Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to: Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Harry ran back to the common room and was surprised to see Ron's unconscious form on the floor with Hermione starting to sit up on the couch and holding her wand.
"What happened?" asked Harry.
"He - he started to kiss me and then he - ," stuttered Hermione. "He started to grope and I - well, I hexed him."
Harry looked down at Ron and shook his head. That was a really nice plan you had there mate, he thought. He tried hard to not smile at the thought that Hermione turned the tables on him. He then looked up at Hermione and saw that she was trembling.
"Are you okay?" asked Harry.
Hermione avoided his eyes and shook her head. "No. Take get him upstairs and then, I need to talk with you."
Harry nodded and then took his wand out and started levitating Ron up the spiral staircase similar to how Sirius had levitated Snape when he was unconscious. He found that the alcohol he consumed made it difficult to maintain his concentration on levitating Ron. He slipped twice and Ron's head bonked on the wall as they went up the spiral staircase to the Gryffindor 7th year dormitories. Harry shook his head as he thought of the headache that Ron would have the next morning, between the alcohol, the hex and now the bumps against the wall. He was in no mood to undress Ron and put him in pyjamas. Instead, he simply took off Ron's shoes and put him under the covers fully dressed. He then closed the curtains around the bed so that their roommates wouldn't see the sleeping Ron.
When Harry returned to the common room he saw Hermione in tears. She rushed into his arms.
"Harry, I can't believe he did that!" she sobbed.
Her body started to sway and Harry wasn't able to maintain his balance. They tumbled onto the couch and Harry tried to sit back while she was still clutching onto him. He found a position leaning against the back of the sofa while she was curled up in a ball on his lap.
Harry held her like that while she made his shoulder damp with tears. Her thick bushy hair had covered his face and made him cough, until he smoothed it out his way. He began patting her on the back of her head in a comforting gesture. It reminded him a little of how Cho had cried after kissing him in the Room of Requirement during his fifth year. The difference of course was Cho was a girl he knew very little about when she broke down in his arms and he didn't know how to respond. This time he was comforting his best friend and he fully understood why she was so upset. He also felt guilty because he knew that he should have tried to prevent it from happening, but he hadn't intervened because of his friendship with Ron.
Harry didn't know what to say to her, so he remained silent and allowed her to seek comfort from him. He began to notice how soft her hair was to the touch and the smell that was distinctly Hermione filled his senses. She finally lifted her head from his shoulder and wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Oh Harry, I'm so pathetic. I'm seventeen and I have yet to be kissed properly. I want someone to kiss me tenderly and gently. To make me feel special. Tonight, Ron could have tried to do that, but instead he pounced on me like I was a steak being fed to a lion. If I hadn't had my wand…" she shuddered. "I hate to think what might have happened."
"He wouldn't have done anything bad to you, I wouldn't have let that happen," Harry said trying to reassure her.
"You were listening?"
"Umm, yeah," he said becoming very embarrassed.
"So you knew," she said crestfallen. "And you let him do that to me?"
"Look, I didn't know what he was planning to do. I didn't know he was going to feed you liquor," Harry insisted. "I thought he was just trying to settle his own nerves."
"Am I that scary of a person, that you need to have a drink in order to approach me?"
Harry looked in her eyes and saw a vulnerability that he had never seen before. He was still holding her in his arms and he began to feel very warm and uncomfortable in this situation, because he found that his body was beginning to respond to hers. He realized how soft and wonderful she felt in his arms. His thoughts began to wander, but he forced himself to answer her question.
"No, you're not scary Hermione."
She nodded with a rueful smile. "Tell me what I should do Harry. Ron is going to wake up in the morning hung over with a terrible headache. He won't remember what happened, except that he'll know that he kissed me. I need to know what you want me to do."
"Me? Why are you asking me?" Harry said perplexed. "I mean, isn't this supposed to be about how you feel towards Ron? Whether or not you can forgive him for…"
"Harry," she said patiently, "If I start dating Ron, everything will change between us."
"Yeah, so you'll be boyfriend and girlfriend."
"No, I meant between us. Between you and me."
"We'll still be friends," Harry insisted.
