Moments in Time
Author's Note: This will be a collection of one-shots and drabbles of moments between Ron and Hermione. They might be during Hogwarts, after Hogwarts, pre-battle, pre-epilogue etc!
None of them have any connection to each other. They each stand alone.
Fluff, smut and maybe a little angst ahead!
Please leave comments/review! Enjoy!
Title: Party for Two
Idea: The trio's friends and family insist on throwing them a party during the Christmas holidays but Hermione prefers a different kind of party.
Timeline: Christmas holidays post war
Hermione felt bad leaving her parents, since it was the beginning of the Christmas holidays but after a bit of encouragement that it would be good for her, she agreed she did need a night out to meet with Ginny. She was going to spend the majority of the holidays with Ron and his family but she hadn't seen him yet since she'd arrived home.
She had been disconnected from the magical world since she'd gotten home from school, sending few letters to Ron, Harry and Ginny. She had spent her days filling her parents in on what happened, again as they still had many questions and testing their cognitions to make sure her reversal charm had worked and brought back their memories. She had done so at the end of summer when they'd returned from Australia but she couldn't be too careful. She wouldn't rest until she felt secure in her magic and that her parents were back to their normal selves for the long run.
It was snowing lightly as Hermione walked through a relatively quiet Hogsmeade at nighttime, a few days before Christmas, wearing a dark blue jumper, Muggle jeans and a white knitted scarf. When she stepped through the doors of the Three Broomsticks, a giant "Surprise!" rang through her ears, and she looked up through the mass of hugs to see a banner hung high over the bar that read 'Thank you, Harry, Ron and Hermione!' Clearly taken aback, her eyes were wide as Ginny rushed towards her and explained the small fib.
Ron had been slightly anxious all evening. He hadn't seen Hermione in months, and although he was filled more with anticipation than anything else, he was still nervous. What if during her time in Australia, her time at Hogwarts, she had decided she didn't want him anymore? What if she had changed her mind or met someone else? He knew he was being ridiculous. He knew that but his stupid insecurities wouldn't rest. He spent the hours before her arrival downing butterbeers and even a shot of firewhiskey, which, though Hermione would never approve, seemed to calm his nerves a bit.
Finally, his eyes moved to the door as it swung open, the little bell above it dingling. There she stood, the same way he remembered her. As his eyes raked over her form, he held back a smile as he followed suit with everyone else, the glass still in his hand.
Hermione had not been expecting any of this. She often found herself feeling a bit awkward around people after the war, unsure what to say or do for those who had experienced loss or would say things to her in thanks and praise. She didn't feel like she was more special than anyone else who fought in the war. She didn't need all of that.
Everyone seemed to have finished mourning, or they were hiding it well; she was greeted with smiles and hugs as she made her way through the room. Finally, her eyes settled on Ron. He seemed... different somehow. Older, maybe, even though it had only been a month or so since she'd seen him during a Hogsmeade weekend at school.
With butterflies in her stomach, she managed to squeeze through the crowd and stand before him, freezing for a moment as she grinned up at him. "Hi," she said finally, breathlessly, as she was still recovering from the shock of the surprise. "Did you know about this?"
"Define 'know.'" He said, looking at her with a smile. Quickly, he gulped down the rest of his butterbeer and set the glass down on the bar beside him. "Ginny told me it was going to be a small gathering, and then, about 50 people showed up! So, I'm thinking she doesn't quite understand the definition of small." In true Ron fashion, the first thing he says after not seeing Hermione for a month was a joke. He couldn't help it, and he loved the way he managed to make her smile most of the time anyhow.
She did smile, glad to see him, though it was a complete surprise. Before she could reply, a very drunken Harry engulfed her into a hug and thrust a butterbeer into her hand. She thanked him, despite shaking her head disapprovingly. If anyone deserved a night of fun, it was Harry— she would turn a blind eye tonight.
Taking a sip of her butterbeer, she turned back to Ron, laughing a bit. "This is complete madness! Where's Madam Rosmerta? Surely, she wouldn't condone..." she trailed off, looking to the edge of the bar and catching a glimpse of the older blonde canoodling with Charlie Weasley. Her brow raised in amusement as she laughed some more.
