Hi! A few things. When I wrote the original, I made the mistake of giving myself a chapter limit (started out as ten but then I changed it to fifteen) and for the ending to go the way I saw it in my head, there were a few considerable time jumps that I have always regretted. That being said, I am not going to do that this time around (at least not as dramatic because I really don't want to write 100 chapters of this lol)

I am also slowly re-writing the original and straightening it up some. There will definitely be new stuff in there...maybe even new chapters, who knows! (no really, I still don't know yet)

Annyyyway!

Thanks to the cheesiest cheesyficwriter and the strangiest be11atrixthestrange for the beta help! They are stupendous humans!

oOo

A hard nudge in his side woke Ron up from a deep sleep, and he opened his eyes to find Hermione standing next to his bed staring down at him.

"We need to talk," she stated, not even allowing him to wake up all the way before she started rambling. "You- you're infuriating!" she huffed as she started to pace back and forth. "Last night you wrote things that didn't make any sense, and then you just closed your window without explaining any of it to me! I was up half the night trying to figure out what- Ron!"

Ron again opened his eyes. "It's too early for this Hermione," he groaned.

She shook her head. "Oh, no you don't! I have questions and I want answers!"

"Course you do," he muttered before letting out a sigh. "What questions?"

Hermione held up a small piece of paper in her hand. "First off, how am I 'superior to you in every way'?"

Ron sat up and rubbed his eyes. "You just are, Hermione. Everyone knows it."

Hermione sighed. "I work hard on my education, that's all. I'm not an all around better person than you are, Ron."

Ron gave a disbelieving snort.

"I'm serious!" she insisted. "You are- Ron, you are so considerate, and caring, and you get people- something I've never been able to do." Ron cleared his throat, growing more uncomfortable as she continued, appearing oblivious to his discomfort. "You will go just as far in life as I will, and one day I'll be able to say I told you so."

"You must have a thing for hopeless cases," Ron said as he smiled up at her. He'd expected her to smile at his joke, but her eyes watered.

"Stop demeaning yourself like that."

"Why? Because that's your job?" Ron asked, immediately regretting the words as he watched the hurt flicker across Hermione's features as she took a step back in surprise.

"Hermione, I'm sorry! I didn't-"

"I deserve that," she said in a whisper. "I've said and done a lot of horrible things to you lately."

"And I haven't? We've both been awful to each other, Hermione."

Hermione walked to the bed, and Ron wordlessly scooted over so she could sit next to him, their shoulders and legs pressed against each other as they leaned back on his headboard. They stayed like that for several long seconds, neither of them saying anything.

"Ron?" Hermione broke the silence, her voice hesitant.

"Hmm?"

"Say or do what?"

Confused, Ron turned to look at her. "What?"

"In the note last night you said that I was meant to go farther in life than you and it's caused you to never say or do...something, but then you stopped writing and wrote something else. And then you said that me being perfect made your life hell. What on earth does that mean?"

Ron again cursed himself for writing the words. He was sometimes such a fucking idiot.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does."

"I just meant-" he sighed. "I guess I just meant that I feel inferior to you," he muttered. "Sometimes I don't even know why you bother being friends with me."

While Ron's answer was truly how he felt, and as embarrassing as the words were to say, at least he could avoid speaking the truth that he was head over heels in love with her.

"You know, Ronald, sometimes I really don't get you."

"What?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ron! You have so many friends! You're invited to all the parties, you are the 'king' of beer pong!" She paused. "You have no problem getting girls to- to sleep with you," she added in a bitter voice.

Ron opened his mouth, but Hermione interrupted before he could get a word out. "And me? I spent my entire teenage years doing schoolwork at home and hanging out with only you. Even now, I go to university during the week, but I'm not there to socialize, so I don't. You are way ahead of me, Ron! Everyone who meets you thinks you're hilarious and fun. People see that, are drawn to that, and they want to be around you! Don't say you feel inferior to me, because you aren't. As a matter of fact, Ronald Weasley, I've always been jealous of the effortless way that you-"

Hermione stopped talking, finally noticing the giant grin on Ron's face as he watched her rattle on.

"Oh, honestly!" she huffed, and it took everything in Ron to stop himself from grabbing the sides of her face and smashing his lips to hers.

