Only Her Kiss

"She kissed me."

"Sorry, what?"

Ron stood on the edge of the Quidditch Pitch staring up into the stands. "She kissed me," he repeated, astonishment coating his words.

Harry frowned. "Who did?"

"She kissed me."

"Yeah, I got that." Harry waved a hand in front of his friend's face.

Ron blinked. "What?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Who kissed you?"

"Hermione," sighed Ron. "Hermione kissed me."

"Hermione kissed you?" Harry asked incredulously. "Are you sure?"

"'Course I'm sure," Ron muttered, his cheeks turning red.

"What happened?"

Ron shook his head in disbelief. "I was just about to go change into my robes, but she stopped me. Wished me good luck - you know, the usual - and then she reached up and... and..."

"And kissed you."

"Yeah."

"But Hermione always kisses you good luck before a match. Merlin, she always kisses me good luck before a match."

Ron nodded. "But this time she really kissed me. Not on the cheek." He gave his friend a telling look.

Harry's eyes widened. "You mean...?"

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

~~~~~~~~

"I kissed him."

"Sorry, what?"

Hermione sat in the stands, staring off into space. "I kissed him," she repeated. "I kissed him! Why did I kiss him?"

Ginny frowned. "Who did you kiss?"

"Oh, Merlin! I kissed him!"

"Hermione!"

"What?"

"Who did you kiss?"

Hermione stared at Ginny as if seeing her for the first time. Then she shook her head and whispered, "Ron."

Ginny's jaw dropped. "You kissed Ron?"

"I know! I can't believe it either!" Hermione looked like she was about to cry. "I was just going to wish him luck, like usual..."

"But somehow you managed to kiss him instead," Ginny finished in amusement.

"Why did I do that?" Hermione moaned.

"Hello! Blinding flash of the obvious!"

Hermione scrunched up her nose. "What's obvious?"

"What's obvious is how you feel about Ron!" Ginny smirked.

It was Hermione's turn to be shocked. "What are you on about?"

"Oh, don't be an idiot! You fancy the pants off my brother and you know it!"

"Are you mad?" Hermione hissed, glancing around to be sure no one had heard. "I do not fancy Ron!"

"Then why did you kiss him?"

"Because I... well, because... it's just that... I..."

"Exactly."

"I don't," protested Hermione weakly.

"You do."

"I do."

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

~~~~~~~~

Ron couldn't stop grinning. It was as if his lips were permanently stuck and he couldn't fix them without a crowbar. He grinned while changing into his Quidditch robes. He grinned while checking over his broom. He grinned while giving his team a pre-game pep talk. He grinned when they asked him if he had gone mad. He just couldn't stop, and to be honest, he didn't care one bit.

Hermione had kissed him. And he had quite enjoyed it.

Maybe he was mad. This was Hermione, for the love of Merlin. Hermione, his best friend. Hermione, who did his homework for him. Hermione, who smiled like an angel...

Alright, he was definitely mad. There was no away around it.

He tried to convince himself that the kiss didn't really mean anything. Maybe her aim was off and she had just meant to kiss his cheek like always. Yes, that was it. It was the only explanation. Hermione would never kiss him on purpose.

Even if he wanted her to.

He would just have to focus on Quidditch, that's all. This was the game that could put them in the lead for the Quidditch Cup. He had to concentrate on flying, not on that kiss...

Maybe after the game he'd have to see if a second kiss would be as great as the first.

~~~~~~~~

Hermione couldn't stop blushing. Why had she kissed him? What on earth had possessed her to kiss him? She didn't even know.

Alright, she did know. But it wasn't even a good reason. Honestly, who goes around kissing someone just because he smiles at her when she wishes him good luck? For the love of Merlin, she was a raving lunatic. It was the only explanation. Nothing else could explain why she had kissed her best friend, no matter how gorgeous his smile was.

Obviously the kiss was an outpouring of her mental illness. It didn't mean anything. Certainly not that she fancied him, like Ginny so smugly suggested. No, definitely not. Even if she had admitted it... no, it was just her insanity. Perhaps she should go and see Madam Pomfrey and have her head checked. Take some medicine and get Ron out of her system. Yes, that would do it.

Until then, she needed to focus on the Quidditch game. It was very important, after all. Even a mentally unstable person would know that. She had to concentrate on the game, not on that kiss...

And when the game was over, she would apologize to Ron and check into the Hospital Wing immediately.

