That night Hermione couldn't sleep; it had been a busy day that had started and ended in spending time with Ron. After they had left the kitchen that morning Ron had been determined to cheer her up after her depressing outburst during their daily walk. He had started by taking her through the wood and back to the lake where they had lay side by side and discussed the fact that nature could be so perfect whilst in real life a war was brewing.
They had spent a good few hours just staring at the sky whilst Ron would tell her funny stories about his family. Lunchtime came and went, and by the time they returned to 'The Burrows' ready for something to eat 1:00 had come and gone. They had picked up some more sandwiches and disappeared into town for the remainder of the afternoon.
It had been a tiring day and Hermione had been shattered by the time she had found her way into bed. Yet as she lay in the small, cosy bed next to Ginny she was unable to sleep. All she could think of was the feel of Ron's skin against her own, the way he had grabbed hold of her wrist that morning and how he had picked her up, swung her round, made her laugh as they ran through the open fields. There was always that familiar jolt of electricity which shot up and down her spine every time he touched her, even the smallest connection made her shudder involuntarily.
She wanted to sleep but she just lay there in the pitch black, a deafening silence enveloping her. The only sound that cut through like a knife was the soft sound of Ginny's shallow breathing and her own much deeper and less frequent breaths. She had been lying there for a good hour or so since the light had been turned out in the room at 11:00 that evening.
She needed someone to talk to, she wanted to open up to Ron about her feelings again. She needed to be open and, well, intimate with someone; if she was going to be vulnerable and show her fears and worries then the only person she wanted to share this with was Ron. She surprised herself, out of all her friends Ron had always been the insensitive one, yet he was the only one she could see herself happy to share her feelings with.
Why not? She thought to herself, Harry had gone home the day before which meant that she wouldn't be disturbing his much-needed rest. It wouldn't hurt to go and see if Ron was still awake. Hermione was fully aware that Ron was no night owl and had always valued time to sleep, however when she had calculated the amount of books that had gone missing from her wardrobe compared with the amount of spare time Ron seemed to have during the day she had managed to evaluate that there was a good chance that he was doing a lot of reading late at night. No doubt it was to avoid torment from the twins if they were to catch him doing so much as looking at the cover of a piece of written work which wasn't to do with Quidditch.
Making a decision to go and see Ron, Hermione pulled herself up to a seated position in her bed and quietly extricated herself from the covers which surrounded her. Swinging her legs round and over the side of the bed she found her footing on the bedroom floor and pushed herself upwards until she was standing. Cautiously she made her way across the room to the bedroom door, opening it she headed onto the landing, pulling the door close behind her.
As she crept along the landing Hermione could just about make out a shard of light lining the doorway of Ron's room. Knocking quietly, Hermione didn't wait for an answer before popping her head around the doorframe.
'Merlin!' Ron hissed in alarm as he almost jumped three foot in shock. He seemed to be sitting upright on his bed, his back resting against the wall and his legs stretched out if front of him. A matter of moments before, in his lap had lay a book which he had instinctively hidden beneath the sheets as Hermione had opened the door.
Hermione chuckled to herself slightly as she gazed upon his embarrassed face, his ears slowly beginning to turn a dangerous shade of red. 'Ron, I know you've been borrowing my books, you're not the sneakiest of thieves you know,' Hermione stated bluntly, encouraging his to trust her, there was a moment of undeniably awkward silence before she decided to try again, 'and I don't care.'
At this, Ron's shoulders visibly relaxed and he brought the book out from beneath the bed sheets. Reopening it, he brought one knee up towards his chest and propped the book up in the right angle that he had formed with the frame of his body. From the spine of the book, Hermione was able to deduce that it was her hardback copy of 'North and South' by Elizabeth Gaskell, a period novel her parents had given to her the Christmas before as she had enjoyed 'Pride and Prejudice' so much.
It ran in the same vein as the Jane Austen love story except to Hermione it was a more realistic storyline. She had always hoped that there might have been a way for Ron to read one of the two and take the major hint that opposites most definitely did attract. However, now that the occasion had arisen Hermione could tell that she had been seriously misled. Ron hadn't even wanted to admit he had been reading it, let alone taken severe hints over their relationship.
