A/N: A sequel to
'One Kiss and Three Little Words' although, I assume it isn't necessary to read
that first. I'll bore you at the end, and let you read the story.
Hermione sat
among her piles of books, still trying to debate which to do first, her Charms
or Transfiguration essay.
"Charms is
first Monday morning, I'll do that," she decided. Finally settled, she pushed aside her other books and began her
essay on Zapoot plants. Sitting alone in the library was very peaceful. The
common room had been crazy as Fred and George were trying out their latest
Wheezes. They'd invented some sort of cloak that allowed a person to bounce as
freely as they wished. She hated admitting it, but she'd had fun hitting her
head on the ceiling of the Common Room. Hermione shook her head, "Concentrate,"
she scolded herself. She sat for twenty minutes, the only noise the scratching
of her quill. The library was practically deserted. She ignored the rustle of
the few other students around her getting up to leave. She quickly glanced at
her watch and realized that she should start heading towards the Common Room;
the library closed earlier on Saturdays. She sighed and began packing up her
stuff.
"Hermione! Did
you get lost?"
"What are you
doing here?" she asked, trying not to look as startled as she felt.
Ron laughed at
her befuddled look. "You've been here for almost five hours. C'mon Hermione,
it's Saturday."
"Yes, I know, but
I had tons of homework. I couldn't get it done with all the noise the twins
were making. I was just trying to get a head start on some of my essays, do
some extra work, you know."
"Those Quidditch
rules giving you trouble? It's really not that hard."
"Oh yeah, those…"
Hermione was trying to hide her blushing cheeks. She 'accidentally' dropped her
quill and bent over to retrieve it.
"Hey!" said Ron,
quite suddenly, "I just got a brilliant idea. Just call me a genius. Hurry up,
pack up your stuff." He grabbed her arm and began to pull her away as she was
still trying to stuff some of her books into her bag.
"Ron! Ron, slow
down!" He turned around to face her, exasperated. Ron ignored her.
"Hermione, go
drop your stuff off in the tower, I'll wait for you here," he ordered.
Hermione sighed, but grinned inwardly. She
loved it when it was just the two of them. He acted, somewhat, different
almost. She ran up the stairs to her dormitory, threw her books on her bed,
then raced back to Ron. Without saying a word to her, he turned and started to
walk away, obviously wanting to be followed.
"Ron! Where are
you taking me?" Hermione whined, sick of following him around, although she was
having a few private thoughts about how Ron looked from behind.
"We're going to
teach you the rules of Quidditch." He broke into a run once they reached the
Entrance Hall, and soon, she was far behind him.
"Ron! Slow down!
Your legs are ten times longer than mine, I can't keep up!" But she stopped
yelling when she realized where he had led her.
"C'mon Hermione,
grab a broom." Hermione walked out onto the Quidditch field and grabbed the
broom.
Awkwardly, she
mounted and pushed up into the air. "Relax, Hermione, you're doing fine," said
Ron as he circled around her. Hermione relaxed her tense grip on the broom,
realizing her knuckles were white.
"Ron, how in the
world is this going to teach me the rules?"
"Well," he said
with a big grin across his face, as if he had a secret, "playing helps you
understand it better."
Hermione just shook her head , but not to
vigorously, she was too scared to move much.
"There is no way
I'm playing Quidditch against YOU! That's not very fair."
"C'mon," he
coaxed, "We'll just play with the Quaffle. No Bludgers or Snitch. Just you, me,
and a Quaffle. Just think of it as a learning experience." He zoomed to the
ground, and pulled a Quaffle out of a bag. "This is mine from home. It's old
and slow, perfect for a beginner."
"I resent that," she said, trying not to let him
tease her.
"Why? You ARE a
beginner."
"You think I need
a SLOW Quaffle? I'll show you!" As Ron released the Quaffle, Hermione raced
after it immediately, barely giving time for Ron to get into the air.
"CHEATER!" But
Hermione ignored him and grabbed the Quaffle. She turned, almost falling from
the broom, and zoomed to the goal post on the other end. Suddenly, from her
left, Ron raced by and grabbed the Quaffle from her.
"Oh come on!" she
yelled as she watched him score. "That's gotta be some sort of foul!"
"Nope!" said Ron,
as he did a victory lap. "Come on Hermione. I won't even take it, just try and
score off of me."
She caught the
Quaffle he threw to her and concentrated.
Hermione was
determined. She hovered for a few seconds, then charged. Threw the Quaffle and…
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!
Ha! Take that! From a BEGINNER!" Hermione whooped and screamed.
"I let you get it by," Ron demanded, trying not to seem to shocked.
Hermione just laughed.
"I DID! Make you
feel better!"
Hermione stopped in midair, Quaffle in hand, and
turned to face Ron. She was trying to look tough. She threw the Quaffle towards Ron and hit him squarely in the
stomach. He doubled over, coughing.
"I feel better now!"
"Now, THAT was
definitely a foul!" Ron yelled, coming after her. Hermione shrieked and tried
to race away, but between her awkwardness on a broom and Ron's skill there was
no way she'd ever get away. "Ha! I've got you cornered!" Hermione turned
around. Indeed, he did.
"All right, all
right, you win," she said carefully flying closer to him. But suddenly she
grabbed the tip of his broom and swung him to face the opposite direction. She
flew away, cackling madly. "I take that back! I win!" she hollered, not
watching where she was flying.
