Consequences
…Hermione closed her eyes as Harry's soft lips touched her own. She slanted her mouth and stepped closer to deepen the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and feeling him pull her closer. …I'm kissing Harry…I'm finally kissing Harry… she thought vaguely as she lost herself in his embrace, in his kiss…
Hermione opened her eyes slowly as they reluctantly parted. She smiled hesitantly at him, and he smiled back, looking deep into her eyes. "Hermione, you look beautiful, you really do." he said quietly, his arms still around her. Hermione slowly became aware of their surroundings again. The world seemed to melt away as he kissed her, but now it came crashing back all too soon. Yellow Hell had struck up a faster tune, and all around them people were milling around, chatting away to their friends that they could suddenly recognise. Hermione felt Harry go suddenly tense and looked questioningly up at him. She saw he was looking over her shoulder, worry evident in his eyes. She turned around and saw Ron standing a few paces away, a look of betrayal on his face. He wordlessly shook his head in disbelief, slowly going red. Hermione could see the hurt and anger in his eyes as he stared at Harry. "You just have to have everything don't you?" He said softly, closing the distance between them. "You had to take her away from me didn't you?" Ron was now glaring at Harry with hate and jealousy radiating from him. "You have everything you have ever wanted! Why couldn't I just have her? You know how must I like her!" he said, his voice rising at every word, people glancing round curiously. "Ron" Hermione said softly "I'm so sorry. Really I am. But I have always liked Harry, always!" Ron didn't even look at her, just walked away, pushing past people on his way out of the Hall. Harry sighed. "Hermione I'm sorry… I really didn't know he was there… I'm sorry that I've caused this." Hermione just hugged him. "No Harry, its not your fault, its not anyone's fault. Ron should just accept that we're a couple now…we are a couple, aren't we?" she asked uncertainly. She didn't know if Harry even wanted to be with her, especially now they had hurt Ron. "Hermione" Harry said, pulling her close, "Of course we're a couple. Don't you know how much I like you?" he smiled at her and she smiled back, moving closer to kiss him again. Then, out the corner of her eye she saw a flash of blond and red twirl past. She turned her head, sure that she was seeing things. "Why is Ginny dancing with Malfoy? And smiling?" she asked, staring at the couple dancing in time with each other. Harry was also staring in them in disbelief, and he wasn't the only one. Hermione could see Pansy Parkinson and her usual gang staring at Ginny open mouthed, a look of hate on their faces. Dean Thomas was standing not too far away, his look aimed at Malfoy, mirroring Pansy's. Ginny and Draco seemed oblivious to all this as they danced, eyes locked on each other, deep in conversation. "Well there's something I thought I'd never see." Harry muttered. "Malfoy lowering himself to the level of a Weasley. What's gotten into him?" Hermione snorted. "He must have hit his head. Come on, I like this song" she said, taking his hand as the next song started.
They danced through to one, when the prize for the best dressed couple was presented. Hermione clapped along with everyone else when Lavender Brown and Blaise Zanbini came up to receive their prize, keeping a distance between them. Obviously neither of them was overjoyed to discover who their partner for the evening had been.
Dumbledore walked onto the stage and quiet fell around the room. He smiled round at them all. "It's nice to see that you all have made such an effort with your costumes tonight, you all look splendid! I'm afraid that the Ball has now ended, so off to bed with you all. I hope you have had as wonderful an evening as I have. Good night." the students clapped and all moved towards the doors. Harry took Hermione's hand and they moved through the mass of people, whispered comments following them as the gossip spread about their kiss and the confrontation with Ron. Harry quickened his pace, Hermione right beside him. She sighed, she should have known what it would be like if they got together. Most of the school had already assumed that they had been a couple for years, so they were surprised at Ron's reaction and quite confused by it all.
