Chapter 3
A/N: I need to work on ignoring my impulses… I really wanted to put some lyrics up front and so I did. Do Biblical song lyrics count?
"Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste." Song of Songs 2:3
Ron was in the common room when Ginny came tearing through. Ron saw her white knuckles and the heaves of her shoulders and knew something had happened. He jumped up and ran to intercept her before she went up to forbidden stairs to the girl's dormitory.
"What is it, Ginny?" Ron asked.
Her head lifted up in seeming shock with a hint of confusion and said, "You're going with them, aren't you. You're going to go Voldemort hunting with Harry and Hermione. You were going to leave me all alone here."
Now it was Ron's turn to look shocked. "Um, well, no I'm not. I mean, I was… But after what happened last week, I don't know. And what do you mean by 'leave you all alone here'. You're the most popular girl here. And I'm sure Harry will send letters."
"Well, Harry made it quite clear that he wanted nothing to do with me ever again. It was the same bathroom in which Hermione broke up with you! There's something about that stupid bathroom that makes and breaks relationships. Ugh, Ron, let me go up and sob in peace."
Ron put his hands on her shoulders to stop her. He wanted to know more. "Wait, Harry and Hermione weren't in there together again, were they?"
"Well, yes they were. And I think they were talking about me too. They had that embarrassed look on their faces. Right after, he told me I was brave enough or something to go with him. And tell you the truth, he was right."
But Ron quickly dismissed Ginny and said to himself, "Something is going on with those two."
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"Harry, I've been thinking this past week," Hermione said.
"Well, that's what I like about you," Harry said.
Hermione elicited a smile. Hermione's 'thinking' had either made Ron confused or angry. It was nice to know somebody enjoyed her ideas. However, today's conversation would be the make or break of their relationship. Today, they were in the same bathroom, on the same day of the week, discussing pretty much the same thing.
"What were you thinking about, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Well, I know you're not going to like this but I kind of miss Ron."
Harry jumped at the thought. "You mean you want to get back together with him?! He lied -"
"No! Harry, I meant that I was thinking about all the fun we had together as friends, when Ron and I weren't dating. We did have fun. The only reason I took some of Ron's bait personally was that I thought he liked me more than a friend all those years. I realize that if we were just friends, it wouldn't have mattered so much. Friends bait each other all the time."
Harry had a quick moment of reminiscing. He remembered all the great times at the Burrow. He couldn't bear the thought of never seeing Mr. and Mrs. Weasley or the twins and their shop. No matter how much Ron (or Ginny) got on anyone's nerves, the Weasley home had been a high point of his life, and even Hermione's.
"I don't understand what you are trying to say, Hermione," Harry said.
Hermione sighed, "I'm saying we should forgive Ron and let him be our friend again. You weren't thinking of leaving him here in three weeks, were you?"
A look of realization came upon Harry and he said, "Well, I don't know. I hadn't thought about it. It's just that you seemed so hurt about the little white lie he told you. I didn't think you'd ever want to even look at him again."
"Well, part of me does want him to burn in Hell," at this she let a soft giggle escape and continued, "but our dating relationship only last a year. Our friendship was six years long."
"Right, so we forgive Ron?"
"Please, Harry?" Hermione pleaded.
"If it's that important to you," Harry mumbled.
"Oh, thank you, Harry!" Harry was instantly smothered. It was another Hermione bear hug. He was beginning to like the feeling. And there was that damned apple shampoo! Harry's imagination had been flooded with images of Hermione biting into an apple for the past week. There was something about the way Hermione's lips were always wet in those daydreams that always made a soft heat course through his veins. It was something about Hermione's lips that always drew his attention. Never Ginny's lips though. Her lips were always covered in lipstick. He often found himself furiously wiping it off after a 'snog session'. Hermione's lips were never covered in lipstick. Her lips only had advice, comfort, and brilliance written on them. It seemed to Harry that the only thing Ginny's lips were good for belonged in an abandoned broom cupboard.
When Hermione's hands reached Harry's broad shoulders, her mind instantly went to thoughts about how much taller and broader he had gotten since first year, or even fifth year. With that, all the memories of the past seven years came flooding through her. She had dwelled on all the adventures they had together. Throughout all those memories, one phrase kept repeating itself over and over again: He was always there to save her. Two weeks ago she found out that he was the reason she didn't meet a gruesome end two months into her Hogwarts career. The first time her life was in danger, Harry was there. The last time her life was in danger, Harry was there. He even physically carried her out. And here she was, in his arms again.
All these thoughts flashed through their minds in a few seconds. "Can you teach me about love, Harry?" It was Hermione again, with more brilliance on her lips.
"I don't know. Our first attempts seem to have taken pretty rotten turns," Harry said. Harry took a step back to look at her. She had grown from brilliant muggle girl to brilliant woman and witch. Her hair was considerably more manageable (brown bushiness had given way to thick curls). He surveyed her whole body and remarked that various other places had grown considerably too. She was wearing a pink sweater and a white skirt which hugged her hips. Harry had to stifle a small voice that told him she was downright sexy.
"Maybe an object lesson would help?" Hermione offered.
Harry noticed that somewhere between 'I don't know' and 'Maybe', Hermione had wetted her lips. It was just like his daydream, only no apple… But Harry didn't have time to linger on that fact because her lips had come across his in the softest way possible. Harry, very considerately, responded by applying a little more pressure to the kiss. The warmth he imagined in his daydreams was intensified a hundredfold. Good lord! Was that only a platonic kiss?! Harry thought. This gives a whole new meaning to 'apple of my eye'. From now on, he wanted to be the one she desired and he would work hard to get it.
Hermione was also pleasantly surprised. There was a gentleness in that kiss that she hadn't experienced before. Ron's style was more demanding and Viktor's too. They had wanted their snog. Harry, however, was content with whatever she gave him. She realized that this was the way she wanted things from now on. She wished that things could be this gentle and undemanding in the future, especially for Harry. Maybe, in the coming months and years, it would be her turn to save Harry. If she could make his eyes dance the way they just did even once on the treacherous road ahead, she would have done her job right.
The kiss didn't last but a few seconds. However, it felt like eternity. Harry concluded that 'eternity' was another adjective he should add to the description of her lips.
"Lesson one accomplished," Harry said, smiling.
"Did I pass?" Hermione asked with a mischievous smile.
"Two-hundred percent," Harry declared.
And they laughed all the way to the common room…
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A/N: Right, so at first I thought I would just do a one shot but then I desperately wanted H/G broken up so I wrote a second chapter. Then, I thought it wouldn't really be a h/hr fic if I didn't officially hook up Harry and Hermione. THEN! I thought it really wouldn't be fair to break up the trio because I think that's an unacceptable risk in hooking up H/Hr (and I didn't want to be called a Ron-basher although that isn't necessarily a bad thing). So Chapter 4 should be the last of this simple fic of mine and I stress "simple". Sorry there's no cosmic battle and hunt for horcruxes and such…
Is this good enough to start calling the ship "Apple Pie"? Probably not… Just a thought…