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Understanding

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Ron slowly felt himself break the surface of consciousness. Breathing heavily, he looked around the dark and quiet room. Why was he in the hospital wing?

His hands gripped the sheet when he noticed something. He had a hand in his. Snapping his head around, he saw a small figure sitting in a chair with her head on his bed. Ron wouldn't have recognised the person if it wasn't for a very large outline of insane hair.

Hermione Granger was sleeping by his bed, snoring softly and holding his hand in a death grip.

Ron felt his mouth twitching into a smile. Perhaps they finally could be friends again after all these months of fighting and ignoring each other.

Weaving a hand into her frizzy locks and massaging her scalp gently, he whispered, "Hermione."

With a low groan, she moved her head against Ron's hand and then she sat up in the large chair. "Ow!" she shrieked suddenly and Ron realised that his hand was stuck in her hair.

"Oh, sorry," he blurted and quickly disentangled his fingers out of her wild mane. He felt his ears go red as he savoured the texture of it.

"You're awake," said Hermione in an amazed voice, looking straight at him. Then she looked down, blushed sharply and looked away. Ron followed her eyes and saw that his hand was still clasped tightly in hers. It felt awkward and wonderful, both at once.

"Yeah, I woke up," he said lamely.

"Glad you did," Hermione responded, still looking at the floor.

"Really?" He couldn't help but feel a flutter of something familiar in my chest.

"Of course," said Hermione. "We are friends after all. Or were, perhaps."

Ron cleared his throat as the room filled with silence, and she abruptly let go of his hand. He suddenly felt very cold and empty.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "I don't like that we stopped doing that."

"Doing what?" Hermione asked, looking at him with serious eyes.

"Being friends."

The room filled with silence once again, and Hermione sat back into the chair, looking away from him. He had a most curious lump in his throat and tried to swallow it over and over again.

"I never stopped being your friend," Hermione suddenly said, so fast that he almost missed it.

"No," he snorted. "You sent lethal canaries my way, but meant it in the nicest way possible, eh?"

Hermione chuckled and Ron realized he had missed that more than anything in the world these past months.

"Something like that," she said, eyes glittering through the darkness of the hospital wing.

He let out a little sigh and felt a numb pain in the back of his head. "Merlin," he said, holding a hand against it. "My head is killing me."

Hermione let out a choked whimper and he frowned, glancing down at her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She didn't answer immediately, but curled up in the large chair, hugging her knees. Ron thought she looked so little sitting in the suddenly enormous chair. She was more than adorable, she was beautiful.

"It's just…" she began, but stopped suddenly. She took a deep breath. "You almost died and the last thing I'd said to you was 'stupid prat' and I had really meant it at the time."

He didn't answer her, he just looked at his hands, which were on his stomach, and listened to the small thumping of pain in his head. Hermione was right, she had called him a stupid prat, but in his mind he had called her an insufferable know-it-all at about the same time.

"Ron…" Hermione let out. It came out like a sigh.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly blurted out, only half-expecting to do so. "I'm sorry I went with Lavender instead of you. I'm sorry I've been snogging her all over the place. I'm sorry I overreacted so incredibly to such a stupid thing as Krum again -"

"What?" Hermione interrupted him, looking confused and a bit teary-eyed. "What does Viktor have to do with anything?"

Ron froze. "I, er… Someone told me that you two snogged back in fourth, and I just -"

"We did not!" Hermione gasped.

He felt a wave of happiness shoot through him and suddenly had the impression that this was the perfect time for a little jig.

"We did kiss, but it wasn't at all a snog," she, unfortunately, continued as Ron's heart dropped.

"So you did kiss him," he mumbled, feeling stupid. Of course she did, it was Viktor Krum after all. Who wouldn't kiss an international Quidditch star?

"At least I didn't snog him all around the castle at every hour," she muttered in response. It sounded like a fair point.

"Okay, I give up," Ron sighed. "If who you really want is Krum, I guess I'll just step aside and let you two -"

"Ron!" Hermione sighed. "Please stop now before I have to physically hurt you."