"Hermione, idiot!
Turn around!" She whipped her head, just in time to see the end of her broom
hit a goal post. She tried to pull up, but sort of bounced off the goalpost.
Through his chuckles, Ron yelled to her, "Hermione, you ok?"
"Fine," she said,
embarrassed. "I don't know how much longer I can do this."
Ron laughed and
headed for the ground. Seeing Ron, Hermione started to descend. When she was
about five feet above the ground, she stopped and just hovered.
"Uh, Ron?" she
asked, frightened.
"Yeah?" he said,
looking up from trying to put the Quaffle in his bag.
"Uh, how do
you…you know, land?" It took a few minutes for Ron to stop laughing. "This
isn't funny! I'm stuck up here!"
"You are not!
Just, ugh!" He grabbed his broom and flew up. "Hermione! This is pretty basic.
You should've studied more in the first year."
"Shut up, and
help me down."
"What if I don't?" At this, Hermione glared at Ron, not saying
a word. "Fine, fine," He showed her how
to land, step-by-step. When they were both on the ground, her hair was tousled
and she looked extremely upset.
"Doing all right
Hermione?"
"I'll be ok." She
began to laugh. "I still know NONE of the rules. But it's ok, I had fun."
"Yeah, me too,"
said Ron, running his hand through his hair. "Although, my stomach will be sore
tomorrow." They both laughed, then stood in an awkward silence.
"It's getting
dark," Hermione noticed.
"Yeah, we
should…"
"Go back to the
Common Room." They looked at each other and smiled. Hermione then dropped her
eyes. "Why aren't either of us going?" she whispered.
"I dunno," said
Ron, just as quietly. They then stood, for what seemed for an eternity, but may
have only been two minutes. Ron stepped to Hermione. "Ready?" it was only a
whisper.
"No," she said,
sounding very tired. She wasn't sure what question she was answering. Ron
reached up, and pushed her hair behind her ear. She turned her eyes and looked
at him. He stepped closer again. "Ron…"
"Hermione…"
Hermione felt her heart leap. She knew that this was what she wanted. She knew
she'd been picturing this moment forever. She'd dreamt about it, fretted about
it, even shed a few tears. But a thought struck her. Did she dare say anything?
Ron closed his
eyes, put a hand on her cheek and leaned towards her. With a sharp intake of
breath, Hermione stepped back. "Ron, how's Hannah?" Ron froze, then dropped his
head. Hermione felt on the verge of tears. This had been everything she'd been
hoping for, everything she could want. But she couldn't do that to anyone, not
even her worst enemy.
"Geez, Hermione,"
Ron said, looking at his hands.
"I'm…I'm sorry."
She was afraid to say more, for fear of the tears that had built up. "Let's
just…let's…go." He started right off, flinging the bag over his shoulder.
Hermione took a deep breath, calming herself. It didn't help, silent tears fell
down her face.
Ron stopped
suddenly up ahead. He turned to face her, and saw her tears. "Bloody hell." He
dropped the bag and walked straight to her. He took her face in his hands,
looked into her eyes, and kissed her. Hermione heard ringing in her ears and
felt her heart dance in her chest. She laced her hands around Ron's neck and
kissed him back. The world revolved around them and time seemed to stop.
They both pulled
apart, and Hermione slowly dropped her hands. She looked down at her feet,
tracing designs in the dirt.
"Hermione, you,
um, you all right?" Ron sounded worried. Hermione looked up at him, her eyes
full with tears. He had no idea that he had just fulfilled all her dreams. "Why
are you crying?"
Hermione laughed
through her tears, and just shook her head. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him
again. "I'm fine, Ron." She smiled, and he grabbed her hand.
"I'm glad. I've
been waiting for so long just to…just to be able to touch you," he reached up
and stroked her cheek.
Hermione couldn't
help laughing. Ron pulled away, wounded.
"Oh no, not you
just, Ron," she paused not knowing what to say. Should she tell him she'd been living these past few years
praying that someday he might love her? That there had never been a moment when the sight of him hadn't sent her
heart careening against her rib cage? She hadn't known a night when the sight of him wasn't in her
dreams? She couldn't remember a morning
when he hadn't fluttered behind her waking eyelids? Realizing that it was Ron she was talking to, she decided against
it. "Ron…Me too."
He smiled at her
and kissed her. When they separated, Hermione's eyes stayed shut and she was
smiling.
"I could really
get used to this." Ron smiled, and in response, their lips met again.
"Come on, it's
really getting dark, let's go back to the castle."
"Yes," Hermione
reached down and grabbed Ron's hand. They walked off, absorbed in each other's
presence and happy to have each been able to make the other's hopes and dreams
come true.
A/N2: I hope you
liked it. I think it's really fluffy romance, but I love it. I had fun
writing it on a SNOW DAY! (I love snow!) I'm not planning on writing a sequel
to this, but you never now what might happen on some day that I'm very, very
bored. That's were this came from!!!
Disclaimer: All
JKR's and I stole the idea/basis of Hermione's little monologue from 'The
Princess Bride'. I know- it sounds awesome. If only I could write that well.
Well, it's KINDA mine. It's just based on it. Ok, I'm done.