Chapter 9: First Date Snogging Lessons
Neville took Hermione out to a Muggle restaurant for their first date. Reserving a table in the back, he felt relieved at the ensured and strategic privacy; the wizarding media couldn't follow them here. He and Hermione dined by candlelight and champagne.
Hermione was charmed. Neville was kind and considerate. A consummate gentleman. He was socially more adept than she had ever seen him. By the time their bill came, she was thirsty for more than just small talk. But even then, she was shy. This was the first time they had engaged in planned intimacy. Was there more to explore and learn about each other as a relationship moved tentatively forward? Surely there must be.
And Hermione decided to discover and master that intimacy quickly. After their date, she invited Neville back to her flat, leading him home to her one-bedroom apartment in Diagon Alley. Turning the key in the lock, hanging her coat on the rack, she guided Neville over to the couch, turning them to face each other.
"I want to practice kissing," she told him flatly, with no preamble. "I mean, snogging." She flushed rosy pink when he peered at her bemusedly.
"Love, you're already an excellent kisser," Neville told her.
The blush deepened. "Thank you. Nevertheless..." she continued practically. "I want us to absorb everything about each other. Get used to this... intimacy." She cradled his face in her hands. "Go on. Kiss me."
Neville's gaze darkened with lust. He cupped her cheek, brushing her pretty face. Leaning in, he captured Hermione's lips with his. The kiss was tender, sweet, and Hermione found that she very much liked kissing Neville this way. Slow and soft, but still passionate.
Pressing her hands into his chest, she pushed Neville back into the couch cushions and swung one leg over as she moved to straddle him. Sitting atop his waist, she wriggled her hips against the burgeoning evidence of his desire for her. Her tongue swam into the roof of his mouth, and she hummed as they intertwined.
After many minutes of heatedly kissing, they broke apart, both red in the face, but smiling. They curled up on the couch and fell asleep like that together.
And when Hermione woke up in the middle of the night to Neville fondling her before giving her a bloody hot shag, she hardly minded.
It was getting on holiday time before Neville and Hermione finally agreed to step out together as an official couple. They chose Harry's Christmas party as the debut of their relationship, deciding that it was neutral territory. Of course, Ron and Luna would be there - that was the elephant in the room. With the baby born last month, this was their first chance for a break as parents.
"You don't have to talk to him," Neville soothed his lover. "Neither of us do." In truth, he probably would talk to Luna. It wasn't as though they had hurt each other because by and large, there was nothing there to hurt. Ron and Hermione's encounter would not nearly be as... devoid of emotion.
Harry greeted them warmly, occasionally glancing between the two swapped couples to see if he needed to run interference. He nearly killed Ginny when she announced a game of Spin the Bottle, but he gamely performed a few spells on it, rigging the tool.
When Neville gave the bottle a spin, his heart alighted when it landed on Hermione.
"Five minutes in the closet!" Ginny commanded, and Neville guided his girlfriend in.
They stood their in the darkness for a moment, breathing, Hermione's breasts heaving.
"We... we should probably get started," Hermione whispered breathlessly, and the couple launched themselves into each other's arms, kissing and rummaging furiously.
Outside, five minutes quickly passed. Then seven. At ten minutes, Ron marched up to the door, kicked it, swore at the pain, and went back to the circle. At minute twelve, Ginny finally opened the door to find Neville and Hermione interlocked in a passionate embrace. It looked as if Neville was trying to suck Hermione's tongue out of her mouth, and it didn't seem as if she minded. Harry raised an eyebrow with intrigue, as Neville and Hermione smiled sheepishly, flushing as they exited.
All eyes turned to Ron nervously, wondering how he would react to another man kissing his wife. After a pregnant pause, he shrugged. "If you must, you must."
The weight on Hermione's heart got a little lighter. By the time she and Ron formally divorced at the first of the year, followed soon after by Neville and Luna, she felt content.
