Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters because if I did Ron and Hermione would already be together.
CHAPTER 11-TEMPERED FIRSTS
It was now a week before Viktor would arrive and Hermione had noticed that as the days drew nearer to his arrival that Ron was becoming more and more anxious. As best she could she would try to calm him down, using almost whatever means necessary. Rather than try to use his studies to ease his anxiety she had instead done something drastic, taking up her broom and going flying with him. She had been terrified at first to do it but Ron had been incredibly supportive and his words of encouragement had helped a great deal. They had made sure to have her maiden flight be during a time when most of the students were away at Hogsmeade. The night before Hermione had talked Ginny into making sure that Harry got out of the castle and had a good time. Ginny had been a little overly eager to help in this matter though before Hermione could ask her about it Harry and Ron had come in through the portrait hole and had explained their latest tussle with Draco. That had ended the conversation right then and there as much of the rest of the night was taken up by Ginny and Hermione trying to calm Harry and Ron down while agreeing with them about Draco.
After her first flight Hermione had devised another way to try and ease Ron's anxiety over Viktor's visit. With two weeks left to go she had stopped him from slumbering off to his bedroom and shutting the door behind him and pulled him over to the couch. He had tried to ask her what she was doing but she hushed him and soon the two were asleep on the couch together, with Hermione wrapped warmly in Ron's arms. That arrangement became the norm for the two, as every night would end with Hermione taking a bath, slipping into her nightgown, and then curling up in Ron's arms on the couch in the main room and falling asleep to Ron telling her one story after another. To her credit Hermione had noticed that at those times, where it was just the two of them, that Ron did indeed begin to relax, if only slightly.
"And what did Ginny do then," Hermione asked softly with a content smile on her face as she snuggled up closer to Ron and took in the scent of candy, figuring that Ron had dipped into his stash while waiting for her to take her bath.
"You should have been there Mione, she cast a bat bogey hex on them that lasted for three days, they don't usually last that long but mum was so mad at them that she made Fred degnome the garden while George had to clean the entire house, dad took their wands away so that they couldn't fix it themselves, it was hilarious," Ron replied with an amused smirk on his face as he twirled one of her curls around his finger and gently rubbed the back of her hand with the thumb of his other hand.
"You should have taken a picture, then you could use it against them the next time that they play a trick on you or Ginny," Hermione offered with a helpful smile on her face as she turned her head and looked up into Ron's face as he couldn't help but smile back at her. Within seconds of staring deeply into each other's eyes their lips met.
"We shouldn't be doing this," Ron said suddenly with a nervous and guilty look on his face as he pulled away from Hermione a bit and looked away.
"What…why not, I thought that," Hermione started to say with a very surprised and slightly hurt look on her face and tone to her voice as she tried to get Ron to look her in the eye.
"We shouldn't be lying to Harry and Ginny, they should know that we're together," Ron said with a guilty and slightly scared look on his face as he was finally able to look back at Hermione. Almost instantly her greatest fear subsided and she switched gears.
"Ron, I thought that we'd already talked about this, we're keeping Harry and Ginny in the dark about us to protect them," Hermione said with a still worried but slightly calmer look on her face as she lifted her hand and gently caressed Ron's cheek.
"You told Krum, and he's coming here, why is he any," Ron asked with a confused look on his face as he shook his head and then twirled a little bit of Hermione's hair around his left index finger.
"Because I know that I can trust Viktor to keep our secret, and if he doesn't then I'm sure that you can tell him of our displeasure," Hermione replied with a sincere and honest look on her face as Ron searched her face and gaze for any hint of untruth, but after having not found any at all he relaxed.
"Sorry…it's just perfect being with you and I don't want anything to go wrong and," Ron started to say with an embarrassed and guilty look on his face as his shoulders sagged a bit and his bottom lip jutted out somewhat in a defeated pose before Hermione decided that she had seen enough. Shaking her head while smiling Hermione reached her arm around Ron's head and pulled him into a kiss that she hoped would leave nothing to be misunderstood. Ever since she and Ron had started dating she had found herself doing things that she thought were definitely not her. Getting all giddy towards the end of a class with the thought of seeing his smile in mere moments, lying all of the time to cover up their secret rendezvous', and caring about her appearance more than studying.
"We're fine Ron, nothing's going to go wrong, we'll tell Harry and Ginny about our relationship when the time is right, I don't know when that right time will be but I can assure you that it is not now and it will not be the right time while Viktor is here," Hermione said with a very certain look on her face as she sat up and turned to Ron, interlacing their fingers as a sign of support.
"I hope you're right, the last thing that we need is for a stranger to be the one to tell Harry, he'd never forgive us," Ron said with a very concerned look on his face before Hermione reached up and softly rubbed her thumb on his cheek, hoping to allay at least a few of his fears.
