Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and if you think I did, you'd be the stupidest person I've ever met, and that includes my brother, who would eat a Galleon because it looked like a chocolate coin.
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Hermione lay on her four-poster bed, tossing and turning, trying with increasing desparation to get Ron out of her head. She stared at the ceiling of her bed, wondering if Ron was awake yet. Wondering if he would be okay. No matter what Madam Pomfrey had said, Hermione was sure she wouldn't be okay until she saw Ron, grinning at her as he always did.
But she couldn't help feeling guilty. She let jealously take control of her in the past several months. Ron could go out with whomever he wanted, no matter how bad Hermione's heart ached when she saw him and Lavender together.
Hermione loved Ron so very much, but he was too thick to notice. Harry, of course, saw through her lies and knew it too. She turned on her side, and tried to relive the days' horrible events.
Ron had been poisoned. By what, or whom, she didn't know, but that wasn't important. The point was, Ron almost died. She blinked hard and tried desparately to get to sleep. But thoughts of Ron clouded her brain, stopping her from doing anything but feeling guilty and ashamed.
Finally, she sat up and got out of bed. It was obvious she wasn't going to be able to sleep until she saw Ron okay. Quietly, she tiptoed out of the dormitory and through the empty common room. Hermione sneaked up the stairs into Harry's dormitory, careful not to wake any of the other sleeping boys up.
"Harry?" Hermione whispered.
Harry sat bolt upright as though she had thrown cold water on him. He grabbed his wand and glasses from the side table to said quietly, "Who's there?"
"Harry, it's me," Hermione muttered.
"Oh," he said, cleary at a lost for why she was there, "er... why are you here?"
"I need to borrow the Invisibility Cloak. I have something I have to take care of," Hermione said quickly.
"Sure, but next time, you don't have to wake me up," Harry said, and slumped back onto his pillow.
She reached into his truck and extracted the Cloak. As she turned to leave he added, "Hey, 'Mione?"
Hermione turned around to look at Harry. "Make sure you tell Ron I said 'hi'," he said with a slight smirk.
Hermione blushed, pulled the Cloak over her head, and left the dormitory.
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Ron was sitting in Potions class, but no one besides Hermione was there. She was busy making her potion, ignoring Ron completely. Ron tried to get her attention, but there was a sort of invisible barrier between them. He kicked it, screamed through it and shot curses at it, but neither the barrier nor Hermione moved.
Suddenly, a tall figure was walked toward them. It was a wierd sort of combination of Cormac McLaggen and Viktor Krum. It walked with a sort of duck-footed swagger. It had Cormac's wiry hair and Krum's hooked nose. Ron could think of many names for this creature, most of which are very mean, so he decided to call this thing Cormac Krum.
Hermione grinned happily when she saw him approaching. She should up to meet him and allowed him to pull her into a vigorous snog.
Ron roared in rage and frustration. He shouted hex after hex at the barrier, hoping every time that it would break so he could kill the Cormac Krum. He finally bellowed "REDUCTO!" and charged at the barrier at the same time, causing it to shatter into a thousand pieces.
He flew at Cormac Krum, shouting out every jinx, curse, and hex he could think of. The Cormac Krum respnded by yelling out defensive spells, protecting himself and Hermione. When Ron drew breath, Cormac Krum used a curse that threw him against the wall of the dungeon. Hermione smiled up at the Cormac Krum and kissed him passionately. Then she walked angrily toward Ron, who was trying to stand up and run at Cormac Krum.
"Why don't you go back to Lavender, Ron? She loves you, and you love her! I love Cormac Krum, and he loves me! If you leave us alone, we can all be happy!"
"No, Hermione! I won't be happy! I don't love Lavender! I love you!" Ron said, balling up his fists in anger. "Please, I'm so sorry!"
"You're too late Ron!" Hermione said, as she took Cormac Krum's hand and walked out of the dugeon. Ron sat on the floor, brokenhearted and angrier than he ever felt in his life.
