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Chapter Five
Hermione blinked soundlessly, trying to determine Ron's true intentions. Did he just say he loved me? Hermione thought wildly, her heart rate increasing. She felt like her mind was spinning in a thousand directions. What does this mean? She asked herself, trying to sort out the situation in her head before she said anything aloud—anything she might regret. After all, what if he had been joking? She didn't want to risk humiliating herself if it had merely been a poorly timed ruse. Hermione essayed a few shaky breaths before finding her voice.
"You—you what?" Hermione hissed in a nervous whisper. Ron, still smiling broadly, stared back at her. Hermione noted that there wasn't any hint of mockery in his face. In fact, besides the smile that threatened to crack his face in two, he looked dead serious. His eyes, normally so playful and laughing had deepened as if this were the most important thing in the world to him. Maybe it is, Hermione thought with a smile and instantly felt stupid. Of course I'm not the most important thing to him, she chided herself sharply. With the horocruxes and fighting Voldemort, the beginning of the new school year and all of our new classes, graduating this year—Hermione had to stop herself as Ron stepped forward, clutching her shoulders.
"I said I love you Hermione," Ron clarified, an unexplained breathiness falling over his tone. Behind them Lavender and Parvati had stopped giggling and were now watching the two with wide, unbelieving eyes. Hermione opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, trying to find the words to express what she was feeling. Instead, all she managed was,
"I don't understand." As soon as it was out of her mouth Hermione felt stupid. It was like asking for help in class, not knowing an answer, admitting defeat. She had been so careful never to let the words cross her lips yet there they were, slipping out so easily. "I mean, I don't understand why you're saying this to me." Realizing how that must have sounded Hermione added a hasty, "Now. I don't know why you're saying this to me now." She cast a nonchalant glance at Lavender and Parvati who were now whispering exclamations of shock barely audible from behind their hands. Ron, bless his soul, was still smiling goofily, staring directly into Hermione's face.
"I love you—I LOVE YOU!" Ron was saying over and over as if he had been stuck on repeat. Each time he said it he got louder and Hermione could see that they were already starting to draw people over. Reaching out, Hermione grasped Ron's arm and pulled him over to the side of the clearing, taking care to keep her voice low.
"Maybe we should do this somewhere more private," she hissed, casting a wary glance at the giggling girls around her. She had waited for this moment for so long and she did not want to share it with everyone else. She wanted it to be a private moment, for her memories alone. She wanted to remember it how it had happened to her, not relive it through gross misinterpretations that were sure to come from her classmates. Once she was assured that they were alone, Hermione turned back to Ron.
"Hermione I love you. I've loved you from the first day that we met—well, maybe not the first day. I think it was more around the time Harry and I saved you from the troll in our first year. Seeing you like that—there was no way I could not fall in love. After that, I was lost. I couldn't—I can't—stop thinking of you. You occupy my every thought, every action, every waking moment. I love you Hermione, and I don't know how else to tell you." When he was done he stared breathlessly at Hermione, as if waiting for her to reply. Hermione however couldn't put together an intelligible sentence to save her life. It was as if her wildest dream was playing out in front of her. Ron—in love with me? How could I not have seen it? How could I have been so blind, all this time? If I had just been braver, if I had just admitted to my feelings we could have been together such a long time ago!
"Ron I don't know what to say," Hermione said honestly. For a second the two of them just stared at eachother, unaware of what was supposed to happen next. Am I supposed to make the next move, since he made the first one? Hermione thought to herself. Is he supposed to kiss me? Oh my god, is Ron going to kiss me? What should I do if he tries? Hermione was so overwhelmed in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice that she had started shaking from the sudden coolness of the shadows. Ron however picked up on it immediately and draped his cloak around her slim shoulders. She smiled gratefully.
"You don't have to say anything," Ron said easily, his hand lingering on her shoulder where it had landed when he had cloaked her. Then, without any reservation, Ron pulled her towards him, catching her in kiss that burned all the way from their mouths to the soft ground below them.
