A/N: WOW! You guys really pulled out all the stops on reviews for the
last chapter! I'm so thrilled that it didn't disappoint! Thanks, thanks,
thank you a million times over!!!!
Disclaimer: I can wish, but it will never happen.
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Ron Weasley woke up the next morning feeling quite content. In fact, he couldn't remember sleeping that well in a long time, and he wasn't all too eager to wake up. His dreams had been good, and he wasn't in a hurry to leave them behind.
However, he was wide awake, and there was no hope of falling back to sleep. So, he sat up and stretched, and his eye caught a glimpse of something that definitely made him do a double take. A brand new hardback edition of 'Flying With the Cannons' sat on the chair across the room. But that meant...
It had been real.
Oh... Bloody hell.
He had actually kissed her? He had actually stood in the middle of her bedroom and kissed Hermione? Hermione Granger. His best friend.
Unconsciously, he raised a trembling hand to his lips as if he would still be able to feel her there. The strangest thing, though, was that he somehow could...
He found that recalling every detail of the previous night was quite easy; it seemed that every second had been etched into his mind, and he was actually thankful for this. It had been amazing. The most amazing moment of his life.
And now he was scared out of his mind.
He had just kissed his best friend. And now what? What had it meant to her? Had it meant just as much as it had to him? What had changed? Were they something more than friends now? Did he have to ask her if they could be? Would she just know that he wanted to be? And, oh God... How was he supposed to face her?
Why did it have to happen here of all places? At her house. It couldn't have happened while they were at Hogwarts, could it? No, that would have been too simple. At least at Hogwarts there were other people and tons of places around to disappear to if things got too awkward. Here... Oh, this was insane.
A loud knocking at his door jerked his attention up instantly. Immediately growing nervous, he let out what could have been considered a squeaking, "Huh?!"
The door opened without another word exchanged, and Harry walked in already dressed and ready for the day. Ron raised his eyebrows at him, not aware of the fact that his chest was rising and falling rather quickly from his sped-up breathing.
"What's the matter with you?" Harry asked coolly as he crossed the room and perched himself on the bed.
Ron swallowed and did his very best to look as if nothing at all was the matter. "Nothing! You just... startled me is all."
Harry pushed his glasses up on his nose and shrugged carelessly, stifling a yawn as he did so. "Are you ready for breakfast? I don't want to go down there by myself because I just feel weird, you know, since it's not my house. And Hermione's not up yet."
"She's not?" Ron asked a little too anxiously. Good. He immediately jumped up and started fumbling around for something to wear. "Yeah, give me a second."
Harry nodded lazily and lay back on the bed with another yawn. As Ron started getting dressed, Harry's eye fell on something across the room. After a second look, he wondered if what he was seeing was real. Without saying a word, he got up from the bed and went over to the chair, and his initial assumption had been right. It was brand new copy of 'Flying With the Cannons,' and it was literally glittering with newness.
"Where'd you get this?" Harry asked as he picked it up and looked at the shiny cover.
Ron turned around as he started buttoning up the front of a navy blue shirt over his khakis. His eyes brightened instantly, and he momentarily forgot about the task at hand as he crossed the room and stood beside his best friend to admire the beautiful book.
"Hermione gave it to me for Christmas," he answered proudly, a smile showing on his face as he looked down at what was undoubtedly the best gift he'd ever gotten it. "Open it up!"
Harry opened the book looked just as impressed as Ron had been. "Wow!"
"Cool, huh?" Ron grinned madly until the sound of footsteps in the hall and the opening and the closing of the bathroom door drew his attention away from the book. Hermione was obviously up and now in the bathroom. Not wanting to run into her in the hallway, Ron immediately started to the door, finishing the buttons on the way. "Come on," he said quickly. "I'm starving."
Harry looked at him a bit strangely, but he followed the other boy downstairs nevertheless. When they were safely downstairs and seated across from each other at the breakfast table, Ron busied himself with a bowl of cereal. For a while, neither of them spoke until Harry finally put his spoon down out of nowhere and looked up.
"What is up with you?"
Ron looked up jerkily. "What? Nothing's up. Why would you think there was something up?"
"Oh, I don't know," Harry said half-sarcastically. "You haven't said a single word since we got downstairs, and you are awful jumpy this morning. Those would just be two little signs that something's up..."
"Well, there's not," Ron said quickly.
Of course, Hermione couldn't have chosen a better time to walk down the stairs and into the kitchen than that very second. She stopped briefly on the bottom stair, and Ron caught her eyes for a moment before both of them looked away at opposite wall quickly. Ron could sense that she had walked around the edge of the room and carefully sat herself down beside Harry, but he didn't dare look over to see if his assumptions were right. Instead, he pretended to become quite involved with the cereal once again. Knowing fully well that Harry was sending him strange looks and quite probably turning those same looks on Hermione, Ron didn't even dare look anywhere except the table.
