"What do you think about chocolate?" the red-headed man said to the other man, who was standing beside him, washing the dishes with a flick of his wand and looking at the first rather oddly, as if he was concerned for his health. "Would she like it?" He looked exasperated as he struggled through possibilities of what to get her for her seventeenth birthday.
"Her parents are dentists, Ron," Harry said with a tinge of annoyance at the conversation they were currently having. "You had better decide quick. Her birthday is tomorrow, and plus she'll be back in about half an hour." Ron, though he already knew that the day he had been hoping for be a few more months in the coming was tomorrow, shuffled his feet about as he strained to think of something appropriate for the occasion and celebration they were having tomorrow, the three of them alone.
"I could get her a necklace. No, too forward, don't you think," Ron said, glancing over to see whether Harry had nodded or simply refused to offer any advise as he had been doing. "Or maybe a book? No, I couldn't find one that she didn't own. Maybe a blank book for notes. No, too impersonal." He glanced over again to see Harry stifling back laughter. "Come on, help me with this, you git."
Harry turned his back on Ron again, packing up the remaining items that they had used the night before. The food that Mrs. Weasley had generously supplied was quickly stuffed into a separate bag that Hermione usually carried. Ron growled in frustration and at his own stupidity at waiting this long to think of something to get the girl he intended to tell that he liked tomorrow.
"Ron, just get her whatever you think is best," Harry said quickly, hearing the growl and knowing that it was time he put in his two Knuts' worth. "It can't be that hard; I mean, you've been giving her a present for her birthday for five years. Surely you can come up with something." After hearing this comment from his wizardly friend, Ron attempted to calm down but failed rather badly.
"Harry, you know this isn't that easy," Ron said impatiently, anger rising up in his voice. "You know that this birthday has to be a special one… I wanna tell her how she means to me tomorrow." He winced at how he had said that, but it was the truth. Harry didn't make a sound concerning the subject, just the occasional bang of two pans hitting each other.
"Hey, Ron, Harry," called a voice coming a ways off in the forest. "I didn't find anything out yet. I'll go back tomorrow and see if they suddenly remember anything more." The voice that continued to come towards the two men was immediately recognized, but to be sure, the common question they asked of anybody who came up on them was asked. She answered with the air of somebody who was quickly getting bored with the repeated interrogation.
Hermione walked out of the woods and into the clearing they had set up camp last night after quickly casting a few defensive charms. Her hair was messed up by the branches of the trees in the forest, but it was still better than it always was, her having fixed it up a bit to go visit the women who was helping them track down another Horcrux. "Shit," Ron muttered under his breath, cursing her sudden return, ten minutes earlier than both he and Harry had thought she would come.
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"Happy birthday, Hermione!" chorused Harry and Ron together, as soon as she had woken up and threw on her robes. Her eyes were blurry with sleep, and her mouth was agape at the scene before her. Harry and Ron were smiling as widely as they could muster, though it came off as a little awkward, and a horrendous-looking cake sat in their out-stretched hands. It looked as though it was chocolate, but it smelled as if tree bark had fallen into the batter when they were attempting to make a nice cake.
She sighed, the mother-like attitude falling upon her like it usually did when they did something wrong or idiotic. The good intentions were obvious in their kind, if awkward, smiles, and the cake looked half-edible, so instead of reprimanding them like she normally did, a smile that is not fake moved onto her face. "Thank you! I didn't expect you two to do anything like this," Hermione said, even her voice portraying her happiness at it. Hearing this and seeing the kind smile on her face, Ron beamed all the more, the crazy grin becoming less awkward. Harry, however, dimmed his smile a little bit and went off to unpack some plates and forks to eat with.
Ron's smile decreased as he set down the cake and fumbled around in his pockets to find the gift he had come up with at the last moment. He gripped them tightly in his hand before walking toward Hermione and gesturing for her to open her hand. She did as she was gestured to do and felt a bit awkward as he advanced further and pulled his hand out of his pocket and dropped the items into her hand.
"Err… thanks, Ron," Hermione said, glancing down at the Chocolate Frogs that were unceremoniously dumped into her open hand. "Um, how about I put these away for later? I mean, there's cake and all…" As she said this, Ron felt the stupidity again rise up inside of him and cursed himself for giving her those. She fumbled them around in her hand, looking at them, slightly swished on account of being stuffed in his pocket at the last. Quietly, behind them, Harry snickered softly as he set the plates on the ground.
Ron, though he was pretending not to hear the laughter, summoned up all of his courage and leaned down and quickly kissed Hermione on the cheek. Her surprise at the action caused her to drop her mouth open as his lips touched her cheeks, then quickly retreat. Ron blushed deeply as she closed her mouth and seemed to look at him in a new light. Harry, still preoccupied with the cake rather than watch his best friends embarrass themselves, found the knife he had been looking for and was deciding how big each piece should be, in relation to the number of people that were going to eat it.
Ron nervously shuffled his feet around for the second time in the last 24 hours and seemed to stare off into the woods, his cheeks still a deep Weasley red. Quite unlike herself, determined by the lack of length, Hermione impulsively grabbed his arms and brought her own lips to mash into his. No words were needed anymore to tell the other how they felt about each other, and Harry, still oblivious to what was going on, picked out the piece of bark he had found while cutting the cake.
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A/N: I hope you all liked it. I finally decided to write something about how Ron and Hermione should get together in the seventh book. All reviews, flames or not, are welcome and most appeciated.
Beth.