Great Romantic Moments

Set Up:

Hermione, Ron, Neville and Hagrid are on the run from the Death Eaters. They have had to flee the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix after a crushing attack led by the evil Severus Snape. In the attack they were separated from Harry, who has taken the opportunity to train with an ancient, powerful and hidden wizard; to discover the power the Dark Lord knows not.

To make their escape, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Hagrid had to steal a large, enchanted flying RV (recreational vehicle/camper) which was in a poor state of repair. They flew into some mountains to elude the Death Eaters chasing them on broomstick. Thanks to Ron's fancy flying and a clever bit of misdirection they were able to take refuge in a cave to hide and to make repairs to the RV. They are safe for now, but the Death Eaters are flying through the mountains and blasting random caves with spells to drive the refugees out. They must repair the RV so that they can complete their escape and rendezvous with other elements of the Order of the Phoenix.

Our scene opens with Hermione working on a particularly difficult repair inside the RV. Neville is sitting off to the side of the cave trying to diagnose what is wrong with a particularly complicated Muggle piece of equipment. Hagrid does not figure largely in this scene, but imagine he is a bit down the cave, working on another gizmo from the RV.

And now...our story begins.

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Using her wand, Hermione made some hasty incantations over the mechanism in the RV's engine compartment. Her movements were quick and fierce, showing her inner agitation. Sparks shot from the mechanism and she exhaled angrily. It was not pretty, but it would hold.

She closed the face plate of the mechanism, and began working a heavy lever to place the mechanism back in the engine compartment of the RV. The lever was jammed and wouldn't budge. As she attempted to force it into place, she reflected on her mental state.

Ron!

He was being so cocksure and strutting because he got the four of them out of the Order headquarters. She couldn't stand it. He wouldn't listen to her. He had taken incredibly stupid risks with all of their lives as he flew through the mountains in this junk heap of an RV. Despite the fact that it turned out to be a smuggler's vehicle, and therefore the fastest hunk of junk in the Wizarding World, it was no excuse for him to veer and spin so close to the mountainsides.

In truth, Ron had been right and had performed magnificently. He had found them a relatively safe place to hide while they repaired the wreck. By his daredevil aerobatics, he had managed to down four or five Death Eaters who could not keep control of their broomsticks amongst the narrow gullies and sheer cliff faces.

She had deep respect for Ron's bravery, but his cocky attitude and disdain for her opinion made her want to go mad. She awaited any opportunity to show him up, and to flay him to the quick.

A particular recent incident had caused her the most anger, as well as the most confusion. It had occurred when they had first landed in the cave, just as they were getting ready to begin their repair work.

There had been a nasty blast of spells by the Death Eaters into the rock faces above that had shook the whole cave. Hermione had lost her balance and fallen into Ron's lap as he sat in the driver seat of the RV. He had grabbed hold of her and held her there while all four of them listened to the sound of the passing blasts.

Hermione had noted Ron's smell then. It had been the scent she had experienced in sixth year over the Amortentia Potion, and it still brought confused and hopeless feelings to mind.

"Ron, let me go please," Hermione had said in a weak voice as Neville and Hagrid had looked out the window of the RV at the cave entrance to make sure that no Death Eaters were imminently present.

"Shhh!" said Ron distractedly as he gazed apprehensively out of the windshield at the cave mouth.

"Ron, let me go," Hermione had said more forcefully and began to try to get up. She had been happy her voice had not shaken that time.

"Hey, don't get excited," replied Ron mockingly.

Hermione had fastened him with her best don't-be-an-idiot stare. "Being next to you is not quite enough to get me excited, Ron."

"Sorry, Sweetheart," Ron had said, picking her up and setting her on her feet like a child. He then had stood up with that infuriating grin. "But we don't have time for anything else."

Hermione hissed air out of her teeth, now, just remembering it. The gall of the man!

But worst of all, even though she wouldn't admit it even to herself, there was something more there. Affection that was deeper than camaraderie or friendship. It threatened to burst through every time he said something particularly amusing, or when she found herself close to him, or when he gave her that self-satisfied but devilishly handsome grin. She couldn't acknowledge it, but it continued to make itself more and more powerfully evident.

As she struggled with the lever, she suddenly heard someone approach from behind her. She felt long arms reach over her shoulders. She saw strong hands reach for the lever she was gripping and her anger boiled up. Ron was again trying to help without asking her leave.

Hermione knocked his arm away and shoved herself roughly back into him, letting him know his assistance wasn't needed. She turned and gave Ron a venomous glare and then turned back to try and force the lever into place, exhaling angrily as she did so.