~~~~~~~~

Ron played better than he ever had before. He caught every Quaffle that was sent his way, so that by the time Harry caught the Snitch, the score was already Gryffindor 70, Slytherin 0.

As his teammates congratulated each other and were surrounded by the screaming crowd, Ron looked up into the stands to catch a glimpse of Hermione.

She wasn't there.

Ginny waved to him, but shrugged when he mouthed, Where's Hermione? She must have left before the game ended.

Ron pasted a smile onto his face and ignored the vise that was tightening around his heart. He congratulated his teammates and then headed up to the castle without even changing back into his school robes.

"Ron."

He turned at the sound of her voice, his heart beating erratically. "Hi."

She wouldn't meet his eyes. "I... I just wanted to say... about that kiss..."

His grin was back. "It was..."

"A mistake."

He felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice cold water on his head. He could have sworn his heart stopped beating. "A mistake?"

"Yes, a mistake," she confirmed. "I'm terribly sorry. I really shouldn't have done it. Will you forgive me?"

He stared at her in disbelief. She was sorry? Sorry for a kiss that he had thoroughly enjoyed? "Hermione, I..."

She closed her eyes. "It's alright if you can't forgive me," she said miserably. "I know I've ruined everything. But I am sorry. I'm really very sorry, Ron." She turned away from him and ran.

"Hermione! Wait!" he shouted after her, but she didn't stop. Didn't even slow down. Ron sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his windblown hair. So much for that second kiss.

~~~~~~~~

Hermione had never wanted to be away from Hogwarts more than she did at this moment. Unfortunately, her parents were going on their second honeymoon, so Hermione was stuck at school for the Christmas holiday.

Stuck with Ron.

And Harry and Ginny too, of course, but Ron was the one she was worried about. He hadn't spoken to her since that awful day. The day she had ruined their friendship.

Well, maybe that wasn't completely true. He had tried to speak to her in the beginning, but she had avoided him each and every time. She couldn't bear to think that he was angry with her because of the kiss - a kiss she still dreamed about - so she had run away. And after a few weeks, he had given up.

She had decided to hide in her dormitory for the duration of the holiday. She knew he couldn't get in there even if he wanted to, so it was the safest place. She would ask Ginny to bring her food, and she had checked out loads of books from the library before term ended. She could certainly survive for a few weeks with just books and food. She didn't need anything else.

~~~~~~~~

"She won't leave her room."

Ron sighed. "She can't keep avoiding me forever, can she?"

"She'll try," Ginny replied.

"She doesn't even want to be my friend anymore," he muttered. "I can handle the fact that she doesn't want to kiss me, but she won't even be my friend."

Ginny nodded. "She thinks she's ruined any chance of friendship by kissing you."

"But she hasn't!" Ron protested. "We can just pretend it never happened!"

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Have you forgotten about it?"

"No, but I could!"

"Yeah, right," she snorted.

"Shut up, Ginny."

"It's true!"

"I know it's true!" he retorted. "But that doesn't change the fact that she doesn't want to be friends anymore. I just have to accept it."

"You're not even going to fight for her?"

Ron sighed. "How can I? She won't even leave her room."

~~~~~~~~

"Harry, we've got to do something about this," Ginny informed him.

Harry blinked. "About what?"

"About what? About Ron and Hermione, that's what!"

"Oh, that."

"Yes, that!" Ginny rolled her eyes. "Now are you going to help me or not?"

"I'll help," Harry agreed, "but what are we going to do? I mean, short of locking them in the broom closet..."

Ginny's eyes lit up.

"No! Ginny, we can't seriously lock them in a broom closet!"

"Why not?"

"Because... because we just can't!"

"Fine," she huffed. "Do you have any bright ideas, then?"

Harry thought for a moment, and then grinned. "Got any mistletoe?" he teased.

"Yes." Ginny hopped up and crossed the room. Harry stared, wide-eyed, as she pulled out something green from her bag and held it up triumphantly. "Voila!" she cried. "Mistletoe!"

"You carry around mistletoe in your bag?"

"Sure, in case of an emergency," she said with a straight face, though Harry could see the sparkle in her eyes.

"Of course, I should have thought of that. Kissing emergencies are rampant these days. It's an epidemic."

Ginny nodded. "You never know when you might need a bit of mistletoe," she informed him pompously. "It comes in quite handy. You should get some of your own."

"Can't I just borrow yours?"

"Harry Potter! I'm shocked!" she gasped. "If my mother knew how you talk to me! It's scandalous!"

Harry grinned. "Maybe we should get back to the plan."

"Good idea," she laughed. "I wouldn't want to waste perfectly good mistletoe on you."

"Even if I am your boyfriend?"

"Especially because you're my boyfriend. I don't need mistletoe to kiss you."

"Then what do you need it for?"

"That would be telling."

Harry threw a pillow at her, which she ducked. "So how are we going to get Ron and Hermione under the mistletoe if she won't leave the dormitory?"

"Leave that to me. You just get Ron to the library tomorrow evening at 8. Alright?"

"Oh sure, give me the easy job."

"You'll think of something."

