This is for Ashleigh. I hope you love it!
Ron knows he is done for when Hermione grabs his wrist and drags him through the doors of Hogwarts and outside.
He doesn't deny it any longer; he's been having feelings for her for a long time now. Yet, it is still hard to admit to even himself that, of all the people, he had fallen for his best, know-it-all friend, Hermione Granger.
But the ripples of shock that she sends through his body when her cold fingers touch his hot skin still surprise him.
(He wants more.)
They sit together at the lake, their hands barely touching. Ron yearns to close the distance; to wrap his fingers around her's and intertwine them like they had been a few minutes before.
But he knows that he must settle for less, until the time is right. Then he could tell her, tell her that he loved her more than anything and that he always has and always will.
Hermione is the one to break the silence. "It's been a while since I've felt so happy."
Ron grimaces. Yes, the war had just ended after all. Nobody can heal that fast. For the last few months, Ron, Hermione, and all of their friends who weren't dead had been working with the professors to rebuild their magnificent school.
It was hard work, but they couldn't afford to leave it so crumbled and destroyed. There were so many memories buried underneath the rubble that they had to save.
(They all might be broken, but they shouldn't leave the school like that. There was a new generation coming, after all-one that wasn't scarred and broken.)
It was hard, and not just physically. Every time one of them picked up a new stone, fastened another door, fixed another wall, memories of themselves and and their gone friends appeared, flashing in front of their eyes, taunting them.
(It breaks Ron every night all over again when he hears Hermione crying, begging for the deceased.)
But now, in front of him, in this moment, she is happy, and that's all that matters. Dwelling in the past would only hurt them more, he realizes. He-no, we all-must learn to keep moving forward.
(Never look back. The past cannot be changed.)
"The school is coming along great, and..." Hermione continues, smiling softly at the shifting water, her expression serene. Ron can't help but ogle at the beauty next to him.
"I guess it kind of just hit me this morning. That I'm alive, you know?" Hermione laughs, her giggles vibrating through the air like music. "I'm alive, and I have a whole life ahead of me. I'm only seventeen and I can go and live peacefully with no one trying to kill me. I can go and marry who I want, have children, have a normal family, and live a normal, magical life."
Ron nods absentmindedly, his thoughts only trained on the brunette. (Well, they aren't really thoughts-they are more like fuzzy bubbles floating around, full of happiness and love-)
"Ron?" All of Ron's bubbles pop when Hermione startles him. "You there?"
"Yeah," he says, stretching out his legs. Meanwhile, Hermione curls herself into a ball, rocking back and forth.
A comfortable silence falls between the two, and Ron just doesn't want to break it. He feels like he can almost understand what she's trying to tell him anyways, just through her eyes and her body language and her subtle hints that only he picks up on.
"I was thinking about what I'd do, after the school's been rebuilt and I've finished my N.E.W.T.S." Ron rolls his eyes. Of course N.E.W.T.S. would still be on her mind, even after all that's happened.
"I'll get a job at the Ministry, of course. I' not sure what, but I guess I'll find out!" Hermione laughs again, and Ron raises his eyebrow. The Hermione he knew would have everything planned out perfectly.
(He supposes he likes this side of her too-the "go with the flow" side.)
"Then I'd find somebody and settle down and have kids that I'd send to Hogwarts."
Ron had always known that she'd eventually want to date and marry, but he never realized that it could happen at any time-or, specifically, now.
He had already thought over the whole thing. He knows that if he doesn't act soon, he will be forever friend zoned. They had gone through so much that they were the best of friends; yet, they had also gone through so much that they wouldn't be able to move forward if someone didn't say something.
The someone would have to be him, Ron decides.
"Any guy in particular you're thinking about?" Ron's cocky voice surprises him-since when did he become all smooth and flirty?
Hermione's head whips around to face him, her wide eyes bulging and her cheeks completely red.
"No," she carefully says after a moment, her eyebrows furrowing. "Why do you ask?"
Now it is Ron's turn to blush; he still holds the gaze though. "No reason."
Hermione's eyes narrow. "There must be a reason. Why should you care whether I have a marriage plan for myself or not?"
Ron gulps. What was he thinking?
(Oh yeah-he wasn't really thinking. Oh well, too late.)
"I don't really care."
Hermione's eyes become slits. "You must. I know you speak your mind, Ronald." Ron mentally curses about her knowing him so well.
"Maybe I do have a particular person in mind."
Ron tenses, his fists clenching slowly and unnoticeable at his sides. She liked somebody? Who?
(He would have to eliminate them, quickly.)
"Would you like to tell me who? You can trust me, you know." Ron grins, and Hermione looks at him incredulously.