Ron followed Hermione's gaze and found himself also letting out a chuckle. "Well, no one can resist the Weasley charm, yeah?" He grinned, grabbing a biscuit from a plate that rested on the bar and popped it in his mouth, chewing quickly. He wasn't so nervous anymore, he just didn't know if kissing her or touching her was the right thing to do at the moment. They hadn't seen each other in like a month and he was itching to snog her senseless, but he didn't think it'd be a good idea in a room full of people. He looked to Hermione who was giving him a bit of a half-smile, the kind that used to make him a nervous wreck when they were kids.
Hermione responded to his comment by rolling her eyes, though of course- she couldn't resist him. The thoughts racing through her mind were far too scarlet for a proper young woman. She was almost thankful when Seamus rushed over and started asking questions about their experiences over the last year. If she remained in such close proximity to Ron, she may not be able to contain herself in front of all of those people, and she certainly was not a fan of public displays of affection.
Ron's fist tightened slightly around his glass as Seamus went on and on, with question after question. It really was frustrating to stand there, just a few inches away from his girlfriend, without being able to take her in his arms like he wanted to. Weeks, it had been weeks since he'd kissed her, or held her, and now, when they were finally seeing each other again, every interruption under the sun seemed to come their way. The world hated him. Really, it was the only way to explain it. Gulping down the rest of his butterbeer, Ron stuffed his hands in his pockets and just looked at Hermione as she answered each one of Seamus' questions.
This went on for another hour, with everyone drinking and breaking out into random songs (Hermione heard two renditions of 'Weasley is our King'). She didn't want to be rude of course, despite not wanting the attention of a party or her need deep down to do things that weren't publicly acceptable with her boyfriend, so she spent time answering questions and chatting with everyone.
After another hour, she'd had enough. All she wanted was to be with Ron. "Could you excuse me for a moment?" she said to Parvati, tugging Ron's wrist to get his attention and leaning up to whisper into his ear, "Wait a minute and then follow me." She walked away from the crowd, around the back of the untended bar and pushed open the back door. A rush of cold air hit her as snow fell, and that familiar butterfly feeling came back instantly while she waited.
Ron's entire face went scarlet when Hermione had whispered in his ear, and when Dean, who had been discussing Quidditch with him asked him why he was red, he told him it was because of all the firewhiskey. Silently counting down in his head, it took all of Ron's restraint to wait the full minute before hastily excusing himself and following in the direction Hermione had gone. Grabbing his coat off the rack on the way, he slipped it on just as he pushed the door open. "Hermione?" He asked into the darkness, not seeing her right away,
She was staring up at the dark, purplish clouds as it snowed down on her, the white flakes sitting for a moment in her hair before melting. She turned suddenly, hearing him say her name. She wanted to rush to him, but her feet remained rooted on the snowy ground. It suddenly felt much warmer out in the freezing weather. "Over here," she said quietly, hardly recognizing her own voice.
Walking in the direction of her voice, Hermione finally came into Ron's view, and he approached slowly, the snow crunching under his shoes. He stopped in front of her, nervously shoving his hands into his pockets (a habit he had picked up lately) and looked at her, not sure why she called him out here. He was hoping for a snog but Hermione may have just wanted to talk. "Hey." He said simply, wiping a few snowflakes from his hair.
Nervously fiddling with her scarf, she tried to think of what to say. It took her a moment. "I just wanted to come out here to-" snog him senseless? "to talk." Psh, some Gryffindor she was. "How... how are you?" Why was this so horribly awkward? She wanted to kick herself.
"Talk?" He asked, feeling slightly disappointed. No snogging for months and she wanted to talk? "We could've talked inside." He told her matter of factly. "Where it's warm."
He gave her a slightly smug grin, tilting his head to the side and rocking back and forth on his heels. They were both 18 years old… well, he was, she was 19, and they were still awkward. Ron was hoping it had moved past that already and onto the phase where they couldn't keep their hands off each other.
Her face flushed at his logic- something that was usually reversed. "But it's also very loud and I could barely hear you," she reasoned. Boldly stepping forward, she thought to herself- they've been through so much together. They won. What good was winning if they weren't going to stop wasting time and live? She reached out and took hold of the hem of his cloak, gripping it rather tightly. "I've... really missed you."
