Guys are idiots. No, I don't mean that they can't ever be intelligent, but they are idiots when it comes to one thing: love. I knew I loved him the day I walked onto the Hogwarts Express at the beginning of my seventh year at school. I guess I was a little stupid, too, for not realizing it before then, but here I am, hopelessly in love with the world's most clueless boy.
I may sound crazy, but his cluelessness is almost endearing. He can stare at anything for hours on end, have it explained to him five different times and still not understand. His big cobalt eyes will be wide with confusion and he'll run a hand through his crimson hair and have no inkling to whatever is being explained. Every time he does that, I want to tell him how I feel, but I hold it in.
Maybe he loves me, maybe he doesn't, but I love him still. What would happen if I told him? Would he get a clue, or would he stare at me with his sapphire eyes and run his hand through his hair again, clueless? I lay awake, trying to sort out my thoughts. Normally, I grab another book and fill my head with facts, attempting to push thoughts of him out of my head. It never works; he's always there, smiling at me, his freckles taunting me.
I haven't even told Harry my feelings; only Ginny knows. When she finally forced the facts out of me, she laughed aloud at the thought of me in love with her brother. She told me not to become discouraged; Ron is clueless in everything. Of course, I think of a clumsy hand, red hair, and big eyes.
I'm out of Hogwarts now, and I thought that Ron might get a clue after the Final Battle. We won. In my research, I learned that the only way to defeat Voldemort is to love him. No, not love in some sick way, but, to describe it in a purely negative term, to not hate him. The one thing that Hate has no power against is Love. In the Final Battle, Harry did defeat Voldemort, and now the world is free. He is famous now, and getting ready to settle down with Ginny. I thought maybe Ron would get a clue when his sister got engaged to his best friend, but no.
So here I sit, waiting for him to realize that I love him. Is he so clueless not to realize his own feelings, if they are there at all? That would really be sad, but if he would just realize them! Ah, well, that is life, isn't it? A whole year has gone by since I realized that I was in love, and still nothing.
Ron has come running up the stairs, and my heart races just like it always does. He's probably just going to bed, though. It is late now, almost midnight. My heart wishes that he'd come in here and tell me that he loves me. I am such an idiot, just like him, but at least I'm not clueless. Sometimes, though, I wish I didn't have a clue. It is the clueless that can have more fun.
He just walked past my door. The creaking of floorboards heralded his passing. He just walked into the room that he shares with Harry. I hear Mrs. Weasley telling Ginny to bed, followed by light but tomboyish footsteps come up the wooden stairs and stop in front of the door. It opens, and on the threshold stands my best friend. She smiles and hops onto her bed. Her Chudley Cannons pajamas clash with her red hair, but for some reason, it is all right for her. Me, I sit here in whatever I can't wear during the day, normally an oversized t-shirt and undersized gym shorts. They are the most comfortable to sleep in.
The funniest noise just came from Ron and Harry's room. There was a loud "BLOODY HELL!" followed by a door slamming. Big feet are echoing down the hallway coming toward my door. Instinct tells me that it is Ron. All of the sudden, Ron comes barreling through the doorway, slamming it behind him. His face is beet red, his ears even redder.
Ginny smiles coyly at Ron and then me. My mind begins to work a mile a minute, but seems to stumble over all the useless facts that are still left over from school. Ron has now realized what he just did and he opens his mouth. No words come out. I finally get what just happened and restrain from launching myself at Ginny. She and Harry had plotted to tell Ron how I felt, and I could feel the tension in the room rising.
Ginny just excused herself and I hear her run into someone on the other end of the door. There is a flash of green eyes and I know who she ran into. Ron and I stare at each other, not knowing what to do. He still doesn't know what is going on. He just looks at me and runs a hand through his hair.
"Well," he says. I say nothing, for fear my feelings will come tumbling out. My eyes entreat him to continue. "I just learned the most interesting thing."
He looks at me, begging me to say something. I give in, with only room for one word. "What?"
"Harry told me that you fancy me." His eyes are trying to say something, but even he doesn't know what he's trying to say. My mind is forcing me to sit still and not kiss him. Ron becomes impatient. "Do you?"
"Yes," I force out, hoping that my mouth will shut itself. No such luck. "Do you like me?" I want to slap my mouth, but my hands won't move.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out."
I wanted to yell at him. So clueless! So idiotic! So …Ron.
"Well, what's the problem?" my mouth rattles off flippantly.
Ron's big blue eyes look into mine and he runs his hand through his hair yet again. "I'm trying to figure out whether I like you or if I love you."
I grin like an idiot and wait a minute. "Have you decided yet?"
He smiles goofily. "Yup."
"And?"
"I love you." He sits down on my bed and embraces me now. "I love you, Hermione, I love you!" He lets go now, and I wish he could have held on forever. He searches my face. "Do you still like me?"
"I love you too, Ronald Weasley!"
Now he reaches for my chin with a cupped hand. Slowly, he tilts my face upward. I am only an inch from his face, his freckles as large as ever, taunting me. Finally, he presses his lips to me, and I am almost overwhelmed by the love that courses from him to me. He is so clueless, so wonderful, so wonderfully clueless. My Ron.
