SERENDIPITY
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.
CHAPTER 6-A NEW JOURNEY'S BEGINNING
Ron sat as silent as a stone for what seemed like an eternity, staring sadly at his bright orange bedspread before he felt the weight on the bed shift, meaning that Hermione had slid closer to him. He wanted more than anything to lift his head up just enough to see the look on her face, but his nerves and fears kept him from doing so. He had thought that after he had told her the truth about how he had felt about her when compared to Fleur that Hermione would have either hauled off and slapped him hard across the face before leaving forever or begun to snog him instantly. But since neither had happened Ron couldn't bring himself to look up, no matter the outcome.
Hermione had worked over what Ron had said in her mind nearly a thousand times before she had made her move. In her head she was still very angry at Ron for having anything to do with Fleur, but his words, and the look of total honesty in his eyes when he had said them, combined for an extremely powerful effect on her heart. Every second until she took her next action was a war of wills between her head and her heart, in the end though she decided that there was no war, no discussion, no debate.
"Ron…," Hermione whispered softly, desperately trying to hold back unshed tears and keep the sobs of relief down to a minimum, as she reached out and laid a hand gently on Ron's knee. She took is as a good sign that he didn't cringe or pull away at her touch. His only response was to weakly shake his head and mumble something incoherently as he looked away. "Please Ron…look at me," Hermione begged and pleaded with a very sincere and heartfelt look in her eyes, a sight that Ron saw as he begrudgingly lifted his head up just enough to get a glimpse before quickly pulling his chin back down. He would have stayed that way, not looking at her in the least, had she not placed a trembling couple of fingers underneath his chin and started to lift up. "Ron…there's something that I need to say to you, something that I should have said a very long time ago…," Hermione stated in one breath before she felt like her heart was about to burst from how hard it was hammering in her chest, making her scar hurt just a bit but she pushed aside the pain.
"Let me guess…you're disappointed in me and I'm…," Ron began with a defeated tone of voice and glint in his eyes as his shoulders slouched noticeably before Hermione took her other hand from Ron's knee and brushed the hair off of his face, pinning it behind his ears.
"The boy…no scratch that, the man that I love…the man that stood up for me against Malfoy in second year and never asked for a thank you, the man in third year that was ready to die before he'd let anything happen to me, the man who in fourth year…well the man in fifth year who…," Hermione countered softly, with tears in her eyes, as she let out the melody entrapped within her heart from the moment of realization that she was in love with Ron, a moment that she knew had occurred sometime in either first or second year. A moment that up until this very moment she had tried her best to explain away as being nothing more than a passing fancy. But no matter how hard she had tried she had failed miserably.
"Y…you…," Ron stuttered out, not completely believing what his ears were telling him as his left hand somehow found its way to Hermione's ankle, softly running his thumb up and down the back of her ankle.
"That's right Ron, I love you…," Hermione added with a convincing and very certain tone to her voice as she leaned forward again, this time coming so far forward that the ends of their noses were touching. Throwing caution, and possibly his pride as well, to the wind Ron seized upon the moment, tilted his head to one side and pressed his lips against hers. Hermione let the initial shock subside before she unintentionally let out a small moan of pleasure and deepened the kiss. Suddenly Ron pulled away and stared back down at the comforter.
"I…I'm sorry Mione…I…shouldn't have done that I…," Ron mumbled out with a look of shame on his face as his ears burned brighter than the sun for a moment, before he lifted his head back up and noticed tears in her eyes, tears that mirrored those in his own eyes.
"Yes you should have…," Hermione managed to get out, with a half devilish smile on her face, before she acted impulsively for possibly the first time in her life, and tackled Ron off of his bed, assaulting him with the most passionate kiss that she could muster up in the process. Outside in the hallway all Ginny could hear was a loud thud and some giggling before she shrugged her shoulders and continued on her way towards the stairs.
