A Kiss in Time
Chapter Nine
Christmas at the Burrow
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters.
A/N: Longest chapter yet, coming right up! The middle of this chapter is rather...er...smut-filled, so if that is something you are not entirely comfortable with, feel free to follow the line breaks to skip over that part. Please enjoy and thanks for reading!
Hermione absolutely loved the holidays. Christmas carols, hot cocoa by the fire while curling up with a good book, trees glowing with lights, and time well spent with family.
She had arrived home from Hogwarts for the holiday break a few days earlier and was greeted at the station by her parents. She thoroughly cherished the quality time she was able to spend with them. In a way, she felt like they were still catching up for lost time over the past several years. She knew her parents were still trying to grasp everything she went through, and a part of them will never be able to understand fully, but she was incredibly lucky to have family who were learning to accept and adapt to the woman she had become.
It was now Christmas Eve and Hermione was scheduled to depart by floo to the Weasley home for a few days. She would return to visit with her parents again for New Years, this time with Ron accompanying her. Hermione welcomed the thrill of excitement that flooded through her body. It had been over a month and a half since she had seen her boyfriend and she was barely able to contain her eagerness to get all packed and ready to go.
Hermione stared up at the clock before her, realizing that it was already half past five. Ron was expecting her at five sharp and she knew she was running behind, a characteristic that was quite uncommon for Hermione.
"Mum, dad, I'm sorry, but I really should be going" She expressed in exasperation as they both pulled her into a third round of hugs.
"Oh dear, we love you so much. Give the Weasleys our best, and behave alright?" Hermione's mom spoke with a twinkle in her eye.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the implication of her statement, "Of course, mum. Happy Christmas! I will see you soon".
"Love you, pumpkin" Hermione's dad added brightly, with a quickly added, "Oh, and do tell Ron that I'm looking forward to our chess game, yeah?"
Hermione blushed as her father pinned her with a knowing look and only nodded briefly before stepping into the fireplace. She picked up a handful of the floor powder next to her and took a deep breath.
"The Burrow" She called out clearly, letting the powder slip through her fingers like sand, as she found herself encompassed by a flash of green light.
Her body twisted in time for a moment before she was stumbling to catch her balance, brushing off the excess dirt and powder on her clothing.
"Why Miss Granger, you are late". Hermione allowed herself a moment to take in her surroundings, almost instantly recognizing the familiar smells and scenery at the Burrow. She looked directly in front of her to see Ron standing before her, arms crossed, with a mischievous grin on his face.
Hermione beamed and wasted no time before launching herself into his arms, feeling his own wrap tightly around her. "You almost had me worried for a sec there" Ron whispered in her ear and Hermione pulled back out of his embrace just enough to gaze lustfully into his deep blue eyes. She eyed the small freckles peppered around his lip that she had spent weeks dreaming of. With a content sigh, she hooked an arm around his neck and brought his lips down to meet hers in a fevered kiss. Ron moaned instantly and reached a hand up to intertwine his fingers within her voluminous curls. She stood on her tip-toes to meet Ron more evenly and she could feel his grip around her waist tightening.
"Oi! Care to share there, mate?" Harry's hearty laughter broke their enthusiastic embrace. Hermione's cheeks reddened as she turned in Ron's arms to face their best friend.
"Not bloody likely, ya tosser!" Ron shot Harry an exasperated glare.
Hermione just rolled her eyes before reluctantly removing herself from Ron's hold and giving Harry a warm hug. "Hi Harry! I missed you" She smiled brightly.
"Missed you too, sis!"
The rest of the Weasley clan came barging in and Hermione found herself showered with lots of hugs. Yes, it was good to be back.
The atmosphere of the Burrow was loud and chaotic, but Hermione couldn't stop beaming out of happiness. She watched as the Weasley boys were intensely engaged in a loud game of Exploding Snap. Hermione kept stealing looks at Ron, who met her eyes every so often to give her a satisfied smile whenever he won a round. Hermione snorted after one particular time that she could see his chest buff out with pride as he slid his eyes over to hers with a smirk.
"You know, it makes a lot of sense" Ginny's voice rang out and Hermione grudgingly looked away from Ron to see her friend grinning wistfully at her.
"What makes a lot of sense?" Hermione inquired curiously.
