The Freckled Devil
Disclaimer: I own nothing-except maybe the plot-don't blame that on J.K. You know who owns this stuff!
Summary: This is my version of how Ron and Hermione finally get together- Ron is stubborn, Hermione is in love, Ginny is pushy, Lavender is nosy, and Harry is…er, Ron-you'll get it as you read. Let me know what you think! ^-^
(1/1)
Ron decided he was just absolutely barking mad when he found himself wondering during Charms one day what it would be like to kiss Hermione. Of course it wasn't the first time he'd wondered that…but…
Kiss Hermione! As if he'd ever really want to do that! She was, well, Hermione!
Ron scooted as far away from her as possible, on the bench at the long desk, earning an odd look from his friend as she glanced over at him.
Ron crossed his arms and frowned, slouching in his seat-Harry, who sat on his other side, nudged him with his elbow.
"You're taking too much room-I'm practically sitting in Seamus's lap!" His friend hissed under his breath.
He scowled and moved back over again-reluctantly, only Harry decided it wasn't far enough, and gave him a hard push-and before he knew it, he was sliding off the end of the bench, and practically laying on top of Hermione.
A burst of laughter erupted from his classmates, and Hermione looked up at him in confusion.
"Sorry," he heard Harry say sheepishly as he caught his hand and helped him up-but he found himself wondering at how soft Hermione had been, lying beneath him like that-
Ron shook off the thought and leaned down reluctantly to help Hermione to her feet.
"It was Harry's fault," he found himself stammering immediately.
He inwardly groaned when her eyes darkened and she pulled her hand out f his grasp.
Smooth, Weasley, he thought disgustedly.
Harry was making suspicious noises as they settled back into their seats, and Ron fisted his hand, and hidden beneath the desk, struck him hard enough in the thigh to give him a severe charley horse.
He chuckled when Harry's eyes began watering and he grabbed his leg and cursed loudly, causing several students to laugh again, and gaining himself extra homework from the tiny Professor Flitwick.
"You traitor," Harry mumbled, still flame cheeked as they walked from the classroom later.
"Sorry about that," Ron said earnestly. "You should really work on that temper of yours, though."
Harry glared at him and then abruptly laughed. "My temper? Right-I think you should just ask Hermione out and get it over with-you're becoming impossible to live with."
Ron stared at him, aghast. "Me? Ask Hermione Granger out? On a date?"
He stopped in the middle of the hall and several students, having heard him speak, made kissing noises and whistled loudly.
Ron felt his ears burn and glared at Harry. "Now look what you've done! I'll never hear the end of it!"
"Oh, come off it, Ron! Everyone knows you have a thing for Hermione-and that she has a thing for you. You should stop being so stubborn and talk about it."
"I do not have a thing for Hermione Granger!" Ron nearly shouted, causing everyone within hearing distance to stop and stare.
Including Hermione, who stood only a few feet away, who'd been talking with a girl from Ravenclaw.
Ron almost swallowed his tongue there and then. You stupid sodding bastard, he told himself, when he saw her eyes fill with hurt before she abruptly turned away and walked down the hall, her footsteps echoing in the sudden silence.
Harry shook his head and sighed. "And you want to spend the rest of your life alone because…?"
Ron simply stared after Hermione, feeling rotten. The hall was so quiet he swore he could almost have heard a pin drop.
Hermione prided herself on her self-control-which was why she made it to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom before she let the tears fall.
Myrtle made her appearance soon after, and she said she couldn't stand seeing Hermione cry alone, and they both ended up sobbing together in a stall.
Hermione couldn't decide who must have felt worse, the ghost or her.
Ron did not want to go down to dinner that night-he'd mangled things with Hermione, really mucked things up-he hadn't seen her all day long, and the last time that had happened, she'd been nearly killed in the girls' bathroom by a bloody monstrous Mountain Troll!
Of course, he'd saved her-well, he and Harry, of course….
Ron entered the Great Hall very reluctantly…and approached the Gryffindor table very slowly, aware of dozens of pairs of curious eyes on him.
Harry looked up to see Ron coming towards him, looking rather green and walking as if he were on his way to his own execution-he glanced over at Hermione and saw her look at Ron briefly before going back to whatever she was scribbling in her book as if she hadn't a care in the world.
Uh-oh.
Settling himself in his seat next to Harry, Ron looked under his lashes at Hermione-she didn't bother looking up.
Annoyed, Ron cleared his throat.
Still, not a bloody word escaped her lips.
"Hullo, Harry," he said very loudly. Several Gryffindor's looked his way and snorted.
He saw Harry look at him and roll his eyes.
Ron looked across the table at Hermione again and swallowed hard. He took a deep breath, licked his lips, opened his mouth and-
"Well, I'm for bed…" Hermione said too brightly as she quickly stood up, gathering her books and stepping away from her seat. "G'night!"
Ron watched her leave quickly, and turned his eyes back to Harry, feeling deflated.
Harry only shrugged. He twirled his fork in his fingers before burying it in a mound of potatoes. "Well, at least she didn't completely ignore you- she said goodnight, didn't she?"
Ron stared at his plate ruefully. "I guess so,"
Lavender Brown stuck her head around Seamus Finnegan several seats down and shook her head. "No, she was ignoring you," she pointed out helpfully.
A growl rose in his chest and the glare he sent the girl made her blanch and duck her head.
There was a flutter of black robes and red hair, and Ginny came to take Hermione's empty seat. "Hullo, all."
He looked at his little sister in a surmising fashion, and then leaned across the table on his elbows. "Gin-you talk to Hermione, right?"
"Yes, she likes you, Ron," Ginny said boredly, as she had a million times the past two years, not even bothering to look at him as her tiny hand closed around a golden goblet of pumpkin juice.
He scowled, settling back into his seat, and rested his chin on his hand thoughtfully.
Ginny finally noticed he wasn't eating, and decided it was time to take action-it meant things were incredibly wrong if Ron wouldn't eat-he'd probably starve to death by morning.
She sighed and reached across the table to touch his hand. "Ron, you like her, she likes you-just go snog her and be done with it."
He looked at her, drawing back as if he were horrified by the suggestion." Ginny!"
