A/N: This is a companion piece to my H/G story War and Passion. I recommend that you read that one first. It will explain Ron and Hermione’s War Mage status in detail..... Plus, countless other things. Even if you don’t like Harry/Ginny you might enjoy it. Like this story, my take on their relationship is VERY different from most.
Fire and Ice
Chapter One
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
Ron Weasley lay spread across his bed. His long legs practically dangled off the end of it. He shifted, and the mattress groaned under his weight. He sighed irritably. He had gained even more weight over the past year, and his little bed at the Burrow just wasn’t cutting it anymore. He had a hard enough time getting to sleep, and this only added to his problems.
He sprang out of bed and rummaged through his trunk until he found a bottle of Ogden’s Fire Whiskey. Harry didn’t know that he still drank occasionally, so he kept it hidden in the bottom compartment.
Ron walked over to the chair by the window and dropped his feet on the table as he took a long drink out of the bottle. He had been so tense for the past three days, he deserved a drink. If he wasn’t so bloody happy that Harry was alive, he’d kill him. Watching Harry almost bleed to death on Platform 9 3/4 had woken up feelings in him that he had thought were long dead. Leave it to Harry to make him deal with this shit all over again. He hated to feel fear or helplessness, and that was exactly what he'd felt for the past three days as Harry lay in a coma. Thank God, the daft bugger woke up. If he had remained asleep for one more day, Ron probably would’ve murdered the Medi-Wizard in charge of Harry’s care. He hated doctors anyway.
Ron started when he heard a knock on the door. His wand was in his hand but he stopped himself from actually throwing a curse.
“Go away!!!”
“It’s me,” Hermione’s soft voice came from the other side of the door.
Ron jumped up and opened the door. He leaned against the door way as he regarded Hermione standing there in her flannel pajamas.
“Why, Miss Granger, what brings you up here at this time of night?”
“Can I come in or not?” She crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at him.
“By all means.” Ron pushed the door open further and she walked past him. He closed the door behind her and set a locking and silencing charm on it.
Hermione walked over to the table and sat down. She picked up the bottle of whiskey and looked at him accusingly. “When are going to quit? You know that drinking kills brain cells.”
“If you came up here to lecture me, you can leave now. I’m not in the mood tonight.” Ron dropped down into the other chair and yanked the bottle away from Hermione.
“You’re never in the mood to hear what’s good for you.” Hermione pulled the bottle back and set it on the table.
“As much as I love to row with you, could we skip this and get to what’s really bothering you?” Ron said with a smile as he deliberately picked up the bottle again and took a long drink.
“What makes you think something’s bothering me?” Hermione sighed as she looked at the table.
“Well, let’s see, I’ve spent almost every day with you since we were eleven. I’m not completely daft, Hermione. I know when you’re upset about something,” Ron said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes and dropped his feet back on the table.
“Josh broke up with me,” Hermione was still looking at the table and Ron watched two tears roll down her face.
“Oh, love, it’s okay.” Ron set his feet back on the floor and grabbed Hermione’s hand. “Come here,” he whispered as he pulled her onto his lap.
“He didn’t even do it in person, he just sent me an owl. I think he’s scared of me. Can you imagine that? I thought he loved me,” Hermione mumbled as she curled against him and laid her head against Ron’s chest.
Ron ran a large hand through her short curls “Hermione, it’s probably for the best. You two didn’t really have that great of a relationship to begin with.”
“Yes, we did. He was perfect for me. We had all the same interests
Ron titled her chin up to look at him. “Baby, I love you, you know that. But, you’re confused. You don’t have a great relationship with one man and sneak around to sleep with another. It just doesn’t work like that. If he was so perfect for you, you wouldn’t have kept coming back to me.”
“Only sometimes,” she sighed and laid her head back against Ron’s chest.
“As long as I live, I’ll never understand you, Hermione. You never loved him. I know you didn’t.” Ron continued to run a hand through her hair as he shook his head.
“Yes, I did.” Hermione looked up to glare at Ron.
“And what am I?” Ron questioned harshly as he glared back at her.
“You’re my friend.”
“Who you sleep with sometimes?”
“Right.”
“Hermione, don’t you see how fucked up that is?” Ron said as he continued to glare at her.
“You sleep with other girls!” Hermione jumped off of Ron and crossed her arms over her chest as she stood in front of him.
“And why is that?” Ron raised an eyebrow at her as he waited for her answer.
“Because you’re a randy bugger, that’s why!”
