Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I hope I got to you all in a timely fashion, and I really enjoyed hearing what you had to say. It spurred me on to get this chapter done and posted that much faster, so please forgive the mistakes as any that you find are becasue I probably should have read through it one more time, but I just couldn't wait. I want to thank you all once again for taking the time to read my story. I love you all. I hope you find this chapter as enjoyable as the last. Noterwomann
"You apparated us?" Hermione shoved angrily at Ron's chest and knocked his hands away, freeing her from the prison his strong arms made. "I can't believe you apparated us!"
"Be thankful that's all I did."
"Thankful? You stupid pratt! You could have splinched us both!"
"No," he said, the tone of his voice conveying his annoyance. "I couldn't have."
"Yes, you could. When one tries to side-along apparate with a reluctant…
"Do you honestly think," he said, cutting her off, "I could have risen to the position I have in the Ministry if I didn't know how to side-along apparate a reluctant prisoner?" he asked angrily, thrusting his hand into his pocket and pulling out his wand. "You were in no harm."
Hermione's eyes instantly focused on the drawn wand Ron gripped. "What are you doing?"
The tall redhead ignored her as he moved his wand in an intricate pattern pointing it to the different corners of the room. "I don't know what you're complaining about." He said as he finished, returning the wand to his pocket. "It was either side-along appiration or throttling you, which trust me, would have been no less then you deserved."
"Me?" Hermione continued to stare uneasily at the pocket where he had stored his wand. "What did I do?"
"What did you do? What did you do?!" Ron's voice rose with anger. "Is it not enough that you used me and my affections for your own twisted pleasure but you had to press my family into this mess as well?"
"Excuse me?" Her eyes snapped from his pocket to his face, the brown orbs wide with incredulity. "I used you and your affections? What delusional world have you been living in? I did no such thing." Ron frowned with displeasure before turning and striding towards a half closed door a short distance down the darkened corridor. "Don't you walk away from me Ronald Weasley." She said striding irately after him. "Where are we? Where have you taken me?
Ignoring her, Ron pushed open the door of his study and went inside, not bothering to wait and see if she followed. "I've taken you to my home." He said, striding through the darkening room to the liquor cabinet in the corner. He pulled the stopper out of a large bottle of whiskey and splashed a generous amount into a clean glass. Exhaling heavily he set the bottle down with a loud thump. "Please don't touch anything."
Hermione, who had been just about to straighten one of the picture frames on the near by wall, snatched her hand away and hid it awkwardly behind the folds of her robes. "Why did you bring me here? And what was that you just did with your wand?" She asked quickly, trying to hide her discomfort behind words.
"I brought you here so we could talk privately." He turned to face her, leaning his hip against the liquor cabinet. "You did wish to talk, didn't you?"
"Not when you're like this. I insist you take me back to the Burrow."
"Hermione, it's now or never. I never had any desire to have this conversation in the first place and would personally much rather leave this all in the past where it belongs and go about disregarding your existence, but since you seem to insist upon it we will finish it now or not at all. It's your decision. Whatever else you could possibly have to say to me after that display back at the Burrow I don't know, but I am anxious to hear it. So go on. Tell me. What else have I done to you?"
Hermione's back stiffened at the bitter edge in his voice. She could tell Ron was seconds away from losing control of his temper. His fingers were wrapped tight around his glass to the point where the knuckles were turning white and his jaw was so stiff it looked almost painful. But it was his eyes that frightened her most of all. They were bright with an inner rage that turned them the dark shade of a sapphire. "I…" she swallowed nervously, "I think you should take me back."
"No. Not until we have this all out. Whatever else you have to say to me my family doesn't need to be privy too. And trust me, you don't want them to hear what I have to say to you."
"What do you have to say that your family couldn't hear?"
"Oh I don't know," he took a slow sip from his glass. "Perhaps that you're a manipulative, calculating, slag."
Hermione squared her shoulders and stiffened her chin. "You already told them that." She said evenly, refusing to let him see that his words had any effect on her.
