Ignorance is Bliss

A/N: I don't know exactly why I wrote this, but I had just read a couple really good h/hr stories from Ron's POV and decided to give it a try. Once again, I haven't killed anyone off and no one it suffering in this story, yay!

Anyway, enjoy. If you've got a second when you're done reviews are always great!

Ignorance is Bliss

Love comes in all forms. Ron Weasley knew this. He just didn't know why it would take a form that would leave both of the people completely oblivious.

Right now Ron was perched on one of the steps of the staircase leading to the boys' dormitory. He had been heading to the kitchens for a late night snack when he had seen that they were in the common room alone again. He didn't want to disturb his best friends during one of "their" moments, but rather than go back to bed he decided to sit and watch them a bit. Leave it to Harry and Hermione to be up, just talking, at one in the morning.

Right now they were sitting on the bricks of the hearth, resting on large cushions. Hermione's book lay to one side of them, a few feet away. Ron figured that she had tossed it away some time ago in an effort to get Harry to talk; he had obliged as he did only with her. Ron could see that they were very deep into one of their talks, the times when it was just them. No one else mattered to Harry and Hermione but each other right now.

They were currently submerged in an intense conversation.

"Harry, it's not wrong that you miss Sirius. It's completely normal. You loved him very much; he was like a father to you."

"I don't know, Hermione, I just can't get it through my head. In the morning I wake up and the first thing I think is 'When can I talk to Sirius?'. Then it hits me and.... oh god I can't say it. You'll laugh at me forever."

"I won't laugh. I would never laugh at something if it would hurt you. Just tell me, Harry."

"I just crawl back in bed and cry. I cry and cry, I can't help it. I just miss him so much, he was my only real family. The only person that was ever truly on my side; the only one who was there no matter what. He was like a father to me. Sirius was the only person I've ever loved; I never thought he'd be gone so fast. I've never told anyone this, not even Ron. I'm trusting you, Hermione, I don't want anyone else to know about this."

"Oh Harry." she whispered, pulling him into a tight embrace and smoothing his hair. "You know I won't say anything. It'll be okay." she finished, tears filling both their eyes. Harry was tense at first but quickly relaxed into her arms and began to stroke her back gently.

After a while they separated. After moments of silence, Harry spoke. "You know that prophecy, the one I was telling you about?" Harry asked quietly, staring into the fire aimlessly.

"Yes Harry." she answered him.

"Well......it's just that.... I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. How on earth am I supposed to get ready for either killing the most vicious wizard in the universe or be killed by him? How does someone deal with that? I can't do this alone. I'm not strong enough to do this."

"I don't know Harry. This isn't something I can help you with. I can't help you at all......gosh, I'm so stupid......" her voice trailed off. She was looking at him, studying his face for a reaction.

"What are you talking about? You're much more help to me than anyone else and you're the farthest person in the world from stupid."

"No I'm not Harry. I can't study this problem away for you. No matter how many hours I spend in the library you're still going to have to face this. No matter how many charts I make or how many essays I write, how many exams I ace or how many top marks I get, I can't fix this for you; I can't take your pain away. And believe me, I wish I could. Being smart isn't about answering questions in class and reciting information from books. You're so much smarter than I could ever hope to be, Harry."

Ron couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did Hermione just say she wasn't smart? That was certainly a new one.

At her words, Harry turned and looked at her. "Never say that, Hermione." he said ardently, taking her hands in his. "You're brilliant. You're so much more than books and classes. To everyone, to me." he said, looking intensely into her eyes. "I could never come close to you."

"Yes you could, Harry. You already have. I never could have survived what you've been through. Anyone else would have broken a long time ago, given into the responsibility and the pain and the fear. I could never have risen to all the challenges you've had in your life even half as well as you have." she said, gently moving her hand so that her thumb was caressing the back of his palm.

"I could never have gotten through all that stuff without you right there beside me. You give me strength, Hermione. And as for rising to the challenges, I haven't. Not even close. I don't know how much more of this I can take. How am I supposed to be able to do this? How can I be expected to do this much? I know it sounds selfish, god I know it does, but I'm not perfect. I never claimed to be. I've just lost so much already, I don't know how much more of this I can handle. I don't want to do this anymore; I just want to be normal."

She looked at him, his pain reflected in her eyes. "It's not selfish, Harry. Not in the least. You're the most unselfish person I've ever met."

For a few minutes they were just silent, looking down at their intertwined fingers, just drawing comfort from the other person's presence. Ron was just about to go back to his bed, sure that they had entered one of their silent brooding periods, when Harry spoke.

"Hermione?" he asked quietly. When she looked up at his face he continued. "I need you to promise me something."

"What is it Harry?" she asked quietly.

"Well I know you're not going to like it, but you've got to. If nothing else then for me. I've lost so many people, Hermione, my parents, all the people involved in the war, and now..... now...... Sirius." he said, trying to keep his voice even and talk over the lump in his throat. "And I need you to promise me that when the time comes to finally face him.... Hermione, you can't be there. You have to be far away from that battle, safe and protected. Promise me that." he said, his eyes pleading with her to agree with him.

"Harry, you know I can't do that." she said quietly, but her eyes showed that she was just as determined as ever.

"Hermione, you have to understand. You can't be there. If something happened to you..... I don't think I would be strong enough to go on. I can't lose you." Harry said, his voice cracking as silent

tears began to escape his eyes. "You're too important to me, nothing can happen to you."

"Harry," she began, turning so that she was looking straight at him, grasping his hands even tighter, "I know you feel strongly about this. But you have to know that I could never be away from that battle. I want to help, I want to fight, I want to be right there by your side like always. It would kill me to think that you were out there fighting him while I did nothing." She carefully wiped his tears away and held his face in her hand.

