A/N: Hello, sorry for the long wait and the suspense. Hehe. Been busy, that's all. I hope you guys will enjoy this. I've been really excited to put this up

Chapter 10: The First Moment

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Harry was drowning in her eyes, totally mesmerized.

He had the sudden urge to kiss those lips or hers, close the gap, and finally kiss Casey Barrett, the lovely and alluring woman he had known for nearly a month. He wanted to snog her senseless under the welcoming shade of the maple tree and run his hands through her soft hair, with the wind blowing against them. He longed for her kiss—her touch. It was exactly like one of the scenes in the movies he'd done. But something entirely different at the same time, he felt anticipation, yearning for her lipsand her lips only. It all seemed so clear to him—he was right then and there, inches away from her—but with every single breath he took, hundreds more of questions ran through his head, screaming one thing altogether.

Back away.

And his tiny voice saying "But I want to." Was drowned out by the crowd of voices warning him. "Back away, Harry, and no one gets hurt." He didn't know on which kind of hurting they would experience—rather why there was such a threatening and sadistic trait to the voices in his head—but his mind wondered on the physical part, and everything faltered.

It was odd on how they got into this predicament. He only recalled going outside for some fresh air as Ginny had a break to the bathroom, and he decided to scare her. He planned to scare the living hell out of her.

But plans backfire, and there he was, longing to close the gap between them.

He felt like hours have passed by while they were in this position. In truth they were only like that for seconds.

---

"Harry?" Hermione's fragile voice rang in his ear, snapping him from his thoughts. Her soothing voice drummed his ears, and made his head throb with wonder and lightheadedness. It was only now that he realized the distance, he could feel her hot breath on his lips, and it made his spine tingle.

"Uhm," She began, and started nibbling on her bottom lip. "Could you uhm—"

"Oh—yes. Of course." He rushed, standing up quickly. His hand started running over his jet black hair nervously. She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "I—uh, tripped." He reasoned, "It was uhm, Sirius."

"Really? I didn't hear him, you see..." She felt a bit nervous and ridiculous, for a moment she thought that they were going to kiss.

"It's because you're always asleep." He grunted, turning his crimson colored face away from her. "I mean, you could outdo Sleeping Beauty—in means of sleeping, you know." He hastily added. He didn't want to look like he was complimenting her, even if he was, subtly.

"Sod off, jerk." She retorted, rolling her eyes at him. She started giggling.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked, Hermione's laughter was reduced to snorts. She smiled at him and shook her head sideways.

"Don't be so glum," He retorted sarcastically, folding his arms across his chest. He smiled smugly at her. "Want to watch a movie or something? Ginny wanted to..." He added hastily.

She smiled widely at him, and for a moment he felt his breathing escalate. The sheer thought that he almost kissed those lips smiling at him made him feel a pang of guilt in the bottom of his stomach, churning and twisting his insides into a delicate pretzel.

"Nah." She waves her hand in the air, gesturing that she's fine. "I think I'll have some snack first..."

"Oh—sure." He replied nervously. "So, what do you have in mind—"

"DRACO!" Hermione shrieked, running towards the blonde man who was passing through the glass sliding door towards the garden. She engulfed him in a tight hug, almost setting him off balance. Her arms were tightly around his torso, "I thought you'd be here two days from now! Oh, it's so good to see you!"

"Understatement of the year." Harry muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes discreetly at Hermione.

"Hey, man. I thought you're flight was on Wednesday?" He asked Draco calmly, walking towards them. His hands found solace in the pockets of his faded pair of jeans. Draco smiled at him smugly. "I was afraid of what Ginny might've been doing. So I rescheduled."

"Oh... Well then, it's good to have you back." Harry added, giving a one-arm hug. "I should be going now."

"Where?" Hermione piped in, looking up at him. He felt his annoyance for her falter, but returned as soon as she paid attention to Sirius when he was about to open his mouth. He suddenly felt rage sweep through him as she started paying attention to his dog, he dismissed the feeling, it's just a 'hangover' from that moment. It'll pass. He kept telling himself that.

