Disclaimer: Clearly, I don't own anything. Harry Potter goes to JKR, and the lyrics belong to Michelle Branch, from her song Drop in the Ocean.
****
Love took me by the hand
Love took me by surprise
Love led me to you
And love opened up my eyes
****
“Harry, mate? Can I talk to you for a second?”
Ron’s uncertain voice broke the night silence. Mrs. Weasley had just sent them up to bed for a good night’s sleep after a busy day of preparing for the wedding, and they had been only too happy to oblige. They had been running around the house, fetching things from here, giving their opinions on that, charming this to do that…needless to say, it had been exhausting.
Harry, who had already settled himself comfortably under the covers, stifled a yawn. He blinked once or twice, and said, in a tired voice, “Can’t it wait till morning, Ron? I’m dead beat…”
He could make out the outline of Ron’s face as he shook his head vigorously, “No. I need to talk to you now. Otherwise I swear I won’t be able to sleep again.”
That did the trick. The mere memory of Ron waking him at three in the morning for a random game of Exploding Snap was enough to make Harry feel wide awake. He groaned, sat up wearily, and looked at Ron expectantly, “Okay, fine. What is it?” he asked, rather irritably.
Ron seemed to hesitate before speaking, which made Harry feel just a bit more annoyed. His momentary annoyance, however, was replaced with curiosity as his friend mumbled, “It’s kind of…about Hermione…”
He could vaguely make out what was coming next…Ron was probably going to tell him that he and Hermione had gotten together finally, and that he was sorry for not saying anything sooner. Harry felt his insides churn angrily, yet he wasn’t quite sure if this was because of them not telling him until now, or because they had gotten together.
“What about Hermione?” he snapped, for Ron had suddenly fallen silent again.
“Well…it’s like this…” said Ron, clearing his throat, “I’ve, uh…fancied her for a while…not sure if you’ve noticed?”
Harry snorted, “Hard not to,” he said, chuckling.
“Err…right then. Well, I’m not sure if she fancies me and I…well, I could use some help…”
Harry was rather taken aback, “You want me to give you advice? On Hermione? A…a girl?” It seemed rather odd to refer to Hermione as a girl, somehow. He’d always managed to see her as his friend, the one who always stood by him, and helped him, and not really as a…woman per se. He was suddenly entranced by a mental picture of her, and found himself noticing things about her that he could have sworn weren’t there before. The way she licked her lips from time to time as she spoke…and the way she walked, her hips moving slightly from side to side…
“Y-yeah. I guess,” Ron said, “You and her…you talk a lot, don’t you? You get along great. You must know…something.”
Harry shrugged, racking his brain for something that could help, “Well, you should be nicer to her. She hates it when you two argue and you say stupid things to her,” he said finally.
“I figured,” Ron mumbled sheepishly.
Another thought occurred to him, “And you should probably apologize for the whole…Lavender thing. She was really upset about that. Probably thought you could do better than her.”
“Okay…”
“Don’t be overly romantic,” Harry said, now deeply immersed in the subject of Hermione, “I don’t think she’s the type for that sort of stuff. Listen to her when she talks…she gets really annoyed when you don’t. And just…just try to be more considerate, Ron…”
“Mate, I swear I try…but it’s just that…I dunno, I get all funny around her. Angry all the time,” Ron said hoarsely, “Maybe this is all messed up…maybe it shouldn’t be Hermione and me.”
“McLaggen and Hermione, then?” Harry said, raising an eyebrow, “Don’t be thick. You just have to give it your best.”
“Yeah, well. Sometimes I think I shouldn’t even try.”
Harry shook his head, ready to object, when he noted an odd feeling surfacing inside him. It was hard to place, but as he contemplated Ron’s words, he found himself thinking that it would be best if Ron didn’t bother. As if he were seeing someone else’s thoughts, he heard things he would have never said, or even thought of. Things such as ‘Hermione deserves someone more like her’ and ‘Ron doesn’t appreciate her like he should.”
Bewildered, and slightly worried, he cleared his throat and said, “Yes, you should, Ron. Hermione…she’s worth it.”
Ron looked up at him, and, although he couldn’t discern his expression in the dark, something told Harry that he was frowning. It was a while before his friend spoke again, and when he did, it had a slightly different tone than before. More sure, determined. He sounded like he was grinning, even.
