Chapter 7
A/N: Oh, these crazy kids! Don't you just wish they would wake up and realize what they're feeling for each other is far more than friendship or simple lust? Sigh. Alas, they're going to continue to be a bit oblivious and clueless, at least for the time being. Even though they're both smart in their own way (especially Hermione) they're both totally lost when it comes to emotions or feelings...which, do you blame them? A) They're teenagers with teenage hormones and teenage angst and B) Neither of them have ever experienced real romantic love before, just crushes. So bear with them (and me) while they go on a journey of self discovery. ;)
Anyway, happy reading. Hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, don't forget to leave a comment. I always love hearing from my readers.
Quick disclaimer - Haven't had much time to go over and edit this chapter so please ignore the mistakes (if any). Also, feel free to point out any glaring errors - just be nice about it - and I'll be happy to go back and fix them.
As expected, the post game celebration - a tradition that had carried on, despite Fred and George's dramatic departure last year - was in full swing by the time Harry and Ron stepped in through the portrait hole. They were greeted with a chorus of shouts, bone crushing hugs and thumps on their backs and were as always hailed as the heroes of Gryffindor.
Harry grinned, relieved that no one else seemed to blame him for almost leading them to their defeat. Their classmates really did seem to believe in the adage, all's well that ends well.
True to form, Lavender jumped on Ron the minute he walked in, smothering him with kisses. Dean similarly seemed to have caught a hold of Ginny; who'd arrived a few minutes ahead of them; and the two were huddled together in one corner of the room. (Incidentally, the fact that Ginny and Dean were indulging in all sorts of public displays of affection didn't bother him as much as it would have in the past.) Harry himself, was congratulated and applauded for his match winning recovery of the snitch by all and sundry.
With Ron otherwise occupied Harry suddenly found himself all alone – Hermione seemed to be conspicuously absent from the gathering. With a butterbeer in hand, he sat back and observed all the fun his housemates seemed to be having. As usual, food and drinks were in abundance; courtesy of Dobby, no doubt. Someone had sneaked in WWW contraband – puking pastilles, ton tongue toffees and canary creams were being used in abundance. There were even some fireworks – thankfully, none of the over the top ones that'd been used on Umbridge and her inquisitorial squad last year.
Despite his enjoyment, he couldn't help but miss Hermione - over the last few days (even more than all their previous years together), he'd gotten used to having her around. Where was she? She should've been there to celebrate his first victory as Quidditch captain. Her absence somehow made even this merry occasion seem dull and colorless.
"Hey Parvati!" He called out as she passed by, feeling restless and incomplete. "Have you seen Hermione anywhere?"
Looking at him like he was barmy, she pointed to the very back corner of the common room. Seated there, in her favorite armchair was the very person he'd been yearning for, Crookshanks curled up lazily in her lap. Why was she seated all the way back there? It was almost like she was deliberately trying to make herself inconspicuous! What was more, she seemed distracted and lonely…like she was cut off from the rest of the crowd.
Harry frowned. Was something wrong? He eyed her critically, trying to evaluate their earlier interaction. She'd seemed excited and happy enough earlier. Had something happened between the time she'd hugged him on the pitch and now? She seemed… unusually contemplative, like she had something heavy on her mind.
He tried to make his way towards her but kept getting pulled over into other conversations along the way. And she didn't make any effort to come talk to him either. Instead, she just looked on impassively - seemingly content to let him – and Ron – enjoy their moment of glory. But that's not what he wanted. He wanted her next to him dammit! Was that too much to ask for? Frankly, he was also more than a bit worried about her reclusive behavior - something was definitely bothering her.
Deliberately ignoring the next person to call out for his attention, Harry walked over to the chair she was sitting on. He needed to check up on her. Even more importantly, he just needed to be with her.
"Hey," He called out tentatively. He was fishing; hoping to suss out what, if anything, was bothering her. "Everything alright?"
Giving him a half smile, she offered the snitch back to him. "I believe you need this back…?"
Harry flushed. "Er, yes, thank you. And sorry…I wish you could keep it."
She waved him off, seeming unnaturally calm. "I knew I'd have to give it back to you eventually. It's school property after all. Bu…but I appreciate the gesture." Her composure cracked and she gave him a wobbly smile. "No one's ever done something that sweet for me before."
