Ron hurried back to his trunk and grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt to change into, barely even paying attention to what he was doing. He should have made Hermione talk to him last night when it had happened. This wasn't how he had expected his first time to be, and he had always imagined that a first time with Hermione would be amazing and so special. But now everyone was acting like it was a colossal mistake and he was getting angry.
He finished getting dressed and began sprinting to the library. He pushed past a gaggle of second years, chattering away about something, and skidded to a halt at the check-out desk, where Madam Pince looked at him sternly.
"Hermione," he gasped, "Have you seen her?"
Madam Pince merely shifted a pile of books that Ron had leant on to catch his breath and sniffed as she left. He was left to search for her himself.
He travelled up one aisle and down the next, swearing mutinous threats against Madam Pince under his breath the whole time. She wasn't anywhere.
Hermione wasn't in the library.
This was a shock in itself, but now Ron really feared that he had ruined everything.
He wandered outside the castle, searching fruitlessly with his eyes. All the people outside were enjoying the sunshine, mucking about. A lone, bushy haired Hermione with the grass strewn with books should stand out like a sore thumb.
But nothing.
Until Ron spotted a familiar silhouette towards the foot of the castle, near the Astronomy Tower. There she was, he head on her knees next to the memorial plaque that had been placed there at the start of the year. It remembered everyone who had been lost in the battle at Hogwarts, and Ron knew that Hermione sometimes came here, as she had no graves to visit for her parents.
He wondered whether he should disturb her, but the anger at the unfairness of the whole situation was raging inside him. And with that, she strode over to Hermione and plonked himself down beside her. She sniffed, but didn't look up, and he wondered if she was even going to acknowledge that he was there.
"Are you ok?" he whispered softly, moving her hair back over her ears so she couldn't feign deafness.
Hermione looked up. She had been crying, and as much as it was a completely muddled knee-jerk reaction to be having, Ron was happy. He was glad she was showing some actual emotion. It had been lacking since that day in the hotel in Sydney.
"I'm fine," Hermione said, and made to get up, but Ron grabbed her by the arm too quickly and pulled her down.
"You're not fine, Hermione." He stated matter-of-factly. "You're anything BUT fine, in fact, and it has gone on too long, and after what happened last night, we need to talk."
Hermione was terrified to look at him. She knew she had finally done it. She had finally pushed him away. As much as she hadn't so much as spoken to him in weeks, his presence had been so comforting. And yet so dangerous, she reminded herself. Ron could never be allowed in. Loving people just meant it hurt more when they left, or she misplaced them. Because that was what she had done. Other people spoke of 'losing' someone during the war. But it was not their fault. None of them could claim that they had ACTUALLY lost someone, or two someone's, due to their own foolish stupidity. She was dangerous. Stupid enough to believe her cleverness could extend to spells she had never performed. Clever enough to realise her own fault in their deaths.
"I have nothing to say, Ron. Let me up," she said coldly, turning her face away so her tears would not betray her.
"Well I have plenty to say, so shut up and listen!" Ron said, still holding her firmly.
She looked at him, shocked. He had been walking on eggshells with her for months, and now, when he was about to tell her he'd had enough, he was going to yell at her too?
"I will NOT shut up and..." Hermione found a hand over her mouth and her anger grew, and the tears turned to that of fury.
Ron smiled at her. He SMILED at her!! He had the gall to sit there cocky as anything, grinning at her? Hermione tried to kick him, and he managed to spin his shins out of the way.
"So there you are!" he said happily, "I thought for sure I was dreaming last night, but you ARE still here."
Hermione was puzzled, this didn't sound like the speech she was expecting. And when had Ron gotten so confident? He sounded like... like SHE used to. And Hermione was jealous. She knew she had to pay her penance. She had lost her parents, so she needed to pay the price, but it seemed Ron was a temptation she would have to try her hardest to resist. Her one moment of wantonness last night, when she had forgotten that she wasn't allowed to enjoy herself anymore had led to her and Ron entwined on the.... Anyway, it wouldn't be happening again.
