Hello there, friends. And welcome to the next chapter.
Hope you enjoy now review.
girani4: Of course, I refuse to die. As for Moon Reader... I don't know.
Story time also, Lemon warning.
Hermione had ploughed her way back to Hagrid's cabin through two feet of snow, while Harry, Ron and Neville wanted to go as well, but their mountain of homework had reached an alarming height again, so they remained grudgingly in the common room.
"So? Got all his lessons planned for him?" Alex said once Hermione got back.
They stood by the frozen lake that Sunday morning. He who was putting on a pair of ice skates as Tracey Davis, with hers already on, waited for him.
Around them students were enjoying themselves skating on the frozen lake, tobogganing and, bewitching snowballs to zoom up to Gryffindor Tower and rap hard on the windows.
"Well, I tried." she said dully, "He wasn't even there when I arrived, I was knocking for at least half an hour. And then he came stumping out of the Forest..."
The Forbidden Forest was teeming with the kind of creatures most likely to get Hagrid the sack.
"What's he keeping in there?" Tracey said, "Did he say?"
"No." Hermione said miserably, "He says he wants them to be a surprise. I tried to explain about Umbridge, but he just doesn't get it. He kept saying nobody in their right mind would rather study Knarls than Chimaeras... Oh, I don't think he's got a Chimaera." she added at the surprised look on Alex and Tracey's faces.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he did try to get his hands on some eggs..." Alex said.
"I don't know how many times I told him he'd be better off following Grubbly-Plank's plan, I honestly don't think he listened to half of what I said." Hermione said, "He's in a bit of a funny mood, you know. He still won't say how he got all those injuries."
"Yeah... Eh, enough doom and gloom for now." Alex said, standing up turning to Hermione and holding out his hand, "Come ice skating with me."
"I am not sure..." Hermione said uncertain, "I don't have any..."
"Oh, you can borrow mine!" Tracey offered, who already plopped down in the snow and started to take them off, "According to Alex, we have the same shoe size."
"How would he..." Hermione said perplexed before turning to Alex, "Why would you even know that!?"
"I take great interest in my friend." Alex said with a shrug, "I also like shopping for shoes."
Before she knew it, Hermione had her shoes replaced with ice skates and was trying to keep her balance while sliding over the ice.
"Why did I agree to this?" she muttered, with her arms wide.
"Because I ask, and we all know girls can't resist me." Alex said with confidence as he took her by the hand, "It will be fun, don't worry!"
Holding her steady as she found her balance. The two glided over the ice, as they both mimicked each other movement, until they both press foreheads together, looking into each others eyes, light blue ones into chocolate brown ones. In the heat of the moment, Alex leaned his face closer to Hermione's.
The witch didn't seem to mind as she twist her head, readying to accept his kiss.
"Oi!" a voice of bellowed, interrupting the moment. Looking over they saw that Ron had stuck his head out of the window, "If one more snowball hits this window - OUCH!"
He withdrew his head sharply, his face covered in snow thanks to a snowball cast by Alex.
"Oeps." he said annoyed for having the moment ruined.
Hagrid's reappearance at the staff table at breakfast next day was not greeted by enthusiasm from all students. Some, like Fred, George and Lee, roared with delight and sprinted up the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables to wring Hagrid's enormous hand; others, like Parvati and Lavender, exchanged gloomy looks and shook their heads.
Harry knew that many of them preferred Professor Grubbly-Planks lessons, and the worst of it was that a very small, unbiased part of him knew that they had good reason: Grubbly-Plank's idea of an interesting class was not one where there was a risk that somebody might have their head ripped off.
It was with a certain amount of apprehension that Harry, Claire, Alex, Ron, Neville and Hermione headed down to Hagrid's on Tuesday, heavily muffled against the cold. The group was worried, not only about what Hagrid might have decided to teach them, but also about how the rest of the class, particularly Malfoy and his cronies, would behave if Umbridge was watching them.
