Hermione was in the Gryffindor sixth year girl’s bathroom. She wearily picked up her toothbrush. She had been sitting in the Library for the past hour, worrying about Harry and Ron. She had been worrying about Harry because he had gone to extract Slughorn’s all-important memory from him. She was worried about Ron because when the three of them had came out of the boy’s dormitories, Harry had been under the invisibility cloak. Therefore, all Lavender had seen were her and Ron exiting his dormitory. She could still hear Lavender’s shrill shriek. Hermione had mumbled a quick excuse about homework and the library, and left as quickly as possible. But she had not been quick enough and had had to witness the beginning of what Hermione had known was going to be a long argument. She had given them enough time to calm down before going back, and none of them had been in the common room.

Hermione reached for the toothpaste just as the dark mahogany door burst open. The mirror in front of Hermione showed her that Parvati and a very upset looking Lavender were the reason for the disturbance. She turned around, hoping that the sight in the mirror had been untrue. Oh no,she thought to herself. I hope she doesn’t start yelling at me too.

Parvati and Lavender froze. Lavender’s sobs seemed to decrease as well.

“So, erm…how are things between you and Ron?” asked Hermione uncomfortably. She felt that the awkward silence between them had to be broken, and it looked like neither Lavender nor Parvati were going to make the first move.

“You’ll be pleased to know that we’ve broken up,” snarled Lavender coldly.

Hermione’s heart leapt. Lavender and Ron had split up! That was wonderful news. Ron was free and single once more. Her heart might have been happy, but in her mind, Hermione scolded herself. She shouldn’t be so happy when Lavender was very clearly upset. Anyway, why should she care if Lavender was Ron’s girlfriend, or Ron was single? There was one thing in the back of her mind though…

“Why would I be happy if you and Ron split up?” asked Hermione in what she hoped was a convincing voice. She knew the answer, of course. She loved him. She supposed that she always had. It was kind of hard not too, with those dazzling blue eyes, that gorgeous ginger hair that was so perfectly wavy and those hundreds of cute freckles all over his face, and arms, and… those arms, nice and muscular from all of the Quidditch training. Hermione wasn’t quite sure how, but it seemed to make the perfect combination. Somehow. No matter how hard she tried, Hermione couldn’t resist thinking about him. She was even doing it now, in front of his girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend, Hermione reminded herself with a little smile. Lavender seemed to be on the brink of tears again. Hermione forced herself to listen to what she was saying.

“Why? Why? You know blooming well why! Don’t try and play it innocent with us. We know all about your stupid ‘secret’,” hissed Lavender.

“The whole school does, for goodness sake!” interrupted Parvati unhelpfully. “Ron’s the only one who doesn’t. He always was a bit thick!”

“Ron’s not thick!” Hermione replied. To be honest, she was a bit surprised by Parvati’s sudden bout of meanness. “And what does the whole school know?”

“Huh, and this is coming from the ‘brightest witch of our age.’ What hope is there for the rest of us?” murmured Parvati.

“The whole school knows that you love Ron,” Lavender shouted.

“Wha--I--that’s ridi--keep your voice down!” hissed Hermione. Not that there’s much point, if the whole school knows.

“Ridiculous now, am I?” screamed Lavender. “We all know it’s true. You’re not even denying it!”

Hermione thought about telling Lavender that she wasn’t calling her ridiculous, but the idea that she loved Ron was ridiculous. Two things stopped her though: it was completely untrue, and there was no point trying to talk to Lavender when she was like this. Tears were streaming wildly down her face, and her eyes were red and puffy.

“I don’t know what you ever saw in that prat, Lavender,” Parvati told her in an attempt to calm her down.

“How could you say that? He’s funny, loyal, good-looking…I could go on for ages! What I don’t understand is how he fell in love with that cow!” yelled Lavender, pointing at Hermione.

Hermione’s heart leapt for joy for the second time that evening. Ron loved her! Ron loved her! It was too good to be true…

Parvati’s voice snapped Hermione out of her trance. She was comforting a sobbing Lavender and trying to calm her down.

“Oh, just go!” she said to Hermione.

Hermione grabbed her toothbrush and walked shakily out of the door. And all I wanted to do was have a quiet evening, brush my teeth and go to bed… Hermione thought wistfully.