"Shut it, and listen to me-I'm not the only one going bonkers around here listening to you and Hermione moon over each other and not do anything about it-it's been two years since the Yule Ball, Ron, and she hasn't seen or spoken to Viktor Krum in over a year. Don't you think it's past time to tell her how you feel?"
Ron tugged at his collar, and loosened his tie slightly. "Is it…getting hot in here?"
Ginny threw up her hands in disgust, stood up, grabbed a roll, and wandered off, muttering about stubborn redheads.
Harry nudged his arm. "I think you should listen to her."
"Right, and have Hermione shoot me down, and tell me I mistook friendship for something else? I don't think so."
"Are you stupid or just deaf? She said Hermione really likes you!"
"Yes, she'd probably really like to slip a Lethifold into my bed, right now," Ron grumbled, poking at his pudding with a suspicious finger.
"I give up," said Harry suddenly. "I really, truly give up-but let me ask you one thing, Ron-what are you going to do when Hermione gets married?"
"What?" Ron shouted, and stood up, furious, fists clenched. "Who's she marrying?"
"I was talking about the future, Ron. If you don't let her know how you feel, she's going to get tired of waiting for you-she'll marry one day, and it won't be to you-how are you going to feel? Think about it-what are you going to do when she goes out with someone else, instead of you?"
Ron sat back down slowly, feeling stricken. "I-I guess I never really thought about it," he said quietly. "I wouldn't be…happy about it, that's for sure."
"Oh, you'd be miserable and you know it," Lavender piped up from down the table-but she didn't dare look their way again.
"Well, if you don't want it to happen, you'd better move your ass," Harry said warningly. "I may even be the one to ask her out!"
"I'll have your ass, if you try it," Ron snapped.
Harry shook his head and went back to his food.
Ron sighed and slumped back into his seat.
"I'm sixteen years old-why am I worrying about if Hermione will marry someone besides me?" He blinked. "Wait-did I just say-"
"My parents got married at nineteen," Harry mumbled matter-of-factly around his food. (A/N: I do Not know this for a fact-I really have no idea!)
Ron swallowed-his collar was getting too tight again.
Hermione lay on her stomach across her bed, looking through a picture album. It contained both moving and non-moving pictures of her and Ron, Ginny and Hermione, and Harry, and a few of her and Viktor Krum from the Yule ball years ago-she felt her lips curve as she caught sight of a younger Ron scowling fiercely at their backs in the background of one.
She traced his young face with her fingertip, thinking about how much he'd changed and grown since then, and he suddenly stopped scowling and looked up at her, blinking. He looked so much like the boy she'd fallen in love with her first year, when he'd been hurt at the end of the chess match, sacrificing himself so selflessly. She'd been too young then to know what she was feeling. But time had passed- she remembered the night she had realized it, exactly-the night she'd been absolutely terrified when he'd broken his leg, the whole mess with the Whomping Willow, and the thought that she could have lost him had made her think of what her life could be like without him.
She smiled down at the younger Ron and he waved-and then went back to scowling.
Hermione sighed, and closed the book. She didn't understand why he had to be so stubborn! All he had to do was to come to her and tell her how he felt-even if all he did was touch her, or hold her hand, or hug her…or, she thought a little dreamily, kissed her…
She looked up as Ginny walked into the dorm and came over to sit with her on the bed.
"Well?"
Ginny shrugged. "He's always been dreadfully thick-what can I say?"
Hermione groaned and buried her face in her pillow. "Did I ever mention that I hate him?" Her voce was muffled.
"It's really too bad you don't- we wouldn't have to do to him what we're going to have to." Ginny sighed regretfully.
Hermione turned her head to look at her friend. "And what are we going to 'do' to him?"
Ginny's eyes twinkled evilly. "It's time to take some drastic measures, Herm. We have to bring in the big guns."
She almost laughed-where had Ginny heard that particular Muggle euphemism?
"What 'big guns'?"
"Why we have to make him jealous, of course."
"I've already tried that, remember? Viktor?"
"No, no…we need someone closer to home, someone he'll have to see constantly, someone he'll have contact with daily-" Ginny grinned and snapped her fingers.
"Oh no, we're not dragging Harry into this," Hermione moaned.
"I'm not talking about Harry," Ginny said impatiently. "Well, not Harry, really-"
"Then whom are you talking about?"
"Why Ron, of course,"
"I'm not following you," Hermione sighed.
"Listen, it's perfectly simple-" Ginny sat forward on the bed to explain in a low whisper.
Hermione felt her face go blank as she listened to Ginny's plan.
"You can't seriously believe that would work."
"Why not? At the very least it'll get his attention!"
She brushed her bangs from her eyes and then grinned widely. "All right, what the heck-let's go talk to Harry."
Harry laughed so hard he almost fell out of his chair in the library where he was doing his homework.
Ginny and Hermione were looking at him hopefully.
"So-does this mean you'll do it?"
"Are you kidding? Of course I will-I can't wait to see the look on his face he sees me-or rather, him, snogging Hermione! He'll think he's gone absolutely around the bend!"
"Right-before he realizes something's up, and races off to rescue Hermione from the bad guy who took on his looks to score with her!"
"Do you think one of you can get a picture?" Harry chuckled.
Three weeks later…
Myrtle pinched her nose. "I'm so glad I can't smell that-it looks bloody awful!" She floated away from the cauldron perched on the commode in a stall and sniffled.
Hermione stirred the Polyjuice potion one last time before tipping a bit of it into a glass and dropping in one of Ron's hairs that Harry had found on Ron's pillow.
"It's ready, Harry!"
Harry looked up as she came out of the stall, and took the glass with a face. "Why it looks even worse than last time-it looks like sludge."
"At least it's not Millicent Bulstrode's cat you're turning into," Hermione said ruefully.
Harry made a face, and then drank the contents with a gulp.
"Blech!" His nose twitched, and he swiped at his mouth with his sleeve. "All right-I'm going to go into a stall-make sure Ron's clothes are ready, will you?"
