Chapter 2 ~ "I love you"

RON POV

This was the first time Ron had been alone with Hermione for a long time. All that week they had been going to funerals and been busy preparing for Fred's, it still caused him pain to re-live Fred's death again and again every time he closed his eyes. But yet that pain ceased to exist when he was with Hermione, never had he felt this way about anyone, he didn't want to feel this way about any body else except for her. Their only romantic gesture was when Hermione flung herself at Ron and they shared their first kiss, it was absolute bliss. Considering they could have been killed at any moment so Ron figured it was now or never. But now it was just her and him walking to Ron's secret hiding place, no one in his family knew about this, not even Harry.

Ron was silent for a few more minutes until Hermione piped up and said, "Where are we going, Ron?" Ron thought it was so wonderful to hear her say his name.

"I'll tell you when we get there," he replied not giving anything away. They walked for another 5 minutes and Hermione said again, "Ron, I'm asking you nicely, where in the world are we going?" she sounded agitated. Again Ron kept his mouth shut and just took her hand, she followed nearly unwillingly.

They arrived at a clearing lined with thick trees, it looked like a mini Forbidden Forest but not so forbidden. Ron, still holding Hermione's hand led her to the outskirts of the clearing and he held a branch away as she climbed through. Ron looked into her Chocolate brown eyes and all he saw were questions, he smiled to himself knowing that he had exactly where he wanted her. When at long last they had arrived at their final destination, Hermione gasped and said, "Oh Ron, it's so beautiful,"

They stood at an entrance leading to a swimming hole. The water was crystal clear, you could see the bottom of the small pool, and it was lined with small shrubs that were spawning a pinkish looking coloured flower.

As Hermione admired his getaway Ron watched her, smelling everything mixed together with her scent. She suddenly turned on the spot and Ron was looking into her big brown eyes.

"Where did you find this place?" Hermione asked, once she'd done ogling.

"Well, I actually stumbled across it accidently. It was after…" Ron trailed off, he didn't dare want to say it but the reason he stumbled across that place was because of her. When Ron found out that Hermione was supposedly dating Krum, "God I hate him" he thought. Hermione wasn't fooled, "What? It was after what?" she asked, Ron looked into her eyes and saw a burning curiosity.

Ron sighed as if admitting defeat and said, "It was after…I found out you were dating Krum," Her face fell slightly but then recovered, she giggled.

"Why in the world would you come out here?" she asked as if making fun of him.

"Because, I needed to blow off some steam" Ron said nearing anger.

"Were you really that angry?" Hermione asked in a small voice. Sensing that the topic was going to places Ron really didn't wish to think about he said to her.

"Look, don't worry, Krum is a ruddy pumpkin head and I don't care about him anymore," Ron left it at that. He took Hermione by the hand and sat her down next to the water.

Ron looked into her eyes and he longed to kiss her. But he didn't know if that would be appropriate, because the only time they had kissed was during a war and they were doing something spontaneous. But what he did know was that he loved her with all his heart, after all those years of denying it, spending countless amounts of hours thinking and wondering if he did or didn't. He now knew that he couldn't fool his heart, there was only one girl for him and her name was…

Hermione Granger.

As he thought of this, Hermione asked a question that had him stuck for words.

"Why won't you kiss me?" Hermione asked softly. "Because I'm sitting here wondering if you want to kiss or what…" she confessed as she looked into his eyes, her eyes looked like pools of chocolate – they were beautiful.

Ron knew she was telling the truth. He guessed people were right; the eyes are the window to the soul, because at that moment Ron knew she wasn't lying.

He caressed her face in his hand and softly slid it down to her neck. He was thrilled when he saw that Hermione had goose bumps, he leaned down towards her lips. But he stopped a centimetre before them and he said, "Can I kiss you now?"

"Yes", she breathed.

He then put his lips on hers and kissed her deeply, their lips moving as one. Ron couldn't think of anything better than this moment, the girl of is dreams kissing him with as much enthusiasm as he did. Ron broke the kiss and proceeded with kisses down her neck, his hands running up her sides and finally ending up on her shoulders. His lips reached her collarbone but he went no further. He slowly moved back up to her lips and kissed her passionately, she moaned into his lips and this ignited a more passionate snogging.

HERMIONE POV

Hermione had never felt this feeling before; a burning passion was running through her veins – Lust. She embraced this feeling, willing it to do its worst to hurt her because no body could bring her off cloud nine, not while she was with Ron. It had taken her all of but 4 years to figure out that she loved Ron, whereas Ron, he's not that bright. Hermione realised a few years ago that it was Ron all along, ever since their first confrontation on the Hogwarts Express when she had told him there was dirt on his nose. She thought she was going insane when she first figured it out, but now this, the moment they were sharing was absolutely prefect.

While Ron kissed her, Hermione ran her fingers through his fiery red hair. Memorising the texture, colour and feel of it, it was so smooth and thick that she never wanted to let it go. Hermione had wanted to do this for so long that it had become a dull ache in the back of her mind, but now it was gone and Ron saved her. They both broke the kiss at the same time, both of them panting, Hermione thought she was louder than he was and she felt the blood rush to her cheeks. Ron was caressing her face and she was looking at his dark blue eyes, "No wonder my favourite colour is blue…" she wondered at the beautiful shade of blue they'd become.

Then suddenly, she remembered where she was and why she was there. It was the day of Fred's funeral and she'd just made-out with his brother, she felt horribly disrespectful. Ron could sense this and said, "What's wrong? Was it something I did?" he asked fearfully. Hermione smiled as Ron contemplated whether he was a good kisser or not.

"No, it's not that," Hermione said, the look of relief on Ron's face was almost comical. "It's just that I feel really guilty now, we ditched your family Ron. Plus it was your brother's funeral for god's sake!" When Hermione said it out loud it really sounded bad. Ron just chuckled; Hermione looked at him in disbelief.

"Oh Hermione, you worry too much. My family probably wouldn't care if we're not there and secondly, Fred's probably dancing for joy wherever he is. So don't worry", Hermione was actually quite comforted by this news but still she was on edge.

"Ok, why don't we call it a day? What do you say about that?" Ron asked Hermione while stroking her cheek, each touch sent shivers down her spine. The truth was that Hermione didn't want to leave yet, she wanted to stay but she knew Ron's family would be asking questions soon.

"Alright, let's go. Am I not allowed to tell anyone about this place?"

Ron thought about it for a while and said, "Harry maybe, but he can't tell Ginny, ok?"

"Alright", Hermione said, she could feel a dumb smile play upon her lips. She quickly rearranged her face and turned to leave when Ron caught her arm and said, "I love you"

Hermione's heart fluttered at the words, she had waited to hear those words for so long and all she could do was stand there like an idiot. It was a second before she said, "I love you, too", and a brilliant smile lit his face and her heart melted.