And now we see Ron's side of things. I imagine this to take place later on in the fifth year, maybe when they are in the hospital wing together but probably before that. I just really liked the idea of Ron trying to count sheep... Anyway, enjoy reading!

Moment of Realisation: part 2.

Counting Sheep.

It hit Ron like a train crashing into his head.

Along with it came a companion thought: God, I am stupid.

The companion thought referred to how long it had taken him to work this out. True, he wasn’t necessarily the brightest wizard of his age but really, it hit new heights, or lows, of stupidity, even for him. Looking back he should have realised it a long time ago, but he hadn’t and so it was only now that he realised: he was in love with Hermione.

This realisation had two conflicting responses. The first was the pride of having finally worked out what was going on between them, the second was the urge to go and punch someone. If he had to pick any girl to fall in love with it would not have been that loud-mouthed know-it-all.

It was all her fault. If she hadn’t been so… (several thoughts rushed to fill this gap: annoying, beautiful, clever, extremely annoying, damn smart…) so… Hermione-ish he would not be in this situation.

In all honesty she confused the hell out of him. One minute he hated her, or thought that he did, the next minute he was longing for the slightest touch of her hand. It was madness!

He shivered, and not from the cold. He was doomed. Oh yes, he had well and truly sealed his own fate. He was doomed to be a lonely old man because she would never ever feel the same way about him. She was the cleverest witch in the year, and probably in the school for that matter. Besides, she was perfectly happy with Vicky anyway. His desire to punch someone increased dramatically. It was a shame that Malfoy wasn’t around, or Zacharias Smith, or that shady character Michael Corner… preferably Krum though. The git.

Hermione would kill him if he punched Krum. He laughed humourlessly. He was increasingly regretting this realisation. Damn her.

He turned over in his bed. He needed to get to sleep… get away from all this. What was that thing Muggles did when they were trying to get to sleep? Hermione had been telling him about it the other day. Counting sheep or something. It sounded dead stupid, but maybe it would work. After all, it had been Hermione who had told him about it and he would trust her with his life.

He really needed to stop thinking about her.

One… two… three… four…

He was doomed.

… five… six… seven…

Really, really doomed.

… seven… eight… nine…

He would never be able to look her in the face again.

… ten… eleven…

He would never be able to look Harry in the face again.

… twelve…

Oh God.

Harry.

What would he say about this? What if he was in love with her too? He would not be able to stand that. Harry always got what he wanted. Would that go for Hermione too? Would he have to step back and let Harry take her from him?

With a jolt of guilt Ron realised that this was his best friend he was talking about. He was letting the jealousy take over again. He was meant to be trying to get to sleep anyway. Where was he?

Ten… eleven… twelve…

Harry couldn’t love Hermione.

… thirteen…

Could he?

… fourteen…

Why not? Last year everyone had thought they were a couple.

… fourteen…

Don’t be stupid, he told himself. You’d know. If he was in love with Hermione you’d be able to tell.

… fourteen…

Did Harry know? Where was he with the counting?

… sixteen… seventeen…

Harry had probably known before he did. He was that much smarter.

… eighteen…

Smarter.

He swore under his breath.

Did she know? Oh God, he was gonna die. How embarrassing, and annoying, and…

Damn. He had lost count.

---

Hermione looked up as Ron came down for breakfast. He looked tired, and grumpy.

“I tried that… counting sheep thing last night.” He told her, the tips of his ears going pink.

“Really?” She asked, amused but secretly happy that he’d remembered something that she’d told him.

“It’s rubbish.”

---

Er, just discovered that although I wrote an authors note on the first part I may have forgotten to save it... and on the songfic that I wrote about Neville and his Gran. Which is annoying... so I apologise for that. But hey, I'm learning from my mistakes.