Ginny waited until the boy was inside the stall before throwing a set of Ron's clothes and robes over the door. She slid his shoes under the door, and stood tapping her foot impatiently. She grinned and winked at Hermione when the older girl caught her peeking not so subtly through the crack in the door at Harry.
"Everything all right in there?" Hermione asked nervously. "We've only got an hour!"
"I'm coming," she heard Harry mumble, and then a few moments later, he backed out of the stall, turned-and Ron's friendly blue eyes stared back at her with a mischievous twinkle.
Hermione almost swallowed her tongue as Harry pulled off his glasses, no longer needing them, and turned in a slow circle.
"How do I look?"
"Like Ron," Ginny sighed regretfully. "Like my brother." She wrinkled her small nose.
Hermione's heart jumped nervously as Harry moved forward and looked down at her with Ron's blue eyes. His red hair tumbled into his eyes and he brushed it back, just like Ron did with his.
"Well-am I passable?"
Hermione nodded dumbly.
He looked at her sharply. "Hermione, if this is going to cause weirdness between us-"
"Nope! Let's go-Ron should be leaving the Great Hall any moment now!" Hermione grabbed his arm, trying not to notice the movement of his muscles underneath her hand.
"Okay," Ginny said ten minutes later as they entered the Main Hall, just off the entrance to the Great Hall. "I just saw him talking to Seamus-he'll be along any minute-now start snogging, and make it look like you mean it!" Ginny pushed Hermione into Harry and disappeared behind a tapestry.
Hermione gulped and looked up into Ron's-er, Harry's eyes. She blushed and put her hands flat on his chest.
"Ready?"
She nodded, and she closed her eyes as she felt his hands settle on her waist, and then-"Quick, here he comes!"
Hermione felt him lean down and his lips covered hers in what looked like a passionate kiss-in truth, it felt weird, almost like she was kissing, well, a friend.
All was quiet for a moment, and then all of a sudden, came Ron's disbelieving yell.
"What the hell?"
Hermione felt Harry pull away and she opened her eyes, trying hard not to giggle. Ron was staring at him with wide eyes.
"Who the bloody hell are you?" The two identical boys asked each other at the same time. Hermione was impressed at Harry's ability to copy Ron's voice so well.
Hermione remembered her part and grabbed Harry's robe sleeve, tugging on it. "Ron-what's going on? Who is that?"
Ron looked at her as if she had gone starkers. "Me? I'm Ron-who is that?" He jabbed a shaking finger at Harry. "Why was he snogging you?"
Hermione wrapped an arm around Harry's waist and looked at him in suspicion. "Malfoy, is that you? Is this some kind of a joke?"
Ron looked ready to fall over. He made a whimpering sound, and then sprang on Ginny as she passed by. "Ginny, thank God!" He dragged her, protesting over to where Hermione and Harry stood. "Tell them I'm me!"
Ginny tugged her arm from his grasp and looked at Harry with a gasp. She looked carefully between the two, and then made a face at Ron. "I don't know who you are but you aren't my brother-my brother is standing right there!" She pointed over to Harry, who smiled smugly. "You don't even sound like my brother!"
Ron yelped and backed against a wall. "You've all gone mad! That, that thing, isn't me!"
Harry took a threatening step forward. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but obviously someone's pulled a prank on you-why don't you let us take you to one of the professors-"
"Get away from me!" Ron pushed away from the wall, and started backing down the hallway. "Harry-gotta' find Harry…" he turned abruptly and raced off down the hall.
"Maybe that didn't go quite as I had planned," Ginny whispered as she watched her brother run off as if Fluffy was panting on his heels.
"He did look rather upset," Harry said regretfully.
"I'll go explain-" Hermione began, but was cut off by Ginny.
"No! You can't! He'll get over the shock soon enough-and then his temper will set in, and he'll be on you like Harry on a snitch, trust me! I know my brother!"
Hermione nodded reluctantly. "A-all right."
Ron was shaking all over as he searched frantically for Harry-he had to get to his friend before the others did-it was like that weird old Muggle movie he'd seen, Invasion of the Body Snatchers-maybe Hogwarts was being taken over by pod people!
Harry was nowhere to be found-Ron had the awful vision of his friend wasting away in a slimy green pod somewhere in the dungeons-
He started back tracking, jumping at every sound-some thing weird was going on, and he felt momentarily as if he were losing his mind!
Then, finally, common sense won out-someone was just pranking him-it had been a Polyjuice potion-it just had to have been.
When he made it to the entrance hall again, he peered around the corner, still blinking in disbelief as he caught sight of whoever was masquerading as him standing with Ginny, and Hermione.
When the trio started off, Ron followed behind at a safe distance, ignoring the odd looks he received from his fellow students.
He frowned fiercely when he saw them disappear into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and immediately knew something was up.
Ron looked around, and then snuck over to crack open the door and peer inside.
He saw himself disappear into one of the stalls…and then heard Hermione say something about Harry-wait, wait, wait-she had said something to Harry…
His jaw dropped open and he felt horribly betrayed when Harry stepped out of the stall, slipping on his glasses-but only until he listened further.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Hermione groaned, slumping against a wall.
"You've been around me for too long, is all," Myrtle said, sniffling.
"Don't worry, Hermione, I know my brother-this is going to give him fits!" Ginny put a comforting arm around her friend. "Ron is going to be asking you to bloody marry him before the week is out!"
"I don't want him to ask me to marry him! I just want him to admit he likes me-as much as I like him! Why'd I have to fall in love with Ron, anyway? He's so, so-"
"Infuriating? Annoying? Overbearing? Clueless? Freckled?" offered Ginny helpfully.
"He's so sweet!" Hermione groaned and buried her face in her hands. "He's handsome and smells so good, he's brave, and all I want to do when I'm around him is beg him to hold me I can't stand it anymore! This isn't me!"
Ginny sighed and hugged her. "You poor thing…you really should have fallen for Harry instead."
Harry, who'd been trying his best to pretend he wasn't listening, turned red and tugged at his robe button.
Ginny smiled at him sweetly and he turned away to try and flatten his hair in a mirror-unsuccessfully, of course.
