A/N: This was originally a response to the HP fanfic exchange at the PPC Posting Board, but since that never came up on , I decided to share my contribution. I think it was for Rosie Cotton, but I'm really not sure. Enjoy, anyway. It's pretty good. It has a shouting Ron in it.
Lunar Eclipse
"Ronald Weasley, if you're not going to pay attention then I'm not going to bother with teaching you this!" exclaimed Hermione and looked at her companion with a stern face.
Ron grinned at her, which only made her more irritated. She almost preferred it when he got annoyed with her. It made things a lot easier for her when he was.
"Sorry Hermione," he said gently and leaned forward so that he could examine his on book more closely. "I'll behave."
Hermione sighed in frustration. It had been like this all week. Ron hadn't yelled at her, or stormed off, or even called her a snooty know-it-all in seven days. At first she had welcomed the change, but now it was just annoying. Something was very clearly wrong with her friend. Nowadays there was always "yes Hermione" and "of course Hermione" and lately even "I'm sorry Hermione."
It was driving her barking mad, that's what it did.
"Alright, if you could just look at this date, and then you'll see that lunar eclipse will be on the... Ron, you're not listening again! Is there something wrong?"
He gave her an absent smile. "No. Why would anything be wrong?"
"Well, you're being so..." Hermione waved her hand around, not exactly sure on what to say, "polite. It's not like you."
"What, I can't be nice?" Ron's ears turned a little bit red. "You think I'm just some inconsiderable twat that can't even have a civil conversation, is that it?"
Hermione felt how she blushed slightly. "Well, yes, most of the time. That's what concerns me now. Are you feeling alright?"
"Because I'm not like Harry, is that it?" Ron's voice had suddenly turned hard and cold, not like his normal shouts of fury or even his forced politeness of lately.
Hermione's brow furrowed. "What does Harry have to do with your behaviour?"
Ron's ears got even redder, which oddly enough pleased Hermione to no end. It was a clear sign that he was turning back to his normal, not-so-disturbing self. She couldn't help but smile in triumph, although she hid it from him. To see her smiling right now probably wouldn't help matters.
"You like Harry," said Ron, looking rather embarrassed.
Hermione blinked. "Of course I like Harry. You and him are my best friends. But that's no reason to..."
"Then why do you... hug him all the time?"
Ron glared accusingly at her. Hermione just looked at him, trying to understand what he wanted to say to her. Of course she hugged Harry more than she hugged Ron, but that was because Harry was... well, Harry. He knew that she didn't mean anything by it other than that they were friends. Besides, Harry had not gotten many hugs in his life before. She was simply providing a service for him, so that he wouldn't feel as alone as he must do now that one other person close to him had left him. But how could you explain that to Ron, who was not only one of the most insensitive persons she had ever met, but also a boy that had been very loved by his family in his childhood?
Hermione took a deep breath.
"Ron, do you think that I am in love with Harry?" she asked quietly, although she was blushing deeply.
Ron turned beet-red.
"Well, yeah," he admitted, looking down. I mean, why wouldn't you? He's a good guy, everybody loves him, he's famous and- and rich and..."
"I don't."
Hermione's voice was low and whispery. She just wanted this conversation to end as soon as possible. It was getting too embarrassing for words.
"You don't," repeated Ron dumbly.
"No, I don't. I mean, yes I love Harry, because he's my friend, and because of what he has done, but I'm not... in love with him. I never have been."
Ron still looked sceptical, but he didn't seem so tense anymore. Hermione watched him for a second, and then she said:
"Now, if you..."
"So, have you heard anything from Vicky lately?"
Hermione sighed. Apparently her love life was not a subject easily abandoned.
"We are pen-friends, Ron, you know that," she said in a tired voice. "Nothing more."
Ron snorted. "Yeah, right..."
"Ron! Can't you please tell me what's the matter with you today? Why have you been acting so oddly? Why..."
"Figure it out for yourself, Hermione. You're the clever one."
Hermione harrumphed. "Fine then, if you want it that way."
They continued to read silently for another minute. The only sound was coming from the merrily sparkling flames in the fireplace, the turning of pages, and the soft purring from Crookshanks, who slept in a chair in front of the fire. Hermione refused to look at Ron, who seemed just as determined not to speak to her, but she kept thinking about what he had said.
Figure it out for yourself.
