Well this is my first real attempt at a Harry Potter fan fiction. Like so many other readers out there I've had ideas bounce around in my head for some time now. First they started off with illusions of grand, master epics that would take up hundreds of thousands of words… then I realized I don't have the time, nor the talent to pull that off, at least not at this time. So I read some more, and I've fallen into a bit of a groove to want to read happy stories. I understand that stories with conflict, drama, and all that jazz is what makes a story interesting to read, I just figured my life is rough enough, I don't need to read something with so much angst that it actually makes me upset. By no means am I putting those down that do enjoy that genre, it's just not my cup of tea at the moment.

'Firsts' is just what the title implies, it's a series of one shots of firsts in the lives of Harry and Hermione. Most will be upbeat and happy, with little to no real drama. Yes it's fluff, and even guys every now and then want a little bit of fluff to read. Some of these stories are taken from real life examples that I have experienced and am using them as a base to work off of, others are not and are just idealized versions of what I think they are like, or what other stories (be it from friends/family or works of fiction) have led me to believe.

Lastly since this is an AU story of a fictional world, I will be manipulating the timeline somewhat. Why? Well because in this fake universe inside of someone else's fake universe it will be easier for me to do so. Also because I want to so ::raspberry::.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- Firsts ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Wind

'I could get use to this,' Harry thought to himself. Hermione had herself draped over his torso, her leg crossed over his and her head was resting on his chest above his heart. It was, in his mind, the most comfortable he had ever been in a bed. The two of them had been dating for a little while now, shy of two months, but when you have known each other for several years already, much of the awkward getting to know each other phase, was well past them. So it was with a great amount of fear, as is always the case, but also a great amount of already in place affection that the two of them decided to consummate their relationship five nights ago. Since then Hermione had spent every night at his place. They usually made love those nights, but tonight was different. Both were extremely tired from their day, so they just sat down to a simple dinner and talked for a while. Later they moved to the couch where Hermione was reading, curled up with her back resting on Harry's chest, while he had the television on and was flipping stations, but that did not last long. When Harry noticed Hermione nodding off, he felt his eye lids grow heavy and he convinced her it was time for bed.

After changing and doing their nightly rituals, Hermione saw Harry holding up the covers for her. She quickly patted her way across the floor, in hopes of minimizing the time her bare feet had to suffer on the cold hard wood. She crawled into bed and this is how Harry came to be in his new favorite nocturnal position. Harry was running his hand across the skin that was left bare by the top Hermione was wearing to bed, and if they weren't relaxed before, they were very quickly getting there now. This was something that not only seemed to make Hermione purr, but it also calmed and relaxed Harry almost as much. Both, while still awake, were in that in between state where sleep was only moments away, but if something moved just the right way, a flash of light happened, or a sound was heard it would pull you from your near slumber, back to the land of awake.

That's when it happened.

Hermione tensed. Harry stopped running his hand across her back as his eyes shot open. Neither moved. They both heard the same noise pulling them from their near state of sleep.

"Hermione…?" Harry asked. He felt her head shift, her chin now resting on his chest. He moved his head to look down at her and in the dim moon lit room he saw her looking at him. Her eyes wide, and filled with horror, pure unadulterated horror, were staring back at him. There was no doubt in his mind she heard it too.

"Hermione did you-"

"Oh my God." Hermione said in a horrified whisper, eyes still as wide as he'd ever seen them. Her lower lip trembled just a bit. That finally set Harry over the edge. He tried not to, he really did. But his chest was now shaking, which made her head bob up and down, which made everything all the much worse. He was trying to swallow it down, but he couldn't, his lips were turning upward, he was fighting it with all that he could muster at that time, which wasn't much. Then the first chuckle escaped, he managed to swallow a few more, but it grew to be too much. Loud booming laughter broke free from Harry, it was just too much. He knew this was going to upset Hermione, but the look on her face just made it too much to stand.

Hermione seeing Harry laughing like a mad man, felt her face go red, hands covering her face then burying it and her hands in his chest, and was shaking her head. 'This is awful! How could he find this so funny?!' She was horrified. This was not supposed to happen, and there is Harry, the man that she loves, who supposedly loves her, is laughing like a hyena! 'What a prat!' She thought. Hermione moved to roll away from him, but he too fast and he wrapped his arms around her keeping her in place.