“Yeah…yeah, I will try,” he said, “Thanks, Harry.”
Harry smiled, “Anytime, mate. Now, can we just go to sleep?”
Ron laughed, “Yeah, okay, then.”
***
Harry dreamt of Hermione that night. She was standing at the edge of the lake, in a fine, white dress. She was looking at him, smiling, beckoning him towards her. He began walking as fast as he could, but he seemed to take ages to reach her. Then, out of nowhere, Ron appeared beside her. He pointed at him, whispered something in her ear, and they both laughed. Hermione looked back at him, shook her head, still smiling, and cried, “Come on, Harry! I’m right here…I’m waiting.
“I’m waiting for you, Harry!”
And as he reached her, he found himself feeling oddly angry towards Ron…jealous, perhaps? But then Ron vanished, and he was free to hold Hermione in his arms and lean forward…
Her lips were so close…
“Oy, Harry!”
The image of Hermione was suddenly gone from his mind. He opened his eyes, blinked in the sunlight, and shut them again.
“Time to wake up, come on. Mum made us all breakfast.”
The door suddenly opened, and another voice spoke, “He still isn’t up? Well, come on then, Harry. We have a busy day ahead, you know.”
Harry opened his eyes again and sat up, looking at the bushy-haired girl that was now standing in the doorway, smiling at him. To anyone else, she would have looked the same as ever, but Ron’s conversation seemed to have changed everything in terms of Hermione in Harry’s mind. This time, he looked at her for longer than he usually did, careful to take in every single detail of her appearance.
“You…you’re beautiful.”
The words came out in a voice barely above a whisper, in a strange sort of tangle. His friends frowned, looking slightly amused, while he felt taken aback. What was he saying? What was going on in his mind? When had he suddenly started noticing all these things about Hermione? For, oddly enough, as he said this aloud, he felt as if he had unconsciously been considering it for ages in his mind.
“What did you say?” Ron asked, frowning.
Harry looked at him, still in shock at his own daring, and quickly mumbled, “I just…I’m hungry.”
This seemed to please Ron. Laughing, he said, “Oh. Well, good, ‘cause there’s loads of food downstairs. Hurry up and get dressed, will you?”
As he slid off the bed, Harry caught Hermione’s eye. She was looking at him with a mildly interested expression, smiling slightly. When she saw that he was looking at her, she cleared her throat slightly, and said, “We’ll wait for you downstairs, then. Come on, Ron.”
“You go ahead. I…want to change my socks.”
Hermione raised an eyebrow, opening her mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it. Shrugging, she left the room. Ron turned to Harry excitedly, grinning, “We talked this morning,” he said simply.
Harry nodded, not really interested, “What about?”
“The wedding...and…stuff.”
‘Stuff’ probably meant ‘you’. Harry tried to ignore this, “And…did you listen to her?”
Ron hesitated, as if he was considering what to say, “Most of it, yeah.”
“Good, then. You keep doing that,” Harry said, pulling on a clean T-shirt.
“I will,” Ron said in what Harry thought was an overly happy voice. From what he had seen, Hermione didn’t seem to be acting any different towards Ron. But still, maybe he was just sleepy. Maybe there had been something different about her behavior.
When Harry finished changing, they went downstairs, Ron talking non-stop about how he thought he could really pull things off if he did things right. Harry just nodded, looking happy for him, his mind elsewhere.
As they reached the kitchen, Ron walked around the table to sit next to Hermione, placing his hand on her shoulder as he sat down. Hermione glanced at him for a moment, before bidding them ‘Good morning’ properly and returning to her food. Harry just watched them, feeling a strange sort of lump in his throat. He suddenly felt rather annoyed. The mere thought of Ron touching Hermione’s shoulder again made him feel burning with anger.
“Good morning,” said a cheery voice to his right. Ginny had just come into the kitchen, smiling, and sat down beside him. Very close to him, actually…he could feel his arm touching hers.
But he barely noticed. Seeing Ginny had reminded him of something else...
He remembered the day he had seen her snogging Dean in that corridor. Hadn’t he felt something extremely similar to what he was feeling now? Back then, he had classified it as a ‘protective brotherly feeling’, but hadn’t he realized, later on, that it had been jealousy?
