Friends...I Guess
Chapter 9
~Hermione's Point Of View~
I squeezed my eyes shut, attempting to block out the painful sunrays as they broke through the crack of my curtains. I felt my eyes adjust a bit more and peeked out of one lid.
"Ugh!"
I squeezed my eyes shut again even tighter, and buried my face back into my human pillow.
My eyes flew open.
Human pillow? Where had that thought come from? I looked in front of me, square into the chest of a definite male student, and I began to feel aware of the arm loosely encircling my waist. Suddenly, the memories of the night before came flooding back; complete with the disappointment of the test, and the excitement of...well...this. My mind ran through the words that Ron had uttered right before I had completely drifted off to sleep... 'I love you, Hermione Granger'. Had he meant it? My stomach did flip-flops as I thought it over. But...wait a minute...had I said anything back? I barely remembered hearing the words, much less what came after it. In my state of fatigue, I could have said anything. Or what's worse than anything...what I really feel. I bit my lip worriedly.
The boy next to me began to shift, and I snapped my eyes shut, not wanting to talk yet. It would ruin the moment. Yes. I wasn't nervous or anything.
I felt him stretch his legs, and then stop cold, obviously noticing where he was, or more specifically, whom he was with. For a moment or two, he didn't move a muscle. It didn't even sound like he was breathing. Finally, though, he relaxed and tightened his grip on me, pulling me closer. I felt him kiss the top of my head again, like he did last night, and I smiled slightly. He leaned back afterwards, and for the life of me, I could not figure out what he was doing, until his gaze began to penetrate into my skin. It was that feeling that you know someone's watching you, and I wanted to squirm, but knew I couldn't. So, I figured this was as good a time as ever to 'wake up'.
I stretched clumsily, and spoke, with my eyes still closed.
"Morning," I murmured, stifling a yawn.
"Hey," he said, and I felt him twist a strand of my hair around his finger.
Silence stretched on for only a few seconds, until I finally spoke. I opened my eyes, and began to look at him straight on. "Ron, I'm really sorry about last night, and I just wanted to thank-"
I had never seen this look before. Or maybe I had, but just not as close. His face was a mere two inches from mine, and his eyes had a kind of fire in them; a kind of desire, I had never really taken notice of.
My breath caught in my chest as his quickened against my face. I wanted to look anywhere but at him, but his gaze wouldn't allow me to break it. After what seemed like eons, his eyes dropped to my lips, and I began to feel frantic. 'He's going to KISS me?!' my thoughts were screaming at me. 'What am I supposed to do?! I don't really have that much-'
But I was cut off mid mind sentence. His lips were pressed against mine, and somehow, my body remembered to close my eyes. A million thoughts were racing through my brain at once. Am I doing this right? Does this mean he meant what he said last night? Is he going to regret this when it's over? I could not believe how scared I was, and excited at that same time. The two feelings combined made me feel almost sick.
A few seconds later, though, Ron reached up, and cupped my face with his hand, carefully deepening our kiss, and all my worries melted away. Even with my eyes closed, not only did I know how much I loved him, but also I felt how much he loved me. He was pouring his heart out to me through this kiss, and I suddenly realized that this is what life is all about. Loving someone this deeply, and wanting to spend forever with them. Eternity. It was a scary thought, but with Ron, a million sunlit morning kisses, and me I knew it would be okay.
Ron pulled back a moment later, and looked at me with a question in his eyes. 'Is this okay?' they pleaded. I couldn't help but smile and nod, and when he smiled and leaned in again, it became a messy kiss, two smiles colliding together. But neither of us minded.
The sound of people waking up suddenly tore into our moment, and we broke apart, holding our breath. I heard Lavender rustling her blankets, and the sound of her curtains being opened.
"Oh, crap..." Ron mouthed.
But then, her curtains closed again, and I heard get back in bed.
I grinned. "I know Lavender like a book. You have two and a half minutes. Go!" I whispered almost inaudibly.
He climbed out of my bed so quietly; I wouldn't have thought anything unusual if I didn't know what was really going on. After he left, I laid in bed for a while longer, letting Lavender and Parvati get ready first. A few minutes later, when I was pulling my own robes on, I heard voices wafting up from the Common Room. One voice caught my attention.
"Ron! Where were you last night?" It was Harry.
"I guess I just fell asleep out here. Weird. I never do that."
I smiled.
