Almost Perfect Chapter Three
As Ron walked through the portrait hole of Gryffindor Tower, the one thing that struck him was not that it was half full of people who had elected to stay at Hogwarts to aid with the rebuilding process, but rather that a good number of them belonged to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. The password would be reset in September - if that was when the school opened again - but until then, the three houses seemed to gather and mingle in each of their respective common rooms. The Slytherins were nowhere to be found inside Hogwarts, and after the way they had been prepared to turn Harry over to Voldemort it was good riddance to the lot in Ron’s opinion. Maybe none of them would elect to come back when the school re-opened.
He had not seen Hermione since early that morning, nor Harry, so it wasn’t all that surprising he had not seen his sister either. A slight nagging guilt had followed Ron around all day concerning his attitude toward Harry at breakfast. Harry was probably the best bloke Ginny could end up with, but she was still his little sister and it was his job to look out for her. Maybe he’d try and patch things up with Harry if he returned to Gryffindor Tower. At that thought he felt rather ill because if Harry didn’t show up it meant he was spending another night with Ginny.
Fortunately, the Patil twins provided him with a much-needed distraction then. They came bounding down the staircase leading from the girls’ dormitories and headed in his direction.
“You better go upstairs,” Parvati said to him. “Hermione looks dreadful.”
“She wouldn’t let us get Madam Pomfrey, so we came looking for you and Harry,” Padma added.
Ron sprang into action, hurrying toward the staircase they had just come from. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She wouldn’t tell us but I think she’s in pain,” Parvati told him.
Ron swore when he reached the bottom of the staircase. He couldn’t go up to girl dormitories.
“You can go up there,” said Pavarti, as if reading his mind. “Seamus said McGonagall removed the spell before Christmas in case something happened and the boys needed to get up there.”
If Ron had not been so preoccupied with Hermione, he would have cracked a joke about McGonagall putting too much faith in the Gryffindor boys using the staircase strictly for emergency purposes.
He tore up the stairs, leaving the Patil Twins in the common room. He hadn’t bothered to ask which dormitory she would be in, but assumed it would be the one meant for seventh years. He found her sitting on one of the beds, grabbing her sides.
He rushed toward her, saying, “you can yell at me later but we’re going to see Madam Pomfrey. Now.”
Hermione’s stubbornness won out over her pain. “I’ll be fine in a few minutes. I took a potion Madam Pomfrey gave me.”
Ron was extremely close to picking her up and carrying her to the Hogwarts Matron himself. He had always known her stubbornness rivaled his own, but this was bordering on madness.
“I’m already feeling better,” she told him.
He was forced to admit that she was right. He could already see signs of improvement. She had colour back in her face and was no longer gripping her sides.
“What’s going on?” There was definitely something wrong with her.
“I overdid it,” she responded in a low voice. “Madam Pomfrey told me this might happen. I also went to the library and did some research on my own. The Cruciatus Curse has been known to affect the victim’s ability to use magic. Sometimes I’m fine and there are other times it’s painful to cast a spell. The effects are only temporary though.”
“How temporary are we talking?”
Hermione shrugged. “It varies for each individual. I wasn’t under it for that long and it’s been weeks since it happened. The pain isn’t that bad anymore, really. It’s only bothering me now because I spent all day performing Healing spells.”
Ron was livid. “If Madam Pomfrey knew you were in pain, she had no right to ask for your help.”
“I lied to her about it, but I don’t think she quite believed me because she gave me this potion to control the pain.”
“You didn’t just lie to her. You lied to me and Harry. You should have said something. We never would have let you come to Gringotts with us or back to Hogwarts - “
“That’s exactly why I didn’t say anything,” she cut him off. “I didn’t need the two of you protecting me. I was handling it, and it’s not as if the pain is there every time I use magic. It comes and goes.”
“The way you’re pushing yourself the damage is likely to be permanent.”
“Ron, I don’t want to row about this.”
“Well, neither do I! But you’re too damn stubborn for your own good!” He had taken to pacing in front of her. It had given him something else to focus on besides his explosive temper that kept threatening to erupt.
“I’ll be more careful,” she promised. “I’ll respect my limitations.”
“Good,” Ron said, nodding in approval.
“Ron, please stop pacing.”
He stopped but he didn’t sit down. Ron didn’t feel calm enough for that just yet.
Hermione went to stand but her legs were a bit shaky so he reached out a hand to steady her. That hand ended up on her waist and stayed there even after she no longer needed his assistance.
“You’re still angry.” This close to him she could make out the fury in his blue eyes.
“I think you’d be the same way if our positions were reversed.”
“I’m sorry.”
He was about to retort his doubt regarding that apology, but he would have been a fool not to notice the change in her features as she spoke. Her words were sincere, which made it that much harder to maintain his anger.
“Do you want to lie down for a bit?” He asked her.
When she nodded he wondered if she was doing it because she was exhausted or to appease him.
“Where are you going?” She asked as he had turned to leave the dormitory.
“You want me to stay?” He cringed at the unsteadiness of his voice.
Hermione hesitated only for a moment, before saying, “yes.”
After facing down Death Eaters and conquering his worst fears and insecurities by destroying Salazar Slytherin's locket, Ron didn’t know why he was so nervous. To calm his nerves he reminded himself that this was just Hermione - his best friend for seven years and probably would have been a lot more sooner if he hadn’t been an arse about his feelings for so long. But now, with the war over, they could finally be selfish and focus on their relationship.
