CHAPTER 4: Explanations…and more!

"HARRY!" and Hermione ran to him, kneeling down beside his motionless body, holding his head in her lap. This time, although unconscious, he was still breathing but his body temperature was now dangerously low. He was freezing to death.

"Oh Harry, wake up, please wake up. We have to get out of the cold, we have to get to the tent."

Despite shaking him Hermione knew that Harry had been throw too much both physically and magically to be able to do anything for himself. Anything required now would have to be down to her and she knew she could not drag him 200yds. Placing his head down gently to the ground, Hermione got up and turning ran to the edge of the pond. She could see her wand lying on the ice. Wandless magic was needed. Hermione knew she did not have the capability to lift Harry using magic without her wand. She had only done very basic studies and no practice at all on this mode of magic, but her own wand was a different matter entirely; her studies and questioning of her Hogwarts professors had made it known to her that a wand WANTS to return to its own witch or wizard so only the basic understanding of the wandless magic theories and reasonable execution of magical skills were required….. 'Come on Hermione, you know the theory. Your supposed to be the 'brightest witch of your generation'. Just do it.' Could she put it into practise?

Mustering all her knowledge and concentrating all her magical skills and power, she pointed her hand at the wand, closed her eyes, visualised what she wanted, sent her magic through her to her fingertips and then powered up her spell:

"Accio Wand!"

Nothing.

'Come on, Hermione. Think….concentrate and think! What do you need to do?...What did it say in the books…..Look at the object! Look at your wand as you cast the spell, that's it!'

So, she repeated her actions as before but opened her eyes and looked at the wand just as she cast:

"Accio Wand!"

She heard a slight crack and her wand moved slightly, then it broke free from the frost that held it to the frozen pond, it flew to her straight into her outstretched hand.

"YES! I did it. Right, now Harry….OH! Harry's glasses." She pointed her wand at the still liquid water of the pond. "Accio Harry's Glasses!" And within seconds, they too had came straight to her. She ran back to her unconscious friend, placed the Sword of Gryffindor on his body and wrapped his arms around it, the pointing her wand at him, uttered the spell she knew so well:

"Wingardium Leviosa Harry Potter!"

And Harry rose up from the ground to hover about 4' above it.

"Leviosa locomotor!" and pointing her wand in the direction of the tent, Harry began to float towards it. They were both only about quarter way there when Hermione realised that her magical power seemed to be very low and the magic required to keep Harry moving through the air was draining her magical reserves at a rate she had not encountered before.

'Merlin, this is hard work. Why am I getting tired so quickly? This shouldn't be happening. It is not a difficult spell at all. I will be lucky to get Harry back to the tent at this rate.'

She did manage to get Harry and the Sword back the 200yds to the tent but she was exhausted, both physically and magically. 'I need some light: keep it low girl, don't use up what's left…'

"Lumos" and a very dull but sufficient glow was enough to see by. She tried to cast warming charms over Harry, herself and the tent interior but to no avail, individually over Harry but again with no success. Even drying charms over her and Harry's clothing was beyond her.

'OK Hermione. You have no bloody choice. You have to get Harry and yourself warm.' So, biting back any embarrassment, she proceeded to strip her bitter cold, sodden clothes off, even her underwear. She tried casting a warming spell over herself which worked a bit at least getting her away from freezing but she staggered and nearly collapsed due to the low magical energy levels that remained within her core.

'Not brilliant, but a bit better. Now to you, Harry.'

She lay her wand on the floor then stripped Harry of his similarly sodden but now partially frozen clothing till he was as naked as she was. 'Shit. I….I…will have to lift him…..'…and looking at naked Harry with her naked self standing over him she smiled quietly…..'….in any other circumstances Harry James Potter, I would….anyway let's get you..us.. into bed…' and she quietly laughed…'oh yeah, back to those any other circumstances and getting us into bed….Oh well, I wish.'…..and she proceeded to pull, push, shove and eventually half carry/half drag unconscious Harry over too and into a nearby bed, ironically Hermione's own, being the nearest. She was very aware of the constant contact between them, particularly when she was carrying him front to front as she supported him, but those thoughts she put away for another time. On the bed, she pulled the blankets from under him re-arranging them over him. She then dragged the bedclothes off of the neighbouring bed and threw them over him as well, then virtually any other piece of cloth, towels and whatnot, to help get them warm. By this time, the temperature in the tent still being bitter cold, the little bit of warmth in Hermione was depleting fast.

