Hermione woke up early that morning, eager to read the letter. She raced into the bathroom and securing the door, opened the drawer hiding the letter.
She gasped when she saw the rose, which had been pure white the night before expect for the blotch of blood. The rose had turned a shimmering blood red in the course of the night and instead of looking withered, looked like it had been kept in water the whole night.
More like in a pool of blood. Hermione thought and repressed a shudder. How did it get like this?
Putting the rose aside, she reached for the envelope which also had a smear of blood on it.
Hands trembling slightly with excitement, she slipped open the seal with her finger and pulled out a thick, white piece of parchment.
There, written in a deep scarlet ink was…
My
dearest Hermione, You are the
Goddess Yet I look at myself I cannot go I dream
of I crawled out of
So pure is your heart,
So fair is your
skin,
So soft is your touch,
So beautiful is your hair,
So
exquisite is your smile,
So luscious are your lips,
It is but
an abuse
That so fine a creature,
As you, should
Walk the
dirty retreat
That is this earth.
Sitting on the shrine
Of my heart.
Your eyes so
bright,
Brighter than
The moon,
Reflecting the
Luster
of
The sun.
In the mirror
And it
is so bare
Without you
Held in my arms.
Do I dare
Express
my heart's
Deepest desires?
To sleep
Not
knowing what
The meeting of
Tomorrow holds.
I try to hold
you,
Through all the things
That I left behind.
The lips
The smile
The eyes
The body
That hold
A
man's lust
And affection.
The
world,
Through hell
And back,
Just for you.
Can I
spend
The night
With you?
Can I
Tell you this-
I love
you…
Hermione's mouth had fallen open; had Ron really written this? No matter what, he still had the emotional range of a teaspoon, not to mention that he was completely clueless when it came to girls. But if it wasn't Ron, who could it be?
Sighing, she put the letter down and began getting ready for the day.
When she and Harry went down to breakfast though, Hermione was almost positive that Ron had sent the letter, who else could it be if not him? They had both liked each other for years now, they just hadn't really confessed their feelings.
Smiling widely, Hermione seated herself between Ron and Harry, who was kissing Ginny good morning.
"Hey Ron." She said, maybe a little too exuberantly for the next moment Ron wore a befuddled expression on his face.
"Er- hey Mione."
Confused, Hermione returned to filling up her plate with sausages and toast.
Over beside her, Harry and Ginny were locked in a conversation about Quidditch.
Ginny piped, "Well, you know I thought that we'd do something a bit different for the next match, I mean they've already seen the Devil's Sloth Roll so-"
"Gin, will you go to the Valentine's Ball with me?" Harry asked, cutting her off.
Ginny looked a bit surprised at his sudden question, but a smile slowly came to her face. "I thought you'd never ask. I'd love to go with you!"
Hermione surreptitiously glanced over at Ron who seemed quite oblivious to what was happening on the other side of Hermione. She hoped that since Harry had asked Ginny that Ron would perhaps follow suit and ask Hermione. Unfortunately, no such invitation came from the tall, freckled redhead.
As it turned out, nothing exactly romantic happened during the day; the day was annoyingly mundane, although Ron acted a bit uncomfortable around Hermione.
Looking rather bothered, Hermione stepped into Potions, again sitting between her two best friends.
By the middle of the class however, Ron began fidgeting and nearly dumped a load of Scargrass root into his potion. Thankfully, Hermione stopped him in time or he would've gotten a fail mark for the day's lesson.
After they had corked and handed over their potions to Slughorn's desk, the bell rang.
Ron dawdled behind, red in the face, as Hermione packed up her things and half the Slytherins were still in the class when he blurted out, "Wannagotoballwimme?"
Hermione looked up at him and in her surprise and delight said an ungraceful, "Huh?"
Ron went very red in the face and said, "Do you um- want to go to the ball with me?"
Hermione stood for a second, drinking it all in. Her dream of being with Ron was coming true!
"I'd love to, Ron." She said softly.
Ron just grinned widely and rather suddenly, in front of everyone, pulled Hermione into a bear hug and gave her a deep kiss.
They stepped away, pink in the face, to catcalls and cheers.
"Wondered when you'd get going mate." Harry said, thumping Ron on the back, laughing.
All in all, they left the dungeons in an exponentially lighter mood, laughing and talking.
Telling Ginny the news and after a leisurely dinner, the four returned to the Gryffindor common room.
Thankfully, they didn't have a lot of homework to do and by the time, Hermione had helped Ron with his Transfiguration essay, Harry and Ginny were quite wrapped up in a quiet snog session.
Blushing a bit as they sat all alone, Ron began, "I- er- hope you didn't uh- mind the ah-"
"The kiss?"
Ron went red around the ears. "Umm yeah."
Hermione smiled. "To tell you the truth Ron, I've wanted this for a very long time." She informed him softly.
Ron returned the smile and after a few moments of comfortable silence, he said, "I- um- got something for you." He said blushing.
"You shouldn't have!"
"Come see it." Ron said, standing up and offering Hermione his hand.
Grinning and feeling on top of the world, Hermione followed Ron up the stairs to the boys' dormitory as the sun set in the distance.
"Um- I think you'll like what-" Ron stopped, opening the door.
Hermione gasped.
"Fuck." Ron cursed, paling.
There, with the deep red of the setting sun strewn on the creamy wall of the dormitory, were bold words written in what appeared to be blood, Stay away from Hermione.
