For Longer Than Forever Ch. 8
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. (Uh, DUH!)
"Hey, love," Ron said, ready to jump for joy, not just because she was awake, but also because of what Madam Pomfrey had just told him. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"
"Feeling better. I heard what you said on the way here. That helped ease my mind," Hermione told him, smiling.
"I heard that you stayed by my side all the time when I was poisoned. Did you really?" Ron said, remembering a dream he had while he was in the hospital wing.
"Yes, I got here before everyone else and stayed after," Hermione admitted. "I even talked to you when I was alone in here with you."
Ron came over and sat on the edge of her bed. "I once had a dream that you were an angel watching over me. You looked so beautiful. You said, 'I don't know if you'll remember this later, but I love you more than life itself. If you were to die, I don't know what I'd do. If you're happy with Lavender, then I want you to stay with her. I want you to be happy, no matter what.' Then you kissed me. I thought it was just a dream," Ron said, amazed that his favorite dream, the dream he had gone over in his head so many times, was a reality.
"I was so distressed, I thought you were going to die. I told you everything I felt. I think I went to sleep in your bed that night. Madam Pomfrey woke me up at about midnight and told me I needed to go to the common room," Hermione told him, smiling at the memory.
Madam Pomfrey came over and smiled at Hermione and said, "Dear, I'm going to have to say you stay overnight."
'That's fine. As long as I can go back to class tomorrow."
"That's what I was planning," Madam Pomfrey replied. She went back to her office.
"So, back to the problem at hand. What are we going to tell your parents?" Ron asked her. "We might as well tell them first. And how are we going to talk to them?"
"Well, I guess we could Floo there. I haven't a clue how to tell them," Hermione said.
"I guess we could tell them that we're dating now and little by little you can write them and tell them that the relationship is progressing, then later we can tell them we're engaged."
"I like it," Hermione said. "How much later until we tell them we're engaged? A year? 6 months?"
"How about 3 months," Ron said. Hermione's eyes filled with horror. "it's a war, Hermione. Things happen fast. I'm surprised Harry didn't actually go on his quest mission thingy."
"I know two reasons he didn't," Hermione said. "One: He thinks that there might be a horcrux here. Two: He wants to protect Ginny. He wants to make sure she doesn't get hurt, and he can do everything in his power to take care of her. The fact that she's alive is his reason for living."
"He really cares about her doesn't he? He acts like he's gotten over it, but you can tell he hasn't. He stares at her constantly. At night, he stays awake, and when he thinks I'm asleep, he cries. When he does sleep, he says her name in his sleep. She's the only thing he thinks about, you can tell. Sometimes, when you talk to him, he stares off into space, and when you ask him a question about what you just said, he says, 'What?' You can tell he's not listening most of the time," Ron said, sighing.
"I wish there was some way we could fix all this. Some way he could be happy," Hermione yawned, her eyes suddenly feeling heavy.
"You need sleep. I'll leave," Ron said, smiling lovingly. He kissed her softly, and, with the back of his hand, stroked her face from the edge of her mouth to her ear. Before he could take it away, Hermione took his hand into both of hers and held it to her cheek. "I love you."
"I love you, too. I'd better go, love, before Madam Pomfrey gets onto me for keeping you awake," He said, pulling his hand away. "Bye."
"Bye," Hermione said, right before he got out of the door.
When Hermione woke up the next morning, Ron was sitting by her bedside, holding her hand. He smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "How did you sleep?" He asked her.
"It was good. I dreamed about you. That's always good for me," Hermione said. "How long have you been here?"
"About an hour and a half. I wanted to be here when you woke up," Ron told her.
"What time is it?" She asked him.
"About 7 in the morning. Are you ready for class?"
"No! My hair is a mess, I haven't brushed my teeth--"
"Shhhhh. You look beautiful, and you smell fine. Don't worry about it. Who're you trying to impress anyway?" He asked her, wondering why she would be worrying about her appearance.
"Oh. Well, it's gonna take awhile to get used to not having to impress you."
Ron laughed loudly. "Well, are you ready to go to breakfast?"
"That sounds good," Hermione told him.
"Okay," Ron said, taking her hand. She got out of bed and were started towards the stairs when Hermione remembered she was in the same clothes as yesterday.
"Ron, I have to change clothes. This would just be embarrassing."
"Fine, we'll go back upstairs. But just to change, nothing else."
"Fine with me," Hermione told him.