"Hermione I need you back." Ron said, looking at her so intensely, she felt sure her eyes were glued to his. "I know that losing your parents was a horrible thing, but they wouldn't want you to keep on like this. They would want you to be happy, and go on remembering them happily. I've been there remember? Do you think Fred would have wanted us all to become hermits and never have any fun? Losing them..."
"YOU DONT UNDERSTAND!" Hermione shrieked at him, breaking free from the hand he had over her mouth. "I didn't just have my parents DIE, I was the one who LOST them! I cast spells I'd never performed before, and I thought I was smart and they ended up dead! Because of me! So I don't deserve any different Ron Weasley! It doesn't matter how much I want to move on, I'm not allowed to. This is my punishment. I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea about last night, Ron," Hermione was sobbing now, and Ron was merely looking at her, "I won't happen again, I... I... I ass-ass-assure y-y-you!"
"Like hell it won't!" Ron said gruffly and this time, he made the decision. He had a conscious thought of pulling Hermione towards him, and felt the satisfaction of his thought process when her lips melted against his own. Hermione seemed almost Petrified for a second, before her lips here kissing him back, hungrily and her tongue was searching for his. Ron groaned loudly, "God, I've missed this," he mumbled against her mouth as he moved her so she was perched on his lap.
Suddenly, his lips were alone, and Hermione was pulling away from him again.
"Hermione!" he called after her as she ran off, "Hermione Granger, stop lying to yourself!"
She spun around angrily. "Weasley, how am I lying to myself? I don't want you to kiss me anymore! That's not a lie!"
Ron crossed the three strides between them and pulled her towards him in a bone-crushing, kiss. She fought back and slapped him, but he didn't let her go. It was against her free will. She couldn't control her body against him now. As if last night had triggered some light within Ron and she was a moth being dragged towards him. She kissed him back, though still struggling to get free, and Ron's hands held her close. She tried to push him away some more.
She would try three more times, then she would let him have her and let the chips fall where they will, she thought. One, she tried to break away by turning her head and pushing his arm. Two, she tried ducking out of his grip, but he never let their mouths part for a second. Thr.... suddenly he had taken advantage of her current position to push her up against the wall of the castle and imprison her there. She could feel... him between her thighs, and she was becoming aware there must be other people that could see them. Startlingly, she suddenly heard a voice shrieking next to them, and Ron wasn't there anymore. Dazed she shook her head, and saw Ginny, dangling Ron upside down with her wand, screaming bloody murder at him.
"Gah!" Ron yelled, "Damn you Ginny! I'm going to hex Harry into oblivion for teaching you that! Let me down!"
Ginny began to twirl her wand and Ron began to revolve in the air. "What. Do. You. Think. You're. Doing?" She growled at him.
Hermione looked at Ron, getting redder and redder in the face, and struggling to try to snatch at Ginny from the air.
And she giggled.
Then she laughed.
Ginny and Ron turned in amazement to her. No one had heard Hermione laugh in months. Ron beamed at her. He loved that sound. He had made her laugh. Even if it was against his will, he thought grumpily.
Hermione covered her mouth in shock. She shouldn't be laughing! How could she be enjoying herself, when she was responsible for losing her parents? Her laugh turned into a sob, and she sank to her knees.
"Let me down," she heard Ron tell Ginny, and as she looked up, Ron crashed into a heap on the ground, half in a convenient puddle. Ginny looked so satisfied and Ron so indignant, and suddenly she was laughing all over again. She couldn't stop it, she felt a little mad with the giddiness of it all. She started to calm down and Ron came, smiling over to her and sat down. She took one look at his mud and leaf-littered hair and roared with laughter again. He wiped his hand through her hair and found a handful of mud, and wiped it on Hermione's cheek.
Then the three of them had a mud fight, flinging mud this way and that, before they all fell in the puddle and were soaked through. They lay there, giggling and exhausted happily watching the sky, and Ron's hand was in Hermione's, and the world seemed brighter somehow.
Then Hermione saw a bright light reflecting into her sight.
The memorial plaque shone brightly at her.