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Harry pulled Hermione in for a hug as soon as she finished unpacking. "We haven't really talked about us and our relationship. What do you want from this Hermione?"
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked confused.
"We don't have to start trying for a baby for another year and a half and I know you married me for security more than any other reason. Do you want to be just room mates for a while or be my girlfriend?" Harry asked.
"Harry I'm your wife. I know you don't see me in a romantic way and I'm not the wife or girlfriend you want but the bonding is permanent. I am the only wife or lover you're ever going to be able to have," Hermione replied slightly sadly.
"Who said you're not the type of girlfriend I wanted. You're a terrific girl Hermione. You understand me better than anyone, you see me for who I am and you're brilliant and beautiful, why wouldn't I want to date you?" Harry asked.
"Harry you're sweet but you've never shown any interest in wanting to date me," Hermione replied.
"Of course, I haven't, you and Ron have fancied each other since fourth year. I wasn't going to ruin our friendship by trying to get into the middle of that," Harry replied.
"You're saying you fancied me?" Hermione asked.
"I'm saying I never let myself think about it since you didn't seem interested, and my best mate was," Harry replied.
"But Harry I've seen the sort of girls you like. Cho and Ginny are both tall and thin, athletic but still really pretty and girly, outgoing and lively," Hermione protested.
"You're just as pretty as them. Particularly since you had your teeth fixed, and you're thin too, just in a more feminine way. The night of the Yule ball you were one of the prettiest girls in the room," Harry said.
"Thank you, Harry, but that's part of what I mean. I made a huge effort to dress up and do my hair and makeup that night but I'm just not interested in doing that every day. I'm never going to be the type of woman who cares about makeup or the latest fashions," Hermione said, smiling a litte at the compliment.
"You don't need to be. I'm not interested in fashion either but your clothes always look nice when we're out of uniform and you're really pretty without make up," Harry replied.
"What do you want to do, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"I thought we could start to date and build up to acting married," Harry said.
"We're already sharing a room but I guess we could pretend to date," Hermione agreed.
"Then would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" Harry asked.
Hermione smiled. "Yes Harry, I would like to go to Hogsmeade with you."
Harry grinned. "That's great Hermione. What time would you like to go?" he asked.
"Shall we meet straight after an early breakfast before there's too much of a queue for the carriages," Hermione suggested.
"Sounds good," Harry agreed.
"But if you want to spend all day Saturday in Hogsmeade we have some essays to finish first," Hermione said getting out her books.
Harry sighed and sat opposite her at the table, and tried to concentrate on his own work.
-o0o-
George held Alicia's hand supportively as they and Fred arrived at the Burrow that evening. All three of them were worried about Molly's reaction to George and Alicia's marriage as well as what they had to say about Harry and Hermione. Molly never took criticism of her youngest two children quietly or well.
Alicia and George had discussed it, while they were already married and neither of them felt the need for an actual wedding they weren't so opposed to the idea that they wouldn't agree to it if it made their parents accept the marriage, so long as it was kept small, to close friends and immediate family only. Alicia would also have liked a quiet wedding but she knew that nothing the twins were involved in would ever be quiet. In fact, she would prefer just a dinner party without redoing the ceremony at all but she didn't think that would satisfy either of their mothers.
They walked in without knocking and found Molly in the kitchen.
"Hello Mum," Fred said.
Molly turned in surprise. "Boys, what brings you here? Can you stay for dinner?"
"Yes Mum, but there's someone special I would like you to meet," George said. "This is my wife Alicia."
"Congratulations, welcome to the family Alicia," Arthur said warmly from behind them, having arrived while George was making the introduction.
"Thank you, Sir," Alicia said smiling.
"None of that, I'm Arthur, at least until grandchildren come along, I'm looking forward to being called Grandpa," Arthur said gently. If anyone else had said it she would have felt pressured but the twinkle in Arthur's eyes just made it endearing. She had a suspicion that this is who the twins had inherited their pranking abilities from.
"Tell me about your family, I would like to meet them," Arthur asked.