However, the High Inquisitor was nowhere to be seen as they struggled through the snow towards Hagrid, who stood waiting for them on the edge of the Forest. He did not present a reassuring sight; the bruises that had been purple on Saturday night were now tinged with green and yellow and some of his cuts still seemed to be bleeding. As though to complete the ominous picture, Hagrid was carrying what looked like half a dead cow over his shoulder.
"We're working in here today!" Hagrid called happily to the approaching students, jerking his head back at the dark trees behind him, "Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark."
"What prefers the dark?" Claire heard Malfoy say sharply to Crabbe and Goyle, a trace of panic in his voice, "What did he say prefers the dark... did you hear?"
"Ready?" Hagrid said cheerfully, looking around at the class, "Right, well, I have been saving a trip into the Forest for ya fifth year. Thought we'd go an' see these creatures in their natural habitat. Now, what we're studying today is pretty rare, I reckon I'm probably the only person in Britain who's managed ta train 'em."
"And you are sure they are trained, are you?" Malfoy said, the panic in his voice even more pronounced, "Only it wouldn't be the first time you'd brought wild stuff to class, would it?"
The Slytherins murmured agreement and a few Gryffindors looked as though they thought Malfoy had a fair point, too. "Course they're trained." Hagrid said, scowling and hoisting the dead cow a little higher on his shoulder.
"So what happened to your face, then?" Malfoy demanded.
"Mind ya own business!" Hagrid said angrily, "Now, if ya have finished asking stupid questions, follow me!" he turned and strode straight into the Forest.
Nobody seemed much disposed to follow. Harry glanced at Claire, Alex, Ron, Neville and Hermione, who sighed but nodded, and the six of them set off after Hagrid, leading the rest of the class.
They walked for about ten minutes until they reached a place where the trees stood so closely together that it was as dark as twilight and there was no snow at all on the ground. With a grunt, Hagrid deposited his half a cow on the ground, stepped back and turned to face his class, most of whom were creeping from tree to tree towards him, peering around nervously as though expecting to be set upon at any moment.
"Gather round, gather round." Hagrid encouraged, "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell of the meat but I'm going ta give em a call anyway, 'cause they'll like ta know it's me." he turned, shook his shaggy head to get the hair out of his face and gave an odd, shrieking cry that echoed through the dark trees like the call of some monstrous bird. Nobody laughed: most of them looked too scared to make a sound.
Hagrid gave the shrieking cry again. A minute passed in which the class continued to peer nervously over their shoulders and around trees for a first glimpse of whatever it was that was coming. And then, as Hagrid shook his hair back for a third time and expanded his enormous chest.
Neville nudged Claire looked into the black space between two gnarled yew trees.
A pair of blank, white, shining eyes were growing larger through the gloom and a moment later the dragonish face, neck and then skeletal body of a great, black, winged horse emerged from the darkness.
It surveyed the class for a few seconds, swishing its long black tail, then bowed its head and began to tear flesh from the dead cow with its pointed fangs.
"So Hagrid knows about them too..." Claire muttered.
"Why doesn't Hagrid call again?" Ron whispered, still staring around into the trees.
Most of the rest of the class were wearing expressions as confused and nervously expectant as Ron's and were still gazing everywhere but at the horse standing feet from them. Aside from Claire and Neville only a stringy Slytherin boy standing just behind Goyle was watching the horse eating with an expression of great distaste on his face could see them.
"Could they be..." she pondered, just as Hagrid proudly announced that another one had arrived. And indeed a second black horse appeared out of the dark trees, folded its leathery-wings closer to its body and dipped its head to gorge on the meat.
"Now... Put yer hands up, who can see 'em?"
Claire raised her hand, alongside Neville. Hagrid nodded at them. "Yeah... I knew you'd be able ta." he said seriously.
"Excuse me." Malfoy said in a sneering voice, "But what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?"
For an answer, Hagrid pointed at the cow carcass on the ground. The whole class stared at it for a few seconds, then several people gasped and Parvati squealed.
Seeing bits of flesh stripping themselves away from the bones and vanishing into thin air had to look very odd indeed.
"What's doing it?" Parvati demanded in a terrified voice, retreating behind the nearest tree, "What's eating it?"