"Did I?" He pushed away from the cabinet to step in front of her, using his daunting height to try and cow her. He leaned over her as he took one step forward and then another, forcing her to look up at him as he backed her into the wall. "Did I also tell them that you are a two faced bitch. A high and mighty, snobbish whore, who finds enjoyment in sleeping with people who she finds beneath her?"
Hermione's fingers curled into tight fists. "No." She said coldly, shoving him away. "You didn't."
"Too bad. I think they should know that about you as well." He left her pressed against the wall as he walked away, lifting his drink to his lips and taking a liberal pull.
"You're heartless bastard." She threw back at him.
"You've already said that. Come now, Hermione," He turned about to face her. "You were so eager to share all my perceived faults in front of my family, what's different now? No one around to hear you slander my name?"
"Your perceived faults?" She asked sharply, stepping away from the wall, angry with herself for letting him intimidate her into submission. Forgetting her unease as her own temper began to resurface she took a few more steps into the room. "There was nothing perceived about what I said. It was all true. You took advantage of my vulnerability then tossed me aside when you were finished with me, like I was a play thing only there for your enjoyment."
"I seem to recall things differently. As much as I remember you didn't have any objections to my presence until afterwards. Not until you got what you wanted and realized who exactly you had gotten it with."
"You think I took advantage of you?" She cried with disbelief. "Who out of the two of us has a history of taking advantage of the other? In case I need to refresh your memory that would be you. Not me. You took advantage of me and my kindness all through school, and that night was no different. You took advantage of my vulnerability."
"Your vulnerability?" Ron snorted bitterly. "That's a laugh. You don't know what that word means. You never let anyone into that tight, controlled little world you live in. You only ever let people in when you need something from them. What did you need from me that night? A quick shag? A diversion to keep yourself from thinking about what had happened? Damn it, Hermione! Did you really think so little of me? Was I that repulsive to you? Was the idea of sleeping with me so disgusting that you had to scream at me like that?" She watched the ball move in his throat as he swallowed, displaying the first glimpse of emotion since leaving the garden.
Hermione's eyes widened with uncertainty. "You said it was a mistake."
"Only because you did." He said sharply as he turned and walked to the opposite end of the room where he looked out his window into the back garden.
"What?"
"Stop it." He snarled with anger, his fingers biting into the wood of the sill. "Don't pretend like you don't know exactly what was going on that morning. You knew how I felt about you. You knew and you used it to your advantage." He swallowed past the lump in his throat. "You knew I was going to tell you I loved you."
Hermione's eyes widened as her mouth dropped open. "No. That's not possible."
"What do you mean that's not possible?"
Hermione shook her head frantically. "Don't lie to me, Ron. Don't."
Ron turned sharply to face her. "What point would there be in lying to you now? All these years later? What could I possibly have to gain?"
"But..." she shook her head, completely stunned, "I didn't know. I swear…"
"Stop lying!" He roared, his voice echoing off the walls and causing her to flinch. "I'm tired of you lying to me."
"Ron, I swear," She held up her hands beseechingly. "I had no idea."
Ron stared her down with his cold blue eyes. "I don't believe you." He tossed back the rest of his glass before slamming it down on his desk. He turned and replaced his hands on the windowsill, leaned forward and pressed his forehead against the cool pane of glass.
"It's true." Hermione closed her eyes as the enormity of all that went wrong that morning five years ago began to wash over her. "I didn't know." She covered her face with her hands. "If I had I never would have said what I did."
"Right. If you think for one moment I'm going to believe that you're as delusional as I was all those years ago."
"But Ron…"
"Do you know what the worst part is?" He turned his head to glare back over his shoulder at her. "I suffered under that delusion for years. For four years while we were at school and for two years after you had left. I tormented myself for six years trying to prove I was good enough for you. And finally one day it came to me. It didn't matter." He returned his focus outside. "You would never feel about me the way I felt about you. Suddenly I no longer wanted to just prove I was good enough for you, I wanted to prove I was better. And I did." He pushed confidently away from the sill as he turned to look at her. "Look what I've done, Hermione. Look at what all I accomplished without you." He extended his hands wide. "I did all this."
