Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy instantly broke free of each others' grasp, hold and lips. They turned to stare at Ron Weasley who was equally staring back at them, mouth agape. After five minutes of an unintended staring contest, Hermione spoke.
"Ron?" she said in a small voice. There was no answer.
"Ron?" she said a little louder now. Still, no answer. All she got was a seemingly catatonic Ronald Weasley, glued to where he was standing when he found them kissing.
"He looks stunned." Draco said after a while.
Hermione ignored him. "Ron? Ronald?" Silence.
Draco laughed a bit, "He better shut his mouth or one of Lovegood's nargles or what-nots might fly inside it."
"Don't, Malfoy." Hermione said then called Ron again, to no avail.
"Is there an off chance that he never actually saw us? Maybe he's gone brain dead." Draco said again. "He definitely looks it."
"Malfoy, not now." Hermione said, still very wary about the entire situation.
"Oh! Maybe we can obliviate him so he won't remember that you and I were k—"
"Don't finish that sentence, Malfoy!" Hermione was now getting annoyed at both men – one for talking too much and the other for not talking at all.
"If I kick him in the nuts, you think he'll come back to us?"
"DRACO!" Hermione shouted. Just as she was about to smack him on the head —
"Draco?" Ron was suddenly brought to life with the sound of Hermione's voice calling the name he despised most. "After years of being tortured and bullied and teased, it's suddenly DRACO now?"
"Blimey, well folks, look who's back from looney land!" Draco said imitating a perky game show host while laughing. Hermione hit him in the gut.
While Draco was groaning, Hermione turned to look at Ron and said, "Oh gods, Ron."
"What the hell is this Hermione?" Ron asked, now turning red in anger. "Is this why you've ignored me all these weeks? Wait, not weeks, MONTHS. Why you refuse to be alone with me? Why you find every excuse possible to not go to places with me? Why you won't even let me touch you? All because of this—this—ferret!"
Hermione's lip was now quivering. "I'm so sorry, Ron. It—it wasn't supposed to be like this."
"Please tell me he confounded you because I can't think of anything of ANY BLOODY THING that will make you WANT to kiss or BE with Malfoy! Please tell me he altered or tampered with your memory or wait, he's a Malfoy, he must have put you under the imperius!"
"Watch it, weasel." Draco said, now turning serious as he straightened up and stepped forward, placing a menacing glare on his once cackling face.
"Whatever." Ron said, "I'm out of here." Then he turned and started walking away.
Hermione turned to Draco, "I have to follow him and talk to him. Please don't come with me first. Just go back and eat and I'll owl you or something. Just please let me handle this."
Draco tried to protest but she was too fast and dashed off to follow the red-head.
When she finally caught up to him in a deserted corridor on the second floor, she grabbed hold of his arm and made him face her. "I'm really sorry, Ron." Hermione started, "It wasn't meant to be this way. You weren't meant to find out this way. I was supposed to… you just weren't supposed to find out like this."
"And how was I supposed to find out? Were you going to send me a howler and dump me in front of the entire school? Or were you going to let McGonagall announce it before dinner? Or hey! How about you send over those of Aragog's family that survived to do a song and dance number about it? 'Cause those will probably hurt less than finding out on my own. At least THEN I would know that you actually had the guts to tell me! At least then I wouldn't see you as a coward who just sneaks around behind my back and makes me look like an idiot!"
Hermione stepped closer to Ron and tried to grab hold of his arm but he jerked it free. "Ron, please, please listen to me. I never meant to hurt you. I never planned for you to find out this way and I never EVER thought of you as an idiot. Please just calm down and let me explain."
"Explain what, Hermione? How you and your precious 'Draco' have been going at it behind my back? Have you been laughing at me? Talking about how much a fool I am to actually think that you would want me?"
"That's not it." Hermione said, tears streaming unceasingly down her face. "Please stop and just let me explain."
But Ron was tireless and pressed on, driven wildly by his anger and continued his tirade of insults and hurtful words. He hurled insults at her and each insult was added with more venom then the one before. Hermione stood there, close to tears from the hurt yet shaking in wild anger at everything this boy in front of him was saying.
"… he was a Death Eater, Hermione! He wanted to kill us! He watched you while you were being tortured by his own aunt! He didn't do anything, Hermione! And then along with all those, you can even add the fact that he's done nothing but torture you all your life here in Hogwarts. He's called you a Mudblood, has tirelessly mocked you – your appearance, your personality, your beliefs – EVERYTHING that you are. I can't bloody understand why the hell you can just forget all those and forgive him, kiss him and bloody CHEAT on me for him!"
Ron was now heaving after his monologue of Draco's faults. He was staring at her with wild and angry eyes yet his insides were bursting in pain. After taking multiple deep breaths, he started to calm down.
"Hermione, do you know why I even followed you out here?" No answer. "I saw how upset you were before leaving the Great Hall and I thought that as your 'boyfriend', I should be the one you run to when you're upset." He sighed. "And then I find you in the arms of the most disgusting creature I've ever known and it's just a giant slap in the face. I know it's not the Crucio but it definitely feels like it."
