A Lifetime in a Kiss

A Lifetime in a Kiss

"For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul."

-Judy Garland

Hermione was stressed.

It was the year before N.E.W.T. year, almost before end-of-the-year exams, and the teachers were piling on the homework. It seemed like everything was due at the same time. And not that she wasn't used to homework stress - it had certainly never gotten as bad as third year - but that hardly made it easier to deal with. Hermione felt herself getting close to her breaking point again. Every night she would start with her homework, which in itself would take hours. And when she was finally done with that then she would move on to endless hours of studying, taking care to go over any notes she had taken that day.

And she was also envious.

How did Harry and Ron do it? They had quidditch practice every night and still somehow managed to get their homework done. Granted, their work was never extraordinary and they seemed to be double tired the next day, but she was sure that they were quite content with their lives.

"Blast me and my perfectionist ways," she muttered to herself. That's where she was right now; sitting in the common room and doing her homework. Harry and Ron were currently at practice, along with Ginny.

But most of all, she was tired.

Everyday seemed monotonous - get up and dressed, eat breakfast, go to classes, eat lunch, go to more classes, eat dinner, do homework and study, go to bed, get up, get dressed... She was so tired of doing the same thing over and over again. Worst of all, she was alone a lot more these days than usual. Homework was always a quiet affair by herself until sometime later when the others came in. Not that it wasn't nice for solitude every once and a while, it was comforting to know that you had friends, and more often than not, people who needed you.

Now, when the group came in every night, they just went straight to their homework and didn't bother asking her for help. By that point, she would be studying and her stuff was already packed away but... she would not have minded getting it out.

Strange how last year she had grumbled about letting them see her notes but now that they didn't depend on her as much, she missed it. Hermione had to admit - it's nice to be needed.

What she really needed was a break. Not a very long one, mind, but just something to say that she had did completely for herself. Something like a nice long bubble bath.

But the Prefect's bath will probably already be occupied and besides, I always feel like I'm going to drown in there, she thought to herself. So what is it exactly do I want - need?

A grin crossed her face. She didn't know what she needed, but she sure knew how to find out.

***

"Ron?" Harry said later that night.

"Hmm?" Ron answered absently. He was just finishing the last bit of his Transfiguration essay that he had started last night and was determined to finish tonight. If only he could think of an acceptable conclusion.

"Bloody essay," he said, wracking his brain for at least something halfway decent...

Nothing came.

"Ron," Harry said again, this time a little more persistently.

"What?" he said, looking up slightly hopefully. Did Harry, perhaps, have a good conclusion? Probably not - Harry usually ended up copying Ron's. Still, it was worth a try. Or maybe he could ask Hermione just this once (even though he had promised himself he would stop depending on his best friend so much). No, he told himself. She's probably so damned tired of you asking her help all the time. Besides, you've got to learn how to write a passable essay one day or another.

"Ron!"

"What do you want already?!"

"You stink - take a shower," Harry said bluntly.

"Oh," said Ron.

Usually, he took a shower right after practice, but tonight he had been in too much of a hurry to get done with his homework to bother. Apparently, he should have taken the time to do so.

Ginny nodded in agreement. "Please do. You don't know how distracting it is to try to finish Charms when all I can think of is your stench."

Ron grinned. He knew he didn't smell rosy fresh and for some reason it amused him that it bothered Harry and Ginny so much. It was like when Fred or George let out a particularly nasty fart and took pride in seeing everyone's disgusted face.

"I'm wounded," he said in mock hurt.

"My nose is pretty wounded," Ginny grumbled.

Ron let out a laugh and slowly got up out of his chair, agonizing them on purpose. He then took a stroll over to the boy's staircase and could hear both of their exasperated sighs. I love torturing them, he thought happily.

He paused on the steps on his way up. He had just remembered something and silently berated himself for his one-track mind.

"You know, I had expected Hermione to be in the library but now it's kind of late and it would be closed by now. Do you know where she is?" he asked suddenly, poking his head around the wall. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't actually seen her since dinner. He felt a little niggle of worry and tried to dismiss it. He knew that if there was something wrong (and he was doing his best to convince himself that it wasn't), he would feel it.

Harry looked up and shrugged. "I just thought maybe she went to bed early, or something."

"It's just not like Hermione to go to bed early when she could be studying."

"Give her a break, Ron - she's probably just tired," Ginny said.

