Chapter 2

CRACK! Harry Potter was sat in the living room of his spacious inner-London apartment, watching TV and relaxing after a very long day in the Auror office when his best friend appeared as if out of nowhere directly in front of him.

He thought she had looked better; her eyes were red as were her cheeks and nose. Her robes hung off her slender frame and she reeked of alcohol.

"You don't happen to have anything...strong to drink, do you?" Hermione stated, as if she had been there all day.

They stared at each until Hermione broke down and flung herself on top of her one and only confidant. He snaked his hands around her waist and pulled her even closer, which was very hard. Whispering in her ear, they stayed in that same uncomfortable position for over an hour, which resulted in stiff necks and wet t-shirts. Once she had her wails had dissolved into snivels, Hermione crawled off Harry's chest and curled up next to him with her face nuzzled into his neck.

"So where's that drink?" She really did want to get completely plastered.

"I have beer, whiskey, fire whiskey, wine, a bit of Madame Rosmerta'' mead and my special reserve of Russia's premium vodka. However, you only get a drink if you tell my why you've come to my house and nearly flattened me."

He half-carried her into the kitchen/dining room and placed her in one of the black leather chairs that surrounded the vast glass table.

"I like your new dining table, where you get it from?" she muttered softly.

"Madame Ourvier's Furniture Store, but don't change the subject. What is wrong? You can tell me anything." He rubbed her back consolingly.

"I know, I know. It's just hard. You're my best friend and I love you so much. I really need you right now." She let out a soft groan as the pain in her heart had almost become physical.

"I love you too, and I really want to help you. Listen, I have had to put up with you telling me a lot of scary stuff. Like when you thought you were pregnant and you went into…well, it can only be described as very graphic detail. To be honest, I felt like throwing up but I didn't. I stayed because you needed me. So spill." He sat on the chair opposite and took her quivering hands in to his big, comforting ones.

"Ron and I have split up," she mumbled, barely audible.

"No, that's impossible! You and Ron are meant to be together."

"I thought so too. But apparently, he thinks that if we stay together 'he could really begin to hate me'. I mean of all the awful things for him to say, he says he could hate me. I don't ever want to see anyone again. Not Ginny or Luna or the other Weasley's. Just you. You and me like the old times; you have always been my favourite. The one who would willingly dive in front of a Killing Curse or Cruciatus for me. Anything." she gazed affectionately at his features. "You like me, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Then out of nowhere, she jumped on to him and began kissing him fiercely on his lips.

For a few seconds, he was completely stunned and did nothing, which Hermione took as a sign that he wanted to continue.

A door opened, footsteps echoed in the quiet hall, a gasp and then silence. Ron stood, silhouetted, against the bright light of the living room, watching as his girlfriend passionately kissed his best friend.

He shook his head and started to walk away but changed his mind mid-step and fell over into the fish tank, nearly breaking it.

"What the hell is going on? I will kill you Potter, I swear it, I will rip you limb from limb. Come here and take it like a man. You ungrateful, unworthy-"

Hermione jumped up, ran at Ron, and tried to hold him back as he was now attempting to carry out his threat.

Harry stood his ground and waited to explain the situation. He refused to hit Ron, as he would probably do the same thing in that position.

Subsequently, Harry ended up with several bruises and a black eye.

"No, wait, Ron please! It's not what it looks like. It's my fault...I just needed some comfort… I need to feel good about myself and Harry was there right in front of me. I kissed him. I know it was stupid but I wasn't thinking. Please believe me, Harry would never kiss me, he doesn't like me that way - I don't like him that way! And he would never hurt you. You're like his brother!"

Ron kept hitting Harry in the face, stomach and legs so he was now almost unconscious, he could not fight back even if wanted to.

"STOP! You're hurting him, please Ron. Harry, oh, Harry. Get off him Ron! If you don't leave him alone right this second then it's over between us, I mean completely this time, no breaks. I will never speak to you again!"

Harry then lost consciousness and Ron slowed his punches down and started sobbing.

Hermione, who sensed an opportunity to help her injured friend, ran forward, skidded on the blood stained marble floor, and pushed Ron out of the way. She performed every healing spell she knew. Her Healer training really coming in useful for saving Harry's teeth and ribs, which were nearly reduced to dust. Soon he was looking almost as good as new after being revived and all of the cuts and bruises mended, just leaving one long, deep scar across the left side of his chest.

