Never been privy to

by reallybeth

She'd been with Ron when it was just the two of them, of course, and she'd been around both Harry and Ron loads of times, but this would be different. Hermione was going to be able to see for herself how Ron was whenever it was just he and Harry, something she'd never been privy to before now.

While I wait for PS inspo to come around, I squeezed this one-shot out just in time for 2024 romione trope fest!

Thanks to JonRiptide for the beta!

oOo

Hermione ran her hand through her— or more accurately— Harry's hair for the umpteenth time, eyes briefly lifting from the book in her lap to scan the common room. Letting out a small sigh, she tried to appear nonchalant while internally cursing Harry for talking her into this foolish idea in the first place. His suspicion of Draco Malfoy and his going ons that year had been more than a little concerning. Her friend was adamant that Malfoy was hiding something, and something very important at that. Harry was in too deep, too invested in the idea that the blonde was a death eater to see sense. Even so, Hermione hadn't expected him to take it this far, and furthermore, she never thought she'd willingly be a part of one of his wild schemes.

"All you have to do is sit in the common room," Harry said, his eyes pleading with her. "Talk a little if anyone approaches you, but otherwise just stick to reading or something."

"Polyjuice potion, Harry? I still don't understand why you need me to do this," Hermione argued, frowning at him, "I don't see the point."

Harry sighed. "Malfoy disappears every night after dinner. I need to follow him to find out where he's going. Later, if he suspects I was trailing him, I'll have witnesses that can affirm I was hanging out in the common room. I'll use the cloak, everything will be fine." He shrugged as if this was all the explanation she needed.

"What about Ro-" Hermione stopped and swallowed before continuing. "What about Ron?" she asked, her voice low. "Why don't you ask him to help you with this little plan of yours? I'm sure he'd be willing."

"I would, but he's always with Lavender," Harry said. "Besides, he's not the best at pretending…."

"That's true," she conceded, knowing full well Ron tended to express his emotions openly on his face and wouldn't play the part of Harry very well. "Say I agreed to this?" she asked. "You know Ron and I aren't currently on speaking terms. If he were to talk to me thinking I was you, he'd probably realize I wasn't in a matter of seconds."

Harry shook his head in the negative. "He has big plans with Lavender tonight, apparently. Ron, uh…." Harry had the decency to look sympathetic towards her as he continued. "He told me not to wait up."

Hermione exhaled as she forced herself to ignore the insinuation of Ron and Lavender having 'big plans'. "Well, that just makes it easier, then," she said in a tight voice, trying to sound unconcerned and as if Ron's absence would be all fine and dandy with her. "I'll do it, but you owe me big time, Harry."

A crashing sound pulled Hermione from her thoughts. Her head snapped up to see Neville Longbottom on his hands and knees in the middle of the common room floor, panic and embarrassment clear on his face as he scrambled to pick up about ten small ceramic pots he'd just dropped. Without thinking, she stood and walked over to him, stooping down to help gather the fallen items. Several had shattered in the tumble, and Hermione cast a quick reparo over those before grabbing them.

"Thanks, Harry," Neville said in a grateful voice, his words reminding Hermione that she was currently in Harry's body and needed to act as he would.

"No problem," she replied. "Where were you taking these?"

"Just up to the room," Neville said with a relieved sounding sigh. "Do you mind helping me?"

"Of course." Despite assuring Harry she'd remain in the same spot until he got back, Hermione knew it would be terribly rude, and not to mention out of character, to deny Neville help. "Let's go, then," she said before standing up, arms full of little pots. A quick glance at the wall clock alerted Hermione that her polyjuice potion would be wearing off in less than half an hour. Nevertheless, she was certain she'd have plenty of time to assist Neville before having to return to her own dormitory to change.

"Oi, Nev! Potter! Want to join us for a game of exploding snap?" Seamus Finnegan called from the other side of the room. The table of Gryffindor boys watched them expectantly as they awaited an answer.

"Sure," Neville replied, "Just have to take these up first."

"Harry?" Dean, who was sitting across from Neville, questioned as he stared at Hermione.

"No thank you," she replied, only realizing afterward that Harry's answer would likely have been more casual or even playful somehow.

"Your loss, then," Seamus shot back, already shuffling the deck of cards in his hands.

As she and Neville ascended to the boys' dormitory and made it to their destination, Hermione was unexpectedly greeted by a familiar scent she hadn't come across in what felt like months: the smell of Ron's shampoo. Without a doubt, it was the same scent she had detected in the Amortentia potion on the first day of Potions class. Without thinking, she snuck a glance at the empty bed on the far end of the room she knew to be Ron's. It was unmade; the covers pulled back, just beckoning her to climb inside the fabric to smell more of him.

"Where do you want me to put these?" she asked. Hermione was now very eager to set down her armload and get back downstairs and away from anything that reminded her of Ron.

Gesturing to the large open window, Neville led her, the cool night air rustling the gold and red Gryffindor curtains as the two started lining the pots up on the windowsill.

