Author's Notes: The Rotten Writer here once again, ladies and gentlemen with another chapter. So life has calmed down a little bit. A LITTLE bit. For those waiting on my other story updates I AM still working on them, I really am, just they're a lot more complex than this story is and complex is just not easy to deal with with how everything has been. On the plus side, working on this relatively simple little story has made things a little easier and I HAVE been making progress on other things as well, just slower than I'd like but I'm getting there.
So for this chapter WARNING: FLUFF AHEAD! You have been warned. This one has some pretty tooth rotteningly sweet moments. I enjoyed them. I think I needed some nice sweet moments after everything that's been going on so that might have influenced me a bit. There is some actual development and moving forward and next chapter should pick up the pace quite a bit.
Disclaimer: I own no part of the Harry Potter franchise, the world, or characters.
Without further ado I give you Chapter 11 of A Fair Life! Enjoy.
A Fair Life
What I'm Fighting For
by,
Rtnwriter
"Why was Ron there?"
Harleen blinked several times and looked up from where she was leaning comfortably against Hermione's side. The two girls were still sitting closely together on the small sofa in the Room of Requirement, nearly two hours after their previous discussion had ended. She wasn't entirely certain what to call the girl next to her. Were they girlfriends now? Did it really matter? Despite being mentally seventeen years old she didn't exactly have a great deal of experience with relationships.
In the end, Harleen decided that as long as Hermione had agreed that the two of them wanted to be together, labels were secondary to that.
"Why was Ron where?" she finally asked, unconsciously squirming her way closer to the other girl, her head resting on Hermione's shoulder.
"In the nightmare that you had last night," Hermione clarified. "You said Ron was there, in the cell with you, but in the story you told me of that year, he was gone before we were captured and taken to Malfoy Manor."
Harleen felt her face twisting up into a grimace and she lifted her head, directing a half-hearted glare at the other girl. A single glance told her that Hermione wasn't going to let that question go.
Sighing, she sat up, reluctantly, and turned to more fully face her friend. "It was just a nightmare," she said.
"How can you say that for certain?" Hermione shot back, almost before the sentence had been completed. "You've had visions of what Voldemort is doing and then dreams with these memories getting dumped into your head. Is it at all possible that this nightmare could be another dream like that? I think Divination is a woolly subject at best but there are actual Seers in the world. Could you have some touch of Seer ability?"
Harleen blinked again in surprise. That thought had never occurred to her and she didn't know how she hadn't considered that Hermione might think of that possibility. Maybe because of her well known disdain for all things divination she hadn't even considered it amongst the possibilities?
Mentally she shook herself free of her thoughts and focused her attention again.
"No, love," she murmured softly. "I'm fairly certain it was just a nightmare. There were a lot of elements in it that didn't make sense and overall it just didn't have the same feel that either the vision or the memory dump had. I'm certain it was just my mind conjuring up things to terrify me."
"What do you mean? What elements?" Hermione insisted.
"Well... compared to what I remember there were differences in the events that happened. Sequence of events, people involved, and so on. Ron being there. The fact that after we got upstairs I was frozen and unable to help you. When Bellatrix pulled the knife on you… The biggest difference was that I was a girl in the nightmare but in my memories, I was still a boy." She shrugged. "I'm certain it was just my mind playing tricks on me. Losing you, you getting hurt, that's absolutely the greatest fear I have anymore. I'm not certain that my boggart would be a Dementor anymore, to be perfectly honest."
Hermione's expression slowly changed to one of cautious relief and she nodded slowly to herself. "So it was really just a nightmare?" she pressed.
Smiling softly, Harleen leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to the other girl's lips. "Just a nightmare, love, I promise. If I ever have another vision or dream like I did Sunday night, I swear I'll tell you at the first possible opportunity."
Though she seemed relieved, the focused expression on Hermione's face told Harleen that that was not the extent of what was on the bushy haired witch's mind, so she did her best to wait patiently for her to continue.
"I'm worried about what needs to be changed and how much we should actually change things in the first place."
Harleen found herself cocking her head to one side in confusion as she considered the other witch. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well… what would happen if we exposed Crouch Jr, for example? Tonight, we expose him and he's captured. If he's not around then he can't turn the trophy in the third task into a portkey and if that method of getting at you is taken away then what will Vodemort do? We'd have no way to predict how he might try to come after you and he might surprise us before we could be ready. Right now we want to change things to save the maximum possible number of people but the more we change, the less we'll be able to predict what's coming and then we'll be right back where you were in your memories, moving in the dark with no idea what to expect or when."
Harleen knew that her mouth was hanging open by the time Hermione finished speaking. She was aware that she probably had a gobsmacked expression on her face as well, but she couldn't organize her thoughts enough to respond at first. Slowly, her expression darkened even as her thoughts began to spin.
"Fuck!"
"Harleen! Language!"
Harleen didn't say anything in response to Hermione's sharp admonition, she simply stood and started pacing angrily back and forth in front of the fireplace, both hands pressed to her head.
"God dammit!" she snapped. "This is just as bad as Dumbledore's fucking scavenger hunt! Give me the bare minimum of information and hope I don't fuck up and get everyone-"
"Harleen!"
"-killed, just like last time! I screwed everything up before. I didn't know what the hell I was doing and I just got people hurt or killed. I'm supposed to be changing things but how can I do that if it'll just mean different people die? If I save Cedric is Luna going to die-"
"Harleen Potter!"
"-instead? Or Sirius again? Or you? I can't do that, Hermione. Dammit, why am I stuck playing God? Why is it always up to me to-"
Harleen's voice was suddenly muffled when she found a set of strong arms wrapped around her and a soft pair of lips covered her own. Her body went rigid at first at the unexpected contact. It took several tense seconds before she relaxed slightly and found herself kissing back, her arms lowering to wrap around Hermione's neck.
Slowly, the other girl pulled back and Harleen's eyes fluttered open to gaze into bright cinnamon irises.
"Are you calmer now?" Hermione whispered and Harleen found herself nodding, her fingers idly playing with the other girl's wild curls.
"Wish I'd thought to do that when you were rambling," she admitted.
Hermione gave her a soft smile.
"It probably wouldn't have worked as well at that time."
Harleen nodded, silently allowing that Hermione was probably right before her brow creased into a frown.
"What am I supposed to do?" she moaned. "I thought I was supposed to change things-"
"We," Hermione interrupted her. "We will change things, not just you. We just need to be careful about it."
Stepping back, Hermione pulled Harleen's arms from around her neck and led the shorter girl back toward the sofa. She sat down and before Harleen could sit beside her, Hermione used the grip she had on the other girl's hands to pull Harleen down into her lap.
