3. Go out of your comfort zone. Be honest and don't be afraid to seem vulnerable sometimes.

Open up to your witch once in a while. Share who you are by telling her something personal, something about your life or your past that she would never have thought of you. Something that will show her how trusting and honest you are, or that you're a flawed but confident man. Women love to be able to share the vulnerable side of you. Besides, who wants a perfect spouse?

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Ronald's Tip: Don't talk about an ex in a bad way to here. If you have to talk about an ex, do so in a positive manner and share what you learned and how you grew from the relationship.

Tuesday, July 1999

"Hermione?"

"Yes?" came her sleepy voice from my left.

"Hermione, why do you love me?" I asked.

She rolled over to face me, but it was still dark and I couldn't tell if her eyes were open or not. "Ron, you're only nineteen," she said drowsily. "You're too young to have your mid-life crisis."

I sighed and stared at the ceiling. "I just don't understand how someone like you could ever love a prat like me," I said quietly.

"You know how I hate self-pity," she mumbled, still sounding half-asleep.

I didn't say anything for a moment. Hermione didn't either, and I thought she might've fallen asleep again.

"I saw Lavender today," I said into the silence.

There was no answer, but she shifted closer to me.

"In Diagon Alley. She was by herself, just outside Madame Malkin's. She saw me coming out of the shop, and she asked me if I wanted to sit with her for a bit at Florean's. I couldn't very well say no – I mean, it's the first time I've seen her since we graduated, really, so I just went along. I bought her a cup of ice cream and we were just sitting there, talking about this and that, what we'd been doing.

"And I was listening to her going on about some shop she and Parvati opened up, and I found myself wondering, you know, why I ever fancied her. I mean she's pretty and all, but she just doesn't seem real." I paused for a moment, then added, "Not like you."

It was quiet again. I could hear myself breathe.

"I guess…" I began, but my voice trailed off. I took a deep breath. "I guess it was…you know, just for snogging." I winced inwardly at how that sounded. "But I don't want to say it that way because it makes me sound like…like this superficial moron."

Her hand was suddenly in mine, her fingers squeezing tightly.

I closed my eyes. "Did you know?" I asked softly. "I used to cry at night sometimes, when I was little and it was really dark or there was a thunderstorm. I'd moved into my own room by then, and it felt so big and empty by myself, with the lightning flashing all across the walls. I just felt so alone there, like everyone was so far away, and Mum wouldn't even be able to hear me if I yelled because the thunder was so loud."

Hermione was so close to me I could feel her warmth. My fingers were tightly intertwined with hers.

"It's not like Mum didn't ever not love us," I went on, my eyes still shut. "Far from it, really. I suppose it was just hard to keep track of us all, having six boys running around. And with Bill and Charlie and Percy already at Hogwarts and Fred and George always wreaking havoc, I was the last one. Like there was nothing special about me that Mum hadn't seen before, and she knew just what to do for me when I needed it because she'd already done those things for the others.

"Is that why I went to Lavender?" I whispered. "Because I wanted that special sort of attention? Just for snogging?"

The question filled the room like an overblown balloon. Squeezing everything out except my attempts to breathe.

"No one can answer that except for you," Hermione said at last. She sounded much more awake than before. "Maybe you did. Maybe that's who you were. I don't care, at any rate, because what matters is that you're different now. As for your inferiority complex…I guess that can't be helped. It can't be worse than Harry's hero thing. All I can say is that your mum probably loves you and your brothers and Ginny more than any of you could imagine.

"And while I can't say I enjoyed watching you have your little fling with Lavender, I have to say that it wasn't all for the worse."

"It wasn't?" I said dubiously. I was surprised at how calmly she was taking all of this.

"I do suppose she made you a better kisser," she said nonchalantly.

"Are you implying that I was a bad kisser before?" I asked indignantly.

She didn't answer me.
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