A/N: Wow! We have made it to ten chapters! TEN! This is HUGE for me! Thank you for your feedback everybody! I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this! I'm going to keep this note short for you and jump right in. Disclaimer: The chances of me owning Harry Potter are about the same as me getting a letter to Hogwarts.
Recap:"Hello, Hermione," Ron said softly, lifting his eyes to meet hers again. Hermione ordered herself to say something, but she couldn't. Her mind seemed to have drawn a blank and she seemed to have forgotten how to move.
He raised an eyebrow at her when she did not say anything, though he gave her a normal smile. "Are you going to invite me in, or are you just going to leave me standing out here all night?" Ron asked her teasingly.
Hermione continued to stare at Ron for several seconds. She could hardly believe that he was here! He was acting like nothing had changed between them, and that threw her off guard. She thought he would have been angrier with her like in the past when they fought. Hermione quickly replayed their moments from the night before. He had not seemed mad at her then either, but Lavender looked like she was holding a grudge against her for trying to talk to Ron again. She shook her head to clear her thoughts when she realized he was still standing outside in the cold.
"Right, sorry. Come on in," she said, closing the door behind them. She ordered herself to breathe and to focus again. It's only Ron, she told herself.
Hermione cleared her throat and lead Ron to her couch. "Do you want something to drink?" She asked him, walking toward the kitchen. The whole thing gave her a sense of de ja vú, but she hoped that this talk would go much better than it had the last time he was there.
"Anything but tea," he said, looking up at her. Those words almost made her smile. She wondered if he had gotten the same feeling she had. "What do you have?" he asked her curiously.
"I've got water, butterbeer, coffee, and Coca Cola," she answered, standing over by the kitchen doorway. Ron raised an eyebrow when she named the last drink.
"What is a Cola thing?" He asked, clearly sounding like he was trying to remember how to say the last word.
"It is a Muggle beverage drink that gives you energy. It is really good, though it has a lot of calories and sugar," she said, laughing lightly. Ron was interested in trying that, so she went to the refrigerator to get him one. She reached into her refrigerator for two cans, and started heading back to the living room with them.
When she set the cans on the coffee table, Ron gave it a puzzled look. "How am I supposed to open this?" He asked, picking it up and studying it. Hermione laughed softly at his reaction. She often forgot that wizards did not know much about the Muggle world. Ron gave her a look when she laughed, though he did not say anything.
"Sorry, I'll show you. It's like this," she said while demonstrating how to lift open the tab. Comprehension appeared on Ron's face as he tried himself. He smiled when he actually got it right on the first time by himself. Hermione had to bite back a smile. She couldn't help but remember the time she helped him learn how to use a telephone properly after his first failed attempt when he called Harry before their third year. She watched expectantly as he took his first swallow of it.
He turned to her with a shocked look on his face. "This is really good stuff!" He said enthusiastically. "I wonder why our world doesn't carry this?"
Hermione shrugged her shoulders and let out a laugh at his reaction. "I'm glad you like it," she said, taking a swallow of her own. She only drank soda every once in awhile because too much caffeine kept her up for all hours of the night.
"We should definitely have this at the party," Ron said eagerly. "Everybody will go nuts over this drink!"
This time Hermione let out a half chuckle before it was cut off. There's the elephant in the room, she thought. Ron seemed to realize what he said and grew quiet himself. They could joke like this all night, but that would not really solve matters at all, Hermione thought to herself. Though she found that she wished they could carry on all night because it felt like her best friend was back again. The thought made her realize how much she missed him. She looked down at her hands nervously as Ron looked over at her with a serious expression.
"So listen," they both started to say at the same time. Hermione hesitated and cleared her throat. "You go ahead," she said, nodding toward him.
"Ladies first," Ron said, smiling lightly.
Hermione widened her eyes nervously and looked away from him so she could gather her thoughts. She was never good at speeches, though she didn't know why she was so nervous. This was Ron after all.
She finally gathered enough courage to speak and turned to meet his eyes. "Ron, I'm sorry about everything," she began softly. "I shouldn't have handled our situation the way I did. I should have been honest with you from the start. I'm not very good at handling relationship stuff. I never have been, but that's not any excuse. I'm really sorry for not writing to you after the war was over. I never wanted us to fall apart like we did. I know we can't be like we were before, but I hope you can forgive me and be friends again."
