Chapter nine: Back under the Tree

WHOOSH!

Ron and Hermione fell back into the Burrow from the floo powder. It was almost lunchtime now, and nobody was downstairs except for the two hopeful lovers.

"Ginny must still be upstairs," said Ron, getting soot out of his hair and cloak.

"Where's your mum?" asked Hermione.

"I'll check the clock. Ahh here," pointed Ron.

Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, and George all were listed as "away," on the Weasley family clock. Mr. Weasley was listed as "work," and Ginny and Ron were listed as "home." Mrs. Weasley was listed as "shops."

"Yeah," said Ron. "Sometimes mum goes to Whimpleton to do some shopping. It's her excuse to get out of the house too."

"Soooooo…." said Hermione, grabbing his hand. "What do you want to do now?"

"You hungry?" asked Ron.

"Not really," said Hermione. Just then Ron's stomach grumbled. Hermione's stomach grumbled a little too.

"Oh c'mon you must be a little hungry. You didn't eat much last night and you skipped breakfast this morning."

"Oh, maybe a little bit," admitted Hermione. "But I'm not starving."

"Well, I'm hungry. We have some leftover egg n' cress sandwiches. You want one?" asked Ron.

"No it's okay," said Hermione. She was worried about her breath smelling if something of significance was to happen later.

"Suit yourself," said Ron casually as he grabbed the leftovers from their magic refrigerator. It was nice having magic appliances. It meant there was rarely a need for electricity, convenient since the Burrow was very isolated from civilization. Temperature spells were placed on the refrigerator after coming into the wizarding world shops to perfectly preserve leftover foods at their ideal cool temperatures. Hermione, herself, was impressed at how wizards could have their own versions of muggle conveniences.

"We have cucumbers," said Ron. "I'll make you a cucumber sandwich if you want one?"

"No, it's okay, Ron. I'll make it myself," said Hermione quickly.

"No, Hermione," said Ron. "I'm the host, and you're the guest. I'll do it. Now do you want cream cheese or mayo?"

"No it's okay. I'll take it plain," said Hermione.

"Okay then," said Ron, cutting up a cucumber with a knife like a Muggle, longing for the day when he could learn the spells to help with mundane housework.

Hermione was looking at the back of Ron's red hair, daydreaming.

"Here you go," said Ron, giving her a couple of small cut sandwiches with fresh cucumbers inside.

"Thanks," said Hermione softly, grinning at him.

Ron made Hermione's portion smaller than his since she said she wasn't terribly hungry. Ron still finished before she did as she was eating particularly slowly.

Ron got up and went to the bathroom as Hermione sat there finishing her sandwich in the kitchen. She was examining the house around her, enamored with it all. This is like a second family to me. What if they could be my future in-laws? Hermione Jean Weasley. Oh my. That would be perfect. This house is so wonderful too. All the magic, and it's so secluded. It's perfect. Okay, just finish your sandwich. Ooo but I'm not hungry though. I'm still nervous. He's gonna think I'm weird. Okay. Relax. He's your best friend, and you've known him for years. You're not gonna mess anything up now. He's glad you're here.

Ron came back. "Are you gonna finish that sandwich?" he asked, eyeing her plate with suspicion.

"No. I'm already full," said Hermione.

"Don't have to tell me twice," he said, picking up the rest of her sandwich and finishing it in one bite.

"Oh! Somebody was hungry," smirked Hermione.

"I'm always hungry," said Ron, playing at Hermione.

"I know you are."

Ron grinned. "You wanna head back to where we were yesterday, then?"

"Only if you want to," she said.

"Okay, let's go," he said, grabbing her hand. They proceeded out to the old oak tree they had been at yesterday and resumed their positions as if they had never left. Ron put his arm around Hermione as she leaned on him, holding his other hand. Her left arm occasionally rubbed up and down his back as they sat and enjoyed the shade. Storm clouds were beginning to form, also providing an additional layer of shade.

"I've had a good time so far," said Ron. "You're absolutely brilliant."

"Me too. This has been so therapeutic for us." said Hermione. "I think we could have dated a long time ago if we knew that we liked each other like this. I was so sure you didn't like me."

"I was so sure you didn't like me either," admitted Ron. "I was rude to you, Hermione. I've been a git. It's time I came clean and stopped acting like that."

"Ron, it's okay."

"No it's not. It's time I told you about it," Ron said, feeling nervous again.

Hermione was quiet. She didn't want to ruin their chances. She didn't want it to be her fault, but she wanted to hear his side of the story.

"I was mean to you and immature in my first year. I was mean to you and Crookshanks in third year when I really should have been grateful. I was mean to you when you went out with Krum. I was mean to you when you were helping me in my first-year classes. I was mean to you when I dated Lavender. If I'm being totally honest with myself, I think you deserve better than me, Hermione."