But…he couldn’t feel jealous…this was Hermione…
He was distracted from his thoughts by a loud clattering. He looked up, finding Hermione looking slightly confused, her fork out of her grasp and on the plate. It didn’t take long to see why. Ron had his arm around her, apparently oblivious to her reaction.
Then there was that annoyed feeling again…why did he react like this? Hermione was his friend, nothing more.
Wasn’t she?
“Well, then,” Hermione said suddenly, “I think I’m going to help Mrs. Weasley out in the garden. Those decorations are rather tricky to get ready.”
Ron nodded, “Yeah, me too.”
And they left, Hermione looking rather put-off. Ginny turned to look at Harry, her smile gone, “Harry, I’ll just…I want to ask you something.”
Harry felt rather apprehensive. What he would give for someone to interrupt them now…he couldn’t explain why, but after he’d come back from Godric’s Hollow with Ron and Hermione, he felt extremely different around her. There were no flip-flops in his stomach, or any giddy feelings. Just…normality.
“Err…yeah, go ahead,” he mumbled, pulling away just a bit.
“Do you think you fancy Hermione?”
He choked on his food. Coughing, he sputtered, “What?”
“Would you say that you think she’s beautiful? Do you feel more comfortable around her than with any other girl?”
“Why are you asking me this?”
“Stop avoiding the question, Harry,” Ginny said, the barest hint of a smile on her lips, “Just answer it.”
“Well, I don’t know!” Harry said indignantly, “I haven’t ever really considered it…”
“But what about my other questions?”
“Well…” Harry said, thinking, “Yeah…I guess so,” he muttered. The words seemed to come out from deep inside him, and he felt surprised to hear them himself.
Ginny looked satisfied, “Good,” she said, smiling brightly, “Then you’d better do something about dear Ronniekins, shouldn’t you?” With that, she was already up and out of the room, heading for the garden. Harry looked at her retreating figure, feeling his bewilderment deepen.
What the heck was all that about?
He got up, fully intending to follow her, when he heard Hermione’s voice in loud, outraged tones, speaking from the garden.
“…how DARE you, Ronald Weasley! You”get AWAY FROM ME! Disgusting! I should have expected this, after Lavender…but YOU, of all people…”
She continued to rant on angrily, her voice getting steadily closer to where Harry was. Ron followed her, looking only slightly upset. As she neared Harry, she only spared him half a glance, before trudging up the stairs to her room. A loud thud was heard, and they knew she had locked herself in her room.
Harry looked back at Ron, “What did you do?” he demanded, the words coming out angrier than he intended.
Ron seemed to attempt looking guilty, managing something that looked like a grin being poorly concealed, “I…well I…tried to snog her.”
It took a while for the impact of these words to settle…
“You did what?” Harry asked, his voice low and menacing. He seemed to forget, if just for a moment, that he was speaking to his friend.
“Well…I…I kissed her and I…tried to”“
“Are you bloody insane, Ron?” Harry hissed, giving him an incredulous look, “You barely just started to listen to her, and you’re trying to get her to make out with you? What’s wrong with you?”
Ron hung his head, looking at the floor. He was silent for a moment, before saying, “I’m sorry, mate…I shouldn’t have…”
“You’d better go and try talking to her.”
Ron looked back at him, “Are you mad? She’ll kill me, she will! You go talk to her for me! Put in a good word…”
Harry shook his head, “I’m not going to interfere in this”“
“Please Harry…she’ll listen to you…you’ve got that”that thing…”
Harry felt a momentary curiosity cloud his anger at Ron. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “What thing?”
“You know,” Ron said, shrugging, “That thing…you…you understand her. You get along with her.”
Harry rolled his eyes, saying coldly, “It’s not that hard. Just stop trying to snog her like that.”
“Harry…come on…”
Ron’s shoulders slumped, and he looked back at the floor, a dejected look on his face. Harry noted that his ears were quite red, too. And then, as fast as the anger had come, it dissolved into pity for his friend. Maybe he really was more clueless than he was when it came to girls than Harry was.
“Well…I’ll try, Ron, but don’t expect anything.”