Finally, though, it seemed as if Harry simply couldn't take it anymore. His voice broke the silence so roughly that both Ron and Hermione started and couldn't help but look up.
"What is going on?" he demanded.
Ron glanced very briefly at Hermione and saw her tell him with his eyes to keep his mouth shut. He felt bad about not letting Harry in on the secret, but Harry hadn't bothered to tell him when he had started kissing people, had he? And this was even more of a big deal than Gia was. This was Hermione, after all. Hermione, who was Harry's best friend, too; they were all best friends- it wasn't just some random thing.
It was Hermione.
And quite clearly, Hermione did not want Harry to know. Ron couldn't help but feel a bit anxious about this, though. It wasn't as if he especially wanted to tell Harry, either, but he was instantly a little nervous over the fact that Hermione didn't want to tell him. What if that meant that everything had been a mistake and she just wanted to forget about it? What if she didn't like him at all? What if she was embarrassed?
That would be the worst. He could deal if she simply just didn't like him like he liked her. He could deal if she had just been too caught up in whatever whacked out hormones they were all going through. He could even deal if she had thought that she liked him but decided she was mistaken after he'd kissed her.
But he couldn't deal if she was embarrassed about it.
Of course, there were a million and a half reasons why she should be. He was nobody. He wasn't a famous Bulgarian World Cup Seeker. He wasn't a Prefect or even very smart. He wasn't clever and witty like the twins. He wasn't especially handsome like Bill. Hell, he certainly wasn't the Boy- Who-Lived.
He was just Ron Weasley.
Just plain, old, poor, boring Ron Weasley. All in all, he basically amounted to two things- one happened to be the runt of a litter of talented and successful brothers, and the other happened to be the sidekick of the most famous fifteen year old wizard alive.
And he hated it.
He wanted to be something else. He wanted to be something spectacular. He wanted to do something that none of his brothers had ever done. He wanted to do something that would impress people- something other than managing to make Harry Potter as a best friend. But when it came down to it, he was nothing more than the youngest brother and an ever faithful sidekick.
Why would Hermione ever want him?
Ron immediately felt like he couldn't eat another bite. He was simply sickened by the realization that he'd been deluding himself for months now by thinking that she could ever possibly see him in the same way that he saw her.
"Well?" Harry's voice startled him again. "What is going on?"
"Nothing," Hermione answered shortly.
"Seriously," Harry pressed on. "Did you two get in a fight or something? What's the matter?"
Hermione put down her glass of orange juice and turned to him sharply. "Why don't you mind your own business, Harry?"
There was immediate silence as all three of them, Hermione included, seemed shocked by the curt response. Ron looked up at her curiously, and Harry turned to her looking quite offended. Hermione ducked her head and mumbled, "Sorry."
Harry wrinkled up his forehead a bit. "What is your problem?"
"Nothing," she answered, looking quite annoyed. "I said I was sorry, okay?"
Great, so not only was she avoiding him, she was also in an awful mood. Harry and Hermione had only fought on a very few rare occasions during the years that they'd all been friends. Hearing them bicker was quite unnerving to Ron, especially since he was sure that it was mostly his fault.
Harry looked at her silently for another moment before pushing back his chair. "I'll see you guys later," he said tonelessly.
Suddenly realizing that he was going to be left all alone with Hermione, Ron looked up and spoke for the first time in a few minutes. "Wait, Harry!"
Harry stopped and looked at him curiously, as did Hermione.
Ron hesitated for a second before stuttering about for an explanation. "Uh... Um, maybe you should stay here today."
"Why?"
Ron felt like his tongue had doubled in size, as getting words out was suddenly quite difficult. "Um, because, um, maybe Gia's a bit sick of you, you know. Maybe you two need a break... from each other. You know." He tried to sound nonchalant, but he was well aware of the fact that he was failing terribly.
Hermione, seemingly catching on, got in on the act. "Oh, yeah. She hasn't had any alone time in a few weeks. Maybe you should just stay here today. Then the... three... of us could, you know, spend the day together."
"Yeah," Ron added for good measure. "You know, the three of us. Together."
Harry took a long moment looking from one of them to the other before shaking his head and saying in a slightly strained tone. "Uh, no, thank you..."
Ron didn't know whether to feel more offended that Harry didn't want to spend time with them or more anxious because he was going to be facing the entire day alone with Hermione.
He decided that feeling offended was much easier. In what he was pretty sure sounded resentful, he said, "Oh, that's nice. Good to see where your loyalties lie."
