I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was going to have this up a lot sooner. Then I got writer's block. Then my grandmother died so I was away for a while. But here it is, finally, I'm sorry for the wait.
Huge thank you!!! to the awesome chapter 3 reviewers:clyde2, Harry-Potter5972, Ruth, Laura, Ramy, Danski, cyberfrogX, llevan, Bunny Girl, Lady Sunlight, Hawkeye10, Alexi Lupin, Miss Lupin1, Bachy A, Nicole Black, Fairuz, Lady Starlight so kiss my ass, 0_o wowzers, takari4ever7, ears91, PotterGirl12, SpAcEmAnSpiFF2 and bamaslamma29. Thank you so much, I'm glad that you liked the chapter. Sorry if I forgot anyone or misspelled someone's name.
Disclaimers: I do not own anything Harry Potter related, J.K. Rowling does. I do not own "You Shook Me," which is a Zeppelin song.
Enjoy! Please r&r if you want!! And there's the slightest, itsy bitsy spoiler for book 5, but don't worry, it won't give anything away. There's one scene where they talk about their accomplishments, and the latter half—the stuff about Voldie—is totally made up. So no worries!
~*~
Early the next morning, the sun glared through the window. As the drapes had not been shut the night before, there was nothing from stopping the rays from shining—brightly—into Harry's eyes.
With a slight groan, he reached to his right, groping for his glasses, which he always kept on his nightstand.
But the nightstand wasn't there.
Harry blinked several times, trying to get his eyes to focus, but without his glasses he could barely see. Where was he?
It was then that Harry suddenly there was someone beside him. He peered at the figure, trying to make out who it was.
It sort of looked like…but it couldn't be…could it?
Oh my god! It is!
Hermione!
Harry began to panic silently. What happened last night? he wondered frantically. He tried to recall yesterday's events.
Lavender broke up with me, I wandered around aimlessly for several hours, came home, talked to Hermione, we kissed, then—
Ah.
He remembered how they'd kissed their way to her bedroom last night. Never once did they stop to think about, or even question, their actions. He could remember falling asleep with her curled up next to him, and how surprised he was at how strange it wasn't to be sleeping next to her.
Now, though, Harry wondered what would happen when she woke up. Would she regret what they'd done? Would she be freaking out? Would it ruin their extremely close friendship?
I should leave, before she wakes up, he decided, making to slide gracefully out of bed. But he stopped himself when he caught sight of her blurry profile.
I can't ditch her like this, he realized, settling back into bed. She's my best friend. I'll do the right thing and wait for her to wake up.
Besides, I can't find my glasses. Or my clothes.
Harry lay there for a few minutes until Hermione finally stirred.
Her eyes fluttered open and she gazed at him with unfocused eyes.
"Er, good morning," he said.
Hermione's eyes closed for a moment, then they opened wide with shock. "Harry!"
"Sleep well?" he asked lamely.
"Harry—you—we—we—" she stuttered, completely at a loss for words.
"I know," he replied tightly. "We've never done that before, have we?"
"No!" she exclaimed, her face turning pink.
"Um, do you think you could pass me my glasses? I think they're over there," he said, pointing to a small hazy shape on a larger hazy shape that could only be his glasses on a nightstand.
Carefully, Hermione reached over and passed him his glasses, taking care not to reveal any more of her body than her head and arms.
"Thanks," he said, slipping them on. Suddenly everything came into focus. "That's much better."
Hermione sank back into bed, a miserable expression on her face.
"Hermione? What's the matter?" he asked.
She didn't answer him; instead, she pulled the sheet closer to her body. She wouldn't meet his eyes.
"Hermione, about last night…look, we got carried away, that's it. You were being a good friend to me, and we got lost in the moment. It's no big deal."
She sat up, still hugging the sheet tightly around her. "But it is, Harry," she said in a soft voice. "It's a big deal because it's you. And me. It's us. It's a big deal to me."
Harry sat up too. "I didn't mean it like that, 'Mione. I just meant that it's nothing to worry about or get upset over."
"Didn't it mean something to you?"
"Of course it did. Like you said, it's us. It's different than being with just anybody."
For the first time since she woke up, Hermione smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."
Harry sank back into the mattress, resting against the pillows. Hermione followed suit but rested her head against his chest.
"We've been through a lot together, haven't we?" she asked softly.
Harry grinned. "Yeah. Like rescuing the Philosopher's stone—"
"—Figuring out what was in the Chamber of Secrets—"
"—Going back in time to rescue Sirius—"
"—Helping you get through the Triwizard Tournament—"
"—Going to the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry—"
"—Fighting with the Order against Voldemort and the Death Eaters—"
"—Saving the wizarding world and finally defeating Voldemort."
"Actually, you did that on your own," she pointed out.
"I couldn't have done it without your help," he said sincerely.
"And we're still best friends, after all that." She paused, then continued, "You know, after all that we've been through, last night doesn't seem bad anymore."
Harry laughed. "That's good to hear," he told her.
*
Half an hour later, they were both out of bed and dressed. They both pitched in to make a great breakfast of fresh waffles with strawberries, scrambled eggs, bacon and hash browns. As neither had eaten anything in many hours, they were famished.
Hermione could feel a slight tension hanging in the air. Sure, things had been fine and dandy while lying in bed, but now that they had showered and dressed, it was suddenly awkward. They'd be alone in the apartment until late afternoon, when Ron came home.
She turned the bacon over and decided to check on the waffles, which were warming in the oven, but Harry was blocking it, cutting up the strawberries on the counter space above.
"Er, I have to, um…" she said, pulling on the oven mitts.