Finally, Hermione spoke. "Ronald, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean for all of this to happen this way. It was just one minute he was kissing me in the library in front of Ginny, Lav and the Patils because of some stupid conversation and the next you were finally telling me that you wanted to try being more than just friends with me. And I have had the biggest crush on you for the longest time and that made me happy… for a while. And then he corners me one night and tells me his feelings for me, how he has never felt connected to anyone except me and it got me confused but I still chose to ignore it. And then Christmas came and he visited my house and we talked and I started to realize that I do have feelings for him and I just… I didn't know how I would end things with you without having to hurt you."
She sighed. "Ron, I love you. I love you so much but not in the way I hoped so badly I would be. You're a wonderful friend to me and I can truly see that you care for me so much. It's just…" She was starting to tear up now, "I just feel different with Malfoy, believe it or not. I know it makes no sense. It took me so long to accept the things I was feeling but they were there and they felt so real and I just… I was just happy. He's a lot different now and yes, he was everything you said he was but he's changed. The war's changed us, Ron. And he did fight with us towards the end. He's nothing like he used to be – still bloody full of himself sometimes – but a thousand times better than before."
"I know I'm supposed to be the brightest witch of the age. I know I'm thought to be clever and I'm always supposed to know what to do. But Merlin, all this love thing is an entirely new subject that I'm afraid I'll never get to master in." She looked at Ron now who was looking at her with a stoic expression. "I know I cannot reverse anything now. Even if I had the time-turner again, I wouldn't want to go back and not be with him. I very much wish, though, that I wasn't such a coward and told you. I just wish I could have spared you the pain. I swear, Ron, if things between us were going wonderfully and if they were actually going to go somewhere, I never would have even thought twice about Malfoy. Please Ron, I'm so, so sorry. I just can't bloody comprehend why the hell Merlin wanted me to find happiness in Draco Malfoy but sod it all, I do. I am disgustingly happy with him." She said half-laughing and half-crying.
It took Ron almost forever to digest everything she said. Finally, after what seemed like a decade, he asked, "And there is nothing else I can do to convince you otherwise?"
Hermione shrugged, "I'm not really very sure, Ron."
"I don't believe that." And then suddenly, he closed the gap between them, took her face in his hands and kissed her. He kissed her full on the lips. She reluctantly responded and he continued taking the lead. He kissed her… and kissed her… and kissed her… and then stopped.
"Huh." He said as he stepped back and ran a hand through his hair.
She furrowed her brow. "Huh?"
"It's been months since we've done that and I've always pictured it to be magical and really, really good."
"But?" she asked.
"How did you know there was a 'but'?" he asked.
She shrugged, "There's always a 'but' to things like that. What is it?"
"It just…" it was his turn to shrug this time, "…wasn't magical. No offense."
She smiled a bit, "None taken."
Ron sighed again. "I assume it's not like that with the git?"
"Not at all."
"What is it about him, Hermione?" Ron suddenly asked. "What is it that he's got that I don't?"
Hermione paused for a while then smiled. "My heart."
Ron feigned a vomiting sound while he clutched his stomach. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"He is still an arrogant git, you know." Ron warned.
"I know."
"There's still a huge chance he might hurt you."
"Better to get hurt than not to have taken the chance at all."
Ron cringed. "Where do you get these quotes, Hermione? Romance novels?"
Hermione slapped his arm. "Most definitely not!"
"He still calls me and Harry 'weasel-bee' and 'the-boy-who-can-finally-live'."
She rolled her eyes, "You still call him 'ferret'."
"I love you, Hermione. I really do. And I still can't stomach the fact that it's Draco bloody Malfoy who you fell in love with." He pretended to vomit again at this. "But you mean the world to me and I won't let this get in the way of our friendship."
She smiled, "Thank you, Ron."
"Can I please just punch him in the gut just one time?"
"No."
"Slap him in the face?"
"No!"
"Let Ginny do a great bat-bogey hex on him?"
"No, Ron."
"Threaten to beat him into a pulp if he ever hurts you?"
"Hmmm… Yeah, you can do that." They both laughed.
"I really am so sorry, Ron. Believe me, I really wanted us to work out."
He closed the gap again and gave him a giant hug. "I know, Hermione. I wish it worked out, too. But I guess it's better this way. I was always afraid that if something went wrong in our relationship, we might end up not friends and confuse Harry as to whose side he should take."
"Definitely mine." She joked, "But yes, I think it's better this way."
He only remained quiet and still held her in a hug.
"Ron?"
"Hmmm?"
"Can you at least try to be nice to Malfoy?" She asked.
"Ugh." Ron groaned.
"I know it's so difficult and that he's still a complete arse sometimes, but can you try to take the high road?"
"Fine. I won't bloody invite him over to Burrow or hang out with him or start braiding his bloody hair but I'll stop calling him a ferret and not engage in physical fights with him."
