Hermione smiled as she read over her book. It had been five days since she and Loki had stopped avoiding one another. Or more so she had stopped avoiding him. Things had gone back to normal. Nothing had really changed between them. Other than spending more time with one another then usual, something Hermione was grateful for. Right now they were together on her balcony as they were most lazy nights reading.

"I'm bored of this." Loki said setting his book aside.

"I told you it wasn't very good." She said with a smirk as she picked up a new book.

"Read me something." He said.

"Why are you always asking me to read to you?" she asked as he walked over to her large chair where he sat down at her side.

"I like your voice, now read."

"You can't just boss me around remember?" She asked looking to him.

"Would you mind reading to me?" He asked and she smiled.

"Not at all." She said.

"Wait what are you reading?"

"Muggle book… It's called the hobbit."

"What's it about?"

"A hobbit."

"What in the nines is a hobbit?" She laughed.

"It's a fictional creature from middle earth."

"Sounds boring."

"Its an acclaimed book in midgard."

"Well I've never heard of it." He said.

"Let's do something else then." She said setting the book aside and sitting forward. "I mean we've read for the past five nights." She said putting the book down. "There's got to be something we can do."

"Magic."

"We've done magic the past five days."

"Weapon-."

"We've done weapons training the past five days as well."

"Very true…" He looked to her. "Any ideas?" She looked up in thought before shaking her head.

"If we were on earth I could come up with tons of ideas." She said with a smile as she sat back in the chair lazily.

"What is there to do on earth?" She laughed.

"You almost sound as if you don't believe me." She said turning in the chair so she could look at him more.

"Well what could a tiny little human world offer that this one can't?"

"Movies." She said instantly and he shifted in his chair.

"What is a movie?" She smiled.

"It's like a book only it's acted out for you to see."

"Like a play, we have those."

"You have plays?" She asked with a bright smile. "Then let's go see a play."

"There are none out now…" He said and she sighed. "What else do the midgardians have?"

"Dance clubs."

"We have balls."

"Yeah but you have to wait for balls, any night you can go out to a club and dance the night away."

"You did this?" he asked with a smirk and she shifted.

"Okay no but it was always an option." She said and he smiled.

"What else is there?"

"Mmm…" She looked up in thought. "I'm sure there were other things but I was more of a stay inside and study type of lady." She said before getting up and heading away. Loki tilted his head as he watched her walk to the railing of her balcony and lean against it. "What to do? What to do?" She asked aloud before turning to look to him. "I know, let's go exploring." She said with a bright look and he sat forward.

"We've already ridden nearly every inch of the forest." He said.

"No I mean the palace let's explore the palace this place is huge after all."

"I know every inch though."

"But I don't." She said with a hopeful look. "Come on you have to know all the fun little nooks and crannies." He looked to her. "Please?" she asked he smiled instantly. He couldn't deny her after all.

"Fine." He said standing instantly. "But you must be very quiet, it's more fun if we try not to be seen by the guards." Hermione nodded excitedly. They walked to her door and Loki opened it before peeking out and seeing two guards.

"How are we going to get past them?" She asked softly. Loki looked down to see her hand on his arm as she peeked around him. He smiled before looking to the guards and outstretched his hand.

"Guards?" Hermione perked up hearing Lokis voice coming from deep within a corridor to their left. "Guards I say perk up I need your help." Hermione laughed softly and Loki smiled at the sound as the guards quickly ran off.

"Quickly." Loki said as they exited her room. They moved together down the hallway quickly and stuck to the shadows.

"Where are we going?" She asked after a few minutes of walking.

"Somewhere I think you might enjoy." He said.

"Oh bowling."

"What?" he asked looking to her.

"I just remembered something else earth has that Asgard doesn't."

"What in the nines is bowling?" he asked.

"It's where you throw this ball at nine pins."

"Why would you do that?" He asked and she looked off.

"To… Try and knock them down…"

"Wouldn't it be easier to walk over and kick them down?" She looked to him.

