The snow whipped their faces, like tiny, angry fists, punching them over and over. The wind had unraveled Hermione's wool scarf, throwing it every which way. Ron's nasty, ice induced fall earlier had left him with snow packed onto his cotton-covered chest and thighs.
Despite this, as the pair walked along Hogsmeade's dimly lit, snow-and-cobblestone road, they giggled and joked at the idea of either of them dating someone else.
Earlier that year, Ron had broken up with that slimy eel of a girl, Lavender. In their fourth year, Hermione had had a small crush on Durmstrang student, Viktor Krum. During all this, it was a very sore subject, but now the two often brought it up simply for a laugh or just the enjoyment of poking fun at one another.
And now, after that hell of a rollercoaster, Ron and Hermione were finally going on their very first date. Hermione had been the one to ask Ron one night in the Gryffindor common room. It was a spontaneous act, but it took quite a bit of courage on Hermione's part. To her, when he said 'yes', it felt as if six years worth of anxiety finally dissolved, and she couldn't remember ever smiling brighter than she did just then.
Now, as they shivered and tentatively huddled together, cursing the weather and calling Lavender Brown fowl names, Hermione could not remember a single moment in her entire life when she felt happier.
Ron was holding onto her hand like it was an oxygen source, smiling at her as if she were a Christmas present. His eyes never left hers, so it was up to Hermione to guide them both around obstacles such as rocks, tree branches, and once, a poor Professor Flitwick.
Finally, they reached a thick wooden door that smelled of mint and rotten apples, the door to The Three Broomsticks. Ron sidestepped Hermione playfully, beating her to open the door. Grinning like an idiot, looking far prouder than he should have, he pressed on the rusty handle and pushed open the large door with little effort, thanks to daily quidditch practice. He motioned politely for Hermione to pass him, still grinning, but now with pure admiration in his bright, happy eyes.
Hermione laughed at him. "What happened to my rude Ron Weasley?" she asked, still standing in the drafty threshold of their favorite diner.
"You know, he met this snotty little girl a while back. He must have realized how amazing she is," Ron muttered sweetly. This caused Hermione's face to flush red.
"Now, he would be even happier if she got out of this bloody blizard, and ordered both of us butterbeers," said Ron cheekily. Smacking him on the shoulder, Hermione walked briskly past the boy, leaving him laughing despite her.
As the door slammed behind them, Ron peered around the vast, old room, and was filled with a gust of nostalgia. He had come here every winter with Hermione for the school's annual Hogsmede trip. They never came with Harry due to the fact that he wasn't ever able to convince his uncle to sign his permission slip. It had been wonderful; time alone with Hermione. They would laugh and playfully tease each other and then just sit in a beautiful, peaceful silence. He almost hoped that today would be the same.
He didn't really want that, though. That would be weird. If they pretended that nothing had changed, nothing ever would, and they would continue on forever and ever just being friends. No, that would not be good. Ron was too in love with the darn girl, and this day was already of a different variety than the past days had been, and Ron intended to keep it up.
As Ron stood just inside the threshold of The Three Broomsticks, Hermione had already ordered them two butterbeers and a tray of pumpkin pasties, and she was patiently waiting at a small booth near the farther end of the shack-like room. Ron snapped out of his daze as his date waved at him timidly, gesturing for him to join her. He smiled and walked over to their booth.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked.
"Well, yeah, why?"
"You had been standing in the same spot and staring into space, I got quite worried," said Hermione.
"Oh, sorry, was just, um, thinking," Ron mumbled, thus earning a slightly cross look from his date. Fortunately for Ron, however, she was in a spectacular mood that day and she resolved to dropping the matter.
"Did you see Harry and Ginny the other night?" inquired Hermione.
"No, why, what happened?" said Ron, who, somewhat violently, suddenly jerked upright, so he was sitting tall and frantically scanning the room for some sign of danger.
"Oh, calm down Ron," she scoffed. "Harry and Ginny aren't here. I meant that they looked happy, especially Harry. I don't think I've ever seen him so happy while he was de-gnoming the garden," Hermione said fondly.
For a while, neither of them spoke. A stout witch in tattered green robes brought them two tankards of butterbeer and a plateful of pumpkin pasties. Ron immediately devoured a pumpkin pasty, while the elderly witch, who was still holding the tray, smiled widely at Hermione. Hermione blushed and took a swig of her butterbeer in attempt to hide her pink face, but a deeper blush only crept through her cheeks as she burned her tongue.
"Slow down Ron! Must you eat everything in less than five minutes?" Hermione scolded.
Ron looked up from his own butterbeer, which he had been chugging rather pig-like.
"Mmph-sorry-mumph-Hermione," said Ron as he struggled to chew three pumpkin pasties.
"Goodness Ronald," hissed Hermione.
This only made Ron smile despite himself as he remembered The Good Old Days when Hermione couldn't stop scolding him.
Hermione then smiled too, seemingly thinking the same thought, but she wasn't. Hermione was dreaming of the future, one with all of the things that made her life complete. Her mum and dad, Hogwarts, her books, Harry, The Weasley family, her professors, and days just like this one, her and Ron and butterbeer.
This made her feel as if there were an espresso shot in her butterbeer. It made her heart skip a beat and her stomach suddenly feel quite warm and full. This had been a wonderful day, but it was just the beginning of a wonderful life