PLEASE READ: I delete seven chapters today
because I realized how badly my toll of reviews dropped from this
chapter forwards, I'm going to try and re write those chapters so
that my reviewers remain happy. Sorry for any inconveniences. And
yes, it WILL follow the same plot, only without that whole
catastrophe with Kate and Sean...
For everyone else: my MSN is
... add me if you feel like chillaxing and
talking about Harry Potter. I love rumors and talking about the
upcoming
books.
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Harry entered Hermione's office without
so much as one pickup line or crude comment it actually made Hermione
nervous. She could feel him watching her (not in an I'm-a
creepy-peeping-tom kind of way either, which was a nice change) sort
through her papers, and close several text books.
"I want to
apologize." Harry said, sounding rather strained. Obviously he
hadn't had much practice with apologies. Hermione cocked her head
curiously as Harry avoided eye contact. "For the whole thing last
night...I mean thanks to Jake it's all over the school, and I know
the other girls didn't take it too nicely..."
Hermione was dumbstruck. Harry doesn't apologize, what is this? Sure it was true the other girls were not being so nice to her since she 'shot down' Harry. Unless they thought magically super gluing every page of all of her text books together was nice... which Hermione thoroughly doubted.
"Actually, that's a lie." Harry said, he seemed more sure of what he was saying now. "I need to apologize for making your job difficult."
A look of uncertainty dawned on Hermione's face. It was true they were making no progress, but she seriously doubted it was because of his come ons. She could handle herself. How so like Harry to assume it was his fault entirely. So egoistical. Just like his cronies.
But she managed to see past that. SEAMUS, Hermione reminded herself. Think of Seamus.
Hermione shrugged and looked away from Harry placing her hands upright on the desk. "Close your eyes." She commanded.
Harry places his palms on Hermione's, ignoring her command. "I'm an Animagus." He whispered, his eyes darting to the inanimate paintings around her office. In this castle, the walls did indeed have ears. And unfortunately mouths as well.
"What?" Hermione hissed, standing up. That totally changed everything. Chances are he was just kidding, but seriously, Animagi have completely different learning plans than wizards. "Harry. Are you kidding?" Hermione's face was flushed with anger. If he wasn't they would have t re-track all of their advancement so far, and Harry had been doing pretty well. Restart. Game Over.
"Look, I didn't know until a while ago that it made a difference okay? I was going to tell you last night, but you wouldn't let me." He stammered. Hermione shook her head and moved to storm away, kind of mad that that was what the rose was for, and also made that her time had been seriously wasted.
"Yeah Harry? Well it did." She said. She had been hoping to be back home by Easter, but now that was hardly likely. It would take as long, if not longer to get him back to his original state of mind.
"Come on Hermione, you can tell me you didn't enjoy these late hours and hot tub meetings that we've had together." Harry said with a wink, trying to salvage the conversation.
Harry, these late hours and hot tub meetings and you making me shoot you down in the hallway have let to my unhappiness at this school." Hermione snapped, opening her door and striding into the hallway.
It hurt her that Harry didn't try to follow her at all
Hermione opened the door to the fifth year bathroom and stepped in, closing her eyes and letting the swirls of mist tickle her skin. She really needed a bath or something to calm down. She actually let herself be hurt my Harry, that wasn't good cause it meant she was letting herself like Harry, which was really bad. Especially because of Seamus.
And now Harry was an Animagus... Perfect.
Though she did know how to counter the training they had already covered, it would take a lot longer that she had hoped for. Not for the first time Hermione wondered what Animagus form Harry was. And what his point of focus was. His happy thought.
Hermione undid her dressing gown and slid into the warm water, turning a few taps to get the jets and bubbles going. She leaned back against the edge of the tub and closed her eyes, breathing once, deeply. She remembered what she had seen in Harry's mind the last time she had been here...
'I wonder how Kate feels about that...' Hermione thought, sculling her hands in the water before her. It struck Hermione that Harry had probably been with several more girls than just Kate. From what she saw, he wasn't a beginner. Hermione dunked her head under water, holding her breath and thinking about Seamus.
She could still smell the pungent stench of old blood and burning flesh. She could taste the smoky air and feel her arms around Seamus as he took his last scraggly breaths. The accident had been a few hours before Hermione found him, and it made Hermione's heart ache to think of how long he was lying there, being eaten away by the acid of his own experiment. All because he wanted to find out how to burn the connection between Voldemort out of Harry's blood.
