A/N:

I was obsessed! Seriously I was! This will be the only Harry and Hermione fic that I will ever write! Well, that's what I'm hoping. Well, H/H shippers, enjoy. This will be the only one you'll ever get out of me!

SETTING: They are in their fourth year, but nothing in GoF has happened! Good? Great! Go read. This is a short one. (And a corny/fluffy one to boost)

Please take note that I know that in Book 1 they explained how to use a broom. And I know I changed it. But I had to for the reasons you'll read about eventually.

Usual disclaimers apply.

Beneath the Silver Moon

By Iris Marie

Snitch… there…

Harry Potter zoomed through the night air, making a lounge for the golden snitch, but watching as it again disappeared from his sight. He growled in aggravation, sitting upon his broom to glance around the empty Quidditch field. Tomorrow held the final match between Gryffindor and Slytherin - whoever wins the game, wins the House Cup.

"You stupid thing, where are you?" he said aloud, running a frustrated hand through his wild black hair. His teammates had retired from practice an hour or so ago, but Harry still didn't feel confident enough as a Seeker to stop practicing. So now he was alone, the night passing by, the snitch still not caught.

A golden glint to his left and he turned his broom, looking around frantically for it. Another glint, this time far down, and he already had his broom propelled to drop him. "HARRY!" he heard the glint scream and he stopped himself in midair. Hermione was staring up at him, her wand lighted.

Sighing, and knowing he was about to receive a lecture, he brought his broom down so they were eye-leveled. Hermione was frowning, even he could tell from the little light she had. "Why are you still awake?"

"I'm practicing."

"Practicing!? Harry, do you know what the time it is?" She brushed back her robe and looked at her watch. "Midnight! It's midnight Harry!"

"I know, but I just want to…"

"How do you expect to stay awake during the match tomorrow if you don't get some rest?" She now looked concerned and he saw his invisibility cloak tucked in her arm. "And what if McGonagall catches you? You know how strict she is about being out of the castle at these times! She might bench you tomorrow so you don't play."

Harry nodded, looking back up into the sky for the golden snitch. "Well, I can't just leave without catching it."
"Harry, you know perfectly well that you can just call the snitch back whenever you'd like."

"Nope," he began while grinning, "not this one. Oliver bought a new one for practice (he thinks the Slytherin's tainted the one we used to use) that will stay within the field, but won't stop until the Seeker catches it."

"Why would he buy one like that?"
"He thinks that then the practice would be better since it'll be more like a Quidditch Game. 'Practice ends when the Snitch is caught.'"

Hermione sighed, walking over to the closet full of brooms and pulled out a Cleansweep Seven. Harry sent her a confused stare. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She mounted it carefully, placing the cloak and wand down on the floor. "I might as well help you catch it so it'll be faster."

Harry felt his grin widen as she sat unsteadily on the broom. Flying closer, he grabbed her elbows in an attempt to steady her. "Look, you have to keep your hand here," he said, taking her hand in his and guiding it to the topmost section of the broom. He looked up at her as her hands seemed to tense. The dim lighting of just the moon above obscured the majority of her face in the shadows, her head bowed causing it to be covered even more.

"You have to relax," he said then, her left hand still cupped in his. "Don't worry… I won't let you fall." He waited for her to look up and when they had eye contact, he grinned. "I promise I won't." He said it, yes, the words falling so lightly out of his mouth that it seemed more like he had just pronounced the sky was blue. However, he couldn't help but feel that something underplayed the words, something that was much, much deeper then what he had meant.

Hermione took a deep breath, her exhale shaky. "Maybe you should just bring me down… I hardly passed Madame Hooch's class…" she glanced towards the floor that was ten feet below her, not noticing that she had just gained five feet up into the air.

"You might as well learn now," Harry said, bringing their brooms together and taking a seat behind her. "Now, watch," he took her left hand and placed it below her right hand. "That's when you tell this broom to go straight." He now wrapped his other arm around her other side so he could hold her hand. "Now, if you want to turn right, you take your left hand and nudge it gently right. C'mon, try it."
"Harry…"

"C'mon, Hermione… nudge it gently…" Hermione sighed, doing what he instructed her. And sure enough, the broom obliged. "Hey! It moved the way I wanted it to!"

Harry grinned, now taking her right hand. "And you do the same thing to turn left, but you just use your right hand and nudge it gently." Hermione nodded rather eagerly, turning the broom left. She giggled, but then stopped as she realized how close Harry really was. His chest was pressed tightly against her back, both his arms around her so that his hands held each of hers. She flushed, thankful that it was nighttime and he couldn't see her face.

"The harder you nudge it, the farther it'll turn," Harry said, a smirk now on his lips. "Like, for example." He took his left hand and nudged the broom to the right very hard. Hermione screeched as the broom spun in a full circle, Harry's arms the only thing that kept her on the broom. When the spinning stopped, Harry was chuckling. "And that's how you turn the broom."