His peals of laughter were slowing down to the occasional chuckle. He knew he couldn't look at her yet, because it would start him back up again, but he also didn't want her to leave his arms. He fought down the urge to laugh, hell he had to beat it down with a stick, but he eventually prevailed, but it took some work. Finally calmed down enough he looked down and saw that Hermione still had her head buried in his chest. He released his grip on her with one hand, managed to snake it to under her chin and lift it up to look him in the eye. She wasn't crying, but her eyes did have a bit of shine to them, and her face was as red as he'd ever seen it.

"I'm glad that you can find this so funny." Hermione told him in an angry tone. Harry knew he had to tread carefully, an angry Hermione was a scary Hermione.

"Hermione, love, I'm sorry. It's just that you farted," a chuckle escaped his throat, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. He swallowed the rest of the laugh and continued after clearing his throat. "I've never heard you do that before, in fact I've never heard any girl do that before. I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing at the look on your face-"

She cut him off, "That sounds like the definition of laughing at me Harry."

Harry stopped for a breath, and then started again, "Okay maybe it does, and I am sorry for that. But the look on your face? It looked like you just accidentally cast a spell that would kill all puppies in a ten mile radius." He cast her one of his special Harry grins, hoping it would sooth her a bit… and it failed. She still looked at him, her eyes hardly more than slits. Harry sighed seeing it would take a little bit more work that a lopsided grin to disarm this trap. He took a deep breath, and let it out in a low whistle. "Okay Hermione, I'm sorry for laughing. That wasn't right of me. It's something that everyone does, just like going to the loo. It's part of life so there should be nothing funny about it."

Hermione eyed him for a minute, then, the tension left her body, almost as if she was defeated. She closed her eyes, let out and explosive breath and looked Harry in the eyes again. "I know Harry. I shouldn't have gotten upset at you, it's just…" She trailed off at the end, shifting her eyes away from him.

"It's just what?" When she didn't answer Harry cupped her cheek and got her to look at him again. "Hermione?"

"It's just that I want to be perfect for you. You deserve to have a woman who is flawless. You are such an amazing man that it makes me want to be a better me, just so I can make you happy." Hermione told him, and by the time she was finished she was speaking in just above a whisper.

Harry lay there, with his heart in his eyes. He started to stroke her back again. "Hermione, love, I hate to tell you this but you aren't perfect." She tensed a little at this, but he squeezed her tighter with his one arm while continuing to rub her back with his other. "But those imperfections make you who you are. Who you are is why I am so madly, deeply, in love with you. I couldn't imagine what my life would be without you in it. Maybe there is no such thing as perfect, but you are everything I could want and more.

"Do you know why, in a strange way, this is a big deal to me?" She gave him a dubious look, and slowly shook her head. "It means you are comfortable around me. You are willing to let your hair down and be yourself. This, as strange as it may sound, is a big step. It's like admitting to me that you are willing to let me see you at your best, and at your worst. I love you Hermione Granger. I know I'm not sounding very romantic, and this might be odd, but… I don't know." Harry took in a breath and let it out slowly. " You've been with me through everything so it's not like you would run away... I can't find the words to say it, you know I'm not good at this sort of thing, but it means a lot to me that you aren't afraid of anything with me around."

She smiled at him. She knew he meant it, she felt the same way about him. Yes they've known each other for years, but it's still hard when you're in a new relationship. You want to put your best face forward at all times, wanting to impress them. She sighed. Harry had seen her at her worst, just like she had seen him when he felt as though he had hit bottom. But it's hard admitting that you aren't perfect to that one person you care most about in the world.

"I love you too, even if you are a strange man." She leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips. He smiled at her, and she smiled back at him.

"That sounded really lame didn't it?" Harry asked her. She smiled again, gave a little giggle and rested her head on his chest again. "I still can't believe you farted." She rolled her eyes, even though he couldn't see them, and shook her head with a slight chuckle.

"Yes well, like you said it is natural everyone does it."

They lay there silent for a little while when Hermione heard Harry let a small laugh out. She picked her head up again and looked at him. The question was unasked but it was clearly written on her face. 'Now what?'