“There are times when we go for months without being together. I’m not Harry; celibacy doesn’t work for me. But, I would be happy to be with only you, if you gave me the chance.”
“Ron, we can’t do that. We tried that once, it didn’t work.” Hermione came closer to Ron and ran a hand through his hair.
“Let’s drop this for tonight. We can have this argument another time. I really am sorry you’re upset.” Ron pulled her closer and placed a kiss on the hallow of her throat. “I'm not sorry that he’s gone. But I want to kill him for hurting you.”
“You don’t mean that,” Hermione said softly as she tilted her head to give him better access
“Don’t I?” Ron mumbled as he began to trail kisses up her neck.
“Don’t joke about things like that.” Hermione pulled away and looked at him seriously.
“Okay, maybe I won’t kill him. Just injure him a little. I never liked him, anyway,” Ron mused with a nasty smile.
“You don’t like anyone.”
“I like you. I like Harry, when he’s not busy getting himself blown up. I like my family, sometimes. Who else matters?” Ron shrugged.
“That’s sad, Ron. You didn’t used to be like this.”
“Hermione, why did you come up here, tonight?” Ron asked irritably as he looked at her.
“So, you could make me feel better.”
“Well, why don’t you let me do that, then?” Ron growled as he put both hands around her waist and pulled her closer to him.
“This doesn’t change anything between us.”
“Save the speech, Hermione. I already have it memorized.” Ron sighed as he wrapped one hand into the curls at the nape of her neck and brought her face closer to his.
His lips claimed hers in a soft kiss. His tongue ran gently across her lips, and they parted to him. He explored her mouth as he pulled her back onto his lap. Her legs straddled him and his hands slipped underneath her night shirt to run up the smooth skin of her back.
“You taste like whiskey,” Hermione said with a small laugh as she pulled away and wrinkled her nose.
He looked up at her and smiled. “You told me you liked that taste. And you'd better not tell, Harry. Or I may have to do something drastic.“
“Oh, like what, Mr. Weasley?” Hermione asked in a husky voice as she pulled his shirt off and dropped it to the ground.
“I’ll tell him just how bad you really are. Just imagine how shocked he’d be. He might even fall right back into a coma, and it would be all your fault,” Ron laughed as he started to undo the buttons to her night shirt.
“Well, we can’t have that. I’ll just have to keep your dirty little secret to myself then.” She smiled and let her night shirt drop to the floor.
“God, you’re beautiful,” Ron groaned as his hands went up her naked back. His lips blazed a hot trail of wet kisses down her neck to her chest. His mouth closed over a taunt nipple and Hermione’s head fell back with a soft moan.
“Have I properly thanked you for saving my sorry arse on the platform?” Ron murmured as his mouth trailed over to the other breast.
“I don’t think so,” Hermione gasped as he took the other nipple in his mouth.
“Hmmm. . . Well, Miss Granger, we’ll just have to fix that, won’t we?” He stopped to look at her with a playful grin.
Hermione, knowing that grin, squealed and jumped off of him. He made a move to catch her, and she took off faster than lighting. “You’ll have to move faster than that to catch me, Mr. Weasley,” she taunted from the other side of his bed.
“This is why women shouldn’t be War Mages,” Ron laughed as he leapt over the bed.
He advanced on her, and Hermione went to jump over the bed once more, but he caught her mid-way. In one quick motion he flipped her on her back and had her arms pinned over her head with one hand.
“I think you wanted to be caught. I know you’re a lot faster than that, Miss Granger,” he breathed thickly against her ear.
“Oh God, I think you’re right,” Hermione moaned as his free hand slid beneath the lining of her pajama bottoms to caress her intimately.
He leaned over her to trail lazy kisses over her chest and throat. Hermione arched her hips against his hand as he continued to torment her with his fingers. She tried to pull her arms out of Ron’s grasp but he held on effortlessly.
“Ron, please,” she half sobbed as he took a nipple into his mouth once more.
“What was that?” He smiled and looked up at her.
“Let go!”
“You see how nasty you can get? No, I think in the interest of my own safety, I’ll just keep things the way they are,” he breathed hotly against her skin between kisses.
Hermione wrapped her legs firmly around him. “I said let go,” she hissed and applied pressure around his waist with her strong thighs.
“Ouch. . . Dear God, Hermione, you’d kill Josh if you did this to him. I’m twice his size, and you’re almost killing me,” Ron gasped as she continued apply more pressure.
