AN: sorry for the awfully long delay, but here ya go! thanks for the reviews and favourites, you guys are amazing! xx
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything, although I would love to have my own Ronald Weasley..
"She's so beautiful."
Ron couldn't help but admire the view as a wobbly, flustered Hermione slowly made her way to his outstretched arms. Even with her eyes swollen and red from crying and her hair a tangled mess, she made him ogle her as if he was watching a Veela doing a striptease. He was pretty sure that Hermione'd even look good wearing Hagrid's mot-eaten clothes.
Then it dawned on him why she looked so disheveled. He had kissed her. Again. He, the unknown redhead, who always stood in the shadow of "the boy who lived", who always wore hand-me-downs and never really stood out in anything, except from getting a sunburn and eating, had kissed Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age, and probably of all wizards and witches alive, who succeeds in everything as soon as she sets her mind to it. The girl every boy at Hogwarts at least once had a wet dream about.
And she had kissed him back.
A grin slowly appeared on his face and he heard a sound he never thought he would ever hear again. The sound filled his hearth with warmth, made his skin tingle, and his grin even wider. He would never grow bored of the sound of Hermione's laugh.
He hadn't heard her laugh since the war had begun, the last time being at Bill and Fleur's wedding, when Harry had made a complete fool out of himself as he tried to blend in with the Weasley family. But even that laugh wasn't as genuine as the one that had just filled the quiet kitchen.
As soon as Hermione and he had heard about Harry's mission her eyes had changed. The sparkles that normally adorned her eyes, making them look like there was a whole galaxy hiding in them, had faded away, and so had her happiness.
She had done so much to protect the ones she loved, she had gone as far as she could go. Removing herself from her parent's memories so that they would be save, going on this trip with Harry while he didn't have a clue about what he was doing. She had been so strong, determined to fight evil, to make the world a better place, even if that meant that she wouldn't be a part of it anymore.
And she had never backed out.
Unlike himself, she had stayed with Harry, never leaving his side, even in the darkest of times. Everywhere around her she had heard about Muggles and witches being killed, but she had pulled through, and she had succeeded, like she always does. Voldemort had been defeated and she was still alive. But she hadn't been the same Hermione as before.
Everything had changed.
Ron had been so worried. He had thought that after the war, everything would go back to normal. Yes, of course they had lost a lot of people they loved, and they would carry that loss with them for the rest of their lives, but they were still alive, and they had won. But he had soon found out that this wasn't the case. Hermione's sad eyes hadn't turned happy, the sparkles hadn't returned as he had hoped.
The sight of her had given him shivers. She was still beautiful to him, she would never be anything else than beautiful, but something about her look made him feel as if she had died with everyone else. She walked around the Burrow as if she was wasn't really there, as if it was a mere projection of her. It had made him feel so helpless and sad. The girl he loved more than anything else in the world wasn't there anymore, and he had been so afraid that she would never come back. So he had done what he always does when he finds himself in an awful situation: he had backed away.
Every time Hermione came to talk to him, he had made up a silly excuse to leave the room. He had known that what he was doing was only hurting her more, bloody hell he had been through this many times before, but he couldn't help it. There had been a tension between them, and not the good kind of tension that always seemed to hang around them. This tension meant that she wanted to talk, and if there's anything in the world that Ron sucked at more than everything else, it was talking. Especially about feelings. Normally he would have made a remark to shut her out of it, but he had been afraid that if he said something she would crack completely and he would never get her back. So he had run away from her every time she came to see him, leaving her disappointed and sad. They had stopped their foot bumps during dinner and their sneaky glances when they were together.
It had made him feel even worse than he already felt.
At night he hadn't been able to sleep, thinking over every encounter he had with Hermione and cursing himself for being such a twat. He would go downstairs every night, making himself a cup of tea, secretly hoping that he would wake Hermione so that they could talk.
And now she was back.