Figure what out? Why was he so... jealous all of a sudden? Well, all right, he had been jealous of her before. When Viktor had been around, all Ron had ever done was to pout and whine about him. But that was just Ron. He did the same thing when Ginny'd gotten together with Michael Corner, and later when she started dating Dean Thomas. It was his way of showing that he cared.
Was that what she should figure out? Or was it something more, something that she had missed? Hermione hated missing things. She had never been able to cope with that somebody else maybe could know something that she didn't know, and now it was clear that she had missed out.
Oh fiddlesticks.
"Ron..." said Hermione slowly.
He groaned. "What?!"
"What am I supposed to figure out, exactly?"
Ron's ears were not the only things growing red right now. He blushed from the roots of his hair to the base of his neck.
"Ron?"
"I'm going to go to bed," he stuttered, quickly collecting his Astronomy book and notes. "Goodnight."
"Oh no, you're not!"
Hermione stood up with her arms firmly at her sides. She stared at the red-haired wizard in front of her, prepared to stop him if he tried to get away.
"Tell me!"
"It's not a big thing, Hermione!"
"Tell me!"
"I won't!"
"Tell me!"
"Fine!" Ron glared at her. "I was planning to invite you to join me in Hogsmeade, but forget it! It doesn't matter!"
Hermione fell silent. Hogsmeade? She and Ron... together... in Hogsmeade?
"Alone?" she asked quietly, not quite getting what he wanted to say yet.
"Yeah ALONE! Without Harry, he didn't want to come anyway. But I don't even know why I bother with you anyway. Being polite obviously doesn't work, so what am I supposed to do, huh? Just leave it the hell alone, Hermione! GOODNIGHT!"
He turned around to stomp off, just like he had done so many times before.
Hermione was left, standing and staring after him. She hadn't known. Of course she hadn't known, because no one had ever told her. Ron least of all.
He liked her. Ron Wesley, Watcher in the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, the son of two members of the Order of the Phoenix, and her best friend since first year, liked her, Hermione Granger. And she hadn't caught it until now. She, who prided herself with being the cleverest witch in her grade.
Oh she was so bloody stupid.
"Ron, wait! Please..."
He didn't stop, nor did he show any sign of hearing her at all. Even his back looked angry, or maybe disappointed. Hermione didn't know what to say, or do. Was she even supposed to say anything, or just let him calm down and talk to him in the morning? All she knew was that she didn't want him gone just yet.
"Ron! I..." She had to say something huge, something to make him understand, something..." I love you too!"
Oh, Hermione could have cut her own tongue off in that moment. She had never seen Ron turn around that fast, or stare at her with an expression of absolute and utter horror. His face turned red, then white, then red again through a timeframe of thirty seconds. Hermione felt how she blushed furiously, but she couldn't stop looking at him.
She did love him. Sweet Merlin, and all of the witches and wizards on the Chocolate Frog cards, she did love him.
Ron's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. He seemed almost petrified, and he stared at her as if she had sprouted another head.
She should say something, she really, really should say something. Anything to make her previous statement go away as if it had never happened. But there were just no words. The seconds stretched themselves out, they turned to minutes that turned to eternity, and still there was silence. They were both searching for words.
She would never be able to repair this, Hermione knew. It would be this quiet and embarrassing forever. She had ruined everything. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bed and maybe cry a little. She was just about to leave the Common Room and flee, when something happened.
Ron walked up to her and kissed her.
It happened so fast that Hermione didn't react at first, but then she just sort of melted into it.
All right, maybe Ron wasn't the most fabulous kisser in the world. It was quite obvious that it was his first time kissing someone, it was rather sloppy and strange, but oh, Hermione didn't care. Ron kissed her, and that was all that mattered. His hands were in her hair, slowly caressing her bushy brown curls, while hers played with the soft baby-hair in the back of his neck.
Although Hermione wanted it to never end, she knew that it had to. When Ron's lips parted with hers they kept eye-contact for what seemed like forever.
"So, er..." said Ron, looking both happy and somewhat flustered over what had just happened. "Do you want to join me in Hogsmeade next weekend?"
Hermione smiled. "Yes. I think I'd like that."
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A/N: I like to write Angry!Ron. It's wonderful. Also, I'm a die-hard R/H 'shipper, so this was muchly amusing. As usual, English not being my first language, please tell me if there is anything wrong with it. Thanks!