AN: Standard disclaimer everyone, JKR owns the toys, we just get to play with them.
AN2: Oh look, chapter two, that happened quicker than I thought it would. Be warned, a discussion of Harry's rape is in this chapter as well as its effect on him, also a brief lemon.
-:-
Chapter Two: Training
The two teens sat back on their stools, thinking rapidly between them. Both were nervous about the prospect, what if something went wrong? If Harry lost control of the spell he would die, wrenching Hermione with him into the void as her own magic tried to support the spell. No, they decided, the chance that he could become as fast as Voldemort wasn't worth the risk, not yet, better to do it when they had no other option, as a last resort, there had to be other ways to bring him down.
They both turned to look at Moody and before they even spoke he nodded with an understanding expression on his gnarled face. Hermione watched as Harry gave him their answer
"We can't do this Mad Eye, not yet, we might have the potential, but neither of us is sure if we have the skill. There have to be other options, things unexplored. We'll search for those first, we'll train, and we'll get better. In the case of nothing else being viable and time running out, then we'll try your spell."
To their surprise Mad Eye clapped his hands together a few times before standing up and offering them a hand to shake.
"Well done you two, you just made your first truly adult decision. No more time for chit chat though, we do need to get some training in before the meeting later. We have a few hours ahead of us; it's two o'clock now, the meeting starts at six, it'll end when it ends and we have until one o'clock this morning to keep practising afterward. At one o'clock Tonks will get back here with the car and you'll travel back in time to your house in Oxford. So that's about ten hours. So, well I guess there is time for chit chat, but not really. We have pepper up potions for you after the meeting if you need them we have a long night ahead of us, questions?"
Hermione and Harry both shook their heads, vanished their stools and stepped back into the large room with their wands held aloft. Much to their consternation Moody just chuckled.
"Ganging up on an old man with a peg leg are you? You two should be ashamed of yourselves."
Hermione just grinned, she was well aware of Moody's skill level; one didn't survive ninety years in the auror force without being unnaturally skilled. A half beat passed and then Moody stood up, vanishing his own stool and stepping back.
"Right you two, I know you're both extremely skilled but for a start let's be using our practise wands shall we? No one needs to die today."
Harry and Hermione both caught the wands tossed to them in their off hands. Hermione, previously rather clumsy, had improved her hand-eye coordination greatly while practising with Harry. Near simultaneously they stowed their real wands and switched grips of their practise ones to their main hands. Mad Eye could probably guess, but they had already merged their minds, not completely, but enough to make them nearly perfectly in synch. Moody let out a growl that if Hermione didn't know better she would have labelled as nervous, in reality he was probably excited.
"One more, thing, no spell limits, don't be idiots and use something deadly, but spells and sorcery are both fine. As a last point this whole room is magically shielded so don't worry about spells hitting the walls, ready?"
Both teens nodded once, the tendons at their necks tensing briefly before relaxing.
"Then let's begin."
-:-
Alastor Moody was an extremely good duellist. He was the thirty three times winner of the crossed wands international auror duelling tournament, he had personally trained Filius Flitwick when he went through the duelling circles, and was powerful magically to boot. He had survived thick and thin of ninety years in the auror circles and had brought down more aspiring dark lords than Dumbledore. But these two were something else.
Immediately he was on the back foot, Harry and Hermione had moved to either side flanking him efficiently whilst still keeping out of each other's line of fire. Harry was a blur of motion, offensive sorcels flying thick and fast in Alastor's direction, too fast to parry or dodge, he just threw up a shield and hoped to Merlin it held. Hermione was, if possible, more difficult to deal with.
While Harry was a prodigy of sorcery Hermione was the undisputed smartest witch of her age and had a mental spell library numbering in the thousands, and she unleashed that knowledge now to its greatest extent. Offensive spells and sorcels were mixed in with the strangest of utility spells. Buffets of wind and sleet hit Alastor at random times and angles, keeping him on his toes. The floor was covered with water which she periodically electrified or froze requiring snap reactions from him. Miniature flocks of canaries flew at him periodically before transfiguring into balloons filled with chalk powder that quickly made it nigh impossible to see.
They traded back and forth rapidly for nearly a minute, magic flying thick and fast before Moody realized the problem. Hermione wasn't really trying to beat him here; she was just holding him in place, locking him down for…
A massive echoing crack sounded from behind him and heralded his sorcel shield smashing apart like so much sugar glass and before he could turn to respond a massive force smashed into his back, propelling him forwards straight into a returning volley from Hermione that caught him mid-flight in the legs. His upper body swung down and he abruptly, and painfully, face planted into the floor, breaking his already mangled nose again. Beaten however, he was not. Acting as fast as he could he flicked a tripping jinx at Hermione before blasting her off her feet with a sorcel as she fell. Her shields dropped for that final offensive
Rolling he tried to respond to Harry behind him but only had time for a broad spectrum shield as the full fury of a burgeoning arch mage slammed into the ground around him. Alastor put his whole weight into his shield as he stood, flicking a stunner wandlessly at Hermione to keep her out of the fight. Harry was dangerous enough on his own. He switched to a duellist's shield batting away any spells Harry threw into the mix and parrying his sorceries as best he could. Small explosions of light burst in the air between them as their sorceries collided, cancelling each other out in miniature starbursts. Both were trying to overwhelm the other at the same time, leading to a sort of miniature arms race to see who could put the greater power into their sorcels for more time.
