TITLE: 'A New Day Beginning'
AUTHOR: scribhneoir
SUMMARY: In his final year at school, with the war over and Voldermot gone, Ron finally realises how he feels about Hermione.
CHARACTER: Ron.
RATING: K/K+
DISCLAIMER: JK Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe and everything and everyone in it, I am just a fan who is letting my imagination run a bit wild.

If you like this story and want to review that would be great…if you didn't like it review and let me know why as I am doing all this to try and improve my writing.

Ron slowly opened his eyes and sleepily looked at his watch. 4.30am…

"Right", he said to himself, "Move…get up now". Nearly ten minutes later he managed to open his eyes again. Making a quick decision he realised that he was never going to be able to keep his eyes open long enough to get any work done if he stayed in bed. He quickly grabbed his wand, gathered his books together and quietly made his way towards the door, trying not to wake any of his dorm-mates as he made his way over clothes, books, shoes and many other things that littered the floor of the boys dorm.

He had to stop himself shouting "Bloody Hell!" as he stubbed his toe on a particularly large book that seemed to have been thrown across the room and was now lying right in front of the door. "At least I'm awake now", he thought with a small smile as he made his way out the door closing it carefully behind him. No matter how many times he had been getting up at this time it was not getting any easy. He was now in his 7th year with his NEWT's fast approaching. And not that he'd admit it to anyone, but he was a bit worried about them and had been getting up at 4.30 for the past month to get some extra studying done. Admittedly he was tired quite a lot of the time, and he had found himself dozing during breakfast quite a lot, but it seemed to be working. His grades were improving and he found himself feeling a bit more confident about the exams and about his own abilities. And besides, he wasn't the only 7th year with some different study habits. Coffee had officially been banned in Hogwarts now due to the fact that a large number of 7th year Ravenclaws had been trying to get by on no sleep and extra strength coffee for the past two months. An investigation was begun when the normally attentive 7th year Ravenclaws had all put their heads down on their tables in the middle of Transfiguration class and had begun to snore very loudly. Then after waking up they had all stampeded to the kitchens to get some coffee. Professor McGonngall was not amused and coffee had now been added to the list of banned items outside Filch's office.

Although the 7th years grumbled about the workload and the stress, they were all glad to be focusing on something 'normal' for a change. The war was over and Voldermot had been defeated early in the year, and after the stress of the final battle and the celebrations when the light side won, a bit of normalcy and routine was a welcome change of pace. Ron, Harry and Hermione in particular were determined to enjoy their remaining time in the school. After Harry had recovered from the final battle, they had thrown themselves into school life with enthusiasm and happiness. Harry had said that it still felt strange to be able to just go to classes, play Quidditch, hang out in the common room, visit friends and worry about exams without having to think about an evil wizard coming after you and those that you care about.

So that has led to Ron quietly making his way towards the common room with his advanced transfigurations book under his arm. After everything that everyone had been put through lately, he was determined to do his best in the exams. He felt that he owed it to his parents, to Hermione, but most of all to himself. Now that he could see the end of his time in school coming close he was determined to give himself the best possible chances for the future. He had found that he needed a bit of peace and quiet to get the most out of his study time, and had discovered that the common room at 4.30am was the best location. There was never anyone else about, and there was always a small fire still burning in the fireplace.

He stifled a yawn as he reached the bottom of the stairs and made his way over to the comfy chair beside the fire. After sitting down, and roughly running his hands through his red hair in an attempt to wake up, he happened to glance towards the sofa. He was surprised to see someone lying there sleeping with their back to him. The person mumbled something in their sleep and turned around so that Ron could see her face. He smiled as he saw Hermione mumble something about "…unprepared…exam…. professor". Her hair had fallen out of the ponytail as she had slept, and as Ron looked at her he found himself thinking about how he really felt about her. Although he knew that their friendship would survive whatever the future would bring, he found himself feeling a bit depressed about the thought of not seeing her on a regular basis. "I like her", he thought to himself as he watched her sleep, "I really like her…I fancy her…great I've admitted it to myself, now all I have to do is get the courage to tell her".

A loud crash brought him back to the present as he looked at a large book that had fallen from the sofa and had hit the floor. Hermione sat straight up, startled out of her slumber by the noise.

"What…whatshappenin'…whatsgoingon?" she looked around trying to get her bearings and figure out what was happening and where she actually was. Ron went to her side,

"Shush 'Mione , it's okay , you fell asleep in the common room, it's okay"

"What about the exam, I'm not prepared, I need more time", she looked around frantically still not completely awake.

Ron held her hand as he tried to calm her down,

" 'Mione listen to me, it's okay, you were just dreaming, everything's alright."

"Ron?", she turned to look at him.

"Yeah, 'mione"

They sat there for a while, watching the fire, neither really minding that they were still holding hands and both realising how right it felt as the sun began to rise over the Hogwarts grounds.

"Ron?"

"yeah?"

"What were you doing in the common room at this time of the morning?"

He nodded towards his transfiguration book, which sat on the chair by the fire and answered,

"Thought I'd do a bit of studying while it's quiet". She looked toward him with a smile, and leaned her head against his shoulder while still holding his hand.

Ron allowed himself to forget about exams, about worries and about stress as he sat there with Hermione. He looked out the nearest window as a new day began to dawn at Hogwarts. The grounds began to come into focus as the light began to creep its way across the forest, the grounds and the castle itself. As Ron realised that Hermione had fallen asleep with her head against his shoulder and with his hand holding hers, he finally realised the fact that he loved her. He couldn't imagine going into the future without her by his side, and the thought of her not having him by her side every day was unimaginable. He wanted to fall asleep by her side and wake up to see her face every morning. He wanted to laugh with her; he wanted to argue with her over silly things and then apologize and make up; he wanted to make her a cup of tea in the morning; to make sure that she didn't stay up all night reading a book; to comfort and support her when she needed it; to simply be by her side. He loved her.

And as he slowly closed his eyes, he told himself that enough time had been wasted, too many people had lost too much for him to let another day go by without telling her how he felt. He closed his eyes and a bright smile graced his face. He would tell her everything when they woke up because, for now, he just wanted to capture this moment with Hermione's hand in his and a new day beginning.