Complicated Kissing

Complicated Kissing

Author: WeasleyGirl-Yeah

Hermione wondered when she first found out that she was hopelessly in love with her best friend. She wondered when she first came to love that boy so much--in the romantic sense. It was impossible. It was irrational. It was simply unreal. Hermione Granger--in love? Oh, please, it even sounded dumb. She sunk in her favorite squishy chair even further and buried her red face in her Charms textbook.

The object of her infatuation was on the carpet in front of her, playing a game of gobblestones with their other best friend. He laughed in triumph when he made a great play. Hermione peered over the top of her book and watched him in fascination. He'd never know about these little glimpses. That's when he turned his head around to face her and her nose was in her book again.

"Are you still reading that?" he asked her curiously. That innocent tone made her lips curl into a smile and she nearly melted at the sound of his voice. It was hard to imagine that every time he talked, she felt like this. She was finding out that being in love was very difficult and arduous.

"Yes, I'm still reading this, Ron," Hermione sighed with agitation. Oh, yes, she'd done this many times. He would ask her a question--for the tenth time--and she'd sound annoyed with him. She never realized how good of an actress she really was until these moments in life.

"Sorry, I was just asking," Ron mumbled, sounding a little put out. He turned his head and went back to beating Harry Potter, their best friend, in gobblestones, which was unusual; Ron wasn't that good in the game and normally ended up losing. She peered over the book at him again and grinned.

Hermione had promised herself that would never--ever--admit to anyone that the first thing she thought when she saw Ron was, Oh, red hair; isn't that so cute? At the time, Ron and cute were just two opposite words and would never even be dreamed of to be used in the same sentence. Sometimes he drove her to the brink of insanity with his thick-head while other times he just drove her mad because he was... Ron.

Melting into another dreamy grin, Hermione suddenly realized that if she didn't stop this daydreaming about her future with Ron Weasley, she'd be out of it and she might say something that she would later regret. She looked back to her book and began to read.

Five minutes later, she was still on the same sentence and realized that she was getting absolutely nowhere with this. She slammed her book shut and stood up, stretching. She yawned, but found that she was not that tired to begin with. Harry was busy deliberating his next move so Ron was free to turn his head again and look up at her.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked.

"I'm going to bed," Hermione replied smoothly. "Am I supposed to give you a play-by-play?"

Ron glared at her as she began to walk for the stairs. "I was just asking, alright," he muttered moodily, turning his head back to the game to watch Harry make his move. Ron made another quick move. "You don't have to be so mean."

Hermione immediately stopped in her tracks and spun around to give him an icy glare. She stomped over to him and stood right beside him, clutching her book to her chest. "Are you insinuating that you believe that I am mean, Ron?" she demanded.

"I'm not insinuating anything, Hermione," Ron told her calmly, making another move on the board, which further confused Harry. He scratched his head. She was angry out of her mind--she was lying through her teeth. She glared at him still. "I'm just saying that you've been a little snappish with me lately, that's all."

"Oh, so I'm being snappish with you, huh?" Hermione questioned irritably. Ron looked up at her.

"Yes, Hermione, you certainly are," he replied grumpily. "I ask you a simple thing and you then proceed to bite my head off. What? Have you heard a rumor about me and you believe it? Or has your Vicky finally told you what he saw me do in our Fourth Year?"

Hermione growled, "His name is Viktor, you prat! And I do not bite your head off. If you just wouldn't be so annoying then maybe I wouldn't have to be so firm. I haven't heard a rumor about you and even if I did, I wouldn't believe it for a second--"

"That's nice to know," Ron snorted while he made another move on the board.

"And what did you do that Viktor saw in our Fourth Year?" Hermione questioned suspiciously. That one was all new to her. Her heart skipped a beat when she thought of something. Maybe he had kissed another girl or something. Her heart began racing in anxiety; she seriously hoped that didn't happen.

"I snogged Draco Malfoy," Ron told her. Her hand flew to her mouth and she nearly shrieked, her eyes wide with horror. This was worse than him kissing another girl.

"No, you didn't!" Hermione gasped, horrified with the mere thought. He rolled his eyes.

"You're right; I didn't," Ron replied coolly. She dropped her hand and glared at him. He had led her on. He had lied to her so easily, like it didn't matter at all. Tears almost began to well in her eyes. "You seem tired, Hermione. You should go on to bed. We do have classes in the morning."

"Fine!" Hermione harrumphed, spinning on her heels and stomping up the stairs in real rage. He had just lied to her and while she didn't know why, it hurt her.