"California. I have to do a shooting, for the sequel of Dean Thomas' movie, they just called this morning." He replied, nonchalant. He addressed his answers to Draco, as he had come to the judgment that Hermione wouldn't be paying any attention at all. "I'm leaving tomorrow, so I'll have to pack right now."

"How long will you be gone?" Hermione's voice startled him. He looked down on the lady sitting cross-legged on the ground, patting Sirius' head. It took him a while to realize that she was listening to him the whole time. He mentally slapped himself for feeling slightly jealous of Sirius. Come on—he's a dog.

"A few weeks, months." He said, looking elsewhere.

"Oh." She's breathless, letting the thought of weeks, maybe months without his presence sink in. "Oh." She repeated, her hand giving one last pat on Sirius' head. She looked down to her thumbs, and for a millisecond, Draco witnessed the tension between them, a smirk was plastered on his face almost instantly.

"Don't be so sad, 'Mione." Draco soothed, rubbing his hand on her shoulder, and Hermione looked up at him, a look of alarm on her face. He did not just say that, oh God, he did not just say that. She felt his hands turn clammy, and he looked at her in apology and gave her the 'holy-shit-I-didn't-mean-to' look.

"'Mione?" Harry asked, suddenly confused.

"Uhm. Yeah, that's my nickname. I played a girl uh—named, erm. 'Mione in a—uhm, a, a school play, Draco's been teasing me ever since." She reasoned quickly, laughing nervously.

"Hmm, Mione? Like Hermione?" Harry questioned, rubbing his hand over his chin. "That's funny, I knew a Hermione back home. Yeah, she's pretty famous there. Been lost for years though she was a really pretty girl back then, and now I don't know how she looks like, others thought she was dead. But it's good to know that she's alive and stuff, all over the papers a few weeks ago. Complete mayhem, if you ask me, the media got wild."

She held her breath. "What were they about?"

"They just found her, no specifications. She's somewhere in America though. But rumor has it that she's at Europe. Damn lucky, wish I could've done that, must be having the time of her life." He added, gazing out into the wonderful view of the city seen from the backyard, it wasn't so hot anymore, since the wind started to blow through them in delicate whispers. She felt blood pump to her head, and her heart was pounding furiously, she started to wonder if its beating could be heard from miles away.

"How do you know her, anyway?" She asked, and Draco nudged her, 'Quit it, stop asking' he whispered to her.

"My dad forced me to be one of the 'candidates' to marry her 7 years ago. Can you believe that she's being forced to do that? And it's the 21st century now." He almost whispered in disbelief. "But I didn't push through with it, 'Too stubborn' he told me." He added, laughing. Hermione fell silent, and for a moment she felt like her head was whirling in answerless questions. He was supposed to marry her. How come she hadn't known the Potters, then?

"Anyway, there was this masquerade ball, and the next day, we were supposed to reveal ourselves, sort of 'take of the mask' " His hands gestured two quote marks in the air. "But, as I said, didn't push through." Harry added, he took a glance at his watch and shot the two of them a guilty look. "Listen, guys, I've got to pack my things now..."

"Oh—sure, sure. Go ahead." Draco said in Hermione's behalf, since she her jaw was dropped open. Harry noticed this and his trademark smirk formed on his face.

"May jaw would drop ten times lower than that if I heard you were being forced to marry, you know." He retorted sarcastically, laughing. "Come on, snap out of it, any minute now a fly could get in and—"

"Ew." She complained looking at him. "That's disgusting." He waved to them and hurried off inside. Hermione was still silent.

Draco felt her muscles relax and break free from tension. "It's alright, Casey." He repeated, running his hands up and down her quivering back.

---

The night glistened with thousands of stars dancing beautifully like dots of light on a dark purple colored canvas. Hermione sighed to herself, the night hasn't been this beautiful in days. She's been outside with Sirius for hours, now. And he was becoming restless, shoving toy bones on her lap, asking her to play fetch or throw a Frisbee. But her thoughts were running on how long months and weeks could be. Before she knew it, there were tears welling up in her eyes. She was going to miss him, miss his stupid remarks, cocky attitude and everything she hated about him—that was a fact.