"Ron, why? I understand you being angry but I never thought you were capable of that. It's sickening. You could have killed him. I will never look at you the same way again. I used to think you would protect me, never hurt anyone or anything purposefully." She shook her head and wiped away the thousands of tears cascading down her cheeks. "We parted on good terms and you've just… just go!"

He stood there and didn't move a muscle, like a statue,

"'Hermione-"

"Go, just GO! GET OUT, I never want to see you again!" She pushed and shoved until he was out of the door and then slammed it shut. She ran back to Harry who was beginning to come back round. He looked up at her with groggy eyes.

"Hermione...where's Ron? I'm sorry; I should have stopped it sooner. I was shocked," he croaked, his throat swollen and inflamed from the beating.

"I know, Shush now, lets get you into bed and we'll talk about this in the morning. I'm going to take you into work with me and book you in for a magi-scan. You were bleeding quite a lot from the head so just to check...you'll still be my fearless hero after all this!"

She helped him up and then let him use her as a crutch as he hobbled into his beautiful bedroom.

He had painted three of the four walls black but the wall behind his double bed was a pure white with a print of New York at night in the middle.

The theme was monochrome but there were a few exceptions such as the Gryffindor flag and several moving photos, mainly of him, Ron and Hermione.

This made her sigh and new tears sprang to the corners of her already red eyes, but she pushed them back and carried on putting Harry into bed.

His deep green eyes fluttered closed within seconds and just as she was about to walk out and make a bed on the sofa, she heard his soft, reassuring voice calling her.

"Hermione, where are you going? Sleep with me…please. Come on, there's room for a little one." He moved the covers aside and Hermione crawled under.

"Just for a little while then. I need to get changed into my pyjamas, as do you," she laughed

"Oh yeah, I really should do that now. Will you help me? It still hurts a little to move my right arm...why is that. I thought when you heal something it gets completely better straight away," he questioned.

"Oh, well somehow, I'm not really sure how, but you've got bruises right in the socket of the shoulder and all the way into the middle of the bone. I think it was magic. Because Ron was so angry he got rather stronger, hit you harder. I'm not sure; this really isn't my field of expertise."

"Oh," he paused, contemplating the amount of hatred Ron must have felt for him when he delivered the painful blow, "can you help me get dressed?"

"Sure, where are your pyjamas?" she asked, carefully moving the arm that was around his waist.

"There are some boxer shorts in the drawer over there." He pointed to the far left of the room,

"And what t-shirt?"

"I don't wear one."

"Oh." Hermione shifted uncomfortably for a moment and then jumped up and retrieved the shorts.

Get a grip, that's Harry. You have seen him half-naked before. Hermione scolded herself and continued to the job of undressing him.

It started quite easily as she eased his shirt over his broad, muscular shoulders and then started to unbutton his trousers. That was when it got a little bit more… difficult.

Hermione got very familiar butterflies in her stomach and her face blushed a deep crimson. Harry looked up at her and grinned.

"Why are you blushing? Not embarrassed are you?" His devilish grin not faltering.

"No, of course not. Don't be silly!" She sounded very flustered and hid behind her wavy chocolate hair.

Continuing to remove his tight denim jeans was torture for Hermione and Harry was really enjoying watching her squirm.

After what seemed like forever, they were off.

"Finally! Now I'm pretty sure you can do the rest." She turned away and headed towards the bathroom, "I'm going to get changed now, and then I'll bring those drinks we talked about earlier." and with that she was gone, leaving Harry to get ready for bed, slowly, and return to under the covers to wait for Hermione.

About 10 minutes later she returned dressed in one of Harry's shirts that were too big for her but still showed a lot of skin.

"Wow that looks better on you than it does me!" He looked at her up and down, impressed at the way someone can mature in such a short space of time.

She smiled warmly at him and passed him a shot of vodka.

"A nightcap." She mumbled

"Where's yours?" Harry asked. She held up the bottle and winked.

"Trust me Harry, honey, I am out to get hammered tonight." She upended it once and told Harry to hurry up if he wants some more.

"It is reminiscent to nail varnish remover but it gets the job done."

So he gulped the shot down in one, and then another and another and another until the line of liquid in the glass bottle was an inch from the bottom.

"You know, Harry, I used to have some very dodgy dreams about you," Hermione slurred.

Harry hiccupped, "You didn't! I never would have believed good, clever, sensible Hermione Jane Granger would think of me, Harry James Potter in a way that is not suitable for children! Lord strike me down!"

