If You Love Her (Ron Weasley)

Twenty-Eight

Hermione Granger was strong. She was stubborn. She was intelligent. And she always, always came through on a promise made to a friend.

She had never had a female friend before. At least, not at Hogwarts. Of course the girls in her dormitory were pleasant enough, she would make polite conversation with other girls during lessons, if they were sat nearby. And when she went to The Burrow, she found she was able to form an alliance of sorts with Ron's little sister, Ginny, given they were the only two females in the house that wasn't Mrs Weasley.

But she had always had her boys. Harry and Ron. She had never wanted or needed any more than that. They were all the friendship she needed in the world, until her fifth year.

She had always imagined what might happen, when Harry and Ron found love, when they brought other figures into their little trio. Would they forget about her? Would their partners even like her? She had always worried about what the future held for their group, as they weren't a typical, conventional triad.

Hermione had known for some time that Ron had feelings for Seamus' little sister. She had always kept herself to herself, she barely said more than a few words to Hermione, usually only asking if she was finished in the bathroom in the morning. But Ron had always been curious about Aoife Finnigan, and Hermione had always noticed the way he observed her, even from being a young boy of eleven-years-old, in their first year.

Things had changed again in fourth year, however, during the Yule Ball. Hermione had gone with Viktor Krum, the first time she had stepped outside of her comfort zone, done something without Harry or Ron, but Ron had spent the entire evening with a sour look on his face.

It didn't take Hermione long to figure out what was bothering him, when she noticed his eyes light up whenever he caught site of the girl spinning around the dance floor in a yellow ball gown, a twinkle in her eye and a glow to her skin which can only be caused by dancing the night away. And she realised quite quickly, he was so annoyed because he wasn't the one dancing with her.

Hermione didn't quite understand how Ron could hold such strong feelings for a girl he had never actually held a conversation with, but for all the intelligence she had, Hermione simply didn't quite understand the strange ways in which a man behaves when he falls in love.

Fifth year was when it all became very real for everybody. Ron and Aoife became friends, and began to spend more and more time together, and rather suddenly that became something so much more than that, and Aoife was all Ron could talk about.

Hermione was certain it should have infuriated her, having to hear mundane stories about the same girl every single day, but seeing the way she seemed to light up Ron's world just by saying good morning to him, Hermione knew she had to do something about it.

And so, she decided to try and get to know Aoife Finnigan. She wasn't sure how to go about it at first, how do you suddenly form a bond with a girl you've slept beside for five years, and never bothered to get to know beforehand? It seemed to obvious, and she worried that Aoife might presume Ron had asked her to speak to her.

However, the friendship formed quickly and naturally, and within months Hermione and Aoife were entirely comfortable with one another, spending more and more time together, and they both felt they could be completely honest when in each others company.

This was how Hermione could be so confident that the feelings between Ron and Aoife were mutual, reciprocated, and impossibly strong. And it was killing her to see Ron avoiding the girl, hiding his true feelings.

She understood why he did it, after all, she knew him incredibly well and he had always been the same. He had always been determined to protect himself, to protect his heart. It is a very fragile organ, and Ron had never seen himself as someone particularly worthy of true love, or happiness.