AN: Sooo sorry for the long wait. I finally finished the next chapter and already thinking about the next one. I have to give a big thanks to McGonagall's Bola for beta-ing this chapter. Another thanks to Aslin's Fire for getting me back into the writing mode. Read them if you haven't already. They are awesome along the other authors in this pairing. Thanks, Ladies. It is femmeslash. Don't like it then don't read it. Lol Anyways Read and Review does this old soul some good.
The First Kiss
Chapter 3
Hidden Beauty
"Miss Granger? Hermione?"
Hermione's head pops up and her eyes widen with tears still falling down at the sight of Headmistress McGonagall. She is wearing a beautiful set of emerald green dress robes. Oh God, she is beautiful. Hermione thinks to herself. Then she starts to mentally smack herself. What am I thinking? I love Ron… or I think I do.
"Hermione? Are you alright? What is wrong? Did Mr. Weasley do something to you?" asks Minerva when she notices that Hermione is still out of it. "Would you like some help? I would hate to see that dress ruined."
Hermione finally snaps out of it when she hears the Headmistress's voice again. "Oh, yes, please," says Hermione. "I am a bit uncomfortable on the stone floor." She lifts her hand to grab the professor's. "I am sorry for running into you. I am sure that you didn't need any more issues with the year ending."
"Nonsense, Hermione," Minerva waves off the apology, "Although I am concerned when my favorite student is crying when she should be happy. Would you like to go to my office for a few minutes to talk before the dance and maybe refresh your make-up?"
"That sounds good, Headmistress," Hermione says quietly.
"You can call me Minerva now. You have earned the right, since you are technically graduated from Hogwarts, and that with top honors," Minerva proudly tells Hermione as they start walking to her office. "You made me so proud of you today. Ginger Newts," Minerva calmly states to the gargoyle.
Hermione has a slight shocked look on her face when she hears her favorite person in the castle tell her that she can call her by her first name. She follows Minerva up to her office and has a seat in front of the fireplace.
Minerva takes the time to look at Hermione when she sits down on the burgundy loveseat with gold trim. She notices that Hermione looks beautiful in her dress robe, that makes her the essence of Gryffindor. Oh my. She is beautiful. She has grown in the last eight years that I have known her. Her hair looks amazing like it did at the Yule Ball four years ago. Wait. What am I thinking? She is too young for me. Snap out of it, Tabby. "Tea, Hermione?"
Hermione looks up and she slightly nods for something to soothe her nerves.
"Excellent. Twinkle?" asks Minerva.
"Yes, Mistress?" asks Twinkle, immediately appearing beside the Headmistress upon hearing her own name.
"Some ginger tea with some of my favorite Newts please?" Minerva politely asks, knowing that Hermione is there.
"Certainly, Mistress," says Twinkle and snaps her fingers, and the tea arrives with a flourish on the coffee table in front of the loveseat.
"Thank you, Twinkle," says Minerva, smiling down at her Elf. As Twinkle pops away, Minerva turns to Hermione and sees the expression on her face. It is one of pride, which makes Minerva happy inside. "I do remember how you abhor mistreatment of Elves, Hermione," she says.
Hermione shifts slightly to the left to give the older witch more room and starts to feel less unhappy until Minerva asks the one thing she doesn't really want to think about anymore, "So what did Mr. Weasley do now?"
Hermione starts to cry again when she thinks about the earlier events. "Must I, Professor?" cries Hermione.
"Hermione, it is Minerva, and yes, you do. You will feel better if you get it off your chest," states Minerva.
"Sorry, Minerva. It will take me a while to call you by your name. Okay, I will tell you. You would be proud of Harry to boot," Hermione quietly answers back.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. He prevented me from destroying the common room by trying to calm me down when I was pissed," Hermione explains.
Minerva's eyebrow rises at that comment, and she notices that some of the pictures nod in agreement. Minerva says, "What?"
"Apparently, my magic was making the furniture move on its own from what Harry was telling me. I didn't notice, but I was trying not to hex Ron, although I did the next best thing. I hit him with my right hook how my father showed me when I was younger. It felt good," Hermione says with a slight smirk.
