Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story.
The Kiss
It was a week before the Christmas holidays, and Hogwarts was festively decorated with colors of red, green, and gold, as well as sparkling tinsel and snow dusted pine trees with real fairies in the branches. A cheerful atmosphere had settled over the castle as the excitement of Christmas drew nearer.
In the Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron sat in front of the roaring fire playing a game of exploding snap. Almost all of the Gryffindor students were outside enjoying a snowball fight, but Harry and Ron had declined their invitation, as they were still defrosting from their recent Quiddich practices. Besides, they had just discovered Ginny's new talent (picked up from Fred and George) of bewitching snowballs to follow people around and hit them repeatedly. The only other student in the common room was Hermione, who was deeply engrossed in writing an extremely long essay on the effect of the invention of the broomstick on the lives, travel, and recreation of wizards for her N.E.W.T History of Magic class.
When Ron let out a loud yell after beating Harry for the fourth time in a row, Hermione slammed her hand down on the table. Startled, both boys jumped and turned to look at her.
"You know, some of us are actually trying to get work done," she said with an angry glare.
"Awww, c'mon Hermione," Ron replied. "You need to liven up a bit!" Waving his arms about in wild gestures to demonstrate his point, Ron accidentally hit Hermione's homework with his wand. The parchment burst into flame. Hermione yelled and snatched her hand back, starting horrified at the fire. Before Harry could do anything to help, Ron began spraying water from his wand. However, he was somewhat over-enthusiastic. Not only did he spray the parchment into non-existence, but he completely soaked the front of Hermione's robes as well. Surveying the damage, Ron's eyebrows climber higher and higher up his forehead.
"I.I.er.I didn't mean.I'm sorry." he sputtered.
"Do you have any idea how long this took me?" Hermione began in a dangerous whisper. "I have enough work to do without you always ruining things for me!" Her voice quickly gained volume. "Can't you be considerate of other people for once?"
Ron's face went red with indignation. "I said I was sorry, ok? Why can't you ever just relax a little?"
"Just because you don't care about anything but Quiddich doesn't mean I can't have real priorities!" By now, the two were standing a foot apart and bellowing at the tops of their lungs.
"You two are so thick," muttered Harry as he stalked off toward his room. He did not go all the way into the boys' dormitories, however, but hovered in the doorway. He was rather interested to see who would win the argument. Neither Ron nor Hermione appeared to notice his departure.
"At least I care more about my friends than about stupid essays! It's not like any of this stuff really matters, anyway!" Ron yelled.
"What do you know about friendship?" Hermione retorted. "You're just a selfish, inconsiderate, stubborn --"
"I'm stubborn?! I'M STUBBORN?!! Bloody hell, Hermione!" Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, Ron took a step forward, grabbed Hermione around the waist, and kissed her. Harry stood gaping in his hiding spot.
Hermione made sounds of furious protest, then shoved away angrily. "How dare you?!" she shrieked. Her cheeks were crimson and her eyes flashed with anger. But as Ron grinned sheepishly at her, the look of anger melted away, to be replaced by a slow smile spreading across her face. This time, when Ron kissed her, she kissed him back.
It's about time, thought Harry.
The Kiss
It was a week before the Christmas holidays, and Hogwarts was festively decorated with colors of red, green, and gold, as well as sparkling tinsel and snow dusted pine trees with real fairies in the branches. A cheerful atmosphere had settled over the castle as the excitement of Christmas drew nearer.
In the Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron sat in front of the roaring fire playing a game of exploding snap. Almost all of the Gryffindor students were outside enjoying a snowball fight, but Harry and Ron had declined their invitation, as they were still defrosting from their recent Quiddich practices. Besides, they had just discovered Ginny's new talent (picked up from Fred and George) of bewitching snowballs to follow people around and hit them repeatedly. The only other student in the common room was Hermione, who was deeply engrossed in writing an extremely long essay on the effect of the invention of the broomstick on the lives, travel, and recreation of wizards for her N.E.W.T History of Magic class.
When Ron let out a loud yell after beating Harry for the fourth time in a row, Hermione slammed her hand down on the table. Startled, both boys jumped and turned to look at her.
"You know, some of us are actually trying to get work done," she said with an angry glare.
"Awww, c'mon Hermione," Ron replied. "You need to liven up a bit!" Waving his arms about in wild gestures to demonstrate his point, Ron accidentally hit Hermione's homework with his wand. The parchment burst into flame. Hermione yelled and snatched her hand back, starting horrified at the fire. Before Harry could do anything to help, Ron began spraying water from his wand. However, he was somewhat over-enthusiastic. Not only did he spray the parchment into non-existence, but he completely soaked the front of Hermione's robes as well. Surveying the damage, Ron's eyebrows climber higher and higher up his forehead.
"I.I.er.I didn't mean.I'm sorry." he sputtered.
"Do you have any idea how long this took me?" Hermione began in a dangerous whisper. "I have enough work to do without you always ruining things for me!" Her voice quickly gained volume. "Can't you be considerate of other people for once?"
Ron's face went red with indignation. "I said I was sorry, ok? Why can't you ever just relax a little?"
"Just because you don't care about anything but Quiddich doesn't mean I can't have real priorities!" By now, the two were standing a foot apart and bellowing at the tops of their lungs.
"You two are so thick," muttered Harry as he stalked off toward his room. He did not go all the way into the boys' dormitories, however, but hovered in the doorway. He was rather interested to see who would win the argument. Neither Ron nor Hermione appeared to notice his departure.
"At least I care more about my friends than about stupid essays! It's not like any of this stuff really matters, anyway!" Ron yelled.
"What do you know about friendship?" Hermione retorted. "You're just a selfish, inconsiderate, stubborn --"
"I'm stubborn?! I'M STUBBORN?!! Bloody hell, Hermione!" Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, Ron took a step forward, grabbed Hermione around the waist, and kissed her. Harry stood gaping in his hiding spot.
Hermione made sounds of furious protest, then shoved away angrily. "How dare you?!" she shrieked. Her cheeks were crimson and her eyes flashed with anger. But as Ron grinned sheepishly at her, the look of anger melted away, to be replaced by a slow smile spreading across her face. This time, when Ron kissed her, she kissed him back.
It's about time, thought Harry.