"Fine," Ron grumbled. "Good night, Hermione." She didn't even say anything in reply. She just wrenched the door open and walked inside, slamming it shut. She threw her book at her bed and then collapsed on it. It was silent for a while, and then she began to cry.

Being in love was horrible. It was nothing like it was in all of the romance novels she had read. They were all lies--all fake. How could she have believed that she would ever have a happily ever after ending--with that jerk?! He was the perfect example of someone who you shouldn't love.

He was unemotional. He was insensitive. He was selfish. He was piggish. He had a flaring temper. He was thick. He was ungrateful. He was mean. And that red hair and those freckles were just so... ugly! He made her sick to the stomach. He made her cry many times and he made her feel so angry. He scared her half to death and he made her feel so used, like she was just a source of information for a passing grade. Ron Weasley was undoubtedly nothing short of terrible.

And yet, Hermione loved him. She wailed even more at the thought. With one lopsided grin, she'd melt into a puddle of absurd passion. He was so funny and he brightened her day. But that was it. That was all that was good about him, Hermione swore. His bad traits outnumbered his good traits. So why did she care about him so much? Her obsession completely confused her.

But he was very emotional. Every time Malfoy called her a Mudblood, Ron stood up for her. And he was very sensitive. When someone made fun of his family, he stood up for them every time. Every time the stress was just too much to take and she'd burst into tears, Ron would be the one to hug her--even though awkwardly--and console her. He wasn't selfish. Ron sacrificed a lot just to help Harry and he was a worker; he helped everyone else before himself.

And he wasn't piggish; he just gets hungry. And sure, he had a temper, but everyone does. Ron was not thick; he was not slow; he was himself. He was definitely smarter than everyone thought he was; Hermione knew that as a fact. He was anything but ungrateful. Every time she helped him with his homework, he'd thank her millions of times and when he got something, just the look in his eyes would be a thank you.

And he wasn't mean. Hermione must admit that most of the arguments between them over the past years could have been avoided, had she not opened her big mouth. She knew perfectly well that being raised with six older brothers and one sister, you had to be able to stand your ground and argue a point. He'd learned it from all of his siblings before him. She, being an only child, had learned it as a way to get attention from the adults when she was younger. She still hadn't grown out of the habit.

And that red hair and those freckles were just so... adorable. When she was alone and she couldn't see anyone she knew, she could just look for that flaming red hair and there he'd be. There Ron would be to give her a lop-sided grin and ask her what took so long. They made him who he was and they made him stand out from all of the rest of the boys. He was a Weasley; he had the trademark red hair and freckles, but he was different. She had always been partial to red-heads.

Hermione sniffed and rubbed her face in her pillow. She sighed and sat up to look out of the window that was in the dormitory. She slipped off of her four-poster quietly and tip toed to the window where she sat down on the sill. She looked at the half moon and sighed. She wondered if she would ever go on a date at midnight where she and her boyfriend would lay on a blanket on the North Tower and look at the stars and the moon. A dreamy grin came upon her face as she placed a hand on the cold glass.

"Hermione?"

Hermione nearly jumped out of her socks. She took her hand off of the glass and spun around to see who had said her name. She sighed with relief when she saw that the person was only Ginny. She smiled at the only girl Weasley and jumped off the sill to walk over to her.

"Hey, Ginny, what's up?" Hermione asked good-naturedly. Ginny didn't say anything, but frowned. That was when Hermione figured that something was wrong. She frowned concernedly. "Are you okay? What's wrong, Ginny? Here; sit down on my bed."

Hermione sat down on her own bed and patted her hand down on the spot next to her. Ginny gave her a wan smile and slowly took a seat next to her. It wasn't like the younger girl to look so downcast; it was distressing Hermione a bit. She looked the girl in the eyes.

"Now, what's wrong?" Hermione questioned with genuine concern.

Ginny sighed and shook her head. "It's nothing bad or anything, Hermione," she replied quickly. She gave a feeble smile, but Hermione didn't shake. "You're going to laugh at me after this." Hermione gave her the look to keep going and she sighed. "I think I'm kissing the wrong way."

Hermione was clearly taken aback by this statement. In all of her wildest dreams, she would have never come to think that Ginny Weasley was going to look and sound so worried about this and tell her--of all of the other girls in Hogwarts. She sat up straight and raised her eyebrows. At first, she thought it was a joke for a second, but Ginny wasn't laughing. She lowered her eyebrows and sighed.

"Oh... I see," Hermione muttered under her breath.

"I mean, every time we--my boyfriend and I--kiss, he scrunches his face up a little! I ask him what's wrong, but he says nothing is," Ginny wailed miserably, throwing her arms up in the air. Hermione jumped back a little. "I know he's lying; I think I'm kissing incorrectly. Michael did the very same thing when we were dating..."

