Carpe Diem

Hermione looked uncertain for a moment before laughing.

"Well, what's the worst you could do?" she joked. "Sure why not. But I refrain from promising to not threaten or inflict bodily harm."

Ron's eyes grew wide with shock for a moment. He took a deep breath, then looked down at Hermione's nonchalant face. This is it, he told himself. You either make it or break it.

"Okay, close your eyes."

Hermione gave him a questioning look before shrugging and slowly closing them.

Ron took yet another deep breath before snapping his eyes shut and leaning down towards his best friend's lips. He could almost feel her breath on his skin. It was scarier than he ever imagined it be. Trust Dean and Seamus to say it was a piece of cake, kissing a girl. More like a piece of Hagrid's cake.

Hermione's eyes flew open the moment his lips touched hers, but before she knew it, she was kissing him back. Even if it was only a timid first kiss, the two couldn't help but drown in it, the first time their lips had ever met. It was almost as if time and space ceased to exist. As if the two of them were all that mattered in the world. As if.

"Ehem,"

The two jumped apart quicker than you could say 'shame'. Ron's face, which was already red from the kiss, turned a brilliant shade of magenta while Hermione just hid her head in her hands.

"Parvati," she muttered before running down the hall with her book bag on the verge of falling off her shoulder.

Ron turned around to find a smirking Harry.

"I'm not gonna say anything. But you're gonna be late for Charms if you don't hurry up," he said.

Ron could tell that the teenager was trying all her could not to bow over laughing.

"It's not funny," he retorted disgruntledly.

"Of 'course it's not," came his friend's reply.

"It's not!"

The two were silent as they half walked half ran up the moving stairs. Ron by now looked like he had run a marathon and Harry just looked like, well, Harry.

"Ron and 'Mione sitting in a tree," the raven haired boy sung under his breath as the pair began taking the steps two by two. "K-I-Double S-I-N-G. First comes love, second comes marriage. Third comes ten billion red heads in a carriage."

"Immature prick,"

For some strange reason, this caused Harry to burst into laughter.

"You even SOUND like 'Mione. What is the world coming to?"

By now they had reached the Charms classroom. Ron muttered a quick apology to Professor Flitwick and threw another insult Harry's way before looking around for a seat.

Hermione was talking animatedly with Parvati and Lavender, well, more like Lavender and Parvati were talking animatedly at Hermione. She was listening with a lot of interest and Ron couldn't help but wonder if the Ditzy Chicks had managed to convert her into an airhead. And it would've all been his fault.

Snapping out of it, Ron went to sit with Harry who was currently trying to make the Ravenclaw next to him stop crying. They were learning Woeful Charms today.

It was just an average hour-long class, but to Ron it seemed to drone on for years. He just waned to go to the commonroom and think. Two exploding pincushions and seven wailing girls later, he was finally released from the hell in disguise.

It took only five minutes for him to be broken from his reverie. The culprit was none other than Mariana Brocklehurst, the transfer third year who was OBSESSED with his bestfriend. Ron was about to launch into his set speech of "No, I can't give out Harry's address, no, I'm not telling you if he's single or not and NO! I will not tell you whether he wears boxers or briefs!" He had had to use that speech so many times already, especially with Harry 'hansoming up' as Lavender called it. But today was Ron's lucky day. All the brunette did was walk up to him, blush, mutter a small 'hi' and shove a piece of wrinkled parchment in his hand.

Upon opening it, he found Hermione's neat, curved script:

Ron,

Well, erm. just look up 'dilligère' in a Lartin dictionary, okay? And it'll tell you how I feel about you. I don't know how to say it so I hope that explains it. Are you still up for the ball? I'm really looking forward to it.

Bye!

Hermione

P.S Don't be offended because I'm romantically challenged.