A/N: So, I really didn't want the first thing I posted on this sight to be pointless smut, but I really fell in love with story. I hope you do as well.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, J K Rowling owns everything.

Hermione had warned him. But when it came time for Harry to be on his guard, it was both of them who paid the price for it. It happened on Valentine's Day.

Harry and Hermione were sitting side by side at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. They were both staring wistfully in different directions; Harry at Ginny who was being doted on by Dean Thomas, and Hermione at Ron who was suckling Lavender Brown's neck. Both felt little more than jealousy for their friends, wanting to be the other in each place. Then, out of the corner of Harry's eye, he saw a flash of dark hair and a white smile. Romilda Vane was grinning at from farther down the Gryffindor table. He blinked uncomfortably and looked at Hermione.

"That Romilda Vane girl is staring at me," Harry muttered.

Hermione glanced at him absently, "Hm? Oh, big deal, Harry." She looked back at Ron desperately then began avoiding the sight of him when he caught her eye from between Lavender's lioness strands.

Harry sighed. "Do want to just go back to the common room?" he gestured with his thumb to the door. Hermione mimicked his sighed and nodded.

They left the table unceremoniously, striding through the wide double doors into the entrance hall. They walked up many flights of stairs, through many hidden passages, climbed through the portrait hole, until they were finally inside.

The two walked to the couch in front of the fireplace and sat down. Hermione turned her body to face Harry and said, "I'm not sure how much more of this I can take, Harry."

Harry stared at her and saw the pain in her eyes. "Ron will come around, Hermione."

"How could you possibly know?" Hermione asked, though her eyes made it clear the question was rhetorical. "Anyway," she continued, "I have a lot of work that needs doing." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and Harry smiled half-heartedly at his best friend. Would there ever be a problem she wouldn't bury beneath her homework?

Hermione walked to the stairs of the girl's dormitories and disappeared. A deep regretfulness stabbed at Harry's heart in her absence. He truly felt awful for Hermione, that she had to go through this pain. He was going through it himself, though it was nice to have someone understand how he felt. Feeling rather guilty at his thoughts, he wracked his brain for something else to occupy his interest.

Staring into the fire, he realized he should probably get some schoolwork done as well and headed up to his dorm. He made his way to his four poster, and, instead of grabbing his book bag like inteded, he lifted a small, heart shaped box from his bed. Inspecting it, he found no card or name. Upon opening it, he found it was a box of chocolates. Shrugging, Harry tucked it beneath his arm, retrieved his book bag, and made his way back downstairs. Hermione was already there, proof reading her transfiguration homework. Harry sat beside her and handed her the box.

"Chocolate?" he asked, popping the top off. She took one and he did the same.

Placing it in her mouth, she chewed and swallowed it. Harry followed suit, finding the candies had a raspberry filling inside. They were tasty, but there was something else in the flavor...caramel...honey...toffee, no...something he never tasted before. Harry took another, and pulled out his transfiguration book and a roll of parchment. The second candy tingled on his tongue. That sweet, unidentified flavor floated inside his mouth, tugged on something in his brain, but he had no name for it. He grabbed another, needing to discover the name of the strange but amazing taste. It burst in his mouth this time, and his eyes widened as the chocolate became an explosion of flavor on his tongue.

"This chocolate..." Harry started, still staring down at the blank roll of parchment on his lap, "It's amazing!"

He went to grab another but his hand brushed Hermione's and he pulled it back quickly. Glancing up to apologize, he stared into the deep golden eyes of his best friend. She was leaning just barely toward him, her fingers placing another sweet directly on her tongue.

It was as if Harry had never seen her before. Hermione was glorious...stunning. He'd never been so attracted to her in his life. His mind was cloudy, hazy. He felt like he was dreaming and his heart seemed like it would explode from the emotion building in his heart for the girl in front of him.

"Hermione," Harry whispered, his eyes wide, pupils dilated. Pink spots blossomed on the apples of his cheeks. She raised her hand as if to touch him, before letting her hand drop. He ate another chocolate. And turned away from her.

Memories of the two of them were flashing in his mind. Fantasies of him kissing her...touching her...making love to her played behind his eyes. His heart was pounding in his chest. He chanced a glance at her. She was twirling a piece of chocolate between her fingers; she looked stunning.

Harry worked up his nerve, "Hermione...I've been thinking...that maybe you should forget about Ron. And I'll forget about Ginny..."

Hermione's head snapped up to look at him. "Why?" Her voice was a little higher than usual.

