Disclaimer: I would do everything in my power to own these characters. But I don't. I don't own stonehenge on the cover, either, or the poem quote.
I couldn't tell fact from fiction, or if the dream was true. My only sure prediciton in this world was you. - Maya Angelou
Falling, Heart First
Frustration built up inside Ron Weasley, seeing red and balling his hands. Over the course of one single second, it seemed his world had turned upside down. The world was moving way too fast for him- first Rose could fit in his palm, and then, before he knew it, she was taller than Hermione! Granted, she wasn't the tallest, and him being the freaking giant that he- off topic! Focus, Ron yelled at himself. Now, his baby was in bloody love.
With Scorpius sodding Malfoy. In obvious frustration, he slammed his fist against the wall. He only saw red, and through his anger, he thought he heard Rose squeak and run away.
"Ron! What the hell is wrong with you?" Numbly, he felt Hermione place her hands on his forearms, muscles straining, but her method was obvious; he could never hurt her.
What did he do to deserve this? As far as he knew, he hadn't done anything bad enough in his life to get stuck with this sort of punishment.
"What the hell is wrong with her?" he screamed in frustration, and Hermione's grip on him tightened. He ripped his hands from her, falling back on the bed with his hands tightly fisted. Confident he could speak clearly, now, he shot up, staring at Hermione who had joined him on the bed, her hands in her lap and her eyes down. "Honestly, who does she think she is? Co...collab...conspiring with Malfoy! This has to be a phase. Tired, rebelling against us. Do you think it's a phase? This is Malfoy. Why doesn't she know better?"
At the sound of his voice, Hermione looked up at him, and the sharpness of her stare made Ron flinch. "It's not a phase, Ron. Pathetic, really. Did you see the look on her face?"
Ron absolutely refused to confess that he could read his daughter clear as day too, and that he had seen all the signs she did. When Rose came in to speak to them, Ron didn't think he had ever seen her more terrified. But as soon as she spoke, all traces of nervousness vanished: she stood up straighter, her eyes sparkled, and she was positively beaming.
"I need to fix this," he proclaimed suddenly, stubbornly ignoring his wife's question.
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Fix it? And how exactly do you plan to do that?"
As casually as if he was telling her what the day was, Ron replied: "I'm going to tear Malfoy to pieces." At Hermione's alarmed look, Ron realized he had to get out of there quick, turning on an invisible axis.
Just before the crack, he felt Hermione grip his hand and turn the other way. The familiar feeling of being pushed through a straw engulfed him, and he determinedly closed his eyes, dreading wherever she had decided to take them, knowing how pissed she was at him.
He fell to the ground. Feeling the rough grass on his back, he immediately realized it wasn't where he wanted. Fortunately, Hermione fell down on top of him, and grinning, he gripped he waist. Ron opened his eyes to see Hermione with an elbow propped on his chest, her eyes exploring their surrounding with a satisfied grin.
Damn it. But at least he could prolong the conversation a bit.
"Enjoying youself?" Hermione drawled, feeling his eyes on her.
"Very much so, yes," Ron wrapped his arms around her tighter as Hermione laughed, the vibrations echoing around them and through his chest. When he saw the flecks of gold reflected in her chocolate brown eyes sparkle in the setting sun, he couldn't resist. All thoughts of Rose forgotten, he bent his neck up and captured her lips with his. She responded in kind, wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss, smiling against his lips. Ron couldn't believe she was actually responding right now, but he wasn't about to stop it.
Her curly hair that she had cut shoulder length years ago tickled in his neck, and Ron groaned, pulling away, placing a few kisses on her jaw. Her voice came out breathy and panting. "This...isn't...finished..."
"Shh," he silenced her, capturing her lips again and thanking Merlin know one else was around. Come to think, he still didn't know where they were, but Hermione would never be doing this if there were onlookers.
As Hermione's lips softened, slowing her kisses down to gentle pecks, Ron felt the impending doom. With one last searing kiss to his lips, she pulled away and leant her arms on his chest again, arching her back and looking down at him, smiling contentedly.
"That was nice," Ron breathed, propping himself up on his elbows.
"Yeah, it-"
"Why did you ruin it?" Ron asked.
"Because we have to talk about this, Ron! We can't just pretend it never happened. You either have to choose nonexistent option one: you murder Scorpius, nonexistent option two: you keep Rose locked in the attic forever, safe from boys," here, Hermione rolled her eyes, "or your only legitimate option three: you tell me what the hell is wrong so we can go back to what we were doing."
It was like Hermione flicked a switch, and Ron sat straight up, his eyes blazing threateningly as he knock Hermione off his lap in the process. She moved to sit cross-legged across from him, about to reach for his hands when she noticed the deep scowl etched on his face. Ah, so he had finally noticed.
"What?" her lips twitched.
"Why. Am. I. Here?!" Ron huffed, narrowing his eyes at her.
"Because it's your favorite place in the universe, obv-"
"Our bed, with you? Doesn't look like it."
Hermione reached across and slapped his arm, but she held her cheeky grin. "-iously," she finished, laughing at the look on Ron's face.
"I still hate it here," he insisted.
Hermione reached across to squeeze his hand, smiling brightly. "No, no you don't."
Ron was quiet for what must have been five minutes, letting himself get lost in his thoughts. His eyes roamed the big, empty ruins, and he scowled again. Bloody Stonehenge.
Honestly, who in the world would like someplace like this? It's a bunch of big rocks. Those little green men that were promoted by the psychopaths Hermione always rattled on about didn't build them, and why does anyone even care? Ooh, look, a pattern! Ron could do that. Just the fact that there was absolutely no one here should prove his point! And yet she insisted, going on and on about how amazing this place was.