Alastor grinned behind his shield at the adrenaline running through his veins; never before had he fought someone who could do this. He supposed Albus probably could, but the old man was too fast for Moody to fight like this, same problem with the two times Moody had engaged Voldemort in a duel. There was no room for any kind of fancy acrobatics between them; the speed of their casting was too fast for any room for error, they were locked in place, more or less having to stay in one place as they traded back and forth. If they judged the trajectory of a sorcel wrong as they were moving and it hit them they were done for. His face split into a snarling grin, this was actually kind of fun.
-:-
Harry was highly conscious of exactly how the duel was going; both of them were evenly matched at their current rate, exchanging sorcels with each other, trying to overwhelm the other with strength while simultaneously intercepting spells with their shields. The thing was that Harry wasn't sure of his limits. He'd never before fought an enemy for long enough to even begin to start exhausting him and he was nowhere near that point now. But he knew what Mad Eye was doing; Death eaters had the advantage of numbers, in a true battle Harry wouldn't be able to afford exhausting himself fighting one enemy, even if that enemy was Voldemort. He had to end the fight with enough strength to take on the rest of them.
What really had his back up was the casual way he dealt with Hermione. A tripping jinx, a jab and a stunner and she were out of the fight, they needed to work on Hermione's defences somehow. That said in a real duel Moody would have been killed by the first time he was knocked to the floor. Harry felt Moody's sorcels beginning to rise in power again and he huffed angrily, time to end this duel.
Gesturing broadly with his wand Harry erected a shield in front of him, a large hazy barrier of magic and behind it he began his end game spell. The Same large ball of energy he had used against Krum built up as he consciously funnelled energy into it. Then pushing with all his might on his wand he forced the magic out explosively, the beam of invisible magic shattering his shield and heading straight for Alastor.
-:-
When Potter began casting his beam sorcel Moody knew he only had seconds to retaliate, he knew exactly what Harry would do with this spell, he had seen it against Krum and frankly it was terrifying. His ability to siphon that much raw magic from the air to create a perfectly efficient beam was not something Moody could match. He couldn't deflect the beam with a Protego; it would just shatter under that much power. He couldn't hope to outlast Potter's energy levels, as the boy would have access to limitless magical energy with all of the start-up capital they had given him by fighting for so long in the room. There was only one option left to him, he had to move before Potter could pin him down, this was one of those times he really regretted having a peg leg.
Thinking quickly he levitated himself before using a kinetic sorcel to rapidly move himself to the left, just out of the way of Harry's beam as it struck the back wall of the room, creating an echoing 'gong' like noise and, to Moody's horror, began to follow him, scorching the wall behind him. He had to end this quickly. Potter was moving the beam rapidly, this was no slow march of energy, this was a rapid darting, like a student with a handheld laser light darting it around a room, and Moody was only just staying away from it as it pursued him. What he didn't account for as he was trying to line up a shot with a wandless stunner was Granger waking up.
-:-
Hermione opened her eyes somewhat groggily, she expected to see Harry standing over her, hand held out to help her up as usual, and was momentarily surprised when he wasn't there. Instead she looked up to see a giant flaming beam of energy chasing Moody around the room with harry behind it, grinning his winning smile. She sat back and watched him taunt Moody for a while with the beam, feeling a bit of vindicated pride as the old man was chased about. Then, when he got too close, she almost lazily stunned him off his feet, ending the duel rather abruptly.
The beam of energy flicked off rather rapidly and Hermione grinned as Harry walked over to her and offered that helping hand she had been waiting for. His first words to her in nearly a minute were somewhat cheeky.
"I didn't know you were such a spoilsport sweetheart. I was enjoying giving him the run around."
Chuckling she pressed a small kiss to his lips before gesturing to the ancient auror.
"You really should wake him up."
She chuckled as Harry's eyes widened before he scuttled off to do just that.
-:-
The afternoon passed quite comfortably, Moody put them through their paces, practising their sorcel and spell chains, improving the efficiency of their shields by learning how to regulate the control of energy flowing into them so as not to waste strength, and many other small tricks of the trade. Moody told them quite plainly that they were more powerful than they should be at that age, he wasn't sure why and would ask Albus about it but between that and their speed it more than made up for their lack of true experience.
When it was time for the meeting they took a quick shower (Separately) before heading down to the kitchen, where they were told the meeting would be held. Moody was already there when they arrived and was chatting comfortably to Sirius and Remus who both gave Harry a thumbs up. They sat down comfortably together at the table and Harry took Hermione's hand in his, enjoying being able to relax with her after four hours of near constant exercise. Moody had promised them a more relaxed evening of theoretical study to round things off, claiming that they only needed more duelling practise from now on, there was little more raw knowledge he could impart to them.
The theoretic al study would then be about subjects outside of the realm of combat. Harry was a little shocked to know that Mad Eye held a hereditary seat on the Wizengamot, although he rarely attended meetings of the august body, and knew a great deal about wizarding law. He would teach them what he knew about current politics, wizard law in general, and other smaller topics that, while not useful on the battlefield, would certainly help them in years to come. Harry was highly conscious in that moment that he would one day be the Lord Harry Potter and Hermione would be his wife the Lady Hermione Potter. Things they really needed to get their heads around before they got married.
