"Ron, Ron! Wake up… please…" A gentle but desperate voice whispered, dancing in and out of Ron's dreams, blurring the lines between fiction and reality. "Ronald!" He frowned in his sleep, his eye twitching as he stirred and settled on his back, emitting a loud snore that shook the room. "Oh for goodness sake!"
A sharp pinch woke him suddenly from his sleep. His heart pounding, he reached for his wand as he searched the room for signs of his disturbance. His eyes finally spotted his best friend, Hermione, kneeling next to him on his bed.
Her brown curls were wild with electricity and her pyjamas were wrinkled, evidence of a restless night still in her eyes. Ron took a moment, still lost in his dreamy half-asleep state before realising that they were back in the Burrow and it was the middle of the night, only a month after they had helped Harry defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort. Still staring at her face, Ron finally woke up properly.
"Bloody hell Hermione, what are you doing in here?" Ron exclaimed, very aware that due to the current heatwave he was only sleeping in a pair of tatty orange shorts. He threw a cautionary glance at the camp bed where Harry usually slept which was, as usual, empty.
"I had another nightmare…" Hermione sat back, a shudder travelling over her body. There were dark shadows under her eyes, and she was trailing a lone finger across the Mudblood scar on her lower left arm. "I can't even remember what I dreamt but I know it just felt awful. I can always hear you calling my name and I can feel the pain from Bellatrix's knife so maybe I was back at Malfoy Manor. I woke up and my heart was pounding, and I was all sweaty and…" Hermione's breath hitched, and Ron noticed that when she wiped her eyes, her hand was shaking.
Ron flinched. The pain hit him right in the depths of his stomach. It was the same pain he felt every time he had heard her scream in Malfoy Manor. It was the feeling of knowing she was hurting and not being able to do anything about it. "Shhhhh…" He reached out for her and pulled her down to lie next to him in his bed. He wrapped his strong arms around her and held her close to him. "You're safe. We're back in the Burrow. Voldemort is dead. You're with me." He kept on whispering the mantra, waiting until she relaxed in his arms and she'd stopped shaking. "That's better…" He pressed a soft kiss to her temple and pushed her hair out of her face. He lowered his lips to her ear, talking in a low calming voice. "It was just a dream…"
Hermione sighed and closed her eyes, the last of her tears drying up on her cheeks. "I'm so sorry I woke you up. Ginny was seemingly asleep, and I didn't know where else to go. The other nights I was able to get back to sleep, but tonight it was just too much…"
"I wish you'd come to me sooner Hermione." Ron sighed.
"I know, and I did consider it but you've barely left my side since Shell Cottage and I thought you'd need a breather…"
Ron laughed softly. "I don't need a breather 'Mione." He pulled away from her slightly so he could make eye contact with her. "I told Fleur at Shell Cottage that I wanted to look after you because I wanted to. You've looked after me and Harry so well, it's about time we started looking after you…"
Hermione nodded, a small smile on her lips. She pulled out of his arms briefly so she could climb under the sheets with him, smiling as she cuddled closer. "Thank you, Ron." Hermione rubbed her nose against his briefly. "I'm sorry about earlier, by the way…" She whispered with a small yawn.
Ron lowered his eyes; the tips of his ears shining bright red and he shifted uncomfortably. Before he could open his mouth to mumble some poor excuse for an apology, Hermione gave him her usual 'shut up' stare.
"And you were right; I do need to relax… it's just hard realising that it's okay for us to be happy, you know?" Hermione chewed her lip, her cheeks starting to blush bright red. "And despite what Rita Skeeter liked to write about me, I've only ever snogged a guy before. Both Krum and McLaggen tried…" She giggled a bit awkwardly. "But it didn't feel right…"
"We can stop, if you want…" Ron frowned.
"No, no that's not what I'm saying. I think what I mean is that it didn't feel right because I was waiting for the right person – and you're the right person…" Hermione buried her head back against his neck and closed her eyes.
Ron thought back to what happened that afternoon, his cheeks matching Hermione's blushing bright red. Molly & Arthur had persuaded Harry and Hermione to remain at The Burrow after the funerals. Not one of the trio felt ready to let each other go yet and anyway, where would they go? Harry's Aunt and Uncle were long gone from Privet Drive and he was making noises about 'leaving them to live their lives in peace'. Hermione's parents were still in Australia, living their own lives and completely oblivious to the fact they even had a daughter.
