Disclaimer: I own nothing, the genius J.K Rowling owns all.
When it all comes to an end:
The sun didn't suddenly come out from behind the clouds and the rain didn't immediately come to a halt. Ron didn't feel a great weight shift off his shoulders and the world didn't become a whole lot brighter. No cheer spread out through the crowd and elation certainly didn't spread through his body. The green light hit Voldermort squarely in the chest, all the light evaporating from his red, beady eyes, sending his frail form to the ground. An eerie silence filled the battle ground as Harry, wand still pointing to where his nemesis had stood, merely gapped at the fallen Dark Lord. Ron felt a small, barely recognizable, smile creep onto his face as he realised the magnitude of what had just happened. The Golden Trio had won. Harry Potter had saved the day again. All too quickly the silence vanished as the shrieks of the remaining Death Eaters erupted through the air, echoing through the torn, ancient trees that littered the ground. This startled Harry, Ron and Hermione out of their own, quite, celebration and, along with the rest of the Order, they turned their wands towards the Dark Lord's faithful, ready to fight. The grieving Death Eaters, startled by the oncoming Order members, began to Dissaparate as quickly as possible and, before they knew it, the Order found themselves alone on the death riddled battle ground. That was when the cheer erupted and pure euphoria spread through Ron as the light realised that they had vanquished the dark.
Before he could even get off the train, Ron found himself engulfed by his mother and, for the first time since he was a little kid, he hugged her back with just as much enthusiasm, cherishing the moment to just hug his mother. He was allowed these small moments now, allowed to breath in the familiarity of his family, indulge himself in all the little things that made up his life. He felt a few, joyful tears drip into his mother's hair before they separated and he saw his warm, aging father standing a few paces behind, beaming up at his young son. Without a moments hesitation Ron stepped towards the man that had been his hero as a child, smiling ruggedly and extending his hand only to be enveloped once again, this time by his father.
"It's good to have you back, son," Arthur said gruffly as he pulled away from the embrace, wiping away the few tears sliding down his cheeks.
"Good to be back dad," Ron replied, smiling wildly as he turned round to see Hermione grinning at him. Taking her hand he began to walk towards the gates of the station, the smile never leaving his face. He was, finally allowed to live again. He was finally allowed to think about the future, his life with the girl he loved more than anything in the world. It certainly was good to be home.
Kissing 'Mione had never been this much fun, Ron thought as he leaned in for another searing kiss, Hermione responded with equal enthusiasm. They were lying on Ron's bed, the door locked and a silencing charm had been performed, with Ron positioned above his girlfriend, pinning her beneath him. They were kissing with so much fire, ferocity that Ron knew that Hermione would have to be able to feel his growing…attraction to her. He felt himself growl as his girlfriend's delicate hands ran over his chest, his shirt having been discarded early on in the evening. He began to glide his own hands under her shirt, massaging her soft skin as he moved upwards tentatively. However, Hermione wouldn't have any of this and she quickly removed her top and gently moved Ron's hand forward until it was covering her breast. Bloody hell this is brilliant, he thought, sighing to himself as he moved his hand towards her back, tacking in the silkiness of her skin, to try and undo the annoying clasp of her bra. Then he felt a small, delicate hand begin to drift teasingly lower and his own actions halted as he jumped up, his eyes wide. That hadn't been what he was planning to do, well not yet anyway, and he had to make that perfectly clear.
"Hermione," he chocked out as he stared at his innocently smiling girlfriend as though she was some sort of hairy smile, she responded by biting her bottom lip in a truly endearing way that almost, almost, made him want to jump on her again.
"I want to, Ron," she stated shyly, though her eyes held a glint of steely determination and Ron had to shake himself back into his resolution.
"Well I don't," he replied angrily, disentangling himself completely from his girlfriend. Immediately he noticed that the distance between himself and Hermione was greater then he had intended it to be and looked up only to see tears gliding down her cheeks, deep hurt haunting her eyes. Bugger, didn't mean it to come out like that.
"You mean…you don't find me attra…attract…attractive," she cried and Ron felt his heart crack a little. He couldn't understand how she couldn't see just how absolutely gorgeous, why she wasn't able to see that a bloke would have to be stupid to not be attracted to her.
