I'm a Loser

McGonagall's words ran through his head as he raced toward Charms - "She's a fine girl, Ron - smart and pretty, and not afraid to speak out for what she believes. Don't lose her, Ron, don't lose her." And he had to admit, she was right. Hermione was smart and pretty, and especially not afraid to speak out for what she believed. He was strongly reminded of their forth year and S.P.E.W. - he and Harry had kept calling it spew, which infuriated Hermione. He grinned at the memory. Ron raced up another flight of stairs and skidded to a halt in front of the Charms classroom, saying, "Sorry I was late, Professor, Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to me."
The whole class looked up from their notes. Professor Flitwick smiled at Ron and said, "Yes, of course, Ron, take a seat."

Relieved that he wasn't going to be punished, Ron sat down next to Parvati Patil, who giggled and poked Lavender Brown in the ribs. Ron rolled his eyes and took notes on the lesson. When Flitwick asked for an assistant, Hermione was chosen, of course.

"She's such a know-it-all," Parvati hissed to Lavender.

"Yeah, who does she think she is, writing to Viktor Krum daily?" Lavender whispered back, and they both glared at Hermione.

Ron felt his blood boil, but he said nothing - he was too busy thinking about what he would say to Hermione and Harry that evening. He knew that maybe if he could catch them by surprise, he could apologize and give an explanation...

"Mr. Weasley, are you listening?" Professor Flitwick said mildly.

Ron snapped out of his thoughts. "Yes, Professor," he said quickly.

"Good. Now, notice when I...."

Ron went back to thinking. I could corner them in the common room, late at night...or maybe I should...

He vaguely paid attention to the lesson (mostly a review of Banishing and Summoning Charms for their N.E.W.T.s) and when the bell rang, it took him a few minutes to realize that he was trying to stuff his text book into the smallest part of his bag. Shaking his head, he made his way down to lunch, filled with courage and determination.
Harry and Hermione were sitting across from each other, deep in conversation. Ron sidled up to Hermione, sitting down next to her. She gave him an angry glance and scooted down a few inches. Harry scowled and moved over on his bench also. Ron, who was not going to give up easily, moved closer to Hermione, too.

"What do you want?" Hermione demanded as Ron drew closer to her.

Ron took a deep breath and said, "I -"

"I think you should buzz off and quit trying to snog Hermione," Harry spat across the table - his eyes were filled with malice and anger.

Without another word, he and Hermione picked up their dishes and went over to sit by Ginny and her friends. Sighing, Ron knew that this would be no easy feat.

"Harry," Ron called, but Harry ignored him.

Ron gobbled down his chicken and hurried into the Entrance Hall, where he waited for Harry and Hermione to come out so he could talk to them. He leaned against the wall casually, checking his bag and making sure all his books were there. And then he caught a glimpse of them - coming out of the Great Hall, Harry laughing and Hermione talking animatedly to him.
Ron hurried over to them, saying, "Harry, Hermione -"

Hermione interrupted. "If you're going to say something more than 'er', 'Harry', 'Hermione', or 'I', hurry up with it. I don't want to be late for Care of Magical Creatures."

"If you'd just let me -" Ron began angrily, but Harry cut him off, saying, "If we'd just let you what? Snog Hermione?"

"No," Ron said so viciously that Hermione's eyebrows shot up.

Harry snorted and recovered quickly. "Then do you want to shag her? I wouldn't be surprised."
Deep down, Ron really wanted to snog and shag Hermione, but he wouldn't give Harry the satisfaction of knowing - at least right now. "NO!!!" Ron shouted, annoyed. "Don't you get it? I don't want to do anything to Hermione!! I just want to -"

"Rape her? Hurt her? Hex her? Remove her memory?" snarled Harry, pulling Hermione away from Ron and shielding her. "C'mon, spit it out, Weasley!" Harry's glasses were askew and his face was red and twisted in anger. He advanced on Ron, spit flying from his mouth - Ron was strongly reminded of the time his father and Percy had argued about loyalty to either Dumbledore or the Ministry. "WELL?!?" Harry demanded, his face barely two inches from Ron's.

Ron wiped the spit from his face, feeling his neck and ears reddening.

"Well, Harry, if you would just let -" he began furiously, but suddenly the bell rang.

Hermione grabbed Harry by his shoulders and gasped, "We're going to be late!"

