As Strong As We Are United
Chapter 21 – Dealing With It
Hermione awoke the next morning from a lovely dream about sleeping in Ron's arms after a night of erotic fun. She could still feel his body pressed against her back and his arm draped lovingly around her waist. "Mmm, I love you, Ron," she whispered softly.
"I love you too, Mione," he replied sleepily.
Two pairs of eyes snapped open at once. Hermione shrieked, as they flew apart to opposite sides of the four-poster bed. Ron could only say, "No," as if he were trying to convince himself that he was not naked in Hermione's bed. "No, no, no, no, no." It became like a mantra.
"Oh god," moaned Hermione, now fully awake and remembering the events of the previous night clearly, as she clutched the covers tightly around her.
The bedroom door flew open. "Are you alright, Mione?" asked Dawn and Shannon, as they entered the room to investigate the shrieking.
"Oh," was all Shannon could say, as she and Dawn took in the scene.
"Um, we'll just leave you to it then," mumbled Dawn, as she pulled her best friend out of the room and closed the door.
"Oh god," Hermione moaned again, as she dropped her face into her hands and began to cry.
This snapped Ron out of his shock. He quickly pulled on his pants, noticing briefly that the fastening had been torn, before moving close to Hermione. He tentatively placed his arms around her, and she began sobbing into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Mione. I'm just so sorry," he cooed softly to her.
After several minutes, Hermione regained her composure. "Are you sorry that we had sex?" she asked, needing some reassurance that he did in fact desire her.
"No. . . Yes. . . I don't know," replied Ron nervously. "I mean yes, I've wanted us to do that for ages, but not like this – not so. . . intense." He was not sure if that was quite the right word to describe all they had done the previous night.
Hermione smiled. "Me too," was all she could say.
These simple words seemed to give Ron the courage to tell her exactly how he was feeling. "I don't know what got into me last night. We were arguing, and it was like I just had to have you. And last night was incredible, but now I feel like I took advantage of you, and I hate feeling like this."
Hermione used her index finger to lift his chin, forcing him to meet her eyes. "You didn't take advantage of me. Whatever happened affected us both the same way."
"But. . ."
"Ron," Hermione interrupted. "It's kind of hard to feel taken advantage of when I was the one on top practically shouting out directions." She blushed deeply at the memory. "I always thought the 'scarlet woman' thing was funny, but now I actually feel like one. The first time just wasn't supposed to be like that. Later on, of course there would be times we'd get carried away. That's normal. But, the first time. . ."
"Should be special," said Ron, finishing her thought. "I had it all planned. I wanted to take you someplace special, tell you how much I love you. It was supposed to be slow and gentle." Ron's eyes suddenly widened, as he remembered the look of pain on Hermione's face during that first moment. "I hurt you," he said suddenly.
Hermione laughed. She could not seem to help it. "Well, one good thing about last night – I needed you so badly that I didn't give a second thought to the pain."
"I am sorry," said Ron softly.
"It's okay," replied Hermione. "I just wish I knew what came over us last night. It could have been some kind of charm or a potion maybe. Wait a minute, did you say you had our first time planned out?"
It took Ron a moment to follow the quick change of topic. He felt his ears burn, as he admitted to thinking about it a lot. "I've even been practicing the contraceptive charm. . ." His eyes grew wide yet again, and all the color drained from his face.
"What's wrong?" asked Hermione.
"We didn't do the charm," replied Ron in a rather squeaky voice.
"Don't worry about it," Hermione replied. It was obvious that she was deep in thought about other things, like what had come over them.
"Don't worry? I'm a Weasley. You know the family with the super high fertility." He was beginning to panic.
Hermione sighed. "Ron, there is no reason to worry because I've been taking the contraceptive potion for almost two months."
"Why?" he asked sharply.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Because you weren't the only one planning ahead," she snapped.
"Oh yeah, right. Sorry," Ron mumbled. "So what do we do now?"
