Author's Note: Hey everyone. This is it! The End!! Thank you to all my reviewers and all the people who read but didn't review. I really appreciate the support. I hope this ending is satisfying. I didn't do much of the mushy love stuff, simply because I lack experience in that scenario and I wanted to keep it as realistic as possible, so hopefully I do our heroes sweet justice. If not, don't be afraid to review and give me suggestions about how to make the love part better. Hope you enjoy the last chapter!

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Why am I doing this? Cause I don't trust Malfoy, of course. But Hermione wouldn't do anything with Malfoy. That's not the point. Ron left the common room and looked over the banister to the foot of the stairs. OH SHIT! Hermione and Malfoy were kissing...kissing! Ron wanted to rip Mafoy's and Hermione's throats out but couldn't. Instead, he ran back into the common room, slammed the door, causing everyone in the room to stare at an angry and hurt boy.

Ron walked over to Harry, who had Ginny in his lap, and yelled, "She's kissing him!" He felt used, in a sense. He could have sworn they had made a connection, more than friendship, in the common room two nights ago and she had made it completely meaningless by kissing Malfoy.

"What??" Harry asked, completely shocked. Hermione likes Ron!, he thought.

"She's kissing that piece of crap!" Ron said, pacing the floor in front of the fire furiously.

"Ron, I don't think you have the whole story," Ginny said calmly, trying to sooth her beyond agitate brother. Hermione had confided in her that she liked Ron; this new information about Malfoy didn't make sense in Ginny's mind.

"Oh shut up Ginny, I know what I saw!" Ron shot back, a mixture of anguish and rage in his voice.

Just then the portal opened revealing a perfectly calm Hermione. She looked at the furious Ron with genuine concern.

"Ron, what's wrong?" she asked innocently.

"What's wrong? What's wrong??" Ron asked, his voice raising with every word he spoke.

"Yes, what's wrong?" she said impatiently, but rather evenly.

"What's wrong is you snogging with Malfoy!" Ron yelled.

Everyone in the common room turned their heads to face Ron and Hermione. They all thought that this was one of their usual fights, but now it was getting interesting.

"You saw that?" she asked, shocked and scared. She could just imagine a worse rumor spread about her and Malfoy than her and Peter. "A Gryfindor prefect snogs and Slytherin prefect!" flashed through her mind quickly.

"Hell yes. Probably the most disgusting thing I ever saw! But then again, I shouldn't be surprised" Ron sneered. He didn't know what he was saying anymore, he was rambling with anger.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked, outraged.

"Well, you obviously like rich handsome guys." Ron said. "Vicky, the Quidditch player who could probably spend thousands of galleons on you. Peter, whose parents are rich Muggle movie stars...and Malfoy whose pure blood family throws money left and right! But he's not two to four years older than you, so I didn't think that you'd go for him. But really, I should have seen this coming!" Ron shouted at her. Hurt seeped into his voice no matter how hard he tried to control it. It was now a fact: Hermione Granger would be with any other guy before she would give Ron Weasley a second glance.

"Ron Weasley you are despicable! How can you say that?" she yelled furiously. Viktor and Peter were good people. Malfoy was, well, not.

"Of course, Ron is the evil one. Ron's always the terrible one, the wrong one, the crazy one, the stupid one!"

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Hermione retorted. "You are so stubborn!"

"Oh, of course, Ron the stubborn one. How could I forget that? Honestly, I'm just so many wonderful things, I just forget all the great qualities I have!" sarcasm dripping from his lips.

"Stop this, right now!" Hermione yelled. She felt like she was about to cry, but she wasn't going to in front of Ron, not tonight.

People in the common room started to leave, including Harry and Ginny. They sensed this was going to get particularly ugly and figured they shouldn't be here.

"You know damn well that you are only those things when you want to be, like right now! The fact that you could ever think that I could find Malfoy attractive is gross. Beyond gross! He has been nothing but terrible to me the entire time I've ever known him. How could I like him?" she asked indignantly.

"He's rich, powerful, I dunno. How am I supposed to know?" Ron retorted, waving his arms in anger. He's all these things that I'm not, he thought, and was disgusted at the fact that he was jealous of Malfoy.

"If you knew anything about me, you'd know I could care less about stuff like that!"

"Then why'd you kiss him?" Ron asked resentfully.

"He kissed me!" Hermione answered, picking up on the trace of resentment in Ron's voice. Does that mean...no, it meant nothing. Ron's just being a stupid git once again.

"Oh yeah?" Ron yelled, not believing her.