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Viktor's visit came and went, with Ron being as civil as he could to the Bulgarian. Harry had been in better spirits during the visit, though that was partially due to Ginny not letting him dwell on the past or the war with Voldemort. Hermione had gotten through the time while being with Viktor just enough to be called a good host while not staying around him any longer than she absolutely had to so as to not prompt Ron to pout. She thought about arguing that he should relax and understand that she was just trying to play the well mannered host but she knew how active Ron's imagination was, and how quick his self doubt could come back. She knew that a lot of his strength stemmed directly from his emotions. Ever since they had officially become a couple and kept it a secret the number of times that Ron had screwed a spell up had diminished significantly. Whenever he would begin to doubt himself she would walk or snuggle up to him, wrap his arms around her waist, and then softly remind him of that fact while looking straight into his eyes. A few moments later the smiled that she loved so dearly would return to his face and the two would go back to whatever it was that they had been doing before Ron's sudden bout on melancholy.
"I'm proud of you," Hermione said softly with a very honest tone to her voice and look in her eyes as she turned around and looked back at Ron across the hallway after having sent a letter off to her parents.
"What for," Ron asked with a slightly dumbfounded expression on his face as he quickly glanced both ways to make sure that no one was there before he walked over and laid his hands on Hermione's hips.
"For not fighting with Viktor while he was here, and for not getting jealous and starting a row with me or anyone else just to make yourself feel better, I loved you before he came to Hogwarts and I am still in love with you now, that will never change," Hermione stated with a very clear and confidant look on her face as she leaned her body up against Ron's and smiled up at him, lightly scratching the head boy badge on his chest with her fingernails.
"From your mouth to Merlin's ears," Ron whispered down softly with an anxious but relieved half smirk on his face before he leaned down and kissed Hermione's lips, not caring at that moment whether anyone saw them or not.
"We…should get moving, before someone sees us," Hermione groaned out softly with a reluctant tone to her voice as only her rational side was telling her to get moving to protect their secret, her other sides were all in agreement. Stay where she was and snog Ron senseless.
"But," Ron started to mumble back in a soft argument before Hermione let out a sigh and pulled him back down into another kiss.
"No one can see us if we're in our suite," Hermione mumbled with a slightly gleeful smirk on her face into Ron's ear before she took him by the hand and started to quickly pull him along down the hallway as fast as she could go without causing Ron to trip and fall on top of her.
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"A penny for your thoughts," Ginny asked softly with a concerned frown on her face as she sat down on the bench beside Harry, all the while trying not to look directly at his face.
"Huh…oh Ginny, what did you say," Harry stammered out with a lost look on his face as it became painfully obvious to Ginny that up until she spoke he had been off in a sort of dream-world.
"I asked if there was something on your mind, but I can already see that there is so…you wanna talk about it, it might help you know," Ginny calmly replied with a subdued smile on her face as she turned to look at Harry as she let out the breath that she had been holding while waiting for him to speak.
"It's nothing Ginny, really," Harry started to reply with an almost condescending frown on his face before he was rudely interrupted by Ginny smacking him hard on the back of his head. "Hey, what was that for," Harry growled with a shocked and upset scowl on his face as he rubbed the back of his head while glaring over at Ginny.
"For lying to me Harry, I know you better than you think I do, something big is bothering you and unless you talk about it you'll just bottle it up inside and let it make you miserable until something happens that forces it out into the open, and I care about you to much to sit back and watch you suffer needlessly like that," Ginny calmly explained with a very honest and worried look on her face as despite his best efforts Harry could feel all of the anger towards Ginny quickly and quietly leaving his body as she spoke.
"It's not that bad really," Harry started to softly plead with a nervous look on his face before he jumped back as Ginny raised her hand again, with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Don't make me hit you again Harry Potter, tell me the truth, what's really bugging you," Ginny started to say with a proud and confident grin on her face before her countenance softened as her look became soft and sweet. Harry thought about just coming up with some excuse as to what was bothering him rather than admit that he was terrified of the prospect of the fight with Voldemort being so close at hand. His thoughts were interrupted and put to rest immediately by a simple act on Ginny's part. Wanting to keep his attention on her and not somewhere else she became daring and laid her left hand on his left knee, turning in her seat just a bit so that she was facing him sitting sideways on the bench.
"Eh…okay, he's coming…probably any day now, before I always had time to think, time to get ready, but now with it all coming down to the next few days…I don't know if I'm ready," Harry stated back sadly with a nervous look on his face before he wiped his hands down the length of his lap and then stood up.
"It's okay to be scared Harry, but you can't let that fear control you or you've already lost," Ginny said with a heartfelt look of concern on her face and tone to her voice before she stood up and positioned herself directly in front of Harry so he had to look at her.
"Easy for you to say, he's not after you," Harry mumbled back softly with a slightly angry scowl on his face as he averted his gaze from her face, which became increasingly hard to do as she refused to budge from her spot.
"You sure about that Harry, sure you're the boy that lived, but do you really think that he's only after you, you might be the one person that can defeat him but what about the rest of us, you think that he's just going to let us walk away from this," Ginny stated with a very clear and straightforward tone to her voice as she reached up and laid a hand on Harry's arm.
"I know, it's just that when the time comes for our final battle I have a bad feeling that it'll just be the two of us," Harry replied with an anxious frown on his face as he tried to lift his gaze up to Ginny's face but only succeeded in bringing it up to first her chest. When he realized what part of Ginny he was staring at her blushed and lifted his gaze a little bit more up to her chin, hoping that she hadn't noticed.