"Yeah," Hermione added with a wrinkled nose. "It's not like we're your best friends or anything. I couldn't see why you would possibly want to spend some time with us."
"I've seen the two of you every day of my life for the past five years."
"That's an exaggeration," Ron pointed out huffily.
"Not much of one." Harry looked from one to the other. "Look, is there seriously nothing going on?"
"No," Hermione answered automatically. "We just thought that you might want to lower yourself for a day and spend some time with us. But if you'd rather rush off to some girl that you barely know, then that's fine." Wow, Ron had to give her credit- Hermione really knew how to lay on the thickest of guilt trips.
However, it didn't work on Harry. He simply nodded once and said, "Well, yes, actually I would rather rush off to her. If it's all the same to you, of course."
Hermione rolled her eyes and looked away. She didn't say another word.
Harry gave them each one more weird look before shaking his head and exiting the house through the backdoor, grabbing his coat on the way. As soon as the door closed, though, Ron instantly wished for something to come along and strike him dead. Cruciatus couldn't be anything compared to this.
This was torture.
There was this silence- and not the same sweet awkward silence they'd been used to. This was a silence that, had it not been completely soundless, would undoubtedly be screaming, 'You kissed each other! You're best friends! Hahaha! What are you going to do now?!' In fact, it rather sounded like Peeves.
When it seemed like the silence was going to swallow them both alive, Hermione finally pushed her chair away from the table and started clearing the table. "Are my parents gone?" she asked distantly as she loaded the bowls into the dishwasher.
"Yeah," Ron answered, thankful for the break in silence. "I can't believe they have to work the day after Christmas."
"It would suck, wouldn't it?" Hermione's voice sounded odd, as though she were simply grasping around for any sort of conversation.
Not knowing what else to do, Ron shrugged and got up to bring his own dishes to the sink. "Yeah, guess so." He placed his bowl and glass into the dishwasher and watched as Hermione shut it and leaned against the counter. He stood there looking at her for several moments until they both turned away at exactly the same moment.
"Ron..."
"Hermione..."
Their names were said at the exact same time, too, and they both looked back at each other for a moment. A nervous laugh escaped Hermione's lips, and her face turned a slightly brighter color than normal. Ron couldn't help but think of how beautiful she was.
After two seconds of her nervous little giggle, she stopped, and the awkwardness was back in full force. Struggling for her voice, she said something that terrified him beyond belief.
"We need to talk, don't we?"
Ron couldn't believe that such little words could frighten him so badly, but they did. She wanted to talk. Oh, yeah. Right. They could go back to talking like everything was normal, like they were nothing more than best friends, like everything in the world hadn't changed the night before. She wanted to talk.
"Uh, yeah." It was his answer; he couldn't quite believe that he agreed to it because he was positive that he'd rather be serving an entire semester of detentions with Snape and Filch than talking to Hermione Granger at that moment, but the words were out of his mouth before he could control them.
There was another long pause in the conversation until Hermione finally swallowed once and nodded. "Right, then. Well, let's go into the sitting room."
She didn't wait for an agreement; she simply brushed quickly past Ron and went into the living room. He had no choice but to follow her. He noticed that instead of sitting down on one of the chairs or the couch, Hermione settled herself cross-legged on the coffee table and motioned for him to sit across from her on the sofa. Not really too disappointed by the fact that she didn't want to sit next to him, as he wasn't sure he would be able to handle close proximity with her anyway, he settled himself on the couch and immediately pretended to be quite interested in the cushion beside him.
He hated this silence.
Luckily for him, Hermione apparently hated it, too. Taking the initiative he couldn't muster, she sighed quietly and said, "Well..."
He looked up then and saw that she was looking just as nervous as he was. Not knowing what else to do, he repeated her statement. "Well."
It was the same way they'd started out last night, but last night had turned into so much more. He almost hated the way he could remember it so vividly; he'd much rather forget it than hear her tell him it was a mistake and be plagued by the memory of it.
She twisted her hands nervously in her lap. In a very quiet voice, she managed to whisper, "I don't know what to say."
Ron was suddenly hit with a boldness that he hadn't previously known. "Hermione, if it was a mistake, just tell me, okay?"
She looked up at him in half-disbelief. Furrowing her brow, she sounded like she couldn't quite believe her ears. "If it... a... a mistake?"
Ron nodded slightly. "Yeah... I mean, you know, if you... if you regret it, then just tell me." He really wanted nothing more than her honesty.
Hermione just looked at him for a long moment before pursing her lips slightly and saying, "You think I regret it?"