Hermione reluctantly looked about and could not help but feel admiration. If the rest of the house was as well put together as this room then he had indeed done well. "It's beautiful."
"I knew you would like it." He dropped his hands. "When I bought this house I had you in mind."
"You did?"
"Yes. Despite the fact that you had left me, ran away to Spain, and refused to speak with me. I was still convinced that when you came back we could be together. That my dreams were not the foolish wishings of a naïve boy. But you didn't come back. You didn't come back, you didn't write and two and a half years passed. And finally when I couldn't take it anymore I gave up on that dream. This is my house now. My home. I paid for it with my earnings. I did it. Despite your lack of faith in me, or more aptly because of it. I did it all. I proved I was better then you. And you can't take that away from me."
She shook her head sadly. "I never thought I was better then you." Her voice cracked.
"Please, stop insulting me with your lies."
"I'm not." She cried. "I never thought I was better then you. Don't you understand? I was scared. I didn't want to lose you."
"Lose me? You never had me."
"Your friendship was the most important thing in my life. I was terrified to lose that."
"I don't think you chose the right way of conveying that message. Screaming that you couldn't believe you had let yourself sleep with me and that it was all a colossal mistake, something that never should have happened was not the way to go about it."
"I wasn't thinking straight." She took another step towards him. "Ron, you don't understand."
"You're right about that."
Hermione stuck her fingers through her mass of hair in frustration and gripped tightly. She was losing him. She could feel it. Past experience said anything was better than the cold indifference he was displaying now. Even righteous anger would have been better. At least then she would know he was feeling something. She could work with that. But this… She needed to do something drastic or all hope of reconciliation would be lost. But as terrifying as that thought was she couldn't help but feel a meagre amount of inner joy. He had loved her. He said it himself. He had loved her once. If he could find the courage to admit that to her now then she could surely find the strength to do the same.
"Ron," she ran her tongue over her dry lips. "You were my world." She said tentatively and cringed when she saw him flinch at her words. "You meant everything to me." She persisted, shortening the gap between them until she was standing directly behind him. Tentatively she placed a hand on his shoulder only to have him move stiffly away to the other window. "Don't you see?" She said desperately. "I was in love with you? I would have done anything for you. I sacrificed my happiness because I thought that was what you wanted."
Ron turned slowly to face her. "You thought I wanted you to rip my heart out?"
"No!"
"Because that's what you did."
Hermione shook her head desperately.
"My God," Ron thread his fingers through his dark red hair, causing it to stand on end. "Don't you get it? Before you woke up I was the happiest I had ever been in my life. I thought after all those years of struggling and fighting and almosts we had finally gotten it right." He lowered his head until his chin was just above his chest. "I was trying to find the right words to tell you I love you. I was debating whether I should tell you as soon as you woke up or wait and take you to dinner somewhere nice. I was such a fool. I could see our entire life together spread out before me. The way I would propose to you, not straight away of course, but soon. I imagined what it would feel like to wake up with you in my arms every morning. I thought about how many children we would have, and what they would look like. Did you know I couldn't hold a baby for years? I wanted to. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. Everyone thought I was too terrified to hold a baby and I let them think that because I didn't want them to know the truth. I couldn't even bring myself to hold Si until he was nearly two years old and he's my godson."
"But why?"
"Because," Ron focused on the swing swaying gently in the wind outside the window. "Every time I tried I only saw that baby I had dreamed about having with you. Every new baby born into the family was another sharp reminder that I would never get to have one with you. And then after some time I came to accept that fact, but it was still a struggle. I was terrified that if I dared hold one all those old feelings would come rushing back to smother me."
"Ron, I…"
"So there you have it." he sank onto the window sill, propped his elbows on his knees, and cupped his head in his hands. "You know all the pathetic details of my affections for you. You can go ahead now and laugh."
"Why would I do that?" Hermione lifted her hand to place it comfortingly on the crown of his head but stopped before her fingers could touch the soft strands. "I wanted all that as well."
"Then why?" Ron lifted his head off his hands to reveal eyes wet with shame. "Why did you do that?"
