Disclaimer: I still own nothing.

Love requited is the best- so what's this?

Voldermort was back. Even if no one believed Harry's story and even though there hadn't been any mysterious killings or anything that could be linked to his return, he was back and it wasn't only a matter of time before a war broke out. Though Ron hadn't seen his return with his own eyes, he had been comforting Hermione while they waited for Harry to exit the maze at the time, he knew that if Harry said Voldermort had returned then it meant he had returned, no questions needed to be asked. Ron believed Harry, it was a simple as that.

The summer holidays, though filled with tedious tasks, had been peaceful and Ron was enjoying himself, even though he wasn't going to admit that to anyone. He was staying at Grimauld Place, Sirius' home, and had been spending his whole holiday cleaning every room of the house in an attempt to make it liveable so it could be used as Headquarters. After school had ended his parents, two of the only people that believed Harry and Dumbledore's story, had informed him that they weren't going back to the Burrow. Instead they were going to help out the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organisation with the sole aim of bringing about the permanent downfall of Voldermort and his followers, and would be staying at its Headquarters. At first Ron had been beyond bored, cleaning toilets had never been an intriguing job, yet then Hermione had come to stay and his holiday had gotten significantly better. He hadn't seen Harry for over a month, he was incredibly worried about Voldermort and he was currently trying to scrub clean a room that had been so filthy that, at first, he couldn't see the floor yet for some reason he was happy, and he was certain it had do with the fact that Hermione was sitting beside him.

Something had changed in his relationship with Hermione, not a dramatic change but a subtle one. They were closer, less prone to bicker over everything and anything and they both seemed perfectly content in each others company. After the Yule Ball last year Ron had began to hope, in a way he had never allowed himself to before, that maybe she liked him the same way he liked…loved her. Yes Ron had finally admitted that he loved Hermione Granger, the know-it-all bookworm that had been his best friend for four years, though so far only to himself. He had loved her before he even knew the meaning of the word and he loved her more then he had ever though it was possible to love one person, even when she was wearing and old jumper that didn't fit properly and was completely covered in dirt like she was now.

"Ron, could you pass me the cleaning fluid?" she asked, startling him out of his reverie,

"Sure thing, Mione" he said turning to her, taking in her dishevelled appearance, and passing her the cleaning fluid. Merlin she's beautiful, he thought as he continued to stare at her. Her brown curls cascading gracefully down her back and her giant chocolate orbs lit with determination as she scrubbed ferociously at the wooden floor in a desperate attempt to make the dirt disappear, a beautiful light pink flush creeping onto her face as she worked. Then his eyes widened as he felt a familiar stirring in his lower region and, giving a quick excuse about needing the bathroom to Hermione, ran out of the room.

A few hours later, after Ron had rectified his…problem, Ron and Hermione finished cleaning the room. They stretched, smiled at each other and congratulated the other on a job well done. Ron faced Hermione, waiting for her so they could walk down to lunch together, and just as she stepped forward she tripped over the scrubbing brush in front of her, falling into his arms. Slightly startled by what had just happened, and by the fact that he had Hermione in his arms, Ron slowly began to lift Hermione up, each of his arms hooked under her elbows. He was thinking about saying something clever, joking about her clumsiness, but all thought evaporated from his mind as she looked up at him, their gazes looking. The chocolate pools of her eyes were sucking him in, clearing his mind. They stayed like that for a while, stuck in the eyes of the other, completely oblivious to the rest of the world. Then Hermione tilted her face up, a look of expectation planted on her face. What's happening, Ron thought worriedly, does she want me to kiss her? Should I kiss her? I've never kissed a girl in my life, What if I can't kiss properly? What if she rejects me? What if I ruin our friendship? His thoughts continued as he maintained eye contact. He decided to go for it, take the plunge, and slowly dipped his head towards hers. Their faces inching closer together as his eyes began to close…

"Ron, Hermione," Mrs Weasley yelled up the stairs, breaking the moment, "lunch is ready." Ron instantly let go of Hermione, looking determinately at the floor

"You should be more careful next time. We don't want you to break a leg or anything," he muttered, still staring at the floor.

"Silly me, I shouldn't have left it on the floor anyway. I'm just going to wash up, I'll see you down stairs," she responded, her voice lacking emotion, as she ran from the room. Stupid git, look what you've done now. She probably didn't even want to kiss you. She was just wondering when you'd let her go. You great bloody prat, you probably just ruined your relationship with Hermione forever, he thought solemnly as he made his way down stairs, deciding to never mention what had just occurred to Hermione or anyone else ever again.

