Drastic Measures, Chapter Six: Drastic?
by M. Sloane

A/N: my computer broke, again, which is why it took so long for this chapter. It was waiting, really. I just had to look it over. But then a computer breaks. Again. So, here it is.

There was silence for a long time.

"Ron, I-" Hermione started, but Ron wouldn't let her finish.

"Don't worry, I understand," he told her, blinking furiously. He was not going to cry. Not in front of her, anyway.

"What's there to understand?" Hermione cried, bewildered.

He stood up. "You've got Justin, you don't need to associate yourself with me anymore. I should have known from when you mentioned him and when I saw his name in your diary," he said softly.

"I thought you hadn't read it?" she asked icily.

"I didn't. I saw his name when I picked it up for you this afternoon," Ron told her, turning.  He walked away, wishing that she would come after him, but she didn't.  She just watched as his shadow faded into the blackness of the Hogwarts grounds.

Ron sat at the roots of a tree.  Deep down, he felt he had known all along. Of course Hermione wouldn't want a guy who was a procrastinator and never apologizes.  How could I have been so stupid, to think she might feel the same about me? Ron asked himself, I should have known!

He sat there, moping, the moments passing unnoticed as he dwelled on the past few hours.  The look she had given him, the stinging on his face.  But most of all, he thought of the Justin, written in her perfect handwriting.

Harry shouldn't have told that snake off in Second Year, then the stupid bloke wouldn't be stealing 'Mione away from me. Ron thought, punching the tree.

But Hermione was never his in the first place, Ron realized as he rubbed his stinging knuckles. He punched the tree again, this time making his knuckles bleed, but he didn't care.

"You shouldn't do that, you know," said a soft voice behind him. He looked around, startled.

Hermione. She had come looking for him after all.

"And why not?" Ron asked, bitterly.

She gave him a look as if it was obvious. "You're bleeding."

"I'll live."

Hermione looked nervous.  Something in Ron was glad to see her fidget, to see her uncomfortable.  She clutched her robes tighter about herself in the frigid night air. It was cold, but Ron didn't notice.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Ron said scathingly, wishing she would just go away because he really didn't want her around to remind him of certain feelings that weren't mutual.

"Er, well, it's cold," she said, lamely.  Quickly, she added, "and we shouldn't be out, now, it's too late."

"You can go," he told her, "but I'm not."

"And why not?" she asked, mimicking his tone from earlier.

He looked up at her, the piercing glare in his eyes fixing her gaze. "Does it matter?" he asked. Before she could answer, though, he continued, "Why don't you find Justin, I'm sure he wouldn't mind spending more time with you this evening."

"Ron!" she screeched, "I do not fancy Justin!"

"Oh, of course you don't!" he assured her, his voice dripping with sarcasm

Suddenly, she was screaming, telling him off.  Ron looked like every word was branding a permanent mark on his brain.  Even though she was shorter, she towered above him and he just stared at her, appearing and feeling very afraid for his life.

But in truth, Ron heard very little of what Hermione was telling him.  Hermione is yelling at me, he thought. I wish we didn't fight so much.

So, what might make them stop fighting?  He searched for something to calm her down, to make her stop yelling. She wasn't as pretty when she yelled. And while he was still head over heels for her, scary Hermione was not the kind of girl he liked.  He looked in his head, for something… sweet? No. Something… nice? No. Something… funny? No. Something…

…drastic?

Drastic. The drastic thing might work for him.  Those seemed to work, when they had to do with Hermione, anyway, except when it came to getting over her.

Drastic, drastic, drastic, drastic… Ron thought, What in bloody hell might be drastic enough to stop her screaming?

He then realized that drastic things just weren't really his forte- his specialty. Yeah, haircut. Big deal. His problem was, he couldn't think of anything drastic. So he did the only thing he could think of.

He kissed her.

Something he had wanted to do- and been thinking of doing- for a long time.  Hermione went rigid, and Ron's heart fell.  He began to pull away, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back.

Two years (two and a half, really) of pent up passion, desire, and love came flooding out in that kiss.

All in all, it was really quite something.

Ron knew he had been wrong before, about her not feeling the same.  And he knew that to Hermione he wasn't a boy with a haircut, and a position on the quidditch team.  He was just Ron, and that was all she needed.

the end

A/N: this turned out a lot fluffier than I originally planned. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Soon I'll be posting my next fic, which is about Hermione and Fred. Currently in the works, but it'll be out soon, cause I wrote most of it on a plane.