Can't Imagine

HarryxHermione

Rated M

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

Can't Imagine

Part II

Harry stood under the spray of the shower the next morning, his mind replaying the events of the previous night. He and Hermione had gotten drunk, and they had had sex, passionate sex at that. When he had woken up, he had turned over and saw Hermione still sleeping next to him, and he had slipped out of bed to take a shower so he could think. Putting his face in his hands, he couldn't help but think the worse of what would happen once Hermione woke up. She was surely never going to forgive him for this. And if she did, their friendship was now going to be awkward, possibly ruined.

A knock on the bathroom door startled him and he almost slipped inn the shower in surprise. As he righted himself, he heard Hermione call out, "Harry?"

"I-I'll be out in a minute!" Harry called back out to the brunette. He finished up his shower before getting out, putting on a bathrobe and securing it with the tie around his waist, not bothering to dry himself off.

Grabbing the doorknob, he took a deep breath before opening it and stepping out of the bathroom. Harry found Hermione in similar attire to his own, her curly hair messy from sleep and from their night of passion. Despite her wild hair, he couldn't help but think the brunette looked cute. She looked at him and said, "I want to talk about last night."

Nodding, Harry moved to the little dining table in the room, Hermione doing the same. Neither of them said anything at first, but the silence was finally broken by Hermione. Well, it would have been had Harry not interrupted saying, "I'm sorry, Hermione. Last night…it…I…you probably didn't want to, and we let the alcohol talk and…and now our friendship is ruined. I'm sorry."

"Harry, it's okay. Really, it is. Besides, I really enjoyed," Hermione told him. A light blush covered her face before she continued speaking. "We both consented to what we did last night. I'm fully aware that I was a willing participant, and I don't regret it. And it didn't ruin our friendship. At least, it didn't for me."

She then looked down at the table, suddenly looking very insecure. "But I don't know if you feel the same way."

Blinking in surprise, Harry took in what she said before finding his voice. "I don't regret last night either. I enjoyed it just like you did. I was just worried that you would hate me over it."

"I could never, but we can't just ignore that there is now a shift here." Hermione blushed but didn't look away from her friend. "And to be honest, I wouldn't mind having sex with you again."

"Really?" Harry couldn't help but say in surprise.

"Yes. After all, this is all just platonic, right? We'd just be helping each other satisfy our needs, right? We're only friends and have only ever been friends, so it would be easy to have a sexually platonic relationship."

Harry thought about what the brunette said. She was proposing that they be friends with benefits. It sounded reasonable, as they both didn't have anyone they were interested in, yet had needs of their own, and didn't want to just go at it with someone at random. What she was proposing sounded reasonable, yet he couldn't help but wonder why his chest clenched in protest.

Deciding to ignore it, he told her, "Sure, I don't mind, but only if you're truly alright with this, Hermione."

The brunette nodded, a smile on her face. They looked at each other before laughing, nearly not believing that they had come to an agreement over their situation. Hermione stood, stating she was going to take a shower, gathering her belongings before walking into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her. As she did, Harry took the time to get dressed and order room service for breakfast, still not fully believing that he and Hermione's friendship had now turned to one of friends with benefits.

The two of them continued their travels on their much-needed vacation. They left Paris and traveled around France until leaving the country altogether. They traveled to Switzerland, Spain, Poland, Sweden, and had many adventures and a lot of fun. And everywhere they went, along with the fun they had, they also had a lot of sex. Taking their friendship to one of friends with benefits, it was actually a nice shift, all things considered. They both believed that if they were to do this with anyone, it was with each other. They had gone through so much—everything—together, they couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else.

Their final destination before deciding to return home was to stop in Ireland. While they were there, they were recognized by a few witches and wizards and thanked wholeheartedly for their contributions on ending the war against Voldemort. They were also invited to a Quidditch game, to which the Irish team was playing against the Bulgarians, just like when they attended the Quidditch World Cup. At the game, where they were seated in high class seats in the stadium, Harry and Hermione cheered for both teams, especially after seeing that Viktor Krum was still playing as Seeker for the Bulgarian team. The Irish played a fierce home game, and just like at the World Cup, won it all. When the game was over, Harry and Hermione spoke with Viktor, taking the time to catch up with him before Viktor asked to speak with Hermione privately.

Watching them walk away, Harry suddenly remembered that Viktor held a torch for the brunette when they were Fourth Years, and probably still did to this day. That had been obvious at Bill and Fleur's wedding when he had been invited as a guest and sought her out. As he watched them talk and seeing Hermione smile and laugh at whatever the older man said, a hot fury began to build inside him. The last time he had felt like this, it would be when he would see Ginny with Dean Thomas. As he remembered this, Harry realized what he was feeling while watching Hermione with Viktor. He was feeling jealousy. He was jealous of Viktor interacting with Hermione. But he had no reason to be jealous. He shouldn't be, not of Viktor outside of his skill as a Seeker, and especially because of Hermione. Unless…

Before he could finish his train of thought, Hermione walked back over to him, having finished up her conversation with Viktor. Smiling at him, she suggested they head back to their hotel and order room service there. Of course, they would eat after having a bit of fun of their own, just the two of them. Harry smiled at her meaning, and the two of them Disapparated to their hotel room where Hermione initiated coitus between them. She kissed him sweetly, pulling his shirt over his head as kissed her in return, undressing her as she did him. Once they were naked, they moved to the bed and joined their bodies, moving in unison as they gave their bodies and their pleasure over to one another. Harry held Hermione close as he moved in and out of her, her moans the most beautiful sound to his ears. She held him tightly, not releasing her grip on him as she moved with him, his kisses to her lips like delicious, forbidden fruit. Their movements quickened, both of them chasing completion. As they finally reached climax, Harry realized in that moment that his feelings for Hermione had changed. They had changed beyond friendship, even beyond friends with benefits, into something more. He realized he liked her more than as a friend. His feelings for Hermione had turned romantic while vacationing together. He had fallen for Hermione.