'Mind if I come in?' Hermione asked quietly.
'Sure, why not?' Ron shrugged and replied automatically, not thinking of what he was really encouraging.
As Hermione made her way into the room she leant back against the door until it clicked shut behind her. On the click the realisation seemed to hit Ron straight between the eyes. As he looked up at Hermione, Ron gulped audible; luckily it went unnoticed by her. He was beginning to deduct and realise the complications of what he had just initiated.
Here they were, two hormonal teenagers, head over heels for one another, alone in a boy's bedroom in the dead of night. No interruptions and no one to put on a front for. It was just the two of them and their own feelings, Ron was becoming afraid of what he may admit if they were to be alone in each other's company for too long, worse than that he was afraid of what he might do and what could happen to their friendship.
He looked her up and down as she stood across the room from him dressed in her blue pyjamas and dressing gown. Maybe it was like the novel he was holding indicated; it was possible that there could be something between the two of them. Maybe it wasn't just him feeling this way about their relationship, after all stranger things had happened.
In his mind he could be Mr Darcy, yes he had read that book too, they couldn't stand each other at times but there was always an underlying understanding between them. He was prepared to do anything for her, he had proved that to her many times before.
His heart rate quickened as she casually took a few steps forward; she seemed so friendly and innocent. Was it possible that she really had no idea what she was doing to him? What sort of effect her presence had on his emotions and feelings? Whenever he was around her he dropped his defences and felt that he could be… well, honest around her. Something that he didn't even do around his own family let alone anybody else. She made him feel guilt, humility, and pain when he was in the wrong, but at the same time he could feel sublime happiness and abandonment.
He became lost in his thoughts for a moment and before he knew it she was sitting beside him. She leant back against the wall and mimicked his seated position on the bed. She leant her head on his shoulder and he felt his heart skip a beat.
'Relax Ron, for Merlin's sake! This is Hermione, just your old friend… your best friend Hermione. Just do as Harry said, act naturally. If something is meant to happen between the two of you then it will. You'll feel a change. Don't rush into anything like you usually do, your friendship may depend on it.'
'Are you enjoying the book?' Hermione mumbled as she closed her eyes and made herself comfortable against him.
'Yeah, it's good. It's different from what I'm used to,' Ron replied.
'Ron, anything is different from what you're used to reading. All you ever read is Quidditch magazines and programmes. You need to broaden your horizons and stop reading such rubbish.'
At this, Ron attempted to act in an offended manner, 'Hermione Granger, that was below the belt! I never tell you to read anything different from the books you always have your nose in.'
Hermione poked him in the stomach playfully, 'Yes you do, it's all you ever tell me to do,' she adjusted her voice to do a half decent impression of Ron, '"you need to lighten up" "learn to have fun Hermione" "try reading about something different some time Hermione"'
'Point taken. Going back to the original point though, it isn't too bad a book, but it does seem to use the same storyline and society differences as "Pride and Prejudice"' he said passively, closing the book and placing it on the bed beside him.
At this statement Hermione's eyes snapped open and she sat upright, twisting round she stared at Ron in awe and admiration, 'you've read "Pride and Prejudice"?'
'Of course,' Ron said smugly, happy that she had managed to gain one-upmanship over Hermione and had impressed her at the same time, 'it's about Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett who attracted to each other the moment they meet but are separated by pride…'
'…and prejudice,' Hermione cut in, still staring deep into his undeniably blue eyes.
'They have a series of disagreements due to misunderstanding and misconceptions…' Ron continued.
'… as Jane and Mr Bingley fall in love but are kept apart'
' But Mr Wickham makes things more difficult as he becomes interested in Elizabeth…' Ron thought of Krum as he began to realise there were more similarities than just their relationship; involuntarily he reached out for her hand and entwined his fingers around her own as he looked at her.
'…and Mr Darcy knows a secret about his past.' True this didn't apply but Ron could always live in hope, 'so Elizabeth blames Darcy for everything that happens, but he's trying to make things right…'
'…because through it all, everything he does is in her best interests,' Ron tried to explain his actions over the last six years.
