What A Surprise

This fic takes place during the 6th book [HBP] while Ron and Lavender are "dating" and Hermione/Ron being to realize their true feelings for each other. If you haven't read the book, there may be some spoilers!

Also, many thanks to my amazing beta :) Much love!


Jealousy


"Won-Won!"

Ron winced as he heard the horrid nickname Lavender had come up with for him. He was just barely sitting down to his breakfast with Harry and Hermione, as usual, when Lavender swooped down on him.

"Won-Won! It took you so long to get down here, I've been waiting for you!" she squealed.

Ron looked up from his toast and faked a smile. "Oh, right, hi. Sorry, I suppose I slept in."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a look, both knowing that he was lying. Hermione sniffed with irritation. "Well, Lavender, I suppose you can have my seat, I was just leaving. I have to meet up with Cormac anyways," she stated, as she gathered her books and stalked away.

Ron watched her walk away, shooting Harry a look of confusion and anger. Harry just shook his head. He wondered why it was so hard for Ron to understand, when it was quite obvious to him what was going on.

Ever since Hermione had seen Ron and Lavender kissing in front of the whole common room, she had been quite miffed and barely spoke to Ron. They had gotten into a fight that night, and out of anger, Hermione had conjured birds to attack him. Several of the cuts from their pecking had still not healed.

She also had somehow managed to score a date with Cormac McLaggen to Slughorn's Christmas party, and was not afraid to tell almost everybody about it.

Harry had figured Ron would understand why she was so angry, but obviously he didn't. Ron had also refused to discuss Hermione with Harry, being the stubborn prat that he was. Of course, they rarely had time to talk about anything, since Lavender was always around. Harry had no idea how Ron could put up with her, she was just that annoying.He knew he could not and so whenever she was around Ron, he and Hermione just left them alone.

"Harry?" Ron's voice broke into his thoughts, and he started.

"What? What happened?"

Harry was surprised that Ron had managed to get any words out at all, because Lavender was all over him, sitting in his lap and everything. Harry quickly hid his disgusted look and took a sip of his juice.

"Nothing, I just asked if you were going into Hogsmeade today." Ron said, pulling himself out of Lavender's grasp. She looked a little irritated at the interruption.

Harry considered this for a moment. He did have a lot of homework to do, including the book he had to read for Charms which he hadn't even opened. But, they hadn't had a Hogsmeade weekend in ages. "Well yeah, I suppose I might. I need a break from all the work. I'll see if Hermione's going," he said.

Lavender had been listening and she now broke into the conversation with a weird look on her face. "Hermione's going with us?" she huffed.

Ron gave her an angry look behind her back, and Harry responded, "Yeah, I mean, she is kind of our best friend, Lavender. Anyway Ron, I'm going to go catch up to her. I'll see you later."

Harry threw his bag over his shoulder and left as well.

"What did you do that for?" Ron snapped at Lavender.

His voice rose so much that fellow Gryffindors further down the table looked up from their breakfast at the couple.

Lavender looked a little surprised at the outburst, but she quickly recovered and shot back, "I've told you Ron, I don't like her much! You guys spend so much time together!"

Ron shook his head. "That's because we're friends, Lav!" He was really starting to get irritated with Lavender's jealousy, which she made sure he knew about at least every other day. She looked down

"I know, love" she said apologetically. Then, she slid onto his lap again and gave him a kiss. He sighed, and attempted a smile again.

The truth was, of course he and Hermione were friends, but for some reason since their row he could not get her out of his head. He made sure Lavender didn't find out, she would probably go mad.

He needed to talk to Hermione, alone. He put down his toast and gently pushed Lavender off his lap. "Look, I need to go and find Harry. I forgot to ask him something about last night's homework." He turned grab his stuff and leave, but Lavender grabbed his arm. "Wait, Won-Won! I thought we were going into Hogsmeade together?" She began to pout.

"Oh, right, yeah, well let me just go find him and I'll come back," he lied. God, he really needed to figure some way to get her off his back. Thankfully, Lavender didn't have time to respond because Parvati took Ron's vacated seat. He took this opportunity, while they greeted each other, to quickly walk away.

Ron reached the hallway and took a minute to figure out where his two best friends would be. He decided to head up to the common room first. He walked slow, taking the time to think about Hermione, and Lavender, and the mess he had managed to get himself into. He didn't even know how he had managed to get with Lavender. It was just kind of an accident. He thought about Hermione .. She had no right to be angry! After all, hadn't she kissed Krum?

