first kisses
by ladylaughalot

Rating: PG13
Ship: Harry & Hermione
Canon: Books 1 - 6
Genre: Drama, Romance
Status: Complete
Length: 3,242 words in 3 chapters
Published: 17 Aug 2006
Last updated: 14 Nov 2006

Some one-shots with a common theme which I'm sure you can guess. 1 ~ What I think will happen, 2 ~ a sweet one that I
just love, 3 ~ slightly silly fluffiness from Harry's perspective

From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/6441/

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1. Chapter 1

A/N ~ You'll have to forgive me for this one… Once again I'm starting something new before I've finished what I'm
already working on… I blame Scout…. It's all her fault that this was written (sorry it took me so long and is so short
Scout) …. I hope you enjoy my response to the complaint that there is not enough quality H/Hr snogging in fan-fiction at
the moment. Let the kisses begin.

Disclaimer ~ Me? Own HP? Ummmm Nup… sorry…

The First Kiss ~ My most likely scenario

Ron had fallen, hit with a cruciatus curse from Bellatrix Lestrange. Hermione hit her with a well executed stupefy
before it went on for too long. She was now unconscious bound and gagged, but it was too late for Ron. He was also
unconscious a large purple lump already forming on his head, he needed medical attention and soon, but that created
another problem. They were so close to the Ministers office where Voldemort had sequestered himself after taking the
ministry by force. Harry could still hear the battle raging downstairs as the remains of the Order of the Phoenix, and
anyone else who could be rustled up, fought the death eaters for control. Harry, Ron and Hermione had been expecting
this for some time and had planned accordingly. Up until the moment when Ron had cracked his scull in the throws of the
cruciatius curse it had all been going according to plan. They had planned on being there at the end together, they had
planned to take down Voldemort together but now all the plans had to change.

`What do we do now?' Hermione moaned checking Ron's pulse and placing a stasis spell on him.

`You'll have to go back Hermione, we can't leave him here like this.' Harry said, dread dropping like a lead weight into
his stomach as he realised he would have to do this without Ron and Hermione.

`But Harry - you can't, we were supposed to do this together.' Her lip trembled

`I know, but Ron needs a healer and he can't get to one on his own.'

`I did a stasis spell, he doesn't need to get to the healer -` she began to object but Harry cut her off, `We can't
leave him here alone and defenceless, what if someone finds him or we don't…' now Harry let his sentence trail off, they
both knew it was a possibility that they wouldn't come back, that he might not come back, but he couldn't bring himself
to say it.

Hermione's eyes welled with tears and Harry was irresistibly reminded of their first year when he'd left her to take
care of Ron while he pushed on to rescue the philosopher's stone. He smiled at her, his first real smile in what felt
like years,

`I was lucky once, wasn't I?' He asked pointing to his scar and trying to jog her memory. `I've been lucky more than
once, I might get lucky again.'

Hermione's lip trembled and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him, he hugged her back just as
fiercely.

`Hermione -` his words caught in his throat, he didn't know what to say.

`Harry - you're a great wizard you know.' She said leaning back to look at him.

He chuckled, amazed even as he did that he could find anything to laugh about now, `I still say I'm not as good as you,'

Hermione smiled, `Me… books and cleverness.' she tightened her arms around him, `There are more important things.'

Harry smiled down at the witch in his arms, the girl he'd been friends with for so many years, `I know, friendship and
bravery right.'

Hermione looked down and mumbled something that Harry couldn't hear. He tipped her chin up with one finger.

`Did I get it wrong?' He asked confused, `I was sure that was what you said.'

`It was - I just, I never finished what I wanted to say to you then… and, as silly as it seems I still haven't told
you.'

`What did you want to say?' He asked really perplexed now.

She looked at him, her eyes luminous in the darkness, `Do you really not know Harry? What the most important thing is?'
She asked her eyes now seemed to be pleading with him.

`I remember now you said friendship and bravery and, oh Harry, be careful'

`I was going to say friendship and bravery and love'

`and love?' he asked feeling stunned by the revelation.

She pillowed her face into his chest, `Oh Harry, I know you don't feel the same way about me, except maybe in a sisterly
kind of way, but I love you. I always have.'

`Hermione, I - ` he began, but she cut him off.

`You don't have to say anything but please Harry, please come back to me.' She begged looking up at him again, tears now
streaming freely down her face

`I will, I promise.' He said.

`You can't promise that.' She said tearfully.

`I'll do everything I can.'

`I know you will Harry, it's that friendship and bravery again.' She said now smiling through her tears.

`No, it's love.' He replied softly wiping away her tears

`Don't Harry…' She pleaded softly staring at him a small flicker of hope flaring in her eyes.

