Romione❤️ one-shots

Library

Surprise Update! Yay!

She was sitting at a table; a book in her hands, when he walked in. He wasn't surprised; he could always find her with her nose in a book these days. Maybe that's just how she coped; he knew better than anyone how hard things were for her.

After all, he was the one she spilled her secrets to; late in the night when everyone else was asleep. When the moon was high and the corridors silent, they would sneak into the common room and sit together on the couch; his arms around her, her head resting on his shoulder. He would wipe away the stray tears, hold her tight when the sobs racked her body, rubbed her arms, her back and brought her closer to the fire when her body started to shake in the cold.

"Another book, Hermione? Haven't you read enough?" She looked up, eyes bright. She smiled once she saw who it was; marking her place and shutting the book slowly, precisely; as she did everything.

"I'll never read enough books Ron, you know that." He pulled out the seat next to her and sat down.

"What brings you here, anyway?" She asked.

"I was looking for you." He shrugged.

"How did you know you would find me here? I could have been anywhere, Hogwarts is a big place."

"True. I can always find you here though. It's your safe place, remember?"

She nodded slowly. She remembered, she remembered exactly. She always did. She remembered his hand stroking her back, she remembered his soothing words; she remembered telling him how she always felt content and safe in the library; surrounded by rows and rows of books. She remembered telling him how she loved the scent of books, how they felt, how the words swam from the pages and into her mind.

She also remembered how badly she wanted to kiss him, under the shine of moonlight, the warm glow of the fire bouncing off his face. She hadn't told him that, of course. She was a sensible girl, and that would have been an impractical thing to do.

"Where's Harry?" She asked, trying to clear her thoughts.

"I don't know, I think I saw him by the lake; he's always down there these days." He shrugged again, and she simply nodded. She placed a hand on her book; unsure if the conversation was continuing or not.

Ron cleared his throat, and she looked over at him. There were light shadows under his eyes, his face looked drained and tired.

"Ron, have you been sleeping?" She asked, concerned.

"Yes. No. Sometimes. It's kind of hard these days, you know? Everything's just so hectic; no one even knows what's going to happen next." She nodded slowly. She knew as well as he did.

"I used to be so excited to come to Hogwarts. My parents went, Bill went, Charlie went. Percy was a stickler about it, but Fred and George always had these stories. They used to tell me about all the things they did, all the things they learnt. The pranks they pulled. I was so happy because I was going to learn how to fly on a broomstick; I was going to become a famous Quidditch player. There were just so many things I couldn't wait to do. I didn't expect all this, I thought going to Hogwarts would be fun but it's really just been stressful. I can't even recall the amount of times I've got injured, or just escaped death. This wasn't how it was supposed to be."

Hermione was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She wanted to hug Ron, to rub small circles on his back and whisper soothing words, to tell him that everything would be okay but she couldn't. She couldn't promise him that, because she didn't know. And what if she did hug him, and her heart fluttered. What would she do then? Hermione was very confused, and she didn't like it.