The rest of the day went by extremely slow. I took my usual roll of parchment of notes per class, but my heart didn't feel completely devoted to it as usual. I paid attention to the professors, but Ron's face always lingered in my mind. I felt very antsy to get back to the Common Room that evening. Lunch just made it worse, because for some odd reason, he didn't show up.
So, when our last class rolled around, I tried to calm my pounding heart while I packed my knapsack. I felt as if I were going through a 'Ron-withdrawal'. I grinned at this thought, and proceeded to walk toward the Common Room.
At last, the Fat Lady was in my sight, and I hurried toward her. As soon as she saw me, though, she looked almost nervous. I didn't stop to ask. I blurted the password and swung open the door, ignoring her "Hermione, dear..." and "You might want to hear this..."
My grin was wiped off my face, though, as I stepped through the threshold. It was dead silent. It was mostly empty, except for a few stray students in the corners, trying to get some studying in, and all of them were giving seldom, apprehensive looks at...Ron?
There he was. Sitting in an armchair next to the fireplace with a newspaper folded in his lap, and his hands clasped together under his chin. It wasn't his stance that surprised me, but his eyes that scared me the most. He was glaring unblinkingly at one spot on the ground, obviously lost in thought. His face was pink, and looked as if he could explode at any moment at anyone.
Just then, the door swung shut behind me, snapping him out of his reverie, and his eyes darted to me.
I gave a smile, trying to look friendly, and began to walk over to him, until he began to glare even more, obviously trying to throw daggers at me through his eyes. I stopped and cleared my throat anxiously. "Uh...Ron, is something-"
He didn't give me to time to finish my sentence. In a millisecond, he grabbed the paper out of his lap and opened it with a snap, showing me the cover story.
There was a large, unflattering, blown up picture of Viktor and I. Kissing. I felt my jaw drop. How in the world could tabloids take a picture so quickly? I had kicked him off not even a moment after. But Ron didn't know that.
"What the hell is this." It was a statement more than a question that was forced out between gritted teeth.
I gulped. "Ron, it's not what it looks like, really. Let me tell you what-"
"I don't want to know, Hermione!" He got up so quickly and angrily, that I took a step back. Hermione? He hadn't called me that for quite a long time. It had always been 'Mione'. "This picture was taken last summer. You didn't even tell me you visited him!" His voice was steadily rising, and the younger students in the corners were hurrying up the staircases.
"Ron, let me explain-"
"A vacation with your parents, huh? Yeah, great lie, Hermione! I thought we were friends. I thought we were MORE than friends. I guess I was wrong though, right?" His last words echoed throughout the silent Common Room. Then he laughed bitterly and shook his head. This time, his voice was much quieter. "Apparently money does matter to you, Hermione. Apparently you really do care about Quidditch stardom and all that crap. Well, us Weasleys don't have that so, maybe you want to go to the ball with Vicky, huh? Have tons of fun."
And with that, he snapped the paper closed again, and bounded up the boys' staircase, leaving me alone in the Common Room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Ron's Point Of View~
Two weeks passed without speaking to Hermione. I was so angry, and so hurt, I wouldn't allow myself. Of course, I missed her all the time. At night, I would lay awake and think I should just give up this stupid charade. But, the fact is, she did lie to me, and that hurt more than anything. The day after our fight, Harry would approach me every time he saw me, trying to explain something, but I wouldn't let him. I plainly did not want to hear it. Even now, he would still come up to me every once in a while, but he gave up much easier now. My guess is that Ginny was telling him to let us figure it out. Psaw.
And now, it was the night of the ball.
I lay on my back in my four-poster with the curtains closed, trying to ignore the chatter of my friends while they got ready to meet their dates. I tried not to think about Vicky who was somewhere in this building. Earlier, I had plotted to track him down and do something very painful, but Harry had held me back and threatened me with a belching slugs curse, and that had done it. Once was enough.
"You're really not coming, Ron?" Harry asked, sticking his head inside my curtains.
"That's right. Now leave me alone, Harry, and go find Ginny."
Even though I wasn't looking, I knew he was rolling his eyes at me. "Alright," he said doubtfully.
Five minutes later, our dormitory was silent, and I knew I was the only human being not in the Great Hall at this very moment. At first, I tried counting the miniature stars dotting our ceiling, but after that got old, I attempted to read a homework assignment, which rapidly went downhill. After going back and forth a couple of times, I was confident that I had wasted the night away without a thought of Hermione. I glanced at the clock on the wall and discovered I'd only been alone for half an hour. Not only that, but I had broken my internal promise to not think of Hermione. Damn.
