Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

Hermione Granger looked up from her studies to see the Great Hall had mostly emptied of students. Empty plates and cups on the four house tables were quietly disappearing as they returned to the school kitchens to be washed and put away for the next meal. Here and there were scattered pie tins that still held a few slices of their dessert for the evening.

Glancing at her watch Hermione saw that it was, indeed, past time for her to return to the Gryffindor common room. As she was stuffing her books into her bag Hermione noticed one of the pie tins and paused. Harry and Ron had left for practice so quickly they hadn't even had dessert. Hermione briefly worried at her lip as she contemplated taking some of the cherry pie back to the common room for her friends.

Finally giving in Hermione grabbed two forks and slipped them into a pocket of her robes. There weren't any clean plates left so she placed two pieces of pie on napkins and covered them with another napkin. Standing, Hermione slung her bag over her shoulder, scooped up the pie slices and exited the Great Hall.

~*~

The common room was almost empty a few hours later while Hermione sat quietly at her favorite table by the fire. Six years at Hogwarts had taught her that fall nights in Gryffindor tower could be quite chilly. Her homework for the weekend already complete and stowed safely in her bag back up in her Head Girl room, Hermione was re-reading Hogwarts, A History while waiting for Ron and Harry to return from practice. It was past eleven and every couple of minutes Hermione would look up from her book toward the portrait hole entrance expecting to see Ron, Harry, and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team entering the common room. Each time there was no one there and she would glance at her watch; this was a very long Quidditch practice. Sighing, Hermione returned her attention to her book.

A few minutes later Hermione heard a noise and looked up again. This time it was to see her two best friends emerging from the portrait hole followed by a disgruntled Ginny Weasley and the rest of the Gryffindor team.

Ginny nodded wearily to a confused Hermione and somewhat tersely said, "Good night, Hermione," as she proceeded up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Silently the rest of the team followed her lead and dragged themselves off to bed.

Hermione turned to Ron and Harry and asked, "What on Earth happened at practice?"

"Nothing," rasped Ron, his face turning one shade of pink.

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "Ron, what happened to your voice?"

Harry snorted before Ron could answer and Ron gave him a dirty look. "In answer to both your questions," said Harry, "our new team captain brought us in off the field when it got dark and then proceeded to talk us to death for the past three hours."

"I did not!" Ron croaked, wincing. "There were some crucial things I felt we needed to go over."

"Ron," said Harry tiredly rubbing a hand over his face. "Nothing you said was so critical that it couldn't have been spread out over tomorrow's and Sunday's practices instead of boring us all into a stupor."

Ron looked hurt. "Was I that bad?"

Sighing, Harry said, "You're channeling Wood ten times more than Angelina ever did." Clapping a hand on his friend's shoulder he added, "I'm beat. I'm going to bed. Good night, Ron. Hermione."

"Good night, Harry," said Hermione as she and Ron watched him head up the stairs to the boys dormitories.

Throwing himself into the chair next to Hermione, Ron ignored his lack of voice and said, "I can't believe I was that bad."

Hermione winced at Ron's voice and smiled. She remembered how excited Ron had been when McGonagall had named him Quidditch captain and the private fear he had shared with her about not being able to do a good job and live up to their professor's expectations. Hermione had taken Ron's hand and told him she was proud of him and knew he could do whatever he set his mind to. Ron had grinned at her and held on to her hand and hadn't let go until it was time to go to dinner.

"Clearly," said Hermione, "you were talking for a very long time."

Ron turned a few shades pinker. "I just want the team to do well," he said. "I thought sure you would understand."

Putting a hand on Ron's arm Hermione said, "I do." Then she brightened. "And, I have something that might cheer you up. Look." She indicated the covered napkins on the table next to her open book. "I brought you some dessert."

Ron smiled. "Two desserts?"

"Well, one was for Harry but I forgot before he went upstairs."

"It won't be any good tomorrow," said Ron thoughtfully.

Laughing, Hermione produced the forks from her pocket. She handed him one and then set the other on the table. "You can have them both."

Ron wore the expression he always wore when sweets were involved: like Christmas had come early. "I adore you," he said unthinkingly. Hermione blushed as Ron whisked the napkin off the top of one of the pie slices. "Cherry pie," he said happily as he dug in.

Hermione watched as Ron closed his eyes to savor the first bite. Not the neatest of eaters, especially when it came to desserts, a bit of cherry juice trickled out the corner of Ron's mouth.

"Uh, Ron?"

He opened his eyes and looked questioningly at Hermione.

"You have something on your face. Just here." She pointed and Ron nodded his thanks as he picked a napkin up off the table. The trouble was it was the same napkin that had been covering the pie and cherry filling had leaked on it so when Ron wiped his mouth he just smeared more red on his face.

Stifling a giggle, Hermione threw up a hand to cover her smile. The gesture was not lost on Ron.

"What?" he asked.

When Hermione didn't answer Ron looked around for something to see his reflection in. He spotted a small compact that Lavender had left on the other side of the table when she'd gone up to bed. He opened it and looked in the small mirror. "Oh, great," he muttered scratchily. "Like my face needs help turning red."

