The mirror of erised
By Sinful Starlet
Rating: PG probably - maybe PG-13 but that's pushing it.
Disclaimer: Not JK Rowling (though I wish I was) so clearly not mine.
Summary: Some time during their later school career, Harry and his friends come across the mirror of erised again with some surprising results!
Blurb: Part seven - final chapter. Hermione finally summons the courage to tell Ron the truth about the mirror, but how will he react, and where does that leave them now?
Little personal note here too - thanks to all my reviewers so far - esp Ashley*CB! All feedback is very much appreciated and I hope you like the ending to this story. And if you do, I'm writing another one (The Somnambulist Charm) which should be up soon so I hope you like that one too! *SS*
Chapter Fourteen
That clearly wasn't what Ron had been expecting, and it took him a few seconds to realise what she had actually said. "The mirror?", he asked after a while, "But it was ages ago when we took you to see it - why didn't you say something before?" "I...", Hermione started, not really able to think of a good enough excuse, "...I saw something that I wasn't expecting, and it took me a while to figure out what it meant".
"So it didn't have anything to do with Fudge and being the new minister for magic then?", Ron asked rather pointlessly, even he could guess what she was going to say by now. "No", Hermione said, looking down at her hands, but since that meant looking down at his hand still holding hers she looked back up again, not needing that distraction right now. "I saw...", she started again, not looking down, but avoiding his gaze, "...I saw myself....kissing one of my best friends". If Hermione actually had looked up at that point, she might have let herself off the hook by seeing the look of complete disappointment on Ron's face.
"After that", Hermione went on, still not looking at Ron, "I felt awkward being round the two of you, I had no idea what to say - to either of you, and I still didn't know how I really felt". "But it's not something you can just ignore?", Ron said, though as worked up as she was, Hermione didn't notice how much quieter Ron's voice had gone. It took her a long time to answer him this time, but at last she said, "No - I tried, I really did, but that vision...that kiss - it's not something I can easily forget".
She chanced a look up at him then and he managed to cover his expression with a weak smile aimed to comfort her a little, but she could tell he was faking it, so she looked away again, her sigh barely audible. "I still don't really understand it, but I can't keep it to myself anymore, I...", she trailed off again, breathing deeply before she said, "...I had to tell you". "Of course", Ron said, trying to sound consoling, though in fact he had completely missed the point, not for the first time either.
"I...", he started, now being the one to sound unsure and nervous himself, "...I don't suppose it would help if I talked to him would it?" This basically stumped Hermione, and she couldn't help looking up then, catching his gaze in her own, "Talked to who?" "Harry", Ron said, trying to keep the resentment and dejection out of his voice, "y'know, I could ask him how he feels, honestly I don't know what to tell you because I don't want you to get hurt and there's...well there's Cho, but I think he's given up on her, and I'm sure he'll be really happy when he finds out about how you feel...".
He stopped when he saw her expression change - what was that? Amusement? He was more confused than ever, and Hermione couldn't help but laugh when she saw the frown furrowing his face. "Ron", she said gently, holding his hand a little tighter, "there's a reason I asked to talk to you tonight and not Harry". She waited then, seeing if he would make the connection. Apparently not. He looked as mystified as ever, so she decided she would actually have to spell it out for him. "Ron", she said again, "I have two best friends....and I wasn't talking about Harry".
Chapter Fifteen
To say that he was shocked would have been about the understatement of the year, but the realisation of what she was saying eventually struck him. There was a heavy pause for several seconds while he waited for her to say that this had all been a joke, but it never came. The idea that she was completely serious, and still waiting for any kind of response suddenly hit home, but for one of the few times in his life - he had absolutely no idea what to say.
Actually, that wasn't entirely accurate, there were about a hundred things he wanted to say, but with the chaos his mind was in at that moment, he was completely tongue-tied. He eventually managed to stutter out, "M-me?", berating himself for the nervous stammer that seemed to have infected his voice. Hermione didn't give any kind of verbal response. She was still reeling from the effect of what she had just admitted to, and the fact that she could not figure out Ron's reaction was making her even more uncertain than ever, so all she managed was a nod.
Ron kept running over and over what she had said, but it still seemed incredible to him, so much so that he couldn't help saying, "But--but that can't be right, I mean we fight all the time, how could you possibly feel---". He stopped fairly quickly when he realised that wasn't the most intelligent thing to say, but Hermione had already started speaking before he could apologise. "I couldn't figure it out myself for ages, but then it finally made sense". She looked away from him before she said her next few words, "The mirror was enchanted to show a person only their innermost dreams and desires......and that's exactly what it showed me".
She carried on quickly before Ron could interrupt and distract her, because she was still more than a little embarrassed to be confessing to all of this, "It showed me you seeing me as something other than Hermione the prefect; something other than a bookworm, perpetually studying in the library; something other than just a best friend that you constantly argue with". "It showed me you seeing me as just a girl - and that was...is the one thing I want more than anything else".
Ron was stunned by that admission, he certainly had never thought that Hermione would be the one person to say something like that to him. Before he even realised what he was doing, he let go of her hand and brushed his fingers through his hair nervously. It took him a few seconds to even realise that this was what he was doing, and that was all the time it took for Hermione to get the wrong impression. All she saw was that she had just poured her heart out to him, and he had let go of her hand, withdrawing any physical contact between them.
She wasn't sure what she had expected from him once she had told him, but just to be dismissed the way she thought she was being dismissed right now, was more than she could take. She got to her feet, determined to get away from him before her eyes filled with tears, and walked quickly towards the staircase up to her dormitory. She was only two steps from the stairs themselves when she felt a hand on her wrist pulling her back. She spun round to tell him to let her go, but she didn't even manage to say a single word before she found his lips pressed against hers.
Ron had apparently decided that words weren't getting them very far, and as shocked as he had been when Hermione had told him how she felt, his reflexes finally kicked in as he saw her getting up to leave. In an instant he was there beside her, pulling her to him and he was kissing her. He, Ron Weasley, was actually kissing Hermione Granger, the one girl he had ever really cared about, and then that was all the rational thought he could handle because he realised she was kissing him back.
They were so close together he could feel the tears on her cheeks rubbing off onto his face, and it was that that made him reluctantly break off the kiss. He pulled away only far enough so that he could speak, resting his forehead against hers as he wiped her tears away with his thumbs. Only now it came to it, he didn't know what to say, and when he finally did think of something both he and Hermione started speaking at the same time. They laughed a little awkwardly and he gestured for her to speak first.
"I was going to say", Hermione started, stopping to kiss his thumb as it neared her mouth, "if I'd have known that that was the reaction I was going to get - I would have told you ages ago!" He laughed, making Hermione smile even more than she already was, "What about you?", she asked, "What were you going to say?" "Well", Ron said, hesitating for only a second to create a wicked enough an expression, "I was just going to say maybe we finally found something I am good at!" "Ron", Hermione said, doing her best to look superior, "you're good at lots of things...", she hesitated, Ron wasn't the only one who knew how to work suspense, "...but this", she paused again, edging closer and closer to his lips, "is definitely one of them!"
"Glad you approve!", Ron said, taking the bait perfectly willingly and kissing her again. This time they were both a little more ready, and the kiss was longer and much deeper than before. Long enough anyway for them both to be more than a little flushed by the end of it. "Mmm", Hermione said, pulling back again, licking her lips, trying to work out exactly what the sweet taste in her mouth was. It took a second for Ron to realise what she was doing before an identical smile crossed both their faces, "Chocolate frogs!"
THE END