Hermione hurried through her dormitory and down into the Common Room, which was thankfully empty. She sat in her favourite armchair by the fire. She could not get an image of Ron out of her head, or Lavender crying. Then she noticed that she was still clutching her toothbrush. She decided to go up to the boy’s bathroom to clean her teeth. Hopefully she would bump into Ron on her way up…

Hermione knocked onto the boy’s dormitory door gently. Seamus’ voice beckoned her in. She entered to find a snoring Neville, and Seamus and Dean sitting up in their beds, talking.

“What are you doing up here, Hermione?” asked Dean.

“I…um…can I use your bathroom?”

Dean started to reply but Seamus elbowed him in the ribs and swiftly answered before Dean could. “Of course you can,” he said with a smile. Hermione made her way across the room and pushed open the dark door that was the entrance to the sixth year boys bathroom.

“You should have told her that Ron is still in the showers!” whispered Dean to Seamus.

“No way!” Seamus replied. “This could be exactly what they need to get together! You know, like a shove in the right direction. In fact, I bet you two sickles that by the end of the night, Ron and Hermione will be a couple.”

“You’re on! If they’re not together by tomorrow, you have to give me two sickles. Prepare to say goodbye to some money.”


Ron said the necessary spell to turn off the hot water, wrapped his threadbare, maroon towel around his waist and stepped out of the shower cubicle. The dark wooden bathroom door swung open, revealing Hermione wearing her pyjamas. She was looking at the floor and seemed to be quite happy, but tired.

“Hermione!” exclaimed Ron. He clutched onto his towel for dear life.

Hermione’s head snapped up to look at Ron at the sound of his voice. Seeing that he was wearing nothing but a towel, she turned a brilliant ruby colour and hastily turned her back on him.

“I…how…” Ron mumbled. He looked around wildly for his dressing gown and saw it hanging on a hook by a door. He would have to go past Hermione to get it.

“Sorry, Ron--I--Dean and Seamus said I could come in,” Hermione said to the floor.

“It’s all right,” Ron muttered. He edged past Hermione and prayed silently that she wouldn’t turn around. Finally he reached his dressing gown and pulled it on as quickly as he could.

“You can…um…turn around now,” said Ron, making sure that the tie was done up properly.

Hermione turned round to face Ron and smiled sheepishly at him. “I came up here to clean my teeth. Lav--oh! Of course! Are you all right? I…heard…about your break up,” Hermione told him.

“Yeah, I’m OK, I guess. I didn’t like it when she was yelling at me, but at least it’s over now,” Ron replied.

Hermione yawned. Ron smiled at her sleepy face. She’s so beautiful, he thought. Hold on. Do I…did I…I’m such a prat. I shouldn’t have wasted my time with Lavender. I should have…I wish I had spent it with her. But she wouldn’t go out with me. Why would she?

Hermione moved over to the sink. Ron was just…looking at her. And smiling. Better than frowning.

“Er…do you have any toothpaste?” Hermione asked.

“Oh, right, of course,” Ron said, snapping out of his trance. He walked over to the sink she was standing in front of. Then he saw that it was on the other side of her.

Idiot! Can’t do anything right. Oh this is so embarrassing. Ron’s brain screamed at him.

Ron leaned over in front of Hermione. He cursed himself for not going around to her other side in the first place. He picked up his tube of toothpaste. He retreated and his arm accidentally brushed against Hermione’s waist. He handed his toothpaste to Hermione. It looked like they were having a blushing war, as they were both terribly red.

“Thanks,” Hermione muttered. She squeezed some toothpaste onto her brush and replaced the tube. She ran her brush under the cold tap. She raised it to her lips, and then stopped.

“I…erm…can you not watch me while I brush my teeth?” she asked awkwardly.

“Oh, sure.”

Ron headed towards the door. Hermione began to clean her teeth. Ron reached the door, but didn’t go through. He just stood there, watching her.

She’s so beautiful, he thought. But I can’t tell her how I feel. She can’t feel the same way about me. What am I thinking? Of course she doesn’t. This is Hermione--brightest witch of our age. Why would she like me? Ron continued to watch her. He longed to wrap his arms around her. Do it! his brain screamed. You can’t keep this up for much longer. You have to tell her how you feel sooner or later. Sooner would be best. If You-Know-Who came tomorrow, and he…he…if she died…how would you feel if you never got the chance to tell her that you love her?

What if she rejects me? Would our friendship stand the test? Another part of Ron’s brain asked.

I’ll make it! answered the first part stubbornly. Besides, it’s better to know, rather than to be wondering ‘what if’ forever.

