This didn't fit anywhere in the original multi-chapter fic (Six Years) so I thought it would be a better idea to post it as a one-shot than let it waste away in my Google Docs. So enjoy I guess.

Please be forgiving this is my first time writing a more intimate scene.

I do not own the rights to Harry Potter or anything related to the Wizarding World franchise.

Huge thank you to my Beta Reader/Editor, Jacob Mathis! I am sorry for subjecting you to this.

3 May 1998

Hermione laid on her cot in Ginny's room, mind spinning, less than twenty-four hours ago they had been running through Hogwarts, basilisk fangs in hand, trying to figure out a way to kill a giant snake and save the Wizarding world from ruin. Now, well now the house was too calm, the wind outside too quiet. Their world had almost fallen apart and now they were all back under the roof of the Burrow, safe and mostly whole.

Hermione was jarred from her musing at the soft creak of the door, quickly as she could her wand was drawn ready to face whoever…

Harry stood with his arms in the air, holding the invisibility cloak wrong side out, so it was viable as well. Hermione relaxed her stance. She looked over to see Ginny was awake in her bed as well, but it seemed she had been expecting the bespectacled boy, as she was not alarmed at all.

"Merlin, Harry. I could've blasted you through the wall, how about a knock next time."

Harry at least had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry, thought Gin would've told you I was coming." Hermione shot a side-eyed glare at her friend still cozy in her bed.

Ginny shrugged before scooting over to make room for Harry beside her. Harry draped the cloak over the overstuffed armchair in the corner and sidled up beside Ginny, who moved forward to allow his arm to slip behind her. They looked comfortable together, effortless, just like they had been in school once Harry finally got his wits about him.

The couple wished Hermione goodnight, but just as she was about to crawl back into bed her eye caught the cloak on the chair. Twisting her wand up into her hair she walked over to the cloak, running a hand over the worn fabric.

"Harry, I'll have it back down by morning for you to go up and come down." She whispered into the room, and was met with a soft hum of agreement from Harry who was already half asleep.

With that Hermione draped the cloak over her and slipped out the door. One stair at a time, being wary of the creaks the old house had to offer a misstep, she padded all the way up. A sliver of doubt crept up her spine when she reached the lone door at the top of the stairs. One deep breath and she pushed the door open to reveal Ron laying on his bed underneath the light of the open window, one arm casually thrown behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling, very much awake.

"Got turned away, did ya?" He joked, obviously expecting the visitor to be Harry. Hermione shut the door behind her, careful to turn the latch on the door, just in case Molly came to check on anyone, and slipped off the cloak leaving her back exposed to the room.

She heard a soft gasp, "'Mione? Merlin, I thought you were Harry."

Hermione chuckled softly, "I mean if you'd rather I go get him I'm sure I can wake him up, but he did look rather cozy when I left."

"No- no- erm- that's not- that's not what I meant. I much prefer that it's you." All the nerves Hermione had been harboring subsided at his stammering. She rolled her eyes and folded the cloak neatly, placing it on Harry's cot in the corner before coming to Ron's beside.

"Well, scoot over then."

"Right - yes."

Ron moved to the far edge of the small bed, as Hermione climbed in they both turned on their sides to face each other. It mustn't have been more than a minute they laid there looking at one another when Ron reached out a gentle hand and brushed a thumb over her cheek.

"I still can't believe it's real." He whispered.

"Which part is hard to believe?"

"Everything. That we won, that it's all over. That we finally…" He trailed off. They hadn't talked about it, the kiss that is. It had been this unspoken piece of the past day that had worked its way through both of their minds. "That was real, right? I didn't just imagine it."

"You imagine us snogging often then?" A fierce blush flew across his features, turning his ears a bright red as he withdrew his hand from her face. "I'm just teasing… It was real."

The earnest look in her eyes must have dissuaded some of his embarrassment because his blush began to ease ever so slightly. Hermione brought herself closer to him, reaching for his face herself. "Can I?" she whispered, afraid that too much noise would startle the moment. Ron nodded his head as she leaned closer and closer. She could feel his sharp intake of breath when their lips met.