She walked into his arms and closed her own around his neck, resting her head on his chest. He couldn't help but close his arms around her waist to get her as close as possible. She smelled like the almond shampoo she always uses and he kissed her head lightly, enjoying the ticklish feeling of her bushy curls in his face. They stayed like this for a while, putting comfort out of each other while they listened to the intruder's footsteps going up the stairs.
"Harry, you're gonna bloody pay for this" Ron thought as he heard the boy's quiet footsteps ascending the attic stairs to their shared room.
After a while he felt Hermione move in his arms. He looked down and saw her gazing up at him, a smile on her face. He didn't even have time to think about the last time he had seen her smile her Hermione-smile, because her following sentence deleted all the thoughts in his brain, making the words echo for what seemed like a thousand times.
"I love you too, Ronald Billius Weasley. I do now, and I will forever."
He just stared at her, unable to move or say anything. Hermione loved him. Bloody fuck, Hermione fucking Granger loved him! Of course, when he had kissed her in the Chamber of Secrets and she had almost jumped into his arms he had had his suspicions, but when she didn't act on it after the war he had accepted the fact that she had acted on pure adrenaline, without having any real feelings for him. He blinked down at her, tugging her to him a bit tighter to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. Hermione let out another giggle, her face all cute and flustered. He locked his eyes with hers, gazing into her brown orbs.
They sparkled again.
Ron almost couldn't hold back the relieved sigh that wanted to escape his mouth. Hermione's beautiful eyes, the ones he had fallen for as soon as they had connected with his, that made his brain foggy and his knees weak, and turned him into a rambling mess, not able to say anything of significant value, were back.
Hermione's eyes were so different from anyone else's. They were brown, but there was nothing dull about them. Her eyes seemed to be made of molten chocolate, both dark and milk stirred into this perfect scheme of different brown shades. When the sunlight hits her eyes the colour comes to life even more, as if the chocolate inside melts and becomes liquid again, showing the passion that she keeps in her heart by glowing and sparkling.
He felt the urge to kiss those eyes, but he chose to kiss her lips instead, slowly and lightly, still afraid that she would turn into fog and he would wake up in the kitchen, like he had done all those night before. She didn't, however, and when he let go and she let out a small disapproving whimper, he couldn't help but smile. He felt her hands tug his hair lightly, ordering his face to come closer again. He felt her smile against his lips and he kissed her again, this time deepening the kiss by pulling her even closer to him, licking her lips with his tongue to ask for entrance. She opened her mouth without hesitation and for the second time that night he forgot how to breathe. Her taste filled him completely and he let out a moan, making Hermione giggle in his mouth. His hands had wandered up her back into her hair, and he slowly tugged it, earning a gasp from Hermione as he took her by surprise. He drifted away from her mouth to nip at her earlobe. "You asked for it" he murmured into her ear, and Hermione let out breathy laugh as she playfully tugged his hair again. Ron groaned and softly bit her earlobe, quickly soothing the bite by licking over the mark with his tongue. He then moved over her jaw to suck on the sensitive part at the nape of her neck. Hermione moaned loudly and he chuckled against her skin as he did it again.
"My turn." he heard Hermione whisper, and he felt her tug his hair again, upwards this time. She locked her lips with his, and this time she took the lead. She first kissed his upper lip, sucking on it slowly. She lightly bit it before moving to his lower lip to do the same. Ron growled as he slowly lost his patience, wanting to taste her again. Hermione's hands left his hair and she lightly traced her index finger over the sensitive skin behind his ear while repeating her lip nipping and sucking. Ron shivered and Hermione chuckled, stroking the skin again. Ron growled against her lips and lightly bit them, making Hermione pull away.