Gringotts had begun sending him monthly statements as per his request and he had been staggered at his monthly income. He couldn't access the funds until he came of age but it was nice to know that it was there waiting for them upon their majority. Hermione had expressed doubts about what people would say with her marrying into money before Harry reminded her that her own family wasn't exactly poor. It wasn't the same level of wealth but she wouldn't have wanted for anything even if she hadn't married him.
It didn't end the argument but it did put it on the backburner. Neither of them was totally comfortable with the money Harry had but there was little they could, or even should, do about it. They would just have to learn to live with the fact that they were wealthy.
Several minutes after the teens arrived more people started filtering in. The Weasley parents were first and, upon seeing the pair came over to greet them with true warmth and apology for their distant nature last year. Molly especially was fussing and harry was suspicious of the fact that she might see him as a replacement son to take under her wing. He already had an adopted family thank you very much, and he loved them a great deal. Tonks was absent obviously, but Harry identified a great number of people he recognized and that Minerva, who was sitting next to Hermione and was chatting to her about the coming school year, pointed out to them both.
Finally Albus walked into the room and Harry met his eyes. There was a strange exchange of understanding between them that the time for enmity was over, they were on the same side. Marginally less composed Dumbledore took his seat and called the meeting to order.
"For the first time in several months we have a new pair of faces with us tonight. I'd like to welcome Mr Harry Potter and Miss Hermione Granger to our presence. Through their unavoidable involvement with the coming conflict and their dedication to training, overall maturity and steadfast nature I've discussed with Alastor and Kinglsey, and they have agreed, that we should offer them permanent places at this table as fully fledged members of the Order."
Bedlam erupted, particularly from Molly and, to Harry's great surprise, Minerva.
"Albus, you know what they have in store and you want to heap more pressure on them? Isn't that asking a bit much of two teens?"
Dumbledore tried to respond but he was cut off, rather rudely, by Molly.
"Why do they need to be involved at all Albus? They are just teens after all, two years shy of adulthood and you're offering them a place at the table for above age wizards and witches?"
Dumbledore stood then, and Harry saw a glint in his eye he had seen only once before, true anger.
"Sit, down Molly, you more than anyone should understand that no one in this war is safe. These two teens." And here Harry was surprised at the scathing tone in the old man's voice, "Have done more to prepare for the coming conflict and openly oppose him in the last few years than you have in your entire life. They are here, at my request, just as Severus is, because they offer something to this group that no one else can. A unique skill set and the potential for great progress for our community and the survival for witches and wizards as a whole in this country."
The room was silent; no one dared so much as breathe.
"I have done too much wrong by these two, Harry especially, to deny them what they have earned. If you have a problem with that Molly I suggest you find the door out of this place."
Harry was struck the by something he had not yet considered, did he even want to be a part of this? This organized vigilantism? He didn't need to even share a glance with Hermione to know she was thinking along the same lines, he could hear the thoughts barrelling through her over powered mind. Instead he sought out another pair of eyes; across the table from him Sirius was watching him with a slightly resigned expression, when he saw the look in Harry's eyes he simply shrugged. The meaning clear; 'this is your life kiddo'.
The fact of the matter was that at the end of the day harry was still a teenager. Yes he and Hermione were training, yes they were directly involved in the coming conflict. But they still had to go to school; they still had a family to spend time with. They didn't have the time to be gallivanting around the place hunting down death eaters, or whatever else they had in store for them. Harry would bring the fight to Voldemort when he was ready. He would end the snake faced bastard, and then he and Hermione would find somewhere to settle down and live. But this… this organization, was not their place to be.
Looking around now he could see several members of the order who were looking at Hermione with a touch of disdain. He was highly conscious of the fact that, at that moment, there was no other first generation witch or wizard around the table save Remus, and he had his own issues to deal with. This was an organization run and controlled by purebloods and half-bloods, and Harry knew that instinctively they wouldn't want Hermione with them. Once more he had to question if this was even a society he wanted to save. He met Dumbledore's eyes and shook his head a fraction.
The disappointed, but understanding look in Albus' eyes reassured Harry somewhat. The headmaster at least wasn't prejudiced against them; in fact Harry suspected that Dumbledore wanted them to be an example for the wizarding society of Britain, something for them to aspire to; the scion of a powerful magical house marrying a first generation witch? That was right up the old man's alley. But Harry was tired of being a pawn and after another moment of watching Dumbledore he stood and spoke to the room at large.
"I'll make this really easy for everyone. Thanks, but no thanks. We have enough on our plates as Professor McGonagall has already said, we're still teens, and we don't want to be a part of this. Not yet at any rate. Ask us again if you still need us when we're out of school."
Turning slightly he spoke directly to Dumbledore.
"Thank you for the invitation to join you. I appreciate the sentiment of what you were trying to do here, to make up for the past wrongs done to me. But it's unnecessary sir. Allowing me to live with Hermione's parents has mended that divide."
Another look of understanding passed between them, this was Dumbledore's penance, allowing Harry out of the Dursley's home where Dumbledore could keep an eye on him, relinquishing control over the boy who lived. That was the recompense for the suffering Harry had endured; a road to Harry's happiness and a possible mending of the relationship between the two wizards. He noticed a thought of Hermione's that Dumbledore was probably trying to set things to rights before he passed away, the guilt of the nearly departed.
He felt Hermione stand at his side and, as one; they left the table turning their backs on the Order of the Phoenix. They returned to the training room and sat together against one wall talking in quiet tone. It had been about thirty minutes when Alastor and Dumbledore finally entered the room and conjured seats. They looked rather relaxed all things considered and Harry wondered what was coming next. Alastor was the first one to speak
"Well you two made another important decision tonight and bravo to both of you. That was a tough spot we put you in; personally I didn't expect anything different."
