A/N: Thanks to my cousin Molly (you know who you are) for putting the idea in my head. ‘This song reminds me of Ron and Hermione for some reason,’ was enough to spark an entire story.

And as for the song, yes, I realize it’s actually supposed to be one giant innuendo, but I figured that if used in the right sense, it could be played out just as innocently as it sounds. Love to my beta-reader Seldes Katne, John Mayer, and of course, Jo.

 

 

 

We’ve got the afternoon

You’ve got this room for two

 

Ron Weasley sat quietly in the Transfiguration classroom. All of his books were stacked in front of him, closed. His quill lay next to his right hand, unused. The only thing he was holding was his wand.

 

He dared to look over at Hermione Granger, busily flipping through her textbook, armed with her wand. The day before, he’d gotten up the nerve to ask her for help with the lessons they were learning in class. She had agreed and reserved the classroom just to tutor him. Somehow, this made him feel strangely satisfied.

 

One thing I’m left to do

Discover me, discovering you

 

Hermione felt her breath catch in her throat. Sitting that close to Ron in a room alone with him was almost too much to handle. Her only defense against his magnetism was to bury her nose in the textbook. Her eyes had glazed over a long time before, and she wasn’t sure what she was looking at. All she could think about was being close to Ron.

 

When he’d asked her for some help in class, she almost bounded for joy. She had been waiting for an opportunity to arise when she could talk to him about her feelings. For two years she had battled with her emotions about Ronald Weasley. Ever since that infamous Yule Ball incident, things had been different.

 

One mile to every inch of

Your skin like porcelain

 

Ron waved his wand around a few times out of pure boredom. He stopped only when Hermione cast him a sharp glance.

 

Guess that doesn’t mean anything’s going to happen here but a lesson, he thought miserably. He should have known, too. Hermione Granger wasn’t the type that ran around getting schoolgirl crushes on boys. She had better things to worry about than guys, especially guys like him. Guys who made her feel bad, made her cry, guys who weren’t famous Seekers on Quidditch teams, guys who were only her friend.

 

But as Hermione kept her nose delved in the book, Ron stared at her profile. At sixteen years of age, Hermione had really started to portray her beauty. The girl he was staring at was stunning. The white, silky skin of her face was dusted with natural rose. Her big, brown eyes were sparkling with curiosity as she read over each page of the book.

 

And then, Ron did something he had never dared to do in front of others. He let his eyes wander down the length of her face.

 

One pair of candy lips

And your bubblegum tongue

 

Her lips were pursed in concentration and he couldn’t help noticing that she would bite them every so often. It almost drove him crazy. What would it be like… just to press his lips to hers… just to taste them?

 

Hermione’s eyes glanced up from the book and onto Ron’s. He was still staring at her lips but was brought back to reality when she cleared her throat.

 

“A-Are you ready?”

 

The uneasiness in her tone almost put a smile on Ron’s face. So he wasn’t the only one in this turmoil. He had a fellow sufferer.

 

Cause if you want love

We’ll make it

Swim in a deep sea

Of blankets

 

“Yes,” he answered.

 

Hermione’s heart thudded in her chest. She was completely aware of the fact that Ron had been staring at her lips. She was now faced with a new threat. Was it unnerving to know he was gazing at her, or was it settling to know he shared the same feelings?

 

“All right then,” she said, closing the book and standing up. She instructed him to do the same. She watched as he rose out of the chair, beating her in height by at least eighteen inches. He clumsily held his wand in one hand while he scratched his mat of red hair with the other in confusion.

 

Hermione walked around to the other side of the desk and conjured up an antique Tiffany lamp. “To transfigure a lamp into a gemstone, you have to really concentrate. It’s really complicated trying to turn something that large into something so small and beautiful.”

 

Take all your big plans

And break them

This is bound to be a while

 

Small and beautiful. The exact words to describe Hermione.

 

Ron again, scratched his head, but this time it was for show. He mustered a convincing look of confusion and knew deep down, this spell really was no trouble. All he had to do was think about Hermione and it would happen.

 

“Do you have a lot of time? I have a feeling I won’t be able to pick this one up so easily.”

Hermione groaned and rolled her eyes. “Well, I did have some more studying to do after this was over, but I suppose I could break those plans.”

 

Ron smirked. “You might have to.”

 

Hermione smiled back at him. “I have a feeling we’re going to be here for a while.”

 

Forgetting where he was and who he was with, he playfully shoved Hermione and she shoved him back.

 

They stopped.

 

Your body is a wonderland

Your body is a wonder I’ll use my hands

Your body is a wonderland

 

Ron stared at her for a few seconds. Hermione stared at Ron’s hand, still pressed gently on her shoulder. The longer it was there, the hotter it seemed to get. Her wand arm went lax at her side.

 

They stood close together, not sure what to do, not sure how to react to this new feeling. Hermione dropped her head out of Ron’s line of vision. She could feel herself reddening.

