Desire & Deceit

Chapter 2: Diagon Alley

Ron appeared in the kitchen about five minutes later. Hermione came down about fifteen minutes after Ron. Nobody could tell that anything had just happened between the two. Nobody except Harry. He saw that something was up when Ron sauntered into the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear, oblivious to everything except his own thoughts. After last night he thought that Ron would come in looking like he wanted to kill him. Then he saw the look of utter shock mingled with horror and disbelief on an extremely disheveled Hermione's face. It was obvious that she had tried to straighten herself out as best she could and she seemed oddly distracted. Harry realized at once that they had just had sex, but by the way Hermione was acting, he was starting to wonder if it had been consensual. He wanted to talk to her, to see if she was alright. It seemed like breakfast to forever and when it did end, Hermione was nowhere to be found. He looked all around inside the house, but he couldn't find her. He decided to see if Ginny knew where she was.

" No I don't where the traitor went and to tell you the truth, I don't give a fuck! My question is why the hell do you wanna know?"

" She just seemed really upset about something at breakfast and I wanna see if she's okay, if that's okay with you!"

" First of all, I don't appreciate the sarcasm. Secondly, no it's bloody fucking okay with me. She told my brother we're sleeping together. Now he wants to kill your stupid ass and he thinks I'm some kinda damn whore. So no it's not okay with me, Harry. And it shouldn't be okay with you either, if you even give a damn about me!"

" Ginny, don't be that way. You know I lo…… I mean you know I care about you. Just calm down, you're over reacting."

" Don't tell me to calm down and I'm not over reacting either!"

" Yes you are. Ron doesn't think you're a whore, he was just mad because now he knows what a freak his little sister. He was disappointed in you too. Just give him some time to get over it. Yes, he wanted to kill me but that reaction is one I understand completely. All he was doing was trying to protect

you from getting hurt, so excuse me if I'm not really mad at Ron about any of what happened last night. And I'm not mad at Hermione anymore either. She didn't mean to tell him, it probably just slipped, and it was about time for Ron to find out what's going on between us anyway. He as my best friend and your brother, actually has a right to know how you and feel about each other. Just calm down, alright? Now, I'm gonna go and find Hermione because I seriously need to talk to her about something important."

Harry kissed Ginny softly on the cheek, got up off her bed, and turned to leave when Ginny got up and caught him by the arm.

" Harry wait. You're right and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out it's just that I…….."

" Yeah I know. It's alright. We'll talk about this some more later, okay baby?"

" Yeah. Oh wait….. Hermione is somewhere in the garden."

" I figured you knew where she was."

He smiled at his girlfriend and kissed her. Ginny opened her mouth to fully receive his kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and playfully slipped her tongue into his mouth. Harry did the same to her, their tongues fought, and his eventually won out. He kept slipping it in and out, exploring every surface of her mouth. He slid his hands up and down her back as she ran her fingers through his thick black hair, making it messier than ever. After what seemed like hours, they separated.

" Thanks Gin", he whispered in her ear. He gave her a quick kiss and was out the door.

" I love you, Harry", she whispered after him. Ginny sighed and walked over to the mirror set above her nightstand. As she looked at her reflection she wondered to herself, does he love me back?

Hermione had been rest against a tree in the rear of the garden. She had been deep in thought, so she didn't hear Harry's approaching footsteps.

" Um, Hermione…………Hermione!"

" Huh! What! Oh, hi Harry. What's up?"

" I should be asking you that. Hermione I know something is bothering you. What is it?"

" I don't want to talk about."

" It's about Ron, isn't it? He didn't force himself on you did he?"

" What! Harry no! Ron would never do anything like that!"

" Sorry. It's just that I know you guys had sex before you came down for breakfast, and you didn't seem to happy about it. I was worried that ….."

" Could anybody else tell?"

" Nobody else was paying attention."

" Are you sure?"

" Yes, Hermes. I'm one-hundred percent sure that nobody else saw what was going on."

" Just checking and don't call me that."

" Fine, so what did happen this morning?"

Hermione sat there and told him what happened, which led to more questions. She answered as best she could, until she got to the part about the dream.

" So, you have no idea who this dream guy is?"

" No, but I wish I did."

" What does he have to do with you and Ron though?"

" I'm not sure but I know that I don't love Ron anymore and I don't want to be with him ever again. It feels so wrong with him. But the dream guy, it feels right with him. I don't understand it at all."

" Wish I could help you out there Hermione, but…….."

" Hey guys, there you are. Mum's going mental looking for you two. Hurry up so we can leave."

" Right, we'll be there in a minute Ron."

" Are you going to be okay Hermione?"

"Yeah, let's go or we might not get a chance to go see Fred and George's shop."

They got up and walked back to the house in silence. They got there to find everybody else standing by the kitchen fireplace, waiting for them. Harry and Hermione quickly ran upstairs to grab their moneybags, and then they went down stairs again to take the quick trip by floo powder, to Diagon Alley.

Their first stop was Flourish & Blotts, followed by Eyelops, Madam Malkin's, and the apothecary. Then they made their way to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Fred and George had seriously outdone themselves this time. The shop was amazing. Hermione wandered towards the back, away from the rest of her party. She heard someone call her name, so she turned around, right into somebody else. She looked up to find a pair of all too familiar gray eyes staring back into hers. Then she heard Ron's voice shout

" Get your hands off of her, Malfoy."