"You're wonderful," he said earnestly, causing her to give him a small smile. "And you were wrong. Last night, I mean. I do want you to be happy, Hermione. I want nothing but happiness for you. I was only acting like a prat because I was jea-"

He stopped, grimacing because he'd again said too much.

"Jealous?" Hermione finished, her voice small and nervous.

Ron cleared his throat before nodding his head. "Yeah, I mean-" He shrugged, hoping he seemed nonchalant. "It's always been the two of us, you know? And then we get into this stupid fight and aren't talking, and then- BAM! All of a sudden, you have a bloody boyfriend! It was like I didn't know everything anymore, and I hated it."

Hermione looked down, guilt written all over her face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have caught you off guard like that."

Ron shook his head. "That's not true, Hermione...you are your own person. You shouldn't have to alert me to every happening in your life." He snorted. "I'm just so pathetic when it comes to you that I take everything personally. That's not your fault."

"Well, what if I like the fact that you care so much?" Hermione asked, her face serious. "I love that you care for me, Ron. Even if you are sometimes 'bat shit crazy' as you put it," she added with a smirk.

"Oi!" Ron protested, pretending to be offended. "You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Hermione laughed, but the sudden image from last night of Hermione and Cormac kissing popped into his mind and Ron's mood dropped in an instant.

"What?" she asked, noting the change in his demeanor.

Ron flopped back onto the pillow and let out a sigh.

Hermione raised her eyebrow. "You're pretty moody, you know?"

"S'what happens when I don't get enough sleep," he accused before letting out a loud yawn.

"It's nearly eight!" she admonished, receiving an eye roll from him.

"I could have easily slept several more hours."

"Of course you could have," she retorted.

She too sank down onto his bed, crawling under the covers and facing him. They stared at each other, neither of them saying anything. Ron's arms ached to reach out to hold her as he usually would, but he fought the urge. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to do that anymore. Not now that she was in a 'serious' relationship.

"Do you love him?" he whispered, his eyes widening as he realized just what he had asked.

Hermione's eyes widened as well. "Wh-what?" she stuttered.

Ron's heart was hammering inside his chest. "I- I'm sorry. I know it's not my right to ask."

Hermione's eyes moved from his, but Ron could see tears in them. "I've only gone out with him twice, Ron. I can't possibly love him yet."

Ron shrugged, relief filling up his chest. "Happens that way in movies."

"I can assure you that my love life is not a movie," she retorted.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Love life? As far as I know, there's only been the one boyfriend."

Hermione audibly swallowed.

"You mean to tell me you've been sneaking other blokes around, too? Hermione Granger! How scandalous!"Ron chuckled as his words were rewarded with a slap on the arm.

"Obviously not!" Hermione snapped. "Cormac is my first boyfriend."

"Well, just so you know, you have nothing to compare him to."

"What do you mean?"

"What if he's- um- let's say he's an awful kisser? How would you know that if you had no other experience?"

"I've had other experiences!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes widening as she bit her lip. She definitely hadn't meant to let that slip out.

Ron pushed back his feelings of jealousy and confusion. "What? How many blokes have you kissed, Hermione?"

Hermione took a deep breath before opening her mouth, but before she could speak, Ron's door flew open and Ginny walked inside holding a laundry basket.

"Ron, Mum wants your laundry in ten mi- oh!" she startled. "Sorry. Didn't realize Hermione was here."

"Yep," Ron replied through gritted teeth. "She's here."

Hermione sat up and swung her legs over the side of his bed. "I was just about to go, though. I was going to go to the bookstore for a bit."

"Sounds like a blast," Ginny said, obviously being sarcastic.

"For me, it is," Hermione laughed.

Ginny smiled. "Alright. I'll see you later." With that, she was gone.

Hermione stood up and turned to Ron. "Want to come?"

Ron shook his head. He needed to get his head back on straight before spending any more time with her. He was starting to be unable to stop himself from saying things he shouldn't. "Nah. Have to gather all my laundry. Probably rest some."

Hermione looked disappointed for a moment before her face changed into a teasing grin. "That's okay. I can concentrate on reading more when you aren't there asking me if I'm ready to go every ten minutes."

Ron chuckled. "At least I go with you! My kindness and patience have a limit though."