"Patience, my love" she said, a blush creeping on her face as she realized that she had called him my love. Ron just looked at her and in that moment, it dawned on him that no one could ever love Hermione more than he did. He ran his large hands down her spine, making her shiver. "I could easily get used to that nickname," he said, flashing her a grin. "Good, because I'm planning on calling you that a lot." Hermione smiled, her face now beet-red, but her eyes determined. "Thank you Ron, for everything." She looked at the ground, suddenly shy. Ron cupped her chin and lifted her head so that she looked at him. "I should be the one thanking you, Hermione. You saved me so many times, I can never repay you for that. But I can try, and I plan on trying as long as you'll let me. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, Hermione, please don't ever forget that." Hermione surprised him by letting out another giggle. "I didn't know you could be this cheesy, Ron. I though you were all tits and butts, but you're a real Shakespeare behind that act." Ron looked at her and couldn't help but smile back at her. He didn't care that he reminded her of some Shakespeare, whatever that was. Hermione was back, and he would do anything to keep her. "Who said that Shakespeares don't like tits and butts ? " He grabbed her arse and gave it a firm squeeze, earning a loud squeal from Hermione. He slowly began to massage it and Hermione's eyes shut tight at the feeling of his warm hands on her butt-cheeks. He nuzzled his nose in her neck and gave her a peck on her collar-bone before stepping away slightly. Hermione looked at him with her lower lip between her teeth and he couldn't help but lean towards her again, biting her lower lip so that she released it with a sigh. He kissed her softly and put his forehead against hers. "Fancy some hot chocolate?"
Hermione couldn't believe it. Her emotions were swaying like someone who just downed 15 butterbeers in one go. One minute she feels like she's about to burst out in tears to never stop crying again, and the next she feels like she's on top of the world. As she watched Ron rummage about in the kitchen, making hot chocolate even though his shirt visibly stuck to his back - something that wasn't entirely because of the weather, she felt lighter than she had felt in days. Actually, if she thought about it, the last time she had felt this way was ages ago.
It had been just a random day at the Burrow during the summer holidays, but it had turned Hermione's world upside down.
It had been the day that she had had her first proper romantic thought about Ron.
Of course, she had known that she felt something for him more than friendship for a long time before that. She had always felt different around him than that she felt when she was around Harry. There was a certain static energy between them whenever they were close together. An energy that made her feet tingle and her knees buckle, while his ears always turned red and he suddenly didn't know what to do with his hands. But she had always pushed it back, thinking she was just being a silly teenager. Of course Ron Weasley didn't like her. He always called her insufferable, and only hung out with her so that he could copy her homework when she was done.
But on that particular summer's day, all the thoughts that were lurking at the back of her brain hadn't sounded that stupid anymore. The thought of Ron liking her didn't seem so unlikely.
They had gotten up really early that day, because it promised to be one of the hottest summer days. The previous day Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione had decided to make the most of it, going on a picnic in the morning and spending the rest of the day at the pond not too far away from the Burrow. That morning, Hermione had decided to wear a dress, something she didn't do very often, because she simply felt more comfortable in jeans. But even at 6.30 am she could feel that it was gonna be way too hot for jeans, even if they were shorts. So she had donned a dark green skater-dress, spotted with an orange and yellow buttercup pattern. The dress had an open back, dipping all the way to her waist, where the skirt flowed out and ended just above her knees. She had pulled her hair up in a quick bun before descending the stairs to help Ginny with preparing for the picnic. It hadn't taken long before the smell of sausages and eggs had awoken Ron and Harry, and soon they were heading their way to the pond. Hermione had noticed that Ron couldn't stay away from her, walking so close beside her that their arms were touching while they swayed. He had continuously snuck glances at her, and she had felt more desirable than ever. She had mentally thanked her mother for forcing her to pack her dress, because she could practically feel Ron's gaze burn at her exposed back.