Harry eventually arrived at Headquarters and his presence allowed the awkwardness that surrounded Ron and Hermione to evaporate. Ron had completely understood why Harry had been so angry at them for not telling him anything about what was going on, he would have been furious as well. After the initial blow up Harry, much to Ron's relief, had calmed down and the Golden Trio had been soaking up the rest of the summer. Ron was thinking about his near kiss with Hermione, that thankfully had been ignored since, when he heard a tap tap tap on the window and he turned around to see a majestic grey owl sitting on his windowsill. He opened the window, untied the letter from the owl's leg and sent the owl on its way. It was his Hogwarts letter and Ron quickly undid the envelope, expecting to find the usual book list and a reminder that the Hogwarts Express and was surprised when a third slip of parchment slipped out.

Dear Mr. Weasley,

I'm honoured to inform you that you have been selected as one of the prefects for Gryffindor. As a prefect you are required to meet the Head Boy and Head Girl in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express where they will lay out what is required of you. I, along with Professor Dumbledore, feel that you were the best candidate for this role and believe that you will put an enormous amount of effort into making sure you live up to the duty we have bestowed upon you. I'm sure you will do Gryffindor proud.

Professor McGonagall

Ron put the letter down, his eyes widening as the tiny red and gold badge fell into his palm. Still clutching the shining badge in his hand he heard the door open and turned around to see Harry standing behind him.

"Ron, what's wrong?" Harry asked upon seeing the look of utter shock plastered on Ron's face

"They…they made me prefect Harry. Why would they make me a prefect?" Ron stuttered, still completely in shock. He could see Harry automatically tense up, his jaw tightening, and he knew that he had said the wrong thing and was surprised that he hadn't thought of it before, they should have made Harry the prefect. Then a forced smile made its way to Harry's face as he took the little badge and said, "Congratulations mate, you deserved it." Ron was reaching out to take the badge back when a hysterical Hermione rushed through the door, the same badge clutched in her hand.

"Oh Harry, you got it! I knew you'd get it. Me too! I'm a prefect too!" she squealed, giving Harry a bone- smashing hug. Harry threw the prefect badge at Ron as he stepped away from Hermione, "It's not mine. Ron got prefect," he answered to Hermione's shock. She was saying something, apologising and stating that Ron had done many things that made him worthy of the title of prefect, but he couldn't really hear it. It was all lies anyway. Of course she didn't think I'd be prefect. She's so perfect, so bloody brilliant and I'm just not good enough for her. She doesn't even think I could be a Gryffindor prefect for Merlins sake! She didn't want to kiss me. She never liked me that way, I was just being a great big oblivious prat, and other thoughts along this line were the only things running through his head.

Ron stared moodily at his food, it was the first time anyone had seen him not finish his breakfast. Why did I sign up for the ruddy Quidditch team in the first place? I'm going to let the whole of Gryffindor down. Trying to impress 'Mione with my Quidditch skills, hah what skills. Why would she be impressed by me when she's seen that great bloody pumpkin head Krum play? I'm such a git, he thought to himself as he continued to push the food back and forth across his plate.

"Ron, you have to eat," Hermione scolded from across the table, "honestly it's just a game. Don't worry about is so much," she added her voice changing to a soothing tone. Ron merely shrugged and continued to glare at his plate, stabbing the pieces of bacon viciously.

"Well, I'll see you down at the pitch," she sighed, "good luck Harry. Good luck Ron," she finished as she stood on her tip toes and kissed Ron gently on the cheek before she walked out of the Great Hall. Ron raised his hand to his cheek, feeling for where her soft lips had brushed his skin. She's never done that before, Ron thought as a goofy smile crept onto his face, Bloody hell that was wicked. I can't believe 'Mione just kissed me. "She missed though," he whispered to himself as he began to walk towards the Quidditch pith, a new found bounce in his step and a dreamy expression spread across his face.

Ron couldn't think straight, he couldn't even really talk properly. But all he knew was he had to find a person called Hermione- whoever that was. She sounds pretty, he thought to himself as he ran through a long corridor trying to find a short girl with bushy brown hair. He didn't know who she was or why he had to find her, he didn't even really know who he was though he thought his name was Ron, but he just knew he had to. Some strange men with black capes were running at him shouting strange words that he didn't quite understand as the pointed sticks at him. It was then that Ron realised that he had one of those stick things in his hand and he pointed it towards one of the strange men with black capes and shouted the first word that came into his head, a word he didn't even think was a real word, "EXPELIARMUS." The strange man fell backwards, hitting his head on a strange glass case, as his stick thing fell out of his hand. That worked well, Ron thought, smiling, to himself as he continued to run down the never ending corridor. Then he spotted a wild bush of brown hair in front of him and he felt his heart lift. "Hermione!" he screamed as he ran towards her only to notice that she was unconscious and his heart, that had so recently been flying with happiness, dropped again and he felt tears creep into his eyes, trying to escape. Though he still didn't know who he was yet, nor did he know who Hermione really was, Ron knew that he loved her. He loved her and she was unconscious and didn't look like waking up. He felt his heart break as he stared into her chocolate orbs and realised she wasn't waking up, not yet anyway. He didn't know if she loved him back, didn't know if they were a couple, yet he knew that he loved this girl in front of him and that was enough.