"You okay?" said a familiar voice, she nodded quietly, and a pair of hands were securely on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Casey. It already happened, there's no reason to cry over it anymore... I promise, you'll be fine. You won't have to go through anything like that anymore." Harry voice was sad, and concerned, his emerald eyes were staring at her, waiting for a response.

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused, finally looking back at him.

"The accident, right?" He confirmed, raising an eyebrow. "Things like those could be traumatizing..."

"Uncle Sirius! Come on, hang in there, the ambulance will be here any minute!" An eleven year old Harry pleaded over his uncle's body. He was covered in blood, and a crowd was forming around them. His uncle was slowly losing color and warmth. Sirius looked up at him, and smiled. Harry watched him, and soon he was gone.

"I guess." She replied.

"Dad." Harry said, into his mobile phone. "Mom... She... She..." he couldn't continue as tears went leaking from his eyes. A few minutes after that, a car parked up in front of the door, and James came rushing in, and saw Harry. His first reaction was to hug his son, and his second reaction was to distance himself from him—his eyes just reminded him of Lily. His sweet, Lily, gone forever.

"So don't worry about it..." He added.

Harry stared down at the card, it read: 'Dr. James Preston, Oncologist.' And listed on it were his contact numbers and his office address. He looked up at the doctor who gave him the business card. "What does Remus have to do with an oncologist? Why on earth does he have to go to an oncologist? Do they have information that can help Remus stop the bruising?"

The doctor nodded sadly, frowning. He said nothing more, and Harry immediately understood. He stole a glance at Remus who was excitedly chatting to Tonks, they were to be married next week.

"I'm fine. It's not that, anyway. I'm just, oh, I don't know." She said, a tear was rolling down her cheek.

"Don't cry. Come on, let it out. It's okay." Harry encouraged, "We all go through things like that in our lives, it's part of life."

Hermione's mind wandered on his departure. The unexplainable sadness hovering above her like a black cloud. Harry's arm went around her shoulder. A few traitor tears rolled down her cheeks.

Too true, too true.

---

"So, I was planning to make her go back to London on her own will, perhaps do something to make her return—the execution will probably take a few weeks. But I have no intention of doing something as idiotic as McNair's, he's the cause why business has been so slow. What we're doing is illegal—if we kidnap her, I mean. So it would be best to make her return on her own will, the Grangers are only new to what we do, who knows what they could do, or to whom they would report to. Besides, if she does it on her own free will, it lessens the paper work." Antonin explained, after his boss gave him a week to think about what to do.

"Antonin, after all your years working with me, I am surprised that you do know me well enough." Tom Riddle's long fingers coiled around the arm rest. Antonin anticipated for an answer. Tom leaned in, his coal black eyes staring straight at him.

"Illegal is what we do."

---

"So, you're leaving, huh." Hermione asked, looking at him while they were having dinner. Ginny and Draco discreetly shot each other looks, unfortunately she noticed. Probably having mental conversations, she told herself.

"Yes, Casey." Harry sighed, this was the twentieth time she had asked him that. He drove his fork through the bite size piece of fish fillet, and popped it into his mouth.

"Oh." She said, for the twentieth time, staring down at her hands and gave everyone at the table a look. "Excuse me." She managed, running up the stairs. He shrugged, and continued eating.

"You idiot! Run after her!" Ginny hissed, he rolled his eyes at her.

"Potty! Go!" Draco chimed in, he set down his fork down on his plate.

The table fell silent. "If she wanted to be excused, then let her." He said, bored and he got up from the table, climbed his side of the stairs. But felt ashamed as he found himself taking a secret route and now inches away from Hermione's room. He stood in front of her door, and sighed. He slouched and returned to his room.

Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.

---

Rita Skeeter was in her usual work clothes, her silky green button down top, and her black skirt. She was wearing her red high-heeled, pointed shoes. She adjusted her green rimmed glasses so that it would sit on the bridge of her nose. Her boss had just assigned her to write another article for their magazine. It was eleven o'clock at night time, and she was still typing away on her laptop. She pressed the internet browser icon, and went to the search engine.

