Diamonds And Rubies

Chapter 3: Unspoken Love

"And I keep waiting

For you to take me

You keep waiting

To say what we have

So I'll make sure to keep my distance

Say, "I love you," when you're not listening

How long can we keep this up, up, up?"

-Christina Perri Distance

Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny sat at the Gryffindor table, waiting for the sorting hat to begin sorting all the first years. Professor McGonagall was reading off the names however, Ron heard none of this. He was too busy watching Hermione.

Watching her seemed to be one of his favorite things to do, especially of late. He sometimes caught her doing things that most would find strange and annoying, but he found beautiful and amazing. The way she would bite her bottom lip when she was concentrating or being flirtatious. The way her hair would frizz up when she would get angry or she was stressing over some lesson. The way she sucked on her pinky when she was bored or again, concentrating. The way her chocolate eyes would light up when she was happy. The way her skin looked like the smooth brown sugar butter his mum would make on special occasions. Everything about her was perfect to him. Sad part about it was that he had been thinking this since well before 3rd year.

Right now Hermione was sucking on her pinky, more than likely trying to remember all the firsties names. He knew Hermione was going to take her position as Head Girl very seriously, as she did when she was a prefect for the past 2 years. He just wish he would have made Head Boy instead of that prat Malfoy. At least he could be even closer to her. That and he worried about Malfoy sharing a common space with her. The last thing he needed was to get expelled for kicking Malfoy's ass for messing with Hermione.

Ever since that train wreck of a period of his life that was 6th year, he had vowed to make up for how he treated Hermione. He wanted to prove to her that he truly cared for her and only her. That she was his everything. That he was in love with her.

As the feast began, Hermione found herself also watching Ron out of the corner of her eye. She watched as Ron shoved food in his mouth at record time. What used to gross her out immensely, she now found rather funny and almost cute. Ron and his love affair with food was sometimes very entertaining to watch. Ron's lips were entertaining to watch as well. She loved watching them curl up in small smiles when he was amused by something but didn't want to show it, how when it was her and him alone they would shape into a lopsided smile that she knew for a fact he gave no one else, not even Lavender. She loved when he would smile big, because that would draw her eyes to his and she enjoyed looking into his pools of cerulean blues that seemed to have specks of green and light blue in them. She could spend hours staring into his eyes, if ever he allowed her to.

Ever since that heart stopping day that Ron got poisoned in 6th year, Hermione had made a promise to herself that she would make up for the time that she had totally iced him out. She wanted to prove to him that she always cared for him and only him.

She looked over at Harry and Ginny. Harry seemed to be somewhat flirting with Parvati Patil, even though Ginny was sitting right beside him. She made a face. Harry, along with Ron had been her best friend since first year. He, like all teenage boys, had made changes both inside and out, but the way Harry's insides were changing was absolutely ridiculous. Harry had never been what you would call a "ladies man", and he had always been nothing but a gentleman to Ginny, even before they started dating. This new attraction he had gained, both with fame as well as physical appearance had truly changed him. Hermione didn't hardly recognize the boy whom she considered her brother anymore. And the way he was treating Ginny was repulsive.