"Dance With Me"
A Ron and Hermione Love Story
"Hey, Ron," said Harry jogging to catch up with his best friend. He didn't stop, but still replied, "Yeah?" After catching his breath Harry continued, "So, you know how we don't have any dates for the Yule Ball?" Ron scoffed, "Don't remind me." He had originally intended to take Hermione, even if she thought it was as a last resort, they still could've had a good time in his opinion. Harry laughed at his bitterness, "Well I met up with Padma and Parvati the other night on the way to dinner and they had nobody to go with either-" He then cut him off, "Wait, we're going with the Patil twins?" Ron asked. Harry merely nodded his head, "Yeah, that's not a problem is it?" Ron shrugged his shoulders, "Guess not," he mumbled. "Everything alright, Ron?" Harry asked as they walked up the Grand Staircase.
Ron had turned to answer him when he caught the sight of Hermione and Viktor out of the corner of his eye. The two were exiting the Great Hall, hand in hand. Apparently he had done something to amuse her for Hermione was laughing like there was no tomorrow. This, of course, angered the red-head. He used to think Krum was one of the best Quidditch players in the wizarding world, but now he just looked at him as a complete and total git.
"Ron?" Harry waved a hand in front of his face, trying to catch his attention and direct it elsewhere. "Let's head up to the common room, alright? I'll take you up on a round of wizard's chess," he tried. Harry thought it would be a good distraction. Ron clearly needed it. "Yeah, sounds good," he finally replied, peeling his eyes away from the two.
Shortly after Ron had followed Harry up to the tower, Hermione and Viktor had gone their separate ways for the evening. It was the day before the ball and she had a lot of preparing to do. That being said, it wasn't long after her friends had sat down for their game of chess that she made her way inside.
"Hey, Harry," she smiled, not paying much mind to Ron. "Hi, 'Mione," he answered, not taking his eyes off of the board in front of him. He didn't want to do anything that might upset his other friend. Knowing how short-tempered Ron could be, it didn't always take much to do just that, so he decided not to take any chances. Hermione seemed to take notice of this, "Well, I guess I'll see the two of you tomorrow then," she said, referring to the Yule Ball. Ron couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment. "Something wrong?" asked Hermione before she had turned to leave. "Oh, don't mind me," he replied somewhat sarcastically. She just threw her hands up and walked away, "Whatever Ronald." Harry just sat there in silence, not wanting to get in the middle of their awkward love triangle.
The next day, the girls of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin hardly left their rooms. Being the day of the dance, it was to be expected. As for the boys, they looked at it as a day off and had spent most of it trying to relax.
Ron seemed to be the only one not enjoying it. He had been entirely distressed the whole day through. If Harry already hadn't set him up, he seriously doubted he would've bothered with attending the ball altogether. The last thing he wanted was to dance around with Padma, bored out of his mind, while having to watch Hermione and Viktor laugh the night away beside him. But what choice did he have at this point…
To Ron's luck, he didn't end up having to dance with Padma while bitterly listening in on the other couple that would've been near him. Actually, it had turned out much worse than that.
"Harry?" his friend slowly turned to look at him. They were currently sitting at one of the many abandoned booths while the dance floor had been heavily occupied. "Yeah?" he replied with a bored tone. "Kill me," Ron sighed. This was truly a horrible night. Each twin had even decided to give up at this point and had retreated to the snacking tables. Harry was the only one who decided to take their lead, figuring they had nothing better to do seeing as neither of them had planned on dancing any time soon. "Are you coming?" he asked as he looked down at Ron who remained at the booth. Ron just shook his head and continued to stare off towards the crowd of couples.
Hermione, on the other hand, was having a splendid time with her date, Viktor Krum. She was wearing the most beautiful lavender dress. Each time it caught the light it had shimmered ever so slightly, matching the subtle amount of glitter around her eyes. She was truly a sight to be seen, and she knew it. The only thing that was starting to bring her down was the sight of Ron from across the room.
Just from glancing over in his direction she could sense how upset he was. She never expected him to be, though. Hermione figured that he truly did not want to come to the ball with her. And it was then that she took Viktor up on his previous offer. But seeing him now, she realized that for the first time in her life she had been wrong. Even her conscience had told her so. Voices like thunder inside of her head had been telling her all night to at least go over and talk to him.
"'Ermione, are you alright?" Viktor asked as she was gazing over at Ron. He was currently swishing the punch in his cup back and forth. Harry had brought it over earlier before returning to his conversation with Parvati. He had figured the least he could do was at least talk with his date.
"Hmm?" she looked back into his eyes, "Oh, yes," Hermione then looked back at Ron one last time. She could practically feel his frustration as if it were rain pouring against her skin. Taking a deep breath, she let go of Viktor, "Could you excuse me for a moment?" she asked. He gave her a confused look. "I just need to go talk with my friend," she added. The Bulgarian "bon, bon" nodded his head and set off to grab them some refreshments in the meantime.
It was just a few moments later that Hermione had reached Ron. She had to fake a cough to draw his eyes away from the 'fascinating' liquid inside his glass. "Why aren't you with Viktor," he said bluntly after acknowledging her. She crossed her arms, "I thought you could use some company." Ron thought about shrugging her off, but something told him he should lighten up. He figured the longer he kept her attention, the longer she would be distracted from her date. "Yeah, I guess so," Ron said looking over at the two empty spaces beside him. Hermione sighed, "Would you like to dance, by any chance?" He looked up at her, somewhat surprised. It wasn't so much related to the fact that she had actually asked, it was more so because Hermione had felt the need that she even had to. "Of course," he replied excitedly. However, his face quickly turned a dark shade of red, "I mean, sure," he smiled sheepishly at her. Hermione laughed in amusement and offered her hand. Even this was a big step for her. But she assumed the worse case scenario would have just been a simple 'no' so she decided it was a chance worth taking.
