Hey everyone, I edited this chapter, so it's slightly different than it was before, I thought that the fight was way too choppy and it happened too fast, so I kind of fixed that, there's still a bit of a fight but its resolved differently…hope you guys don't mind it…and YES I know it is extremely short…I've got final exams next week….don't have much time to do anything

Chapter 16

Hermione closed her eyes, slipping away into complete bliss as the moment she'd been dreaming about for years became a reality. Harry was being so gentle, so soft, so loving…handling her so carefully as if she was a china doll liable to break any minute, she wasn't used to this type of attention. The room seemed to be spinning in a whirl of emotions as they lost themselves in the moment.

However it was interrupted for a moment as Harry slowly pulled away and rested his forehead on hers, "I'm sorry Mione, I shouldn't have done that…I-I don't know how you feel, I shouldn't assume things…" he whispered breathlessly. Hermione felt a tear slip down her cheek and she shook her head in disbelief as Harry looked at her apprehensively, not having a clue what her actions meant.

"I'm so in love with you Harry" she said shakily, her eyes shining with happiness.

A small smile creeped across Harry's face and he looked down at her, his eyes filled with so many emotions it was hard to keep track of. "You couldn't even begin to imagine how good it feels to hear you say that" he said, sounding rather emotional.

"I think I can" she whispered before she kissed him gently, the pair smiling through their gentle kisses and Harry wrapping his arm around her waist as they lost themselves in their own little world of bliss.

Although she had wanted this to happen, Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit nervous as she felt Harry's need to kiss her more passionately. She was unsure of what she was supposed to do…she'd never kissed anyone so intensely before. Scratch that; she hadn't kissed anyone at all before.

Harry sensed her uneasiness and pulled away, seeing the uncertainty in her eyes. "What is it Hermione, am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked, praying that wasn't the problem.

Hermione shook her head, smiling at him reassuringly. "Of course you're not Harry, I just….erm…" she didn't finish her sentence as she looked down at her hands, fidgeting with her silver bracelet.

Harry watched her in confusion, "What's wrong Mione?" he asked again softly.

She muttered something under her breath but he didn't quite hear her.

"Sorry?"

She sighed and spoke up more clearly, but continued to avoid his eyes. "I've…erm…never really kissed anyone before" she said, blushing furiously, clearly thinking he would laugh at her

Harry was slightly surprised, but smiled at how adorable she was. He gently tilted her head up to look him in the eye, "That's nothing to be ashamed of Hermione, it's not like I'm some pro at it" he said in a soft voice, wanting to make her feel better. "In fact…I'm glad you told me that"

Hermione looked at him in askance, "Why would you be glad, don't you think it's awkward?" she asked, unable to believe they were talking about this as she blushed again with embarrassment.

Harry smiled at her affectionately, "Because that means I'm your first kiss, I consider myself extremely lucky" he said happily, "I'm rather surprised though, Krum really never kissed you?"

Hermione laughed lightly, "Definitely not"

"Well if this is your first then Hermione, I want to make it special for you" he said softly.

Hermione smiled as he kissed her delicately and lifted her up easily, placing her gently on his bed. He grinned as he crawled carefully on top of her and she felt all her anxieties slip away, surrendering to his sweet embrace.

Ginny entered the common room, looking only slightly less angry than she had when she'd left. She quickly scanned the room looking for Harry, thinking Hermione would surely be somewhere nearby. Unfortunately they were no where to be seen. She made an irritated noise in her throat and walked over to the one person who wasn't dancing.

"Have you seen Hermione?" Ginny asked Dean shortly.

"Yeah, she went upstairs a while ago looking pretty upset so…"

"Thanks" she said cutting him off before he'd even got the chance to tell her that Harry was with her.

He sighed and watched his sore tempered girlfriend rush up the stairs to the 6th year girl's dormitory.

