A/N: Since I had a lot of time to write with a blocked account, I'll just give you a bunch of chapters at the same time. Please review all of them though, I love reviews. :-)
Chapter 32 - Confrontation
The kiss quickly fanned their desire and Hermione felt herself being yanked from her seat at the table and swept off her feet with such force that her chair and one of her glasses fell to the floor with a crash. The crystal shattered when it hit the stone and spread its red contents over the grey surface. Neither of them even noticed.
He carried her over to the bed, brandishing his wand and getting rid of the ridiculous rose petals before putting her down on it and covering her body with his. There was an urgency to her movements which he recognised as a sign of great emotion. In the Library, she had behaved much the same, when she was trying to suppress her feelings through physical pleasure. This time, however, he had a feeling that she was doing the exact opposite – she was trying to express the depth of her emotions for him. It was really quite touching. And very unsettling.
"Deshabilio" He felt his clothes vanish and then, as she repeated the charm, hers as well. He quickly snatched his wand back.
"Reverso" Her clothes came back, except for the skirt, and he felt the tickling sensation of lace against his skin. She looked up at him, dismay written all over her face.
"No," she whispered in his ear, wrestling for the wand he was holding behind his back. "I'm sure you have a lot of nice plans for me in these pretty things, but now is not the time. I want you. All of you. Now." He yielded his wand and felt her underwear vanish a second time, leaving warm, smooth skin under his hands and body.
"Tactilio" A red light emerged from the wand and surrounded both of them for a few seconds before it went away. In its wake was a new sensation, like every nerve in his body had suddenly become ten times more sensitive. He knew the spell, it was a Sensitivity Charm, usually used by mediwizards when they examined their patients. He'd never pictured it used in this way before, but smiled at her inventiveness.
Hermione placed the wand on the bedside table and concentrated fully on the sensations in her body. The Sensitivity Charm and the alcohol combined made her skin tingle wherever she came in contact with him. She placed a hand on his heart and felt it beat, hard and fast. She wanted more, and with a quick, fluid movement, she wrapped her arms and legs around him, kissed him hard and pulled him into her.
They both gasped at the contact and became very still, looking into each other's eyes in wonder. Finally, Severus moved again, one long slow stroke, concentration written all over his face. They both let out another gasp.
"Do you feel that?" he said, his voice sounding very strained.
"It's amazing," she whispered back. "It's like I can feel… I don't know exactly… what you feel I guess. It's like I'm in both our bodies at the same time." She moved against him and echoed his sharp intake of breath. "God, I never knew how good it felt for you when I did that."
"I'm equally stunned," he assured her, clasping his eyes tightly shut as he moved slowly, enjoying the double sensation. "I guess this explains why you women can't have sex without falling in love – this is bloody unbelievable!" He kissed her hard, trying to keep control over his body as the new sensations flooded his system.
"Give me my wand." His voice had an urgent ring to it.
"Why?" she responded breathlessly, as she ran her hands over his thighs to see how her touch felt there.
"Because unless I cast an Endurance Charm, this experiment will be over very quickly," he said in a very dry voice. Smiling knowingly, she handed it to him.
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Ron Weasley awoke to a feeling of considerable pain and disorientation. He was very cold, his head hurt and he felt empty inside. He looked around and found that he was sitting in a small cave, surrounded by darkness. Silence was complete and he felt as though the world had ceased to be. For a moment, he wondered if he was dead.
Memory slowly came back to him and as soon as it did, he wished it hadn't. The fight with Hermione, the traces of another man's presence in her bedroom and the conversation between her and Harry replayed in his mind until he thought he'd go mad. He still couldn't believe that his best friends would betray him in such a way, but what he'd seen left him in no doubt of their present relationship. He wondered how long it had been going on for. The conversation he'd overheard that morning had made it sound like last night had been their first together… His insides suddenly froze. Was that the reason she'd said she didn't want to be with him anymore? She wanted Harry all along? He'd thought she'd been flirting with Harry to make him jealous. What if it was the other way around? Or had she gone to Harry because she was upset they had broken up? Was it a comfort-thing? A million different thoughts were flying through his mind, making his throbbing head hurt even more. He had to get some answers.