"Hermione!"
"What? That wasn't ladylike for you. Ugh." Hermione starts to sniffle, "I can't win tonight."
Minerva shifts closer to Hermione to put her arm around her shoulder and calmly says, "That isn't why I was shocked. I believe there was one other time you hit someone, and you know that isn't the answer. However, you did show better restraint than I undoubtedly would have in your position. Now tell me, what did he do?"
Hermione looks up when Minerva puts her arm around her shoulder. She is shocked to see the kindness and care that is shown in Minerva's eyes. She should have known it would be there, but it still surprises her. She gets lost looking into Minerva's green eyes. She can see herself in them and wonders what it would be like to kiss her. She starts when that thought strikes her and tries to move away from Minerva.
Minerva notices the deep brown eyes that are staring back at her. She can see the love and respect that Hermione has for her, and she mistakes Hermione pulling away for still being hurt because of Ronald. She tightens her grip on Hermione's shoulder and lifts Hermione's chin with her other hand to look at her. "Please."
Hermione feels the pull from Minerva when she lifts her chin to look at her directly. Hermione closes the gap while still staring into the emerald eyes. She notices that Minerva's eyes widen slightly as Hermione slightly grazes her lips.
Minerva groans at the feel of Hermione's lips and tightens her grip some more and deepens the kiss. Full red lips deepen the kiss even more. They both moan at the full contact and spring apart upon hearing the sounds from themselves and the other.
"Oh my God!" exclaims Hermione. I am sooo sorry. I don't…" she stops when Minerva puts a finger on her lips.
"You are rambling, and if you didn't notice, the second kiss was initiated by me," Minerva states breathlessly.
Hermione pauses to think about the breathtaking kiss with Minerva that affected her more than any other kiss that she has received. Her eyes light up from the softness of the kiss. "So that means you like me?" asks Hermione confused.
Minerva laughs for a second and stops when she sees that Hermione is hurt from it. "Sorry, Hermione, but yes, I do like you more than words can say."
"Why?"
Why? She asks why? Doesn't she realize how beautiful she is? Obviously not. Growl… No wonder I didn't like whoever she was seeing. They never compliment her. I will have to fix that immediately. She snaps out of her musing when she hears another why from Hermione and realizes that she never answered her.
"You want to know why, Hermione?" asks Minerva. When she sees Hermione give her a slightly worried nod, she puts her hands on top of Hermione's to calm her down. They both take a deep breath. For Hermione to calm her nerves, and for Minerva to tell Hermione why she is liked so much.
"Hermione," she says and waits until Hermione looks her in the eye, "You are beautiful." Hermione starts to shake her head no. "Hermione!" Minerva says again, demanding her attention. Hermione's head snaps up and her eyes widen at the tone. When Minerva sees this, she takes another calming breath.
"Hermione, listen to me. You have grown into a beautiful, smart, funny and loyal young woman. You stood by Harry when he needed you the most. You look beautiful tonight by the way, if no one told you."
"Yes, Ginny did," says Hermione. Minerva nods to that statement. At least someone did tell her, "but, I don't feel it, though."
Minerva growls at this, which surprises Hermione.
"Come here, Hermione," demands Minerva as she pulls Hermione up and drags her to her bathroom. She pulls Hermione in front of her to look at herself in the mirror. "Please see how beautiful you are, Hermione," Minerva pleads softly in her ear.
Hermione looks in the full length mirror that shows both of them. She loves how the two dresses contrast with each other, but it finally makes her realize that she has grown into a young woman, too. Minerva nods when she sees that Hermione's eyes show that she sees what Minerva sees every day.
Hermione turns around and puts her arms around Minerva's back and softly says, "Thank you," as she pulls Minerva towards her for another soft kiss. Minerva accepts it without hesitation. She feels Hermione's tongue on her lips but pulls back. When she sees the hurt on Hermione's face, she softly says, "Let's go slow." Hermione nods and smiles at her, before leaning in and just hugging her then.