This is it. This is the last chapter. It's finally done. It's been a long time in coming, but I like it. And I hope you guys do too. Thanks for sticking with me, I know it's been a long wait. And don't think this is my last, for I have already started on a new story. Romance of course, but this time it's about Fred and Angelina. It should be good, so keep an eye out. In the mean time, read this chapter and tell me what you think.-Ace
Chapter 14
Hermione turned the handle on the dorm door and opened it just enough to slip in. She looked around in the dark room. She saw that Harry's curtains were drawn but Ron's split a little. She tip-toed over to his bed.
"Ron?" She whispered peeking into the darkened bed. "Ron?"
When she realized he wasn't there, she looked around the room again, this time a puzzled expression on her face. "I suppose he could be in the common room." She thought, making her way back to the door. Then suddenly she heard running water in the bathroom and glanced over at it. She stepped gently to the door, knowing it had to be Ron who was in there.
The door was cracked just slightly as she placed her hand on the door handle. Easily she nudged the door open.
"Ron," she called quietly, trying not to scare him.
Ron was just wrapping the towel around his waist when he heard a floor board creak behind him. He froze, his back straightening, his muscles becoming tense. His eyes moved to his pajamas, where his wand was. During the war, he had kept his wand at his side at all times, even while showering. Now, without it he felt vulnerable and looked for something else to defend himself with. But all he had was a bar of soap, a wash cloth and a towel.
"Fuck," he muttered under his breath, contemplating how long it would take him to get his wand and wondering if he could dodge the spells the intruder threw at him.
Suddenly he heard the door open and a soft voice call his name. He spun around quickly and found Hermione standing in her nightgown, bathrobe and slippers.
"Bloody hell Hermione!" He shouted his hand going to his heart, which was beating so hard he thought it would break his ribs. "You're gonna give me a heart attack. If I had had my wand I could have stunned you or worse."
Hermione stared at him for a minute, his bare chest still glistening with water, his strong shoulders tight. She had never realized how toned he had become staying fit for battle. She felt her cheeks blush and looked down.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." She apologized, her voice quiet. Ron's face softened as she looked up. He realized that something was amiss.
"What's wrong?"
"I had another nightmare."
"Come here." He said opening his arms for her. She looked at him questioningly for a moment until he nodded. She rushed into his arms.
Once wrapped in his strong arms she took a deep breath and sighed. This is where she wanted to be, this is where she wanted to stay.
They stood together for a few minutes, Ron holding Hermione close to him. They both relaxed against each other, their nightmares soon forgotten.
Hermione quickly forgot her nightmare, her mind now focused on the proximity of her body and Ron's scantily clad one. Her senses were overwhelmed with the scent of his soap and his shampoo. She could feel her heart begin to beat faster again but for a different reason. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to kiss him badly and run her fingers through his wet hair and down his back and up his chest. She yearned to be as close as she could to him.
Ron, too, had become aware of how close their bodies were. And his heart began to beat faster too. He held her around the waist, comforting her, but wanting to hold her in a different way, a romantic way. He wanted to take all her pain away and leave her only pleasure and peace.
Gently Hermione raised her head from Ron's chest to look up at him. Ron's grasp adjusted to her movements, but he didn't let go. She could feel the heat of his fingertips just above her hips.
"Ron," she breathed, glancing over his lips and up to his eyes. She wanted him so bad. She wanted his heart; she wanted him to take hers. She wanted him to love her forever. "And the only way to get that is to tell him!" her inner voice shouted. She knew it was right and that was enough, enough to push her over the edge. "Ron, I love you. Not just as a bloody friend but as a women loves a man. As Ginny loves Harry. As you mum loved you dad. And I want you Ron. I want all of you. Not just your friendship but your love, devotion, and heart too."
Ron gazed down at Hermione. Slowly her words penetrated through the barrier. Instead of replying, he slid a hand around to the small of her back and pulled her roughly to his body. His other hand slid up behind her neck. Her heart began to beat harder, unsure of what he was going to do. After a glance down into her now dark eyes, he leaned down and kissed her hard on the lips. After a moment she slinked her arms up around his neck and pushed back.
The kiss deepened with every minute that passed. When Ron pulled away, Hermione swore under her breath. Her knees were weak and her heart hammered in her chest. Ron smiled down at her as she looked up at him with heavy eyes.
"I've loved you practically from the moment I met you. You didn't have to ask for my heart, you've had it for years." Ron said, his voice husky with his desire for her, which was running rapidly through his blood.
"Then take mine, Ron and me with it." She murmured. Ron's eyes widened and she smiled. "I want you." She wrapped here arms tighter around his neck and pulled his lips to hers again. Ron let go of her neck and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.
As they kissed again, their hearts raced in their chests but beat almost as one. Hermione got to run her fingers through his wet hair. Ron's hands made their way up to her shoulders and slid her bathrobe down. She dropped her arms and it fell to the floor. Immediately her hands went to his shoulders and traveled slowly down to his hands, where she intertwined their fingers and squeezed tightly.
