Written for Emma's Song Swap Competition (When We Were Young by The Killers & and Ron Weasley)
Do Not Regret; Just Love
He fell head-over-heels very fast. Probably too fast. One minute they were just friends, fighting in a war together, and the next she was snogging him as if it would be the last time they'd see each other. A minute after that and the war was over and no one knew what to do with themselves.
Hermione was perfect in every way. She held his hand through Fred's funeral, kissed him when he was thinking about kissing her, and she was always there when he needed her to be. He couldn't say it yet, but he loved her. He wanted to say it, but it was too soon. He knew that. He had always known that.
"Ron… Ron, wake up." The sun was suddenly staring at him through his closed eyes, and someone was shaking him awake; Hermione. She often spent the nights in his room, her head resting on his shoulder. They didn't do anything but sleep, but it was nice.
"What?" He opened his eyes, yawning as her shape slowly became clearer. She was staring at him with a half-irritated, half-amused expression. It was almost as if she wanted to smile, but couldn't.
"Ron, today's the day."
"Oh." He knew this day would come – they had talked about it for a month – but he didn't want it to. He had dreaded it, actually. Her sleeping beside him had become something he enjoyed – something he realised he could wake up to for every day of the rest of his life – and he didn't want to have to say goodbye. "I'll go with you."
"Ron… we've been through this. Your family need you."
"But I need you more." He didn't mean to sound so desperate, but he wanted to go to Australia with her. His family was grieving, but they had each other. She was going by herself, and he hated that.
Any irritation she might have felt before vanished at those words. Her face softened and she smiled at him. "This is something I need to do by myself," she told him. "I need to find them by myself, because I… because I did it to them."
"If there's two of us, we'll find them faster. And if you can't find them, I don't want you to be by yourself." He stared at her, wanting to say the words, but he just couldn't. He'd planned on saying them today, but that would mean saying goodbye, and he didn't want that.
"Let's go for a walk." Hermione grabbed onto his hand and dragged him from the bed. They weren't very decently dressed, but in that moment, neither of them cared. Everyone else would either be in bed or in the kitchen, but the Burrow was big, and it had plenty of places to be alone (as they had quickly discovered).
"Good morning, dears," Molly said, greeting them both with a weak smile as the entered the kitchen. "What would you like to eat?"
"Actually, we're just going for a walk for now," Hermione informed her. "We'll be back soon."
Ron allowed her to lead him from the house, turning a deep red. His mother didn't know Hermione didn't sleep in Ginny's room anymore – well, unless Ginny had said something, and he doubted that – and he didn't want her knowing just yet. Holding hands in front of his parents was bad enough.
They went to a little stream on the boundary of the property, Hermione not letting go of his hand even when they stopped walking. She turned to face him, taking his other hand, too. "It won't be long," she promised him. "A month, maybe two. That's all. It's not that long."
"It's forever," Ron countered.
She smiled up at him. "It's not. We have forever once I find them and bring them home. This is just a little while." Letting go of his hands, she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him in a way that made him believe that she knew it was goodbye, too. Maybe not forever, but she wasn't going to change her mind. She was doing this by herself.
"I… I…." The words still wouldn't come out, and he was running out of time to say them. She'd be gone soon, and she would never know.
"I'll miss you, too," she said, misunderstanding what he wanted to say. "I'll miss you so much." She kissed him again and he swallowed.
"Yeah," was all he could manage to say after that. "I'll miss you."
…
He felt like the biggest idiot. He was madly in love with her – he didn't even realise he was capable of feeling so much love for one person – and he'd just let her go like that. Even as he'd kissed her goodbye, telling her not to be too long, he hadn't managed to tell her. He was an idiot. She was probably in Australia wondering why he didn't love her.
But she hadn't said the words either.
"You okay, mate?" Harry was watching him with a concerned expression. He'd been awfully quiet the two weeks Hermione had been gone, not even talking to Harry that much.
"Yeah… yeah, I guess."
"You missing her?"
"Should I not be missing her?" It was a serious question, but Harry laughed. "No, I'm being serious. Should I not be missing her this much? We've only been together for a month and a bit, and it's not like we were really together anyway. We were just… I don't know." He buried his face into his hands, shaking his head.
"You love her."
"No!" He couldn't even tell Hermione that. How could he admit it to Harry?
"Don't be embarrassed to admit it. It's okay. I know how you feel about each other."
Ron didn't say anything, but Harry seemed to understand what he was thinking. "She'll be back," he promised. "Of course she will. She loves you, too. Trust me."
It felt strange talking to his best mate about this, but at the same time, comforting. Did Harry know more than he knew? Had he spoken to Hermione?
"Have you heard from her?"
Harry shook his head. "No. Have you?"
Ron also shook his head, grimly.
"She'll write soon," Harry promised. "I suppose when she finds out anything."
"I hope she's alright." Ron couldn't control the overwhelming sick feeling that got bigger and bigger with every day that passed. He just wanted to hear from her.
Harry chuckled. "She's fine," he said. "Stop worrying. I know you wanted to go with her, but you understand she has to do it by herself, don't you?"
Ron nodded grimly. Deep down, he did, but it was all so new. He'd just discovered that he could love someone and the last thing he wanted to do was let her go. "Alright, alright. So, about Auror training tomorrow…."
