Just Friends
Just as he and Harry had planned Ron was standing in front of the portrait hole at exactly nine thirty at night. He waiting there for a moment before giving the Fat Lady the password.
"Bannana Fritters." He said to the half asleep woman in the portait.
"Oh yes thank you..." She muttered as she flung her portrait forward to let him through. He climbed in, and he was half way through when he felt something invisible slide past him, it was Harry.
"Good luck." He whispered as he stepped into the common room. All Harry had said was that he needed to get somewhere to figure out what the Golden Egg meant, so Ron eager to help him after being a complete git before the first task when Hermione had been helping him, agreed to help Harry get out of the common room.
Smiling slightly he walked across the room, looking for Hermione. It wasn't very crowded, probably because everyone had been studying earlier that evening, and most went to sleep early to avoid Hermione's off hand remarks about how they should have studied all this stuff way before now.
Speaking of Hermione, she wasn't anywhere in the common room. His smile fadded slightly as he wondered where she could have gone at nine thirty at night. He walked over to the bottom of the girls stair case. He called her name a few times, and no one answered. So he called Ginny.
"Ginny!" He yelled, thinking that she couldn't possibly be asleep.
"Gin...ny..." He half yelled. He had stopped yelling when the door had opened and a very disgruntled looking Ginny came staggering out. Apparently she had been asleep.
"What...do...you...want?" She growled minacingly.
Ron was afraid to answer, but dicided that the damage was already done and he mind as well ask his question.
"Er...do you know where Hermione is?" He asked polietly, trying to sound nice, so that she wouldn't kill him. Ginny poked her head behind the door for a second then brought it back slowly.
"No...she's not in here..." She said sounding a little more awake. Ron sighed a bit before speaking.
"Ok, thanks Gin...sorry about waking you up..." He said turning around and walking back torwards the portrait hole, he heard the girls dormitory door close a little harder than nessicary.
He crawled through the whole and quietly walked down the first few stair cases in silience, every once in a while looking around the floor that he was on, not really expecting her to be there.
He had a pretty good idea where Hermione would be...the library.
After a few minutes, he reached the bottom stair case and was walking near the Great Hall, it was dark, with only a few candles giving off light, but it wasn't as quiet as he thought it would be. There was noise coming from inside the Great Hall. Thinking that maybe Hermione had gone there, Ron made his way over to it, the doors were closed so he cracked them open a bit and looked inside.
Hermione wasn't there, but there was about six professors, including Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Hagrid, Dumbledore, and a few teachers he only reconized from seeing them around the castle. They were sitting around the staff table and talking, Hagrid was laughing and Professor Sprout was doing an imatation of a girl in her class who got bitten by a mandrake. Not finding this interesting enough, Ron eased the door closed and continued walking, making his way to the library.
Once he was out of ear shot the halls were earily quiet, his foot steps seemed to echo three times louder than normal as he crossed the many suits of armors lining the walls. He was careful not touch any of them, because they had been known to burst out into song at very inapropriate moments. Walking extremely slow his sences seemed to be working over time, picking up every little sound, as he listened for any sign of Hermione.
Then all of a sudden there was a small meow from somewhere to Ron's right, making him pause. Dreading what had made the noise, he turned his head torwards the sound. Just as he had expected Ms. Norris was padding his way, her paws not making any sound at all as they hit the stone floor.
Oh, this is not good. Ron thought to himself. Whereever that bloody cat is, Filch is right behind her...
True to tradition, the next thing Ron heard was Filch's growling voice echoing from around the corner.
"See anything my sweet?" He asked the cat. His voice was getting closer, and Ron could hear him weezing as he was about to round the corner.
Panicing Ron frantically looked around for somewhere to hind. He tried every door on the hallway, and was almost out of choices. The last door that he hadn't checked was the Transfiguration class room, praying that it was unlocked he gently pushed it open, and hearing a tiny click as the door creeked inward, he gave a sigh of relief.
Stepping inside he closed the door silienty, and pressed his ear against the door to listen for Filch, as he turned his head to the side though, he realized that he wasn't the only one in the room. He had found who he was looking for.
Hermione was standing in the corner of the Transfiguration class room, and she wasn't alone. Ron's stamache gave an involuntary lurch when he saw who she was with. Viktor Krum was standing in front of her, blocking Ron from view, they looked like they were in deep conversation.
Before either one of them saw him, Ron dunked behind the black board that was convienantly placed right beside the door.
He tilted his head to the side enough to see Hermione smiling up at Krum's rough and ugly face. He had his hand on her shoulder and was towering over her, due to his hight. Hermione being so much shorter, had settled for putting her hand on his chest that Ron knew must be well toned from all his quidditch playing.
She looked so happy, just standing there listening to the git talk. Ron couldn't really hear anything specific, but every once in a while he heard him say Hermio-ninny" and then saw the way she practically melted when she heard it. Ron knew that he said her name about one hundred times a day, and not once did she look at him that way.
I saw you there last night
Standing in the dark
You were acting so in love
With your hand upon his heart
But you were just friends
At least thats what you said...
