"Honestly Ron...I don't care who you want to kiss! What business is it of mine?" Hermione huffed. She was absolutely livid. Her cheeks were rose coloured, and her chest was heaving rapidly. She stood there now, with her arms crossed, almost daring him to reply to her.

Ron stared at her now. He'd come to talk to her about Lavender. Well not Lavender exactly, but about how everything had gotten screwed up between them since Lavender. But as usual, he'd messed everything up, and now Hermione was mad at him. Or...even madder at him, he corrected himself - remembering that she had already been mad before he'd began speaking.

Hermione's eyes were dark. She stared at him, and he felt the urge to slink away. Her eyes were like ice now. He could almost imagine the frozen daggers flinging themselves from those once warm orbs, and into his heart. The way she looked at him, the way she talked to him...it seemed each conversation they had now just seemed to end badly. And it was his fault. The realization made him feel so small. He felt like a little kid again. The situation was hopeless. Wasn't it? He didn't know what to do or say. All he wanted was Hermione back in his life. He wanted things to go back the way they were. It was driving him mad. And it seemed every time he tried to smooth things over, he would say the wrong thing, and Hermione would be even more furious with him.

Ron looked pleadingly into Hermione's eyes now. If only she could see what he was trying to say! But her once warm eyes were closed to him now. The once vivid light he saw shining there was gone. Replaced now with glacial intensity, they chilled him to the bone. He stood up quickly now, and turned to leave before he made the situation worse.

"So that's it? Nothing left to say?" Hermione said shrilly.

Ron froze at her cold tone. It made him angry now. Angry with himself. Angry with Lavender. Angry even with Hermione. She meant so much to him, and she couldn't even see it. And this mess with Lavender...well that was why he had come to talk to her about, now wasn't it? But as usual, it hadn't gone as planned, and now they were back to square one again. Ron spun on his heel, now, his eyes blazing. His ears were red, and his breath was heavy.

"Oh I've plenty to say Hermione! If only you'd stop to actually listen!" he spat at her, hotly.

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but Ron cut her off immediately.

"You know...I never claimed to be the smartest guy around. But for someone who is so bloody brilliant all the time, you sure can miss the obvious!" Ron was shouting now. Hermione's eyes were opened wide now, and the once frozen wasteland he'd seen there was replaced with shock and surprise. Hermione steadied herself after only a moment's hesitation, and her eyes were steely again as she replied.

"So just what have I been missing?" she replied - her voice shrill now.

Ron was shaking with rage now. He could see the rise and fall of her chest with each breath she drew. He took in the softness of her smooth skin, and how even her cheeks, pinked with emotion now, seemed to beg for his caress. Her eyes were still cold, but he remembered the blazing warmth he'd seen there more than once. Her lips, so soft, and when she laughed it was like music to his ears. It was like being so close to everything he'd ever wanted, and having it yanked cruelly away time and time again. Would this torture never end?

His pulse was racing now. His vision was blurring. His breaths were coming in deep gasps. He struggled to find the words. His head hurt. His heart hurt. The world seemed to be spinning all around him now, threatening to throw him off like a ride at an amusement park. It was getting difficult to stand now.

"Well, are you going to tell me what I've been missing?" Hermione demanded, her patience exhausted. She seemed ignorant of Ron's precarious state.

Something happened. Something inside him crystallized at that moment. He was so furious, so annoyed, so angry. But he knew what to do now. No...he wouldn't tell her.

He closed the gap between them in a few strides. His steps were confident, and Hermione's eyebrows arched in surprise as he came to within an inch of her. He stood there, breathing heavily, only an inch from her. She could see the features of his face transform before her eyes. His cheeks returned to their normal colour, and his breathing became calm again. The fierceness of his eyes softened immediately. He spoke now.

"No Hermione. I'm not going to tell you what you've missed. I'm going to show you..." he said after a few seconds. His voice was normal too. It was like the old Ron. Hermione was struggling to comprehend the changes in his demeanour, when the unthinkable happened. Ron kissed her.

Ron felt his lips brush against Hermione's now. He let them dance across hers like they were no more than the tips of the softest feathers. He closed his eyes now, concentrating only on Hermione's luscious lips, and treating them like they were the most delicate things ever created. He planted two soft kisses on her lips, and Hermione did not resist when he slid his arms under hers, and pulled her close to him. She moaned softly now, and he forgot to breathe at the sound of it. That soft sigh, like the tiniest whisper, did more things to him than he could describe. Hermione felt limp in his arms. He opened his eyes now, and pulled away from Hermione. Her eyes remained closed, and her breath was coming in short gasps. She opened her eyes slowly, and her lids fluttered a bit as she looked at him. The edges of her lips turned up into a little smile.

"Took you long enough..." she whispered.

"Well...like I said, I'm not the smartest guy around." Ron said with a laugh. Even Hermione laughed at his weak joke.

"So are we good now?" Ron asked her timidly. "I just want things to go back to how they used to be between us."

"No." Hermione replied, definitively. Ron's heart sank.

"I don't think things between us will ever be like they used to be" Hermione explained, her smile broadening as she spoke. And before Ron could ask her why she was smiling...she pulled him to her, and crushed her lips against his...

A/N: My first Ron/Hermione. I've always liked the dynamic between them. There was always this doubt, and uncertainty, and second guessing. I wrote Ron being so mad because I could really see it bothering him to the extreme how things were steadily declining with Hermione no matter what he tried to do. Finally, I figured if he would just stop thinking about it, and trying to explain, and just SHOW HER what he wanted her to know, it would be for the best. Hope you liked it.

I might continue this at some point. But for now, it's a simple little scene in which Ron finally manages to show Hermione how he feels about her, and Hermione affirms that she has the same feelings too. ;)