'Why would you want to date me?' A Romione AU fanfiction

'You're impossible, Ron!'

'Are you really only just getting that now, Hermione?'

Ron glowered down at the bushy-haired witch hurriedly trying to keep up with his enormous strides as they marched along to breakfast. Hermione's forehead was barely visible underneath her enormously bushy hair, but Ron could tell that it was scrunched up in irritation at him.

'I mean, you're always trying to get out of doing homework—.'

'Of course I do! Unlike a certain genius I could mention, I don't enjoy doing school-work!'

Hermione's face lost something of its annoyed expression for a split second as Hermione processed this, but it returned almost instantly.

'Don't give me that rubbish, Ron!'

'It's true!'

There was a loud snigger from behind them. They both turned to find a fourth-year Ravenclaw boy leaning against the wall. He was grinning in a rather knowing way, which made Ron's temper flare.

'Something funny, mate?' he asked irritably, his eyebrow raised.

The Ravenclaw boy smirked again, and wandered off in the opposite direction, grinning knowingly.

Hermione turned to look at Ron, looking as bewildered as he felt.

'What was that about?'

'No idea,' he said, scratching his head. 'Come on, if we don't hurry up, breakfast will have finished!'

'You and your food,' muttered Hermione as they began walking again. 'I've never met someone as obsessed with it as much as you.'

'I grew up in a poor family, okay!' Ron spat, irritably. 'When I see free food, I eat it!'

Hermione bit her lip, looking awkward.

'Sorry,' she mumbled apologetically.

Ron rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't used to Hermione apologising to him- it felt a bit weird.

'That's okay,' he said, as they climbed down the grand staircase 'Now, if you could just lay off with the lecturing about my Potions essay….'

Ron and Hermione, still arguing, walked through the large doors of the Great Hall and up the Gryffindor table. Was it just Ron, or were more people staring at them with the same knowing looks as the Ravenclaw boy from earlier? The thought made him feel self-conscious.

'Ron! Hermione!' called a familiar voice, and Ron saw Harry sat roughly half-way up the long Gryffindor table.

Ron and Hermione sat down on the other side of the table, so that they were both facing Harry. Ron couldn't help but feel people's eyes staring into his back as he pushed his bag underneath the table. He hoped that he was just imaging things.

'What took you two so long?' Harry asked, biting into a slice of toast.

Ron shrugged, pulling a bowl of porridge towards him. 'Got a little side-tracked. Some Ravenclaw bloke was smirking at us.'

Harry's eyebrows contracted in bafflement.

'Smirking at you?'

'Yes, it was a bit odd' said Hermione, as she poured herself coffee. 'I wonder what he was on about?'

'Hmm' Harry scratched his chin absentmindedly. 'What were you two doing at the time?'

'Just bickering,' Ron said, shovelling porridge into his mouth. 'Hermione won't shut up about my Potions essay—'

'It's important, Ron!' Hermione exclaimed, flaring up again. 'Honestly, you need to take a long hard look at your academic future and—'

'Maybe they thought you two were flirting,' said Harry, as he buttered himself another slice of toast.

Ron choked on his porridge. Spluttering, he looked up from his bowl at Harry. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hermione's eyes widening in what looked like shock.

Harry stared at them both, continuing to chew leisurely on his toast.

'D-did I mishear you there, Harry?' squeaked Hermione, her face beginning to turn a slight pink.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

'F-flirting?' Ron stuttered, his ears turning red 'Are you mental, mate?'

'Well, you two do spend a lot of time bickering with each-other.' Harry continued, looking non-plussed. 'If people didn't know you well, they could easily imagine you two were a couple teasing each-other.'

Ron gave a nervous swallow. He could feel the stares of the rest of the great hall drilling into the back of his head.

'That's- that's ridiculous!' stuttered Hermione, 'He was probably just laughing about the way we were bickering, Harry.'

'Yeah,' said Ron, his voice an octave higher than normal. 'That must be it!'