He stared down at her lips and dipped his head to kiss her, intending for it to only be the briefest of kisses. Touching
her lips with his he found he couldn't back away. His lips moved over hers, they parted beneath his gentle pressure and
the feel of her tongue against his sent off sparks in his brain. He broke the kiss and pulled her closer up against his
chest.

`You'll need to go first Hermione,' he whispered into her hair, `I can't walk away from you.'

`But -` she began to protest.

`Please,' he pleaded releasing her suddenly, `You have to be strong,'

She nodded and flicked her wand at Ron so that he levitated beside her. She turned to look at him, he wanted to say
something but he didn't know what.

`Ok, I'll see you after.' He said finally, somewhat lamely.

`I know.'

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2. 2nd Kiss

A/N ~ I'm sorry that this took so long to write but I've just been a bit tired and lacking in inspiration but with the
help of the lovely scout and a hot guy wearing glasses on the train, the problem of inspiration has been momentarily
solved and I thought I'd give this another go…. I hope you enjoy it and once again sorry for the wait.

2nd Kiss - Accidentally in love

If she had been able to think clearly she would have thought that it was a long time in coming. They were just a little
too close, for a little too long, and staring a little too deeply into each others eyes. She had tripped and he had
caught her, he would always catch her if she fell. He held her for a moment to give her a chance to steady herself. She
looked up and opened her mouth to say thank you. He looked down and opened his mouth to ask if she was ok.

But neither of them spoke.

He didn't know whether it was her near fall that had his heart pumping or whether it was how good she felt in his arms.
He suspected it was a combination of the two. Somehow his world had narrowed so that now all that existed was her
beautiful face and her amazing luminous brown eyes. He could feel her heart beating furiously against his chest as she
regained her footing. He knew he should let go of her now, she knew she should step away from him.

But neither of them moved.

They stood, bodies touching, hearts racing, gazes locked. They knew what would happen next if they didn't move, but they
couldn't look away. Hermione opened her mouth again to try and speak, to say something, anything, that would break the
tension that had sprung up between them without warning. Then Harry dropped his gaze to her lips, only for the merest
whisper of a second, and they were both lost. When their gazes met again the desire that had been threatening to come to
the surface since the moment their bodies had touched burned brightly in his eyes. Without meaning too Hermione felt her
own desire rise up and burn brightly in response.

And then they kissed.

He couldn't explain it and he couldn't prevent it. Her lips were like a soft delicious magnet that he couldn't and
didn't want to break away from. His chest was hard underneath her hands, his hair was silky smooth between her fingers
and his lips were hot and demanding upon her own. Her lips parted for him, a gentle sigh, and their tongues met for the
first time. A lightning bolt of electricity and desire shot through them both and they knew this would not be the last
time they kissed like this.

And then they stopped.

They broke apart blushing and flustered, still unable to speak. Harry had never been so happy and Hermione had never
felt so free. Their gazes locked. Her eyes consumed his soul and his heart swelled in his chest until he thought it
might burst. She was so overwhelmed by the emotion in his eyes that she thought she might cry. He saw her tears and
kissed her again, a soft quick kiss. To let her know that everything would be alright. To tell her that he would take
care of her. To show her that he would always be there to catch her if she fell.

And then they realised it was love.

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3. 3rd Kiss

A/N ~ Well for me this is being posted very quickly after my last post, which is a little unusual, but I had this idea
and nothing else to do so… what the heck. It's short and silly but I hope you enjoy it anyway and I'm sure you'll all
let me know what you think.

Disclaimer ~ Still not mine.

3rd Kiss - Addicted to you.

I don't know precisely when it was that I became addicted to Hermione's touch, but I think it started with her hugs.
After Hogwarts and Voldemort were finished I went on a holiday with Ron. Hermione didn't come with us because she wanted
to spend one last summer with her parents before she started working. Ron and I were gone for about two months, we went
all over Europe and we had a great time. Of course we wrote to Hermione all the time but it wasn't the same and it was
the longest I'd been without seeing her since we'd first met when we were eleven years old.

When we got back she gave us both big hugs to welcome us home and when she did I realised how much I had missed her in
the two months we'd been away. After that Ron and I got an apartment together in London just off from Diagon Alley and
Hermione stayed living with her parents. We couldn't always get to see each other because she was often busy and Ron and
I were both working full time. So when we did see her it was a big deal, and I got into the habit of giving her a big
hug hello every time I saw her.

By the time she started working for the ministry of magic and found an apartment nearby it was a well established ritual
to give a hug hello. Even though we now saw each other several times a week it never occurred to me to question that
when I saw her I gave her a hug hello. I didn't even think about it until my (now ex) girlfriend pointed it out.

`Why do you and Hermione hug so much?' She had asked, a nasty note of suspicion in her voice.

