Double Meanings
By: DaggerQuill
JKR owns everyone who is mentioned (or not mentioned) in this story.
A short little HBP missing moment's story. We begin at the end of chapter Twenty-Four.
Ron blankly stared at his sister and his best friend walk hand in hand through the portrait hole. "Bloody Hell," he whispered.
"Finally!" Hermione laughed. She led Ron away from the celebrating crowd to a pair of arm chairs by the fire. "They were the most frustrating couple I'd ever seen." She thought for a moment, "Well, second most frustrating." She looked intently into Ron's eyes, but smiled at him.
"What do you mean, frustrating?" Ron asked.
"They were meant to be together, they just never realized. I've known for ages."
"I never noticed." Ron stated defiantly.
"Now that doesn't surprise me."
Ron averted his eyes, but laughed. "Second most frustrating, huh?" He returned his gaze to her.
"I can think of a worse one," she admitted. There was a slight pause, but it was interrupted by Ron's sudden outburst.
"Harry was all over Cho at the D.A meetings, how on earth did you think he liked Ginny?"
"Ron, sometimes you need to look at things a little deeper. Think about when Harry liked Cho. For the pervious two years Ginny had idolized him, and then suddenly she had very little interest. I think Harry liked Cho, but, I think the fact that Ginny was treating him as just a friend made her a little more attractive."
"So you think if Ginny would have calmly expressed her feelings to Harry they would have been together a year ago?"
"Yes, I think it would have been very possible. But then she began dating Dean." Hermione's voice had changed to a slight disgust. "I told her to act more like herself, maybe date someone else, and she did. They had finally noticed each other, they were right there, and then she took up Dean." She sighed.
"Maybe they were right there, but Harry never made his attraction very clear. I don't think Ginny ever like Dean, and maybe dating him was wrong, but," Ron's tone changed to a frantic desperation. "Maybe she wasn't sure that Harry liked her and she wanted to prove that someone did. To make him see that she was good enough -"
Hermione stared at him, in understanding and disbelief. "Ginny was always good enough for Harry." She whispered.
Ron stared back at herfor a moment before covering his face in his hands. He took a deep breath, and looked into her eyes. "I'm - I - I'm sorry."
Suddenly they were interrupted.
"Hermione could you give me a hand with this charms essay?" Neville asked wearily. The party had dispersed and students had gone off to bed or buckled down for late night studying.
Ron and Hermione exchanged shy smiles.
"Sure Neville, what do you need help on?"
Most would assume Ron Weas ley and Hermione Granger would have been a couple within the next twenty-four hours. However they insist on following their own timeline. During the next weeks they had to face adventure, duty, and tragedy. They endured the spring by each others side and although it took them seven frustrating years to make it official, it had always been Ron and Hermione.
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