"What?" Hermione asked after seeing the surprised expression on Harleen's face.
"I… honestly, I don't think I've ever sat in someone's lap before. Always been the other way around."
"Had a lot of girls in your lap, have you?"
Harleen felt her cheeks flush. "N-no!" she stammered before a giggle caught her attention and she turned her head, her eyes narrowing at the amused expression on Hermione's face.
"It's not nice to tease me," she grumbled.
"Maybe not," Hermione admitted. "But it is funny."
Harleen let out an annoyed huff and crossed her arms over her chest, sitting stiffly in the other girl's lap.
"Oh, don't pout. Come here."
She put up some resistance as Hermione's arms came around her and gently pulled her closer. Resistance that lasted all of a handful of seconds before she felt her body relaxing into Hermione's embrace until they were pressed closely together.
"I didn't mean to upset you," Hermione murmured quietly, one of her hands rubbing gently up and down Harleen's back. "I just wanted to point out that right now we have a rough idea of what we can expect to happen over the next few months but if we go changing things too much, we'll lose that advantage. We have to be careful of what we change and how we do it. Anything we do can't have too dramatic an effect, hopefully, or we'll be flying blind again."
"Just goes to prove how much I need you," Harleen pointed out, thrilled when Hermione flushed and shyly looked away. "You're brilliant in a way I could never be, no matter how hard I tried, Hermione, and it's just one of the things that I love about you."
Turning Hermione's face back toward her by way of a gentle grasp of the other girl's chin, Harleen ducked her head and gently kissed her again.
"Most people don't much care for my intelligence," Hermione muttered after they broke the kiss.
"Most people are idiots," Harleen pointed out. "I know I haven't always shown that I appreciate how smart you are, but I'd be dead at least a half a dozen times over by now if it wasn't for you and your brilliance. Now… can I assume that you have some kind of plan for what we should do?"
Hermione nodded and sat up a little straighter, pulling Harleen tighter against her, much to the other girl's delight, and her face took on a serious expression as she began to voice her thoughts.
"Less of a plan and more an idea of what we should be working toward," Hermione admitted. "But from what you've told me, I think this year is our best opportunity to try to get rid of Voldemort with the least amount of deaths."
"How so?"
"We know where he'll be on a specific date. If we can interrupt or change the ritual you were talking about we can do a lot of damage. Or, if we can get Madam Bones on board, maybe she can have a team of Aurors meet them there and they could possibly capture Pettigrew at the same time. That would help Sirius immensely."
Harleen nodded thoughtfully. "True. Okay, so what are you thinking?"
"We need to get those other horcruxes destroyed, and right now we know that Sirius can get access to two of them without too much trouble. Well… one for sure, the other is only a possibility, but it's still better than the alternative."
"Which ones?" Harleen asked. "Only one I can think of is the locket. That one he should be able to get ahold of, no problem, but what's the other?"
"Hufflepuff's cup. You said that Bellatrix has it in her vault. Well you also mentioned that she was a Black before her marriage. If Sirius is the Head of House Black, or if he can take on the title, he might be able to work with the goblins to get the cup, or even let them destroy it, he wouldn't have to go anywhere near the vault, possibly."
Harleen blinked several times in surprise and simply stared at her girlfriend for several moments.
"Why didn't we think of that in the future?" she wondered aloud. "Wait. How do you even know that?"
Hermione shrugged. "I've no idea why it didn't occur to us in these memories of yours. As far as how I know, well, I've been looking into the whole Head of House thing since you mentioned it. I found a couple of books in the library, though not nearly as much material as I'd like for comparison."
Harleen didn't even try to hold back a small smile at the frustration in Hermione's voice. If there was one thing the girl hated it was when her precious Library failed her in some way. Harleen would have to work on her in regard to that. Not everything could be found in the Library, some things simply needed to be experienced to truly learn them.
"Okay, so Sirius can probably destroy two of the horcruxes fairly soon. Maybe he could manage three of them if he goes after the Gaunt family ring as well. There's a curse on that one though that nearly killed Dumbledore in our sixth year. I don't know that I like the idea of Sirius going after it alone."
Hermione nodded, chewing absently on her bottom lip as she thought.
"I know you don't trust him, and for good reason," she began hesitantly, "but what would you say to including Dumbledore in some of this?"
Harleen's initial reaction was to snap at her about the old man, but she bit her tongue and reminded herself that, first of all, there was no reason to snap at Hermione and, secondly, she herself had said several times that she wanted to be able to work with the Headmaster, she just needed to see some changes in his behavior. So, instead of any sharp words, she took several deep breaths and slowly let them out before speaking.
"How do you mean?" she asked as calmly as she could. The way Hermione was gently rubbing her back told her that the other girl had felt the tension that ran through her body at the mention of the aged wizard, however.
"You might not like the idea, but you said it yourself, he is a brilliant and powerful wizard. As much as we don't trust him, we can trust that he might have some skills or knowledge to impart that could help. This person that you spoke to, the one in that office, did he say that only you and I could do anything about this whole situation? Did he say you had to do it all alone?"
Harleen shook her head. "No," she admitted. "In fact, he specifically told me that I needed to lose the whole 'lone hero' mentality and do it double quick. He said that I needed help, I needed allies and that there was no way that I could do this alone."
"Then why don't we try to get Dumbledore to help us?"
Harleen shook her head. "I don't want him taking over and dictating what I do and how I do it. Not again. Not anymore."
"That's understandable but you realize that you have the power to run things and he can't do anything to interfere, right?"
Harleen sat up slightly, giving the girl under her a dumbfounded look.
"How do you figure that?" she asked.
Hermione's smile was damn near predatory and Harleen felt a shiver run up her spine at the sight of it.
"You tell him you know about the horcruxes, and the prophecy. You know how many horcruxes he made, you know where they are and what they are. You tell him that he is going to work with you, or you can just walk away and leave the wizarding world to fend for itself."
"But I'd never do that!" Harleen blurted out.
"I know that, and you know that, and really, Dumbledore probably knows that too. But can he really afford to take that risk? Say you did mean it. If he tried to pull any of what he's done in the past, he could alienate you from what he sees as your destiny or fate or whatever you want to call it. I very much doubt that he'll willingly take that risk if he can possibly avoid it.
"In this case, the wizarding world needs you far more than you need them. Dumbledore needs you more than you need him, and he knows it. He can't control your life anymore. As good as his intentions might have been, he could have created a monster worse than Voldemort by putting you with your relatives. You could have ended up hating muggles entirely and been just as twisted and dark. It's a miracle that you're as kind and caring as you are after everything you've been through."