"Okay, we'd better go," Harry said, and throwing a disgusted look at Ron, hurried outside to Care of Magical Creatures with Hermione close behind him.

Ron sighed, resigned. He'd have to work this out - he knew he could. He picked up his bag and hurried after the only two best friends he had, thinking hard.

After Care of Magical Creatures was a free period for Harry and Ron, which meant Arithmacy for Hermione. Ron followed Harry and Hermione at a close distance, so that he could hear their conversations.
"Hermione?" Harry said as they walked up the grassy slope to the castle.

"Yeah?" Hermione said, running a hand through her hair - Ron nearly wet himself because he absolutely loved the way she did that.

"Er...well..." Harry said, adjusting the shoulder strap on his bag and looking embarrassed, "I was wondering...because...you know, since you and Ron broke up..."
"Wondering what?" said Hermione sharply.

"If...if I could be your b-boyfriend," Harry finished weakly.

"What?!" Hermione screeched, and stopped so abruptly that Ron almost bumped into her. He pretended to tie his shoelace and he bent down, his brow furrowed, untying and re-tying his shoe very slowly and carefully.

"What?!" Hermione repeated. Ron sneaked a glance upward, and saw that her face was bright red and her eyes were wide with shock.

"Er...never mind that..." Harry said hastily, reddening himself.

"You...you...!" She lifted her hand and smacked Harry on the cheek, and ran up to the castle with tears in her eyes.

"Ouch!! Dang! I...er...wha...? What are...Ron...what's up...why...?" Harry said cluelessly, rubbing his cheek, then he turned around and saw Ron, who also reddened.
"I don't know, mate," said Ron cautiously, standing up. He gently took Harry's hand and pulled it away from his cheek - an angry red mark was forming, and when Ron touched it, Harry winced and hit Ron's hand away, exclaiming, "Ouch! That hurt! Geez, that woman hits hard!"

Then he must have remembered something, because his face fell and he started walking away from Ron, saying, "I shouldn't have said that. Now I bet you hate be for wanting to be Hermione's boyfriend."
"No!" Ron said, a little too loudly, for a flock of birds in a tree nearby suddenly took flight. "I mean, no," he added quietly.

"You don't?" Harry said, stopping in his tracks and narrowly avoiding a pile of pigeon dung.

"Why would I?" said Ron bitterly, falling into step beside Harry. "She'll never forgive me."
"What did you do?" Harry said, aghast, as they went through the great oak doors and up the marble staircase.

Ron shrugged. "I dunno...I said...never mind, it doesn't matter now, because..."
"Because what?" Harry persisted as they took a shortcut through a tapestry. They then exited the tapestry and hurried along the fourth floor corridor, heading for the Gryffindor common room.

"I did something...stupid," said Ron, ducking as Peeves swooped down upon the boys, cackling evilly.

"What?" Harry said urgently, holding his bag over his head as Peeves began throwing water balloons.

"Er...noth - OI!" Ron pushed his sopping bangs out of his eyes, shaking water out of his eyes. Peeves had just dropped a water balloon on him and he was now soaked to the skin.

"You...you...argh!" Ron fumed, chasing a sniggering Peeves around the fourth floor corridor. "You stupid...you son of a biscuit!" He lunged blindly at the poltergeist and succeeded in banging his knee on a table with several vases of flowers on it. The table wobbled dangerously and a vase toppled to the floor - it crashed and broke, glass flying in all directions - and the roses fell onto the floor and into the water, floating in the puddle that had accumulated, thanks to Ron and the water from the vase that was now broken because of Ron who hit his knee on it because he was chasing Peeves who threw a water balloon at him (whew...was that a run-on? Oh dear...*runs away as English teacher chases her*).

Ron crumpled to the ground, clutching his knee and landing on a shard of glass. He yelped in pain, his eyes watering, and wondering what else could go wrong that day. He rolled up into a ball on the floor, closed his eyes, and tried not to wail. With his ear pressed to the floor, Ron heard footsteps and knew that Harry was approaching.

"Ron, are you okay?" Harry's voice said.

"Yeah," Ron grunted, gingerly uncurling, opening his eyes, and standing up. His thigh was bleeding badly and he was covered in water.

Harry muttered a spell, pointing his wand at Ron and the puddle of water, and a warm breeze suddenly dried him off; the water vanished from the floor. Grinning, Ron said, "Reparo," and the vase repaired itself instantly.

