Versions// Ron Weasley X Reader

Nine

A few days pass, and I open my eyes in the morning to find the other half of the bed empty. Ginny, nowhere to be seen, had still left me barely any blanket for my side. I yawn and sit up, and am surprised to see Hermione still asleep on the other bed. My heartbeat quickens. I look out the window to be sure that it's really the morning time. I reach onto the nightstand for Ginny's watch, which she never wears, to see that it's already past 9. Hermione usually woke me up before now.

I slowly stand up and make my way towards Hermione. She's still asleep, but she seems less peaceful than usual. I decide to let her rest a few minutes more, and quickly get dressed. I even sneak down and brush my teeth before coming back into Ginny's room. Hermione still lays there quietly, for some reason. Why is she suddenly sleeping in? She hardly sleeps past 8:30 most days.

I bite my lip and nervously kneel beside her. I clear my throat as quietly as I can, reach out my hand, and slightly touch her arm.

Immediately, Hermione throws my hand off and wakes with a start. She makes a monstrous noise, a cross between a scream and a cough. She slaps her hand against her chest when she realizes it's just me. "Merlin, Y/N!"

My jaw falls to the floor. Hermione just made an inhumane noise because I tried to wake her up. She looks absolutely insane. What in the world just happened? Is that how she normally wakes up?

I fall into a fit of laughter. I shake so hard with every laugh I can hardly breathe. Hermione laughs along with me. I slowly start to catch my breath. Through bursts of laughter, I manage to say "SO..so thats, why you- why you always wake US up!"

Hermione covers her face in her hands. "It's embarrassing!" She looks at me through her hands urgently. "Don't tell anyone else!"

My laughter dies down. Hermione just asked me to keep a secret. "Okay, Hermione. Just between you and me." I grin at her and she waves a threatening finger my way before getting up to get dressed. 

"I hope you're good with secrets. I have lots of them. And, if you can keep this one," She combed through her hair with her fingers, "I'll tell you more."

I smile sheepishly. No, I'm not good with secrets. And, this is the longest conversation I've ever had with Hermione alone. Sure, she was best friends with Harry, Ginny, and Ron, and I'm best friends with Harry, Ginny, and Ron, but we were never best friends with each other. Just, involved in the same group. She was always so busy, and then after I developed a crush on her, I was too nervous to really start talking to her. 

But sitting here in Ginny's room, alone with Hermione, I didn't feel awkward or nervous. We were just talking to each other, a normal conversation between friends.

"Why'd you sleep in so late today?" I ask her, wanting to keep the conversation going.

Hermione threw a sweater on over her shirt. "I was just having trouble sleeping. I'm a bit nervous about this Christmas party tonight, with all those ministry workers." Hermione said quietly. 

"Oh yeah, Malfoy's gonna be here." I say and roll my eyes back. Hermione offers a weak smile.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking." She looked down at the floor for a moment, then looked up, her expression brighter. "Oh, but Luna and her father will be around!"

I suddenly go a bit numb. "Luna Lovegood?" I squeak. Hermione gives me a puzzling look.

"Yeah, that's the one. Is something the matter?" She holds out her hand for me. I hardly even realize that I'm touching her when I grab her hand and she helps me stand up. The thought of Luna being here makes me nervous again. Not in a good way, just a little nervous.

"Luna and I, well..." I look at Hermione. I had to tell her the truth, Hermione was way too smart to believe any lie I could come up with now. "Luna and I sort of dated. In secret. She had a lot of suspicions that if anyone found out we were together, their brains would overflow with wrackspurts. Or something, she's quite odd. We broke up near the end of last year. I haven't really spoken to her all term."

Hermione's expression falls. "Oh... I didn't know..." She searches my face for the answer she's supposed to give me, but I can't meet her eyes. "Did it end badly?"

I sigh. "I mean, it's Luna. She's not one to hold grudges. It just didn't work out. She's great, but we just felt like our time was done. We were-" I stop myself. I remember what Ron said a few days ago, about how young Ron liked young Hermione, but current Ron is... "different. Older. New people." 

Hermione nodded. "I've been there." My eyes shot up to meet hers, and she's slightly taken aback. "What was that? What did you just think of?" She asks.

"Sorry! I just, flinched. I don't know." I shake my head quickly before continuing. "Uh, what do you mean you've been there? Like, with who?"

"Oh," she said, "I guess, you can care about someone a lot. They can mean the world to you, but you just don't have romantic feelings. They're just, not there." She shrugged. "I've thought they were there before, for someone, but they just weren't."

I try to keep my face from getting red. I steady my breathing. She must be talking about Ron. Why do I care so much? Why am I so nervous again?

"That makes sense." I say. I turn towards the door so she doesn't see me blush.

"Yeah. And sometimes, romantic feelings appear where you'd least expect." She added. She said it so casually. I hold my breath and nod before walking towards the door and down the stairs together.