…
Dear Ron,
I found them, and they're safe and well. It took me over a month to locate them, but they were in a small town near the city of Adelaide. They were quite mad when I told them what had happened, but I suppose that's a good thing. They remember everything up until the moment I cast the spell on them. They don't remember any of their time in Australia, but we're going to stay here for another week or so before we come back.
I've heard that your Auror training is going well. That is fantastic news. You'll make a great Auror one day. I got a letter from the Ministry, too, but I think I'll turn them down. I've been thinking that I might go back to Hogwarts with Ginny and finish our last year together.
I can't wait to see you again.
Love from,
Hermione
Ron sighed. Hogwarts? He should have known things wouldn't be as simple as her returning and then picking up from where they left off. This was Hermione, after all. Of course she'd want to finish her education even though she got an offer to go straight into the Ministry without finishing it.
"Everything okay?"
"She's coming home soon."
"I thought you'd be thrilled."
"She's going back to Hogwarts."
"Oh."
"Typical."
…
There was nothing more exciting than seeing her head full of bushy hair appear amongst the crowd. She was with two other people he recognised as her parents. She was looking for someone – searching – and then she spotted him and her face broke into such a wide grin he thought it might crack.
Leaving her parents to catch up, she ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him hard on the mouth. It threw him slightly, and he blushed, knowing her parents were nearby, but he responded enthusiastically anyway.
"I've missed you," she said, breaking the kiss. "I've missed you so much." She looked at him, breathless and dazed, and she was beautiful.
The words he wanted to say more than anything caught in his throat again as her parents grow closer. He couldn't say them with them around.
"Hello, Ron." Her mother gave him a smile which was daunting, but relieving at the same time. So, they liked him, he realised. That was a plus.
"Hi," he responded, and Hermione gripped him tightly, beaming.
"I didn't think you'd come to an airport," she confessed after a moment. "You found your way alright?"
Ron nodded. Truthfully, he'd Apparated nearby and then walked the rest of the distance, but it had been fairly simple. All he'd thought about was going to her, and that was where he was led.
"Let's go home," Hermione said after a moment, holding onto his hand tightly. "It's been a while."
Hermione spoke of her trip all the way home, and just hearing her voice again was endearing and heart-warming. There had been a time – long, long ago – where he'd wished for her to shut up. But that was forever ago. Now, he could listen to her talk forever.
She'd had a good time, he realised, and spoke of one day going back there for a proper holiday.
"With me next time," he said before he knew what he was talking about. For a moment, he'd forgotten her parents were with them in the taxi they were catching to the Granger's home. But, if they had heard, their only response was to smile at each other and return to gazing out the window.
"Of course," she said, smiling at him. "We can go together next time." Little did they both know at the time, but they would go back to Australia together. It would be five years later, on their honeymoon.
…
"I love you." There, he'd said it. The words had stumbled from his mouth like an idiot, but he'd said it, and she wasn't running away.
"I love you, too, Ron." She brought her lips to his, her arms slinking around his body. She was back to sleeping in his bed again, but this time it had been more than just sleeping – their first time – and it had been wonderful. He liked being that close to her. He could be that close to her forever.
"Ron, dear, it's morning. Breakfast's ready." It had to have been the most embarrassing thing to have his mother walk in at that moment; it had embarrassed them both. Maybe he should have warned his family that Hermione was staying the night instead of sneaking her in, but he hadn't seen the point.
Hermione and Molly couldn't look eye-to-eye for two months after that incident, and Ron learnt to always consult his family if she was ever going to stay again. That morning had been their last morning together, for he was saying goodbye to her at King's Cross just hours later.
"When I know the Hogsmeade visits, I'll let you know," she promised, kissing him with more passion than she'd ever kissed him before. Their night together had brought them closer, which he was glad about. He'd always been worried it would make things uncomfortable between them. After all, they'd been friends before they became lovers.
"I love you."
She smiled. "I love you, too." Another kiss, and then she was gone. Once again, he'd have to learn to live without her at least until December.
"Don't forget, she's away from you for as long as you're away from her." Harry clapped him on the shoulder as they began to make their way back through the crowd on the station.
Ron had never thought of it that way before. She'd be missing him, too.
He smiled. It was only three months.
…
"We were kind of silly back then, weren't we?" Hermione rested her head against Ron's shoulder, smiling to herself as they sat alone in their living room. It was their new home – the home they'd bought just two days earlier.
"Back when?" Ron asked, but he understood. They had done some foolish things as teenagers. If things had been different, they could have been here earlier.
"Right after the war, then when I went to Australia without you, and then Hogwarts a month later. I regret that now. You should have come with me."
Ron shrugged. "It doesn't matter now." And it didn't, for they were both there together anyway, and happy.
"We just missed out on so much time together."
"Not really." When he thought about it, he had been rather obsessed back then. It had been new to him – exciting – and he had just wanted to spend every second of his time with her. As the years wore on, though, and they got jobs and started working, they slowly learnt to deal with not seeing each other all the time. Before they moved in together (that tiny, horrible little flat just outside of London) they had sometimes gone days without seeing each other.
But they were together now – almost all of the time – and nothing in the past really meant much (not in the sense that they should regret it). They'd been young and in love, and rather obsessive. Now, though, they were just young and in love.
And very, very happy.
This is the first Romione I've written in a long time that I'm happy with. My Romione muse is coming back. I hope you liked!
Also, season 2 of my Quidditch fanfiction competition is open for Tryouts. There are plenty of positions left if you're interested in writing, joining a team and making new friends. You'd be a lovely asset to the competition - whoever you are. The link is on my profile!