Fallen

A/N: Many thanks go to allybee over at CM for her excellent beta work on this story. It is so much better thanks to her input, and she made the whole process completely painless for this first time author!

Ron Weasley was frustrated. There were many things that were bothering him these days, but one eclipsed them all: his relationship with Lavender Brown. He had realized almost from the start that it was a huge mistake. He had gotten involved with her purely as a jealous reaction to Ginny’s comments, and now he saw no way out without hurting her. Even though he wanted it over, he didn’t like the idea of hurting Lavender’s feelings — after all, this situation was entirely his fault! His recent arguments with her gave him some hope that she would just get fed up and leave him, but unfortunately that hadn’t happened yet.

“Why do I keep making such a bloody mess of things?” he mumbled to himself as he sat at his usual table in the Gryffindor Common Room trying to get caught up on his homework. The week he had just spent in the hospital wing had put him behind, and he was struggling to make up the assignments. Unfortunately, he had spent the last fifteen minutes working on the same sentence in his Transfiguration essay because his thoughts kept drifting to one person… Hermione Granger.

Hermione was the most amazing witch he had ever met, and recently, her mere presence had become enough to send his heart racing and completely jumble his mind. She had been one of his two best mates since he came to Hogwarts, and he had come really close to destroying that due to this whole ‘Lavender Thing’. Hermione had stopped talking to him, and it was like a piece of him had been ripped away. He often wished it were possible to use a Time Turner to go back and beat some sense into himself before he started this whole mess.

Luckily, it only took a near death experience to get her to start talking with me again. At this rate, I’m not sure how many more times I can afford to bugger this up...

During his time in Hermione-imposed exile, Ron had come to realize how much she meant to him, how much a part of his life she had become, and that he never wanted to lose her again. He realized that he needed to apologize to her properly.

And figure out a way to ditch Lavender.

He shook his head and attempted to focus. This essay wasn’t going to write itself.

********************

The next morning in the Great Hall, as Ron tucked into his usual morning feast, a post owl soared in and headed directly for him. It dropped a small, bright green envelope on the table beside his plate and turned back for the window. He recognized the writing on the envelope immediately — Fred and George. He opened it warily, and a small piece of folded parchment dropped out. He cautiously picked it up and unfolded it, expecting it to blow up in his face or drench him with some horrible substance. Instead, all he found was a short note.

Dearest Ronnikins,

We, your wonderful, generous, and incredibly intelligent brothers were wondering if you would join us for lunch at the Three Broomsticks on Saturday in Hogsmeade? We’re buying, but we might have a small favor to ask of you.

-F & G.

Ron wasn’t keen on wasting a part of his weekend with the twins, and if they were offering him a free lunch, there had to be a catch, but he was too curious about the “favor” they wanted to decline. He hurriedly finished his breakfast and rushed off to send a response before class, accepting their invitation.

********************

Saturday morning dawned, clear and bright. A fresh, late-winter layer of snow had fallen during the night, and the sun glistened brightly off the pristine carpet of white powder. It seemed that the entire school was lined up to go to Hogsmeade, and Ron sighed as he took his place with the other Prefects. Their job was helping keep the younger students in line while they waited to be checked off the approved list by Filch. After everyone had been accounted for, he looked around for Harry and Hermione.

“Oi! Ron! Let’s go, mate,” shouted Harry, appearing from behind a group of chatting Hufflepuffs.

“Where’s Hermione?” Ron inquired as Harry caught up with him.

“She got stuck helping a group of third years, but she said she’d catch up with us in Hogsmeade.”

During the trip to the village, Ron’s thoughts drifted, as always, to his current predicament. He had managed to avoid Lavender this morning, but it was becoming almost impossible to dream up new excuses. He really needed to end this, but how?

“Er... Harry, I’ve got a couple of errands to run, so how about if I catch up with you later?” Ron offered.

“Sure.Whatever,” Harry replied as he headed off to meet up with Hermione.