Harry looked up at him to see an unusually kind expression in the old man's eyes. It struck him suddenly that Moody probably saw him as a younger version of himself, he shuddered at the thought of one day being as battered as the old man and he felt a sympathetic shudder from Hermione next to him as she noticed his thoughts.
"We're just not ready to be a part of something like this yet. We have too much life to live before we commit ourselves fully to this war. I'm still only fourteen for God's sake."
Harry noted that Dumbledore had his twinkling eyes on full blast and shot the man a curious look, fortunately the older wizard wasn't in the mood to play games.
"I am more proud of you two than I have been of any two other students in my entire time as a teacher. You know your limits, and what you can handle. Yet you strive to be better in those areas which you have committed yourself to. I have already asked Nymphadora to return with the car, we shall spend some time talking over the workings of the Fidelius charm and shall cast it before the night is over. Is that acceptable for you both?"
Harry nodded with a relived expression; it would be good to know that his family would be safe. It would mean few people would be able to come to the house for the time being, but it was a small price to pay for safety.
-:-
Later that night as he was crawling into bed with Hermione, Harry reflected on the day just passed. So much had happened in such a short space of time, culminating in Harry becoming the secret Keeper for the Granger home in Oxford. It was now, arguably, the safest building for him in all Britain, as he himself would have to give the game away to put himself under threat. He felt his inner turmoil being brushed aside by Hermione's mind as she rolled over to slip her arms about his waist. Sighing softly Harry returned the gesture, wrapping his arms about her shoulders and tugging her close against his chest.
Before leaving Hogwarts they rarely slept with much more than the barest of undergarments anymore, it was far too comfortable for them to lay flush against each other, their skin contact giving them both comfort and pleasure. Since returning home however Harry had begun to wear more modest nightwear and he was currently wearing a singlet (He abhorred sleeves on his nightwear) and light cotton trousers. He and Hermione both knew why, he was finding it harder and harder to be intimate with her after the events following the third task.
It tore at both of them, Harry because he couldn't be close to his love, and that he was hurting her with his inattention, and Hermione that she wasn't enough to break through his fear and insecurity. Harry felt Hermione's distress across their bond and felt tears spring up in his eyes as the recurring thoughts came back to him. He knew she wouldn't push him despite her own needs and he was thankful for that, he didn't know when he would be able to be intimate with her again after having been betrayed so brutally by someone he trusted.
He could feel her hands fisting on the back of his singlet and he held her as close as he could, pressing himself against her, desperately wanting her to understand that it wasn't her that was causing the problems, he couldn't even rise to the occasion, so to speak, his body shying away from any thought of intimacy and making it difficult to reassure her. Whenever he had tried in the past to push past the feelings of hurt and betrayal they had always come back full force and wilted him before they could engage in anything even remotely sexual.
They held each other tearfully as they fell asleep together, their minds meshing and merging, trying to make up for the lack of physical intimacy by becoming one. His thoughts rang through their minds before they lost all sense of identity.
"I'm sorry my love."
Her answer was brief, but it reassured him beyond any doubt.
"I forgive you. Sleep now, I'll be here with you, loving you, in the morning, sleep."
So sleep they did.
-:-
The day passed in something of a haze for the two teens. The previous night and day had been long and hard on them both, with the weirdness of time travel they had experienced twenty seven waking hours and even with pepper up potions they were dead on their feet the next day after their run. They got no practise in at all but rather took advantage of the lazy Sunday after going to church to simply relax and enjoy their time with Emma and Dan.
In the evening while Hermione was in their room finishing a book she had been meaning to read and Dan had turned in early for the night Emma took Harry into the living room and sat him down in an armchair, dragging another chair up she sat opposite him and took one of his hands in hers.
"Sweetie, I know things have been tricky between you and Hermione lately, I can see it in the tension between you."
Harry blushed crimson at this, well aware of what she was implying, never mind that she was his adopted mother, she was Hermione's mother, and that made talking about the intimate side of Harry's relationship with Hermione very awkward. He felt reassured when she chuckled in a humoured tone.
"Oh stop that, I'm well aware that you and Hermione have been getting up to a bit more than friendly cuddling in that bed of yours over the last few months, I understand that you're horny teenagers in love and you have Dan and My blessing. Although I get that you've been a bit slow lately? Want to talk about it?"
Harry took a shaky breath before letting it out and sinking forwards into her understanding and very comforting embrace. Hermione was in her own little world with her book upstairs and Harry covertly shut himself off from her as he let himself go, shuddering in Emma's motherly embrace, fear and hurt coming to the surface of his thoughts, previously supressed for so long.
"That's it Harry, let it out I've got you."
He didn't cry but he came damn close to it, the memories of his rape surfacing again in all their painful detail. Thankfully he had no visual memories of the event, only the sensations. He sat there, shuddering in his mother's arms, hoping she could banish the phantoms of betrayal in his mind.
-:-
Emma felt somewhat robbed on behalf of Harry. Hadn't they already gone through this with his uncle's abusing him? Hadn't they already had the break down, the confessions, the talk? Wasn't he passed this already? Was he not allowed to have a comfortable abuse free life? How dare that French girl do this to her son? How dare she do such an abominable thing to another human being? Emma wasn't quite sure of the details but she was fairly certain that because of Hermione's bond with Harry there were even more complications that this rape had caused. It tore at her heartstrings to think of things being even harder for her two favourite teens.