No matter how annoyed she was feeling, Ginny wanted to find out what was wrong with her friend, but as she pulled open the door all she saw was a mess of clothes and make up. Hermione was no where to be found.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "That idiot doesn't even know what he's talking about" she said scowling, as she headed over to the boys dorm, thinking perhaps Harry was up here, and he ought to know where she was.

She turned the knob expecting it to swing open automatically. Nope, it was locked. Ginny growled, muttering to herself as she snatched her wand out of her pocket.

"Alohomora" she said fiercely, walking into the room silently, looking for Harry.

Ginny was taken aback and her eyes narrowed angrily as she saw him laying on top of some girl whose face she couldn't see, kissing her tenderly. Her anger for Hermione welled up inside her as she let it take over, not caring if the whole school heard her screaming.

"HARRY! You miserable prick!" she yelled, her eyes flashing as she walked quickly towards him.

Harry groaned as their moment was ruined, not exactly appreciating the 'miserable prick' comment either. Hermione tried to muffle her laughter as she hid her face in embarrassment at Ginny walking in on them.

"I can't BELIEVE you! How could you do this to…" she choked on her words as Harry smirked and simply raised himself up slightly, revealing Hermione's flushed face, laughter in her eyes.

Harry couldn't help but laugh at the absolutely priceless look on Ginny's face as she gawked at the two of them. Hermione soon joined him, the two of them positively glowing as they laughed together.

Ginny squealed as she got her voice back, "You finally told each other, I'm so happy for you two, you guys are so cute…look at you, I've never seen either of you looking so happy!" she continued rambling like this for a good couple of minutes before Harry interrupted her.

"Thanks Gin, I really would love to hear you talk about how adorable we are for an hour, but we were kind of in the middle of something here" he said and Hermione laughed, smacking him playfully on the head.

"Don't be so rude Harry" she said laughing lightly.

"I'm being rude? She's the one that interrupted the best few minutes of my life!"

Hermione practically melted at his words and smiled at how cute he was, "You know what Gin, I think I have to agree with Potter here." She said pointedly and the red head laughed, while Harry grinned.

"All right sorry, I'm out of here" she said walking out of the room, but couldn't stop herself from turning around one more time "I'm so happy for you two!" she said again. Harry gave her a look, and she quickly shut the door as she laughed.

The moment she was gone Harry re-locked the door with a quick flick of his wand from the side table. He turned to look at Hermione

Harry smiled and kissed her softly, "I should've kissed you the moment I met you"

Hermione returned the smile, "I agree" she said softly before she lifted her head up slightly to kiss him, her nervousness having left her completely.

Any remaining logical thoughts in Hermione's mind were seemingly slipping away as their kisses grew more intense. She felt Harry's tongue trace her lips and opened her mouth slightly as he kissed her passionately.

Harry felt Hermione tugging at his shirt and he wasted no time in helping her pull it off. Hermione ran her hands over his chest and shoulders, shivering pleasantly beneath him as Harry moved his own along her slender arms. He broke their kiss in need of air, but his lips travelled down to her neck as he sweetly placed soft kisses along the sensitive area.

Hermione bit her lip to stop herself from gasping at the feeling of desire he was eliciting inside her as he continued to caress her skin, his head buried in the crook of her neck. He slowly started making his way back up to her face, and smiled as she brought his lips to hers, kissing him intensely.

Harry's hands began to wander downwards, pushing her dress up slightly as he ran his right hand up her smooth leg, if he'd been able to think straight he wouldn't have done this at all, knowing Hermione wanted to go slow. But that was the problem, he couldn't think.

Hermione was abruptly brought back to reality as she felt Harry's hands on her thighs and realized if she didn't tell him to stop now; they might get a bit carried away.

Harry looked down at her in confusion as she pulled away from their kiss, "What's wrong?" he asked breathing harder than usual.

"I think we should stop" she said breathlessly.

"Why?" Harry asked, his hand still under her dress.