As was usually the case whenever Harleen received compliments or praise she blushed and shifted her weight nervously for a moment before brushing past the comments without acknowledging them.
"What about the tournament? If I don't compete I lose my magic."
"You can wait until after the tournament to leave but let Dumbledore know you'll do it. Or maybe just come back for the tasks themselves."
"Okay, I think I see your point. As much as I hate it, technically, this is my war. For some reason I'm the only one that can kill Voldemort, so that puts me in a position with a great deal of leverage. Dumbledore is welcome to help or offer advice, but he'll just need to get used to the idea that I won't be following his orders anymore. He'll be wondering how I know these things, but really it might do him some good to learn how it feels to be left in the dark."
She paused in her ruminations for a moment.
"Is that petty of me?" she asked, turning her focus back to Hermione who simply smiled gently at her.
"Maybe a little bit, but I can't say that he doesn't deserve it, not after what he's done."
"How long do I hold it against him though?" Harleen pressed. "I mean, I can't hold this over his head for the rest of his life. I shouldn't either. He really did have good intentions, as much as I hate what happened because of that. He's not evil or anything."
"And as you said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions," Hermione pointed out, pulling Harleen closer as she spoke until the smaller girl's head was resting on her shoulder again. "You can forgive him next week or never, that's entirely up to you. Don't worry right now about trying to decide when you should let things go. You were the one he hurt the most with the mistakes he's made, so it's up to you and no one else when you decide that you're willing to forgive him. You don't have to forgive him to be able to work with him."
"Something to worry about later, then," Harleen muttered. "We've wandered off topic though, haven't we?"
"Which topic was that?"
"What do I- what do we do now?" Harleen said. "We need to change things, but if we change too much then what I remember becomes useless."
From her position in the other girl's lap, with her head resting on Hermione's shoulder, Harleen could see a small, contemplative frown furrow her brow.
"You weren't wrong earlier when you said that most of it could wait a bit. I think for most of it that's what we need to do, play a bit of a waiting game. I think you should write to Sirius, let him know that we need to talk to him. There may be time, but the sooner we get him hunting for the locket and speaking to the goblins about the cup, the better. We can probably hold off on the ring until we get a chance to think it over a bit more."
"Did you plan on writing to your parents anytime soon?" Harleen asked.
"I was going to finish up a letter that I've been working and send it tomorrow actually. Why?" Hermione responded, one brow arched curiously.
"If you could finish your letter after dinner, we could send it off tonight with Hedwig and I'll use a school owl to send a letter to Sirius. Next weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend, we could meet him at the Shrieking Shack or something. I think this is a discussion best had in person."
That was something Hermione could agree to entirely and she nodded happily before glancing at the watch on her wrist.
"It's about time for dinner now," she pointed out in a surprised tone. Harleen couldn't help but agree. The day had passed them by without her really noticing the passage of time. To be fair to them both, there had been a lot of surprises and revelations throughout the course of the day that had occupied much of their attention. Harleen felt the whole discussion had gone about as well as it possibly could have, so she was happy with losing an entire day to the very necessary conversation.
"Were you…" Harleen trailed off and cleared her throat, nervous tension suddenly filling her frame as a new thought occurred to her that she hadn't yet considered. "Umm… were you planning on telling your parents about me? About… about us, I mean?"
She watched as Hermione chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip for a few seconds.
"I don't think I will, to be perfectly honest. Not in a letter. I haven't even told them about me yet, and I think I'd rather have that discussion in person as well." She shifted her eyes to meet Harleen's gaze. "I did tell them in this letter about the boy I've been writing to them about since first year actually being a girl, and I asked if you could come to stay with us over the Christmas break."
Harleen was a little surprised to hear that.
"You would have to have written that before we got together," she pointed out to which Hermione nodded her bushy head, smiling softly.
"I've wanted to invite you over for a long time now," she admitted. "Introducing my parents to my best friend would have been wonderful." Hermione leaned in and pressed a kiss to Harleen's cheek. "Introducing them to my girlfriend and spending Christmas together will be even better."
Harleen briefly thought that if her smile grew any wider her cheeks were going to start hurting, before she lunged forward and sealed her lips to Hermione's, drawing her girlfriend into the most heated kiss they'd shared yet as she attempted to express what words wouldn't be able to properly convey.
Once they broke away from each other, each girl flushed and slightly breathless, Hermione cupped Harleen's face with both hands, looking directly into her bright green eyes. "I'm not ashamed to be with you. I wouldn't hide our relationship from my parents, the three of you are the most important people in the world to me."
"It's most everyone else that will be a problem," Harleen replied, instantly seeing were Hermione was going with her thought process.
"Exactly. I don't want to hide what we have, but I think we might need to, for a while at least."
"I understand, love," Harleen assured her. "Don't worry about that. But do you understand that it won't stay a secret for long? This is Hogwarts, and I'm one of the most famous witches in the world. People are always going to be curious about me. What I'm doing, who I'm with, and so on. It's going to come out sooner than later."
"I know, but for a little while I'd like to have you all to myself without having to worry about everyone else."
Harleen quirked a small grin.
"Little possessive, aren't you?"
Hermione's grip on Harleen's face tightened slightly and she found herself being pulled into a fierce, almost harsh, kiss. The sensation sent her pulse racing as she seemed to lose all ability to breathe.
"You'd better believe it, Potter," Hermione hissed after she pulled back again. "We've waited long enough for this. All worries aside, I intend to enjoy every minute we have together, and the rest of the world is just going to have to get used to the fact that you're mine now, and I don't share… Are you okay with that?"
Harleen managed to shake off the dazed stupor brought on by her girlfriend's lips in time to hear the question and she took a moment to consider it. If she was honest with herself, the sudden shift in Hermione's behavior was a little startling, but further thought told her she shouldn't have been surprised. This was Hermione Granger. Most people probably considered her to be somewhat boring, or perhaps tame, with her love for books and rules.
Harleen knew better. This was the same girl that had set fire to one of their professors in first year. This was the same girl that had brewed polyjuice potion in a bathroom in their second year. She broke the laws of time in their third year, supported Harleen through their fourth year, and in fifth year tricked a Ministry official into nearly walking to their death at the hands of the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest before joining in on the battle at the Ministry.
She hit Harleen in the face with a stinging hex to try to hide her identity without a moment's hesitation. She endured torture. She helped break into Gringotts and then escaped on the back of a dragon!
Yes, Hermione Granger could be absolutely ruthless and focused when she wanted to be and anyone that underestimated her did so at their own peril. To have that well hidden side of her best friend directed at her, with Harleen as the object that this girl would so fiercely covet as her own… that was a somewhat heady realization.