With a determined sigh, he stood up, swayed a little from the pain in his head and the soreness in his frozen body, picked up his broom and kicked off into the air.
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A few hours later he landed on Hermione's window sill. He'd been hovering outside for a minute, wanting to make sure that she was alone in there. Knowing that she was sleeping with his best friend didn't mean he wanted to actually catch them at it. He jumped down to the floor and looked around the room. Empty.
He walked over to the bed and spotted a white card lying next to a box with a silver ribbon. He picked it up, not wanting to read what it said but incapable of stopping himself.
Wear this.
Only this.
Rage descended on him as he crumpled up the note and threw it into the fire with a loud cry. So she'd gone to him again, had she? How could they? How could they do this to him? He remembered Harry's fervent promises from a couple of months ago, could see him before his eyes, begging him to believe that he didn't have a shred of interest in Hermione. Liars!
Ten seconds later, he was pounding his fists against the door to Harry's chambers.
"Harry, open up! I knew she's in there!" he shouted, anger having taken him over completely. He could hear muffled voices from inside the room, feet moving hastily over the floor. After what felt like a small eternity, Harry opened the door.
"Ron, please calm down, I can explain –" His hair was even messier than usual and he was wearing only his Gryffindor bathrobe. He looked very nervous.
"Don't fucking tell me to calm down! How could you Harry? You're supposed to be my best friend!"
"I know, I'm really sorry –"
"Sorry?! You're sorry?!" Ron let out a disbelieving snort. "Sorry doesn't fucking cover it! Where is she?" His eyes went around the room, looking for a sign of Hermione.
"Ron, please just listen!" Harry pleaded. "I know I should have talked to you about it first, but things just sort of happened, I –"
"Just happened, eh? Seems to me like the timing was a little too bloody convenient for the two of you to just 'start happening'! How long has this been going on behind my back?!"
"It hasn't, I promise! We only really got together a few days ago. I wanted to tell you today, but I haven't seen you at all. Where have you been?"
"Well, let's just say that I happened to see something this morning that made me want to get away for a while," he said in a sarcastic voice. Harry visibly blanched.
"Nice to know that my friends are so loyal to me," he continued. "No wonder you almost got sorted into Slytherin! For fuck's sake Harry! She's my –"
"I know, I know!"
"You've broken the code! That's like the worst thing you can do to your best friend! You don't go after your best friend's mother, sister or girlfriend! You just don't! Except you did," he finished with a snarl.
"I know. I don't know what to say."
"Do you love her?" Harry could tell that Ron was having difficulty getting the question out, he almost choked on the words.
"Yes," he answered softly. "I know what she means to you Ron, and I'm really sorry you had to find out this way, but… what can I say? She's a great girl, and she means more to me than I can even express. And she claims she loves me too! How could I refuse that?" He looked at him with a pleading look in his eyes. "I understand that you're angry, and I figured you would be, but I honestly didn't think you'd take it this hard. I actually thought you'd be a little happy for us…"
"Happy?!!! Are you completely insane?!!! Why would you shagging my girlfriend make me happy?!!!" he shouted. Harry looked completely thrown.
"What?!" was the only thing he could get out. Ron looked at him with a murderous look in his eyes.
"Don't even think about denying it!" he shouted. "I saw you together, having your sickening-sweet 'day after'-talk. I saw your hair on her pillow! I saw the note on her bed, telling her to come here tonight for 'dinner'! You're sleeping with Hermione, Harry, don't deny it."
"What?!!!" came an outraged voice from the bedroom. The next moment, Ginny appeared in the doorway, wrapped only in a sheet. She had her wand in her hand and looked positively livid.
"What the fuck is my sister doing here?!!" Ron screamed as he saw her. "And why is she wearing nothing but a bloody sheet?!" Ron's wand was out as well now, pointed straight at Harry's heart.