'Casey Barrett' she typed, and found not only pictures of her, but articles concerning her 'secret relationship' with Harry Potter. Of course she had suspected this from the very start, but was puzzled, what did Harry have to do with her? She was scanning the results, and found a picture of Harry hugging her on the backyard in a Miami house on top of a hill, overlooking the city. That's odd, what was he doing in a house that a red head and a blonde man had recently moved into?

A devilish grin crept up her face as she started typing her article...

"Could Harry Potter, the young, hot actor be tying the knot already?" was the starting line. As the style didn't appeal much to her, the editor requested lines that would appeal to the population. She continued typing.

Harry Potter and woman named Casey Barrett, age 23, was found sharing an intimate moment in a Miami beach house, could they be married? Appears so. Harry, who recently turned 23 last July, looks like he will be missing his 'wife' terribly as he will be shooting for the sequel of Dean Thomas' international hit movie, 'The Dreamer', where Harry Potter returns as Jack Pike who will be trying to save the world for the second time 'round, with the sensational 26-year-old Fleur Delacour as Brooke Stelling, his leading woman. He was reported to be seen walking with Casey and going out around Miami a few weeks ago, and the media's been looking for them and wanting to know about them ever since. Well, you're in luck. Because we, The Daily Prophet, are the only ones who have the inside scoop for you, ah, young love.

Rita continued typing, and she was sure to get a pay raise after this. Not that she needed it.

And when the night was over, she had produced 4 pages about Harry and Casey, complete with pictures and quotes from his interviews. While waiting for the article to print, she went into the bathroom and took a light shower. She emerged from the bathroom in her bathrobe and her blond hair curled around plastic rollers. She stared happily at the pages that were already lying on her desk.

This story will sell.

---

"So, tell me." Richard Granger began. "James, is your son Harry ready to be engaged to Lady Isabella? I think I've given you enough time to think this through."

"No, I don't think so. I'm not interested, and I am sure that he is not interested, either." James replied, smiling. "It's fine, we can wait."

---

Harry once again found himself walking towards Hermione's room. He finally mustered the courage to at least knock on the door. He knocked once. Twice. Three times. And he heard loud sniffing from inside.

"Who is it?" Her sweet voice asked.

"It's me." He replied, tired. He stole a glance towards the clock, and it read 12:00 am. "Hello?" He asked, knocking once more. "Casey, let me in."

Silence.

"Are you crying?" He pressed, and his right hand found it's way towards the doorknob, Damn, locked. Another silence. "Casey—please. Right now. Don't make me take down this door."

"In a minute."

And in five, Hermione opened her door. And she found Harry waiting, when she saw him, tears started forming in her eyes again. She didn't want him to leave. What if something happens? Or what if something happens to Remus and Tonks without him? What if...?

"Are you crying?" He asked, stepping closer. She stubbornly shook her head.

He took her into his arms. The hell with staying away. He couldn't help but smirk—he felt her teardrops all over his shirt, as if on cue, Draco came trotting down the hallway. His loud footsteps alarmed Hermione, and she tried to jerk away, but his arm kept her from breaking free from their hug. "Shh." Harry whispered into her ear. "It's alright." She relaxed.

"What are you guys doing?" Draco asked, approaching them.

"What does it look like we're doing?" Harry snorted and raised an eyebrow, his tone was nonchalant, as if this was the most normal thing in the world, Draco smirked, and then returned to his room.

"Are you ready to go inside?" He asked her, she nodded once. It took Harry only a few seconds to find the couch and take a seat. Hermione was still, in the middle of the room, she was fiddling with her bracelet again, and she nibbled on her bottom lip. He watched her closely, and he tried to guess what was wrong. She looked confused, and sad. He didn't even know what impelled him to suddenly have her as company. "Are you okay? Listen Casey, I know it's frustrating to not remember what happened during the accident, but as I said, we can't do anything anymore...It already happened—"

"It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"You'd think I was stupid."