Harry looked at his hands, nervousness at telling her how he felt...how he just realized he felt... was building in his stomach. He loved her. He loved her more than anything in the world. He just needed to tell her.

Harry bit his lip, "Hermione, I don't know what changed. But I...think I might... God, I'm just going to say it: I love you."

Hermione stared breathlessly at him for a moment before lunging forward, capturing his lips with hers. Her arms snaked around his neck and she kissed him madly. Showering pecks over his lips and face, she began murmuring, "I love you too, Harry."

Harry felt like he was in ecstasy. Her kisses were sending shockwaves throughout his whole body, making him tingle. Hermione yanked at his hair, pressing her lips tightly against his. Sucking his lower lip into her mouth, she crawled on top of him. Her movements were desperate, the way she straddled him, pulled at his hair, bit hard on his lip. She was everywhere, but Harry felt like he could never get enough. His hands were exploring her back, pulling at the material covering it when she would bite too hard.

Hermione broke her mouth away from him and pulled back. She stared at him - his face flushed from the excitement, eyes darkened with lust, lips swollen from her abuse. She leaned in again, softly this time, and kissed his bottom lip, then top, before lining hers and his up. They were barely kissing, until, feeling bold, Harry licked along the line of her lips. Parting them, Hermione leaned in closer, pulling his tongue into her mouth. He could still taste the chocolate and it made the kiss very sweet as he lapped gently against her tongue. They tangled, twisted, and flicked against one another.

Harry's hands fell to her hips and she bucked them in response. This particular action made a knot tighten somewhere in the pit of Harry's stomach. Her sex - which in this position was barely covered by her robes - had rubbed against Harry's groin in a very sensual way. The hairs on his neck stood at attention, and he squeezed her hips, trying to coax her into doing it again. She understood and began rocking her hips into his. The sensation was incredible. Small little noises were escaping Hermione's mouth while she road him, and Harry thought that he might explode if she kept this up any longer. His hands still squeezing her hips pulled her harder against him, desperate for more friction. Groaning, he broke from her mouth and kissed down her neck. Hermione's head fell back, stretching out the entirety of her throat for him to do as he pleased with her skin. So he did.

Taking a mouthful of her flesh into his mouth, he sucked hard on it, felt the skin grow tart beneath his tongue. He nibbled then, very gently, before releasing it for only a second before suckling viciously on the spot until a dark purple mark was left in his mouth's place. Her bucking hips were becoming wild while he sucked her neck. Hermione's hands had left his hair to grab at the front of his robes while she moaned above him.

Harry let go of her neck with a pop! and pushed up the hem of her robes, revealing the very bottom of black, cotton underwear. His cock twitched beneath her at the sight. Feeling his excitement, Hermione smiled shyly and leaned away from him. Getting off the couch and ignoring his hurt and confused eyes she laid herself flat on the open couch next to him. Draping her legs over his lap, she beckoned him to come to her with a finger and a grin. Harry blushed, and crawled over her until his face was level with hers. Slowly, never taking his eyes from hers, he rested himself on top of her and held himself up with only his forearms.

Hermione seemed unable to resist. Wrapping her legs tightly around his waist and her arms around his neck, she returned the favor of his love bite, giving him one on the side of his neck. It was a strange albeit lovely feeling. Her tongue was soft against his flesh, but her teeth were sharp. And somehow, the suckling ministrations she was preforming on his neck had him growing even harder than before. In response, his hips bucked wildly into her stomach and his loud groans were echoing in her ear. His hands were yanking up the fabric of her robes now, desperate to see her bare.

"Hermione," he gasped, "Please...I need to see you."

Pulling away with a devilish grin she said, "Only if I get to see you."

Harry blushed but agreed - "That's fair," - with a nod. He pushed himself onto his knees which were between Hermione's legs. With one quick motion, he pulled his robes up and over his head, leaving him in only an undershirt and boxer shorts. Both were black.

Hermione pushed the hem of his shirt up, feeling the hair beneath his navel and the cuts of his abdominal muscles. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of her warm hand making the skin of his stomach tingle wherever it went. Her other hand came up to join the first before she was kneeling in front of him as well. With a great jerk of her arms, she pulled his shirt up and over his head. Harry raised his arms to make her task easier, though never reopened his eyes. Then, there was a pause and a ruffle of movement.

"Look at me," Hermione whispered in his ear and he felt her hands envelop his face.