The Weasley children and their friends had taken to spending their days after Fred's funeral playing Quidditch in the vast fields behind The Burrow and bathing in the nearby lakes. They were more subdued than normal; but they were starting to enjoy their time together, which in turn was starting to heal the hurt and pain of the past year.
After a day of watching Hermione run about in a red two piece she had borrow from Ginny, Ron was really struggling to control his urges. After unsuccessfully fighting off the passion that had been building since that kiss in the Room of Requirement, he scooped her out of the lake in a fireman's lift and started to carry her back towards The Burrow; ignoring the whoops and cheers, the childish giggles coming from Harry and his siblings. "Oh fuck off you lot…" He grunted as he carried her giggling into the house and up the stairs, grateful his parents were spending the afternoon at Muriel's.
As soon as the door to his violent orange bedroom was shut, his lips started to seek out hers. He was desperate for some sort of contact other than the stolen chaste kisses they had been sharing. Hermione soon started reciprocating, pulling him closer as he put her down on her feet. As the kisses started to get more passionate, they found themselves gravitating towards the bed, soft moans escaping from both their lips. Each kiss forced them to lose a bit more control of their bodies and the will to fight against their most basic urges.
Collapsing on the bed in a tangle of limbs, Ron's hands found themselves tracing the line of her bikini top around to the drawstring tie at the back. He started to pull at it gently as he moved his kisses from her lips and down her neck. As the tie came apart there was a loud bang, and Ron found himself flying across the room, landing hard just inches away from Harry's camp bed.
"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" Hermione scrambled off the bed, holding her bikini top to her chest to preserve her modesty.
"I… I thought this would have been what you wanted! You were giving me all the right signs! And I waited, I really did… you usually say no like when I play with your top… so I thought it was okay…" Stuttering, Ron got to his feet, shifting himself uncomfortably in his swim shorts and checking everything was still intact.
"I have not been giving you any of 'the right signs'!" Hermione mimicked him in a hurtful way. "When have I given you any signs Ronald? I thought we'd agreed kissing was all we were ready for… all I'm ready for…"
"And when will you be ready for more, Hermione?! When we're ninety-two and you're too old and tired? Because if that's the case then you better stop parading around in Ginny's swimsuits or kissing me when you know how much I want you!" To make a point, he glanced down at his swim shorts.
After a couple of seconds he lifted his head and, feeling a bit braver, he made eye contact with her. "Face it Hermione, you're scared! I love you; I would die to protect you and you're too scared to show me just how much I mean to you as well! I thought everything we have been through meant something; seven years of being the closest friends. What is it? Do you not love me?" Ron's face was now flushed bright red in anger, almost matching his flame coloured hair.
"You know I love you," Hermione sighed, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm just dealing with a lot right now and there's no privacy here… I want us to start learning more about each other as a couple not just friends and I don't want things to be just some rushed moment with everyone else listening in… And let's face it Ron, you're still not ready to move this further either…" Wiping her eyes, she took a few hesitant steps towards him, holding her arms out to comfort him in a move that would usually placate him.
"Well I am!" Ron scoffed. "Maybe you'd be more ready if I were Viktor Krum, or the chosen one. Maybe you'd be ready if I were someone more important…" Ron snatched a t-shirt off the pile on his floor and made his way back out to the lake, slamming every door he could possibly reach on his way.
Dinner that night had been awkward. Although they sat in their usual spot next to each other, he wouldn't speak to her and she wouldn't talk to him. Ginny and Harry had tried, but with neither of them knowing what had happened they didn't feel like they were much help. Both Hermione and Ron had gone to bed early.
Hermione's soft lips kissing his beck brought Ron out of his daydream and back to his present. "Well at least you're talking to me now, I guess…" He smiled as she lifted her head and made eye contact with him before dropping her head for a slow kiss.
She pulled away eventually for air and dropped her head back to the pillow next to his. "You know, I think I'm going to sleep now…" She closed her eyes, settling down for the night.
For a moment he panicked, knowing how much trouble he'd be in if they were found like this in the morning. And then he decided that he didn't care. She was worth it. He loved her, and he was pretty sure she loved him back. He didn't know why he got so angry – he'd already waited seven years for her, he could wait another seven if he had to.