"Merlin 'Mione, offcourse I'm attracted to you. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on, not to mention dead sexy. I'm stuffed this up royally, bloody great prat I am," he began with a sigh as he chanced another glance at Hermione, thankful to see that her tears had stopped and a blush was now creeping up her cheeks, illuminating her face, "I just meant that I don't want us to do this just because the war is over and we can. I want us to…well you know... when we're really ready. I love you 'Mione and I want to do this right," he finished quickly, a blush rising up his own cheeks. He looked up to see Hermione beaming at him, her chocolate eyes shining.
"It's alright Ron," she began shyly, reaching out to hold his hand, "we'll wait." She reached up to kiss his cheek, whispering a sweet goodnight, before walking towards her own room, smiling innocently at her boyfriend just as she reached the door.
He was going to do it now. He had to do it now or risk losing the thing that meant more to him then anything in the whole world, more then anything ever could. He began to recite the words of his speech in his head, allowing a wave of emotions to rush through him as he thought back on the last eight years of his life. Looking into the mirror he noted the changes in his own appearance, his once tall lanky body now muscular and strong and his once short hair now much long and redder then ever. He smiled to himself. He definitely didn't look like that little boy anymore. Running a hand through his already messy hair, a habit he was sure he would never grow out of, he began to walk down the crooked stairs he loved, butterflies playing havoc with his stomach. As he reached the bottom stair he saw her, face buried in a book, hair cascading down around her shoulders, as she sat calmly by the fire, at complete ease with the world. Love didn't seem to be a strong enough word to describe how he felt for her and though he wasn't extremely intelligent he was pretty sure there wasn't a word that actually existed. She had made him a better person, allowed himself to show the world who he really was. She gave him the confidence to be whatever he wanted to be, gave him the courage to achieve whatever he dreamed of achieving. And, most importantly, she loved him for who he really was. She was the first person to see him for who he was and realise everything he could do and see all the truly admirable qualities he had. At times Ron was sure that she knew him better then he knew himself. He sighed as he stepped towards her, his loud footsteps startling her and removing her eyes from the pages of her book. Though she was dressed simply, old jeans and one of his used Weasley jumpers, Ron had never been surer that she was the most beautiful girl in the world, he sighed. Her smile lit her whole face as she saw who was standing before her, the once lanky little boy that she had grown to love. Taking a deep breath he began, his planned speech vanishing at the sight of her,
"Hermione…My 'Mione," he whispered stroking her cheek as he got down on one knee, causing a gasp of surprise to be emitted from her mouth, "When I first saw you on the train I, to be perfectly honest, thought you were a icky know-it-all goody-two shoes," he laughed and was surprised that she was giggling to,
"But something happened. Some, strange, sorta fuzzy feeling swept through me and I wished that you hadn't seen me with dirt on my nose. I…well as you know I ignored it and was a right git to you until that bloody troll incident. You…well…I mean…I don't know about you but to me there's always been something more then friendship to you and me. I always, always felt something no matter how hard I tried not to," he paused as he looked into the chocolate orbs he loved to get lost in, searching in them for the right words to say.
"For years I treated you so badly, so horribly. I know you will probably deny that but its true, I was a complete and utter prat when it came to you," this earned him a giggle, "but…you…you stuck by me and you made me see…see the whole world from a different perspective. You shone a light on things I'd never even thought 'bout. I don't know what I did to deserve your love but I… I…I treasure it above everything else and the time I've been allowed to be with you as more then friends has truly been the most brilliant time of my life," he chocked on the last words, realising that he had to say this now, had to ask her now.
"Hermione Jane Granger, will you marry me?" he practically cried, opening the small, velvet box he'd been clutching to produce a simple, yet elegant diamond engagement ring. Before he could even begin to prepare himself for whatever she would say a shriek pierced the air as Hermione launched herself into his arms, almost knocking them both onto the floor.
"Yes!" she screamed as she pulled back from the embrace to kiss him squarely on the lips. Ron smiled into the kiss, responding with double the enthusiasm. Everything was going to be all right now. The girl he loved was in his arms and had just agreed to spend the rest of her life with him. A feeling of pure contentment washed over him. After years of battles, scenes of gruesome deaths and horrific endings, everything was, finally, going to plan.
Author Note: So that's the end. I hope you enjoyed my story as much as I enjoyed reading it. I will be back again once I've finished reading DH. I really, hope Ron and Hermione end up together. I mean they absolutely have to! Anyway, before I start rambling, read and review.
Cheers!