"Thestrals." Hagrid said proudly, "Hogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows?..."
"But they're really, really unlucky!" Parvati interrupted, looking alarmed, "They're supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once..."
"Professor Trelawney says a lot of things and if all of them were true, Harry should have died so many times by now." Alex said casually, "Or maybe he did, and he now has become the best looking inferi in history."
"Alex is right, that's just superstition, that is." Hagrid said, chuckling, "They aren't unlucky, they're dead clever and useful! Course, this lot don' get a lot o' work, it's mainly just pulling the school carriages unless Dumbledore's taking a long journey and don't want to Apparate - and here's another couple, look!"
Two more horses came quietly out of the trees, one of them passing very close to Parvati, who shivered and pressed herself closer to the tree, saying, "I think I felt something, I think it's near me!"
"Don't worry, it won't hurt ya." Hagrid said patiently, "Right, now, who can tell me why some of ya can see 'em an' some can't?"
Hermione raised her hand. "Go on then." Hagrid said, beaming at her.
"The only people who can see Thestrals, are people who have seen death." Hermione said.
"That's exactly right." Hagrid said solemnly, "Ten points ta Gryffindor. Now, Thestrals..."
"Hem, hem."
Umbridge had arrived. She was standing a few feet away from Harry, wearing her green hat and cloak again, her clipboard at the ready. Hagrid, who had never heard Umbridge's fake cough before, was gazing in some concern at the closest Thestral, evidently under the impression that it had made the sound.
"Hem, hem."
"Oh, hello!" Hagrid said, smiling, having located the source of the noise.
"You received the note I sent to your cabin this morning?" Umbridge said, in the same loud, slow voice she had used with him earlier, as though she were addressing somebody both foreign and very slow, "Telling you that I would be inspecting your lesson?"
"Oh, yeah." Hagrid said brightly, "Glad ya found the place all right! Well, as you can see, or, I dunno can you? We're doing Thestrals today."
"I'm sorry?" Umbridge said loudly, cupping her hand around her ear and frowning, "What did you say?"
Hagrid looked a little confused, "Er... Thestrals!" he said loudly, "Big winged horses, ya know!" He flapped his gigantic arms hopefully.
Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows at him and muttered as she made a note on her clipboard: "Has to resort to crude sign language."
"Well... Anyway..." Hagrid said, turning back to the class and looking slightly flustered, "Erm... What was I saying?"
"Appears to have poor short term memory." Umbridge muttered, loudly enough for everyone to hear her. Malfoy looked as though Christmas had come a month early; Hermione, on the other hand, had turned scarlet with suppressed rage.
"Oh, yeah." Hagrid said, throwing an uneasy glance at Umbridge's clipboard, but ploughing on valiantly, "Yeah, I was gonna tell ya how come we got a herd. Yeah, so, we started off with a male and five females. This one." he patted the first horse to have appeared, "Name Tenebrus, he's my special favorite, firs' one born here in the Forest."
"Are you aware." Umbridge said loudly, interrupting him, "That the Ministry of Magic has classified Thestrals as 'dangerous'?"
Hagrid merely chuckled, "Thestrals aren't dangerous! All right, they might take a bite outta ya if ya really annoy them."
"Shows signs of pleasure at idea of violence." Umbridge muttered, scribbling on her clipboard again.
"No... come on!" Hagrid said, looking a little anxious now, "I mean, a dog will bite ya if bait it, won't it... But Thestrals have just got a bad reputation because of the death thing. People used ta think they were bad omens, didn't they? Just didn't understand."
Umbridge did not answer; she finished writing her last note, then looked up at Hagrid and said, again very loudly and slowly, "Please continue teaching as usual. I am going to walk." she mimed walking, Malfoy and Parkinson were having silent fits of laughter, "Among the students.", she pointed around at individual members of the class, "and ask them questions." She pointed at her mouth to indicate talking.
Hagrid stared at her, clearly at a complete loss to understand why she was acting as though he did not understand normal English. Hermione had tears of fury in her eyes now.
