Canon Compliant


He would always be her first. The first and only person to truly own her heart.

She could remember the first time she looked into his emerald green eyes. Really looked INTO them as opposed to looking at them while making eye contact. It was at that very moment she decided that she would give up everything for him. She would live for him, and even die for him, and she would always love him with every fiber of her being.

That was just how deeply connected she felt to Harry.

Of course, they had disagreements and squabbles, none as bad as with Ron, and maybe some could be blamed on Ron, but she could always count on Harry being there for her. She was utterly devoted to him, and even now, at nearly thirty years old with a husband and children of her own, if he showed up on her front door needing her help with something involving his 'saving people' thing she would be there for him, Ron and the children would have to deal with it.

Harry possessed her soul in that way.

It wasn't that he was her first lover. Ron had that distinction. But somehow, even though she loved Ron in a romantic way, most of the time anyway, something about Harry possessed her in a way that Ron would never be capable of.

Power.

Somehow, someway, something about the way Harry carried himself oozed power without seeming arrogant. Harry was very understated about his status in the world. His clothes were not extravagant like some would have, filled with rare golden unicorn hair and the like, but it was clear that his robes and causal Muggle clothes were always well made. For all the forgiveness Harry had for how his relatives treated him, he still devoutly avoided all things Muggle whenever possible.

It was something that certainly did not make Harry unique. After the failure to mend her relationship with her parents, she very rarely ventured into the Muggle world.

They had that in common, at least. Failed relationships with Muggle relatives, and re-enacting tawdry romance novel scenes.

It was a part of the whole power thing for Hermione. Ron may have been her first lover, but he was hardly her only one. She and Harry had been having an affair for more than half their marriages. There was something that Hermione craved that could only be satisfied by staring deep into those emerald green eyes and reaching Harry's soul as they connected in the most Biblical of ways.

Sadly enough, Hermione knew that if Ron were to ever find out, between anger at her and indignation that Harry was cheating on his little sister, he would understand.

Heck, half the Wizarding world would understand if they could see into his eyes like she has.

The first time was a cloak room their 'seventh' year. While not two months prior she had spent a very romantic weekend with Ron involving Madam Puddifoots and the Room of Requirement, she had gotten into yet another horrible row with Ron, and this time he took Ginny with him. He accused the two of them of spending way too much time together, when the only thing that had really been going on was a bit of Potions and Ancient Runes tutoring. Since Harry had never taken Ancient Runes, but had become interested in it since a warding expert with the Aurors needed expertise at reading runes, Hermione had volunteered to teach him everything she could.

Harry had caught on fast, partially motivated to be something more than just a regular Auror. The two of them HAD been spending late nights working in the library, and it HAD seemed very suspicious. But it was harmless, until that one time. And every third time since.

They were avoiding Lavender Brown, whose new goal was to seduce Harry and have his love child, and so they ran until they were on the sixth floor. Hearing footsteps, Hermione pushed Harry into the nearest door, hopped in herself and closed it behind her with a slightly overpowered "notice me not" charm. Hermione turned and bumped into Harry and a wall.

"Pushed me in the smallest room you could find, eh?" Harry had joked.

Hermione had turned, and came face to lovely face with those green eyes. Between those green eyes, his proximity to her, and the fact that they could not stay in the closet hiding from Lav Lav (who they could still hear in the hallway) and NOT touch very closely was the beginning of the end. They stared at each other for what was likely an eternity. Hermione staring deep into those green eyes and reading the words etched on his soul.

Every emotion and pent up feeling came out in a torrent with that first kiss. The first kiss they shared awakened a part of Hermione's brain that had been forgotten since the incident with Sirius and the time turner, the first time she had almost kissed Harry. Even subsequently, alone in the Forest of Dean, there had been the ever present thought of "Ron! Ginny!' to keep those emotions at bay, even if it was a close call many of those nights they spent alone in the snow.

She supposed that if Nagini had not knocked Harry out when he saved her that would have been it, then and there. He was oozing power then, too.

And so the affair began. Every chance they got for three solid months. Then Hermione realized what she was doing was wrong to Ron. She never told Ron, but Harry and herself began practicing Occlumency in earnest. They knew that they were too close to slipping, to revealing what they had been doing long after they had reunited with the Weasleys. Then came graduation, and proposals, and closure from the torrid affair that marked their seventh year.

Until two years into her marriage with Ron, and a year into Harry's marriage with Ginny. Ron had abandoned the Auror lifestyle to become a businessman, and Ginny was usually on tour with the Holyhead Harpies. Something had set the two of them off, and they were sharing each others warmth every since.

They both could put up a good front, even dancing like close friends and not lovers at various Ministry events. They only person who even hinted at something more was, of all people, Draco Malfoy. The former Death Eater worked with her at the Ministry, and had posed the question while the two of them were doing an obligatory spin around the dance floor at the Annual Anniversary Gala. Ginny was there, but Ron had been close to closing a deal with a large Texas leather producer for high quality American leather at a deep discount. Thus, former Hogwarts colleagues were each giving Hermione a spin. The hatred and animosity between Hermione and Draco had long cooled to a 'never quite friends but not enemies' level.

"Shagging Potter and Weasley, are we Ms. Granger?" Draco had whispered.

"It's Ms. Weasley now, Malfoy. It's been Weasley for a while and yet you can never manage to remember. And no, I am not." Hermione had whispered back.

Draco had chuckled lightly as if Hermione had told a humorous joke, and whispered again. "Somehow I wonder if you believe that yourself. You can deny it all you want to, Hermione. But the way he looks at you when he thinks nobody is looking proves that he's seen what's under your lovely dress robes, and he can't wait to have another glance."

"You must be mistaken. Why are you paying so close attention to Harry anyway?"

Draco chuckled again. "Fine. Keep your secrets. I won't tell a soul. I'm over that petty schoolboy feud. He saved us all. So what if he wants to shag half the witches in Europe? He deserves a witch like you to spice up his life every now and again. Who am I to destroy his happiness?"

It had been a sign to the both of them to be more careful, more guarded in their social interactions, but other than Draco and Luna, nobody had ever said anything to them, and neither Draco nor Luna would say anything.

Hermione thought about their most recent encounter, a hot and steamy affair right in her Ministry office. Yep. If Harry suddenly appeared she would drop everything and be gone in a heartbeat, be it in a position as 'friend' or 'more.'

"Hermione?" Harry's voice called out from the floo the next room over.

Hermione walked over to the floo, thankful that the children were with George and Angelina's brood for a Junior Quiddich tournament Fred was participating in. It was a weekend-long event, and Ron took the opportunity to research expansion in Canada for his Quiddich supply company. She was blissfully alone and enjoying the comforts of her massive library.

"Yes, Harry?"

Harry sighed. "There you are. Ginny's on tour again with the Harpies, and I need help. You're a dab hand at Ancient Runes."

Hermione laughed. "You're good yourself. "

Harry nodded sheepishly. "I learned from the best, but this is a two person job."

Hermione frowned. "Something for work?"

Harry smiled a little. "You could say that. You know they're finally getting around to auctioning off the Lestrange Vault, and I've gotten most of the stuff not deemed too Dark for regular purchase. One of the objects is a little, odd, and its covered in runes. If we work together we can figure out what it's for."

Hermione's frown increased. "What is it?"

Harry smirked. "It looks like a swing, I think".

Hermione laughed mentally. Covered in runes…. Ha! "I'll be over shortly."

Today, it was both.