A/N: Hi friends! I know most of this story has been more adventure than romance, but now as our couple is older, I will be incorporating more romance! This is one of those chapters and I hope you enjoy. Big thanks to my alpha/beta HeartOfAspen for her continued work on this story!

Over the next few days, Harry started his meetings with Professor Dumbledore apparently regarding the war and Tom Riddle's role in it. Hermione spent her free time in the library, researching protective spells that either worked underwater or for large amounts of creatures. She found plenty of information, but none of it practical. She needed an expert and since she already mentioned it to Professor Snape, it was time to bring in an expert—Charlie Weasley.

She didn't let Ron know she was sending a letter to her brother, so when a return owl came back during breakfast and she passed on Charlie's regards to him, he looked at her funny, his mouth wide open. "You're talking to my brother?"

"I just asked him some questions about magical creatures, that's all." She then looked at him disapprovingly. "And you shouldn't talk with your mouth full of food."

He swallowed. "Sorry," he said, sheepishly.

"But he says, hello," Hermione continued. "And he hopes you are doing well in your studies. And that you aren't letting girls distract you from getting an education."

The few around them laughed and Ron's ears turned a bright red. Dean clapped Ron on the back. "Padma would never let that happen, would she mate?"

Ron swallowed his food and shook his head. "No, she wouldn't. Blimey, we spend almost more time in the library than I ever did with Hermione!"

Hermione grinned. "As long as Padma's keeping you in line. We all know someone needs to." She winked at Harry—it was nice to be able to joke around with their friends despite everything going on.

Later that evening, Hermione shared Charlie's letter with Harry. "He's going to firecall? Can he do that?"

"Sirius did it," Hermione reminded him.

"You're right. Have you told Professor Snape yet?"

"Not yet, I think I might see if I can catch him after double Defense tomorrow. Perhaps even walk up to his desk with the note."

"At least we have a while to figure this out if this doesn't work. The fourteenth isn't for another week."

Hermione nodded in agreement.

Thankfully, everything fell into place as planned and Hermione was sitting on the floor in Professor Snape's quarters, Harry next to her. Professor Snape was lounging in one of his leather chairs nursing a glass of whiskey. It must have been a trying day.

Moments later, Hermione's attention was drawn to the fireplace as Charlie's head appeared. "Harry, Hermione!" he greeted them jovially. He got a bit more serious as he looked at his old Potions professor. "Professor," he said with a nod.

"Weasley." Snape returned the greeting with a nod of his head.

Charlie turned his head back to Harry and Hermione. "Your letter was super vague, Hermione, I am not sure how much help I can be."

"Sorry about that, Charlie, but the less you know, the safer you'll be."

He didn't look thrilled at her response, but there wasn't much he could do...except refuse to give her information of course. But he wouldn't do that. Well, at least she hoped he wouldn't.

"Alright, what can I help you with?" Hermione breathed a sigh of relief at his words.

"You deal with protective enchantments on the daily for large dragon enclosures. Will those same enchantments work underwater?"

"They will, but there aren't just enchantments around dragon enclosures. We have specialists in Ancient Runes that craft wards specifically for each breed of dragon."

Hermione formed an 'o' with her mouth.

"It's a bit more complicated than just a few spells," Charlie continued as Hermione snapped her mouth shut.

"But it would work for other creatures and underwater?"

Charlie nodded. "I think with the correct runes, it could work for any creature in any type of environment."

Hermione looked at Professor Snape and he gave her a nod. They could come up with the runes on their own. If they needed assistance, perhaps he could check with Professor Babbling who taught the Study of Ancient Runes at the school.

"Do you have any resources with some information?" Hermione asked. "The library here has nothing about placing runic wards on dragon enclosures or anything."

Charlie shook his head. "You can't learn this stuff from a textbook. It's taught in the field and comes with experience."

Hermione crossed her arms and huffed. Charlie and Harry laughed. Snape smirked and said, "Time to put your practical mind to use, Miss Granger. You were always much better at theory."

