Ron kissed her by way of response. He took his time, touching his lips softly to hers, waiting for her to be the one to deepen the kiss. He was determined, dedicated, intent on making sure that this time was fantastic. Not that he'd felt his performance last time was bad, but still, practice makes perfect, and he was willing to work overtime to make sure that his first fiasco was driven to the deepest recesses of her memory. Besides, he really, really wanted to be back inside of her. Even though he knew he went about it all wrong, even though it only lasted for a few seconds, even though he'd hurt her in the process, he couldn't help it. The sensation of his body merged with hers had been the best feeling he'd ever experienced. He wanted to feel it again, and again, and again, ad infinitum.

He moved from her mouth to her neck all the while working his hands on a slow journey down her body. The only problem was his fellow traveler was impatient and painfully straining against his pants. "Damn," he groaned, rolling over on to his back.

Hermione looked over at him with languid eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Do you mind if I take these off?"

Hermione got up and stood by the bed. That hadn't been his intention at all. "I can leave them on," he said quickly.

"Come here, Ron." She knelt by the side of the bed.

"No," he protested softly, even as he moved over.

She put her hands on the waistband of his pajamas. "Let's have them," she said.

He lifted his hips. "But I want to be inside of you. I'll go slow, I promise."

Hermione smiled then bit her lip. "Alright, I just think it will be better for both of us if I do this first." She blushed. "Besides, it's not as though I don't like it."

"Are you sure? Because-he almost said because Lavender didn't seem to care for it-because you don't have to."

She responded by taking him in her mouth and after that he couldn't remember why he'd suggested otherwise. He sank his hands into her hair, not to hold her in place, but just because he loved her hair. It was so soft and wild spread across his lap. The image of that alone was enough to make him come. How was it that Hermione, brainy, proper Hermione, could be on her knees in front of him, Ron Weasley. He wondered if she'd ever done that before. He resolved never to ask her. He honestly didn't want to know, and besides, she might ask him the same question in return. He was lying on his back with his legs dangling off the side of the bed staring at the ceiling of Hermione's bedroom, when he realized he was looking at pale green things stuck all over it.

Hermione pulled off her nightshirt and crawled next to him.

"What's that on your ceiling?"

She rolled onto her back and looked up. "Oh. Those are glow-in-the-dark stickers of stars my parents put up when I was really little. It's the major constellations."

"How do they work?"

Hermione reached over and flipped off the light. "They absorb light and then reflect it back."

"Cool," Ron said. On impulse he leaned over the side of the bed and pulled his wand from the pocket of his trousers. He pointed it at the ceiling and said a sing-song incantation that Hermione had never heard. Instantly, the ceiling went black like the night and the stickers went from pale green to the soft glow of real stars. "This is what my parents used to do to my bedroom ceiling." He looked over and realized the door to her bedroom was still open. He knew she said her parents wouldn't come up there, but he wasn't willing to risk it. He flicked his wand and the door closed with a soft click. He set his wand on the nightstand and turned back to Hermione. "Come here, you."

Her kiss surprised him with its smoky saltiness and he tried not to think about why. He couldn't decide if it was sexy or kind of gross or a bit of both. He decided not to care. Nearly naked Hermione in his arms superseded all other thoughts. He kissed her more passionately and moved his hand to cover her breast. She rolled her shoulders, which wasn't really the reaction he was going for.

"Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's get under the covers. It's cold in here."

Ron noticed then that the room was chilly. "Yeah, sure." He moved off the bed and she got on her knees and pulled the covers back. "Better?" he asked, sliding in next to her.

"Much," she said, snuggling against him.

Ron was still thinking of the image of her on her knees. It reminded him of something, something good. "Oh, yeah," he said softly.

"What?" Hermione asked as she leaned over and kissed his chest.

"You want to do something different?"

Hermione looked up at him and blinked. Her hair was a mass of curls framing her face. "How different?" she asked warily.

