A/N: Uhh, it's getting harder and harder to keep up with this story, but I will not abandon it or any of you I promise. It's just going to take longer for updates. :/

After careful deliberation, I've decided that it really isn't necessary to go further and discuss Harry's background. I think it was explained pretty thoroughly over the previous chapters that there was a cover up, Harry's mother is actually a muggle-born, etc. If any of you would like more of a background for his half-blood heritage let me know and give me your reasons and I will consider elaborating more. Honestly though, I think I rather just keep the story moving along. Please let me know your opinions!

RATED M FOR LEMONS!

Listening Music – "Bronte" by Gotye. Absolutely love this song and it really put me in the zone to write this chapter in particular.

CH. 10 – Love & War

Previously on For The First Time

"Harry," I whispered out, breathing roughly.

He groaned out again and turned me so that he could carry me to the bed and place me on it. I accidently brushed my thigh against the front of his trousers and he shivered a bit at the contact.

"Gods, Hermione," He said in a husky voice giving me an intense look with those beautiful green eyes. "I need you to tell me to stop because I don't think I can control myself any longer. I want you, all of you," He said in a tone full of desire.

"I'm not going to tell you to stop because I want you too. Harry, I love you," I replied softly looking back up at him.

He gave me a smoldering look before leaning down to give me a deep kiss, and in that moment I had never wanted anyone more than I did in my entire life.

Present—

I had always thought that Harry was a very strong-willed person who knew how to control his emotions quite well. However, the Harry I saw this night made that version of him seem like a completely different person.

He continued to kiss me with such an uncontrollable passion that I felt as if my whole body was on fire. His hands started to slide down my sides before running along my backside. I gasped a little in shock at his behaviour. I never in a thousand years would have thought that Harry could be so audacious. I liked it more than I was willing to admit.

Our lips detached and he started to kiss along my neck. "I want you so bad," He muttered against my neck, making my skin tingle.

I grabbed a hold of his head softly, turning him to face me so that I could reach his lips again. I dueled my tongue with his and as he groaned against my mouth, I could feel his hardness press against my inner thigh.

"Tell me to stop. I shouldn't be doing this. I don't want to tarnish your honour…" He trailed off breaking his lips away from mine to look me in the eye.

I tried not to roll my eyes in response. Of course at a time like this only Harry of all wizards would talk about a witch's honour. I admired his respectfulness and his persistence to always do what was right. However, in this moment that was the last thing I wanted from him.

"My honour? I'm a muggle-born. All thoughts of protecting my honour was gone the moment I was born," I said looking up at him.

He moved off of me a bit and sat down beside me. "I don't care about wizarding law. You still deserve to be treated with respect. I don't want you to feel like you're required to do anything with me that you don't feel comfortable doing," He asserted.

I sighed and put my hand over his. Discussion of the matter was probably not going to get us anywhere. He was stubborn in his ways when it came to these issues. So I did the only thing I could do.

I ran my hands up his thigh nervously to the bulge in the middle of his trousers. When I grazed my fingers across it, I heard him intake a deep shuttering breath. "Harry, I want to do this and I want it to be with you. You've told me that you love me, now show me," I asserted softly, adding a bit more pressure into my touch.

He swallowed profusely as he continued to let me touch him. He groaned out loud in pleasure and quickly moved his hands over mine, preventing the movement. I looked at him questioningly and he shook his head at me in response. "Not like this," He said in a husky in tone. I nodded at him as he took me by the shoulders and placed me almost delicately against the pillows.

He smiled at me as he ran his fingers through my messy locks before reaching down to kiss me once more. From there, things started to progress rather quickly. He started helping me out of my gown until all that was left was my corset. The smoldering look he had in eyes when he looked down at my breasts was almost hauntingly erotic.

I turned around so he could untie my corset laces. I felt him do so with an almost nervous eagerness. After he finished, I started to feel my nerves finally get the best of me. I was completely shaking as I let the garment fall to the bed and away from my body. He placed his hand gently on my shoulder to turn me around to face him. I did so quickly, hoping to get over my anxiety.