Hermione spat out her toothpaste.

It’s now or never! the first part of Ron’s brain screamed.

Now!

Good. Do it quickly before she leaves.

It took every ounce of Ron’s Gryffindor bravery to do what he did next. He walked up to Hermione, who was picking absent-mindedly at a spot. He placed his hands on either side of her, on the surface in front of them.

“Ron!” Hermione exclaimed with a start. “I didn’t know you were still in here!”

“I…well, I…” Ron began. “Look, Hermione, we’ve known each other for, what, six years now?”

“That’s right,” Hermione answered with a smile.

“And in that time, I’ve…gotten to know you, Hermione. Blimey, I think I know everything there is to know about you. I know your favourite food, I know you hate peas, I know your favourite wizarding and Muggle places, I know your middle name is Jane, and…I like what I know,” he finished lamely.

Hermione frowned. Ron had never said anything like this to her before.

“What I’m trying to say is,” Ron continues hastily, “is that I like you, Hermione.”

“I like you too, Ron. How else do you think I’ve put up with you for all these years?” she joked.

“No, what I mean is,” Ron started. He took a deep breath. This is it. Forget now or never, sooner or later, it’s happening. We, here goes. “I really like you. In fact, I--I think I love you. Who am I kidding? Of course I do. I’m in love with you, Hermione Jane Granger.

Hermione’s eyes widened and she looked at Ron’s face intently in the mirror.

“What?” she asked quietly.

“I…I love you, Hermione. I’ve been so stupid, with Lavender. I know I should never have asked her out, but I was jealous because you’ve snogged Vicky--”

“Vicky? I didn’t snog Viktor!”

It was Ron’s turn to look surprised.

“But Ginny said that you had.”

“Ginny? Why would she say that? I honestly haven’t snogged Viktor.”

“Oh. Right,” said Ron, feeling stupid all of a sudden. “I’m sorry,” he apologised. “I’ve been a prat, with Lavender and the whole Viktor thing and…” he paused. “But that’s not important. You’re what’s important here. Hermione, do you…maybe feel the same way as I do about you?” he asked hopefully.

Hermione blushed. “Yes,” she whispered.

Ron grinned. He moved his hands so that they were just touching Hermione’s waist. She moved her head slightly so that it was resting gently on his chest. Then Ron wrapped his arms around her waist and put his head on her shoulder.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” Ron admitted.

Hermione turned around to face him. Ron straightened up, but kept his arms wrapped around her waist. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” Hermione said.

Ron leaned I for another snog when the bathroom door opened. They jumped apart. Ron looked down at the floor determinedly while Hermione stared at who had just walked into the room with a grin on his face.

“Well, well, well,” Harry said with a smile. “What have we here? I leave you two alone for a couple of hours and you can’t keep your hands off each other!”

Ron and Hermione both blushed fiercely.

“Erm…did you get what you wanted?” Hermione asked, trying to change the subject.

“Yeah. I got the memory from Slughorn and Dumbledore and I saw what it was. Let’s just say that Voldemort will be harder to kill than we thought.”

Ron and Hermione both looked puzzled.

“Horcruxes,” he explained. “Seven of them.”

Hermione gasped. She obviously knew what a Horcrux was.

“But…that’s never been done before. I thought it was almost impossible. Seven, but that means he’s…he’s practically…”

“…Immortal, yeah,” Harry agreed.

“Will someone please tell me what a Horcrux is?” asked a very pale looking Ron.

Harry told them both what had happened to him that evening at the funeral, and what Slughorn’s memory consisted of. When he had finished explaining everything, the three of them were quiet, absorbed in their own thoughts.

“So…what are you going to tell Lavender?” asked Harry after a while.

“Oh, she dumped me earlier, because when we were all coming out of our dormitory he only saw me and Hermione. You were under your cloak, weren’t you, so she thought that me and Hermione had been up here…alone…”

“How did you and Hermione--”

Ron yawned loudly. “I’m tired,” he lied, “come on, lets go to bed.” He did not want to tell his best friend all the details of him blurting out his love.

Harry left the bathroom, and Hermione began to follow him. Ron took hold of her wrist. She stopped in her tracks and frowned at Ron. He hugged her, placed a kiss gently on her forehead and bade her goodnight.

“Goodnight,” she replied with a smile. Then she turned and left. Ron stood by himself in the middle of the bathroom, grinning. Then he, too, left, put on his pyjamas and jumped into bed.