Hermione took a deep breath when she stopped talking and looked over at Ron. He was wearing the same expression he had worn at the table the night before. Anxiety started to build up inside. She watched as he opened his mouth a couple of times before closing it and finally cleared his throat.
"I was mad at you for awhile," he began to say. "But I finally looked at it from your perspective later. I realized that I just threw the proposal at you in hopes that being best friends would have been enough. Marriage doesn't quite work that way. You need more than just friendship and a first kiss. I realized that after that night."
Ron sighed as he sheepishly looked down at his hands. Hermione waited quietly, hoping that he would finish speaking. "I'm sorry for not writing to you either. I'm sorry for proposing like that. You actually made me want to find that one person as well. I forgive you. I hope you can forgive me too."
Hermione let out a sigh of relief before throwing herself into his arms. She hugged him tightly, hardly daring to believe that this was real. She didn't miss the shocked look on his face as he began to pat her back awkwardly. A second later, he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I missed you, Hermione," she heard him mutter softly. She pulled back and looked into his eyes. "I missed you too, Ron. I am so sorry about everything. You are one of my best friends. I don't ever want to lose you like that again."
He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead lightly. "You won't," he promised her. "You're one of my best friends too. I'm sorry about your parents," he said quietly. "I don't know what that feels like to lose them. It must have been horrible. I should have been there for you."
"It's ok," Hermione reassured him. "I wanted to be alone then. I wasn't much company at that time. Your brothers have been great though." She thought he stiffened up at the mention of them, but he quickly recovered.
"Yeah, they told me about everything. George even visited the Burrow to tell me about you. I just needed time though…" Hermione nodded. She understood what he meant by that. They both needed time to distance themselves if they had a chance at being friends again. She had been afraid that they wouldn't be, but she was glad they were making up.
She cleared her throat a couple of times and reached for the pen and paper that were on the table. "So I suppose we should get back to party planning," she said, quickly trying to change the subject. She really wanted to ask about his situation with Lavender, but she thought it would be best if they didn't talk about their love lives for awhile.
Ron grew quiet when she mentioned the party again. "Yeah, do you think we should still have one together? Or should we plan separate ones? I know Ginny came up with this idea to get us to talk again." He paused and shrugged casually. "It's already working and I don't really want to mess up any traditions for them. I especially don't want mum to be angry with me."
Hermione couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Mrs. Weasley being mad about something like this. This would be something that would upset her. "I suppose we don't have to now. I would still ask Ginny and Harry though." Ron nodded and Hermione sat up quickly. "But do you want to hang out still? You are already here. We can watch a movie or play board games. I miss you," she tentatively added that part in when she realized she didn't want him to leave yet. She waited for a few seconds before he finally nodded his head.
"All right. I could use a night to relax," he answered casually. "I miss you too," he added quietly. Hermione smiled softly to herself and walked over to her entertainment shelf to pick out some movies for him to choose. She knew they had a long road to recovery, but she hoped this was just the start of it.
Ron chose a zombie movie she wouldn't normally watch by herself. Ron found the movie amusing, which amused Hermione as well. They had sat on opposite ends of the couch during the start of the movie, but toward the middle of it she felt herself growing tired. She didn't want to make him stop watching it, so she curled up and rested her head on the arm rest.
Ron looked over at her when she started to fall asleep and waved her over. "Come on, you can stretch on me."
Hermione sat up and shook her head. She didn't want to make things awkward between the two. "No, no. I couldn't," she began protesting, but he sighed and pulled her toward him lightly.
"Don't be silly. It's fine. This is your couch," he reminded her. Hermione hesitated and gave him a concerned look. After a moment, she snuggled against him and leaned her head on his shoulder before falling asleep.
A/N: Don't worry, Ron and Hermione are just friends! This isn't going to turn into a Romione fic. I also figured that Hermione would probably still have some Muggle things, like the soda, movies, and a television even though she's a witch. There will be more Fremione moments after this chapter. Thanks reading! Please leave a review!