"You hag, you evil hag!" she whispered, as Umbridge walked towards Parkinson, "I know what you're doing, you awful, twisted, vicious... I should have Claire let her way and have her kill you..."
This got a slight smirk on Claire's face.
"Erm... Anyway." Hagrid said, clearly struggling to regain the flow of his lesson, "So... Thestrals. Yeah. Well, there's loads of good stuff about them..."
"Do you find." Umbridge said in a ringing voice to Parkinson, "That you are able to understand Professor Hagrid when he talks?"
Just like Hermione, Pansy had tears in her eyes, but these were tears of laughter; indeed, her answer was almost incoherent because she was trying to suppress her giggles. "No... because... well... it sounds... like grunting a lot of the time..."
Umbridge scribbled on her clipboard. The few unbruised bits of Hagrid's face flushed, but he tried to act as though he had not heard Pansy's answer.
"Yeah... Good stuff about Thestrals. Well, once they are tamed, like this lot, ya never be lost again. Amazing sense of direction, just tell em where ya want to go..."
"Assuming they can understand you, of course." Malfoy said loudly, and Parkinson collapsed in a fit of renewed giggles. Umbridge smiled indulgently at them and then turned to Neville.
"You can see the Thestrals, Longbottom, can you?" she said.
Neville nodded.
"Who did you see die?" she asked, her tone indifferent.
"My... my grandad." Neville said.
"And what do you think of them?" she said, waving her stubby hand at the horses, who by now had stripped a great deal of the carcass down to bone.
"Well, they are okay I guess.", Neville said.
"Students are too intimidated to admit they are frightened." Umbridge muttered, making another note on her clipboard.
"What? No!" Neville said, looking upset, "No, I'm not scared of them!"
"It's quite all right." Umbridge said, patting Neville on the shoulder with what she evidently intended to be an understanding smile, though it looked more like a leer. "Well, Hagrid." she turned to look up at him again, speaking once more in that loud, slow voice, "I think I've got enough to be getting along with. You will receive." she mimed taking something from the air in front of her, "The results of your inspection.", she pointed at the clipboard, "in ten days' time." She held up ten stubby little fingers, then, her smile wider and more toadlike than ever before beneath her green hat, she bustled from their midst, leaving Malfoy and Parkinson in fits of laughter, Hermione actually shaking with fury and Neville looking upset.
"That foul, lying, twisting old gargoyle!" Hermione stormed, half an hour later, as they made their way back up to the castle through the channels they had made earlier in the snow.
"It's her thing about half-breeds all over again." Claire said, "She's trying to make out Hagrid's some kind of dimwitted troll, just because he had a giantess for a mother."
"Yeah, it's not fair, that really wasn't a bad lesson at all... Thestrals are fine." Neville admitted, still looking rather upset, "In fact, for Hagrid, they're really good!"
"Umbridge said they are dangerous." Ron said.
"Like Hermione said, Umbitch is a lying, twisting old gargoyle." Claire said through her teeth.
"I suppose a teacher like Grubbly-Plank wouldn't usually show them to us before NEWT level." Hermione said, "But, well... They are very interesting, aren't they? The way some people can see them and some can't! I wish I could."
"Do you?" Claire asked her quietly.
"Yeah, do you?" Neville repeated after Claire, she looked suddenly horrorstruck when she saw the two look at her.
"I'm sorry... No, of course I don't..." she admitted, "That was a really stupid thing to say..."
"It's alright." Neville said quickly.
"Don't worry about it." Claire said, "Besides, your pretty cute when your angry."
"I'm surprised so many people could see them." Ron said, "Three in a class..."
"Yeah, Weasley, we were just wondering." said a malicious voice. Unheard by any of them in the muffling snow, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were walking along right behind them, "Do you reckon if you saw someone snuff it you'd be able to see the Quaffle better?" He, Crabbe and Goyle roared with laughter.