Hermione straightened up, took a deep breath, and turned to leave. "Thanks, Ginny, Harry-but I don't think it's going to work after all-if he doesn't care enough to talk to me about his feelings after two years, then I guess it wasn't meant to be. I'm going up to the library."
Ginny looked after Hermione miserably. "I forgot to add one word to that list about Ron," she muttered sorrowfully.
"What's word is that?" asked Harry absently.
"Stupid."
Ron barely made it out of the way and around a corner before Hermione came stomping out of the bathroom. His emotions were in a jumble-he couldn't decide if he was furious or flattered.
His cheeks and ears were still hot from Hermione's confession-he couldn't deny it anymore-he'd heard it straight from her lips-she did like him-no, she'd said 'love'. She did love him! And she'd called him brave! And handsome! Hermione Granger had called him 'handsome'!
A grin spread across his face, and he barely noticed Harry and Ginny walk right up to him, he was so lost in the wonder of it.
"Oh, yeah, he's gone," said Ginny disgustedly, crossing her arms.
"Ron?" Harry frowned and snapped his fingers in front of his friends nose. "Is he all right?"
Ginny shook her head. "I'm the wrong person to ask-I have to live with him. To me, he hasn't been right since he started talking."
Ron blinked and looked at them finally. "Oh…er, Hullo."
"Honestly, Ron-since when have you stooped to eavesdropping?"
"It was your idea, wasn't it, you little brat!" Ron glared Ginny and then at Harry. "And you! You call yourself my best friend! I thought I was going starkers back there!"
Harry grinned unrepentantly. "Got your attention, didn't it?"
"And you obviously heard what Hermione said," said Ginny. She fluttered her eyes and cooed, "'he's so sweet, and he smells so good,'"
Ron pinched Ginny's arm hard, and she yelped, rubbing her arm briskly.
"You have to go talk to her, now," Harry said insistently.
"Yeah, she's all but given up on you, you stubborn prat," his sister grouched. "And be assured, I'll tell you 'I told you so' for the rest of your life if you don't go to her and straighten this out!"
Ron paled and swallowed visibly. "Do you think there's any of that Polyjuice potion left?"
"Why?" Harry and Ginny asked in unison, confused.
"Maybe Harry could talk to her for me-"
Ginny slugged him hard in the arm and pushed him in the direction of the library. "She's up there, waiting, if you ever decide to grow a pair, Ronald Weasley!"
Ron looked at the seemingly endless set of stairs before him and suddenly felt incredibly nauseous.
Hermione sighed and put down her quill-there was no way she could concentrate on her homework with Ron's blue eyes popping up at her every time she blinked.
She shook her head and stubbornly reached for her Charms book, and promptly overturned her bottle of ink across her parchment.
"Brilliant," she grumbled and buried her face in her hands. She sighed and reached for her wand, and felt it roll away from her fingers and across the desk, and right off it onto the floor with a clatter.
Hermione rolled her eyes and ducked beneath the desk, looking about for it in the dim light-
"Looking for this?"
The familiar voice made her heart thud wickedly and surprised her so, that she jumped, and smacked the top of her head on the table.
"Ow!"
"Hermione, are you all right?"
She looked up to see Ron kneeling down next to her, her wand in his hand, a concerned expression on his beloved face. She lost her breath as he narrowed his eyes and looked at her scalp, lifting a hand to rub along the small bump rising on it.
"I bet that smarts," he muttered, wincing, and took her hand to help her out from under the table.
When she was seated in her chair again, she looked at him curiously. "Are you all right? You look a little-ill."
He licked his lips, as if he would speak, and then realized he still held her wand and handed it to her.
"Thanks…" Hermione looked down at her hands for a moment before looking at him reluctantly. "I guess you want to know what all that was about in the hall earlier-"
"Don't worry about it," he said quickly. "Harry-er, they explained it all,"
"Oh." Hermione had never felt quite so bad in her entire life.
"I'm sorry-" they both began at the same time.
Ron laughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair.
Hermione sighed and smiled at him.
"Well…I guess it's about time to head up to bed…"
Ron watched her clean up her mess and tried to make his mouth open, his lips move-but it seemed about impossible.
'Talk to her, damn it,' he snapped to himself.
He watched her gather up the library books and walk away to return them to their shelves, and found himself following her.
He waited until she slid the last book back into its place, and turned to face him, before he even attempted to speak again.
"Ron? Are you all okay?" Hermione looked up at him concernedly, for the first time he saw what Ginny had been talking about-she'd loved him, all along, and it had been there, in her eyes every time she'd looked at him, shining for everyone to see, and he hadn't even noticed.
Before he knew what he was doing, he'd stepped forward, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her, putting everything he'd ever felt for her behind it.
Hermione would have fallen right over if he hadn't been holding her so close against him
The feel of his lips, so soft and warm against hers, made her dizzy, and she curled her hands against his chest, feeling the warmth of his body radiating against hers.
He tightened his hold around her waist, and deepened the hesitant kiss, until she was leaning fully against him, and was hanging on for dear life.
"Well, well, it looks like you've finally smartened up, Ron!"
Hermione and Ron broke the kiss to look across the aisle. Lavender Brown giggled and waved at them.
"Good going, it's about time!" She turned away, her books in her arms, and then looked back over her shoulder mischievously.
"You're a lucky girl, Hermione-who'd have thought Ron Weasley would turn out to be such a devil!"
Ginny watched with Harry from behind a stack of books, and saw Hermione dragged back into her brother's arms for another long kiss as Lavender left.
She grinned at a beaming Harry. "A devil?" She snorted, "A freckled devil, maybe…"
The End ^-^
(A/N: This was my first attempt at a R/H fic-don't flame me-oh, well, do it if you must, I'll just find a place to hide. I kept thinking about how dumb Ron and Hermione were for being stubborn and refusing to get together and I had to get them together! This has nothing to do with any of my other fics; it's just a stand-alone. I have no doubt I've probably made mistakes somewhere in this, just let me know, and I'll fix 'em. Or try to, at least! I hope you guys liked it-and many thanks to Kranberries for the reviews-and all of the rest of you guys, too- and the inspiration to write this. ^-^ Kindly review, and let me know what you think! Thanks! ~Lee)
Disclaimer: I own nothing-except maybe the plot-don't blame that on J.K. You know who owns this stuff!
