A little visit to number 4 Privet Drive leads to a few first kisses… not gonna say who! Please R/R*
Disclaimer: Harry and Co. belong to me!! Nah, I wish… they belong to the wonderfully gifted J.K. Rowling. I just like to mess around with them.
A/N: Boredom leads to the best stories…
" We're here," said Mr. Weasley as he pulled into the driveway of number 4 Privet Drive. Harry groaned.
He always hated saying goodbye to the Weasleys. Mr. Weasley had just driven him back home from King's Cross station, after Harry had finished his fifth year. The Dursleys had sent an owl to Harry before the end of the term saying that they would be in Italy and they would not be picking him up.
Despite the Weasleys' urging Dumbledore to let Harry stay with them, at least until the Dursleys came home, Dumbledore said it would be much safer for Harry to stay at Privet Drive, even if he was home alone. Harry wanted to protest, but he knew that under the dangerous circumstances, he would have to trust Dumbledore.
Harry gloomily hauled his trunk out of the car and said goodbye to everybody.
" Look at the bright side, Harry," Ron said, his head poking out of the window. " At least the muggles aren't here to bother you…"
Harry nodded and waved sadly as the car backed out of the driveway and slowly made its way out of sight. He would have rather stayed cramped in the small backseat with the Weasleys than free in the big house without them.
Harry went around to the back of the house and found a house key under a plant pot. He opened the back door and let himself into the deserted kitchen.
Ron was right, he thought. At least the Dursleys weren't home.
Nevertheless, without his friends and without magic, Harry felt empty and sad. He fixed himself some food and decided to watch television, for he never got to when Dudley was around.
The doorbell rang and Harry went to open it. To his surprise and utter disappointment, the Dursleys stood there, holding baggage and looking as mean as usual.
" Move over boy," barked Uncle Vernon. He dropped his bags. " And take these with you."
Dudley shoved Harry out of the way and Harry fell to the floor. Angry, he reached for his wand, which he kept in the pocket of the robes he was wearing and shouted, " Imperio!"
Dudley's screamed penetrated the air. " HARRY!" he shouted. " HARRY! WAKE UP!"
Harry awoke with a start.
He had fallen asleep on the couch. He opened his eyes slowly and yelled.
Ron and Hermione stood above him, both of them smiling.
" Harry, we've come to visit you!" said Hermione gleefully.
Harry sat up, unable to believe his eyes. " How did you two get here?" he asked.
Ron grinned. " Fred and George and Ginny are here too. George drove the car and since he and Fred aren't underage anymore, they can use magic outside of school. We got in with a simple alohamora charm. Ginny caught us sneaking outside and if we didn't bring her along, she'd have told Mum on us."
Fred wandered into the living room, a sandwich in his hand. " Thought we'd steal some food… you don't mind, do you, mate?" he said, grinning. His eyes averted to the television set, which was currently on BBC. " A telly!" he said, amazed. He went to examine it, pressing the buttons that controlled the volume and channels.
" We thought you'd like a visit since you'd be alone," said Hermione, setting herself next to Harry on the sofa.
Harry grinned, happier than ever.
A cluttering sound erupted from the kitchen, followed by George's voice saying "Wow!"
Harry left the room and went into the dark kitchen, where George and Ginny were examining the household appliances, such as the toaster and the microwave.
" 'Lo, Harry!" said George. Harry flicked on the light switch, and the two of them jumped, startled. " How did you do that without magic?" George asked, amazed.
Harry laughed. " It's called electricity. Fred's examining the telly right now."
" You have a telly!" George exclaimed. He bolted out of the kitchen in sheer excitement.
Ginny stood quietly behind the counter, holding a toaster in her hand. Embarrassed, she set it down.
" That toasts bread," Harry said knowingly. He approached her. " You put the bread in these two slots and then you turn it on."
Ginny blushed and smiled. " Really?" she squeaked.