Opening his emerald orbs, he saw a sight nearly enough to finish him off right then and there. Hermione was completely naked sans for a lavender bra and black panties.

His eyes widened as he touched the strap covering her hips. "I'm not going to lie, I'd have never thought you'd wear black panties, even if you'd told me." His face broke out into his devilish grin that Hermione had never been attracted to until now.

"Well, I don't always, Harry," said Hermione as if it were obvious, then added in an offhand tone, "But I do like the feeling you get when you wear black lingerie."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? What feeling is that?" By now, he had her hips between his fingers yet again. He was pulling them into his pelvis repeatedly and his breaths were transforming into sharp gasps.

Hermione struggled to speak, "Um...powerful, like I'm doing something bad that I shouldn't be, but knowing no one can do anything about it."

Harry had forced her back to lie on the couch. Still kneeling above her he said with another grin, "But that's where you're wrong."

Yanking her panties down her legs, he smiled wider at Hermione's gasp of surprise. He then slipped them off her feet, raising her legs up as he did so. Harry was feeling very brave by now, so when he set her legs back on the couch, it was with them spread. The angle gave him a clear view of the part of her he wanted to see the most. To his surprise, she was completely hairless.

He snapped his head up with a twinkle in his eye, "You're full of surprises aren't you?"

Blushing deeply, she muttered, "In my defense, I wasn't expecting anyone to see that part of me for a while."

"Well, it's good you were prepared then," Harry smirked, his finger tentatively drawing a line from her bellybutton to the top of her slit. He stopped there and his eyes focused on her covered breasts. "May I see the rest of you now?" His hands moved to hover over the straps of her bra before he added, "Or should you tell me before hand that you have your nipples pierced?"

Her face was so red it rivaled that of a tomato. Smacking him playfully on the chest, she muttered, "No piercings."

"Is that a yes?" Harry had laid himself down on top of her. Their bare skin was rubbing against each other like silk and the feeling made Harry's body tingle.

Hermione nodded, seemingly too involved with the sensation of their bare skin to speak. Harry struggled to unclasp her bra but managed after a few attempts. He pulled it away from her body. Her breasts were so beautiful that he decided that if he died right now, it'd be the happiest death in the world.

"May I...?" his fingers hovered above the left mound of her chest. She nodded again, then moaned the second his fingers made contact. Pulling at the tips of her breasts, he began his rocking again, unsure of how much longer he could endure this foreplay. Her nipples felt soft against his fingers. Rubbing them, pinching them, Harry marveled at the way he could make her squirm.

An echo of voices grew louder outside of the portrait hole. The two panicked, sharing terrified glances.

"Let's go upstairs," Harry suggested urgently. They jumped from the couch, grabbed their things and dashed up the spiral staircase just as the portrait flung open and the entirety of Gryffindor house piled into the common room.

Crashing through the door of the 6th year boy's dormitory door, Harry and Hermione ran inside giggling like mad. Hermione was entirely naked and she stood shaking, with her arms in front of her chest. Harry grabbed her arm, and pulled her to his bed. Hugging her tightly, he kissed the top of her head.

"Will you let me make love to you?" he whispered; his eyes stared very intently into hers.

Hermione looked very sweetly at him. With a shy smile, she pulled the hem of his boxers lower on his hips. "You can make love to me anytime you like."

A happiness Harry never knew filled his heart. He touched her cheek with a softness that was unfamiliar to him. "I love you," he reminded her.

"I love you too."

The last article of clothing fell to the floor as the kissed. Harry's cock bumped against her stomach excitedly. They fell into his bed, barely thinking to close the curtains around them.

Harry hovered over her, kissing her desperately. With one hand he moved his member to her entrance and pushed a little with his hips. He slipped inside easily - she was so wet. He'd only entered her an inch but she was already groaning and bucking, grabbing at his backside to force him deeper. With one stroke he let his hips meet hers and both let out groans of deep satisfaction. If losing her virginity had hurt, she never gave an indication. Instead, her back was arching into his chest and her pelvis was bucking madly beneath him. Harry, who had buried his face into her neck was having trouble focusing on little else than the tight, slick walls burning pleasure into his cock. He pulled back, almost all the way out of her hole, before pushing back, sliding in all the way. Her muscles contracted around him in response. He started slow...the love he felt for her smoldering inside of his chest, giving him a need to be gentle, to pamper, to adore her.

Kissing her sweetly, Harry's body fell easily into the age old dance of love making. His hips, soft and gentle, moved back and forth in the rhythm of her breathing and moans. His own breath was a counter beat of hers before it began to level with hers, then pick up again in tempo, repeating its sweet melody again and again.