Summary: This is my version of how Ron and Hermione finally get together- Ron is stubborn, Hermione is in love, Ginny is pushy, Lavender is nosy, and Harry is…er, Ron-you'll get it as you read. Let me know what you think! ^-^
(1/1)
Ron decided he was just absolutely barking mad when he found himself wondering during Charms one day what it would be like to kiss Hermione. Of course it wasn't the first time he'd wondered that…but…
Kiss Hermione! As if he'd ever really want to do that! She was, well, Hermione!
Ron scooted as far away from her as possible, on the bench at the long desk, earning an odd look from his friend as she glanced over at him.
Ron crossed his arms and frowned, slouching in his seat-Harry, who sat on his other side, nudged him with his elbow.
"You're taking too much room-I'm practically sitting in Seamus's lap!" His friend hissed under his breath.
He scowled and moved back over again-reluctantly, only Harry decided it wasn't far enough, and gave him a hard push-and before he knew it, he was sliding off the end of the bench, and practically laying on top of Hermione.
A burst of laughter erupted from his classmates, and Hermione looked up at him in confusion.
"Sorry," he heard Harry say sheepishly as he caught his hand and helped him up-but he found himself wondering at how soft Hermione had been, lying beneath him like that-
Ron shook off the thought and leaned down reluctantly to help Hermione to her feet.
"It was Harry's fault," he found himself stammering immediately.
He inwardly groaned when her eyes darkened and she pulled her hand out f his grasp.
Smooth, Weasley, he thought disgustedly.
Harry was making suspicious noises as they settled back into their seats, and Ron fisted his hand, and hidden beneath the desk, struck him hard enough in the thigh to give him a severe charley horse.
He chuckled when Harry's eyes began watering and he grabbed his leg and cursed loudly, causing several students to laugh again, and gaining himself extra homework from the tiny Professor Flitwick.
"You traitor," Harry mumbled, still flame cheeked as they walked from the classroom later.
"Sorry about that," Ron said earnestly. "You should really work on that temper of yours, though."
Harry glared at him and then abruptly laughed. "My temper? Right-I think you should just ask Hermione out and get it over with-you're becoming impossible to live with."
Ron stared at him, aghast. "Me? Ask Hermione Granger out? On a date?"
He stopped in the middle of the hall and several students, having heard him speak, made kissing noises and whistled loudly.
Ron felt his ears burn and glared at Harry. "Now look what you've done! I'll never hear the end of it!"
"Oh, come off it, Ron! Everyone knows you have a thing for Hermione-and that she has a thing for you. You should stop being so stubborn and talk about it."
"I do not have a thing for Hermione Granger!" Ron nearly shouted, causing everyone within hearing distance to stop and stare.
Including Hermione, who stood only a few feet away, who'd been talking with a girl from Ravenclaw.
Ron almost swallowed his tongue there and then. You stupid sodding bastard, he told himself, when he saw her eyes fill with hurt before she abruptly turned away and walked down the hall, her footsteps echoing in the sudden silence.
Harry shook his head and sighed. "And you want to spend the rest of your life alone because…?"
Ron simply stared after Hermione, feeling rotten. The hall was so quiet he swore he could almost have heard a pin drop.
Hermione prided herself on her self-control-which was why she made it to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom before she let the tears fall.
Myrtle made her appearance soon after, and she said she couldn't stand seeing Hermione cry alone, and they both ended up sobbing together in a stall.
Hermione couldn't decide who must have felt worse, the ghost or her.
Ron did not want to go down to dinner that night-he'd mangled things with Hermione, really mucked things up-he hadn't seen her all day long, and the last time that had happened, she'd been nearly killed in the girls' bathroom by a bloody monstrous Mountain Troll!
Of course, he'd saved her-well, he and Harry, of course….
Ron entered the Great Hall very reluctantly…and approached the Gryffindor table very slowly, aware of dozens of pairs of curious eyes on him.
Harry looked up to see Ron coming towards him, looking rather green and walking as if he were on his way to his own execution-he glanced over at Hermione and saw her look at Ron briefly before going back to whatever she was scribbling in her book as if she hadn't a care in the world.
Uh-oh.
Settling himself in his seat next to Harry, Ron looked under his lashes at Hermione-she didn't bother looking up.
Annoyed, Ron cleared his throat.
Still, not a bloody word escaped her lips.
"Hullo, Harry," he said very loudly. Several Gryffindor's looked his way and snorted.
He saw Harry look at him and roll his eyes.
Ron looked across the table at Hermione again and swallowed hard. He took a deep breath, licked his lips, opened his mouth and-
"Well, I'm for bed…" Hermione said too brightly as she quickly stood up, gathering her books and stepping away from her seat. "G'night!"
Ron watched her leave quickly, and turned his eyes back to Harry, feeling deflated.
Harry only shrugged. He twirled his fork in his fingers before burying it in a mound of potatoes. "Well, at least she didn't completely ignore you- she said goodnight, didn't she?"
Ron stared at his plate ruefully. "I guess so,"
Lavender Brown stuck her head around Seamus Finnegan several seats down and shook her head. "No, she was ignoring you," she pointed out helpfully.
A growl rose in his chest and the glare he sent the girl made her blanch and duck her head.
There was a flutter of black robes and red hair, and Ginny came to take Hermione's empty seat. "Hullo, all."
He looked at his little sister in a surmising fashion, and then leaned across the table on his elbows. "Gin-you talk to Hermione, right?"
"Yes, she likes you, Ron," Ginny said boredly, as she had a million times the past two years, not even bothering to look at him as her tiny hand closed around a golden goblet of pumpkin juice.
He scowled, settling back into his seat, and rested his chin on his hand thoughtfully.
Ginny finally noticed he wasn't eating, and decided it was time to take action-it meant things were incredibly wrong if Ron wouldn't eat-he'd probably starve to death by morning.
She sighed and reached across the table to touch his hand. "Ron, you like her, she likes you-just go snog her and be done with it."
He looked at her, drawing back as if he were horrified by the suggestion." Ginny!"