“However you did it Ron, I’m gad you did. Took you long enough. I was starting to wonder if you’d ever tell her how you feel,” came Harry's voice from the next bed.

“Night Harry,” was Ron’s reply. “And you might want to tell Ginny how you feel, too,”

“What?” asked Harry.

“Oh come off it mate, I know you like her.”

“But…she’s with Dean.”

“Not any more. They broke up earlier, like me and Lav.”

“So…if I asked her out, you’d be all right with that? You wouldn’t…I dunno…hex me or anything?”

“Nah. I’d rather it were you than some complete stranger. Anyway, it was bound to happen sooner or later so I can’t really do anything about it, can I?”

Harry’s mind absorbed this shock.

“What do you mean, ‘bound to happen?’ And how did you know that I like her?

“It was obvious.”

Harry opened his mouth to say something about how the whole of the Gryffindor house, or if not the whole school, knew that he liked Hermione but stopped himself. Ron had just given him his blessing to date his sister, and he didn’t want anything to change that.

---

The next day, Ron woke up and he immediately remembered what had happened the previous night. I hope that wasn’t just a dream--a very good dream. He checked his watch. 6:30. He decided to get up. He got dressed and headed down to the common room. He took his favourite armchair by the fire and relaxed in it. He kept replaying the scene in the bathroom in his mind--at least up until the point where Harry came in. After a while, he saw someone descending down the staircase that led to the girls’ dormitories.

“Hermione!” he said.

“Morning Ron.”

Hermione came over to him and sat on his lap. He put an arm around her shoulders and she kissed him on the cheek.

“Last night wasn’t just a dream then,” Ron said with a smile.

“No, it wasn’t,” she agreed.

Twenty minutes later, a sleepy looking Ginny came into the common room to find Ron sharing a chair with Lavender. They were snogging. As usual.

“Oh, sorry, Ron, Lav--Hermione!” she exclaimed. She was wide-awake now. It’s not Lavender he’s with, it’s Hermione!

She grinned and started squealing.

“Oh wow!” she squeaked. She started giggling as Ron and Hermione turned red.

“I don’t understand you, Hermione. Cleverest witch of our age and you choose to go out with Ron of all people!”

“Oi!” Ron said indignantly. He threw a cushion at Ginny but missed. His stomach rumbled. He smiled sheepishly at Hermione.

“Want to go to breakfast early?” he asked.

“Yeah. Lets go,” Hermione agreed. They got up and Hermione clambered through the portrait hole. Ron turned to say bye to Ginny and caught sight of Harry descending the boys’ dormitory staircase. Harry saw Ron and smiled to him. Ron winked back and motioned slightly towards Ginny, who was now settling down on the sofa, with his head. Harry turned red and Ron sniggered to himself as he climbed through the portrait hole.

---

“Come on, let’s go to Charms,” Hermione instructed Ron. He got up and pulled her out of her seat. They left the Great Hall with Ron’s arm around Hermione’s shoulders. They could both feel everyone’s eyes on them. Ron thought he heard a sob from the table they had just left.

Lavender, he thought guiltily.

They were on their way through the many corridors to get to the Charms classroom when Ron thought he heard a noise. It seemed to be coming from behind one of the tapestries. He pulled it to one side, to find a secret passageway. It was occupied by a couple, hugging. They broke apart and saw Ron and Hermione staring at them.

“Well go on, say something about your sister getting around the school or something like that,” Ginny said to Ron.

“Nah, there’s no point. I’m happy for you both.”

Ginny raised her eyebrows.

“Really,” Ron insisted, “I am.”

She hugged her brother.

“Right, well…I’ve got to go to Potions,” she said, and left with a familiar red tinge around her ears.

“Took your advice,” Harry said, watching Ginny leave.

Hermione beamed at both of them.

“Today’s going to be better than I thought.”

---

By dinnertime that evening, the whole school had heard about the two latest break ups, and the two latest couples. That night in the Gryffindor common room, a rather grumpy looking Dean handed over two sickles to a rather happy looking Seamus.

---

Hello. did you like it? I hope you did. When reading it back, I realised that it's actually quite awkward and uncomfortable, that scene between Ron and Hermione in the bathroom...and yes, I know the first 'speech' type thing that Ron gives is...well...rubbish, but hey, it's Ron, he's clueless when it comes to romanticy stuff.

If you haven't done so already, you might want to read my other fic, called Love is in the Air. Oh, and please review!