Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and
owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to
Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros.,
Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is
intended.
Christmastime filled with presents, love, and friendship. Everything was set in harmony and happiness, and the Great Hall was filled with fabulous decorations for the Yule Ball. Crowds of Hogwarts students mulled around, some dancing, and others mixing with the visiting foreigners.
And then shouts rang out close to the entrance of the Great Hall. "RON! STOP THAT!" Hermione Granger's shrill screech swept entirely through the hall as a scuffle broke out on the dance floor.
Fallen on top of another unseen figure in dress robes, a redheaded boy was turning the person beneath him into a punching bag without any hesitation.
The rest of the Great Hall went silent as people began to crowd around the spectacle. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and rushed over to see what the excitement was about, but he couldn't get through the forming crowd. "Don't let them be fighting again," Harry murmured to himself, rolling his eyes.
Professor Severus Snape was the first to reach the scene, where he chanted "Separatus Promptu!" The two figures on the ground were immediately pulled apart.
Still punching the air furiously, Ron Weasley was pulled upward and back past Snape. Lying with a bloody nose on the floor was one of the foreign visiting Durmstang students.
Snape lifted a dark brow and asked harshly, "What is going on here, Mr. Weasley?"
Ron, growling at the figure on the floor, finally took a breath and realized he was no longer on top of the other student. Letting out air, he stopped punching nothing and began to control the obvious rage pouring fourth.
"Ron, Viktor just wanted to dance with me!" Hermione squealed, bending down to the other student involved, Viktor Krum, and lifting his head. "All you all right, Viktor?"
"I vill be vine, Herm-own-ninny," Viktor smiled painfully up at her before lifting a hand to his nose and staring at the vivid red-blood dripping down his face.
Snape snapped, "Mr. Krum, I think you should go to the hospital wing and get that injury taken care of immediately."
Krum stood up slowly with Hermione's help but Snape held up a hand before she could walk with Krum to the hospital wing. "You will stay here, Miss Granger."
Krum gave her a longing look before following Professor Snape's command and leaving the Great Hall for the hospital wing.
"Detention for the both of you, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger." Snape was glowering at them. "I will see you both in my office at eight o'clock tomorrow morning." And then he walked away, completely uninterested in any explanation.
Hermione turned bright, tear-filled eyes on Ron and asked severely, "How could you do that, Ron?"
"I asked you to the Yule Ball so that you'd dance with me!" Ron shot back heatedly, turning his head to glare at Viktor Krum's back before he disappeared. "I didn't ask you so that Viktor could dance with you." Ron was looking more and more glum with every word he said.
"But I haven't seen him months!" Hermione was still staring daggers. "Honestly, Ron, it's not like I don't see you every day!" And then she pointed at his tattered new dress robes. "Look what you've done to your new robes, Ron. Did you see what you did to his face?" Her face was still pinkening, everyone else still watching their exchange.
She could hear Malfoy and his companions sniggering.
"He deserved it!" Ron maintained hoarsely, refusing to realize he'd crossed the line.
Hermione burst completely into tears and ran from the Great Hall, shouting behind her, "Ron Weasley, you are insufferable and insensitive, and I never want to set eyes on you again!"
"Hermione!" Ron called after her. "Wait! Wait!" Harry and Ginny had nearly reached Ron just when Ron went zooming out of the Great Hall after his date for the Yule Ball.
Harry sighed and glanced at Ginny, who looked very worried. "I guess we should leave it to them to work it out," he hedged.
"Yeah, I guess we should," Ginny agreed after a moment. "Hermione sounded awfully upset."
Ron tripped over a tattered, hanging piece of his robe in the corridor while chasing Hermione toward Gryffindor Tower. "Hermione, please!" he bellowed pleadingly just as he fell on his face.
Hermione turned around, her hair neatly straightened for the special occasion, and her eyes splotchy and watery and her face all red. "What do you want, Ron Weasley?"