Ron shook his head to that. "I don't think so. Hermione never goes to bed early, even when she is tired."

Ginny gave a long-suffering sigh. "Would it make you happy if I went upstairs and checked on her?"

"As long as it's not a bother, or anything," Ron answered sarcastically.

"None at all," she replied sweetly as she made her way over to her staircase.

Ron sat on the steps and waited. And waited. And waited - honestly, what's she doing up there?

Finally she returned but he couldn't read the expression on her face. "What took so long?" he asked impatiently.

"I had to use the loo first," she said a little too defensively.

He barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Well?"

"Well what?"

Girls; what good were they?

"Is Hermione up there or not?"

"She's not in her bed, or in the showers."

Ron was definitely worried now. It was unlike Hermione to not let anyone know where she was. The way he figured it she was in either one or two places - in danger or breaking school rules. The latter seemed less likely but not entirely impossible. Besides, he hated the thought of Hermione being in danger.

"Where could she be, then?" asked Harry.

"I know!" exclaimed Ron. "We can check the Marauder's Map!"

"Good idea."

"The what map?" asked a confused Ginny.

"You explain it to her while I get the map. Is it in your trunk?"

"Yeah, towards the left side..."

Ron nodded in acknowledgement as he ran up the stairs and to their dormitory. Harry's bed was over in the corner by the window and his trunk fit nice and comfortably in the space in between the bed and window (Ron had always been jealous of that spot but for some reason, Harry got it again each and every time; next year, he was claiming that bed for himself).

He ended up looking on the right at first before he remembered it was on the opposite side. When he finally unfolded it, he was at a loss as to where to look first. Most of the dots were in their respective common rooms, dormitories, or offices. A few of them were roaming the halls and Ron noticed they were prefects. He raised his eyebrows and let out a slight chuckle when he saw Seamus and Lavender in the Astronomy Tower. No doubt about what they're doing.

But no matter where he looked, he did not see Hermione. It was entirely possible that he was missing her. After all, it was a big school with a lot of people in it. Even still, there were not many places Hermione could go.

A horrid thought popped into his head that filled his stomach with dread. What if she was with a boy? What if she was having some kind of romantic liaison like Seamus and Lavender? He checked up in the towers but it was still only the two of them.

Ron's eyes drifted over the Room of Requirement and... there she was! Maybe she was meeting a boy in there. She would probably go for one of those brainy Ravenclaws.

What business of mine is it if Hermione is interested in boys? Why do I even care?

Ron knew the answer to that before he even asked it. Because I love her.

Bloody Hell!

***

This is the life, Hermione thought and sighed in contention. Why have I never thought to do this before?

Hermione had decided to come to the Room of Requirement to help herself relax and have one stress free night, though she had no idea what to expect. When she walked in her jaw dropped open in amazement. She actually had to pinch herself to be sure she wasn't dreaming. It was the Room of Requirement like she had never seen it before. If it could even be called a room.

It was more like an exotic island catering only to her needs. There was a waterfall with a huge plunge-pool and right next to it a large boulder that was made just for jumping off of (if only she could get the nerve). She was surrounded by trees, grass and flowers. The air smelled sweet, though unfamiliar.

Sitting on a large rock had been a tropical printed bathing suit with a matching wrap. It was comfortable yet it made her feel pretty. And despite not being a fantastic swimmer, she had had a good time just playing around in the water.

And best of all, her every whim was fulfilled. The thought of being thirsty only had to cross her mind for the barest of seconds before a strawberry-banana smoothie appeared in her hand.

If she had to put this all into one word, it would be paradise.

Right now, she was floating along on her back and every now and then attempting a backstroke. Now, she thought, the only thing left now that I don't have - and probably never will - is---

SPLASH!

Hermione was immediately tipped over and when she popped back up to the surface it left her flailing her arms about, trying to regain her balance. And then she was staring right into Ron's face.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him venomously.

"I could ask you the same question."

"Well..." she said, trailing off.

"Well?" he said, lifting one eyebrow in such a way that left her mouth dry.

"Well..." she started again.

"Are you ever actually going to get to the point?"

"Well actually -"

Ron groaned and put his face in the palm of his hand.

"- I was about to say that I just wanted some peace and quiet."

He gave a long look at their surroundings; she saw him take in the waterfall, the flowers, and the trees. He gave her a cynical look. "I think you found it.