Hermione raised her eyebrows and the other two continued to laugh. "Don't rile her up!" Harry said. "She'll take that as a challenge. Plus, we know you can do it if you put your mind to it. And you have us." He gestured to both himself and their professor.

Hermione knew that was exactly what Professor Snape was trying to do. He knew that theory was her stronger suit, struggling a bit more in the practical application of things. He was challenging her—he wanted her to push her limits.

"Challenge accepted." She looked down at Charlie. "Thank you so much for all the information. If I have more questions…." She trailed off and bit her lip. She didn't want to assume that he would help her.

He laughed at her hesitation. "You are more than welcome to send me a letter."

She smiled. "Will do, thanks. Bye, Charlie."

"You guys keep safe. All three of you." He pointedly looked at Professor Snape who looked a bit surprised at Charlie's words before masking it back to his usual unreadable expression.

"Bye," Harry called and Charlie's head disappeared.

Hermione sat down on the sofa, Harry next to her. Professor Snape hadn't moved during the entire exchange with Charlie. The only difference was that the whiskey glass in his hand was now empty.

"This is going to be quite a bit more complicated than we originally thought," Hermione said, staring into the fire.

No one said anything. Snape was still staring off into the fire, the glass rolling around in his fingers.

"I need a way to protect the colony and perhaps the other colonies as well," she continued. "Instead of a simple protective enchantment, it's several wards put together made especially for the type of creature. We are going to have to create our own."

She looked to Professor Snape who had finally turned toward them. Though his hand had moved up to his mouth, deep in thought.

Eventually, he spoke. "I will do some of my own research and reach out to some colleagues who specialize in Ancient Runes including Professor Babbling. If this works, I'll have to be the one to cast the ward." He stood up from the chair, setting his glass down on the side table.

Hermione and Harry followed and stood up from the sofa. "It looks like you have some homework of your own to do, sir. We will leave you be."

Snape nodded. "I'll contact you once I have more information. Don't come to me unless necessary."

"Understood," Hermione replied as Harry nodded. Harry grabbed the invisibility cloak off of the sofa and threw it over both of them. Professor Snape opened the door and waved them forward letting them know the coast was clear.

Harry and Hermione walked slowly back to Gryffindor Tower, the cloak barely covering their feet. Hermione couldn't help but chew on her lip as she thought about what they needed to do. Though she was turning of age in just a few short days, it would be difficult for her to learn the magic on top of her other studies or even cast magic powerful enough to create a ward for the entire colony. It hurt to know that she couldn't be of any help.

This was all on Professor Snape. She just hoped that he could put together something strong...and do it quickly. Time was not on their side.

—

Three days later was Hermione's birthday and Harry had something extraordinary planned for his girl. It wasn't every day a woman came of age. For the first time, he did some of his own research and looked up what gifts were customary for a witch's seventeenth birthday.

"Good morning," Harry smiled as Hermione made her way down from the girls' dormitory. He had his hands behind his back, hiding his first surprise of the day.

"Good morning," Hermione said, stepping into his arms when she reached the common room. He pressed a kiss against her lips and she hummed in response. He would have liked to hold her longer, but he much more planned for the day. He had held Quidditch tryouts the night before just so he had today free.

"What do you have there?" Hermione said as he pulled away, trying to look around him.

"How do you know it's for you?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's my birthday."

"Oh, it is? I had forgotten." He gave her his best shit-eating grin.

"Prat." Hermione smacked him on the chest and Harry brought the gift from behind his back.

"Of course it's for you. Happy birthday, Hermione."

She dropped her bag and pulled him over to the sofa, setting the gift down on her lap to unwrap. He watched in excitement as Hermione opened his first gift of the day, hoping he hit the mark.

As she finally opened the box, her mouth went wide. "Harry, it's gorgeous." She pulled it out of the box. It was a hairpin—simple, round, and gold, of course. "Put it in my hair?"

