Birthday Cake

Birthday Cake

"What's that, Hermione?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, looking up at her friend. She stopped writing mid-word, but her quill was still in position. "What's what?"

Ron wasn't looking at her, but at the parchment she was writing on. His eyebrows were both half way up his forehead, and he almost looked disgusted. "That. What is obviously homework. Homework! At three in the morning!"

Hermione tutted and rolled her eyes, though was slightly amused by his amazed expression. "I need to finish it."

He gave her a dark look. "It's officially Saturday."

"An official weekend I'll enjoy if I finish this," she said sweetly. "So if you don't mind..."

She turned back to her work and she heard him sigh. His footsteps came closer until the chair across her was pulled out and he dropped down on it, sighing heavily again. After a moment, he began to tap his fingers. Hermione frowned, but could ignore it, though she glared at his figures which were unfortunately in her sight.

He stopped. "Hmm."

Hermione felt a sense of dread. She knew she wouldn't be able to finish her essay, but tried in vain anyway. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he pushed back from the table, balancing on the back legs of the chair. He smiled, then let himself fall forward with a loud thump. She refrained from flinching.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump, thump.

Hermione gritted her teeth as he began to repeat his cycle faster. Finally, Hermione let out a small frustrated scream and threw her quill at him, whacking him square in the nose. "What do you want, Ronald?"

The shocked look after the quill hit him almost made her forget that she was annoyed by him. His eyebrow twitched slightly and he rubbed his nose, smudging the dot of ink that had been left behind by the quill.

He sent her a squinty-eyed 'I'll get you back' look before it was wiped away into an innocent grin. With his most mystic voice he said, "Come with me, child. A feast awaits us."

She did what she thought was most appropriate- she blinked. "What?"

He huffed, getting up from his seat and moving to stand in front of her. "Honestly."

She looked up at him in amazement. "Are you mimicking me?"

He smiled at her, offering a hand to help her up.

"What? No! I'm not going anywhere with you. You just mimicked me. Plus, I have homework to finish." She paused. "And your Trelawney voice is a tad bit creepy."

He rolled his eyes, pulling her to her feet and earning a squeak. He kept hold of her hand and started to drag her towards the exit of the common room. Hermione blushed red, oddly aware of the heat of Ron's hand. She yanked it out of his grip.

"Ron! Where exactly do you want to go at three o'clock?" She demanded, failing at trying to sound stern.

"Three o'clock, Friday night, Saturday morning," he corrected her. "I think a feast to celebrate the weekend is due. Plus, isn't it- well, almost- your special day?"

She stared blankly at him, unsure of what he was talking about. "Special day?"

He sent her an odd look before brightening considerably. "Well, you'll see soon enough. Now, enough jibber jabber. Let's get down to the kitchens. I have something for you."

"In the kitchens?" She asked suspiciously, but he had already grabbed her hand again and was once more dragging her out of the common room. "Ron! We'll be caught!"

"Ah, but it will be worth it."

When they reached the kitchens- a long half-hour later, thanks to Ron's idea of "stealth"- Hermione was a little worried. The whole way down he had been grinning at her, looking both devious and amused. She wasn't sure what he was up to, and she almost didn't like it as much as she didn't like being out against the rules.

"Mr. Wheezy!" Dobby's loud voice interrupted her thoughts, and so did the lovely smells enveloping her.

She looked around her suspiciously and noticed Ron talking in whispers with Dobby. The house-elf, still clad up in his tea cosy and mismatched socks, looked delighted and nodded vigorously when Ron finished.

"What did you do?" Hermione asked Ron as Dobby joyously pattered away. She restrained herself from chastising Ron for making the house-elf work.

"Just ordered some special things," Ron replied, smiling at her.

Hermione and Ron sat down as a house-elf came to them, handing them both cups of hot chocolate and scurrying away in fright when Hermione began to thank him profusely. It was better to sit around there, Ron had explained: "Better to be caught full and happy than hungry and miserable," said Ron, his eyes twinkling over his cup.

They were there for almost an hour, slowly going through small snacks, when Dobby returned with one other house-elf. Between them they held a large cake, covered in a dark chocolate frosting and candles burning on it.

