Admission
Hermione woke up in a strange room, lying in a bed under a big window that overlooked the ocean. She couldn't understand why her body was so sore or why she seemed so drained even though the sky outside suggested it was well into the afternoon. Slowly, memories of the night before crept into her head. Surely she wasn't still at Malfoy Manor. No one there would have given her such a comfortable place to sleep, and she knew the mansion wasn't by the ocean. Then, she remembered more. Dobby's grave being dug by Harry, Ron, and Dean. Luna's elegy. Ron's holding her tightly so she could stand.
Hermione surveyed the rest of the room and noticed another bed – empty but clearly slept in. She gasped when she saw a familiar head of shaggy red hair draped over the side of her bed. At the sudden sound, Ron leapt up from his place in the chair, wand outstretched and ready to fight.
"Ron?" she mumbled almost incoherently. He leaned over and hugged her firmly while muttering "It's okays" and "I'm heres" over and over again.
"I thought you were sleeping downstairs with Harry and Dean." Hermione distinctly remembered a conversation in which she repeatedly reassured Fleur and Bill that she could get through the night without constant supervision. She would, after all, be sharing a room with Luna.
Ron hesitated briefly before he spoke, almost as if he was scared to say anything. "I-I was, but you were having nightmares…you were screaming and shaking pretty bad. Luna and Fleur couldn't get you to calm down, so they came and got me and Harry." Hermione couldn't remember having any dreams at all, let alone having an hysterical fit in the middle of the night.
Ron's eyes looked away from her face and down at his hands as he continued. "Me and Harry managed to get you to calm down, but you refused to go back to sleep unless…"
"Unless what?" Hermione was afraid of what she might have said. She racked her brain for even the smallest recollection of her middle-of-the-night fit.
"Unless…unless…I stayed." At this admission, Ron's ears turned a deep scarlet, and he never took his eyes off of his fidgeting hands. Hermione could feel a churning deep in her stomach, and it wasn't long before she couldn't hold back the tears. Ron looked up in horror and looked like he was about to cry, too. "No, Hermione. Don't. I hate making you cry. I didn't mean anything, I swear. I just wanted you to be safe. I couldn't stand seeing you like that. It – it almost broke me."
Hermione caught her breath and dried her eyes. "Ron, I'm not crying because I'm mad at you. I'm crying because I'm so grateful for you." She flung her arms around his neck, trying to put everything she felt into that one gesture. After a few minutes, they separated. "Anyway, I should be the one who's sorry. Sleeping halfway in a chair and halfway draped over a bed can't be comfortable."
Ron smiled his signature crooked smile. "It wasn't any worse than sleeping on the hard floor downstairs. Besides…I would do anything for you."
Hermione knew, more or less, what this admission meant. Ron was trying to tell her what she meant to him without revealing too much. This wasn't the time or place. She felt like her heart could melt and burst at the same time. Before this war was over, she had to tell him exactly how she felt. But again, this wasn't the time or place, she was sure of that. Sometime soon, she would tell him that she loved him. They sat in silence staring into each other's eyes for a while before Harry came to the door with food.