He shook his head again. That wasn't fair. It had happened almost 2 years ago. Finally reaching the common room, these thoughts evaporated when he stepped inside and found Harry and Hermione in a heated argument. Hermione's face was pink as she shouted at Harry. "It's not my fault he's a complete prat about things! He's always all over that - " She stopped shouting as she noticed Ron. "Oh what happened, Won-Won, looking for Lavender?" She shot him a scathing look and pushed past him out of the common room.

"What in the name of Merlin was that about? What did I do now?" Ron said to Harry, bewildered. "Ron, are you really that thick, mate? Do you have to throw this whole fling you have with Lavender in Hermione's face?" Harry responded. He looked weary.

"What are you talking about?! I don't tell her to be all over me, she does it on her own! Besides, why does Hermione care? Isn't she going out with Cormac or something?"

Harry shook his head. "Ron, it's not about Cormac. She wants you! I didn't know you could be that stupid. It's so obvious! And you just show up with Lavender everywhere." Ron looked shocked and angry.

"Why can't she talk to me about this herself? She never said anything about Lavender, she just went and got a date with McLaggen!" He said. "She just wanted to make you jealous, mate. Look, I'm not playing middle man anymore. Go talk to her about this yourself," Harry snapped, and went up the stairs to the dormitory.

Ron sat down for a minute in a fluffy chair by the fire, putting his head in his hands. Girls were so difficult. But Harry was right, he needed to talk to Hermione and sort this mess out.

He stood up and left the common room, storming down an empty hallway. He had no idea where she was, but she couldn't have gone far. He threw open several doors at random in the hallway, just to see if she had gone into any of them. They were empty.

Then, Ron rounded a corner and there she was. She was leaning against the wall, face in her hands, sobbing.

"Hermione?" Ron said cautiously. He was in no mood to be attacked by birds again. She spun around, her face red. She looked mortified to have him see her crying. "What? Why are you here, Ron?" She sniffled. She turned and opened another random door, an empty classroom, and disappeared inside. He followed, shutting the door behind them and locking it with a flick of his wand.

"Stop running away from me! We need to talk," he said. "We have nothing to talk about," she responded. Wiping away the tears, she dropped herself into a desk.

"Yes, we do! Why are you being like this?" Ron said. He moved closer to her. "Because, Ronald, you're a tactless git, alright?" Hermione turned her face away from him. "Bloody hell, give me a good reason!" he yelled.

She stood up and turned toward him, her face inches from his. "You want to know?! You really want to know, Ron?" Her face was now completely red, a mess of emotions. "Well obviously, I'm asking for you a reason!" He snapped. If she wanted to be rude, there was no point in being nice to her.

"Because I - Damnit, I love you Ron!" She shouted. "But you want to go and be with Lavender and snog her everywhere you go! You could at least do it somewhere so that I don't have to see it, but no, you insist on throwing it in my face as well!" Ron listened to her shouting in silence. Deep in his heart, he had already known all this, but to hear her say it was something else.

He moved forward and put his arms on her waist. "I - I wasn't throwing it in your face. I didn't mean to .. I just .. You never said anything."

She shook her head. "What was I supposed to say, Ron?" She said softly. He sighed. All thoughts of Lavender had completely vanished from his mind. This was what he had wanted from their very first year, whether he had known it or not. Before she could step back, out of his arms reach, he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. "I love you too, Hermione." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, and before she could protest or say anything at all, he was kissing her.

'This is wrong', Hermione thought. He was dating Lavender, and she was dating Cormac, and even as she thought this she kissed him back, because he wasn't the only one that had always wanted it.

She ran her hands through his hair as he kissed her more intensely. Suddenly she pulled back. Ron was slightly breathless, and he looked at her, confusion all over his face. "We shouldn't be doing this, Ron," she whispered, but it was so obvious she didn't mean it. "I don't care about anything else right now, I just want you, Hermione," he said softly.

And those words were all he had to say to make her protests evaporate because finally, after 6 whole years of waiting, they were together and he was kissing her, and that was all that mattered.


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A/N
Sorry for the evil cliffy :) but come on, there does have to be a chapter 2! Don't worry, I'll get started on it immediately. In the mean time, all feedback is definitely desired and appreciated so make sure you review :) Thanks!