'OK Harry. This is where it could be really embarrassing in the morning if you wake up first! It's called 'shared bodily warmth' to prevent hypothermia….and I hope you understand!'

And then the very naked Hermione Jean Granger slid under the heaped covers and cuddled up to and then partially over the similarly very naked Harry James Potter.

"….so Harry, that is why we have ended up like this, but I had no choice. I hardly had any magic left Harry. If I had used any more I would have gone unconscious like you and then where would we have been?"

Harry gave that slightly lopsided grin that every girl in Hogwarts went weak at the knees over, even Hermione Granger was not immune to its charms.

"Well, certainly colder and not in a bed together….like we are….all snuggly…and warm…and close together….and….well, not wearing very much due to a witch stripping me to get into bed with me!"

Hermione blushed, but gave him a coy smile.

"Well Harry, a girl has to pass a hint or two to a fella she fancies now and again! And not wearing very much? Nothing left to take off…and anyway it was dark, well nearly. Could only cast a small lumos, just enough to get by..and just enough to see what I was doing…and what I was looking at!...Harry…I…have been having some thoughts about us….I don't just mean since I have been in bed with you here…like this. But before, since…..well since the summer at the Burrow. What with Bill and Fleur's wedding…. you're not with Ginny any more…..and the way we have drawn to each other when we have needed comfort. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Ron dearly and have even thought that he and I might have…maybe have been an item together at some point maybe after the fight against Voldemort is over. But the more I thought of him and I together the more I came to realise that it just couldn't be. We are just far too different and he has let us down, Harry, you especially. I appreciate he has loads of worries about his family and stuff, but he also mentioned that he was worried about someone else…someone at Hogwarts. And that someone is….Lavender. Lavender Brown….."

"What? Lavender? But..but I thought that Ron and her, that it was long over. I mean….it's been months. No, well over a year. You can't be right Hermione, surely?"

"Harry, I…I need you to hear me out, let me say my piece while I have the courage to say it all. It will be a bit of a speech but I need to say it now, while we are like this as we are right now. I kept something from you….I didn't want to cause more problems between you and Ron; but Ron heard something on the radio when he was trying to tune in to the twins and Lee, something awful. It's Lavender's family Harry…her parents and her younger brother and sister…they were killed Harry, murdered by Death Eaters. Ron heard it and went berserk Harry, mad with anger and grief and worry. Blaming himself for not being there for Lavender and then you for 'dragging him off on this fucking useless Horcrux hunt.' His words Harry. His resentment over you and what we were, or were not, doing was just something else that stoked his fires. But deep down, he needed to know that his family and Lavender were safe. That and the Horcrux round his neck that day and the few times before it. It just dragged his mind somewhere else Harry. But….well, it let me see the truth. It let me realise that for all that I am deeply fond of Ron as a friend I am not interested in him in any other way, as…as a potential boyfriend or anything like that. And it made me think.."(and Hermione smirked at Harry)…"and I'm good at that. I have thought of all the stuff we, you and me, have been involved in together since first year. Six years Harry! Over a third of our lives we have been together in all this Dark Lord and Death Eater stuff….Harry, I have known I have loved you as a close..no, my closest friend…for some time, probably since the tri-wizard tournament. You are the closest, finest, greatest friend I have ever and probably will ever have. But….that love for a friend Harry….it's kind of changed the last few months, strengthened in a way to something more…to a different love….. way down deep inside me, way beyond my heart. I love you with my whole being, with my whole self. I cannot imagine my life without you in it. You ARE my life, Harry Potter, and I want you to be in it forever. I love you Harry."

And Hermione lowered her face to Harry and kissed him again, slowly, gently; lingering on his lips with a gentle passion, a gentle indication of her love for the young man she had known since they were adolescents. Harry's arms lifted and came around her, pulling her to him, locked in his embrace. He returned her kiss, gently at first, then both their kisses becoming bolder, their passion increasing, their lips opening together, their tongues dancing. Hermione moved her body fully over Harry but never breaking their kiss. She moved her legs so that they fell either side of his right leg so that they were interlocked with his. Her hands were on his chest, then moving down his sides. His hands dropped lower down her back, caressing across her lower back..and then lower again. She felt the length of his passion against her right thigh.