Slowly, she lifted one hand, placing it over Hermione's own where both still rested on her cheeks, smiling softly at her girlfriend.
"Am I okay with you being possessive of me?" she asked before her smile turned into a small smirk. "I have to admit, I'm strangely comfortable with it."
She leaned in to press a quick peck of a kiss to Hermione's mouth.
"Gods, I will never get tired of doing that," she breathed against the other girl's lips. Reluctantly, she forced herself to back up and climb off of Hermione's lap, turning to hold one hand out to her. "Right now though, it's dinner time and I am absolutely starved. Let's go eat."
#####
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! Merlin's beard, what the hell were you thinking?
Hermione was doing her best not to have a complete meltdown as she and her new girlfriend made their way through the castle toward the Great Hall. In the last twelve hours or so her entire world had been flipped on its head and she was finding it to be a bit of a struggle to regain her equilibrium.
The extra years' worth of memories that her best friend now possessed, the supposed fate the girl had hanging over her head, the full revelation of Harleen's feelings for her, and their much changed relationship. It was all a bit much to try to take in all at once and she felt as if she was spinning out of control.
And then you had to go and act like a crazy person! she silently berated herself.
Didn't seem as if she really minded though.
Hermione ignored that little voice in the back of her head as it whispered to her once again, her focus directed more at her actions in the Room of Requirement. She really wasn't sure exactly why she'd done it. Just the thought of all the people that would be poking their noses into their lives once it became known that Harleen was dating her… something deep inside her had railed against the idea and she'd simply reacted.
Since when are you the possessive type, anyway? she wondered. And to practically attack her like that!
Groaning internally she glanced at Harleen out of the corner of her eye where the girl was walking next to her, a contemplative expression on her face.
She really didn't seem to mind at all, she reminded herself. She's so used to being the fighter, the protector, maybe it's a relief to her to have someone act that way about her? Or maybe she was just humoring you.
Hermione winced and looked away as they reached the doors to the Great Hall and Harleen paused, her eyes scanning over the crowded room.
Worry about it later, Granger, she thought.
"Love? Think you could do me a favor?"
"What is it?" Hermione turned away from the Hall to focus on her girlfriend, wondering just what the girl was up to now.
"We need allies, right? More than that, making new friends is rarely a bad thing."
Hermoned nodded, her bushy curls bouncing around her head. "True. What were you thinking?"
"Could you see if you could talk Cedric into eating with us at the Ravenclaw table? I think it might be a good idea to try to get the champions together."
Not a bad idea at all, Hermione thought with a glance to the Hufflepuff table where Cedric was easy enough to spot, surrounded by a circle of his housemates. But…
"What about Krum?" she asked. "He's at the-"
"I'll go talk to Viktor while you're talking to Cedric," Harleen stated firmly. "The Slytherins aren't going to start anything in a crowded Hall. Even if they did, if Malfoy or any of his type start spouting their usual garbage it might show Viktor the kind of people he's dealing with. He can decide for himself who he wants to spend his time with."
Hermione chewed worriedly on her lip. "I don't like the idea of you going over there alone," she admitted and Harleen gave her a reassuring smile.
"I'm not looking for a confrontation. If I go over there with backup then that's what it'll look like. Trust me, I'll be fine."
Hermione couldn't help but hesitate for a moment longer before she finally nodded again. "Alright," she said. "But be careful, please."
As she started walking toward the Slytherin table, Harleen shot her a grin over her shoulder. "Hey, it's me," she said, to which Hermione let out an indelicate snort.
"That's exactly what worries me!" she called after the girl's retreating back. Shaking her head in mild exasperation, Hermione hurried over to the Hufflepuffs.
"Cedric?" she asked as she approached, causing the older student to turn toward her.
"Hermione? Hey, how's it going? Where's Harr- I mean, Harleen?" Cedric asked, stumbling slightly over Harleen's name but she felt he recovered quickly.
"Things are going well. It's been a busy day actually. Harleen is over trying to talk to Viktor Krum at the moment."
Cedric blinked, a blank look settling over his handsome features before quickly shifting to an expression of genuine concern. He stood, his eyes moving toward the Slytherin table.
"What's she doing that for?" he asked.
"She wants to invite all the champions to eat dinner together at the Ravenclaw table. So she's inviting Krum and I'm here to invite you."
Cedric looked back at her in surprise.
"Really?'
Hermione nodded. "Just because our schools are competing doesn't mean we can't be friendly, right?"
Cedric seemed to consider that, nodding thoughtfully to himself. A moment later he looked around at his friends. "I'll catch up with you guys later," he told them as he grabbed his plate and stepped over the bench. "Well?" he asked when Hermione didn't immediately start toward Ravenclaw. "Where are we going to be sitting?"
"Oh! Oh, sorry, you just surprised me," she admitted as they moved together toward their new seats. "I thought it would take more than that to convince you, to be honest."
Cedric let out an amused chuckle. "Hufflepuff," he reminded her with a smile that bared two rows of perfectly straight, white teeth.
"Great timing!"
Hermione couldn't stop a small smile from turning up her lips as Harleen's voice reached her ears and she turned to find her girlfriend approaching them with the Durmstrang Champion following along behind her in his awkward, duck footed kind of gait.
Viktor Krum was scowling, but Hermione couldn't tell if he was actually upset about something or if that was simply his default expression. She briefly remembered that he'd worn nearly the same sour expression in the posters of him that they'd seen at the World Cup. Probably a normal look for him then, she decided.
Walking up to her, Harleen looped her right arm around Hermione's left and pulled her along the rest of the way to the Ravenclaw table. It was strange. Walking arm-in-arm that way wasn't something new. She and Harry had done it on occasion, something they usually seemed to do without any real thought, but it had never in the past felt like it did now. Perhaps it was their new relationship in the back of her mind, but for some reason that simple gesture felt much more intimate than it ever had in the past and Hermione couldn't help but feel a thrill pass through her.
Harleen drew to a stop beside the table, across from where the absolutely gorgeous French champion was sitting, a curious expression on her face as she watched them.
"Miss Delacour," Harleen asked. "Would you mind if we sat with you?"
The blonde witch blinked slowly, her head tilting minutely to one side.
"I do not mind," she said in her softly accented English.
"Excellent!" Harleen said, beaming a wide smile. "Mister Krum, did you want to sit here or by Miss Delacour?"
"Here is fine," Viktor said and took a seat on the bench while Cedric moved around the table to sit beside Fleur.
Once they were all seated and had full plates in front of them Harleen started to speak.
"First, I think proper introductions are in order." She rose slightly from the bench and reached across the table to shake Fleur's hand. "Harleen Potter," she said. "This is my very best friend, Hermione Granger. We're both fourth years in Gryffindor."