"Thanks," Ron added gratefully to Harry, who nodded, smiling broadly.

"Hey, what are friends for?" he asked. Then his face fell as he looked at Ron. "You...you're thinking about Hermione, aren't you?"

Ron sighed heavily. "Yeah."

"Don't worry, mate, she's got to crack sometime. You know girls--like take Cho, for example. The human hosepipe." Harry chuckled darkly. "Don't worry about it. Just...just corner her and snog her."

Ron sighed again. "Harry, this is Hermione we're talking about. Hermione. You can't just walked up to her and make out with her!"

"True..." Harry admitted. "But still, just...just say something...something sweet to her..."

"I can't ever say anything to her again, Harry," Ron said, wincing from the pain in his thigh. He drew his wand and pressed it against his bloody leg; the cut healed instantly and he grimaced, "It's good we took that First-Aid thingy over the summer."

"Yeah," Harry said, grinning.

"But what can I tell Hermione?" Ron panicked, feeling his heart pound at the thought of talking to her. He shoved his hands into his pockets, defeated, and felt a crumpled piece of parchment in his pocket. An idea dawned on him....

"Harry!" he exclaimed suddenly. "I can write Hermione a note!"

Without waiting for Harry, Ron sprinted up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, said the password, and sprinted up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. He threw open the seventh-year boys' dorm door and sprinted inside, digging through his open trunk and producing a quill when he realized that he had his bag with him. Sighing disgustedly, he hurried back down to the common room with the spare bit of parchment, his bag, and a quill and sat down at a table.

Hermione, he scribbled, I'm really sorry about the other night. I was drawing pictures of you in Transfiguration, not Lavender. I would never do such a stupid thing (okay, maybe I would, last year at least, but that's beside the point!), because...there's no other way to say it...I love you, Hermione. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. If you are talking to me now, just talk to me and don't send back this note. If you're not talking to me...well, then just send this note back with your response.

I love you.

Ron

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed, bursting through the portrait hole and gaping at Ron. A few other students were mulling around and stared at Harry. "Sorry," he muttered hastily. Ron watched as Harry approached him and gasped, "Holy Chocolate Frogs, Ron, you were off so fast I thought that...I don't know...you grew wings!"

Ron laughed and said, "No, I wrote Hermione a note. Here, read it." He handed Harry the note and watched him read it.

When he was finished, Harry said, "Can I add something?"

"Sure," Ron said, and Harry impatiently grabbed the quill lying on the table.

"There. Done," Harry said a few minutes later, handing Ron the paper and the quill.

"Can I read it?"

Harry shrugged. "Sure, I read yours."

"Cool," Ron said eagerly.

Harry had written: Hermione,

I'm sorry about the question I asked you earlier--you know, the one about me being your boyfriend. Well, I didn't really mean that, I was just joking. Ron really does love you and he wants you to be his girlfriend. I still want to be your friend.

Harry

"Uh...okay, great," Ron said unenthusiastically. He checked his watch. "We've got half an hour 'til...what is it? Transfiguration."

"Oh. Great. Excellent," Harry said. He had forgotten to do his essay. "Can I copy off you?"

"Yeah, mate, here you go." Ron dug through his bag, searching for his Transfiguration things. He pulled out the essay and handed it to Harry. "There you go."

"Thanks, Ron," Harry said gratefully, taking out a quill, ink, and parchment from his own bag.

"Welcome," Ron said absently--he couldn't wait for dinner, where he would give Hermione the note....

Please, please, please...let her not be mad at me...

Dinner that night seemed longer than usual. Ron barely ate, waiting anxiously for the right moment when he would slip the note casually into Hermione's hands. Harry, Seamus, Dean, and Neville were engaged in a conversation about England's chances for the Quidditch World Cup.

"They've got a really good chance, with their seeker," Seamus was saying excitedly.

"Really? I can't keep up with all this Quidditch stuff...my aunt and uncle would kill me if I brought up broomsticks at the table," Harry said, grinning. Dean, Seamus, and Neville burst into laughter.

"Who d'you think's got the best chance for the Cup, Ron?" Dean asked, grinning.

"Wha?" Ron said absentmindedly--he had been looking at Hermione, who was chatting animatedly with Parvati, Lavender, and Ginny, who were giggling. He caught her eye and she turned away, her eyes filled with disbelief, sadness, hurt, and anger.

