A/N: This started as a challenge and I never back down from one. In order for this to work you have to believe that Hermione is as much to blame for the situation she and Ron find themselves in during Book 6. I did some research and while it is true that Ron was incredibly nasty and mean after he found out about her kissing Krum, Hermione never really let on that she liked Ron anymore than a friend. Yes, she gave him clues but they were subtle at the most. Hermione was mean, bossy, rude and basically did everything a 10- year-old would have done to let a boy know she liked him. Ron, on the other hand was either way too oblivious or analyzing every movement she made. When he had found out that she actually had kissed someone and he didn't, that was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak. That led him to Lavender and the whole mess. They were both to blame.

I think we can all learn something from them. Say what you feel and don't leave anything open to interpretation.

I hope you enjoy it because I think I got it right.

harrysmom :)

Thanks to jenorama for the wonderful comments and suggestions.

These characters belong to the wonderful world of JKR. Butchering of said characters belong to me.

Apology

By, harrysmom

Hermione Granger did not notice as the sunlight slowly moved across the walls of the infirmary. When she first arrived, the room had been bathed in bright sunlight; now it was cast into shadow as the afternoon turned to dusk. She didn't notice as Madame Pomfrey bustled from bed to bed, checking charts, softly talking to students lying there. She didn't even so much as turn to look at any of her schoolbooks that were in a neat pile on the bedside table next to her. Instead she sat hunched over, her elbows on her knees, her fingers laced under her chin, carefully watching the even rise and fall of the blanket covering Ron's chest.

It had been hours since he croaked, "Er-my-nee" and Madame Pomfrey insisted that he'd sleep for a while but Hermione wasn't taking any chances. She wanted to be there when he woke up. She wanted to know why he called for her; she had to know why he called for her and not Lavender. She had her ideas and there was no way she was going to leave this "situation" they had unfinished a moment longer. She had things to say to Ron. There were apologies to be made, questions to be asked and most importantly answers to be given.

"Hermione?"

She quickly turned her head towards Ron and frowned when she realized that it wasn't him who spoke her name.

"Hermione, I don't sound a thing like Ron and you know it," Harry said as he walked towards her. He pulled up another chair and sat down beside her. He patted her back once and Hermione sighed. "Madame Pomfrey said it might be hours before he wakes up. Why don't you come down to dinner with me?"

Hermione shook her head no, her eyes never leaving Ron's still form. "No, Harry. I need to be here when he wakes up. There are… things I have say and honestly…" she looked over at Harry for a moment, "There are things he needs to say to me." She stretched her arms out and slowly moved into an upright position, wincing as her back cracked loudly in the quiet room.

"Hermione," Harry began again, "I don't think he's going to be in any condition to talk when he wakes up. Why don't you come with me and we'll have Madame Pomfrey send for you when he wakes up. He's going to sleep for hours. He was poisoned and that takes a lot out of a guy."

Hermione shivered as she thought of the way Ron looked when she first saw him in the infirmary. "Harry," she began very seriously, "I want to thank you for saving his life."

"Stop," Harry said firmly. "I didn't do anything that anyone else would have done in the same situation."

"Yes, but Harry, you remembered the bezoar. I wouldn't have and I don't think Ron would have either. You really saved his life." Hermione shifted in her chair again as she discreetly wiped the corner of her eye with her hand. "We've all been through so much. And for the longest time I didn't understand why Ron did half the things he did." She smiled as she looked back at Harry. "I've been sitting here thinking, going through everything in my mind and the thing is… I understand him now. I didn't before, but I do now. Ron is everything that I am not, but somehow… I get it now. I need to explain it to him."

At the sound of his name, Ron moved in the bed and groaned softly. Hermione grabbed onto Harry's arm and they both watched as Ron shifted his body and slowly blinked open his eyes. He squinted first at Harry who smiled at Ron as he said, "You had us worried there for a bit mate."

Ron looked a bit confused as he blinked at Harry. "What happened to me?" Ron asked his voice still raspy.

"You don't remember, Ron?" Hermione questioned him. She watched as his gaze went from Harry to her and she could have sworn that he smiled at her but it was so quick she couldn't be sure.

"No, the last thing I remember is eating a piece of that chocolate Harry had. The rest is a blur." Ron looked from Hermione to Harry and then around the room. "How did I get into the infirmary? Did the chocolate make me sick? I remember feeling a bit funny after I ate it." He looked over at Harry, a puzzled expression on his face. "What happened after that?"

