This my first story in the Harry Potter fandom, so I hope all goes well. These are all going to be Romione one-shots. They may *cough accidentally cough* be full of all sorts of fluff. I'll probably focus on other ships in other stories. This one-shot takes place during the series, but there aren't any spoilers. Ron and Hermione are already dating in this one.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does.
I'm Perfectly Fine
It was a (somewhat) peaceful spring day at Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione were alone together, because every friend of theirs had something going on.
Harry had detention from none other than Professor Snape for accidentally making Polyjuice Potion instead of a Pain-relieving Potion by using butterfly wings instead of mayfly wings. Apparently one of Harry's thick, tangled hairs had fallen into the potion, and therefore, Professor Snape had to teach Double Potions as a teenage boy with a lightning-bolt-shaped scar on his forehead for an hour. Promptly, Snape yelled "Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention after school today, Potter!" as soon as he'd transformed back.
Ginny, Fred, and George Weasley had gone to see the British vs. Bavarian quidditch game and even had backstage passes afterwards to meet all the players. Ron personally thought that three of his siblings had gone just to smite him; after all, George had even invited Ron with a smug smile plastered onto his face and even artificial encouragements like "You can get another Victor Krum action figure!" and "Hermione can come too! We have an extra ticket!"
Ron had swiftly declined his siblings' invitations with a deathlike glare and Hermione was quick to follow. Actually, she'd turned down a lot of social interaction in the last three days; at least, any that required going anywhere. All Miss Granger had done was stay cuddled up in the girls' Gryffindor room with Ron's own sister, Ginny.
Ron was plenty worried. He couldn't focus on any of his classes, nor his homework and other assignments, and spent most of his time pacing nervously. Hermione wouldn't go see Madam Pomfrey, insisting that she was okay and didn't need to go, but Ron was sure she wasn't.
Hermione's teeth gnashed together and she winced daily, like she was being poisoned. Ginny was the one to walk with Hermione back to the Gryffindor girls' room when Hermione was in the most pain, or even Luna Lovegood. Whenever Ron asked Hermione was alright, she'd mutter "You wouldn't understand" or "Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine" and slip slowly from his loving grasp and worrisome face.
Just today, Ron had invited Hermione to go for a stroll around Hogwarts, since it was a beautiful and tranquil day. Ron didn't see why it was so terrible for her to go somewhere instead of stay inside (yet again), since they'd both decided to not to go see the quidditch game. Hermione, however, had it set in her mind to not do anything today.
"Mione, I don't see why you don't want to go!"
"I told you, Ron, I just don't feel like it! Leave me be!"
"It's a nice spring day, so of course you'd refuse to go. I mean, what would the illogical thing to do be?" Ron shrugged sarcastically. "Agree to go with me and have some fun? Happily oblige?"
Ron and Hermione's clashing voices echoed throughout Hogwarts. They were both careful as to not yell too loudly, because of the risk of taunting from the other Gryffindors (especially Fred and George). As much as Ronald Weasley hated to admit it, he liked fighting with Hermione. He loved the way her frizzy brown hair seemed to stand on end, and when her cheeks flushed red like they were glowing with anger or confusion or both, and how her tranquil brown eyes would suddenly ignite with opposition.
They never fought about anything serious. It was always something ridiculous, such as Ron's rejection to reading "Hogwarts, A History" (which Hermione had nearly memorized), or the time Hermione's letter to visit Ron down at the Burrow was lost by owl post.
Though Ron and Hermione's usual arguments were full of stubborn expressions and enraged, overlapping shouts, today's was a drop in the ocean compared to that. Hermione seemed drained of all the energy she used to have, and she sat and stared up at Ron as opposed to her normal standing stance.
"Are you sure you're alright? You don't seem like yourself lately." Ron's voice was gentle to avoid provoking his girlfriend. She'd been awfully irritable as well as tired.
"Ron, I told you I'm perfectly fine! Stop asking me! Just…just leave me be. Please." Hermione responded angrily at first, but the words melted into a mellow plead. Her eyes began to flood with hot tears of frustration.
"Bloody hell, Hermione!" Ron, though he was quite confused and was very scared to see the new Hermione form from the older form, continued to stay calm. In a family of nine hotheaded Weasleys, you learn when and when not to point out the obvious. "Do you know what's wrong?"
"Well, yes, of course...I mean, I know what's wrong, it's nothing serious…not at all, but…that doesn't mean that…that I'm telling you…I…I just couldn't." Hermione's soft begging slowed into a dejected sentence. She looked down at her feet as another wave of pain crashed over her body, clearly evident.
