Disclaimer : The Harry Potter characters in this story belong to J.K. Rowling. Many thanks to her for letting them roam about in the world I created for a bit.
Thank you for the reviews. This is my first published fic and only the second that I've written. Your reviews were very encouraging. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint
CHAPTER 1 – Light In Your Eyes
Miranda Kennedy Chase awoke with a start gasping for air. It was that damn nightmare again. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to get her bearings. It had been at least three months since she had awoke in the middle of the night by the nightmare that had plagued her for nearly five years. She wasn't affected quite as much as she was when it first started, but it still affected her more than she would have liked.
Now she just yawned and rubbed her face before stretching and rolling over onto her side, reaching out for Mark with her eyes still closed. She sighed when she found only cold bedding in his place and remembered that he was out with Joe tonight so she probably wouldn't be seeing hide or hair of him until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. It was the first time in two years that he hadn't been there when she awoke from this nightmare. He had once, jokingly, told her that one day she'd wake up and see exactly how much she needed him. She had quickly written it off as part of their playful banter, but at that moment she knew he was completely right. Mark always seemed to make her feel better.
She had decided that she was just going to have to think of happy thoughts and attempt to will herself back to sleep as she had done many times before Mark was in her life so she took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Truly she didn't know how she would've gotten by these past years without him. They had a relationship that was quite difficult to define, but in moments like this, he was definitely not only her rock but her security blanket as well.
She rolled onto her back sighing once again when she realized that her bladder was not going to allow her to return to her slumber no matter what kind of happy thoughts she imagined.
Minutes later she stood in front of the bathroom mirror fully relieved, splashing water onto her face trying to shake the feelings that were left in her from the nightmare. Drying he face, she reluctantly looked at her reflection. There were subtle changes to her appearance that she had made over the past several months as well as some that life in general had made for her.
She felt another wave of what Mark liked to refer to as the 'heebie-jeebies' wash over her. That was what she was missing with Mark being gone tonight. She couldn't explain it, but he always seemed to make those feelings disappear almost immediately. She shuddered and said softly to herself, "Get a grip, Hermione."
'NO!' she mentally chided herself. 'Hermione Granger is dead; killed when she had to enter the witness protection program nearly five years ago.'
This had become a ritual anytime she would lose her bearings in life. She would stand staring at her reflection reminding herself that she was Miranda Kennedy Chase who grew up outside of London and had moved to the States to live with her Aunt and Uncle after her parents were killed in an automobile accident.
In actuality, she had grown up outside of London and her parents had, in fact, been killed; however, they were murdered as part of a political revolt. The authorities had reason to believe that her life was in danger as well, so she had been placed in the program that changed her identity and relocated her to Salem, Massachusetts exactly five years ago this coming Tuesday. She was placed with a family who had previously agreed to take her in as a niece from the UK and the story of her parents' unfortunate automobile accident was formed.
All in all things hadn't been so bad. It hurt her to know that she had no family left, but the Chase family had accepted her with open arms and treated her much like a daughter of their own. Two and a half years ago she had met Mark and they became close very quickly. Hermione couldn't place her finger on it, but there was just something about Mark's aura that made him special. No matter what was happening in her life, Mark always made her feel calm and peaceful. If she believed that such a thing existed, she would have swore that it was magical.
About a year and a half ago Mark had purchased a home just outside of Boston and had asked Miranda to move in with him along with Daniel and Emma. The move was ideal because it put her closer to the college she had been accepted to not long after coming to the States, so she decided to finally start working on her higher education. Things had been going splendidly ever since.
Hermione shut off the lights in her bathroom and made her way back to her bed only to notice that it was just barely three in the morning. She crawled back into bed and stared at the dark ceiling. Once again, she cursed the damn nightmare for waking her from her slumber.
She had tried over the years to understand what it meant but could never come to any conclusion that made any sense. Rarely did she dream, but when she did she had one of two recurring nighttime dramas. The nightmare had been plaguing her less frequently, which was a blessing, because it was the one that left her feeling the most confused.
It was always the same. She was running through a dark forest with a boy who had eyes like emeralds being chased by creatures that look suspiciously like the mythical creature, Centaurs, and there was always something else giant that was present but she couldn't get a feeling as to whether it was a good or bad presence. She was always running hand in hand with this boy who elicited feelings of brotherhood, which was odd in itself since she was an only child, and ending as she tripped over a jutting root and lost the grip on the hand of her companion. It always felt so real, but how could it be since such creatures did not exist?
The other dream was much more pleasurable but was just as frustrating to say the least. It always left her with a feeling of unease and longing because it not only felt so real but also because Hermione was afraid that it probably was indeed real. The one aspect that aggravated her the most was the lack of clarity in the dream. Yes, an air of mystery was sometime nice, but this was just down right frustrating.
