Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Ron sat back and patted his stomach. "Well, I'm full," he said.
Everyone looked at him, their eyes growing wide.
"What? Can't I have enough to eat?"
"No!" the others shouted in unison.
"Ron, are you feeling alright?" asked Hermione, feeling his forehead. He pushed it away.
"Yes, of course I'm fine! You're just upset because I'm done eating before you are, you pig," Ron said, a twinkle in his eye. Hermione shoved him playfully, then went back to her dinner.
"So, what should we do tonight?" asked Dean.
"I don't know. There's really nothing to do, is there?" asked Seamus. "I mean, all the girls here are taken, so what's the fun in that?" Hermione and Ginny both gave him glares.
"What about a big game of hide and seek?" suggested Ginny. The guys just stared at her, and Hermione smiled. "What? We could play on the entire property, and in the neighborhood. As long as we're quiet, the neighbors won't do anything. C'mon, it'll be tons of fun!"
"I think it sounds like a good idea," said Harry.
"Of course you do, Ginny thought of it," said Seamus. "But there's nothing that I can think of to do. I'm in."
"I guess I am, too. Neville?" said Dean.
"Yeah, I'll play."
"I'm assuming that you two are in, also?" Dean asked Ron and Hermione.
"Of course. What would we do with all of you guys hiding anyway?" said Ron, realizing too late that it was a bad thing to say.
"Oooh, I could think of plenty of things I'd be doing with my girlfriend," said Dean with a wry smile on his face. Seamus laughed with him. Harry kept his mouth shut, his eyes glancing at Ginny. Neville just sat there, looking down and moving the dirt around with his foot.
"Let's just get going with it. Who wants to seek first?" asked Hermione.
"I will," said Dean, the wry smile still on his face. "I'll count to 200, since there's so much ground to cover."
"Isn't it normally 100?" asked Ginny.
"Okay, well, let's get going," said Dean. He closed his eyes and started counting. "One….Two….Three…."
The other six ran off into different directions, Neville and Seamus heading out on their own, and the two couples hiding together. Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and led her to the woods that edged his backyard.
"Ron, do you really think this is a smart idea?" asked Hermione in a hushed tone.
"Of course it is. Do you think that I'd bring you here otherwise?" replied Ron, still heading toward the trees.
"Well…alright. But if we get into any danger, you're getting us out of it," replied Hermione.
"Of course, of course. What else is a big, strong boyfriend for?" Ron asked. He quickly pecked Hermione on the lips as they kept walking. They walked for what seemed like a half hour, until they were deep into the woods.
"Ron, do you still know where we are? Because I don't," said Hermione.
"You don't know? Hermione Granger doesn't know something?" Ron said teasingly.
Hermione hit him on the arm. "You'd better know where we are."
"I do. See that bright star up in the sky? The North Star? Well, my house is south of here, so all we have to do is walk away from the star. Besides, we always have 'Point Me'," said Ron. When he said this, his wand left the pocket it had been resting in and spun in the air until it stopped and pointed north. "See? We're fine." Ron looked around and spotted a soft patch of moss. "Why don't we sit down over there?"
"Sounds good to me," replied Hermione. She looked down at her clothes, and then looked at the patch of moss. "Wait. I don't want to get my skirt dirty. I never should've worn a skirt tonight anyway." With that she flicked her wand and mumbled something, and a backpack appeared. From within she pulled out a blanket and laid it on the ground. Then she pulled out a pair of sweaties. "Would you please turn around?" she asked Ron. Ron turned and Hermione pulled the pants up underneath her skirt, then she pulled the skirt over the pants and placed them in the backpack. "You can turn back now," she said. Ron turned to find her sitting on the blanket, patting the spot next to her. "We might as well relax. I think we'll be here for awhile," she said, smiling. Ron sat down next to Hermione, put his arm around her shoulders and they both leaned back against the tree behind them.
"Well, what should we do?" Hermione asked after a minute.
"You can never just sit still, can you?" asked Ron, smiling. "You always have to be doing something."
"No, I don't!" protested Hermione.
"Yes, you do. See? You're picking an argument with me because you need to do something," Ron said.
"Okay, so maybe you're right," said Hermione.
"Do my ears deceive me? Not only do I know something that you don't, but you just admitted that I was right!" exclaimed Ron. "This can't be real, I must be dreaming! Mione, pinch me!"
"Oh, shut up," said Hermione.
"Make me," replied Ron.
"Maybe I will," retorted Hermione. She slowly leaned her head toward Ron's. The anticipation made Ron shiver.
It's amazing how she still makes me quiver, thought Ron. He closed his eyes and waited to receive the kiss, but to his surprise it never came. He opened his eyes to see what was going on, when he felt a vibrating and wet lips on his cheek, and a loud, elephant-like noise next to his ear. Then he heard giggling.
