A/N ~ Okay, I am totally breaking precedent and actually writing this as I am typing *shock, gasp, faint* because I have major writer's block, so maybe this will help. Let's see shall we.
Disclaimer ~ The fluff is mine, the characters are JKR's *Corinne Cassandra bows to her greatness* Umm, I stole stuff from Eddings, Tamora, Melanie, and probably Katie D. and Lori.
Chapter 11
Defense Against The Dark Arts, their first class of the day, seemed slightly strained. It was almost as if Professor Lupin was not fully concentrating on the lesson. After class was over Remus motioned to Harry and Hermione as the class filed out the door. "Harry, Hermione, could I have a word with you?" Lupin said in a terse, clipped voice. "Why don't we step into my office." He said as he walked in. Hermione looked around, she had never been in Professor Lupin's office before, it was pleasantly cluttered, but still clean. He had a comfortable looking leather chair sitting behind his mahogany desk. He did not however sit down, instead he leaned against his desk with his arms folded across his chest, and he looked sternly at Harry and Hermione who were squirming like guilty children. "I hope you have a very good explanation for the rumors about what happened the other night. I assured Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and Minerva that you would never even consider doing something that irresponsible. Because I didn't believe that either of you would do something that irresponsible. I have heard otherwise. Enlighten me please." Hermione had never been so frightened of a teacher before, the meeting with Dumbledore had been mortifying, but at least he hadn't yelled. Even if Remus wasn't yelling yet, his cold voice made her feel as if she was being pelted with ice chips. She and Harry simultaneously blushed, but didn't respond, avoiding both the others and Lupin's eyes.
"Are. You. Telling me. That this is True!?!" Lupin exploded. "I trusted you, I trusted you to behave like the reasonable, intelligent, young adults you are, or were. Not like two horny teenagers! Hermione! I thought that at least you would have kept your head. You know the dangers of messing around like that. Did you at least use the spell that Minerva taught you all last year?" Hermione blushed a shade of deep crimson that Harry had never seen on a person, not even Ron. She mutely nodded, hiding her face in her hands. "If you had time to think of that, why didn't you consider any other consequences?" Lupin asked incredulously. "You realize that you could have ruined your entire future, or didn't you think of that. Yes, even with all your intelligence and promise, you could have destroyed all your hopes of a decent life and job after Hogwarts with one act. One night of pleasure isn't worth that. I have a good mind to tell your parents what their darling daughter has been up to." Lupin continued viciously. "I should, but that, of course is up to Dumbledore."
Remus swung his steely glare towards Harry. "And You." He said in a quiet voice. "You are the greatest disappointment I have ever had. You showed so much promise, you were kind and chivalrous, you were everything James and Lily could have hoped for in a son. What would they think if they were here now? I'm glad they're not alive to see their only son sinking to the floor in shame because he thought with his hormones instead of his head." Remus shook his head, "I can't believe I was a part of this. No, I don't want to hear it." Remus held up his hand as Harry and Hermione tried to explain their actions. He walked over to the door and held it open, motioning for Harry and Hermione to leave. After they had left, he went back into his office and sat down at his desk, with his head on a pile of papers. How could this happen he thought, it's just like Lily and James all over again. This is too painful, I never should have told Harry. They would have found out anyway, the nasty practical part of his mind pointed out. I never thought that it would be exactly like Lily and James, I just thought it was cute how they got together in the same way *stupid Moony, stupid* how could I not have seen this coming. Oh God, if anything happens to them…
~~~
In the mean time Harry and Hermione walked down the hall to Potions, their next class. "Harry," Hermione said in a quiet voice. "He forgot to give us a pass."
"Do you want to go back and ask him for one?" Harry said. "Because, personally I'm a bit more frightened of Remus than Snape right now. C'mon, let's just go in, the longer we wait, the worse it'll be." Harry and Hermione walked through the door of the dungeon that Potions was held in. Snape glanced up from his cauldron where he was mixing a truth potion.