The whole day Ron and Hermione had held a staring contest, and every minute she had held his gaze her feelings for him had grown stronger and the forbidden fantasies of him and her together had leaked back into the conscious side of her brain, making her feel slightly dizzy. He had touched her at every opportunity he got, and at the end of the day her whole body seemed to be on fire from all his caresses and stares. It had indeed been the hottest day of the summer, but in Hermione's memory it had been the hottest day of her life, because Ron had made her feel like she was on fire. He had opened the safety box at the back of her brain and all the romantic thoughts about him that she had stored there since the day they had met had leaked out and now swum around her head heatedly, making all her reasonable thoughts blur while Ron filled her mind.
That night Hermione had imagined her life with Ron by her side, sharing kisses and hugging each other. Having a life like the couples she had read about in those awfully cheesy novels of her mother. And she had loved every single bit of it.
"earth to Hermione.. Hermione are you still alive in there?"
Ron's voice next to her ear snapped her right back into reality. She couldn't wipe the grin that had spread on her face at the reliving of her most treasured memory off her face, so she decided to just let it stay there. The feeling of her cheeks stretching so far it almost hurt felt good, it had been way too long. "Yes, yes, I'm here. I was just thinking, that's all." Hermione turned to Ron and saw him looking at her with curious eyes, two steaming mugs in both of his hands. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, while giving her one of the mugs. "Care to enlighten me? I hope it wasn't my bad flirting skills you were thinking about." Hermione chuckled and Ron flashed her a cheeky grin, while sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs. Hermione slumped down on the one right next to him, facing him so that their knees were touching. "hmm, you could say that.." she inhaled the smell of hot cacao, and looked up surprised. "You remembered!" she exclaimed, gazing up at Ron's still smirking face.
"How on earth could I forget, Hermione. You take ginger in practically every drink! And let's not forget the time that you drank butterbeer with ginger and talked about us snogging. Nope this will stay in my brain like a sunburn , I'm afraid.." His ears had turned red at the mention of that day in the Three Broomsticks, but he was still looking at her, scanning her reaction. Hermione felt a blush creeping up her cheeks as she realized that he really had loved her for quite a while already, and she quickly stood up to give him a kiss on the nose, making him scrunch up his face in the cutest way possible. She laughed at him and sat back down, but even closer this time, so that their legs were intertwined between their bodies. They were both grinning like mad men and they just sat there, beaming up at each other for a while, waiting for the hot chocolate to cool off, drinking in each other's features instead.
The taste of the warm drink was exactly right; just enough ginger and a healthy amount of whipped cream. Next to that, Hermione couldn't help but notice how Ron's eyes would flick to her mouth each time she took a sip, which made her insides ignite as if the hot chocolate seeped through her esophagus straight into her bones and muscles, tingling along the way.
She had never had a drink so marvelous.
When the mugs were empty they had moved so close to each other that their noses were almost touching. Hermione again drowned in Ron's ice-blue orbs, and got a little light-headed from the closeness. The blueness absorbed her, and every part of her that touched him was blazing, sending shiver up her spine. When his hand found her knee she absent-mindedly let out a soft moan, closing her eyes at the electric wave that went straight to her core. She heard Ron inhale sharply and when she opened her eyes she found that he had moved even closer, so close she could have counted the freckles on his cheeks if she had wanted to. But she didn't want to count his freckles. She would have time enough for that later. Right now she wanted him to make her feel on top of the world again. She wanted to feel his lips on hers again.
He would elevate her to the highest of heavens, he would make her feel whole again, and the anticipation made her already red cheeks burn even harder. When her gaze locked with his she noticed that his eyes were blurred over with the same lust she felt crawling inside of her. She bit her lower lip and set her now cold mug on the kitchen table. She reached for Ron's mug as well and when their hands touched, they both sucked in a sharp breath. She slowly exhaled and put his mug aside as well, never breaking eye contact. His hand started to move in circles on her knee, and he licked his lips. She could smell the chocolate on his breath as he exhaled and she wanted nothing more than to taste it - chocolate mixed with Ron must be the best taste in the world.