Ron put on that cocky grin again, and raised his hands defensively, saying, "Hey, Hermione...don't get excited. I was only trying to help."

"You always have to make things difficult, don't you?" asked Hermione with a grunt, trying to force the lever again.

Ron actually managed to appear contrite.

"I do. I really do," he began sheepishly, "but you could be a little nicer yourself though. C'mon, sometimes you think I'm alright."

"Sometimes," said Hermione through clenched teeth. "When you are not behaving like a scoundrel."

The lever was impossible to move and she was tiring rapidly. Suddenly, it snapped back towards her, and jammed into her hand painfully. She quickly pulled her arm back with a hiss, forcefully rubbing her palm where the lever had struck. It hurt so badly that she thought tears might come, but she would not show weakness in front of Ron.

She looked up at him and was surprised to see how close he stood to her. "Scoundrel," he said, taking her injured hand in his strong fingers. He began gently massaging the palm of her hand with both of his.

"Scoundrel," he said again, drawing out the word and making it a caress. "I like the sound of that."

The pain in her hand forgotten, Hermione felt hot panic and warm anticipation at the same time. His Amortentia scent filled her nostrils and his handsome, roguish face filled her vision. His breath held a bit of the sweet smell of butterbeer as he pressed even closer to her.

"What are you doing?" she said, cursing the quaver in her own voice. "My hands are dirty."

"My hands are dirty too," said Ron gently. "What are you afraid of?"

He was impossibly close, his body almost pressed against hers. "I'm not afraid," she said lamely. "I..."

His mask of bravado had completely slipped from him now. She saw a hungry light in his eyes, full of gentle urgency, which had never been there when he had looked at her before.

"That's your problem," he said teasingly, leaning towards her. He was not threatening, but comforting in his persistence. "You need more scoundrels in your life."

"I...I happen to like nice men," she said and felt herself leaning towards him. Her mind screamed in panic, but her heart beat faster in anticipation. He was so handsome.

"I'm nice men," he said with a slight nod of his head, his eyes holding her.

"No you're not. You're..."

His lips met hers softly at first, but then with more urgency. She was horrified and elated as she felt her body respond to him. She felt his strong arms wrapped comfortingly around her as their kiss deepened. She was surprised by how hard she held onto him, her arms twining around his neck of their own accord. Their kiss became passionate and he slowly dipped her backwards in a lover's embrace.

She felt as if she were drowning in that kiss, but that holding him was the only thing to save her.

Suddenly a high-pitched voice could be heard coming from around the corner of the RV, destroying the wonderfully terrifying moment.

Hermione's head swam as their kiss ended abruptly, and she was suddenly standing straight again. Ron turned to confront the interloper.

"Ron! Ron!" Neville exclaimed excitedly. "I think that I have figured out how this Muggle radio works! Now we should be able to get Muggle news updates on what is happening down in London."

"Thank you, Neville. Thank you very much!" Ron said with barely suppressed fury, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He moved threateningly towards Neville.

Hermione's mind screamed at her to get away, but her heart told her to grab Ron the moment they were alone and snog him senseless. Awash in confusion and turmoil, she began to surreptitiously walk farther down the cave. She needed to gather herself before confronting these powerful emotions, or Ron's penetrating gaze, again.

"No problem, Ron!" said Neville in a clueless and chipper voice as Hermione slipped off into shadows. "Glad to help how I can. I thought I could get it to work."

Hermione glanced back to see Ron turn from his exchange with Neville to find her gone. The crestfallen look on his face when he realized the moment was lost had only made Hermione feel more terrified...and more wonderful.

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A/N:

Can you guess where this great romantic moment came from?

Here are some hints. It's a movie. It's a sci-fi movie. It's from the biggest sci-fi franchise of all time. Harrison Ford? Carrie Fisher?

Any idea yet?

I'll give you one more hint...."A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."

That's right! This is the first kiss scene between a certain swashbuckling smuggler and a brave and beautiful princess from The Empire Strikes Back.

All characters and materials from Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars, etc. are owned by Lucasfilm, Ltd. and George Lucas. They are used here without permission and not for profit. Being that I am a lowly fanfic author, I only play with what great minds like George Lucas and J.K. Rowling have created, and I don't make any money at it. :-)

Coming up, great romantic moments from American and Brittish sitcoms, ancient tales, more movies, a Superhero or two (not counting Harry, of course) and a moment from the greatest movie ever made.