As Harry walked off, Ron realized that he actually had a little time before he needed to meet his brothers, so he decided to stop in Honeydukes for a few of the free samples, and in Quality Quidditch Supplies to check out the newest brooms on the market. As he wandered back towards the Three Broomsticks for his meeting with the twins, he caught sight of Harry and Hermione having a snowball fight with several of the other Gryffindors. They were laughing and shouting and having what appeared to be a great time. He watched as Hermione got hit with a particularly large snowball and collapsed melodramatically into Harry, pretending to be wounded. Something twisted in the pit of Ron’s stomach. He wanted to be the one holding her, helping her warm up, nursing her ‘injuries’. He knew that she and Harry were more like brother and sister, but seeing her close to any other bloke like that just drove him a little bit crazy.

Ron shook his head to clear his thoughts and continued his walk, shuffling along slowly while idly looking in the passing shop windows. Suddenly, a reflection in the glass caught his eye. That color… it just had to be. He spun around to see that, yes, Lavender had just emerged from a shop down the street, and was walking in his general direction. He knew it was her because of that bright, reddish-pink jumper that she had taken to wearing everywhere. He remembered the first time she had come into the Gryffindor Common Room wearing it. She was practically bubbling over with glee.

“Hey, Won Won… Do you like my new jumper? My mum sent it to me. What do you think?”

He had been at a loss for words, but luckily, she didn’t notice and continued on. “My mum said it was appropriate because the color is amaranth.”

“Ama-what?” he had asked, confused.

“Amaranth. It’s from some Greek word and means ‘one that does not wither.’ What do you think?”

He remembered sputtering something about it being very bright, and then making yet another excuse to escape to his dormitory.

Snapping back to the present, Ron immediately spun around and ducked into the first shop he encountered, thinking that the only thing he really liked about that jumper was that it made it easy to spot her from a mile away. She seemed to wear it everywhere these days, and it made it that much easier to avoid her.

Inside the shop, Ron found himself surrounded by glass display cases containing rings, necklaces, and bracelets. “A bloody jewelry shop… it figures,” he muttered. He immediately wanted to leave, but didn’t want to chance running into Lavender, so he reluctantly started looking around.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” asked an elderly witch from behind one of the counters. “Something special for your girlfriend, perhaps?”

“Oh… er… no, thanks. I’m just looking around,” Ron stuttered.

“That’s fine, dear. Just speak up if I can help you with anything,” said the witch as she wandered towards the other side of the shop.

As Ron wandered among the displays, he kept glancing at the shop’s front window, worried that Lavender would choose today to browse for a new bracelet or necklace. Looking back down, he found himself standing in front of a case full of assorted pendants. One piece immediately caught his attention. It was a beautiful silver snowflake on a delicate silver chain. The brightly polished surfaces reflected the few lights in the shop, making it sparkle and shine. He remembered hearing somewhere that no two snowflakes were alike. Each was unique and special.

Just like Hermione.

He felt a sudden overwhelming need to give this to her. For a moment, he imagined himself having the courage to finally apologize to her properly and tell her how he felt.

“Er… excuse me… could I see this one please?” Ron asked as the shopkeeper glanced in his direction.

“Certainly,” she replied, slowly making her way back towards him.

At that precise moment, Ron caught a flash of Lavender’s jumper as she passed by the shop window and he immediately ducked down behind the display case.

“Is there a problem?” asked the shopkeeper as she walked up and removed the pendant for his inspection.

“No, I uh… just needed to re-tie my trainer. I wouldn’t want to trip and bump into one of these cases,” stammered Ron.

“Oh, of course. You can never be too careful. Now…here you go. It really is a beautiful piece.”

“Yeah, it is,” Ron agreed, marveling at the light reflecting off its surface. “How much does it cost?”

“It’s a real bargain at 20 Galleons,” answered the witch.

Ron winced. He didn’t have anywhere near that kind of money. He reluctantly handed the pendant back, not wanting to admit that he couldn’t afford it.

“Thanks. I’ll have to think about it,” he replied.