"Well yeah but that's a part of the game you have to knock them down with the ball…" He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Asgard is still winning in your mind with fun things to do isn't it?"

"After that yes." He said and she smiled as she continued to follow him down the dark corridor. They stopped and Hermione looked around.

"What is it?" She asked. He just smiled and planted his hand against the wall and pushed in. She heard a hiss and smiled as it popped open and slid to the side. "A secret passageway." She said with a smile.

"Well… It is a palace." He said and she smiled. "After you Lady Hermione." She curtsied before walking past him into a dark passage. After the wall closed behind them Hermione looked around into a blinding abyss. A green haze floated up to the ceiling lighting the way down a dark stair well thanks to a spell Loki had casted. "Ready?" Loki asked moving past her and down the stairs. Hermione smiled as she instantly followed him.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked.

"Somewhere that is nearly as enchanting as you." She smiled as she shook her head. For the past few days he would say things very similar to that. In all honesty she had never been one for compliments. Either not believing them, or seeing instantly that they were being less then genuine. But with Loki she didn't so much mind his compliments, and she now saw just how genuine he was being. "Watch your step it gets a bit slippery near the end."

"Slippery?" She asked and that's when she heard it. Rushing water. As they neared the end of the stairwell Hermione looked to the walls seeing a strange reflective light. Loki stepped down into the chamber and extended his hand for Hermione to take.

"Watch your step down." She took his hand and smiled as she looked around at a vast chamber filled with a vast pool where an opaque waterfall was falling from the top of the chamber down into the tarn of water below.

"Wow…" She breathed as she walked over to it. She knelt down by the water and outstretched her hand towards the opaque substance. She stopped and looked to Loki who was smiling as he walked over to her. "Can I?" she asked.

"Of course." He said and she smiled as she looked back to the water and touched it.

"It feels just like water, but it looks so different…" She said softly.

"It is water, just a different type…" He said. "Like on midgard where you have spring water, ocean water, ground water, well water, Asgard has its own types of water as well."

"What kind is this?" She asked liking how it made her fingers tingle.

"It's ocean water."

"Doesn't look like the ocean I saw below the bridge leading from the bifrost..."

"That's because it has run through the ground and picked up the essence of the land." He said.

"It's beautiful…" She said looking over the opaque coloring. She watched as Loki took his boots off before sticking his feet in the water.

"Go on." He said and she nodded as she took her own boots off and slipped her feet into the water before leaning back on her hands and looking around.

"So, why is this chamber here?" she asked looking around at the gold and silver walls. "It's obviously an important place, being so hidden, and garnished in gold. What's so special about it that it needs to be hidden?"

"This water because it's full of the nutrients of the land, can be quite healing… It isn't used very often but it can be a place of remedial, soothing, and clarity."

"Clarity?" she asked.

"In relaxation and quiet clarity can be found." She looked to him with a soft expression. "At least that's what my mother says."

"I like your mum…" She said. "She's a very intelligent lady, I haven't spoken to her much mind you, but she has a brilliance you can see clearly in her eyes… Kind of like you." He looked to her quickly.

"Did you just pay me a compliment?" She smiled as she looked to him with a shrug.

"Is it allowed?" She asked. "I mean I didn't just break some rule of royalty did I?"

"No it's just here I've been paying you compliments for days and you haven't said one thing to me yet."

"Feeling underappreciated?" She asked and he smirked. "Look I'm sorry if things seem one sided when it comes to paying compliments, and when I say paying compliments I of course mean flirting." He smiled, she could be very logical in the way she spoke sometimes. "You… Have been flirting with me right?"

"Yes." She smiled.

"That would have been embarrassing if you hadn't been…" She said and he smiled more. "I am sorry though I just… I'm really not good at flirting… When it happens it's usually on accident."

"No it's alright it tells me you were… Chaste before you met me."

"Chaste?" Hermione asked with a laugh.

"You know…" He searched for another word.

"Yeah, no, I got what you meant." She said with a laugh. "It just kind of makes me sound…" He watched as she shrugged. "I don't know…" She shook her head. "Maybe a little… Prudish."