Dean snickered.

"Looking at Hermione again, Ron?" Neville chuckled.

"Uh...yeah..." Ron took a bite of chicken and saw Hermione rising from her seat. Heart pounding, he said, "Uh...I've got...got to go to the bathroom..."

"Sure," Harry, Dean, Seamus, and Neville said in perfect unison. They then burst into laughter again.

"See you later, Ron," Harry said.

"Yeah, later...we'll not be seeing him, lads, he'll be snogging Hermione in that broom cupboard on the third floor," Seamus snickered.

Embarrassed, Ron got up from his seat and followed Hermione out of the Great Hall. Thank God she brought her bookbag, Ron thought. I can curse it.

Hermione was at the back of the group with Ginny while Lavender and Parvati led the way. Ron quickly ducked behind the marble staircase as the girls passed. As they reached the top of the staircase, Ron whipped out his wand and pointed it at Hermione's bag; it split, sending parchment, ink, quills, and book flying; she sighed.

"Third time this week!" Ron heard her exclaim disgustedly. "C'mon, you go on ahead, I'll clean this up."

Quickly Ron sprinted up the staircase as Hermione straightened up and mended her bag with her wand. He slipped up the opposite side of the stairway and waited along the corridor in which Hermione was sure to go. He heard her footsteps a few minutes later and straightened his collar nervously.

She appeared, and Ron began to walk toward her, the note in his hand. When they were within inches, Ron reached out and stuffed the note in her hand; Hermione looked into his eyes, surprised, but Ron quickly continued walking. At the top of the marble staircase, he turned and saw Hermione reading the note with shaking hands. He bit his lip, waiting for her to whip out a quill and write something...something about...she didn't love him...

He looked at his shoes, as though inspecting them for untied laces, and glanced back at Hermione. To his surprise, her eyes were filled with tears, and she turned toward him. Their gaze locked, and, without warning, Hermione burst into tears and ran toward him. Suddenly they were locked in a tight embrace.

"Oh Ron...I'm so sorry," Hermione murmured, burying her face in his chest. She looked up into his eyes and Ron felt his stomach flutter--she was sorry...she didn't hate him, after all...

"Shush, Hermione," he said, pressing a finger to her lips. Her eyes widened at his touch but said nothing.

Ron heard people muttering around them, all wondering the same thing--were Ron and Hermione back together? But he didn't care. All he cared about was kissing Hermione.

And that's what he did.

It may have been several weeks, or several moon-lit nights--however long it was, Ron didn't know, nor did he care. When they finally broke apart, he heard an appreciative woop from Dean and applause. He turned and saw many other students filing into the Entrance Hall, all clapping and grinning. Ron caught Harry's eye and Harry snickered and gave him a thumbs-up.

Hermione placed her arms around Ron's neck and pressed her soft lips against his. Ron returned the kiss gently, wrapping his arms around her narrow waist and enjoying every minute of it. This was the moment he had been waiting for all year.

"Of course, Ron, you just had to snog her in front of the whole school," Ginny remarked, grinning.

Ron slapped her and laughed.

"Yes, now the whole school knows that we're back together," Hermione said happily, tousling Ron's hair affectionately.

It was a little before midnight that same evening. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Crookshanks were the only ones left in the Gryffindor common room, where Harry and Ginny were playing chess while Ron and Hermione watched on a couch, Crookshanks purring in Hermione's lap.

"You really want everyone to know?" Ginny said incredulously, a smile playing on her lips.

"Well...then they'll stop their stupid gossip that Viktor and I have shagged--which we haven't, Ronald," she added quickly, as Ron had begun to retch.

Ron grinned sheepishly and said, "I knew that."

They all laughed and Ron put an arm around Hermione's shoulder. All in all, it had been a good day.

"By the way, Ronald," Ginny said tartly, "you still haven't apologized for being a complete arsehole to me the other night."

"Oh...right...sorry, Gin," Ron said hastily.

Ginny rolled her eyes and said, "I accept your apology. You'd better not do that again, or I'll hex you--Bat-Bogey Hex. You'd better look out." She grinned evilly and Harry laughed and muttered, "Knight to E-4."

Ron knew that Ginny meant it, and he decided to busy himself with stroking Hermione's hair and kissing her on the cheek lightly.

He couldn't wait for summer.