "I sound stupid, don't I?" Hermione looked at him softly and reached up to cup his face with both her hands. She gently lifted his chin up, until she could look him in the eye, before leaning in slowly. "No you don't, Ron."

And then Hermione kissed him fully on the mouth, pouring all her love for him into it. After some time they broke apart for air. Ron tried to say something, but Hermione quickly put a finger to his mouth, effectively silencing him.

"Hush, don't say anything. Now it's my turn to speak. I've liked you since our first year here in Hogwarts. And over the years, I started to like you more and more, until something else has bloomed in my heart. I started to feel different when I was with you and it didn't take me long to realize what this feelings in my heart tried to told me."

Ron was baffled. Hermione liked him since their first year? "Why didn't you tell me before?" Hermione giggled and winked at Ron. "As you said before, you're really stubborn sometime. I didn't want to risk our friendship, because I thought that you didn't like me."

He was overwhelmed with joy and love and in a swift motion pulled Hermione into his arms. "Silly you. Nothing could break us apart, foremost not love. I love you, Hermione."

A silent tear slowly made its way down Hermione's cheek and Ron gently wiped it away with his thump. "With all my heart."

Oh, I hope this story didn't turn out too cheesy. This was my first real one- shot, but I hope you liked it nonethless :) Please review and don't forget to congratulate the birthday girl :D