"Ron," said Hermione. She sat up, leaving his protective embrace, and made eye contact with him, increasing the sincerity of her following statement. "You had your reasons for behaving the way you did, and I had mine. I've forgiven you. You've forgiven me. It's okay."

"No it's not" he said. "I feel bloody awful. I should have just bloody asked you to go with me to the Yule Ball instead of searching for other girls. I never would've guessed you would've wanted to go with me. Figured it would've made things awkward between us if I came out and asked you. Know what I mean?"

"I would have LOVED it if you had asked me to go to the Yule Ball," said Hermione. "We would have had such a fantastic night!"

"Really?" asked Ron.

"Probably!" said Hermione. "I might have gotten a little braver and behaved myself a little more around you if I thought you liked me like that."

"Oh...there were signs," said Ron sheepishly.

"Signs?" she asked.

"That I liked you. I guess."

"Like what signs?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Like remember when I defended you to Snape when he taught DADA that one time in third year? I told him that he needed to stop asking questions if he didn't want an answer after he snapped at you."

"You have no idea how much better that made me feel," said Hermione.

"You remember how awkward I was when you hugged me after apologizing about Scabbers?"

"No not really," said Hermione, smiling. "But I remember hugging you. I truly was sorry about Scabbers, not knowing who he really was. I wanted us to reconcile after we had been fighting, and hugging you just seemed right at the time."

"Well...it was one of my turning points in how I saw you," admitted Ron. "I was so awkward when you hugged me because truthfully it felt divine when you did so, although I didn't want to admit it to myself."

Hermione frowned, wanting to question why he would have trouble admitting his feelings for her, but Ron continued.

"Remember how upset I was when you went to the Yule Ball with Victor Krum?"

"Yeah..." said Hermione softly, feeling blue at the memory.

"I was bloody jealous is what it was, but I didn't want to tell you that. I was too scared to tell you, but seeing you with him just set me on edge. I had to do something."

"I knew something was up, but I didn't know what," admitted Hermione. "I suspected you were a little jealous but I didn't really know. I had refused to believe it was because you liked me like that though."

Ron gave her a weak smile, feeling bad about the fight.

"If I being deeply, truthfully honest..." said Ron slowly and awkwardly. "I was jealous of you and Harry too."

"WHAT?" said Hermione, almost wanting to laugh, but refraining once she saw the sad look on Ron's face.

"Yeah," said Ron with a lump in his throat. "You kept complimenting him on stuff and was talking about how fanciable he was and how tall he was getting and stuff like that..."

Hermione looked embarassed. "Ron," she said softly, squeezing his hand, "Look at me."

Ron obeyed, only to find himself intimidated by her again.

"I probably went a little overboard saying some of that stuff to him. I know he doesn't like me like that. I can just tell, so I didn't feel weird saying that stuff to him. But I wasn't really thinking of the repercussions of how you would take it. I just assumed you knew I was talking about that stuff from the perspective of how other girls would see him, not me. He's just a friend, and a best friend. Like a brother, you know?"

"I guess..." said Ron. "Still made me feel bloody awful. Dunno if you could tell. Sometimes I tried to hide my feelings, and sometimes I couldn't help but get really angry inside."

Hermione looked saddened again. "Ron, I'm so sorry if I ever communicated to you that I had feelings for Harry like that. I care about him very very much, just like you do. But that's it. I don't love him like I love you."

"Okay," said Ron, sounding unconvinced.

"What will it take for me to prove to you that that's true?" asked Hermione, gripping his hand, still having a worried look on her face.

"I don't know," said Ron softly, avoiding her gaze again.

"Well, think of something, so I can prove to you that I love you and you alone," said Hermione, wanting Ron to look at her.

"Maybe it'll just take some time, for now," said Ron. "So we can understand each other better. I don't know."

"That's a start," said Hermione. "I can see now where I've made some mistakes and will try to do better for your sake. For our sakes."

"I'm gonna try to do better too," said Ron.

Hermione squeezed his hand in affirmation but still looked sadly into his longing eyes, wanting him to reciprocate some affection.

"Remember when I told you I loved you earlier this year?" Ron asked.

"Hmmm... Let me think," said Hermione sarcastically. "How could I forget? I thought you were just being cool and said it as a compliment to me helping you with your homework. I told you not to let Lavender hear you saying that."

"Well, I wouldn't tell Harry I love him, would I? And he's my best friend," he said, grinning now.

Hermione laughed, glad to see him smiling.

Then Ron said, moving a little closer to her face, "in fact, I wouldn't tell anyone else that."

"Really?" asked Hermione, noticing that her palms were sweaty now.

"Really. I would only tell you that."

"You never told Lavender that you loved her?" Hermione asked.

Ron moved back. "Nope. It was pretty awkward too. She gave me pet names and told me she loved me, but I could only respond with "yeah," and "same," and other words that could get the message across without actually using the L-word. I never loved her, Hermione. I was just getting back at you cause I thought you snogged Krum and you still liked him and wanted to date him. I was so glad to be rid of Lavender though. That was a huge mistake on my part."