Harry did not look convinced.

'Ron, you're doing the spell wrong!'

'Oh, not this again! I haven't even started casting it yet!'

'Why haven't you started yet? Honestly! Here- let me guide you!'

'Get off, Hermione- I'm fine!'

'Miss Granger, Mr Weasley- will you please be quiet?'

Harry tried not to snigger as Professor McGonagall glared at his two friends, Hermione's hand still clamped to Ron's in an attempt to 'help' him with the spell they were learning. The entire class stopped their own spell-work, and swivelled their heads to look at the two Gryffindors, who were staring, very embarrassed, at their exasperated head of house.

'I admire your attempt to help your classmate, Miss Granger, but I would kindly ask you both not to flirt when you are in class!'

There was a smattering of giggling from the rest of the class. Hermione let go of Ron's hand, her face turning a deep maroon. Ron looked down at his feet, pink blossoming on the tops of his ears.

What on earth was going on today? He could still hear everyone laughing around him, but it seemed like background noise to him.

Ron risked a look sideways at Hermione. She was bent over her textbook, her face barely visible underneath her mane of bushy hair. It seemed to catch the light that was breaking through the classroom window through the rainclouds. Ron had always liked Hermione's hair, but he had certainly never told her that. That would have been a dead giveaway to how he really felt. He couldn't risk it. He was her friend- that was all he could ever be to her.

She couldn't possibly know that his insides were squirming and his heart was beating faster than it ever had before. The thought of the two of them being…a couple…filled him with embarrassment, yes, but also excitement, trepidation, and maybe a little hope.

But she could never know how much she meant to him. He couldn't ask that of her, knowing that she would never, in a million years, feel the same for him…

When the bell rang, Hermione was the first out of the door. Harry and Ron found her a few minutes later in the Gryffindor common-room, bent over the notes from her finished potions essay.

'Oh, no- not this bloody potions essay again?' groaned Ron, as he sat down next to her. Harry collapsed into a sofa nearby.

'Yes, Ron!' Hermione said firmly. 'I am going to go over this until you've completed this! You can even look over my notes for it!'

Ron rubbed his eyes, and gave a loud yawn.

'Hermione, it might have escaped your notice' he said, as she pushed the notes into his lap. 'But, unlike you, I'm not a genius who can just—.'

'Will you stop calling me that?' Hermione's voice was irritated, but a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. 'Flattery will not get you out of doing this!'

Ron rolled his eyes. 'I'm not trying to flatter you, I'm just telling the truth!'

'Honestly,' said Seamus, smirking at Ron and Hermione as he and Dean leaned onto the arms of the sofa Harry was sitting on. 'Can you two get a room? We can't concentrate with you love-birds flirting everywhere.'

Hermione and Ron both turned their heads to face Seamus. Ron could feel his ears burning again, and Hermione's cheeks began to flush.

'Oh, will you all stop with this?' Ron yelled, very irritated. 'Why do you even think that we're flirting- haven't you all known us for years?'

The common-room seemed to go very quiet. Everyone's conversations seemed to pause, and he could feel every head turn to look at him.

Dean looked at Ron confusingly.

'But…you're going out with each-other… aren't you?' he asked tentatively.

Ron felt his heart suddenly beat very hard in his chest, and he could feel his face begin to burn. He opened his mouth to respond, even though he had no idea what to say, but before he could reply, Hermione spoke.

'Y-you are all very much incorrect! Honestly!' she exclaimed, her voice echoing off the walls of the common-room. Before Ron could say anything, she had picked up her notes from his lap and stormed towards the portrait hole, which swung closed behind her.

There was a long silence, punctuated only by the soft patter of rain against the windows of the tower. Ron continued to stare after Hermione, his heart still pounding.

'Well,' he said to the common-room at large, his tone irritable. 'I hope you're all very happy with yourselves.'

He stood up. He had half a mind to hex Seamus for bringing this up, but he decided against it. He pushed his way through the assembled students, and over to the portrait hole. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Harry looking concerned after him just before the portrait swung shut.