"Depends. Maybe I could help."

"Please don't leave. I don't want you to leave." She blurted out, and Harry was taken aback, he hadn't expected this at all. He stared down on his hands, and busied himself by being interested on his fingernails. He felt impelled to tell her. He looked up at her. All the words he just wanted to say weren't going out right—his throat dried, and he was absolutely speechless, clueless as to what to say.

"Oh. Casey, it's not like I can do anything about that."

"I know." She replied stiffly.

"Do you want to stay with me in my room?"

Hermione contemplated, and for the first time that night she smiled at him, because of him, and the thought that he of all people who would make her do so what like an alien feeling, but she enjoyed it. There was a silence hovering above them, engulfing them in another alien awkward moment. She enjoyed it. She enjoyed the foreign feeling she felt. She enjoyed the feeling she was getting used to and would soon grow to love. Not to hate. Never to hate.

"Sure." She replied, smiling, she took his hand that was offered to her, and they were walking hand in hand, towards the other side of the house. Their fingers intertwined.

During that moment of peace, neither cared if the other was a jackass or a brat or whatever. During that moment:

Hermione Granger and Harry Potter liked each other.

---

"I'll be back before you know it, Remus, Ginny, Draco, Tonks." Harry addressed, giving each of them a hug. He was in a black shirt and jeans, he put his jacket over his top and wore his cap. He looked alarmed when he heard the van arrived. He looked at Hermione, who was awkwardly standing oddly far from the group. The distance between them seemed to grow by the second, and he felt like he was walking on water when he was walking towards her.

"Bye." He managed, and gave an awkward one-arm hug. He felt his cheeks burn, but he looked down, and waved goodbye.

He closed the door behind him, and started walking towards the van, inside, he saw Fleur Delacour. She smiled at him, and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"Hello, Harry." She said to him, "It's good to see you again. Are you up for the next movie?"

"Always." He replied, grinning. "So what's going to happen in the sequel?"

"Well, first of all, according to Dean, Jake and Brooke are going to get together in this one."

Harry took a few seconds to think that through, and the words Casey, Fleur and movie kept repeating in his head, he shook it discreetly. "Awesome. So that means a lot of interviews and promotional posters for us."

"Exactly. We're going to have fun on this one." She chirped perkily, clapping her hands in joy.

"I know, Dean really is—oh, Fleur, watch your step—" He told her, while he grabbed her hand and helped her inside the car, she smiled to him in gratitude as the car started moving. "As I was saying, Dean really knows what he's doing."

"Precisely."

The ride was rather exciting, Harry seeing his friends and old cast mates reminded him of a school reunion he never had the opportunity to enjoy. He enjoyed speaking with them, after the very long 6 month break. They arrived at an already crowded hangar, where they were going to board Dean's private jet. Fans were lined up by the fences, holding banners and posters, screaming. Harry felt his heart beat speed up once he heard them, screaming his name, Fleur's, Seamus Finnigan's...

"Harry, Fleur, you have to look really fond of each other once we go out of the car now." The publicist said to them, she was in her business suit and her flip phone was pressed tightly to her ear. "It would look nice if you escorted her aboard."

"Sure. You ready?" Harry asked, offering his hand.

At the instant their two feet touched the ground, blinding lights surrounded them, but since they were once of the best on-screen couples (aside from Cho), they have gotten used to the routine. Smile, laugh, walk through the crowd patiently and casually perhaps sign a few autographs on the way, whisper a few jokes from time to time, hold hands when necessary...

Fleur was waving hello to all the fans, as they started nearing the stairs leading to the jet's door, a few bodyguards came gushing out and helped them aboard. They were greeted by wooden walls, roomy cream colored couches, and matching carpets. There was a huge TV screen and some consoles in the lounge. And when you turn right, you'd be introduced to 8 chairs, each equipped with a TV and laptop and 3 bathrooms, on the room across the lavatories, was a spare bedroom, housing around 3 beds. He cringed as he started reliving memories that he and Cho had shared in that very room...

