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Slowly, people started to mill out of the common room, heading to bed or back to their respective houses, and Ron, Hermione and George became the final three, with Ginny and Harry having not yet returned from their walk. They sat around the fire, Ron and Hermione together on the sofa, and George in an armchair. Ron didn’t think he’d ever seen his brother this empty of life. Throughout the morning, George had only responded to direct questions to him, and when the conversation had turned to Fred, he had seemed to zone out, not yet ready to talk about his twin. He breathed a big sigh and finally spoke.
“Hey. Do you remember when we were kids, and Fred and I turned your teddy into a spider?” He said, and there was the ghost of a laugh in his voice. Hermione laughed and the sound of laughter was so long overdue that, though the memory still annoyed Ron, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Hey, that scarred me for life!” Ron said, which only made Hermione and George laugh more.
“You know, that was my idea. He tried to talk me out of it, to begin with. Said it was too mean. But I persuaded him that it would be funny, and eventually he decided to go along with it.” He said the last sentence with a laugh as Ron threw a cushion at him. “I’m upset. And I’m angry, and I don’t know how I going to move on from this, but,” He paused to collect himself, and Ron could tell how hard it was for him to say all this. But he knew that he needed to say it, and so he waited. “He’d be proud. And besides, he’s got Remus and Tonks, and Sirius, and Harry’s parents to look after him. He may not be with me, but he’s with the original Marauders, and he’ll be happy.” He finished, and Ron felt the tears fill his eyes, though he knew that his brother was right. “I’m going to head up to bed. You guys coming?”
“We’re gonna wait for Harry and Ginny.” Hermione said, as they got up to hug him.
“Alright, but they haven’t seen each other in a few months, who knows what they’re getting up to.” George replied, and he winked, and while Hermione laughed, Ron turned bright red.
“WHY DO YOU SAY STUFF LIKE THAT, GEORGE, NO.” He yelled, and George just laughed and walked up the stairs to the dormitories. Ron dropped back down on the sofa, and Hermione sat next to him. He immediately put his arm around her, and she put her legs across his. He was irretrievably conscious of the fact that this was the first time they had been alone since their kiss. She brought her left hand up to stroke his hair, and with her other hand she brushed the tears away that had spilled over.
“How are you feeling?” She asked him and he leaned over and kissed her softly.
“I’m okay. I mostly feel for George, you know? I mean he’s- he was my brother, but George,” he paused. “They spent every moment of their lives together. Built a whole career, a whole life. Everything.” His voice broke on the final word, and tears streamed down his face, Hermione brushing them away.
“I know. You have to remember though Ron, you have the right to mourn. I know that he was George’s twin, his best friend, but he was still your brother, and you mustn’t feel like you’ve got to be strong for him, because you deserve to be just as upset, and to mourn just as much.” She said and they looked at each other for a moment.
“I love you.” He said quietly, surprising himself. Even though he knew it, had known it really since Malfoy Manor, he hadn’t expected to say it so soon. Especially not now. “I’m sorry, look, I know we’re not-, I mean, we haven’t even-“
“I love you, too.” Hermione said and without even thinking about it, he leaned forward and kissed her, softly at first, but the kiss deepened, as the realisation that they were alone dawned on them both. After a moment Hermione broke away.
“We should go to bed soon. We’ve not slept in 24 hours, and George was right, who knows how long Ginny and Harry will be.” She said and Ron looked down.
“Yeah, you’re right.” He muttered.
“Hey,” She said, sensing something wrong. “You don’t have to be alone tonight, if you don’t want to be. I’ll stay with you.”