If you feel like writing it: "So, it was you." ❤
Good gracious did it take me a long time to come up with a premise for this one! This actually turned out to be a little follow upto Is That My Shirt? and, to give credit where it’s due, I got the inspiration for this from a comment that @trademarkblue left on that drabble. Anyway, sorry about the delay (have a feeling I’ll be saying that a lot 😬) and I hope you like it! 💕
***
So, It Was You
Ron had always supposed it was bad luck, or maybe the twins messing with him, or possibly even Lavender during those odd few months of sixth year, but his Muggle clothing had a history of vanishing throughout his six years at Hogwarts. He didn’t have a ton of stuff to begin with - the traditional Weasley Christmas jumper, some old hand-me-downs from Bill, a few Cannons items that he’d scrimped and saved to purchase for himself - so he’d always felt he needed everything he had. Even the garments that were too small, he could stretch those out with magic to a point and make them work, but not if they were gone. Things always turned up in the end, too, which usually had him wondering if he was going a bit mad.
It was even worse after a year on the run; he was amazed he even had a pair of pajamas left (his pajama trousers, too, went missing with alarming frequency). But regardless, he’d crammed everything he owned into his rucksack and followed Hermione halfway around the world, because he’d do anything for her, even if he had to do it in a pair of slacks that he’d owned since he was twelve. And now that they were in Australia, in their very own hotel room, he was really just glad to be here with her at all.
Hermione emerged from the bathroom, face freshly scrubbed, just as Ron was finally figuring out how to work the remote control for the television. She sat on the bed next to him and pecked his cheek, linking her arm through his.
Her maroon wool-clad arm.
Huh.
“Koalas?” she questioned, pointing to the little animals onscreen.
“Just be glad it’s not the Sydney tourism channel anymore,” replied Ron with a little chuckle. Linking their fingers together, he rubbed his free hand over the fabric on her forearm. “Not that I mind at all, but where’d you find this?” It was the one from sixth year, and as it still fit him relatively well, he’d actually been looking for it.
“Oh - well…” She bit her lower lip and stared down at the paisley pattern on the bedspread. “It was at the bottom of the beaded bag, so I just took it to sleep in, you’ve never noticed before-”
Hermione seemed to recognize her own slip of the tongue and snapped her mouth shut, now looking down at their interlaced hands.
“Wait,” said Ron, watching a blush creep up her cheeks. “What do you mean, before?”
“I - I just like sleeping in your clothes sometimes,” Hermione admitted, “but I always give them back-”
“So it was you,” Ron realized with a dawning clarity. “You’ve been my clothes thief all these years?”
“Yes,” she said meekly, meeting his eyes through thick, dark lashes. She looked so embarrassed at being found out, but this was actually blowing his mind; it amazed him that even years ago, she had been that compelled to feel close to him.
“So then that time at Shell Cottage, that wasn’t the first time you’ve done that?”
“No, it’s been since… third year, I think?”
Ron goggled at her. “You’ve been wearing my clothes since third year?”
“Oh, your clothes are just so much better than mine,” she insisted, “they’re all big and warm and soft and so they’re perfect for sleeping in.”
“Just out of curiosity, how much of my stuff do you have right now?” asked Ron, laughing and giving her hand a little squeeze.
“Er, just this jumper and that one Cannons shirt, but you did say I could have that,” she defended herself, looking defiantly up at Ron.
“You can have whatever you want,” he assured her, and he hoped he knew he wasn’t just talking about pilfering his wardrobe. “I don’t have a ton, but what’s mine is yours.”
He really didn’t need any of it. He had her, after all, and that was more than enough.
***
you can find more four word prompts here!