The events over the last couple of minutes had Hermione in a state of panic. Her thoughts and concerns and inquiries of how he knew why she was here were boggling her mind. How could he? She didn't even know why she was here! Had he taken Occlumency without her knowing? Had Harry given him tips? She was completely losing her mind and she started fidgeting and playing with her fingers and nervously glancing at the door and back at Ron.
"Hermione," Ron started, "are you feeling alright, I mean you look kind of pale." This wasn't entirely true; Hermione had turned slightly green and looked as if she was going to be sick.
"I…well I better get back to bed...I shouldn't even be here," Hermione said as she quickly got to her feet. Ron grabbed her arm and pushed her down and sat her on his bed.
"That's the stupidest excuse I've heard from you Hermione, honestly, can't you think of something better?" Ron questioned, and gave her a stern look with his arms crossed. "You don't have to say anything, just listen." At this moment Hermione was trying to loosen Ron's grip of her shoulders but stopped abruptly and waited for him to speak.
"You know, Harry thought it was funny to put that note in your book last night when you were still eating dinner … we went up to nick a few old things from Fred and George's old, moreover, your bedroom. We found a couple sweets under the mattress and left, but I guess when I wasn't looking Harry reckoned this would be a good laugh to slip that in before we left. I only found out right before we went to bed, but I thought it was too late to get it back." He said this all very quickly, stopping only to look at his hands and stuffing them into his pockets while staring at the floor.
"I'm really sorry about it Hermione, I know that you hate when I talk about, well, him," Ron clenched his teeth, "in that sort of way… but it was from fourth year! I was just a stupid git back then!" After admitting his mistakes he looked deeply into Hermione's sparkling blue eyes to find some sort of sign of reassurance, but instead, Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth and burst out laughing.
"That was why you thought I came here? I'm at a loss of words to be honest," Hermione said with a wide grin on her face. She laughed again and then pulled Ron to sit beside her, "Ron, honestly, I wasn't upset over that letter. You know, I realized you cared about me during that time you wrote it, and I'm grateful for another reminder." She spoke softly while Ron's ears reddened at the tips, she noticed it in an instant and added, "Now would be a good time to say something."
Ron stared at the floor, and then allowed his gaze to turn to Hermione, "I don't know what to say. I mean, why else would you be here?" These words caught Hermione's full attention. Ron stared hard into Hermione's eyes and placed his right hand on top of hers. She had the faintest feeling he was attempting to lead to the subject they both longed to talk about.
"Well, like you said before, I came to see if anyone else was awake and I found you." Hermione said while she hoped he wouldn't question her again and that he'd change the subject.
"You didn't check if anyone else was awake" Ron stated simply. How he knew this, she had no idea. Hermione was getting slightly nervous; she had a feeling that she was going to have to admit something in the near future. She wanted to tell him how she felt about him, but she was sure that he'd only thought of her as a friend. She thought he was questioning her to find out if she liked him or not, and she knew if she admitted it, their friendship would be ruined. How wrong she was.
Hermione's thoughts were cut short when Ron's free hand suddenly grabbed her other hand and pulled her a little closer to him. Hermione thought she was hyperventilating and felt her heart beating extremely fast as though it was going to break through her ribcage.
"Is there something you want to tell me, Hermione?" Ron asked quietly, his expression was virtually impossible to read. He looked determined to find out what was bothering Hermione and his concentration level was rarely ever this high.
The words that came out of Hermione's mouth sounded oddly like, "I don't know what you're talking about." Her palms were sweating and a pain started deep in her chest, she felt like she was going to faint any second now. She didn't want to meet Ron's gaze, she couldn't possibly look at him, and she couldn't admit what she was feeling. She didn't want anybody to see through her tough exterior, especially Ron.
"You know Hermione, I've always felt that there was something between us, and by that I don't mean Harry," Ron said quickly, Hermione stopped fidgeting and looked up to him, "I just never knew if you understood what it was, what it is."
A/N: Well that's the second part… my hands hurt… and I need some time to make this cute and fluffy and a little interesting. I might add some more in a week or two. It depends if I have people who want to read or not, otherwise I guess there's no point lol. Again, R&R, and thanks for the good reviews
