7/19/05

AL-I-Bus Presents

A Harry Potter Fanfiction

After the Wedding, Before the War

Hello all, Potter-mania is once again dominating the airwaves. Finished the book in a day or so, and I must say, not terribly impressed. It seems clear to me that Ms. Rowling had books 1-4 written well before they were published, where as the past couple of adventures have been hastily scrawled in order to satisfy a thundering demand and begin to wrap up a story that has not been constructed as solidly towards the end. All in all though, I am interested in the characters, and have taken a strong liking to the relationship, or non-relationship, between Ron and Hermione. Many of you may be familiar with several of my works, but I must insist that this work will be smut free. Not even the palest bit of lime, I hope. The road to hell is paved… yeah yeah.

Harry Potter, and all of the characters mentioned below are the original creations of J.K. Rowling and, as such, are her intellectual and legal property, unless she foolishly sold them to someone. I hastily agree to accept no funds, or benefit myself in any tangible manner from the forthcoming tale. This is just me, using the characters that I have grown to love in the way that my insane, and often empty, mind wants to. Flames, endorsements, critiques, and comments are more than welcome.

Chapter 1: Bungling in the Bathroom

The bath water was running.

The red haired, freckle faced boy clenched his upper and lower rows of teeth together. He could hear the soft slapping as the slight waves and undulations of water strummed against the side of the tub.

His breathing stopped. Sweat poured down his forehead and his eyes threatened to pop from their sockets as the boy strained his ears. He swore he could hear as she disrobed. He could almost see the soft, gentle folds of her best robes drag across her body. Delicate garments caressing supple, young skin. Skin which the boy yearned to press his lips upon and stroke with his nimble fingers. Flesh that needed to be explored and searched for…

"Ron! Stop drooling all over the door and let Hermione bathe in peace!" Ginny blew a nasty beeda at him, middle finger dragging low the bottom lid of her left eye as she followed Harry down the stairs. From inside the bathroom Ronald Weasly heard a tremendous splash and Hermione choke and sputter on the bath water. He quickly retreated away from the bathroom door and took a seat on his bed.

Hermione sank into the tub letting the bath water run up to nose level. Maybe if she closed her eyes she would just drown. She loved Ginny dearly, but the girl certainly could throw a wrench in a special moment. She knew exactly what it was that Ron was thinking while he was pressed bodily against the bathroom door. She was thinking the exact same things. Thoughts which involved him busting down the door of the bathroom as she de-robed to enter the bath. All sorts of sordid images flashed behind her closed eyes. Then with a start she realized that water was flowing down her throat for the second time in minutes.

Several hacking coughs later, Hermione sank back against the wall of the tub. She was thinking of Ron. Her Ron, though neither of them acknowledged it yet. She dashed a closed fist against the surface of the water.

"Oh that dense boy! Honestly, if I made it more obvious for him I'd expect to be paid for my services!" Her pout would have been especially precious if a certain Weasly boy was able to see her.

Sighing, Hermione pulled the stop on the tub, letting the water…er go wherever bath water went in the wizarding world. "Odd", thought Hermione, "I must be distracted, I need to look that up."

She reached up for her towel, the towel that she vividly recalled placing about the rod that held up the shower curtain. The cute, adorable really, towel that she had used to pretend smother her best friend when she arrived at the burrow for Bill and Fleur's wedding, the soft and furry towel that caught and held the scent of him, the strong towel that she had pressed against herself, wrapped her arms around, buried her nose within, and squeezed between her thighs. The towel that was not where she left it at all. Suddenly, Ginny's snickering smile was in her mind, "I swear it Hermione! It is only going to be us here tonight! And if you and Ron don't stop pussy footing around like a couple of twits I will be forced to take drastic measures.

Steam threatened to billow out of her ears. She watched spots dance before her chocolate brown eyes. Her mind raced, searching for an answer, a solution, a way out of the problem.

She sighed wistfully, "Ginny, you prat," Hermione cleared her throat, "Ah, uhm, Ron? Are you out there?" For a brief moment she thought he was not, then she heard him shuffling uncertainly towards the door,

"Sorry Hermione, Ginny was just being," she mercifully cut him off, aware that Ginny had been half teasing. "No, that's quite alright, I knew that. I was hoping, well you see, I seem to have forgotten my, towel…do you think you could?"