Hermione brushed away the tear that escaped from her eye. "Because, I didn't think you wanted me."
"You didn't think I wanted you?" he asked dumbly.
She shook her head once.
"Hermione think, what other reason would I have had for sleeping with you? Witches were throwing themselves at me and Harry. If all I wanted was a quick shag I could have picked any one of them."
"I didn't think of that." She latched onto her face and her fingernails gouged in deep to her cheeks, milking the colour out of her tanned skin. "It all made sense to me at the time. I thought you had slept with me out of psychological desire to reaffirm your life."
"You though what?"
"Don't look at me like I'm mental." She stomped her foot. "It's real. When a person survives a traumatic, life threatening, experiences he or she has a biological need to reassert that they survived."
"And you thought that was what happened between us."
"It was the only explanation I could think of."
"And it never crossed your mind that I might have slept with you because I loved you?"
"No." She lowered her face to hide her anguish. "You had already made it perfectly clear that you didn't want me."
"How do you reckon that?"
"Sixth year." She said in a barely audible whisper. "Don't you recall? I invited you to attend Slughorn's party with me and you accepted my invitation then turned around and started snogging Lavender Brown. Talk about ripping the heart out of someone's chest. You couldn't have hurt me more if you had shagged her right in front of me. But like the masochistic fool that I was I continued to hope that one day you would look at me the same way that I looked at you. But you never did." Hermione lifted her face bravely as she tried in vain to stop the flow of tears. "And then we slept together and I panicked. You never gave me any reason to believe you wanted anything more than a quick shag from me and your behaviour with Lavender the year before did not help to prove otherwise. I knew you didn't want me and I knew you would regret what we did or feel obligated to make amends somehow and my deepest fear was that you would do that by being with me when you really didn't wish to be. I couldn't allow that to happen. I didn't want to be with you if you were only with me out of pity. And because I was so in love with you I tried to give you a way out without making you feel awkward or guilty. So yes, I said it. I told you it was a mistake, that we never should have done it and that we should forget that it had ever happened because I didn't want to lose you or your friendship. And irony of all irony," her voice trembled with unshed tears, "I lost it anyway."
Ron's mouth had parted with astonishment. "For fucks sake, Hermione," he rose from his seat on the sill. "Why would you do that?"
"I told you I…"
"Damn it, Hermione. You're too brainy for you own good. You over think things and assume the worst about people without giving them a chance. Why couldn't you have just taken a chance on me? Why couldn't you have given me the opportunity to be the better man?"
"You still could have been the better man. You could have taken that chance."
"How do you reckon?"
"You could have denied it. You could have said it wasn't a mistake."
"Are you insane? Hermione," he gripped his hair as he paced a few steps, "I was a seventeen year old boy who, using your own words, had the emotional range of a teaspoon. It terrified me that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. Don't you think you were asking a bit much?"
"You were a Gryffindor!"
"So were you!"
Hermione turned her face away.
Ron pressed the pads of his hands into his eyes as he took several deep breaths. "If you wanted to remain my friend, why did you avoid me? Why didn't you answer any of my owls?"
Hermione wrapped her arms around her middle. "I don't know." She turned her back to him. "I…I needed time. It was too much to take in. What with the end of the war, sleeping with you, what that meant in regards to our friendship. I couldn't handle it all."
"And you couldn't have told me that? I would have understood. Don't you think I was struggling with the same issues? We could have dealt with it together. All it would have taken was one response to my owls, just so I knew you were alright."
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry's not good enough." He resumed pacing. "It doesn't change anything. It doesn't erase all the harsh words we've said to each other. All this time we've spent loathing each other. I didn't want to lose you either. Despite everything you said and did I was still in love with you. I still wanted to make things right. And I tried." He stopped and turned to face her. "I came to your home. I asked to speak with you. But your parents turned me away, on your order. And don't," he sternly pointed a finger at her, "try and deny it. I heard you speaking with them before I rang the bell. Do you have any idea what that felt like?"
"No." her voice cracked.
"All I wanted was to make certain you were alright and that things had returned to normal like you said they would. But you didn't want to see me. And that's when I came to the realization that you thought I wasn't good enough for you. I always suspected you didn't."
