Disclaimer: As always, it is Jo Rowling who owns the amazing world of Harry Potter, its characters, and all of its glory. And I thank her for allowing my 23-year-old graduate student self to use her characters in some of the most random situations in the mad world of fanfiction. Enjoy.

Summary: A part of melodyxbelle's Missing Moments series. After Harry Potter and Ron Weasley find their best friend Hermione Granger petrified and in the hospital wing, Ron decides that a first visit is not nearly enough time for what he needs to say. Pure and innocent R/Hr fluff.

A/N: I know these missing moments have been done before, but I've wanted to write my own versions for years. This is more to please myself than my readers; I do hope you will take the time to read and review, though ;) ALSO, I am aware that Harry and Ron had gone to see Hagrid the day Hermione was petrified. THIS story, in my mind, happens before that. So, this basically happens to my liking; Harry and Ron would end up seeing Hagrid the following evening rather than this one. ~melodyxbelle

| Ron's Best Friend |

by: melodyxbelle

"Bloody hell," mumbled Ron as he slipped past a snoring Harry, Seamus, and a drooling Dean on his way out of the dormitory.

He had waited three hours for the lot of them to drift to sleep; it had seemed like an eternity. The news about his best friend Hermione Granger being petrified had spread like wildfire, and the Gryffindors were out of their minds with fear. How many muggleborns being petrified would it take for Hogwarts to shut down once and for all? The chatter around the common room that night had consisted of not only this, but where students would continue their magic education. ("I am not moving to America!" Lavender Brown had hissed to her friend Parvati Patil.) But this hadn't been as important to Ron. He, in particular, had tried to fight back tears as he neared the stone figure in the hospital wing earlier that day; he couldn't fathom his feelings at the sight of one of his best friends lying wide-eyed at something horrific he and Harry could not see.

They had stayed up late discussing this in their usual squashy armchairs near an empty fireplace, soon remembering they had temporarily lost a friend, which ended the night in silence over a game of wizard's chess. It was then, as Ron was only partially working on his strategy, that he decided to pay a late night visit to his other best friend. There were things on his twelve-year-old mind he felt he needed to say; things that just couldn't be said in the presence of Harry. He was beginning to wonder how his feelings had started taking such control over him lately, but with everything going on at Hogwarts, it felt like a good time to sort them out with someone who would have to listen. Talking to Hermione, well, petrified!Hermione, might help him as well as give him the privacy he needed to reflect on his thoughts. And maybe just...just to talk to her for a bit.

It hadn't occurred to him what they would do without Hermione. She had been there, annoying as she was, through it all. Hell, he and Harry wouldn't have gotten through last year's events without her, nor any of their potions classes (or classes, for that matter). Having Hermione gone just didn't seem right to Ron, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he felt he needed to.

However, it would be difficult, and even though he knew this, he wanted the challenge of sneaking past the castle's heightened security. With that arsehole Filch and various prowling teachers, it would be hard even with the invisibility cloak on (yes, Ron had decided to simply borrowthe cloak from his mate for the journey). Acquiring the cloak was another challenge for Ron. Harry had stirred and partially opened his eyes, gluing Ron to the spot as he had tugged on the cloak from its spot in Harry's trunk. But Harry's eyes had drooped shut within an instant and began snoring once more, as Ron hastily threw on the cloak and headed for the door.

As he crept through the portrait hole, Ron realized it had been almost a year since he had been under the invisibility cloak. He had grown another couple of inches, causing him to tower over his friends. Merlin's beard, he thought, with his lanky frame hunched beneath the glistening material. He began to wonder if a trip to see Hermione was a good idea, when he heard a loud voice behind him.

"Wha-who's there?"

The Fat Lady had awoken.

Shit.

And then he was off, the cloak billowing around his clumsy feet as he tiptoed down flights of stairs- passing Peeves being escorted by the Bloody Baron (most likely for causing his nightly ruckus), a beady-eyed Mrs. Norris, and pair of adventurous first-years setting off dung bombs ("Hurry, Patty!") with Professor McGonagall at their heels- until he had managed to reach the hospital wing on the fourth floor.

