Written for CBlack19's 'Harry Potter Spells Competition' for the Alohomora section (a new beginning)

Written for Gamma Orionis' OTP Boot Camp using the prompt 'want'

Haven't Been Kissed

"Is it weird that I feel happy, Harry?" Ron questioned. They were sitting against the wall of the Burrow, the gentle breeze blowing across their faces. They had done that often over the past week. It calmed them.

"Happy?" Harry questioned, sounding utterly perplexed at the prospect of such an emotion.

Ron nodded. "Yeah." He pointed over to where Hermione and Ginny were lying in the grass, probably discussing similar things to him and Harry.

Harry followed his finger and his expression softened. "No, it's not weird at all," he said, shaking his head.

Ron was silent for a moment, watching Hermione intently. She seemed okay. She was smiling. That was a good thing, he supposed. He wondered if they were talking about him and Harry. "We haven't... er... done anything since that day," he then said, feeling the heat on his face. It felt awkward talking to Harry about that, but he didn't know who else to talk to. It had been bugging him for days now. He wanted to talk to Hermione, but he didn't know how to.

Which is stupid, he scolded himself. She's your friend.

Harry's eyes widened. "Ron, no offence, but I really don't want to know about what you and Hermione have and haven't done," he said.

"What? No... no... I mean, we haven't even kissed since then," Ron spluttered, feeling his ears start to burn too. "We've barely spoken."

"Oh." It was Harry's turn to stay silent. He watched the two girls nearby for a moment, before turning back to Ron. "Well, we've all been through a lot," he said.

Ron nodded. He knew that, but it still didn't make him feel any better. He cared about Hermione very much and he had thought that after they had kissed that one time at Hogwarts, then they would be together. It wasn't like things were awkward, just... uncomfortable.

"Maybe she's lost interest," he said, staring down at his hands. "Maybe it was just a once off..." After all, she had made the first move and she hadn't made any other attempts to be with him since. Maybe she had just wanted comfort in a time of need. Or maybe he had said or done something that had turned her off.

"Don't be stupid, mate," Harry replied. "She's just... well, she's probably worried about her parents as well. I mean, imagine if you were stuck here when you knew your parents were half way around the world. She doesn't even know if they're dead or alive. She's not sure if she will be able to restore their memories, either. That, on top of fighting against Voldemort and watching your friends die, is a lot to take in."

Ron rested his head against the cold wall. "I suppose," he sighed. "I just wanted to things to work out well with her, you know. I mean, she's... Hermione. "

He returned his gaze to where Hermione and Ginny were now sitting, their hair askew from lying down. The two girls barely threw Harry and Ron a second glance as they began making their way back inside, talking furiously with one another.

"We should probably go inside too," Harry said after they had disappeared. "Your mum will need help with dinner."

Ron nodded, barely hearing him. "Do you think it would be too much if I just walk up to her kiss her?" he asked.

Harry shrugged. "No, probably not."

"I just don't want to lose her as a friend..."

"Mate, I think you crossed that line when she kissed you in the middle of a war," Harry said.

"Perhaps..." Ron replied, getting slowly to his feet. Harry followed. "Girls are so bloody complicated," he then complained as they made their way back inside. "War or no war, that hasn't changed."

"Agreed, mate," Harry said as the entered the kitchen.

Ron found his mum quietly mixing a bowl of who knew what by a bench, her mind somewhere else. She had been like that a lot since Fred's death. To busy herself, she had taken to cleaning the house the Muggle way. Everyone had tried their best to pitch in and help, but they would always end up being yelled at.

It really wasn't pleasant being at the Burrow right now.

"Er... Mum, do you need us to help with anything?" he asked.

Molly jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to face him. She gave him a pained smile. "You can help the girls with the potatoes," she said, absently waving a hand at the sink where Hermione and Ginny were standing by while the potatoes peeled themselves.

Ron was about to argue, but the look on his mum's face told him not to. He nodded. "Sure."

"I really feel like I should do something," Hermione said when Ron and Harry joined them. She was watching Molly with sympathy. Ron could have sworn he even saw a tear in her eye as she did so.

"You can't," Ron replied bluntly, revelling in their closeness. She looked right at him, her brown eyes burning into his blue. "She's grieving. We all are."

Hermione swallowed, nodding.

Ron wanted nothing more than to reach out and pull her towards him, but Ginny got there first. She threw and arm around Hermione and patted her comfortingly. "It's okay," she said. "We all want to do something."

A tear rolled down Hermione's cheek and she returned her gaze to Ron. Was that longing in her eyes?

"Ginny's right," he said eventually, tearing his eyes away. "She'll be okay eventually."

Dinner that night was silent. It had been the same every other night since returning from Hogwarts. No one knew what to say to one another. Fred was gone, as were Tonks and Lupin and many other innocent people who had been caught up in a fight that wasn't theirs. How were they supposed to console one another?

After they had eaten and cleaned up, everyone migrated to the living room. It had become somewhat a ritual over the past week. They'd all come together and sit by the fire and be with one another.

Like dinner, it was uncomfortable, but Ron was warmed by the fact Hermione was beside him. She gave him a warm smile before engaging herself in a conversation with Ginny and Fleur. Ron cast a glance to his left where Harry sat.