Noticing a clock on the wall, Ron realized he needed to get moving, and so he quickly made his way to the door, looking cautiously in both directions. He could just make out Lavender’s jumper at the other end of the alley, moving away from him. Thank Merlin for amaranth, thought Ron as he hurried towards his lunch at the Three Broomsticks.

********************

Ron stepped through the doorway and glanced around. The twins were easy to spot. Between their trademark Weasley red hair and the garish Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes robes they wore, they were even more distinctive than Lavender and her jumper. He made his way over to their table, stopping momentarily as they both looked up and grinned at him.

“Well, hello there, Ronnikins,” Fred started, pointing to a chair on the other side of the table.

“So glad you could join us today,” finished George, signaling to the waiter that they were ready for their food.

“What do you two want from me?” Ron asked warily as he slipped into the indicated seat across from them.

“We’ll discuss that later… lunch awaits,” George responded as he grabbed his fork and dug in.

As they sat munching on their meals, Ron’s thoughts drifted off to the snowflake and his dreams of the perfect apology. He knew that he wasn’t good with words, but maybe if he planned it out ahead of time, he could come up with some way to get her to fully forgive him. He needed to tell her how important she was to him, and that not talking to him was the worst punishment he had ever received. He needed to stop hiding his feelings, and most importantly, he needed her to know that he wanted to be more than just friends… maybe much more. Unfortunately, he knew that this was definitely not his area of expertise. Every time he thought about talking to her about this very subject, his stomach started doing somersaults and he felt ill. Maybe he should write her a note ahead of time, when he could actually focus on not sounding like a total prat? He figured she would want him to apologize in person, but having a backup plan couldn’t hurt…

“…so can you help us?” Fred said, clearly expecting an answer.

“Er… I’m sorry what were you saying?” Ron asked as he pushed his daydream aside and looked up at his brother.

“What’s bothering you today, Ron? You haven’t even eaten half of your lunch, and you haven’t heard a word we’ve said. Did Lavender finally wise up and dump you?”

“I wish,” Ron grumbled.

“What?” exclaimed both Fred and George in perfect unison.

“Why would you want that?” Fred continued. “We’ve heard that you two are practically attached at the lips whenever you’re awake.”

“We half expected her to show up here with you today,” George added.

Ron thought for a moment, and then sighed. “I shouldn’t be with Lavender, and you two know it. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ve really messed up this time, and I don’t know how to fix it. I don’t fancy Lavender, I fancy someone else...”

“Hermione,” interrupted the twins.

Ron looked at his brothers for a moment, and then nodded. “Yeah, but I can’t even work up the courage to apologize properly and tell her how I feel. Merlin knows how I ended up in Gryffindor.” He glanced warily at the twins, waiting for their verbal assault to begin. When they remained strangely silent, he pushed forward. “I really want to show her how I feel. I found a gift that is perfect for her, but I can’t even afford that.”

Fred and George looked at each other for a moment and then nodded. “We might be able to help you out here a bit,” offered Fred. “We asked you here to tell you that we changed our minds. We are buying Zonko’s old shop and opening a branch of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes here in Hogsmeade. We wanted you to spread the word at Hogwarts. A bit of word-of-mouth advertising, so to speak.”

“How will that help me?” Ron scoffed. “I don’t see you offering to pay me just to advertise for you.”

“No, we’re not that generous, but now that we know about your predicament, it might provide a bit of a solution to one of our own. We need help getting the shop here in Hogsmeade ready, but we haven’t been able to find any available labor that can meet our timetable. Maybe you’d like to consider working for us in your spare time. We’d make it worth your while.”

Ron’s heart leapt, but then he paused. “How would I work for you while I’m going to school? I can’t very well skip my classes to come polish floors, and besides, we’re only allowed to come to Hogsmeade on weekends.”

“Leave that to us,” grinned George. “Filch still hasn’t found all of the secret passages from the castle to Hogsmeade, and you could sneak out and work at night, after your classes are over. How do you think Fred and I managed to gather all the ingredients and supplies to perfect our products while we were still at school?”