Bollocks! She was upset. No two ways about it. Now if he could only figure out why.
"Hermione…Is everything alright?" Harry questioned cautiously, not wanting to ruin her mood any further.
"I'm sorry!" she blurted out, looking everywhere but at him.
Huh? What was she sorry for?
"I shouldn't have forced you to…" she trailed off abruptly. "I shouldn't have kissed you before the game like that, Harry! Or worn your jersey to the game apparently…" she muttered dejectedly. "I'm really, really sorry!"
Harry's heart sank. She was?
Also dear Merlin, she regretted the kiss. She'd flat out admitted it. And he wasn't even surprised. This was him – Harry they were talking about. He was lousy at all things pertaining to the opposite sex, especially kissing. He already knew that. So why had he expected things to be different with her? God, he was such a doofus!
But…did this mean that she regretted all of their recent transgressions too?
Well, so did he, right? Of course he did (even if he didn't believe himself when he said so…) They were friends – best friends – and nothing more. And best friends didn't kiss each other that way, (or that often for that matter!) no matter how amazing it felt, how right. Right?
"You don't need to apologize, Hermione; and you certainly didn't force me in any way. I was just as willing a participant. But you're right. We shouldn't have done…that." He trailed off. Maybe they shouldn't have done half of the things they'd been doing together over the past few days but he certainly couldn't bring himself to say it out loud! And if he was being really honest with himself, he didn't regret any of it either!
"Alright then, no more kisses" she declared firmly.
What? No! Not being able to touch her? Or to feel her soft pink lips on his again? Never to hold her in his arms? That seemed so unfair. And yet, it was infinitely better than losing her friendship forever. "No more kisses…" he agreed, reluctantly, his heart heavy with regret.
"We…we'll still continue with the rest of the charade…" she continued hesitantly. "That is, if you're okay with it, of course…"
"Yes, yes, of course!" he reassured her dully, thankful that she didn't want to back off from the rest of the plan at least.
He couldn't help but realize the irony in the fact that he wasn't jumping at this chance to rid himself of the whole tedious charade like he'd been wanting to in the very beginning. Now all he wanted was to spend more time with Hermione for as long as he possibly could. How could things have changed so drastically in just a couple of weeks?
"Good." Thankfully she seemed equally pleased so it looked like she wasn't as done with him as she'd like him to believe either. "So what's next on the agenda then?"
"Hogsmeade visit is coming up next weekend." he flushed. "Would you still like to go together?"
Her face lit up with a smile. "I'd love to, Harry."
He couldn't help smiling back, feeling a burst of happiness at the thought of going on a date with his best friend. Then he realized – he would be going on a date with his best friend. A pretend date, sure, but a date nonetheless. Bugger!
Not to mention, he'd had his tongue down said friend's throat more than a couple of times over the course of the last week and a half – and he'd liked it. Way too much. What was worse, she clearly regretted the entire situation. And then, like a bloody idiot – after she'd admitted to regretting all their kisses, no less – he'd gone and invited her on a blasted date. What in Merlin's sake was wrong with him? He was a blithering moron, that's what he was.
The day they were to go into Hogsmeade dawned cold and gloomy. It was a day mainly conducive to snuggling indoors with your significant others by a bright, blazing fireplace and drinking some of the excellent hot cocoa that the house elves were known for whipping up at a moment's notice.
Despite this, Harry found himself strangely excited at the thought of actually stepping out of the warm coziness of the castle and spending his day outdoors. The reason for his excitement? Not Hermione Granger. Nope, not at all.
He was just excited because he'd always loved seeing Hogsmeade in the winter - the whole town had a festive and merry feel to it. The rooftops of the houses and buildings would be lined with fresh, powder white snow. All of the houses as well as the shops – would be decorated festively for Christmas, the air filled with the smell of freshly baked cakes and cookies. The magical decorations in the town square would be flitting around – the tinsel flashing all sorts of different colors, the pixies sprinkling gold dust all over the place. Christmas in Hogsmeade was…err…magical.
And the fact that he was excited to share all this with a girlfriend; even a pretend one…? Well that had no bearing on his current situation now, did it?