"Well I'm the eldest of two, my little brother is a third year Hufflepuff. Both my parents are muggleborn and they met at St Mungo's Dad's a Healer and Mum works as a mediwitch in the maternity ward. Mum went to Beauxbatons, though her family are English, her parents were working in Paris when she was eleven," Alicia began.
"So you're not muggleborn, you could have taken the time to plan a proper wedding," Molly said disapprovingly.
"Perhaps but with two muggleborn parents I couldn't be sure I wouldn't be matched up in the first round of matches and with the alterations to the law George and I would both have been matched before Christmas anyway," Alicia said. "I don't think you understand how frightening it is to think you have no choice in who you're going to marry or to know that you'll probably be married to a pureblood and most purebloods look down on you and treat you like a second class citizen. Even some of the professors treated us like we were less than our pureblood classmates. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life being treated like that at home too."
"And you Fred. Did you rush off and get married without inviting your parents too?" Molly demanded sourly.
"No Mum. Angelina and I had just broken up and she decided that she'd rather move to Australia where she had a better chance of getting selected for a professional Quidditch Team than marry me," Fred said bluntly.
"She's a fool not to marry you," Molly stated.
"Perhaps but Quidditch is her dream just as the shop is mine and we weren't getting along that well even just dating. I can't say I'm eager for the ministry to match me but Angie and I really weren't suited," Fred replied. "Verity asked me to marry her today, she's muggleborn but was lucky enough that the law was changed before she had to turn up for her wedding. The man she's matched with had a daughter our year level in Slytherin. She was a pureblood who thought she was better than everyone around her so I can understand why she doesn't want to marry her father."
"But you don't love Verity," Molly said.
"I don't love the stranger they're going to match me with either and Verity's a great girl, got a terrific sense of humour and a mind for pranking. Smart too, and we get along fairly well. Not everyone is going to get to marry someone they love with this law in place," Fred said trying to sell the idea to himself as much as to his parents.
"Molly you're upset with Alicia and George, and Harry and Hermione for getting married and Fred for thinking about marrying Verity and now you're upset with Angelina and Ron and Ginny for not wanting to get married, you need to calm down and stop reacting emotionally without thinking things through. You can't rationally be upset at all of them," Arthur said.
"It's not Ginny's and Ron's fault that Harry and Hermione married each other instead of them," Molly declared, getting angry again.
"I heard about what happened with Ginny and Harry and how Ginny turned him down when he proposed poor guy," George said.
"You heard she turned him down? Ginny wouldn't do that, she's been dreaming about being Mrs Potter since she was a little girl," Molly said.
"Apparently when it came down to it a big white wedding with all her friends and family in attendance was more important than becoming Mrs Harry Potter," Fred said.
"Yeah, one of my best friends is a seventh year, said Harry was pretty upset that she broke up with him and took up with Dean Thomas again," Alicia replied. "Still I'm glad it's worked out for Harry and Hermione. They're better suited than Ginny, Harry likes peace and calm and the quiet life."
"But Ginny loves Harry," Molly stated.
"No I really don't think she does, she had a crush on the boy-who-lived, the saviour, she likes the attention of being the girlfriend of the-boy-who-lived, the school's celebrity but she doesn't seem to truly know Harry that well. I think if Harry wasn't famous she wouldn't have dumped Dean for him earlier in the year. Katie said she seemed happier when she was dating Dean," Alicia said exaggerating a bit. She really did believe that Ginny and Dean were better suited but that was irrelevant now Dean had broken it off with her when she refused to marry him too.
"You truly don't think Ginny and Harry made a good pair?" Arthur said more open minded.
"Harry hates yelling. He hates it when arguments turn into shouting and insults instead of trying to rationally sort things out. Ginny is too hot headed for him," Alicia said.
"Alicia's right, Harry always tried to make himself scarce when Ron or Ginny started yelling, and he practically looked like he wanted to hide under the table whenever Mum yelled," Fred said.
George also nodded. "Ginny turned him down, she wasn't ready to get married and he needed someone who was. You know he would do anything to save Hermione, is it any surprise that he married her when they didn't have anybody else," he said seriously. "You need to support him in his marriage, getting married all of a sudden is hard enough and Alicia and I were seriously dating and out of school. Harry loved Hermione as a friend, almost as a sister. It had to have turned his whole worldview on its head to marry her."