"Shut it, and listen to me-I'm not the only one going bonkers around here listening to you and Hermione moon over each other and not do anything about it-it's been two years since the Yule Ball, Ron, and she hasn't seen or spoken to Viktor Krum in over a year. Don't you think it's past time to tell her how you feel?"
Ron tugged at his collar, and loosened his tie slightly. "Is it…getting hot in here?"
Ginny threw up her hands in disgust, stood up, grabbed a roll, and wandered off, muttering about stubborn redheads.
Harry nudged his arm. "I think you should listen to her."
"Right, and have Hermione shoot me down, and tell me I mistook friendship for something else? I don't think so."
"Are you stupid or just deaf? She said Hermione really likes you!"
"Yes, she'd probably really like to slip a Lethifold into my bed, right now," Ron grumbled, poking at his pudding with a suspicious finger.
"I give up," said Harry suddenly. "I really, truly give up-but let me ask you one thing, Ron-what are you going to do when Hermione gets married?"
"What?" Ron shouted, and stood up, furious, fists clenched. "Who's she marrying?"
"I was talking about the future, Ron. If you don't let her know how you feel, she's going to get tired of waiting for you-she'll marry one day, and it won't be to you-how are you going to feel? Think about it-what are you going to do when she goes out with someone else, instead of you?"
Ron sat back down slowly, feeling stricken. "I-I guess I never really thought about it," he said quietly. "I wouldn't be…happy about it, that's for sure."
"Oh, you'd be miserable and you know it," Lavender piped up from down the table-but she didn't dare look their way again.
"Well, if you don't want it to happen, you'd better move your ass," Harry said warningly. "I may even be the one to ask her out!"
"I'll have your ass, if you try it," Ron snapped.
Harry shook his head and went back to his food.
Ron sighed and slumped back into his seat.
"I'm sixteen years old-why am I worrying about if Hermione will marry someone besides me?" He blinked. "Wait-did I just say-"
"My parents got married at nineteen," Harry mumbled matter-of-factly around his food. (A/N: I do Not know this for a fact-I really have no idea!)
Ron swallowed-his collar was getting too tight again.
Hermione lay on her stomach across her bed, looking through a picture album. It contained both moving and non-moving pictures of her and Ron, Ginny and Hermione, and Harry, and a few of her and Viktor Krum from the Yule ball years ago-she felt her lips curve as she caught sight of a younger Ron scowling fiercely at their backs in the background of one.
She traced his young face with her fingertip, thinking about how much he'd changed and grown since then, and he suddenly stopped scowling and looked up at her, blinking. He looked so much like the boy she'd fallen in love with her first year, when he'd been hurt at the end of the chess match, sacrificing himself so selflessly. She'd been too young then to know what she was feeling. But time had passed- she remembered the night she had realized it, exactly-the night she'd been absolutely terrified when he'd broken his leg, the whole mess with the Whomping Willow, and the thought that she could have lost him had made her think of what her life could be like without him.
She smiled down at the younger Ron and he waved-and then went back to scowling.
Hermione sighed, and closed the book. She didn't understand why he had to be so stubborn! All he had to do was to come to her and tell her how he felt-even if all he did was touch her, or hold her hand, or hug her…or, she thought a little dreamily, kissed her…
She looked up as Ginny walked into the dorm and came over to sit with her on the bed.
"Well?"
Ginny shrugged. "He's always been dreadfully thick-what can I say?"
Hermione groaned and buried her face in her pillow. "Did I ever mention that I hate him?" Her voce was muffled.
"It's really too bad you don't- we wouldn't have to do to him what we're going to have to." Ginny sighed regretfully.
Hermione turned her head to look at her friend. "And what are we going to 'do' to him?"
Ginny's eyes twinkled evilly. "It's time to take some drastic measures, Herm. We have to bring in the big guns."
She almost laughed-where had Ginny heard that particular Muggle euphemism?
"What 'big guns'?"
"Why we have to make him jealous, of course."
"I've already tried that, remember? Viktor?"
"No, no…we need someone closer to home, someone he'll have to see constantly, someone he'll have contact with daily-" Ginny grinned and snapped her fingers.
"Oh no, we're not dragging Harry into this," Hermione moaned.
"I'm not talking about Harry," Ginny said impatiently. "Well, not Harry, really-"
"Then whom are you talking about?"
"Why Ron, of course,"
"I'm not following you," Hermione sighed.
"Listen, it's perfectly simple-" Ginny sat forward on the bed to explain in a low whisper.
Hermione felt her face go blank as she listened to Ginny's plan.
"You can't seriously believe that would work."
"Why not? At the very least it'll get his attention!"
She brushed her bangs from her eyes and then grinned widely. "All right, what the heck-let's go talk to Harry."
Harry laughed so hard he almost fell out of his chair in the library where he was doing his homework.
Ginny and Hermione were looking at him hopefully.
"So-does this mean you'll do it?"
"Are you kidding? Of course I will-I can't wait to see the look on his face he sees me-or rather, him, snogging Hermione! He'll think he's gone absolutely around the bend!"
"Right-before he realizes something's up, and races off to rescue Hermione from the bad guy who took on his looks to score with her!"
"Do you think one of you can get a picture?" Harry chuckled.
Three weeks later…
Myrtle pinched her nose. "I'm so glad I can't smell that-it looks bloody awful!" She floated away from the cauldron perched on the commode in a stall and sniffled.
Hermione stirred the Polyjuice potion one last time before tipping a bit of it into a glass and dropping in one of Ron's hairs that Harry had found on Ron's pillow.
"It's ready, Harry!"
Harry looked up as she came out of the stall, and took the glass with a face. "Why it looks even worse than last time-it looks like sludge."
"At least it's not Millicent Bulstrode's cat you're turning into," Hermione said ruefully.
Harry made a face, and then drank the contents with a gulp.
"Blech!" His nose twitched, and he swiped at his mouth with his sleeve. "All right-I'm going to go into a stall-make sure Ron's clothes are ready, will you?"
