Chapter 5 – Together

Ron and Hermione almost threw themselves at each other, passion flaring between them across their exposed skin casting feverish sparks dance into their fired-up insides. Their hands roamed hungrily, finally allowed to touch what they craved, sketching over each other's wet bodies. The effect was slightly ruined when they wandered under the spray and started getting water in their eyes, though as they pulled apart Hermione noted how the water made his lips slightly darker and all the more inviting. They were captivated by each other's mouths until, slowly, Ron reached over and turned off the shower so they were left standing staring at each other, blinking, dripping wet and panting. A momentous event had shaken the very definition of their relationship and they could only let it sink in. Tentatively, he murmured, hand scratching the back of his head.

"Not that I'm complaining about this," For the first time, her stomach plummeted. "I'm really, really not. I just," He was looking down, avoiding her searching eyes and going on quietly. "I just want to make sure I'm not, you know, taking advantage." She couldn't help but smile at his concern as she replied, trying to hide her heavy breathing.

"Ron, whose idea was it to get in the shower together?" Hermione asked matter-of-factly, scanning his face: brows indented slightly, mouth pressed in contemplation, he was so adorable! He looked wary but answered.

"Er, you."

"And who told you to take your top off?" It took a moment, but he finally saw where she was going with her questions; he grinned as she went on, leaning in and lowering her voice. "Who kissed you?"

"You." He breathed before closing the gap. This kiss was different, it was stronger, more passionate, as if he'd been holding back before and now the floodgates on his emotions had bounded open. If Hermione had thought about it, she could have concluded that he probably had just let go of his remaining doubts; but thinking wasn't really her priority at that moment. Hungrily, he broke off from her lips and trailed down her damp face and neck to her shoulder, swirling his tongue to cause tingles to rupture all over her body; encountering her bra strap, he thumbed it down off her shoulder, his tongue following it. Hermione gasped and moaned, mouth drawn open and fingers pressing firmly into his hips, wondering briefly where he'd been hiding this expertise. He better have not been getting practice with some other girl! No, she knew for a fact that he hadn't. In an insane moment, she suddenly pictured Ron and Harry 'practicing' together and couldn't suppress a burst of laughter. Ron lifted his lips from her skin and asked, a small smile on his questioning face.

"What is it?" Not sure how Ron would react to the same image, Hermione shook her head, trying to smooth her mouth into a straight line.

"Nothing." He tilted his head, eyes uncompromising in his playful way, so she improvised wildly, fingers stroking his shoulder blade as she smiled broadly. "I just never thought we'd get here." Nodding in earnest, giddy, Ron held the back of her neck gently in one hand and worked his mouth back up to hers, love in every kiss; feeling her body half-convulsing under his touches almost unnerved him, still unsure about what he was doing even though she seemed pleased about it. What she'd said carried a certain weight, one he couldn't think through properly in that moment. Noticing him pulling back on his passion, she panted.

"Trust me Ron, there's nothing, you could, do that, that'd, shock, me!" Looking up at her, a devilish twinkle in his eyes, he smirked.

"Really?" She nodded and there was a flash of doubt across his face before he grinded her into the wall; feeling his hardness pressed firmly against her middle shot sparks through her. He was making her lose control, her throat betraying her and eyelids half-fluttering with exquisite pleasure. Ron, pleased with her reaction, grew bolder and wandered a hand down to her arse, squeezing it lightly. She arched into him, groaning appreciatively, her fingertips dragging tantalisingly over his shoulders around his neck before pressing hard, short nails digging in when he grinded into her again. Whispers breathed out of her open mouth.

"So good." Lips tilted upwards he mumbled something which she could only decipher as 'I'm glad'; her mind too muddled for complicated thought processes. Ron thrusted against her again only to flinch and stumble slightly, breaking away from her skin and hissing in pain. Brown eyes flickered up to his face in confusion and concern, before the haze in her head cleared and she realised that he'd put too much weight on his injured leg. Still flushed and tingling from their explosive passion, she put a hand on his shoulder and said as sensibly as she could manage.

"We should heal that." He looked up at her and disappointment flashed in his eyes; guessing at what was circling in his mind she gave her arm a squeeze and said gently as she lead him out of the stall. "Hey, we're not finished yet." He snorted, and flashed her a relieved smile. As he lowered himself stiffly onto the bench, she allowed herself a moment to appreciate his form again before busying herself with rolling up his trouser leg. She shivered, the air was beginning to cool around them; absent-mindedly she cast a warming spell and concentrated on dealing with his wound. The muscle around his knee was partly swollen and she examined it, deciding on the best spell when another great idea popped into her head and she gulped down a giggle before looking at Ron and saying with a straight face.

"I need to take your trousers off." He didn't answer, just blushed furiously, looking like he didn't even have the capacity to argue, his shock so profound. She reassured him as she unbuckled his belt. "Honestly Ron, I'm not going to be frightened away by anything." He gulped as she undid the buttons and lifted his hips to help her ease them down, his arousal was blaringly obvious but she didn't comment, only tended to the strained muscle around the knee. But she found it impossible to ignore it, the sizeable lump straining noticeably under the thin material. She looked up, studying the fire in his eyes. Slowly, she raised herself off her haunches, undoing her skirt clasp and letting it fall to the floor; seeing her matching pink knickers, he moaned softly.