The only amazing thing about it was the sunset, and how it made Hermione look like she was glowing.
He remembered the first time he came here very, very vividly. Ron internally smirked.
"You're absolutely mental, Hermione. Are you aware? What about this says 'vacation' to you?" Ron cast Hermione a sidelong glance watching for her reaction to his words. She didn't say anything, just stared ahead at these stupid rocks whose importance she still hadn't told him.
When she didn't speak for another billion years, he waved a hand in front of her face, not believing he was jealous of bloody rocks. "Hermione- Earth to!" She still seemed unphased, but when she finally noticed the quick movement, she slapped it away and glared up at him.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked, lips pulled back.
"What's wrong with me?" Ron laughed increduously. "What's wrong with you?! These are boulders-"
"Boulders are rou-"
"Whatever! What's so special about them?"
"You have no appreciation from where you came from! This is a wonder of the world."
"Wonder? Are you serious?"
"Yes, Ron, I am! What are you so pissed about?" she turned abruptly and stomped away, off to see what the other tourists found so fascinating, apparently. Ron rolled his eyes; she was always so dramatic. He mimicked her actions, stomping toward her too. She was stubbornly facing away from him, and when he reached a hand out to place it on her shoulder, she turned and his heart broke, seeing the tears on her cheeks. What had he done? He took her hand and to his surprise, she let him. He pulled her away from the Muggles so they wouldn't be the center of attention, behind one of the rock...bridge...DUMB things.
"What did I do?"
Her response came slowly. "It's just...I find this so interesting, and you so obviously not caring about it, it bothers me. We've been fighting lately," she gulped "and I just wanted to have a good time, and I thought you would find this amazing because wizards were rumored to have made them and I've always wanted to go here and you took me on this vacation and I thought it would get better because I'm scared and worried that we're not going to work and you mean so, so much to me and you never seem to get that! I love you, and sometimes I feel like you don't-" No way were those words going to come out of her mouth. Ron leaned down and kissed her swiftly, putting all of his emotion into his gestures, trying to show her how much she meant to him.
"I love you, Hermione," Ron said, pulling away, "don't you ever think differently. I guess these...they're sorta cool- bloody weird, but-"
She didn't let him finish, reaching up to kiss him again.
"Yeah, I guess so," Ron agreed, giving in, and Hermione beamed.
"So," she said quietly, "can we talk about your personal vendetta against Scorpius now?"
"I do not have a personal vendetta against Malfoy Spawn," Ron insisted, and Hermione rolled her eyes, "I have a personal vendetta against Rose being defiled!"
Hermione threw her head back and laughed. "You're ridiculous! She's eighteen. Don't you think she knows what she's doing? She's going to think you don't trust her anymore," she said seriously, "and you know how much you mean to her. Can't you see how much your approval matters to her?"
"Why does it have to be him? If it was anyone else, anyone. But Malfoy? Why does she hate me?"
"Oh, please, she adores you." This made Ron smile, and Hermione grinned at the simple gesture. "But she'll choose him over you, don't you know that? There's nothing like love to tear a family apar. It took forever for my father to like you."
"That's entirely his fault-"
"Ron, I know you're upset she's growing up. And I know we used to hate him. I...don't think for a second I've forgiven him entirely, but think of what he had to go through." Draco's name didn't have to be said. "He didn't have a family who loved him, or supported him? He had a cruel father who took advantage of him, and even if he did agree with Riddle, he couldn't do it, in the end. We saved him. He's grateful."
"Not even close-"
Hermione squeezed his hand, and brought the other up to place a finger on his lips. "He's changed, Ron. You know he has. For Rose," she said softly.
Ron's mind worked furiously, trying not to let the effect Hermione had on him distract him. He was fighting a losing battle though, and he knew it. How could he ever say no to Rose? If he put up with that arsehole McLaggen last year, he could certainly deal with the boy she had been friendly with since her very first day at Hogwarts, and Al's best mate; obnoxious, bastard of a father prat of a father or not.
Changed man or not.
Ron sighed, and Hermione beamed. "For Rose," he agreed, giving her a small smile.
Hermione leapt forward and kissed him, and Ron was grateful he would always have her. To keep him sane, to help him survive.
For love.
"I love you," Ron whispers against her lips, and Hermione grins and responds in kind.
A/N: So happy I finally got that in! I've wanted to write that for ages :D It's a sequel to Meddling, and companion When In Rome, featuring how Rose and Scorp got together, and Draco and Astoria's reaction to it, respectively. When In Rome follows the same pattern as this fic, with the flashback in the middle so you get some DracoAstoria awesomeness excluding talk of Rose and Scor. Meddling features a scheming Albus Potter, who gets his own happy ending :D Written for:
Pick a List Challenge: Ron/Hermione, Stonehenge, word prompt- empty; Cinema Comp: Wizard of Oz: literal or figurative change in scenery; Star Light, Bright Challenge: Red Dwarf: write a romance featuring your favorite pairing (My two HP OTPs are RonHermione and Jily. Don't try and make me choose, it brings out my bad side.); Winter Games challenge: Men's Curling: stay true to canon pairings; Star Challenge: Capella: write about any pairing; Off the Block Comp: Easy Freestyle: write your OTP; Boyfriend Should Do Comp: prompts- 1) when she walks away from you mad, follow her 2) when she says she likes you, she really does, more than you could understand; Poetry Quotes Challenge: use the quote at the top; Fanfiction Terms Comp: OTP: write about two characters who stick together through thick and thin; Gemstone comp: rose quartz: write about rose weasley; Chapter Title Acrostics: Chp. 3: F: action prompt- falling
Hope you liked it! Please leave me a review if you did, and check out the companion pieces!
Lara,