It was a cold, winter night at Hogwarts. Homework was finished, chess had been played, and conversations had been had. There was nothing left to do. The students of Gryffindor house were in a word, bored. Some of the older students including Harry Potter, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, and Lavender Brown were sitting by the fire.
Suddenly, Lavender piped up, "I know! We could play truth or dare!"
All the girls, with the exception of Hermione, agreed wholeheartedly and began to giggle. The boys on the other hand, rolled their eyes uncomfortably. Truth or dare? Not exactly a man's game.
However, their dire need of entertainment pushed their complaints to the back of their minds.
"Alright," Seamus agreed, "who wants to go first?"
"I'll start us off!" burst Lavender, thrilled to be the mastermind of their evening. "But before we begin, I think we should come up with an anti-cheating sort, don't you agree? It's no fun if you can just lie your way out of a question. Hermione, any ideas?"
"Done and done," Hermione replied satisfactorily, after casting a charm on the group's members.
"Let's get this show on the road," Ron muttered impatiently, "I don't have all night."
"First of all, you do have all night, which is why we are playing in the first place. Secondly, if you're so bloody anxious, I'll start with you." she decided.
"Fine, let's hear it, then." he replied, unabashed.
"Everyone knows the rules, right? Okay then Ron, truth or dare?" Lavender asked.
"Dare." He replied smugly. He could handle any stupid challenge she through his way.
"Alright, I dare you to kiss the girl in the circle you fancy the most."
Except this.
"I cannot do this!" thought Ron. "I mean, it's not like I can't decide which one I fancy the most or anything... I certainly know that. It's just....I can't let Hermione know how I feel. Especially not like this, in front of everyone and everything. I mean, I'd always figure someday I'd let her know, I just thought we would be alone. What if she denies me in front of everybody? I'd never live it down. But more importantly, I would lose her. That's not something I can ever do."
"Er...pass?" Ron said questioningly.
"Sorry Ron! A dare is a dare!" Lavender replied gleefully.
"Fine, can I at least uh, discuss the matter with guys first? I mean, just to uh, make sure I'm uh, you know, doing the right thing here." he replied anxiously.
"Okay, I guess that can't hurt. You only get three minutes, though!"
And with that the girls huddled in one corner, and the guys in the other.
"Who's he going to pick?!" Parvati immediately asked.
"I think I know," smirked Ginny.
"Who?!" the rest of the girls said in unison.
"Why, Hermione of course." she said matter-of-factly.
"M-me? Why um, I mean, how do you, or um, why do you say that? We're just friends, right?" Hermione replied, turning deep red.
"Hah, please. Tell that to someone who hasn't seen the two of you dance around getting together for the past 6 years." Parvati replied smugly. "Finally, the chance for you guys to come clean!"
"Well, we'll see I guess, I mean, I don't know if Ron feels... um, you know. We'll just see I guess." Hermione told the group shyly.
Meanwhile, in the other group...
"This is your chance, mate! You've been dying for this opportunity, I know you have!" Harry encouraged.
"Wh- what are you talking about? What opportunity? I don't like Hermione!" Ron replied defensively.
Harry smirked, "Who said anything about Hermione?"
Ron's ears turned red. "Alright, fine, I do like her. But I can't just go up and kiss her in front of this group! What if she pulls away? What if she yells at me? What if she never speaks to me again? I couldn't live like that."
"Trust me, mate," Seamus chimed in, "she's into you. Everyone knows it. Go for it!"
"Seriously, Ron, even Hagrid has asked me if you two are together yet," Harry laughed. "It's now or never."
"Alright," Ron resigned, "I'm going to do it."
"I'm ready, Lavender." He said, attempting to sound brave and confident.
So they all got back in the circle, all eyes on Ron.
He got up, and slowly walked toward Hermione. Her mouth dropped open.
"Really?" she asked, unsure.
"It's always been you," he whispered, and he kissed her.
And then he kissed her again.
And again.
And again.
All across the common room, people were smiling. Dean handed Seamus 5 sickles, Ginny tossed Harry a galleon, Dennis Creevy accepted 10 knuts from Collin, and a sickle passed from Fred to George.
All of these exchanges went unnoticed by Ron and Hermione, who had walked out of the common room, hand in hand. They wouldn't be back for a while. They had all night, after all.