Hermione spun around and gaped at Ron, who was beaming at her. The cake was set down in front of her, and she broke out into a grin.

"Happy birthday, Hermione", the cake read in a pale blue. She laughed in delight, covering her mouth in surprise.

"Well, go on," Ron said. "Make a wish."

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and soon the candles were blown out. She picked up the big knife that had been left by the tray but paused before she cut into the large cake.

"Thank you, Ron," she said sincerely, looking directly into his eyes. "Really. Thank you very much."

His smile faltered, but came back, an unreadable emotion glittering in his eyes. "You're welcome."

She cut into the cake, delighted to find it was chocolate inside too. At least he knows my favourite type of dessert, she thought, thrilled at the fact that he knew something as trivial as that. She shook her head slightly, trying to clear away any such thoughts, but she couldn't escape the warm feeling she got.

Before they realised, they had eaten over half the cake. Sleepy and overly full, Hermione sighed contentedly, patting her stomach in the way Ron often did, only to have him give her a funny look. "Um, what'd I do?"

Ron smiled slightly. "No, you have a lot of frosting on your face. Here, let-"

He broke himself off and his hand came in contact with her skin. Her face tingled, and she could feel it go hot as Ron wiped the chocolate off her face.

She looked down, blushing harder than ever. "Th-thanks."

"Welcome," he replied, though it was quiet and awkward.

Coming to an unspoken agreement, they both stood up. Hermione took out her wand and conjured up a box for her cake. She was slightly relieved with the diversion, so that she wouldn't have to look at Ron, yet she couldn't help but focus on the spot where Ron had touched her, the tingle lingering on her face.

They tiptoed back up to the tower, having to sprint the last corridor as they heard the footsteps of Filch and Mrs. Norris. They both laughed as they burst into the common room, sure that Filch, surely having followed them, would now know it was a Gryffindor out of beds at night and would be extra suspicious of all Gryffindor students the following days.

"Filch," Ron laughed. "You hate him, but you gotta love him."

"Yeah," Hermione laughed in agreement.

When the laughter died down, Ron once more looked at her oddly. "Well, um, I guess I should get to sleep."

Hermione glanced at the clock, realizing it was almost six, and dawn was coming. "I, well... alright. Goodnight, Ron."

He smiled and headed for the stairs to his dormitories. He paused outside the window beside the stairs. "More like good morning. Look, Hermione!"

She trotted to the window and smiled as the first rays of sun began to show, lighting up the world in beautiful pinks and oranges. "Beautiful."

"Yeah, you're right," Ron whispered, and it only took a glance to realize that Ron wasn't talking about the sunrise.

Hermione flushed. "I'm not-"

"Yes. Yes you are," he interrupted her. She looked up at him and he stared at her for a moment before he started to lean forward. A rush of excitement went through her, and Hermione's heart screamed yes! while her brain argued that she couldn't possibly like him that way. Her heart overpowered her brain, however, and was quickly disappointed when he suddenly seemed to change his mind and pulled away before he could reach her.

"Good morning, Hermione," he whispered. He made to move, but he paused, hesitated, then quickly gave her a soft kiss on the lips. Her lips tingled with the rest of her body and she felt her heart explode. When he pulled away, she flushed darker than before as she looked up at his face.

He looks so cute, Hermione decided, smiling at the ink blot on his nose and the twinkle in his eye. He was still looking directly at her, and he raised his hands so his fingertips brushed against her cheek. As she found herself leaning against his touch, she pulled away with embarrassment, giving him a warm, shy smile.

"Good morning, Ron," she said before turning away and running up the stairs towards her room.

She threw herself into her soft bed, pulling the curtains close. She buried her grinning face in her pillow, letting out a giggle. She sat up and put her fingers to her lips, where she could still feel Ron's lips against hers. She felt happy, contented, more than she would have been if it hadn't happened.

Them... It felt right. It felt great.

He was Ron. Ron- who drove her crazy and with whom she always argued, but who never forgot her birthday and knew her favourite dessert.

Her and Ron?

Absolutely.