A/N:

MoonGoddess - Much danger!

John - LOL!

Dreamer43, and Shreve, and Hermione 512, and HermioneGreen, and TeamExtremeGirl, and starbeam13, and little key, and Burgundy, and LiZz. and Ginnygal, and Silver Streak, and Babysparkels- Thanks!

Isabella Grace - They have to be near each other to ward off the primary effects of the ring ... and the touching sets off the greater chance of possession, but since they are aware of that now, they know how to fight the effects.

~*~* - no fluff.

Orion the Hunter - no torture ... just naughtiness.

Kris-tina - They gotta come out somewhere

daleia - no board games ... only naughtiness

Danny's Girl - Yes, she is. It's "Hormone Hermione!"

ears91 - Um ... read.

Full Dark - It was meant to be , Read On !

Oriana8 - You are the only person to mention the contest joke. I laughed out loud when I wrote it because I didn't remember typing it in.

Maggie O - No ... it's turning NC-17 ! MUAwwHHAHAHAHA, Kidding it's still PG-13. I can pet, very heavy, but no full frontal nudity or saying the word Fusk more than twice. Etc. Etc. Can we at least get to see their butts?

American Mione - Yes she does, doesn't she ...

Aerin Dragon Killer - Yeah ... the wedding is off and she's going to hook up with Ron and Dobby will be their love child .... EEEEEEK!

Sami Potter - Uh-huh. Like I believe that. Pffft. hehe

Too much commenting, Heather! Read ON!

Chapter 38

"Well ... um, I figure we could grab some lunch, I mean it's only ten something."

Harry could feel her deflate in his arms. "I'm not really hungry for lunch." she sneered. "I want to explore this house. This is where you want to live when we are married and not at Hogwarts?"

He hadn't really even thought that far ahead. "Well ... um ..."

She pulled back and smiled up at him, "That's really become your favorite phrase now, hasn't it?"

"Come here." She pulled him into the living room and sat on the couch. Hermione set herself up crossways, to face Harry.

"I don't think it's a good idea to live at the Dursley's."

Harry guffawed. "Right, there."

"And I don't want to live at my parents with them knowing what you'll be doing to me night after night in bed."

Harry's eyes widened and she snickered lightly.

"So the only logical conclusion will be here, except this place needs a serious renovation."

He nodded.

"This just isn't us and if you want ..."

He turned to her, "Do what ever it is you want to do. I meant what I said, Hermione. Whatever makes you happy."

His statement touched her, "You make me happy, Harry. All this other stuff is marmalade on my scone."

She leaned in a pecked him on the lips. "I want this to be our house. I want you to have a room for yourself, and me, a room for myself where we can be alone when we get on each others nerves."

"Hermione you never ..."

"Oh, yes I do, and will in the future. It will be our little sanctuaries."

she thought about it for a moment. "And a proper library, and a training room, and a whole lot of other things."

He nodded, "Do anything you want."

She frowned, "You're going to spoil me."

He smiled and nodded his head. "It's becoming my favorite pastime."

She took his hand and pulled as she stood. "Let's start at the top. I know Ron's mom made sure there wasn't anything bad left in the house so we should be safe exploring."

After the third landing their breathing became more labored. "Okay, first thing we put in here is a lift."

The fourth floor was considerably smaller and ultimately the attic was the refuse spot for the entire house's unwanted items. Harry looked around and started back out the door.

"I'm going to get a waste bin, so we can get rid of some of this ... all of this."

Hermione nodded and started in on the first box.

********************

"I thought Mrs. Weasley threw away all of the clothing."

Harry shrugged, "Don't forget Sirius said Kreacher used to steal back a lot of Mrs. Black's bloomers and snog with them in the attic."

A look of extreme distaste appeared on the face of Hermione as she was holding what looked to be a pair of those very same bloomers which she dropped promptly in the bin.

"What happened to Kreacher, anyway?" she asked.

"Probably keeled over dead when they finally burned off the old bitty's portrait downstairs."

For once in the last two and a half years Harry noticed that Hermione didn't have anything to say about his attitude toward a house-elf. Seemed kind of odd in retrospect.

They spent the next three or so hours sifting through box after box and feeding bin after bin until they ran out of bins. Apparently bins do have a limit to the amount that they can eat in one sitting.

"I'm hungry," announced Harry.

"Lets call it a day. I think I've breathed enough dust to last until the summer break."

He nodded and stood giving Hermione a hand up. "Let's go see if anything is eatable in the kitchen."

A thorough search resulted in only three bottles of wine and a moldy block of cheese.

"It's alcoholic, we really shouldn't," Hermione half-heartedly commented.

Harry shrugged and tried to rationalize their situation. "Well we don't know when they'll be here to pick us up and they can't expect us to starve."

She smiled and nodded, "Perhaps only a glass or two wouldn't be bad. Were almost adults now. The mild alcohol content of wine shouldn't affect us if we don't overindulge."

Once that was out of the way she pulled the cheese out and cut away the bad portions leaving a decent amount to have a snack with the wine. Harry uncorked the bottle with a wine-screw he found in the utensils drawer and poured two heaping glasses.

He was about to take his first drink and Hermione stopped him.

"We have to make a toast."

"Um ... okay."

She held her glass out and thought for a second. "To our new home."

She clinked her glass against his and they drank ... and choked.

"This isn't wine," gasped Harry when he could breathe. His stared watering furiously.

Hermione was taking deep breaths trying to cool the intense burning in her throat. "Fire ... whiskey," she rasped out.

He hopped up from the table and stuck his head under the tap for a brief swig of water before grabbing two glasses from the cupboard and filling them. Hermione seized the first before it was half-way full and drained it.