In the few days since the whole… 'Quidditch-match-followed-by-his-and -Hermione's-talk' debacle, he'd managed to convince himself that it wasn't Hermione per se that had caused him to have such crazy reactions in the first place. The fact that he'd gone from the highest highs to the lowest lows just at the thought of not having any further kisses had nothing to do with Hermione per se. (He refused to believe anything else because the alternative was frankly too terrifying to contemplate.)
She was, after all, the first girl he'd snogged – if he didn't count Cho. (And he didn't, for the simple fact that she'd been crying over another boy at the time of the aforementioned snog. So it wasn't even fair to classify that encounter in the same category as his and Hermione's recent encounters.) Not to mention, he was a 16 (almost 17) year old boy. What 16 year old boy wouldn't be excited about getting to share mind blowing kisses (and more…) with someone, even if that someone happened to be a pretend girlfriend who was also his best female friend in the whole world?
In short, he'd have reacted just as strongly to being able to kiss any other girl too. And he wasn't devastated that she'd put an end to their intimate encounters. Nope, not at all. He did not miss her. (Because that would be pathetic and ridiculous since she was still his best friend and they spent pretty much every waking moment together.) The fact that he couldn't stop thinking of her or her lips lately was purely a coincidence. He'd have had the exact same issue had he shared those experiences with anyone else – say Parvati for instance.
He shuddered. The mental picture that thought evoked was enough to make him gag. Not that there was anything wrong with Parvati – there wasn't. She was a gorgeous young girl and any boy would be lucky to have her as his girlfriend. In fact, a few weeks ago, he'd probably have been thrilled to steal a few kisses from Parvati. Now though…now he could only imagine kissing one girl…
A girl, that unfortunately, had told him in no uncertain terms that she didn't want to kiss him anymore.
They were both still reeling from their 'talk' post the Quidditch game and their interactions had been a tad bit strained ever since. Oh, they'd still maintained their ruse well enough to avoid suspicion but there was definitely a noticeable cooling off in their behavior towards each other. In short there was not much hand holding, longing looks or hugs and kisses going on.
And that made him very grumpy.
Having grown up as an unwanted orphan, he didn't have a lot of experience with touch. Hugs and kisses, as a means of expressing affection, was a concept that was entirely foreign to him. All he knew was that somehow, over the period of the last few days, he'd gotten used to being able to touch or hug Hermione whenever he felt like it. Even more importantly, he'd gotten used to her hugging him. And he bloody well missed it!
The thought of never kissing her again; of never holding her in his arms…it was like a physical blow. Merlin, it wasn't supposed to be like this! How in the world had things gotten so fucking complicated? This was supposed to be simple – just pretend to be a couple for a few days in order to make some of your friends jealous. That's it. And look at how it'd turned out – with him getting so caught up in the pretense that he couldn't imagine his life any other way. She had the starring role in his nighttime fantasies, for Merlin's sake! He'd lost count of the number of times he'd woken up hard – panting and desperate for her over the course of the last few days. What was worse, lately she was the only girl he could jerk off to – how pathetic was that? How in fuck's sake was he ever going to get past this crazy charade that they'd made up and that somehow had managed to turn his whole life upside down?
"Harry?" The girl he'd been dreaming about (but refused to admit having said dreams about) stood before him, looking in his clearly biased opinion, as cute as a button. She was dressed for the weather, decked head to toe in warm winter gear. And yet he couldn't help but feel that she'd never looked better. She was wearing a red knee length cable knit sweater (a nod to the festive season) paired with woolen stockings and thigh-high boots that looked drop dead sexy on her. She's draped a warm scarf around her neck – a stylish and practical move that screamed Hermione in every way. On her arm she was carrying her winter robe, mittens and a knit cap. Wow – he really must've been deaf, dumb and blind growing up to have missed how gorgeous she was.
"Ready to go?" she questioned shyly, prompting him to stop gawking at her in amazement.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go," he jumped into action, chastising himself mentally. Just pretend…this is just pretend, he reminded himself for what felt like the hundredth time.
He instinctively reached for her hand...and then pulled back just as quickly when he realized what he was doing. Damn it!
