Ron had been sitting at Hermione's bedside for hours now, watching her sleep. He desperately hoped that she wasn't in pain. His heart had broken when he heard her being tortured at Malfoy Manner.

He watched her breathing. Even while just breathing, she was so beautiful. He made the decision, right then and there that he was no longer going to walk around the idea of a relationship with her. He was going to make it happen. He had nearly blown it so many times; he was not going to blow it again. He was determined of that.

As Ron sat contemplating all of this, Hermione stirred in her bed. He watched her closely, and slowly, she opened her eyes. When her eyes caught sight of Ron, they widened a bit.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" she asked softly, "I can only imagine what time it is."

"It's around three. And I'd rather be here, making sure you're okay," he answered, just as softly.

Hermione blushed at this statement and adjusted herself slightly in her bed. "Ron, I'm fine. It's been a full day now."

"I know, I just want to make sure," he responded.

"Thank you, but seriously. You haven't let me out of your sight since we've gotten here," she said, her voice growing a little stronger.

Ron inwardly wondered if Hermione had a problem with this. He thought she'd like to know that someone would be with her while she recovered. But maybe it was too much. Maybe she needed some space.

"Yeah, I guess I haven't. I just want to make sure you're okay," he said, looking down.

"You've already said that," Hermione said, smirking a little.

"Oh…right," Ron responded quietly.

"But thank you anyway, I'm glad to know that you care," she said, hoping she hadn't come off too strong in the previous statement.

"I do care," Ron replied, looking at her. "I care a lot. I've blown it so many other times; I'm not blowing it again."

"Pardon?" Hermione said curiously.

Ron, realizing what he had just said, took a deep breath. "Hermione, I need to talk to you, and I need you to not interrupt and just listen. I was going to wait for the war to end before I said anything. I felt that it was best. If I would have said anything earlier, things may have gotten complicated. But I almost lost you a few days ago. And if I would have lost you without telling you everything that I had been saving to tell you, I don't think I could live with myself."

Ron paused for a moment, his heart pounding in his chest. He examined Hermione's face, hoping to draw strength from it. Her eyes were telling him to continue talking. So he did.

"I'm sorry for being such a git."

"A git?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes, I've pretty much been a bloody git to you since we've met. And I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"I'm confused," Hermione said.

Ron sighed. He could tell he wasn't making much sense. It looked as if he was going to tell her everything, starting from the beginning.

"I should have taken you to the Yule Ball."

"Oh…" Hermione said, softly.

"I should have asked you the proper way. I shouldn't have thought of you as a last resort. And honestly Hermione, I didn't. I didn't think of you as a last resort. But I was hell-bent not to ask you because you wouldn't have gone with me anyway, and what if it ruined our friendship?"

"I would have gone," Hermione interjected softly.

"You would have?" Ron asked, shocked.

"Of course Ron," Hermione said, blushing a little.

"Regardless," Ron continued, "I didn't think you'd go with me. You can see why it's a legitimate thought. You could do so much better."

Hermione opened her mouth to interject again, but Ron gently put a hand up to stop Hermione from speaking.

"Just listen," Ron told her kindly. "I've pretty much treated you horribly since we met. And you didn't deserve it, not one bit."

Ron didn't speak for a few moments while he gathered up his thoughts and courage. How was he going to tell her he loved her? How was he going to ensure that he didn't sound like a total prat about it all? And what if she didn't love him back?

After he didn't speak for a few moments, Hermione gently touched his arm, urging him to continue.

"Sorry," Ron finally said, shaking his head. "I'm nervous."

"Nervous?" Hermione whispered.

"Bloody nervous," Ron replied, running a hand though his ginger hair.

"It's okay," Hermione softly prodded.

"Like I said, I've screwed up things with you more times than I can count. And then…then I had to go and run out on you and Harry. I don't think there's anything that I can say that will ever make what I did okay."

"It's over, Ron," Hermione said, flinching at the memory.

"It's not over for me," he told her. "I have to live with that. I have to live knowing that I left you and Harry to fend for yourselves. You could have died, and I wouldn't have been there to protect you."

Ron paused a moment, getting a little emotional. He didn't cry, but he felt that horribly familiar lump in his throat, warning him that if he didn't stop talking soon, the tears would flow. When he had re-collected himself, Ron grabbed both of Hermione's hands in his and continued.

"Hermione, from this moment on, no one is going to hurt. Not ever again. I'm going to protect you. I promise."

"Ron," Hermione said, blushing, "You don't need to protect me. I can take care of myself."

"You're missing the point, Hermione," Ron said, chuckling at how dense she was being about all of this. "I want to protect you because I love you."

"You what?" Hermione breathed.

"I love you."

Now it was Hermione's turn to be shocked. "You do?"

"I do," Ron told her.

At this, Hermione started crying. She wept into her own hands, and Ron, alarmed at her crying, put his arm around her.

Ron was terrified that he had, once again, said the wrong thing. Of course, Hermione would be crying. She had been under extreme emotional stress, and Ron had to go and ruin their friendship by telling her he loved her.

"I'm sorry," Ron said, nervously. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just needed to tell you."

Hermione continued to cry and did not say anything, so Ron continued.

"Hermione, I understand if you don't feel the same way. It's okay…we-we can still be friends! I-I just needed you to know how I felt…even if you didn't feel the same way, and it's obvious that you don't."

The tone in Ron's voice dripped with sadness as he stated that last sentence. It did, however, catch Hermione's attention. She brought her head up to face Ron. She looked him right in the eye, and Ron took in her splotchy, tear-stained face.

"You think I don't feel the same way?" Hermione asked.

"Well, it's pretty evident that you don't," Ron said dejectedly, blushing.

"Ron, you have no idea how wrong you are," Hermione said chuckling a little.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"I mean that I've fancied you since practically third year!"

"You have?" Ron asked, shocked.

"Wasn't it obvious?" Hermione asked him.

"Not really," Ron answered. "You were always yelling at me. You were always bossing me around and fighting with me. I didn't think that those things meant that you liked me."

Hermione sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's true. In all honesty, I guess I treated you pretty badly at times, as well."

Ron chuckled as his memory did a quick slideshow of all the dramatic moments they had had in their friendship. "I guess we can say that we both were pretty silly."

"We were," Hermione told him.

"But that's all over now," Ron told her.

"It is," Hermione replied, her voice dropping to a romantic whisper.

Slowly, Ron leaned in to kiss Hermione. His head tilted as he moved closer and closer to her lips. Just as his lips were almost touching hers, there was a knock at the door.

Ron and Hermione jumped back to their original spots, and Hermione invited the unwanted guest in.

It was Fleur who announced that it was time for Hermione to be given more medicine.

"But it's three in the morning," Ron said, confused.

"She has to give me this medicine every couple of hours," Hermione explained as Fleur measured Hermione's dose.

The romantic moment between Ron and Hermione had evaporated in the air around them. Even after Fleur left, Ron knew it wouldn't be right to kiss Hermione. He noticed her eyes beginning to droop, and he secretly cursed the medicine for making her drowsy.

After only a few moments, Hermione had fallen back to sleep. Ron just sat there peacefully for a while watching the love of his life sleep gracefully, before finally falling asleep himself.

A/N: Please review! 3