Their vacationing and travels had come to an end, and they returned to Britain. Walking into Grimmauld Place was like a dousing of cold water over them, the musty smell of the old building bringing them back from their blissful travels to reality. As they walked into the main room, they found a letter lying on the sofa, waiting for one of them. Walking over to it, Harry picked it up and looked at it before saying, "It's a letter from the Ministry."

"Who is it for?" Hermione asked.

"Me." He opened it and read the contents, his green eyes widening in surprise behind his round glasses. When Hermione asked him what was wrong, he looked at her and answered, "I got early acceptance into the Auror Academy."

The brunette stared at him for a moment before smiling saying, "That's great, Harry. Though, I do wish that they would have accepted you with a completion of your classes."

Harry couldn't help but laugh at her response before turning back to the letter. His smile soon fell as he read the rest of the letter. Looking back up at the brunette, he said, "Training starts in a week, and training requires that I stay in the Auror training dormitories during that time. And…and I can't leave for four months if my training."

Hermione stared at him, her heart clenching painfully in her chest as she absorbed what he had told her. Harry would be leaving for Auror training in a week, and she wouldn't see him for four months. She would be in Grimmauld Place by herself, and who knew when she would hear from him during that time, especially if training took up all his time. Her eyes began to sting, a telltale sign that she was about to start crying from the news. Blinking rapidly, she smiled at him and said, "Well, like I said that's great, Harry. It's a fantastic opportunity for you; you should take it."

He could see that despite her smile, there was sadness in her eyes. Even her voice held sadness, it sounding like she was holding back tears. Harry opened his mouth to say something, but she quickly excused herself, stating that she needed to unpack her things. Hermione quickly left, leaving Harry behind with the letter in hand. He wasn't stupid, he knew hearing the stipulations of training had upset the brunette, but she refused to show him. Like she said, it was a great opportunity for him, but was it worth not seeing Hermione, the witch he realized that he liked more than a friend, for four months? He needed to talk to her. He didn't want to leave anything unsaid.

Going after Hermione, he went up the stairs to the room that she was occupying. Knocking on the door, he called her name before turning the doorknob, opening the door to find Hermione sitting on her bed, looking down into her lap. Walking over to her, he sat down next to her and said, "Please don't be upset, Hermione."

She sniffled, wiping her eyes of her tears before saying, "It's stupid of me to be upset about you leaving to go and do something that I know you want to do. But I can't help but be upset. Not because of you getting into the academy; really, I am happy for you. It's just, well…you're my best friend and I can't imagine you not being here for four months, can't imagine not seeing you that long. I guess…I guess being on vacation with you has gotten me used to your close proximity. We had so much fun together, and during that time, we got closer. And…I told myself that it wouldn't happen but…but my feelings for you changed during our time together."

Hermione took a deep breath and looked up at Harry, her brown eyes shining with sincerity. "I don't want to be just friends with benefits with you, Harry. I can't imagine you not being in my life or me being with anyone else. I know I'm probably ruining our friendship saying this, but this is how I feel. I like you, Harry. Romantically, I mean. I want to be with you, but I understand if you don't-"

Harry cut her ramblings off by pressing his lips against hers in a kiss, pulling away when he felt her relax and her hands gently hold his arms. Holding her face in his hands, he looked into her eyes and confessed, "I like you romantically too, Hermione. I want to be with you, and I don't want to spend four months away from you, either."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. If it wasn't something that I wanted, I wouldn't accept the Auror Academy's invitation just so I could have more time to get to know you as my girlfriend."

"But I couldn't and wouldn't ask you to give up your career dream for me."

"I know, and I'm not asking you to. But like I said, I want to be with you. I can't imagine you not being in my life either, and I want you in it always."

Hermione stared into green eyes for a moment, seeing nothing but truth in them, before smiling brightly. Throwing her arms around him, she held Harry in a close, tight hug, never wanting to let him go. As she felt his arms wrap around her, she couldn't help but ask, "So you really want to see where a romantic relationship between us goes?"

The bespectacled wizard nodded and answered, "Of course, I do. That is, if you'll have me."

The brunette pulled back a bit from the hug, but didn't let go of him as she said, "Of course, I will."

Harry and Hermione kissed once more, their kiss turning into passionate snogging. He soon laid back on the bed, pulling her with him as he did. And as they engaged in one another, they couldn't help but think that the future was looking brighter, and not because the war was over. They were getting a chance to be together in the way that they wanted, in a way that they previously could have never imagined. And though they only had a week before Harry left for Auror training, they had all the time in the world to explore and indulge in the change in their relationship when he was done. After all, even as their lives changed, they knew that they would always be a constant in each other's lives, in one way or another. And that was something that they couldn't imagine ever changing.

Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed this little two-part story of Harry and Hermione. This was just an idea I had rolling around in my head, and finally got around to writing it out. Still, I hope you all enjoyed this and will return for whatever comes next. XOXO, SehunsBae37.