Ron had an inkling that Hermione would be heading to the library. After hanging around with her for years, he knew that she always went there when she wanted to get away from people. After what had just happened, she would want to be away from everyone.

He made his way towards the library, deciding to take a usual short-cute of his- through a secret passageway covered by tapestries at both ends. It cut off several corridors from his journey. He remembered that he, Hermione and Harry had stumbled across the passageway at the start of second year on their way between classes. Hermione had tripped over Ron's feet, and fallen against the tapestry, which slid sideways to reveal the passageway it kept hidden.

As he neared the passageway, however, he began to hear the sound of muffled sobbing. Ron felt his stomach give an unpleasant lurch. He could recognise that sound anywhere- it had heard that particular person crying virtually every year since he had started Hogwarts. Sadly, he had been the cause of the tears several times, something he always felt guilty about.

He pushed apart the tapestry, and climbed into the passageway.

Hermione was sat on the floor a few feet away, her legs pulled up to her chest. Her bushy hair was covering her face, but Ron could see that Hermione was dabbing her eyes with a spotted handkerchief.

'H-Hermione?' he whispered tentatively, kneeling down next to her.

Hermione gave a surprised squeak, and hurriedly blew her nose.

'Oh… h-hi Ron,' she said, trying to put on a brave smile. 'Sorry…I just got a little upset.'

If it was possible, Ron's spirits plummeted further. He knew that Hermione hated getting embarrassed, especially around lots of people. He couldn't blame her for getting upset over what had happened over the morning.

'No, its fine,' mumbled Ron. He was never that good with words, especially when it came to emotions (unless he was angry, in which case he was brilliant at voicing his feelings).

'Sorry about all this stuff,' he continued, his eyes not quite managing to meet Hermiones'. 'I don't blame you for…you know, getting upset over…, of course, why on earth would you want to…'

He trailed off, the words "date me" caught at the back of his throat.

Why was he so unable to say what he was thinking?

'I-I mean' Ron continued, his face beginning to feel warm. 'These rumours…about you and me…I don't blame you for getting upset.'

'How-how do you mean?' asked Hermione, tears still clinging to her eye-lashes. She looked a little confused.

'W-well' he stuttered, cursing his own awkwardness. 'I can…I can imagine you probably wouldn't want to be seen dead dating…me.'

There was a very long pause. Ron silently cursed his own idiocy- he wasn't cheering her up. All he was probably doing was making her realise how pathetic and bitter he was. He had known for a long time that Hermione would never see him in that way; and he had no interest in damaging his friendship with her by blurting out some lame love confession that would never be accepted.

His stomach seemed to be withering, and his heart gave a sad thud.

To his great surprise, however, Hermione's face turned red again, and she broke eye-contact, looking down at her knees. Ron looked at her, worried- had he said something wrong?

'I-I…' she mumbled, her hands shaking slightly as she curled them round her legs. Her mouth seemed to struggle to move. 'I….wouldn't mind.'

Ron's breath caught in his throat, but his mouth moved on its own, seemingly involuntarily.

'M-maybe we could… try it.'

Ron clapped a hand to his mouth in shock at his own daring. He could feel his face blushing. Hermione's eyes seemed to swell to the size of dinner-plates as they met Ron's. Her mouth half-opened.

'S-sorry,' Ron exclaimed frantically, his heart in his mouth. 'I'm probably talking rubbish. What am I saying? Of course you wouldn't want to—'

'N-no!' Hermione interrupted. 'No- I'd…quite like that.'

She reached out and took Ron's hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.

As he looked into her eyes, Ron felt like his stomach was exploding with swarms of butterflies. Was this really happening? If it wasn't, he didn't think his heart could take the disappointment.

'You- you really mean that?' he asked, his face burning.

Hermione nodded. 'Of course,' she mumbled, her cheeks a deep maroon.