Having previously decided on the places they wanted to visit, they left the castle gates and got into a carriage by themselves. This seemed like the right thing to do, considering that they wanted their friends to believe in this whole 'date' business. This didn't stop them both from feeling shy and awkward during the carriage ride though – and had both of them wishing fervently for the company of their friends which would've been a welcome distraction. Needless to say, things had been a little awkward between them lately. Hopefully, today would change all that though.
"So, where do you want to do first?" Harry asked, trying to get the conversation going.
"Scrivenshaft's?" she suggested after giving the matter some thought.
Of course! How could he have even doubted what her answer would be?
"Sure," he readily agreed. As long as he got to be with her, he didn't really care what they did or where they went.
The carriage stopped at the edge of town. Harry and Hermione both made sure they were appropriately bundled up for the cold before opening the door. Harry jumped off first, offering Hermione his hand to help her down. Once she was off the carriage and on the ground, he didn't know what to do. Should he let go of her hand or keep holding on to it? He didn't want to be that guy - a clinger. But at the same time, wouldn't it look weird if they didn't hold each other's hands? After all, they were supposed to be crazy about each other. Plus, he couldn't help but notice - she wasn't exactly in a hurry to let go of his hand either. That decided it. He'd keep holding on - at least until she indicated otherwise. After all, it would be good for their 'pretense' wouldn't it?
Once they entered the store, he had no choice but to reluctantly let go so that Hermione could move freely around the shop, looking for what she wanted. But that didn't mean he had to like it.
As a means to distract himself, he went around the store, picking up some quills and a few bottles of ink himself. Turning around, he spotted Hermione having an animated discussion with the store owner about the pro's and con's of a Gryphon feather quill over an owl. He couldn't help but smile. Hermione was the only person he knew who'd get so excited about something as simple as a quill.
Whereas other girls were interested in clothes, make-up, glamor charms and jewelry, Hermione was interested in the simpler things in life. He realized he'd never have to change anything about himself, or pretend to be interested in something he wasn't just to impress Hermione. All he had to do was be himself because she clearly liked and appreciated the person he was in private. She didn't need him to be Harry Potter - the legend. He could just be Harry - the near-sighted doofus who routinely lost his temper and his marbles and got into trouble. It was a refreshing and calming thought.
"Ready to leave?" Looking up, he realized that Hermione had finished her shopping while he was distracted with his thoughts.
"Yes." He smiled.
The store owner rang up their purchases and they exited Scrivenshaft's to make their way over to Honeydukes. Once again, Harry found himself fighting the urge to lace his fingers through hers. But this time, he managed to resist the temptation.
At Honeydukes they both refilled their supply of candy – in his case, some Chocolate frogs, a couple of boxes of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and some Fizzing Whizbees. He also picked up some Lemon drops and Sherbet lemons while he was at it. Hermione went for her favorites – Sugar quills, Licorice wands and Toothflossing stringmints (an obvious side-effect of having parents who were dentists). This time, he insisted on paying for both their purchases and after a bit of argument, Hermione gave in and let him pay for her candy as well.
By noon they'd visited most of the stores on their list. They met up with their friends briefly, giving Harry the opportunity to sneak away and make a discreet stop at Dervish and Banges to pick up Hermione's Christmas gift that he'd preordered the week before. He made sure to shrink the beautifully wrapped box and hide it among his already full bag of purchases before making his way back to her. Happy and satisfied with the day well spent, they made their way to the Three Broomsticks for some food and glasses of piping hot Butterbeer before heading back to Hogwarts.
"Why don't you find a spot for us while I go place our orders?" Harry questioned.
Hermione readily agreed, proceeding to an empty booth while Harry made his way to the counter to order their food and drinks. By the time Harry made his way back with their glasses of butterbeer, Hermione was settled in comfortably, her purchases placed in a neat pile on the bench beside her.
Harry handed her drink over to her and slid in next to her.
"Madame Rosemerta had some freshly made Shepherd's pie. I ordered some for us. Hope that's okay?" Harry shared.
"Sounds brilliant. I'm famished," Hermione responded.
Harry smiled, happy at having made the right decision. "So, how has your day been so far?" he questioned nervously, bracing himself for the worst.
"I can't believe you even have to ask!" Hermione exclaimed. "I've had a great time."