Ron peeked through the cracks of the oak doors; Madam Pomfrey was nowhere in sight. He hadn't planned on staying long, just in case she decided to check up on the wing. As he gave the doors a small push and entered the large room, he immediately found Hermione situated where Harry and he had left her earlier that day. The doors creaked as they shut behind him and he yanked the cloak off near a potted Mimbulus Mimbletonia on his way over to Hermione's bedside.

"Hermione..." he mumbled.

He sat down on the stool next to his friend's bed staring in horror. It was still quite a shock seeing her like this; Hermione was frozen in time, her mouth in the shape of an "o" at the sight of whatever had attacked her. Ron wished he could understand, so that he could find whatever it was that had harmed his friend and kill it.

"What did you know?" he said quietly, locking his blue pools onto Hermione's brown ones.

He stayed that way for a while, searching for answers, almost expecting the pools of brown to soften and for his friend to wake up. He could imagine it. She would probably gasp at the sight of him- "Ronald, why are you-" before remembering what she needed to tell him- "I've got it! We have to find Harry and we need to hurry! Grab the invisibility cloak- ouch, Ronald! That was my foot!"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Hermione, I don't know why I put up with you..."

Okay, choose your words carefully, Ron...

"Honestly, I don't know what I'm doing here."

Uggh, no. You're probably making her upset. Try again.

"I can't... Hermione, I don't... I'm not sure how to do these things. I'm not even sure where to begin." Ron swallowed. He really wished she could respond. This was almost embarrassing.

"I didn't mean that. About putting up with you. Of course I'll always put up with you- shit. No, I mean, it's not putting up with you, it's... er, it's a friend thing. You could get on my nerves and... stuff, but I don't... I don't mind."

His eyes fell on her curls. The way they framed her face, and even as a stone figure, they made her look almost... attractive to Ron. It felt weird being able to look at his friend- not that he wanted to do that, but just noticing tiny details made Ron wonder why she was friends with him. He wasn't the best-looking, either. In fact, he was kind of a git at times.

"Honestly, Hermione, I don't know why you put up with me," Ron sighed. "You are...a really... smart person."

Wow, good job, Ron, he thought as he buried his face in his hands.

Okay, she's not really awake, remember? Just say what you need to say.

Looking down at his feet, he began again.

"Hermione, we just don't know what to do without you. Harry and I... well, we're stuck. Whoever is doing this- whoever did this to you , Hermione... I'm going to find out. I mean, er, we're going to find out..."

He paused. Good.

"And I just don't know what's going to happen, Hermione. As much as I hate school... if Hogwarts gets shut down, who the bloody hell knows where we're all gonna go."

Ron looked at her this time, scanning over the tiny freckles on her cheeks. I didn't know she had those, too...

He found himself gazing into her widened eyes once more, this time noticing swirls of green and red near Hermione's pupils.

"Hermione... I don't know how to say this," Ron mumbled running his fingers through his fiery red hair. "But I really just, erm, I, I need to say this." He swallowed. "Hermione... I think that I...I might, maybe...need you."

Bloody hell, he hoped she couldn't hear him.

He continued, not really knowing why when he admitted far too much to his best friend. "I'm sorry, really sorry. Honestly, I've been a git. You're a good friend to me and Harry, and I don't understand how you can put up with us most days." Ron grinned to himself, imagining Hermione's constant nagging for him to finish his Charms homework.

"But I... I as myself... I think I...I think that- oh, Merlin! I think that I, Ron Weasley, just need you. And- and-I-really-don't-want-you-to-die-so-please-come-back-soon-alright?" He said it faster than he could think it, and before he could gather himself, he was bent over wrapping his arms around Hermione's stone figure.

Christ, have you gone mad? This is Hermione.

