AnonymousUnsigned | Chapter : 3 | Date : 12/08/05
Of all the times Ron had to save the day, it was this one. And of all the times Ron had to be actually perceptive for once, it was the time that he sounded hopelessly guilty and put upon. Thankfully, Ron didn't make much of it. Probably because he was alone with Fleur Delacour. These thoughts did not have time to linger in his mind. His heart was still beating from the moment he'd had stolen away from him, and as Hermione gripped the doorknob, shouting at Ron and Fleur about spells and so-forth, all Harry could think about was how close he'd been to tasting her lips. The space between Hermione and him - barely a foot - was suddenly too much. He stepped closer to her, and with a shaking hand, he touched her hip. Hermione looked down, then up at him, cheeks going crimson. Listening to Hermione bark at Ron, he let his hand slide forward and cup the curve of her hip, fingers shifting back and forth experimentally, and Hermione gazed at him flusteredly before shouting through the door again. He sighed, heart thumping so mad it shuddered his ribcage, deciding that this situation had to be dealt with, quickly and precisely.
"Listen, Ron. Can you take my broom out for me? Leave it on my bed? I can Accio it and then Hermione and I can get the hell out of here."
Hermione looked up to him, and he could see she was rather worked up about everything. In the light of their wands, her face had a handsome blush about it. He unwittingly squeezed the hip under his hand in affection and Hermione stifled a gasp, her hands gripping the door helplessly. She shook her head at him with a look of panic that told him exactly how little control she had when he did that to her. Oh, how he wished Ron would just smeg off now.
"All right," cried Ron. "That'll only take me a few minutes. We'll head off now, all right?"
"Thanks Ron!" called Harry. "You're the best!"
"You've no idea. Well..." A pause. A very naughty pause. He would kill Ron. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do in there."
He would most definitely kill Ron.
"RON!" cried Hermione, jumping up and down in front of the door, getting even more steamed when she heard Fleur laugh at them.
"See ya!" came Ron's voice from further away. Good. He was leaving.
"Oh, you COME back here, you evil sod!" Hermione shouted, thumping the door. "Ron! Just you wait I'm going to make you pay for that!!"
"Hermione..."
Hermione slammed her hand on the door, and then kicked it for good measure. "Like he can bloody talk, poncing around with that blonde trollop!"
She stepped up to Harry, planting her hands on her hips angrily. "I can't believe he's done this to Lavender!
Harry smiled as she grumbled, adoring every moment of it. He decided he loved how she got angry. He loved how she swore under her breath and got that little dent in her forehead when she complained about things. He loved it so much he was going to kiss it. He turned her about, the girl still seething with rage, and quietly, swiftly, pressed a soft kiss to her brow. Hermione stilled, her hands curling about his fore arms and taking hold.
"Harry..." she breathed softly.
Her eyes were half-lidded and he could see the desire in the colour of her skin. He didn't let her say anything else. He cupped her jaw in his hands, dipped down and pressed his lips to hers.
Her arms crawled up around his neck, her lips opening underneath his, a plaintive sigh leaving her. After a long caress that went from shy and sweet to verging on heated, Hermione pulled away, smiling coyly, her breaths rushed. Harry ran the pad of his thumb down the line of her jaw, leaning his forehead against hers.
"You're absolutely beautiful," he said. "I think I nearly peed myself when I saw you tonight." He giggled, feeling positively giddy.
Hermione did too, and she sighed. "Harry! Well... thank you, but I often wonder if you see the world the way the rest of us do, particularly regarding me."
"I don't think Ron would have had that crush on you for all that time if you weren't something lovely to look at."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Please! It made complete sense from a psychological standpoint for him to develop a crush on me! I'm the closest non-related female he knows and if he's going to discover anything about his sexuality it's going to be with m-"
Harry cut her off with a kiss, running his fingertips down the dips in her throat lightly. As he pulled away, he met her eyes with his own half-lidded in desire.
"You're beautiful, Hermione."
A sigh left her, her eyes locked with his, and she nodded very faintly. "Th-thank you."
He sighed too, cradling her jaw in his hands, gazing at her contentedly.