"But if I start dating Ron, then I'll be putting his needs before yours. I've never done that before. You have always come first with me. Sometimes before my own needs," she gave a small smile as her fingers brushed his temples. "It'll no longer be three good friends, it'll be a couple and their good friend."
Harry swallowed deeply and tried to think about how things would change and how he would deal with that.
"I want to be loved, Harry. I want to love someone and be loved in return. I'm willing to try that with Ron because I've known him for so long and because he is one of my best friends. I'd make sure to set the ground rules of what is acceptable with him, but I don't know if we'd last as a couple. That's because we're always fighting with each other, but at least he cares for me it's just that…" she stared in his eyes searching for the right words. "I'd rather do it with you."
Harry held her face in his hands as if it was delicate porcelain. Her skin was flawless and he noticed for the first time flecks of gold in her brown eyes.
"I want you, Harry. I need to know what it is that you want."
He saw a look on her face that was a mixture of hope and worry. He smiled at her and saw the worry disappear and then saw only her love for him remaining. Not adoration for his celebrity, but love for the boy that he was and the man that he was becoming. She was so beautiful and he wondered how he had never noticed that before. His heart started to swell in his chest as he realized that he was experiencing the feeling of love for the first time.
Then Harry noticed a spot of chocolate on the corner of her mouth. He leaned down and licked it off with his tongue.
"Mmmm, chocolate mint," he murmured as he began to kiss her. A soft, gentle kiss that she had asked for. A sweet and tender exploration of her lips and mouth.
He realized after their lips had touched that he could never have felt happiness if Hermione had been with anyone else. She was a part of his life and he couldn't imagine her not being at his side. He also couldn't imagine any other girl that could understand him the way that she did.
Love. He loved her. It was only in the process of almost losing her that he realized exactly what it was that she meant to him.
Their kissing lasted all night. They had reclined on the couch and had their bodies pressed together, softly but demurely touching each other. More passionate sessions they knew would follow. They couldn't stop kissing even as the night wore on and the clock struck the hours.
As the first rays of morning crept into the common room, Harry broke their kiss and looked at Hermione's hair fanned out on the cushion.
"Umm, don't you think it'll be a scandal if it is discovered that the Head Girl didn't sleep in her bed all night?"
"Probably," she mused. "I suppose I should at least go upstairs and shower before the other girls wake up."
"I should go, too. But before we leave each other, we should decide what it is that we are going to say to Ron," Harry said.
"Well, we can say that thanks to him, we both admitted our true feelings to each other last night and that as it turns out, Rita Skeeter was right after all. Harry Potter has at last found love at Hogwarts."
Harry smiled and shook his head. "You don't think he'll be upset with us?"
"Yes, but what would be worse?" she asked. "One person having a broken heart or two people trying to deny what they feel for one another simply to avoid hurting someone else's feelings? Besides, Ron deserves better than me. He deserves to be loved by someone who loves him with all of their heart and not look at him as their second choice."
"You're right," he said as he gave her a quick kiss. "See you at breakfast."
Fin.
Author's notes:
I'd like to thank those who left me reviews for this short fic: Anne U, babyhalo19, danielerin, Heaven, Hermione Cosplayer, KypDurron, Maggiedawg119, Rain, Sauron the Dark, spenceM7, Sweden's Pride, the real HOPE. And for anyone that wondered, the liquor used was just simple peppermint schnapps. That is because I like the flavor combination of chocolate and mint. I considered using sloe gin because it can be mistaken for just cherry pop and can be slipped in to drinks without people being really aware of it being spiked, but decided instead to use schnapps.
In case anyone would like to one type of confrontation I think Harry and Ron would have over Hermione, I direct you to my novel length story, "Secrets, Lies and the Daily Prophet" which is also published here on Portkey. I dealt with that very emotionally charged and conflict ridden topic, in a very dramatic manner. Somehow, I just don't want to revisit that again and find myself ending the short fics before I have to deal with it. Well, that's because I like leaving things on a happy note whenever possible and dealing with that conflict would really lengthen the piece and you have to work afterwards in order to get it back to a happy ending. That's it for now, although I do have a few more short fics that I have started some scratching on.