"I think you need to give yourself more credit," she smiled.

Ron could only smile dumbly back, unable to voice the extent of just how much he cared for her.

"I'll see you later today. Sometime after lunch?"

Ron nodded, and Hermione gave him one last smile before walking out of his room and closing the door behind her.

oOo

Five days later, Ron was at Hermione's house, and they were sitting across from each other on the floor. She was helping him with his science project; her face concentrated as she glued small pieces of paper together. The homework was easy enough, but Ron pretended he was having problems with it, and as usual, Hermione was all in and all too happy to help. He only felt mild guilt that his eyes were more on her than the project, happy to take advantage of the fact she wasn't paying attention to him so he could watch her. It was quiet in the room, and when the phone rang, it caused both of them to jump. Hermione let out a small laugh before standing, picking up the phone and holding it to her ear.

"Hello?"

Hermione's eyes shot to Ron for a split second before she turned away from him. "Oh, hi."

Ron sat back, his ears straining for every word. Even though there was no way he could know for sure, he was pretty confident that it was Cormac on the other end of the line, which only irritated him.

"Yeah, I'll be- yes, that sounds nice. Okay, I'll see you then. Goodbye."

Hermione hung up the phone and turned around, avoiding Ron's eyes as she sat back down across from him and took up where she had left off.

"Who was that?" Ron asked, trying to sound casual.

"Cormac," she answered, her voice stiff, as if she didn't want to talk about it.

"So you're going out with him tonight?" Ron asked as he handed her the glue she was reaching for, trying to control his voice so he wouldn't sound as upset as he felt.

"Yes. Well, I mean he invited me over to his flat."

"He has his own flat?" Ron asked, incredulous.

"He's twenty-one, Ron."

Ron wondered if Hermione would see him differently if he had his own flat. "Must be bloody nice," he mumbled under his breath.

"We're just going to watch a movie," Hermione said in a slow voice as she leaned back and met his eyes.

Ron snorted in a joking manner. "I'm sure that's all Cormac wants to do. He wants to sit on his expensive sofa, wearing his fancy clothes-" Hermione's mouth twitched. "And hold your hand while paying close attention to the movie. I'm positive that is all that's on his mind."

She rolled her eyes. "I can take care of myself, Ronald."

"I know you can, Hermione. I also know you're too smart to go falling for that pric- I mean, Cormac."

"You don't like him, Ron. You've made that perfectly clear."

"Nope!" he responded, overemphasizing the 'p'.

"Why not?" Hermione asked in a curious voice.

Ron raised his eyebrow and gave her a disbelieving look, causing her cheeks to turn a light pink.

"I mean- sure, he's not the most humble person-"

"Try egotistical, full of himself, snobbish as fuck. Plus, he looks at you like a meal he wants to devour."

"What's wrong with someone finding me attractive, Ron?" Hermione asked in a hurt voice. "Is it impossible to you that someone of the opposite sex can find me desirable?"

Ron's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "Bloody hell, Hermione! That's not what I meant! I've told you before that I think you're beautiful!"

"Yeah. Once. When you were drunk," she scoffed, now looking at the floor.

Ron's heart dropped. He had been trying so hard not to let Hermione know how he felt, that he had inadvertently gone too far in the opposite direction. Feeling awful, he reached out his arm and put his hand under her chin, lifting it up so she was looking at him.

"I am one hundred percent sober right now. And you, Hermione Granger, are gorgeous. Inside and out."

Ron watched her eyes water before she pulled away from him, her hands coming up to cover her eyes. "Ron, you can't say that kind of stuff to me," she whimpered.

Ron bit back his own tears. "Why not? Because you have a boyfriend?"

Hermione removed her hands from her face and shook her head. "No. It's just- I don't know," she finished, sounding crestfallen.

"Well, obviously I don't know either because you aren't telling me!" he retorted, feeling frustrated.

"I think we're finished here," Hermione determined as she stood up, gesturing to his project on the floor between them. "I have to get ready to-"

"To shag your boyfriend tonight? Yeah, I know," Ron barked, unable to stop himself.

Hermione's face scrunched up in anger. "Don't you- Ron, how dare-"

Cursing under his breath, Ron jumped up and pulled her into an embrace. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Hermione. I just- sometimes words come out of my mouth without me thinking about them, and-" He sighed. "I'm an ass."

