This Kiss...
"Erm, Ron?" Hermione finally spluttered. His expression was uncertain now, but there was determination hidden in there somewhere.
"Hermione, I'm going to kiss you now. If you want to stop me, you've only to say so." He said it so calmly, so resolutely, so bracingly that there were no words in Hermione's feverish little brain.
None that had more than a syllable, at any rate.
It was a kiss unlike any other kiss. It was the sun and the moon. It was the stars and the clouds. It was rain, it was a warm breeze, it was magic, it was primitive, it was simple, it was complex, it was joy, it was pain, it was laughter, it was tears, it was everything and nothing, natural and subliminal, beautiful and frightening.
It was wet, it was slobbery and Hermione hoped it would be better the second time 'round. If there was a second time 'round.
Ron pulled away slowly, a thin trail of saliva connecting their mouths.
"Urgh! Gross!" Ron said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Hermione followed suit. When he looked up blushingly, all she could do was laugh. It was all he could do to not laugh right along with her, so he did, as it required too much energy not to.
"What are we doing, Ron?" Hermione asked him, sometime later. They were sitting by the pond holding hands, their feet dangling in the water.
"We're." Ron halted, at a loss for words for the moment. "We're testing the waters," he said after a long, thoughtful and tense pause.
"Testing the waters?" Hermione looked up at him with a smile.
"Yeah," he said with a firm nod. "Testing the waters of our relationship. We do have a relationship, right?" He looked so worried that Hermione had to bite back her grin. She held her free hand up to his cheek and looked into his face.
"Ron, I've waited all this time for you to just come right out and say it." She stopped right then and looked ever deeper into his blue eyes, lightening with the graying dawn. "But you aren't going to, are you?"
"Come out and say what?" Ron threw up his hands in exasperation. "I've already said I fancy you and you've already said you fancy me. What's the problem?"
"Ron, say it to me." She took his hand once more. "Not to some silly piece of parchment, but to me. To my face. Say that you love me."
Ron gulped. Hard. He closed his eyes for a moment as if praying for strength. When he opened them it seemed he had it.
"I love you, Hermione Granger."
"I love you, Ron Weasley."
"Now what?"
"Now, we kiss."
And indeed it was much better the second time 'round. After all, it was Hermione that was doing the leading this time. She'd read about it...
"Erm, Ron?" Hermione finally spluttered. His expression was uncertain now, but there was determination hidden in there somewhere.
"Hermione, I'm going to kiss you now. If you want to stop me, you've only to say so." He said it so calmly, so resolutely, so bracingly that there were no words in Hermione's feverish little brain.
None that had more than a syllable, at any rate.
It was a kiss unlike any other kiss. It was the sun and the moon. It was the stars and the clouds. It was rain, it was a warm breeze, it was magic, it was primitive, it was simple, it was complex, it was joy, it was pain, it was laughter, it was tears, it was everything and nothing, natural and subliminal, beautiful and frightening.
It was wet, it was slobbery and Hermione hoped it would be better the second time 'round. If there was a second time 'round.
Ron pulled away slowly, a thin trail of saliva connecting their mouths.
"Urgh! Gross!" Ron said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Hermione followed suit. When he looked up blushingly, all she could do was laugh. It was all he could do to not laugh right along with her, so he did, as it required too much energy not to.
"What are we doing, Ron?" Hermione asked him, sometime later. They were sitting by the pond holding hands, their feet dangling in the water.
"We're." Ron halted, at a loss for words for the moment. "We're testing the waters," he said after a long, thoughtful and tense pause.
"Testing the waters?" Hermione looked up at him with a smile.
"Yeah," he said with a firm nod. "Testing the waters of our relationship. We do have a relationship, right?" He looked so worried that Hermione had to bite back her grin. She held her free hand up to his cheek and looked into his face.
"Ron, I've waited all this time for you to just come right out and say it." She stopped right then and looked ever deeper into his blue eyes, lightening with the graying dawn. "But you aren't going to, are you?"
"Come out and say what?" Ron threw up his hands in exasperation. "I've already said I fancy you and you've already said you fancy me. What's the problem?"
"Ron, say it to me." She took his hand once more. "Not to some silly piece of parchment, but to me. To my face. Say that you love me."
Ron gulped. Hard. He closed his eyes for a moment as if praying for strength. When he opened them it seemed he had it.
"I love you, Hermione Granger."
"I love you, Ron Weasley."
"Now what?"
"Now, we kiss."
And indeed it was much better the second time 'round. After all, it was Hermione that was doing the leading this time. She'd read about it...