"But Ginny said that he married Hermione without telling her even though she was his girlfriend," Molly said.
"Ginny lied Mum. I don't know why but she lied. They'd broken up because Ginny wouldn't agree to marry him, and then she did the same with Dean, went out with him but refused to marry him," Fred said.
-o0o-
Night came after another day of the two of them pretty much ignoring the fact that they were husband and wife, but they couldn't ignore the fact they now shared quarters with only one bed. Harry awkwardly asked if Hermione wanted to use the bathroom before he showered.
"No thanks, I'm fine but you don't have to shower again unless you want to if you showered this morning Harry. Don't feel you need to on my account," Hermione said.
"I always showered at night at the Dursleys so I usually do. It doesn't feel right to go to bed without showering," Harry replied. That was true but he'd gone to bed plenty of times without a shower particularly days he'd already showered after quidditch he just wanted some private time since he wouldn't be able to have any later sharing a bed.
"That's fine Harry, I want to finish reading this before bed," Hermione said.
There wasn't a lock on the bathroom door but Harry had no doubt he could trust that Hermione wouldn't walk in since he'd told her he was showering. He just needed to be quiet because he didn't want to cast a silencing charm, Hermione might find it suspicious that she couldn't hear the water. It was odd to him to pleasure himself in the shower, the dorm showers really didn't have enough privacy to do it even with a silencing charm, it was just easier to seal and silence the curtains around your bed and magic made cleaning up afterwards simple. Silencing, curtain sealing and scourgify were the three spells just about every boy at Hogwarts mastered long before they were taught in class.
He stuffed a washcloth into his mouth to remind himself of the need to be quiet, not wanting to inflict bite marks on his body that might be seen in the quidditch showers.
He felt guilty about the fact that his mind relived the bonding sex with Hermione while she was sitting innocently in the other room having no idea he was wanking to thoughts of how she looked lying naked on the floor with her legs spread open for him or how good it had felt, but the truth was he hadn't managed to get off thinking about anybody else since their bonding. He told himself it was because thinking about Ginny and the softness of her breast through her shirt when she let him feel her up were spoiled by her selfishness and attempts to manipulate him by making sure he saw her kissing Dean the day after they'd broken up. He hadn't been aware she was trying to manipulate him at the time but after her reaction to him marrying Hermione compared to her indifference to Dean and Leanne's marriage made him suspicious. Though perhaps it was the vow of fidelity that was preventing him from fantasizing about anybody else, it wasn't as though he felt comfortable enough to ask anybody about it.
-o0o-
"Will the light bother you? I can shut the door," Hermione asked half an hour later as Harry came out of the bathroom and climbed into bed.
Harry smiled relieved she didn't seem to have noticed what he'd done in the shower. "No it's fine," he replied. The light didn't fall directly on his face and only the sitting room had a window and they'd both agreed they didn't really like the feel of the bedroom with the living room door shut and the bed didn't have curtains.
Harry seemed to be sound asleep when Hermione came in half an hour later and she tried to be quiet as she collected her nightie and made her way into the bathroom.
Hermione blushed when she realised why the bathroom smelled a little like the ritual rooms after they'd been used, and quickly got herself ready for bed trying not to picture Harry doing that in the shower. She climbed into the bed careful not to touch Harry in any way and lay almost on the edge where she couldn't feel the warmth coming off his body.
Hermione had been lying awake trying not to squirm for a couple of hours when she was disturbed by Harry starting to make distressed sounding whimpers and moving agitatedly. Realising that this was probably one of the nightmares he'd warned her about she rolled over and pulled him into a hug, whispering to him that he was safe and that it was only a dream.
Harry settled fairly quickly but when she went to pull away to her own side of the bed she realised that he had wrapped his arms around her too while she hugged him and he was not letting go. Sighing she closed her eyes and tried to get to sleep, trying to ignore how good it felt to be held.
