Hermione watches them.
She has been watching them since fifth year. The way they dance around each other, in perfect sync without even realizing it. Their gazes, trained on each other whenever humanly possible.
Hermione watches as she gains self confidence. As she grows into her powers as a witch and develops as a woman. Hermione watches as she begins to flirt with the boys, always glancing over her shoulder to see if the one she truly wanted was watching. But he wasn't. Not yet, anyway.
Hermione watches as he grows accustomed to her presence. She watches when he turns to tell her a joke only to realize she's not there, that she doesn't normally hang out with them. She sees the disappointment cross his face, and then the mask slides in. The mask that says he's happy and satisfied with being alone. But she knows better, she's seen the attraction between them.
Hermione watches as everything culminates. Things reach the boiling point, and in one blazing moment, she and he are one and no one can take that away from them. Ecstatic, they go off into the sunset, not on a horse but close enough, because they're floating and grinning and so, so happy that she can't find it in her to be jealous. She's always known that they were supposed to end up together; it was just right. She turns to Ron and hopes that he'll realize she's been watching him as well, hopes that he'll make sense of things before she has to do it for him, like always.
Until then, Hermione continues to watch.
-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-
Eh. Not too happy with how the end turned out. Oh well. This little bunny bit me in the ankle and would NOT let go. Reviews are love!