| | |Just Because | | | |Taking the last few steps up to the portrait hole, Hermionie | |smiled. She'd reached what had seemed an endless journey to | |Griffindor common room. As Harry mumbled this weeks password | |(Invisible cheesecake!) she thought about her aching feet and | |back, and how she craved the comfort of a warm bed, or an | |armchair by the fire | | | | | |She settled for the latter. She took off her shoes, tucking them| |under the chair, and curled her legs under her, taking out | |"Love Potions Past and Present" for a little light reading | |before bed. It wasn't too late, only about ten, so an hour or so| |couldn't hurt. The common room, thankfully, was deserted. | |End-of-year exams saw most Griffindors asleep by 8 o'clock, | |leaving Hermionie her preferred fireside seat. | | | |About half an hour had passed when the shuffle of footsteps | |disturbed her. A sleepless Harry stood at the foot of the boy's | |stairs in striped pyjamas, his hair looking, if possible, more | |dishevelled than ever. She smiled. | | | |"Can't sleep?" | | | |"Yep. What's your excuse?" He grinned | | | |"Just a bit of reading" | | | |"As always". He settled himself in the armchair opposite. | |"Can I see?". She held up the cover for him to see, before | |marking her page with a scrap of parchment and closing the book.| | | | | |"You don't have to stop..." | | | |"I was getting a bit bored, love potions are rather dull in | |truth" | | | |"Really?" | | | |"Mm...I mean, some people...You'd think they were desperate"| | | | | |"Maybe just desperately in love" he mumbled, more to the | |fire than Hermionie. | | | |"Hmm?" | | | |"Nothing, forget it.." | | | |"Are you sure you're alright, Harry?" | | | |"I'm fine" He looked up with a reassuring grin. | | | |"You just seem a bit.." | | | |"A bit what?" | | | |"Edgy.." | | | |"Oh...well...umm...Can't think of anything, must be exam | |nerves" | |"Alright then.." | | | |She still looked slightly concerned, indeed, the gaze that met | |hers did not belong to a settled boy. | | | |Harry couldn't tear his eyes from the soft glow of her face. A | |small voice was jabbering away in the back of his head 'Now, | |now's the moment, go on, do it now...' | | | |"Umm...'Mionie?" | | | |"Yes?" | | | |"Can I..umm....can..." | | | |"Can you what?" She looked puzzled, mystified by his strange| |behaviour. | | | |Screwing up all the courage he possessed, he leaned over toward | |Hermionie, and gently kissed her on the lips. Her startled mouth| |took a few seconds to respond. It would be awful, he couldn't | |live with it if she didn't kiss back. Just as these thoughts | |crossed his mind, her lips began to respond. | | | |Hermionie leaned closer, running a hand gently over his cheek. | |The kiss deepened as he ran a tentative hand through her hair. | |It was getting difficult for Harry to continue, bent over | |Hermionie as he was. | |He ended up sat half on the arm of the chair, and half in her | |lap, but her arms soon reached up to draw him in closer, Her | |fingers sliding under his top to caress his bare back. What a | |woman she was... |