So, this is my first Romione, and I'm pretty proud of it. I don't normally like "the x times x happened and the one time x happened" type stories, but I couldn't let this idea go. So here it is!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It's so unfair...
EDIT: This work is part of my ongoing attempt to edit my old fanfic to get them up to a standard I'm (almost) happy with. So if you're reading this for a second time and it seems different, that's why.
The first time was all Harry's fault. If he hadn't let the snitch out of his sight, they wouldn't have ended up trudging through muggle streets, searching for it.
"Mum's gunna kill me Harry." moaned Ron, as they scanned the sky for the small gold ball.
"How was I meant to know it wasn't enchanted correctly?"
"I told you it was broken!"
"I thought you meant if flew slightly to the left or something; not that it had a tendency to fly away from the pitch!" To be fair, the pitch was just the Weasley's orchard, meaning the golden ball hadn't had a lot of room to start with. And, well, they shouldn't really have been using a real snitch in the first place. "We'll find it!"
"This is illegal, Harry! I could lose my placement in the Auror office!"
"So could I!"
"No, you're the Chosen One. They'll keep you no matter what you do." Ron said, trying to keep the jealousy out of his voice. " It was true, though:since Harry (with Ron's help, although people always forgot that bit) defeated You-Know-Who, he'd been practically handed a career in any job that took his fancy.
"I don't think so." said Harry. Ron scoffed.
They continued to bicker all the way down the muggle High Street. Ron played no attention to where he was going, staring up at the sky for a glance of the golden snitch; so it was no surprise he bumped into the young woman when he did.
"Dammit! Sorry!" he said, holding the girl's shoulders to steady her. The girl had bright eyes and wildly curly brown hair. She also hadn't been looking where she was going, her nose in a book. When she looked up at Ron her eyes widened in alarm. Ron stared, still holding her shoulders.
"Ron you prat! Let go of her!" said Harry. Ron obliged immediately, flushing. "Sorry about him," he said to the brunette, "he's an idiot. Are you ok?"
The girl shook her head and rushed off.
"Weird." said Ron. "I swear, half these muggles are barking."
The second time Ron was collecting some muggle cooking ingredients for Mrs Weasley. Laden with bags of shopping, he slipped into a cafe with a big sign saying Costa above it. He'd never actually tried muggle coffee and was curious as to its taste.
After ordering a cappuccino, picking something randomly from the menu board, he looked around for a place to sit in the crowded spotted as he did so a girl with bushy brown hair sitting by the window, reading a newspaper. (The muggle type without moving pictures.)
"Hey." he said, approaching the girl. It was the same one from the other week. "Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is taken." The girl shook her head, looking scared. He scratched the back of his head. The easiest thing to do would be to ask a question and see how she answered. "What's your name?"
"Hermione." she whispered. Ron half opened his mouth to tell her that he knew another girl with that name, then closed it again. He didn't think he did after all, and he wondered where the thought came from. Still, there was a nagging voice in the back of his head that told him that the name rang a bell. He ignored it.
"Nice name." he said. "Never met a Hermione before."
"Never?" she asked, her expression strangely disappointed.
Ignoring the niggling doubt, he said "No," then in sudden inspiration, "but I'd like to."
So what if he was flirting? Hermione was pretty and there was something about her he just liked. To tell the truth, he was eighteen and his only relationship had failed spectacularly. He wanted someone new, and if that someone was a muggle then so be it. "I'm Ron." he added as an afterthought. He took a sip of his coffee and made a face. It was foul.
The girl called Hermione looked as if she was trying not to smile. "How do you drink this stuff?" he demanded, jabbing his finger at the offending beverage.
"Habit, mostly. It grows on you." she said, gesturing to her own empty mug. She then made a show of looking at her watch. "I better be off. Bye, Ron."
Ron was left feeling very unhappy, and he couldn't work out why.
The third time, Hermione found Ron. He was wondering around the muggle town, feeling vaguely put-out. Harry was off making gooey eyes over his sister - something he'd accepted but couldn't quite be happy about - so he was letting off steam.
Somebody tapped him on the shoulder and he spun around to see Hermione standing behind him,shifting nervously from foot to foot. "I really shouldn't be doing this." she told him.
"Doing what?"
"Never mind." she said. "I just wanted to know why you're hanging around here so much. Surely there are better things you could be doing." she emphasised "better things", raising her eyebrows.
"Between jobs." said Ron.
"Right." said Hermione. "Of course. You hardly know me - that was a strange question. I'm not good at this." she turned on her heel and walked off, speeding with each step until she was out of sight.
Ron shook his head. "Mental."
The fourth time he saw Hermione he was actively looking. He knew it was completely mad - Harry told him often enough - but he couldn't get the muggle out of his mind.
"You're acting worse than when you took that love potion." said Harry. "I can't believe you dragged me into this." Harry was sitting next to him in the cafe he'd seen Hermione, clutching a cappuccino. Ron had one too, determined to make it grow on him so he and Hermione would have something in common.
"I need to see her again Harry." said Ron, aware of how ridiculous he sounded, but unable to stop. "You don't understand. It's like I've known her my whole life... Only I can't remember."
Harry laughed. "Drama queen. Wait, is that her?" he gestured to the doorway, where Hermione had indeed just entered.
"Yes." breathed Ron. Harry waved to catch the girl's attention. When she spotted them, her eyebrows rose. She walked over to the table, and turned to face Ron.