"NOOO!" Ron bellowed, and he shot upright and looked around in comfusion. He breathed a sigh of relief. It had all been a dream.
The door of the hospital wing opened, and Ron fell back into his pillow, petending to be asleep.
He heard the swishing of a cloak and looked at where the noise came from.
It was Hermione, clutching Harry's Invisibility Cloak in one hand and a book in another. Why she was here, he had no idea.
She grabbed a chair from the other side of the hospital wing and dragged it quietly back to Ron's bed. Hermione didn't like the idea of Madam Pomfrey discovering her in the hospital wing at three in the morning.
Hermione looked down at Ron's sleeping form, and felt tears well up in her eyes. She knew it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't help feeling guilty for Ron's fate.
"Oh, Ron," she said quietly. "I'm so sorry. I wanted to talk to you, but I felt so jealous, seeing you with Lavender."
Ron's brain exploded at this statement. Why would Hermione feel jealous of him and Lavender? Did that mean she loved him, and not Cormac Krum? His heart lept happily at the very idea.
"I hated seeing you snog her, because...because..." Hermione paused. Although she was sure Ron couldn't hear her, she wasn't sure how to exactely put how she felt. Then an idea popped in her head.
"Remember our first Potions lesson with Slughorn? When we looked at the Amortentia? I said I could smell freshly mown grass and new parchement? Well, those were only two of the smells. I didn't say the last one."
Ron held his breath. Could her last Amortentia smell possibly be...?
Hermione leaned closer and whispered in Ron's ear, "I smelled you, Ron. I really love you. That's why I was so jealous. I've loved you ever since you saved me from the troll in first year."
If Ron's brain exploded before, it was nothing compared to this. Hermione Granger, the smartest and prettiest witch in the year, loved him, the poor stupid Ronald Weasley?
She stood up and turned to leave. Ron knew this was his chance. He had to seize it now, or he might never have another.
"Hermione!" he called.
Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin in fright. She turned around, her wand raised, and said in a shaky voice, "R-Ron?"
"Yeah, it's me, 'Mione," Ron said, and Hermione put her wand back in her pocket.
"When did you wake up? And, wait," Hermione added, a sudden thought terrifying her, "how much did you hear?"
"I woke up just before you came in. And I heard everything," Ron said sheepishly.
Hermione eyes widened in shock and fear. Now their friendship would be ruined.
"I-I'm sorry, Ron," Hermione said, trying to hold back her tears.
She turned to leave. Ron grabbed her hand.
"Wait," He said, and she looked at him, "don't you want to hear my Amortentia smells?"
She gave him a quizzical look and sat back down. Ron took a deep breath and said, "Well, my first smell is the Christmas feast."
Hermione witheld her snort with difficulty. Typical Ron, being attracted to food.
"My second smell," Ron continued, "is this set of Chudley Cannons robes I saw at the Quality Quidditch Shop."
Hermione couldn't refrain herself from rolling her eyes. Ron smiled and said, "Well, it's better than new parchment." He cleared his throat to stop Hermione's retort, and she fell silent.
"Anyway, My last smell, is...er...you."
Hermione shook herself in disbelief. Ron, the man she loved, loved her in return?
"I love you, too, 'Mione. I'm not sure when I started to, probably in second year. That's why I hated seeing you with Cormac Krum."
"Who?"
"Er...I meant McLaggen and Krum."
They both instictively moved closer. Their eyes flicked closed a second before their lips touched in a short, sweet kiss.
As Ron reluctantly pulled back, he said, "Madam Pomfrey will be angry if she sees you in here. You'd better leave. I don't want you to get in trouble on my account."
Hermione nodded and picked up the Invisibility Cloak. As she turned the handle of the hospital wing door, she added, "Ron," he looked over toward her, "Harry says 'hi'." She pulled the Cloak over herself and left the hospital wing.
The End
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