"If you know what's wrong, why don't you just tell me?!" Ron spoke his kind words eagerly but still quietly. "I mean, if I knew, I could help you…make a potion or see Madam Pomfrey…something more than sitting around arguing."
"I just couldn't. It's private, that's what. It's not something you just blurt out." Hermione answered. She flinched again. Ron thought it looked painful, but didn't say a word.
"Ginny probably knows! Doesn't she? I've seen her with you all the time. And I bet Luna knows too!" Ron protested. He felt left out once again as his younger sister and a young Ravenclaw knew information that he didn't have.
"That's different…it-it just is." Hermione said slowly. Another cramp coursed through her body. Ron had a million thoughts but didn't voice a single one. It wasn't that he wasn't considerate. He was too afraid of say the wrong words.
"Bloody hell, they're your friends, but I'm your boyfriend. The one who's liked you since fourth year and has known you since first year's ride on the Hogwarts Express? Remember me? Ronald Weasley?" Ron uttered his sentence like he and Hermione were the only people to know a secret. He was trying not to be frustrated, but it was stressful to listen to Hermione in pain while not being able to do anything.
"Yes, I know, but my problem's just…personal. It's embarrassing; really…I doubt you want to know." Hermione admitted. Tears appeared in her eyes when it was clear that she was hurting again.
"Hermione, bloody hell! You look miserable, darling…please; just tell me what's wrong. I won't judge you or do anything you're afraid I'll do." Ron was perplexed, absolutely confounded as to what to do or how to act.
"It's…you know…that time of the month."
Ron was still confused. "The full moon?!"
As exhausted as Hermione was, she still mustered enough energy to laugh at Ron's innocence. "No, Ron, not the lunar cycle…it's my time of the month."
"Ohhhh!" A multitude of seconds passed on Ron's blank-stare face until he finally realized what his girlfriend was talking about. Hermione would have found it twice as funny if she hadn't been in pain again.
"Is it that bad?" Ron asked after Hermione had finished laughing at him. She clutched at her stomach in pain a few moments later.
"Yes, it's bloody terrible." Hermione looked Ron straight in the eye, not exaggerating in the least. "Do you understand what happens during PMS?"
"I mean, I know it's blood…"
"It's a lot of blood. And cramps, and having to wear pads, and feeling hormonal and irritable and horrible for five to seven days. It's a literal bloody hell, Ron. You're so lucky to be a guy. What I wouldn't give to not feel like…this, basically. Every day for a week, and once a month, for years and years."
Ron was surprised to hear a sudden outburst from Hermione. She was usually so private about her problems. He wasn't uncomfortable, though. Being the closest in age to Ginny, the only female Weasley by blood for generations, Ron understood how Hermione felt.
"Do you want a cup of tea?" Ron asked quietly.
"Um, yes…that would be…lovely." Hermione said. "Thank you. I didn't know you could make tea."
"Mum does it when we're upset, and Dad does it for Mum when she's not feeling well…I learned from experience." Ron added kindly. "I made tea for Ginny when she got her period the first time, and I sometimes still do. She says it helps with cramps."
A hush fell over the Gryffindor girls' room while Ron made tea. Hermione simply sat on the couch clutching a worn Transfiguration book. Soon after, Ron came over to Hermione with two cups of warm tea.
"Here, 'Mione. It's Mum's special tea. I think it's supposed to help relieve pain, because most of the ingredients are the same as in the Pain-relieving potion we made in Snape's class."
Ron got both cups and passed one to Hermione. They sat at the same end of the couch, with Ron nearing the edge and with Hermione's slim body cuddled up next to his.
Hermione wrapped a blanket with the Gryffindor crest on it around her slim shoulders and coddled a warm mug around her maroon sweater paws. Sipping trademark-Weasley tea on the couch with her favorite Weasley was the perfect cure to her bloody monthly period.
"So, do you want to do something, 'Mione, or do you want to just keep counting my freckles?" Ron said, interrupting her train of thought. Hermione's cheeks flushed as she realized that she'd been staring at Ron for at least a minute. On the other hand, Ron grinned slowly, his semi-straight teeth not showing, and reached out to brush her hair out of her eyes.
"Um…I don't know. What would you like to do?" Hermione asked after the longest time. They didn't need to speak to enjoy each other's company.
Ron honestly replied "I don't need to do anything, just as long as I'm with you."
"Save yourself, Ronald Weasley. You're a hopeless romantic." Hermione groaned and playfully swatted him. She took a long sip from her teacup after another cramp hit her. Ron noticed, but ignored it since he didn't want to call attention to Hermione.