"Maybe it would! Oh, maybe it would help you catch the snitch for once, Draco!" Alex said with such a tone that it was difficult to concern if he was joking or not, "Oh, well we can only theorize." as they continued their walk towards the castle as Hermione pulled out her wand and performing the charm to produce hot air, so that she could melt them an easier path through the untouched snow between them and the greenhouses.
December arrived, bringing with it more snow and a positive avalanche of homework for the fifth-years. Alex and Hermione's prefect duties also became more and more onerous as Christmas approached. They were called upon to supervise the decoration of the castle, to watch over first- and second-years spending their break-times inside because of the bitter cold and to patrol the corridors in shifts with Argus Filch, who suspected that the holiday spirit might show itself in an outbreak of wizard duels.
The Overwatch meetings, would have to stop over the holidays, as nearly everybody in Overwatch would be spending the time with their families. Hermione was going skiing with her parents, something that greatly amused Ron and Neville, who had never heard of Muggles strapping narrow strips of wood on to their feet to slide down mountains.
Ron was going home to The Burrow, Neville was going home to his parents, while Harry, Claire, and Alex would be going to stay with Sirius and Margaret.
Harry arrived early in the Room of Requirement for the last OW meeting before the holidays and was surprised by what he saw.
He saw Sephylon who had taken it upon himself and was decorating the place for Christmas.
"Oh..." the masked man said when they locked eyes with each other, "Uhm... Tis wasn't me... It was Gabrion."
The two jumped as they were interrupted by the arrival of Angelina, Katie and Alicia, all three of them were breathless and looked very cold, and within five minutes the room was full of the remaining Overwatch members.
"Alright." Sephylon said, calling them all to order, "It's the last meeting before the holidays and there's no point starting anything new right before a three-week break. Instead we will be spending tis evening by going over everything we've done so far. We can practice in pairs. We will start with the Impediment Jinx, for ten minutes, then we can get out the cushions and try Stunning again."
They all divided up obediently, the room was soon full of intermittent cries of "Impedimenta!" People froze for a minute or so, during which their partner would stare aimlessly around the room watching other pairs at work, then would unfreeze and take their turn at the jinx.
After ten minutes on the Impediment Jinx, they laid out cushions all over the floor and started practicing Stunning again. Space was really too confined to allow them all to work this spell at once; half the group observed the others for a while, then swapped over.
At the end of an hour, Sephylon called a halt. "You're getting really good." he said looking at everyone in the room, "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the bigger stuff."
There was a murmur of excitement. The room began to clear as people went back through the paths leading to their common rooms.
"Uhm Mr. Sephylon sir?"
Sephylon turned around to find Alex behind him, holding up a small parcel. "Alex my boy." he said, "Is everything alright?"
"Just a small Christmas present, a thank you from me and the other Gryffindor Six for all you have done for us." Alex said handing over the parcel, "Didn't know what you liked so we got you a lump of the best chocolate from Honeydukes. Everyone likes Chocolate."
"I... Thank you." Sephylon said surprised but thankful at this gesture.
"Don't mention it." Alex said with a grin, "Merry Christmas!" and he left the room.
"...Merry Christmas, Alex." Sephylon said softly as he too left the room as well. Not noticing that Harry and Claire were left behind to collect up the cushions.
"Leave it to them to run off when there is cleaning to be done." Harry said, as he looked up, finding himself and Claire standing under a Mistletoe.
"Who hung those there?" Claire muttered, "Weird. It's probably full of Nargles, though."
"...What now?" Harry asked.
"I have no idea." Claire said shaking her head, "You would have to ask Luna for more information."
Before Harry could respond, Claire pinned him against the wall, positioning herself in a rather suggestive way, her grey eyes looked deep into his emerald greens.
Closing her eyes, she pressed her lips against his, reveling in the soft of them. Harry's eyes grew wide, especially when she slipped her tongue past his unsuspecting lips, exploring the wet cavern that was his mouth. Harry and Claire would have gone on and on with the make-out session if the lack of oxygen didn't force them to pull away, panting hard.
"Harry... I need you..." she panted, stroking his chest through his shirt, "I-I need tis. Don't you want..."
"O-Of course." Harry said a bit embarrassed, "It's just... I never have done it before."
