Of Timid Touches

- Of Timid Touches -

By Kay Elle Hunter

The night was rough and stormy. Raindrops the size of snitches hammered against the ancient walls and windows of the castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sending the entire of the atmosphere surrounding it into blurry darkness. Gryffindor students had retired to the warmth of their tower common room, where the fire crackled and danced merrily within its place.

Harry Potter sat on the couch closest to it, catching enough warmth to keep him satisfied. He and his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were enjoying the rare fact that they had completed all their current set homework. Harry watched, amused, as his best friends played chess together. Hermione was openly becoming more annoyed with every move Ron made.

"I honestly don't know why I bother playing chess with you, Ron!" she said irritably as Ron's knight took out her last pawn. "No matter how hard I try you always win!"

Ron chuckled and allowed Hermione time to strategise her next move. "You see," he said, "that's the fun of it, Hermione."

"Fun for you maybe, but not for me!" Hermione claimed indignantly, not taking her eyes off the chessboard.

Harry was used to the way Ron and Hermione got irritable with each other over the slightest of things. Bickering and fighting - ALL THE TIME! This time was nothing compared to others when he'd seen them at it - bellowing at each other from separate sides of the room - but they were, thankfully, much more serious and rarer then little ones like this.

"You know what, Hermione," Ron said, "you just make chess a whole lot more fun. You always get all irritable and indignant and just watching that face of yours go that shade of pink makes me want to smile."

"Oh - well - that's just great, Ron," Hermione said sardonically. "I'm so glad you find my indignant nature that I always hold around you pleasant. Maybe I should spend every waking hour of the day with you - I'm sure that will please you!"

Ron gave her a lopsided smile that made her heart jump into her throat. He didn't know it, but he always had that affect on her.

"You know," Ron said, "I can always teach you how to play a brilliant game of chess."

"Thanks, Ron," Hermione said, "but no thanks. I'd much rather kiss Neville's toad than have you beat me a million times while you teach me. All our bickering and tiny little timid touches would give people the wrong idea."

Ron's eyes widened. "What d'you mean?"

"Oh, please, Ron, don't tell me you're oblivious of what most of Gryffindor house is saying as well?" Hermione said with a shake of her head. "Really, Ron, you need to wake up and realise what's being said and done around you."

"What are people saying?" Ron asked quickly.

"That you and Hermione are in a full-throttle relationship and were caught kissing in a Charms classroom when you were supposed to be doing a Prefect duty," Harry explained, a smile of amusement still on his lips. Ron's expression was priceless: red face mixed up with red hair and a strange gleam in his eye.

"When did this start?" he demanded of Hermione. "We should punish whoever started that joke! Give them detention! Hermione, why didn't you tell me?"

"And have you blow up like this?" Hermione stated testily. "Really, I think it's nothing compared to what I heard Parvati saying to Lavender the other night when I was trying to sleep. Apparently she saw me entering the Prefect's bathroom with Malfoy!"

Ron looked even more enraged at this news. "I'll kill her for saying that!" he said, standing up abruptly to make his way over to Parvati, who sat with Dean, Seamus and Lavender.

"No you won't," Hermione said.

"So you have been going into the Prefect's bathroom with Malfoy?" Ron said, stricken. "Did he force you, Hermione, because I swear I'll kill him!"

"Ron, don't be ridiculous!" Hermione said. "I haven't ever been in the bathroom with Malfoy and I never will be!" She reached forward and grabbed Ron's hand soothingly. "C'mon Ron, sit down and stop jumping to absurd conclusions like that."

Ron looked down at Hermione's hand, in his and jerked his own away before sitting down again, muttering about people and the rumours they come up with.

"You know, Hermione," Ron said as Hermione struggled to decide on which move would be best for her game of chess, "I can teach you how to play sometime."

"I told you, Ron," Hermione snapped, "thank-you, but no thanks!"

Ron shrugged carelessly and leaned back in his chair, waiting for Hermione to make her move. He tapped his foot against the floor impatiently, causing Hermione to throw him a sullen glance. Ron looked at Harry, who still had a smile of amusement curving his lips.

"What are you smiling about?" Ron asked.

Harry grinned widely. "Just the way you two bicker over every tiny little thing," he said happily. "You're bound to release the sexual tension for good one day."

Harry paused to marvel on the effects of his words. Ron's face went bright red from the ears and Hermione's attention was brought away from the game in front of her, her own face turning crimson.

"Release our what?" she stated incredulously. "Excuse me! Harry, Ron and I by all means don't - You know we don't!"

Harry merely smirked and stood up. He wordlessly made his way over to the staircase leading to the boys' dormitories and headed up them and out of sight.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, scarlet-faced.

"I can't believe he just said that!" Hermione said, flustered. "Release our sexual tension... Honestly!"

"Yeah," Ron said breathlessly, looking back down at the game thoughtfully.