Ron looked back up at him, grinning widely, “Thanks, mate! Honestly, I have a good feeling about this.”
“Lucky you, then,” Harry muttered, turning and making his way up the staircase. He reached the door to Hermione’s room and knocked. No answer. He knocked again, calling her name. Still no answer.
Bracing himself for the outburst that was sure to come from her, he Apparated to her room.
“Harry!” came her shocked voice. She was sitting on her bed, a book open on her lap, though he was sure she hadn’t been reading it. Her eyes were wide, slightly angered, but mostly taken aback, “I could have been changing, you know!”
Pushing away an image that most certainly shouldn’t be on his mind right now, Harry shrugged, “Somehow, I didn’t think you would be changing,” he said simply, “Not after that.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into Ron,” she said abruptly, shaking her head, “I mean, it’s…okay…I guess, that he kissed me, but…he should have left it at that! He’s been acting so odd, lately.”
“Yeah…been talking with Ginny and the twins a lot, hasn’t he?” Harry said, only realizing this now.
“Yes…and today he actually listened when we talked…I don’t think he’s ever done that…”
Harry snorted, “C’mon…he isn’t that bad…” he said, remembering why he was here in the first place, “I think he’s just nervous.”
Hermione raised an eyebrow, “Well, honestly...I don’t know if I want to put up with that any longer. I’m not sure I even fancy him…or if I even did,” she added, frowning.
Harry remained silent, not quite knowing how to answer to that.
“Ginny talked to me last night, too. About you,” she said, “No, not like that,” she added, seeing the look on Harry’s face, “I mean…she asked me what my feelings for you were. Asked if I fancied you.”
The words were out of his mouth before he could even consider them, “And what did you say?”
Hermione looked back at him, a rather shocked look on her face, “I”well…I told her I didn’t know,” she said truthfully, her cheeks taking on a pink sort of tinge.
“She asked me the same thing about you today,” Harry said, beginning to sort out things in his head. He connected two and two, and most things seemed to fit…Ginny asking both of them the same thing, Ron making Hermione think he was a complete prat, all their private talks for the past few days…
“Did she?” Hermione asked, frowning, “Well, then, that’s odd. What is she up to?”
“I think…” Harry said, weighing his words carefully, “That they’re…trying to get us together.”
Hermione’s eyes shot up to meet hi sharply, “As in…together? Oh, Harry please…I doubt Ginny would do that. She’s always fancied you. And Ron…well he might, but…”
“That would explain his stupid behavior, don’t you think?”
Her voice was soft as she spoke again, “But it’s just…silly. You and I…we’re just friends…”
Her words hung in the air between the. For some reason, Harry felt his heart plummet at her words. He felt as if the world was crashing down on him, as if everything was going wrong…
And then he knew.
He knew why he had been jealous, why he’d had that dream, why he was feeling like this…he knew that, for some strange reason, seeing Ron with Hermione like that had awakened him to his feelings for her. He knew that those feelings hadn’t just appeared out of nowhere…somehow, he knew that he had always felt this way.
“Do you think so?”
Hermione looked back at him again, her eyes soft and slightly wide, “What are you saying, Harry?” she asked sharply.
Harry hesitated before speaking. Was he doing the right thing? Was he seeing things where there wasn’t anything? Maybe Ron really did fancy Hermione, and Ginny really was just annoyingly curious…maybe he was just desperate. Maybe he didn’t fancy Hermione…maybe he just wanted someone to replace all of those that he had lost…Dumbledore, Sirius, his parents…
But maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was seeing clearly.
Hermione was worth taking the risk.
“I’m saying…that…maybe I want to be more than friends.”
He could have sworn he was hearing his heart pounding in his chest. That he could hear her heart pounding, as her brain processed his words fully. He could have sworn he saw a flicker of hopefulness cross her eyes…
That he saw her mouth curl into a smile…
And that she was coming closer…so very much closer to him…closing the distance.
Her lips grazed against his gently, soft as ever. Her hand was on his shoulder, while his hands were limp at his side from shock. When she pulled back, he could definitely see a hint of mischievousness in her brown eyes, grinning back at him.
“Maybe I agree.”