"You and Ron not being able to take your eyes off one another and looking like you are about to pounce every five seconds" Ginny giggled as she watched Hermione's mortified face. "I mean, I was always witnessing the most passionate, flaming rows between you two at school. It's just not a surprise that you two have become quite...passionate… in other areas too" She raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"Oh Ginny, honestly" Hermione huffed out, growing rather annoyed at the conversation. Although, really she was just annoyed that she would feel embarrassed by staring over at Ron again with Ginny's eyes watching her. "It's not like we're the only ones. I mean, you and Harry have been a part a lot too, you know what it's like!"
"Oh certainly" Ginny mused, "But you guys are…one of a kind, if you know what I mean".
Hermione pursed her lips and looked away. Were they really that bad? Out of the corner of her eyes, Hermione observed that the tournament had finally ended, George winning of course, and the group of men were starting to disperse out of the room.
Ginny cleared her throat loudly and leaned closer to Hermione, "You know, even in a house full of people, there are ways to be alone. You just have to be willing to go for it". With a final wink, Ginny flounced away to go find Harry.
Ron remained seated on the sofa as the others left the room and suddenly it was just the two of them. Alone.
He met her eyes again with a bashful smile, but couldn't hold back the yawn that came out of his mouth immediately following. She bit her lip as she watched Ron stretch his arms up, his shirt rising and revealing a patch of his bare skin, as he let his arm rest on the back of the sofa. It was close to midnight now and they both knew there would be quite the day of Christmas festivities ahead.
"So…." He stared thoughtfully at Hermione.
Hermione pursed her lips together, deep in thought. She couldn't get Ginny's voice out of her head. You just have to be willing to go for it.
Hermione shook the thoughts rapidly out of her head and stood up abruptly. She watched as Ron's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "Well, it is getting late. We probably should be getting to bed, you know, lots to do tomorrow!"
She noticed the flash of disappointment that revealed in Ron's eyes. Was he hoping for more alone time? Regardless, he stood up too, clearing his throat and offering a kind smile. "Well, okay, I s'pose you're right".
Ron bent over to give Hermione a sweet kiss on the cheek. "Well, erm, g'night Hermione" He smiled bashfully before turning to make his way up the stairs.
Quickly before losing her nerve, Hermione reached out a hand to grab Ron's, pulling him back close enough so that she could lean up and whisper in his ear, "I'm going to be the last one in the shower tonight. I'll leave the door unlocked". Hermione made a hasty exit and bounded up the stairs, without waiting to see Ron's reaction.
Hermione felt the coolness of the tub beneath her feet and reached over to the knobs to turn on the hot water. She sighed happily and enjoyed the soothing warm liquid that immediately flooded down her body. Hermione busied herself with a dab of shampoo, of which she massaged gently into her scalp, smelling the aroma of lavender. She wondered briefly about Ron. Would he really come tonight? She was nervous that her request might have been too forward. Hermione thought back to their last intimate encounter during the first Hogsmeade visit of the year. Ron and Hermione were able to find an empty closet nestled in the back of the Three Broomsticks pub and the experience was very quick, desperate, and hot. They were both admittedly quite sloshed from the several butterbeers they had consumed before they had wandered off in search for privacy. She moaned slightly to herself and let her hands trace an outline around her firm breasts as she continued to revel in the water droplets that were falling amongst her wet skin.
Hermione was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she had to gasp in surprise as she opened her eyes to find Ron standing before her in the shower tub, completely naked, and staring at her with a greedy and desirous look on his face. "Ron" She panted as she parted her mouth slightly.
Within seconds, she was pushed up against the wall roughly, Ron's arms coming around to lift her bum up, holding her in place. His cock nestled close to her wetness and he groaned as he licked his lips briefly before capturing hers with his own. "Bloody hell, I've missed you".
Hermione began to grind her body against his, the warm water still showering down and around their heads. Feeling quite impatient and quite frankly ready to have Ron completely, Hermione reached a hand down to wrap around his member and thrusted deeply until his entirety was sheathed inside of her.
"Hermione" Ron choked out in obvious surprise. His forehead was pressed tightly against hers as he drew out a ragged breath. Alger regaining control over his emotions, Ron met Hermione's eyes and with one fiery look, he withdrew his cock and plunged back in. Hermione let out an earth-shattering wail which was silenced by Ron's lips covering hers. "Wait - did you…" Hermione breathed out in between kisses, acutely aware of her loud her cries had become.
"Locked, silenced, disillusioned, contraceptive charm completed….no one is fucking interrupting us" Ron managed to get out gruffly, before attacking her neck with teeth grazes and sucking on her sweet spot. He was pumping in and out of her at a steady pace now.
"Ohhhhh….yeah Ron, that's it" Hermione moaned in approval, satisfied with the angle and speed of his thrusts. She could feel her wet body slapping up and down against the shower wall and she bit her lip as she watch the water ringlets fall from Ron's drenched red locks.