When Harry gently pulled away from her, wiping furiously at non-existent tears she couldn't help but lean forward and brush his shorter hair back from his clear forehead and give it a soft kiss.
"You're with family now Harry. You're safe, and none of us will hurt you, least of all Hermione, go to her; make love to her. Show her you still need her that way Harry, I can't imagine what you're going through here, but if I were Hermione, I'd be scared you never wanted to be with me again. Let her back into your personal space Harry. If only bit by bit, let her erase those horrible memories so you can heal."
She just held him then, her piece said. She'd noticed tear tracks on Hermione's cheeks as she went up to the teen's room tonight and her heart went out to them both. This was a horrible situation to be in for them and she couldn't imagine how they must feel. In times like this she couldn't be more thankful for the poorly described bond that joined the two, Emma didn't know what it entailed but she was certain it was the reason they were pushing through these feelings of rejection and betrayal, because they knew, irrevocably, that they loved one another unconditionally.
When Harry finally headed upstairs, a determination in his eyes that made her let out a girlish giggle of amusement she said after him.
"Remember, we don't want to hear anything, be discreet okay?"
She chuckled as he headed upstairs, a brilliant blush on his cheeks.
-:-Lemon below-:-
When finally Harry pushed open the door to their room Hermione looked up at him from the bed where she was sitting against the headboard, her legs spread and one hand between them. Abruptly she blushed and hauled the covers back over herself, looking guilty. Harry's determined look broke like so much sugar glass. Unable to move he simply stood in the doorway looking down at the place his girlfriend had covered.
They both stood there, looking at each other for several seconds until Hermione, unable to stand the silence between them, spoke up.
"Harry… I'm sorry love; it's just been so hard to be here next to you getting all worked up and then not being able to reach for you, to love you. It got a bit much for me."
Finally Harry's legs seemed to work again, he quickly moved to her and slid under the covers his arms going around her without hesitation and he buried his head into the crook of her neck, speaking softly.
"It's me who should be sorry. What must you think of me being so unhelpful? I never meant to make this hard for you sweetheart I promise. I actually just talked to your mum about all this."
Hermione's face softened from her slightly scared look and she wrapped herself around him, her bare leg hooking over his hip and tugging him close. He could feel the heat in her centre where she had just been active.
"I know, your block between us isn't ever truly perfect, things slip through." She smiled "I can't say I disagree with what I heard her say though."
Harry was a touch confused
"Wait, if you heard what we were talking about then you knew why I came up here, why did you cover everything up?"
Hermione's blush was vivid
"Well it was still a bit of a shock and I panicked a bit."
Harry smiled and moved a hand between them, gently pushing her back onto the bed and looking into her eyes.
"Then let me help you out sweetheart. I've missed you."
He didn't hear her say anything more than a faint moan as his hand slid up under her shirt and cupped one of her breasts. He never tired of touching her, connecting with her in such an intimate way. He flicked his other hand at the door, muttering a silencing charm before moving his mouth to her throat, sucking lightly.
She moaned, hard into the air and beneath the covers he felt her hips buck. The walls around her mind, that she had clearly forgotten, came crashing down around her and she mixed her mind with his, showing him what she wanted.
Understanding his soul-mate's wishes he moved his hand from her breast and down between her legs, her answering moan was somewhere between thankful and delirious with pleasure. Slowly, so as to not rush, he slid a finger over her lower lips, before gently parting them and swiping the digit through the slick wetness already pooled there. Hermione's hands fisted in the sheet and his t-shirt, she was panting in anticipation. Without further ado Harry pushed the finger inside her curling it around and beginning to flick at that one spot he knew she loved.
Her hips bucked hard under his hand but he kept her still with his other arm sliding around her waist to keep her steady as he relentlessly worked at her centre, her mouth open in a constant moan as he altered his speed and pressure slightly inside her. It had been a bit more than a month since either of them had felt any release and she was on a hair trigger, so, barely moments after he started Hermione's body was wracked with shudders and she clung to him, her arms and legs wrapping around him, trapping his hand between her twitching thighs.
Slowly ever so slowly, she came down from her high and fixed him with a sultry smile. She released her clenched muscles allowing his finger to slide from her core before moving her own hand between them.
-:-
Hermione was on cloud nine, her body was humming with pleasure and all she could think about was returning the favour for her lovely man. So when his hand gently wrapped around her wrist she looked at him confused. His few words sent a spike of pain and regret into her heart.
"Not yet… Sorry love I just… I can't, I don't want to be scared of you, please?"
She nodded numbly before kissing him.
"I understand love… I just wanted to show you how much I love you, care for you, want you to be happy, all of that."
His arms wrapped around her, the one digit that had been inside her curiously dry, she guessed wandless magic. Hermione sighed as he pulled her close and nuzzled into her neck.
"This, this is what I need at the moment. I need to be close to you, I need to love you and be warm and safe."
She realized abruptly that the words coming from he wasn't the only communication he was trying to achieve. Images were rushing through her head, half imagined scenes and blurry faces, feelings of disgust and fear. She realized abruptly that these were his dreams, nightmares of that night.
"You've been having nightmares too? And you've been hiding them from me."