"Great," she said once they were finished. "Do you need any-"

A previously closed door on her left swung open, and to Hermione's horror, Ron strolled into the room wearing nothing but a faded brown towel around his hips, the rest of his freckled skin on full display. His hair was wet, and the intensity of the shampoo smell made it obvious he'd just stepped out of the shower. Hermione felt the blood rushing to her- to Harry's cheeks and immediately set to arranging the already straight pots.

How was he here? She hadn't seen him come in through the common room, and there was no way she would have missed him.

"Hey," Ron said casually to the pair of them. The tone of his voice suggested that walking around half naked was a common theme in the boys' dorm and not at all a big deal.

"I thought-" Harry's voice came out squeaky and unfamiliar. Still not looking at Ron, Hermione coughed before continuing. "I thought you'd be with Lavender tonight?"

"Change of plans." There was the sound of rustling clothes, and when Hermione dared peek at him again out of the corner of her eye, Ron was wearing a pair of red shorts. Instead of putting on a shirt and covering his freckled chest, however, he simply fell back on his bed, his hands folded under his head, blue eyes staring up at the canopy. "I made up an excuse to get away from her," he admitted. "Went and got my broom from the quidditch changing rooms and flew through the window."

"Thanks for helping me with the pots, Harry," Neville said, already heading towards the door. "I'm going down to join that game."

Hermione knew she ought to go with Neville. Right now, it was imperative she stay as far as possible from Ron. Yet, it felt as if her feet were weighted with lead, and she couldn't follow even if she wanted to. After all, this was an opportunity she'd likely never have again. She'd been with Ron when it was just the two of them, of course, and she'd been around both Harry and Ron loads of times, but this would be different. Hermione was going to be able to see for herself how Ron was whenever it was just he and Harry, something she'd never been privy to before now.

"Why did you want to escape Lavender?" Hermione asked after the door closed behind Neville.

Ron's gaze remained upward, his face in deep concentration as if he hadn't even registered the words. "Listen," he said after several long seconds of silence. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Uh…yeah, sure." Hermione said, trying not to sound too eager. So far it seemed as if Ron didn't suspect a thing. She was clearly doing a passable job pretending to be Harry, and she was determined to keep it that way.

"Lavender wants…" Ron trailed off before taking a deep breath and continuing, "She wants to have sex."

The words took Hermione by surprise and she grabbed onto one of Ron's bedposts to keep herself upright. "What?" she gasped.

"Don't act so surprised," Ron said, looking at her with a tinge of hurt mixed with embarrassment. "Unbeknownst to me," he went on, "tonight was supposed to be the night. Lavender had everything planned out, and I didn't realize how serious she was until-" He paused. "I mean…a part of me wanted to, ya know, but…well… I just couldn't." He shook his head. "Not with her, anyway."

Not with her. Nails dug into palms as Hermione tried to hold back the barrage of questions she wanted to ask him. "What do you mean not with her?" she settled on, her heart hammering. "She's your girlfriend."

Ron gave her a quick side eye but looked up again as he continued. "This is going to sound barmy, but while we were snogging, I kept hearing my dad's voice in my head, telling me it was a bad idea." He grimaced. "I mean, it's been ingrained in me since I was a preteen that I shouldn't have 'sexual relations'" he said with a roll of his eyes, "with anybody unless I am fully committed to being with them forever."

"Forever? Why?" Hermione asked, openmouthed. She knew witches and wizards tended to skirt more on the old-fashioned side, but she was almost certain that pre-marital sex didn't automatically mean marriage.

Ron shrugged. "I'm a Weasley. Contraceptive charms and potions may help lower the chances of getting someone pregnant, but they aren't foolproof. Dad says he and mum got pregnant with three of us when they weren't supposed to be able to." He chuckled. "He refused to tell me which three though. Said mum would murder him if he told."

"Oh," Hermione said, her mind continuously looping over the part where Ron had implied he didn't want to be with Lavender forever. "That makes sense."

"Anyway, the thought of having a kid right now is…" Ron grimaced. "And having a kid with Lav?" He scoffed. "I mean, could you imagine? If I got her pregnant, I'd have to bloody marry her!" He shuddered as if the idea was a horrid one. "I definitely don't want that. Then there's also the fact that I would be a total asshole if I did shag her," he added. "It would be wrong of me to use her like that, you know? I may be an insensitive git sometimes, but…."

There was a warmness in Hermione's chest as a weight lifted. For the last several months, she'd been imagining a world where Ron stayed with Lavender indefinitely. In her heartbreak, she had envisioned a scenario where the two remained together for the rest of their time at Hogwarts, eventually marrying and living happily ever after, growing a family and growing old together while Hermione became a distant memory in Ron's mind—someone he would barely remember from his school days.

"I mean," Ron droned on, "It's not like I even properly asked her to be my girlfriend. She just snogged me in the common room and I snogged her back. After that, she was calling me her boyfriend, and I didn't know how to say that's not what I wanted without offending her or something. This whole thing is bloody exhausting."