Ron squeezed back and took a small step forward. Hermione understood his direction and stepped backwards. She pulled Ron along with her lips and hands.
They slipped out of the bathroom and into the dormitory. Ron directed her over to his canopy bed and when the back of her knees hit the edge, she fell back, and the kiss was broken.
She kicked off her slippers and pulled her self farther up onto the bed. As she did so, her long nightgown slithered up her legs and past her knees, well up to the middle of her thighs. Ron's eyes widened slightly. Hermione smiled at him and reached out, taking his hand. She pulled it gently. He placed his left knee next to her right thigh, then his right knee to her left thigh. He placed a hand near her head and leaned down. He gazed into her soft brown eyes.
"I love you Hermione," he whispered.
She smiled. She knew he meant it. "I love you too Ron." She replied reaching again to run her fingers through his hair.
He leaned down then and kissed her, pulling the curtains closed on his canopy bed as he did so.
XXXXXXXX
Hermione snuggled closer to Ron's bare chest after she had slipped back into her nightgown and Ron had put on his pajama bottoms. She sighed contentedly, happy and fulfilled.
"Merry Christmas 'Mione," Ron whispered, kissing her forehead and wrapping his arms tighter around her.
They lay against the backboard of Ron's four poster bed quietly together, content to be near each other. Both were running through the pages of memories they had just created, unable to control their smiling.
Hermione was still a little shocked at what had happened as well as her outright actions. She had come to see him for the comfort of a nightmare and had ended up telling him everything. She hadn't planned it, it had just come out. And she knew what he said was true. She had known for quite a while that he cared about her, she just wanted to make sure that the war hadn't changed anything; that he could go back to normal and get out of survival mode.
"Hey Ron," she asked, looking up. He looked down at her. "Are you going to stop living in survival mode now?" She just wanted to make sure. She wanted to hear him say it. Otherwise she was only assuming and assuming might get her heart broken.
Ron was quite to a moment. "I don't know if it'll ever leave me completely. I'll always want to protect those that I love. But I think that if I can get the nightmares to stop things will get better." He replied. Then he remembered why she had come to find him. "Speaking of nightmares, what was your nightmare about?"
Hermione placed a hand on his stomach. "It had started out so happy. Everything I had daydreamed could happen did but then it turned dark. I was pregnant with our first child." A blush crept across her checks. "You rushed me to St. Mungo's where I gave birth. But it wasn't a baby. I gave birth to the Dark Lord, who killed the midwife and then killed you. He turned on me and that's when I woke up." She finished.
Ron gave her a squeeze and kissed the top of her head. "I had a nightmare tonight too and ironically it sounded a lot like yours. I saw everything as if I was watching a movie. We were married, living together in our first house, you were pregnant with twins, and everything seems perfect. But then something changed. You and I were sitting in the front room, by the fire. You asked me a simple question and I shouted back at you. Then I began to twitch and turned into Voldemort. He had been drinking Polyjuice. You asked where I was and he said that I had been dead for weeks. Then he transported you to where my body was. When you saw my body, rotting, up close, you screamed a blood curdling scream and I woke up."
"Oh Ron," Hermione said sitting up straight and looked back at him. "Your nightmares are as bad as mine." She reached for his hand and grasped it tight in both her hands.
Ron reached up with his free hand and touched her cheek. "Something always happened to you. Something always kept us apart. Even in my dreams I was trying to protect you. I couldn't stop feeling the need to protect you and Harry and Ginny because every night in my dreams I was put in a situation where I had to." He replied. "I never knew if you were okay or not."
Hermione smiled. "Your sister was right. The books were right." She said with a chuckle. Ron raised an eyebrow, forgetting Harry's earlier prediction. "Your sister said that she used to have nightmares about Harry until she started to sleep with him. Many of the books in the library said the same things; that nightmares of that sort often mirror the deepest and darkest fears."
"I didn't have a nightmare when we slept near each other." Ron interjected.
"And neither did I." Hermione replied. "I knew you were safe, I knew you were next to me. I could feel you there, thus I didn't have to worry."
"So we solved our nightmare problem. We just have to sleep together every night." Ron answered, with a sly smile. Hermione smacked his bare stomach. His muscles flinched and the spot turned pink.
"I know what you meant by that smile." She said with a glare. "But I don't think we should have a problem with nightmares anymore. We both confessed that we care about each other thus we most likely shouldn't have such violent nightmares, if any at all. I don't think sleeping with each other will be necessary."
Ron's eyes softened. "But I want to sleep next to you every night." He murmured, a little let down. "I love you Hermione and I don't want to ever be away from you." He squeezed her hand.
"Oh Ron," Hermione smiled. She leaned toward him and kissed him. He pulled her closer by wrapping his arms around her.