Like the nightmare, it was always the same, never faltering. There was always this head of red hair next to her face that she ran her fingers through, and there was always the feel of his warm breath against her ear as a freckled-skin, young man with an athletic build thrust deeply into her while they were making love, whispering over and over that he loved her until he would climax at which point she would awake without the slightest look at his face.
Frustrating!
Unlike the nightmare, which she knew was complete fantasy; she always feared that there was a possibility of some truth behind the dream. She just couldn't remember. There were things in her life that she knew must have happened to her, but she had no memory of them. This was not only frustrating but frightening as well, but she had quickly written off those memories as being related to the shock she suffered from over her parents' murders.
Nonetheless, after the first year of having both dreams on almost a nightly basis, she vowed not to dwell on either anytime she was awakened from one of them, and every time the vow was broken as she lay in the darkness analyzing. Glancing at the alarm clock again, she noticed that it was now half past three. She rolled onto her side and buried her face into the spare pillow left vacant by Mark, desperately trying to will herself asleep.
She knew that it would be just a few short hours before Daniel and Emma were up and about effectively ending her slumber. She also knew that sleep was much needed since she had to work at the pub later that night. As she settled further down into the bedcovers, her last thought was one begging the sandman to bring her redheaded stud into her dreams once again.
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Ron couldn't believe all the emotions that were running through him in this one moment in time. The woman he loved was straddling his hips as he lay on his boyhood bed, clad only in her brilliant pink lacey knickers. Just moments before she had pulled her nightshirt over her head and dropped it haphazardly to the floor. Now she sat there awaiting his appraisal of a part of her that no one had seen before with the start of blush creeping up her neck only to be lost behind the curtain of brown curls that were cascading over her bare shoulders. Ron gently ran the tips of his fingers over the milk white flesh of her breasts before running his thumb over a hardened nipple. She gasped, and he swore that there was not a more beautiful sound in the world.
"Beautiful," was all his lust-induced voice could murmur before her lips were crashing down on his once again.
Immediately his hands were tangled in her mass of hair, deepening the kiss as she quickly parted her lips for him. In one fluid movement, he had maneuvered their bodies so that she was now being pressed into the mattress by the weight of his body. Instinctively her legs went to his sides, so that his body was perfectly cradled between them. They both moaned at the contact of his erection pressed against her center, even though there was still the barrier of her knickers and his boxers between them.
He willed himself to calm down and not to begin grinding against her wildly until he found release. No, this was her first time, and his too for that matter, and he knew that things would likely be uncomfortable for her and he definitely wouldn't last very long, especially in the state that he was currently in. Therefore, he really had to calm himself before he did something that would probably scare her and definitely embarrass him.
His hands began to wander and they continued to kiss with increased fervor and passion. He suddenly remember the rather embarrassing but rather enlightening talk Bill had given him about taking care of his girl first and desperately tried to remember everything he had ever seen done in those dirty Wizarding magazines that Seamus had shared with his dorm mates over the past couple of years.
There was one particular image that he had continually found extremely erotic and had had several inappropriate daydreams involving doing that exact same thing to the best friend that now lay beneath him.
Slowly he kissed his way along her jaw line, across her collarbone, down over each breast and along her stomach. When he was just below her navel, he hooked his index fingers into either side of her knickers and began to inch them down slowly. As he continued to move them down her thighs, he looked into her eyes. It took his breath away at the sight of the light that shown in them that held so much emotion….lust, want, nervousness, anticipation, embarrassment, but most of all love.
"I love you," he whispered.
A smile spread across her face and danced in her bright eyes as a solitary tear slipped down her cheek. Unlike those he had seen so many of the past several days, this was a tear of happiness, of extreme joy. Still beaming at him, she opened her mouth and …
"Oi, Weasley!" resounded through his hotel room followed by incessant pounding on the door that adjoined his and Harry's room to Seamus and Neville's effectively pulling him from his slumber.
Ron rolled over so that he was lying flat on his back staring at the ceiling 'Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away, and I can get back to my dream.' Ron couldn't explain why but for the past week and a half (ever since arriving in the States), he had been dreaming every night about his first time with Hermione. It replayed in his mind each night and always left him feeling rather aroused but also lost and broken-hearted in the morning; however, every night he was more than happy to fall to sleep so he could be with her just as he had done tonight before he was rudely interrupted.
Continued pounding on the adjoining door pulled Ron from his thoughts once more. "Come on, Weasley! I know your not sleeping so stop wanking and get your lazy arse over here and open this door. We'll go find you a bird to take care of your bits for you!"