Hermione shook her head. "You're not an ass, Ron. And that's the problem."

Ron was still trying to figure out what she meant by those words when she stepped away from him, wiping her eyes and sniffling. He really hated himself at that moment- hated how he upset her so often. Feeling dejected, he bent down to pick up the project off the floor, deciding to leave as soon as possible so he wouldn't have another opportunity to hurt her.

"Thanks for your help," he said in a quiet voice. "I really appreciate it."

"Of course," Hermione responded, her voice small as well.

Still unsure of how physical he could be with her, Ron decided not to hug her again, instead walking out of her room without another word.

oOo

A little after eleven that night, Ron sighed in relief when he heard the pail tapping against his window.

Hey.

Hey. How was the date?

It was okay.

No getting swept off your feet?

Hermione ignored his question. Cormac was a sore subject between them, and it was getting more obvious as time went on.

To tell you the truth, I was upset all evening because of what you said earlier.

I'm sorry. What can I do to make it better?

You've been different, Ron. And I don't like it.

I'm not trying to be, Hermione. I just don't know where I stand in your life now.

You are in the same place you have always been!

"Yeah. Stuck in the friend zone for eternity," Ron muttered under his breath as he read her note. He sighed before sending one back.

This is new. Forgive me if I am still trying to figure it all out.

There's nothing to figure out! You're overthinking things.

Me? Overthink things?

Ron smiled as he watched her read the note and laugh.

Oh, of course not! You would never do such a thing!

Never.

Seriously though. I know you have problems voicing how you feel, but I also know that you feel so much- much more than the average person. I only wish you would let me in sometimes.

Ron chuckled. No way in Hell Hermione could survive rifling through his mind. Her brain was probably organized, all of her thoughts and emotions put away so that she could easily grab the right one when she needed it. His brain, however, was a fucking mess- with every emotion everywhere, his thoughts all jumbled together and constantly confusing the hell out of him.

Trust me, Hermione. That's not what you want.

It is.

Again. It's not.

Fine. I'll drop the subject. For now.

Thank you. Anyway, I wanted to say I'm sorry for hounding you the other night.

What do you mean?

I had no right to ask you if you've slept with your boyfriend. It's none of my business. I mean, I'm sure you have, but I definitely don't want to hear about what McLaggen is like in the sac.

Omg. Subject change. Please.

Okay. What subject should we move to next? Maths? Science? History? Nah, you're more of an English girl.

Ronald.

Ronald Dahl. Ah, yes. He wrote quite a few books. Not that I've read any of them, but still.

You're impossible.

Impossibly amazing?

Fine. I'll give you that one. I do, in fact, think you are amazing, Ron Weasley.

HOLY SHIT! CALL THE PAPERS! I NEED TO MAKE A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT!

For goodness sake!

Let's do something this Saturday. Movies?

Sorry. Can't. Cormac is taking me to a party.

Calm down, calm down, Ron repeated in his head as he tried to push down his jealousy. After all the times he invited her to go to a party with him, she was going to one with McLaggen?

I thought you didn't like parties?

Oh, sorry. It's not that kind of party. It's more of a gathering. Cormac made the Dean's list three years in a row, so his parents are having a little dinner in celebration.

Whoopty fucking do.

Ah. Sounds fun.

You don't have to lie, Ron. I know you would hate it.

Fine. Sounds bloody boring. A movie with your best friend sounds much more fun.

I'm sorry, Ron. I've already agreed to go with him and I can't back out now.

I know. Just promise to give me just a teeeeny tiny bit of your attention? Pretty please? Just squeeze me in whenever you have the time?

Hermione laughed and rolled her eyes.

You know you'll be able to get more of my time than that.

Well, I bloody well hope so, seeing that I am your best friend.

You are.

Yeah, but for how long?

Hopefully forever.

Good.

It's late. I need to get to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Okay. Have sweet dreams, Hermione.

You too.

Goodnight.

Ron shut the window, a smile on his face. While he was still insanely jealous and heartbroken that Hermione was with somebody else, he was getting better at pushing the negative feelings down and focusing on the positive.

Hermione still wanted him in his life, and said she always would.

Ron was determined to keep it that way.