Suddenly uncomfortable, Ron looked away and shrugged just slightly. "I don't know... I mean, maybe you didn't mean it." Blushing a little, he said, "Hormones, you know."
There was another painfully long minute of silence before Hermione spoke in sputtering disbelief. "Hormones?!"
Okay, so this was embarrassing. Ron ducked his head and shrugged again.
Hermione was still sputtering about her words. "Hormones?! You kissed me because of your ruddy hormones?!" Her voice was a mix of unbelievable shock and also a tad of anger. It was also the first time either of them had used the word 'kissed' all morning; it was frightening.
"I wasn't talking about me," Ron said immediately, not willing to let her believe that he had only kissed her because, as a fifteen year old boy, he'd have to be out of his mind not to be attracted to her. She was so, so much more than that, and if he had to tell her just how much more to get her to believe him, he would. "I kissed you because I wanted to," he said, most of the fear dropping away as he relied on his honesty to guide him. "Because I've been wanting to for a long time. It wasn't just hormones."
"And you think that it was for me?" Her voice had softened a little, but she still sounded as if she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing.
Ron looked up and met her eyes for the first time in awhile. "I don't know if it was," he admitted quietly. "I don't know why you would want... I mean, it's me, Hermione."
"What does that mean?" she asked, her eyes searching his for an explanation.
He sighed, some of the nervousness coming back. He wasn't going to let it get in the way, though; there were too many things that had to be said, and he was dead-set on telling her every one of them. "Hermione, you know that you're gorgeous." She blushed a little, but he went on anyway. "And you're the smartest person I've ever met. And you're... you're just everything, Hermione." He looked away and finished much more quietly. "And everything doesn't match with nothing."
A terrible feeling of dread settled over him when she didn't say anything. Maybe she'd finally come to her senses and realized that she could have her pick of anyone and definitely did not want Ron Weasley.
However, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, she stood up and bent down to take his face into her hands and force him to look up at her. He met her eyes fearfully but relaxed when she shook her head and spoke in the most serious of tones.
"It wasn't hormones."
And then she lowered her head and kissed him.
There was nothing else like it; there truly wasn't. It was so incredibly cliché, but he couldn't help thinking that he could feel her in every part of his soul when she pressed her lips against his. Her lips were so soft, and everything just felt so natural that it was hard to believe they'd only kissed for the first time the night before.
It was amazing, and he never, ever wanted to stop. It was everything he'd dreamed of and then some.
Hermione lifted her head a few seconds later and looked at him silently before nudging him over with her knee a bit and settling down between him and the arm of the sofa. He could have scooted over a bit and given her more room, but he liked feeling her so close to him. He enjoyed having her squeezed beside him; it was nice.
He didn't know what to say, so he simply turned his head slightly and looked at her, a thousand pounds having been lifted from his chest. If it wasn't hormones and she'd kissed him out of her own free will then maybe... Just maybe.
Hermione swallowed and pushed some hair away from her face before she started talking. Her voice was just the tiny bit shaky, as though she couldn't quite make the words sound right in her head. "Ron... Don't ever say that you're nothing, okay?" He started to look away, but she grabbed his hand and caught his attention. "Don't you realize how much you are to me?" Feeling his cheeks heat up, Ron was insanely thankful that they were alone. Hermione smiled just slightly and said, "You're my best friend."
He wanted to be a lot more than best friends, but he didn't dare interrupt her.
"I think you know me better than my own parents do," she said honestly. "You've always been there for me, and you have no idea what that means." She gave him another tiny grin, "And no one else has ever burped up slugs for me."
He laughed slightly at the thought. It was one of those memories that just sort of stuck with them; it was one of the significant moments in their friendship, much the same as the moment they exchanged embarrassed, 'Thank yous,' after the whole mountain troll incident. It was a monumental moment- the first time he'd ever really stood up for her but certainly not the last. He'd often wondered why he'd always felt such an overwhelming need to defend her against anyone and anything; he knew now that it was because he'd rather see himself get hurt than see her in any sort of pain.
She pushed another loose strand of hair behind her ear with her free hand as she quietly said, "I just want you to know that it wasn't a mistake."
They shared a private look, and then Ron threw all of his insecurities away and kissed her again.
And they both knew that there was nothing at all to regret.
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Well, there's another chapter for you. I know I'm spending a lot of time on the Christmas holiday, but this is a very important time for the romantic aspect of the story. I hope you guys don't mind this.
Please review! I'll love you forever!!!!
PS- Did anyone see the Harry Potter spoof on South Park last week? The main kids were playing Lord of the Rings, but all the other kids in town were caught up on playing Harry Potter. It was hilarious!
Classic line- Eric Cartman: "Fine. Go ahead and play Harry Butthole Pussy Potter!"