"Well... me neither." she said, "First time for everything right? I-I need tis. Please."
Harry needed to look downwards slightly to look her in the eye. She leaned forward again, and he leaned forward so that they met in between, their lips coming together in a passionate kiss.
He let his hands move to place themselves on her slender waist, before letting one make its way down along her hip to rub against her thigh, not breaking the kiss for a second. She let her hand fall onto his, thumb caressing his skin gently as he felt her leg.
Her hands went up to his chest, running up and down his torso before he pressed her back. She went willingly, letting him push her into the pillows.
Harry positioned himself over her, straddling his girlfriend and letting his hands keep rubbing along his torso. Once she reached the bottom of his pants, she unzip his pants, sliding them down. Curling her fingers around the elastic of his boxers, she pulled them down enough to expose him to the cool air.
Claire gulped nervously as she saw his length, tentatively, she reached one hand up to between his legs, her fingertips brushing shyly against his semi hard shaft.
She felt her face heating up, her fingers growing a little bolder and curling around his penis. Claire's breathing grew a little heavier as he watched her start to tease his member, taking only a handful of seconds to get it fully hard.
She removed her own top, opening her white blouse to reveal her black bra. A deep blush spreading on his face as she moved her bra down, revealing her naked breasts to him.
She softly grabbed his hands, placing them on either side of her torso, then onto her breasts. He gently massaging her soft breasts and earning a quiet moan of appreciation from her. Harry leaned in closer, his tongue coming out to flick across one of her nipples, Claire's hand coming up to rest on the back of his head encouragingly.
She guided him, feeling her boyfriend move one hand so that it rested behind her back and the other down to caress her hip.
It didn't stay there long, sliding around until it found its way inside her panties, feeling his fingers run along the inside of her thigh right up until they reached their prize.
Two fingers teased her already slick entrance as he continued to suck at her nipple, earning a louder moan than before.
"Harry, do it." she breathed, one hand pulling at her skirt up and pushing her panties aside, exposing her entirely, "Make me feel like a woman."
Harry got up onto his hands and knees, his green eyes travelling the full length of her wonderful body to absorb all of its sights.
"Alright then." he said, reaching down with one hand to grab hold of his rock hard penis and guide it towards her waiting slit. Harry rubbed the tip of his penis along her moist vagina, looking up at her again for permission.
Claire gave him a nod, spreading her legs more to accommodate him comfortably, biting her lower lip as she prepared to lose her virginity, her hands coming to rest on his butt and pressing him inside her.
Harry groaned as the tip slowly entering her warm body and sending shivers through both of them. She closed her eyes tightly, pushing forward until his penis broke through her hymen, sending a jolt of pain through her.
Claire let out a small hiss of pain. Harry brought his arms up to hug her firmly, holding still as she adjusted to the new feeling of being filled.
"You alright?" Harry asked quiet and soothing.
She nodded into his shoulder, her arms hugging him tighter as she felt the pain start to fade away, being replaced by a complete feeling. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."
Harry pulled out of her before thrusting back in, sending ripples of pleasure through both of them. He kept doing so, starting with a steady pace to get them both in the rhythm properly. Harry drew back longer, until only the tip was left inside her before smoothly thrusting back into her, angling himself slightly to try and hit a different spot.
She moaned underneath him, her hands coming up to rest around his shoulders as he tried another lengthy thrust, moving his penis just a little bit as he tried to hit a different spot. This time Claire moaned louder.
"Is that good?" he asked quietly, getting a quick nod and another loud moan from the beautiful witch underneath him.
Emboldened, he thrust into her faster which only increased the pleasure they both felt. Though neither of them lasted very long, already closing in on the climax of their sex.
She clutched at him tightly, Harry pumping into her as hard and fast as he could while Claire wrapped her legs around his waist.
"C-Claire!" He groaned aloud, not slowing down at all, "I am going to cum!"
"Do it." Claire half moaned, half groaned, "Inside me." as she felt her orgasm wash over her and force her entire body to tighten its grip on him, his torso and hips held tightly to her body even as her vagina clenched around his penis to drain him of his seed.
