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: Nope, totally awake
Idea: Hermione turns down Viktor Krum's invitation to the Yule Ball and accepts another
Timeline: AU, Non-canon, what if: fourth year
"Who are you asking to the ball, Harry? This is bloody stressful, mate! Why is it the blokes who have to do all the asking?" Ron groaned from his spot on his dorm bed, lounging around and avoiding homework.
"I dunno," Harry responded, throwing on a jumper from his trunk and sighing. "I kind of want to ask Cho but…"
"Well, at least you've got someone in mind and have decent dress robes! Who the bloody hell wants to go with this?" He nodded his head in the direction of the frilly dress robes slung over the trunk at the end of his bed.
Harry couldn't help but laugh. He walked over to Ron and clapped him on the shoulder apologetically. "Sorry, mate. Those robes really are awful." He shrugged when Ron shot him a look. "Why don't you go with Hermione or something?"
"Yeah, I thought of that." Ron looked at his hands. "You think she'd want to go with me, though? I mean, we don't exactly get along 100% of the time."
"Yeah, but your bickering is part of your friendship. But I can't speak for her, y'know? You could ask her and see what she says. What have you got to lose?"
Harry left Ron sitting on his bed with a million thoughts going through his head. The truth was, he had a hell of a lot to lose. Yes, Hermione had immediately popped into his head when the ball was announced, and at first he'd had no idea why. He tried to push the thought aside but the truth was, she was the only girl at school he could picture himself going to this thing with. But what if he asked her and she totally brushed him off? Or worse…laughed at him? Could they come back from that? He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Maybe some food in his stomach would help him figure things out.
"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked as he entered the Great Hall at lunchtime.
Harry looked up from his plate from his spot by Neville and Dean. "Er, not sure…" He paused.
"The library." Ron and Harry said together at the same time. They laughed and Ron nodded his head towards the door.
"I'll go make sure she knows it's time to eat." He said with a smile.
When he got to the library, he looked around and immediately spotted Hermione amongst the stacks of books as expected. She was sitting at a table surrounded by texts and parchments. He expected to see that when he got to the library. What he didn't expect to see was a certain international Quidditch star standing at the table with her. His eyes narrowed. He stopped walking towards her and stood in the middle of the library, watching the events unfold in front of him. What the bloody hell was Viktor Krum talking to Hermione for?
He watched them with narrowed eyes and a few moments later saw Krum walking away and Hermione flushed, staring at the table in front of her. Suddenly his feet were taking him to her table before he realized what he was doing.
"Hey." He said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Hermione looked up in surprise, almost like she had never expected Ron to be the one standing there.
"Oh, hi Ron." She replied with a small smile. "Something wrong?"
"Oh, er, no…just, it's lunchtime so I thought I'd come remind you to take your head out of the books long enough to eat something." He couldn't help teasing a bit and he smirked at her when she rolled her eyes in response to his statement.
"I'll be down in a bit. I just want to finish this one thing."
It was Ron's turn to roll his eyes. "'Course you do." He said. He paused, thinking. Should he ask her? "So, what did Viktor Krum want?"
Her eyes looked up at him in surprise. "Oh!" She flushed. "Actually, he asked me to the ball."
Ron's stomach lurched and he felt a lump go to his throat. He swallowed roughly. "Oh yeah? Reckon you're going with him, then, him being a Quidditch star and all that." He didn't meet her eyes.
"Oh, well no," she said, biting her lip. He looked up in shock. "I turned him down." She finished and Ron felt his mouth open a bit in shock.
"You did? Why?" He asked, the shock evident in his voice. Hermione went even more pink.
"I don't even know him. I'd rather not spend the ball with a complete stranger." She shrugged slightly but he could see the pink was still on her cheeks. Her flushing like that caused butterflies in his stomach, something he definitely wasn't used to when it came to Hermione.
"Oh, well, that's good then, I reckon." His voice was a bit shaky and he was shuffling from foot to foot.
"Oh, why's that?"
"I, erm…because…I…" He swallowed. Get a hold of yourself, Ron. "Do you think you'd want to…" he paused and then when he spoke again, his voice was barely above a whisper, "go with me, then? To the ball, I mean."
He felt his stomach flutter again when he saw her go pink once more and she smiled so brightly at him it made him feel things he was not used to feeling.
"Y-Yes, that…that would be nice." His eyes met hers in surprise and without even realizing, he was grinning back at her.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Yes." She responded simply.
