Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling, not me, duh. If I did, well, I wouldn't know what to do with it.

A/N - This is my first (completed) Harry Potter fic. It's a Ron/Hermione with a small dose of some other couplings in there. Basically, Ron is at an all-time low when someone close to him dies. Hermione's there to (cough) pick him back up.

Shout outs to Dreamer4, Dark Gamer, Light Gamer, EeyoreP, Knight, EvilTenchi, SaturnsChild, PhoenixChild, Wolfie, TogetherAgain, DC Reborn, Blackout12, Phire Phoenix, Fallen angel of Hope, Immia, AlexPG13, and shadow2k. Special dedication to Ashes for inspiration. Enjoy.

-...- means someone is thinking, *...* means the word/phrase is emphasized, ... means that it is a flashback, and "..." means someone is speaking.

Tomorrow's Pain

By: Hopeful Writer

Chapter 1: What's Wrong?

Ron felt the blood boil under his skin. "You know what, Ginny? You're getting to be a bigger pain than Percy ever was. You're gonna be just like him, you know that? Why don't you just leave me alone and let me learn and study my own way!" He tore from the common room, straight up to his dorm, only to collide with the only person he didn't want to see him cry: Hermione.

"Ron, what's the matter?" she exclaimed, gripping his arm to stop him from moving.

"Nothing," he muttered through grit teeth, but he couldn't fool Hermione.

"Nothing, huh? Well, then nothing's wrong with me."

"What's wrong with you?" Ron demanded, cursing himself for being too blind to see a problem she might be having.

"Nothing," she retorted, raising her eyebrows.

Ron let a tiny profanity spew from his lips. "Why do you have to trap me like that?" he complained. "I can't go knowing that there's something wrong with you and you're not going to tell me until I tell you what's wrong."

"Yes. That's right," Hermione told him.

"Okay, fine. Ginny's about the biggest pain in the universe. She's constantly badgering me about my schoolwork and she makes every assignment, every little thing, turn into a big fiasco!" Ron was almost to the point of screaming.

"She's just looking out for you, Ron. But," Hermione added, seeing Ron at the brink of explosion, "she is going a little far. I'll talk to her, if you want."

The redhead was beginning to calm down now. Talking to Hermione always seemed to do that for him. "Okay. Now what's wrong with you?"

Hermione flushed. "Oh, well, it's *really* nothing."

"BS," Ron hissed, taking *her* arm so she could squirm away.

-He's so perceptive,- she grumbled silently. -Or he just knows me too well.- "Well, I have this really big crush on this guy in Hogwarts and I don't know how to tell him." (A/N - It's not Ron.)

Either it was Hermione's imagination, or she saw Ron's smile falter, just a little bit. "Tell him, 'Mione," was all the boy could tell her. "He's bound to like you back. Who is it?"

"Oh, you'll just laugh," she mumbled.

"Never," he promised.

"Okay. It's," she was blushing like mad, "Seamus."

Ron felt like hitting something. Or crying. Seamus Finnegan over him. Wow. His heart felt like it was breaking in half. But he couldn't let Hermione see that. "Just tell him," he instructed. "Seamus is a great guy."

"Maybe tomorrow," Hermione replied in a low voice. "I'm going to sleep. You should get some too. Don't worry too much about Ginny; I'll straighten things out with her tomorrow, too."

"Okay, Herm. Thanks a lot. Night." He pecked her cheek quickly before resuming his walk to his dorm.

It's common knowledge that when you don't want something to happen, it almost always does So, of course, because Ron didn't want to see Seamus in his dorm, who else would be there but the sandy-haired boy himself, moaning about some fate that Ron couldn't understand.

"What's the matter, Seamus?" he asked, being too kind to ignore the other's feelings.

Seamus looked up, startled. All of a sudden his story came out, though he'd been trying to say that he was fine. "I've had the biggest crush on Hermione for so long, but she doesn't even look my way, Ron. What do I do?"

Ron had never had people ask his advice before. And, as much as it pained him to say it, he had to give good advice, if he could. "Tell her, Seamus. Tell her before you lose her. Trust me. You don't want to make that mistake."

"I can't do it," he whimpered. "I'm so lousy with words and sentences. It's easy for you to tell me to just tell her. You never had a problem putting words in sentences."

"Aw, Seamus, yes, I did and yes, I do."

"Can you help me, Ron?"

"What?" Ron was shocked. "How would I do that?"

Seamus looked small and desperate. "Just, like, stick around when I'm telling her, and maybe just help me say what I want to say. Please, Ron?"

"You don't really want to start your relationship with Hermione by lying, do you?"

Seamus was on the verge of tears. "No, but I can't do it alone. I'll make a complete moron of myself and then she'll never like me."

Ron sighed. He hated lying to Hermione like this, and it was so very hard for him to be near Seamus while he told Hermione, but it didn't look like he had a choice aside from confessing his true feelings. "Okay, Seamus. I'll help you."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Um, Hermione, can I talk to you?" The next day found Seamus nervously approaching Hermione outside the school, with Ron hidden in the shadows.

"Sure." Hermione was also apprehensive, but she hid it well.

"Uh, you see..." -Help me, Ron,- the boy silently begged. It seemed that Ron understood though because he began to help.

"We've known each other for five and a half years now, and I've always kind of admired you from afar," the redhead hissed.

Seamus repeated that, and Hermione began to blush. A cloud hid the center of the sun, giving the world a glow from the light that seeped around it. Specifically, it gave Hermione the glow. "She's beautiful," Ron breathed, his voice barely audible.

Seamus took that as he cue to continue. "You... you're beautiful," he echoed. Ron dove back into his hiding place.

"What... what did you say?" Hermione asked, not believing her ears.

"You're beautiful," Seamus reiterated.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that you're beautiful before?" Ron added, just loud enough for Seamus to hear.

Seamus translated that to Hermione, who answered, "No, not really."

"Well, you are. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that—" He cut off, and moved closer to Hermione. Ron had to turn away as they began to kiss. He sighed with defeat. -I'm out of my mind. Now I'll never get her.-

A/N - I didn't think it would be a chapter fic, but I guess it is gonna be. So stay tuned for the next chapter soon.