He cringed against her, as if expecting to be hit and she reassured him gently, she wasn't angry, just confused. A stab of anger at the Dursleys ripped through her.
"I didn't want you to have to deal with that, it's not your fight."
Now she was angry.
"Harry James Potter. How can you even begin to think that?"
She twisted over onto her side and cupped his face with both hands
"I love you; our souls are bound together with that love. I'm more a part of you than any other person will be and I share your mind just as you share mine. Anything, anything that's going on with you is my fight. Just like anything that happened to me would be your fight as well, because we are partners you and I, we do this together."
The initial flash of anger she had felt dissolved quickly to hurt, then sadness, and back to love and passion as she finished her mini speech. Harry's answering kiss was more than enough reassurance as he blew away all of those thoughts with his passion. Their lips clashed together, tongues battled and she submitted happily to his onslaught and when they broke apart they were panting hard, foreheads touching and looking into each other's eyes. The fire in his gaze made her breath catch and her tummy tremble.
"I love you, Hermione Jean Granger, always."
When he slid down beneath the covers she grinned and slid her fingers into his hair as he moved between her legs. Oh how she loved her man.
-:- Lemon ends -:-
A routine was established. Every second day in the morning Tonks would drive to their house. They would time turn back to Number twelve, and then, after training, they would time turn back to Oxford in the evening using the next day to recover from their near thirty hour days. The evenings would result in them getting closer and closer intimately each night, it was like the beginning of last year with them experimenting with each other, just much slower and more hesitant. Harry still couldn't have her touch him sexually without seizing, twice she had had to clear his airways with a spell when he had begun involuntarily choking, the memory of being unable to breath coming back full force.
It was hard for them both, but they opened up to one another and, gradually, the nightmares disappeared. Sirius, of all people, was a huge help in that respect as he often spent time talking with the teens about his recovery from Azkaban and how he dealt with those nightmares. Many times Hermione wanted to talk to Dumbledore and see if he knew of a way to make this easier, she reasoned that a six hundred year old man might have an answer to their pain. Unfortunately the teens didn't see him again all summer.
The answer turned out to be time, as the days turned into weeks the nightmares and pain disappeared and they became more at ease with one another. Hermione found that their morning runs were a good time to get rid of some of the pain they dealt with, much the same as they had during the school term they ended up using their runs as a time to share their days and memories with one another, making sure they were open an honest about everything that was going on or they may have neglected to mention in the past.
They were now limiting their runs to an hour and a half each morning, they could run for much greater distances but it ended up consuming too much of their day with unnecessary exercise. Hermione, much to her chagrin, had also begun losing her curves and had a much more tomboyish frame than she would like so she purposefully cut back on her additional exercise to let her more feminine attributes rear their head again. Harry made sure she ate plenty as well.
Other girls might think he was trying to fatten them, but Hermione knew that he was aware of her distress and was determined to make it as easy for her as possible to regain the figure she wanted. She had more than enough self-control not to eat more than she needed and was smart enough to know that eating properly was healthy for her so she took no offense when he added a bit extra to her plate at lunch time or dinner.
In much the same way Harry's body was far too lean, he was wiry and thin with the muscles of a runner rather than those of a healthy teenager so Hermione took it upon herself to make sure he ate more red meat in the evenings rather than fish or chicken, and she finally relaxed her opinion on his breakfast fare, understanding that without it he might have worked himself to exhaustion several times over the summer.
-:-
Their studies progressed apace and soon they were comfortably duelling up to three people at once: Usually Mad Eye, Remus and Sirius. It was reassuring to know that they could deal with such skilled duellists, especially when the majority of death eaters weren't half so skilled. Hermione continued to be frustrated with her progress however and Harry took the lion's share of the effort in their duels. One day it got a bit much for her and she stormed from the training room. Having an idea of what was going on Harry followed her to the library where she sat on a window seat and stared resolutely out into the summer rain.
Harry grinned at her posture, annoyed but ready to grab him in a hug as soon as he got close enough, one hand was even stretched out to him as he got closer. He happily let her grab him and reel him in to her warm embrace. His own hands slid around her and she groaned happily at the feeling of his wiry arms supporting her whole weight easily against him.
"I get why you're angry love, but I don't think you're thinking this through."
Hermione didn't turn around but he got a mental twitch from her that he knew meant for him to keep talking.
"Mad eye is a hundred and thirty, Remus is a werewolf, and while Sirius is fully recovered from Azkaban and a powerful wizard to boot. They're all fully grown and fully trained wizards love, we're only school children. Why then can I go toe to toe with them and you can't on your own? Because I have you, I have this burning power within me that stems from our bond sweetheart. It forces me to fight for you, to keep you safe, to beat the slimy faced old coot and come back to you at the end of this. You have it too, you're just not reaching for it because you're not used to it."
She did turn then and fixed him with a slightly annoyed glare.
"So why are you so used to it then? Why does it come so naturally to you?"
He blushed, the colour rising in his cheeks even as he smiled
"Because I've always reached for it, ever since I started to learn magic I've loved you, I loved Ron too, but more as a brother than… well I'm sure you know well enough by now."
She chuckled before sinking back against his chest, letting him talk.
"After I Ron on the train and he stuck with me, I had a friend for the first time in my life. He was my whole family at that point, after Hagrid he was the only person I'd ever been able to trust and talk to. When we rescued you from the troll and you became my friend, my confidant, you became my family too, you became my rock, my centre, the person I could turn to when everything was going pear shaped, and for as long as I can remember you two have been the ones I've reached for in my mind when I've gone to cast magic, your memories have always powered my spells."
