For the Romione Discord Hogwarts Express Challenge

Thanks to accio-broom for the awesome beta assistance!


"Reckon this is the time?" Ron whispered with a sly smile, his head swiveling.

Hermione scanned the station. Hugo and Rose were marching along in front of them, but there was nobody behind. "The coast is clear. Go for it?"

"Definitely," Ron said. "Just remember to stop sooner this time. Don't want to overrun the edge like two years ago."

"What are you talking about?" Hugo asked, continuing to push his trolley towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

"Nothing dear, now off you go!" Hermione replied. "Rose, you next!"

The children disappeared through the wall, leaving their parents alone in Kings Cross.

"Ready?" Ron asked, squeezing her hand.

"Ready."

Together they sped forward, Ron holding his breath as they passed through the brick column. Once they breached the boundary, he yanked Hermione to a stop.

The Hogwarts Express never appeared. They were nestled inside the void between the Muggle and Wizarding worlds, and it was silent and pitch black. Only her hand in his confirmed that she was still at his side.

"We did it!" she cried. "We're in the…erm…where are we?"

"The in-between?"

"Yes, the in-between."

Ron pulled her into an embrace, giggling as her fingers crawled along his sides and clutched his back. "Now what?" he asked with a devilish tone.

"I don't know…what did you have in mind?"

"Well…ever since we hypothesized that this place existed, it's been number two on my list of places to have a snog."

"Is that so? What's first?" she asked, trailing kisses along his jawline.

"Oh, that's easy. Great Hall at night."

"Really?"

"Course! Always wanted to when we were there. Candlelight, starry sky, lots of echoes…"

"You would just have your way with me on the Gryffindor table?"

Sliding his hands into the back pockets of her jeans, he replied, "Gryffindor table, Hufflepuff table, Ravenclaw table, wherever. Just not Slytherin."

"Why not Slytherin? It's just a table, after all…"

"You want to snog where Goyle used to eat?"

No response came, but she pinched his side, causing him to jolt.

"What about you?" he asked, running his fingertips up her belly and over the swell of her breasts. She shivered against his hand, and he smiled to himself. "Top of your list?"

"Hmm…probably Hufflepuff Common Room."

"Really? We've never even been there."

"No, but Hannah Abbott told me it's decorated like a forest. It sounds romantic."

"Think this'll do for now, though?"

Again she made no sound, but the feeling of her mouth against his provided her answer. His tongue slid between her lips, twirling delicately around. Electricity shot through him as her hands crawled up his chest and captured his face before tangling in his hair. Moving his lips down to her neck, a soft moan permeated the darkness and he increased the pressure his mouth was applying to her skin. She wrenched his face back towards hers without warning, crashing her mouth onto his and tilting her head to the side in an attempt to deepen the kiss. The lack of all of his other senses heightened the pleasure, and by the time they split apart, his whole body was tingling, and he was sure he had a dumb, satisfied grin on his face.

"Time to go?" she asked.

"Don't want anyone to get suspicious."

Still holding hands, they passed through to the other side and were greeted by the train and their best friend.

"Alright, you two?" Harry asked, Ginny by his side as he approached.

Hermione bit her lip and withheld a smile as she subtly adjusted her shirt.

"Great, you?" Ron asked, running a hand through his hair.

"We're fine…still on for dinner tomorrow night at Grimmauld? Going to be a bit of a Gryffindor Quidditch reunion; Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet are coming. Since they started playing professionally, Ginny has caught up with them at matches, but we've been promising to all meet up with them for ages."

"Excellent, we're looking forward to it."

Harry glanced between the two of them with a furrowed brow before trailing off after his children. As Hermione jogged over to help Hugo with his trunk, Ginny held up a hand and stopped Ron in his tracks. She licked her thumb and rubbed it over his cheek, just near the corner of his lip. When she withdrew her finger, a telltale smudge of dark red was covering the pad.

"Not really your color," she said, smirking at him and wandering over to the kids.

Dammit. So close.