Harry heaved a sigh of relief, plopping down on a couch by the lounge. He flipped on the TV, and started switching channels.

"Where'd you get that?" Harry asked, gesturing towards Seamus' glass.

"Want some, mate?" He offered, bringing out a silver flask from inside his coat pocket.

"Oh—what the hell, sure." He gave in, grabbing Seamus' flask and having a go. It tasted good, it tasted strong. "Wow." He breathed, "Pretty strong stuff you got there."

"I mixed the drink myself, pretty great, eh? Dean's gonna have a fit." He laughed, Harry laughed with him absently, his thoughts kept returning to Casey.

---

A few days later, Harry and his co-stars checked in a hotel, and others decided to rent out a flat since Dean had added a few more weeks to the production. Making him staying there for a total of four months—actually Harry, Fleur and Viktor Krum were extended, since they were the main characters. But each actor was entitled a few weeks vacation. The start of the shooting had become pretty tiresome, because they had started off with the harder scenes. Harry always anticipated the first few days to be hard, he still hasn't memorized his script yet.

It's been a while since Hermione settled down into a good book. She was too caught up with the events that she had forgotten of her favorite past time—Reading. But no matter how many pages she read, or how many books she finished or how many days she'd spend cooped up in her room, she still couldn't stop thinking of him. She tried to not think of him because she thought that thinking of him would be silly.

She tried reading other books, but one book she had picked up was about a man named Henry, which was close to his name. So she tried another, only to find out that the man's name was Howard. She tried another, James. She tried another, but the author's name was Harry. She tried another, Hank. Every book she picked up reminded her of him and she decided that when Harry would return, she would give him a good smack on the head for being conceited enough to buy books similar to his name. Even though that obviously was a coincidence.

"Hermione?" Ginny called, as she let herself in. Hermione was sitting on her bed, reading a book, she finally found a decent book. She looked up at her best friend, "Hmm? You need anything?"

"Just checking on you." She replied.

"I'm fine Ginny, don't mind me."

"Saw Harry on TV today."

"Oh, really. Okay."

"I know you care."

"Why would I? I really don't care if he's been on TV or not, I just saw him a few days ago."

"I hated what Fleur was wearing."

"I know—the poncho was ridiculous, as well as the shades. She looked like a mutated bumblebee." She replied, her voice nonchalant as her nose scrunched up in disgust.

"AHA! I knew you watched him!" Ginny accused, her manicured finger pointing at Hermione, she watched her bestfriend turn into a brilliant shade of pink, and look away.

"No I didn't," She lied, burying her head further into her book. She'd been staring at the same page since Ginny had come in. She better lock her door next time...

"I know you did."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"Whatever you say, Ginny."

---

After a long silence, Harry finally heard Ginny's voice again. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, water from his damp hair dripped from his forehead to his brows, and he brushed them away.

"Well?" He asked, dreading what she was about to say.

"She saw you on TV."

"Damnit." He muttered. "Everything?"

"Yes, dear, everything." She told him.

"Even the Fleur part?"

"Oh, you mean the flirting part? Well—yes. She found your on-screen girlfriend hideous, though."

"She's not my on-screen girlfriend, I was just being friendly."

"Too friendly, if you ask me."

"Bye Ginny, I've got to go." Harry replied, and snapped his phone shut. And placed it on the table beside him. He walked back on set, and Dean, Seamus, Viktor and the producer, Oliver Wood were all giving him nasty looks. Fleur was talking animatedly to her sister, who was visiting them.

"Took you long enough." Oliver commented. "You ready?"

"Yes." He replied.

"Okay," Oliver sighed, he set back on his chair and borrowed the megaphone. Harry walked to the middle of the set, and Fleur joined him. "Jake/Brooke kissing scene. Take 3."

"You ready?" Asked Fleur.

"Of course I am." He replied, smiling.

---

A/N: Sorry for the really long wait! I hope this chapter makes up for it. I've got a lot of great ideas for the next few chapters. I hope you guys like it, please review.