In the Wee Hours of the Morning

In the Wee Hours of the Morning

It was an evening like any other. The Gryffindor common room was bustling with activity. Some students were trying to do their homework, though this was difficult because of all the talking and a strange series of bangs and blasts emanating from a brightly colored box labeled "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes". Other students had given up on any attempt to do something productive, and were instead gossiping about this and that, or discussing the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade, which would be taking place the day before Halloween. There were even a few couples kissing in various corners of the room, much to the annoyance of one Hermione Granger. She was, after all, Head Girl this year, and she believed that such passionate public displays of affection were very rude and not at all proper in a school. At least that's what she told everyone else.

The real reason for Hermione's dislike of public kissing was the fact that she did not have a boyfriend to do it with. Not that she would necessarily be making out in public, but she still wished that she could if she had wanted to. She was, sadly, the only girl in 7^th year who had never been kissed, and never had a real boyfriend. Sure she had gone to the Yule ball in fourth year with one of the most famous quidditch players of all time, Viktor Krum, but that didn't mean she had actually liked him as anything more than a friend. He was very nice, but all he ever thought about was quidditch. And all he ever talked about was quidditch. And for an intellectual girl like Hermione, she found him rather dull. The only reason she had gone with him was because the boy she had hoped would ask her didn't, at least not until right before the big event. She had to admit to herself that in fourth year she had had the smallest, tiniest, most miniscule little crush on one of her best friends, Ron Weasley. Ok. That was a lie. In her fourth year, she had had the biggest, most colossal crush on him, and she had wanted very badly to make him notice her by going to the ball with Viktor, who was one of Ron's idols. Of course this only resulted in yet another of their little arguments, resulting in hurt feelings and an awkward tension between the two. The thought of Ron's reaction to the news that she had already had a date still enraged her, even though she had long since forgiven him for his misdemeanor.

By the time 6^th year had rolled around, Hermione had thought that she was over Ron. Unfortunately this was not the case. A while after term had started, Ron had hooked up with Lavender Brown, a fellow 6^th year and one of Hermione's roommates. When she saw them kissing in the common room, sharing a chair no less, she had realized that she still had feelings for him. This had made her irritable, especially where Lavender was concerned. She had never liked the girl much, but the fact that she was going out with Ron made Hermione positively loath her. Basically 6^th year had sucked because Hermione had to deal with her jealousy of Ron's girlfriends. Green just wasn't her best color. Later in the year, Hermione had thought that she and Ron would finally get together. But alas, it never happened.

Now, as Hermione sat by the fire, she looked around at her surroundings. While she had been thinking, a good portion of the students had gone to bed, making it much quieter (though there was still an occasional boom from the mysterious box). She heard a voice say her name. Startled, she looked up to see her other best friend, Harry Potter looking at her with haunted eyes. He had not been the same since their headmaster had died. She quickly realized he had said something.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?"

Harry replied, "I said goodnight. It's almost eleven, and I'm going up to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Oh. Yeah. 'Night," Hermione said quietly as Harry retreated up the stairs to his dormitory.