A shriek interrupted their kiss. They instantly broke, looked at each other and both muttered "Ginny" at the same time. Ron threw back the hangings on his bed. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
"Ginny, Harry? You two alright?" Ron yelled throwing his feet over the edge of the bed. He walked cautiously over to Harry's bed. Hermione watched him from her spot near the edge of his bed.
Ron looked back at Hermione anxiously. He reached up, grabbed a handful of Harry's bed hangings and thrust them open. There he found his sister in top of Harry and the couple deep in a lip locking kiss.
"Ugh!!!! Gross! I so didn't need to see that." Ron exclaimed stepping back toward his bed.
Ginny let out a loud laugh as she climbed off Harry and threw her legs over the bed. Harry sat up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Both of them were smiling at Ron, who stood by his bed with a slightly disgusted look.
"What? Your best mate and little sister kissing gonna give you nightmares?" Ginny kidded, still giggling. Harry smiled at Ron and kissed her neck.
Ron made a face and sat down on his bed. "If you keep it up, yeah, it will give me nightmares." He grumbled. He was very happy that the two of them were together and so in love. He just didn't want to always see their expression of this love. "Okay Gin, what made you shriek if Harry was," Ron made a gaging noise, "putting the moves on you?"
Ginny grinned wider and raised her left hand for Ron to see. "Harry proposed." She said almost shrieking again. Ron's jaw dropped.
"Congratulations, I'm so happy for you two." Hermione said peeking around Ron, smiling at the happy couple.
"Hermione?" Ginny stammered. "What are you doing in my brother's bed?"
At this both Ron and Hermione turned red. Hermione looked down as Ron ran a hand through his hair. "We slept together," he muttered. Harry and Ginny's jaws dropped.
"What?" Ginny shouted.
Hermione looked up at Harry. "I did it Harry. I told him." She said slinking her hand forward to take Ron's. Ron looked down at the touch then up into her eyes. She smiled softly at him. He smiled back.
Harry smiled at the both of them. "Finally! It's about bloody time. I'm proud of you, Hermione and happy for the both of you." He said giving Ginny a squeeze. Now Ron and Hermione could have what he and Ginny had.
"I take it then that my brother confessed too?" Ginny asked, still somewhat shocked. She was happy, yes, but she didn't think her brother was going to be able to spill his feelings without a good swift kick in the arse.
Ron glared at her. "She may have said it first but I made the first move," Ron retorted.
Hermione sat forward. "And he does have good moves." She stated placing her chin on his shoulder as she smiled.
"Eww! I didn't need to know that!" Ginny said covering her ears.
Harry laughed. "Come on Gin, let them have a little fun. After all that time and energy spent keeping it from each other, they deserve to have a little fun." Harry replied winking across the way at Ron and Hermione.
Hermione blushed while Ron smiled. He turned sideways and gave her a kiss. "I'm all for a little fun," he said sheepishly. Hermione slapped his arm but giggled playfully.
A smiled spread across Ginny's lips. It was kind of cute to see her brother being flirty. "So does this mean you two are going to tie the knot soon too?" she asked. Hermione and Ron looked over at her and then to each other.
"Well what do you think?" Hermione questioned.
"I don't know." Ron shrugged.
"It would solve the sleeping together issue. You'd get your wish to sleep with me every night."
"That's true. And that way you would always know that I was safe."
"And you'd know I was safe. Our nightmares would stop for sure that way."
"Plus we might be able to make the good parts of our last nightmares to come true." Ron said with a smile.
Hermione blushed, her eyes glancing downward then up into Ron's. "Ronald Weasley, will you be my husband?" she asked.
"If you'll have me, I would be honored to be your husband." He replied. He smiled at her, took her other hand and squeezed both of them. Then he kissed her.
"Awww," Harry said smiling. "I think that's a yes."
"Me too," Ginny replied. "It sure is a merry Christmas after all."
"It sure is." Harry agreed leaning in and kissing her.
When they parted, they yelled "Merry Christmas" at Hermione and Ron who were still lip locked. Ron and Hermione broke apart, laughed, and echoed their greetings. Then the four reached for their presents at the edge of the beds.
Just before Harry opened his first present, Dobby appeared with a tray of hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls for them all. They all wished him a merry Christmas and thanked him for his consideration. Dobby bowed in return and headed back to the kitchen to prepare for the Christmas feast
Each member of the quartet reached for a mug. But before they drank, Harry raised his for a toast. "To many more Christmases together and with the ones we love."
"To happy marriages for the four of us," Ginny added.
"To strong friendships and a lucky future," Hermione put in.
"And to no more nightmares," Ron finished.
"Here, here." The others laughed. They clinked their mugs and took a drink. Then commenced to unwrapping the rest of their presents.
Well was it worth the wait? It only took over a year to finish but I think it made the ending even better. :)