"There's nothing wrong with being prim." He said. "Having Honor, is revered…" She quirked an eyebrow. "Here on Asgard maintaining ones honor is to give oneself a standing in class." She smiled as she looked off.

"On Asgard it's seen as an inconvenience, or an insult."

"An insult?" He inquired. "How would it be an insult?"

"Oh…" She cleared her throat while waving him off. "It's not important." She said looking down into the water.

"No I'd like to know." He said and she looked to him.

"Alright well… I told you there was a guy before."

"Yes a…" Loki searched for the name. "Brum." She laughed softly.

"Krum." She corrected and he nodded. "Anyways uhm… We were together for a while-."

"How long?" Loki asked.

"About… Three years… On and off. Mostly off… We lived countries apart…" He nodded.

"Did it end because you refused to… Submit to him?" She looked to him.

"Interesting way of putting it." She said looking him over. "But yes… After three years we had finally actually gotten close… I could feel myself falling for him. Thinking back I only felt that way because I knew Harry Ron and I were going to have to go searching for the Horcruxes… I knew that I was going to have to leave everything behind… Anyways he wanted me to sleep with him and… On some level I wanted to… But only because I was so sure I was going to die… But I couldn't bring myself to have sex with him because I… I didn't want to sleep with him just because-."

"You thought you were going to die." She looked to him with a soft expression.

"Exactly." She said.

"Very noble." Loki said looking back to the water. Hermione laughed after a long moment and covered her face. "What's funny?"

"Uhm this, us." Hermione said with a smile as she looked up. "I have told you things that… I would have never dreamt of telling Harry or Ron, and I… Told them everything. To be honest I never thought I'd meet anyone ever again who I related so much too." She looked to him.

"I like your new found honesty." He said, normally she let him do the talking, only ever opening up when he asked her too.

"Then I hope you like this as well, and not think me arrogant. You're the only person I've met who is able to keep up with me, intellectually and magically."

"I take that as a great compliment, so I like it very much." He said and she smiled as she nodded.

"Good that pleases me very much." She said with a smile before looking to the water. "Have… Have you ever just jumped in it?" She asked lifting one of her feet out of the water.

"Yes, but that requires getting naked."

"Not really." She said with a whimsical smile. "I just thought of another fun thing I used to do on Midgard." She said getting out of the water. Loki watched as she lifted her shirt off.

"What are you doing?" He asked as his eyes went over her soft curves. Her body was naturally toned, most likely left over from her times in war and the months leading up to it.

"I'm going swimming." She said as she stepped out of her skinny jeans. Loki took a breath as his eyes went over her breasts which were cupped in a maroon pushup bra. Before his eyes could travel down she dove into the water. Loki smiled, he was seeing all new sorts of sides to Hermione, and in all honesty he liked them. Hermione laughed as she reemerged. The water felt amazing, it made her body buzz. She smiled as she looked to Loki who was staring at her.

"Are you coming in?" She asked with a smile. "Or are you to high and mighty for such Midgardian activities as swimming?" He smiled as he stood and took off his shirt. Hermione let her eyes flicker over him. His chest looked like it was carved out of marble. She never thought such a toned body would be hidden under his clothes.

"Like what you see?" Loki asked and Hermione felt her cheeks flare.

"I'm staring at the toned chest of a Norse God… What do you think?" She asked with a smile before turning in the water. Loki smiled as he undid the buckle on his pants, she had flirted with him, and he was more than pleased. He stepped out of his pants and dove down into the water. Hermione laid back in the pool and stared up at the gold ceiling. Loki swam over to her and let his eyes travel over her near naked body which glistened in the opaque water.

"This water feels amazing." She said her eyes drifting closed.

"Does Midgard have this kind of water?"

"No I've never felt water like this… It makes my body buzz."

"Which tells me your body has been put under a ton of stress, it hasn't completely healed."

"That's irreversible damage from the war, it won't ever heal." She said like it was perfectly normal.

"It would take a lot to cause damage like that to our bodies…" He said looking her over.