"If I'm a hopeless romantic, you're twice as bad, Hermione Granger." Ron reached for a quill sitting on the table in front of the couch. He took her left hand gently into his hand and wrote "HR" in his sloppy but characteristic handwriting.
"There we go. Hopeless romantic." Ron sighed grandly and looked at his workmanship.
Hermione laughed. "It could also stand for Hermione and Ron." She inspected the dark ink marks scrawled on her wrist before lunging for her teacup yet again.
"That's because I'm romantic and you're hopeless." Ron laughed while still holding the feathered quill.
"That's right. I'm sitting on the couch with my boyfriend, who by the way is wonderful, complaining about my menstrual cycle, drinking his special pain-relieving tea, and looking at my newly inked Hopeless Romantic tattoo. I am hopeless."
"I wouldn't exactly say that…" Ron replied jokingly.
All of a sudden, Hermione snatched away his quill and carefully wrote "HR" on Ron's right wrist in her signature calligraphy-like cursive, the type that goes on a birth certificate or a marriage license.
"There. Hopeless Romantic, or Hermione and Ron." Hermione blew on the ink to make it dry faster. "Thank you, Ron, well, for everything. For listening to my period rants and for making me tea and for being generally amazing."
"You're welcome, fellow Hopeless Romantic." Ron joked. He arched his wrist backwards to see the HR mark and avoided smudging the ink that Hermione had drawn on.
"No, really, Ron." Hermione said earnestly. "Thank you for everything. Today has been lovely."
"The definition of a perfect day." Ron heartily agreed. "Who needs a nice walk around Hogwarts, or detention with Snape, or a quidditch game to go to?"
So Ron and Hermione, the Hopeless Romantics, just sat together on the couch talking and drinking anti-pain tea for hours and hours on end. Cramps still passed through her body, but the tea certainly helped. It was seven o'clock when Ron, exhausted from the stress of worrying about Hermione, fell asleep. Hermione drifted off half an hour later. After she'd cunningly written "HR" up and down both his arms, that is.
Ginny, Fred, and George arrived home from the Quidditch game forty-five minutes after Hermione fell asleep. Harry was with them, because he'd courteously wanted to walk Ginny back to the girls' room and was sorry that he wasn't able to go.
The four friends found Ron and Hermione asleep on the couch, with cups of tea and a quill sitting on their laps and with the acronym "HR" written all over their bodies like a mistaken curse.
Harry woke up Ron by shaking him awake. The first thing Ron did after stirring from his much-needed rest was roll up Hermione's sleeves and write "HR" on her arms with the quill.
Ginny was astonished that Ron would do such a thing to his girlfriend while she was asleep. "It's like taking advantage of her!" Ginny had argued.
George shook his head and laughed. "Taking advantage? Gin, she did the same thing to him." One of the rumpled sleeves of Ron's Christmas sweater was rolled up enough to reveal one of the many "HR"s that Hermione'd marked on Ron's arms.
Harry remained confused throughout all of this. "What in the bloody world does HR even mean? Why would you even write it on each other's arms?"
While Ron tried to explain what "HR" stood for, Fred woke Hermione. "Wake up, Hermione. Ron wrote HR all over your arms, whatever it means." It was a bit of a rude awakening.
Hermione's head snapped up from Ron's chest and she rubbed her arms. "Bloody hell, it's going to take forever to get these marks off." She said as she accused Ron.
"Says Hermione, the girl who wrote it all over my arms too." Ron countered.
They both awkwardly looked up at Harry, Ginny, Fred, and George while slowly reaching the realization that they weren't alone anymore.
"Hi guys!" Ron said in the most unnatural way possible.
"What's HR mean?" Fred asked eagerly and bluntly.
"It's kind of hard to explain." Hermione answered slowly. She shot a razor-sharp glance at Ron that said don't-you-dare-tell-your-family-about-my-period.
"Is it Hermione and Ron?" Harry asked hopefully.
Ron said, "Kind of" at the same time that Hermione said, "Not really", which caused both of the Hopeless Romantics to burst into laughter.
"Well, whatever it means, you two are stuck walking around with it all over your bodies for the next week." Ginny said sarcastically. She was still just as bemused as Harry and the twins were.
"So, Harry, how was detention with Snape?" Ron asked. He asked about detention first to steer away from the subject of the Bavarian quidditch team, which he was sure would come up.
And with that, Harry answered, "Just as miserable as you would think. He made me remake at least twenty Pain-relieving potions. It, ironically, was pure torture. I thought it was more pain than I could bear."
Ginny and Hermione connected eyes, and simultaneously thought, "He has no idea about real pain."