"Mione!" exclaimed Ron as he wiped the spit from his cheek. This raspberry had been particularly wet. He looked at Hermione's face, which looked childishly giddy. He couldn't resist it. He leaned in slowly, his mouth puckered for a kiss, his eyes closed. Then he pressed his lips ever so lightly upon Hermione's cheek and blew. He blew as hard as he could, and he could hear Hermione's uncontrollable giggling through the noise he was making. When he was out of air, he took Hermione's chin in his hand gently and turned her face so he could kiss her properly.
Ron opened his eyes as he broke away gently from their kiss. He looked into Hermione's brown eyes in amazement. It was so dark, and yet it seemed as if she glowed in the moonlight. Her eyes glowed the brightest, and suddenly Ron felt an overwhelming sense of happiness. He didn't have the faintest idea of how to express it. It was as if a bubble was inside of him, and he didn't want to burst it, but at the same time, he wanted to let it out so the entire world could see and know the happiness he was feeling. At that moment, Ron discovered what he had seemed to know all along, deep down. She's the one. Mione is the one that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with. Ron looked deep into Hermione's eyes and saw all sorts of wonderful things. He saw the traits that he loved such as beauty, determination, strength, courage, and intelligence, but at the same time he saw curiosity, awe, and…could it be? Ron thought that he saw love in her eyes. Pure, true love. He couldn't hold it in any longer.
"I love you," said Ron quietly. He saw Hermione's eyes become consumed by the curiousness that had been in them before. Bloody hell, what did I have to go and say that for? They had never said "love" in a serious manner since they had been together. They had said it flippantly, and in passing, but never like this. I'm going to push her away with this. This is going too fast, and I'm probably scaring her away, thought Ron.
Ron looked into Hermione's eyes again. This time he couldn't read them, for there were tears brimming in her eyes. Merlin's beard! Now I've made her cry. What a great boyfriend I am…
"I'm sorry Mione, I didn't mean to say it. I mean, I did, but if it upsets you I'll take it back, I—" Ron stopped as Hermione put her finger to his lips in order to silence him. She shook her head, tears still glistening, yet not falling.
After a minute Ron couldn't stand the silence any longer. "What's wrong, Mione?"
"Nothing's wrong Ron. Everything's just right," said Hermione as she leaned into his chest.
"Then, then why are you crying?" he asked timidly.
Hermione chuckled slightly. "Oh, Ron. I'm not crying because I'm upset. I'm crying because I'm happy."
Ron didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything for a minute. He just stared down at Hermione with something of a confused look on his face. When Hermione finally lifted her face the tears were gone, although her eyes were still moist from them. They glittered in the moonlight. Ron's heart skipped a beat as Hermione smiled shyly at him. She leaned closer and gingerly pressed her lips against Ron's. He closed his eyes and melted into the kiss, and was reluctant to let go when Hermione pulled away. Ron was dismayed to see tears in Hermione's eyes once again when he opened his.
This time Ron didn't say anything. He just sat there, hoping that the tears would go away.
"Did you…did you really mean that?" asked Hermione.
"Mean what?" asked Ron quickly. He was too distressed by the tears to realize what Hermione was talking about.
"When you, when you said you loved me," replied Hermione, the tears still threatening to fall.
"Yes. Of course I did," replied Ron, stroking her back. This must be what it feels like to be a deer caught in headlights, Ron thought. He felt his eyes growing wide at the prospect of Hermione crying again. Please don't cry, please don't cry, Ron wished to himself. His wishing was to no avail, though. Suddenly the tears began to fall from Hermione's eyes and she threw her arms around Ron and pulled him into a tight hug.
"Oh, Ron!" she exclaimed as she clung to him. Ron could hear her breathing heavily, and pulled her back from him in order to get a better look at her. Her face glistened in the moonlight, and Ron could see where the tears had streaked down her cheeks. Her eyes were still wet, and they glittered. Through all these signs of sadness, though, was a smile reaching from ear to ear. She's happy? Can that be true? These are tears of happiness? Ron hoped it was true, although he wished that Hermione wouldn't cry when she was happy. He didn't understand why girls had to cry when they were happy. Maybe it's just to confuse us guys.
Hermione put her arms around Ron's neck and kissed him fiercely on the lips. Ron had never had a kiss with more feeling and emotion put into it. He could the wetness on her tearstained cheeks as he held her face in his hands. He wiped the wetness from her cheeks then put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. At that moment he felt as if he had to be as close to Hermione as possible. As they kissed, the surmounting happiness he had felt earlier began to rise again, and again he couldn't think of a way to release it.
Hermione pulled away to catch her breath. When she had caught her breath, she hugged Ron tightly and whispered into his year, "I love you, too." When Ron heard this his eyes started to water. As a single tear fell from his eye he felt the happiness inside of him being released. It felt so wonderful. So this is why they cry…
A/N: I am so sorry for how long this has taken me! I moved from the place I was staying this summer back home, and then I painted my room,and then I had to unpack because it's a completely new house, and then we had guests, and now I'm packing to move back to school. But it's finally here. And I promise, this is not the end. I hope to get more out to you soon! I hope you enjoy! Also, thanks for getting me to the milestone of 10,000 hits!