Haha, it was just really funny. I was just wondering if anyone else caught it...
Disclaimer: I can wish, but it will never happen.
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Ron Weasley woke up the next morning feeling quite content. In fact, he couldn't remember sleeping that well in a long time, and he wasn't all too eager to wake up. His dreams had been good, and he wasn't in a hurry to leave them behind.
However, he was wide awake, and there was no hope of falling back to sleep. So, he sat up and stretched, and his eye caught a glimpse of something that definitely made him do a double take. A brand new hardback edition of 'Flying With the Cannons' sat on the chair across the room. But that meant...
It had been real.
Oh... Bloody hell.
He had actually kissed her? He had actually stood in the middle of her bedroom and kissed Hermione? Hermione Granger. His best friend.
Unconsciously, he raised a trembling hand to his lips as if he would still be able to feel her there. The strangest thing, though, was that he somehow could...
He found that recalling every detail of the previous night was quite easy; it seemed that every second had been etched into his mind, and he was actually thankful for this. It had been amazing. The most amazing moment of his life.
And now he was scared out of his mind.
He had just kissed his best friend. And now what? What had it meant to her? Had it meant just as much as it had to him? What had changed? Were they something more than friends now? Did he have to ask her if they could be? Would she just know that he wanted to be? And, oh God... How was he supposed to face her?
Why did it have to happen here of all places? At her house. It couldn't have happened while they were at Hogwarts, could it? No, that would have been too simple. At least at Hogwarts there were other people and tons of places around to disappear to if things got too awkward. Here... Oh, this was insane.
A loud knocking at his door jerked his attention up instantly. Immediately growing nervous, he let out what could have been considered a squeaking, "Huh?!"
The door opened without another word exchanged, and Harry walked in already dressed and ready for the day. Ron raised his eyebrows at him, not aware of the fact that his chest was rising and falling rather quickly from his sped-up breathing.
"What's the matter with you?" Harry asked coolly as he crossed the room and perched himself on the bed.
Ron swallowed and did his very best to look as if nothing at all was the matter. "Nothing! You just... startled me is all."
Harry pushed his glasses up on his nose and shrugged carelessly, stifling a yawn as he did so. "Are you ready for breakfast? I don't want to go down there by myself because I just feel weird, you know, since it's not my house. And Hermione's not up yet."
"She's not?" Ron asked a little too anxiously. Good. He immediately jumped up and started fumbling around for something to wear. "Yeah, give me a second."
Harry nodded lazily and lay back on the bed with another yawn. As Ron started getting dressed, Harry's eye fell on something across the room. After a second look, he wondered if what he was seeing was real. Without saying a word, he got up from the bed and went over to the chair, and his initial assumption had been right. It was brand new copy of 'Flying With the Cannons,' and it was literally glittering with newness.
"Where'd you get this?" Harry asked as he picked it up and looked at the shiny cover.
Ron turned around as he started buttoning up the front of a navy blue shirt over his khakis. His eyes brightened instantly, and he momentarily forgot about the task at hand as he crossed the room and stood beside his best friend to admire the beautiful book.
"Hermione gave it to me for Christmas," he answered proudly, a smile showing on his face as he looked down at what was undoubtedly the best gift he'd ever gotten it. "Open it up!"
Harry opened the book looked just as impressed as Ron had been. "Wow!"
"Cool, huh?" Ron grinned madly until the sound of footsteps in the hall and the opening and the closing of the bathroom door drew his attention away from the book. Hermione was obviously up and now in the bathroom. Not wanting to run into her in the hallway, Ron immediately started to the door, finishing the buttons on the way. "Come on," he said quickly. "I'm starving."
Harry looked at him a bit strangely, but he followed the other boy downstairs nevertheless. When they were safely downstairs and seated across from each other at the breakfast table, Ron busied himself with a bowl of cereal. For a while, neither of them spoke until Harry finally put his spoon down out of nowhere and looked up.
"What is up with you?"
Ron looked up jerkily. "What? Nothing's up. Why would you think there was something up?"
"Oh, I don't know," Harry said half-sarcastically. "You haven't said a single word since we got downstairs, and you are awful jumpy this morning. Those would just be two little signs that something's up..."
"Well, there's not," Ron said quickly.
Of course, Hermione couldn't have chosen a better time to walk down the stairs and into the kitchen than that very second. She stopped briefly on the bottom stair, and Ron caught her eyes for a moment before both of them looked away at opposite wall quickly. Ron could sense that she had walked around the edge of the room and carefully sat herself down beside Harry, but he didn't dare look over to see if his assumptions were right. Instead, he pretended to become quite involved with the cereal once again. Knowing fully well that Harry was sending him strange looks and quite probably turning those same looks on Hermione, Ron didn't even dare look anywhere except the table.