"Ron," she said. She was biting her lip again.

"Uh oh," he said. "You're biting your lip again. You still like Krum don't you?" He was being halfway serious and halfway funny.

"No!" she said quickly, almost interrupting him. "Oh no. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice. I never liked Krum like that. Where did you hear that I snogged him?"

"Ginny…" muttered Ron angrily. He let go of Hermione's hands and was closing his eyes out frustration at his sister and that he had been beaten to Hermione's heart by his former idol, his worst nightmare.

"Ron," Hermione whispered. She was stroking his cheek now, her hand trembling. Ron was looking down.

"Ron, I never liked Krum like that. The truth is he kissed me briefly one time, a little too assertively I might add, when he asked me to go with him to Bulgaria. He had kissed my hand when we met. Then when we departed, he kissed me, VERY briefly."

"On the lips?" asked Ron enviously.

Hermione nodded, looking sad and putting her hands on his shoulders. She looked into his beautiful blue eyes. "Ron, look at me." He gazed into her gorgeous brown eyes and face.

"I was not expecting him to do that. I didn't like him like that, Ronald. I PROMISE. I barely even knew him. He was just some foreign guy that was nice to me and I thought he was just being sweet at first. But then he seemed interested in dating after the Yule Ball, and I told him no."

"You told him no?"

"Yes, but, truthfully, I kinda felt sorry for him," admitted Hermione. "So I told him we could be pen pals."

"Really?" said Ron, finding it hard to believe that a Quidditch superstar could be humbled by a teenage girl.

"Really. We've only written a couple of times since fourth year. I'll stop if you want."

"Well I'm not the biggest fan of it…." admitted Ron, still harboring feelings of animosity against his former idol.

"I'll stop immediately," interrupted Hermione. Her face couldn't help but give off a worried expression. I'll do anything for you.

"No it's okay," said Ron. "If you want to keep writing to him, you can."

"No, I can tell you don't like it. I don't want to do anything you don't like..."

"I want you to write to him if you want to, Hermione. Just, make sure he knows you don't fancy him," said Ron truthfully.

"Oh he already knew that. I'll try to stop writing to him if he writes me back though. I mean, come on. Surely he can find a witch who's interested in him for his Quidditch abilities," suggested Hermione.

"I know right? He's bloody Victor Krum!"

Hermione laughed.

"I'm glad you don't love him," said Ron, grabbing her hands again. They were facing each other sitting down in the grass.

"You're the only one I've ever truly loved," admitted Hermione moving closer to his face.

"Hermione..."

"Ron…"

They closed their eyes and their lips met. It was their first lip kiss. It lasted much longer than Hermione and Krum or Ron and Lavender. Their arms enveloped each other. Hermione's eyelids fluttered in ecstasy. Ron's heart was purring. Neither wanted it to end.

After a long while, they let go. They assumed their original position. Hermione was leaning and hugging on him. Ron was the one, this time, rubbing on Hermione's back. They were sweating slightly.

Hermione moaned. Then she moaned again, louder this time before she said, "Ugh, I love you Ronald Weasley!"

"I love you too, Hermione," said Ron as he was kissing the top of her bushy hair.

Hermione was having fantasies of her and Ron being the ones that replaced Bill and Fleur at the upcoming wedding. Ron was having similar fantasies of the night of their wedding.

"Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"I guess we're dating now, huh? Do you want us to date?" he asked, as if he didn't know the answer.

"Only if you want us to," said Hermione shyly, knowing he would say yes, but still trying to be cute.

"Let's" he said, beaming and chuckling a little out of sheer happiness.

Hermione shrieked in an extremely girly fashion. It was a side to Hermione that Ron could hardly believe existed but that he was eager to explore.

"Oh sorry!" she said.

"Don't," said Ron grinning. "This is only the beginning."

"The beginning of what?" she asked excitedly.

"Us. A new chapter," said Ron.

"Mmmm hmmm," moaned Hermione confidently as she nestled as deep as possible into his protective hold.

They sat outside for about another thirty minutes, occasionally kissing and talking about various experiences and past feelings, admitting secretly that they had been messing with each other all along and that it was destiny that brought them together, not just Harry. After that, it began to rain.

"Uh oh," said Ron. "Guess we'd better go inside if we don't want to get wet."

Hermione considered making an inappropriate comment to try to make Ron laugh but changed her mind. "Okay yeah. Let's go inside."

They kissed again briefly before holding hands and walking to the Burrow. When they were still fifty yards away from the door, it began raining more heavily so that Ron and Hermione began running towards the door, laughing at themselves for getting wet in the process. Then, they reached the Burrow, took off their traveling cloaks to dry, and waited for Ron's mother to get home from shopping. Ron wanted to tell his mother that he had found his lover and potentially his future wife. Hermione was happier and freer than she had ever felt before, as though a giant weight had been lifted off of her heart.