They ran up the stairs and down the hall to the common room, and Ron waited downstairs while Hermione changed upstairs. When she looked into the mirror she saw her face, glowing with happiness. She couldn't believe the transformation she had made since the night of the ball. Then, she had looked as if her smile was forced, like that ball was the thing she had dreaded for her whole life, but she was glad to get it over with. She seemed like a whole new person, a happier, more upbeat person. She suddenly grinned at the thought that she had her own room. Away from Lavender and her snoring. She quickly changed into her clothes and put her robes on over it. Then, she opened the door and walked out, looking at Ron.
"I'm ready," She announced.
"Radiant as usual," Ron proclaimed. "Let's get down to breakfast."
"That sounds good. How was your night last night?"
"It was okay. I didn't dream. I thought about you pretty late into the night though," Ron said truthfully.
"Oh really?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, thought about the situation with Mum. Decided it was probably best to just tell her in a letter. Won't get in as much trouble that way."
Hermione laughed uproariously at this. "Won't get into as much trouble? Does she dislike me that much?"
"No, but you saw how she acted when Bill and Fleur got married."
"That was Fleur. I'm 'Hermione, dear.'"
"Okay, but what do you seriously think of my plan?"
"I like it. I hope she takes it well."
"Me too."
They reached the Great Hall and Ron opened the door for Hermione. She laughed and walked in and walked to a spot where there were two open spots for them. She sat down and poured some coffee for herself and pumpkin juice for Ron, and got some sausage and toast for herself. Ron looked at her and laughed when he sat down.
"What's so funny?" Hermione asked.
"Ginny's right, you do act like my wife."
"I do," It was a statement, not a question. Ron kissed her on the lips and said, "I'm glad."
She smiled and drank some coffee. "Are you going to get a start on that letter to your mum?"
"I'm glad to see that our love hasn't changed you a bit." Ron said laughing. He started his letter:
Dear Mum,
I took your advice and asked Hermione for a dance. She accepted and I asked her out on a date. She, again, accepted. I never have felt a happiness as great as when I am with her and told her so. She feels the same way about me. I told her I love her and she said she loves me, too. She told me she wanted to be with me for the rest of her life. I feel the same, and told her that.
That was just the first date. We went on a second last night and I shared everything with her about my feelings for her. I think she has done the same for me. Last night, I proposed to her.
Love,
Ron
P.S.: She accepted my proposal.
He read it over and decided there was nothing seriously wrong with it. He, personally, liked it. He gave it to Hermione to read. As she read, she laughed.
"It sounds so sudden when you put it like this. I never realized that we would seem like lovesick teenagers to anyone else but us and maybe Harry and Ginny. They know about our love to some extent," She told him.
"Oh well. Mum'll just have to get over it," Ron said taking Hermione's hand into his. And they continued to eat like nothing was any different. When post came in, he took off his mail, attached his letter to Pig's leg, and read his letter from his mother:
Dear Ronald,
How did the dance go with Hermione? Did you take my advice? Your father wants to know if you kissed her. I hope you didn't do anything rash and everything went well. Anyway, Fred and George are eager to hear about it and may drop in any day now. If everything got botched, write back. If everything was great, write back. Write back if you didn't follow my advice.
Love,
Mum
"I guess she wanted you to write back." Hermione said, laughing.
Ron laughed, too, until he saw Cormac staring at Hermione. He glared at him and said, "What are you staring at, you great prat? Haven't you ever seen a beautiful woman in love before?" Hermione gave Ron a Look and the burst out laughing. She kissed him lightly on the cheek.
"You are a wonderful man, you know that?"
"Yeah, I've heard that so many times," Ron said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Well, I'm telling you now. You are the most wonderful man that ever walked the earth," Hermione told him.
"Well, that's good to know."
Then the bell rang for class.
"I guess we'd better go to class."
"Yes, we'd better," Hermione replied.
A/N: Okay, I wrote two chapters while I was sick and tired. I need sleep, but before I do go to sleep, I'd like to thank the inventors of Chloraseptic and cough drops for making these damned throat blisters easier on me.
Also, hats off to all my teachers, for getting me into reading and keeping me there, and especially to my teacher Ms. Chisholm for making Math even more fun and interactive. Even though I've always held Math nearly and dearly to my heart, teachers in the past have given us a worksheet to work on silently. Thank you Ms. Chisholm for going the extra mile and teaching us how to do Math skills, then helping the Math-challenged through it. She is really a teacher among teachers, who loves her students despite their faults. She really is an example of how to help people to the best of your abilities, and she inspires me to help students in school.