Time seemed to have forgotten them in that small four-poster bed. The voices of numerous giddy Gryffindors could be heard below, but Harry and Hermione continued their timeless tango for what could have been hours. More than once, Harry would break their passion filled kisses to gaze lovingly into her chocolate eyes, then bury his face into her neck and murmur sweet nothings into her ear.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione would respond every time with the same half choked whisper.

His hips dug harder into hers the closer he came to the finish. Hermione wrapped her legs around his body - her skin felt like satin where it touched his. Harry liked this change. He pushed himself higher off of her, locking his elbows, but arched his lower back with each thrust. Hermione seemed to come undone. Her pants turned into moans; Harry watched her without making a sound. His breath was shaky and random - the pleasure distracting his mind from its most basic functions.

They were very close now. Hermione reached up and dug her fingernails into his back rather abruptly. Harry - not expecting the sudden rush of pain down his spine - collapsed back on top of her fully. Her ankles unlocked around him and her legs fell wide into the bed.

Grabbing her legs and forcing them closer to the mattress, he rocked vigorously against her - their gentle rhythm lost in a fury of random thrusts. Hermione seemed to not mind, her moaning had only grown louder and her fingernails had dug deeper into his shoulder blades before dragging and ripping down the length of his torso. He bucked sharply as she did this, surprised by the electric thrill in his stomach responding to the biting sting.

Hermione seemed coherent only enough to recapture claim on his lips. The action quieted her moans slightly, but Harry wasted no time in slipping his tongue into her mouth.

Like a bubble being blown, his lower abdomen felt like it was being inflated, before it burst in a wave of pleasure - the likes of which Harry had never know. His whole body seemed to shake with it. Hermione, below him, gasped and shuddered, her hands pulling at his hair and mouth crying out as her own orgasm took over her essence for just a few delicious seconds. And then it was over, just like that.

Harry's mind, still hazy and slow, focused on the rhythmic rise and fall of Hermione's chest, felt it slow against his cheek. She played with his hair while he lay on top of her.

Somehow, he mustered enough energy to lift himself up to lay on his pillow and pull her into an intimate embrace. Moments later they fell asleep, entangled and content.

...

Harry felt very groggy when he awoke the next morning. It took him several minutes to even realize that something warm and soft was wrapped around him and even longer than that to have a rush of memories flood into his mind from the previous night.

Hermione...naked...his best friend...they'd had sex! What was he thinking!? Jumping completely awake, he opened his eyes and confirmed his nightmare as fact. A naked Hermione lay in his bed next to him, breathing softly and obviously asleep. Harry, with a shaking hand, shook her shoulder roughly while peaking nervously outside of his scarlet curtains.

"Hm...?" Hermione moaned, and the sound - for some horrible, inexplicable reason - sent a rush of lust to his crotch. Covering his lower half from his best friend stirring next to him, he realized he was being ridiculous. Hermione had seen more of him now than anyone else ever had, but that didn't change his total embarrassment at being seen nude and aroused by her.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped, suddenly sitting upright rigid as a board next to Harry. "Oh my God." She had the blankets pulled around her chest, hiding her womanly figure from his sight. Harry hated the ping of disappointment at seeing his red sheets in front of those magnificent, perky - get a grip!

Instead he focused on the drapes surrounding them at all angles, never quite meeting Hermione's eye.

"Harry," she whispered, "What was in those chocolates? Who were they from? Oh, Christ, Harry!" She touched a tender spot on his neck where he knew her love bite would be.

Harry glanced at her, shaking away from her touch, his face very white. He shook his head, not having the faintest clue. He took another quick peek out of his curtains before pulling them back. Hermione put a hand up to shade her eyes from the blinding morning sun. Harry snuck a glimpse at the top of a delicate, pink nipple beneath the fabric clutched to her chest.

A knot very different from the one he had last night was forming in his stomach. He couldn't decide whether it was guilt or regret, but it made him feel nauseous.

With a fierce blush he stood from bed, revealing his naked body in it's full glory. Hermione didn't attempt to hide her staring.

"Do you mind?" he whispered, his face growing redder by the second. Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. He pulled a pair of black sweatpants over his legs and a black t-shirt over his chest.

"You don't have to dress like you're in mourning," she said quietly. Harry looked at her then - really looked. Her head was bowed over her hands which fidgeted in her lap. Her bushy hair - even more wild than usual covered most of her face, but he was sure her eyes looked glassy between the strands. Pulling her clothes up from the ground, he sat next to her and handed her the bunch.