Ron knew for sure that he held feelings for Hermione. Hell, he would love it if the rumour that was going around Gryffindor Tower were true. He had had dreams about kissing her and holding her hand, but he had always tried to ignore them and go on with only seeing her as a friend. However, ignorance hadn't done anything to help him, as his feelings for her had gone passed his control. He only wished that one-day those timid touches - a touch of a hand, a hug of thanks - would really, truly mean something. Ron didn't think that Hermione felt the same way, though...

Ron didn't feel Hermione's eyes burning into him as she thought about what he might've been thinking about until she stood and took a seat next to him on the couch.

"Ron, what's the matter?" she asked, slightly concerned about the distant and slightly upset look on his face.

Ron looked at her, and gave a weak smile. She thought something was wrong with him...

"Is something wrong? Ron, you know you can talk to me if there is," Hermione said, grabbing his hand and holding it in hers soothingly. Ron jumped slightly at the contact but left his hand there. "I'm your best friend and I care. Ron, you know you can talk to me about nearly anything that's bothering you. I'm your friend."

Friend - the word suddenly pained every muscle alive within Ron's body, but the sting didn't evaporate the tingles running from the hand she held and upwards. Every touch like that from Hermione caused his heart to beat fast and make his breath catch in his throat as the feelings he held for her overwhelmed his body.

Almost in unison, the two of them looked down at their entwined hands and they, in what would've appeared to be instinct, withdrew their hands quickly. Another blush rushed up onto their facial features as they looked back up and into each other's eyes.

"Damn heart," Ron muttered very quietly as his heart did a familiar flip and he looked away.

"What did you say?" Hermione asked, having heard only an indistinguishable mutter that sounded like a great intake of breath.

Ron was relieved she hadn't heard. "Nothing," he said quickly. "Really, I said nothing -" He stopped as he turned to face her again, only to see the warm, chocolate depths of her eyes burning into him affectionately. The emotion that filled them was that of one he'd never seen there and yet couldn't recognise, either.

Ron's whole body didn't feel existent to him and he looked down at each of their hands, remembering how they had been joined moments ago and the tingles that had ran through his body due to such an innocent touch.

"Sod it," Ron said suddenly and he did something he thought he would never have the nerve to do: he leant forward quickly and kissed her right on the lips, hoping she wouldn't run away or scream at him for such an action.

Hermione involuntarily stiffened in shock and pulled away abruptly, her eyes wide with nothing more or less than complete and utter shock filling them. She didn't say a word as Ron withdrew, his already red face turning dangerously darker in colour. He looked away awkwardly, avoiding her eyes.

He didn't know what to think. He had finally kissed her, after restraining himself from telling her how he felt for so long and she had gone and pulled away so quickly. He now definitely didn't think she felt any form of feelings for him.

Ron's attention was brought back to Hermione when he suddenly felt her resting her hand on his. He made to pull it away when she grabbed a firm hold of it and kept it there. Ron looked up into her eyes sharply, to see her eyes burning into him, her hand making a shy path up his arm until it reached his shoulder, where it softly lingered.

Ron looked at her face, her cheeks slightly pink as her fingers moved off his shoulders and onto his face. The backs off her fingers softly graced his cheeks and ran along the sheer, almost invisible trail of hair retreating down from his hairline and along his jawbone. She paused slightly at his chin before very slowly, very timidly moving her fingers to his lips. She brushed the tips of them across the pink softness before moving her hand to his neck, where it rested at the nape of it.

"Sod it," she said, mimicking him softly, before leaning in slowly and brushing her lips across his. She withdrew very slightly to look into his eyes, but a moment later, he was pressing his lips against hers again, kissing her more deeply.

Is was soft at first, but it slowly grew fiercer as though they were releasing all the emotion that had been welled up inside them for the entire period of knowing each other.

They were unaware of Harry's bright green eyes watching them from the doorway to the boys' dormitory. That was until they broke away to draw breath.

"I told you that you'd release the tension at some point," Harry smirked, causing their heads to whip around to look at him. He just grinned and Hermione rolled her eyes before looking at Ron. Ron, however, was staring at something beyond Harry.

"Harry," he said, "is that Ginny you're holding hands with?"

Harry's grin diminished and he slowly pulled a girl with flaming red hair, the colour identical to Ron's, from the shadows behind him.

"I was going to tell you, but Ginny thought you'd be mad," Harry said guiltily, going slightly pink.

Ron just grinned and wrapped an arm around Hermione. "I'm not mad," he said. "I wanted you and Ginny to get together."

"Well, then, good," Harry said, "'cause we are together."

"Just like me and Hermione," Ron smiled and he felt Hermione grab his hand and hold it.

"I've moved my knight, Ron," she said.

Ron, who had completely forgotten about the game of chess they'd been playing, looked at the board and grinned. "Knight to H3," he ordered. His knight moved its way across the board to sit near Hermione's king.

"Checkmate," Ron and Hermione said in unison.

- The End -