"Isn't it rather late? Wouldn't you three rather go back to the Gryffindor boys' dormitory?" Ron interrupted Harry's rant about Snape with a stern glare directed towards Harry, George, and Fred.
"Er…yes. Well, I'll see you soon, Ron!" Harry said, stammering like Professor Quirrell. He raised his eyebrows cautiously at the twins and they left together hastily.
Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were left standing in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory. It was awkward for all three of them, all at the same time. Hermione was still sitting on the couch, half-asleep and gritting her teeth in agony.
"Um, Gin, can I speak to you for a minute? Privately?" Ron quietly asked.
Hermione was suspicious, but was too tired to do anything about it. She just stayed on the couch, looking at the many "HR"s that covered her arms. Ginny and Ron's conversation was still audible; Hermione couldn't help but eavesdrop.
"Ginny, it's Hermione's teatime."
"Yes, so?"
"Well, she needs to serve the guests."
"Okay, does she use tea leaves or tea bags? I have both, Ron."
"I don't bloody know! You think I'd ask her about something as private as this?"
Clueless, Hermione listened to their strange talk. She couldn't decipher what was so secretive about tea. Maybe it was some sort of code. If it was, it was bloody brilliant, and just as difficult to decode.
Ron came out from where he was conversing with Ginny. He shifted clumsily as he walked. "Um…Hermione….do you use pads or tampons?"
Hermione looked at him curiously.
"Ginny needs to know!" He quickly added as a justification.
"Pads." Hermione said quietly.
Once Ron heard her reply, he bolted out of the room. Typical worrisome, anxious Ron. He returned a few moments later with Honeydukes' chocolate and a pack of pads. Hermione heard the soft footsteps walking away also. She knew they were Ginny's.
"Ginny keeps them around. So do I." Ron said, smiling.
When Hermione stood up to use the loo, she noticed a very large brown-red stain on the couch.
"Bloody hell!" she remarked furiously, fire shining in her once-calm brown eyes. "Goodness! I can't do anything without messing up. Oh, that bloody git Lavender Brown's going to see, just wait. She'll mention it too. I'd be surprised if she didn't broadcast it. Why me? Why does my bloody uterus hate me so much? I swear, every guy walking the face of Hogwarts takes his luck for granted. Not having to go through cramps and blood and pureblooded torture every month."
Ron stared at his girlfriend with a look of worry. "Don't worry, 'Mione, just go to the bathroom and take care of yourself." He smiled shyly. "I can clean this up. We've got magic, remember?"
Hermione burst into tears promptly. "Ronald Weasley! You're a bloody absolute angel. Goodness! I can't believe you, being so considerate. 'We've got magic,' and 'Take care of yourself.' Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you."
Gasping out of surprise, Ron hugged her. "You sure you're alright?" He didn't know her mood swings were this out-of-control. Ginny usually didn't get mad at Ron during her period. Maybe it was because she'd grown up with six brothers. Mainly she just cried into his shirt, wearing a Christmas sweater with a giant G sewn on the front, drinking Weasley tea from Ron. Ginny got terrible cramps, and Ron wasn't used to Hermione's different actions.
"I'm perfectly fine." Hermione answered. Her eyes, however, were still glistening with tears.
"I'll make tea for you whenever you want." Ron said lovingly.
"Deal." A small smile appeared on Hermione's face.
Hermione slowly dragged herself to the loo, while Ron pulled out his wand and said "Tergeo!" towards to couch. It was the Scouring Charm they'd learned in Professor Flitwick's class. Luckily, the stain disappeared immediately. Ron didn't know how Hermione would react if it hadn't gone away.
When she emerged from the bathroom, Hermione asked, "By the way, why were you and Ginny talking about tea earlier?"
Ron laughed. "It's Weasley-code for periods. Mum used it to talk with Dad about her, er, lady problems." His ears were already turning redder by the minute. "Teatime means period, needing to serve guests means that you need, um, supplies, tea leaves are tampons, and tea bags are pads." His face was already just as red as his ears now.
Smiling, Hermione replied, "That's pretty clever. We can use it, if you want."
"Well…er, if you really want to…" Ron's voice trailed off halfway through the sentence. His ears were finally cooling down from fiery red to match his hair to more of a room-temperature color.
It was eight-thirty when Ron finally had to leave. He said that Harry would be waiting for him, but Hermione could tell that he'd rather stay with her if he had a choice. He hugged her before they parted, a tight hold that lasted longer than she'd expected.
"You sure you'll be alright, 'Mione?" Ron asked quietly.
"I'll be okay." Hermione replied. "Can I ask you anytime for Weasley tea?"
Ron genuinely said, "Absolutely anytime."