"We get up and hopefully sneak you back to your room without any of the faculty noticing. Then after breakfast, I'll go to the library and see if I can figure out what happened to us," replied Hermione matter-of-factly.
"I mean about us," sighed Ron. "We can't take this back. It happened."
"I know," sighed Hermione. "But there will be other times that are less. . . intense."
"Other times? Do you mean you still want to?"
"Yes," replied Hermione quickly. "Um, I mean if you do?"
"Yes."
"Besides, it doesn't seem quite so scary anymore," Hermione added quietly.
"I do love you, Hermione," said Ron.
"I love you too, Ron." They kissed for several minutes. Hermione finally pulled away, knowing that if she didn't they would have a repeat of the previous evening, which would increase the likelihood of getting caught. "We really do need to figure out a way to get you out of here."
"Harry's cloak?" suggested Ron.
Hermione slipped out of bed, blushing slightly at the way Ron was drinking in the sight of her naked. She slipped on a robe and walked to the door. "I'll have Shannon get the cloak. You get dressed."
When Dawn, Shannon, and Hermione arrived at the Great Hall for breakfast, they found the Gryffindors to be unusually subdued. "What's going on?" Dawn asked Ginny, as they took their seats. Hermione had caught Ron's eye and was blushing deeply.
Ginny ignored Hermione's blush, though she had a pretty good idea of what must have happened, having watched Hermione chug a butterbeer at the party. Turning her attention to Dawn and Shannon, Ginny asked in a whisper, "You didn't hear about what happened last night?"
"No, what happened?" asked Dawn.
"Someone put amorphous potion in the butterbeers at the party last night," explained Ginny.
This got Hermione's attention. "Amorphous potion?" she asked.
"Yes," replied Draco, who as always was sliding into the seat next to Dawn's and stealing food from her plate. "It greatly increases the libido, while decreasing inhibitions."
"Oh," replied Hermione, her face a red that could rival the Weasley blush. Dawn patted Hermione on the shoulder, realizing what must have happened the previous night.
"Anyway," said Ginny, regaining her friends' attention. "It was a mess. McGonagall searched Gryffindor Tower, forcing everyone back to the common room. You don't know the meaning of embarrassing until you have McGonagall interrupt. . . Well, anyway, Snape gave everyone the antidote. But by then, let's just say that a whole lot of Gryffindors can't look each other in the eye this morning."
"How did McGonagall find out what was going on?" asked Shannon. "She usually keeps her distance from our parties unless we are being too loud."
"Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle were behind it," said Draco. "They were bragging about it to Pansy, Blaise, Millicent, and Morag. The girls reported what was happening to Snape and McGonagall. They were worried that someone might get hurt."
"I guess some Slytherins aren't all bad," mused Ginny.
"But why did they do it?" asked Hermione. "Was it some kind of sick joke?"
"They wanted Dawn to cheat on me; so, I would return to their side," replied Draco dryly. "It's kind of silly really, since lowered inhibitions won't cause you to do something totally against your nature."
"Like being drunk," added Shannon helpfully. "It's a great excuse to do something you always wanted to do anyway."
"Exactly," replied Draco.
Dawn shook her head. "I never even stayed at the party long enough to have a butterbeer."
"So, did Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle get punished?" asked Ginny.
"Snape was furious," Draco explained. "He wanted to expel them, but there was no hard proof that they were behind it. So, they each lost fifty points, they're off the quidditch team, and they have detention with Snape every night for the rest of the term."
"Good," replied Hermione nastily.
"Not for me," moaned Draco. "They deserve what they got, but now I'm down a Chaser and two Beaters."
"You should have Blaise try out for Chaser," suggested Dawn. Draco looked at her quizzically. "Trust me," replied Dawn to the unasked question. She glanced at her watch. "I have to go – meeting with Dumbledore about. . . well, you know."
Dawn met Buffy and Wesley outside of Dumbledore's office. "Are you ready?" asked Buffy.
Dawn nodded. "Where is everyone else?" she asked.