Her slightly shocked expression made him laugh slightly.
"I'd wager you reach for your core when you go to cast magic, that logical centre of your mind where everything seems right? I reach for my emotions, always have done. Your mum told me about how your accidental magic was all about things being the way you wanted them, building blocks going into patterns you liked, books going back into book shelves properly, all that kind of thing. My accidental magic has always been about emotion, when I'm scared, or angry, that's what does it. When I'm casting consciously, I reach for my love of you."
He was a bit blinded a second later when she threw herself into his arms and held him tightly to her, laughing into his chest.
"You're such an enigma Harry Potter; you shouldn't even be able to do that yet. Most wizards can't do that until at least newt level, that's why you can cast a patronus so early isn't it? You already had the skill. Oh you are so frustrating sometimes."
He couldn't help but laugh at that
"Harry you're simply a wonder. I was asking Remus early why most people couldn't cast a patronus, it seemed like it would be such an easy thing to cast; the arithmantic power levels aren't even that high. He told me that most adults can't actually reach for their emotions in a magical sense because as teenagers they never honed the skill properly. Wizarding culture is a lot more interested in teens controlling their emotions than letting loose with them as opposed to the Muggle world where we're it's expected that teens will go a little wild.
From a young age you're unlocked an ability that many wizards will never have access to, it's so exciting!"
Harry grinned into her hair as she finished her spiel
"Are you ready to come back and keep practising then love?"
She swatted him on the arm before laughing and getting up from the window seat.
"Let's go then my lovely man."
-:-
On the odd day they would find themselves sitting in the drawing room of the old manor at Grimmauld place, just talking to Sirius. Remus had other jobs he was involved in for the order and was looking more and more worn out every week, as did Mad Eye, but Sirius was cooped up and frequently wanted to just sit and talk with his godson and the girl who had captured his heart. He told them stories about his youth, his dad and his mum, the marauders and the pranks they pulled. Mention of Peter was carefully avoided. In return Harry and Hermione shared stories of their own time at Hogwarts so far and the things they had been caught up in. Sirius was particularly amused by the tale of the polyjuice potion gone wrong and for weeks afterward he would meow cheekily in greeting to Hermione.
They settled into an easy camaraderie with Sirius, much the same as they had with each other, just without the romantic moments. He became something of a second (Or was that third?) father to Harry and the young man truly felt loved by those around him. They never really got to know Tonks, as they never really spent much time with her, but they were constantly put at ease by her bubbly personality.
One day in mid-July however Hermione got a bit of a shock when Sirius pulled her aside from the training room and asked her to block Harry out for a second. She shot him a sceptical look but did as he asked and indicated he should talk.
"Hermione has Harry ever had a birthday party?"
She looked stricken, they had gone to the play last year for his birthday but she knew full well that he had never had any kind of actual party. Her eyes were full of remorse as she answered him
"No, never."
Sirius' grin however was enough to make her smile in turn, although a bit nervously, the man was a marauder after all.
"Then we'll just have to throw him one. Have you two got any other close friends?"
Hermione frowned at that, the answer was both simple and complex; Neville was something of a friend, but really, he was more of an ally, the Weasley twins were friends, but they had grown distant. Fleur would have been a friend but… well she wasn't really around. And of course Ron, but he wasn't with them anymore either.
"None that we would want at his birthday."
Sirius frowned, but nodded. She was sure that he recognized that they had lost friends recently so he didn't push.
"Then we'll just have to have it at Oxford, Remus will be there, I'll turn up, I'm sure your parents would love to throw him his first party. We can make this a special day for him."
Hermione nodded, thoughts buzzing through her mind
"Will Alastor come?"
Sirius barked out his usual laugh
"Not likely, parties make him… twitchy."
She laughed at that thought, the ex auror was twitchy as it was; she hated to think what he would be like in such an environment.
"Quite right, we'd better be getting back before Harry really starts to wonder where we are, especially with me hiding this conversation from him."
Sirius nodded and shooed her back into the room where she was met with a barrage of spells. Grinning she raised her shield and waded back into the fray.
-:-
Emma and Dan for their part still had work to go to, but they had thrown themselves into getting to know Harry better in their free time as nearly losing him so soon after meeting the wonderful boy had shocked them and made them strive to become closer to their adopted son. One thing that had shocked both of them was the return of Emma's libido. Dan's had never really been a huge thing, especially after his injury but with the dental practise, the stress over Hermione being magical and the general stress of raising a child, especially one as tenacious as Hermione; Emma's sex drive had waned rapidly after Hermione's birth.
But something unknown to Emma had happened in the last few months to bring it howling back and the two adults had been indulging themselves in the newfound feelings of excitement between them that rekindled their love for one another in a big way and brought back a spark to their relationship they hadn't known had been missing.
Dan knew truly, what the difference was, although he hesitated to mention it to Emma for fear of getting her hopes up when there might not be any real hope at all. While they had been staying at the school he had asked the nurse if there was anything she could do magically to fix his damaged reproductive organs. She had cast a few spells with her wand but he had no real idea what had happened except a weird twitch in his groin. She had said she did all she could and Dan fervently hoped that it was enough.
Harry had brought back to him his desire for a son, and while the young man was truly wonderful and filled a whole in Dan's life, he wasn't Dan's own. He would never tell the young man, understanding fully that it would crush him and Dan didn't want that. The thought was there though and he couldn't shake it off.