Her actions spurred the others on and they quickly introduced themselves, shaking hands all around. Cedric was grinning broadly while Krum continued to scowl and Fleur looked slightly bemused.
Rather quickly, they fell into pleasant enough conversation, discussing their schools, life in their home countries, and other such topics as they went. The discussion was rather organic, flowing naturally from one topic to another without much actual direction and Hermione found herself delighted to learn more about Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, though Viktor didn't really talk much.
Near the end of the meal, Fleur caught their attention.
"'Arleen?" she asked, causing the named girl to look up from where she was discussing quidditch tactics with Viktor to focus her attention on the blonde sitting across from her.
"Yes?"
"Not zat I am not grateful zat you all decided to come sit wiz me, but I have to ask, 'why'?"
"Why sit with you? Or why would you be grateful for the company?" Harleen asked, grinning impishly.
"Why sit wiz me," Fleur clarified, laughing softly. "We are all rivals, no?"
"No."
All three of the older champions blinked in surprise at Harleen's quick response.
"Okay… I'm going to need a translation on that, Harleen," Cedric admitted. "I thought we were rivals."
"I'm not sure I agree with that, at least not the wording."
"What do you mean?" Cedric asked, his focus directed at Harleen.
Harleen set her fork down and leaned back from the table slightly, her arms crossed over her chest. "Let me start with a question, if you don't mind. What is the purpose of this tournament?"
"Eet ees to prove which school ees better, no?" Fleur asked in a puzzled tone after several seconds of silence passed by them.
"But that doesn't really make sense," Harleen argued. "One person does not represent the entirety of what a school has to offer, do they? Whoever wins, that doesn't prove that their school is better, only that that individual did better in the tasks."
"Dumbledore said that the tournament was meant to 'foster international friendships' or something like that," Cedric mused thoughtfully.
Harleen grinned. "Exactly," she said. "So, to answer your question, Fleur, I don't think that we are, or should be, rivals. Personally, I think 'competitors' is a better word to use, and I don't see any reason why we can't compete against each other and still be friends at the same time."
"Eizer way, we are competing for ze 'onor of our school, are we not? Wouldn't people zink zat we are betraying our schools to be friends wiz our competitors?"
"Is that why you put your name in?" Hermione asked. "Is it for your school that you decided you wanted to try your hand at a dangerous, sometimes deadly, competition?"
Fleur fell silent.
"Why did you put your names in?" Harleen asked. "All three of you, if you don't mind my asking, I'm curious what could make you want to risk your lives like this."
Hermione found herself intensely curious as well. She hadn't really considered the 'why' beyond the obvious, notoriety and a cash prize. She now found herself wondering if there were any other, perhaps more personal, motivations behind them putting their names forward to compete.
"I am famous."
Hermione blinked in surprise and turned to look past Harleen at the Bulgarian sitting on her other side.
"I am famous and most people know me only for playing Quidditch. They… dismiss me when I speak of subjects other than brooms or snitches." Viktor's scowl became more pronounced as he shook his head. "In my country, ve have many small villages, not enough Aurors for all troubles.
"We have Home Guard to help. Is like militia, the Home Guard protect the people. My father is part of Guard and he has taught me many things while growing up. I wish to prove that there is more to me than simply catching snitch. I wish to prove my father's teachings, make him proud."
As he finished speaking, Hermione found herself momentarily surprised by the depths the surly Bulgarian apparently held. Along with that realization came a small hint of shame as it became clear to her that she had been doing exactly the same thing as everyone else, dismissing him as being little more than a sports star and for a sport that she didn't particularly like either.
"We seem to have more in common than I might have expected, Viktor," Cedric cut in before anyone else had a chance to speak. "Most people consider my school House to be the House of Duffers. Not cunning enough for Slytherin. Not smart enough for Ravenclaw. Not brave enough for Gryffindor. We're the leftovers, the dregs."
He let out a long sigh and folded his hands on the table in front of him, a frown marring his face. "I wanted to prove to myself, and to my House, especially the younger students, that a Hufflepuff could be just as good as the rest. I want them to see that we can succeed just like the other Houses. Hufflepuff has been known as the House for the leftovers for so long that some of them are actually starting to believe it. I am hoping to give them a reason to be proud to be a Hufflepuff."
Fleur delicately set her fork down on the edge of her plate and wiped her mouth with her napkin once Cedric finished speaking and four pairs of eyes swiveled toward her.
"I suppose eet ees only fair zat I share as well," she sighed, "zough I believe my reasons may require some explanations first. Eet ees possibly no surprise to you zat I am Veela, no?"
Hermione blinked, in fact very surprised to hear that, or maybe, more surprised to learn that Ron, in all his uncouth pratishness, had been correct when he asserted that the girl had to be at least part Veela. By their expressions neither Cedric or Viktor were at all shocked and she assumed that Harleen must have already known.
"Because I am Veela I am vairy beautiful."
Hermione was actually impressed that the older witch managed to say that without sounding arrogant. If she was being honest with herself, she had to admit that Fleur was right as well. She was, simply put, 'very beautiful'.
"Veela are known to be vairy… sensual beings," Fleur continued. "Most people see my kind as little more zan creatures to be owned or controlled. Zey assume we 'ave little to offer ozer zan our beauty. Most women are zreatened by me. Zey fear zat I will steal zere boyfriends or 'usbands, so zey do not want to be friends wiz me. Most men are affected by my allure, so I can never really be certain zat zey actually want to be my friend for me and not simply because zey desire me."
"As terrible as that is, you know that competing in this tournament won't change that," Hermione pointed out as gently as she could.
Fleur nodded. "Oui, I understand zat. I just… I am tired of being seen as nozing more zan a potential toy or being viewed as an empty headed blonde. I am proud to be Veela, don't misunderstand me. I am proud of my heritage. But I am more zan simply a Veela. I am a witch, and I want to show zat I have more to offer zan just a pretty face and body."
Silence fell over the five of them again as most of the food disappeared from the table and deserts replaced them.
"Looks like we each have something in common," Harleen commented, to which the three older students gave her a confused look. "All four of us have something to prove."
"But you didn't enter your name," Cedric pointed out. "You don't even want to be in the tournament, what could you have to prove?"
Hermione watched as Harleen played with her fork, a focused expression stealing over her face, her eyes sharp behind her glasses. When she spoke, she started slowly and the others unconsciously leaned forward to hear her better.
"People have been trying to kill me since I was only a year old," she said. "He came like a coward in the night, intent on killing a baby, and he failed. People celebrate me for defeating this powerful Dark Wizard even though absolutely no one knows what actually happened that night. At a year old, what could I have done against a wizard like that?" She shook her head. "Most likely it was something my mother did that let me survive that night. But since I came back to this world nearly everyone has had ridiculously high expectations of me.