"Just a little. Put your leg over here."

She did as he asked and straddled him.

"That's brilliant," he said, enjoying the view. It was just like a picture Fred and George once had until their mother found it when cleaning one day. "I like this," he said, but as he said it, Hermione folded her arms across her chest. "What are you doing?" he asked, putting his hands on her arms.

"I don't know. I feel really exposed like this."

"Exposed? But I've already seen you starkers."

"I know, but this is different."

Ron ran his fingers along the waistband of her knickers. "Well, yeah, you still have these on, don't you?" He let his thumb trail lower so that Hermione had to steady herself by putting one of her hands on his chest.

"Now, see," Ron said, moving her other arm. "That's lovely. You're lovely. If I was a bird, I'd go about with my top off all the time."

Hermione laughed. "I don't think so."

"I would," Ron insisted as he pulled her down for a kiss and reveled in the feel of her on top of him. He slid his hand down under the offending knickers and began pulling them down. She didn't resist, but ended up having to roll over beside him to really get them off. He slid over on top of her. On impulse, he ran his tongue down the thin scar between her breasts and her whole body trembled. He looked up at her. Her eyes were wide and very dark. "I'm sorry," Ron whispered. She shook her head and he continued to kiss his way down her body, keeping at her with his mouth and his fingers until she shuddered beneath him and cried his name. He wasn't aware that his name could be so sexy. He kissed her thigh and gave her a moment to pull herself together before going out from under the covers and lying beside her.

"Wow," she said, taking a deep breath. "I think that was even better than last night."

Ron grinned. "Actually," he said, more seriously. "I was hoping to do one more thing better than last night."

She looked at him and bit her bottom lip. "Yeah, okay."

He moved between her legs, but didn't press into her. Instead he kissed her breasts again, dancing across the scar with his tongue as he moved from one to the other. It wasn't long before she was squirming beneath him. He poised himself at her entrance and instantly felt the difference. This was a woman who was ready. He kicked himself again for his blunder last night and vowed not to repeat it. He looked down at her. "Alright?"

She bit her lip again, but nodded.

Okay, Ron thought, slow, slow, slow. He inched into her.

She took in a sharp breath and he stopped. She shifted her hips slightly and he slipped further in. She raised her knees and he settled deeper. Every muscle in his body screamed for him to push that last distance, but he waited. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she said softly. "You're heavy, though, hold on, I'm just going to…" She wrapped her legs around his hips and locked her ankles, driving him the rest of the way in. "Oh, that's better," she whispered against his shoulder. It was all he could do not to come right then, but he managed to hold back.

"So I can…"

"Oh, yes," Hermione hissed.

He pulled back and pushed in, stars exploding behind his eyelids as he did. "This is brilliant. Just brilliant." And it was, but only for a minute. He collapsed forward on to her and forgot that she had mentioned how heavy he was. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep inside her, wake up and do it again. Then he felt her hand pushing on his shoulder.

"Ron," she gasped.

He remembered himself and rolled off of her. She whimpered slightly and he looked up, suddenly awake. "You alright?"

She rolled over on her side to face him. She nodded. "Fine. Good even." She leaned over and picked up her wand and performed a cleaning charm on both of them.

"Oh, bloody hell!" Ron suddenly exclaimed, sitting bolt upright.

"What?"

"We forgot the contraception charm!"

Hermione laughed. "I cast it before you came upstairs."

"Oh," he sighed, falling back against the pillows. "No wonder, there are so many Weasleys, can't remember the bloody charm."

Hermione giggled and pulled her nightshirt back on. "It's so cold in here."

"Yeah," Ron said. "Hand me my pajamas. Your Dad is killing me with that cold air thing."

"Air-conditioning."

"Whatever. It's awful," he said, pulling his T-shirt over his head and his pajama bottoms on.

Hermione rolled toward him and rested her head against his chest.

"I always want to fall asleep like this," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"Me too," she murmured before dropping off.