"It's a secret," she replies, her cheeks tinting pink. Ron decides she looks adorable when blushing.
(He wants to make her blush more.)
Ron shifts closer to her; this doesn't go unnoticed, and Hermione eyes him suspiciously. "Come on, please?"
Hermione lets out a small smile. "No."
Ron moves closer, so close that Hermione leans slightly back. "Who is it?"
Hermione shakes her head mutely, her face red from holding in what looks to be a laugh.
(What Ron doesn't know is that she's actually becoming slightly annoyed-how could he not tell who the boy was yet?)
"Let me guess. Viktor?" Hermione blushes, shouting a no at him, and Ron inwardly sighs. It is good that it isn't him; he didn't know whether he'd be able to control himself if she still liked Krum.
"Uh...Dean Thomas?" Hermione slaps him lightly, and Ron takes that as a no.
"Draco?" Hermione screams no, and Ron laughs at her strained expression.
"Ron, how could you not have figured it out yet? It's so obvious!" Thinking on these words, Ron could only come to one solution-the one he didn't want to face.
"Don't tell me...it's Harry?" Ron mumbles, trying not to show his weakness.
Hermione stares at him for a moment, before erupting into a laughing fit.
"Harry! Please! He's just my friend Ron, I thought you knew that." Hermione adds, "Plus, he's Ginny's property anyways."
Ron rolls his eyes, his territorial sister crossing his mind. All Ginny and Harry had been doing was snogging these last few days-how could Hermione be after him?
But then who is it? Ron has no idea who in the world it could be. He's wondering if it's some oddball he hasn't noticed before, like Michael Corner or something when she finally reveals.
"Ron...the boy's someone you know very well." It isn't a full confession, but it took a lot of courage anyway. Ron stares at her with wide eyes as she places her hand (now warm) on top of his.
(He shivers at the touch, even though it's already May.)
Someone I know well...He's already ruled out Harry...
"Neville?" Ron half-screeches. Hermione smacks her head against his shoulder.
"No, you dimwit!"
Ron tries again. "Cormac?" Oh, how he hated him.
Hermione pretended to vomit. "Are you serious? I hate him." They share a laugh over that before returning to the situation at hand.
Ron is really stuck. He's ruled out pretty much everybody they knew well that wasn't dead...unless, of course, it is someone older than her, like Flitwick...
(Ron gags-that would be so wrong on too many levels.)
"I don't know who it is Hermione. Just tell me!" Ron begs. "I'll do anything, just tell me!" Ron's desperate to know, desperate to find who's better than him, who steals her affections from their rightful owner.
"Are you serious? How can you not tell?" Hermione moans, exasperated. "You're so stupid."
"But you'll do anything, you say? That's interesting...I'll think I'll take you up on that offer." Ron sighs, before gesturing her on frantically.
"I like..." She pauses for dramatic effect, and Ron groans.
"You."
Ron freezes. "I like...you." Her words ring through his head.
Hermione likes...him.
Hermione likes Ron.
Hermione likes me.
"Me? You like...me?" Ron chokes out incredulously. "Why?"
"Why?!" Hermione is visibly mad at this point, and Ron shrinks back in fright. Why did he have to ask? He should have just responded normally.
"Why? Because I like you, stupid! You've always been there, from the beginning, and you know me so well, and we're such good friends, and you're cute, and you're strong, and you're-"
Ron cuts her off by placing his lips on her's, and wonders why he hasn't done it sooner.
(He also decides that she looks hot when she rambles, but whatever.)
Ron doesn't want to be reduced to a pile of mush, but she makes quick work of him, with her soft lips and gentle touch. It's nice to feel her one him. Their lips mold together perfectly.
She smells like apples and oranges, he notices-two of his favorite fruits, wafting all around her like a bubble. He loves it. It makes him want to eat her up. (She is probably delicious.)
They eventually part for air. Hermione's face is flushed and Ron's heart is beating a mile a minute-but it is totally worth it.
"You're a little slow on the uptake, aren't you?" Hermione jokes as Ron closes the distance for another kiss.
"You shouldn't be the one talking."
A/N: This story is my fluff pillow spawn. I hope the present tense wasn't too weird, but that's what happens after you read a whole present tense novel in one day and sit down to write a Harry Potter fanfic.
Done for:
400 Prompts Challenge-February 27 (apples and oranges with Ron/Hermione)
OTP Boot Camp-Prompt #10-Enamored
Key Signature Competition-D major
What We Pretend To Be Challenge-Happy Ron/Hermione
Romantics At Heart (Or Are We?) Competition-Ron/Hermione
Hogwarts Classes Category Competition-Divination (Write about a time or event after the Second Wizarding War)