Harry sagged in relief. "So, no regrets about not spending today with the whole gang…? I mean, I know us going to Hogsmeade together was what everyone expected…and it was definitely good for our…er…plan, but I'm sure we could have made it work even if our friends had tagged along."
'Oh please, please, please let her not have any regrets...'
"Not a one." Hermione stated firmly, reaching out to give his hand a brief squeeze. "I'm so happy to be here today; with you. Harry, you're my best friend - even more so now, after we've spent all this time together. And what's more important, is that you always will be - even once our plan ends. I could never regret any time spent with you, ever."
Harry smiled, his heart twisting with happiness and sorrow all at once. While he was thrilled that his and Hermione's friendship appeared to be stronger than ever he couldn't help but be sad that she was talking about their plan ending like it was no big deal at all. He knew for a fact that he wouldn't find it all that easy to go back to being just friends once this charade came to an end. He would miss this - miss the intimacy (physical and emotional) that had come about as a result of this crazy plan of hers.
Once the Hogsmeade weekend was over, the whole castle seemed to collectively focus its attention on the upcoming holidays. Classes wound down, and homework assignments were less and less frequent. The quality of work being handed in deteriorated significantly and yet, surprisingly, no one got reprimanded for it – too much. It seemed like the professors weren't immune to the magic of the holidays either. Or at the very least, they were well aware of the level of distraction brought on by this time of the year.
Finally the day arrived that the dorms emptied out – most of the kids that were headed home for the holidays departed in a flurry of hugs and goodbyes and 'See you soon's'.
Harry had; as always; chosen to remain behind. Who could fault him? Christmas at the Dursleys (where he was unwanted and would be reminded of that fact constantly) vs Christmas at Hogwarts…? There was no contest at all.
Ron and Ginny had no choice but to stay behind this year as well since Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had decided to visit Charlie in Romania over Christmas. Hermione, Neville, Lavender and Dean were staying as well - most of them out of choice. (Per Ron's somewhat reluctant admission - Even though he'd never admit it, Harry knew that his mate was secretly tickled at the thought - Lavender had insisted on staying behind because she couldn't stand to be away from her 'won-won'.)
And so it was that the 6th year dorm - with a few notable exceptions - was almost as full as it was all year round.
Most of the Professors ended up staying for Christmas - probably to grade assignments or to get a head start on planning upcoming lessons - but they were generally much more laid back and relaxed than during the rest of the school year. Thus, the 6th Year's would have the run of the Gryffindor tower and were looking forward to all the shenanigans that they could get up to in the absence of the usually strict supervision.
Of course, it wasn't all fun and games.
Romilda Vane almost managed to slip Harry a love potion through a box of toffee's that she gave him for Christmas. The only reason he escaped the horror of thinking himself in love with her was that Ron ended up consuming all of the toffee's by mistake. Harry had walked into the dorm late one night to find him staring out the window; mumbling about how beautiful Romilda was; and had rushed him to Professor Slughorn's office - only for Ron to almost die by drinking some poisoned mead instead. Harry had reacted quickly, giving him a bezoar and thankfully disaster had been averted once again.
Unfortunately, Ron had to spend a few days in the infirmary recovering from the ordeal - but at least he was constantly surrounded by his friends. Lavender, in particular, had refused to leave his side and even Harry who'd initially been a bit ambivalent about their relationship had to admit that excessive giggliness aside, she was good for Ron. He dared not say so in front of Hermione of course - although, her attitude towards Lavender seemed to have thawed out as well.
Thankfully Ron was released from the hospital wing the day before Christmas and the holiday wasn't marred by any worry over his recovery.
After all the excitement, Harry woke up late on Christmas day, to the usual pile of presents at the foot of the bed. Looking around, he realized he was the only person left in the dorms. Ron, Neville and Dean seemed to have woken up earlier and had already left for the day. He freshened up hurriedly, levitated his gifts and made his way to the common room, eager to see his friends – one in particular.
He walked down the stairs and saw the 6th year's all gathered around the common room fire, waiting impatiently for him to come along so they could have breakfast and open their presents. Ginny, Dean, Hermione and Neville were sitting on some cushions strewn on the floor. Ron and Lavender were squished together on a single chair, their faces wreathed in glowing smiles. Funnily enough, Ron's stint in the hospital wing seemed to have worked wonders for their budding relationship.
