Until My Best Friend

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Ron talks about love and Hermione

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Love.

Some say love is blind. Others disagree. They say that love sees but it does not mind. There are those who say that love is a many splendored thing. Professor Dumbledore even says that it is a force which is at once more wonderful and terrible than death or any other forces of nature (at least I think he's talking about love).

Me?

I'd say, "Who cares?"

I'm not here to talk about love. Not really. I mean, I don't know a thing about love. I've never loved before. Well actually, I have. I've loved lots of people: my parents, Ginny, my brothers (though I'd never tell them that), and my best friends. I love them all. But I've never really experienced loving someone like that.

Until my best friend.

Not the Boy-Who-Lived, mind you. I don't play for that team. Anyways, where was I? Ah, yes….

I wouldn't say 'until I met her'. I didn't fall in love with her the first time I saw her. No, I don't believe in love at first sight. My first impression of her the first time we met was: 'annoying' and 'know-it-all'. I still thought she was quite pretty though. I'm sure Harry didn't notice this, what with his four eyes and all. So anyways, I didn't think then that I'd really want to be friends with her, let alone best friends. But she saved us from trouble once and from then on, we became best friends.

We always fought—me and her. I could never quite agree with her ideas. I mean, could you imagine someone who thinks that being expelled is worse than being dead? She's like that. It still made me smile when I think of that one time when we were in first year and we encountered Fluffy for the first time. It reminds me of the simpler times (I'd call that simpler). But that's not what I'm here to talk about.

I never really knew how much I cared until I saw her in the hospital wing, hard as stone. She was petrified by the basilisk. You should've known the shock I went through. I reassured myself that there's going to be the Mandrake Draught, but I still couldn't stop thinking about her unconscious form in the infirmary. But I didn't fall in love with her then. I was twelve. Did you really think there was another thing on my mind besides Quidditch? Well, actually, yes there was: the Chamber of Secrets. But other than that…?

In my third year, we had this huge falling out. I didn't talk to her for about three months. I missed her then, though I never told Harry that. I was really happy when we made up. But I still didn't fall then. The 'threat' of Sirius was hanging in the atmosphere and the only thing on my mind was worry about Harry.

Nothing much really happened in my fourth year. Except that Voldemort came back to power (yes, I can say his name now). Oh, and in my fourth year, I also realized that I'm in love with her (nothing much, huh?). There was the Triwizard Tournament and students from other countries had come. Viktor Krum was even there. He was my favorite Quidditch player (take note of the past tense). Until, of course, he showed interest in her and invited her to the Yule Ball. Can you believe my luck? The second I realized I'm in love with my best friend an international Quidditch player swoops in and takes her away from me. I'm telling you, it was the worst luck I've ever had since I was born—including being Fred and George's brother. Things would have gone smoothly if Krum the sour-faced idiot weren't in the picture.

In my fifth year, I was very close to explosion, what with everything that had been happening. Dad was attacked, Umbridge was the Defense teacher, there was the DA, I was a prefect—things were never more complicated. I didn't have much choice but to not acknowledge my feelings for her. But I really was close exploding, as I told you earlier. I could either explode from anger with her correspondence with Krum the idiot, or I could also explode and just tell her in the middle of the common room that I love her. Good thing those didn't happen. Imagine the consequences.

Now, you might ask me: why exactly did I fall in love with her? And if you asked that, I'd think you were mental. Obviously, she's perfect. Well, close to perfection, at least. She has those beautiful brown eyes that are so full of soul. It pierces through my heart. It hurts me to see sadness in her eyes. And I'm seeing more of that so often now….

Her hair is just perfect. I know most guys like straight haired blondies, but I think that sucks. It's not like hers. Her hair is so full of character. It's just…her.

It's not just her looks. She's very intelligent. She can score more than a hundred percent even in Umbridge's class.

She's not just beauty and brains either. She has a very big heart. She always wants to help those who are oppressed and underrepresented, even Kreacher. Now, I know you'd say that most people want to help others. But she's different. Yes, most people want to help others, but they don't go out of their way to actually help them, do they? She does that. She's like everyone's angel. I know she's my angel, the number of times she's helped me pull through. And she's very brave and determined. I know she feels insecure about her not knowing a thing about the Wizarding world. She fights that insecurity by studying so hard that sometimes I feel like I can't take it anymore and I just want to grab whatever book she's holding and tell her she's so perfect already, she does not need to try to look good.

Yes, I can see her insecurity. I can see what she's hiding from me through those beautiful brown eyes. However, there was one thing I failed to see until recently.

Care to take a guess at what I failed to see?

Yes, you're right. I learned that she loves me too. And even if falling in love with your best friend is a very good thing, having her love you back is always better.