'And no matter what they go through…' Hermione said, looking down and noticing her small hand in his larger, more masculine one.
'…and what goes on around them…' Ron followed her gaze and stroked the back of her hand.
'…they're still head over heels for each other,' both breathed the words at the same time as they looked back up at each other intently.
For a moment all either of them could think to do was look at each other in silence. Again there was the familiar sound of their breath cutting sharply through the air, however this time the sound of their hearts beating fiercely against their own ribcages seemed to join in. So many times both of them had hoped that there would be a day where they would find themselves in this position of intimacy. Though now that the moment had arrived both seemed equally in shock to realise that the other felt the same way.
'What are you doing?' Hermione's brain asked her, 'here you are in the perfect situation to move things on with him, and what are you doing? Absolutely nothing! For the love of Merlin do something before the moment passes you by.'
At the same time Ron seemed to be having an internal struggle between his head and his heart, 'This is what you've been waiting for; she's here, you've both just admitted that you're mad about each other. This is the sign Harry was talking about, you idiot!' 'I can't, it's Hermione, she's still my best friend. Maybe I just misread the signals.' 'You didn't, just do it!' 'Do what?' 'Kiss her!'
He was drawn out of his internal argument as he felt warmth on the hand he was holding Hermione's with. Focusing his sight back down to his hand he noticed that she had now reached across and placed her other hand over his own, cupping it. Against his will, Ron's body seemed to shift forward as if there was a magnetic pull between the two of them. They drew closer to one another and only stopped when they were merely inches apart.
In unison their eyes slipped shut and for a few agonising seconds they seemed to stay like that. Hermione could feel Ron's warm breath on her lips and it made her want to kiss him all the more. However, her happiness subsided when suddenly the pressure was released on her hand, he had let go, maybe he had become repulsed by the idea of kissing her. After all, she was like a sister to him. She was about to draw back and leave when Ron's hand slid round the back of her neck and pulled her forwards.
As Ron had let go of Hermione's hand he could have sworn that she had stiffened and sighed. Maybe she thought he hadn't wanted to kiss her after all. Instead Ron was trying to steady himself, placing one hand firmly on the bed he reached up and placed his other hand at the nape of her neck. He was going to do it, he was going to kiss her, damn the consequences he had to know her feelings for him.
He was really going to kiss her, she thought, she could feel warmth radiate from him as he drew her closer to him. A few more moments and they would both know exactly where they stood with each other in their relationship. Again she could feel his soft breath on her face, their lips almost collided when there was a reverberating bang.
No two people had ever jumped away from each other faster than Ron and Hermione did when the bedroom door flew open. Turning their heads so fast they both almost gave themselves whiplash, they saw none other than Fred standing in the doorway looking no less than horrified.
'I'd better go,' Hermione mumbled, unable to look Ron in the eye, 'Thanks for listening to me.'
'No problem,' Ron replied as he stared after her. Once she had turned onto the landing and was out of sight he turned to the intruder, 'What?' he snapped.
'Nothing,' Fred replied, surprised at how quickly he had gained composure after the shock of finding his brother and his crush in an intimate situation, 'Ginny was just worried about where Hermione was,' this was a blatant lie but he didn't care, 'seeing as Hermione's parents have already gone missing she was rather scared when she woke up and found that her best friend was missing too.'
Fred stared at Ron and used an accusing tone, he'd been hurt by what he had seen and wanted Ron to feel guilt over the situation. It wasn't working but it made Fred feel better.
'Get out,' Ron hissed venomously, he wanted to yell at his brother but he didn't think the rest of his family deserved to be woken at such an ungodly hour of the night. Obligingly, Fred left the room. He'd deal with the situation later.
When the door had closed behind Fred, Ron rhythmically knocked his head backwards against the wall, 'what am I doing?'
Meanwhile, Hermione sat down on her bed and fell back onto the pillows, looking up at the ceiling she thought over what had just happened, what she had almost admitted, 'what am I doing?'
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