`I don't know, it's just our way of saying hello I guess. There's nothing in it we've just been friends forever that's
all.' I said trying to explain.

`Ron doesn't hug her every time he see's her.' She pointed out.

I had to think about that for a second, but she was right. Somehow it was just something that Hermione and I did. I'd
never even noticed that she and Ron didn't hug hello as well. I started paying a bit more attention after that, the next
time I saw her I didn't offer the hello hug.

Hermione looked at me with a funny smile on her face, `What's the matter? Aren't you going to say hello?' she asked like
she was waiting for something.

`I did say hello,' I replied pretending I didn't understand.

`Harry' she said playfully hitting my arm, `you know what I mean!'

I couldn't resist after that, `Sorry,' I said pulling her into a hug, `I wasn't thinking'.

Unfortunately for me this started a whole new addiction but this was one that I was very aware of and desperate to try
and break. Because I was talking while I hugged her my lips brushed her hair, her unbelievably soft and silky hair. Just
once it happened by accident and I was hooked. Every time we hugged after that I would say something to her, usually
just `hey how are you?' or something equally mundane, but it gave me an excuse to accidentally brush my lips against her
hair. It was horrible, I was a horrible best friend, possibly the worst best friend that ever existed. Still I don't
think she knew what I was doing, but I couldn't decide if that made it better or worse.

As hard as it is to believe things got even worse. Hermione was going to Australia for a few months and we had a
farewell committee to see her off before she left, this when the new addiction of goodbye hugs started. After that it
was a slippery slope. We gave each other hugs hello and goodbye, I put my arm around her in crowds, we gave each other a
hug when giving a birthday or Christmas present and another to say thankyou for the present. I knew it had gotten out of
hand when even Ron noticed that Hermione and I were spending a lot of our time hugging each other.

We were just having a quiet drink together at The Leaky Cauldron one night when Ron said to me, `So what's going on with
you and Hermione?'

I tried not to choke on my beer, `What do you mean?' the plan was to deny, deny, deny and if that didn't work, deny some
more.

`You always seem to be hugging or touching each other, what's going on?'

`Nothing, we're just friends.' I said in the first phase of my plan.

Ron gave me a look but refrained from pointing out that he had been Hermione's friend just as long as I had.

`Ok, whatever.' He said and thankfully let the subject drop.

I tried to pull back a bit from the constant flow of hugs after that, but it was hard. I started thinking about it all
the time, wondering when I would safely be able to hug or touch Hermione again without suspicion being aroused. I was
getting distracted at work and unable to sleep at night. It got to the point where I wasn't functioning properly and
everyone started asking me what was wrong. That's when I knew I was addicted, but there was nothing I could do about it.

It all came to a head on the night of my 21st birthday. We'd been out drinking and generally making a public nuisance of
ourselves and we came back to my place. Hermione had left a cardigan there that she wanted to retrieve before heading
home but everyone else had already left. It was late, my apartment was dark and we'd both had too much to drink. I was
planning on heading straight for bed and so I only turned on one lamp to find her top. I picked it up of the sofa and
handed it to her my fingers tingling as they brushed hers.

`Thanks Harry,' she said, `well I better get going.' There was a hint of hesitancy in her voice.

I smiled, I was going to get a goodbye hug, `Bye Hermione,' I said pulling her in for a hug.

She came in for the hug willingly but seconds before I got close enough to her to do my usual talk and accidentally
brush my lips against her hair routine, she shook her head slightly her hair fell down her back and her neck was
exposed. So when I said, `Thanks for coming out tonight.' Instead of my lips “accidentally” brushing against her hair
they brushed against the soft skin of her neck instead. My lips tingled and burned and I felt Hermione shiver in my
arms.

`Are you ok?' I asked leaning back from the hug but without letting go.

Hermione giggled slightly, `Your stubbled just tickled my neck that's all'

She said blushing slightly in a slightly guilty sort of way. In that moment I realised that maybe I wasn't the only
person who enjoyed these hugs just a little (okay a lot) more than I should. That thought is what emboldened me to do
what I did next.

I lent down and rubbed the stubble on my cheek ever so softly against the soft skin of her neck, `like this?' I asked
trying to sound innocent but failing miserably. She shivered again and squirmed against me. I thought of how easy it
would be to become equally addicted to her squirming against me.

`Harry!' she said, she was trying to scold me but only succeeding in sounding delighted.

I smiled at her suddenly aware that I'd been holding her pressed up against me for at least a few minutes. Her squirming
and her smell and the feel of her soft skin against my lips was starting to have an effect and I knew that if I held her
too much longer she would defiantly know about it. At the same time I really didn't want to let her go. So I did what
any sensible, red-blooded man would do. I kissed her and when she didn't push me away I kissed her some more. Now I kiss
her whenever I get the chance and I think we might both be addicted to it.
