Theory: Ron and Hermione’s Kiss in the Room of Requirement was Not Their First

owlpostagain:

Here’s the relevant part from DH:

“No,” said Ron seriously, “I mean we should tell them to get out. We don’t want anymore Dobbies, do we? We can’t order them to die for us – ”

There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione’s arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth.

Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet.

Is this the moment?“ Harry asked weakly, and when nothing happened except that Ron and Hermione gripped each other still more firmly and swayed on the spot, he raised his voice. “Oi! There’s a war going on here!”

Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still around each other.

I know, mate,“ said Ron, who looked as though he had recently been hit on the back of the head with a Bludger, “so it’s now or never, isn’t it?”

Never mind that, what about the Horcrux?“ Harry shouted. "D'you think you could just – just hold it in until we’ve got the diadem?”

Yeah – right – sorry –” said Ron, and he and Hermione set about gathering up fangs, both pink in the face.

A lot of people take this to be their first kiss, and certainly it’s the first time the reader and Harry see them kiss. But there’s nothing in the passage to definitively state that this is their first kiss. Their reactions and Ron’s “now or never” comment work regardless of whether this is their 1st kiss or their 28th kiss (but 1st kiss in front of Harry).

The reason I don’t believe that it was their 1st kiss was that they were practically an item even at the wedding, and I don’t think they spent 9 months in close quarters without ever moving forward in their relationship. I think it’s far more likely that they were moving slowly and keeping it on the DL because they didn’t want to hurt or distract Harry.

Data points:

• Ron and Hermione have plenty of time just the two of them before Harry arrives at the Burrow. As DH goes on, Harry feels like Ron and Hermione are talking about him when he’s not around. The trio is taking turns guarding, so Ron and Hermione actually have quite a bit of time with just the two of them.
  
• Ron quirks his eyebrow when Hermione makes an accidental innuendo about Harry’s polyjuice potion looking tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, which shows a pretty high comfort level with something that should have been a bit touchy.
• Hermione reacts much more strongly to Ron’s arrival after the 7 Potters, and doesn’t even bother to conceal her feelings. He comforts her almost reflexively, and she even speaks to him with her hands still around his neck.
  
• When Ron gives Harry the book, he says that if only he had had the book last year, he “would have known exactly how to get rid of Lavender and I would’ve known how to get going with…” Ron breaks off here, but it’s clear that he intended to say Hermione. But notice that he frames both events as happening in the past, before he had the book.
  
• Ron asks Hermione to dance on a whim, she’s surprised but they go off to the dance floor and continue dancing for most of the night, until Hermione “simply can’t dance anymore.”
  
• Ron’s first reaction when the Death Eaters raise their wands in the cafe is to lunge across the table and push Hermione (who has her back to the Death Eaters) sideways onto her bench.
  
• Though Hermione seems surprised when he offers her a handkerchief, she doesn’t seem at at all phased/distracted when he wraps his arm around her or otherwise comforts her.
  
• Hermione sleeps on the couch cushions and they fall asleep holding hands. That’s actually really intimate gesture and sort of implies a conversation as well. 
  
• Even when Ron argues with Harry and ends up leaving, the way Ron asks Hermione if she’s coming and way Hermione responds makes it seem like there’s some kind of mutual obligation (i.e., they’re romantic partners). She “looks anguished” and immediately frames it as a decision that they made together (“we said we’d go with Harry, we said we’d help”). When Ron says she’s choosing Harry, she immediately denies this rather than trying to be impartial.
• Ron tells the Snatchers not to hurt Hermione and Hermione does the same when the Snatchers start beating him up.
• Ron takes full responsibility for Hermione during the MM scene, from running to pull her out from under the chandelier immediately after it falls on her to carrying her inside the moment they arrive at Shell Cottage.
  
• I’m sure they were slowed down by everything else going on, but I really don’t think they could have spent 8 months in the same small space without once addressing their feelings for one another. Hermione and Ron wear their hearts on their sleeves, and there’s no way they didn’t have a few angry outbursts that turned into productive conversations.

Though some have argued that the scene where Ron destroys the locket shows that Ron still isn’t sure whether Hermione has feelings for him, I would argue that even if Ron was reasonably sure that Hermione had chosen him, he had just run off for a month in an act of cowardice and spent the past month filled with self-loathing. It’s not that strange that he would have a setback or worry that Hermione and Harry were bonding over their mutual hatred of their cowardly ex-friend.

Ron and Hermione’s behavior throughout DH is much more “couple-like.” They’re quick to take responsibility for the other in situations of danger, more physical, and seem to feel more obligated toward the other person.

I think it’s far more likely that they were already romantically involved in some capacity, but had been moving slow and keeping it from Harry because they didn’t want to make him feel bad/hurt or distract from the more important task at hand.

TL;DR: Ron and Hermione’s relationship in DH seems much more characteristic of two people in a romantic relationship. And platonic friends who are still dancing around their feelings for another don’t fall asleep holding hands.