"Yeah! And you know what I did afterwards? I wiped my mouth and brushed my teeth because I was so disgusted!" she shouted back.

"Why'd you do that?" Ron asked, yelling still.

"Cause I don't care about him! How could I when I love you?!?!" she yelled back. Hermione immediately realized what she had said and covered her mouth before she could say anything else she would regret.

"Oh yeah? Well...YOU WHAT?" Ron asked, realizing what she said. His mouth was open in shock and he couldn't breath. This wasn't how he had imagined her telling him her feelings. His fantasies usually included Hermione whispering sweet-nothings in his ear and then confessing her undying love for him while giving him a back massage. But, this, then again, was reality.

Hermione was so scared and shocked and angry at herself for yelling that out. She had worked since the end of first year to keep her emotions a secret and in one second she made all that work null. She hated herself!

Ron couldn't look at her, his mind was racing. She just told him that she loved him, right? Right? He should be happy, right? He was in shock. Total shock. He had to say something though, something...

Hermione waited for what seemed like twenty minutes for a reply. None came. Anguish filled her, he didn't love her. How could she be this stupid? She needed to try and repair the damage, before their friendship was completely ruined and Ron wouldn't talk to her again because of the uncomfortableness; she couldn't let that happen, she wouldn't. "Uh, what, what I meant was that I, uh, I..."

"I love you," Ron said breathlessly, looking up at her, resolve in his eyes.

Hermione's eyes widened, her body started to tremble. Four years of hiding, four years of wishing and cursing and every possible emotion...he loves me. He loves me!! She stood there for a second, absorbing the elation she felt penetrating the depths of her heart that she hid from even herself. Looking up at him, she smiled and walked slowly over to him. She couldn't feel her legs. She could feel his shallow breaths on her face. He was so close to her...

She had more experience in these things than he did. He never kissed a girl, come to think of it. She gently ran her right hand through his hair, still trembling and smiling. He blushed, smiled and stroked her face with his fingertips. This was such a weird feeling for Ron, a mixture of nervousness, excitement, relief, and joy. She didn't like Malfoy, and she loved me. Poor, stubborn, slow-witted ME!

She closed her eyes, savoring his touch. Wherever his fingertip touched felt so hot on her cheek. She vowed that she would tell him all the wonderful things he was to her in a minute, but right now all she could thing about was his gentle trail over her jaw and down her neck.

Ron's eyes followed his fingers as they touched her smooth neck. He looked at her closed eyes, inhaled softly, and bent down to her. Lips, she felt soft lips on hers. Fire spread from her mouth to her cheeks, to her neck and then all over her body until she could have sworn later that her toes tingled as well. This was how a kiss was supposed to be. Ron pulled away slowly and exhaled, flushed with happiness. Hermione's eyes were still closed and she quickly placed her arms around his neck and pulled him back towards her to return the kiss. After Ron's initial shock at Hermione's bold behavior, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer still. When they stopped kissing, but still held each other, Hermione and Ron looked at each other, straight in the eyes.

"Sorry about that stuff I said, you know, about Malfoy and Vicky and Peter," Ron whispered.

"It's okay, really," Hermione replied. She wanted to kiss him some more and didn't even realize his mention of "Vicky."

"It's just that I...I was jealous" Ron admitted, looking down at the space that separated their bodies, which wasn't much.

Hermione was completely puzzled. "Jealous, of Malfoy?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah, he and the others," Ron said, still looking at the space.

"Others?"

"Others that have kissed you," he replied, a trace of resentment in his voice.

Hermione, for once, didn't know how to reply.

"I mean, I'm not rich like Malfoy, I'm not charming and handsome like Peter, and I'm not famous and desirable like Vicky. I'm the stubborn sidekick to the famous Harry Potter and the brother of charming, handsome, and desirable guys," Ron rambled quietly. Depression sinking in once again at the realization that he didn't deserve the girl he was holding in his arms. She was intelligent, witty, courageous, and beautiful in every possible way...and he was, well, not.

"Ron..." She didn't know how to say all she wanted to say. She had kept Ron's place in her heart hidden so deep that she was just beginning to break down the layers and walls she had built to protect herself from rejection for four years. "If you could only see yourself how I see you," she whispered, unsatisfied with her response. She had to try to say something to him to make him understand that he was so many things to her. She unclasped her hands from around his neck and led him to the couch. She finally realized that they were alone in the common room.

