Ron's POV

Tick...Tick...Tick...

My alarm clock ticked a fourth time and it was officially one second past midnight. Tomorrow. And I already wanted to get out of bed and get going, prepare early for Bill and Fleur's wedding tomorrow. Well, today. I hadn't a bloody idea why though, I had been up since half past five yesterday morning and went to bed just an hour ago! I needed sleep but recently it was something I was feeling deprived of.

With a sigh, I rolled over to lie on my side; watching the shadows of my dark attic room. Everything was just different shades of black and grey in the early morning hours, nothing to capture my attention. Nothing except Bill who was sock on over in the spare bed. Fleur had been very strict about him not seeing her the night before the wedding so he'd been kicked out of their bed which was quite funny actually. But Fleur didn't get to have their bed either, it was a double so Fleur got Ginny's single while Ginny shared the double with Hermione.

Ah...Hermione. Just thinking her name brought her to the front of my mind and I found myself unable to stop grinning to the ceiling, watching the moons pale beauty while I thought about hers. Hermione really was the brightest witch of her age but I had decided this past year that she was also one of the prettiest too. I hadn't really noticed― or wanted to, honestly ―before how beautiful she really was.

The way the long, thick locks of her hair always tangled with each other, the way she walked like she was speed walking (she usually was if we were on our way to class) but she looked so graceful while doing it. Her laugh and her smile and her lips...

Damn, those feelings again! Why? Why did her name...Hermione...affect me the way it did? Why did my pulse rise and my knees wobble like jelly? Why did I find it hard to swallow, to say anything that would sound even remotely smart? Remotely average would be fine for me! Why did I buzz and tingle when her hand grazed my own, why did I ache slightly when she'd turn to look up at me for a split second?

I knew I shouldn't but I wanted her. And not like how most teenage boys want girls. I didn't want Hermione because I was a hormonal kid (Not that I wouldn't, I mean have you seen Hermione? whoa...) because I didn't think that way. I wanted her because of who she was. I wanted to hold her, to have her arms around my neck and my own pulling her body against my own, to have my fingers run through those chocolate locks while our lips graze and-

A gentle knock on the door yanked me free of my imagination and I bolted upright. Whoever it was opened the door an inch and went to peer inside. I guessed it was mum and I didn't want to get into an argument tonight about needing sleep so quietly, I dropped back down and lay still.

"Ron? Are you awake?"A voice that certainly wasn't mum, said in a beautiful whisper.

"Y-Yeah," I exclaimed a little too loudly as I spun to face her. Hermione. She opened the door a little further, it creaked and she slipped through the gasp and gently pressed it shut behind her. She turned back to me then and it happened, my heart beat picked up and I trembled with unknown feelings, my chest heaved and bounced and my lips tingled to find a partner.

She was gorgeous. Her skin as clear and light as a porcelain doll, her hair a rich mahogany mess that still looked wonderful, even though it was tied up in a pony tail. Her eyes, those eyes! The richest and most mesmerizing shade of brown I had ever seen. She wore bunny pattern PJ bottoms and a grey vest.

Sheepishly, the smiled at me before casually making her way over to me. Without a single hesitation, I threw my duvet back and let her crawl in next to me. It was strange, we'd slept in the same bed before and hugged before and whatever but we lay together in bed, spooning! She let my arm come around and under her own, holding her pressed against my chest while I rested my chin on the top of her head.

She hummed to the warmth; I couldn't tear my eyes away from the twitch on the edge of her smile.

"What's wrong, you okay?" I mumbled and she nodded. She went to speak but then glanced over her shoulder at Bill and raised her wand which I hadn't seen her bring in.

"Muffliato," she whispered and a half-transparent wave passed between us. "That's better, now we can speak more freely," she said a little louder than a whisper.

"What is it?" I asked again. This time she rolled around entirely until our bodies were pressed against each other, her lips mere inches away! But she glanced down to the quiet, avoiding my eyes...

"Honestly Ron...I'm unsure." I didn't press it; I let her have a moment she needed. "Can I ask you as question?"

"Yeah, alright,"

"How do you feel about all of this? Have you ever regretted becoming friends with Harry, having every at Hogwarts be a battle because of him? Having to leave home and do all of this?" I was a little taken back, was she really asking me this.

"Um, Hermione...I-"

"Oh no,' she gasped, sitting up and in the process her hair exploded free of the elastic band holding it up and it cascaded down by her face, casting shadows that only enhanced the colour of her eye. "I'm not implying that I do, don't think I regret that decision for a moment, you hear me?" I nodded, "Of course I don't want to fight and leave my family, have to go by each day in possible fatal danger yet I do. I don't regret that decision," she repeated, "Because if I wasn't a part of all of this then I wouldn't have this right here, you..." Her voice barely audible.

I let out a heavy breath, "Blimey..." I whispered and she chuckled but snuggled closer to me and I knew for some reason, that little acknowledgement was something she had wanted to express for some time. "No," I told her, "No I don't regret it."

"I am frightened though," she confessed and I heard it then and I loathed it. Fear. Fear polluting her lullaby of a voice. I looked down and a tear formed in the corner of her eye. It rolled down her burning pink cheeks to the bottom of her chin. I caught the tear and wiped it away, refusing to let her shed a single one.

"I'm scared." I blurted out. "I'm scared too." And I felt a freedom them also, something I had been waiting to get off my chest for some time. Confessing that I was scared and it was okay to be.

Hermione and I lay together for the rest of the hour, not saying another single word until finally she pulled away from me. With a flick of her wrist, the spell she had cast on Bill dismissed. She whispered me a goodnight and sweet dreams and turned away from the bed, our interlocking fingers being torn apart. I watched her leave and as she slipped out of my room it got cold. So cold. Wrong, even, to be in this bed and not have her in my arms.

Then suddenly the door opened again and she ran back in. At first I thought there was something horribly wrong but before I had time to sit up properly she was sat back on my bed and smiling at me.

"Thank you, Ron, for everything" Then without a warning or time to think, Hermione pressed her soft and warm lips against mine and waited there for a few seconds before pulling back. She held my cheek in her hand and I tilted into it, wanting to kiss it. Kiss every inch of her. She breathed out and smiled.

Another freedom...for the two of us. Then she left once more.

'Thank you, Hermione,' I whispered to myself in the darkness as I caressed my own lip, my wish had been answered and for some reason, I shed a tear at our first kiss.

FanWriter's Note:

Hey there! This story is actually a very old story and one of my first here on Fanfiction. I wrote it a long time ago and wrote thirteen chapters and then started another story which was a sequel/ Part 2. This story focuses on the behind the scenes of Ron and Hermione's friendship and relationship within the last book. In this version, Ron and Hermione start their relationship and romantic feelings and actions during the events of Deathly Hallows, unknown to us readers. I took the story down to edit all the mistakes, improve the writing and instead make it one long story instead of two parts.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you think of this new first chapter :D

~FanWriter Harrison~