Chapter II

Hermione Granger was sitting in her favorite squashy arm chair in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, reading a particularly fascinating book about famous wizarding pirates of the sixteenth century. It was one of those very rare occasions that she had the common room completely to herself. Well...Ron was there, but at least he was being quiet. She paused. Something was missing...ah, yes. She conjured herself a cup of tea, just the way she liked it, cream and lots of sugar. Life just didn't get better than this. Ron was acting very oddly, though. He was just sitting there, watching her like he was expecting her to turn somersaults.

"Do you have another essay you want me to look over?" Hermione asked as sweetly and nonchalantly as she could, without letting her best friend know how uncomfortable he was making her.

"No." he said simply, never even blinking. His steady gaze and half smile were as intact as before. "You...you look... nice, Hermione." He stuttered out, looking rather proud of himself. Hermione noticed that his ears were significantly redder thn she had ever seen them before. She smiled to herself, thanking Merlin that Ron could only see her eyes and forehead past the enormous book on her lap.

"Thank you, Ron...why do you...I mean...what's going on?" Hermione asked, suddenly very suspicious of his intentions. He must have been failing something...or perhaps she had contracted some horrible jungle virus and only had a few more minutes to live...

"I just... thought I should start telling you that more often. I don't think you hear it often enough from me. You're quite pretty, you know that?" Ron's voice was steadying, but his ears looked like tea kettles about to go super nova.

"Actually, I don't recall ever hearing that from you. Ronald Weasley, what has gotten into you? Have Fred and George gone and shipped you firewhiskey again?" Hermione asked, half giggling.

"Put the book down, 'Mione. We need to talk. I think this conversation has been put off long enough." Hermione lowered her book slowly, trying to read his expression. This couldn't be what she thoought it was. She supressed the urge to slap herself. She had been dreaming about a moment rather like this since she was twelve, and if the conversation ended with, "so, do you fancy a game of wizard chess?", she might have to castrate him with a large blunt object.

"Ron...where exactly is this going?" she tried to hide the fearful excitement in her eyes. "I...did you want some tea? Here, let me just get-"

"Hermione, just shut up and let me get this out, I've been trying to work up the nerve to say this since before I hit puberty...I...I...I...um...I like you. As a girl I mean. I always have, and I always knew you were a girl, I just didn't want you to find out I liked you that way, beacause I thought it might change things, and I know how smart you are, well actually, I'm not as daft as you think, I just didn't want you to forget about me, that and I love to watch you study, especially when you're correcting things, the way your mouth gets all little and pursed, and you lift up that one eyebrow...and Hermione...I... well, I'm bloody well in love with you, I always have been. Please don't hate me." Ron looked like he wanted to chop off his own head.

"Right, then, sorry..." He turned to leave, looking humiliated. Hermione realized that she had been staring at him with her jaw hanging very unattractively wide open. She sprang to her feet.

"Ron!" he shook his head, not turning around. "Ronald Weasley, you turn around and look at me this instant!" he obeyed reluctantly. He looked down at her rather sheepishly. "Don't you dare turn chicken on me now, I've been longing for this moment for six years now, and I won't have you ruining it for me." She yelled. His eyes grew wide.

"Hermione...you mean you..." he trailed off, seemingly dumbfounded. Hermione pulled herself up to the fullest height she could muster, which was rather pathetic next to Ron, who was well over six feet tall.

"Yes, you rotten prat, I love you too, I have from the moment I saw your grimy little face on the train, and I've been trying to impress you since, now..." she felt herself starting to tear up. Ron brought a shaky hand to her face, lifting her chin. He used his thumb to wipe away a tear. When had Ron become a man?

"Now... please don't ever let me see you with another bloke for the rest of our lives...will you...will you be my girlfriend? Please?" She saw his deep blue eyes filling with tears as his even voice finally broke. Hermione's heart broke with it.

"I'll be anything you want me to be." she sobbed out. He pulled her up into the most passionate first kiss ever shared by any couple in the history of the wizarding world.

"Oh, god..." they heard someone whimper from the top of the girls' staircase. "That's better than anything in Mum's books!" Hermione and Ron turned an identical shade of scarlet. Ginny laughed tearfully. "Oh, c'mon, really, it's about damn time you two, though it does mean Harry wins the bet. I thought it would take at least one more near-death experience before you two would realize how much you can't live without each other." Ron looked torn between about eight different emotions. "So, when's the wedding?" Ginny asked, regaining her composure.

"How about you let me take her on a few dates first, Gin?" Ron laughed, taking it more gracefully than Hermione ever would have expected, which didn't help the feeling that this was all some dream, and she would wake up to the buzzing of her magically-altered alarm clock.

There will be more chapters, assuming somebody actually reads this one. :( tear Please review, free puppies to all reviewers!