Ginny waited until the boy was inside the stall before throwing a set of Ron's clothes and robes over the door. She slid his shoes under the door, and stood tapping her foot impatiently. She grinned and winked at Hermione when the older girl caught her peeking not so subtly through the crack in the door at Harry.
"Everything all right in there?" Hermione asked nervously. "We've only got an hour!"
"I'm coming," she heard Harry mumble, and then a few moments later, he backed out of the stall, turned-and Ron's friendly blue eyes stared back at her with a mischievous twinkle.
Hermione almost swallowed her tongue as Harry pulled off his glasses, no longer needing them, and turned in a slow circle.
"How do I look?"
"Like Ron," Ginny sighed regretfully. "Like my brother." She wrinkled her small nose.
Hermione's heart jumped nervously as Harry moved forward and looked down at her with Ron's blue eyes. His red hair tumbled into his eyes and he brushed it back, just like Ron did with his.
"Well-am I passable?"
Hermione nodded dumbly.
He looked at her sharply. "Hermione, if this is going to cause weirdness between us-"
"Nope! Let's go-Ron should be leaving the Great Hall any moment now!" Hermione grabbed his arm, trying not to notice the movement of his muscles underneath her hand.
"Okay," Ginny said ten minutes later as they entered the Main Hall, just off the entrance to the Great Hall. "I just saw him talking to Seamus-he'll be along any minute-now start snogging, and make it look like you mean it!" Ginny pushed Hermione into Harry and disappeared behind a tapestry.
Hermione gulped and looked up into Ron's-er, Harry's eyes. She blushed and put her hands flat on his chest.
"Ready?"
She nodded, and she closed her eyes as she felt his hands settle on her waist, and then-"Quick, here he comes!"
Hermione felt him lean down and his lips covered hers in what looked like a passionate kiss-in truth, it felt weird, almost like she was kissing, well, a friend.
All was quiet for a moment, and then all of a sudden, came Ron's disbelieving yell.
"What the hell?"
Hermione felt Harry pull away and she opened her eyes, trying hard not to giggle. Ron was staring at him with wide eyes.
"Who the bloody hell are you?" The two identical boys asked each other at the same time. Hermione was impressed at Harry's ability to copy Ron's voice so well.
Hermione remembered her part and grabbed Harry's robe sleeve, tugging on it. "Ron-what's going on? Who is that?"
Ron looked at her as if she had gone starkers. "Me? I'm Ron-who is that?" He jabbed a shaking finger at Harry. "Why was he snogging you?"
Hermione wrapped an arm around Harry's waist and looked at him in suspicion. "Malfoy, is that you? Is this some kind of a joke?"
Ron looked ready to fall over. He made a whimpering sound, and then sprang on Ginny as she passed by. "Ginny, thank God!" He dragged her, protesting over to where Hermione and Harry stood. "Tell them I'm me!"
Ginny tugged her arm from his grasp and looked at Harry with a gasp. She looked carefully between the two, and then made a face at Ron. "I don't know who you are but you aren't my brother-my brother is standing right there!" She pointed over to Harry, who smiled smugly. "You don't even sound like my brother!"
Ron yelped and backed against a wall. "You've all gone mad! That, that thing, isn't me!"
Harry took a threatening step forward. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but obviously someone's pulled a prank on you-why don't you let us take you to one of the professors-"
"Get away from me!" Ron pushed away from the wall, and started backing down the hallway. "Harry-gotta' find Harry…" he turned abruptly and raced off down the hall.
"Maybe that didn't go quite as I had planned," Ginny whispered as she watched her brother run off as if Fluffy was panting on his heels.
"He did look rather upset," Harry said regretfully.
"I'll go explain-" Hermione began, but was cut off by Ginny.
"No! You can't! He'll get over the shock soon enough-and then his temper will set in, and he'll be on you like Harry on a snitch, trust me! I know my brother!"
Hermione nodded reluctantly. "A-all right."
Ron was shaking all over as he searched frantically for Harry-he had to get to his friend before the others did-it was like that weird old Muggle movie he'd seen, Invasion of the Body Snatchers-maybe Hogwarts was being taken over by pod people!
Harry was nowhere to be found-Ron had the awful vision of his friend wasting away in a slimy green pod somewhere in the dungeons-
He started back tracking, jumping at every sound-some thing weird was going on, and he felt momentarily as if he were losing his mind!
Then, finally, common sense won out-someone was just pranking him-it had been a Polyjuice potion-it just had to have been.
When he made it to the entrance hall again, he peered around the corner, still blinking in disbelief as he caught sight of whoever was masquerading as him standing with Ginny, and Hermione.
When the trio started off, Ron followed behind at a safe distance, ignoring the odd looks he received from his fellow students.
He frowned fiercely when he saw them disappear into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and immediately knew something was up.
Ron looked around, and then snuck over to crack open the door and peer inside.
He saw himself disappear into one of the stalls…and then heard Hermione say something about Harry-wait, wait, wait-she had said something to Harry…
His jaw dropped open and he felt horribly betrayed when Harry stepped out of the stall, slipping on his glasses-but only until he listened further.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Hermione groaned, slumping against a wall.
"You've been around me for too long, is all," Myrtle said, sniffling.
"Don't worry, Hermione, I know my brother-this is going to give him fits!" Ginny put a comforting arm around her friend. "Ron is going to be asking you to bloody marry him before the week is out!"
"I don't want him to ask me to marry him! I just want him to admit he likes me-as much as I like him! Why'd I have to fall in love with Ron, anyway? He's so, so-"
"Infuriating? Annoying? Overbearing? Clueless? Freckled?" offered Ginny helpfully.
"He's so sweet!" Hermione groaned and buried her face in her hands. "He's handsome and smells so good, he's brave, and all I want to do when I'm around him is beg him to hold me I can't stand it anymore! This isn't me!"
Ginny sighed and hugged her. "You poor thing…you really should have fallen for Harry instead."
Harry, who'd been trying his best to pretend he wasn't listening, turned red and tugged at his robe button.
Ginny smiled at him sweetly and he turned away to try and flatten his hair in a mirror-unsuccessfully, of course.