"Whoever put my name in that goblet probably expects me, an untrained, underage witch, to die during the tasks. The tasks are supposed to be extremely dangerous. This tournament was originally abandoned because the death toll climbed too high, so they must not expect me to do very well. I intend to prove them wrong. I may not want to be a part of this tournament, but now that I'm stuck with it, I intend to show them that they made a huge mistake by putting me in this thing. I intend to win, and this idiot is going to learn that they messed with the wrong girl."
#####
It was a frustrated Hermione Granger that lay in her bed that night, staring up at the ceiling of her canopy. She couldn't get the events at dinner out of her mind. The declaration that Harleen had made was important, she realized. With what they expected to happen during the third task, unless they could find a way around it, Harleen needed to win. She needed to be there first, otherwise whoever beat her to the cup was in a great deal of danger.
Hermione wanted nothing more than to be researching through the days to help her girlfriend survive and succeed at the upcoming tasks, but the fact that Harleen refused to tell her what the first task consisted of was causing her no end of distress. Obviously the task was going to be dangerous if Harleen wouldn't tell her what it was. Her reasoning didn't help either.
'I don't want you to worry yourself needlessly,' she'd said. 'I beat her once before with almost no time to prepare, and even then I still completed the task in the fastest time and with the highest scores. I promise I'll do much better this time around.'
Harleen's assurances did absolutely nothing to assuage her worries and probably only succeeded in ratcheting up her concern for her girlfriend.
After her declaration that she intended to win the entire tournament the other champions had spent a few minutes ribbing each other, mostly claiming they would win with Fleur rather haughtily declaring that the boys would find themselves at a disadvantage. She seemed to feel that Cedric and Viktor would find themselves distracted by her and Harleen's combined beauty. Viktor had simply continued to scowl but Cedric and Harleen had both turned an interesting shade of red, something that sent the rest of them off into a laughing fit.
The rest of the evening had gone well enough. She and Harleen had sent off the letters they'd wanted to send and despite Harleen still refusing to answer her questions about the first task the rest of the night after returning to the Common Room had been spent sitting by the fire each of them with a book in hand and joined by Neville. The boy had sat near them, reading his own book without saying anything and it had been an interesting experience to Hermione to be able to simply sit with her friends and enjoy each other's company without a lot of noise or chaos.
Eventually, it began to get late and the three of them decided it was time to go to bed. They said goodnight to Neville at the bottom of the stairs and she and Harleen had headed up to their dorm.
Hermione suddenly flushed and turned in her bed, burying her face into her pillow. Once in the dorm things had become somewhat awkward. It hadn't really occurred to her that she was now sharing a living space with her girlfriend. Not like they were living together, but still, their interaction once alone had become… not strained but definitely nervous and uncertain.
A part of Hermione, that she really hadn't expected, wanted to be there when Harleen changed her clothes. She wanted to see her girlfriend, all of her, and that sudden desire had hit her like the Hogwarts Express, causing her to flush brightly. She'd grabbed her own nightclothes and practically sprinted into the bathroom to change, leaving Harleen to either wait her turn or for her to change in the dorm.
She'd changed quickly, putting on a pair of soft pajamas in a light purple color and gathered together her clothes to place in the hamper by her bed. Her heart hammered in her chest, thinking with how fast she'd changed she might catch Harleen partly dressed but when she opened the door the other girl was in her own bed, curtains drawn, and Hermione could hear her moving around behind the hangings.
They'd said their goodnights, complete with a gentle kiss, and gone to their separate beds and now, hours later, Hermione was still awake as her mind cast back over everything she'd learned that day and everything that was waiting for them in the future. Tournament aside, it was going to be a very interesting school year.
#####
Warmth and safety.
Those two words perfectly defined the feelings coursing through Harleen's body when she woke Sunday morning. She felt rested. She felt calm. But more than anything else, she felt warm, and she felt safe. A brief reflection led her to the conclusion that she couldn't really remember the last time that she'd felt safe.
Maybe yesterday, when Hermione held me on her lap. I think I felt pretty safe then, she silently mused before she attempted to roll from her side onto her back. 'Attempted' was very much the word, however, as she found herself being held in place, a warm, solid presence at her back and she opened her eyes, blinking several times as she looked down with some confusion at the purple clad arm wrapped firmly around her middle.
What in the…?
Carefully, Harleen managed to turn around to find, as expected, Hermione lying in the bed beside her. The older witch had been spooned up against her back, the arm she'd previously noticed was still wrapped around her and she was once again smiling as she took in the peaceful, content expression on the bushy haired witch's face.
Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Harleen lifted her arm and brushed Hermione's hair back before she gently stroked the other girl's cheek.
"Hermione?" she said softly. "Hermione, wake up, love."
Hermione's brow furrowed and the arm wrapped around Harleen's body tightened, pulling her closer even as Hermione buried her face against Harleen's shoulder, causing the smaller girl to laugh.
"Come on, love, it's time to wake up," she spoke, still laughing softly as she let one hand stroke up and down Hermione's back.
"Don' wanna," came the muffled response against her shoulder and Harleen laughed harder. A moment later Hermione's head popped up, bleary eyed and with her hair flying wildly about her head to look around for a moment before her cinnamon irises locked with Harleen's bright green.
"Oh…" She trailed off, flushing brightly and began to back away until Harleen wrapped an arm around her and held her close.
"Not that I'm complaining, love," Harleen said, grinning wickedly at the older girl in her arms, "but I did promise McGonagall that we wouldn't be getting up to anything we shouldn't be in the dorms. Did you want to make a liar out of me?"
"Professor McGonaga- wait… what?!"
Harleen flinched, startled by Hermione's sudden volume.
"You… you told Professor McGonagall? What did you tell her?"
"Nothing major, really. Just… on Thursday, after the incident with Lavender when she asked you to leave her office so she could talk to me alone, she pointed out that Lavender didn't want to share a living space with someone that could potentially see her as… desirable, I guess. I basically had no choice but to tell her that I find girls attractive."
"That doesn't explain your comment," Hermione noted, her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I'm getting there," Harleen assured her. "So, she did basically what you did and asked if it was possible that my preferences might change after spending more time being a girl again. I told her that wasn't going to happen and that there actually was a girl I was already very interested in, I just hadn't figured out quite how to approach her." Here she hugged Hermione tighter, both in an attempt to reassure the other girl as well as to indicate just which girl she was talking about.
"She said that as long as I was sure then okay, basically, and then she said 'I do not recommend that you keep Miss Granger waiting for long'."