Ron thought about it for a moment. He was afraid of getting caught sneaking out of school, but he suddenly realized that he was even more afraid of not getting a chance to make things right with Hermione, and he wanted that to be perfect. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Excellent!” chorused the twins. “Since it’s a weekend, you can start tomorrow morning at 7:00, and then continue in the evenings next week.”

George produced a scrap of parchment and sketched a map of the best secret passages to use to get to Hogsmeade. Pointing to a pair of lines on the map, he whispered, “The entrances to these two are even near the Common Room, so you won’t need to use Harry’s cloak.”

Ron nodded and tucked the makeshift map into his pocket. “How about paying me in advance, so I can buy the pendant before someone else does?”

The twins huddled together for a moment and then turned to Ron. “We’ll spot you 10 Galleons. That should be enough to get her to hold it for you. You had better live up to your end of the bargain, though, or you’ll be sorry.”

“Thanks,” Ron said as he took the money and ran out the door and back down the street to the jewelry shop.

********************

Ron’s Desino Somnus Charm roused him at 6:00 on Sunday morning. “Why did I agree to this?” he groaned. Immediately, however, the answer popped into his head… Hermione.

Ron slid out of bed and dressed quietly. He left a quick note for Harry indicating that he had to take care of something, and promising that he would meet up with him later that evening. He then tiptoed down the stairs and slipped out through the portrait hole, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Luck was on Ron’s side, and he made it into the secret passage shown on the twin’s makeshift map without encountering anyone in the halls. As he made his way to Hogsmeade, he wondered what the twins had planned for him. He figured that whatever it was, it wouldn’t be fun.

At 6:55, Ron stepped up to what had until recently been Zonko’s Joke Shop. He immediately noticed the boarded up doors and windows, and wondered how he was supposed to get in. Just as he was thinking about pounding on the door, he heard the distinctive popping sound of Apparition as Fred and George appeared behind him.

“Well, how ‘bout that, Fred. He’s actually on time,” commented George.

“Actually, I’m early, but you two wouldn’t know anything about that,” Ron replied, unsuccessfully trying to stifle a yawn.

“Well, you’re here early, but I’m not sure you’re actually awake,” Fred quipped. “However, as a token of our appreciation for your punctuality, please take one of our latest creations… a spell-check quill. Guaranteed to eliminate spelling mistakes and improve your marks.”

George handed Ron a small blue box, which he stared at briefly, and then pocketed in his cloak. “Er… thanks,” he mumbled.

Looking up at the boarded up facade, he threw the twins a questioning look.

“We’re trying to keep a low profile until we’re ready to open, so we’re keeping the boards up for now,” George explained.

“So how do we get in?”

“Simple, we Apparate. You can side-along with one of us until you get your license,” Fred replied.

After making the short trip into the shop, Ron took a minute to look around. The floor showed years of wear and tear, including dirt tracked in from the alleyway outside and stains where some of Zonko’s joke potions must have been spilled. Every flat surface was covered with a thick layer of dust, and the walls were scuffed and marked from endless pranksters careening around the shop, laughing and playing with the demo items. Worst of all, he was pretty sure those were spiderwebs in the back corner of the storeroom. “Where do you want me to start?” he asked with a sigh.

“First things first, let’s get all of the floors and shelves cleaned, and the walls painted. After that, we’ll move to some of the detail work,” Fred decided.

Ron shook his head despondently. It was going to be a very long day.

********************

Hours later, Ron flopped down on the floor and let out a groan. He was extremely tired and he ached all over. He did have to admit, however, that the shop was looking much better. He had scrubbed the floors until they looked new, and then painted the walls with some of the most outlandish colors he had ever seen, all hand-picked by Fred and George. With the exception of a short break for lunch, they had been working for nearly ten hours. He knew he needed to get back to the castle soon, or Harry would really start to get worried.

After agreeing to meet George the next evening, Ron made his way back through the secret passage and into the Common Room. Harry and Hermione had already left for the Great Hall, so he turned around and headed to meet them, polishing his story on the way.