"I'm sorry Tonks, but you're not going to leave without telling me," Harry stated firmly as he put his hands on his waist and smirked across the garden at a very nervous Tonks, who kept diving after one gnome or another, even if there truly wasn't one there to keep from answering Harry.
"There's nothing to talk about Harry, I simply…misspoke…," Tonks finally replied with a nervous little smile on her face before she lunged for another gnome.
"Oh really…so which one of Ron's brothers are you in love with again…," Harry replied with a rather smug smirk on his face, one that he couldn't keep for long before he broke out into a rather loud fit of laughter, doubling over after a few moments.
"Shut up Harry," Ginny growled in mock anger before a wildly screaming gnome was sent zipping by Harry's ear, coming close enough to ruffle his hair up just enough to unveil the trademark lightning shaped scar on his forehead.
"Hey, that almost hit me…," Harry protested with a restrained smirk on his face as he took a step behind Ginny, keeping her in between himself and the still upset Tonks, another gnome in her hand, struggling violently to get free.
"That's the idea Harry," Tonks shot back through a wicked grin as she slowly stood up and began to circle around Ginny, who was being repositioned by Harry as he had grabbed her arms and was manually shifting her position.
"Harry…let go of me, I'm not a bloody shield…Harry," Ginny shouted with at first a small smirk on her face before her tone changed to one of anger and frustration at Harry not letting go.
"Fine Ginny…," Harry whispered into her softly with a mischievous smile on his face and edge to his voice, one such that caused Ginny's heart to flutter and her head to begin to spin wildly at trying to figure out what his words meant. Her internal debate was short lived however.
"Harry…," Ginny screamed very loudly as Harry got a good hold of her arms and shoved her into Tonks, the two women went down in a hail of robes and curses and one Harry Potter, who nearly doubled over with laughter as he tore off back for the burrow's front door.
She lay there, wrapped in his arms, and wondered how things had progressed so far so fast. When she had entered the room nearly two hours earlier she hadn't expected to find herself in her current position. Ron was fast asleep beside her, his clothes scattered on either side of his bed, with some of them landing on top of the cot that served as Harry's bed during his time spent at the burrow. Hermione's clothes were not far removed from Ron's as she sadly noted with a quick check around the room by lifting her head up off of Ron's shoulder and then putting it back down. She had intended to cheer her best friend up out of his doldrums, not lose her virginity in the process. But the latter had happened and the two were lying as close together as two people could. It had all happened in what felt like a second to Hermione, one moment she had been comforting Ron and the next minute she had been throwing herself at him and snogging him senseless, ripping at his clothes as she went. Her clothes had quickly followed suit and before they had crossed the line of no return he had stopped suddenly and gazed deeply into her eyes, silently asking for permission to proceed. Her head had been undecided but her heart had done the thinking for her and she had answered with her eyes.
Now she had put herself into a situation that she had never been in before, and because of that did not know how to proceed. If she were to wake Ron up he might want to continue where they left off and at that moment Hermione wasn't sure if that was what she wanted. On the other hand if Ron were to wake up and find her gone it could be possible that it would irrevocably scar his psyche, with him thinking that she had not enjoyed the experience or that he had done something wrong. That internal debate kept her there for nearly an hour before she reluctantly pulled away and crawled across the floor, searching for her clothes. She had found and slipped on both of her socks when Ron began to wake up, a content smile on his face. Hermione held her breath as she watched Ron sleepily paw around where she had been for a few moments before he seemingly realized that she was not there any longer.
"Mione…," Ron mumbled out softly with a sleepy drawl to his voice as he slowly lifted his head and took a quick glance around the room, his eyes half open. Immediately Hermione tried to scurry out of his line of sight by ducking behind his bed, but unintentionally she scraped her knee on a floorboard that had warped a bit and turned upwards, letting out a sharp yelp of pain. Instantly Ron clumsily crawled his way over to Hermione and laid a hand on her shoulder as she had grabbed her knee with both hands and tried to keep from tearing up.
