Why

As soon as their merry band had reached the kitchens Ron had found a huge chocolate cake and started to devour it. The girls continued to talk about what an arse Malfoy had made of himself but Ron was a man on a mission. Search out the cake and destroy it.

"I can't believe Malfoy called us your harem." Lavender laughed.

Ron swallowed a mouthful of cake and answered "Well that's how Malfoy thinks of people. You are only as good as what you can do for him."

Several of the girls nodded and then Parvati smirked 'Not to mention Hermione would hex all of us back into the Middle Ages for it."

"You better believe it." Ron agreed "I'd rather face ten Death Eaters than one angry Hermione Granger."

Lavender looked at him for a moment and then almost reluctantly asked "Are you two still going out? I keep hearing rumors about how people never see you two together anymore."

Ron smiled "Yeah we are still together, she's just been a bit busy and you know how people here will talk about anything even if they know nothing about it."

"Does it bother you?"

Ron had noticed that all the other girls had stopped talking and were paying attention but he decided it really didn't matter. "Nope not a bit, I knew Hermione was a hardworking studious girl when I fell in love with her. Why would it bother me when it's part of why I love her?"

"Why Hermione?" Lavender asked softly

"I don't understand Lavender."

"Why did you fall for Hermione?"

"Better to ask how I could not have fallen for her. I spent years seeing how good and kind and noble she was. She was always there for Harry and I, even in the darkest of times. She put up with Harry being moody and my being thick. Then in fourth year she matured and I didn't understand what was happening and I acted like a prat after the Yule Ball. Bloody hell, all you have to do is think about S.P.E.W. to understand just how good a person she really is. She's wrong about House Elves but she cares, she cares about people that most of us never even think about. Then in fifth year she was there when I was stinking up the Quidditch field up and most importantly she was with us at the Department of Mysteries when everything went bad."

Ron ran his hands through his hair "Merlin, Lavender you can't imagine, after they got my head cleared up from that hex I saw her laying on the floor and I thought she was dead. It felt like the sun had set for the final time, I couldn't even think straight."

By now all of the girls were giving him their undivided attention and all of them were sporting huge smiles. For some reason Ron felt like sharing tonight so he kept talking.

"That's why I went to Egypt in the first place, Hermione was on the road to being a wonderful woman and I felt like I was still a little boy. Well Bill set me straight on some things and I finally got the nerve to tell my beautiful girlfriend how I felt. I don't deserve her but since no one really can I thought I would try anyway."

He paused again and with a deep breath keep going "You know I always thought if I told Hermione how I felt she would laugh at me. It's not enough that she's the smartest person I've ever met, she's also has the ability to make my heart race with a smile. It's maddening, half the time I don't know if I want to snog her senseless, just look at her for hours or listen to her talk about anything. Oh and Merlin help me if I touch her. She has the softest skin and she smells like every good thing in the world wrapped up in one scent. She's so beautiful to me that sometimes it hurts to look at her."

He sort of gave a little chuckle and then he noticed that half of the girls were crying and laughing at the same time.

"So you see Lavender it won't make a difference how busy Hermione is, she's got me hooked for good."

That set the rest of the girls who weren't crying off and then he heard the unmistakable sound of a sniffle coming from behind him. He fought the urge to turn around and instead looked up at Lavender. "The other sixth year Gryffindor prefect is standing behind me isn't she?" he asked.

lavender laughed and nodded.

Ron turned around to see Hermione leaning against the wall tears pouring down her cheeks. "'Mione how long have you been there?"

"Long enough to remember it's been too long since we've gone up to the Astronomy tower."

"I thought you were researching tonight."

"I am I'm just going to do some field research." she said with a smirk "and you look like a likely candidate."

They quickly said good night to everyone in the kitchens and left after Hermione told them to make sure they cleaned up after themselves so the House Elves wouldn't have extra work. They were quiet for a while as they walked then Hermione looked up at Ron and laughed "I can't believe you said that in front of half the female population of Hogwarts."

"Why not?"

"Well you didn't used to be so open about what you felt."

"True but I used to be a lot of things I'm not now. I just finally understood what dad meant when he told us to never be afraid to say what you think is right. You won't regret saying it but you might regret not saying it."

"Still it's got to be hard to express your feelings like that."

"Not really, if you mean it then that's all that matters. With the way things are going in the world I'm not going to leave anything unsaid anymore."

"Do you really think things are bad Ron?"

"I reckon they are and I believe they are going to get worse. I have to do some field work of my own tomorrow so for now can we just be with each other for a while and let the world sort itself out?"

Hermione just nodded and with a smile lead him up the steps to the Astronomy Tower.

A/N Sorry if it seems like I am slowing the plot down. Trust me I will serve a purpose. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details.