Ron had to argue with himself as he held stone-Hermione, But she's my best friend and bloody petrified! It's not like I'm snogging her!

At this thought, Ron pulled back, his ears and cheeks beginning to match the color of his hair. It was odd for him, thinking of snogging his best friend. He had just admitted he needed her, not just for Harry and him, but as himself. As Ron. Hermione made him want to be at Hogwarts, and if it closed down, he surely wasn't going to another magic school without her. He needed someone to nag him constantly; he needed her as an annoyance; needed her as the insufferable know-it-all she was, bushy hair, large front teeth and all.

He was doing it. Ron Weasley was imagining himself snogging his best friend Hermione Granger.

"Gah!" Ron sputtered, remembering that he was sitting in front of his friend, who was currently made of stone. Imagining kissing her could be insulting.

"Sorry Hermione," Ron said quietly, and before he could stop himself, he was reaching toward her, cupping her petrified face in his hand and placing his chapped lips to her right cheek.

But no sooner had Ron's lips grazed petrified!Hermione when a spider scurried across the floor into Ron's peripheral view, causing him to shoot off of the bedside chair and knocking the vase of flowers next to Hermione's bed over.

"Oh, shit! What's that spell?" muttered Ron as he hurriedly picked bits of glass up. "Hermione... help me."

Click. A door opened from down the hall and closed so fast, Ron wasn't sure he would have enough time to conceal himself. As if Hermione had somehow whispered the spell, Ron muttered, "Reparo," set the vase back onto the nightstand, and ran to the Mimbulus Mimbletonia where he hastily found the invisibility cloak, and tugged it on just as Madam Pomfrey burst through the doors.

"What in Dumbledore's beard's name is causing so much noise in here?" She scanned the room, looking for the culprit.

"Oh, in God's name, if you are hurting these students, get the blazes out of this castle!" Madam Pomfrey said furiously as she used her wand to magick objects into the air, searching for a perpetrator.

Ron was trapped between an open door and the Mimbulus Mimbletonia. In no time, the plant would be lifted and broken over his head, revealing himself. And Harry's cloak, thought Ron. They'll confiscate it. He had to move.

Ron stood up under the cloak pushing himself tight against the back of the open hospital wing door. If he could inch along slowly, he could fit between the door and the plant stand, then make a run for it.

He begin creeping along the door, his hands gripping the ends of the cloak. It would be a nightmare if any part of his pale, freckly skin showed, particularly against the brown doors. Not to mention, he would be mistaken for whoever it was petrifying the students.

This was a bloody stupid idea, thought Ron angrily to himself. Why the hell didn't I just do this another-

A high-pitched scream filled his ears, causing Ron to fall backward and hit the corner wall of the hospital wing. But he went unnoticed. Still, almost fully concealed under the invisibility cloak, Ron watched as an hysterical Madam Pomfrey fled through the wing doors with a mouse family scurrying close behind her. She squealed all the way down the corridor, and Ron tried hard not to laugh.

"PESKY... ANIMALS... MINERVA, HELP ME GET THESE TO THE OWLERY! MINERVA!" and she was gone.

Ron let out a small chuckle, but quickly decided he'd best get back to the Gryffindor tower. Without hesitation, he gave Hermione a last apologetic look from under the cloak, mumbled, "See you soon," and took off through the hospital wing's open doors. Taking a new route to the common room, Ron wondered why he had decided to kiss his best friend.

Well, she's a girl. That's good enough.

But Hermione wasn't just a girl. She was Ron's best friend.

And Harry's. Don't forget Harry's.

But she was also Ron's.

Ron smiled to himself as he reached the portrait of the fat lady. She was also his. He liked the sound of that.

"Well, heavens! Do say the password, as you've woken me up again... whoever you are!" The Fat Lady said grumpily.

But Ron was still smiling. "Wingardium Leviosa," he whispered from under the cloak, and his face stayed the color of his hair until he had fallen asleep in his four-poster bed.