She took them gratefully. Letting the sheets fall around her hips with little thought, Harry was given once last gander at her perky breasts before Hermione hid them with her bra. Then she stood from the bed, her backside on full display. Pulling on the same black underwear from before, she made a grab for her robes when something fell out of the material and on to the floor. She picked it up and stared at the colorful folded parchment in her hands.

Hermione unwrapped it and began to read, "Dear, Harry. I hope you enjoy my Valentine's Day gift, I put something special in the chocolate. Happy Valentine's Day! Love, Romilda Vane."

Harry put a hand to his mouth but didn't speak. Words failed him.

"It was a love potion." Hermione looked, stricken, at Harry who was staring at the photograph of his admirer blowing kisses at him. It had been taped to the card, probably with the hope that she, Romilda, would be the first woman Harry saw after eating the chocolate. Though if he'd only know then that the chocolate had come from her, he'd never had opened the box.

"The card must have fallen off the box," Hermione whispered, dazed.

Harry thought he might vomit. Guilt was bubbling in his chest. "Hermione," he whispered, "If I knew...I never would have..." He couldn't finish. What had they done?

Hermione's eyes widened before she opened her mouth to speak. The dormitory door burst open and Ron came running in.

"Harry! Ginny told me that Romilda told her that she snuck you a love potion and don't eat the chocola-" Ron noticed Hermione, straightened and said, "This is the boys' dormitory. Get out."

Hermione glanced quickly at Harry before she began to walk from the room.

"Wait, Hermione," Harry called. He turned to Ron and said, "She's here because I invited her. And I already know about the love potion."

Hermione bit her lip, standing in the doorway. She begged Harry with her eyes not to speak a word of what had happened to Ron. Harry glanced at the floor before meeting Ron's eyes again.

"Hermione gave me the antidote for it last night. That's why she's with me," Harry said, his voice hard and his jaw clenched. Hermione visibly relaxed behind Ron's shoulder.

Ron glanced back at Hermione with exasperation. "Well, that was good of you." His voice was a mutter of contempt, but Harry appreciated his effort. "I'll see you downstairs?" Ron asked, hesitating.

Harry nodded, "I just wanted to thank Hermione properly."

Ron glared at her before nodding at Harry. Then without another look in her direction he brushed past her and disappeared around the staircase.

"Harry, don't be sorry. I don't see how this whole thing could ever be your fault. And...well, at least that happened with you and not some stranger. That has to count for something, right?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "What's going to change?"

Hermione shrugged, "Everything...nothing." Her voice was blase until she glared at him with a force that nearly had him stepping backwards away from her, "But so help me, Merlin, if you don't take this to your grave I will skin you alive with my bare hands."

He gulped, raised his arms in a plea and said, "Never in a million years."

Her face softened before she stepped forward and hugged him very sweetly. "You're going to make a woman very happy one day, Harry. Last night was just...wonderful..." Hermione faded out, her eyes glassy and far away.

Harry blushed and buried his face in her hair. Shaking his head, he whispered, "I still can't believe that happened."

Shrugging again, she titled her head up to look at him severely, "To the grave."

He nodded, but she poked him in the ribs. "Say it!"

"I already did," Harry countered, squeezing her tighter.

"Again...please?" Hermione's eyes were wide and pleading.

He sighed, "I swear to you, Hermione Jean Granger, that I will die with the unshared knowledge of our lust fueled evening together at whatever cost."

She grinned, face red and let go of his waist. Stepping out of his arms, she began to back toward the door, the same giddy smile lighting up her face.

"By the way," he muttered, following her and taking her hand, "You weren't too bad either." Hermione's face turned scarlet, and she swiveled around to hide her face from him.

Harry wasn't sure what was going to happen to them now. From what he could tell, he felt mostly the same towards Hermione that he had yesterday before the love potion, but it took much less thought to touch her now. It was like they had broken an unseen wall between them, allowing the other permanent access to touch and feel. It scared him, he wouldn't deny that. However, that fear didn't change the rush of excitement at having his hand clamped by the smartest witch in the entire school.

They acted normally in the common room and no one seemed to notice that anything was different or even - miraculously - the giant hickey Hermione had left on his neck. Hermione was right, of course. Everything truly was different now. But in terms of their friendship, if anything, it only grew stronger.

A/N: Thanks for reading. ~Charlie