"I'm flattered by your attention, but it's probably better if you two don't spend time with me. I'm sorry."
"Wait, Hermione-"
"It's nothing personal." she said, and she turned on her heel, exiting the cafe. She looked miserable.
"You're right. I do have this weird feeling, like I know her." said Harry. Ron glared at him. "In a platonic way, moron."
The fifth time was a big surprise. He entered the Burrow after a day in the Auror office, training, and she was sitting at the kitchen table.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Hermione's from the village." said Mrs Weasley, misunderstanding his reaction. "She's a squib."
"What?" said Ron, gaping.
"A squib, dear." said Mrs Weasley, confused.
"Right." said Ron, clutching the counter. It wasn't that odd. There were a lot of wizards in the area, and if she was a squib she wouldn't have gone to Hogwarts.
"She's been a little out of the loop. I was just filling her in on how you and Harry defeated You-Know-Who." she raised her eyebrows as if to say "you're welcome" and Ron groaned inwardly. She was matchmaking. "Well, I'll leave you two to chat."
"So Vol- He Who Must Not Be Named is gone? Completely? Everyone's safe?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah..?" he said uncertainly.
"Then why don't you remember?" she asked furiously.
"Remember what?"
"Me! All of it!"
"What the hell are you on about?"
"I'm Hermione Granger! I've known you and Harry since we were eleven!"
"What?"
"I modified your memories. It was supposed to revert back once everyone was safe. Please say you know who I am."
Ron shook his head, feeling awful when he saw the tears in Hermione's eyes. She was mad, she had to be.
Hermione took a step back and looked him in the eye. "That voice in the back of your head? That niggling doubt? Listen to it." she handed him a piece of paper with the address of where she was staying on. "Please. I can't reverse it, but you can."
He remembered late at night. He couldn't get over what she'd said. There had been that feeling, like Hermione was somebody he'd met, but somebody he'd known since his first year of Hogwarts? It seemed unlikely.
And yet.. when he thought about hunting horcruxes with Harry, nothing added up. The tent had three beds. They had split locket-wearing duties between three of them. There was a third person in the will. "Hermione Jean Granger".
He'd been jealous of Harry - that's why he abandoned him halfway through the horcrux-hunting. But it wasn't because Harry was famous. It was because he thought Hermione liked Harry better.
He was a complete arse. She was had managed to forget her, the girl he'd been in love with for years. Once he had one memory, the rest he was able to piece together around it. He felt a pulse of magic, the hairs on his arms standing on end and his world going sideways for a moment, and realised that Hermione's memory charm was gone.
"Harry!" he hissed, shaking his best friend awake."Hermione!" Harry's eyes widened.
"How the hell did we forget Hermione?" he said.
"We need to go see her." said Ron.
"No." said Harry. "I can't, you should go. You worked it out." Ron pulled on a jacket and his discarded jeans, rummaging in the pocket for the folded paper Hermione had given him. This was not a time to be worrying about apparating somewhere he couldn't properly visualise. He thought of the address, and hoped imagining her face would be enough. He turned on the spot and reappeared in an unfamiliar room.
Hermione looked up from her book. She looked exhausted.
"Ron?"
"Hey," he said, "I am so sorry."
"You remember?" she asked. He nodded. To his surprise, Hermione burst into tears. She flung herself into his arms, sobbing heavily. If there had been any doubt in Ron's mind about Hermione's identity, it would have disappeared as he held her there, rocking her back and forth.
"What happened?" he asked, "Why did you need to make us forget?"
Hermione wiped her eyes and pulled herself from Ron's grasp. "Snatchers." she whispered. "They caught me when I was placing protective charms around the tent. I knew you would come looking for me, so I modified your memories to keep you safe. One of them had the Dark Mark, and he summoned Voldemort. Said I had valuable information that could be "extracted". I managed to escape, but only by effectively erasing myself from a magical existence and hiding in the muggle world. That was a powerful charm you broke, Ron."
Ron looked down at her, still puzzled. "Why could I break it? Why not Harry - he's known you just as long." There was a long pause as Hermione seemed to think of the best way to answer.
"You have the strongest feeling for me."
"Sorry?"
"Harry could have done it, but it would have taken him much longer." she said, speaking fast. "Because he feels - has always felt - nothing more than friendship, which although very strong, doesn't hold the determination of... of..." she tapered off.
Ron was afraid to say the word that Hermione left hanging in the air. He ducked his head in understanding, knowing his ears were going red.
There was silence for a moment, and Ron threw himself down onto a chair, trying to ignore a strange disappointment that hd settled in his chest. Hermione sat back down in the same chair was sitting in when he entered.
Conversation turned idol. He asked about the muggle world, she asked about Hogwarts and their school friends. You have her back. He told himself. That's the important part. Not whether or not she loves you the way you love her..
"How's Luna?" asked Hermione.
"Still barmy." said Ron. "She's dating Neville now."
"Oh." Hermione looked surprised. "So nothing happened between you two in the end?"
"God no!" laughed Ron. "Look, do you want to come back to the Burrow? Harry wants to see you."
"Sure." she said. Ron stood up and held out his arm.
"Side along would be best." he said, "I'm not losing you again."
Hermione took his arm and kissed his cheek. "I'm never losing you again either." she whispered. He turned his head around and their lips met. It had all worked out in the end.