When he arrived, Harry and Hermione had saved him a seat, for which he was grateful. Even better, Harry didn’t even ask about his whereabouts during the day, which Ron attributed to his current obsession with Malfoy.

Hermione was a different matter. She immediately began peppering him with questions. “Are you feeling okay? I didn’t see you at all today. Are you still feeling the effects of the poison? Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey…”

“No… um… I’m feeling fine. I just had to make up a detention that was postponed when I got sick,” lied Ron. He hated lying to Hermione, but he certainly couldn’t tell her that he was sneaking out of the castle to work for his brothers in Hogsmeade, just to buy her a gift.

Hermione continued her questioning. “Who gave you the detention?”

“Er… Snape. Who else? He sent me to the greenhouses to help Professor Sprout re-pot the entire stock of mandrakes. It took all day, and I just barely made it back in time to get something to eat.”

Ron saw Hermione frown, but she asked no further questions.

Later that night, sitting in the Common Room, Ron was working on an essay for Snape, using the spell-check quill that George had given him earlier. Suddenly he looked down at his parchment in shock and dismay. His brothers had done it again. They had pulled one over on him. The supposed spell-check quill actually misspelled everything, and his entire essay was unreadable. When Hermione offered to help fix it, he felt a huge surge of relief.

“I love you, Hermione.”

The words escaped his mouth without a thought, but as soon as he realised what he had said, Ron felt his breath catch in his throat with panic.

Oh, Merlin! Did I just say that out loud?

Thankfully, Hermione hadn’t looked up, as he was sure his face was redder than his hair.

********************

Monday afternoon arrived, and Ron and Hermione went into Hogsmeade for Apparition lessons. After the lesson, Ron decided to just stay around until he was supposed to meet George.

“Uh, Hermione, I want to ask the instructor a few more questions. Why don’t you head back, and let them know where I am,” Ron suggested. “Besides, I know you want to get started on next month’s homework,” he added with a grin.

“Ron! I am not working on next month’s homework, it hasn’t even been assigned yet!” she replied. “Although… I do have that translation for Ancient Runes that I need to finish up. Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“No, its fine. I’ll catch up with you later,” Ron assured her.

As Hermione walked away, Ron glanced at a clock in the window across the street and decided that he had time for another quick visit to Honeydukes before his next session with the twins.

It was very late as Ron made his way quietly up the corridor to the Common Room entrance. It had been a long, torturous evening of moving heavy furniture and scrubbing windows, and Ron was once again sore all over.

“Fiddlesticks,” he whispered as he arrived at the fat lady’s portrait. Although somewhat surprised to see a student out so late, she grudgingly swung open to allow him entry. He was so focused on getting some sleep that he didn’t even recognise the bushy haired head sticking out from behind the sofa, watching him with curious, concerned eyes. He trudged slowly to the staircase and headed upstairs to his waiting bed.

********************

The next evening, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at their usual places in the Gryffindor Common Room working on their never-ending stack of homework. It had been a long day, and Ron had been yawning all afternoon, earning him strange looks from Hermione.

“Blimey! What time is it?” Ron asked.

“Almost 8:00… why?” responded Hermione.

“I’ve got to go on rounds, and I’m late!” he replied, jumping to his feet, and hurrying towards the portrait hole. In his haste, he barely registered the look of confusion that appeared on Hermione’s face.

Arriving in Hogsmeade a few minutes late, Ron was worried that he had missed his brothers. Luckily, they were waiting for him at an inconspicuous point near the exit to the passageway.

“There you are… we were beginning to wonder,” joked George.

“Sorry. I got busy with homework,” Ron answered.

“That’s okay. Listen, we really appreciate your help with this,” said Fred seriously. “You’ve been working like a madman the last couple of days and we’re ahead of schedule. Tonight will probably finish it up. We know you want to pick up your gift for Hermione, and the jewelry shop closes soon, so here’s the rest of your money. Go ahead and stop by there before they close. Just be sure to come by our shop when you’re done. You’ve still got a few more items to finish up tonight to earn what we just gave you.”

