I don't own HP. Please make sure to read author's note at the end for explanation.
"It's nearly time for dinner, we should head back."
Ron, seemingly brought out of a trance at Hermione's words, glanced at his watch. Although there was no other place on Earth he'd rather be in that moment, he couldn't help but smile. She knew him all too well.
"Um, yeah, 'spose so… but did you get as far as you had planned? With your essay, I mean?" Ron quickly covered his first statement with the second. He certainly knew that HE hadn't gotten as far as he would have liked, and it had nothing to do with his potions essay. He actually hadn't gotten a single thing done on his own essay. He had been too busy studying other things, namely Hermione.
"Oh, I finished that ages ago. I moved on to studying for our apparition test," she replied absentmindedly. Ron grinned to himself. She was innocently oblivious to his slip of the tongue, one of the many things he found endearing. As they stood up and began to pack their schoolbags, he made his decision. Today was the day. He grew silent, watching Hermione's every move but not speaking.
They had decided to spend the spring afternoon of their sixth year studying next to the lake. Harry was spending the afternoon with Dumbledore, as was so often the case of late, so Ron and Hermione had the day to themselves. They had finally gotten back to normal after the 'Lavender incident', whatever normal was for the pair. Bouts of nervous laughter intermixed with small sideways glances when the one thought the other wasn't looking. Ron couldn't help but laugh when Hermione at one point, remembering the lake task of the Triwizard Tournament two years prior, again imitated Fleur by talking about "ze grindylows". It was nearly a sense of all being right with the world.
They walked back up to the castle slower than a regular pace, thanks to Ron. He remained virtually silent as Hermione talked about how prepared she was certain they should be for their apparition test. He couldn't help but just be mesmerized by her presence, her voice, her entire being. Hermione slowly realized that Ron hadn't said a word for quite awhile and that he hardly took his eyes off of her as they walked, also noticing that it had taken longer to walk to the castle than if she had been by herself. As they reached the lift to go up to the common room, she was beginning to become very bothered, but a different kind of bothered than what she was used to with Ron. This was unfamiliar territory and she wasn't sure she could handle it. It didn't make logical sense to her. Finally, she couldn't stem the burning question any longer.
"WHAT? For goodness sake Ron, you've been staring at me the entire time we've been walking. Is there something on my face?" She pretended, badly, to be exasperated, while staring at nothing inside of her bag, a blush creeping across her beautiful face. Ron smiled inwardly. Summoning all of his Gryffindor courage, he shook his head but didn't break his stare. "No, you don't."
The lift doors opened and Hermione was grateful for the timing, allowing her the ability to take a few steps forward. "Then what is it? You should be careful, with that stare someone might think you…" she trailed off. She realized what she had been about to say and thought better of it. No, that was dangerous territory, not someplace she wanted to go, not after just having gotten Ron back as a friend.
"Someone might think I, what, Hermione?" Ron followed her into the lift, still looking at her but slowly losing his nerve. He felt it was now or never. He heard the doors close behind him.
Before she could stop herself, Hermione blurted out, "Well, that stare. It looks very much like the kind people have when they… when they fancy someone…" The last words were barely audible as Hermione met Ron's gaze. His eyes looked as blue as the ocean in that moment and nearly as deep. She began to feel lightheaded and a wave of fear began to wash over her. What have I done? You stupid cow,what were you thinking, saying that to him?
"Well, maybe I do, you know, fancy someone," Ron whispered. Oh, Merlin, they both thought at the same time, what the hell is going on? Neither of them could believe what he had just said. Hermione tried and failed miserably to clear her head long enough to remove herself from the situation and asses it. She felt as though she had stepped out of one of her dreams. Ron had unconsciously moved dangerously close to her as he spoke.
"Umm, who?" Hermione had thought the question in her head but not realized it had escaped.
"Who do you think?" Ron in an instant had placed both hands on her waist and before he knew it also placed his lips gently on hers.
It was so fast that he failed to capture both of her lips together, instead intertwining her bottom lip in between his, her nose pressed into his cheek. He broke away long enough to correct their positioning and heard a quiet gasp of surprise from Hermione. He met her lips once more, slightly less gentle than before. His tongue timidly sought permission from her lips and they parted and tongues became as intertwined as lips. Ron slowly backed Hermione up against the back wall of the lift, his hands still on her waist but their hips nearly pressed together. He heard her gasp again and immediately broke away, not sure of what her reaction meant at this point.
"Was that OK?" He silently prayed to all that was holy that she wouldn't say no. She stared at him for a moment, unable to form words. Ron kissed me! I've only been waiting for this to happen for the longest time and now it has! Oh Merlin's pants, did I do it right? Did he enjoy it? Did he actually just ask me if it was OK? Ron looked petrified and Hermione couldn't help but smile a tiny smile that was forming from her heart to her face.
"Of course it was. Do it again." Hermione suddenly snapped back into reality, realizing this was, in fact, not one of her dreams. Ron had kissed her, and she couldn't help her bossy tendencies to want him to do it again. For the love of Merlin, I mean right now! she screamed in her head.
Ron stared, this time out of disbelief. Hermione was now asking him, no, ordering him, to kiss her again. He didn't say another word but obeyed her request, threading his hands gently into her hair. He too felt as if he was living in a dream he had had too many times to count and awaited the interruption of sleep at any moment. It didn't come.
Unfortunately for the pair, another interruption did. Unbeknownst to them as they were otherwise occupied, the lift had stopped and the doors opened into the Gryffindor common room. They both heard a throat being cleared loudly and broke away, nearly falling on top of each other. Ginny and Harry stood staring at the scene before them, both with amused looks on their faces. Thankfully no one else was in sight.
"About time, Harry, don't you think?" Ginny grinned. "Yeah, I'd say so," Harry agreed. "We were actually waiting for you two to come down to dinner, if you're interested in food."
Ron and Hermione, embarrassment slowly passing, looked at each other and smiled shyly. They dropped their bags in the nearest chair and followed Harry and Ginny back into the lift, but not before Ron took Hermione's hand in his own. Not another word was said about it. It didn't need to be. They knew they'd be able to pick up where they left off later.
A/N.: OK, I know what you're all thinking- there are no lifts (aka elevators to us Americans) in HP or at Hogwarts. And you'd be entirely correct. This whole story came directly out of a very short dream I had this morning in between hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock. I think the elevator came into play because last night I watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy, where the elevator often tends to be its own character. That somehow must have sparked my mind into creating this little story while drifting in and out of sleep. My alarm went off right after the elevator opened in the common room, so the ending and fleshing out the details throughout to make it readable were my own. I'm not usually one for alternative storylines or going against canon (read my profile) but in this case I made an exception. I'm sure the first kiss has been done to death on this site but I thought I'd share my subconscious' take on it. Hope you enjoyed.