Harry was completely enthralled by her. He loved to watch her talk. She was so animated, her whole face lit up when she spoke. Especially when she talked about her work. It was very obvious that she loved what she did. She was just as passionate when she talked about her friends and family. The pride and love she felt for those closest to her was clearly evident.
With each word, Harry fell a little deeper.
A slight lull in the conversation found them sitting side by side, with Harry's arm draped around the back of Hermione's chair as they listened to the band that had taken over the bar's small stage. Their legs were pressed together to insure some kind of contact between them without being extremely obvious. Harry wanted nothing more than to be able to touch her freely though. After a couple of songs and some internal pep talks, Harry decided they should move on. It was almost ten o'clock and the night was still fairly young. He didn't want their entire first date to consist of just sitting in a bar.
"So...any ideas on what we should do next?" he asked her.
He hadn't realized just how close together they'd ended up sitting until he turned his head to look at her. At the same time she turned to answer his question and the found their noses less than two inches apart. Harry could feel her sudden intake of breath. He wanted nothing more than to close the gap between them and kiss her. He stopped himself though as her remembered Luna's words from earlier. This was Hermione's first date. She'd never been kissed before.
The butterflies in Hermione's stomach came back full force and she found herself blushing at thoughts of Harry kissing her. She was both relieved and disappointed when he pulled way. He surprised her though, when instead of kissing her, he brought his hand up and gently tucked a strand of hair that had come lose behind her ear. She wasn't sure but she felt his fingers linger a little as he push the strand back from her face.
"Well...any idea for what's next?" he asked. He took his time dropping his hand back to the chair.
Hermione bit her bottom lip as she thought about possibilities for the rest of their evening. She didn't notice the
way Harry's eyes hidden behind those crescent moons of glass ,were being drawn to her mouth. He just couldn't
get over how full and supple her lips were. He wanted nothing more than to take that bottom lip into his own mouth
and..
"How about ...golf," Hermione said, interrupting his thought.
"Golf?" he raised his eyebrows questioningly.
Hermione nodded. "Yes. Miniature golf. There's a new place about four streets from her. They're supposed to stay open late. It could be fun. I've never actually played before. It can help this be a whole night of firsts. What do you say?"
"Why not, it sounds interesting." Harry would follow her
anywhere he realized.
Golfing turned out to be a very enlightening experience. Hermione decided that, in an attempt to get Harry to talk,
they would play by their own rules. So for every shot they messed up, they had to reveal something about themselves. It
sort of backfired on her when Harry turned out to be a very good golfer. So while Harry was still a man of mystery,
Hermione was an open book.
At the second to the last hole, Hermione was starting to run out of things to say. So when she messed up her shot again, she almost threw her putter down in frustration.
"What else could I possibly tell you?" she asked Harry.
He shrugged. "Tell me why ....you don't date. Ginny and Luna said that you never go out, why is that?"
Hermione felt herself blushing. She shrugged. " I don't know. No one's ever asked." She looked a little sad as she spoke and he was sure that the question had brought up many insecurities.
" I don't see how that can be true," he told her. "I don't think that I've ever met anyone as amazing as you," he told her honestly.
Hermione felt her blush deepen and she quickly cleared her throat. "It's your turn," she told him. As he was stepping up to take his shot, Hermione moved herself to the other side, accidentally brushing against Harry as she did so. This caused him to falter, making him mess up his shot.
Hermione saw and laughed. "Ha...now you have to tell me something!"
Harry nodded and gave in. "What would you like to know?"
Hermione thought for a moment. "Describe your perfect date," she said after a brief deliberation.
Harry's response came without hesitation. "You."
They stepped up closer to one another then. "You're my perfect date too," Hermione told Harry softly. At that he'd made up his mind. He was going to kiss her.
He would have too if a group of noisy teenagers hadn't caught up with them.
They moved on to the last hole and Hermione took her shot. She actually made it without messing up too badly. So it was Harry's turn fairly quickly. As he lined up his shot, Hermione was thinking about what he'd just said. It was easy for her to say that he was her perfect date. He really was. She'd never imagined having such a great time with anyone. But him...surely he'd had better dates than this. He was getting ready to swing when Hermione asked her next question.
"Do you date a lot, Harry?"
At her question, Harry almost dropped his putter.
"uhm...a few," he told her. That was an understatement. He immediately felt terrible for being untruthful with her about his job.
"I'm sorry, that's none of my business..." Hermione started to say.
Harry stopped her. "Don't be sorry. I can honestly say that no matter how many dates I've been on. None of them have been even a tenth as memorable as this one tonight. So thank you....for making tonight so memorable." He took her hand then and watched the smile that spread across her lips.
After they'd turned in their balls and their putters, Harry took Hermione to get some ice cream and they drove back to her apartment complex. He hated to see the evening end, but Hermione had mentioned having to work early the next day and he didn't want her to be too tired. She was still licking her ice cream cone when they reached the flat doorway.
Hermione turned around and stared up into Harry's face. She really hated for the night to be over with. It had been so perfect. Everything about Harry had been so incredible. He smiled at her and his eyes sort of sparkled. Not for the first time that evening she marveled at how beautiful his emerald eyes really were.
"I had a really great time, Harry," she told him softly. He smiled and stepped closer to her.
"Me too. I hope that....it wasn't a completely terrible way to spend your birthday."
Hermione shook her head. "No...it was wonderful."
"I'd really like to see you again," Harry said hopefully.
Hermione looked down shyly, biting her bottom lip. Then she looked up and smiled. "I'd like that."
Harry couldn't restrain himself any more. He leaned in slowly, his breath catching in his throat as his lips brushed ever so carefully across Hermione's. When he pulled away, he knew that one kiss wouldn't be enough. So before she even had time to open her eyes again, he kissed her again. This time, he let his lips linger, revelling in the softness and the feel of her own lips pressed against him. Very gently he coaxed her into responding to his gently caresses against her mouth. She caught on quickly and when they pulled apart, Harry could feel himself growing breathless. He didn't even try to hide the satisfied smile that spread across his face. He could see how caught up Hermione had been.
Hermione was in heaven. She'd never once imagined a kiss could be that amazing and wonderful. When she'd felt
his lips brush against hers the first time, she'd been thrilled and disappointed at the same time. Thrilled because
it felt better than she'd always imagined. Disappointed because it hadn't lasted nearly long enough. Before
she'd even recovered from that, he'd kissed her again, this time urging her to kiss him back. She could still
feel the pressure of their lips together, and how wonderful he felt. She wasn't sure if her heart would ever beat
normally again.