"You're absolutely beautiful Hermione," He said with such genuine awe that it was hard to prevent myself from blushing at the compliment. Who would have thought that being naked in front a man for the first time would make me feel attractive. It probably had more to do with the fact that Harry was the man to witness it.

Our lips locked once again as he started to run his fingers across my now uncovered skin. He even worked up enough courage to run his fingertips along my breasts, making gasp in pleasure at the contact. He broke of the kiss and gave me a mischievous grin at the noise. He moved to circle around my nipples and I couldn't prevent my eyes from closing in bliss at the movement. He was a natural.

As he continued to explore my skin with his hands and mouth, I looked over at his own apparel. He had on far too much clothing to my liking. I started pushing him away from me slightly so I could start to unbutton his dress shirt. He stopped his motions and allowed me to continue my work. I pushed the garment away from his body and let it hit the bed behind him. I licked my lips at the sight.

While Harry was very slim, he was definitely not too thin. He actually had a nice slightly muscular build with a strong upper-body. I never thought that there would be a time where I would be grateful for Qudditch, but in that moment I definitely was. He coughed out loud awkwardly to regain my attention, stopping me from staring at his naked chest in the process.

"Thank the gods for Qudditch," I muttered out loud softly.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

I just shook my head at his question and moved in to kiss along his neck. He held me tighter to him to bring our bodies closer. I trailed my lips lower along his chest and licked lightly across his nipples. I felt his body shutter at the contact as he whispered my name softly in pleasure. As I reached the belt at the front of his trousers, he placed his hands over mine to stop me. He unbuckled the belt himself and started to push his trousers down, taking his undergarment along with it. When he was completely naked, I tried with much difficulty not to stare at his penis. I had never seen one in person outside of the anatomy books that I read. Harry was rather on the large side and I didn't really know how to feel about that particular part of him entering me.

"Are you all right?" He asked in concern, placing his hands on either side of my cheeks.

I nodded nervously with an unconvincing smile. Before he could protest about us making love again, I laid down quickly against the pillows and pulled him on top of me.

"I'm ready," I whispered softly against his lips.

He swallowed as his breath started to quicken slightly. "I love you," He spoke softly against my lips in return. Before I could respond, I felt him enter inside me quickly. I gasped out loud at the invasion. I felt a sharp pain start to course through my body and I bit my lip to prevent myself from muttering curses.

"I've heard it can be most painful for the woman. Are you all right? I don't want to cause you any pain. I'm so sorry, we can stop," He said quickly, looking at me with a deep concern.

I shook my head at him. "It will pass, j-just give me a moment," I struggled to get out, trying to reassure him and get myself to relax at the same time.

I took a deep breath and I felt the pain start to cease a little only to be replaced by pleasure. I really wanted to feel something more, and so that was when I started to raise my hips a little to cradle the warm inside of me.

"Ahh, Hermione. Fuck!" He said in shock at the feeling. I hadn't noticed until now that he had been trembling, trying to prevent himself from moving to give me time to adjust.

"Apologies," I muttered with a smile.

"You are going to be the death of me," He responded with a grin as he put his hand on my leg to rest it against his waist for more leverage.

"Mr. Potter has anyone ever told you that you talk far too much?" I replied, teasing him with a bright smile.

He glared playfully at me before completely removing himself from inside me and thrusting gently back in. I shouted at the movement in shock. I glared back at him not wanting to be outdone, I moved my hips against his.

He grunted at the contact and wrapped his hands tighter around my waist. We started to move against one another, refusing to break eye contact even as the pleasure started to build to unspeakable volumes. I had lost count at that point by how many times I shouted his name a loud in pleasure. I knew I should have used a silenco…

I fisted my hands through his hair pulling him closer to me as he continued to move inside my wet depths back and forth. As I continued to moan, I felt him start to become stiff against me. He held me tightly before he awkwardly shouted my name and stilled completely. I was puzzled at what had just happened until I felt warmth start to enter into me in spurts. He panted for a bit before completely pulling out of me.