"Yeah?" He asked, instantly breaking out a grin. Hearing things like that from her would never get old. "Well, who wouldn't really?" His grin widened, if that was even possible, before he leaned his forehead down against hers. "Missed you too, you know." He said softly, unable to resist any longer, and pressed his lips to hers.
"Prat," she whispered half-heartedly, grinning in return as she kissed him back, standing on her tiptoes and wrapping an arm around his neck to pull him closer. Their first kiss was frantic- heated of course, but they both had known that it could have well been their first and last. This was different. Like the snow, she melted against him, her entire body warming despite the chill in the air.
If Ron had known that kissing Hermione would feel like this, then he definitely would have done it sooner. She made his entire body feel like it was on fire, just from kissing alone. It was like he was under a spell. Taking his hands out of his pockets, he reached up and wound them around her waist, tugging her in even closer. Now that he had her, he was for damned sure never letting go.
Better do it now, before I lose my nerve- and too much of my concentration, Hermione thought to herself. She reached down to take her wand, keeping a hold of him as she disapparated both of them directly into her childhood bedroom without breaking the kiss. They landed in the middle of a rather large room, with a desk and large bookshelf lining the wall to the left, her canopy four-poster bed and nightstand, windowsill donning a sleeping Crookshanks to the right. The whole room was dark, illuminated only slightly by the moonlight pouring through the drawn curtains. Grinning to herself, she wondered how long it would take for Ron to notice that they'd moved.
Ron continued kissing her for a few moments, lost in the feelings of it all, consuming in how it felt to kiss her and the way it took his breath away and made the world around them fade, completely oblivious to that fact that they were no longer behind the Three Broomsticks snogging in the snow. After a few moments though, his cheeks began feeling warm rather than cold, and then he took notice that his entire body was no longer shivering or being peppered with snowflakes. Breaking the kiss, he looked around confused.
"What? How—did you? When?" He blurted out, wondering where on earth they were.
A coy smile tugged at her mouth, and she unwound her hands from his neck and took his hands in her own.
"I didn't want us to get frostbite," she reasoned. Cheeks flushing, she reached back into her pocket for her wand. "If you'd rather get back to the party, I could take us back..." Hermione wasn't much of a party animal, though she forgot that Ron had been having a splendid time, so it seemed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed you'd want to-"
"Are you mad?" He interrupted, giving her a lopsided grin. "Of course I want to!" He paused a moment, looking around and taking in their surroundings. "Where exactly are we?" He asked, and after spotting Crookshanks and the several thousands of books on the shelves, he knew exactly where they were. "Is this… is this your bedroom? In your parent's house?" He asked, wanting to make sure it wasn't someone else's room and Crookshanks just happened to be in it. It was unlikely, but his mind was rather clouded from all the snogging.
"Yes," she said patiently, smirking at his lapse in cognition. "I didn't think I'd have company- I would've had tea waiting or something," she said with a laugh, trying not to feel awkward. But it was a truly awkward situation; she realized just how much she was insinuating by apparating Ron back to her bedroom.
"You never let me in here before. Wouldn't even let me close." He said, remembering a particular summer when his dad, Ginny and him had gone to pick up Hermione f before Harry arrived at the Burrow. Hermione had forbidden him to even step upstairs on that occasion.
"Don't see why." He said, walking around the room a bit. "Nothing wrong with it. It's very you." He shrugged a bit and walked over to the bookshelf, wondering how on earth one person could have so many books. It didn't even occur to him why Hermione might have apparated them there. He only thought that she wanted to be out of the cold and this was the first place that popped into her head. "Lumos." He said, touching his wand in his pocket. He could barely see.
The books were also alphabetized- and she had a separate bookshelf for her Muggle books. "Well, I didn't want us to be late for dinner, Ron. Your mum wanted me there at a specific time, and you would have surely dawdled and snooped around like you're doing now." She was teasing of course, and she took that time to take off her coat and scarf, draping it over her desk chair. She also slipped out of her shoes.
"Nope." He said, eyeing her suspiciously. "That wasn't the reason. It's that girl thing that they don't want male friends going in their room, is what it is. Ginny does it, too. Didn't even let me near her room for years." He nodded matter-of-factly, finding himself very clever at the moment for thinking of that explanation. "That and…" He paused for dramatic effect. "Maybe you were hiding something." He grinned and pointed at her, wondering what she could possibly not want him to see.