She cried out loudly again, Harry grunt as he hit his own climax, shooting his seed inside her to fill her with the warm white liquid. Harry held her just as tight, his face buried in her collar as his penis twitched inside her, letting loose every drop of cum that he could into her welcoming body.
A moment passed as they clutched at one another, letting the last waves of pleasure wash over them and trying to catch their breath.
"W-Was that good for?" Harry said, trying his best not to wince as he said those words.
Claire stared up at him for a couple of seconds, before finally letting out a short laugh. "Now I know why Alex does it so much." she said with a smile, "We need to do tis more often."
The couple returned to the common room half an hour later to find Alex, Ron, Neville and Hermione in the best seats by the fire; nearly everybody else had gone to bed.
"...I haven't slept with Daphne." Alex said completely serious, sounding as if he was defending himself from what the others had said, "Because obviously she is a lesbian."
"Why would you think she is a lesbian?" Hermione said slightly offended as she was writing a very long letter; she had already filled half a roll of parchment, which was dangling from the edge of the table, "Because she doesn't want to sleep with you?"
"Exactly!" Alex said as if it was obvious, "That reminds me, you don't want to sleep with me either."
"So what?..." Hermione said before her eyes widen at the smirk he was giving, "Alex no! That doesn't mean..." as Harry sank into the armchair next to Hermione's, with Claire on his other side.
"Hold that thought Hermione." Alex said, holding up a finger as he began to sniff the air, "Do you guys smell that?"
"Oh, I smell nothing." Harry muttered, rubbing the back of his head.
"Me neither." Claire said quickly.
"I recognize that smell. Sweat, certain bodily fluids, a hint of regret." Alex said as he continued to sniff and look around, "Someone here had the sex!"
"A-Aren't you smelling yourself?" Claire said quickly, "Or it's probably your imagination."
"If you say so..." Alex said in a businesslike way, "But how would you explain the love bite on your neck, cousin?"
"H-How do you see them?" Claire said surprised, checking the spots she had covered up with the collar of her uniform.
"Because you just said so." Alex said with a smirk on his face. As the fire merely crackled lower and lower, until the red-hot embers crumbled into ash and, looking around, they were, yet again, the last ones in the common room.
"Well, night." Claire said standing up, "C-Coming Hermione?"
"Yeah sure." Hermione said, "Good night everybody." and they set off up the girls' staircase.
As she and Hermione climbed the girls' stairs. Once they entered, they pulled off their uniforms and put on pajamas in silence; Parvati and Lavender were already asleep.
"So... you and Harry." Hermione said.
"Can we drop that." Claire said embarrassed, "So what was Alex saying about you being a lesbian?"
"I just brought up my concern of Alex sleeping around a bit too much." Hermione said, "And he claims he doesn't sleep with everyone, he gave Daphne Greengrass as an exemple. He's convinced she is a lesbian because she doesn't want to sleep with him."
"Who aside from Alex would care? But he's right though. You don't sleep with him." Claire said changing the subject, "Just so we're clear, your still my friend if you are, I don't care."
"I'm not gay, Claire!" Hermione said annoyed.
"But if you were gay, it would be okay." she said casually, "But if I played for the other team, I could see myself dating you."
"What?" she said surprised.
"Well your smart enough to have a conversation with, your not as pretty as me but pretty enough, you can be quite adorable when we annoy you." Claire said, "And your not afraid of me. Sounds like a good combination to me."
"Of course I'm not afraid of you." Hermione said with a kind smile, "Your my bestfriend."
"Okay, your not afraid of me." Claire said with a smirk, "But I'm sure you thought about me naked."
"Oh goodness! Sometimes your worse than Alex!" Hermione said annoyed, before muttering, "But yes... Yes I have..."
That's it, chapter over. Hope you enjoyed.
Many thanks to everyone who reads, favorite, follows or reviews this chapter.
If you enjoy my work, don't forget to leave a review and I hope to see you beauties next time.
Mischief Managed.