And then the door slammed open. There was a blur of red as Fred, George, Bill, Ron, and Ginny came flooding into the room, followed closely by Fleur and Mrs. Weasley. They all beamed at the stunned pair.
“For a second there I thought this wasn’t going to work,” Ginny said, “You two are really stubborn, you know?”
They all laughed. Harry and Hermione stood there, transfixed, staring at them in shock, too taken aback to realize that they were still standing extremely close to each other.
“Well, then, I’d say this turned out excellently,” Fred remarked, shaking George’s hand and holding out a hand to Ron, “Good job, Ronniekins.”
Ron frowned, before taking his hand, and shaking it enthusiastically, “I’d say we did, Gred,” he said brightly, releasing his brother’s hand and seizing Ginny’s, shaking it jubilantly, “Excellent, right, Ginny?”
Finally, Hermione seemed to realize that she was still holding Harry. Turning beet red, she jumped away from him, looking down at the floor. Harry, however, stared straight at the Weasleys, hardly able to hold back an embarrassed, though triumphant, grin.
“How long have you two been planning this?”
“Oh, ages. Since before we left for Godric’s Hollow,” Ron said, waving his hand dismissively, “Gin and I got into talking…she was really upset about, you know…you and her…” there was an awkward pause in which Harry looked at Ginny guiltily, feeling bad for hurting her feelings, but knowing that it had been for the best, “And, well, after a while, we kind of figured that you and Hermione had…a thing that she and I didn’t have, and that you and Ginny didn’t have…”
“It took a while for me to accept it,” Ginny said quietly, “I hated that you were better off with someone else…but eventually, I saw the truth. Ron had already begun talking with Fred and George, you know, and I just joined in on the whole thing.”
“And that’s how we got here,” Ron said.
“Ron’s interest in Hermione would make those feelings you’ve obviously been keeping to yourself fire up, mate, and then you’d pretty much do the rest,” Fred said brightly.
“At least, that’s what these two said. We had a backup plan, just in case,” said George, patting his pocket.
“New potion we’ve been working on. But, since we didn’t have to use it, it’s still top-secret. Won’t hit the shelves till”“
“”December or so. We can take pre-orders, though.”
Mrs. Weasley gave the twins a dark look, but held back whatever comment she had in mind. Harry, however, barely heard them. He was still worried…
“But…don’t you…I mean, doesn’t this bother you?” he asked Ginny uncertainly.
“It did…at the start…but I told you, I understand now. Really, Harry, I’m fine. You and Hermione…you’re just right for each other. I can take it,” she said, smiling weakly.
Harry didn’t know what to say. He was happy, yes, ecstatic, even, but this all seemed so surreal. He couldn’t believe that Hermione fancied him, that he’d always fancied her without being conscious to his feelings, and that the Weasleys had figured it out before they had. It was…incredible.
“Well then,” Mrs. Weasley said, beaming, “Congratulations, dears! Oh, this is just wonderful!” she gushed, enveloping them in a hug each, “Really, I’m very happy for you two. You deserve this.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Weasley.”
After a few more minutes of conversation and random congratulations from everyone, they all started filing out from the room, heading back for the garden. Harry and Hermione held back, until they were the last ones in the room.
Harry turned to Hermione, gave her a fleeting smile, and said, “Weird, isn’t it?”
She returned his smile with one of her own, “Very. But it feels right. I’m really glad this happened, Harry.”
“Yeah,” Harry said truthfully, taking her hand and leading her out the door, “It’s unbelievable…”
They walked down the stairs, hand in hand, seeing the world as such a different place. They forgot, for a few blissful moments, about everything else…all they had to do, all they had to worry about…
A thought suddenly occurred to Harry. A horrible, slightly sickening thought…
“Hermione,” he said hoarsely, feeling his throat rather dry, “Did Ron really…err…kiss you?”
Hermione gave him a look, raising an eyebrow, before laughing softly, “Yes, he did. But does it matter? It was all to get us together, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah…I guess…” Harry said absentmindedly, scanning the kitchen for Ron. When he didn’t see him, he pulled Hermione out towards the gardens, ignoring her protests and questions. He was able to make out the top of Ron’s head in the distance, and moved towards it.
“Ron…I need to talk to you. Err…now.”
Hermione rolled her eyes. Boys will be boys.
”FIN”