"Expelliarmus" Both of the Weasley's wands flew out of their hands before they had even noticed that Harry had reached for his. He pointed his wand at both of them and motioned them over to the couch. They reluctantly complied, each shooting daggers with their eyes.
"Ok, let's sort this out," Harry said, trying to keep his voice calm. Ron and Ginny immediately started shouting again and he put a swift Silencing Charm on both, before he turned to the eldest Weasley.
"Ron, I assure you that I have never slept with Hermione." He then turned to Ginny and repeated the same thing. "I have broken the 'Code', and for that I am very sorry, but I've never slept with your girlfriend! It's your sister I'm in love with," he finished silently, looking at Ginny with glowing eyes. He then lifted the Silencing Charm and braced himself for their onslaught. None came. Ron was staring at Ginny, who blushed and averted her eyes. Finally, Ron spoke:
"But I saw your hair on her pillow and I heard you talking about having had sex this morning! How do you explain that?" he said, a challenging look on his face.
"I don't know what you heard, Ron, but I can assure you that you misunderstood the situation. I was not in Hermione's bed last night, and I think Ginny can back me up there." They both looked at Ginny, who blushed again.
"I still saw what I saw!" Ron shouted, getting wired up again. "If you didn't sleep with her, how did your hair end up in her bed?!"
"It wasn't mine," Harry said silently. "I can't tell you whose it was, because Hermione swore me to secrecy. She has a lover, Ron. I'm sorry. I just found out this afternoon myself. She's really upset about the mess she's made of everything, but she says she can't give it up. She actually loves the guy." His face was stony as he said this and he had to fight hard with himself not to let the disgust he felt about Hermione and Snape surface. Ron couldn't know. Nor could Ginny. The ritual was too important for the secret to leak out. He and Dumbledore had agreed that Ginny should be told she needed Occlumency lessons because dating Harry made her even more of a target. He, Dumbledore, Hermione and Snape would be the only ones who knew about the ritual.
"It's Neville, isn't it?!" Ron said with disgust. "I'll flay that little bugger…"
"It's not Neville," Harry said in a sharp voice. "I can't tell you who it is, so stop guessing!"
"Tell me!" Ron was yelling now. "Accio wand!" His wand flew into his hand and he pointed it at Harry. "I don't want to fight you, Harry, so just tell me who it is!"
"No." Harry's wand pointed back at him. "Don't do this, Ron, please don't."
"Tarantellegra!" he shouted.
"Protego!" Harry yelled, and the curse was deflected. It ricocheted off one of the walls and hit Ginny square in the face. Her legs started twitching wildly and she fell, hitting her head at the corner of the marble table as she fell.
"Ginny!" Harry called, dodging a Jelly-legs hex from Ron as he ran to her. Ron didn't seem to notice that his sister was lying on the ground. From the looks of it, anger had made him snap completely.
"Stupefy!" Harry cried. Ron tried to duck, but the spell hit his shoulder and he fell to the ground, becoming motionless. Harry quickly crawled over to Ginny and felt her pulse. It was still there and he let out a sigh of relief. Her legs were still moving, so he said a Finite Incantatem and she lay still. Blood was streaming from a wound at the side of her head where she's hit the table and he tried to stem it with a piece of cloth that he'd torn from his bathrobe. Worry written on his face, he lifted her up in his arms – sheet and all – and hurried towards the Hospital Wing.
Twenty minutes later, he was looking at both their faces, pale and ghostly in the moonlight. Madam Pomfrey had mended Ginny's wound in a matter of seconds and said that she would be "as good as new" after a good night's sleep. He'd asked her not to wake either of them up for a while longer, until he'd had the time to speak to the Headmaster. She'd looked at him in a strange way but agreed without asking any questions.
He hurriedly walked down the stairs and almost ran down the corridors to Dumbledore's office. There, he gave a quick summary of the night's events. The Headmaster told him to find Hermione and bring her back to his office. With dread in his heart, he walked down the steps towards the dungeons.