~~~~~~~~

Hermione's stomach was starting to growl. Ginny hadn't brought her anything to eat all day, and she was starving. Not to mention that she'd read all of her library books, some more than once. She needed food and literature, and there was only one way to get it.

"GINNY!"

No answer. Hermione sighed. She didn't know why she thought that would work. Ginny was probably off snogging Harry in a broom closet. Way too busy to take care of her doomed-to-be-a-spinster friend.

Well, Hermione wasn't the cleverest witch in her year for nothing. There had to be a way to get to the library and kitchens without being seen. Too bad she didn't have an Invisibility Cloak. She'd just have to be stealthy.

Sneaking down the stairs into the Common Room, Hermione was relieved to see that Neville was the only one there, and he was absorbed in his Herbology textbook. She tiptoed across the room and climbed through the portrait, checking the corridors to make sure no one was coming. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the coast was clear.

She darted from statue to statue, feeling quite foolish when she had to hide behind a suit of armor to avoid a first-year girl. She really didn't want to have to explain why the Head Girl was acting like some stupid James Bond wannabe.

Her stomach urged her to go to the kitchens first. She quickly snagged a few pieces of fruit from the House Elves, eating the strawberries right away and tucking the apples and pears into her pockets for later. Checking the corridors once again, she headed up to the library, following the same dart-and-hide strategy as before. The library appeared to be empty, something for which she was very grateful.

Hermione smiled at Madam Pince and headed into the back rows of the library, determined to find a book that she hadn't read before, which was quite a feat in itself. She ran her fingers over the spines of the books, reading the titles. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the scent of the ancient volumes that surrounded her. This was one place that she always felt safe.

"Hermione?"

Scratch that. She gasped and spun around, trying desperately to find a place to hide. Maybe he hadn't seen her...

"Hermione, don't go."

Curse that boy. Why did he have to invade her personal sanctuary? Not even the library was safe from him anymore!

There was no place to hide. Silently cursing her bad luck, Hermione took a deep breath and turned to face him. Raising her chin defiantly, she glared at him. "What do you want, Ronald?"

"I want you to talk to me."

He sounded so forlorn, and Hermione felt her chin start to quiver. "Well, I don't want to talk to you, so goodbye."

She turned to go, but he caught her wrist. "Please, Hermione. Please."

She closed her eyes against the tears. Against him. "I don't want to talk, Ron," she whispered.

"Then just listen," he begged, his fingers sliding down to hold her hand. "Will you listen to what I have to say?"

She didn't want to. She didn't want to hear him reject her again. She didn't need that confirmation. She didn't need to know that he still didn't forgive her. She had to take the initiative. She had to end it before he could. "We can't be friends anymore, Ron. We'll never be able to move past this."

"What if I don't want to move past this?"

She looked up and saw that he was serious. "What are you talking about?"

"What if I don't want to be friends?"

This time the tears really came. "That's it, then," she whispered. "We're done." She tried to pull away.

"Kiss me."

She sucked in a breath. "Don't tease me, Ron. It's not like you to be so cruel."

"I'm not teasing," he insisted. "Kiss me, Hermione."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to," he answered. "I want you to kiss me."

"But you said you didn't want to be friends," she reasoned. Curse him for being so confusing. And so cute.

He smiled. "I don't want to be friends. I want to be more than that."

"What?" She didn't want to believe it.

"You heard me," he grinned. "I want to be more than friends. Now stop being so stubborn and kiss me already."

~~~~~~~~

"They didn't even use the mistletoe."

"Don't sound so disappointed, Gin."

"But it was perfect!" she moaned. "It would have been so romantic!"

Harry laughed. "Guess they didn't need it."

"Everyone needs mistletoe," Ginny muttered unhappily. "They ruined our plan."

Harry glanced over at his best friends, who were still wrapped in each other's arms. "Somehow I think their plan was better than ours."

FIN