Ron sighed, knowing that any attempt to sleep now was futile, got out of bed and jerked the door open just as the Irishman's fist was about to begin another round of assault. "You know, Finnigan, you can be a right pain in my arse. I have half a mind to put you on guard duty and give Rosenberg the night off."
Seamus' hands quickly went into the air surrendering. "Now, now, SIR. I meant no disrespect, SIR!" He emphasized the 'sirs' just a little more than Ron would've liked. He knew that his old classmate was taking the mickey out on him about being in charge as he had this entire trip.
"Just as long as you don't forget who you're talking to!" Ron gave only a half-hearted glare before retreating further back into the room to retrieve a clean shirt and his jacket.
As he walked away, he heard Seamus saying under his breath but loud enough for Ron to hear, "Yeah, a sodding poof who's scared he may actually get lucky."
Ron whipped around to glare at the other man. Seamus started to cower a bit but thought better of it. He stood, sticking his chest out and trying to look taller than the five feet six inches that he was, daring the much larger Ron to deny the truth in the statement.
A couple of years ago, Ron would've been offended by the insinuation that he was stupid for remaining faithful to Hermione and would've likely tried to beat Seamus to a bloody pulp. However, Ron had grown up a lot in those two years so that now he just looked at Seamus' posture and shook his head while chuckling.
"You know, Finnigan, you're like one of those yippy little dogs who think they are tougher than they really are!"
Both men laughed as Ron pulled on the fresh shirt and threw his jacket over his shoulder. "Come on, mate. We better get down to the lobby before Neville starts giving Harry too many details about his and Luna's sex life," Ron said as he held open the door to the hallway of the Boston hotel they had spent the last four nights in. "Let's go get pissed!"
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Hermione worked her way through the crowd at The Randy Buffalo gracefully carrying a tray of drinks to its destination at the table closest to the stage. In the year and four months that she had worked in this bar, she was amazed at how much it had grown in popularity. It had quickly become a hot spot for the college crowd, and the weekends were absolutely crazy especially between ten and two when there was a live band.
Hermione was especially excited tonight because Mark's friend Joe and his band were performing, and they always got her on stage for a song or two. It was really quite embarrassing how she had come to be included in their performances. Joe had been visiting the house one night several months back and had accidentally walked into the bathroom while she was in the shower belting out the lyrics to a Britney Spears song that had recently been played to death on all the local radio stations. At first, Hermione wasn't sure which was more embarrassing: having Joe walk in on her in the shower, being caught singing in the shower or being caught singing Britney Spears. Nevertheless, Joe couldn't stop insisting that she sing at least one or two songs with them when they played the Buffalo. She reluctantly agreed but couldn't believe now how much fun she actually had doing it.
She delivered the drinks to the bachelorette party that was eagerly awaiting the band to begin. One of the women in attendance was the girlfriend of the bass guitar player in Joe's band and as Hermione was handing out the round of mixed drinks, Kara was questioning her about whether she would be singing tonight or not. Unfortunately, that piqued the rest of the women's interested and they started throwing all kinds of questions her way. Thankfully the band started and she was able to make a break from the group. She took orders from several other tables before making her way back to the bar.
She rattled off what she needed to Jamie-Lynn who had the misfortune of working the bar tonight. She hadn't seen things this crazy since the week after finals a couple of months ago. She figured that people were finally back in town after being away on their various summer holidays and had decided on a night out. Crowds like this made Hermione very nervous; however, she tried her best not to let it affect her performance at work.
While she was waiting for Jamie-Lynn to fill her orders, she noticed that there was a very nervous looking lady who kept watching the front breezeway. 'Probably waiting on a blind date. Poor thing.' She was just about to start up a conversation with the woman when she felt a pair of rather large yet familiar hands wrap around her waist and a feather-light kiss just below her left ear. She instantly felt all the anxiety from the crowded bar dissipate.
"Hey, sweetie," Mark spoke close to her ear.
Hermione turned to smile at the tall blonde man with the biggest baby blue eyes that she had ever seen. She leaned in to speak to him so she wouldn't have to shout. "I wondered if I was going to be seeing you tonight or not; but I should've known you wouldn't miss seeing Joe. Did you ever make it home at all?"
"Yeah and I got your note too. Sorry I wasn't there for you last night. It's been a long time since you've had that nightmare. You know, though, it just proves what I've been saying all along." He chuckled lightly and gave her a cheeky grin. "So Daniel and Emma went up to Salem for the weekend?" Hermione simply nodded. "Whatever are you going to do?" he asked and followed it by a waggle of the eyebrows.