They burst out laughing resulting in a quantity of the clear liquid being spilled onto the black sheets.

Hermione snuggled in closer to him and leaned her head on his bare chest.

"I love listening to your heartbeat..." Harry stroked her hair and leaned back, watching her, "Sort of brings everything into perspective. It is so simple, if your heart stops beating, stops pumping blood and oxygen to your brain, you die. Witches and Wizards can do so much. You had all the bones re-grown in your arm one year. We cannot bring someone back from dead, though. I have watched so many people die. Six weeks ago, a baby was brought in. She had been attacked, her fingers and toes severed, blood pouring out of wounds all over her body. It is presumed a rogue Death Eater targeted her mother - a top Auror, you probably know her - but found only the little girl and her weak Grandmother. She was only six months old. I couldn't save her, no matter how much I tried. Nevertheless, here I am now listening to the thing keeping you alive- I love listening to you heartbeat." She tipped her head forward, kissed where his heart is, and then looked up at him.

He looked so happy, so peaceful, it made her feel…she did not really know how she felt but it was new, interesting.

Hermione kissed his chest again, peppering his muscles with tiny bits of affection, working her way up until she found the sensitive bit where the collarbone meets the neck.

She kissed more passionately, harder and wetter. Harry gasped and tried to fight the urges he was getting from her touch.

Eventually her lips found his and they brushed against each other momentarily.

Finding them again, they remained for longer; Hermione parted her mouth slightly and sucked Harry's bottom lip gently.

A new sense of urgency was creeping up on the pair as Harry slipped in his tongue and began exploring this new, dark and dangerous territory.

Hermione scrambled on top of him and continued counting his fillings frantically whilst her hands ran smoothly over every bit of skin she could find.

Her index finger found the elastic of his shorts, and trailed back and forth over this stimulating spot. Harry sighed and now let his hand roam up under the shirt she was wearing and found the fastening of her bra.

He unhooked it with ease, using only two fingers. Hermione giggled.

"How did you do that?" She asked, still kissing and stroking,

"Practice," he breathed into her warm, welcoming mouth.

"How many have you practiced with? I never took you for someone who slept around." She said a little louder. She was not really jealous, just curious and a little amused,

"Not that many, just into double figures" They had now stopped kissing and she looked down on him from where she sat on his stomach.

"What about you?"

"Not saying, you'll laugh!" She sounded very much like a child.

"Go on, you're a pretty girl, loads of people fancy you!"

"Not that many. I have only ever slept with Ron. I lost my virginity to him on my eighteenth birthday." They both looked away from each other, uncomfortable at the reminder of Ron.

To smooth it over she grabbed the vodka bottle and downed the rest of it, leaving just a little in the bottom.

"Hey, I wanted some of that!" Harry shouted playfully. She emptied the last bit and leaned down to kiss him once again. After a minute or two, she pulled away.

"Whoa, I've never drank it like that before!" They both laughed and continued.

Three hours later two naked, sweaty individuals emerged from under the covers of Harry's bed.

"Oh sweet Merlin. That was amazing! Just amazing...oh, I think I'm going to faint!" Harry mumbled staring at the ceiling.

"Uh huh. I have never felt anything like it. You should do that professionally." Hermione stuttered hardly getting the words out right.

"I think there are laws about that sort of thing!" He rolled over so he was on top of her and kissed her gently and sweetly on her nose and both eyelids.

She pushed him off her and they flipped so she was on top of him. Hermione curled up against him whilst he fingered the skin on the very top of her leg.

The silence extended for over half an hour until finally Harry spoke.

"You know that this was a mistake and it can never happen again, right?" He breathed.

"Yeah, I understand. I love Ron and you love the bachelor lifestyle. When we wake up in the morning we'll forget it ever happened." She spoke into his neck, causing vibrations to travel all over his body.

"It's for the best. We should sleep now. You've got work in..." he looked over to the alarm clock shining on the bedside table, "Oh crap, you've got be at work in two hours!"

He sounded panicky, like once morning comes all of this is going to seem dirty and wrong whereas now it felt so very right.

"Okay, let's just rest for a few minutes, and then we can have a shower."

She closed her eyes and pushed further into his neck, relishing his smell. Hermione dozed, but Harry stayed firmly awake unable to close his eyes without seeing images of Ron yelling at him or Hermione crying and shouting that it was his entire fault. There was even a few of them going at it again.