She leaned against the counter and sighed with relief. "Who in their right mind would put Fire Whiskey in a wine bottle?"

Harry sipped a little more water, "Probably Sirius. I'm sure Mrs. Weasley wouldn't let him drink that stuff in front of us last year. Who knows what Fred and George would have done if they knew it was in here,"

She giggled at the thought. "Not to mention Mundungus Fletcher."

They looked at the wine bottle with its very naughty contents and then back at each other.

"Maybe if we cut it with some water," Hermione suggested.

Harry nodded eagerly grasping the bottle and pouring it into his water. "'Bout half you think?"

She concurred with his estimate. "It would make the water more flavorful. Half should do very well."

**************************

After a few bites to take the edge off their hunger, the hunk of cheese sat forgotten .

"Harry, I'm feeling kind of ... lightheaded. Maybe we should stop." suggested Hermione after their third glass.

Harry's vision blurred a bit and he promptly agreed, corking the bottle. It was then he noticed that at least a third of the its contents was gone. "Uh-oh."

Hermione blinked her eyes wider, "What?"

He looked back at her. "I think we should go to bed."

She peered at her watch and saw it was only four in the afternoon than made a connection, "Finally!"

Harry's brow furrowed, "Huh?"

Hermione promptly made her way to the kitchen door, but forgot she was still sitting down.

"Mione?" said Harry as he stood, leaning against the table and looking at the floor on the other side where she laid giggling.

"Forgot to stand up."

He laughed, "You're drunk!"

She pulled herself up by help of the chair, "I most assuredly have not lost control of my mober functions."

Harry snickered. "What's a mober?"

She rolled her eyes, "Take me to bed, Harry. Please? Do naughty things to me. This may be the only time we have to not be bothered by the Thin Lady."

All reasoning of why he should not do just that went out with the last glass of watered down Fire Whiskey. "Um ... okay."

"Um ... okay," mocked Hermione as she clapped and almost lost her balance. She grabbed a hold of the chair back to steady herself and brushed a stray hair out of her mouth, spitting feverishly in the attempt.

Harry regain his equilibrium and walked slowly around the other side of the table to balance Hermione out the door.

"Uh-oh," she gasped. "Stairs."

Harry straightened up and withdrew his wand, pointing it at Hermione. "Not a problem. Wingardium Pickhertoesup!"

Nothing happened.

She shook her head and moved her hand upward. "It's a flick and then a swish."

He was about to try again and noticed a couch against the wall near the corner. "How about over there," he pointed with his wand.

Hermione looked up the steep stairwell and over to the couch, her head bobbing slowly, "Oh, anywhere is fine."

************************

"Aren't they cute laying there on one another."

"What is that awful smell?"

Someone sniffed.

"They're pissed!"

"On what? There's no ... well there's wine in the cooling box."

"That's not wine I smell. It's Fire Whiskey."

"Would whomever is talking ... shut up?"

That was Hermione, thought Harry through the haze, and feeling her move slightly under his arm.

"Let'um sleep it off for an hour or two. We have time."

"Dumbledore said ..."

"Dumbledore doesn't know they've gone and got themselves shnockered on Merlin knows how much Fire Whiskey."

"I know a sobering spell."

"And how would you know about that, Remus?"

"Oh, move aside."

"Sobrius!"

Harry's head began to clear somewhat. Enough for him to open his eyes without being blinded by Tonks' lit wand tip.

"And sleeping beauty rises from the grave."

"Sobrius!"

"Are they down there?" Ron's voice bellowed from the top of the stairs.

Hermione bolted up and grabbed her breasts only stopping when she realized she was still fully clothed. Then her hands grasped at her head which Harry knew had to be throbbing with pain.

Tonks almost whooped with laughter. "And what have you two been doing down here?"

They heard footsteps tromping down the stairs, "Honestly, it's nice to get away from school for a bit, but could you guys come up with a better excuse than being chased by Death Eaters?"

Harry peered through the dimly lit room. "Excuse me? You didn't find any."

Tonks shook her head. "Only a charred Quidditch shop door and a really nervous clerk quivering behind the counter."

"By the way, Harry," mentioned Lupin. "He recognized you and said any future purchases can be made via owl."

Harry bent over and rand his fingers through his hair. "I didn't think we drank that much."

"Drank much of what?" asked Ron.

Tonks thumbed at them, "We found them tossed out on Fire Water."

Ron immediately looked hurt, mainly because he hadn't been invited.

"We thought it was wine," Hermione finally offered and saw the incredulous looks she was getting. "At first."

"It was in a wine bottle. There wasn't anything else to drink." Harry explained.

"And you had this on an empty stomach I am guessing?" asked Lupin.

"We had cheese."

"Uh-huh."

Tonks couldn't resist, "And the sex?"

Harry stood up, shaking the couch. Hermione grabbed at her mouth like she was going to be sick from the sudden movement. "Tonks! My fiancé and I have not had sex."

"Not for lack of trying," Hermione whispered to herself, or so she thought.

Tonks laughed and turned around to the stairway, "Let'um straighten themselves out. We'll see you upstairs in a few."

Lupin and she trotted back upstairs. Ron stayed behind.

"Is there any more left or did you finish the bottle."

Harry laughed to himself, stopping abruptly when his head inflated to twice its normal size and his brain tried to escape through his ear ... or so it seemed "It's on the kitchen table. Grab one other bottle from the cooling box. You can probably make some money off the first-years giving sips."

Ron's eyes lit up, and he quickly forgot the slight of his best friends leaving him out of the fun.