"I'm so sorry. I couldn't control myself. You just felt so amazing and…ahh this so embarrassing. I didn't even get to bring you pleasure. How disrespectful—" He tried to get out with a completely distraught expression adorning his handsome face.

"Stop that," I interrupted, turning him to face me. "No one's first time is perfect I would imagine. I enjoyed myself very much. Besides, there's always time for other things later," I reassured him with a smile.

He flashed his famous grin at me before leaning down answering with a, "time for other things later? What other things are we talking about?"

I rolled my eyes at his antics before reaching up to kiss him.

The next afternoon—

"All right, you must tell me what has you so distracted," Ginny asserted from other end of mirror.

I just smiled and continued to let her rant. We were currently talking through a magical two-way mirror that Harry and Ron used to communicate to each other with during the summer breaks. From the moment I picked up my mirror, she could tell that something had happened to me. Yes, I was distracted and not exactly answering her questions like I would have normally, but I wondered if it was possible for someone to tell that Harry and I had made love just by looking at us. The logic of it made no sense to me.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP-

I was still rather sore the previous night after we first made love so we didn't engage in the act again at the insistence of Harry. He was not willing for any harm to come to me. However, that didn't prevent us from kissing profusely. It really had become extremely difficult to keep my hands off of him and I could tell that morning that he felt the same way when he practically refused to leave to start his estate duties.

Although the physical contact with Harry was absolutely incredible, creating an emotional connection with him that night was what I had enjoyed the most. We had spent hours last night just talking. Talking about our lives, our dreams, and our hopes. Anything really. I had never felt that connected with anyone in my life. I completely trusted him and that thought alone started to scare me the more that I thought about it. Trusting and relying on him was going to be dangerous in the long run, I did not need Ms. LeFont or Catherine to tell me that.

When the topic of my parents came up, I started to become a bit weary. I loved my parents and up until now more than anything in this world. I never felt comfortable with letting anyone else in to discover just how much out of fear of something bad happening to them. I knew I could trust Harry, but it was still difficult.

"Hermione, I just asked you about your parents," He said looking at me expectantly.

"Can we not discuss this please?" I responded, avoiding his gaze and shifting away from him on the bed.

"You know so much about my upbringing and probably even more about my real heritage. How fair is it that you know all of that and I don't know anything about how you grew up?" He said with a playful pout that normally I would have loved but was currently not in the mood for.

"I said no," I asserted looking at him with an angry expression on my face now.

"What's wrong? You can tell me anything, you know that," He asserted stubbornly.

I sighed out loud, a little annoyed at him and the situation. I knew that he would not give up without learning whatever he wanted to know. He was much too stubborn to know when to stop.

"I had a great childhood with parents who loved me more than I gave them credit for at times," I responded reluctantly. He nodded at me to continue. I rolled my eyes and forced myself to continue on. "My parents were dentists, they operated and cleaned teeth…?" I said, trying to explain the muggle occupation to him.

"I've read about the work that they do in a book once," He assured me.

"Oh, all right that's good then. They were very pleasant people and extremely kind. They often did their work for free, believing that everyone deserved to have the best teeth they could have," I said with a smile, thinking of a particular memory. I shook my head away from my thoughts and looked at Harry. "I attribute my thirst for knowledge and passion for reading to them. Although, they would have told you that I was in a league of my own when it came to that. I started reading before I could walk apparently."

"That sounds like you," Harry said playfully.

I hit him playfully on the shoulder in return. "I still remember the day I was taken away from them. I don't think I will forget it," I spoke softly, with a dark expression coming over me.

"How did it happen?" He asked curiously with concern.