Harry nodded and Hermione turned so her back was facing him, pulling back the section of hair she wanted to pin. Carefully, he clipped it into her hair.

"Does that feel okay?" Harry asked, unsure if he had done it correctly. She felt back with her fingers and nodded, turning back toward him.

"Thank you," she whispered. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed another kiss to his lips. She pulled away much too soon for Harry's liking. "More of this later."

"Promise?"

Hermione bit her lip and nodded. Harry stood from the sofa and pulled Hermione to her feet. He didn't let go of her hand until they were seated at breakfast and needed his hands to eat.

Harry watched Hermione's shocked face as another package was dropped neatly in front of her, Hedwig soaring through the Great Hall.

"What's this?"

Harry just shrugged.

"Harry James Potter, this will be too much, you've already given me a gift."

"Just open it and let him spoil you, 'ermione," Ron said, his mouth full of eggs.

Hermione opened up the box to find several other wrapped packages inside.

Harry watched again in excitement as she opened each gift, oohing and ahhing and griping occasionally at the amount of money he probably spent.

"Earrings infused with cheering charms, dragon-shaped bookends, and the hairpin. This is too much."

"It's your birthday, and I want to spoil you. Please?"

Hermione finally gave in and instead switched the conversation. "What do you have planned for the day?" she asked, spreading some jelly on a croissant.

"Some of your favorites in Hogsmeade—The Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes, and of course, Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop."

Hermione smiled at him, showing her perfect pearly whites. "Sounds like a great day, but that's any day with you."

Harry couldn't agree more.

—

It was already dark when Harry and Hermione made it back to Hogwarts. Harry had purchased everything she had wanted throughout the day despite her protests and even gifted her with a charm bracelet and several charms which were customary on a witch's 17th birthday. He enjoyed spoiling her though and he wasn't done for the evening. It was dinner time in the Great Hall, but Harry had something else planned with the help of someone who was only too eager to assist.

"Meet me in the Room of Requirement at seven o'clock?" Harry asked as they reached the bottom of the stairs to their dormitories.

Hermione nodded and Harry watched the sway of her hips as she disappeared up the staircase. Once she was gone, he rushed up to his dormitory and carefully dressed for the evening in black slacks and a white button-up, the sleeves rolled up and resting on his forearms. He attempted to tame his hair, but it was useless because no matter what he did, he always stood up on end. Not that Hermione cared anyway.

Deciding he was presentable enough, he made his way to the Room of Requirement and paced in front of it three times, thinking exactly what he wanted.

When he opened the door, the room had transformed into what looked like a patio at a nice, semi-upscale restaurant. When he walked over to the makeshift window, he could see the Eiffel Tower lit up in all of its glory. It was perfect.

"Dobby?"

A moment later a crack resounded throughout the room and the little house elf that Harry called friend appeared.

"Mister Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby squeaked. He bowed so low, the several tea cozies stacked on his head were dangerously close to falling off.

"How is dinner coming along?"

"It's almost done, sir! It will be ready at seven o'clock sharp, just like you told Dobby, sir!"

"Perfect, Hermione should be here right on time. I'll see you then."

Dobby bowed once more and popped back down to the kitchens. Harry just shook his head at the creature. He was lucky to have him, though his antics had almost gotten him killed on several occasions. Just as Harry chuckled at Dobby's socks for the evening, the door to the Room of Requirement opened.

When he turned, Hermione was a vision. She had changed from the casual clothing she wore in Hogsmeade to a beautiful maroon dress, complete with gold heels. The body hugged her dress in all of the right places and Harry had to take a deep breath and think of Uncle Vernon before he became uncomfortable.

Harry walked toward her and grasped her hand, pulling it to his lips. "You are so beautiful."

Hermione turned a lovely shade of red at his compliment and he couldn't wait to shower her with more. "Let me see you."

She held onto his hand and Harry spun her around, gazing at her appreciatively. "You kept in your hairpin."