It started slow, agonizingly slow as their lips began to move against one another, falling into an easy rhythm. Soon Ron's hand snaked under the blanket and around Hermione's waist, pulling her flush against him as her hand carded through his hair. It was her turn to gasp when she felt the heat of his hands brush the skin left bare by her tank top riding up. Ron took the opportunity to slip off her lips and kiss a trail on her neck.

"Tell me if anything I'm doing isn't okay. I want- I want this to be whatever you want it to be." His voice low in her ear before planting an open kiss right below her ear, eliciting a soft moan from her at the attention to the pulse point.

"I just- want you." She said in between breaths, moving her hands over his shoulders and down his chest.

"You have me, however much of me you want. It's all yours. I'm all yours." Her hands found purchase at the hem of his shirt as she pulled it upward. Ron broke from his grasp on her to pull the shirt over his head in one swift motion. She threw her leg over his hips shifting her weight to straddle his lap, pulling his face back to meet hers in a fevered kiss. Now when she ran her hands over him she felt the winding paths of his scars unencumbered by the fabric as they twisted and turned over his chest and arms. She found her fingers following the paths they wove over his skin as his muscles flexed holding her closer and closer to him. It was all so inherently Ron, so naturally them, she knew exactly how she wanted this night to go. Pulling her wand from it's precarious place in her hair, she broke their kiss as her curls tumbled haphazardly around her face. In the moonlight his sapphire eyes shone, taking in every inch of her as they sat there catching their breaths. Then she muttered a contraceptive charm over both of them, maintaining their matched gaze as she said the words.

"Are you sure?" He asked. Hermione nodded, leaning her forehead against his.

"Yes." She said keeping her eyes closed as she tried to count his heartbeats.

"Okay." Ron spoke with a new confidence, it sparked something deep within her as he wrapped one arm tightly around her waist and in one smooth motion flipped the pair to where Hermione was lying on her back. She half sat up sliding her tank top off with a little shimmy before tossing it to the floor with his shirt.

Ron sat back on his heels between her knees taking a moment to look at her in the dim light of his bedroom. Hermione Granger was in his bed, with him, telling him she wanted him. Even the Mirror of Erised couldn't compare to the vision in front of him.

"Merlin, you're beautiful." It slipped from his lips so easily, like he had said it a thousand times.

Hermione smiled, sweet and loving, "You have all the time in the world to look at me. Right now I want you to touch me."

He leaned over one hand supporting him, while the other traced up her thigh, skimming over her shorts, until his fingers were grazing her side, up each rib, until it finally reached her breast. Gingerly, he worked his hand over the tissue, doing what he could to massage her as his lips found purchase at her collarbone. His calloused thumb ran over her nipple, causing her to moan ever so slightly, but he felt the reassuring vibration through his mouth against her throat. He repeated the motion again as Hermione's nails made their presence known along his back. His lips dipped lower, making a path down to her other breast as he slowly dropped his weight onto an elbow using the hand from his supporting arm to splay across her ribs holding her in place as she writhed ever so slightly at the stimulation. He let his fingers grip into her skin as his thumb slid over the raised remnants of the scar there.

They both had them, reminders of the path it took for them to get here, the battles they fought to live in a free world where they could be together, where they could build a life. Ron felt like this moment, in his tiny room in the attic, this is where that life was about to start, right now.

He made his way back up kissing her neck as his hand on her breast ventured further down her body, finding the elastic edge of her shorts. Slowly, his hand slipped below the fabric to discover her silky knickers were already working their way to being thoroughly soaked. He began massaging there trying to take note of what caused her to react the most, eventually when he thought she was sufficiently worked up his hand slipped inside her knickers until he was right against her, cupping her mound. Her breath was coming steadily in his ear while he slipped one finger inside of her and then a second, letting her adjust to the intrusion before he started to move his hand again. Curling his fingers inside of her, allowing his thumb to make gentle circles on her clit. It didn't take long before her breath was coming in sharper, a soft whimper building in her throat. She held onto him as her walls pulsed around his fingers, he continued to move his hand helping her to ride through the high.

Suddenly Ron was very thankful for how much his brothers had overshared over the years, because if a few, well many, embarrassing stories could help him make her feel like that Ron would happily sit through as many torturous hours as it had taken.