"I was 11, the same age that all muggle-borns are taken away from their parents. I think it was worse because I felt like something bad was going to happen. It was the day after my birthday and we were celebrating with flavored ice and a trip to the town centre to see a play. My parents worked late the day before and we weren't able to celebrate the day of my actual birthday, so they promised to make it up to me the next day," I explained, taking a deep breath before continuing. "You see, having any form of desert was a rarity for a child of a dentist. So naturally, you could only imagine my excitement at being able to indulge on a sweet on birthday. It was like a dream come true."

"Anyway, my father had just purchased the flavored ice for us and we were all on the way to the play. Suddenly, everything around us literally froze except for us. I had never witnessed anything like that before. I had done accidental magic growing up, but never to this magnitude. Even before my dad grabbed me up in his arms to try and protect me, I knew that my life would never be the same again. Two wizards and a witch with long dark clocks approached us and told my parents to let me go quietly. Of course they refused and I was pulled forcibly from their arms, while one of wizards used a memory charm on them. They stripped all memories of me being their daughter away from them, and then they unfroze everything around us and took me away from them forever. I was given to Elisa, my muggle-born caretaker, until you came along."

Harry immediately got of the bed following my story, and stalked across the room completely naked in anger. I doubt that he was even aware that he was exposed.

"Let me get this straight. These evil, despicable excuses of wizards from the Ministry of Magic I would assume, just came up to you and your family and just took you away like you were some-some toy. And then they proceeded to wipe away your parents memories of you. They can't do that!" He shouted out in pure hatred and anger.

I pulled the bedcover closer around me before answering. "They can and they did. It's wizarding law Harry. They usually take the muggle-born the day after their birthday. Probably to be generous in their completely disturbed minds."

"I don't care, you can't just take away someone's child!" Harry asserted bawling up his fist. If the situation hadn't been so serious I would have been so turned on by his nakedness and fierce protection of me.

"You've never heard the story of how muggle-borns are taken away have you?" I asked with a sad smile on my face. He shook his head in response.

"I'm sorry Hermione. It's horrible what happened to you. No wonder you didn't want to talk about it. I feel bad all the time about not getting to know my own parents, but I could never imagine being ripped out of their lives the way you and others have," He said with a sad disbelieving expression on his face.

"Harry, come to bed. You must be freezing right now," I replied in concern.

He looked down at himself for the first time, realising his undressed state. He immediately started to blush and awkwardly ran to the bed and slipped beneath the covers. His cold body reached out to mine and I snuggled against it welcomingly.

"Do you ever wish you could see them again?" He asked softly looking down at me against his chest.

"Everyday, but I've come to the realisation that even if some miracle happened and I was able to see them again, what would be the point? They wouldn't remember who I am would they? Memory charms are very difficult to undo," I replied, struggling to control myself from breaking down.

He sighed before muttering encouraging words against my hair as he held me tighter. I had never felt more connected to someone before and I wouldn't have wanted it to be with anyone else but him.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP-

"I know you're still there. I can see you remember. Please get out of fantasy land and return to the present," Ginny said in annoyance with a raise of her red eyebrow.

"Oh, apologies. I was just thinking about some things," I answered, coming back to the present.

"Yes, I can see that. You want to know what I think?" She said with a smug expression on her face that had me a little frightened.

"Do I really want to know?" I asked apprehensively.

"I think you know exactly what I think. You and Harry finally made love!"

"N-no we did not do that. Why would you even begin to think that we did?" I responded so unconvincingly that I secretly chided myself inside for the failed attempt.

"Caught red handed. So tell me everything. Was he a patient lover? Is he well equipped?" She asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Ginny, stop it. It's Harry we're talking about."

"Help a witch out. There were always bets going around school about his size in particular. I would love to collect some payment from the girls at Hogwarts if I'm right."

"I would never disclose private information like that. See, this is exactly why I detest gossip. It does not appear to be in the best interests of anyone that could even possibly—" I tried to get out.

"Ah ha! So you were intimate with him! I knew it!" She exclaimed in glee.