He lifted his head and began to pull himself up off the ground. "I just, well, I didn't like the way he, well, you know, er." Ron stumbled on what he was trying to say and watched her helplessly, the hurt look on her face tearing him to pieces. "It's all my fault," he whispered.
"You're absolutely right there," Hermione agreed, crossing her hands over her chest.
"Well, I guess, I just couldn't, yes, well, I." Ron pulled his robes straight and then took a step closer to her, afraid she was going to bolt again." Hermione, I didn't like the way he looked at you. I was afraid you might look at him the same way."
"Oh, Ron," her face twisted as emotions warred on her face. "What you did was wrong."
"I know," he accepted the verbal mothering without question.
"You were jealous." Hermione said it as much for herself as she did to clarify the situation.
Ron gulped, nodded, and refused to say more.
Hermione took a step closer to him. Ron followed suit, until they were only a few inches apart. Hermione's eyes were still watering and bright, but the sobbing sounds had stopped completely. "Does that mean, well, that you care?" she asked softly, scrunching in fear waiting for the answer.
"Yes," Ron admitted simply, finding it much easier to speak when he was staring directly into those gorgeous wide eyes. He almost felt weightless floating in the reflection of her eyes.
"I care, too," she said simply, relieved to hear that her feelings were returned.
"Do you think that, well, that we might, would you mind terribly if I, well, er, yeah?" Ron's question was lost somewhere in his attempts to voice it.
"Yeah," Hermione whispered with a frantic, panicked, but pleased smile.
Ron reached hesitantly for her face, running a finger down the path of one her drying tear-spills. "I'm sorry, Hermione. Honestly." And then he stepped forward. And Hermione closed her eyes.
Ron bent down just barely and smashed his lips up against hers.
But he didn't pull back right away. At first, it was awkward, but it took only a moment for waves of warmth and intensity and something indescribable to begin moving through him, heating his lips first and then traveling to the rest of his body.
Hermione shivered with the searing yet innocent emotions that stirred within her, and as they found each other's mouths and then tongues, they simply let ago and pulled back breathless.
Their very first kiss.
Christmastime filled with presents, love, and friendship. Everything was set in harmony and happiness, and the Great Hall was filled with fabulous decorations for the Yule Ball. Crowds of Hogwarts students mulled around, some dancing, and others mixing with the visiting foreigners.
And then shouts rang out close to the entrance of the Great Hall. "RON! STOP THAT!" Hermione Granger's shrill screech swept entirely through the hall as a scuffle broke out on the dance floor.
Fallen on top of another unseen figure in dress robes, a redheaded boy was turning the person beneath him into a punching bag without any hesitation.
The rest of the Great Hall went silent as people began to crowd around the spectacle. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and rushed over to see what the excitement was about, but he couldn't get through the forming crowd. "Don't let them be fighting again," Harry murmured to himself, rolling his eyes.
Professor Severus Snape was the first to reach the scene, where he chanted "Separatus Promptu!" The two figures on the ground were immediately pulled apart.
Still punching the air furiously, Ron Weasley was pulled upward and back past Snape. Lying with a bloody nose on the floor was one of the foreign visiting Durmstang students.
Snape lifted a dark brow and asked harshly, "What is going on here, Mr. Weasley?"
Ron, growling at the figure on the floor, finally took a breath and realized he was no longer on top of the other student. Letting out air, he stopped punching nothing and began to control the obvious rage pouring fourth.
"Ron, Viktor just wanted to dance with me!" Hermione squealed, bending down to the other student involved, Viktor Krum, and lifting his head. "All you all right, Viktor?"
"I vill be vine, Herm-own-ninny," Viktor smiled painfully up at her before lifting a hand to his nose and staring at the vivid red-blood dripping down his face.
Snape snapped, "Mr. Krum, I think you should go to the hospital wing and get that injury taken care of immediately."
Krum stood up slowly with Hermione's help but Snape held up a hand before she could walk with Krum to the hospital wing. "You will stay here, Miss Granger."
Krum gave her a longing look before following Professor Snape's command and leaving the Great Hall for the hospital wing.