Minutes went by before Hermione or Krum moved, they just kept talking. Ron was getting highly uncomfortable watching Hermione flirt with someone Ron hated for being someone he wasn't...someone that Hermione was interested in.
Had it been Ron's imagination for the past four years, when he had thought that his attraction to Hermione had gone both ways? Had he imagined Hermione's shyness when it came to doing anything alone with him? It looked as though it had been.
He turned his head back over to the two of them, he had had it turned away trying to perhalps ignore them, but it just made it worse, knowing that they were there. What he saw was worse than anything he had ever layed eyes on.
Hermione and Krum were kissing, flat out kissing, in fact in Ron's book they were down right snogging. Krum was practically kneeling just so Hermione could reach his face, and he was running his fingers through her bushy hair, the same way Ron had always invisioned himself doing. Hermione wasn't quite as exasperated as Krum, but she wasn't doing anything to stop him.
Now I know better, from his fingers in your hair
I'll forgive you for what you've done
If you say that I'm the one.
Having enough of this, and not careing if they saw him or not Ron burst from his hiding place and ran stumbling out the door. He heard Hermione squel, and then one of them said his name, but he was to far from the room now to hear. As he rounded the corner, to his shock he heard a door slam, and foot steps running in his direction. He took a chance and looked behind him. Hermione was running full speed torward him. But that didn't matter, he knew tha he could out run her, all he needed was a place to run. Then it came to him, or rather...he came to it.
The oak front doors loomed closer as he bolted for them. There was no way Hermione would follow him outside on a night like this, it was freezing for one thing, and for another why leave Krum, the famous and rich quidditch player all alone in the class room, just to chase after Ron Weasley, the poor kid in hand-me-downs that always pushes her bottons?
Thankfully the doors weren't locked as he ran straight through them pushing his hands out to open them. His body erupted into goosebumps as the icey air met his exposed skin. The grass was wet and slipery as he ran across it, he slipped once and nearly twisted his ankle.
Limping slightly he continued as best he could to run torward the lake. He wanted to sit and think somewhere, and underneath that tree seemed like the perfect place. His breath was sharp and painful in his chest as he inhaled, he knew he'd probably get sick, if he wasn't already, from running around at night in Febuary.
Finally he reached the tree and plopped down on the wet grass, that imediately started soaking his robes. But he really didn't care, he was to busy wondering if he had done something to make Hermione think that he didn't want her.
He thought back to some of the fights they had had in the past. Sure some of them had been worse than others, but she knew that Ron didn't really mean all those things that he said...didn't she? And it's not like they stay'd mad at eachother, they always made up after a while. Meantally crossing the possibility of the reason being one of their fights, he started thinking about any girls that may have made her jealous.
The thought almost made him laugh.
Girls weren't exactly lining up to go out with him, but there was the Yule ball, with Padma, but Ron didn't really like Padma, he barely even knew her. She did seem a little weird about Ron's attraction to Fluer, but Fluer hardly even spoke to him. No, when it came down to it, there wasn't anyone else Ron wanted, he wanted Hermione.
I've had other options too
But all I want is you
Girl, your body fits me like a glove
And you showered me with words of love...
He layed back with his shoulders against the cold bark of the tree, and his leg spread out, he messaged his throbbing ankle, as he stared at the white clouds of breath that was flowing out of his mouth. He couldn't think of anything, not one stupid thing, that would make Hermione do this. And worst of all to do this with Vicky , the person that Harry was supossed to be going up against! The person that Hermione being Harry's bestfriend should hate.
He'd never be able to figure that girl out, he'd tried for four years, and he still couldn't understand her. He looked across the lake, at the sparkling water that reflected the moonlight. One of the squids long arms could be seen waving around out of the water. But Ron barely noticed, all he could think about was Hermoine.
"Why'd you do this Hermione?" He muttered to the picture of her in his head.
"I don't know..." Came a voice from his side. He jumped about a foot in the air, his hand imediately went for his wand, but then he saw that it was Hermione herself. She was sitting a few away from him, he didn't know how he hadn't seen her there.
"Merlin Hermione, you scared me." He said harshly.
"Sorry..." She murmered. She didn't look like herself, she looked like she wasn't feeling well. Which was confusing, concidering what she had been doing moments before.
They sat there in silience for a few minutes.
It wasn't that Ron didn't have anything to say to her, because he had plenty to say. But he wanted to be careful of what came out of his mouth, he had had way to much experience with not thinking before he spoke. He didn't want to say something he'd regret. He glanced over at Hermione, and saw that she was crying lightly. Ron hated it when she cried, and when this happened he'd usually try to comfort her, maybe say a joke, or change the subject. But not this time.
"Ron?" She asked tearfully.
"What?" He snapped, maybe a little coldly. Hermione winced and wiped her face with her sleeve. He didn't know why he was being so rude to her, because to tell the truth, he wasn't all that mad at her, he never had been able to stay cross with her.
"I...I'm sorry, I don't know how it happened.." She said lamely. Ron smirked, and looked over at her.