Harleen couldn't help but smile when Hermione's mouth dropped open and a soft giggle escaped her.
"That was almost my exact reaction, though I was drinking my potion at the time and I nearly spat it across her desk at her."
"W-wait… she knew?"
"She guessed," Harleen explained. "She thought that we might have just been uncommonly close friends but she said she'd been observing us since Monday and felt that there was possibly more there than just friendship and my reaction kind of proved her suspicions."
Hermione gaped for a moment longer, her eyes wide and her mouth still hanging open. Finally, she blinked and her mouth snapped shut,
"Okay… so not a topic I really want to consider, but that still doesn't explain your comment. What did you promise her? Why?"
Harleen flushed brightly and suddenly found one of Hermione's wild curls to be immensely fascinating, her eyes fixed on it as she toyed with it with one hand. She muttered something under her breath and winced as she could tell that Hermione wouldn't have been able to understand her.
"Hey, look at me." The arm wrapped around her waist moved and Harleen felt her chin being caught in a gentle grip. Her head was turned until their eyes met again. "There is absolutely no topic or subject that you can't talk to me about," Hermione whispered. "Even the ones that are embarrassing or uncomfortable. I would hope that the both of us would be comfortable being open with each other."
Harleen nodded hesitantly then softly cleared her throat. "It's just… well, she explained that the dorms are separated the way they are partly to help discourage couples from getting up to too much that they shouldn't be. But… uh… there's no.. I mean-"
"There's nothing to stop a couple of the same gender from exploring their relationship in privacy," Hermione cut her off, a note of sudden understanding in her voice and Harleen nodded, somewhat grateful to see that Hermione was now blushing just as brightly as she was.
"Right. The professor warned me that people wouldn't exactly be overjoyed if we were public with our relationship and I pointed out that we didn't exactly have a relationship yet. Not at that time. That would be something for us to figure out and she got that look on her face."
Harleen laughed at the confused look Hermione then gave her.
"You know the look I'm talking about! That one that makes you feel about two inches tall and you just want to sink into the floor or disappear to escape it."
It was Hermione's turn to laugh. "Oh right, that look." She grinned slyly. "Thankfully the only times I've really seen it she's been directing it at you."
"Hey! I'm not that bad!"
"No, but you have been in more trouble than I have."
Harleen grumbled under her breath and glared at her girlfriend for a moment, an action that only made Hermione laugh harder.
"Anyway," she continued, "she gave me that look then said that, once you and I figured our relationship out, could she trust that we wouldn't be using the dorms to get into any trouble."
"And of course you practically tripped over yourself to assure her that we'd be good girls."
"What did you want me to do! She's scary!"
"No, that was the right thing," Hermione admitted, much to Harleen's relief. "Though it also brings up a point that we haven't really discussed yet," she added, chewing nervously on her lower lip as she finished.
"What's that?" Harleen wondered. She watched in awe as a slew of different emotions flitted across Hermione's face for a few moments, impressed that one person could seem to feel so many different things in such a short span of time.
"It's just… we're… we're together now. We're a couple, in an actual relationship and there's… well, a-aside from the emotion, the fact that we-we care for each other there's… there's more to a relationship than just that and…"
Hermione trailed off, blushing more furiously than ever and looking anywhere but at Harleen. For her part, Harleen could feel just how warm her own face was and knew she was blushing as well, but she did her best to shove that aside.
Reaching out she tangled her fingers in the mass of wild, untamed curls surrounding her girlfriends head and carefully tugged her into a gentle, undemanding kiss. Slowly, Hermione seemed to melt against her and their soft kiss became more heated. It wasn't long before lips parted and tongues brushed against each other in a hesitant caress that quickly grew in confidence on both their parts. Strong fingers tugged at Harleen's raven tresses, pulling a surprised groan from her lips. Hermione quickly took control of the kiss, pushing herself up onto one elbow as she simultaneously pushed Harleen onto her back in the center of the large bed.
A moment later Hermione pulled back and Harleen found herself looking up into her girlfriend's eyes from within the curtain of Hermione's wild mane as it fell forward, surrounding her in the scent of her vanilla shampoo. Both girls were breathing heavily and Harleen's eyes fixed on her girlfriend's mouth as the tip of her tongue darted out to wet her full lips.
"Okay…" Harleen panted, slowly pushing Hermione's hair back so she could see her better. "Okay, as much as I really, really enjoyed that, and as much as I would love to continue, that wasn't exactly why I kissed you."
Hermione dipped her head to press another lingering kiss to Harleen's lips.
"Why did you kiss me, then?" she breathed.
Harleen paused, her thoughts well and truly scrambled after their brief snogging session, and the sudden realization that she could feel her girlfriend's breasts pressed against her own through their clothes. As such it took her a few seconds to gather her focus.
"It seems like you're worried about the… the more physical side of our relationship," she said, to which Hermione nodded hesitantly. "Well, I don't want to push you, I would never do that. So we'll keep things to whatever you are comfortable with. I would never want to do anything to hurt you. "
Hermione blinked several times, her face blank as she slowly pushed herself up until her arms were fully extended and she was looking down incredulously at Harleen.
"Uhh… Hermione?" she asked, the other girl's silence beginning to make her nervous. "Did... did I say something wrong?"
"Are you kidding me!" Hermione burst out, causing Harleen to flinch again in surprise at her sudden volume just before Hermione's arms bent as she dropped on top of Harleen and their mouths crashed together.
"Did you say something wrong?" she muttered as she lifted her head again. "Here you are, your entire life changed, something fundamental that you knew about yourself proven to be a lie, and you're worried about me?" She shook her head and Harleen could only offer a small smile in response.
"I just… I don't ever want you to regret being with me," she muttered. "I don't want to push you faster or more than you're ready for-"
"Harleen, just stop talking for a second, please, love," Hermione interrupted her and Harleen clamped her teeth shut with an audible click. She watched as Hermione stared back at her for several long moments, wondering just what was going on inside her brilliant mind.
"Are you honestly worried that I would break up with you or regret being with you if you let your hands wander a bit?"
Harleen opened her mouth, paused, then closed her mouth again and slowly nodded her head.
"Why? No… no, don't answer that. You've never had any good examples of a healthy relationship." Hermione let out a long sigh and dropped onto her side next to Harleen, her upper body propped up on one elbow and looked down at her. At least, that's what Harleen thought she was doing. She squinted in a vain effort to bring her girlfriend more into focus and a moment later she felt her glasses being pressed into her hand.
Gratefully she slipped them on and smiled at the crystal clear vision of the girl lying next to her.
"Thank you," she murmured softly.