I threw myself off of my bed and began to pace. I had to do something productive this evening besides thinking of Hermione otherwise she would win. And I couldn't let that happen. Not after what she did. The trunk at the foot of my bed caught my eye, and I threw myself beside it, desperately throwing up the lid in search of something to occupy my time. I groped blindly inside its contents and pulled at the first thing I grasped, and when it came into the light, the grin faded from my face.
It was the newspaper. THE newspaper. The one I had become so angry about, yet after our fight I had folded it carefully and tucked it inside my trunk for an unknown reason. Unfolding it hurt, seeing Hermione's face interlocked with HIS. Disgusting. But I sat down on my bed and began to read anyway.
My eyes scanned bitterly across the descriptions of a "budding romance" and "happy couple". It felt as if an ice-cold liquid was pouring through my veins and clouding my vision, and even I wasn't dense enough to realize that the correct term was jealousy. As I read each word slowly and carefully, as to absorb every inch of it, I felt the same feeling rise in my throat, and before I knew what was happening, I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. I didn't bother to brush it away.
I was so engrossed in the article that I didn't notice the dorm door creak open and a bushy head stick inside.
"Ron?"
In all of one second, I swept the tears from my face, stuffed the newspaper behind me, and looked in time to squeeze out a good hard glare.
"Can I come in?"
I glared some more. "I s'pose."
She raised an eyebrow and apprehensively stepped inside, clicking the door shut behind her. "You can't ignore me forever."
I raised my eyebrow back in an equally stubborn manner. "And why not?"
"Because. Just because. There are so many reasons, Ron, but I don't know if you'll even hear me out! But I'll try. Because you're my best friend. Because we've been through so much together, and we shouldn't let one incident end our friendship forever. Because we know each other better than we know ourselves. Because I..." Suddenly her voice dropped from persistent to almost inaudible. "Because I love you."
My eyes widened at her admittance, and I stood up from my bed as she sat down on Harry's. "What did you say?" I whispered.
She ignored my question and went on. "Because even though I did go to visit Viktor this summer, I didn't tell you because I knew how upset you'd get. And just for the record, when he kissed me, I slapped him and left right away."
Tears were slipping silently down her cheeks, and I was dimly aware of wetness on mine as well. But there was still one thing I had to know. "Where is he now?"
"Who?"
"Viktor."
She looked at me blankly. "Bulgaria. Why?"
"I thought you were going to the ball with him."
"No. You put those words in my mouth, remember? Besides, I wouldn't consider going with anyone else other than you."
My mouth was opening and closing so rhythmically that I'm sure I resembled a gold fish. I was searching for the words to tell her my feelings as well, but was so shocked I couldn't seem to find them.
As I was my thoughts were racing, her gaze dropped to my bed. "What were you reading?"
"Hmm?" I asked, snapping out of my reverie. She pointed to my bed, and I felt myself blush. "Oh. Oh...nothing." I began to reach for the paper, but she snapped it up.
"Why do you still have this? And in near perfect condition? I would've thought that you would've drawn facial hair on both of us by now."
I attempted to pry the paper out of her hands as the blush threatened by entire face and neck, but she took a hold of my fingers instead.
"Because...I dunno." I said, as she gave me a questioning look. "Because I was jealous alright?" My mood transitioned from embarrassed to pleading in seconds. Suddenly, I found myself crouching down on the floor next to the bed she was perched on. "Hermione, I'm so in love with you that I don't even know how to deal with it. I'm lost. When I found out that you were with Viktor, it practically ripped my entire body apart, much less my heart. Please forgive me for being such a prat, it's just that sometimes I can't help it, and-"
Her arms going around my neck cut me off abruptly. "Ron?"
I mumbled a response, words failing me.
"Shut up and kiss me."
I smiled and gladly did what I was told.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks sooo much for the reviews. They mean so much to me. Completely boost my mood! Special thanks to the following:
CurlsofGold, Sylver-Ajah, Melissa, Freckles1405, OneDayFamous, RonPLUSHermione4eva, Phoenix72389, codes778, Ashley, powerpetal, Mool, phi Cong, Queen: )B
Thanks to all of you! Every message was a blessing. Also, look for an epilogue headed your way!