As they made their way over to the dance floor, the music became softer and the couples became quieter. It was apparently time to turn things down for the evening which apparently meant love songs and slow dancing.
Hermione had suddenly felt a bit nervous as she stood before Ron with the soft music gently playing in the background. She hadn't expected the scenery to change so abruptly.
Looking up at him, she noticed Ron didn't seem to be feeling as tense. Actually, he had taken her by surprise when he slid his arm around her waist and took the lead. Although, it was only a few seconds later that she realized half the reason for this was because Viktor had taken to watching them. Still, it didn't offend her. This was just one of Ron's typical traits…one of the many she loved in her own weird little way.
Most, if not all, of the awkwardness for Hermione had passed after several songs had been shared between them. She really hadn't expected for her and Ron to make it through so many dances together. If anything she assumed it would take only one before Viktor would show up and get her. But oddly enough, as Hermione scanned the rest of the ballroom, she noticed that he was no where to be found. She couldn't help but feel slightly guilty about this…but the thing was that she had been enjoying this rare moment between Ron and herself so much that she had allowed Viktor to slip from her mind entirely.
A little bit later, whether it was out of tiredness or confidence, Ron spoke up for the first time since they had hit the dance floor, "You look amazing tonight, 'Mione," he said as she was resting her head on his shoulder. Smiling, she slowly pulled back and looked up at him. "Thanks, Ron," she replied almost inaudibly. Even though her words were uttered so quietly, she was taken by surprise that she was even able to speak at all. This whole night just felt like a weird, yet magical dream of sorts. It made her feel at a loss for words.
It was then that nearly an hour had passed from the moment they had begun to dance with one another. And oddly enough, they had yet to grow tired, not even in the slightest bit. However, Hermione and Ron did eventually get dehydrated.
"Do you mind if I go and grab us some drinks?" Ron asked as the previous song ended. "No, of course, go ahead. I'll wait over here," she said as he smiled back and made way for their beverages.
It wasn't long after Ron had left her side that Harry appeared at it. "So, I see you two finally came to your senses," he joked. She just playfully smacked him on the arm. "Where's Parvati? Shouldn't you be off with her somewhere?" Hermione laughed. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about her," he said, directing her towards the far end of the room where she could be found dancing with one of the Durmstrang students. "I'm sorry, Harry," she went on, but Harry reassured her that he really didn't mind. He was quite glad actually. Apparently Cedric Diggory had decided to retire for the evening due to being tired from trying to crack the golden egg's clue the night before. And this finally gave him the chance to be with Cho for a little while. The only reason he was currently talking to Hermione was merely because the Ravenclaw had momentarily excused herself to use the restroom.
"Well I best be off," Harry said just moments later as he saw Cho making her way back inside. Hermione happily (and somewhat gratefully) dismissed him as she too saw her 'newfound' date making his way back.
"Hey," he said as he handed her a glass of punch. "Thanks," she said just seconds before she practically downed the entire cup. She'd been dancing for such a long time, with not only Ron, but with Viktor as well that she was starting to feel a bit warm. Ron laughed, "Want me to get you some more?" he asked. Hermione blushed as she pulled away from the drink, "No, thank you," she replied before making her way to the nearest trash bin to dispose of it. It wasn't much longer before Ron did the same. He wanted to use what little time that was left dancing or at least talking with her. He felt like he wouldn't be having another opportunity like this any time soon.
Peering over at the dance floor, Hermione noticed that there were only several couples left. Ginny and Neville had still been there along with Hagrid and Madame Maxime. Fleur had also remained there with her date, Roger Davies while Harry and Cho were sitting over at one of the nearby booths, talking. And the other five couples that were left had been ones that she didn't recognize, well aside from Parvati and whatever that Durmstrang boy's name was.
"Would you like to dance?" Ron asked, pulling her attention away from the other dancers. "Again?" he added jokingly as she turned to face him. Hermione couldn't help but laugh as she took his arm and went to dance once more that evening.
It wasn't long before the two became completely caught up in the moment. With the dim lights, soft music, and happy couples surrounding them, Ron took a chance and pulled Hermione closer.
At this point, she didn't know what to think for once. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected the night to turn out this way. In fact, if somebody would have come up to her earlier and bet money on this, she would've been incredibly poor by now. But as she was being held close by Ron, she wouldn't have really cared about it.
Still, Hermione didn't have the chance to act on Ron's gesture for the last song of the night had come to an end.
Small talk was all the two had made by the time they reached the Gryffindor common room together. It was hard to be entirely disappointed looking back at what they did share together that night, but Hermione felt the need to finish what she started.
"Goodnight, Ron," she said, smiling at him as she approached the entrance to the girls dormitory. The entire tower was incredibly quiet from all of the exhausted students so she had said it as more of a whisper than anything, not that it mattered. Ron had heard her nonetheless and was about to reply, but didn't quite get the chance. Hermione had quickly leant forward and planted a tender kiss on his cheek. And not wanting to take things too far in just one night alone, she then quickly made her way up the stairs behind her.
With a hand on his red face, he quietly replied, "Sweet dreams, 'Mione."
Hi Guys :)
So this was my first real attempt at a Ron/Hermione fanfiction.
What did you think? Was it any good?
Please review and let me know!
Lots of Love, The Little Anonymous Author