-:-
Harry was having a ball. This summer, while not quite as outright fun as his last one had been, was more than enough to keep him entertained, and he was duelling! It was so much fun to be in the training room and really let rip with his magic (Albeit through a practise wand) and duel Moody, Remus and Sirius to a standstill.
He had been modifying his mechanical spider too. The magically driven familiar was constant presence now; fortunately Hedwig was taking it in stride, apparently happy that the strange little thing could not deliver mail. Harry had added several functions to the small device, including a magically driven grapple and winch which allowed it to scale almost any surface in total silence. The grapple, rather than being a spike or other furniture destroying object, was a thin band of sticky strands that splayed out in flight then, by using momentum as an aid, snapped forwards once the end of the tether hit something, firmly adhering themselves to the target. When the spider let the object go the magical adhesive released it from whatever it was holding on to. Crookshanks had taken to playing with the strange little thing, chasing it around, tipping it over and generally making a nuisance of him. Eventually Harry took pity on his small creation and installed a laser light that had given the whole family hours of amusement watching Crookshanks go mad trying to catch the tiny red dot. Harry sometimes swore the spider had magical sentience rather than an elaborate set of responses Harry had charmed the device with, as well as the option for direct control.
A vision switching charm was placed on a small crystal next to the spider's head and Harry could activate the charm to see through its eyes for brief periods of time and could manually control it with some carefully inscribed runic clusters that, when activated, turned his wand into a kind of remote control. Much to his amusement the project had earned him full marks from all the teachers involved in the project even before the holidays and all his additional tinkering.
He was of course already using his watch that was an early birthday present from Hermione. She had been slightly teary when presenting him with the gorgeous golden pocket watch that had tiny lightning bolts for arrow heads on the hands. The clock face had several magical meters on it, one that spiked when in the presence of magical wards, another that was bound to Hermione and constantly listed the distance and bearing of her location from him at any given time. The watch had earned Hermione top marks as well as it kept perfect time and never required winding.
-:-
Harry's birthday was rolling around quickly and Hermione was getting more and more excited, she had already given him his watch as a present but she was sure that he would be overjoyed at the party they were throwing him. It wasn't particularly traditional, party games and the like were absent. Instead they were making the day about family and relaxation, two things they knew Harry adored.
Sirius had suggested taking him to a Quidditch game but with the anniversary of Ron's death so close by Hermione felt the memories would ruin the day. When Sirius suggested the idea to Emma Granger however the older woman gently reminded Hermione that Harry would probably want to remember Ron on his birthday as there was barely a week that passed by when either of the two teens did not miss their friend.
So it was that when the day rolled around they spent a great deal of time simply together, chatting around the sitting room, swapping stories and doing their best to keep Harry relaxed. Later when lunchtime rolled around Sirius took them via portkey to the Holyhead Harpies/Tutshill Tornados game that was going on Harry was personally more of a Puddlemere fan after he found out that his father was the same. However because the Tornados were based most closely to Oxford the family as a whole ended up supporting them. Harry was amused by the fact that Hermione ended up being such a fond supporter of the team in later years.
As expected memories of the world cup darkened the trip but Harry profusely thanked the whole family for the day when they got home. As one final gift the Granger parents showed Harry into the teen's room where they had been working on something while the rest of the family was at the Quidditch game (Muggles couldn't attend) and Harry was stunned to see that they had organized a small work table and overhead lamp for him to tinker on, as well as a bucket full of slate that he could transfigure. Such a physical affirmation of his presence in their lives overwhelmed him a little and he had to sit down heavily as the family engulfed him in a hug.
Later that night (After Harry had begun transfiguring some slate into small parts for his next project) and the two teens lay together in their bed Hermione turned to him and kissed him softly. In his ear she whispered softly.
"I was hoping to give you another present tonight love, here in our bed."
Harry looked at her with tenderness in his eyes before leaning forwards to kiss her softly.
"A rain check please sweetheart? I'll be ready again, soon, but not now, can we just hold each other? Please? I need you close to me."
Hermione was more than happy to hold her love under the warm duvet as they drifted off to sleep, and for the first time in months, Harry stripped off his singlet and lay in her arms bare-chested. Yes, today had been perfect.
-:-
AN3: Hi all! This feels like a bit of a filler chapter before the real meat of the story starts, but if covers a slew of issues that the characters had between each other and it was a nice place to subtly start some other side plots.
AN4: Review Responses (From now on I'll only reply to reviews from this story.)
Starboy: Thank you! Here's another bit, hope you enjoy it.
Anotherboarduser: It is indeed! I'm not a huge fan of putting action in the first couple of chapters; I feel they should build the story more before things get nasty. If you remember the first chapter of World of Deceit was equally slow, although a bit more gory.
Joelfang: Indeed it does :D
Specky Clarke: No sweat, I'm much the same.
Vegasman: Indeed I do ;) And yeah, no lie that was part of the reason for it, I like screwing with those two. Glad to hear you like it, hopefully this is more of the same.
Alright welp, that's it for another chapter. This story is still up for Beta adoption, I've had a couple of offers but I'm waiting for a heads up from Texan-Muggle before I commit the story to another Beta
Thanks for Reading and other Shenanigans, the end of summer and some more information about what's going on in Epine land will follow in Chapter three: Darkness
LGreymark