"Er... really?" Hermione replied, hoping that she sounded concerned.

"Yeah, he did," Ginny sniffed unhappily, nodding her head. Hermione tried to give her a sad look. "I just don't know what to do anymore. You've been kissed before; I'm sure Viktor Krum and you snogged plenty of times"--Hermione blushed furiously at this--"and you know what to do now. Please help me out; how do you kiss properly?"

For the longest time, Hermione couldn't say anything. Her brain had simply frozen. It was not functioning at all whatsoever. Ginny Weasley, serial dater of the Fifth Years, was asking her, Hermione Granger, bookworm extraordinaire, on kissing advice. This almost couldn't have been more embarrassing. Why hadn't she just asked Lavender or Parvati? They had dated a lot more boys than she had with her great number of one. She finally closed her mouth and her brain gave a spark.

"Oh, well, you--erm--what do you suppose you are--um--doing wrong?" Hermione asked in a hopeless tone. After she said that, she slapped herself mentally and fought the urge to shake her head.

"French kissing is... complicated!" Ginny exclaimed, giving the older girl a pitiful look. The color that she had held onto had instantly drained from her face. Her mouth fell open. She could not believe it. She had hid from the horrible fact for this long; only to have it haunt her in this trivial girl problem. Hermione took a deep breath and realized that she was going to have to face this sooner or later; it was just sooner than she would have liked.

"Ginny, I'm going to tell you the truth," Hermione said, trying to sound brave and stay strong. Ginny gave her a puzzled look, but then nodded her head. She was supposed to know everything, right? The brunette gulped and took another deep breath. "I, Hermione Jane Granger, have never been kissed."

Ginny gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes widened and before the silence to complete itself, she began to guffaw very loudly. She collapsed backwards onto the bed and rolled with laughter. Hermione closed her eyes and pursed her lips, trying to hold onto any dignity she had left. It may not seem like such a big deal, but for a girl who went to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum; has since been oddly smitten with Ron Weasley; whose only girl friend has dated many boys and was smitten with Harry Potter; and shared a dormitory with Hogwarts' most boy crazy girls for nearly six years; it's insane and embarrassing.

I'm sixteen years-old and I have not been kissed once. I even had a boyfriend, but did we ever kiss? No way, we didn't! Hermione thought as she watched Ginny laugh loudly. This could possibly be one of the most mortifying experiences in my life. Well, I guess I should be thankful that Lavender and Parvati weren't in here to hear that conversation.

At that exact moment, the door burst open and two dark figures tumbled into the room, sniggering. The blush that had disappeared crept back up Hermione's cheeks. They stood up and one of them shut the door behind them. The other fell onto a bed.

"Did my ears just deceive me or did I just hear that Hermione Granger has never been kissed?" the obvious giggling voice of Parvati exclaimed gleefully. Hermione looked down to her feet. Lavender leapt onto her bed next to Parvati's and grinned at her cheekily.

"Hermione, you dated Viktor Krum and you two never snogged once?" Lavender giggled. Hermione shook her head slowly and Ginny fell back to the bed into another fit of laughter. It would have helped if Ginny hadn't been laughing so much. No one was supporting. Ron would if he was here...

No, Ron would be laughing along with them, Hermione rethought, seeing the picture in her mind.

"It's not that bad," Hermione muttered under her breath. A dark shadow suddenly fell upon them. She gave the window a look and saw that a few dark clouds were covering the half moon up.

"Don't worry, Hermione," Ginny snickered, sitting back up and patting her on the back. Hermione looked over at her desperately, asking for a little help. Ginny grinned at her. "Ron's never been kissed either."

"Ginerva Weasley, you git!" Hermione shrieked angrily, shoving Ginny, who was laughing again. Parvati and Lavender were laughing once again too. "How dare you even insinuate that--argh!"

Hermione jumped to her feet and stormed out of the dormitory, slamming the door shut behind her. She stomped down the stairs and found that the common room was empty. She huffed and collapsed onto the couch, glaring at the fire with just the same amount of heat in her eyes. Sometimes, Ginny could be so... aggravating. She didn't know that Hermione was in love with her favorite brother, but she had always mentioned things like that--even before she had realized that she really did love him. Soon, she calmed down and relaxed in the chair.

"Hermione, are you okay?"

Hermione's mind suddenly went into whirlwind of chaos and her emotions burst like a bottle rocket. And suddenly, it all stopped. She froze, gripping the armrests of the couch tightly, and glanced around the room with her eyes. Love always felt like the rush of setting of fireworks at night, she supposed. She loosened her grip on the chair and peered behind it. Ron was standing there, looking muzzy. The red mop on his head was sticking up in all directions thought possible to mankind.

