Well I wrote this a while ago. I'm not sure if it actually fits into the book anywhere, it's been a while since I read it, but I like to picture that it does. I do not own Harry Potter or this song (which is "I Love You by Sarah McLachlan).
And to avoid confusion, the regular print is the story, the italicized parts near the end are Ron's thoughts, and the italicized/bold parts are the song. Enjoy!
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Ron Weasley had never been a particularly good looking person. He certainly wasn't ugly, but he wasn't the type of man who pretty girls swooned over either. Yet he had never really minded, because he had eyes for only one girl anyway. And now that he really thought about it, he was sure that he had loved her from the beginning, but he was too young and stupid and full of himself back then to realize that he loved Hermione Granger. And he was still to young and stupid at this point to tell her so.
He had more time to think about these things in these cold and empty nights, while the search for the Horcruxes continued. After they had all managed to stomach another meal of charred gray fish, Harry would wander off to bed. Hermione would as well. Ron would sit between them on the floor of their tent until he was sure that they were both sound asleep before slipping outside, casting Hermione's angelic face a wistful glance in the process. He never went outside the protected borders that Hermione had set up around the tent, but sat just inside. Most nights he would pull his knees up to his chest and rest his chin on them, taking in the fresh smell of the surrounding wilderness. Other nights he would doze off on the soft dirt of the forest floor, only waking up so as to let his eyes swallow the sunset, before letting his heavy legs carry him into the tent once more.
One night it rained. But he crept outside anyway.
And she followed him. He grinned as he saw her approaching, and had to bite down on his own cheek to wipe the silly smile off his face.
I have a smile
Stretched from ear to ear
To see you walking down the road
"You're awake." He said simply.
"I always wake up when you leave." she replied.
"Oh." he looked at her sheepishly. "You've picked up on that, huh?"
She nodded. "I woke up a few weeks ago and you weren't in your bed. It kept happening after that so I started staying awake to see where you went… I hope you don't mind. I can leave if you want." She started to turn around, but Ron stopped her.
"Don't…" He said, reaching out and catching her sleeve in his hand.
We meet at the lights
I stare for a while
The world around disappears
"Why do you always run away from me?" he asked.
She jerked her arm from his grasp, eyes flashing. "I run away from you? You won't even stay in the same room with me if Harry isn't with us! You act as if I'm made of poison!"
He looked away from her, over the green canopy of the woods, and her eyes softened. She knelt beside him and put her tiny hand over his scarred paw.
"Sorry. I shouldn't take my problems out on you." She mumbled in a soft, monotone voice. A wave of concern overpowered him.
"What problems?"
Just you and me
On this island of hope
A breath between us could be miles
"I'm scared for my family." She said simply. "And yours. And of course I worry about everyone at school."
Hogwarts. That seemed so long ago. He yearned for the simple days when the three of them would spend their weekends in the Common Room. Perhaps Harry would be brushing up on his Quidditch skills while Hermione fingered the pages of a library book, the little stitch between her eyebrows that he loved so much present as she drank in the ancient subscript carefully printed on the page. And maybe Ginny would be sitting on the armrest of Harry's chair, reviewing Quidditch routines with him. Perhaps she would smile in that rare way of hers that meant she was actually and genuinely happy, something that Ron had barely ever been able to achieve himself.
"Ron?"
"Hm?"
"You spaced out."
Oops. He was good at that. "Sorry."
Let me surround you
My sea to your shore
Let me be the calm you seek
He unclenched his hand and gently trapped Hermione's fingers between his own. He could feel her heart beat, and everything that accompanied it. Her fear. Her beauty. Her loyalty and the sometimes painfully truthful attitude that came with it. Her trustworthy friendship and maybe something more than that, something that they both knew was there but were too ashamed to admit.
Hermione didn't seem to mind the rain, didn't seem to mind that it was plastering her wild hair down against her God-given face. She moved subtly closer to him to keep warm and it made his heart dance.
Oh and every time I'm close to you
There's too much I can't say
And you just walk away
"Cold?"
"What?"
"I just asked if you were cold."
"Oh… yeah, a bit."
He draped an arm over her shoulder and his hand cupped her waist so that he could keep as much of her small body as warm as possible. Had he a jacket, he gladly would have offered it to her. The fact that she was sitting there next to him was igniting his heart and warming the rest of his body effortlessly.
They sat together in silence for what could have been hours, could have been days or months or years but it would have felt like mere seconds to Ron. He could have happily spent the rest of his life sitting in the middle of nowhere, unaware of his exact location, as long as he had Hermione right there beside him. She made him feel as if he could take on the world, like that muggle story tale hero Superman. Because even though he wasn't faster than a speeding bullet (or whatever it was they said about him), he turned into an unstoppable man of steel when it came to her well being. He wouldn't let anything get in his way if it meant keeping her safe.
And I forgot
To tell you
I love you
And the night's
Too long
And cold here
Without you
I grieve in my condition
For I cannot find the strength to say I need you so
"Ron?"
"Yeah?"
"I think we should go inside…"
He withdrew his arm reluctantly. "You go. I'm going to go in later…"
She nodded uncertainly, and he was beating himself up on the inside, thinking Go with her, you dumb bloke! Get your arse up off the ground and put your arms around her and go inside! Keep her dry and warm and tell her jokes and make her happy because she's SCARED! She just told you so herself, damn it!
"Ok. Well…Good night." She stood up, took her time brushing herself off, and sluggishly walked back towards the tent with her arms folded in front of her.
"…Hermione, wait!"
Oh and every time I'm close to you
There's too much I can't say
And you just walk away
He wanted to tell her, he had to tell her, he couldn't live if she didn't know.
You stupid kid, you're too damn wrapped up in all these completely flawed theories that she doesn't love you back, you know she does so why don't you just stand up and brush the dirt off your bum and run to her, grab her by the shoulders and apologize for being such a lousy git to her for all this time! Kiss her like you mean it because you DO mean it, and damn you, you'd better put everything you can into it, show her how sorry you are and that you only did those things because you are IN LOVE WITH HER no matter how crazy and messed up that might sound. Cry if you have to anything to get the message across, so that she can see that you really mean it and you love her more than you've ever loved anyone before and the only thing about this type of love that hurts so badly is bottling it up, its about to explode out of your mouth anyway so just get up and tell her… do it now…
"Where you going to tell me something or not?"
"I love…. The rain. That's why I'm just going to sit out here a bit longer."
"Yes, the rain is lovely. Well, erm… good night then."
"Yeah. Good night."
And I forgot
To tell you
I love you
And the night's
Too long
And cold here
Without you...
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A/N: Just a bit of fluff I wrote one night when I came across this song. Perhaps I should have written it after the battle, at the Burrow or something. If you want me to revise it that way I would be happy to do so.