"Do you remember that day early on in our sixth year when Ron came downstairs with his arms all bruised and sore?" Hermione nodded. She remembered that rather inconsequential event, but it isn't everyday you see a friend come down the stairs in obvious pain, with black and blue marks forming on their arms. She also remembered it because Harry, Neville, Dean and Seamus were laughing the entire way down to breakfast. It was one of those strange days that for some reason, sticks in one's mind.

"Well that summer Dean, and his family, went to visit his Uncle in The States for some time. While there he would hang around with his cousin and his friends quite a bit. Well he told me of a 'game' they played. Whenever someone would… well, break wind. One of two things would happen according to the rules. One is the person who was caught would have to say 'safety' and they were fine. However if someone said 'knobs' before the offending person said 'safety' they would be able to punch him in the arm until the culprit touched a door knob."

Hermione looked at him, a little disgusted, but obviously wanted to see where this was going so she gestured for him to continue.

"In the dorm Ron was known for his flatulence, he flaunted it at times even. Being teenage boys we all thought it was funny when it first started but by the time sixth year rolled around it got rather old. Well the night before when Ron came up for the night he did what he always did after dinner and let one go. This one was… let's just say it had a very unique quality to it." Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust at him. "Hey you're the one that asked. Do you want me to stop?"

She shook her head at him, "No. Now I really want to see where this is going… even if it is rather gross."

Harry chuckled but went on. "Ron went back down to the common room to pick up something, probably a quiddich magazine. While he was gone Dean quickly told us of the 'game' he played with his cousin. We all thought it would be funny to do this to Ron. Even Neville had an evil look in his eye that night, probably had something to do with his bed being right next to Ron's." Harry shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, "Anyway, Ron was okay the rest of that night. The next morning was a different story. When we woke up to get ready for breakfast we were all changing when Ron let one go. The four of us stopped while Ron continued to dress, we all smiled at each other and as a group yelled 'KNOBS!' and pounced on Ron." Harry let out a laugh. "You should have seen it Hermione, Ron was freaking out, screaming, running around. It was too funny. He finally made his way to the door, with us still punching him. When he opened the door we all stopped, he looked at us like we'd gone mental and the four of us literally fell on the ground laughing. Ron looked like he wanted to hex us, but he was so confused by us laughing. The look on his face? It was priceless." Harry let out another small chuckle and shook his head.

Hermione looked at him with her brow crinkled, lips turned downward. "Men always say they don't understand women. Well I will say this right now, I don't understand boys. Punching someone because they broke wind? How juvenile. If I'd have known this I might not have agreed to start dating you." Hermione finished her thought with an arrogant look, but her eyes betrayed her. Harry could see the mirth in them.

There are many advantages to knowing someone for so long; you know their quirks, and idiosyncrasies. You learn their dislikes and likes. Even before they started dating Harry knew that Hermione's feet were ticklish, but as far as being ticklish went, that was all he knew about that subject as far as Hermione was concerned. But the physical part of a relationship allows you to fully explore your partner's body, in a fun flirtatious sort of way. Harry took advantage of some of that newly acquired knowledge of her ticklish spots and proceeded to tickle her without mercy. This went on until she screamed, laughing the entire time, for mercy. When Harry finally stopped they resumed their original positions in bed. Harry on his back with his arm wrapped around her, stroking her back; Hermione with her head on his chest, her body draped over his, and her legs twisted with his, almost purring she was so content. Both content with just being there with one another. Both in love with the other.

They lay there for a few minutes, when Harry whispered, "Hermione?"

A very satisfied, "Hmm?" comes from the back of her throat.

"Safety."

It takes Hermione a moment for it all to register. Her head rockets off of Harry's chest ad she starts to playfully smack his arms and chest. "You prat!" she says, her voice full of humor and affection.

As they play wrestle in bed a thought crosses Harry's mind, 'Yes. I could definitely get use to this.'

-------------------------------------------------------------------- Firsts ---------------------------------------------------------------------

For those of you that are interested in the background to this story. This is based off of a real life event for me. Although it didn't happen in bed, it happened on my couch while we were watching a movie. When this happened I was 21, and I laughed my butt off because of the look on her face when she did it. I really did like this girl, so I did what I could to comfort her, eventually it worked. But yeah, based on a real life story this one. If you liked this one look for my next story, 'Changing.'