"I think we could do something we'll regret Harry" Hermione said quietly, "I'm just not ready for that"

Harry looked ashamed of himself, taking his hand away from her leg and rolling off of her. "I'm sorry Hermione, I got too carried away" he said quietly, "Damn you for being so irresistible" he added chuckling.

Hermione laughed, and blushed slightly. "I'd say you're the irresistible one Potter, look at you" she said smirking as she looked at her half naked best friend up and down.

Now it was his turn to blush. "Shut up Granger" he said laughing, getting of the bed to find his shirt.

Hermione sat giggling on the bed watching him as he found it and pulled it over his body, attempting to smooth out his messy hair and failing miserably.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked chuckling.

"It's hard to believe any of this actually happened I guess" she replied, getting up and looking for a moment, at the ground where'd they'd been sitting earlier.

Harry grinned and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her small waist, "I didn't think I'd ever be able to tell you" he said, "…and I certainly didn't expect you to answer the way you did"

Hermione put her arms around his neck to play with his hair, "Believe me, I was always thinking the same thing…should I tell him, shouldn't I…there's no way he likes me like that…" she said laughing.

He grinned and kissed her softly, "You were actually wrong for once."

"Thank god for that" she said happily

"Are you sure you don't want to just stay up here" Harry said hopefully but she just laughed at his eagerness.

"I don't want to waste the party, I'm sure you went through a lot of trouble to do it" she said, putting her arms back at her sides, but Harry didn't let go of her as he shrugged.

"Ginny helped a lot, and it was fun because it was for you…"

Hermione simply smirked at him.

"…but all right I give up lets go" he said laughing, reluctantly letting go of her.

"Hey wait a sec…" Hermione said as Harry walked towards the door. He turned around to look at her curiously.

"What? Did you change your mind?" he asked grinning.

"No..." she said laughing, "I just wanted to know…what are we going to tell everyone..?" she said rather awkwardly.

"And by everyone, you mean Ron" Harry said with a playful look.

"You know me too well" she said shaking her head.

"Okay…well we could tell him the truth and break his heart…" he said bluntly and Hermione winced at the thought, "Or, we could just keep it a secret from everyone…that way no one gets hurt"

Hermione sighed, "Well I really don't want to hurt Ron's feelings…" she started, and trailed off muttering something under her breath.

"What was that?" Harry asked, unable to hear what she'd muttered.

"Nothing…let's just not tell anyone about any of this" she said quickly, reaching out for the door, but Harry grabbed her wrist gently.

"Ron said something odd to you earlier didn't he?" Hermione turned around trying to look innocent.

"Why would you think that?" she asked avoiding the question.

"Because…before you said he'd made it clear that you weren't good enough for him...or some bullshit like that" he said, a feeling of anger bubbling inside him for a moment.

Hermione avoided the intense stare of Harry's emerald eyes, "He didn't say it to me, I just over heard him" she said, not looking at him.

"Well what did he say; I'm sure it wasn't true whatever it was." Harry said, trying to get her to look at him.

"He was talking to some girl…Lavender I think, and he was just saying some rubbish about how…how I looked last year and that he didn't understand why he'd thought he loved me" she said quietly, fidgeting with her dress.

"He said that he probably didn't even love me anyway" she finished, her eyes glassy as she sighed, still avoiding looking at Harry directly.

She'd expected him to comfort her, or at least start yelling about what an idiot Ron was, but he didn't.

"Why would you care if he doesn't love you…" he said slowly, and Hermione looked at him strangely, "…do you still have feelings for him or something?"

Hermione looked at him astounded, "What, of course I don't, why would you say that!!?" she said shocked.

"Well you seem pretty damn upset about it Hermione" Harry answered back, looking angry.

"Wouldn't you be hurt too if one of your best friends had said something like that about you?!" she replied getting slightly angry her self.

"Not if I knew someone else was head over heels for me, am I just not good enough for you??!" Harry was yelling now, and Hermione backed away from him, knowing how horrible his temper was, but she needed to stand up to him.

"Harry, listen this is complete nonsense, I love you, not Ron, I was just hurt all right?" she said calmly.