"Not if it was a spell." He tilted his head.

"What kind of spell could be used on you to cause that much damage?" She shrugged with a smile.

"It was a bunch of spells after a while I supposed it broke my body down…" He got the feeling she was lying to him. Just like she had lied to Thor about when he questioned what had happened to her and her friends when they were caught by the counter side of the war.

"You're lying." He said and Hermione looked to him. He didn't seem angry, he was just stating a fact. "Hermione if you don't want to talk about it… Just say." She smiled softly.

"I don't want to talk about it." He nodded.

"I respect that." She smiled softly as she tilted her head her eyes looking over a small scar on his shoulder.

"You have a scar… I thought gods couldn't scar." She said swimming closer to him.

"Many people on Midgard have a skewed outlook on what a god is… You have scars I'm sure."

"Well yeah but I'm-."

"A god just like I am." He said. "Born of a human, but a god none the less."

"I keep forgetting." She said with a shy look.

"Someday you won't…" He said and Hermione took a breath as she felt his hands rest on her hips beneath the water.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Keeping your head above water."

"I can swim."

"Yes but father did instruct me to look after you, and I can't risk you drowning on my watch." She smiled as she moved closer.

"Then I should probably anchor myself to you." She said setting her hands on his shoulders.

"Yes that's a good plan." He said as he looked her over. Hermione smiled softly. Loki was the type of handsome that made her want to look away, but his features were so intriguing she couldn't take her eyes away from him.

Loki let his eyes travel over Hermione. She had such powerful inquisitive russet eyes. Ones that seemed to bore into his own and strike his soul. She was also fair, so very fair. With skin like porcelain. He raised his hand and cupped her cheek as his arm wrapped around her body bringing her closer.

"You're not pulling away from me." He said quietly.

"Should I?" she asked.

"Only if you don't want what's inevitably going to happen."

"What's going to inevitably happen?" she asked softly.

"I think you know…" She gave him a soft expression before moving forward and capturing his lips with hers in a chaste kiss. Loki was taken aback, after all he had thought it would be him to make the first move. But like she always did, Hermione surprised him. Before he could relish in the feeling of her pressed against his body, her mouth moving with his perfectly she pulled away.

Loki shook his head and moved forward. His mouth crashing against hers hungrily. Hermione made a small noise of surprise as her eyes drifted closed. She had been held before. Kissed before. But never had it felt this exhilarating. There was a connection to Loki, a connection she had never shared with anyone else before. When he pulled away and let his eyes roam over her as his thumb brushed across her bottom lip. Hermione could feel it, an intensity from him in that moment.

"So beautiful…" He said softly before he moved forward and kissed her deeply. She sighed into his mouth contently, feeling for the first time in a long time completely alive.

-o-

Hermione smiled as she and Loki walked back to her chambers. She was pretty sure they had crossed the line in their friendship to something more. What more, she wasn't sure. But she was exited and scared all at the same time to find out. They stopped at the double doors to her room and Hermione smiled softly.

"This is me." She said quietly her russet eyes dancing mischievously.

"Ah yes, this is where we part ways for the night." He said and she smiled softly.

"Well… Good night Loki." She went to go into her room.

"Is that all?" She looked over her shoulder at him.

"I'll… See you tomorrow?" She asked and he smiled his hand reaching out. He set it upon her hip where he pulled her gently to his body. He tilted her chin up to grant him better access and swept his lips across hers.

"Good night Hermione…" he said before pulling away. "I will see you tomorrow for the ball, I hope you'll allow me to accompany you." He said.

"We had planned to before, I don't see why my choice in that would change."

"Because before we would be just friends… This… This will be something very different." He said and she smiled softly.

"Something different?" she asked.

"Yes." He said kissing her cheek. "Night Hermione."

"Night Loki…" She said with a soft expression as she headed into her room. As she closed her door she smiled more seeing Loki looking back at her as he walked away. Hermione closed the door and leaned against it as she smiled to herself before laughing. She felt amazing, for the first time in a long time, she felt genuinely happy.