Hermione smiled and reached out to brush aside Harleen's bangs, her fingers gently trailing over the scar on her forehead for a moment.
"I want to make one thing very clear to you, Harleen Potter," she whispered. "As much as I had my worries and doubts. As much as I'm still worried about what could happen if we failed as a couple, you need to understand that we would never fall apart over something so simple. If I ever asked you to stop doing something, would you?"
"Of course I would."
"Then there's nothing to worry about. In fact…" She trailed off for a moment, looking uncertain before her expression firmed and she continued. "In fact, I think I might be ready for more than you are, to be perfectly honest."
Harleen blinked in surprise at that, her lips parting to speak but nothing immediately came to mind as a possible response.
"What do you mean?" she finally asked.
"You haven't grown up with this body," Hermione pointed out. "There's so much that you are still adjusting to, still getting used to. Honestly, I think you'll need quite a bit more time to settle before you're really ready for more than what we're already doing." The smile she gave Harleen then was bright and loving and by far the most beautiful the raven haired girl had ever seen her produce.
"My concern about that part of our relationship was actually about the fact that I think I want much more from you than you're probably ready for. Not to say that I'm ready for everything myself. But I wanted to say that I would try my best not to push you faster than you're ready to handle. I wanted you to know that all you ever have to do is tell me to stop and I don't ever want you putting aside your discomfort because you think I want something from you.
"I know you, Harleen, and I know that if I was making you uncomfortable you'd likely try to ignore it and go along with something just because you don't want to disappoint or upset me. I don't want you to do that. Tell me if you think things ever start going too far and I'll back off. I won't be upset with you either. Do you understand?"
Harleen considered that carefully for a minute, thankful that Hermione let her process in silence without pushing her before she responded.
"Not that I'm attempting to argue with you, but what makes you think I'm not ready for whatever you're thinking? Or, for that matter, what makes you think that you are?"
"Let me take those in reverse order. What makes me think I am ready for more? Remember I said that I've been dreaming about the girl version of you since third year?"
Harleen nodded.
"Well, not all of those dreams were of a variety I'd be comfortable discussing with my parents, for example."
Harleen knew she had a confused expression on her face and before she could give voice to that confusion Hermione clarified. "Similar to the dream you mentioned the morning Madam Pomfrey released you from the Hospital Wing."
Almost instantly Harleen felt her face warm and her jaw dropped open.
"You… you've had dreams like that… about me?" The last word came out as an embarrassing squeak but she couldn't really bring herself to care. She was just so shocked to learn that Hermione had thought of her in those terms.
"Girls think about sex just as much as guys do, you know. I've had nearly a year now with you in my head and considering some of what we could do together, even before I knew that girl I was dreaming about was really you," Hermione pointed out, a small smirk turning up one corner of her mouth.
"Aside from that, I think there's another aspect of things that you might not have taken into account."
"What's that?" Harleen asked, hoping to get her scattered emotions back under control.
"You had a health class in primary school, didn't you?"
"Yeah, what's that have to do with anything?"
"They discussed sex and reproduction and such?"
"Yeah, briefly."
"So you know, at least the basics, of what's involved with sex?"
"Well, yeah. I've also heard a few conversations in the dorms over the years, particularly in the later years that I remember. What's this about?"
Hermione shook her head. "Just bear with me a moment. So you know the basics, but tell me, what you know or what you were told or have heard was always a man with a woman, wasn't it?"
"...Yeah?"
"So would you say you know what is involved with sex between two women?"
Harleen opened her mouth and no words escaped, again, as she realized that she really didn't know much about what actually was involved, the physical mechanics of it.
"I thought that might be the case."
Harleen turned her head as Hermione laid down the rest of the way beside her on the bed and she turned onto her side to more fully face her girlfriend.
"It's okay that you don't know. I'm not going to pretend that I know everything about it myself, but I have been looking into these things for a little while now, and I've learned that there's a lot more that two women can do together than I'd originally thought.
"You are still learning about your own body right now, Harleen. You're still getting used to not having all the same parts that you used to have and that's going to take some time. We can take things as slow as we want to and that's perfectly fine."
She slid closer in the bed and wrapped one arm around Harleen's waist. "Look, let's stop discussing this right now. We're not in any kind of rush, are we? There's no deadline for when and how our relationship moves forward, is there?"
"No, nothing like that."
"Then we don't have to figure it all out right now. We can discuss it more as we go along. For now, though, we're both on the same page, right? We take things at our own pace, only as much or as far as we're each comfortable with."
Harleen nodded slowly.
"You know, this was really not what I was expecting to be discussing when I woke up to find you in bed with me earlier."
Harleen suddenly paused.
"Why were you in bed with me anyway?" she asked. "Not that I mind at all. I felt fantastic when I woke up, actually. I'm just curious how that happened."
Hermione looked surprised by the question but quickly answered. "Oh! Well, you had another nightmare last night."
"I did?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes. You woke me up and I came over to check on you. Instead of waking you up I decided to just try and hold you and you actually calmed down pretty quickly. I didn't mean to fall asleep again but… well, it felt nice, just holding you."
"I don't remember any nightmares. I honestly think that's the best night's sleep I've had in a long time." Harleen admitted the last rather shyly and Hermione pulled her even closer until Harleen's head was resting on the other girl's shoulder.
"Then I'm happy I was able to help you rest," she heard Hermione murmur quietly in her ear.
They were silent for some time after that, neither girl really willing to break the comfortable atmosphere that had settled over them. Eventually, however, Harleen heard Hermione speak up.
"I think I get it now, by the way."
Confused Harleen lifted her head and looked up at her girlfriend.
"What you were talking about in the Hospital Wing, how you felt when you were taller than me. I've always been protective of you. Always wanted you to be safe and happy. Holding you last night and like this now… that's a very different feeling. I've never felt… well, protective is really the only word, like you said. I've never felt it like this before and I have to agree with what you said. I really do like feeling this way when I hold you."
Smiling broadly, Harleen took her glasses off and set them aside before she burrowed her way closer to her girlfriend until their arms and legs were tangled together and she didn't think it was physically possible to get any closer than they already were.
Harleen knew they should probably get up. There was plenty for them to do. Plans to make, others that needed implementing, but right at that moment she was too happy, too content with where she was to move.
Silently she added another checkmark to her mental list of things that Reaper had been right about.
He said that when soulmates were involved that humans had proven repeatedly that they would fight harder than ever to protect each other and the future they could have together. I'm still going to fight to save as many people as I can, but this, this right here is what I'm really fighting for. I want nothing more in the world than to be able to come back to this, to her, and to feel this loved and protected.
Our future together. That's what I'm fighting for from now on.