Chapter 9
~Hermione's Point Of View~
I squeezed my eyes shut, attempting to block out the painful sunrays as they broke through the crack of my curtains. I felt my eyes adjust a bit more and peeked out of one lid.
"Ugh!"
I squeezed my eyes shut again even tighter, and buried my face back into my human pillow.
My eyes flew open.
Human pillow? Where had that thought come from? I looked in front of me, square into the chest of a definite male student, and I began to feel aware of the arm loosely encircling my waist. Suddenly, the memories of the night before came flooding back; complete with the disappointment of the test, and the excitement of...well...this. My mind ran through the words that Ron had uttered right before I had completely drifted off to sleep... 'I love you, Hermione Granger'. Had he meant it? My stomach did flip-flops as I thought it over. But...wait a minute...had I said anything back? I barely remembered hearing the words, much less what came after it. In my state of fatigue, I could have said anything. Or what's worse than anything...what I really feel. I bit my lip worriedly.
The boy next to me began to shift, and I snapped my eyes shut, not wanting to talk yet. It would ruin the moment. Yes. I wasn't nervous or anything.
I felt him stretch his legs, and then stop cold, obviously noticing where he was, or more specifically, whom he was with. For a moment or two, he didn't move a muscle. It didn't even sound like he was breathing. Finally, though, he relaxed and tightened his grip on me, pulling me closer. I felt him kiss the top of my head again, like he did last night, and I smiled slightly. He leaned back afterwards, and for the life of me, I could not figure out what he was doing, until his gaze began to penetrate into my skin. It was that feeling that you know someone's watching you, and I wanted to squirm, but knew I couldn't. So, I figured this was as good a time as ever to 'wake up'.
I stretched clumsily, and spoke, with my eyes still closed.
"Morning," I murmured, stifling a yawn.
"Hey," he said, and I felt him twist a strand of my hair around his finger.
Silence stretched on for only a few seconds, until I finally spoke. I opened my eyes, and began to look at him straight on. "Ron, I'm really sorry about last night, and I just wanted to thank-"
I had never seen this look before. Or maybe I had, but just not as close. His face was a mere two inches from mine, and his eyes had a kind of fire in them; a kind of desire, I had never really taken notice of.
My breath caught in my chest as his quickened against my face. I wanted to look anywhere but at him, but his gaze wouldn't allow me to break it. After what seemed like eons, his eyes dropped to my lips, and I began to feel frantic. 'He's going to KISS me?!' my thoughts were screaming at me. 'What am I supposed to do?! I don't really have that much-'
But I was cut off mid mind sentence. His lips were pressed against mine, and somehow, my body remembered to close my eyes. A million thoughts were racing through my brain at once. Am I doing this right? Does this mean he meant what he said last night? Is he going to regret this when it's over? I could not believe how scared I was, and excited at that same time. The two feelings combined made me feel almost sick.
A few seconds later, though, Ron reached up, and cupped my face with his hand, carefully deepening our kiss, and all my worries melted away. Even with my eyes closed, not only did I know how much I loved him, but also I felt how much he loved me. He was pouring his heart out to me through this kiss, and I suddenly realized that this is what life is all about. Loving someone this deeply, and wanting to spend forever with them. Eternity. It was a scary thought, but with Ron, a million sunlit morning kisses, and me I knew it would be okay.
Ron pulled back a moment later, and looked at me with a question in his eyes. 'Is this okay?' they pleaded. I couldn't help but smile and nod, and when he smiled and leaned in again, it became a messy kiss, two smiles colliding together. But neither of us minded.
The sound of people waking up suddenly tore into our moment, and we broke apart, holding our breath. I heard Lavender rustling her blankets, and the sound of her curtains being opened.
"Oh, crap..." Ron mouthed.
But then, her curtains closed again, and I heard get back in bed.
I grinned. "I know Lavender like a book. You have two and a half minutes. Go!" I whispered almost inaudibly.
He climbed out of my bed so quietly; I wouldn't have thought anything unusual if I didn't know what was really going on. After he left, I laid in bed for a while longer, letting Lavender and Parvati get ready first. A few minutes later, when I was pulling my own robes on, I heard voices wafting up from the Common Room. One voice caught my attention.
"Ron! Where were you last night?" It was Harry.
"I guess I just fell asleep out here. Weird. I never do that."
I smiled.