When she leaned into him even closer, however, the chair she sat on slid away under her, leaving her without any support, and she stumbled into him. Grabbing his chest, she tried to steady herself, but this only resulted in her pulling him with her as she crashed to the floor. Both of their chairs toppled over and fell on the hardwood floor, their crashing sounds mixing with the yelps coming out of Ron and Hermione's mouth, forming a loud orchestra in the kitchen.
As the sounds died away Ron and Hermione both lay still, their eyes shut tight as they waited for Molly's bellowing voice to appear, but the Burrow remained silent. When they were certain that no one was going to come downstairs they scrambled to their feet quickly, Hermione flicking her wand to set the chairs straight again, and looked at each other.
Ron's hair was a disheveled mess, and Hermione was sure that she looked even worse. She felt something tickle inside her throat and before she realized what was happening, an uncontrollable fit of giggles erupted from deep within her. She quickly clasped her hand over her mouth and looked at Ron with eyes wide of shock. the feeling of laughter slowly filled her, making every fiber in her body shake with delight. She saw that Ron started to laugh as well, and her eyes began to water from the gayness that suddenly overcame her. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she shook with laughter, and soon she was sitting on the floor again, not able to stand from all the feelings that rushed over her.
As she looked around she noticed how all the colours seemed more vibrant, how everything had gotten a bit lighter, as if her soul had removed the dark veil that had hung over her for so long. As she laughed and laughed she looked up at Ron, who was staring at her with watery eyes, chuckling along with her rush of laughter. She closed her eyes again and let the waves of happiness take her from the deserted island of sadness she had been stuck on for months. She had been a castaway, lost in the oceans of misery, until Ron had dragged her out of the choking depths and nauseating waves.
He was her own orange life boat, and she would never leave him again.
He had never thought he would see Hermione smile again, let alone laugh as genuine as she was now. As he watched her smiling face and felt her roaring laughter crashing into him as waves on the shore, he felt completely happy again. He had succeeded, he had managed to get the Hermione he loved so much back, and he couldn't help but laugh along with her, joining her song of happiness as he continuously watched her, burning the image of a happy Hermione in his brain, so that he would never forget how she looked when she was in pure extacy. He would try his best to make her feel like this for as long as she let him, since seeing her as joyful as she was now made him feel whole again. The sharp edge in his throat that had stung every time he breathed in had disappeared, the worry and sadness he had felt for Hermione had decreased to its normal size and he felt like he could finally breathe again, as if he had finally broken through the membrane of an invisible air bubble that had choked him for so long.
After a while the laughter died out and the kitchen turned silent once more. Hermione slowly got to her feet and turned to Ron, and he could see the blush of laughter on her cheeks. Her eyes glistened with tears, but the good ones this time, and he outstretched his arms once more, inviting her closer. When he felt her collide with him he let out another chuckle.
"Hello again, gorgeous. Done laughing now, are ya? We should probably get some sleep, before everyone comes down for breakfast and sees you rolling around on the ground in your cute as fuck pj's" he whispered in her ear. Hermione just nodded against his chest, making approving sounds as she nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck. Having a feeling that she wouldn't move voluntary, he scooped her up and carried her towards the couch in the living room, where he dropped her not-so-graciously, before settling next to her. "Hmmm.. much better." he murmured, closing his eyes and pulling Hermione closer to him, so that he was spooning her from the back. Her hair tickled in his face as she moved her head so that she lay more comfortable, and he again got overwhelmed by the smell of her shampoo. He kissed her on her neck and began tracing random patterns on her arm, enjoying the warmth that radiated off her. He soon felt her relax in his arms and a smile crept on his face as he took in her sleeping face. She looked more at peace than she had done in months, and to know that he made her feel that way filled him with pride and happiness. By saving her he had saved himself, because making her happy made him happy, and he couldn't think of a more wonderful thing than that.
As his eyes began to droop and sleep overtook him he realized that she was his savior, and he would never let her go again.
thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! I think there will be more chapters, since I'm quite enjoying writing this story, so look out for that!
reviews are much appreciated! x