Finally, though, it seemed as if Harry simply couldn't take it anymore. His voice broke the silence so roughly that both Ron and Hermione started and couldn't help but look up.
"What is going on?" he demanded.
Ron glanced very briefly at Hermione and saw her tell him with his eyes to keep his mouth shut. He felt bad about not letting Harry in on the secret, but Harry hadn't bothered to tell him when he had started kissing people, had he? And this was even more of a big deal than Gia was. This was Hermione, after all. Hermione, who was Harry's best friend, too; they were all best friends- it wasn't just some random thing.
It was Hermione.
And quite clearly, Hermione did not want Harry to know. Ron couldn't help but feel a bit anxious about this, though. It wasn't as if he especially wanted to tell Harry, either, but he was instantly a little nervous over the fact that Hermione didn't want to tell him. What if that meant that everything had been a mistake and she just wanted to forget about it? What if she didn't like him at all? What if she was embarrassed?
That would be the worst. He could deal if she simply just didn't like him like he liked her. He could deal if she had just been too caught up in whatever whacked out hormones they were all going through. He could even deal if she had thought that she liked him but decided she was mistaken after he'd kissed her.
But he couldn't deal if she was embarrassed about it.
Of course, there were a million and a half reasons why she should be. He was nobody. He wasn't a famous Bulgarian World Cup Seeker. He wasn't a Prefect or even very smart. He wasn't clever and witty like the twins. He wasn't especially handsome like Bill. Hell, he certainly wasn't the Boy- Who-Lived.
He was just Ron Weasley.
Just plain, old, poor, boring Ron Weasley. All in all, he basically amounted to two things- one happened to be the runt of a litter of talented and successful brothers, and the other happened to be the sidekick of the most famous fifteen year old wizard alive.
And he hated it.
He wanted to be something else. He wanted to be something spectacular. He wanted to do something that none of his brothers had ever done. He wanted to do something that would impress people- something other than managing to make Harry Potter as a best friend. But when it came down to it, he was nothing more than the youngest brother and an ever faithful sidekick.
Why would Hermione ever want him?
Ron immediately felt like he couldn't eat another bite. He was simply sickened by the realization that he'd been deluding himself for months now by thinking that she could ever possibly see him in the same way that he saw her.
"Well?" Harry's voice startled him again. "What is going on?"
"Nothing," Hermione answered shortly.
"Seriously," Harry pressed on. "Did you two get in a fight or something? What's the matter?"
Hermione put down her glass of orange juice and turned to him sharply. "Why don't you mind your own business, Harry?"
There was immediate silence as all three of them, Hermione included, seemed shocked by the curt response. Ron looked up at her curiously, and Harry turned to her looking quite offended. Hermione ducked her head and mumbled, "Sorry."
Harry wrinkled up his forehead a bit. "What is your problem?"
"Nothing," she answered, looking quite annoyed. "I said I was sorry, okay?"
Great, so not only was she avoiding him, she was also in an awful mood. Harry and Hermione had only fought on a very few rare occasions during the years that they'd all been friends. Hearing them bicker was quite unnerving to Ron, especially since he was sure that it was mostly his fault.
Harry looked at her silently for another moment before pushing back his chair. "I'll see you guys later," he said tonelessly.
Suddenly realizing that he was going to be left all alone with Hermione, Ron looked up and spoke for the first time in a few minutes. "Wait, Harry!"
Harry stopped and looked at him curiously, as did Hermione.
Ron hesitated for a second before stuttering about for an explanation. "Uh... Um, maybe you should stay here today."
"Why?"
Ron felt like his tongue had doubled in size, as getting words out was suddenly quite difficult. "Um, because, um, maybe Gia's a bit sick of you, you know. Maybe you two need a break... from each other. You know." He tried to sound nonchalant, but he was well aware of the fact that he was failing terribly.
Hermione, seemingly catching on, got in on the act. "Oh, yeah. She hasn't had any alone time in a few weeks. Maybe you should just stay here today. Then the... three... of us could, you know, spend the day together."
"Yeah," Ron added for good measure. "You know, the three of us. Together."
Harry took a long moment looking from one of them to the other before shaking his head and saying in a slightly strained tone. "Uh, no, thank you..."
Ron didn't know whether to feel more offended that Harry didn't want to spend time with them or more anxious because he was going to be facing the entire day alone with Hermione.
He decided that feeling offended was much easier. In what he was pretty sure sounded resentful, he said, "Oh, that's nice. Good to see where your loyalties lie."