Hermione and Harry slowly walk to the common room, hand in hand, each lost in their own thoughts. Hermione felt quite guilty about Ron's reaction, but she felt angry too. He had no right to shout at them like that. She sighed, wondering what it would take to get Ron to talk to them again. Harry stopped, and she realised they had reached the portrait hole, the Fat Lady snoozing in her frame. Harry pulled Hermione around to face him, running one hand through her hair, the other at her waist. "Hermione I love your hair like this, it really suits you." his eyes travelled over her and he grinned. "That dress suits you too…you should wear it more often." she suggested, his eyes sparkling. Hermione playfully slapped his arm. "I don't think so! Its got to be back at the shop next Hogsmeade weekend, I only hired it out." she stepped closer to him and smiled. "So make the most of it while…" she hadn't finished the sentence before Harry's lips caught hers and once more the world ceased to exist, all that was real to her right then was Harry and her overwhelming feelings for him. She put her arms around his neck, kissing him back passionately. Just as things were getting interesting, they wee interrupted by a loud "Really!". Hermione quickly moved away form Harry and looked around. The Fat Lady was staring at them, hands on hips. "Well really! I expected better behaviour than that! Especially from a prefect!" The Fat Lady scolded, swinging forward with a loud tut as Harry quickly said the password. Once inside the common room they were no longer alone, the room was half full of Gryffindors discussing the Ball and admiring each other's costumes. When Harry and Hermione entered, Parvati and Lavender hurried over to them, grinning and giggling madly. "Ooh I just knew you two would get together!" Parvati squealed, clapping her hands. "It's soo romantic! You make such a good couple, I've always said it!" Hermione smiled back at her. "Thanks Parvati. So who was your partner?" Parvati wrinkled her nose. "Ron Weasley. Well, to be fair, he's not a bad dancer, and when he looked over and saw you two kissing, he just stomped off! I couldn't believe it, it was so rude! Right in the middle of a really good song too!" she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "At least it wasn't as bad as Lavender, you saw who her partner was!" Lavender scowled at Parvati. "I don't want to think about it! That boy is so obnoxious! Oh I'm going to bed!" she said and stalked off. Parvati giggled and shook her head then followed Lavender up the girl's stairway. Hermione turned to Harry "Well, I think I'm going to turn in too. I'm so tired! Meet you down here tomorrow? We've got that potions essay to do remember?" Harry rolled his eyes. "Always thinking about bloody homework!" he grinned. "Well, goodnight 'Mione." He kissed her on the cheek and walked up the boys stairway. Hermione watched him go, resisting the urge to touch that spot on her cheek where he'd just kissed her. She smiled and turned away, going up to her room to begin struggling out of her dress.
Harry went up the boys stairs and walked into his room, which was unusually quiet. He glanced around, Dean was scowling at the opposite wall, and Harry suddenly got the image of Ginny twirling across the dance floor with Draco Malfoy. poor guy Harry thought, wondering what had gotten into Ginny. It was Malfoy for gods sake! She couldn't have broken Dean's heart any more spectacularly. Harry looked over to Seamus and saw that he was laying on his bed fully clothed, staring at the ceiling. Neville was fast asleep, snoring softly. Harry finally looked to where he had been avoiding, but was quite relieved to find the hangings around Ron's bed firmly shut. Harry sighed and slowly undressed and climbed into bed. He pulled his hangings closed and removed his glasses. His last thoughts before he closed his eyes were I kissed her… she kissed me back… he grinned as he fell asleep, and dreamt of Hermione.
Hermione woke up and winced at the sunlight streaming through the window. She rolled over and tried opening her eyes again and saw Ginny sitting at the foot of her bed. Hermione sat up and yawned. "Ginny! Hi. What brings you here to early?" Hermione noticed a sad look in Ginny's eyes. "Well, I'm kinda hiding at the minute" she said, staring at the floor. Hermione scooted closer and put her arm around her friend. "Why Gin? What's up?" she asked, concern evident in her voice. Ginny sighed. "Well I'm hoping to stay out the way. I don't want to run into…certain people right now." she got up and walked over to the window. "You mean Dean?" Hermione asked softly, knowing that this was going to be a touchy subject. "Yeah, and Ron and Draco too" she said. Hermione raised her eyebrows. "So its 'Draco' now is it? And why are you hiding from him?" Ginny scowled at the wall. "Well there's no reason really. Huh! The nerve of him! I woke up to find that eagle owl of his staring at me from my dressing table. He had sent a note saying 'last night was fun little red, maybe we should do it again sometime.' Little red! Honestly! Just who does he think he is?" she burst out angrily. Hermione sighed. She should tell Ginny not to get involved with Malfoy, but she knew it wouldn't do any good at all. She decided to drop it for now. "Come on Ginny, you can't hide forever. Lets get some breakfast, ok? Just let me get dressed first."
As they walked into the common room they came face to face with Ron. They all froze, the whole room going silent. Ron looked like he was just going to let it pass, but at that point Harry came through the portrait hole and his eyes flicked from Hermione to Ron and back again, and a weary look crossed his face. Ron turned and saw him and went instantly red as Harry crossed the room to stand next to Hermione. "You just couldn't stay away from her could you!" Ron said loudly. "You just couldn't stand it that I had something that you didn't! You had to take her away from me didn't you!" he yelled, poking his finger at Harry's chest. "Don't touch me!" he said, knocking Ron's hand away. " She isn't a prize for people to squabble over Ron! She's a person! Not a possession!" Harry shouted back at him. Ron's eyes flashed and it looked like he wanted to hit Harry. Hermione quickly stepped between them. "Stop it! Both of you! I'm sorry Ron, I just don't feel that way about you. And I was never 'yours'. I don't belong to anybody. I'm my own person Ron, not just something that you have that Harry doesn't. I can't believe you even thought of me like that. That's not love! That's not caring about someone! Its just wanting something so someone else can't have it. I'm not a toy that Harry snatched away from you Ron! I have my own mind, my own feelings. Just accept it." she finished softly and then grabbed Ginny's arm and quickly made her exit, leaving a lot of very shocked Gryffindors staring after her.