Harry grinned, happy to see his best bud back to his usual antics - safe and sound. Neville noticed him first, who nudged Dean, who in turn told Ron, who turned towards Harry with a huge smile on his face. "Alright, Harry?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't I be? I'm not the one that pigged out on someone else's candy." Harry admonished, secretly glad that things had turned out alright. He knew that if he'd been even a few minutes later in administering the Bezoar, things could have turned out very differently.
Ron grinned. "And you should be thanking me for it. Can you imagine? You, in love with Romilda? The horror."
"Arsehole!" Harry grumbled, hiding his grin. "Should've let you bite it, then I wouldn't have had to listen to you mouthing off. Although, truth be told, I wasn't looking forward to having to break in another best friend."
"Git!" Ron retorted back good naturedly.
Harry burst out laughing. Yup, it was a good day.
He heard a sniffle and turned around. Hermione's face was suspiciously wet and blotchy. Uh, why was she crying?
"Oh, don't mind me," She wailed, "I'm just happy everyone's alright."
Oh. Okay then. He exchanged a look with Ron. Girls really were a wee bit mental, weren't they?
Hermione interpreted the look accurately for what it was. "Oh, sod off!" she snapped, wiping her cheeks with both hands. Err, oops…?
Before he could respond, there was a general chorus of "Happy Christmas, Harry!"
"Happy Christmas!" he wished all of them in return, smiling cheerily. His eyes though, kept gravitating towards Hermione - as they'd been wont to do lately. Thankfully, she seemed to be having a similar problem. Catching his eye, she gave him a sheepish smile. Whew. At least she didn't seem too mad at him.
With that worry out of the way, he found his attention wandering to her overall presence and appearance. She was dressed in pajamas; like they all were; her hair pulled back in a messy bun that was secured in place by her wand. She appeared fresh scrubbed and rosy – free of all artifice. His breath caught. She was so fucking gorgeous in that moment that it was almost physically painful to look at her.
He must've been staring at her for a while because Dean cleared his throat slyly. "Ahem." Their friends snickered.
Hermione blushed. "Happy Christmas, Harry!" she muttered shyly.
"Happy Christmas, Hermione!" he responded, still feeling more than a little bit awestruck.
"Knowing that you've had a shitty childhood and all, I feel like it's my moral obligation, as your best friend, mind, to inform you that that's a crappy way to wish your girlfriend, mate," Ron teased. Harry almost groaned out loud. Merlin, it was really nice that Ron was finally over being a jealous prat and was being so supportive, but did he have to be such an insufferable pain in the arse?
"Yes...Come on, you two, where's the love this morning, huh?" Lavender huffed in exasperation. "Usually you guys are nauseatingly touchy-feely!"
They weren't that touchy-feely - nauseating or otherwise. Were they? "Err…" Harry didn't know what to say. Or do.
"Go on, snog her, you idiot!" Dean chimed up bluntly.
Bugger! This was not good. Especially in light of Hermione's 'no kissing' rule. Although...he really, really did want to. Snog her, that is. Merlin, he missed her. He missed the intimacy that they'd shared. Desperately.
He looked at her, longing for her with every fiber of his being. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and then, noticing his gaze on her, hurriedly glanced away.
"Shall we open our presents?" Hermione muttered, in an obvious attempt to distract and deflect. Thankfully, no one called her out on it. There was a flurry of activity as everyone piled their gifts on the table and tried to figure out which one to open first.
Harry tried not to take Hermione's reluctance to snog him too personally. But Merlin, it was hard.
Putting the thought out of his mind he focused his attention on opening the gifts, like his friends seemed to be doing. He went through the pile one by one, admiring and thanking his friends as he got around to opening theirs. He got new dragonskin Quidditch gloves from Ron, a book on Defensive spells and how to teach them from Neville, a broomstick servicing kit from Ginny and boxes of candy from Lavender and Dean respectively. Mrs. Weasley, as usual, had knitted him a jumper in Gryffindor colors with the letter H on the front.
The last package was from Hermione - subconsciously, he'd saved that one for the last. As he picked it up, he snuck in a quick glance at her and saw that she was opening his gift to her at the same time too. His heart started beating faster. He really really hoped she liked what he'd picked out for her.