Hermione's mind was still reeling, and she merely hummed in acknowledgement. It had taken this conversation to find that her perception of the situation had been wholly wrong and now she wasn't even sure what she was feeling. The two were silent for several long seconds and Hermione was about to take her leave when Ron spoke again.

"I still can't believe Hermione really went to Slughorn's Christmas party with McLaggen," he said in a bitter voice. "How can she not see what a total dick that bloke is?"

"I think… I think she knows that now," Hermione replied in a slow voice, noticing the twitch of Ron's lips as she did so.

He sighed. "Okay, be honest. Do you think we'll ever be friends again? Me and Hermione?"

Taken aback, Hermione blurted the first words that came to mind. "Maybe if she didn't have to watch you snog her roommate all over the castle, then yeah."

Ron laughed as if the words were ridiculous. "What, you think she's jealous or something?" Hermione said nothing and the smile slid from Ron's face as he sat up. "Wait, really?"

Knowing it was probably glaringly obvious to anyone with eyes that she was jealous of Ron's relationship, Hermione resisted the urge to huff in frustration. She wondered what it would take to get it through that thick skull of his. "She invited you to Slughorn's party first, didn't she?"

"She didn't invite me as her date, though," Ron said as if he were perfectly sure of this. "She asked me because she felt sorry for me." His face moved into a scowl. "It's not like she'd planned on getting all dressed up and dancing with me like she did with Vicky. Or hell, even McLaggen for that matter."

"Well maybe she did," Hermione retorted, patience thinning.

Ron's jaw clenched as he stared hard at his hands in his lap. "She didn't mean it to be a proper date," he repeated, though this time with less certainty. "She doesn't feel that way about me."

"What would you do if she did? Would you even do anything about it?"

Ron gave her an incredulous look before snorting. "She doesn't."

"But what if she did?"

He sighed. "Merlin," he muttered. "If she did, which again, she doesn't, then…I dunno? Maybe it would give me the courage to finally break up with Lav and-" he sighed again, "we could...talk about it."

"Talk?" Hermione repeated. "What would you say?"

Ron shrugged. "I'd tell her the truth."

"Which is?" Hermione pressed, desperate to get the answer.

He glared at her. "Merlin, mate, why are you so nosy today? You always stay out of things between me and Hermione. It's like your number one self-care rule."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply but froze as she felt a prickling sensation all over. Her expression must have revealed something was wrong because Ron looked at her, concerned.

"Harry? Mate, are you okay?"

A whimpering sound was all Hermione managed before the feeling got stronger. She could feel her body shrinking, could feel Harry's clothes getting looser as it did so. Her hair grew longer, the texture going from black and messy to brown and fluffy, her curls in disarray as they settled around her shoulders.

Ron's face drained of color, his eyes wide in mortification as he watched the shift. "What the- what the hell is going on?" he bellowed.

Hermione bit her bottom lip, tears unwittingly springing to her eyes. "I was doing Harry a favor," she explained. "You were supposed to be with Lavender and we didn't think-"

"But you just pretended to be Harry without fucking telling me it was really-" he sighed, closed his eyes and groaned.

"It was an opportunity to talk to you," she admitted in a quiet voice, "I've really missed you, Ron."

Ron opened his eyes and scanned her face in a way he hadn't done so in what felt like a lifetime. His expression softened as he took a single step towards her, but his eyes widened when he glanced down at his bare chest, his face flushing red. "Let me just—uh—" he stammered, swiftly grabbing a shirt from a chest of drawers and pulling it over his head, much to her disappointment.

"So when you asked me to Slugho-"

"It was supposed to be a date, yeah," she cut him off. "I…I like you, Ron."

Ron's mouth opened and closed several times, seemingly unsure how to respond. "Dammit," he finally muttered, "I fucked everything up."

"Now that both of us know how the other feels," Hermione said hesitantly, "maybe it will be easier to go forward with," she gestured between them, "whatever this is."

There was so much regret in Ron's gaze that it made her heart ache. "I'm breaking up with Lavender," he said in a determined voice. "Tonight."

Unable to help herself, Hermione leapt forward into his arms. The embrace was everything she'd been hoping for, Ron clinging to her just as tightly as she clung to him. When she lifted her head, he was staring down at her, his longing for her evident.

"Hermione?" he asked, his hand moving up to cup her cheek. "Can I-"

There was the sound of a door being slammed open, causing Hermione to jump away from Ron. She spun around to see Harry scurrying into the room, his cheeks pink and his hair windswept. "Hermione! Hell, I'm sorry I took so long! I-" he halted when he spotted Ron, his mouth dropping open in surprise. "Sorry, did I just-"

Hermione shook her head. "That's alright, Harry." She couldn't even bring herself to look at Ron as she started making her way from the room. "Breakfast tomorrow?" she asked just before she reached the door, turning to face the boys.

"Just the three of us?" Harry looked bewildered, and Ron appeared as if he'd just been hit over the head, but the two were quick to nod in affirmative.

"Great." Smiling, Hermione walked out, closing the door behind her.