"Yeah," Hermione added with a wrinkled nose. "It's not like we're your best friends or anything. I couldn't see why you would possibly want to spend some time with us."
"I've seen the two of you every day of my life for the past five years."
"That's an exaggeration," Ron pointed out huffily.
"Not much of one." Harry looked from one to the other. "Look, is there seriously nothing going on?"
"No," Hermione answered automatically. "We just thought that you might want to lower yourself for a day and spend some time with us. But if you'd rather rush off to some girl that you barely know, then that's fine." Wow, Ron had to give her credit- Hermione really knew how to lay on the thickest of guilt trips.
However, it didn't work on Harry. He simply nodded once and said, "Well, yes, actually I would rather rush off to her. If it's all the same to you, of course."
Hermione rolled her eyes and looked away. She didn't say another word.
Harry gave them each one more weird look before shaking his head and exiting the house through the backdoor, grabbing his coat on the way. As soon as the door closed, though, Ron instantly wished for something to come along and strike him dead. Cruciatus couldn't be anything compared to this.
This was torture.
There was this silence- and not the same sweet awkward silence they'd been used to. This was a silence that, had it not been completely soundless, would undoubtedly be screaming, 'You kissed each other! You're best friends! Hahaha! What are you going to do now?!' In fact, it rather sounded like Peeves.
When it seemed like the silence was going to swallow them both alive, Hermione finally pushed her chair away from the table and started clearing the table. "Are my parents gone?" she asked distantly as she loaded the bowls into the dishwasher.
"Yeah," Ron answered, thankful for the break in silence. "I can't believe they have to work the day after Christmas."
"It would suck, wouldn't it?" Hermione's voice sounded odd, as though she were simply grasping around for any sort of conversation.
Not knowing what else to do, Ron shrugged and got up to bring his own dishes to the sink. "Yeah, guess so." He placed his bowl and glass into the dishwasher and watched as Hermione shut it and leaned against the counter. He stood there looking at her for several moments until they both turned away at exactly the same moment.
"Ron..."
"Hermione..."
Their names were said at the exact same time, too, and they both looked back at each other for a moment. A nervous laugh escaped Hermione's lips, and her face turned a slightly brighter color than normal. Ron couldn't help but think of how beautiful she was.
After two seconds of her nervous little giggle, she stopped, and the awkwardness was back in full force. Struggling for her voice, she said something that terrified him beyond belief.
"We need to talk, don't we?"
Ron couldn't believe that such little words could frighten him so badly, but they did. She wanted to talk. Oh, yeah. Right. They could go back to talking like everything was normal, like they were nothing more than best friends, like everything in the world hadn't changed the night before. She wanted to talk.
"Uh, yeah." It was his answer; he couldn't quite believe that he agreed to it because he was positive that he'd rather be serving an entire semester of detentions with Snape and Filch than talking to Hermione Granger at that moment, but the words were out of his mouth before he could control them.
There was another long pause in the conversation until Hermione finally swallowed once and nodded. "Right, then. Well, let's go into the sitting room."
She didn't wait for an agreement; she simply brushed quickly past Ron and went into the living room. He had no choice but to follow her. He noticed that instead of sitting down on one of the chairs or the couch, Hermione settled herself cross-legged on the coffee table and motioned for him to sit across from her on the sofa. Not really too disappointed by the fact that she didn't want to sit next to him, as he wasn't sure he would be able to handle close proximity with her anyway, he settled himself on the couch and immediately pretended to be quite interested in the cushion beside him.
He hated this silence.
Luckily for him, Hermione apparently hated it, too. Taking the initiative he couldn't muster, she sighed quietly and said, "Well..."
He looked up then and saw that she was looking just as nervous as he was. Not knowing what else to do, he repeated her statement. "Well."
It was the same way they'd started out last night, but last night had turned into so much more. He almost hated the way he could remember it so vividly; he'd much rather forget it than hear her tell him it was a mistake and be plagued by the memory of it.
She twisted her hands nervously in her lap. In a very quiet voice, she managed to whisper, "I don't know what to say."
Ron was suddenly hit with a boldness that he hadn't previously known. "Hermione, if it was a mistake, just tell me, okay?"
She looked up at him in half-disbelief. Furrowing her brow, she sounded like she couldn't quite believe her ears. "If it... a... a mistake?"
Ron nodded slightly. "Yeah... I mean, you know, if you... if you regret it, then just tell me." He really wanted nothing more than her honesty.
Hermione just looked at him for a long moment before pursing her lips slightly and saying, "You think I regret it?"
Suddenly uncomfortable, Ron looked away and shrugged just slightly. "I don't know... I mean, maybe you didn't mean it." Blushing a little, he said, "Hormones, you know."