Hermione cleared her throat and stared hard at Harry. He nodded and stood up from where he sat. "I'll let Hermione explain. I'm hungry and I don't want to miss dinner. I'll come to check on you later. Feel good mate." Harry clapped Ron on his back and turned to leave the room.

"Harry, can you do me a favor please?"

"Sure Ron. What?"

"Don't tell Lavender I'm awake. I don't feel like talking to her just yet."

"No worries."

Hermione stiffened at the mention of Lavender's name. She couldn't believe that Ron would even think about Lavender at a time like this. She had things to say to him and she couldn't have him wondering about Lavender. Wait Hermione. He just asked Harry not to tell her he was awake. You're jumping to conclusions. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out. She needed to keep herself together. This is going to be difficult but I have to do this. I have to know. She opened her eyes to find that Harry had left the room and Ron was looking at her curiously. She cleared her throat, smiled at Ron and laid her hand on the cover.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine. My throat hurts but I'm fine. What happened, Hermione?"

"You were poisoned, Ron. You drank poisoned mead in Professor Slughorn's office right after you ate love potion-tainted chocolate. Harry saved you with a bezoar. He got it down your throat and they managed to get you here."

"Wow," Ron replied as he lay back against the pillows. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it. Hermione knew he did that whenever he was nervous about something. Maybe he wants to say something to me. I can help that along.

"Do you want to say anything Ron?"

"No," he answered as he looked back at her expectantly. "Do you want to say anything to me?"

Hermione couldn't believe that he didn't have anything to say. There was so much to say! She figured that she might as well get the conversation started. "Are you going to apologize for the way you've treated me these past few weeks, Ron?"

"Am I what?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Are you going to apologize to me?" Hermione stared at him.

"I should apologize for what?"

"For treating me the way you did for the past few weeks. You either pretended I didn't exist or you were incredibly nasty."

"Well you deserved it, you know," Ron said very seriously.

Hermione jumped up from the chair. "I deserved it? That's rich. Enlighten me, Ron. Why did I deserve it?"

Ron glared at her from his position on the bed as he responded. "You SNOGGED Viktor Krum and you never told me!"

Hermione felt the blood drain from her face and she back down on the chair with a thump.

"Hit a nerve did I?" Ron sneered at her.

Hermione didn't know what to say. She just stared at Ron, trying to gather her thoughts. How could he have possibly found out about that? Hermione shook her head to herself. It did explain why he had been treating her the way he been for the past weeks. She had always planned on telling him about that when the time was right and unfortunately whether it was right or wrong, this was now the time. It was time to get it out into the open.

"Ron," Hermione began, "I did snog Viktor; right after the Yule Ball, but I did it to spite you. You don't realize, even to this day, how much you hurt me with your so-called invitation to the Ball. All I wanted was to go with you, but you never asked me."

Ron stared at her. "I didn't know that."

"I don't know how you didn't know, Ron; I thought I was being obvious. I'm not the best when it comes to flirting. There aren't any books on that subject. So when Viktor asked, I said yes because I was tired of waiting for you to ask, but you have to know he wasn't my first choice." Hermione paused for a moment and stood up, walked to the window and peered into the darkness. "When you said you didn't think that anyone had asked me yet and we should go together I was so angry and hurt I didn't know what to do so I got back at you the only way I knew how." She turned away from the window and faced Ron. "I got dressed for the Ball and when I looked into the mirror before I left the dorm, I said, 'Take that, Ron Weasley'. I actually looked good and I wanted to make you suffer for your insensitive comment about me being a girl."

"Well it worked," Ron muttered under his breath, "I suffered…all night!"

Hermione moved back to the bed and gingerly sat down at the edge of it. Ron moved his legs over so she had some space and she slid over a bit so her side was touching Ron's hand.

"But you still didn't get it," Hermione said softly, "Even after I tried to explain it to you in the common room. Maybe I didn't use the right words, I don't know… but I know that after that night, something was different between us. I didn't know how to act around you anymore so I did what I do best. I was bossy, commanding and sometimes I was even mean to you. I didn't know what else to do. I figured that if I made you angry enough, you'd confront me. You never did." Hermione lowered her head, hoping that Ron wouldn't notice the tears that were forming. "Last year, when I kissed you before the Quidditch match, I was so nervous. I thought that would tell you right then and there how I felt. I guess it didn't." She laughed, a hollow-sounding laugh and she looked up again and she saw Ron's eyes widen as he must have noticed the tears. She started to wipe at her eyes but she felt a slight pressure on her hand and she was shocked when she saw that Ron had grabbed her hand and was squeezing it gently.