Hermione laughed outright and Ron turned towards her. "Think it's funny, do you?" he asked.

Still giggling, Hermione nodded. Without another word Ron took the napkin that was still in his hand and rubbed it on Hermione's face.

Hermione's laughter abruptly cut off. Her eyes widened as she looked at Ron in shock. "I can't believe you," she started.

Knowing a full-out Hermione tirade was on the way, Ron dropped the napkin on the table to retrieve the fork he'd abandoned for the compact. Not taking his eyes from Hermione's face, Ron dug the fork into the slice of pie. The napkin it was on slid a short way on the table making it a bit more difficult than he would have liked but he finally speared a piece.

"Honestly, Ron, why would you do something like that? I just--"

Here Ron quickly shoved the fork in Hermione's open mouth. He grinned as she instinctively shut her mouth and chewed all the while looking around for something to wipe her face with.

Finally taking pity on her, Ron reached out with his free hand and wiped her face with the sleeve of his robes while she made a face. He was still grinning as he leaned in to make sure he hadn't missed a spot when his smile began to fade. Suddenly the entire dynamic between them changed.

Hermione swallowed as Ron's gaze focused on her mouth. They were both still for a moment. "Ron?" Hermione whispered.

"You, er, I missed a spot," he rasped as he moved closer to her.

Hermione's eyes fluttered closed as she anticipated what Ron was about to do and she thought how sexy his voice was, all gravelly from overuse.

Ron gently kissed the edge of Hermione's mouth and his tongue flicked out to lick up the drop of cherry juice from the filling. He lingered as long as he felt she would let him before pulling back.

Hermione opened her eyes and they stared at each other. They both realized that this was a moment they'd been waiting for for a long time and neither was in a hurry for it to end. Noticing that Ron still had filling on his face, Hermione decided she really ought to return the favor. Summoning her courage she said, "You still have filling on your face."

"Do I?" Ron asked, grinning wickedly. When Hermione nodded Ron continued. "Do you think you could help me with that?"

Hermione nodded again. Moving closer to Ron she closed her eyes and tentatively kissed the corner of his mouth. Following his lead she licked the juice. Ron sighed and, encouraged, Hermione allowed herself to trace Ron's lips with her tongue, gathering the pie filling off his face. When she felt she'd gotten it all she reluctantly pulled away, trying to catch her breath.

Ron was having similar difficulty breathing but wasn't in a hurry to have his heart rate return to normal just yet. Again without looking he reached for the pie on the table. The fork again slid the napkin across the surface of the table before he finally managed to get a piece of pie on it.

"I think," said Ron, "you should have another piece of pie."

A gleam appeared in Hermione's eyes. "Really?"

Ron nodded. "Oh, yeah," he said as he brought the fork up to her face.

Hermione obediently opened her mouth as Ron fed her the piece of pie. Ron watched for what seemed an eternity as Hermione slowly chewed and finally swallowed.

"Did I get it all?" she asked rather cheekily.

Ron grinned. "Nope."

"Where did I miss?"

"Right here," said Ron and he kissed her full on the lips.

After a moment and still kissing, Hermione blindly took the fork from Ron and reached toward the table. After some fumbling, the still-sliding napkin came to rest against something and she got a piece of pie on the fork.

Breathing heavily she pulled away from Ron and smiled. She held up the fork and said, "Your turn."

~*~

Hermione was practically skipping down the stairs to the common room the next morning. She found Harry sitting at the table where she and Ron had had dessert the evening before.

"Ron already went to breakfast," Harry informed her.

Hermione tried to hide her disappointment as Harry continued. "He was in a really good mood and wanted to get out on the Quidditch Pitch as soon as possible. He said the sooner practice started the sooner it could end and he had other things he wanted to spend the day doing." Looking at Hermione Harry asked, "Do you know what he's got planned? From the way he was talking it seemed to involve you."

Hermione thought quickly as she tried to hide her grin. "I told him if he didn't talk the team to death I'd help him with his charms homework," she said.

Harry looked at her shrewdly but finally just shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I thought I'd wait for you for breakfast," he said.

"Thanks."

Harry stood up from his chair and took a couple of steps toward the portrait hole entrance. Suddenly he stopped. "Oh, by the way," he said turning back to the table. "I found this here this morning. I thought you might be looking for it."

Hermione smiled as Harry handed her an open book from the table. Her smile faded when Harry said, "I'm just sorry someone spilled something on it."

"What?" Hermione gasped. After all, books were treasured friends and companions and were to be treated as such. How dare someone be so careless around any book let alone one that belonged to her. She looked at her copy of Hogwarts, A History and her eyes widened as she saw that there was cherry pie filling covering the bottom half of page 137. At first she was horrified at the damage done to one of her favorite books and she vaguely felt Harry patting her on the back in sympathy. Then she remembered the evening before, how the filling must have gotten there, and she smiled. She closed the book with a snap and grinned at a surprised Harry. "Thanks," she said. "Shall we head to breakfast?"

Harry watched Hermione with a look of confusion as she climbed through the portrait hole and left the common room. He couldn't believe she hadn't seemed at all bothered by the damage someone had inflicted on her book. Finally, shrugging his shoulders, Harry followed her to breakfast.