Ron has been withholding himself from Hermione all his life.
When she came into his and Harry's train compartment in their first year, he thought that she was cute. The way her bushy brown hair fell over her shoulders, the way her buck teeth poked out...She reminded him of Ginny, but in a better way.
Ron was quite young at the time, but even he understood that he wanted to be more than friends with her, at some point during the year. He wasn't as stupid as she thought.
That's why he acted so valiantly during the Wizard Chess game when they were trying to get to the Sorcerer's Stone-he wanted to look good in front of her.
She didn't know how his heart leapt when she came back through the fire for him as Harry went ahead to fight. She would never know.
Because Ron would keep withholding all of his feelings for her until the right moment came, until he felt like he could truly impress her.
A/N: A quick drabble on how Ron has suppressed his feelings for Hermione since the beginning.
Done for:
Alphabet Soup Drabble Collection-W for Withholding
OTP Boot Camp-Prompt #23-Into the fire