"Brilliant!" He grinned again and there was a bit of an awkward silence. "Well," he coughed, clearing his throat, "you coming to lunch, then? You want me to wait for you?"
She shook her head. "No, that's alright. I'll be there in a little while." She laughed a bit, still pink, when he gave her a look. "I promise!" She said.
He smirked at her. "Alright, see you in the Great Hall." He headed for lunch, unable to stop the grin that was on his face. Hermione said yes.
Ron had hardly been able to breathe when he saw Hermione coming down the stairs in her Yule Ball dress and he was certain his heart stopped for a minute. He went bright red and when she stopped in front of him, he swallowed his nerves enough to tell her she looked nice. Probably not a good enough word to describe it, but it was all he could come up with at the time. The pleased smile that came over her face and flush that rose to her cheeks told him that he'd done something right, though.
He hated that his robes were so awful, but she didn't seem to mind. She even told him he looked nice as well. He felt a bit better after that. They'd hung out at the table with Harry and Parvati, got punch and even danced. Ron stepped on Hermione's toes once or twice, and apologized profusely every time, but again, she didn't seem to mind. He'd never seen her smile so much in one night. And because of him. It was because of him, he thought, it had to be.
When the ball winded down, they were actually some of the last people out of the Great Hall, leaving only 5 or 6 couples dancing on the floor.
"I don't know how you girls wear those shoes! Don't your feet hurt?" He asked, as they walked out of the Great Hall side by side.
She laughed, "They do, a bit." She responded, holding up her hand to tell him to stop walking. She leaned on the wall next to her and lifted a foot, slipping one shoe off and then lifted her other foot and took the other off, grabbing them off the ground and carrying them in her hand. "Much better." She said with a smile.
He had long since abandoned the frilly robe part of his dress robes and was carrying it over his shoulder. He looked at her as they resumed walking to the Gryffindor common room. "So," he started, flicking some hair from his face, "you regret not going with Vicky?" He didn't know why he asked it, it just kind of slipped out. He needed to develop more of a filter.
She gave him a look but shook her head. "No." She responded. "I had fun with the date I chose to come with." She looked up at him and was greeted with one of his killer smiles. Something about the way she said it made his heart soar. Okay, so maybe he knew why he had wanted to go with Hermione to this thing. Maybe he'd known it all along and had been in denial about it all. He liked her.
They reached the Fat Lady's portrait, saying the password, and Ron held out a hand to Hermione to help her through the portrait hole in that dress of hers. She was still carrying her shoes in the other hand as she took his hand and smiled gratefully at him as they entered the common room. He distinctly noticed she did not let go of his hand once they got inside.
"I had a really nice time, Ron, thank you." Hermione said shyly, standing with him in front of the staircase to the dorms. They were alone in the common room and it was quiet, save for the sound of the fire crackling in the fireplace. He flushed and shrugged.
"Sorry I stepped on your toes so much." He said sheepishly, looking at her feet for a second. "I'm not the best dancer." His free hand went up and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh, that's alright! You don't have to apologize!" She responded, smiling up at him. He was significantly taller than her, especially after she'd taken off her heeled shoes. "You weren't that bad!"
He laughed. "I was too, but thanks for letting me down gently." He smiled at her and they just sort of stood there in silence for a moment, still holding hands.
"Well, I should head up to bed." She climbed up a couple steps so they were level with each other. "Good night, Ron." She said softly, leaning forward and brushing her lips against his cheek. She lingered there for a moment and he could feel how soft her lips were as they pressed against his flushed skin.
She pulled away a moment later and turned to leave but he didn't let go of her hand and instead, taking a breath, tugged on it so she turned back around and when she did, met her lips with his in a soft kiss. It was sweet and fairly innocent but it was his first one and maybe hers too? He didn't know. But either way, her lips were just as soft as they felt on his cheek. He heard her make a sound of surprise but then she was leaning into him and sort of sighing as her eyes slipped shut. He felt the hand that was holding her shoes come up and rest on his shoulder.
They pulled away a moment later and when his eyes fluttered open, he saw hers doing the same. He wasn't sure if the pink of her cheeks was from the fire in the room or the kiss, but either way, he didn't care. He'd just kissed Hermione.
"Goodnight, Hermione." He said softly, finally letting go of her hand. She smiled shyly at him.
"Goodnight, Ron." She responded before disappearing up the stairs. He closed his eyes for a moment and then pinched his arm…nope, totally awake. He smiled to himself. What a bloody fantastic night.