"Ah, it appears that the infamous duo had decided to grace us with their presence. Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, could you please refrain from snogging in the hallways in an attempt to arrive to class on time. 10 points from Gryffindor for your tardiness. Oh, and Mr. Potter would you be so kind as to not jump Miss Granger in my classroom."
"Professor Snape," Hermione said. "Professor Lupin needed to talk to us, that's why we were late."
"10 more points from Gryffindor for lying. Take Your Seat. Miss Granger."
Hermione sat down in defeat.
"Now, before Miss Granger and Mr. Potter so rudely interrupted us, we were about to test our truth potions. Now, these potions are considered to be M.o.M. Rating usable class A, meaning that they are only to be used under extreme circumstances. Professor Dumbledore has expressed his wishes that you all be familiar with this potion. Aurors commonly use this potion when questioning possible Death Eaters. As the second Voldemort War is over, none of you should ever need to use this potion. This truth potion is different from the Veratis spell, in that it does not cause pain. It merely causes the questioned to answer truthfully to all the questions put to him in about ten minutes. That is the other reason that this spell is not forbidden. Mr. Malfoy, could you please bring your potion up here." Snape paused as he waited for Malfoy to walk up to the front of the room. "Potter, get up here." He snapped. He measured out a draft of Malfoy's truth potion and handed it to Harry. Harry took it and looked at it distastefully. "Drink it" Snape ordered. Harry cast a helpless look at Hermione, and tipped the up the vial, allowing the potion to run down his throat. He gagged, then made a face at the vile taste of the potion. It tasted like old gym socks and frog tongues and dragonsbane. Harry turned to face Snape. "Now, let's see. Malfoy, you may ask the first question." Snape said smiling.
Malfoy grinned gleefully and turned to Harry. "So Potter," he said quietly, "Was she really that good in the sack?" Hermione turned red as Harry tried valiantly not to answer. He was biting his lower lip and it had begun to bleed.
"That's none of your business Malfoy!" Hermione said standing up. "That is private."
"Miss Granger, how many times to I have to tell you to SIT DOWN!" Snape shouted.
Next Ron stood up and said, "Leave him alone, you have no right to pry into Harry's personal life. Trust me, Hermione'll turn you into a newt." He said with a wry smile. He turned around and grinned at Hermione.
Neville stood up and said quietly, "Malfoy, leave Harry alone, he wouldn't do this to you." He promptly sat down and looked at his feet. Harry was still fighting speech.
Lavender then said, "Malfoy, you are so horrible, how could you ask anyone that, that is so vulgar!" By this time Harry's face had relaxed and he didn't seem to be struggling with his voice anymore. He let out a deep breath.
"Malfoy, that is none of your business, you should keep your dirty little mind to yourself, keyword little." Harry spat out the words. "You had no right to ask that question." Thank God my friends distracted Snape long enough for the potion to wear off. Harry thought. I don't know what I would have done if I had to answer that question. I would hate to do that to Hermione. It's been hard enough already, the last thing that she needs is for the whole school to be talking about how good she is in bed. I'm glad that Ron seems to have reformed. He doesn't seem to be mad at Herm either, he kinda deserved it, but, Ron's temper…
~~~
That Night at 11:00pm
Harry was sitting in the Gryffindor common room. Suddenly a face appeared in the fire. It was Sirius! "Sirius, it's good to see you, the last two days have been absolute hell!" Harry said in a relieved tone.
"Harry, You Idiot!" Sirius shouted. "How on earth could you do something like that! You slept with your girlfriend at school!!!!! What in the world were you thinking!?! Or weren't you thinking!?! I'm responsible for you, how could you do that to me, how could you do that to Moony, How, for the love of God, could you do that to Hermione. You of all people should have realized what this could and will do to her reputation and future. This kind of stuff has a much different impact on girls than guys! Do you want her to be called a slut, do you want the whole school to think she's easy. Do you want her to lose the respect of her peers and teachers. Harry! Why didn't you think! Do you realize how disappointed in you I am? Harry, what am I going to do with you? How could you do that to me, to Dumbledore, to the memories of your parents? Harry…" Then Sirius's face disappeared from the fire as Hermione walked into the room. She gave Harry a sympathetic smile.