"Hermione." Her heart was rattling manically in her chest, she leaned forward over him, a brave hand finding his arousal and pressing firmly against it; his eyelids fluttered and a hot hand grabbed her forearm. With enthusiasm, she pushed him back so he was splayed on the bench, finding a thrill run through her as she climbed on top of him; she liked this new position they were in and taking in the lust in his eyes, she saw that he seemed to like it too. His warm hands found her back, strong arms holding her in place. She felt close to feverish, each inch of his skin touching hers setting it alight; together they found each other's lips again, pressing all their urgent feelings into each other. The thought crossed her mind that the bench was quite narrow and couldn't be that comfortable to lie on, but Ron didn't seem to mind, it looked like that was the last thing on his mind as he dragged his tongue across her bottom lip.

Ron thought that his elation would kill him very soon, so turned on and boundlessly happy by her acceptance and returning of his feelings. Well, he didn't know about love but he wasn't really able to form any coherent conclusions. All he knew was that the impossible was happening. Though he'd desperately hoped, he'd never actually believed that this would ever happen, never suspecting that Hermione would even look at him in that way, let alone take the lead. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but at that moment, she was blocking the coherent part of his brain, her beauty and strength and fire plundering all his sense and reigning over all that he was.

…

Relishing the power coursing through her, she worked down his neck and chest, sucking a nipple and almost unable to contain the sheer joy at his reaction, completely blown away by how much this was trumping her wildest fantasies. He was moaning and whining and whispering her name under her touches, his whole body shaking. She was going to go further south but he called her breathlessly and pulled her mouth back to his, lips pulsing burningly. As he stroked her scalp with surprisingly gentle fingertips, he worked the other hand into the gap between their chests and squeezed one of her breasts softly; she had to break off their kiss to gasp, her rapture breathing into his equally fervent, open mouth. Encouraged, he squeezed again, thumb brushing her nipple causing her to jerk involuntarily and choke down a squeak. Pleasure washed through her and remembering his boldness in the shower, she rubbed herself against his length quivering with blood and expectation. Both reacted immediately, gasping and groaning, rutting again and again without coordination, just revelry. Abandoning her hair, his right hand found her arse and worked in tandem with the other hand to massage both breast and buttock, causing her muscles to jerk and shiver rapturously. A familiar pressure was building up in his abdomen and he was too lost in pleasure and wonder to remember to be embarrassed or to worry about the inevitable end. This was Hermione lying on top of him, Hermione's soft lips pressing hard on his neck, Hermione's body sliding against his; she was surrounding him and he was so lost in her. It was too much, he barely managed to choke out her name before he came violently. The force of it threw his head back and his whole body stiffened briefly before every muscle melted. In awe, she watched him as he panted heavily, trying to recover his senses, eyes on the tendons in his neck and her whole body picking up the shaking of his; the sight had been extremely… Hermione couldn't really describe how it had been or made her feel, only that she'd enjoyed feeling as well as seeing the effect on him. She decided that she wanted to see it again sometime before lifting herself off him a bit so he could reach over for his wand and clean up the dark patch staining his boxers. Licking her lips at the splatter of white just above his waistband, she watched him clean up that too and then looked up at him.

"Sorry." He mumbled, eyes over her shoulder, his cheeks blistering with exertion and the embarrassment that had caught him up. Smiling warmly, though even more turned on and unsatisfied herself, she propped herself up on one forearm resting on his chest and cupped his face with the other hand.

"You don't have to apologise…" She cleared her scratchy throat and said coyly. "It's kind of a compliment." He inclined his head slowly, mind now re-awakened, whirring. She let her eyes wonder off his face, trying to process the experience. Feeling ridiculous but honour-bound, he asked awkwardly.

"Erm, Hermione? I, I don't know…I mean, how do…Do girls actually…? I know that it, it takes long-erm, longer for, erm, girls…" He trailed off, mumbling something about 'the twins' telling him something. Holding back a laugh, she nodded, unable to stop her stomach from fluttering at his interest. Half-horrified at losing her composure with a serious question to answer; she coughed and adopted her best knowledgeable voice, trying to ignore the feeling of ridiculousness of sounding like a bookworm when half-naked on top of her equally undressed best friend.

"Yes Ron, females do take longer to…orgasm. On average it takes women twenty minutes to reach…orgasm." Eyebrows making a break for it, Ron stared at her for a long moment, the cogs in his head turning at a rapid speed. He licked his lips before making to get up, disappointing Hermione somewhat. She climbed off him, stood watching him grab his towel, trying not to feel betrayed when he laid the towel on the floor and looked up at her nervously. After a few seconds of silence he indicated to it and said, attempting to control his nerves.