Harry looked away angrily, not answering. Clearly he couldn't think of something to say.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "What, now you're ignoring me? Real mature Harry"

Harry glared at her, and was about to say something but she wasn't finished.

"Merlin Harry, you're impossible! Here I am trying to tell you how hurt I was, and all you can think about is your bloody self! Like usual!"

"Like fucking usual!? What in the hell is that supposed to mean Hermione?!" Harry yelled. "I'm never thinking about myself, I'm usually to busy trying not to be bloody murdered!"

"Oh honestly Harry, don't try to get my with the old sympathy routine!" Hermione retorted, but regretted it as she saw the look of hurt on Harry's face.

"Is that really what you think of me Hermione? I'm just some attention seeking prat, always wanting everyone to feel bad for him, always wanting sympathy for his tough life?" he said in almost a whisper. "You think I want all the attention? Merlin Hermione, do you know me at all?"

Hermione suddenly felt guilty, feeling she should apologize but Harry cut her off.

"Maybe you are better of with Ron, Granger…you seem to be more in love with him than me anyway" he said fiercely, "You two would do well together, since you both agree I just LOVE getting attention for something I couldn't even control"

Hermione felt the tears welling up inside her…Harry had called her Granger, but not in a playful way. He was angry with her for something she hadn't even meant to say.

"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean it…" she started but he simply snorted cruelly.

She looked up at him, anger and jealously evident in his eyes. "Harry, why are we doing this?" she said quietly.

Harry looked at her sharply, "Why are we doing what?" he asked impatiently.

"Why are we fighting …everything was wonderful a moment ago…this night is supposed to be perfect" she said softly.

Harry simply stared at her, unwilling to speak. Something inside him knew she was right.

A tear slipped down her cheek as she looked up into his eyes, "Listen to me Harry" she said, putting both her hands on his cheek, making him look her in the eye. "I love you, not Ron or anyone else. There is nothing to be jealous about, nothing to be fighting about… I just want to be together, I don't want to be upset with each other…please" she tried to smile, as she looked at him waiting for some sort of response.

Harry looked at the hurt and desperate look in her eyes, and suddenly felt like a complete git. He gently wiped away a few of her tears with his thumb, "I'm sorry" he whispered softly, kissing her gently.

"Ginny was right earlier, I am a miserable prick" he added as he brought her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her small frame.

Harry heard Hermione's muffled laugh against his chest. "No you're not" she said, the smile evident in her voice.

Harry laughed as she pulled back to look at him. "I'm sorry about what I said Harry, I honestly didn't mean it" she said quietly. "I know you're not like that, I just…"

But Harry stopped her "Don't apologize to me Mione, I was being an idiot." He said quietly, ashamed of himself for starting the whole thing. "I didn't mean what I said either, I don't want you to go out with Ron because I want you all to myself" he added jokingly, easing the tension and making Hermione smiled gratefully for it.

"Hey you know what??" Harry said cheerfully and she grinned.

"What?"

"You've still got all your presents waiting to be opened down there" Harry said, nodding towards the door.

Hermione's eyes widened, "Everyone bought me a gift!?" she asked excitedly and Harry nodded.

"Oh I made sure of it Hermione" he said laughing and she grinned again, hugging him quickly before smoothing out her dress and heading towards the door.

"I think we ought to go then, don't you?"

Okay so that's the end of the chapter obviously…I'm not going to write anything else to do with the party because I just don't know what else could happen…I was going to get Harry to sing something to her, but then I thought that might be a bit toooo fluffy because honestly, when does that ever happen in real life. So yeah I know the party was a bit disappointing but oh well…not sure why I wrote that little argument in there…whatever. So for the person who asked why Hermione was upset about what Ron said I'm sure you know now hopefully. I'll try not to take so long with the next chapter…and if you have any suggestions PLEASE TELL ME THEM, I can always use suggestions, I may not use them but I still appreciate it…thanks! Please Review…