They were still cuddled together when Harry awoke for Quidditch training the next morning and not knowing why Harry blushed furiously blaming himself before he quickly silenced his wand alarm and tried hard to extricate himself from the bed without waking Hermione or pressing his erection against her then hurried to the bathroom to take care of the problem.
Hermione didn't wake until Harry came back from training freshly showered in the quidditch change rooms and wearing his uniform.
"It's ten to eight Hermione, breakfast is about to start and we have potions first this morning. What time do you normally get up?" Harry warned her, collecting his books for the morning and checking that he had his homework in his bag.
"Seven, why didn't you wake me earlier?" Hermione said jumping out of bed. Harry averted his eyes when he saw how far her nightie had ridden up.
"I was at Quidditch training, I just got back," Harry replied. "I'll wait in the other room."
"No go on down to breakfast, grab me some toast to eat on the way to the dungeons," Hermione said.
"Okay, meet you at the grand staircase on the ground floor at twenty past," Harry replied.
"Thanks Harry."
-o0o-
Ron was still not speaking to them and Neville and Dean were acting awkward and standoffish, Seamus was giving Parvati all his attention which left Harry and Hermione pretty much on their own to face the schools biggest gossip, Lavender Brown who pumped them for information on their bonding and what it was like to live together.
"Harry's a lot tidier than you are, and a lot less noisy in the morning," was the only thing Hermione would tell her.
"Oh come on, you haven't told me anything?" Lavender groaned. "At least tell me what he's like to live with. Does he like living with you?"
"The rooms are very comfortable and it's easier to study in our lounge than it was in the common room most of the time and I definitely don't miss the other boy's snoring," Harry replied
Hermione looked at him grateful for the reprieve and resolved to try to avoid being alone with the nosy and indiscreet witch.
Harry on the other hand knew she'd just make gossip up if they didn't tell her something. "Hermione and I are happy together. We just wish other people could be happy for us."
"I noticed Ron's been avoiding you?" Lavender asked eagerly.
"I don't know why he's so upset, he didn't want to get married and he was grateful that she didn't have to marry Terrence Higgs," Harry said. "Perhaps he's lonely now that everyone is in couples and most of us have moved out of the dorm."
-o0o-
The first night set the routine for the rest of the week, the two of them cohabited peacefully. Hermione stayed up reading while Harry showered and got ready for bed and didn't come to bed until Harry seemed to be sleeping. One of the things that had changed though was that after the first few nights Harry genuinely fell asleep before Hermione came to bed.
Harry continued to have nightmares but Hermione's presence was able to calm him without waking him most of the time and even the night he woke up was nothing like waking up on his own and having to relive the horrors until his mind woke up and let them go. Every morning they woke up cuddled together and Harry was glad that he always woke first and was able to get up before Hermione woke and found his erection pressed against her.
For all their successful cohabiting and their decision to act like they were dating they behaved more like room mates than a couple most of the time. There'd been a few quick pecks in greeting or farewell but Hermione just wasn't the type to be snogging when there was work to do and for Hermione there was always more work to do, something new to research or another extra-credit assignment. Harry was hopeful that their date on Saturday would change things and help their relationship grow.
-o0o-
Harry and Hermione were on one of the first carriages to Hogsmeade joined by Padma and her husband Terry Boot.
"Hi, you're as eager to get out of the castle as we are?" Terry asked.
"Yes, though I'm not sure how much of the stress and fuss we'll be getting away from since all of the married couples have permission to come to Hogsmeade," Hermione replied.
"Is it as bad in Gryffindor as it is in Ravenclaw?" Terry asked. Padma rolled her eyes at him.
"I can't say, not having ever been in the Ravenclaw dorms but it is fairly tense. I spend most of my free time in the library or our rooms but I'm beginning to feel a bit like I'm trapped in there to avoid the fights. It doesn't help that Ron and Neville are both angry at Harry and I for bonding, especially now that they know they won't be able to avoid being matched up next year because they're purebloods," Hermione replied.
"Has anyone approached you about drawing another rune circle?" Padma asked.