“Thanks! I’ll be back in a couple of minutes!” Ron shouted as he tore off down the street.

********************

Several hours later, sitting on the floor in what was an almost ready for business joke shop, Ron stared at the bare back wall. That wall needs something, he decided.

“Hey, do you two have a motto for the shop?” Ron shouted to his brothers.

Appearing from the back room, both Fred and George looked at him questioningly.

“That wall seems so bare. I was thinking that if you had a motto, you could paint it up there and everyone would see it as they walked in the front door,” he explained.

“That’s actually a pretty good idea,” agreed Fred.

“Yeah, and we’ve got that quote that Angelina gave you that she said reminded you of us. Maybe that would work?” offered George.

“Let me see it,” Ron said as he snatched a ratty looking piece of parchment out of George’s hand.

“Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious,” quoted Ron, as he scanned the scrap of parchment. “She’s right. That fits you two perfectly.”

Ron sighed as he picked up a paint brush, ready to begin the painstaking process of hand lettering the words onto the back wall.

“No, let us,” said Fred as he grabbed the brush from Ron.

“We don’t want your ugly handwriting all over our wall,” added George.

With a flick of their wands, the new Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes motto appeared in shimmering script letters on the back wall of the shop.

“That really looks good,” George said, admiring their handiwork. “We need to do this to the other shop in Diagon Alley.”

After helping the twins clean up, Ron once more made the trek back through the secret passageway to the Gryffindor Common Room, trying to avoid running into anyone. He didn’t really have a new excuse ready for tonight. As he walked, Ron took the pendant box out of his pocket and opened the lid. It looked even better than when he had first seen it, and he flipped it over to again read the engraving he had asked for. Finally, he took a neatly folded piece of parchment out of his other pocket and placed it in the lid of the box before closing it and tucking it safely back in his cloak.

Ron once again avoided detection during his return trip and heaved a great sigh of relief as he approached the entrance to the Common Room. He whispered the password and stepped through the opening, glancing around to see if anyone was present to question his late arrival. Seeing nobody, he sighed yet again and started towards the staircase.

“Where exactly have you been? Prefect or not, you shouldn’t be out this late,’ said a familiar voice.

Ron spun around, searching for the source, a look of confusion on his face. “Hermione?” he whispered.

Suddenly, Hermione appeared on the couch nearest the fire, and Ron jumped back in shock.

“What are you… how did you… Is that Harry’s cloak?” he stammered, trying to regain his composure.

“Yes it is, but that’s not important. Where have you been lately? Ever since you disappeared on Sunday, you seem incredibly tired, and you keep vanishing and then returning really late. I thought you were out with Lavender, but she’s been upstairs complaining about not being able to find you. Now what’s going on?” Hermione demanded as she rose and took a small step towards him.

“Um… I did my rounds and then decided to go down to the pitch and tune up my broom. I figured I wouldn’t be long, but I fell asleep looking at the stars and didn’t wake up until a few minutes ago,” Ron offered, trying to sound sure of himself.

“Try again. I know for a fact you went to Hogsmeade tonight, and I’m guessing that’s where you’ve been every time you’ve disappeared,” she shot back.

“And just why do you think you know where I was?” Ron asked, his anger beginning to rise.

“First, I was in the greenhouses on Sunday helping Neville, and you weren’t there doing detention like you said you were. Second, you never stay late to ask a teacher anything, even if it is about Apparition. Third, I was here in the Common Room and saw you get back last night, but you were so tired you didn’t even see me on the couch. Fourth, I heard you ask one of the other Prefects to cover rounds for you this evening, so when you said you needed to leave for your rounds, I knew something was up. Finally, I was getting worried, so I borrowed Harry’s cloak and followed you this evening. I was right behind you all the way to Hogsmeade, and I saw you talking to Fred and George. Then you took off towards that fancy jewelry shop and I turned around and headed back here. I decided to hold onto the cloak and wait for you to get back. Now, would you care to change your story?”

