Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. You know that. Right? Right.
Dedication: Dedicated to everyone who remembers an awkward first kiss.
Author's Notes: There are some guys who I happen to think look super hot in glasses, so I couldn't help but add that line at the end. Yeah, I'll admit it my first kiss, okay my first couple of kisses, were pretty bad too. Though not nearly as bad as this. I just love torturing Ron and Hermione so much.
Replies: Thanks to Hi Im Crazy, Athenakitty, Frankie B., Tanya J Potter, squidluvr4eva, From the Silent Planet, tigerlily98, Siriusforeva, the Desert Fox*, the Marauders3, BrokenSkye, FrighteninglyObsessed, and Briana Marie for reviewing.
*the Desert Fox—I don't remember it saying Lily and Snape dated. In fact, he called her a Mudblood. I love HP/LL. But I paired HG with RW in this; I paired GW with NL.
Chapter Three: Second Kiss
^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^
SECOND KISSIt was about two hours later and Hermione was in her dorm, trying to sleep. Lavender and Parvati were already in their beds. Hermione had only just started to drift off when she heard a tapping on the window. Parvati slept through it, but Lavender woke up enough to say, "Get the window, Hermione. Probably an owl for you."
Hermione really didn't want to get up. Why couldn't the bloody owl wait for breakfast? Maybe Ron had sent Pig or Hedwig over with a note. She sighed ruefully and slipped out from under the warm covers, shivering.
She went to open the window and did not find Pig sitting on the windowsill. She did not find Hedwig sitting on the window. Instead, perched there was Ron Weasley himself.
"Ron, what are you doing here?" she whispered.
Ron grinned at her, trying not to be nervous. "Can I come in?"
Hermione unlocked and opened the window carefully, not wanting to dislodge Ron. It was only then that she realize he wasn't on the ledge after all, he was on a broom.
He came inside and looked around. Owing to the bewitched stairs, he'd never been in there before.
"What are you doing here?" repeated Hermione, in a fearful whisper. "It's in the middle of the night!" she giggled. Giggling? Very out of character, but she was tired.
"That's why I knew you'd be here. Come on."
"Now?"
"Yes. Come on."
"But…" This was insane. She was standing here in her nightgown and Ron Weasley had just flown in through her window.
"Come on. What are you afraid of? Fly away with me."
"Like Peter Pan," she whispered to herself. It was crazy. She was standing in her dormitory, in her nightgown, and Ron was asking her to fly away with him. But if it was so crazy and irrational, then why was she taking Ron's outstretched hand and walking toward the window?
Ron pushed the window open and stood on the ledge, straddling the broom. He looked back and motioned for her to follow.
Hermione didn't know where they were going and for some reason, she realized, she didn't care. She climbed onto the broom behind Ron.
"Hold on tight," he warned, with a smile.
Not knowing what else to hold onto, Hermione put her arms around his waist. She tightened her arms in surprise as they took of f and did a somewhat steep dive before pulling back up into the air.
"Having fun yet?" he called to her over his shoulder.
"No!" Now she remembered why she hated flying. Flying on a plane was fine. No problem there, a plane was safe; it had walls and a roof and a floor. Flying by broom was like riding a motorcycle, only about a 100 times worse. There wasn't a 60-foot drop when you were on a motorcycle. She buried her face into the back of Ron's robes.
Ron was startled by this, but didn't mind it at all. Up in the night sky there was a feel of freedom and power. "Herm, look at the stars. Just look. There are so many of them."
She lifted her face up out of his back and looked up. "They're so bright," said Hermione. "Back home all the stars are drowned out by the street lights."
Ron continued to fly at a slower pace. The descended toward the lake; flying over it just high enough for Hermione's bare toes to skim the water. She laughed at her recklessness. It was one in the morning on a March nigh after all, and the water was freezing.
Ron continued to fly her around at a slow pace and landed her near a tree. "Sit," he said, smiling.
"What are we doing here?" she asked, looking around.
"I'll show you." By touch he found Harry's invisibility cloak and yanked it off the ground. Underneath was an assortment of a few of Hermione's favorite foods on a picnic blanket.
"Oh!" She said, smiling at him. She sat down next to him.
They ate in the comfortable silence of close friends.
"This was really nice of you, Ron," she said after a while. They sat side by side, both leaning against the tree. Hermione yawned. "Do you know the story of Peter Pan?"
"No. I don't think I do."