"I thought it'd be more comfortable…." She stared at him and he blushed again. "I want to…to h-help you, erm, I mean, you'll…you'll need to sh-show me…how to…" Both touched and deeply gladdened by his awkward proposal, Hermione lay down on the towel and Ron half-lay on his elbow beside her. He had gulped a few times and seemed to have controlled his blush so now comfortable, he looked at her expectantly.

"Well, the main erogenous zones for a woman are the nipples and the clitoris." His expression of anxious ignorance was reassuringly familiar, even though his lack of confidence in this area wasn't particularly reassuring or, well, good. But instead of helping him more, she thought that since she'd been so forward with his pleasuring, he should technically be the one taking charge with hers. He seemed to realise this conclusion and stuttered.

"Erm…Can we start with…" He pointed weakly at her breasts and she nodded breathlessly. Scooting closer, he reached out a hand which then resumed its earlier task. Very quickly, Hermione groaned and arched her back up, taking her bra off and throwing it away. Ron had to take a moment just to stare and make her blush before she nudged him into continuing; it felt so much better on her bare skin. When confident that he was doing that right, he inched his mouth down to her skin, placing small kisses across her chest before taking a hardened nipple into his mouth and sucking gently. Hermione groaned deeply, a hand plunging into his hair, massaging his scalp erratically as her other hand fisted the towel, legs squirming and quaking. Encouraged by her shivers, he began licking and moved to the other breast, hoping that his tongue didn't feel as sloppy as it seemed to him and trying to concentrate. As she grew louder, his hand ghosted down her stomach and hovered by her middle before he palmed her through her knickers. He couldn't hear his own groan over hers but he felt all the blood returning to his cock at the feel of how wet she was. This was the hottest thing he'd ever known and he couldn't quite believe that he was doing it. Taking the plunge, he reached for her waistband only to have a hand curl around his wrist; he glanced up, fearing he'd done something wrong, but seeing the insecurity in her eyes, he knew that he had to step up. She was mumbling about not shaving and blushing. Confident that what he wanted to say would be the right thing to say, he shifted himself so he could see her face properly and said seriously, earnestly.

"Hermione. You're so beautiful." She was completely taken by surprise. Ron didn't compliment her, he just didn't; well, he sometimes did, but always in a back-handed way or in jest so she didn't know if he was being serious. But now, his sparkling blue eyes staring intently into her own, she knew without a shadow of a doubt his intentions; he went on and she could hardly believe that it was really him talking. "You're just incredible; so warm and kind and, and sexy and well, just–" He cut himself off before continuing hurriedly, a look of worry creeping into his features. "Look, I haven't found the right words yet but when I do I swear I'll tell you." Hermione rose up and kissed him, stilling his mumbles; it had been so sweet and romantic and so Ron. No matter what happened next, this day was the best of her life so far. Breaking apart and lying back down, she had to fight back tears as he whispered. "Just let me do this for you." Her hand let go of his and breathing in deeply he journeyed back down her and with more pluckiness than he felt, pulled down her last article of clothing. There were those little brown curls again, he never wanted to lose sight of them.

His fingers found her centre and were immediately coated with her juices, both of them shivered violently. Hermione's toes curled as Ron gulped and ran his fingers up and down her deep red stretch of flushed sex. Resisting the urge to dip his head down and taste her, he tried to find the thing she'd mentioned earlier, not knowing exactly where it was meant to be but guessing it was in there somewhere . All the while as he explored her with his fingers she writhed and began to gasp with growing volume. His thumb found a small bump which made her half-scream.

"There!" She shouted, twisting in pleasure as he tried to keep his head and pressed on it again; watching her in astonishment. He'd finally made Hermione lose control, her body arching and twitching in pure ecstasy, her face flushed and hair wild, she looked the sexiest she'd ever been. Ron felt dizzy as he picked up the pace of his thumb strumming her clit and stroked a nipple with the other at the same speed, sensing that the two would bring her over the edge. With a long and high-pitched cry Hermione came, her stomach contracting and whole body shaking. Retracting his fingers and rolling onto his back, Ron had to take himself out and pump a few times before exploding with a roar.

…

Slowly, the pair's breathing calmed to almost-normal. Hermione felt a rush of happiness radiate through her chest and up to her head, lifting up the corners of her mouth whilst Ron tried not to fall into a happy slumber. Coughing, Hermione sat up achingly, exhausted but now fully grinning, and looked down on her favourite person in all the world. His eyes opened and there was such emotion swimming in them that they could only stare at each other before he sat up too. Neither spoke, words the most inadequate they'd ever been, they only helped each other up before cleaning themselves up and reaching for their clothes. It was without hurry or embarrassment that they got dressed, the friendship barrier completely destroyed, though they avoided look too long at each other, too tired to contemplate doing anything more. Finally, Ron shouldered his broom and Hermione stepped towards him, her warm brown eyes connecting with his again.

"Well, we've a lot to talk about." He laughed at her matter-of-fact opener and got breathless as he took her hand experimentally. She beamed, fingers closing around his and wordlessly they promised to talk properly later.

Together, they walked back to the castle; feeling bare, but safe.