"What?"
"You never belittled Harry the way you did me."
"I never beli..."
"You did all the time. Nothing I ever did was good enough for you. I wasn't smart enough, clean enough, athletic enough. I ate and slept too much. I wasn't kind enough."
"You misunderstood..."
"How do you misunderstand that?"
"I only ever wanted you to be the best you could be. Do you think if I hadn't cared so much I would have tried so hard or worried so much about you? That's why I focused more on you then Harry. I didn't care as much about him. And besides, what about you? You treated me like I wasn't good enough for you either."
"I did not."
"Oh please. I was too bookish. How many times did you tell me I was an obnoxious know-it-all? I wasn't pretty like Lavender of Fleur and so not worth your notice. It took you four years to even realize I was a girl. And look how that turned out for me. And," she jabbed a finger into his chest, "I wasn't the only one who didn't respond to owls. I tried for three weeks to contact you and you didn't respond in turn."
"When was this?"
"After you came to my house. I felt guilty for not coming down to speak with you and I tried to make amends."
Ron crossed his arms over his chest. "Unlike you, I have a reasonable explanation as to why I didn't respond."
"And that would be?"
"I went directly to the Ministry after leaving your house and signed up with the Aurors. I foolishly thought it was the only way I could prove my worth to you."
"I don't understand how that can be considered a reasonable explanation?"
"Trainees are not allowed correspondences until their fifth week in the program."
Hermione's eyes grew wide with realization. "I didn't know that."
"Everyone knows that."
"I didn't!" she snapped. "Besides, what use would that knowledge have done me? I didn't know you had any intention of being an Auror. I heard nothing of it until Ginny wrote me that you had graduated."
"Similar to how your parents had to tell me you moved to Spain well after you had left?' Hermione opened her mouth to protest but closed it. There was nothing she could say to that. "Why didn't you tell me about the job offer?"
"We weren't speaking and…"
"You knew before the final battle. Harry told me you were offered the job in May, which was well before we stopped talking to each other."
Hermione lowered her eyes as she gnawed painfully on her lip. "I didn't feel I could tell you."
"Why?"
"Because you were the only reason I had for not taking it." She picked aimlessly at one of the buttons lining the front of her robes. "You were my deciding factor, Ron. I would have turned it down, all of it, in a heartbeat if I had thought for one moment we actually had a chance of being together. I accepted the job because I thought it would do us both good to have that time apart. I never thought we would go so long without speaking."
"Yes, well…"
"And I never thought you would hate me so much when I returned."
"You gave me five years in which you never wrote to stew. I would have hated Harry for less."
"I didn't think you wanted to hear from me."
"I didn't want anything to do with you." He clarified.
"I know."
"I would have been perfectly content to never seen you again."
"I know that as well."
Silence fell between them for several long minutes. "Why did you have to go after Parker?" Ron finally asked. "Why did it have to be him?" His eyes had the uncanny ability to feel like they boar into her.
"I didn't go after him."
"You didn't steer clear of him either." Ron said angrily, charging slowly toward her. "I asked you to leave him alone."
"And why was that exactly?" Hermione turned to face him with her hands planted firmly on her hips and her right toe tapping an aggravated pattern. "What reason did you have for asking that of Parker and me? What was it? Were you scared he would actually make me happy?"
"No."
"Then what?" She stepped closer when he didn't answer. "What?"
"You weren't the right person for him."
Hermione took another angry step. "Shouldn't he have been allowed to make that decision for himself?"
"No."
"No?" she asked with mock surprise. "Does that mean you don't trust him? Your second in command?"
"Yes. I mean no. I mean…" His face flushed with colour.
"Well, what is it?" She took another step, stopping directly in front of him. "Yes or no?"
Angry with Hermione for flustering him so, Ron straightened to his full daunting height. "Parker Gale is not the man for you and I'll advise you to stay away from him." He said in what he hopped was his most commanding voice.
