All's Fair in Love and Magic

Ch. 2 - Lightbulb Moment

The Gryffindor table was quite tense at breakfast the next morning. Ron and Hermione were no longer speaking to one another, and the other Gryffindors were nervously waiting for the next battle to erupt. Ron addressed Ginny as he reached for a glass of pumpkin juice. "Gin - you're good with charms, right?" Ginny nodded, taking a bite of her toast. "Good. Think you can help me figure out this Silencing Charm? I was supposed to work on it last night, but I didn't get to." He shot a glance at Hermione, who gave a loud "Hmph!" through a mouthful of porridge.

"No way am I letting you practice that on me!" Ginny protested. "When you tried it in class, Harry couldn't speak for two days!" Hermione snickered, smirking at Ron.

"Aw, like you two spend all your time talking anyway," Ron retorted, causing his sister to redden.

Hermione, meanwhile, had started a conversation with Lavender and momentarily interrupted herself to give a cough that sounded suspiciously like "jealous!" Ron glared at her, and Lavender rolled her eyes.

"You lot are ridiculous. Most of us gave up the 'silent treatment' in third year. You're the most immature seventh years I've ever known."

"She started it!" was Ron's eloquent reply.

"I have no problem speaking to Ron- he's just not speaking to me."

"You're not speaking to me either!"

"Yes I am, Ron. Look, I'm doing it right now."

"Well...I don't care. I'm still not speaking to you."

"Men!" Hermione sighed, returning to her conversation with Lavender.

* * *

The Hall began to clear, and as Ron headed towards the doors, Hermione rose to follow.

"We need to talk," she demanded as she caught his sleeve.

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Good. Maybe you'll listen for a change then." She pulled him by the arm into the empty Muggle Studies classroom. "What is your problem?" she demanded. Ron, suddenly interested in a Muggle light bulb, did not answer. Hermione wrung her hands in frustration.

"This is ridiculous, Ron. I FORGOT! You may not be used to my having a life of my own, but you'd better get used to it. I'm not always going to be reliable, dependable Hermione. You're not the only person in my life. I'm sorry that I cancelled on you, but you need to be reasonable. We didn't have to study last night. We can study tonight, or tomorrow; we can study right now if you'd like. I wasn't blowing you off - I forgot."

"You seem to be forgetting a lot lately," Ron mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

Hermione raked her hands through her hair. "Ron! You are being such a first-year!"

"Fine!" he erupted, "You really want to know what's bothering me, do you? Fine. Hermione, what day was yesterday?"

She seemed puzzled. "Saturday, but what's -"

"And what was the date?"

Her eyes widened as comprehension slowly dawned on her. "Hogsmeade - I was supposed to help you pick out a gift for your mum's birthday in Hogsmeade yesterday! Ron...Ron, I'm so sorry. I -"

"Forget it. I don't even want to hear how you 'forget everything else when Justin is around.' That's not even the point. What I'm trying to prove is that you seem to have forgotten who your friends are. You haven't been to one of Harry's games in almost a year - the Hufflepuff one doesn't count, you were cheering for Justin - you never got around to showing Ginny how to transfigure her hat into a rabbit...forgetting me twice in one day was just the last in a series of insults. You obviously care more about your precious boyfriend than you do about your friends!"

A wave of fury overcame Hermione, and she began to shake with anger as she spoke.

"Don't even play that game with me. I can have a boyfriend and friends, it's not a one-or-the-other situation. I haven't been to Harry's games because I am busy with my schoolwork, I did offer to help Ginny with her transfiguration, but she told me to go ahead and get my Arithmancy finished - she said she'd be fine, and I was cheering for Justin and Harry at that game. You can't ask me to keep my friends and my relationship separate. I am sorry that I forgot about you yesterday Ron, but I was under a lot of pressure -"

"From Justin's lips?" Ron finished.

"You are out of line." Hermione's every word trembled with suppressed rage. "Why are you so bothered my by relationship with Justin?" Ron opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again. "Why does it bother you every time that a boy shows interest in me? Why do you care so much?"

"Because..." he faltered.

"Why do you care who I go out with? Why should it make a difference to you?" Ron seemed to be screwing up his courage and trying to formulate a sentence. "Why do you hate to see me happy?"

"I don't hate to see you happy," he began.

"What is it then? Why are you acting so...so..."

"Jealous? Because, I don't hate to see you happy, I hate to see you happy with someone else!" Both Hermione and Ron seemed equally shocked by his sudden outburst. The room was completely silent for a full minute before Ron continued, in a considerably softer voice.

"You pride yourself on being so observant and so clever..." he spoke slowly and clearly, so that she couldn't miss a word, "You noticed the trapdoor first year, you figured out that Lupin was a werewolf, you understood Cho Chang's complex emotions, you notice whenever anyone's upset. You always know all the answers, Hermione." He paused for a moment, then continued, "So tell me, how is it that in seven years, you haven't noticed that I am completely in love with you?" Hermione remained silent, hardly daring to breathe, as he continued. "I mean, there were plenty of clues. "I belched slugs for you, I got detention for defending you, I told off SNAPE for you...I would've thought you'd have pieced it together at the Yule Ball at least. I was quite obvious that night, and when we were fighting, I felt sure that you knew," he paused, waiting for a response, and seemed to interpret her silence as something between revulsion and pity. "Or maybe you did know." She looked at him curiously, not understanding. "Maybe you've always known, and you just didn't have the heart to let me down. Maybe you were just hoping that you'd never have to face it." Her stunned silence seemed to confirm his deepest fears, and he turned towards the door. "Sorry to ruin your plans," he said, his voice small but steady.

Hermione crossed the room in a stride. Without pausing to thing, she took both of his hands in hers, moved a hand to his cheek, and kissed him hard on the mouth. She pulled away and saw the shock reflected in his eyes. They held each other's gaze for a few seconds, then Ron brought his muscular arms down to encircle her waist and kissed her gently, with growing passion. They stood that way for a minute that lasted a century. Seven years of hidden desire were released in that one earth-shattering kiss. Hermione thought that she could stay that way forever...if it weren't for Ginny.

"Sorry, didn't realize anyone was -" the couple quickly broke apart. "RON! HERMIONE?" she asked incredulously.

"Oh no. Oh no. Oh no." Hermione began to mutter, wiping the corner of her mouth.

"Ginny! What are you doing here?" Ron looked as though he might curse his sister.

"I...I...came for my...my light bulb. I'm supposed to be examining it and...and writing an...an essay on how muggles...get them...to work," she stammered. "What are you two...? I mean, well I could see what you were... Well, what about...? I mean, aren't you...aren't you still with Justin?" she finished cautiously.

"Oh no...Oh this is not good...I...I have to...I have to go. I just...I have to go." Hermione backed out, tripping over her robes and nearly falling into a desk. They could hear her mumbling all the way down the hallway. Ron looked very disconcerted. He turned pleadingly to his sister.

"Ginny, please," he implored, "please, just don't say anything to anyone. Please? Just, just give it some time, please?"

Ginny nodded, dumbstruck, and stood frozen to the spot as Ron ran off down the hallway.

Chapter 3 - What the Future Holds