She thought for a moment and Ron looked tentatively at her. "At the end of first year, when you were the knight in that chess game and you had to sacrifice yourself so Harry and I could advance to the next part, I fell in love with you. I mean, I had just turned twelve and the logic inside of me said that this couldn't be love, but I knew I fell for you. Not because you were acting gallant, but because it was then that I realized what a good heart you have. Underneath the sarcasm and stubbornness and endless teasing I saw who you were, who you are. And at twelve, I tried to shoved this thought away. But every time you stood up for Harry or myself against Malfoy and every time you were willing to put others before yourself like back in the third year at the Shrieking Shack when you had that broken leg but was adamant about protecting Harry, I saw you again. And it hurt because I knew you didn't see me or didn't care to see me. I realized that you liked extremely beautiful girls like Fleur, the ones who can make all heads turn when she enters a room, not the uptight, bookish best friend types. So, I made myself forget about you romantically, or at least try. I went to the ball with Viktor, he was a nice guy. I liked Peter, and believe me, I could have sworn I was over you, but when he kissed me, there was nothing. Just like with Viktor and just like with Malfoy. Though Malfoy was just yucky. There was no spark, fire, whatever you want to call it. There was no connection with any of those guys and in the back of my head I knew it was because I hadn't let you go. I couldn't get over you. What I mean is that, I...I've loved you the whole time, but was too stubborn and scared to admit it. And besides being courageous, and selfless, intelligent despite poor work habits, thoughtful (most of the time) and incredibly handsome in my opinion, you have a good heart Ron, and no amount of fame, riches, charm, or desirability will get someone that. You just have it. So don't feel inadequate or anything like that, you're far from that," Hermione finished, hoping she had said everything she wanted to say to him for so long.

Ron blinked several times, trying to assess what Hermione had said. She loved me all along...he thought wistfully. He smiled, looked up at her, and kissed her which she gratefully returned. Warmth once again spread throughout her body and she hoped that he could feel that too. When they separated and she looked at him, her cheeks her bright red and he wore a rather silly grin. Hermione knew he had felt what she did.

"Yeah I had a crush on Fleur, but could you blame me? She was part veela...But I can't even remember when I started to have feelings for you. I know I had feelings for you when Malfoy called you a "Mudblood" for the first time in second year and I threw up slugs. I was beyond furious with him for that because he didn't see the wonderful person I saw, all he saw was a Muggle-born, and that's disgusting. But I do like the uptight bookish best friend type. And you are beautiful, don't doubt that," Ron replied, still grinning madly.

Albeit not as detailed as her history of her emotions, Hermione was touched. She swung her arms around him and he fell back onto the couch with her on top of him, just like two nights ago when she spilled her Voldemort experience to him.

"We seem to get into the position often, eh Hermione?" Ron joked, returning to his happy self after the amazing story Hermione told him. Hopefully he would remember her speech for the rest of his life.

Hermione laughed and kissed Ron briefly before placing her head on his chest.

Ron smiled at her and hoisted her gently to her knees on the couch so he could look at her eyes. She twiddled with his chain and ring around her neck mindlessly and Ron looked at her fiddling. "Uhh, Hermione? I uh, wanted to ask you something..." Ron's voice faded.

"Well, Ron..." Hermione said slightly impatiently. Ron smirked, the ever bossy Hermione...my Hermione...

"I meant to ask you this on your birthday, but knowing how wussy I am at times, I couldn't. But the ring I gave you, it was supposed to be a promise ring. Meaning, no matter what happens between us, if we break up, or if we get into a big fight or something, I just want you to remember that I promise to be your friend forever. How do you feel about that?" Ron finished quickly. The thought of he and Hermione breaking up (if they were ever to get together) was one of his fears ever since he realized he loved her. Hermione smiled up at him and looked at her ring with a new sense of pride and happiness. "I feel that is a good idea. And I promise that no matter what, I will always be there for you too," she whispered.

She hugged and kissed him passionately, placing all the fears they shared about getting into a relationship to rest. They were after all, best friends first and nothing would change that.

"You know what?" Hermione said, after a long comfortable silence as she laid on top of Ron once again.

"Hmm?" Ron asked, still happily dazed from all that had happened that day.

"This is the perfect way to way to end the hardest year of my life," Hermione said honestly.

"Hopefully this perfection will last for a very, very long time," Ron replied.

"Most definitely," Hermione said, kissing him once again to seal to deal.

THE END.

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Author's Note: So....what'd ya think? Did the love part work? I won't be doing a sequel to this because that would encompass writing love scenes and such which I am not really good at. Hopefully Hermione and Ron live happily ever after. Please review!!