Ron's stomach seemed to rapidly re-inflate, and his heart seemed to be pumping faster than ever.

His mouth stretched into a nervous smile, which Hermione matched, her eyes glinting in the half-darkness of the passageway.

They both stood up; Ron wobbling slightly (his knees felt like they might give out), and slowly walked back along the passageway to the entrance Ron had entered through.

However, as Ron pulled back the tapestry, an enormous cacophony of noise caught them off guard, and Ron grabbed Hermione's shoulder protectively with his other hand.

An enormous crowd stood before them. The whole of Gryffindor house was packed into the corridor, and they were cheering; applauding Ron and Hermione as they let the tapestry fall into place behind them. Ron could also see a few students from other houses mixed in, including the Ravenclaw boy who had smirked at them that morning.

'What the-? How-?' Ron gasped, the tops of his ears turning red again. Hermione seemed to have lost the power of speech, her eyes lingering on Ron's hand on her shoulder.

Harry, who was standing nearby with Ginny and Luna Lovegood, smiled apologetically. 'Sorry- I couldn't stop them.'

'Congratulations!' yelled Seamus, grinning wildly. 'You two finally got it together!'

'Were- were you all eavesdropping the entire time?' Ron exclaimed, horrified. He felt like his stomach was trying to leak into the insides of his legs.

'Only for that…last bit,' said Dean, who looked slightly sorry for himself. 'It wasn't planned. It just kind of…happened.'

'Lovely,' said Ron, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 'Just brilliant.'

He looked round at Hermione. Her face was burning bright red beneath her bushy hair, but she didn't seem upset.

Her eyes met his, and she squeezed his hand again. Ron felt his heart thud against the inside of his chest. His hand was still holding onto her shoulder protectively- her jumper was warm, and her skin felt very soft beneath the fabric.

A small nervous smile formed on Hermione's lips. Ron felt a similar one stretch his own mouth.

Momentarily unaware of the rest of Gryffindor house around them, Ron bent down and kissed Hermione on the cheek. She let out a small gasp of surprise, which was quickly swallowed up by another enormous cheer that emanated from their fellow house-mates.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ron could see Harry and Ginny applauding, Seamus cheering, and Neville Longbottom weeping happily into a borrowed handkerchief of Parvati Patil's.

Amid the general noise around them, Ron heard Hermione giggle. Their faces still close together, she whispered into his ear.

'I quite like this too, Ron.'

Ron grinned, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. The assembled students around them seemed to blur into the background.

'Well, you're the genius, Hermione- what do you think we should do now?'

Hermione let out a laugh that sounded like birdsong to Ron's ears.

'Oh, flattery will get you nowhere, Ron' she whispered, as she pulled his face closer.

Ron could feel his heart beating in his ears, and he could see his own freckly face reflected in her gorgeous brown eyes.

'I'm not a genius, Ron,' she whispered, her face barely an inch from his. 'I'm just a student who fell in love with their best friend.'

'I thought that was me.'

If it was possible, Hermione smiled even wider. She pulled his face closer. Ron could almost hear her heart beating through her jumper.

Ron felt his own heart expand to thrice its normal size as she pressed her lips to his.

His brain seemed to shut down. He was dimly aware of people wolf-whistling, and another explosion of cheering from all around them. But he didn't pay much attention to it and found it very difficult to care, because his lips were pressed to Hermione Granger's.

After what felt like a beautiful eternity, they broke apart. Ron's lips tingled, and he felt like his heart was about to burst through his chest. Hermione's arms were around his middle now, and she was staring up at him with a radiant expression.

'Well, I still think you're a genius, Hermione,' he said, smiling down at her. His stomach was churning with butterflies, and blood was roaring in his ears.

Hermione chuckled, playing with a loose strand of his hair. Ron felt goosebumps appear on his neck.

'Oh, you're impossible, Ron!'

'Are you really only just getting that now, Hermione?' he said, grinning widely, as she pulled him into another kiss.