"You know," he said, drawing his thumb back and forth over the round of her chin, "I thought you weren't interested in me. Not like that..." Alarm made his eyes shine. "Or - am I being presumptuous...?"
"Harry!" she gasped, smacking him in the side playfully and pulling him down to her. She kissed him, not like she kissed him before. It was a forceful, fiery caress, and a shudder of delight swept through his body as her tongue stole between his lips. Pulling away, she was a little breathless, and her brown eyes gleamed with certainty.
"I'm more than interested in you, silly git."
Harry couldn't wipe the damn silly grin of his face.
"Whatever gave you the impression otherwise?"
His grin sobered, and he shrugged. "Well... your reaction in the Common Room when I told you what Lavender had said about us..."
"Oh," She rolled her eyes, embarrassed. "Did it ever occur to you that I have always assumed that you're not really interested in *me*? I mean, I'm not exactly the most glamourous of girls around-"
"So?"
She giggled. "Harry! You have looked at your track record, haven't you?"
He blushed. The few girls he had been interested in did all have a flashy gorgeousness about them, but it wasn't that that he liked. It was their confidence, their wit, and Hermione had that in abundance.
"It wasn't them who were there for me when I needed them, was it? They never calmed me down when I was angry, or made sure I was all right. Or went head-on into danger for me..." He shook his head. "No girl could compare to you, Hermione. Not one." He pressed his forehead to hers, smiling softly. "You're the only one that's put everything on the line to protect me. The only one that saw me for who I was, right down to the core, and didn't walk away."
She sighed, smiling softly, and she wrapped her arms about him, hugging him tightly.
"And I won't," she said, "I never will. Not if I have a choice in the matter."
Harry closed his eyes, resting his cheek on her head. After a time like this, Hermione pulled away, her liquid brown eyes meeting his. He couldn't help but stroke her skin again - the lovely line of the cheek, to the jaw, down the neck, to the base and the curve of her collarbone. Hermione shuddered, her mouth dropping open a little, her eyes fluttering closed.
Stepping forward, Harry lifted her jaw, closing in on the lovely length of her neck and pressing soft kisses there. Hermione wrapped her arms around his shoulders, digging her fingers in and melting in his arms.
"Ooh, Harry..."
He'd never heard Hermione speak like that, not with her voice thick with desire and arousal. It sent his blood boiling, and he shook a little, opening his mouth on her neck, sliding his tongue over her skin. She made a noise in her throat, and Harry sucked in a deep breath, trying to combat the dizziness overwhelming him. He had to have her lips again, and he kissed her, dipping within, exploring and teasing. Hermione moaned.
"Harry," she huffed, "We have a party to get to..."
His expression fell. "You want me to stop?"
"Oh, you-" She sighed. "Harry, if we keep on like this I'll look a wreck and I already have to reapply my lipstick. Besides..." She smiled. "We have all night."
Harry's brows lifted. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
She primped at her hair, picking her wand up off the floor. "Better to take our time when no-one is expecting us. Lord knows what Ron thinks with the delay we've had already."
He understood. She wanted to take her time in exploring this new thing between them, she didn't want it to be some rushed groping in a locked up classroom. He nodded, straightening out his own clothes, forgetting his hair because it was a dead loss anyway.
"Come on then," he said, "We're missing the party of all parties."
Hermione wrapped her arm about his own propped and bent elbow. Lifting his hand he called his broom to him. After a few moments, it zoomed into his hand.
"Will you be all right with this?" he asked her. "I know you're not fond of these."
"If I flew one from my house to Grimmauld Place, I can ride on one with you, especially considering you're a markedly better rider than I."
Her firm glance told him that she would be all right. Her arms around him as they mounted the broom were still tight, but he didn't mind in the slightest. They stopped by the bathrooms in Gryffindor Tower to neaten themselves up before hopping out the window on the broom to the cottage where the party was taking place. They avoided the Common Room for McGonagall could have been on patrol by that time. That, and it was far too tempting to stay right there and wile the night away with each other.
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I really couldn't stop grinning like an idiot throughout this whole thing, and my dog kept looking at me like I was really peculiar. Very nice...I'd read another fic of yours, but I must be off to bed now. Again, well-done.