Chapter 2- A Burning Sensation

ZzZzZzZzzzzzzzZzZzZzZ

Neville stared out the rain streaked window. Memories he wished were gone danced in front of his eyes as he squeezed them together. Tears escaped and he sobbed, low and harsh.

"I'm sorry Mom and Dad. I'm so sorry..."

---------

Hermione walked into the room she shared with Neville. After the initial surprise and the reminiscing, he had put clothes on and they had agreed to share the room. (A/N: Oh darn! I shouldn't have made him put clothes back on!) Neville had told her that there weren't any more rooms available, but just in case, she had decided to ask Mrs. Weasley. Neville had been a tad forgetful in their school days and it wasn't that she didn't trust him, she just wanted to make absolutely sure. Turns out, he was right. So she pulled her luggage- and hormones- together and unpacked her things.

The room they shared was warm and cozy. The four poster bed with the canopy served for all practical purposes and they had their own bathroom. The built-in bookshelves had delighted Hermione and she had found that Neville also had his own space for his pet plants. They agreed that Hermione would get the bed while Neville transfigured the couch.

A few days after the Hallway Incident, Hermione absently pulled off her coat and went to sit on the comfy chairs by the window. It had been a muggy rainy day so there wasn't much of a view, but the chairs were the most comfortable things she had ever sat on. Not bothering to look, she got her latest book ("Accio Libro!") from the bookshelf and plopped down. She sighed in contentment and proceeded to go to her Happy Place.

Neville watched in amusement as she went through these little rituals. Although out in the field she was one of the best people to watch your back, put her in comfortable, familiar surroundings and she became oblivious to everything but the task at hand. Which most of the time, was reading. Sitting almost across from her, Neville glanced over her features, remembering the way he used to feel whenever she was near. For someone so smart, she had been totally oblivious to his crush on her back in Hogwarts. Not that it mattered anyways. She had spent most of her time with Harry and Ron. Why would she have looked at him for something more than friendship? Compared to her best friends, he wasn't worth much. At least back then he wasn't. Sometimes he wondered at their stupidity. How could they not see how beautiful she was?

He gazed over her features as she read, blind to his observations. Hair that had been frizzy in their school years had calmed down with age, becoming wavy. Her facial features had matured to that of a woman's, no longer looking like a child. One of her greatest assets, he thought as his eyes raked over her body, were her curves. Although not a stick, she had something to hold onto, especially on top and, unlike most women he knew, he had never heard her say that she thought she was fat.

Hermione felt like two lasers were burning into her chest. She looked up and saw Neville staring intently at her chest. She looked down to see if she had a stain or something on her shirt, when she realized that he was staring at her breasts.

"Neville!"

"What?!" he cried as she threw her book at him.

It caught him neatly by his eye, and the cry of surprise became one of pain as she realized it was a hardcover book she had thrown at him. A hardcover book with sharp pointy edges.

"Ow! Oh SHIT!"

"Oh my gosh! Neville, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! I just didn't want you staring at my- uh, never mind. Here let me help you."

She took his arm and led him to the bed. Reaching into the drawer she took a salve out to stop the bleeding.

"Now close your eyes, this will help."

Hermione took some salve out with her finger and spread it on his wound. She had forgotten that this particular salve became a liquid in cold temperatures and she accidentally splashed some onto her shirt. She waited while the salve repaired the cut in his cheek. She grimaced at how deep she had cut him. Jeez, who knew books could be weapons? When the salve was finished healing, it left a small scar, making him look slightly dangerous.

"Feel better?" Hermione asked.

"I guess so. You know you didn't have to throw your book at me! I could have been killed!" Neville exclaimed as he got used to the feeling of now-scarred skin. Hermione held a small mirror out to him so he could inspect the damage. It felt like his skin, yet a little bit tighter in some areas. He stared at her and realized that they were only inches apart on the bed.

"Maybe if you hadn't been staring at my chest, I wouldn't have had to throw the book. Hmph!" She stood up and pointed her wand at the spilled salve to clean it up. Then something happened that Hermione had never ever done before.
For one who mastered most charms on the first or second time this came as a total shock. Instead of cleaning the salve off of her shirt, the salve burst into flames. She stood there watching the flames, stunned mute, as one thought went through her mind:

I've pulled a Seamus and set myself on fire!

Neville, on the other hand, knew exactly what to do. Being in close proximity to Seamus all those years in the classroom had honed fast reflexes. His wand wasn't on him but he learned from Muggle Studies that Muggles would squelch fire to put it out. He did the only thing that came to mind then.

Neville threw Hermione on the bed and fell on top of her. Hermione grunted as the air was knocked out of her lungs. Neville rolled them around until the blanket was pulled tight about them and the fire was out. He looked down on Hermione.

"Are you okay?" he asked, moving the hair out of her face.

"Neville I- I- can't - Breathe! Get off!"

The blanket was pulled tight around them, so he rolled onto his back. Hermione felt them shifting and breathed in deeply as his weight was taken off. When she got her breath back, she realized how pressed together they were, because she could feel all of him underneath her. Not that was bad, mind you, but it was a little, strange.

Neville smiled in amusement as Hermione started breathing a bit more normally. Although it sounded like she had just run a marathon, at least she was breathing. She was still lying on top of him, her shirt half burned off. As her breathing got back to normal it reminded him of...other things. Wow, if anyone walked in right now they would think we just had sex.

Suddenly the door burst open and in walked Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Fred & George.

ZzZzZzZzzzzzzzZzZzZzZ

How's that, my band of small but faithful readers? Sorry it took so long but then again I got writers block for the first time ever and then the chapter I thought I was going to put up seemed really stupid so I totally re-wrote it into this. Not only that, but I typed the whole thing with out using my middle or pointer finger on my left hand because it's all taped up from an injury. So HA! Well go on, review or something!