"Ow…stupid bloody board," Hermione grumbled with a pained and unhappy scowl on her face as she rocked back and forth slightly for a moment or two before she seemed to notice Ron's hand on her bare shoulder and began to calm down. If only for an instant anyway before she realized her current state of nudity and hastily pulled back from Ron, reaching out and nervously clutching his blanket in front of her, her face redder than any of Ron's maroon jumpers.
"What…what's wrong Hermione," Ron asked, a bit amazed and surprised at her actions before he moved back and sat down at the foot of his bed, studying her intently.
"N…nothing, nothing's wrong Ron…uh could you maybe uh…," Hermione stammered out with a very embarrassed, but excited, smile on her face as she tried her very best to keep from staring at a certain part of Ron's anatomy no matter how much her gaze begged to return there again and again.
"It's me…isn't it, I did something wrong…I hurt you," Ron added glumly with a confused and worried pout on his face before his last three words were said in a barely audible whisper as he slowly began to yank on his underwear, turning his gaze away from Hermione as he did not want to see the look of guilt and regret that he thought was in her eyes.
"No…Ron, you didn't…I mean well you did but…," Hermione began in an almost frantic earnest before Ron pulled away again, this time getting up from the floor and flopping down onto Harry's cot, awkwardly pulling the well worn blanket that Harry used over himself and staring sadly at the wall. "Ron will you just listen to me, you didn't let me finish, what I was going to say was that you only hurt me…because it…because I…," Hermione fervently began with an almost frantic look on her face before the meaning of her words overtook her and she collapsed back down to the ground, leaning her back up against the foot of Ron's bed, pulling as much of the bed sheet around her as she could, all the while trying desperately not to break down in tears. After a few moments the tears began to come unheeded, as her willpower finally let go. Through the tears her breath caught in her throat at his at first feather light touch.
"Mione…," Ron mumbled out softly through a few sniffles as he tried to keep form crying in front of Hermione before she looked up, their eyes met, and she threw herself at him once more. But this time she only surged forward, wrapped her arms tightly around his midsection, and sobbed into his chest. They stayed like that for the rest of the morning, Ron comforting a tearful Hermione, before sleep once more overtook them both.
"So who do you reckon is our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Harry asked softly as he picked up his towel and proceeded to rub his head with it vigorously.
"I hope that you left some hot water Harry…," Ron groaned with an unhappy frown on his face as he pulled his shirt off and threw his towel over his shoulder.
"Whoever it is I hope that they're better than Umbridge," Ginny added with an unhappy pout on her face as she leaned back up against Ron's headboard and brushed some dirt off of her pants onto Ron's bedspread.
"Hey…what do you think you're doing," Ron roared with an angry scowl on his face as he reached out and grabbed a hold of Ginny's wrist just as she was about to brush some dirt off of her shoulder.
"It was dirty…hey leggo ya big oaf, that hurts," Ginny exclaimed with an equally angry scowl on her face as she glared up at her brother and tried to wrench her arm free, but he held her fast, refusing to let go even though a trickle of blood could be seen slipping from underneath the bandages.
"No…not until you get off of my bed and out of my room," Ron shot back with a confident and unwavering look on his face as he pulled a bit harder on his younger, and only, sisters arm, pulling her off of the bed even though his knee was killing him.
"I don't have to get out of your room if I don't want to…," Ginny protested with an annoyed and slightly pained grimace on her face as she tried yet again, unsuccessfully, to free her arm from Ron's grasp.
"Let her go Ron," Hermione said softly, not at all a picture of strength, as she slowly walked up behind Ron and laid a hand gently on his shoulder, her stomach a bit queasy at the sight of the trickle of blood on Ron's knuckles.
"Not until she gets out of my room and quits getting dirt everywhere," Ron exclaimed in defiance with a firm and impatient expression on his face before Harry caught Ron wincing slightly.