Harry broke off the kiss although both of them continued their, for the moment at least, gentle caressing of their bodies.

"Hermione, I have so long wanted to tell you how I feel. I…I think I have loved you for a long time but I …I have not known much love Hermione. No one has ever shown me what love is…at least not in my conscious memory. My mum and dad were gone when I was too young to remember them. Sirius came into my life and then was gone too, all to quick. Mrs Weasley, and some of the Weasley family, especially Ginny, have shown me affection…but I…wasn't even sure, I am not sure, if what I had or felt with Ginny was even love. I mean, we kissed and cuddled together, if I had let Ginny have had her way we probably would have gone a lot further than that, but it just didn't feel right, somehow. She was, is, my good friend, but she had a kind of….hero worship thing about me, an infatuation maybe…and she is Ron's and the twins sister, Mr and Mrs Weasley's daughter….and I felt like I was some kind of trophy with her, as if I had to be shown off…!"

Hermione had lowered her head to Harry's chest while he spoke to her, her right hand dropping across his lower abdomen, then she slowly slid her fingers down and over his partial erection, then began to slowly stroke him to full hardness, but now raised herself to look at him.

"And what are your feelings now Harry, right now, here with me like this…after everything I have told you? Does it feel right now, being with me, me doing this?"

Harry looked at her for about five seconds, lifted his lips to hers and kissed her softly with a gentle lingering pressure. The he whispered:

"I have never felt for anyone what I feel when I am with you Hermione. Whether it is in the Hogwarts library, or the common room, or seeing you face watching me when I am playing Quidditch, or walking in the grounds…anywhere and everywhere, Hermione Granger, I think of you and thank my lucky wands that you are in my life. I have probably loved you since 2nd year at Hogwarts, five long years, and not actually realised it. But I do now….and what you are doing to me…Hermione are…are you sure about this…I want you to be mine, Hermione and I am yours if you'll have me."

Hermione had tears in her eyes and they rolled down her cheeks.

"Make love to me Harry. Here, now. I want you Harry, to be my first and my only. Just you. Love me Harry."

And she pushed both of her hands up into his hair and their lips came together once more. Their mutual passions, having been bubbling gently below the surface, now rose to a boiling point. Their hands were exploring each other's bodies, their kisses became deeper but more frantic, Hermione legs opened over Harry's hips and she was moving against him, feeling his hard, rising passion. He slipped his hands to her hips and pulled her body higher on his, she pulled up off of him and her hands to his head once more, she pulled his face to her breasts where his hot breath and kisses changed to those lips searching for and finding her erect, sensitive nipples.

"Harry…..oh Harry!" as Hermione held his head there, hands wrapped in his hair.

Harry, his hands exploring over her bum, went back to her hips and grabbing her and moving his own body, somehow, even in the single bed they were sharing, turned them both over so that he was on top of Hermione, his head still at her chest level. He continued his mouth work on her breasts, his hands now exploring the lovely body, now under him, a lot further. He caressed her breasts even as he used his mouth, then over her stomach, her sides, her hips, then back inside to her abdomen, her lower belly…..and lower still. Hermione' had willingly and longingly opened her legs and thighs beneath him, leaving no obstacle to his exploring fingers. Harry raised his face towards her:

"Hermione. I'm…I'm kind of new to this….I'm needing your help with what I should be doing … ..touching."

"Harryyyy..oh…oh..Harry…oh what your doing is….oh, it's good..but a bit higher Harry, to the top..move your…OOHHH! Yeah…..oh yeah, right there, Harry…gently….gently…..oh shit… that's…..Whuuuuhh…yeah…Whhhuuuuuuhh… WHUuuuuuuuuHHHHH…don't stop don't stop… harder Harry.. don't st… UUUHHHH! ... OH FUCK! ... OH FUCK!...HARRYYYY! .. ..UUUUUUUUHHHHHHHH! …OH FUCK!... Your… OH OH OOOHHHH FUCK, I'M CU … HAARRRRRYYYY!... .UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHH!...Huh Huh Huh! ..UUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!...UUuuuuuuuhhhhhhh!..."