Sitting quite still in the tub, hoping she would hear him call down to his sister to fetch a towel, Hermione felt her skin redden as she realized that Ginny would make sure she was nowhere near the two of them. Ron would have to…and then he would…unless she…well maybe she wanted him to…oh goodness.

There was a soft knock at the door, "Ah, Hermione. I have a towel for you." He was so cute the way he stammered and stuttered. He was obviously very nervous. Sliding beneath the water so only her chin and up was visible she told him to come into the bathroom.

Ron walked in, his hands covering his eyes. He promptly bashed his shin, hard against the toilet. Hermione giggled softly as he began to hop about on one leg. That is, until she noticed him nearing the rug. "Ron! No! Stop!" but it was entirely too late.

There was one sick moment when Hermione saw the rug begin to slide. Time slowed down. She shot as upright as she could, instinctually trying to catch her friend. Ron's hand flew away from his eyes as he struggled to regain his balance, an act that was doomed for failure the moment he saw exactly how a wet and naked Hermione was. Just as a gasp escaped his agape jaw his foot flew up into the air. Ron's head banged against the sink as he flew bodily towards the tub. Hermione barely had time to duck back into the water as, with a splash and shriek, Ron landed roughly on top of her.

Ron simply could not believe his horrid luck. He had been finally relaxed, reclining on the bed, waiting for a fully clad and fresh Hermione to join him. In his mind he had ran over his plan again and again. Smile, take her hand, and quietly lead her to a romantic place where he would interrupt their pleasant conversation by planting a gentle kiss on her in the middle of a sentence. Then she would be his forever.

The best laid plans rarely succeed. Now he was lying, dazed, in the tub in his bathroom. A small trickle of blood ran down onto the ceramic and into the water. He could feel the soft and naked Hermione beneath his bum, he had landed ass first into her midsection. Meanwhile his head was resting against her…

Ron bodily leapt out of the water and, after banging his head against the shower rod, tried to cover his eyes again. "Oh stop that you git," Hermione giggled at him, and with a gentle push indicated that he should leave the bathroom.

The door shut behind him, "Thanks for the towel anyway, is your head quite okay?" Ron plopped onto the floor outside the door. He rubbed the sorest part of his cranium, " I think I may have dashed something out of existence, but I'll be ok." He lowered his gaze to the floor, "Ah, erm, Sorry 'mione."

The door opened and she walked out of the bathroom wrapped in the fateful towel. Ron could not help but let his gaze travel up her lithe, pale legs as she passed him reaching for her bag. Pulling out her wand she approached Ron, who had risen and taken a seat at the foot of the bed.

"Honestly Ron, how would you possibly get by without me?" There was not a hint of malice in her voice; rather, she smiled the smile that she unconsciously reserved only for him. She used her left hand to brush his longish bangs out of his eyes. Running the delicate fingers of her right hand along his hairline she found the small gash that had opened up. She leaned closer to take a better look.

Ron's tongue had retreated down into his gut. The blood that had been leaking from his gash curiously stopped (much of it rushing to fill another task), and the rest of the blood had also fled from his face. As a result his freckles were especially pronounced. His eyes locked on her lips. She ran a red tongue over the front teeth that she had grown into quite nicely in the time between 1st and 6th year. Whispering gently she uttered several Latin words. A soothing ray of light flashed from the tip of her wand and illuminated the gash on his head.

Her chocolate brown eyes flashed in the radiance of her healing warmth. He noticed that those eyes were locked on him now. Merlin, she was perfect.

Their lips met for the first time ever. Neither thought or heard anything. They were surrounded by each other. Lips crushed together, tongues caressing gently, they shared a kiss that had been several years in the making. All normal breathing and motion had frozen. It didn't matter that Hermione was clad only in a towel. And as the kiss continued they both spoke the same word in their mind…

FINALLY!

Out in the yard, beneath the biggest tree in the Weasly's yard Ginny pulled away from Harry. "Shhh do you hear that?" Harry cocked an eye in confusion. He didn't hear anything at all. "They're snogging." Ginny's giggle turned into a full bodied chortle of joy. Pulling Harry by the collar she leaned in for another kiss.

Fin