There was another painfully long minute of silence before Hermione spoke in sputtering disbelief. "Hormones?!"
Okay, so this was embarrassing. Ron ducked his head and shrugged again.
Hermione was still sputtering about her words. "Hormones?! You kissed me because of your ruddy hormones?!" Her voice was a mix of unbelievable shock and also a tad of anger. It was also the first time either of them had used the word 'kissed' all morning; it was frightening.
"I wasn't talking about me," Ron said immediately, not willing to let her believe that he had only kissed her because, as a fifteen year old boy, he'd have to be out of his mind not to be attracted to her. She was so, so much more than that, and if he had to tell her just how much more to get her to believe him, he would. "I kissed you because I wanted to," he said, most of the fear dropping away as he relied on his honesty to guide him. "Because I've been wanting to for a long time. It wasn't just hormones."
"And you think that it was for me?" Her voice had softened a little, but she still sounded as if she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing.
Ron looked up and met her eyes for the first time in awhile. "I don't know if it was," he admitted quietly. "I don't know why you would want... I mean, it's me, Hermione."
"What does that mean?" she asked, her eyes searching his for an explanation.
He sighed, some of the nervousness coming back. He wasn't going to let it get in the way, though; there were too many things that had to be said, and he was dead-set on telling her every one of them. "Hermione, you know that you're gorgeous." She blushed a little, but he went on anyway. "And you're the smartest person I've ever met. And you're... you're just everything, Hermione." He looked away and finished much more quietly. "And everything doesn't match with nothing."
A terrible feeling of dread settled over him when she didn't say anything. Maybe she'd finally come to her senses and realized that she could have her pick of anyone and definitely did not want Ron Weasley.
However, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, she stood up and bent down to take his face into her hands and force him to look up at her. He met her eyes fearfully but relaxed when she shook her head and spoke in the most serious of tones.
"It wasn't hormones."
And then she lowered her head and kissed him.
There was nothing else like it; there truly wasn't. It was so incredibly cliché, but he couldn't help thinking that he could feel her in every part of his soul when she pressed her lips against his. Her lips were so soft, and everything just felt so natural that it was hard to believe they'd only kissed for the first time the night before.
It was amazing, and he never, ever wanted to stop. It was everything he'd dreamed of and then some.
Hermione lifted her head a few seconds later and looked at him silently before nudging him over with her knee a bit and settling down between him and the arm of the sofa. He could have scooted over a bit and given her more room, but he liked feeling her so close to him. He enjoyed having her squeezed beside him; it was nice.
He didn't know what to say, so he simply turned his head slightly and looked at her, a thousand pounds having been lifted from his chest. If it wasn't hormones and she'd kissed him out of her own free will then maybe... Just maybe.
Hermione swallowed and pushed some hair away from her face before she started talking. Her voice was just the tiny bit shaky, as though she couldn't quite make the words sound right in her head. "Ron... Don't ever say that you're nothing, okay?" He started to look away, but she grabbed his hand and caught his attention. "Don't you realize how much you are to me?" Feeling his cheeks heat up, Ron was insanely thankful that they were alone. Hermione smiled just slightly and said, "You're my best friend."
He wanted to be a lot more than best friends, but he didn't dare interrupt her.
"I think you know me better than my own parents do," she said honestly. "You've always been there for me, and you have no idea what that means." She gave him another tiny grin, "And no one else has ever burped up slugs for me."
He laughed slightly at the thought. It was one of those memories that just sort of stuck with them; it was one of the significant moments in their friendship, much the same as the moment they exchanged embarrassed, 'Thank yous,' after the whole mountain troll incident. It was a monumental moment- the first time he'd ever really stood up for her but certainly not the last. He'd often wondered why he'd always felt such an overwhelming need to defend her against anyone and anything; he knew now that it was because he'd rather see himself get hurt than see her in any sort of pain.
She pushed another loose strand of hair behind her ear with her free hand as she quietly said, "I just want you to know that it wasn't a mistake."
They shared a private look, and then Ron threw all of his insecurities away and kissed her again.
And they both knew that there was nothing at all to regret.
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Well, there's another chapter for you. I know I'm spending a lot of time on the Christmas holiday, but this is a very important time for the romantic aspect of the story. I hope you guys don't mind this.
Please review! I'll love you forever!!!!
PS- Did anyone see the Harry Potter spoof on South Park last week? The main kids were playing Lord of the Rings, but all the other kids in town were caught up on playing Harry Potter. It was hilarious!
Classic line- Eric Cartman: "Fine. Go ahead and play Harry Butthole Pussy Potter!"
Haha, it was just really funny. I was just wondering if anyone else caught it...