"What?! No, Ginny please don't say anything. I didn't mean for that to come out. You tricked me!" I shouted back in annoyance at myself for revealing such information.

"I would never tell anyone Hermione. What are you even worried about anyway? The wizarding world thinks that the two of you are already intimate."

"Yes well, having them think that and to actually have proof of it are two completely different things," I emphasized.

"All right, all right," She responded with a huff. "So…how large are we talking? We can use dimensions. The size of a quill, a carrot, a pickle…" She trailed off with a hopeful smile.

"Ginny!" I shouted out in disbelief.

In the walls of portraits—

As long as I have been at House Black, I never really had a full day to discover the estate besides the library. While Harry was with Sirius discussing manners of the household, I decided to go on a tour of the whole estate myself. I had the day off from lessons and it couldn't have been a better time to do so. One room in particular that I wanted to see was the walls of portraits.

The walls of portraits are full of paintings of members from both House Black and House Potter. I always had a deep interest in the arts and a great portion of these paintings were created by some of the most famous artists in all of Britain. When I finally made my way into the room, several fires from the fireplaces magically lit up in a soft hue to illuminate the walls beautifully. Whoever designed this room did a fantastic job.

As I walked along the walls, I could already tell which portraits belonged to which side of the family without having to read the names under them. While the Potter side was very welcoming and friendly, even waving at me, the Black side was the exact opposite. The Black side consisted of the truest kinds of purebloods and had the mentality to match. A lot of shouts of mudblood scum filled the room as I walked past them. I was quite thankful for the useful spell Remus had taught me for silencing portraits when I told him I wanted to visit the portrait room. I allowed the Potter side to remain alive and moving, but the Black side was silenced so I could appreciate the paintings the way I always wanted to.

It amazed me how much the males on the Potter side truly looked uncannily alike. They were all tall with unruly jet-black hair, strong cheek-bones, and spectacles. I shook my head with a smile as I imagined Harry growing up to look even more like his ancestors except for the green eyes, which he apparently inherited from his mother. I finally made my way to the last two portraits in the hall. They were two paintings of the immediate Potter family. One showed James and Lily Potter alone, smiling at one another with loving faces. The other painting showed both parents with a small bouncing bundle of joy in Lily's arms with jet-black hair and bright green eyes. It was a smaller version of Harry himself.

My breath caught in my throat as I took in the scene. "They looked so happy together," I said a loud to no one in particular.

"They were," a male voice answered from behind me.

I turned around to face King Sirius himself looking up at the painting in front of us. I gasped in shock and gave a poor excuse of a curtsy. He waved his hand at me in annoyance telling me to rise.

"King Sirius, my apologies. I was not aware of your presence, had I been I would have—" I struggled to get out.

"There is no around Hermione. Calm yourself," He answered looking at me with a blank expression. I took a deep breath trying to calm my nerves as he continued. "I needed to speak with you in private and this is probably as good a place as any to speak. I see that you completely silenced my side of the family by the way."

"I-I I'm so sorry. It was a very rude thing for me to do. I had no right," I said trying to amend the situation.

"It's just as well. Probably a smart thing to do when coming in here. I haven't been in here in ages. The last time I was here was when Harry's parents died and I moved all of the Potter portraits into this room from his home. I tried to burn the Black portraits down in my youth. I still want to every time I think of this place."

"What stops you sir?"

"Remus. He tells me I cannot possibly burn down art. When life dies, art is what keeps the world moving along the way it should," He responded with a chuckle and a roll of his eyes.

I smiled at the thought. That was definitely a Remus thing to say and I agreed with him about the art aspect.

"On to the topic at hand, I understand that you and Harry are becoming quite close," He stated, obviously not expecting an answer. I bowed my head anyway. "I'm glad to know that you are fulfilling his needs, but you need to constantly be aware of what is expected of you and what is also expected of him. He will eventually need to marry, and you must know that the person he marries cannot possibly be you."

