Ron's POV

The floor was not comfy.

It was impossible for me to sleep on the hard wooden floor in the living room of Grimmauld Place. I had slept before on it but for some reason tonight it felt like I was sleeping on stone or something. I decided that there were other reasons for not being able to sleep, the first was Harry. God did he snore! And loud! The second reason wasn't that hard to guess. Hermione.

We'd arrived at this safe house after escaping the attack at the wedding and also escaping those two death eaters at the coffee shop. We needed rest and Grimmauld Place was the only place we knew would be safe. For now at least. The dark room was lit only by candles and we'd arranged the living room furniture so we could all sleep together. Harry on one of the love seats and Hermione of course was on the other.

A pillow and torn blanket was the only comfort I had. Of course I had told them I was fine with it, Harry had offered me the love seat but I told him I was fine down here. After sleeping on a lumpy mattress all my life, I'd survive one night on the floor. The grandfather clock in the corner chimed twelve times; Harry didn't even flinch but the sound woke Hermione. I watched her roll over, mumbled very gently and sit up. I closed my eyes, not wanting her to know I was awake.

Like she was the wind, she breezed out of the room without a trace.

I waited maybe a minute before I threw the blanket away and bolted out of the door after her. I found her downstairs in the kitchen. The giant cavernous room looked the same as it always did but with a fresh layer of dust. Where the hell was Kreacher? Hermione hadn't notice I followed her and made her way down the narrow kitchen, her fingers traced the edge of the long wooden table that started at one end of the room and finished at the other.

She lifted her wand and with a quick flick and quiet whisper, the hearth exploded into flames. I watched, careful not to disturb the scene, as she wrapped her arms around herself. She wore a long sleeved purple shirt and pulled the sleeves further down her hands. The fact she wore only grey leggings and had bare feet didn't help either. She turned to cabinet, pulled out a glass and went to the sink.

"Are you cold?" My voice sounded a lot louder than I thought; it echoed and made her jump. With a gasp she dropped the glass and it shattered at her feet, sending fragments everywhere.

"Oh, Ronald," she exclaimed but with a smile on her beautiful lips, "You frightened me. And yes, I was freezing up there." she breathed out. I had to bit my lip to stop my laugh and made my way down to her. She looked at the glass at her feet and I raised my wand.

"Reparo." I circled my wand in the air and the shards instantly flew back together and onto the counter top.

"Thank you," she said.

"S'alright," I replied and I noticed how the nerves were affecting my tone of voice. Filling the glass with water from the tap she took a sip and held her hand to her throat. She was looking out of the window at the sky. It still looked like the middle of the night with the giant shining moon and the stars still twinkling. The wind looked harsh, blowing everything to the left.

"How're you?' I asked. Hermione looked like I had snapped her out of a dreamy haze and turned back to me with a smile. I lead her to the seats closest to the fireplace. I sat across from her and took her hands in mine, rubbing them warm. How a simple act like this could sway me, I hadn't a clue.

"Um- I'm okay. I guess. Honestly I think I'm still a little shaken up from the coffee shop. It was so unexpected and foolish for me to not have realized that Harry was no longer protected. He was in so much danger, so were we come to think of it?"

"I wasn't worried." I lied, "I mean I had you to protect me. For a girl who spends most of her time with her head in books you sure do know how to kick some ass." She burst out into a laugh and covered her mouth with her free hand, looking away. I chuckled along with her, happy I'd changed her mood and made her laugh. With a laugh like hers I could sit and make jokes forever.

"A lot of that was impulse. I hadn't a clue how to fight. I got lucky." She told me. You should have seen me when I went looking for you at the wedding. I was so scared and frightened you - and Harry, of course - had been taken or already..." she didn't finish.

I squeezed her hand a little, letting her know I felt the same. The moment I was away from her to take a stupid picture with mum, I knew something was wrong. I never should have left her. "Hermione..."

"Yes?"

"I wanted to speak to you about that, actually. The wedding, I mean. Before the attack," Hermione gulped and I scooted closer. "Actually about the night before the wedding when you came into my room...Hermione..."

I had planned to say something along the lines of... Hermione...you have to know that when you kissed me I realized that moment was the most single amazing experience I had ever had in my entire life or would ever have in the future. I liked it. I like you. No, Hermione...I think I'm in love with you. I want to be with you until the day we die...

This was what I had planned to say. What came out was... "Hermione...uhm, Kiss!"

Smooth. Ron. Smooth.

Instantly she withdrew her hands and turned away from me, staring into the flames to avoid meeting my eyes. "Oh Ron, I'm so sorry!" she cried a little.

"Sorry?"

"Yes. I was being stupid and I swear to you that when I kissed you...it meant nothing. Not a single thing. I was just upset and it was intended to be a friendly kiss. I don't want you to freak out or anything. It was nothing to me, like it's nothing to you..."

That cracking sound? Yeah, that was my heart. She's just smashed it with a verbal hammer. Then stomped on the fragments. Shards of broken feelings. It seemed that time had stopped and the heat had made my throat dry. After an eternity I finally nodded to her and dragged a smile across my face.

"Yeah," I laughed quietly, "Meant nothing."

"T-Thank you for being so...so..." Hermione was sobbing? Why? Instantly I stood up and dropped down to my knee beside her until our eyes met then I pulled her into my arms, allowing her to weep silently into my shirt. Stroking her head, I held my hand in her feather soft hair and ran my fingers through it. Those fragments inside my chest tried to crawl to one another but fell and cracked some more. "Thank you for being so understanding. I never wanted you to feel uncomfortable. It meant nothing." She repeated again. After another couple of minutes of just sitting together, holding each other and waiting, she finally pulled back and rubbed her eyes.

"C'mon, let's go to bed." She said. Holding my hand she led me back upstairs. She lay back on the loveseat and I lay beside her on the floor. With a last smile she rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. But her hand did not let go of mine. Interlocked in the air. Even thought it pained me to be so close yet so far, I did not let go.

FanWriter's Note:

Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this third chapter. This one was quiet a short one but I thought it was enough to get across what was happening. I hope you are enjoying the story so far and thank you all who are reading and reviewing, it means a lot.

~FanWriter Harrison~