He turned silent and looked down at his hands once again, feeling worse than ever. Nothing went as he wanted anymore - not that it ever had - and now he had to cope with the fact that he had blown his chance with Hermione. If he ever had one. He couldn't help but feel that it seemed unlikely that someone as brilliant as Hermione Granger would want someone as un-brilliant as himself.

"Thank you for apologizing to me," Hermione said after a while.

Ron suddenly felt like laughing. "Seemed to be the right thing to do."

"I heard that you pretend to sleep whenever Lavender comes to visit," Hermione said, her voice filled with mirth. "I can't imagine why."

Ron's ears turned a bright red. "How d'you know?"

"Madam Pomfrey told me when I got here tonight," she answered. "She also told me some other things."

"Like what?" Ron asked, dreading the worst.

Hermione didn't speak for a moment, looking like she needed to consider how to say the following. "She told me that you visited me every night back in second year."

He groaned. No one was supposed to know that he had sat by her side every night that she had been paralysed. He had been so sad and aching, and he couldn't figure out why he seemed to hurt a bit more than Harry. Or in a different way, perhaps. Ron didn't understand why his heart soared and his throat ached when Hermione had been awoken. Nothing had ever felt like it, and after that day his heart soared and his throat ached a little almost every time he laid his eyes on her. It had confused him to no end at first.

Until fourth year.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Ron responded, not voicing any of his jumbled thoughts.

Hermione nodded and seemed to ponder something. "I reckon we've both been very stupid," she said slowly.

"It's been suggested," Ron put in.

"You… you hurt me really bad."

Ron's throat ached again. "I'm very sorry about that. If it's any consolation, I really wish I could get rid of Lavender right now."

"Why?" Hermione asked. "She really fancies you."

"Yeah, I guess so," Ron said, smiling softly. "The problem is that her fancy is quite unrequited."

"Really?" Hermione was smiling as well now. "And why might that be?"

"Because," Ron leant forward and rested his elbows on his thighs, "I kind of have my eye on someone else."

"Oh. How bad for Lavender, then."

Ron nodded. "But so much better for me."

They were unconsciously moving closer to each other.

"But who on earth could this mystery girl be?" Hermione said, scratching her chin. "Hang on, it is a girl, right?"

Ron laughed. "Who would have thought Hermione Granger had a sense of humour?"

"There are many things you don't know about me, Ron Weasley," she said, being serious for a moment. Then she grinned again. "Now, back to the girl of your dreams."

"With pleasure," Ron quipped.

"Could you possibly give me a clue about who she might be?"

Ron cleared his throat. "Well, for one thing, I'm looking at her."

"How nice," Hermione said in a low voice.

Their foreheads were touching now, and Ron's fingers made lazy patterns on her arm. He felt his eyes slip shut, and then… nothing. He opened his eyes and saw Hermione pulling back.

"I can't."

Ron felt his heart fall down onto the floor where Hermione stomped on it, laughing madly. Then he shook himself.

"You can't?"

Hermione shook her head. "If you really want to be with me, you have to break up with your girlfriend first. No one deserves to feel like I did when…"

Ron winced, but felt his heart jump back into his chest again. "I suppose you're right. As always, by the way." He grinned at her and she smiled back at him.

"You're really something, Ron Weasley," she said, putting a soft hand to his cheek. He leant into it, watching her face closely.

"Well," Hermione cleared her throat and pulled her hand away, "I guess I should be going."

"No," Ron protested automatically. "Why?"

"Because I don't trust myself with you right now." She was blushing a pretty red.

He put on his trademark lopsided grin and cocked an eyebrow. "Is Hermione Granger doubting her self discipline? Why, I never thought I'd see the day -"

"Oh, shut up, you," she laughed.

Then she did something that almost made Ron choke. She leant over him and planted a kiss on his cheek, lingering longer than she usually would. Then she squeaked out a 'good night' before practically running out of the hospital wing.

Ron put a hand onto his cheek and felt his ears go red again. His head was swimming a bit and he couldn't stop grinning.

He would have to thank Madam Pomfrey in the morning for being such a blabbermouth.

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A/N: And I'm back! This is a little oneshot that takes place in the infamously possible missing moment after Ron's been poisoned in HBP; my take on what could have happened.

I sort of have an idea of a collection of oneshots that's been on my mind for quite a while now. Liking the idea? Review please.