"Oh, Harry!" She breathed tremulously as she opened up the box, instantly recognizing the item for what it was. "This...this is amazing! Where in the world did you get this?"
He smiled, his breath leaving him in a whoosh. He was so happy that she seemed pleased. He'd wanted to give her something special this year; something other than the usual 'book' he got for her every year. Thankfully he'd seen just the thing in an advert in the Daily Prophet a couple of weeks before their Hogsmeade visit. The instant he saw it, he knew he had to get it for her and had hustled off to the owlery to send Hedwig with detailed instructions and a pouch full of galleons to Dervish and Bangs.
It was a silver bracelet - delicately crafted with several charms attached to it. The charms were personalized - a tiny club (he'd thought of having a miniature troll charm attached but realized that it would make for an ugly looking piece of jewelry!), a book (for obvious reasons), a cauldron (he hoped it would remind her of the polyjuice potion incident in 2nd year), a wolf (for third year) and a wand (kind of a combined homage to when she taught him a summoning charm for the triwizard tournament and for the DA which was founded only because of her.) All the charms were imbued with spells - for protection and also a location spell that would only kick in if she was ever in trouble! The piece had cost him a pretty penny but in retrospect it was a small price to pay for all the things she'd done for him over the years. If not for her, he wouldn't have even made it past 1st year and it was high time she knew how much he appreciated her and all of her efforts.
"Well…? What is it?" Ginny questioned impatiently.
Wordlessly Hermione held up the delicate bracelet, her hand trembling slightly.
Lavender gasped. "Harry, it's gorgeous!"
"Well done mate." Ron groaned. "Do you have to be so bloody perfect at everything? First Quidditch, then Defense and now this. Ugh! Bloody hell, how is a bloke to earn any brownie points with his own girlfriend when Harry bloody Potter turns out to be the perfect bloody boyfriend and gives his loving girlfriend the perfect bloody Christmas gift of all time. Way to make the rest of us look shitty in comparison, mate, really. Best mate indeed." He grumbled, albeit good-naturedly.
"Umm, sorry…?" Harry muttered in embarrassment. Really, he didn't see why the gift was garnering that much attention. It was just a simple piece of jewelry, nothing more.
Ginny leaned over, examining the trinket in closer detail. The look on her face - it was an odd mixture of admiration and envy. Huh. Maybe Hermione was right after all. Maybe Ginny did still harbor some feelings for him. He'd honestly thought that she'd gotten over her silly schoolgirl crush ages ago. Especially this year, what with her going out first with Micheal Croner, followed by Dean he'd almost started believing that she had moved on. But more and more it was starting to look like he'd misunderstood or misinterpreted the situation entirely. Somehow, though, this information didn't seem as life changing as he'd always thought it would be. Rather than feeling excited about the prospect, he was finding himself a tad bit ambivalent.
He glanced at Hermione again, his heart leaping with joy at the happiness on her face. Truth be told, he was more thrilled by the fact that Hermione liked his gift than he was by the thought of Ginny having feelings for him. What did that say about his 'so-called' feelings for Ginny though?
"Thank you Harry." Hermione said again, giving him the most radiant smile. "This is one of the best gifts I've ever gotten! My gift...well...it's not much in comparison, I'm afraid."
"Oh no, I'm sure it'll be fine," He hastened to reassure her. He felt bad. It hadn't been his intention to make her feel less in any way.
"Just open it…" she urged, flustered.
The box was compact - like one of those boxes that the muggles used to store pens or jewelry . She couldn't have gotten him a pen though, he was sure of that. He had no use for those, at least not at Hogwarts. Oh Merlin, it better not be any kind of jewelry either. Okay, he was being silly. Why would Hermione give him a piece of jewelry?
Shoring up his courage, he unwrapped the box carefully, not wanting to jostle it in case there was something breakable in there. Once the wrapping paper was out of the way, he pried it open. Inside was a collection of small vials, containing a cloudy, wispy, swirling substance. He'd seen enough of them this year to recognize them instantly for what they were - memories.
He held it up. "Hermione…?" he questioned.
"That's just a part of your gift." She handed him another, bigger package. "This is the other part of it."
He opened that one too - it contained a small pensieve.