I looked back at him defiantly, refusing to let myself break down in front of him. I was not an idiot. I knew my 'place' in this despicable idea of a universe.

"I am not trying to hurt your feelings Hermione. I am just trying to get you to see the gravity of the situation. I understand that you are a very realistic and logical person. All that I'm trying to get you to do is to think more with your head and not with your heart. Your heart will only lead you down a place you cannot go."

"So let me make sure I understand you correctly. What you're saying is that it was perfectly fine for James and Lily Potter to fabricate a whole heritage and upbringing to be together and have a half-blood child, but it is not fine for Harry and I to be together. Am I understanding you correctly?" I said hotly, not at all caring that the way I was speaking to a highborn could have me beheaded.

"You know very well what I'm saying. I don't want my godson to get hurt, possibly killed for committing the same acts of his father. I will simply not allow it," He asserted.

"Well, I mean if you 'simply will not allow it' then it just won't happen now will it? You couldn't prevent what happened to his parents as hard as you tried and I think that you truly hate yourself for it and now you're trying to be overprotective of their son. You should know better than most people that the world doesn't work the way we want it to. All we can do is try to make the most out of the situations we're given and I truly believe that if you do not allow Harry to make his own decisions, you will come to regret it. I care very much about Harry and whatever he decides to do about it is his business. Not mine and most definitely not yours," I said before curtsying and walking away.

I could hear the Potter family speaking as I started walking through the door.

"Well, I most definitely like her. No one can ever say that the Potter men don't pick their women well," an older male voice from one of the paintings said.

I smiled at the comment and closed the door behind me. It probably wasn't the smartest thing I had ever done arguing with a King, but it wouldn't be me if I hadn't.

Malfoy Manor—

He stared deeply into the flames, trying to calm his mind and avoid the background noise that his useless followers were making. They were arguing over the best way to capture the Potter brat and not one had come up with a decent way to do it. He began to wonder if he would be better off he eliminated them all from his presence…

"Lord Voldemort, we could simply set fire to House Black and kill him that way," one of the followers suggested.

"Goyle, sometimes I wonder if you have peas in that oversized head of yours instead of brains. What part of 'I must be the one to kill the boy' did you not understand?! Besides, killing a King of one of the most prominent houses would only create more problems. We saw what happened when the muggle loving fool James Potter was killed," Lord Voldemort replied with a shake of his head.

"May I suggest we lure the boy out by taking away what he holds most dear to him," another voice chimed in.

"I swear I'm surrounded by a bunch of imbeciles. Is no one listening to what I'm saying?! Killing another King will only create more problems!" He shouted in pure anger.

"No my lord, not Sirius Black. I am suggesting someone of far more importance in the eyes of the Potter boy," the voice said coming closer.

Lord Voldemort turned to him with an intrigued expression on his ghastly face. "Whom do you have in mind Lucious?"

"The muggle-born private servant that was hired a few months ago. Hermione I believe her name is. My son Draco has told me during his stay there that the two have become quite close. More so than is usual for a master and their servant," Lucious replied in a sweetly satisfied tone.

"Most interesting. The Potter men do seem to have a particular weakness for muggle-born women…" Voldemort trailed off to himself with a grin.

"What was that my lord?"

"Nothing. I have a new task for all of you. Bring the mudblood to me," He demanded with a malicious glint in his eyes.

A/N: So we have a lot going on in this chapter. Hermione and Harry finally get physical (yay), Hermione lays down the law for Sirius, and Voldemort is just Voldemort. I will say that the lemon section was more tamed than I usually like to write, but I did so with the restrictions on M rated stories in mind. Let me know if you liked it or hated it. Preview for next chapter: Hermione and Harry cannot keep their hands to themselves, Victor Krum pays a visit, and Voldemort and followers put their plan into motion. There will only be a few more chapters left to this story because I would really like to move on to the next one I'm writing, which I'm really excited about. Please read and review as always! Much appreciated! :)