"Eyes up here Harry," Ginny whispered softly with a sweet tone to her voice and goofy grin on her face before she blushed deeper than she ever had at the thought of what she had said. "Dumbledore won't let that happen Harry, he'll be there for you when the times comes…we all will," Ginny continued with an earnest look in her eyes as she gave Harry's arm a squeeze, an act that finally brought a smile to Harry's face, albeit ever so briefly.
"Really," Harry mumbled back softly with a hesitant expression on his face as he suddenly registered how close he and Ginny were actually standing and how serene their surroundings were.
"Of course, we Weasley's never forget a friend, and you're practically family…so don't even think for a moment that you can't count on me," Ginny replied with a very confidant smile on her face as he gave Harry's arm another squeeze before Harry spoke up after catching her oversight.
"I can count on you can I…well what about Ron," Harry asked with an amused smirk on his face that made Ginny look on at first with a confused pout on her face, one that Harry couldn't help but think made her look beautiful, before her eyes grew wide as she realized what it was that she had said and looked away, blushing so deeply that her ears looked like tamales.
"H…Him to, Hermione won't let him be anywhere else…you know if I didn't know better I'd think that there was something going on between those two the way that they've been acting recently," Ginny stuttered out softly at first before she regained her composure and conjectured about the status of Ron and Hermione's relationship.
"Really, how so," Harry asked softly with a relieved feeling in his heart at being able to talk about something other than Voldemort for at least a few moments.
"Well, have you noticed how they haven't really had a good row in weeks, they used to fight all of the time, you could nearly tell time by those two, but now they're almost to quiet," Ginny replied with a deep in thought frown on her face as her lower lip slid out just enough to catch Harry's eye. He couldn't help but blush when Ginny noticed that he was looking at her.
"I know what you mean, yesterday at breakfast Ron said a whole sentence with his mouth full and Hermione didn't say anything, she just kept reading the Daily Prophet," Harry said back with a thoughtful expression on his face as he tried to think back to the last time that he could remember Ron and Hermione really going at it but was distracted by the sight in front of him of Ginny with snowflakes beginning to accumulate in her hair and her rosy red cheeks as she was looking back up at him.
"Though for all we know they could fight but we just don't see it very often, what with them being Head Boy and Head Girl, they have that suite to themselves and all," Ginny started to say with a calm look on her face before Harry reached up and gently brushed some snow out of her hair.
"It's possible, maybe I could get Dobby to follow them around, see if they fight when we're not looking," Harry offered with a thoughtful smile on his face as he pulled his hand back as Ginny did her best not to blush anymore.
"Do you think that he'd do it," Ginny asked with an unconvinced expression on her face as she took a half step back, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and looked up at Harry.
"Of course, I think Dobby would jump off of the astronomy tower if I told him to," Harry started to say with a confidant look on his face before Ginny frowned up at him and interrupted.
"That's not what I meant," Ginny interjected with a none to pleased frown on her face, instantly reminding Harry of how Mrs. Weasley looked when Ron and the twins had borrowed their fathers flying car and rescued him before second year.
"Sorry, it's just that he takes whatever I say literally, I have to watch everything that I say around him or he'll take something the wrong way and hurt himself because he thinks that he did something wrong," Harry mumbled back softly at first with a guilty look on his face as he took a couple of steps backwards and sat back down on the bench.
"It must come from how the Malfoy's treated him, they couldn't have been very nice to him, knowing them they probably watched Dobby punishing himself for sport," Ginny grumbled with an unhappy scowl on her face as she walked over and then sat back down beside Harry.
"Yet another reason that they should all be locked up," Harry added with an angry frown on his face, a look that Ginny had grown to love even though it was not indicative of one of his happier emotions.
"You're quite right, but until then we need to keep from freezing to death," Ginny stated with at first a chipper smirk on her face before Harry noticed her shivering a bit.
"You're freezing, we should get inside before you get sick," Harry started to say with a concerned look on his face as he felt how cold Ginny's cheeks were before then trying to lead her back into the castle
"N…N…not really, I…I'm not…th…that c…cold," Ginny stammered out through slightly chattering teeth before she surprised even herself as she stopped Harry and then snuggled up against him for warmth. Initially Harry was to stunned by Ginny's sudden act to do much other than move his lips as if to speak but no words came out.
"Yes you are, you're so cold that you're teeth are chattering," Harry finally managed to argue back with a serious look of worry on his face as he wrapped his arms around Ginny and pulled her closer.
"N…no they're…okay, m…maybe just a little," Ginny started to shoot back with a defiant expression on her face before she softened and smiled as she dreamily lifted her chin up until she was staring straight into Harry's eyes. Neither moved for several moments before together, almost as if on cue, it happened. Later both would say that the other acted first, but regardless of who was correct in the end it was on that cold winter afternoon that the two shared their first kiss. When they finally came up for air both smiled and started to lean back in to kiss again when the alarm was sounded, Voldemort and his Death Eaters had been spotted.
END OF CHAPTER 11