The rest of the day went by extremely slow. I took my usual roll of parchment of notes per class, but my heart didn't feel completely devoted to it as usual. I paid attention to the professors, but Ron's face always lingered in my mind. I felt very antsy to get back to the Common Room that evening. Lunch just made it worse, because for some odd reason, he didn't show up.
So, when our last class rolled around, I tried to calm my pounding heart while I packed my knapsack. I felt as if I were going through a 'Ron-withdrawal'. I grinned at this thought, and proceeded to walk toward the Common Room.
At last, the Fat Lady was in my sight, and I hurried toward her. As soon as she saw me, though, she looked almost nervous. I didn't stop to ask. I blurted the password and swung open the door, ignoring her "Hermione, dear..." and "You might want to hear this..."
My grin was wiped off my face, though, as I stepped through the threshold. It was dead silent. It was mostly empty, except for a few stray students in the corners, trying to get some studying in, and all of them were giving seldom, apprehensive looks at...Ron?
There he was. Sitting in an armchair next to the fireplace with a newspaper folded in his lap, and his hands clasped together under his chin. It wasn't his stance that surprised me, but his eyes that scared me the most. He was glaring unblinkingly at one spot on the ground, obviously lost in thought. His face was pink, and looked as if he could explode at any moment at anyone.
Just then, the door swung shut behind me, snapping him out of his reverie, and his eyes darted to me.
I gave a smile, trying to look friendly, and began to walk over to him, until he began to glare even more, obviously trying to throw daggers at me through his eyes. I stopped and cleared my throat anxiously. "Uh...Ron, is something-"
He didn't give me to time to finish my sentence. In a millisecond, he grabbed the paper out of his lap and opened it with a snap, showing me the cover story.
There was a large, unflattering, blown up picture of Viktor and I. Kissing. I felt my jaw drop. How in the world could tabloids take a picture so quickly? I had kicked him off not even a moment after. But Ron didn't know that.
"What the hell is this." It was a statement more than a question that was forced out between gritted teeth.
I gulped. "Ron, it's not what it looks like, really. Let me tell you what-"
"I don't want to know, Hermione!" He got up so quickly and angrily, that I took a step back. Hermione? He hadn't called me that for quite a long time. It had always been 'Mione'. "This picture was taken last summer. You didn't even tell me you visited him!" His voice was steadily rising, and the younger students in the corners were hurrying up the staircases.
"Ron, let me explain-"
"A vacation with your parents, huh? Yeah, great lie, Hermione! I thought we were friends. I thought we were MORE than friends. I guess I was wrong though, right?" His last words echoed throughout the silent Common Room. Then he laughed bitterly and shook his head. This time, his voice was much quieter. "Apparently money does matter to you, Hermione. Apparently you really do care about Quidditch stardom and all that crap. Well, us Weasleys don't have that so, maybe you want to go to the ball with Vicky, huh? Have tons of fun."
And with that, he snapped the paper closed again, and bounded up the boys' staircase, leaving me alone in the Common Room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Ron's Point Of View~
Two weeks passed without speaking to Hermione. I was so angry, and so hurt, I wouldn't allow myself. Of course, I missed her all the time. At night, I would lay awake and think I should just give up this stupid charade. But, the fact is, she did lie to me, and that hurt more than anything. The day after our fight, Harry would approach me every time he saw me, trying to explain something, but I wouldn't let him. I plainly did not want to hear it. Even now, he would still come up to me every once in a while, but he gave up much easier now. My guess is that Ginny was telling him to let us figure it out. Psaw.
And now, it was the night of the ball.
I lay on my back in my four-poster with the curtains closed, trying to ignore the chatter of my friends while they got ready to meet their dates. I tried not to think about Vicky who was somewhere in this building. Earlier, I had plotted to track him down and do something very painful, but Harry had held me back and threatened me with a belching slugs curse, and that had done it. Once was enough.
"You're really not coming, Ron?" Harry asked, sticking his head inside my curtains.
"That's right. Now leave me alone, Harry, and go find Ginny."
Even though I wasn't looking, I knew he was rolling his eyes at me. "Alright," he said doubtfully.
Five minutes later, our dormitory was silent, and I knew I was the only human being not in the Great Hall at this very moment. At first, I tried counting the miniature stars dotting our ceiling, but after that got old, I attempted to read a homework assignment, which rapidly went downhill. After going back and forth a couple of times, I was confident that I had wasted the night away without a thought of Hermione. I glanced at the clock on the wall and discovered I'd only been alone for half an hour. Not only that, but I had broken my internal promise to not think of Hermione. Damn.