"Right, sorry," he said, jumping out of the way. "I'll go check on the eggs."'
No, she groaned. I was going to do that after! The bacon and eggs were cooking on the same element.
As slowly as possible, she made sure the waffles weren't beginning to burn, but this task took about ten seconds. She glanced over her shoulder and watched Harry cook.
Hermione blushed furiously and suddenly as she tried to block out last night's events. True, she was still in mild shock over what had happened. But she couldn't deny to anyone—not even herself—that she had enjoyed it.
He must have sensed her watching him, because he turned around suddenly. Just as quickly, Hermione whipped around and began to fumble with the strawberries. "I'll just finished cutting these up," she said to the wall, trying to keep her voice as nonchalant as possible.
"All right," Harry replied, just as nonchalant.
Ten minutes later, breakfast was finally ready. They sat across from each other, eating furiously and avoiding each other's eyes.
Say something. Anything. Something is better than nothing, she kept on saying to herself.
"Um, Harry, I…" she said, unsure of where she was going with it.
Harry looked up expectantly.
"This is ridiculous!" she exclaimed suddenly. "We were fine half an hour ago. What happened?"
Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure."
"Last night didn't change anything between us, right?"
"No. No, of course not," he answered quickly.
Hermione frowned and pushed her plate away from her. "Harry? Why exactly do you think we…why did we let that happen?"
He shrugged again. "I don't know. Why did you kiss me?"
"Me, kiss you? Oh, no, you kissed me."
"Fine. We kissed each other. Happy?"
"Yes," she said sullenly.
"But you pulled me into your bedroom," he pointed out.
"I did not!" she insisted, but her cheeks flushed. She had, and she knew it.
Harry raised his eyebrows, and Hermione dissolved into giggles. She had to admit defeat. "Okay, fine! I did. But you didn't stop me."
"I didn't want to."
Hermione didn't know what to say to that, so she resumed eating. Her appetite was back, now that they had gotten some of the awkwardness out of the way. "Should we tell Ron anything?"
Harry shook his head. "No. I don't reckon he'd be pleased with us."
"Besides, it was just a one-time thing. Right?"
"Right."
"I mean, it was just a rebound thing."
"Yeah, exactly."
"Nothing to worry about."
"Mm-hmm."
So that's that, she thought. It's nothing.
But why doesn't it feel that way?
*
Harry flipped another page in the book he was reading, already forgetting what he had just read. He just couldn't concentrate. What happened last night was driving him mad.
We both agreed it was no big deal. So stop thinking about it! he commanded himself.
But he couldn't. On the contrary, it was all he could think about. He had been upset about Lavender; he'd been looking for some sort of comfort. And he'd found it.
Several hours later, though, it was turning into something more. It was no longer the result of him needing to get the break-up off his mind for a while. It was now the result of a new idea in the back of his mind.
Would it be so wrong? Really? I'm miserable about Lavender, she's miserable about all that stuff with Derrick. Why would it be so bad?
Because she's your best friend, and she'd never go for it. It's pointless thinking about it.
Harry slammed the book shut and flung it to the ground. He needed to get out of the flat for a while, go for a walk and sort out his thoughts.
He was just about to pull on his coat when Hermione came into the room. "I was thinking about taking a walk. Want to come?"
For Harry, that was it. Just the fact that they had had the same idea was reason enough to go ahead and suggest his idea. He didn't care if it was unorthodox for them. "Actually, I need to talk to you about something."
"Sure."
"I know that this is going to sound weird, but I had this idea—"
"You had an idea? That is weird," she teased.
"I had this idea," he repeated, talking over her. "I'm not sure if you'll go for it, but, well…I'm not seeing anyone, and you and Derrick are…"
"Broken-up," she filled in.
"Right. And since we're both not seeing anyone, I thought…oh, this is stupid. Never mind. Forget I mentioned it."
"No. Tell me."
"After last night, I thought we could have a fling or something. You know, have a little fun. Nothing serious."
Harry nearly cringed when he said this. He would've given anything to go back in time and keep his mouth shut. I am such an idiot! he thought, mentally cursing himself.
Hermione watched him for a minute. "So you're saying," she began very slowly, "you want to have a fling."
"It's just a suggestion."
Hermione studied him, obviously trying to determine whether or not he was kidding her.
"Sorry. Just forget it."
"Actually…okay. Sure."
"What?"
"It sounds like a good idea to me. It could be fun. No strings attached, right?"
"Right. But are you sure about this? This isn't usually the sort of thing you do."
Hermione smiled. "I know. But I want to. Really."
Harry was momentarily shell-shocked. He couldn't believe that she was actually agreeing to this! "Wow. Okay, great." He leaned in slightly to kiss her, then leaned back. How exactly was this going to work?
Hermione seemed to be thinking along similar lines. "Um, maybe we should…"
This time they both leaned in. It was a brief, slightly awkward kiss, but it was a start. Harry shook himself. If they carried on like this, the next little while would be a disaster. He took a moment to clear his head, then kissed her again.
This was the way he had intended on kissing her. It was a real kiss, like one from the night before. Growing intense, pulling her closer…
Hermione turned her head. "That's much better," she said softly. She stepped back. "This is just going to be between me and you?"
Harry nodded.
"Good."
They kissed each other again. There was no going back now.
~*~
*Sighs* That was quite pathetic, the ending is. It's so not what I wanted it to be, but I could not think of anything else to write. I promise promise promise the story will get loads better, something interesting is happening next chapter! It may involve Ron…hehehe. So anyways, hope you liked it and the next chapter is coming super soon. Please review! Thanks!