"Really? Well thats nice to know..." He said sarcastically. Sarcasim...nice one Ron... He thought to himself.
"No, you don't understand-" She started, but Ron cut her off.
"No I understand perfectly Hermione, I understand that you'd rather be with Krum, than with me. I understand that me loving you for four years apparently has nothing to do with the way that you pick who you want to be with..." He said a little calmer this time. Wait...did he just say what he thought he just said? Had he said that he loved her? Oh no... please say I imagined that...please... He begged to no one. Sure he had meant it, he knew the second he had said it that he did. But he didn't think that now was the right time to reveal that particualr piece of information to her.
"W-What?" She asked still crying softly, but now staring at him in awe.
"I said I love you, but it doesn't matter anyway...your with Krum..." He said sadly, he turned his head away from her. His brain was telling him to run, that if he stayed there he'd end up embarassing himself. But some other part of him was telling him to stay. He could hear Hermione move in the grass.
"I'm not with Viktor..." She said in a voice that was half sob half whisper.
"Oh yeah, because you snog guys all the time. Come on Hermione, I'm not stupid. You wouldn't have been kissing him if you didn't feel something for him." Ron said picking at blades of grass, trying to distract himself from the topic of conversation.
It wasn't working, any second now he was going to look at her, and once that happened, he wasn't sure whether he'd hit her, or kiss her. Both options seemed appealing at this point.
"Ron...theres nothing worth anything between Viktor and me, I was just talking to him about...about you..." She said letting her words fade off.
"About me? What were you doing talking about me with him ?" He asked finally looking at her. Her words distracted him from anything he might have otherwise done.
"Well ever since we started spending time together, I've been talking to him about things...things like how I feel about you...he...he...told me that if you didn't feel the same then I should stop thinking about you...and be with someone that feels the same way about me as I do about them...thats what we were talking about tonight...He was talking about how he really liked me, and how beautiful he thought I was....and he leaned in and kissed me...it just happened. I didn't ask him to, but I guess I didn't say not to either..." She said. She had finally stopped crying and was kind of mumbling, but Ron was taking in every word she said.
So, she thought that Ron didn't think all of those things just because he never admited them to her?
That was stupid, of course he thought all of those things, probably way more than Krum did.
He had to say something, now, because he didn't like the way she looked when she started talking about what Krum had told her.
While you were just friends
At least thats what you said
Now I know better from his fingers in your hair
I'll forgive you for what you've done
If you say that I'm the one
It's not my style to lay it on the line
But you don't leave me with a choice this time.
Without thinking, Ron opened his mouth and said everything that had been on his mind. He told her about liking her for the last four years, and loving her now. He told her about how jealous it made him, whenever he saw her with Krum, and how much he hated Krum for being the one that she talked to.
"...and then seeing you with him tonight, I don't know, it just made something in me snap. I want to be with you Hermione, I want Krum out of the picture." He finished and sighed. He had to admit, it felt good to tell her all of this.
They had danced around it for four years, and everything was finally out in the open. Hermione had been quiet through the whole conversation, and looked like she was going to cry again.
"I'm so sorry Ron...I feel all of that too, I...I love you. Not Viktor, he was just...well...there...you know? It didn't mean anything. I was just feeling bad about myself, when no one would ask me to the ball...and then he asked me...well anyway, you don't have anything to worry about..." She said smiling slightly as a few more tears leaked from her eyes. She pushed a few stray hairs out of her face, and scooted closer to Ron.
Why weren't you true
You know I, I trusted you
When you were just friends
At least thats what you said
Now I know better from his fingers in your hair
I'll forgive you for what you've done
If you say that I'm the one.
There weren't words to expess how it felt to have Hermione say that to him. Those words were enough to make any negative feelings torward Hermione, and anything that happened that night evaporate.
All he felt now was an overpowering need to be closer to her. He filled in the gap between them and wrapped and arm around her shoulders.
I'll forgive you for what you've done
If you say that I'm the one...
She leaned her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes. Hugging her tightly he kissed the top of her head.
"I am really sorry Ron..." She whispered, looking up at his face. She looked so peaceful sitting there, with the moonlight making her face literally glow. He smiled at her, he didn't know why she kept apologizing, he had forgiven her the second she had started talking to him.
I'll forgive you for what you've done
If you say that I'm the one...
"I know.." He muttered, looking her in the eye, hoping that this time he could get his point across. Apparently he had because she didn't say anything else she just settle back down into his arms, and they sat there for what seemed like hours.
I'll forgive you for what you've done
If you say that Im the one...
In Ron's opinion, at that moment, his life was perfect, there wasn't a single thing that anyone could give him that could make things any better. He only wished they had admited everything earlier. He didn't quite know where they were going with this, but he didn't much care. After a while Hermione looked back up at him. She studied his face for a while before speaking.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked arching her eye brows they way she always did when she wanted an answer. He laughed and kissed her on the lips quickly.
"I was thinking that I'm definately in love." He said simply.
I'll forgive you...