Ron had never been in a room with so many people, but had felt so alone. He had never gotten so much attention, but wanted none of it. So much was going on, but everything was a blur. People were coming up, congradualating him, patting him on the back, giving him hugs out of thanks or sympathy. But Ron wanted none of it. He wished they would all go away, those stupid people. None of them had to experience their brother die. But yet they didn't leave him alone. Couldn't they understand he only wanted to talk to Fred? He wanted nothing to do with no one else in the world except for him. Nothing anyone said matter to him, and nobody could cheer him up, no matter what they said. Nobody should be allowed to talk to him. But, of course, their was always the execption. And in his case, it happened to be Hermione.

She slid next to him, without asking if the seat was open, which was odd, as everyone else seemed hesitant to sit next to him, as if the seat was important, as if he was a celebrity. Or as if they got the sense he wanted to be left alone.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Hermione whispered.

"No." He managed to say.

"You know, the best thing to do is think of all the happy times you had with Fred." She said. "He was great."

"I know he was great, he was my brother!" Ron snapped, then added, "I'm sorry. I guess it's still a touchy subject at the moment."

"It's quite alright." She said polietly, starting to get up.

"Hermione...could you stay with me?" He said hesitantly.

"Of course." She smiled tenderly, resting her head on his shoulder, gripping his arm comfortingly. He instantly felt a swooping sensation in his stomach, which was odd. He had kissed the girl, had he not, so why did he feel so nervous as he held her?

The stayed like this for several minutes, not talking, just enjoying each other's company, and Ron knew they were both thinking about the same thing; the kiss.

The kiss had changed everything. Or did it? What if they were going to go on with their daily lives, pretending as if it had never happened? No, Ron didn't want that, he had waited seven years for that kiss, he was not waiting any longer.

"Umm...Hermione," He said, clearing his throat and lifting his head up from ontop of hers.

"Hmmm...?" She said drowisly, her eyes closed.

"About that kiss..."He began, and Hermione immediately sat up.

"Yes?"

"Well, we can't pretend it didn't happen..."He said awkwardly.

"No, unless you want to pretend it didn't happen." She said quickly.

"No!" Ron yelped. "I mean, unless you do."

"Oh, this is silly, Ron." Hermione sighed. "Look, this is going to get awkward, so I'm just going to say it. I kissed you, and I kissed you for a reason. I've had feelings for you for a long time, Ron. So I don't know if you just kissed me for fun, but I thought it was real."

"No, no, of course it was real! I've been waiting for that moment for seven years! Of course, I always thought I'd be the one to kiss you, but when you fall for a bossy, take-charge, impatient know-it-all, you don't always get what you want." Ron teased.

"And when you fall for a inpassionate, insentive, immature, lazy slacker, you sometimes have to step up it." Hermione laughed, and silence fell upon them again.

"So, we're a couple now, right?" Ron said awkwardly.

"I suppose so." Hermione smiled.

"I think I'm supposed to kiss you right now." He suggested.

"I was hoping you would." Hermione said, and they shared their second kiss, just as good as the first.

"What do we do now?" Ron asked. "That only took a few seconds. We could have the rest of our lives ahead of us!"

"Ron, haven't you been in a relationship before?" Hermione said impatiently.

"No, well, yeah, Lavender, but that doesn't really count. I only used her to get you jealous, and to bring up my self esteem." He grinned, and Hermione did too, although the idea was so wrong.

"And why wouldn't you consider that a relationship?"

"I dunno, we didn't talk, we didn't joke, we didn't do much but snog..." He said, and a lightbulb clicked inside his head. "Oh, I'm supposed to ask you out!"

"There it is." Hermione laughed.

"Hermione Granger, will you get dinner with me?"

"I would love too." She said, kissing him again.