They stood silently for a moment. Fred's voice interrupted when he shouted from the other room, " Harry! Some of the people in your telly haven't got clothes on!"
" Oh for goodness' sake!" Hermione voice, irritated, sounded from the room.
Harry smiled at Ginny, who practically melted to the floor when he did. " Do you want some tea?" he asked politely.
Ginny nodded and Harry proceeded to pour water into a kettle and heat it on the stove.
Ginny sat down at the table, and for the first time, she spoke up. " Quite a year we had, right?" she said.
Harry settled down in a chair across from Ginny. " Yeah. Things were so different with Voldemort -," Ginny flinched, " – sorry, You-Know-Who back in power."
Ginny admired that Harry could say his name so indifferently. Ginny, in fact, admired many things about Harry, like his brilliant green eyes, his warm smile, his mysteriously sexy scar…
" I reckon this was the way things were when he was powerful fifteen years ago," he said.
" I hope it doesn't last as long though," said Ginny, speaking clearly for the first time around Harry. " Maybe somebody like you will defeat him again…"
Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He wanted to tell her that he didn't defeat him per say; it was by lucky chance that Voldemort vanished the way he did.
" I mean," continued Ginny, " I know Dumbledore has great powers that scare You-Know-Who, but I think, Harry, I think…" Ginny pursed her lips and hesitated briefly before blurting out, " I think your powers rival his just as well…"
Harry wished he hadn't turned on the light. He blushed furiously, barely noticing that the color of Ginny's face competed with that of her hair.
The two of them sat silently in their seats until the slow whistling of the kettle permeated the air.
Ginny stood up to turn off the stove while Harry got a mug from the cupboard. He had made tea for Aunt Petunia so many times that he felt he could do it blindfolded. Absentmindedly, he tipped some tealeaves into the strainer then poured the boiling water through it and into the mug.
After finishing and handing the cup to Ginny, the two of them stood silently. Sounds could be heard from the other room, where Fred and George were now tinkering with the stereo.
" I'm sorry if what I said embarrassed you," said Ginny finally. " But I do believe it. You fought him so many times."
Harry strained a slight smile. " Er, I don't know if you should. It was a lucky chance that I got away."
" Oh, Harry. You're so unbelievably modest… You saved me from You-Know-Who in your second year!"
" Er --," said Harry uncomfortably. " I had some help…"
Ginny smiled and looked into Harry's eyes for the first time. This startled Harry. He had never seen her act so serious around him.
" You still saved me." He set the cup on the counter with a soft clink and inhaled slowly, a look of determination visible on her pale face.
Nothing could have prepared Harry for what she did next. Ginny craned her neck and before he knew what she was doing, she had reached up and pressed her lips softly on Harry's.
It was a brief kiss, short and sweet, but nevertheless left Harry a little dazed when Ginny withdrew. She picked up her mug and hid her face into it as he sipped from it. The two of them stood there silently for a moment, then Ginny walked away and sat down at the table.
Harry didn't know what to do or think, so he sat down across from Ginny again and saw that she was very red again.
" I'm sorry," she squeaked; the mug did not leave her face. " I shouldn't have done that. I got, er, carried away."
Harry felt very red too. " It's alright…"
But all he could think was he had gotten his first kiss…
Fred and George eventually grew tired of playing with the stereo. They left to mess around Dudley's room, leaving Ron and Hermione sitting alone in the living room. Ron was ogling at the television, the remote control in his hand. Hermione snuck furtive glances at him occasionally. She was inured to his indifference toward her, but nonetheless never stopped trying to capture his attention.
" The Weakest Link…" Ron said, staring at the screen. Anne Robinson, (the host of the show) barked sardonically at another contestant. " She reminds me a bit of you," he said, grinning at Hermione.
" Oh, shut up," she said, hitting him with a cushion playfully. It bounced off Ron and fell to the floor. Ron picked it up.
" Oh, shut up," he mimicked in a high voice, hitting her back.
