And finally, at the end of the 7th book...

The sun was setting. A few early stars had begun to appear on the horizon, twinkling as if with suppressed joy. Inside Hogwarts Castle the celebration over the defeat of Voldemort was in full swing. Although most were exhausted from the day's battle, the party was still uproariously loud. There were, however, groups of people gathered in the corners of the hall silently morning the dead who had fallen that day; never to rise again.

Hermione glanced up from where she had just finished consoling Ginny. Where was Ron? He was not gathered with his family nor was he among those celebrating. From what she could see he was not in the Great Hall at all.

She made her way out to the quiet entrance hall and stood, thinking hard. Ron would have gone somewhere where he would be least likely of interruptions, somewhere he could be alone. The place came to her as quickly as though she had summoned it.

She made her way up the cracked marble stairs until she reached the correct hallway. There she passed back and forth in front of a blank wall three times; her eyes shut with concentration. A familiar ornate wooden door appeared in the wall before her and she stepped through it.

The room had changed to reflect the mood of its single occupant. The room was medium sized and inexplicitly dark; It's high pillars draped in black silk. There was a single window through which she could see the velvety black of the night sky. Sitting on a single, high-backed bench, was Ron. His face buried in his hands. His body shook with suppressed sobs.

Hermione walked quietly toward him and sat beside him on the black bench. After a few moments of silence she placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. He acknowledged her by raising his face out of his hands. He did not look at her, however, but stared straight ahead out the single window.

As the moon shone upon Ron's face, Hermione felt a wave of pity wash over her. She had never seen Ron cry like this before and it both saddened and frightened her. His face was red and blotchy. Tear streaks ran down his cheeks and his eyes were bloodshot. He had not changed his cloths and was still covered with dirt and dried blood. They sat there in silence. Hermione knew she should say something.

"Ron."

The sound of his name seemed to arouse him and Ron looked at her for the first time. "He's really dead, isn't he?" His voice was harsh and raspy as though from lack of use.

"Yes. He's gone."

"I should have done something to save him." A look of deep desperation came over Ron's face.

"There was nothing you could do, you know that." Hermione spoke quietly.

"But the explosion...there must have been something...why him?" Ron's voice broke and a single tear trickled from his eye.

"I don't know."   Hermione spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "There's plenty you can learn from books and experiences, but there's no answer to this. I do know one thing though," her voice gained conviction, "Fred wouldn't have wanted you to sit here crying your eyes out. Believe me, he would not approve.He would have wanted you to get up, move on, and enjoy your life."

Ron swiped a hand across his eyes and his face seemed to harden with new found determination. "Thank you." His voice was still quiet but no longer broken and instead was filled with new found resolve.

He turned to face her, staring intensely into her eyes. She saw deep longing and a flash of fear in their blue depths. And then, slowly, tentatively, Ron leaned forward and kissed her. 

It was very different from the first kiss they had shared in that room hours before. The kiss before had been filled with desperation, whereas this kiss was much gentler, almost shy. It was over far to quickly as Ron drew back and stared at her with a look of uncertainty on his face, as if he feared her disapproval.

Hermione smiled at him, a slight blush in her cheeks. She had waited so long for this.

"What do you think?" He began to smile, "Would Fred approve?"

"Defiantly." She smiled back, "In fact, I think Fred would want to do it again, just to make sure the first one was good enough. What do you think?" For his response Ron leaned forward and gave her another shy kiss. They stayed there for an hour, or perhaps it was several days, alternating between sitting silently together and more shy kisses. Finally, with a contented sigh, Hermione stood up, "We should go...the others might be worried."

Ron nodded and stood to follow her. "Wait, Hermione..."

Hermione turned back to him. He was gazing intensely at her with one hand outstretched. "Can I...just one more time...please?"

Hermione nodded and took his hand where he instantly pulled her into a kiss so unlike the others before it. It was a burning kiss full of sorrow, pain, longing, and love. All the past seven years were wrapped together in that kiss. And in that moment, Hermione understood just how much she was loved. She kissed Ron back hoping that he too would understand how much she, would always and forever, love him.            

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Thanks to everyone who has read, commented, and voted on this story! I really appreciated it. 

Never stop being awesome! 

~Sara S.