Ron walked over to the couch and collapsed next to her. He was tired, and his mind was numb. He knew he couldn’t come up with a story she would believe, so he decided to try a little of the truth and see if he could escape without getting into all the details. “I realized I’ve been a real prat, and I saw something in the jewelry shop I wanted to buy. It’s for someone special, but as you know, I’m not exactly rich. Fred and George offered me a job helping them renovate Zonko’s old shop into a new branch of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, so that’s where I’ve been. You’ll be happy to know that the shop is done, so I won’t be breaking curfew again, and you won’t need to wait up to yell at me anymore.”

Hermione face took on a pained expression. “So, you decided it was OK to break school rules just to earn some money to buy a gift for her as an apology? I thought you didn’t want to be with her. What changed your mind?” Hermione sputtered, looking like she was about to cry.

“What? Who are you talking about?” Ron asked, confusion in his voice. “What do you think... wait... you think I did this for Lavender?”

“Of course… who else?!” Hermione shouted as she turned away, tears now flowing freely down her face.

Ron hung his head, and resigned himself to doing the only thing that might resolve this. He reached into his cloak and withdrew the box. He placed it on the table and said quietly, “This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. I wanted to apologize properly, but once again, I managed to bugger things up. Please forgive me.” He turned and walked towards the staircase to the boy’s dormitory, pausing to stare into the fire. He could see Hermione out of the corner of his eye. She hesitated, then moved over, staring down at the box. She hesitantly picked it up, and glanced back across the room at him.

Ron just wanted to go upstairs, crawl under the covers, and never come out. He had just taken the biggest risk of his life; laying bare his soul to the woman he loved. Either way, things would never be the same after this. His stomach felt like it was tied up in a knot. He glanced back at Hermione, and watched her open the box. He saw her eyes grow wide as she lifted the delicate silver chain, raising the snowflake out of the box. As it hung from her fingers, it slowly began to spin, causing the reflected firelight to dance along the walls. On the back, there was the engraving, and he waited for her to discover it. Yeah, she found it, he thought as he watched her gasp and collapse back onto the couch. He had tried to come up with something to convey his feelings, and in the end, it was the simple idea of the snowflake that gave him his inspiration. On the back in small script letters, it said simply,

Hermione,

I’ve fallen for you.

Love, Ron

Next, he watched as she found the parchment folded up in the lid of the box. Her hands were trembling as she gently extracted it and smoothed open the creases to reveal a handwritten note.

He could practically recite it from memory, as he had been writing and re-writing it for days...

Hermione,

Please forgive me. I know that I have really messed things up, and for that I am incredibly sorry. I don’t have feelings for Lavender, but I was just so jealous when Ginny told me that you had snogged Krum that I jumped at the first chance to prove that someone might want me too. But in reality, I wanted you to want me. You mean everything to me, and I felt like a part of me had died when you stopped talking to me. I don’t ever want to feel like that again. I know I have a lot of things to straighten out, and I promise you that I will fix them all, somehow. I also know that I’m a bit thick at times, and because of this, I’m not really sure how you feel about me. I’ve been afraid that if I asked for more than just friendship and you weren’t interested, it might destroy everything. But recently, I decided that the only thing that scares me more than losing our friendship is losing the chance to make it something more. I don’t know what the future will bring, but I want to face it together with you.

Forever yours,

Ron

Ron watched as Hermione carefully folded the note and tucked it back into the box, and then… did nothing. It was as if someone had hit her with a Stunner. His heart sank at the thought that she was not interested in him. She was obviously trying to come up with a way to let him down gently. He had taken his shot and lost. He hung his head and started towards the staircase again, his feet shuffling on the cold stone floor.

“Ron,” he heard her whisper. “Do you really mean it?”

He looked up at her, and slowly nodded.

Faster than he thought possible, she rose from the couch, crossed the room and threw her arms around him, hugging him with such ferocity that he could barely breathe.

“I do want you,” she said simply.

As his brain processed her words, Ron’s heart soared. Things had turned out perfectly after all. He wrapped his arms around her, returning her embrace. For the first time in months, he felt truly happy.