* * *
It didn’t take long for Hermione to realize that as tired as she was, sleep just wasn’t an option. That might have had something to do with the person lying next to her. She felt the mattress shift and knew Ron had turned over onto his back. She was so used to the silence that his voice startled her.
“You’re not asleep.”
“I’m exhausted but I don’t feel like sleeping.” She didn’t know if that made any sense or not.
Without warning, Ron started laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“I was just thinking what McGonagall would say if she knew Hermione Granger had a boy in her bed with the curtains drawn and a barrier cast so no one can open them. I think she’d take about a thousand points from Gryffindor, don’t you?” He said between bouts of laughter.
“Honestly, Ron, it’s not that funny.” But as she said it she was laughing too.
“Imagine the scandal if we were still in school and Lavender and Parvati found out. They’d have you labeled as a scarlet woman in no time.”
She picked up the pillow she was lying on and smacked him in the stomach with it. “If I had known you’d be this much trouble, I wouldn’t have bothered asking you to stay.”
“You don’t mean that.” He was absently running his fingers through her hair.
No, she didn’t. In fact, she wished she’d had the nerve last night to ask him to stay with her. But there had been too many people around and they had parted ways in the common room.
Before she knew what was happening, Ron was kissing her, and not in the frantic we-might-die sort of way like when she had jumped into his arms the night of the final battle. No, this was filled with the passion of living with denial and pent up feelings for so many years. The kiss progressed and soon her tongue mingled with Ron’s, who shifted his weight so that he was on top of her now.
He stopped and stared down at her. “Is this all right?” His tone was unsure, as if he didn’t know if she wanted him to continue.
Hermione caressed his face to show him that it was. She initiated the kiss this time, amused to feel Ron’s surprise at her forwardness.
Without warning, Ron was moving his lips away from her mouth and took his time kissing his way down her neck. Hermione tangled her hands in his hair, feeling her breathing quicken. The part of her brain that was still functioning told her this was happening too fast, but for once in her life she was past thinking logically or rationally. They had put this off for so long - had denied their feelings for so many years that this felt long overdue.
* * *
For the memorial service, Harry had gone to sit in one of the last rows, but Mrs. Weasley would have none of that. You’re a part of this family, Harry, she had said. You’ll sit with us. So he had sat beside Ginny and Hermione with the rest of the Weasley family.
Ron had glanced over at him during the service while he’d had his arm around Ginny. Though no words were spoken the look that passed between them was one that Harry interpreted to mean all was right between them again.
It wasn’t until the memorial service that Harry felt the full weight of the final battle and those who had given their lives in the fight against evil. The deaths of Lupin, Tonks, and Fred had finally set in. They were gone and he was left with a feeling of emptiness he didn’t think would ever go away.
Not long after the service ended, he had distanced himself from the others and disappeared under his invisibility cloak. It had become like an extension of himself over the last year and he was still under the habit of carrying it with him everywhere. He felt cowardly for leaving, but needed to get away. The emotions stirring inside of him were threatening to break loose and he didn’t want to be around a crowd when that happened.
Later on he would return to the Room of Requirement, and if he had really wanted to be alone he wouldn’t have gone there. They had spent the last two nights there, so it wasn’t altogether surprising to find Ginny sitting on the oversized sofa in front of a roaring fire.
Ginny didn’t say anything as she crossed the room and put her arms around him. That was when Harry broke down completely. He tried to pull away from her, but she wouldn’t let him.
“I’m supposed to be comforting you,” he croaked, burying his face in her hair.
“I’ve had almost seventeen years of comforting. It’s your turn.”
When her grip on him eventually slackened, he took a few steps away in an attempt to get his emotions under wraps.
“Mum was looking for you,” Ginny said once he had collected himself. “She wants to know if you’re coming to The Burrow with us tomorrow.”
“Your mum’s got enough to deal with. I don’t want to be a burden.”
“Harry, you know you’re not a burden. Mum loves you - all us Weasley’s do.”
He tried not to think about the implication behind her words. That without actually coming out and saying it, Ginny had just as good as admitted she loved him. “I’ve been thinking,” he started slowly. “I don’t know if we should be doing this right now. I mean, you’ll be returning to school in September - “
“If you finish that sentence, Harry, I swear I’ll use a Bat-Bogey Hex on you,” Ginny threatened. “I spent all of last year waiting for you. I’m not about to listen to any more excuses as to why we should put our relationship on hold even longer.”
“All I’m saying is it’s going to be difficult.”
“And all I’m saying is shut up.” She grabbed the front of his shirt and brought her lips crashing against his.
It gave Ginny what she wanted because he stopped protesting or arguing about their relationship. It was impossible for Harry to think about anything but Ginny’s soft lips moving over his and her hands on his chest.
For Harry, being apart from her for so long had only served to deepen his feelings. To feel Ginny expressing those same desires in her touches and the way she kissed him only made him want her more.
Desperate to feel more of her, he shuffled them backward, so his back was against the wall and Ginny was pressed against him. He was amazed at how quickly and effortlessly she had made him forget about everything - that she had reduced his world to just the two of them and nothing outside of it mattered.
When they parted for breath, Ginny noticed the odd expression on his face as he watched her. “What?”
“Nothing,” he said, letting his forehead come to rest against hers. He was grinning now, struck by the realization that the years of fighting and despair were behind him. Now, he could focus on what really mattered.
The End