"Yeah, I think so too."

They looked at each other. All of a sudden Ron burst out laughing. He didn't know where it came from but he couldn't stop. In fact, every time he looked at Hermione he just seemed to laugh harder.

"What's so funny?" she asked, sounding very offended.

He shook his head, signalling he couldn't even answer her. She let out these little huffs that he recognized as her being hurt and trying to hide it with impatience. Ron immediately sobered up. He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings.

"I'm sorry. It just kind of came out."

"You were laughing at me," she stated.

"No I wasn't. I was laughing at the situation."

"Oh, and that makes it so much better, doesn't it?" she said sarcastically.

"Well...yeah, actually. I just thought it was funny how when other people want to relax, they don't conjure up their own private island."

She smiled sheepishly and Ron thought it made her look even sexier. "I didn't do it on purpose. I just knew that I needed to relax and so I let the Room of Requirement do all the work."

"Smart thinking. If I had known this would happen I would have come here a long time ago."

"It's not something I consciously thought of - it came to me in an instant and my feet just kind of took me here."

"Hermione's adventure."

She laughed and it was, as cliché as it sounds, music to Ron's ears. "I quite like the sound of that, though I don't really see it as an adventure. More of a quest, I think."

"Or a mission," Ron shot, clearly challenging her.

"Or an adventure."

"Or an - hey! That's cheating!"

"I wasn't aware that we were playing a game," she said airily.

Ron came up right next to her and stared down intensely into her eyes. "We're always playing a game."

Without breaking eye contact, Hermione said, "And what are the rules?"

Ron thought a minute. Were there even any rules to this endless game that they had been playing for years? "There are none," he said suddenly. "After all, all's fair in love and war."

"Love?" she said faintly.

"And war."

Ron brought a hand up to her damp cheek and let it stay there. She turned her head slightly so that it rested in the palm of his hand.

It was such an overwhelming moment for Hermione that she couldn't bear to break it. Did she dare even think that Ron might love her? It would be too good to be true and too good for her. It was only what she had dreamed of every night for the past two years.

It was something she could never explain. The logical, rational part of her brain told her that it was impossible (not to mention foolish) to fall in love at such a young age. But her heart told her something completely different. It said that loving Ronald Weasley had nothing to do with logic at all.

Hermione knew she could not, in all honesty, live without him. It would, indeed, be murder to her very soul.

"What are you thinking about?" he said softly, breaking her out of her reverie.

"You. Us."

"Me too."

Ron bent his head down and their lips met in a kiss so soul-searing that Hermione felt as if he had kissed her heart. It was gentle and sweet and all that she imagined her first kiss would be like.

He pulled away slightly. "I love you," he whispered against her lips.

"I love you too," she whispered back.

When they came back together, this time their noses met and they lightly nuzzled before kissing again. Their lips moved together so familiarly that Hermione would have almost thought their love was written in the stars or even destiny. That was ridiculous, of course. But still, she couldn't help but think that they packed a lifetime of longing and a future of happiness into one kiss.

***

They walked hand in freckled hand on the way back to Gryffindor Tower and were both very giddy. Ron would suddenly let a big cheese grin spread across his face and Hermione would spontaneously burst into giggles. All in all they were lucky they had no witnesses to their extremely corny display.

Finally they reached the Fat Lady, gave her the password, and went inside the Common Room. They mutually (and silently) agreed to drop hands and go on as if nothing had happened. They spotted Harry and Ginny in the corner of the room on a sofa and went over to them.

"I found Hermione," said Ron.

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed," Ginny said wryly.

Ron took in their slightly flushed faces and mussed hair and looked at them suspiciously. "What have you two been doing?"

"Well...uh..." Harry stammered.

"I have a better question," Ginny said.

"Yeah?"

"Why the hell are you both wet?"

"Oh," said Hermione as if she had forgotten.

"Why don't we leave all questions for another time?" said Harry.

Like never. Nobody said it but it lingered in all of their minds.

"Good night, then!" Hermione said brightly.

They all said good night and Harry and Ginny went to their respective dorms. Ron and Hermione had the Common Room to themselves. They both plopped down on the sofa.

"When will we tell them?" Hermione asked, propping her feet up on Ron's lap.

"In the morning," he replied. "Tonight is ours for the taking."

And take they did.