'I guess he didn't figure out how to burn only Voldemort's power." Hermione thought, emerging from the water gasping for air. She opened her eyes, and even through the blur and sting of the soapy water she could see Harry sitting across from her.
"Harry..." She asked, rubbing the soap from her face and hair, staring deeply into Harry's eyes. He was so close that Hermione could almost hear his breathing, and his heart beating. Harry leaned forwards, eyes closed. "This is the girls bathroom." Hermione finished, edging away with a look of disgust on her face.
Harry sighed loudly. "You ruin everything." He complained a small smile alight on his face like he had just won something. "And I was in here not two days ago with you. Alone." He whispered suggestively.
"Working." Hermione replied, emphatically.
"Well I thought the best way to get a jump start on things would be the start right away, More Natural." Harry replied, grinning innocently at Hermione.
"Harry. I'm naked. And alone in a hot tub with you. You saw what happened last time." Hermione reminded him, shifting away as he drew closer.
"I'm naked too."
"That's not comforting!" Hermione cut him off shrilly.
"Just calm down and take my hands." Harry instructed, ignoring her and holding his hands out just below the surface of the water and closing his eyes. Hermione closed her eyes, but crossed her arms self consciously across her chest.
"Haha!" Harry said triumphantly. "You see how hard it is?" And Hermione did indeed, so Harry crossed his own arms across his chest and closed his eyes again.
Hermione had managed to break through Harry shield several times, which she took as a good sign because it meant her backwards process was working. Finally, after the water had nearly turned cold and she was sore all over, Hermione opened her eyes.
Harry's face was quite close to hers, and he had a look of complete sincerity and seriousness on her face. Hermione thought it looked rather out of place. "Harry?" She asked quietly.
Harry didn't answer, he merely pressed his lips against hers, his hands roping around behind her back. All the thoughts she had been having about Seamus, and Harry and Kate and not liking Harry vanished in a split second and she responded instinctively, running her own fingers up Harry's smooth back and around his neck.
In truth her and Seamus had never actually kissed. They had gone out for seven months and only ever gotten to holding hands in the hallways and quick pecks goodbye. This was no peck on the lips.
Hermione could feels every single inch of her the was pressed up against Harry. Pinpricks of heat where his fingers tips mad contact with her shoulders and back. She had never even imagined what a muscular male stomach would feel like, but that's just because she' so pure and innocent. Between reveling at how smooth and taunt (and alarmingly pale) Harry's skin was as it stretched over his chest and shoulder muscles, Hermione thanked no one in particular for the small gift of having her hair be sopping wet. Then there was no bushiness to deal with.
"Hermione? Are you in here?" someone called.
"FUCK" Harry whispered frantically. "That's Kate" He lurched away from Hermione, but not before Kate had appeared at the side of the pool.
"Hermione, there you are. Jake is looking everywhere for--" She trailed off catching sight of Harry. Hermione could almost see the wheels in her brain turning as she figured out what had just been happening, or about to happen.
"Harry..." She whispered quietly, her brows furrowing together. "I thought that you and me...I mean...I thought we..." Hermione glanced at Harry, who was avoiding eye contact and looking rather uncomfortable.
"Kate... I know I might have said things... but honestly it didn't mean anything. It was just fun right?" He asked, laughing nervously.
Hermione his her forehead with her palm. She had known Kate liked Harry. And DAMNIT she had done it again. All this was getting really repetitive. She shot a glare at Harry, and he wasn't really helping. Screw saying it was just another lesson, lets just ump right to the shooting Kate down, one day after everyone thinks we boned in this very hot tub. 'They'll have us bearing children before nightfall' Hermione thought. Damn Harry, and his damn forwardness and his damn kissing and his damn good looks and his damn ex girlfriends.
"Yeah Harry. Just fun. I slept with you for fun. It didn't mean anything. Screw you being the only guy I ever kissed, the only guy I ever slept with. It didn't mean a thing. You telling me you loved me last night , That didn't mean anything either. "Kate snapped, her eyes welling up. Or apparently not ex.
Harry glanced at Hermione quickly to see if she had caught the slip. And yep, she had. In the blink of an eye Hermione had grabbed her gown and donned it, standing up, and exposing her backside to Harry for but the shortest amount of time.
"Save it Harry." She called over her shoulder, stomping away with Kate,
Harry slammed his fists into the now cold bathwater. "How is it that before I met Hermione I had all the chicks I wanted, Now that I know her All the chicks I want wont even come near me?" Harry whined to himself, getting out of the water. "Stupid feelings. They get in the way of everything."