"It's a basic model, a portable one. You can shrink and enlarge it when you need to." she explained.
"Oh wow! Hermione...this is incredible. My very own portable pensieve? I didn't even know something like this was possible."
"Yeah, well, I figured just giving you a bunch of memories without also giving you a way to view them would be pretty pointless. The memories - I spoke to most of our Professors. These are some of their memories of your parents here at Hogwarts. Professor Lupin has agreed to share some of his favorite memories of all of them as kids as well when he sees you next. So have Mr and Mrs Weasley. Sorry, I just couldn't get all of them in time."
Harry was stunned speechless. He felt an uncomfortable pressure in his chest - like his heart would burst with all the emotion he was feeling at the moment. The fact that Hermione had gone to so much effort for him…? To be able to see his parents as little kids...to be able to see Sirius...priceless. This was probably the best gift he'd received - ever. And the fact that she was apologizing for it? It was utterly ridiculous!
"Wow, Hermione!" Ron exclaimed in awe. He turned to Harry. "Snog her now, you idiot."
"Ron!" Ginny snapped. "Stop being such a jerk." She eyed him sternly. "Just leave them alone. Just because you and Lavender don't mind going at it in front of the entire damn school, doesn't mean Harry would want to do the same."
Ron, Dean and Lavender all looked away, properly chastised. Harry was still in a bit of a daze - he was sure he was staring at Hermione like she was the second coming of Godric Gryffindor. He couldn't help it though. What she'd just done…? If he had been allowed to do so, he'd have smothered her in kisses to thank her for her gift.
Hermione was unnaturally quiet. She gave Ginny a look - one that was hard to decipher - seemingly debating something in her mind. A few moments later, her face cleared. Clearly, she'd arrived at some sort of a conclusion.
With a determined expression on her face, she got to her feet and walked over to where he was standing. What? What was she doing? She placed her hands on his shoulder, stood up on her tiptoes, leaned over and brushed a feather light kiss at the corner of his lips. "Happy Christmas, Harry!" She whispered. Then she kissed him again - this time directly on the lips. As kisses went, it was tame. But it was also one of the most confident kisses she'd given him till date. And it seemed a bit possessive. Almost as if she were stating her ownership over him.
Harry's heart slammed out of control. Holy hell! He almost groaned out loud. It felt like it'd been so long...too long since he'd felt her lips on his. And why had she done that - not that he was complaining, mind. But she was the one who'd wanted them to pull back; she was the one who'd decided they shouldn't kiss anymore. And then, she'd gone ahead and done just that. What was she playing at? What did all this mean?
His brain was going to explode trying to figure out what was going on. Not to mention, his body. All he really wanted to do, with every fiber of his being was to grab her and kiss the living daylights out of her, their audience be damned! He'd missed her...her lips and her warmth and her touch...he'd missed every fucking part of her.
Before he could act on his instincts, she pulled back. The loss of contact was devastating - he felt disoriented and lost.
Ron let out a wolf whistle, looking a bit stunned.
Lavender fanned herself. "Whew! Is it just me or did the temperature in here suddenly go up by a million degrees?"
Hermione blushed.
"No wonder you were staying so far away from each other this morning." she continued, oblivious of their discomfort. "You two are on fire for each other. If you don't jump each other soon, I think you'll burn down the whole of Gryffindor tower."
Neville and Dean nodded dumbly.
Lavender leaned over and whispered something in Ron's ear - whatever it was seemed to electrify him. He pushed her off his lap hurriedly and got to his feet. Grabbing her hand, he started walking away briskly, dragging her along behind him. "Excuse us. We have err...something that we need to do." He called back over his shoulder.
"Something?" Dean howled with laughter. "More like someone, you mean."
Ron went as red as a tomato while Lavender just giggled.
"Harry, Hermione - do us a favor and go shag each other already, will you? Otherwise you're going to cause the rest of us to spontaneously combust." Lavender called, just as Ron pulled her out of the portrait hole.
Bloody hell! He felt his entire face go up in flames. Did she have to be so fucking explicit?
He busied himself with vanishing away all the wrapping paper, unable or unwilling to meet Hermione's eyes. But, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get the mental image evoked by Lavender's words out of his mind for the rest of the day.
A/N: Please review. :)