"I caught most of that. Harry, you don't have to worry about me. You didn't do anything to me that I didn't want to happen. I love you and I have no regrets about what happened that night. Just about the timing. I know that you have been getting lots of grief from Sirius and Remus and the other students. I've been getting that too. But Sirius was wrong, I am still respected, I am only teased by people who didn't respect me in the first place. You need to take a deep breath and calm down." Hermione walked over behind Harry and started massaging his shoulders.
"Oh, Herm, you're an angel." Harry said sighing. "But I still feel guilty about disappointing Dumbledore, Remus, Sirius. And letting you down. You never should have had to go through what you have the past few days. Herm, I really am sorry for that."
Hermione walked around and knelt in front of Harry's chair. "Harry, look at me, You did not force me into anything that I didn't want to do. Maybe we weren't thinking straight, maybe we shouldn't have fooled around at school. But it wasn't just fooling around, I love you and I always have and always will. I am mature enough and smart enough to tell someone to stop if I don't like what they're doing. And you all know that I can stand up for myself." She stopped and laughed. "God, I sound like a sappy romantic chick, either that or a teacher. Although I can't see a teacher giving that speech. Oh my, a picture of Minerva saying something to the tune of what I just said just popped into my head. Harry, I need to get some sleep before I go totally neurotic. And you need to sleep too. Goodnight Harry." Hermione kissed Harry goodnight and then left the common room, heading towards her own.
Harry sat staring into the fire, just contemplating the day. God, how could I do that. Why does she always make me feel so childish? Well, not always. He amended. My Hermione is so much stronger than anyone thinks. Everyone just thinks of her as that mousy little bookworm. No one ever bothers to look at how she handles situations, like this one. Even *I* never thought that she would react like *that*. And I guess that's why I love her… Harry got up and went to his room and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
A/N ~ Well, I think that this chapter came out ok. Not one of my best, but hey, I was working with writers block, not a fit of inspiration. Well we take what we can get. And now I am officially on Spring Break!… and I am stuck at home while my friends go on vacation. I hope that I can get a few chapters up this week. So read and review! And now on to the thank you section.
Thank You to ~ Brokenflower. EmmaApril. Mal. A-man. Amy/Duh Turtle. Katie D. (yes, I knew you would be watching for that, oh, and by the way. The story spin off you sent me is sick and wrong. You are almost as bad as Shannon. 'She turned me into a newt! A newt? Well I got better' ~ Monty Python) Griff (although my friends are enthusiastically all for it, Hermione would prefer to wait until after school.) Netty (I'm American too, but snogging is like kissing or making out I believe. If you would like a more exact definition, ask a British fanfic author.) Lisa (probably not in this fic, maybe the sequel, oops, no wait, next chapter. Hehehe) ~ note to #1HP FAN~ I'm sorry you didn't read my story, I actually feel that it's rather good. I'm proud of it. And umm, just FYI, it doesn't matter what will really happen, that's kinda the point of fanfic, we can write anything we want in our fics. Do you just go around looking for H/H fics to bash them, get a life. Moving on, Corinne Cassandra had to get that out of her system. Elira The Wood Fairy. :@. Su. Aushie. Zippo. L.X. Walton (yeah right, you have a huge head, just like Napoleon. Luv ya always big sis.) Crystal Music. kkk. Victoria Taormina (ewwww, very nasty. Personally I like Minerva the most, mainly because I can see me just like that in about 20 year. *Ooh, scary* But Herm is on her way, I really respect her too.) And as always thank you to my coconspiratoriss and author Katie D. By the way, you have mental problems, and a few obsessions that I won't mention here. Laura a.k.a. L.X. Walton also a fanfic author who won't get to read this until after next week 'cause she's going to Florida without me! Go read her stuff, it's good. Thanks to Shannon (No! Snape is not gay, Lupin is not lusting after Hermione, and Minerva is not secretly a man. And NO! to any other sick ideas that you might have.) And thanks to Katie, oh and Theresa D.