A/N: Not that much to say about this one...
About Time
He gaped; he couldn't help it. She had finally put her hair up. It was for the wedding, of course, but he found that he liked it better down. Her best friend told her that she would look better if she put her hair up, so she did. The wedding ended and he offered her his arm. She smiled and took it and they walked down the aisle, glancing at faces in the crowd. She smiled and nodded at several people that he could have named, but didn't. They reached the end of the aisle and looked at each other shyly. She cleared her throat and removed her arm from his.
'I'm going to talk to your sister,' she whispered.
He grinned.
'Then I'm going to talk to your brother,' he replied.
She smiled.
'He's not my brother,' she said.
'Not by blood,' he pointed out. 'But you two are so close, it's almost as though you're siblings.'
She giggled.
'When you say it like that, I suppose he's my brother,' she said.
He grinned again.
'So let's go and talk to each other's siblings,' he said.
She laughed, which made him smile; he loved being the one who made her laugh. She waved at him and walked off. He grabbed two glasses and walked over to his best mate, handing a glass to him.
'Cheers,' they said, touching the crystal together with a gentle clink.
They took a sip of the fizzy liquid inside, sitting in silence as they watched the loves of their lives chatting from across the room.
'I'm telling her tonight. I hope you don't mind. She'll probably want to keep it under wraps anyway. If she feels the same, that is,' he told his friend, who nodded.
'Take care of her; that's all I have to say.'
'No, it's not.'
'No, it's not. But it'll do for now,' his friend replied, taking another sip from his glass.
'For now,' he said.
His friend nodded and twirled his wedding band.
'Think you'd wear one?' his friend asked.
'If she wanted me too,' he replied immediately.
His friend laughed.
'You love her.'
'You're only now figuring that out?'
'No, I've known since sixth year. I was just letting you know.'
'Oh, I know.'
'Good. Go and tell her. It's been seven years since I figured it out. In fact, I even have a bet going with -'
'All right! I know about the bet. I also know that if I wait another two minutes, you'll lose. So there. I've waited nine years, I can wait another two minutes,' he snapped.
His friend chuckled.
'Use the two minutes to collect yourself; here she comes.'
She had hugged her friend tightly and walked toward him and his friend, smiling widely. She threw her arms around his friend and hugged him.
'Congratulations,' she breathed, pulling back and resting her hands on his shoulders.
His friend smiled at her.
'Thanks,' his friend replied, kissing her forehead.
She hugged his friend again and then turned to him, chewing on her bottom lip.
'I think we should have a talk,' she whispered as she past him.
She headed for the outside and beckoned him with her hand. He followed and they reached the small lake behind the house. She sat on the dock and he sat down beside her. They were silent for a few moments.
'You look amazing,' he said softly.
She blushed a bit, but smiled.
'Thanks,' she said. 'You look pretty good, too.'
'Ha. Thanks,' he said.
She brought her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees.
'About time, huh?' she asked a few minutes later.
He nodded.
'Yeah,' he said.
He took his shoes and socks off and rolled his pants legs up before dipping his feet in the water. She smiled and watched him.
'You know, you should keep your hair down. You look better,' he said quietly.
She raised an eyebrow.
'I don't look nice with it up?' she asked.
He looked over at her with a horrified expression on his face.
'No, I didn't mean that!' he exclaimed.
She laughed.
'I know, I'm winding you up,' she whispered, pushing her hand against his shoulder lightly.
He reached out and tried to take the clip out of her hair.
'No no no!' she said, moving her head out of his reach. 'I made a promise!'
'To what? Wait until you danced to a couple songs?'
'Yes!'
'Hermione, you look amazing with your hair up, but you look beautiful with it down,' he said.
Hermione huffed and he reached behind her again, this time grabbing the clip.
'Honestly, Ron,' she said, swatting at his hand violently. His hand slipped off of the clip and he tried again. 'Ron!'
He jumped on her, pinning her to the dock with his body. He held her hands above her head with one hand and attempted to take the clip out with the other. What he hadn't counted on, however, was the strength that Hermione possessed. She flipped him off of her and he rolled off the dock and into the water with a loud splash. He stood up and shook his hair out of his eyes, spluttering.
'Hermione!' he exclaimed.
Hermione stood on the dock, laughing. Ron jumped up and moved towards her, his eyes glinting. She stopped laughing and her eyes widened at the look on his face.
'Ron,' she said. 'Ron, I didn't mean for you to land in the water! Ron!'
He grabbed her and pulled her to him, shaking his hair around. She squealed and struggled against him.
'Ron!' she shrieked.
He stopped and looked at her, finding that he was soaking wet from his trip off the dock and she was so close and so beautiful.
'Hermione,' he breathed.
Hermione looked up at him and licked her lips.
'Ron,' she whispered.
He acted on impulse. Bending his head, he caught Hermione's mouth with his, kissing her fiercely, pouring every feeling he had ever felt for her into it. She pressed herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck and Ron felt one of her thighs slide up his leg. He grabbed her leg with his hand and pulled his mouth from hers.
'Bloody hell,' he whispered.
Hermione let her leg slide back down and placed her foot back on the ground.
'Yeah,' she said. 'It's about time.'