"Thank you." She hugged him tighter.
"Hah!" Ron suddenly blurted out.
"What?"
"You still have to tell Harry, Ginny and the ENTIRE school!" He said, amused.
"Oh gods, yes."
He saw the fear in her eyes and stopped laughing. "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be THAT bad. You just have to put some padding when people start to stone you to death."
Her eyes widened even more.
"I'm kidding!" Ron laughed and let her go. He put his arm around her shoulders and said, "You still wanna go to dinner or back to the dorm?"
"Ummm, I think I need to go back to the dorm to plan on how to tell the entire school without risking getting stoned." She said in a small voice.
Ron chuckled, "I'm not even gonna help you with that. It's yours and Malfoy's problem." She froze. "Come on. Let's go back to the dorms."
They slowly walked to the Gryffindor tower in a comforting silence. Hermione was in deep thought – mulling over everything that had happened in this most eventful night. She and Draco were finally together, she and Ron were finally over. She couldn't help but think she lucked out that Ron didn't revert to his stubborn old self and decided to see things in a different light. She knew he and Draco would never be best friends and that they would always be thick-headed when it comes to each other but this was an all-new feat she enjoyed reveling in. She smiled and turned her head to look at Ron – her friend turned lover turned friend. She was sad that it couldn't have been Ron but content in knowing that she would always have him, no matter what.
They were nearing the portrait of the fat lady when she said, "Ron, thank you."
"What for?"
"For being a great friend."
"No problem at all, 'Mione." He smiled. "Of course a bag full of candies and chocolates as thanks is cool too. I'm not always this understanding."
She laughed, "Oh Ron, you never change." She turned to give him a friendly hug and he returned it.
"Hey 'Mione?"
"Hmmm?"
"There's a ferret waiting for you."
"Huh?"
He turned her around and lo and behold, there was Draco Malfoy, standing near the portrait of the Fat Lady looking confused at seeing Hermione and Ron in an intimate hug. His brow was furrowed and he had a small frown on his face.
"Was I interrupting something?" he asked, bitterness laced in his voice.
Hermione rolled her eyes and walked towards him, "No, not at all." She took his hand and dragged him to where Ron was standing. "Be nice." She whispered to Ron.
"Hello weasel—" Hermione elbowed him, "—y. Hello Weasley."
"Malfoy."
Silence. Hermione was rocking on her feet, eagerly anticipating any more interaction between the two.
"So…" Ron started.
"So…" Draco echoed.
"You and Hermione…"
"Me and Hermione…"
"Together…"
"Together…"
"Yeah…"
"Yeah…"
Silence.
"Oh gods, you two! Can't you at least form a decent conversation?" Hermione suddenly squealed. The both looked at her like she needed to be admitted to St. Mungo's for expecting something like that to happen between the two of them. "It's not bloody Ancient Runes." She huffed.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Fine. Take care of her, git."
"I will, dork."
"I'll pound on you if you don't."
"I'll gladly take that pounding if I end up hurting her."
"I'll gladly pound on you if you do."
Silence.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone now to go do… whatever." Ron said. He gave Hermione a tentative smile and turned to enter the portrait. While he was out of reach someone called out to him.
"Hey Weasley!"
He turned around.
"Thanks." Draco said.
He shrugged, "Don't make me regret not blowing you up."
Draco responded with a curt nod and Ron turned around to shut the portrait. Draco took this opportunity to scoop Hermione into his arms and pin her against the nearest hidden corner.
"Where were we before all the drama began?" he asked, flashing his most handsome smirk.
She wrapped her arms around her neck, "Refresh my memory, why don't you?"
Draco didn't need to be told twice and he quickly claimed her lips as his. Their kiss spoke of so many things – desire, sheer happiness, excitement and just plain longing. At least on Draco's part. He had been waiting for Hermione to be all his for months and months. He had been waiting to be this happy his entire life and he was just damn bloody thrilled and a bit surprised that he found it in Hermione Granger's arms. His ancestors must be rolling in their graves now but he didn't give a care. He was happy and he felt like he FINALLY deserved to be.
When they finally broke free from each other, he breathed out, "Damn it woman, you'll be the death of me."
"I can stop doing that if you want." She joked.
"Don't you dare." He said, kissing her again but this time shorter. "So… You're really and truly mine now?"
She nodded, "Yes, sir."
He beamed, "Bloody brilliant!" He then leaned forward to kiss her again but she stopped him by pushing him away. "What?"
"There's still one more thing we need to do." She said, this time biting her lip in anxiousness.
He furrowed his brow. "What else is there?"
"Tell the entire school."
A/N: I apologize greatly that it took me forever and a half to update because school started again and I had papers to write and laaaah. Let's just say I wished I was writing this instead of all of that. I do hope you enjoyed it. It also took me a while to figure out exactly how this was going to turn out. I didn't want to make Ron into a complete asshole because I love his character too but to still stay the same Ron we all know and love – goofy and lovable.
I do not own Harry Potter. I never will. And I'm sad.