Hermione nodded as she came to a stop and moved closer into his arms. "It's really lovely, Harry. Thank you."

He grinned and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Mmm, vanilla," he murmured as he pulled away. "My favorite."

Hermione blushed again and Harry grinned. He pulled her close to his side and guided her over to the window.

"This is amazing," Hermione said, as she gazed out. Looking back at him, Harry saw her eyes were a bit watery.

"What's wrong, love?" Harry asked, concerned that he had done something wrong.

She shook her head. "Just-I-mmph…"

"Come on, what is it?" Harry said, tightening his grip on her hip and placing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Thank you for all of this. For today. It has been the best birthday."

"For me too."

With a loud pop, Dobby appeared with their food and popped right back out. It was perfect timing as Harry's stomach had just growled.

He began to lead Hermione over to the table but she stopped and turned toward him. She was biting her lip, something she only did when she was nervous. He frowned once more in concern that something was wrong.

"Harry?"

He grabbed her hands and brought each up for a quick kiss before moving his eyes to her, searching them. "What is it?"

"I-I love you," she said, stumbling over the words at first. "I love you."

Harry looked at her and just as she was about to look down, he placed two fingers under her chin. "I love you too, Hermione."

Hermione grinned. "You do?"

Harry nodded and pulled her close, pressing another kiss to her lips. "Very much so," he whispered, his lips still brushing hers.

He then led her over to the table where Dobby had placed the food. Harry enjoyed feeding Hermione, especially during dessert.

After dinner, they retired to the lounge near a large roaring fire. Harry leaned into the side and pulled Hermione down so he was laying against him. She kicked off her shoes and he knew she was content when she settled against him and breathed a happy sigh.

Harry's fingers played with the bare skin on her shoulder, lightly grazing the skin, occasionally going up to her neck and behind her ear.

"Mmmh," Hermione hummed as Harry bent down and pressed a trail of kisses against her neck.

"Come here," Harry said. He sat up on the lounge and she crawled into his lap, surprising him when she lifted her dress when she straddled him so it wasn't stretched tight across her legs.

They looked at each other for a moment before Harry pulled her down and pressed a hard kiss against her lips. He didn't waste any time running his tongue along the seam of her lips, pressing his tongue into her mouth. She moaned into his mouth and pressed her hips down against him.

It wasn't long before Harry pulled away, trying to catch his breath. Hermione's chest was heaving and her lips were swollen from the rough kisses. His hands had made a mess of her hair and she looked thoroughly debauched.

"I want more," Hermione whispered, nibbling on his earlobe.

"You're sure?"

Hermione nodded and bit her lip.

Harry looked to his right and saw a bed appear, the room knowing exactly what they wanted and needed at that moment.

"Wrap your legs around me."

Hermione tightened her legs around his hips and grabbed onto his neck as he stood up. He peppered her neck with kisses as he walked, loving the feeling of her fingers playing with the hair at the back of his head. When they reached the bed, Harry gently placed her down, her hair falling onto the sheets in a sort of halo shape.

Harry pressed a kiss to her lips before looking her in the eyes. "This is what you want? You're sure you want me?"

Hermione brought her hands up to cup his face. "Yes. But what about you, are you sure?"

Harry gestured to his trousers and once again Harry got to see a pretty blush grace her cheeks. "That's a biological response."

Harry laughed as he crawled on top of her and straddled her hips. "That may be, but I want you, Hermione. All of you."

Harry then pressed a hard kiss against Hermione's lips and began an onslaught of kisses, slowly preparing her for what was to come. He knew the mechanics of what to do, but he wanted to make this good for both of them, but especially her.

Despite the inexperience, Harry knew they had both enjoyed the evening thoroughly, their timid touches turning into more. In fact, so much so that they let sleep claim them as they cuddled underneath the silk sheets instead of heading back to Gryffindor Tower. They wouldn't be missed and if they were...well, they'd deal with that later.