"There was a boy…sometimes he reminds me of you. This boy never wanted to grow up. So he went away to live with the fairies in Neverland. In Neverland, you never have to grow up. Other boys joined him over the years, the Lost Boys. Some of the Lost Boys left to grow up. Not Peter. He never wanted to grow up. He spent all his days playing, making music, fighting pirates, and talking to mermaids. He never wanted to grow up. And he never did."
"Where is Neverland?"
"Peter used to always say it was, Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning."
"Hmm…To never grow up."
"You remind me of him sometimes."
"I do?"
"More than Harry does. He didn't get his childhood. You've hung on to yours, I think."
He wondered if this was a compliment. "What about you?"
"Me?"
"Do you ever wonder about not growing up?"
"Sometimes. Sometimes I wish I could turn back the clock. Sometimes there are just certain moments I wish I could freeze forever and never let go of. But then I think of all the wonderful things in life I'd be missing. Life's about moving on, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is."
She shivered in the cold night air and he put his arm around her shoulders. He looked at her, silently asking if it was okay. She nodded and smiled slightly. She scooted closer to him and leaned on him.
Ron was going to say something, but choked. He tried again, "H-Hermione?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember earlier? In the common room?"
She bit her lip. "I'm sorry I ran off."
"No. I'm sorry. Could…could we try that again?"
"You mean now?"
"If you wanted…if you didn't mind…if you're willing to kiss me after what happened last time."
"I care about you too, Ron. I'm willing to give it another try if you will."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Her face was blushing beet red, and she hoped he couldn't tell in the moonlight.
"Are you ready?"
"I guess. They say there's nothing to it. Right?"
"Right." He didn't sound very sure of himself.
Neither of them moved.
Hermione bit her lip as Ginny's words echoed back to her. She moved away from the tree so she was facing Ron a little more. Then she put a hand on his shoulder so that she would have a way to steady herself. "I'll tilt my head this way, and if you tilt yours the other way, I don't think our noses will bump."
He nodded. "On three?" he asked with a shaking voice.
"One…"
"Two…"
"Three."
Hermione and Ron leaned forward at the same time, slowly. Ron kept his eyes open this time so that he would be able to see where her mouth was. Their mouths met dead on (with no nose interference).
They kind of froze for a second with their lips just pressed together, but that didn't last long. Kissing now seemed like it was a natural process. They kissed for a few seconds and the hand on Ron's shoulder slipped somewhat to his neck. Ron's arm, which had originally been around her shoulders had stayed there, but ended up with his fingers caught in her hair. When it came to kissing, apparently mouths just knew things that brains didn't.
When the kiss had ended it had probably only been ten or twenty seconds, but somehow it seemed infinitely longer (though at the same time, all too short).
Hermione looked at Ron shyly and, realizing her arm was around his neck, quickly removed it and set her hand in her lap.
Ron didn't move, but just chewed his lip as though wondering if that had just really happened. "Well?"
"Well?" she asked back, wondering if maybe she was an awful kisser or something.
Realizing Hermione wasn't gong to say anything else, Ron looked at grass, wondering if he'd kissed her wrong or something. Maybe he was a horrible kisser. Maybe Hermione had already had a lot of experience kissing that he didn't know about. After all, she didn't spend all summer with him. Maybe she'd already had dozens of boyfriends that she never told him about. Not to mention that Krum. "W-w-what did you think?" he mumbled, still looking at the grass. "I liked that."
"Me too," she said with a small smile. "I think that went better than earlier tonight. I liked it more."
"Yeah." He grinned; maybe he wasn't exactly a terrible kisser after all.
Hermione inched closer to him and put her head on his shoulder. His arm around her shoulders relaxed and he absently twirled a strand of her hair.
They sat very comfortably like this for a few minutes, trying to decide which star was "second to the right" and whether or not it mattered.
"It's late, Herms. We've got class in the morning. I guess we'd better go back inside, then."
She nodded sleepily; she wasn't even really tired. She was just so relaxed and comfortable that she had no desire to ever move again. Ron rather agreed with this, but didn't want to be blamed in the morning when she would most likely scream at him for keeping her up too late like this and accuse him of making her grades all go down.
"Let's go." He vanished the remains of their snacks and picked up the blanket and cloak. He wrapped the blanket around Hermione's shoulders.
"Thanks," she smiled at him.
"Anytime."
"Maybe we can do this again sometime?" she asked.
"Flying or…?"
She grinned at him. "I don't really like flying."
"Maybe with practice we can fix that. Come on, you're going to be cranky in the morning for not getting enough sleep and you're gonna blame me for it."