Hermione stared into the flames. Her thoughts gradually drifted back to a certain tall red-haired young man, with deep, sapphire eyes and a lop-sided grin that could make her heart melt. She realized now that she wasn't merely attracted to the youngest Weasley boy, she was in love. As this dawned on her, she noticed she was the last one in the common room. She had just made up her mind to get out of her comfortable spot in the chair when she drifted off to sleep...

~~~~~~~~

Ron awoke with a start. He knew it had been something in his dreams, though he didn't think that his dreams had been unpleasant. He couldn't really remember what had happened, but for some reason a bushy-haired girl was coming to mind. He lay in his bed trying to get back to sleep, but it just wasn't working. After about a half hour, he looked at the time, which was about 2:30am and he decided he would go sit in the common room for a while, since he couldn't sleep. He got up, grabbed his Chudley Cannons playbook, and crept downstairs. He figured he might as well look at some quidditch plays for practice tomorrow.

When he got downstairs he saw that the fire was still going, though it was dying. He made his way toward his favorite chair by the fire and, without looking, sat down.

"AAAGHH!"

Ron jumped about three feet into the air, and then wheeled around to see a very startled Hermione getting to her feet.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" he asked her, just as startled as she was.

"I... I don't know... I guess I must have fallen asleep here. I should probably be going to bed now," she said quietly, looking a bit upset. She was wondering if Ron was annoyed with her, because by the look on his face he wasn't very happy.

Ron wasn't unhappy though. He had just been scared half to death. Looking at Hermione's worried expression, however, he thought he might look a bit angry. To make her feel better, he gave her one of his famed lop-sided grins, which resulted in her smiling back, and then the two of them proceeded to collapse with laughter. As they laughed, Ron thought about how much he loved that sound. He loved her laugh. He loved the way her whole face lit up when she smiled, and more than anything else he loved when he was the one who had made her smile. This was one of his darker secrets, which he kept even from his best friend Harry. Not the fact that he liked Hermione's laugh. Ron was certain that just about everybody loved that sound. What he kept from Harry was that he loved when she laughed because of something Ron had done, because he loved her. He didn't know how long he had known his true feelings for Hermione, but he imagined it had probably been at some point last year when he was dating other girls. They had made him realize just how different Hermione was, and how much she meant to him.

After they had calmed down, Hermione turned to leave. Ron decided that he didn't feel like reading after all. What he really wanted was to talk to her. He didn't know what he wanted to talk about, but he knew he didn't want her to leave yet.

"Wait," he said hesitantly. "Um... you don't have to go yet. I mean...uh... you can of course if you're tired... but if you aren't then you can stay down here...and talk...with me. I couldn't sleep, so I came down here. I don't really feel much like reading," he concluded rather lamely. Hermione however did not seem to think anything was awkward about the situation. Actually, she thought, I might as well stay down here. After that near heart attack I won't be able to get to sleep for a while, and the prospect of being down here with just Ron sounds very appealing.

She told him so, too. Not the fact that Ron was appealing to her, but that she would never be able to get to sleep now. Neither one of them noticed the other's flushed face, as they were both too busy trying to hide their own.

They both went to sit down in the chair at the exact same time... and Hermione ended up in Ron's lap, causing them both to jump up again (not to mention flush again).

"Why don't we just sit on the couch?" Ron asked. They made their way over to the big, cushy red couch in front of the fireplace and flopped down into it. Neither could help but notice how close they had ended up to each other, though they both remained exactly where they were. By this point a blush had been permanently painted on their cheeks.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of them quite sure what to say. Hermione's eyes were trained nervously on her lap and Ron's darted back and forth between Hermione and the dying flames. Perhaps it was the late hour, or perhaps it was Ron's inability to contain his feelings any longer, but before he realized what he had done, Ron's arm had moved from his lap to the back of the couch, draped behind Hermione. At first she didn't notice, but then she lifted her head and tried to rest it on the back of the couch. Her head, of course, made contact with his arm and the color in her cheek deepened, going from a bright shade of magenta to crimson. She looked at him with bewildered eyes, but then a slight smile appeared on her face. She was a bit embarrassed by the fact that she had betrayed her joy, but was even happier when Ron's long, muscular arm dropped from the back of the couch resolutely onto her shoulders, pulling her even closer to him. By now she couldn't keep the smile from her face, and instead it grew larger. She looked once more at the ground, but then heard Ron's voice speak softly, and a little shakily.

"Do you know how long I have wanted to do this?" He was appalled by the words that were coming out of his mouth. He was going to ruin their friendship. Hermione was too good for him. She would never love--or even like, for that matter--a great idiot like him. She was too smart and too pretty and too everything to like him in any other way other than platonically. And yet he kept talking. "I have wanted to hold you like this for at least a year, probably longer. I know you don't feel the same way about me, but I really like you...uh...I'm sorry...I shouldn't be doing this..." he tried to move his arm off of Hermione and stand up.

No, she thought. He can't get up now. Not after he is finally doing this. She wrapped her arms around him and cuddled into his side before he had a chance to get up.

"Don't get up. Please. You're... you're wrong about my feelings for you," she stammered, her heart pounding in her chest. She was amazed he couldn't here it. "I have loved you since the end of our 3^rd year. I never said anything because you always seemed annoyed with me. And the last year, when you were dating all those other girls I just figured you weren't interested and I gave up. I mean, honestly, the way you were kissing those other girls, and you always teased me about Viktor, and we always got into fights...I just thought you didn't like me...but I never stopped loving you...and..."...Oh great...she was babbling... She was about to complain about his distancing himself from her during the summer when he put a hand over her mouth.

"Shhhh..." he said, grabbing her by both shoulders. "I love you too. We are just too big idiots who are too damn stupid to say anything to the other one because we are scared. I never felt the same way about Lavender or those other girls last year as I do about you. I just figured you would never like a git like me, so I settled for someone else."

And before either of them knew what was happening, their lips met. Hermione let out a small gasp as they kissed softly at first, and then deepened it, his arms snaking around her waist. She moved her hands up to his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair. Both of their hearts were pounding out of their chests, and they were both terrified about what they were doing. It had to be a dream. A really wonderful, beautiful dream that would end any second. But it didn't. They continued to kiss, reveling in the feel of their bodies pressed closely together. She noticed he smelled lightly of spices, though she had no idea what the smell was caused from. He was enticed by the fragrance of her hair, which smelled of lavender. He let his lips trail from her mouth to her neck, and then back up to her mouth for one last kiss.

She sighed with content when they finally broke, looking into each other's eyes and seeing in them a love that they had both harbored for so many years. They stretched out a bit on the couch. She laid her head on his chest and he took her into the circle of his arms, as they both stared in silence at the last fading embers of the fire. There they fell asleep, as the hour finally overtook them, both of them dreaming about their future together.

~~~~~~~~

Harry awoke the next morning to find Ron's bed empty. He decided that Ron must have gone down to breakfast early and made his way downstairs. It was still early, so there was no one in the common room. At least that's what he thought at first. His eyes passed over the couch in front of the fire, where he saw his two best friends cuddled together, fast asleep. He muttered under his breath, "Finally".

The End