Obviously I do not own any part of the harry potter series or the characters from it, I thank j. for creating them
Hermione and ron 3
'Ron, hurry up!' Hermione screeched towards the boy's dormitories. Harry had left a quarter hour before, the celebration dinner would be starting soon and she didn't want to miss it.
'ughhh. Where's your boyfriend then? Shouldn't he be escorting you down to the great hall? Why do you care if I walk down there or not, its just another stupid feast' ron scoffed grumpily. Lately ron oddly hadn't been in the mood for food, and had stayed in bed for three days, refusing to get up. He was depressed and had been for a while, but nobody knew why and he would spiral into an unbridled screaming fight with anyone who questioned him about it.
'…..…' silence. Hermione cleared her throat. 'um, well…' she started, but rethinking her response she snapped 'I don't have a boyfriend thank you very much' she straightened up, becoming more bossy and snippy. This seemed to be a touchy subject for her to talk about, and she spat out the words just as quick as she could.
Ron looked up from the ground to see her eyes, bright and watery, tears brimming in the edges. '…i.. er… well… I didn't know…. I mean… uh…. Gosh im sorry Hermione… .i had no idea… didn't mean to…' he tried to comfort her awkwardly, more alert and awake than he had been in a week. He put his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged him off
' sok' she mumbled. The words blending together as she bit her lip, trying not to cry. She could feel a sob building up in her throat, but tried to fight it away.
'cmhere' Ron said, feeling aweful about making her so sad, and pulling her into a tight bear hug. Having her this close was an amazing feeling for him. Even though he felt guilty for making her upset, it wasn't on purpose. Just like it wasn't on purpose that she made him upset and depressed for all this time. He didn't blame her, but it still was impossible for him to cope with the sadness in any other way.
…..the sadness had started a while back, when ron had finally gained the courage to tell Hermione, his best friend, that he liked her. He got his game plan all laid out, he figured out her class schedule and her favorite spots in the library, the teachers she was most likely to talk to after class, everything. He planned it so that on a Friday he could tell her after class, and then he could go to hogs mead over the weekend, visit hagrid, and clean up his dormitory space, a bunch of random excuses to give Hermione time to think about what he said without seeing him again till Monday. Then he would talk to her on her way to the library Monday afternoon to make sure she wasn't upset with him. He had spent more time planning this than he had used doing homework all year.
The Thursday before he was going to talk to her, she had run into the Gryffindor common room jumping up and down to tell Ron and harry about the boy that had kissed her. Ron had to sit through a three hour every-detail story of exactly what happened and how happy she was and that they were going to date and how she hoped that this would last forever. That was the first night of Ron's quick descent into a deep depression…..
Having Hermione this close, trying to comfort her, reminded him how much she had always meant to him. He was sad that she was sad, but deep inside his heart he had a small glimmer of hope, that maybe, just maybe, she would see how he felt and maybe she could feel the same way too.
Hermione stood pressed against him sobbing into his flannel pajama shirt, he hadn't even changed into his robes yet. He kept her close, his hands around her back, 'Hermione?'… he reminded as her sobbing quieted to a small whimper of heartache 'if you really want to make it to the great hall there are two minutes till it starts, we can sprint…?'
She shook her head, her brown curly hair bobbing side to side as she did. Slowly she stood straighter, loosened her arms from around him, and took a half step back. She kept her eyes down, glancing over and watching the fire burn, the smoke filing up the chimney. '… no… no use bothering now… look like a mess… eyes all red and watery… pointless… ruined anyway…' she murmured to herself more than to Ron, but loud enough for him to hear.
Ron looked at Hermione, studying the way she looked. He always thought the way she spoke about herself was insane, she didn't give herself nearly enough credit. Her hair shined warmly in the flickering firelight. Her face was the same as always but her eyes were still teary and tear streaks glittered down her cheeks which were a lively pink in the glow from the fireplace. 'beautiful' he whispered accidentally, not meaning to say it outloud, but he did. Hermione turned, she had been absentmindedly staring at the fire, oblivious to ron's staring.
'what?' she asked innocently
Ron stuttered, he didn't know what to say. 'er, never mind' he spluttered.
'oh,' Hermione said gloomily.
There was a long pause. Ron still had his hands on her shoulders, but Hermione took her arms from around his back and slid back from him like she was going to leave. He moved his hands down her arms to her wrists, then gently took her hands in his large catchers-mit hands. This was deliberate, no mistake on his part. It was as if his body made him, he hadn't even thought to take her hands, he just did.
Hermione looked up at him, trying to see in his eyes what he was trying to say or do. She had been through a lot of stress and was easily confused so she wasn't sure what to say or what to think.
'Please' Ron started quickly before she could pull away 'please Hermione... Please listen to me"
'…..' she was silent, staring into his eyes, trying to understand.
'From the day I met you, I knew..i had to have you in my life, not for the help with homework, or for you keeping us from dying, but I had a feeling that I had never had before, an instinct almost, that made me want to always be there for you.' Ron knew he was taking a risk, she could explode on him any second now, he didn't know how she would take this, especially at a time like this. She had been bawling in his arms over another guy just seconds before. But as he looked in her eyes they weren't angry, he couldn't tell what emotion she was feeling, just that it wasn't hate or anger.
Relieved, he continued to tell her what he had been longing to tell her for so long. 'hermione, I wanted to tell you… I really did… I tried, I was going to… but then you told us about that other boy…. I gave up hope because I thought you were happy, and that's all Ive ever wanted for you…'
Her eyes were full of tears again. 'its all just gone so wrong' she whispered. 'ron, I wanted you to tell me, I waited and I waited but I thought maybe you didn't have feelings for me like I had hoped. If I thought you liked me I would never have bothered with that other boy, I really wouldn't have. He was a waste of time and…' she was getting frantic and very upset now, but she froze as she felt ron's warm lips meet hers, cutting her off midsentence. He pulled her close and they kissed, the firelight adding a small romantic mood to the place.
'its alright' Ron tried to calm her again. Hugging her close, 'we know now, so lets just make the best of this, mmk?'
'mmmmhmm' she replied.
"HEY GUYS, LOOK HERMIONE GOT RON OUT OF BED!" harry yelled as he led a group of rowdy gryffindors through the portrait hole and into the common room where Ron had his arm around Hermione on the couch by the fire.
The other gryffindors had obviously had a bit too much whiskey for one night and were a bit off in the head, oblivious to the fact that Hermione had tear stains on her cheaks and that ron had his arm around her.
At first the new couple had been startled by the others, but noting their drunken-ness they simply laughed and enjoyed the firelight, finally both happy, no more wondering about what could have been. Exhausted from the emotional stress they both soon fell asleep, still holding hands in the common room, nobody had noticed or said anything, … at least until the morning.