Hermione slouched in her seat, crossing her arms. What could she expect from Ron? Being a sad sucker for sappy muggle movies, she often dreamed of Ron Weasley being a suave and smooth man who literally swept her off her feet. Yet, sitting on the couch next to the real Ron, she scoffed to herself, feeling stupid for ever thinking such a thing.
Ron grew bored with 'The Weakest Link' and switched the channel.
The screen switched to black and white. " Hey! What happened? The colors are gone?"
Hermione gasped. " This is 'Wuthering Heights'! It's my absolute favorite movie! Oh, Ron, turn up the volume!"
" The what?"
Hermione grabbed the remote from his hand and turned up the volume a few notches.
A man hugged a woman on the screen, both of them looking up to the sky, the wind blowing in their faces. " You are my queen, Cathy!" the man said.
Ron sat back and rolled his eyes. " You like this crud?" he feigned an exaggerated yawn.
Hermione scowled at him. " It's my favorite," she said determinately. " You could learn a thing or two from it."
Ron's head snapped to face Hermione, his face showing a mixture of surprise and confusion. Hermione blushed furiously, thinking of something she could say to take it back. But it was too late; the damage had been done.
" What?" was all Ron could manage to say.
Hermione breathed shakily and chose her words carefully. " The man is named Heathcliff. He comes from an, er, unprivileged place and he's not very high in class. The woman is Catherine. She's the daughter of Heathcliff's benefactor. The two of them had been best friends for years; they loved each other like brother and sister. But as they grew up, well, they began to… have feelings for each other."
Ron shifted uncomfortably next to Hermione, his ears very red. " And what did they do about it?" he asked slowly, an odd look on his face. He avoided Hermione's eyes and stared at the television screen.
" Well, that's the sad part. Catherine didn't accept him and she ended up marrying somebody else… but she was miserable without him."
Hermione and Ron were leaned back on the sofa; both had their eyes fixed straight ahead. Ron had his arms crossed resolutely and Hermione fiddled with the remote control. Neither of them said a word for a while and prevented each other's gaze from coming in contact with each other's.
After what seemed like forever, Ron finally spoke up. " Would you, er…" he spoke very quietly, almost in a whisper. "…do you… accept me?"
Hermione swallowed nervously and shifted her gaze to Ron beside her. " Of course," she said, equally as quietly. " And I'd – I'd be miserable without you too."
She felt somewhat relieved that she had said that, although embarrassed as well. Trying to avoid Ron's penetrating stare, she slowly tilted her head and rested it on Ron's shoulder.
They watched the movie for a few more minutes, both with very confused thoughts running through their heads. The silence went on uninterrupted and neither of them so much as stirred in their seats.
Not being able to bear the tension, Ron put his hand on Hermione's chin and slowly straightened her face to face him. He put aside his fears for what he was about to do and slowly leaned in and placed a kiss on Hermione's lips, which almost immediately reacted to kiss him back…
Fred and George had no idea about the drama that was happening to the others; they were having too much fun messing around with Dudley's toys. They experimented with his Xbox and tried their hand at the computer. After they tinkered with everything they could, they went downstairs and found Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron sitting silently in the living room. The television was showing a cartoon, but everybody seemed to be in his or her own little world.
" So, what were you kids up to?" George asked jovially, plopping himself down on a chair.
Almost too abruptly, they answered, " Not much…" " Nothing really…"
" Well, I think it's time we went home, mates," said Fred. " Your cousin's got some interesting things, Harry. We would stay a bit longer but if Mum finds out we left, she'd have a fit."
Harry turned off the television with the remote and stood up along with everyone else. " Thanks for visiting me," he said with a very quick furtive glance at Ginny. " It was real nice of you guys."
" No problem, Harry," said Ron.
Harry walked the five of them to the front door, where the twins patted him on the back. " Take care, Harry. Don't let the muggles get you down."
* The End *
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