Harry shrugged. Why couldn't at least one of them have any clue about how to talk to girls?

The atmosphere that night was actually different to the others. Maybe it was because Hermione was beside him this time, or maybe it was because he saw George and his mother smile a few times. Either way, the mood cheered Ron up.

It was well into the night when everyone began to depart to their rooms for the night. George was the first to disappear, mumbling something about having to get back to his flat to open up the shop the next morning.

Hermione was the next to get up. Her arm brushed against his as she got to her feet, causing Ron to look at her. She didn't even say good night to anyone. She simply disappeared. Ron's eyes followed her for as long as they could until he decided he should go and see where she had gone. She hadn't gone in the right direction to go to bed.. She had gone through to the kitchen.

He found her sitting on the doorstep from the kitchen, Dumbledore's copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard resting on her lap, and her eyes looking up at the star-filled sky.

Ron did nothing but stand and watch her for a good minute or so before he decided he really should join her. He loved her, didn't he? He couldn't just sit back and wait for her to make another move. What if she never did?

She was shivering when he sat on the step beside her. It wasn't quite winter yet, but the nights were still very cold.

"Here," he said, summoning a blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders.

She turned to face him, smiling. "Thanks, Ron" she said.

Ron shrugged, telling her it was nothing – it wasn't – and looked down at the open book in her lap. It was opened to the first page of Babbity Rabbity. Ron's favourite. "I thought you would have been sick of looking at that book by now," he said conversationally.

Hermione looked down at the book too. "The stories are so beautiful, though," she said. She smiled. "I just stay away from the one about the Deathly Hallows."

"I don't think I could look at any of it again," Ron confessed.

Hermione held the book out to him. "Not even this one?" she asked. "I had it open on this one because I was thinking of you," she added. "It always reminds me of you."

"It does?" Ron questioned, surprised by her words.

"Yeah. It's your favourite, isn't it?"

"It used to be."

Hermione smiled again, returning the book to her lap. She looked up at the sky again. "I come out here a lot," she told him. "I just like to get away from everything sometimes. It's hard watching you and your family grieve for Fred. It's hard watching you all miss him so much, knowing that I probably don't miss him nearly as much as any of you do." She moved her hand to brush hair from her face, but the movement revealed the scar Bellatrix Lestrange had caused not that long ago. It was still red raw and painful. Not to mention the word she had carved into Hermione's skin.

"I really hate this," Ron said, grabbing her wrist to look at it.

Hermione turned her said so she couldn't see it. "Me too," she said. "But it's also a reminder. Just because we lived, it doesn't mean we came out unscathed. We all suffered." She covered her arm with the blanket again, hugging herself from the cold. "I've been thinking, Ron," she began after a moment's silence. "I need to go to Australia and find my parents. I need to try and restore the memory charm I used on them."

"Okay," Ron said. "When?"

"Soon. In the next week some time."

"What?" Ron didn't mean to sound surprised, but this was the first time they were having a decent conversation. Now she wanted to leave.

She turned to him, her eyes threatening to shed tears. "I have to bring them home, Ron. I have to at least try."

"I'll come with you then!"

What was he saying?

"Ron..."

"I want to come with you, Hermione. You can't go by yourself."

"I have to, Ron. You need to be here with your family, just like I need to be with mine. Do you understand that?"

No! We're your family too!

Ron nodded. "Yeah, I do. But, there are heaps of people here. You'll be on your own."

"I want to be, Ron. I want to be on my own."

A silence came over them after that. She was leaving. Who knew if she was going to return? What if she couldn't restore her parent's memories? What if she decided to stay with them anyway? What was he supposed to do without her?

"You're coming home again, though, aren't you?" he asked her after a long while.

"Ron..." This time tears were falling. "Ron, of course I'm coming back." She reached out her hand and took his. "I'd miss you too much if I was there for too long."

Ron sucked in a deep breath. It was now or never, right? He had to ask. "Are we... you know... during the war... we..." He left his failed attempt at the question hang. Hermione didn't say anything either. She simply leaned forward and brushed her lips against his.

"Only if you want to be," she said, pulling away.

Ron nodded furiously. "Having you here is the only thing making me happy," he confessed, going slightly red.

Hermione rested her head against his shoulder, linking her arm through his. "Me too," she said. "Like just now. I was feeling down and then you came out here and it made me feel so much better."

"Then how come we've barely spoken to one another?" Ron questioned. He wasn't accusing her, he just wanted to know.

"I thought you needed space, Ron. You lost your brother. I didn't want to interfere."

"I thought you weren't interested anymore," Ron answered.

Hermione lifted her head off of his shoulder to look at him. Her eyes were so beautiful under the starlight. "What?"

"Well –"

He was silenced by her mouth on his again. "Never," she assured him. "Never." She returned her head to his shoulder and Ron put his arm around her. "Thanks," she whispered.

"For what?"

"For being here when I needed you."

"I needed you too, though."

She moved closer to him. "Thank you."

This idea has been in my head for a while now. I finally got around to writing it :) I hope you enjoyed it and I would really appreciate your reviews!

Oh, and I know that the scar part is only in the movies, but god damn it! I can do so much with it, it is one thing I really wish was canon.