"Go on Hermione," Ron smiled at her and Hermione felt her heart leap.

She took a deep breath and continued. "This year we were getting along so much better, I was so happy. I thought that maybe things were going to be different. I thought maybe you would finally say something to me. I caught you looking at me from time to time, you teased me, but in a nice way, and you actually looked me in the eye when you spoke to me …" Hermione's words trailed off as the tears started to roll down her cheeks. She shook her head, cleared her throat and continued. "Then all of a sudden there was NOTHING. You ignored me, you were nasty and sometimes even cruel and I had no clue why. When I saw you snogging Lavender, it was like you ripped my heart right out of my chest. It was supposed to be me you were kissing, not her. I was supposed to be the one you dated, not her!" Hermione took her free hand and swept away the tears from her cheek. She smiled weakly at Ron whose eyes had not left her face. "I asked Cormac just to get back at you and the comment I made about good Quidditch players was meant to hurt you as well."

Ron coughed slightly and began to speak. "Hermione, I'm ---" but Hermione cut him off with a wave of her free hand.

"Ron, if I could go back to the night of the Yule Ball I would. If I could change how I acted that night maybe things would have been different. I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to tell you how I felt. I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I didn't know what else to do. You're my best friend Ron and I didn't want to lose that and… I made a mess of everything." Hermione started to sob as she attempted to stand up from the bed. She felt Ron grab at her arm and gently pull her down to lie next to him in the bed. He shifted so that her head was on his shoulder. She felt him reach up and stroke her hair softly.

"I'm sorry too, Hermione," he whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you the past few weeks. I should have just asked you about Krum."

Hermione picked up her head and stared at Ron. "Yes, you should have. It would have saved us all a great deal of trouble."

"You're right, I'm a prat sometimes," Ron grinned at her as he pushed her head back down onto his chest. Hermione listened to the sound of his heart beating as she wiped at the tears but she smiled to herself and replied, "A lot of the time."

"You might be right about that," Ron answered. He cleared his throat and continued, "So where do we go from here?"

Hermione sighed into his chest. There was still one more thing she had to know. "Ron?" she asked, still not looking at him but instead looking at his long legs under the blankets, "When you were first brought in, you called out… you called out for…me. Why?" she finished softly. She felt Ron hold his breath and she turned her head to look at him. His ears were turning red, a sure sign that he was embarrassed. "Why, Ron?" she asked again, stronger this time. She watched as a myriad of emotions paraded across Ron's face; it was as if he was playing a whole conversation out in his head. He closed his eyes, swallowed hard and when he opened his eyes again, Hermione could see they were bright and glittery.

"I don't remember too much about what happened when I was brought in. I remember hearing voices, my mum, Madame Pomfrey, my brothers I think, and I'm not quite sure who else. All I wanted to know was what was happening and as hard as I tried to ask, I couldn't. I was scared, no one was saying anything and then, I heard you. I knew you'd tell me. I remember thinking I need Hermione, I need her … to tell me the truth, I mean," Ron stammered.

Hermione looked at him knowingly although she knew her cheeks were turning as red as his ears and neck. He doesn't realize what he just admitted, she thought as she put her hand on his face.

Ron placed his hand on top of hers as he looked back at her. "What I realized right then was, I need you Hermione. I do. I need you to tell me the truth, to call me a prat, to boss me around, to nag me, to smile at me, to make me laugh. Bloody hell, I need you, just you." With that Ron turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand.

Hermione's eyes opened wide and she moved up to kiss him on the cheek. He pulled her against his long form and she nestled her body against his. "So where do we go from here?" Ron asked again as he played with a strand of hair that lay across his chin.

"I think we both know the answer Ron, but there are things that must be taken care of first," Hermione said very seriously.

Ron nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, I need to take care of…things. It will be much easier if I know you'll be here," Ron said as he turned to look at her.

"I'll be wherever you are Ron." Ron smiled at her and kissed the top of her forehead.

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Ron?"

"I'm sorry I took so long."

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you."

And at the same time, they both said, "Apology accepted."