Hey everyone! Thought that I'd give you all this little oneshot!

Enjoy...

Being Loved

Hermione never felt loved by her family. Her father, grieving for his mother, who had died of cancer, became an alcoholic. Hermione was three. He would come home from the bar at night, yell at his wife and daughter, and then stagger off to bed. This was the normal routine for three years...

Hermione was six when it first began. She was lying in bed in her room, thinking about how her very first day of school had been. She was quite pleased with herself, because she was one of only two children in her class that could read and write their name correctly. Abruptly, her door swung open, crashing into the wall behind it. Hermione's mother fell to the floor, unconscious. Her father stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the hallway light behind him. He advanced toward Hermione. When she tried to get out of bed, he pushed her back onto it with his free hand. She tried again. This time, she got around her bed and past him before he realized she had moved. He grabbed her arms and threw her, sending her crashing to the floor.

"Daddy, STOP!" she screamed, as he began to undress her...

Hermione snapped back into the present, which included Ron Weasley's fingers snapping underneath her nose.

"Hermione, come on or we'll be late for potions!" She jumped from her seat and was halfway out of the Charms classroom, when she realized that she had forgotten her bag. Running back to get it, she dropped the other things she was carrying in her arms. Her quill and ink bottle went smashing to the floor. Ron came over to help her pick the shards of glass up. As she reached for a certain piece, he also extended his hand. As their fingers touched, Hermione had an immediate flashback.

THUD!

Once again nine-year-old Hermione had dropped her schoolbooks on her way to her room. Unfortunately, her drunken father was standing in front of her.

"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS DROPPING THINGS, YOU CLUMSY SACK OF MUCK!" He roared. He raised his fist, and Hermione's face burned with pain...

Hermione cringed away from Ron, jumped to her feet, and ran from the room, not caring that she left her bag behind. As she ran, her feet automatically carried her to the Astronomy Tower, her favorite place in the castle. She sat in front of one of the turrets, crying silently, as she tried hard to repress a memory that she was terrified of reliving.

"Mum? Dad?" Hermione said cautiously, coming in the front door.

She was greeted by a drunken giggle. She felt fear rising inside of her. For ten years now, her father had been physically and sexually abusing her and her mother. As she crept into the living room, she was met with a gruesome sight.

Hermione's mother was lying on the floor, covered in blood, which was coming from the hole in her chest. Her father was standing over the lifeless body, holding a smoking gun. He continued to chuckle as he watched as all of the color drain from Hermione's face.

The next second, he had jumped onto her, knocking her to the floor. Hermione fought with all of her strength, but he was just too strong. She began to scream, but, just like every other time, his blow to her face silenced her. She brought her knee swiftly upward, striking him in the groin. He yelled and pitched over sideways. Hermione jumped to her feet and ran. She was halfway through the kitchen when an excruciating pain shot through her shoulder. She blacked out and fell to the floor.

Mr. Granger walked to his daughter's side, and pulled the steak knife out of her shoulder, watching the steady drip of blood slide off the end of the sharp object...

Hermione pushed thoughts of this away as she saw Ron coming through the door of the tower. He stopped as he saw her crying.

"What's wrong, Hermione? You ran out of the classroom so fast-" he started but trailed away as he looked into her streaming and bloodshot eyes.

Gods, He thought, even when she's been crying, she's still the most beautiful woman on earth.

"Ron," Hermione said suddenly, "I need to ask you a very important question."

"Anything you want," Ron answered, and Hermione could hear the compassion in his voice.

Hermione looked at him. This boy -no, man- had been by her side for almost seven years, and she didn't know where she would be if she didn't have him. She used to think about the kinds of silly things young girls often think about in regards to the boy that they liked. Now she knew better. She knew now that her feelings for Ron weren't just some silly schoolgirl crush, but that the heat that coursed through her veins whenever they were close to each other, and the melting feeling she got in the pit of her stomach when he looked at her and smiled, was love. She was afraid to tell anyone this, though. Until now.

"Do you," she stopped, and then plunged on, "Do you love me?"

Ron stared at her. As the seconds went by like hours, Hermione's heart sank. He didn't love her. Nobody loved her. She was just a waste of space, a filthy little mudblood, just as Malfoy had always told her. She stood up, and began to walk away quickly.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have even asked that question," she said quietly, tears forming behind her eyes once more.

"No, you shouldn't have," said Ron's voice right behind her. She turned and was met with a kiss. He was gentle with her at first, but as soon as she relaxed in his arms, he began kissing her passionately. As they broke apart, he whispered in her ear,

"Didn't you already know that?" A tear slid down Hermione's cheek as she leaned into Ron for another kiss. This time, there was no pretense of shyness and gentleness. Hermione immediately poured all of her secret, burning passion for the moment into the kiss, as did Ron. This time, when they came up for air, both of them were breathing heavily.

"I'm not used to this feeling," Hermione told Ron, looking into his eyes. They looked like pools of the purest water in the world.

"What feeling?" Ron asked.

Hermione looked at him for a long moment before finally answering.

"Being loved."

So, did you like it? Did you hate it? Whatever, just review and tell me all about it. And if you flame me, I will use those flames to roast marshmallows and make sm'ores... mmmmm...sm'ores...

Well, love you all dearly!

God Bless!:)

-ronhermione4eva2314-