"Harry!" Hermi screeched, elbowing him for playing the stunt. "I know how to turn the broom, okay? Can we get down now?"

"But, you have to learn now to bring the broom up and down," he said, his chin now resting on her shoulder. "Don't you want to learn that, at least?" His head had inclined towards her face, his breath now upon her neck. She felt shivers run through her, pleasant ones that warmed her tremendously. "Do you, Hermi?"

She wanted to say no, the logical part of her brain giving off the warning signs that Harry was getting a tad bit too close to her and that his arms weren't on her hands anymore, but around her waist. She closed her eyes, oddly reveling at the warmth of him upon her back. "Fine," she heard herself whisper to him.

Harry nodded, his mind going through a rather odd daze. His arms had found their way around her waist, and upon seeing that, he quickly returned them to where they were supposed to be. "Well, to go up, all you have to do is lean backwards…" Hermione obliged, leaning backwards against him. A few strays of her hair fell upon his face and he caught the nice smell that came off it. Once more that daze engulfed him.

He shook his head, wetting his lips that seemed to have dried up. "To go up, you have to lean forward…" He leaned forward, his hand forced to go to her stomach to stop her from leaning forward too much. They dipped down slowly until they were close enough for safety reasons, but not close enough to get off. Harry's mind still felt dazed, the smell of her turning his insides in that pleasant way – his mind now fogged.

"Harry…?" he heard Hermione ask softly, her face inclined to his. They paused, their eyes in contact, his arms once more finding their way around her waist. Their noses just barely brushed each other's and they both consciously felt the distance from each other's lips.

Harry stared at her, into her eyes and yet beyond it, his lips now parted to try to feel her lips against his… to try and imagine how it might feel. "Harry…?" she asked again, her lips moving slowly. Her voice seemed somewhat strained, somewhat wanting, and despite everything that told him not to do it, he closed the gap that had separated their lips.

He had expected her to pull away, to slap him, but she had returned it, their kiss growing till air was in desperate need. Only then did they let go, her hands coming back from running through his hair. Her eyes were alight with mirth, her lips up in a smile. She was, however, looking at something that was next to them. "Harry… look…" she muttered, her eyes going back to what she had been looking at.

Harry turned his head and saw the snitch flying happily next to them. He laughed at the sight, the snitch looking more like a little kid taking a peek on his mother and father kissing. "Well, will you look at that." Hermione was now sitting very well on her own broom, her eyes glinting happily… challengingly.

"I say, the first one to get it wins," she said, her hands now confidently steadying the broom.

"A challenge?" Harry asked, the awkwardness he was expecting to feel after the kiss completely nonexistent. "But it's late. And you were the one who was complaining that I should get some sleep," he said playfully, watching as the snitch zoomed off.

Hermione laughed, her eyes staring straight into his. "Trying to get away?"

"I don't know," Harry said, flying closer to her. "What would be the prize if I do win?"

Hermione grinned, her face in a thoughtful expression. "Hmm… depends."

"Depends?"

"Yeah, depends," Hermione repeated, her lips coming close to his once more. "It depends on whether or not you can handle it." His eyes widened as she kissed the tip of his nose, her laugh echoing through the field as she already began zooming for the snitch. Harry, shaking off the feeling that had just overcame him, grinned.

"Hey! You cheated!" He yelled, rushing forward with his broom, joining in the chase for the snitch.

Hermione laughed, her giggles joining in with the breeze. "All is fair in love and war!" An arm encircled her waist and she yelped in surprise as her back was pressed against someone's chest. Turning her head, she saw Harry.

"What does that quote have anything to do with this?" He asked her, his eyes penetrating hers.

She grinned stupidly, her head on shoulder. "Seemed to fit."
"How so?"

"I don't know," she said, staring at him. "It just did." And with that, she leaned forward, her lips the one that closed the gap. And all the while they flew and laugh, they did it beneath the silver moon.

The End

::shakes head:: The corniest and fluffiest fic I have ever written. And with a Harry and Hermione pair up to boost. However, despite that, I'm still pretty proud of this fic. My first mindless fluff and my first, and only, Harry and Hermione fic! Yay! This was rushed, didn't really flow, can't help it… I'm not used to THESE fics. So, don't yell at me, okay?

And please refrain from flaming me and telling me that h/h sucks and r/h rocks. I already know that. JUST KIDDING! Gees, people, liven up! I'm not a shipper of any pair-up, I'm just not accustomed to Harry and Hermi, that's all.

Please review! I'd feel much better about writing this! And, once more, I was obsessed! C'mon, this was written in 30 minutes or less, one sitting, and it came out like this! How could I ever accomplish that on my own? Okay, I talk too much. Go on and review.