"Detention for the both of you, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger." Snape was glowering at them. "I will see you both in my office at eight o'clock tomorrow morning." And then he walked away, completely uninterested in any explanation.
Hermione turned bright, tear-filled eyes on Ron and asked severely, "How could you do that, Ron?"
"I asked you to the Yule Ball so that you'd dance with me!" Ron shot back heatedly, turning his head to glare at Viktor Krum's back before he disappeared. "I didn't ask you so that Viktor could dance with you." Ron was looking more and more glum with every word he said.
"But I haven't seen him months!" Hermione was still staring daggers. "Honestly, Ron, it's not like I don't see you every day!" And then she pointed at his tattered new dress robes. "Look what you've done to your new robes, Ron. Did you see what you did to his face?" Her face was still pinkening, everyone else still watching their exchange.
She could hear Malfoy and his companions sniggering.
"He deserved it!" Ron maintained hoarsely, refusing to realize he'd crossed the line.
Hermione burst completely into tears and ran from the Great Hall, shouting behind her, "Ron Weasley, you are insufferable and insensitive, and I never want to set eyes on you again!"
"Hermione!" Ron called after her. "Wait! Wait!" Harry and Ginny had nearly reached Ron just when Ron went zooming out of the Great Hall after his date for the Yule Ball.
Harry sighed and glanced at Ginny, who looked very worried. "I guess we should leave it to them to work it out," he hedged.
"Yeah, I guess we should," Ginny agreed after a moment. "Hermione sounded awfully upset."
Ron tripped over a tattered, hanging piece of his robe in the corridor while chasing Hermione toward Gryffindor Tower. "Hermione, please!" he bellowed pleadingly just as he fell on his face.
Hermione turned around, her hair neatly straightened for the special occasion, and her eyes splotchy and watery and her face all red. "What do you want, Ron Weasley?"
He lifted his head and began to pull himself up off the ground. "I just, well, I didn't like the way he, well, you know, er." Ron stumbled on what he was trying to say and watched her helplessly, the hurt look on her face tearing him to pieces. "It's all my fault," he whispered.
"You're absolutely right there," Hermione agreed, crossing her hands over her chest.
"Well, I guess, I just couldn't, yes, well, I." Ron pulled his robes straight and then took a step closer to her, afraid she was going to bolt again." Hermione, I didn't like the way he looked at you. I was afraid you might look at him the same way."
"Oh, Ron," her face twisted as emotions warred on her face. "What you did was wrong."
"I know," he accepted the verbal mothering without question.
"You were jealous." Hermione said it as much for herself as she did to clarify the situation.
Ron gulped, nodded, and refused to say more.
Hermione took a step closer to him. Ron followed suit, until they were only a few inches apart. Hermione's eyes were still watering and bright, but the sobbing sounds had stopped completely. "Does that mean, well, that you care?" she asked softly, scrunching in fear waiting for the answer.
"Yes," Ron admitted simply, finding it much easier to speak when he was staring directly into those gorgeous wide eyes. He almost felt weightless floating in the reflection of her eyes.
"I care, too," she said simply, relieved to hear that her feelings were returned.
"Do you think that, well, that we might, would you mind terribly if I, well, er, yeah?" Ron's question was lost somewhere in his attempts to voice it.
"Yeah," Hermione whispered with a frantic, panicked, but pleased smile.
Ron reached hesitantly for her face, running a finger down the path of one her drying tear-spills. "I'm sorry, Hermione. Honestly." And then he stepped forward. And Hermione closed her eyes.
Ron bent down just barely and smashed his lips up against hers.
But he didn't pull back right away. At first, it was awkward, but it took only a moment for waves of warmth and intensity and something indescribable to begin moving through him, heating his lips first and then traveling to the rest of his body.
Hermione shivered with the searing yet innocent emotions that stirred within her, and as they found each other's mouths and then tongues, they simply let ago and pulled back breathless.
Their very first kiss.