"We decided to keep it small," replied Buffy. "Actually, I thought you might be more comfortable if you didn't have to deal with this with everyone sitting around staring at you."
"Thanks," replied Dawn. She turned to Wesley. "No offense, but why you?"
"Because I've done extensive research on portals, not to mention actually traveling through one to a different dimension and managing to return," replied Wesley.
"Oh yeah, Pylea," Dawn thought aloud.
"Yes, Pylea," replied Wesley. "Shall we go up?" Dawn and Buffy nodded. "KitKat," said Wesley clearly, causing the gargoyle statue to move aside.
The three Scoobies stepped onto the moving staircase. "I didn't know that wizards had KitKat bars," commented Dawn, as they approached the door to the headmaster's office.
"They don't," Wesley informed Dawn. "But, the headmaster is known to indulge in Muggle sweets."
"So very true," agreed Dumbledore, as the three entered his office. "Wizards often don't give Muggles enough credit. Some of their inventions are so very impressive, such as their sweets."
"Not to mention their technology," quipped Dawn. "I still don't know how wizards survive without the Internet." Wesley looked nervously at Dawn, but her quip simply caused Dumbledore to chuckle.
"Please, do have a seat." Dumbledore indicated the three chairs that were in front of his desk.
After everyone was seated and had declined the headmaster's offer of lemon drops, Wesley spoke. "Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, sir."
"No problem at all. What is it that I can do for you?" asked Dumbledore.
"Yesterday, I accidentally opened a portal," Dawn blurted out quickly.
"Ah," replied Dumbledore. "I had a feeling this might happen."
"You did?" asked Buffy. She was annoyed. It seemed that Dumbledore never gave out information until it was absolutely necessary. A little bit of warning might be nice for a change.
"Dawn is the Key. It is her nature to open doorways between difference times and places. As she has learned to bend her innate magic to her will, it was inevitable that she would eventually learn to control the nature of the Key," replied Dumbledore.
"But why couldn't you have warned her of this?" asked Buffy, her anger becoming apparent to the others in the room.
"Because it was not my place. Sometimes we need to allow our abilities to develop naturally. If I had said anything a year ago, Miss Summers may have attempted to force these abilities before she was ready to deal with them. She needed to first learn to deal with her magic at a more general level."
Buffy began to speak again, but Dawn interrupted. "That makes a lot of sense, Professor Dumbledore, but what do I do now?"
"Miss Summers, will you please explain to me the exact circumstances at the time that you opened this portal?" Dumbledore requested.
Dawn nodded. "Draco and I were sitting in the Scooby common room. He had just finished bandaging my hand. I had a cut across my palm from the fall with Harry on the quidditch pitch. When I got the bandages from my room, I forgot the tape."
"Willow has been teaching us a wandless summoning charm. So, I thought I would try it. I pulled some magic toward my fingertips and said, 'Accio tape.' Instead of the tape, I got a small portal."
"And, how did you close the portal?" asked Dumbledore.
"Willow told me to focus on my magic and pull it back in," replied Dawn.
"Now, Miss Summers, this is very important. The hand that you used to summon the tape, was it the hand that you had cut?"
"Yes."
"And was the cut still bleeding?"
"Yes."
"I see," replied Dumbledore. He sat back in his chair, steepling his fingers in front of him. At that moment, the silence in the room seemed deafening to Dawn.
Dumbledore finally spoke. "I believe that the portal opened because of the conscious use of your magic in combination with your blood. It is most likely that the portal you opened led to the place where your tape resided."
"So it wasn't to another dimension?" asked Dawn. She was not sure if she was feeling relief or disappointment.
"Doubtfully," replied Dumbledore, "unless you were focusing on a specific dimension at the time that you focused your magic to the place where your blood was spilled."
"So I could open a portal to another dimension then?" asked Dawn.
"You could, but I would not recommend it except under the most dire of circumstances."
"What should Dawn do now?" asked Buffy apprehensively.