"Hiding something? Why would I-" she paused, racking her brain, and then she remembered. Oh, but there is no possible way that with that little light shooting out of his wand he'd be able to find her old ballet slippers. Her mum had made her do that for years- she had been actually quite good. There was an old violin tucked in the hutch of her desk as well, but Ron probably wouldn't recognize it as an instrument- they weren't very popular in the Wizarding World.
Blinking some, she feigned a shrug, leading him away from the shoes and violin on the shelving. "That's just preposterous. Here, let me show you the new collection of NEWT study guides I've just purchased..." She tried to lead him across the room to the Wizarding bookshelf.
Ron eyed her suspiciously, her behaviour suddenly becoming odd. "No way! You're trying to distract me! What're you hiding?" He moved away from her and towards the bookcase once more, looking carefully at each shelf and examining the titles of each book. "A dirty book, perhaps?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at her and wiggling them mischievously. "A secret passageway?" He lifted each book and tilted some of them towards him, hoping some kind of hidden wall would open up.
Of course, it never occurred to Ron at the moment that they could be snogging. Nope, 'oblivious Ron' was too enthralled by the idea of Hermione hiding something. He was easily distracted though. A new topic, action, anything really on Hermione's part would distract him in a second.
She hurried after him, trying to keep her voice calm... to no avail. "Ron! You're being completely bonkers- I haven't got a dirty book, you git. Nor is there a secret passageway. I reckon there is one in my Head Girl's room, though. I just haven't found it yet," she said with a smile.
And there it was: a topic to distract Ron. Standing up straight, he faced her, his eyes lighting up. "That's right! Head Girl. I'll have to fly in your window at night, yeah? I'm sure Harry would lend me his cloak. It's going to get awfully lonely at George's shop in Hogsmeade. I mean I know you haven't let me do that yet but I thought maybe you'd change your mind next term?" He was grinning now, moving away from the shelves and closer to her.
She pursed her lips, folding her arms over her chest. "You certainly won't be flying anywhere. You could seriously hurt yourself! I will, however, speak to McGonagall about having you visit. Or you could do that part yourself."
His smile faltered immediately at her words, letting out a sigh as he sat on the edge of her bed, raising his hands up in front of him defensively. "No way, Hermione!" He said, looking up at her. "That woman is scary and she isn't even my bloody teacher anymore! That's all on you."
"All right, fine, you big baby," she said, walking over to him, still with her hands folded over her chest in a McGonagall-like fashion. "But I still think you should be getting ready to take your NEWTs. You've got to make the scores in order to get into the Auror academy. I could come study with you on Hogsmeade weekends, if you'd like." She offered a disappointed little grin. She'd really, really miss him.
"I still plan on taking NEWTs, Hermione. I mean I have to if I want to be an Auror. But I have all bloody year and I could even schedule to take them in." He shrugged a bit, looking over at her. He couldn't help but crack a smile when she offered to study with him on Hogsmeade weekends. "I was kind of hoping we could do other things on Hogsmeade weekends, 'Mione. Studying wasn't exactly up there."
Hermione was thankful for the lack of light in the room, since he kept making her blush. Leaning against one of the bedposts, she rolled her eyes some. "You're such a... such a boy." No, he was a man, but it only showed her inexperience that she blushed even harder at the thought.
"Glad you took the time to notice." He said, grinning up at her. Reaching out, he took hold of her hand and tugged on her so her body moved forward and towards him. "You'll let me sneak in your window, this term, won't you? Hogsmeade weekends aren't enough 'Mione." He asked, looking up at her as she was standing quite close now. "Won't lock me out or something?"
With his hand on hers, and his eyes on hers, how could she say no? "McGonagall would have a fit if she found out. She'd probably fire me," she managed, giving a half laugh, placing her free hand on his shoulder. Her bed was slightly raised, so with him sitting on the edge, they were closer in height. Therefore, it was easier for her to lean over and kiss him again before she lost her nerve.
"Rule breaker Hermione…" He said, between kisses, smiling into each one. "I think I like it." He grinned once more before tugging her down further so she landed sideways on his lap, settling in for a long snogging session he knew they both craved.