"Gods, Hermione" Ron muttered into her shoulder, lifting her hips slightly higher to target a new angle. Hermione whimpered in appreciation, meeting his fervent thrusts with her own, legs wrapped tightly around his bum. "You feel so good, love".
"I don't wanna have to wait this long ever again" Hermione admitted in between pants, completely consumed by the thrill of pleasure that coarsed through her entire body.
Ron shifted his body lower then, experimenting with yet another angle as his thrusts reached upwards more and deeper than ever. Hermione let out a strangled moan, letting her head fall to his shoulder, placing a trail of kisses and bite marks.
"Argh…bloody hell...I'm gonna…" Ron spoke through raspy breaths, pounding fast and hard as they both listened to Hermione's skin slapping against the bathroom tile.
"RON" Hermione screamed as she felt a wave of ecstasy travel everywhere. She was absolutely drenched, head to toe with wetness. She didn't even know what was sweat and what was just the water raining down on top of their soaked heads. Hermione felt Ron's shoulders cave in as he released his firm grip on her bum out of exhaustion. Her feet planted once more on the bathroom floor.
Ron let his forehead slide to rest on hers, as he pushed locks of her hair out of her eyes so that he could gaze into her eyes more fully. "Wow" He simply whispered.
Hermione chuckled and leaned forward to kiss his lips lovingly. "Wow indeed".
Thoroughly spent, Hermione wrapped her robe around her body tightly while reaching her towel up to dry off her hair.
Ron leaned over and gave Hermione one last sensual kiss on the lips before placing his hand on the know of the door. "I'm heading up to get changed real quick. Meet me downstairs by the tree, yeah?" He waited for Hermione's eager nod before disappearing out the door.
Curious as to what Ron's plan was, she slipped her pajamas on quickly and toed into her house loafers before making her way quietly down the creaky stairs until she saw the bright flashes of lights on the tree.
She curled up next to the tree as she muttered a spell to ignite flames in the fireplace.
Ron came shuffling down the stairs wearing flannel pajamas bottoms and a bright orange shirt. He flashed her a beatific smile as Hermione noticed he had one hand clenched around something she couldn't quite see.
"What's that?" Hermione questioned, not able to contain her curiosity for a moment longer.
Ron moved to sit cross-legged in front of her and laughed. "Patient, aren't we?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and gave him a playful shove on the shoulder. "Still waiting…"
"Alright, alright woman" Ron grinned. He released the grip on his hand to reveal the deluminator.
Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Your deluminator! Wow, I haven't seen that since…" Her voice trailed off as she thought fondly back to that one cold morning, just outside the tent, as Ron essentially professed his symbolic love for her using the device.
"...yeah" Ron blushed and they both stared contently at each other for a few moments. Shaking his head, Ron continued, "I've figured out another trick I can do with it and I wanted to show you".
"Oh?" Hermione expressed, her curiosity growing.
Ron held the deluminator out towards the side to face the wall and clicked the button to allow light to beam out of the device.
"Hermione" He breathed, quietly yet clearly. Hermione looked over at him, startled.
The glowing white light started to swirl into blue as a shape formed from the beams. The light moved higher and higher until an animal, albeit an otter, escaped from the deluminator and began fluttering around the room.
Hermione gasped in awe. "My...my patronus" The otter scurried about the room for several moments before making its way towards Hermione and circling her body eagerly. Hermione giggled as she shifted her head back and forth, watching the otter in amazement. "But….how?"
Ron was smiling at her sheepishly. "Well, I was playing around with it one day and I wanted to see if I could find any other uses for it. I was thinking of you, of course, and I had half a mind to try to get the deluminator to let me apparate straight to you no matter bloody where you were in the castle" He chuckled. "But...then I thought about how the light came to me when I was begging in my head for me to find you last year. And for some reason, that thought propelled me to say your name out loud. So I did. And this happened. I don't think it quite works like a patronus, but it sure has provided me a lot of comfort when I've missed you these past few months. Which I have, Hermione. I've missed you like hell."
Ron's earnest admission made Hermione's heart swell in her chest. "Ronald Weasley…" She murmured, not able to resist leaning forward and giving him a soft, gentle kiss on the lips. They let their lips move familiarly against each others' for several minutes before breaking apart to watch the otter move about the room in silence.
"Happy Christmas, Ron" Hermione spoke softly, looking up into his ocean eyes.
Ron wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close to his chest. "Happy Christmas, Hermione".