Hermione straightened up, took a deep breath, and turned to leave. "Thanks, Ginny, Harry-but I don't think it's going to work after all-if he doesn't care enough to talk to me about his feelings after two years, then I guess it wasn't meant to be. I'm going up to the library."
Ginny looked after Hermione miserably. "I forgot to add one word to that list about Ron," she muttered sorrowfully.
"What's word is that?" asked Harry absently.
"Stupid."
Ron barely made it out of the way and around a corner before Hermione came stomping out of the bathroom. His emotions were in a jumble-he couldn't decide if he was furious or flattered.
His cheeks and ears were still hot from Hermione's confession-he couldn't deny it anymore-he'd heard it straight from her lips-she did like him-no, she'd said 'love'. She did love him! And she'd called him brave! And handsome! Hermione Granger had called him 'handsome'!
A grin spread across his face, and he barely noticed Harry and Ginny walk right up to him, he was so lost in the wonder of it.
"Oh, yeah, he's gone," said Ginny disgustedly, crossing her arms.
"Ron?" Harry frowned and snapped his fingers in front of his friends nose. "Is he all right?"
Ginny shook her head. "I'm the wrong person to ask-I have to live with him. To me, he hasn't been right since he started talking."
Ron blinked and looked at them finally. "Oh…er, Hullo."
"Honestly, Ron-since when have you stooped to eavesdropping?"
"It was your idea, wasn't it, you little brat!" Ron glared Ginny and then at Harry. "And you! You call yourself my best friend! I thought I was going starkers back there!"
Harry grinned unrepentantly. "Got your attention, didn't it?"
"And you obviously heard what Hermione said," said Ginny. She fluttered her eyes and cooed, "'he's so sweet, and he smells so good,'"
Ron pinched Ginny's arm hard, and she yelped, rubbing her arm briskly.
"You have to go talk to her, now," Harry said insistently.
"Yeah, she's all but given up on you, you stubborn prat," his sister grouched. "And be assured, I'll tell you 'I told you so' for the rest of your life if you don't go to her and straighten this out!"
Ron paled and swallowed visibly. "Do you think there's any of that Polyjuice potion left?"
"Why?" Harry and Ginny asked in unison, confused.
"Maybe Harry could talk to her for me-"
Ginny slugged him hard in the arm and pushed him in the direction of the library. "She's up there, waiting, if you ever decide to grow a pair, Ronald Weasley!"
Ron looked at the seemingly endless set of stairs before him and suddenly felt incredibly nauseous.
Hermione sighed and put down her quill-there was no way she could concentrate on her homework with Ron's blue eyes popping up at her every time she blinked.
She shook her head and stubbornly reached for her Charms book, and promptly overturned her bottle of ink across her parchment.
"Brilliant," she grumbled and buried her face in her hands. She sighed and reached for her wand, and felt it roll away from her fingers and across the desk, and right off it onto the floor with a clatter.
Hermione rolled her eyes and ducked beneath the desk, looking about for it in the dim light-
"Looking for this?"
The familiar voice made her heart thud wickedly and surprised her so, that she jumped, and smacked the top of her head on the table.
"Ow!"
"Hermione, are you all right?"
She looked up to see Ron kneeling down next to her, her wand in his hand, a concerned expression on his beloved face. She lost her breath as he narrowed his eyes and looked at her scalp, lifting a hand to rub along the small bump rising on it.
"I bet that smarts," he muttered, wincing, and took her hand to help her out from under the table.
When she was seated in her chair again, she looked at him curiously. "Are you all right? You look a little-ill."
He licked his lips, as if he would speak, and then realized he still held her wand and handed it to her.
"Thanks…" Hermione looked down at her hands for a moment before looking at him reluctantly. "I guess you want to know what all that was about in the hall earlier-"
"Don't worry about it," he said quickly. "Harry-er, they explained it all,"
"Oh." Hermione had never felt quite so bad in her entire life.
"I'm sorry-" they both began at the same time.
Ron laughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair.
Hermione sighed and smiled at him.
"Well…I guess it's about time to head up to bed…"
Ron watched her clean up her mess and tried to make his mouth open, his lips move-but it seemed about impossible.
'Talk to her, damn it,' he snapped to himself.
He watched her gather up the library books and walk away to return them to their shelves, and found himself following her.
He waited until she slid the last book back into its place, and turned to face him, before he even attempted to speak again.
"Ron? Are you all okay?" Hermione looked up at him concernedly, for the first time he saw what Ginny had been talking about-she'd loved him, all along, and it had been there, in her eyes every time she'd looked at him, shining for everyone to see, and he hadn't even noticed.
Before he knew what he was doing, he'd stepped forward, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her, putting everything he'd ever felt for her behind it.
Hermione would have fallen right over if he hadn't been holding her so close against him
The feel of his lips, so soft and warm against hers, made her dizzy, and she curled her hands against his chest, feeling the warmth of his body radiating against hers.
He tightened his hold around her waist, and deepened the hesitant kiss, until she was leaning fully against him, and was hanging on for dear life.
"Well, well, it looks like you've finally smartened up, Ron!"
Hermione and Ron broke the kiss to look across the aisle. Lavender Brown giggled and waved at them.
"Good going, it's about time!" She turned away, her books in her arms, and then looked back over her shoulder mischievously.
"You're a lucky girl, Hermione-who'd have thought Ron Weasley would turn out to be such a devil!"
Ginny watched with Harry from behind a stack of books, and saw Hermione dragged back into her brother's arms for another long kiss as Lavender left.
She grinned at a beaming Harry. "A devil?" She snorted, "A freckled devil, maybe…"
The End ^-^
(A/N: This was my first attempt at a R/H fic-don't flame me-oh, well, do it if you must, I'll just find a place to hide. I kept thinking about how dumb Ron and Hermione were for being stubborn and refusing to get together and I had to get them together! This has nothing to do with any of my other fics; it's just a stand-alone. I have no doubt I've probably made mistakes somewhere in this, just let me know, and I'll fix 'em. Or try to, at least! I hope you guys liked it-and many thanks to Kranberries for the reviews-and all of the rest of you guys, too- and the inspiration to write this. ^-^ Kindly review, and let me know what you think! Thanks! ~Lee)