Hermione playfully smacked him on the arm and said, "You're terrible, you know it!"
"Miranda, you're up," Jamie-Lynn said from behind Hermione.
Mark kissed her on the nose and said, "See ya later, love," before turning to walk away.
Hermione swatted him on the arse as he made his way to the normal "friends of the band" table to the right of the stage. He playfully shook it at her before strutting away. She giggled and turned to grab her tray only to notice Jamie-Lynn was smiling at her and shaking her head.
"You two have got to be the oddest pair I've ever met, you know?"
Hermione smiled back. "Yeah, I know. It just proves, though, that every man really does need a woman in his life." She grabbed her tray and headed off to deliver the drinks. As the band was going into their second song of the evening, Hermione couldn't help but feel that there was something in the air tonight. For some reason she felt like something big was going to happen.
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Seamus had shamelessly drug Ron, Harry and Neville to half a dozen Muggle bars so far and Ron was beginning to loose his patience each time the randy bastard announced that this next bar would surely house the best beauties in Boston. It was growing close to midnight and Ron was just about to insist they call it a night when Seamus pleaded that they hit just one more bar before calling it quits. Ron conceded only because it was only three blocks and around the corner from their hotel. 'At least I'm close enough to walk if it comes to having to Stupefy him and carry his arse back.'
Ron looked up at the neon purple sign above the entrance door to The Randy Buffalo. He chuckled shaking his head and wondered if the silly American that named this place had any idea at all. They entered and Ron was surprised by the size of the place as well as the size of the crowd inside.
"At least this place looks more popular than the last six," he shouted above the music and the noise of the crowd. At first glance, the place appeared to be two large rooms that sat perpendicular to one another with the bar running between the two rooms at a right angle. One room had a live band and a dance floor surrounded by tables and the other room was completely filled with tables except for the back corner that had about 4 billiard tables. The place was filled with men and woman that looked to be in the same age group as the four Aurors. Actually, to Ron, this place looked perfect. It was filled with several birds to keep Seamus busy but was busy enough with blokes as well that Harry and Neville, who were both happily married, and the happily single Ron could get lost in the crowd and go unnoticed.
They were barely in the door before the Irishman was off on the hunt for the perfect Muggle bird to shag all night. Every now and then, Ron would chuckle at how wizards of the same world could be so completely different in their views of non-magic folks. People like the Malfoys would've given anything for Voldemort to have triumphed so they could've hunted Muggles for sport. Wizards, like his Irish friend, hunted Muggles for a different type of sport. Ron, Harry and Neville pushed their way through the crowd and Ron couldn't help but laugh and point out that Seamus was already chatting up two birds. "Think he'll leave with both of them?" Ron asked.
"Bloody hell! If he does, I'm kipping in your room. I just hope this time he remembers to hang out that little sign on the door."
All three men laughed (Neville a little less than the other two) at the memory of poor Neville walking in on Seamus on their last mission while the latter was in an interesting position with the waitress from the hotel lounge. "Although, Luna quite enjoyed the knowledge I gained from that little mishap."
Ron quickly looked away and rolled his eyes. 'Oh, no! Here we go,' Ron thought. "Hey, mates, you try to find us a table and I'll get the drinks, my treat."
Harry shot Ron a look that told him two things: one, that buying his drink was the least Ron could do for Harry and two, that he could expect payback for leaving Harry with the other man when he was just getting started discussing his and his wife's healthy sex life. Ron just shrugged and gave Harry his best innocent face before smiling and heading off toward the bar.
Ron worked his way through the crowd on his way toward the middle of the bar where there looked to be a break in the people sitting along it. He noted that the band was actually pretty good and the woman that was now singing was actually doing the song some justice even though it was that same damn song he'd heard almost everywhere they'd been in this town. It was something about being thankful for the light in your eyes or some nonsense like that.
Once at the bar, he ordered three bottles of the same popular American beer that they had ordered at every other bar, and as he waited for the bartender to bring the drinks, he turned to take a look at the band. The song was almost over and Ron was truly amazed at how well this woman was singing the song and he couldn't help to think that she sounded vaguely familiar.
In the matter of mere seconds, Ron's world turned completely upside down and then stood absolutely still, even his breath was being held. Everything he had hoped for over the last five years was right there on that stage and as beautiful as he remembered her. He felt his eyes involuntarily fill with tears. "For the love of Dumbledore," he said under his breath.
On the stage, the song ended with the singer beaming at the round of applause that was echoing through the bar. The man behind the drums was smiling just as big and announced, "Ladies and gents, give it up for the Buffalo's own, Ms. Miranda Chase."
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The song referenced is Sheryl Crow's Light In Your Eyes.
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