 

Something about the way

The hair falls in your face

 

Ron reached out tentatively and gently forced her face upward. He needed to stare into her eyes. He brushed the curly tendrils off of her face so he could see them sparkling up at him. He had been so confused for so long, maybe now he’d be able to set everything straight. She was responding the way he had only dreamed she would. She was warming up to him.

 

I love the shape you take

When crawling toward the pillow case

 

Hermione very much loved this new closeness with Ron. Being so close to him, allowing her heart to crawl slowly toward his own. It felt so right, it made her heart just warm at the thought.

 

You tell me where to go though

I might leave to find it

 

All she could think about was how much she really liked this boy standing next to her. Well, to be completely honest, she loved him. That was right. She definitely loved him. They had been friends for so long that everything about him became warm and familiar. Almost everything about him was like that, but deep into her heart of hearts, Hermione knew that these new feelings                                                                          were different.

 

She would do anything for Ronald Weasley. She was too in love with him not to.

 

I’ll never let your head hit the bed

Without my hand behind it

 

Ron was certain he was in love with Hermione. It had become so clear after he saw that she was Hermione the girl and not just Hermione the friend. He’d almost lost her to someone else, and after having that happen, he realized that he wasn’t going to let it happen again. She was too precious, too dear to his heart.

 

He had to protect her from everything. From the world.

 

But how could he tell her that?

 

If you want love

We’ll make it

Swim in a deep sea

Of blankets

 

“Ron―”

 

“Hermione―”

 

They both stopped for a few seconds. Ron let his hands travel down her arms and stay clasped on her hands. Hermione looked down for a few seconds, and realizing that Ron wasn’t going to say anything, she spoke up.

 

“Ron, I don’t know how long I’ve been trying to hide this…” she sighed, gathering up her courage to say it all at once. “But I don’t just feel like you’re only my friend anymore. You mean a lot more than that to me.”

 

Ron’s eyes lit up. It was the most perfect thing she could have ever said. Not only did he love her even more for saying it, but he loved the fact that she had the courage to say it first.

 

“Then let’s do something about it.”

 

Take all your big plans

And break them

This is bound to be a while

 

“W-What?”

 

Ron sighed, removing one of his hands to run it through his hair. He was now nervous as hell. His palms were sweating, his knees were shaking, and his heart was pounding on the walls of his chest crazily.

 

“I don’t know what you think happens when you feel deeply about someone,” Ron whispered. “But I figured that if you want to be with someone bad enough, you should be with them. There’s nothing holding us back.”

 

Hermione sighed, looking down at her feet. “It’s not that, Ron.”

 

“Then what is it, Hermione?”

 

She looked back up at him with tears in her eyes. “I don’t want to lose you.”

 

“Lose me?”

 

“I don’t want to take the chance of whatever we have not working out and then… I don’t want to lose our friendship.”

 

Ron’s eyes filled with tears as well. “When you care about someone, you should throw caution to the wind. No matter what. Who cares about anything else? If you want someone, you should be with them.”

 

“Ron… I don’t know… throw caution to the wind? How do we do that?”

 

“Like this.”

 

Your body is a wonderland

Your body is a wonder I’ll use my hands

Your body is a wonderland

 

Ron stepped close to Hermione, not thinking twice before he crammed his lips down on top of hers. He had been right. She had candy sweet lips, soft and perfectly fit to the contours of his mouth.

 

What he hadn’t counted on, however, was Hermione pulling away abruptly. She pushed him away violently.

 

Damn, baby

You frustrate me

I know you’re mine all mine all mine

 

Hermione and Ron stared at each other for a few minutes, breathing heavily when Ron couldn’t take the silence anymore.

 

“What are you thinking? Did you feel that?”

 

“I felt it, Ron.”

 

“Then… then what?”

 

“I told you!” she said, stomping her foot to emphasize her point. “I don’t want to lose you! It would kill me, Ron, I can’t lose your friendship. I can’t lose you. It’d be too hard for me.”

 

“Hard? HARD? Let’s talk about HARD! Watching you walk into that ball with Viktor, that was hard. Realizing that I was going to lose you because I was too stupid to realize that you were becoming someone I really liked. That was hard. Listening to you talk about spending time with Viktor without making rude comments is hard. I almost lost you, Hermione. Do you honestly think I’d let it happen again?”

 

She looked away uneasily, biting her lip.

 

“I love you too much to do something so stupid.”

 

But you look so good it hurts

 

Hermione stared into Ron’s eyes for a long time, trying to decipher his feelings. He was completely honest. The twinkling sapphire of his eyes was showing her that he was honest and true. She wasn’t going to lose him. She wasn’t going to have to worry about anything.

She was too in love with him to walk away now.

 

Your body is a wonderland

Your body is a wonder I’ll use my hands

Your body is a wonderland

 

Hermione finally smiled at him, and Ron only took it as his cue to step forward, collect her in his arms again, and kiss her. They felt the magic flowing in and out of each other’s lips and finally, Ron broke the spark apart to say one last thing.

 

“Now about this gemstone…”

 

Hermione only laughed and kissed Ron again.