"Or what?" She jabbed him in the chest. "What?' She jabbed again. "You'll humiliate me in front of the people I love? You've already done then. Bully me? Manhandle me? Break my heart? What's left? You've already done it all. I suppose you could always demolish my reputation at the Ministry. Or you could continue to do what you've already started and chase away my every chance at happiness. When is this going to end, Ron? How long are you going to punish me for something that happened five years ago? Something we both had an equal part in bringing about? Must I continue to be miserable and alone because you're too cowardly to find your own happiness?"
Ron's hands darted suddenly forward and latched onto her arms, drawing her abruptly to his chest. "Parker Gale is not the right man for you." He snarled through gritted teeth.
Hermione stared unblinkingly into his blue eyes. "And you think you know who is?"
"I didn't say that."
"Well is stands to reason if you know Parker is not the right man for me you must know who is. Tell me Ron," She threw his hands off. "What low life scum do you think I'm worthy of? That's what I thought." She said when he remained quiet. "I'm meant to be alone aren't I? Don't worry," she took a step back, "After my last experience with you I'll never trust a man again. You know what," she asked as she walked towards the door. "I think I'll go see if I can find Parker and learn what exactly he had in mind for me. A meaningless shag anywhere in Harry's house doesn't sound so bad right about now."
"Hermione, stop."
"You can't tell me what to do." She said dismissively over her shoulder.
Before her fingers could brush the handle of the door a strong hand wrapped around her arm and pulled her back. "Don't even think about it." He snarled into her face.
"And why not?" she tried to pull free of his grasp. "That's all I'm good for, isn't it? A quick shag? That's what you told Parker."
"I'm sorry." He said uneasily. "I shouldn't have said that. I was angry."
"You were right before. Sometimes sorry isn't good enough." She pulled her wrist free. "If you're really sorry, you'll leave me alone and stop intervening between me and Parker."
"I can't do that." He said through gritted teeth.
"Why? Why not?"
"Because," he latched on to her upper arms. "You aren't meant to be with him," he brought her so that their faces were a breath apart. "You're meant to be with me." He shook her slightly. "Damn it. It's always been me. Don't you understand that? It drives me mad to see another man look at you. To touch you the way only I should be allowed to. It makes me so mad with jealousy I can't think straight. It took every ounce of restraint I had not to pummel Parker at Blake's naming ceremony, friend or no, for so much as even touching you. I can't do it, Hermione. I can't leave you alone. I never could."
Ron couldn't move, unable to believe he had said all that he had. He stared transfixed into her eyes. They glowed bright with a passion that held him captive in their hypnotic depths. His blue eyes left her brown ones to find the two soft lips that fell open when his sight touched them, forcing him to swallow and fight back the overwhelming hunger to bend his head and take what he most desired. She tilted her chin back and her tongue darted out to wet her lips and Ron felt himself being drawn compellingly toward her only to stop a breath away from what he craved most. His hands left her arms to cup her face and hold it still as he bent his brow to hers. His eyes fell closed. "I can't do this."
"What?" she gasped as his hands fell away and he took a step back. "Ron…"
"Go." He turned his back to her. "Before we both do something we'll regret in the morning."
"I don't understand. I thought..."
"Hermione, please," his voice was high with desperation. "I won't survive another heartbreak from you. Not now. I couldn't endure that on top of everything else."
"Ron," she slipped her arms around his middle and rested her cheek against his shoulder, closing her eyes regretfully when she felt him cringe at her touch. "Ron…I love you."
"Don't say that." He put his hands to her wrists, preparing to pry them from around his middle only to have her tense and grip him tighter. "Hermione, don't. Don't lie to me. I can't..."
"I'm not lying." She turned her face to press a kiss to his shoulder blade. "I lov…"
"How can you say that?" He tore angrily out of her arms and put the length of the room between them. "Do you hear yourself? Hermione, you hate me. I hate you."
She flinched at his words. "No. This has all just been a misunderstanding."
"It doesn't work that way." He said adamantly. "You can't just say it was all a misunderstanding and make it go away. We've hurt each other badly. We haven't spoken in years. I-I'm not the same person I was."
"Yes you are."