With a pained moan Ron let go. Hermione’s hands flew into his hair as she brought his face closer to hers and captured his lips in a bruising kiss. As their tongues mated together, the playfulness disappeared, replaced by hard driving need and desire. He tugged her pajama bottoms off and kicked them to the side, then frantically pulled off his own trousers. Ron’s large hands wrapped around her waist and he pulled her to the edge of the bed. He bent down to kiss her once more and his tongue plunged into her mouth as he entered her. Her head jerked back with a low moan and her legs wrapped around him as he began to move in her with deep vigorous thrusts. The sheer power and energy that flowed from Ron matched her own, and Hermione let herself go as her hips met his. Ron’s hands lay on the bed framing Hermione’s face as he leaned over her, driving his body hard into her. Their muscles rippled as they came together in hard, frantic, desperation. Hermione’s small nails ripped across his broad back as she felt the pulsating throbbing rise to a peak Then, in a flash of blinding heat and pleasure their cries blended as they fell over the edge, together, their bodies shaking, their breath ragged, their skin tingling as wave after wave of pleasure flowed over them, until finally, Ron collapsed on top of Hermione as they tried to regain their breath.
When his heart rate had partially calmed, and he was once again able to breathe in a somewhat normal fashion, Ron pulled up to look at her. Hermione’s eyes were still closed. Strands of her short hair clung to her face as a sheen of sweat covered her body. Her eye lids blinked open, and she gave him a lazy smile as she looked up at him.
“What are you looking at?” Hermione asked as she leaned up on her elbows beneath him.
“You. You’re beautiful, did you know that?” Ron said as he brush the moist hair away from her face.
Hermione tilted her head and let her gaze travel down his muscular chest and arms. “So are you.”
Ron gave a deep laugh “You think so, do you? I thought you preferred those skinny Head Boy types. Are you sure you didn’t get the wrong room? Percy is a few flights down.”
Hermione cringed at the thought. “No, you’ll do. Besides, I seem to remember a time when you were skin and bones, so don’t poke fun.”
Ron got up and walked over to his trunk. Hermione moved herself up to his pillow and propped her head on her hand as she watched Ron rummage through his trunk, completely unfazed by his nakedness. A small smile crossed her face as she admired him. He really was beautiful. He was so broad and muscular. His height only added to his appeal. Every inch of him spoke of hours and hours of War Mage training, and he wore it well.
He found his boxers and slipped them on, then walked over to the table and grabbed his whiskey bottle and a chair. He set the chair next to the bed and sat down, dropping his feet over Hermione’s legs as he took another long drink.
“You’re going to curl up with your whiskey instead of me?” Hermione asked with an amused smile.
“Love, I can barely fit on that bed by myself.”
“Yeah, when did you turn into such a giant? You’re going to be as big as Hagrid if you keep it up.” She kicked his feet off of her and turned to face him.
“Don’t say that. I’m starting to worry about that, myself. Although, I guess it’s a good thing or else I’d be going to St. Mungo’s right now. My sides still hurt. Not that I’m complaining, I like it when you’re rough,” Ron laughed as he raised his eyebrows suggestively at her.
“You are strange, Ron,” Hermione mused as she fell onto her back.
“Hey, I wouldn’t talk. You almost killed me. I think I’m going to have bruises. How am I supposed to explain that to Harry?” Ron set the whiskey on the table behind him, then poked at his side to feel for injuries.
“Oh stop, I wasn’t that hard on you. Besides, you’re not exactly gentle. I’ve seen some of the girls you meet up with. You can’t tell me that you act like that with them. I have almost two years of War Mage training behind me and I can barely keep up with you.” Hermione turned back to look at him and arched an eyebrow questioningly.
“To tell you the truth, Hermione, I really don’t enjoy being with those other girls at all. It’s kind of boring, to me. If you hadn’t been with Josh, I wouldn’t have bothered,” Ron sighed as he dropped his feet over her legs again.
“God, Ron, how did we create this mess for ourselves?”
“Easy, you’re stubborn,” Ron smirked.
“You and your daft mistakes didn’t help,” Hermione laughed as she kicked his legs off of her again.
“You think too much.”
“You have the worse temper of anyone I have ever met!”
“You’re the biggest know-it-all I’ve ever met!”
“You like other women too much!”
“You like skinny Head Boys too much!”
“You broke my heart.”
“Well, Hermione, you broke mine, too. . . But, I still love you,” Ron sighed as he crawled back on top of her. “Even, if you’ll never love me back.”