Harry was following Hermione's finger instructions to the letter but his mouth had resumed their exploring of her boob's, but as her moans got louder and more intense Harry could feel the reactions to what he was doing to her through her body, the arching of her back and her hips rising to his touch. He looked at her face, at the intense looks of pleasure and pain together, her eyes intensely closed then intensely wide open, her mouth open and gasping breath, her calling his name and telling him not to stop…and her SWEARING!

And then his amazement when she reached her climax, her back arching higher and holding there, the long loud half groan, half exhalation of breath, then even louder groans…..pleasure, pain, ecstasy, joy…relief…all rolling into one …her hands grabbing his hair so tight it hurt him…..

"HARRY….For Merlin's sake …Shit!..Fuck!...Oh..Oh…Oh…Oh FucK! ... Harry … Now harry, now."

Harry slid his free hand and fingers over her belly, over her side and the to her right breast, gently palming her nipple. He kissed her other breast and nipple, tasting the perspiration on her body. Then he moved his right hand from her lower body to his, then taking hold, he guided himself the couple of centimetres to her entry, where he slid himself into her. Hermione's warm, wet heat surrounded him, his own self seeming to expand and lengthen as Hermione's muscles gripped him.

"Harry.…go on, please!...Uhhhh!"

The urgency in her tone was all the final encouragement he needed. He pushed his now very erect and ready cock in a firm thrust into his now lover, to His Hermione, through her virgin barrier and further into her. He felt the slight shudder through her body and her quiet groan of pain, moved only a little further into her:

"Ha….Harry! Stop a minute…stop…"

"Oh..I'm sorry Hermione, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you…" and he began to pull out from her.

"NO…don't pull out Harry, don't pull out…..just give me a bit of time….I want this Harry, I want you, but I just need a minute…just to…get used to you in me….just let me feel you Harry. I just want to…well adjust a bit to you. It was only a small hurt Harry, it's fine. Just give me a minute but stay there….I want more of you in me Harry, all of you…hmmm, better. Now, slowly Harry. Slide into me slowly."

And Harry obliged as slowly his gentle but oh so firm movements sent him further inside Hermione, his length feeling the grip of her vaginal muscles as they tightened around him, as her reaction to him increased with every thrust that penetrated her deeper and deeper.

And as their first lovemaking progressed, Hermione could feel the length of him, Her Harry at last, as he slid all the way inside, soft pants and groans from them both till their stomachs touched. Then they both just went with nature as Harry slid back from Hermione and then back into her, she matching his thrusts and sliding to meet him, their rhythm increased, their breathing steady, then ragged, then panting; their moans and words to each other seeming to hold no conversation, more short, sharp statements of love, of shock, of encouragement, of surprise, of heightening pleasure.

"Hermione…the heat from you, it's so … oohh! Huh…huh…huh…!"

"Harryyyy! Oh fuck!...your filling me up…..Oh fuck!...oh…oohhh…..ooohhhh!"

"Oh…oh….oh Merlin, Hermione…..uuuhhhhhhhhh!2

"Harder Harry….faster…fast…whuuuhhhhhhh…..oh…oh…..oh…..oh….Harry…..Harry…OH FUCK! ….OOHHH FUCK! ….. OOOHHH!..OOOOHHHHHH! ….. OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH! .. HHHHAAAAAAAAARRRRRYYYYYYYYY!...OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!..."

"Hermione…..oh…oh…..HUH! …I'm..I'm ….HHUUUHHHH! ….UUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHH!... HHHHEEEERRRRMMMMMIIIOONNNNEEEE! … UUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!"

It was some minutes before both their breathing settled, their bodies coming to terms with the first passionate lovemaking that either of them had experienced. Neither of their own minds were making any kind of sensible, coherent thought as they came down from their climatic highs, certainly nothing that they could give voice too. Hermione could feel the full weight of him lying on her, his still partly aroused cock still in her, his head face down in the pillow alongside hers. Harry, in turn, could feel her wet heat still surrounding his manhood, could hear her gradually slowing breathing get steadier, the shuddering in her body slowly calming. He felt the movement in her face against his and lifted himself up to look down at her; she was smiling. He smiled back, that cheeky, lopsided grin again.

"You warmed up enough, Miss Granger?"

"Mmmm. For now. But don't go anywhere yet, Mr. Potter. It's cold outside of these blankets and I need you here. I have got a feeling that I just may need a bit more of your warming up exercises quite soon."

"Always happy to oblige you, pretty lady….I love you Hermione."

"I love you too Harry".