"And that's another reason." He used his hand to gesture at her, "You can't see me for the man I am now. I've changed. So don't pretend to have feelings for me that you couldn't possibly have."
"But I do." She seemed to come apart in front of his eyes. She drew in an unsteady breath as her eyes brimmed over with tears. "Since the first day I returned to England everyone has tried to tell me how much you've changed. How mature and responsible you've become. But it's not true, you haven't changed. Not really. It's just that you've finally let everyone else see what I've always known was inside of you. And as much as you try and hide it, the boy that I fell I love with is still inside you. You're just as brave, stubborn, loyal, opinionated and clever as he ever was. I love who you've let yourself become. And my God Ron, the way you so obviously love Blake. You're so wonderful with her. I fell in love with you all over again the first time I saw you with her, but I was too stupid and stubborn to admit it even to myself. But I'm not going to do that anymore. You're right. I should have taken a chance five years ago. If I had we could have had all these years together. I would give anything to take that back. But I can't. So I'm going to take that chance now." She held her hand out to him beseechingly, "Ron please, I love you. I love everything about you. I always have, I always will."
Her words hung heavy and unanswered in the air between them. Ron remained where he was, frozen as if by a charm and Hermione, taking his silence for rejection, collapsed. Gasping with pain she turned away from him. Wrapping her arms around her middle she bent forward trying to stop the sobs from escaping her lips, her shoulders trembling violently from the effort.
"Gods Hermione," Ron croaked. "Don't cry." He hurried across the room and took her in his arms, turning her about and drawing her tight into his embrace, pressing her face into his chest. "I hate it when you cry." His fingers tangled in her hair. "Please love," he tilted her chin up. "Don't. I can't bear it." He slid his fingers tenderly along her jaw line until they cupped her cheek lovingly. He closed his eyes and leaned his brow against hers. "Merlin help me, but I love you. I love you so much. Please love. Please stop crying."
For a moment Hermione's heart seemed to stop as his words penetrated the haze of misery clouding her brain and sweet relief coursed through her body, breaking down the last of her control. She clung to him desperately as her knees gave out beneath her. Ron's arms swooped down and caught her easily, lifting her back onto her feet and moulding her body tenderly to his. "Hermione," he whispered, his nose bumping lightly against hers, stopping him from seeking more. "I really want to kiss you."
Laughing through her tears of relief at the near absurdity of his statement, Hermione let her fingers drift across the sharp line of his jaw, cupping his face in between her hands and drawing him near. The first touch of their lips was hesitant and soft, both too frightened to seek more, but there was no denying the electricity that speed through their bodies at the contact. All hesitancy disappeared in the wake of urgency as their mouths came together, lips parting, tongues seeking, both desperate for the others touch.
Frantic for more contact Ron stepped into her, slowly backing her into the wall behind them. He couldn't seem to touch her enough. His hands grazed her body from hip to shoulder blade, the barrier of her robes too much for them both. Growling with frustration Ron attacked the buttons of her robes, freeing just enough so that he could push the garment off her shoulders and let it slide easily to the floor. Free of the bulky hindrance, Ron set his hands on her waist and moulded her contours to his. Moaning with desire, Hermione surrendered fully to his touch, eyes falling closed as his fingers grazed the curve of her breast before cupping it tenderly. Hermione's fingers slid out of his hair and onto his neck, resting there a moment before she twined her arms about him, using them as leverage to life first one foot, then the other, off the floor and too wrap her legs around his hips bringing him into contact where she wanted him most.
With a mighty struggle Ron tore his lips from Hermione's and pressed hungry kisses to her neck. "Merlin, what you do to me."
Hermione chuckled as she struggled with the top buttons of his robes, then his shirt beneath. When there was enough of a gap she dipped her head and pressed her lips to the exposed skin as she continued to work on the rest.
"Hermione?" He said desperately, his fingers tightening on her hips.
She lifted her eyes to his and saw the question there. Biting her lip, she smiled impishly as she leaned in for a kiss before pulling away, resting her back against the wall and reaching for the top buttons of her blouse. Growling with passion Ron swooped in and captured her lips hungrily.