"She didn't mean it Ron…just let go of her arm and you can go and take your shower while the rest of us go downstairs and help your mother prepare lunch," Harry offered with a hopeful but tense smile on his face as he sincerely hoped that Ron would accept the offer and relinquish his hold on Ginny's arm.
"Ron…," Hermione whispered softly into Ron's ear with such a sense of pleading that Ron almost instantly let go of Ginny's arm, after taking a second or two to get over the shock of the tone of Hermione's voice.
"Finally…what in the bloody hell do you think that you were doing Ron, you could have hurt me…," Ginny shouted in full anger as she reared back to slug Ron in the shoulder, but Harry acted quickly enough and looped his arm in under hers and began to drag the youngest Weasley out of the room. "Harry…let go of me, Harry," Was all that Ginny could get out before Harry had successfully extricated her from Ron's room and had pushed her in front of him as the two started going down the stairs.
"You were too hard on her," Hermione offered weakly with a slightly queasy look on her face as she slowly sank down onto Ron's bed, staring sadly at the wall while Ron tried to let go of his anger.
"She should have known better Mione, she should have…," Ron began to continue to argue with a confidant expression on his face before he turned around and saw the look on Hermione's face.
"Yes Ron, she should have…but you overreacted in grabbing her arm," Hermione said as she lightly scolded him before she pulled her feet up onto Ron's bed and laid down on her side.
"Mione…what is it, what's wrong," Ron asked, suddenly growing ever more worried by the by second, as he painfully took a couple of steps forward and laid a hand on her hip.
"What are we going to do Ron, when your parents…my parents find out what we did they'll flip…," Hermione replied in a scared whisper, a tone of voice that chilled Ron through to the bone, a tone which guided his future course of action that entire day.
"Do we have to tell them," Ron offered weakly with a cheesy grin on his face as he slid slowly and painfully around the end of the bed, beginning to limp as he rounded the last corner.
"I'm not going to lie Ronald Weasley, not to my parents," Hermione quickly shot back with a hint of venom in her stare before she turned her head away and her eyes grew misty.
"You mean you won't lie to them like you have ever since you started going to Hogwarts," Ron said back, trying to keep his voice under control even though he was scared about the way Hermione was acting and his knee was really starting to hurt.
"I…I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione answered with a calm and very serious look on her face as she turned her gaze back and glared at Ron.
"Oh come off it Mione, are you telling me that you actually told your parents about the troll in first year, the basilisk in second year, the…," Ron came back with as he held a look of disbelief on his face before Hermione hung her head a bit and a few tears trickled down her cheeks and splashed silently onto Ron's bedspread. "I'm sorry Mione," Ron added very softly as he sat, nearly collapsed, down onto the bed and gently laid a hand on Hermione's shoulder, an act that seemed to calm her down just a little bit.
"I know, but they're all going to hate us…," Hermione weakly offered back as she sat up and interwove her fingers with Ron's as the two sat holding hands on Ron's bedspread.
"You don't believe for a second that they're actually going to hate us do you, sure my parents will probably be disappointed with me somewhat…but they won't hate you, my parents love you, hell Hermione they already think of you as a full blown Weasley, they could never hate you," Ron continued, doing his best to try to cheer Hermione up, with the words that were coming out of his mouth coming straight from his heart, with his head for once not interfering in the least.
"And even if something crazy happens Hermione you could always come and stay with me, my flats not big but we could manage," Tonks interjected with a kind but yet serious look on her face as she stood in the doorway, arms crossed, looking across the room at the two young lovers. Hermione sniffled and then started to reply but Molly's booming voice wafted up through the rafters, wondering why they were still in Ron's room.
"We should go, before mum gets the wrong idea," Ron stated with a soft smile on his face before he leaned in close, gave Hermione a gentle kiss on the lips, and then did his best to stand up and make his way towards the door, leaving Hermione to blush a bit, wipe away her tears, and follow along after him.
END OF CHAPTER 6