I threw myself off of my bed and began to pace. I had to do something productive this evening besides thinking of Hermione otherwise she would win. And I couldn't let that happen. Not after what she did. The trunk at the foot of my bed caught my eye, and I threw myself beside it, desperately throwing up the lid in search of something to occupy my time. I groped blindly inside its contents and pulled at the first thing I grasped, and when it came into the light, the grin faded from my face.
It was the newspaper. THE newspaper. The one I had become so angry about, yet after our fight I had folded it carefully and tucked it inside my trunk for an unknown reason. Unfolding it hurt, seeing Hermione's face interlocked with HIS. Disgusting. But I sat down on my bed and began to read anyway.
My eyes scanned bitterly across the descriptions of a "budding romance" and "happy couple". It felt as if an ice-cold liquid was pouring through my veins and clouding my vision, and even I wasn't dense enough to realize that the correct term was jealousy. As I read each word slowly and carefully, as to absorb every inch of it, I felt the same feeling rise in my throat, and before I knew what was happening, I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. I didn't bother to brush it away.
I was so engrossed in the article that I didn't notice the dorm door creak open and a bushy head stick inside.
"Ron?"
In all of one second, I swept the tears from my face, stuffed the newspaper behind me, and looked in time to squeeze out a good hard glare.
"Can I come in?"
I glared some more. "I s'pose."
She raised an eyebrow and apprehensively stepped inside, clicking the door shut behind her. "You can't ignore me forever."
I raised my eyebrow back in an equally stubborn manner. "And why not?"
"Because. Just because. There are so many reasons, Ron, but I don't know if you'll even hear me out! But I'll try. Because you're my best friend. Because we've been through so much together, and we shouldn't let one incident end our friendship forever. Because we know each other better than we know ourselves. Because I..." Suddenly her voice dropped from persistent to almost inaudible. "Because I love you."
My eyes widened at her admittance, and I stood up from my bed as she sat down on Harry's. "What did you say?" I whispered.
She ignored my question and went on. "Because even though I did go to visit Viktor this summer, I didn't tell you because I knew how upset you'd get. And just for the record, when he kissed me, I slapped him and left right away."
Tears were slipping silently down her cheeks, and I was dimly aware of wetness on mine as well. But there was still one thing I had to know. "Where is he now?"
"Who?"
"Viktor."
She looked at me blankly. "Bulgaria. Why?"
"I thought you were going to the ball with him."
"No. You put those words in my mouth, remember? Besides, I wouldn't consider going with anyone else other than you."
My mouth was opening and closing so rhythmically that I'm sure I resembled a gold fish. I was searching for the words to tell her my feelings as well, but was so shocked I couldn't seem to find them.
As I was my thoughts were racing, her gaze dropped to my bed. "What were you reading?"
"Hmm?" I asked, snapping out of my reverie. She pointed to my bed, and I felt myself blush. "Oh. Oh...nothing." I began to reach for the paper, but she snapped it up.
"Why do you still have this? And in near perfect condition? I would've thought that you would've drawn facial hair on both of us by now."
I attempted to pry the paper out of her hands as the blush threatened by entire face and neck, but she took a hold of my fingers instead.
"Because...I dunno." I said, as she gave me a questioning look. "Because I was jealous alright?" My mood transitioned from embarrassed to pleading in seconds. Suddenly, I found myself crouching down on the floor next to the bed she was perched on. "Hermione, I'm so in love with you that I don't even know how to deal with it. I'm lost. When I found out that you were with Viktor, it practically ripped my entire body apart, much less my heart. Please forgive me for being such a prat, it's just that sometimes I can't help it, and-"
Her arms going around my neck cut me off abruptly. "Ron?"
I mumbled a response, words failing me.
"Shut up and kiss me."
I smiled and gladly did what I was told.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks sooo much for the reviews. They mean so much to me. Completely boost my mood! Special thanks to the following:
CurlsofGold, Sylver-Ajah, Melissa, Freckles1405, OneDayFamous, RonPLUSHermione4eva, Phoenix72389, codes778, Ashley, powerpetal, Mool, phi Cong, Queen: )B
Thanks to all of you! Every message was a blessing. Also, look for an epilogue headed your way!