"It is up to her whether or not she wants to develop her ability," replied Dumbledore.
"I do," Dawn responded immediately. "I do."
"Well then I suggest you begin with a theoretical basis. You may want to begin by reading Portals: Gateways between Worlds by Portia Plumeri and Time and Space Travel by Starre Tresky. I will have Professor Vector recommend some additional books and make himself available to you if you have any questions."
"Once you understand the theory, you can begin practicing within controlled conditions. I would suggest that we ask Professor Rosenberg to help at that time. She is one of the few witches powerful enough to close a portal on her own if it becomes necessary."
"Should we worry about it happening again unintentionally?" asked Wesley.
"As long as Dawn does not attempt wandless magic when she has an open wound, there should not be a repeat of yesterday's events," replied Dumbledore.
Dawn, Buffy, and Wesley left the headmaster's office shortly thereafter. "I'm going to run to the library and check out those books Dumbledore suggested," Dawn informed Buffy and Wesley before taking off to the library.
"I think everything will be fine," Wesley assured Buffy.
Buffy smiled. "It's amazing how much you've changed, Wes. Do you mind contacting Giles and letting him know what Dumbledore said? I'm going to take a nap before our training session this afternoon."
Dawn found Hermione sitting at a table in the back of the library. "How did your meeting go?" Hermione asked.
"It was good," replied Dawn. "I'll tell everyone about it before training this afternoon. So what are you up to?"
"Just a bit of potions study," replied Hermione vaguely.
"The amorphous potion, by any chance?"
Hermione blushed. "I wanted to better understand the effects."
"You mean that you want to make sure that Ron really wanted to be with you. Trust me, he does. Anyone who has seen the way he looks at you would know that," assured Dawn.
"Really?"
"Yes, really. So, seriously, are you two okay after last night?"
"I think so," replied Hermione. "We talked this morning – well, after we got done freaking out."
"So now I really am the last virgin, huh," joked Dawn. Both girls broke into a fit of giggles until Madame Pince told them to either be quiet or leave.
"I have to check out two books about portals that Dumbledore suggested," explained Dawn, as she stood.
"Which ones?" asked Hermione. Dawn told her. "There are a few other good ones as well," replied Hermione, walking immediately to the correct shelves and pulling several books for Dawn.
"You really do spend a lot of time here," Dawn commented.
Hermione shrugged. "Arithmancy is my favorite subject. I'm always doing extra reading for that class."
"We should take these books back to the common room" suggested Dawn.
"You just want to tell Draco everything that's going on," replied Hermione knowingly.
"Protecting the Key is his childhood dream. I wouldn't want to disappoint him." The girls again dissolved into a fit of giggles. With an annoyed look from Madame Pince, they checked out their books and left the library.
Charlie woke Buffy just before lunch. "Come on, Sleepyhead. Time for lunch."
Buffy opened her eyes and frowned. "Can't I skip it and sleep until training?" she whined.
"No," replied Charlie. "You need to eat. But, if you're willing to see Madame Pomfrey. . ."
"No. Dawnie's right. That woman always wants everyone to spend the night even for a little cold."
"But she could at least give you some Pepper-Up potion to make you feel better."
"Charlie, I feel fine. I'm just tired. Things have been crazy lately. I've been doing more in training sessions and class because of Faith being pregnant, and then last night we were out to a crazy late hour."
"I thought Slayers didn't need as much sleep as the rest of us," Charlie teased.
"Yeah well, for a Slayer I'm old. Old people need more sleep. Maybe I'm starting to need what a normal person does."
Charlie sighed. "Isn't there anything I can do to get you out of bed?"
"Nope," replied Buffy, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him toward her. "But you can join me. I still have an hour before training, and right now I choose you over food." Charlie looked torn for a moment. Buffy huffed at him. What was it with Weasley men and their stomachs? "You can always go visit the kitchens while I'm in training with the kids."
"Okay then," agreed Charlie, capturing Buffy's lips.