*once again it's been forever and I apologize. No promises but looking to finish this up and start a new one in the next two weeks.*

The couple entered the common room, both with a slight blush dancing on their cheeks. Hermione was still humming from the kiss, she hadn't realized how much she needed that. It was as if she had been walking around half asleep for the past week and she had finally woken up. Ron followed her a few steps back, he saw Harry and Ginny sitting on the couch in the corner and knew that was where she was heading. He tried to catch up to her before she reached them, he wanted to continue this conversation he wanted a clear definitive answer on how much 'more than just a kiss' was. He couldn't play these guessing games anymore, besides the fact that he was terrible at them.

He was too late, Hermione sat down right next to Ginny and started talking about classes. Ron was a little confused, he took his place in the chair across facing the couch.

"How was the study date Ron?" Harry asked with a grin on his face. This usually would have irritated Ron but since the outcome of this particular study session was fairly fantastic, he decided to play along.

"Fine, ask Hermione. She did most of the studying." He bantered back.

Hermione raised her eyebrows in amusement. "Oh yeah, got loads done." She said sarcastically "especially with Ron sending me on scavenger hunts for books he'll never read" she daggered at him, but it was playful.

"right, like I didn't help look for them" Ron responded with a raise of his own eyebrows. He was enjoying this exchange, he almost forgot about Harry and Ginny. The feeling of comfort came out of nowhere and he had to admit, the timing couldn't have been better.

Hermione seemed to back off a little "Harry where were you by the way?"

Harry had been watching the banter between the two and figured his plan had worked, at least a little bit. They were talking, not arguing and he was pretty sure he had seen them both smile since they walked into the room, a rare sight in a last few weeks.

"Sorry had to help Gin" he half-heartedly lied as he put an arm around his girlfriend.

Hermione and Ron both rolled their eyes a little bit.

The group continued to talk amongst themselves for a little bit. Ron and Hermione continued to lock eyes for moments then quickly look away, it wasn't awkward, it was practically palpable. During the last eye contact moment Ron absent mindedly licked his lips, Hermione couldn't help herself.

"Ok well I'm off to bed" she made a move to get up. Ron shifted in his seat, she could tell he was deciding whether to get up or stay put. She smiled towards and started in his direction which effectively kept him in his seat. When she reached the arm chair Ron looked up to her, she was leaning down and before he knew it her lips were on his. It was a brief kiss but it was all it took to render him speechless.

"Goodnight" she smiled before walking towards the girls dorm.

Harry and Ginny had witnessed the entire exchange, they looked at each other, they both thought Ron and Hermione were acting odd. Not in a bad way, but definitely not their normal interaction. Ginny gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek "yeah I'm going to go talk to her" she hushed as he got up to follow Hermione.

"Hermione, wait up" Ginny called out.

Both girls disappeared up the stairs.

Ron stared after them till they were gone. When he turned back around Harry's questioning look knocked him back into reality a little bit. "What?" he gaffed.

Harry could tell something was up but was in no mood to pry it out of him, he knew that when Ron was ready he would blurt it out at some unnecessary moment. "Whatever you say mate" he half laughed.

"You ready, we have an early practice in the morning" Ron said as he was already half way to the boys dormitory.

"Yeah" was all Harry said before standing and joining him.

It had been a few days and a regular routine had formed. Classes went as usual, Ron would go to practice in the afternoons then make it a point to meet Hermione in the library for a quick study session. They both knew it was more of Ron sitting around waiting for Hermione to spontaneously need to go look for a text book somewhere in a dark stacks. And without fail Hermione would feel his eyes on her, burning through her and all it took was one quick second of eye contact before they were necking in the back corner.

The two of them would return to the common room flushed and with grins from ear to ear, they simply couldn't help themselves. Hermione recalled thinking to herself how crazy their relationship was, one minute they were hot the next they were ice cold but no matter what she couldn't imagine him not being in her life, even if he infuriated her often. She figured that was why she was so happy for the last week, the only arguing they had done had been teasing each other about stupid little things. The makeout sessions in the library were just dangerous enough to keep everything exciting and if she was being honest with herself it was turning her on more and more each time. She could tell Ron was feeling it as well, she could literally feel the evidence. But he wasn't pressuring her at all, he wouldn't go any further than a little groping here and there. She couldn't tell if he was respecting her wishes from weeks earlier to take it slow, or using this tactic to make her want him more. Either way the latter was definitely working.

On the night before the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the library as per usual. Ron was a little distracted, no doubt his pre-match nerves were kicking in big time and while he usually got at least one assignment done during these study sessions he hadn't even opened a book at this point.

"mione" he whispered across the table. She glanced up from her paper. Ron darted his eyes towards the library stacks as to hint what he was really here for.

Hermione sighed "I'm almost finished" she smiled but returned to her writing. Ron didn't fully approve of this response and instead slowly stood up and took Hermione's hand in his and pulled her gently up from the table. She resisted a little at first but knew it was pointless, she needed a break anyway. They slowly walked through the stacks, inadvertently going further back than normal.

As soon as the coast was clear Ron began placing kisses along Hermione's neck, she tangled her hands in his hair, she loved it when he kissed her neck. He slowly backed them up until she was against the shelves, he pulled away and cupped her face, "hey" he smiled at her. She looked up at him, for some reason the one word seemed to mean so much more than just "hey".

"hey back" she blushed; before standing up on her tiptoes to bring her lips to his. It was timid and gentle, Ron returned the kiss slowly but eagerly. Within in minutes however the gentle kiss was surpassing even their most intense session in recent memory. Hermione began to feel Ron's hand glide up her thigh and under her skirt, he deepened the kiss as he did so. Soon his other hand slid under her skirt as well, both hands now effectively cupping her ass and slightly lifting her closer to him. Hermione whimpered as he left her mouth and found her neck again using his hand to pull her even closer.

Hermione was still aware that they were in a very public place but she was finding it very hard to fight the feeling that was washing over her. She wanted to think this came out of nowhere, but she would be kidding herself if she thought their whole relationship thus far had been fueled by sexual tension. By this time Ron brought a hand to the front of her panties and Hermione suddenly snapped all the way back to reality.

"Ron stop… not… here" she breathed out heavily. Ron retracted his hands and tried to catch his breath, he touched her forehead with his.

"Sorry…got a little carried away" he half sighed, half grinned against her lips. He knew they couldn't do anything he just wanted to stay close to her.

"It's ok" she was finally catching her breath. She placed her hands on his chest. "just not here…"

*update. Been a while. More very soon. Sorry for the wait as usual.