"Yes, Ron, I'm just fine--just tired--but thanks anyway for asking," Hermione replied calmly, though her heart was possibly racing at a million miles per minute. He gave her a lop-sided grin and she fought the urge to return a dreamy one. Instead, she smiled at him as bounded over to her. At first, she thought that he was going to sit in his usual chair, but instead, he plopped onto the couch next to her.

Hermione's stomach did a nauseating somersault while her heart went into her throat. Ron's face turned a little pink when his hand accidentally brushed against her hand on the couch. They both quickly put their hands in their lap and looked down at them. She unconsciously smiled while he instinctively grinned. They both sighed in unison and when they looked up, they locked onto each other's eyes. Neither of them could take their eyes off of the other.

"You sure you're okay?" Ron repeated concernedly. She hoped she was turning pink. "I thought I heard a little scuffle from the girl's dormitory." She knew she was pink now.

"Oh, well, Ginny came in and we--er--sort of got in a bit of a tiff," Hermione told him, half lying and half telling the truth. They had gotten into a little argument, she supposed. She wasn't lying completely. She tried to shrug it off, but Ginny's words were coming back to haunt her and she fought the urge to shudder.

"What about?" Ron asked curiously. Hermione blushed a bit more and he gave her a lop-sided grin. She could almost tell him anything. She tried to snap herself out of it.

"Oh--um--well, it was nothing serious--just..." Hermione could not come up with a plausible lie for the first time in her life. This was more than insanity; it was simply unreal. She closed her mouth and found that she had just embarrassed herself. Luckily, he seemed to be thinking.

"Hermione, do you know what kissing feels like?" Ron asked suddenly. Again, Hermione was taken aback as she stared at the boy that she'd considered only her best friend for almost six years--sometimes sadly.

"I... No, Ron, I don't know what it's like," Hermione replied guiltily, yet truthfully. Was she going to have to tell it to the entire world? He gave her the most confused look as he gawked at her.

"You mean... you and Krum?" Ron raised his eyebrows. He'd sounded almost... hopeful, perchance? She sighed; maybe she was just hearing things. She shook her head rather regretfully.

"Nope, we never kissed," Hermione told him. He suddenly lightened up a bit, but then shrank and looked away from her after turning red. That was... strange. She almost smiled, but stopped herself. Instead, she decided that she might regain some pride. "I suppose it's wet." She slapped herself mentally for sounding so stupid. She rolled her eyes at herself, but continued, "You ask a lot of strange questions, Ron."

Ron looked back at her, still red in the face. "Well, Seamus said that if you haven't had your first real kiss by Fifth Year--you know, on the lips--then you must be a pouf and I'm not, honestly! I'm the only boy in Sixth Year that hasn't been kissed, you know," he told her sheepishly. He looked seriously distressed. She tried to look very concern when in reality, she was beginning to worry about herself. "And then, he went on saying snogging felt really good 'cause he's snogged about half the school's girl population already... I'm not a pouf, Hermione!"

"I know you're not a pouf, Ron; I think Seamus is incorrect," Hermione told him coolly. He seemed to calm down after this. "I guess you just asked the wrong girl." Ron suddenly gave her this look that he had never given anyone before. He looked around the room, but she didn't see for she had her eyes closed. He gulped and took a shuddering breath. "I've never been kissed--"

It happened so quickly that Hermione hadn't been sure what had ensued for a good ten seconds. All she knew was that she couldn't open her eyes and she couldn't move to pull away. One second she had been talking and the next, she'd abruptly stopped by something she had always hoped for in her life. Ron had her face in his hands and his lips pressed against hers. She felt like she had walked out of the common room and right into a dream.

Strands of her extra curly brown hair tickled his cheeks, but he couldn't stop himself. He just continued to kiss her. She lifted her hands up slowly and cautiously put them on his hands. She leaned in further and he leaned in further. She wanted it to last forever. He never wanted to stop. That's when they fell off of the couch and landed on the floor, disrupting their snog.

Ron and Hermione both opened their eyes and looked into each other's; both of them were breathing harshly, but their lips tugged into grins. Ron took his hands off of her cheeks and grasped Hermione's hands. She giggled and he chortled.

"That was the best bloody thing that has happened in my life," Ron declared.

"I'm glad to see that you're thinking the same thing that I am," Hermione added, giggling. They just stayed in that position for a few more minutes, just gazing into each other's eyes--blue on brown. And in just seconds, they had solved each other's problems. Now, everyone had been kissed.

Finis