Dress shopping. "Sometimes my greatest accomplishment is keeping my mouth shut."

Using prompts from the Houses Competition. AU. Ron and Hermione are shopping for Hermione's bridesmaid dress, and make an important discovery in the process. I hope y'all enjoy it!

Houses Competition, written for Ravenclaw Year 1 (standing in), Short, Prompts: 1) Dress shopping 2) "Sometimes my greatest accomplishment is keeping my mouth shut.", WC: 879

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"Come on Ron, honestly. This is a disgusting colour on me," I call through the curtain, scowling at myself in the mirror. Coral pink is not a good colour on anyone, and no more delightful on my pale skin. Dress shopping is not something I love, but today I'm even more twitchy and jumpy, and I have no clue as to why. "Your tie isn't even coral so I don't know why you asked me to try this horrific thing on."

"Because it's funny," he calls back, voice slightly muffled by the distance between us. "I think I need to see it to fully understand the horror you are going through." I curse his name silently, fiddling with the lace trimming on the bust, and the chiffon sleeves. Merlin, who thought sleeves were a good idea on this dress, and puffy ones no less? "Hermione? Come out, let's have a look." I can literally hear him laughing from back here.

I push back the heavy curtain roughly, glaring at him. "Why Ginny and Harry have to get married is beyond me," I mutter darkly. "Especially if it means I have to wear something as foul and ridiculous as this."

"It's not as bad as you're making it out to be."

"Have you even seen the back?"

I turn around.

"It's definitely unique," Ron starts, face reddening with laughter. "You'll be pulling at the wedding wearing that."

"I don't want to pull anyone ever again." With that comment, I stalk back into the changing room and strip myself of the dress immediately, reaching for the green one that hangs beside it. It's a better colour at least, but still has silly, flapping sleeves. "I'm done with pulling men for the rest of my life. It's going to be me and Crookshanks until I die from desiccation and boredom."

"Bit dramatic, don't you think?"

The dress slips on easily, already a much better fit than the other one, and the material feels less cheap. Which probably means it costs more than the amount I could ever consider spending on anything, let alone an item of clothing. My Mother always had a penchant for spending far too much money on warm coats and I, while I admired the soft materials and the beauty of a gown, would far rather go towards the book section of a department store.

"Everything going okay with Malfoy?" Ron asks through the curtain as I'm zipping myself in. Dammit. Stuck. I pull back the curtain and face my back to him, an indication of what I want. He complies, fingers brushing my back in attempting to sweep my hair out of the way. "You know, you can talk to me about him. I know we were together, and we went through all that break up stuff a couple of years ago. But you can talk to me." I nod, turning to face him, sighing heavily. "What's going on?"

Slowly, deflating, I sink down onto the stool outside the changing room. Its plush cushion is insanely calming. "Malfoy and I aren't even dating. Things are so weird."

"Weird how?"

"I want to spend time with him. But he's endlessly frustrating. Funny, brilliant, occasionally unforgivably rude. Most of the time I can't quite rightly explain what I'm feeling when I'm around him, but I know that I want to be with him. To know more about his life and his family. I know I want him to want me, but I'm really not sure he's there yet. I think he needs time to come to terms with everything that's going on." I pause, letting the jumble of words sink in around me. "His mother is dying, and I really don't think he can cope with any more complications in life."

"You're not a complication," Ron assures me. Nevertheless, I shrug, fighting back the frustration again. Because, although I tell the lie that I have no idea what my feelings are for Draco Malfoy, there is this thought in the back of my mind, a little voice that tells me that I know what I'm feeling. I know exactly why he's annoying and wonderful, and I feel waves of joy around him.

"I love him."

My crashing admission breaks the silence.

"Please, don't tell anyone," I implore, throat dry and words cracking.

"Sometimes my greatest accomplishment is keeping my mouth shut," Ron answers, grinning.

"Ronald Weasley, you have so many great achievements," I murmur. In my helplessness, tears threaten to spill over. His face falls just looking at me.

"Hermione, there's nothing wrong with loving him. It's not something to be ashamed of. He's a better man now, a good man. After everything he's been doing lately - helping out with my family, and going to Australia with you, and trying to make up for all the shitty things he did before." Ron brushes my hair from my face, a gesture that has always been comforting to me. "No one is perfect. And you love him, which means something to all of us."

I sniff loudly.

"By the way, I think this dress is the one."

And the floodgates of tears and laughter quite literally spill over, and I'm sobbing into Ron's shoulder, the stress released from me in an instant.

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Thanks for reading!