"A few couples have asked how we managed to marry without leaving the castle and expressed interest if there is another rune circle but I told them it would cost 100 Galleons to have me do it. It took about thirty hours work for two people and it's difficult work both in terms of the accuracy required and the hours of squatting or bending, so I thought that would be reasonable and it wouldn't be too expensive if enough people wanted to share the costs," Hermione replied. "If someone takes me up on it I would be happy to split the work and the money."
"I'll start telling people that too, maybe suggesting five galleons per person and we'll draw it when there are ten couples that want it. That way if there are more than ten couples we'll get paid for maintaining the circle as well."
"You should also charge a bond which will be forfeit if the circle gets damaged because of their carelessness," Terry suggested.
"That's a good idea. Do you think any of the others would join in making and maintaining the runes?" Hermione said.
"Daphne and Tracy probably would. I think they've been cut off financially by their parents," Padma said.
"Katie might be too, she hasn't been cut off but I know her parents aren't wealthy," Harry said.
"I'll ask the others as well, if we get enough interest to do it," Hermione said.
"What do you want to do in Hogsmeade, is there anything we need to get done?" Harry asked.
"I need more quills and I'd like to go to the bookshop, what about you?" Hermione said.
"I need more owl treats and broomstick polish and I'm nearly out of chocolate," Harry said grinning.
"You could also use some decent clothes for when we're out of uniform," Hermione said.
"I wouldn't mind some new clothes but I'd rather have muggle stuff than anything I could buy here," Harry replied. "I also haven't wanted to buy myself new stuff because I couldn't wear it at the Dursleys without them demanding that I start paying board if I've got money."
"Why wouldn't you pay board if money's tight and you can afford it," Terry asked.
"Money's not tight, my uncle has a well paying job and my Aunt chooses not to work. I already do all of the yard work and most of the cleaning and laundry and cooking over the summer to earn my keep. Why should I have to pay as well, it's not like I cost them much money, they've never bought me new clothing or stuff, it's all stuff my cousin grew out of," Harry replied frowning.
"Is there anywhere that sells muggle clothing in Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked, more to change the subject than because she thought there would be.
"No, I've never seen any muggle things for sale anywhere, but you ought to go to the bootmaker, they've got some shoes that would pass as muggle and the comfort charms are out of this world. You'll never wear muggle shoes again," Padma said.
"We will have to check it out," Hermione said enthusiastically. She loved the look of pretty shoes but hated the way her feet felt wearing them all day and they were too impractical to wear around all the stairs at Hogwarts let alone during Harry's adventures. But more than that Harry needed shoes. Other than his school shoes his were completely falling apart. The rest of his wardrobe could be due to extremely poor taste trying to emulate the gangster rap look and could wait to be replaced but his poorly fitting shoes hurt his feet and wouldn't protect him from the cold weather coming.
"Let's do the most popular shops first before the crowds build up so starting with the sweet shop and the quidditch shop and pet shop, then the book shop and stationers then finish with the bootmaker," Hermione planned. "Then if we feel like it we can get some lunch and perhaps hang out with some friends before returning to the castle."
Harry nodded, the itinerary made sense to him too if he was trying to avoid his classmates, which they did. Tensions in the castle were running high, it wasn't easy for many of them to get used to being married. it was particularly hard for some of the muggleborns who had married out of desperation rather than genuine affection for each other, especially those who didn't know each other all that well before. Harry and Hermione were also working to make a go of their marriage though they were luckier than most having spent so much of the past five years together but it was still difficult to be surrounded by the arguments of the others. The tension seemed to be contagious.
A/N: Thank you to Child of Dreams, J.F.C, EnchantedPixie495, gabrieljuarezl, caughtinblackseyes, tyrannicpuppy, katmom, mwinter1, animeromance1972, BMS, Tyler'sPrincess, firebird-fenix, Ronin Kenshin, BadWolfJiggy, jkarr, Millie072, Jostanos, Village-Mystic, sucinquee, reader1writer1, Lientjuhh, Rori Potter, rb2312, daithi4377, mikanMD, Melikalilly, Firehedgehog, starboy454, Lady-Isowen, roon0, Moonsong78, EvanescoVeritas, PukwudgiePuff and all those who followed or favourited for your support.