"So romantic, aren't you?" she asked, rolling her eyes.
"Just get on the broom," he said, straddling it himself.
She moved in behind him.
"Hold on tight," he reminded her.
As though I need encouraging? she thought. She put her arms tightly around his waist.
"Ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
Ron kicked off from the ground hard, sending them up into the night sky. He guided the broom expertly back around the castle to Gryffindor Tower and peered in the windows until he found Hermione's room. They hovered outside her window.
"I've got to hold the broomstick steady. Do you have your wand on you?" Ron asked.
"Ron, where would I put it?" she asked. It wasn't as though her nightgown had any pockets.
"Ah, good point," he said. "Mine is sticking out of my back pocket. If you wouldn't mind…?"
Since there were a good 6 or 7 inches sticking out, it wasn't really awkward. Hermione let go of his waist with one hand and carefully pulled out the thin wooden rod. She said the opening charm and the window slid open soundlessly.
Ron skillfully guided the broom through the window, but the landing was a little less smooth. The front of the broom was too low and he hit the floor with a thud, Hermione sliding after him. "Oof!" She landed on top of him. She got up, accidentally kneeing him in the back as she did so.
"Watch it, that hurt," he said, rubbing the sore spot.
"Ssh," she said.
"What?" he whispered.
"You'll wake them up," she whispered, pointing at the other beds.
A great snore came from the one on the right and Ron jumped a little. "Who is that? She's worse than Neville!" he whispered.
"That's Parvati," Hermione whispered back.
"Never knew she could make a sound like that." He winced as she snored again.
"You'd better go," she said. She turned and went back to her bed and laid down with the blanket still around her shoulders. Her other blankets had been kicked to the end of her bed when she initially got up. She assumed Ron would go to the window and leave.
He didn't.
Ron went back over by her bed and picked up the blankets down by her feet and pulled them up and tucked her in. "Goodnight, Herms."
"G'night, Ron." She smiled up at him.
He leaned down and kissed her gently on her forehead, with one hand on her hair. "Goodbye." He turned away and picked up the broom and invisibility cloak from the ground.
"Ron?" Hermione asked sleepily.
He paused, "Yes?"
"This summer we have to go to Kensington Garden. There's a statue of Peter Pan."
"You, me, and Harry?"
"No, just you and me."
Ron smiled and took off silently on the broom, shutting the window behind him with a spell.
* * * * * *
"I remember waking up the next morning, wondering if it was a dream, but when I woke up, that extra blanket was still around me with the initials R.W. sewn into the corner," Hermione said dreamily. "When Lander woke up, she said 'I had the funniest dream last night. Ron Weasley was here.' And I just smiled and looked at the initials on the blanket again."
"How romantic," Luna said.
Minnie nodded in agreement. "I knew Daddy was special. That was a great story, Mama."
Ginny looked at Luna without apparently hearing her niece, "Romantic? This from the woman whose husband makes her breakfast and dinner everyday? And whose husband proposed to her in front of 1000 people? I feel gypped." She got up and went to the door. She stuck her head out, "Neville, you don't really love me!" She came back and sat down. "I feel better."
"You've got to remember, Gin, that was years ago that Ron did that," said Hermione.
"Yeah, but remember Valentines Day?"
Hermione smiled. Even after almost 13 years married he was still romantic. "We dropped Minnie and Manny at his mum's. Then he took me to where we went to dinner our first Valentines Day together. Then we came back here for chocolates and champagne."
"When will I be old enough for champagne?" asked Minnie.
"Not for a long while yet, Min," Ginny told her.
Luna asked, "Ginny, didn't Neville, on your last anniversary, surprise you with a 2 week getaway? A second honeymoon?"
Ginny grinned and patted her little bit of a stomach, "And you can see the results of that."
"Gin! Not in front of Minnie," Hermione said, a little angry.
"I'm not a baby, Mama."
"Maybe not, but you aren't that old either," grumbled Hermione.
"You'll have to talk to her sometime about all the facts of life," reminded Luna.
"But not today. The men are still waiting for their dinner," Hermione said, as a way to change the subject.
When they carried the plates into the next room, Ron saw Hermione and stood up, pretending to take a plate from her. He whispered in her ear, "You're still beautiful after all these years. Kiss me."
THE END^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^
Hope you liked this! It was fun to write. More fun than some of the other stuff I'm working on. Some of the stuff I haven't updated in a while is starting to bore me. I'm still writing it, but it's getting boring. Anyway, this was a little wake me up. I hope you enjoyed this! Please review. It makes me smile.