A/N: Hi guys, sorry for my lack of updating. Been super busy with exams, but here's something I've been working on. This chapter is from Ron's POV :) Enjoy!

3: Transparent

The days passed, and soon Fleur began to feel at home at the Burrow. Mum had cleaned the most of the house before Fleur and the others had arrived – forcing me to help her – and therefore there wasn't that much to do. Me and Hermione – who I was trying my best to avoid – had been a bit in the garden, taking care of some garden gnomes and such. Nothing special, really. It was mostly my thoughts that kept me busy, especially in the late hours. I avoided talking directly to her as much as possible, which resulted in a lot of silence between us. She seemed quite nervous, she probably still didn't get that the only reason I didn't talk to her was that I didn't know what to say. 'Cause after all, what do you say to the girl of your dreams, when you know she doesn't like you back?

Even though this sort of silence wasn't something we were used to, Hermione was quite tolerant. She didn't complain at all, until a few days later, when we were about to go to sleep...

"Ron." she said and looked determined at me with her arms crossed. I continued making my bed ready for me to crash in it and remained silent.

"Ron, won't you please just... You haven't spoken a word since..."

"What do you want?" I murmured, not facing her.

There was a bit of silence, which was something we now experienced several times a day, but then she said: "Look. I don't know why you've been ignoring me, but-"

"I haven't been ignoring you!" I said, perhaps a little sharper than I'd meant.

"Well, if not talking to me at all for days doesn't mean you're ignoring me, then I don't know what it means." she answered, sounding rather grumpy.

"I've been avoiding you," I told her. "Not ignoring you. There's a difference, you know. Thought you knew that with that clever head of yours..."

"Oh, I'm sorry that I didn't catch that you were avoiding me, which obviously is much more different than ignoring someone. Really, I'm truly sorry that I didn't figure that out, Ron." Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she tried to make me realise that I was being stupid or something.

"What's your problem anyway? I didn't know what to say, so I just shut up. Thought you'd prefer that after all of my rambling the other night."

"You didn't ramble, Ronald." she said in a offended tone.

"Stop calling me Ronald, Hermione!" I half-said, half-snarled.

"Oh, excuse me, but I thought that was your name!" she said, her voice growing higher.

I moaned of frustration and turned around to finally face her.

"What's your point, Hermione? Where are you going with this? If you can't speak your mind, don't bother!"

She looked at me, suddenly seeming more vulnerable than upset. Her eyes showed hurt as she lowered her arms.

"I'm sorry, Ron," she said, her voice now low and insecure. "I mean... I really am. I didn't mean to... That wasn't my intentions... You know I don't like seeing you angry, but I know it's my fault. I'm sorry. I guess I should just..." She licked her lips, searching for words. "...speak my mind."

My gaze was set on her, but I didn't say anything. I wouldn't stop her if she was finally going to tell me what she thought about it all... about me...

She took a deep breath and eyed the floor.

"Look, I apologize for the other morning... I was too hard on you, I admit that. But you really shouldn't have taken my letter, you invaded my privacy, and-"

"Hermione. To the point." I said, controlling myself as much as possible.

"Uhm – yes. Right. So... I didn't realise you, uhm, felt that way... You've never told me anything, or even mentioned that-"

"Why would I mention it?" I asked, looking at her defeatist. "I thought you had a clue. I've been trying to show you for years... Giving you signs and everything..."

"What signs?" she whispered and looked at me, frowning.

"You know... I was trying to ask you to the Yule Ball... But that Krum came first..." I mumbled in an annoyed tone.

"Well, you weren't exactly gentle. Pointing out that I'm a girl isn't the nicest way of asking me, Ron." she said and gave me one of her you-really-should've-known-looks.

"I panicked, okay?" I defended myself. "The market was thinning out, and-"

"The market was thinning out?" she interrupted me. "Really? So all the girls were just part of a market? I was just another product, an object-"

"God, Hermione. You interpret everything! I meant that the time was short, and that you were the only one I wanted to go with, but you had other admirers-"

"Perhaps you should try another method next time, then. Asking me instead of informing me about my gender would be a start." she admonished me.

"I get it, I get it! Can't really do anything about it now, can I? Just get it over with. My point is, I tried to show you that... well, you know. But that obviously didn't work..." I sighed and looked at her.

There was another pause of silence as she looked at me as if she was trying to understand all that I'd said, as if I'd been speaking a different language.

"So, you've had a crush on me... for all these years?" she asked, frowning.

"Yeah. Well, you were kinda annoying in the start, but I began ignoring that. But really, Hermione, being around you that much couldn't make me do anything but fall in love with you."

There. I had dropped the bomb. I had tried to be as honest as possible, and if she didn't get me this time, it wasn't because of me.

I watched her as she stood in front of me, her arms crossed again. She was still frowning as if she was trying to solve a puzzle which I was a part of. I waited for a response, a bit impatient actually, because I didn't like the silence that filled the room.

I lowered my gaze, about to apologize for telling her all this. Perhaps I should've just shut up, ignoring the fact that she was the one, letting go of the hopes I'd gotten through the last couple of years... But then...

Her lips crushed against mine, powerful and passionate. It took a few seconds before I realised what was actually happening – it just seemed so unreal and strange. I felt something – something I'd never felt before, and within a few seconds I responded her kisses, just as lively and eagerly as her.

Her kisses were filled with a lot of questions and things unsaid, yet she seemed determined to make this moment last as long as possible. I wasn't sure what would happen afterwards, and if we'd witness yet another awkward silence, but in that very moment I realised that I didn't even care.

Her body was pressed against mine as she had her hands on my cheeks, while mine were partly caressing her lower back, and partly braided into her hair.

It was as if the time stopped, as if the whole world stopped, and there was only her and me.

And then... we broke apart.

We looked at each other, stunned and completely silent, until a laughter spread, which only showed half of how happy and satisfied I was.

The next day was smooth and easy. It was as if there'd never been a fight between us, and I think the others noticed when they weren't busy listening to Fleur. She always had something to tell us about France, and in the start it was... well, what Hermione probably would call 'instructive', but I thought it was a whole bunch of nonsense.

Fred and George sent me omniscient looks all the time – at dinner, in the garden, when we passed each other on the stairs... It began to feel quite uncomfortable, but yet there was a part of me that wanted to roar with satisfaction and joy. If only Hermione wasn't such a Mrs Know-It-All, then she'd be twice as wonderful as she was when she tried to teach me all sorts of things.

Hermione too, I think, was quite happy. Just the fact that she didn't hiss at me anymore meant that her general mood had improved drastically. Sometimes I even caught her humming faintly as she was reading one of her many books.

It was like everything had changed. Life seemed much easier – until Wednesday, when Hermione suddenly entered the living room with a letter in her hand...

"What's that?" I asked and made room for her on the couch, which I had thrown myself at.

"A letter." she said, looking grumpy and sad.

"Well, Mrs Obvious, who's it from?"

For a brief moment I considered the chances of the letter being from Viktor Krum. But what could he have written that would make Hermione sad?

"It's from Harry," she said as she looked at me with reluctant eyes. "He's arriving sooner than we thought."

I thought about it for a moment, feeling a bit guilty that I got annoyed when I heard that my best friend was coming over soon.

"Well, when's he arriving then?"

Hermione sighed and put the letter on the table.

"Tonight."