Kiss excerpt from:

Aquae Sulis
by Honeychurch and Lallybroch

~Contributed by: itsme654~

~~~***~~~

"The spell is not complete until a sacrifice has been made. Only then can the one you have chosen receive your protection. Only then will the spell be complete. You must choose."

"Choose? We don’t understand," Hermione said. But the tenor of her voice belied her question. Ron was quite sure that she did understand, even thought he bloody well didn’t.
Bits of rock and dust spewed forth from the Gorgon’s mouth as it moved its massive lips to speak. "Choose who will stay. Only one leaves this place."
[...]

Ron’s brain was filled with a hundred frantic thoughts. It wasn’t that Ron had never considered death before. He had, in fact, been face to face with it more than once. But he never imagined that his actual death would sneak up on him like this. Would he just fall over dead? Or would it be…painful? But he’d known the risks when he decided to come, and it was important to do this for Harry. And if it meant that he had to…he would do it. Harry had important things to do, and if this was the only way Ron could help him, then he would do it. Harry…Ron felt sick when he thought about how guilty Harry was going to feel. Hermione was going to have to make sure that Harry was okay. He glanced over at Hermione, who was lost in her own thoughts. There were a thousand things to say, to tell her. She needed to understand that he…

"Now." The Gorgon’s grating voice startled them from their thoughts.

"No! We need a second!" Ron started forward furiously, but was stopped by Hermione’s outstretched hand.

Her face was pale and determined. "Ron. I’m…so sorry. This was my idea in the first place and I’m going to be the one to finish it. Make sure that my parents know why we had to do this and, and tell Harry, too. " Her voice broke a little then, and Ron was startled out of his frozen silence.

"What?" he sputtered. "Do you think you’re…you’re not staying here Hermione. You are leaving right now."

Hermione shook her head vigorously. "No. No! It’s my responsibility. I’m going to stay."

"You’ve got to be kidding. It’s not your fault any more than it’s mine!" Ron exclaimed loudly.

"I’m the one who found the spell to begin with. I’m the one who found the Portkey and I’m the one who’s going to stay. Its just dying a little sooner than I would have done, right?" Hermione shot back.

Ron gave a mirthless laugh. "You sound like Harry. It doesn’t matter Hermione. I’m not leaving you here, and that’s it. It has to be me."

"Why? Why should it be you? I knew the risks when I came."

He stared at her for a moment, eyes narrowed. The time for hesitation was very definitely in the past. Reaching forward, he grasped her by the shoulders. His eyes locked with hers as he spoke. "Because I would rather die here then have to suffer the rest of my life without you." And with a certainty he’d never possessed until that moment, he pulled her to him and kissed her. She melted against him, and for a moment, the world slipped away.

He held her for a moment, savoring the feeling of her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head, and pushed her back.

"Now go. I mean it."

"I’m not leaving Ron. I won’t leave you. We’ll stay here together and don’t try to talk me out of it, because I’ve made up my mind." She gave him a determined smile.

Ron gave an exasperated sigh. "Hermione. That doesn’t make any sense!"

"It’s the only solution. How could I ever go back to the world knowing that I’d left you here?"

He grasped her hands in frustration. "Maybe you wouldn’t be happy, but at least you’d be alive!"

She smiled sadly, reaching up to touch his cheek. "But you wouldn’t be there."

"Hermione. I-I…"

She put her fingertips against his lips. "Shh…I know." Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears. "We’ve done what we came here to do. The spell will be cast and Harry will be safe. And we’ll do this last thing together. Like we always have." His breath caught in his throat, and the rush of emotion that filled his chest was almost too much to bear. He crushed her to him, kissing her lips and face with gentle intensity, savoring the feel of her smooth skin under his.
When she finally pulled away, her eyes were clear and bright. "Let’s finish this."

***

Kiss Excerpt from:

...That I Am Up to No Good
by B. Nonymous

~ Contributed by B.Nonymous ~

~~~***~~~

Hermione looked up, and saw two dementors rapidly breezing toward them. She shouted, "Ron! Look up!"

It was too late. Peter tried to hold one of them back with his silver hand, but it was only partially successful. The other dementor attempted to lift Hermione up to the black-hole of despair that served as a dementor's mouth.

Ron managed to collect himself just enough to try one incantation, "Expecto Patronum," he said, and an indistinct figure floated toward the second dementor. Hermione managed to squirm out of the dementor's hands, but she fell to her knees, crying, her thoughts drifting darkly.
I have to warn Harry, it's a Basilisk...
"Mudblood!"
"Hermione, Neville's right - you are a girl..."
"Undiluted bubotuber pus!"
"Oh Ron, he asked me first. I wasn't sure if you would remember this year..."

Peter had managed to put himself between the dementors and Harry's friends. He, too, was on the floor in tears.
"Daddy's dead, Peter"
"Not so tough without Potter and Black, are you Petey!"
"It's because I'm Muggle-born, isn't it Peter!" "No Deidre, it's not that."
The burning sensation of the Dark Mark.
Sirius Black Escapes Azkaban
"You should have realized, if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

Ron was the only one left standing. The two dementors seemed distracted by Peter, for some reason. Ron then remembered that Hermione had almost received the Kiss. The kiss...

Ron grabbed Hermione's hand to lift her up. He shook her, making sure she was aware of her surroundings. Suddenly, Hermione blinked, and looking into Ron's eyes, she said...

"I should've done this a long time ago, Ron."

At the same time, Ron looked into Hermione's eyes, and also spoke.

"I'm sorry for being a big prat, Hermione."

Because Ron said his thirteen syllables faster than Hermione said her eleven, they managed to punctuate their sentences in identical fashion - with a mutual embrace and a passionate kiss.

The experience of a first romantic kiss can do strange things to people. For Ron and Hermione, however, this kiss could not have been better timed. The air literally glowed around them afterwards as they pointed their wands at the two dementors, who now had their four other companions behind them. Flush with the twin joys of discovery and revelation, Ron and Hermione uttered the spell in unison.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Out of Ron's wand flashed a familiar-looking figure. A knight, looking nearly identical to the knight on the giant wizard's chessboard from their first year, began to attack two of the dementors with a sustained fury. Every time the dementors came closer the knight beat them both back with his sword. The knight's horse whinnied, then drove them off into the darkness outside.

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