"Hermione, please." he pleaded again. "I knew you were going to fight this, but there's no way I can let you be there. No one is going to take you away from me. Never."

"I'm not going anywhere, Harry. I promise." Hermione whispered, and now she was crying too.

Hermione moved over to him and layed her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and gently kissed her forehead. Ron couldn't believe that they could be like that with each other and never realize it was something more than friendship. Talk about oblivion.

After a few more moments of silence, Harry was again the first to speak. "Thanks." he said, gently stroking her hair.

"For what?" she questioned, looking up at him with interest.

"For everything. For caring when no one else does. For listening to me and offering your advice. For supporting me with whatever I decide. For never judging me like everyone else. For believing in me. In guess mostly just for always being here, through everything. You're the one person who has never let me down; you've done more for me than I ever thought was possible of someone. Thank you, Hermione." he finished quietly.

"I haven't done any more for you than you've done for me. Everything you just said, you've done for me as well." Hermione responded. "Thank you too, Harry. For everything and more."

"You know what I said earlier, about Sirius? That he was my only real family, the only one who

was always there, on my side. The only person who I ever really loved. That was a lie. I love you,

Hermione. That's why I can't let anything happen to you."

"I love you too, Harry." Hermione said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Although Ron knew they didn't mean it in the way they really loved each other, he thought it must be a start.

At this point Harry finally glanced at the clock. "Hermione, we should probably get to our beds." he

said offhandedly, without any real conviction.

"Nah, I think I'm much more comfortable down here. What do you say we just spend the night on the couch?" Hermione suggested.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Harry agreed and they both got up and situated themselves on the couch together.

"Goodnight, Harry." Hermione whispered, resting her head on his arm.

"Goodnight, angel." Harry whispered back, and they both closed their eyes.

After a few minutes, once he was sure they were asleep, Ron got up from the stairs. Walking as quietly as possible, he draped a quilt over them. "Goodnight guys." he whispered and finally made it through the portrait hole to get that snack.

Once he got down to the kitchens, he hastily tickled the pear picture and entered. The sweet aroma of eggs and bacon, toast, and sweet rolls met his nose and he was deliriously happy. The elves were preparing for the next morning's breakfast.

As soon as he was noticed, a large procession of elves came to a stop in front of him. One shyly approached him and bowed it's small head. "What would the good sir like?" he asked timidly, not meeting Ron's eye.

"Whatta ya have?" Ron asked, yawning loudly.

"Oh we have everything! Anything master wants he can have!" One of the bolder elves exclaimed, and sent more elves off in all different directions to gather food.

Well how's that for service, Ron thought, looking anxiously around at the bustling creatures. Already food had begun to pile up in a great mound of platters and bowls on the table nearest him.

"Mr. Wheezy! Is that you Wheezy!" came a familiar voice, and walking out of the shadow of kitchen appliances was Dobby, clad as usual in a large sweater, loads of socks, and an astounding amount of ties for such a little neck.

"Hello, Dobby! How are you!" Ron exclaimed, happy to see the little elf.

"Oh Dobby is fine sir, quite good actually. Dobby likes it here."

"Well that's good. And how's Winky?"

"Dobby thinks Winky is starting to like it here too. She's not drinking so much butter beer, that's a start. Dobby no like Winky when she's drinked up."

"Yes, well, I guess that's good." Ron said hesitantly, not quite sure how Dobby intended it.

"What is Mr. Wheezy doing here so late?" Dobby asked.

"Oh, well, I would have been here ages ago if Harry and Hermione hadn't held me up. They were just sitting there talking again. Finally they went to sleep."

"Ah, yes, they're there a lot. Dobby can't make his rounds until they leave and sometimes he has problems with time. But Dobby thinks they like talking. It's good for Harry Potter to talk to someone. And Hermione Granger is a good listener."

"Yes, I suppose you're right Dobby. But still, don't you think they should just get together and snog already? They're pretty darn slow."

"Dobby thinks that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger will find it out when the time is right. Dobby knows they will be together soon."

"Yeah, well, thanks Dobby. It's been nice talkin' to you. I'd better head back now." Ron said as he eyed the prepared food basket. He heaved it off the table and discovered he had to carry it with two hands. Got to love those over-achieving elves.

"Bye Wheezy!" Dobby called cheerfully. Ron winced as the elf managed to once again botch his name and be none the wiser.

The whole way back from the kitchens, Ron thought about what he had seen earlier. He felt kind of bad about eavesdropping on his friends, but it's not like it was anything new. Those two were always off in their own world; they probably wouldn't have noticed him if he had been playing the conga drums.

God, they were so perfect for each other. Everyone else saw it, it was so incredibly obvious. Even Dobby had seen it, and that was saying something. Really, it made sense when you thought about it. What better couple than the wizard destined to save the world, strong and brave, and the genius witch with all the answers? They were like a match made in heaven, soul mates, they fit like pieces of a puzzle. Okay, yeah, that was incredibly cheesy, but it was true. He just wondered how long it would take them to realize it.

Maybe ignorance really is bliss, he thought, as he came back through the portrait hole and saw them asleep in each others arms, completely content to just have each other. At that moment Ron couldn't think of a more beautiful sight than his two best friends, in love without even realizing it, just drawing comfort from each others presence. They would figure it out when the time was right, he decided, before ascending the staircase and finally getting some sleep.

A/N: Well, there it is! Short, I know, just like all my others, but I really hope you guys liked it.

Thanks for reading!

God Bless,

~Christine