Soon her breathing had evened back out and Ron slipped his hand out of her shorts, pulling back from her slightly to give her some room to breathe.

"And where do you think you're going?" Hermione said, sitting up enough to latch her lips onto his neck, just above the tendril scar that wraps its way around. "I'm not even started with you yet."

Her hands trailed low on his waist, one slipping easily into his flannel pajama pants to wrap around his thick shaft. Any hesitancy that Ron had had was not mirrored in Hermione. She moved her grip up and down his length, pulling a raspy breath from his lungs as his hand twisted in the sheets beside her head. "Bloody hell, 'Mione."

"Too much?" She asked, loosening her grip slightly.

"No, not at all." Something keyed up in his brain. Looping his thumbs into the elastic of her shorts and knickers, pulling them down her legs together before tossing them off the bed with their shirts. At Hermione's insurance his pajamas and boxers joined them.

Her hands held his face as they laid back down. Ron hovering over her again, but now with nothing in between them the situation took on new meaning. They were on a precipice that neither wanted to walk back from. With a simple reassuring nod of Hermione's head, Ron lined himself up and then slowly pushed himself inside of her.

Hermione buried her head in his shoulder for a moment, taking deep, steady breaths. "I'm okay. Just need a moment to adjust." Ron held himself as still as possible, focusing all the energy he could muster to keep himself from moving like his body wanted him to. After her moment Hermione urged Ron to move, and he pulled his hips back just enough and began to rock into her in a steady motion. It didn't take long before the two had the hang of it: Ron's thrusts growing more confident, driving himself into Hermione with the rhythm she set as she rolled her hips against him.

His hand wound its way through her dark curls using his grip at the nape of her neck to pull her further against him with each thrust. Her hands felt like they were everywhere, moving up and down his arms, sliding her nails against his chest and back. It was like she was trying to memorize every inch of him with her touch alone.

Sooner than he would have like Ron felt his impending release, determined to leave her satisfied he slipped a hand between them and began to match their rhythm with his hand on her clit once more. It didn't take long before he heard the sounds of her impending orgasm again. The soft whimper in his ear before capturing her mouth in an all consuming kiss as she tumbled over the edge. The pulsating sensation of her pleasure pushed him over the edge as he stilled inside of her. Once she came down he withdrew himself from her, extricating himself from the tangled mess of sheets they had created.

Hermione laid in the middle of the bed catching her breath as Ron grabbed his wand casting a few cleaning charms in quick succession over them, their clothes, and the bed itself.

Hermione watched as Ron pulled on his bottoms, but didn't bother with his shirt as he handed her her clothes. She rolled to sit on the edge of the bed while she dressed, not bothering to fully stand as she was sure her legs would feel weak. As soon as her tank top was in place she felt a hand on her hip as Ron placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder. He took her hand and pulled her back to bed as she crawled under the now clean and sweat-free sheets to tuck herself into Ron's side.

Looking up at the moonlit ceiling, Hermione watched the Cannon's players fly back and forth on the poster hung there when a thought struck her.

"Had you ever- I mean- have you?" It didn't matter, not really, they were together now and that's all that mattered, but she still wanted to know. Her curiosity getting the better of her once again.

"No, well some of that, but not- not all of it."

"Okay." There was a long pause.

"Had you?" Ron asked, both of them staring straight up at the ceiling still. It was easier to ask these kinds of questions this way, without having to watch each other's reactions, covered by the safe blanket of darkness.

"No. Can't say I've ever really had anyone that was really an option."

"But Viktor-"

"Was never more than a friend." She finished. Hermione looked over at Ron using her hand on his jaw to prompt him to meet her eyes. "It's always been you. No one else."

"No one else." He repeated, almost in awe. "It's only ever been you for me too. Anyone else was just a distraction… I didn't feel like I could ever really deserve you."

Hermione gave him a small reassuring smile, "it's not about deserving though. It's always a choice. And I'll choose you, every time."

Ron leaned down and kissed her, this time was not as fevered as the last few, but the love was there all the same, soft and sweet, an ever growing reminder that they now had time. They had the rest of their lives to figure everything out and they would do it together.

Hermione drifted to sleep tucked into Ron's side, feeling safer than she had in months.