Ron Weasley walked down the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with a furious pace. His ears matched his flaming red hair, a sure sign that he was either angry or embarrassed. In this case, definitely angry. Finally, he found who he was looking for.
There she was, just standing there talking and laughing to Charlotte and Ashley. This fueled his anger even more and he quickened his pace, grabbing her arm as he walked by and dragging her along with him.
"Ron!" Hermione protested, digging in her heels and trying to pull her arm from his grasp.
It was useless, of course, all that Quidditch had made him stronger than he used to be. "Ron, what are you doing?"
Without saying a word, he opened the door to an empty classroom, pulled her in behind him and shut the door again. Only when he had locked the door did he let go of her arm.
Rubbing the sore spot near her wrist she exclaimed, "What are you doing? We're going to be late for class, and you hurt me!"
Without showing any sign of hearing, he yelled at her, "Is it true?"
She looked at him confused, "Is what true?"
"Did you really?"
"Did I really what, Ron? You're not making any sense."
"For God's sake, Hermione!" he hollered. "Did you really sleep with Vikky... Viktor Krum?"
Now angry as well, Hermione strode towards the door. "If I had known you were going to butt in on my personal life, I wouldn't have let you drag me in here!"
Before she reached the door knob he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. "Answer the question", he said in a dangerously low voice.
Instead of answering, she turned the conversation on him, "Did you sleep with Lavender?"
Though his face and voice remained enraged, his eyes filled with confusion, "What? No!" He shook his head in frustration, "Look, don't change the subject; did you or did you not have sex with Krum?"
"That's none of your business, Ron!"
"Yes it is!"
"No, Ron. It's not!"
"Would you just tell me?"
"Why do you even care?"
"I don't!"
"Oh, yeah, I can just tell that you couldn't care less that I've slept with Viktor Krum!"
"So, you have then?"
"No!"
"So you haven't."
"Look, Ron, what does it matter?"
"I just..." he sighed and looked down at his feet. The infuriation had slowly left his voice and his manner, "...I just need to know."
Hermione was quiet for a second. "No, Ron, I haven't slept with Viktor."
He looked up hopefully, "Really?"
She sighed, "Yeah. But... Ron?"
"Hmmm?"
"Why did it matter to you so much?"
His ears went red again, this time with embarrassment, "I, uh... I just... I care."
She blushed and looked down at her shoes. "Oh. Well... okay, then. Um..." suddenly she looked up at him, "who told you I was sleeping with Viktor?"
He blinked, thinking to himself, "Uh...think it was... Dean."
"Dean? Uh, what a prat! Never listen to him in the future."
"Yeah, yeah..." he trailed off, thinking. Then he asked, "Who said I was sleeping with Lavender?"
"Oh" Hermione blushed, "Well... Lavender did."
"Lavender?"
"Yes, Lavender."
"Merlin... and you believed her?"
"Well, I figured, y'know, she'd have first-hand experience" Hermione said sheepishly.
"Yeah?" Ron cried. "Well, she doesn't! Merlin, LAVENDER!"
Hermione could tell he wasn't shouting at her. Merlin's beard, was Lavender gonna get it. She couldn't help but be pleased by that thought.
As soon as the fury left him, Ron looked over at Hermione. She was just thinking; a strand of wavy brown hair in her mouth and her eyes downcast. Merlin, she was beautiful.
Suddenly, she looked up at him. His deep blues and her chocolate swirled eyes locked in a stare with no thinking, just gazing at one another, their minds lost in all the turmoil of the feelings running through their heads. Suddenly, without knowing or even understanding what he was doing, Ron leaned forward and clamped his lips on hers.
The kiss was short, but filled with all the passion and feeling that they had been hiding from one another, and even from themselves. It was finally out in the open, and after the kiss was finished, they weren't even embarrassed. Well, not much anyway.
"Ron..." Hermione started and a faint blush rose in her cheeks. But she was pleased.
Ron came to his senses after hearing her voice, and decided he may as well tell her everything. "I'm sorry, Hermione, I just... I've wanted to do that for a while now."
"You have?" she whispered.
"Yeah", he nodded, "Since fourth year. I was... I was jealous when you went to the Yule Ball with Krum."
"I only went with him because you didn't ask me" she admitted.
"But I did ask you!" he exclaimed surprised by this new piece of information.
"But you were late! You took so long... it was coming up and I didn't want to be dateless and I figured if you hadn't asked me yet you wouldn't ask me at all and... and I was jealous of Lavender too, y'know."
This really threw him off track. Hermione possibly liking him back? That had really never occurred to him. He had dreamed, even hoped, she did, but he had never really considered it plausible. "You were?"
"Yes" she whispered "I was." She was quiet for a moment before adding, "I like you, Ron. I... I like you a lot."
She likes him. She likes him. Hermione likes Ron. Hermione likes Ron a lot. Suddenly it clicked in that overworked brain of his. She likes me. So, he did the only thing that seemed reasonable in the moment. He leaned forward and kissed her again.
This kiss was longer and deeper than the first. Mostly because a) Ron was more confident, and b) Hermione kissed him back. When the kiss was over a few moments later, they pulled back and just looked at each other. Suddenly, a grandfather clock in the room chimed ten o'clock.
"I... guess we better get to class" Ron stammered.
Hermione shrugged, "Yeah, or we could stay and... talk."
Ron looked at her with an amused grin on his face, "Hermione Granger, skipping class? I never thought I'd see the day."
She lifted her chin and said defensively, "Well, I'm tardy already so it won't make much of a difference anyway. Besides, I've found something better to do." With that, she wrapped her arms around Ron's neck and pulled him close for another kiss.