A/N - Oh...You guys are so not going to like me...When reading this chapter, remember it's still a few days after the war (when Hermione kissed Ron) and there's still 67 more chapters to go. I can't have them shagging their brains out for all those chapters, now, can I?...

Wait. Let me think about that ;P

Chapter 33 - Chase and Command.

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All Harry could hear over the deafening silence was his heartbeat that had started to speed up to an unimaginable pace. He was suddenly aware of the most ridiculous things. He was aware of the fact that the house seemed unusually humid, that a stray curl was tickling his brow, and that in his haste, his nose had bumped against hers gently. He was also aware that her breathing was ragged, she smelled lightly of perfume, and her lips had the faint taste of pumpkin juice. But most of all, he was deathly aware of the fact that she had stilled the moment his lips landed on hers and she wasn't responding, her hands instantly stiffening on either side of his face. She was rigid. So very rigid.

Dread filling every part of him, he pulled back, his eyes meeting hers reluctantly.

As expected, Hermione's eyes were considerably wide, her lips parted in surprise. She stared at him incredulously and Harry had no doubt that he looked at her with that exact same expression on his face. It had been an impulse; as if his mind had no command over what his body had done. He had no idea where that impulse had come from, but it was something that he wasn't prepared for and he didn't really know how to react.

They simply stared at each other.

His heartbeat was getting louder with every second, while he looked at her with a mixture of dread, hope, frustration and panic. He started to feel himself twitch with nervousness. He had to say something. Anything.

"I-"

He didn't quite get to say what he was going to, even if he personally had no idea what he planned to spit out, for Hermione immediately clasped a hand on his mouth quickly to stop him from saying anything more. Her eyes widened in panic while she shook her head, completely flustered. "Don't say it."

Harry stared at her incredulously. This was definitely not what he had been expecting, and her peculiar behaviour effectively cut through his nervousness to create all out confusion. "What?" he couldn't help but ask, his voice coming out muffled against her fingers.

The question only seemed to cause her to panic even more. "We can't-" She stopped, her head shaking so fast her curls bounced crazily around her. "This is not-" She dropped her gaze from him, her eyebrows scrunching up in thought.

Harry waited patiently before he realized that she had gone into her own little world of analysis; and considering the absolute awkwardness he felt while he stood there with her fingers on his lips and her eyes glazed over in thought, he couldn't help but interrupt her.

"Hermione."

Her head snapped up fast, almost as if she had forgotten that he was there. "What?"

He looked at her meaningfully, his eyes looking down quickly to gesture at her hand, before his gaze rose up to meet hers.

A deep blush crept up her neck. "Oh. Right. Sorry." She pulled away her hand and took a step back.

"Hermio-" Again her hand was placed on his mouth, and he stared at her in surprise. Was she ever going to let him say anything?

"Don't. Say it." She gave him a meaningful look before she slowly took away her hand once again.

He opened his mouth to say something, but at the absolute panicked look she sported, he shut his mouth once again. He didn't quite fancy being told to shut up, even if he had no idea what he wanted to say to her.

Again, they stared at each other; and Harry had a distant feeling that she was trying to figure him out.

"I need to think about this," she said slowly, the blush on her neck having travelled upward, deepening the colours of her cheeks. "And you need to think about..." She looked around nervously before her eyes landed on the Elder Wand. "That."

Before he could say anything else, she sidestepped around him and started walking out of his bedroom. Harry simply stared in surprise before he decided to chase after her.

Just as he reached the door, Ron came up the stairs. Hermione paused, her glance going between the two of them in panic before she went down the stairs so quickly that anyone would have known that something was wrong. Ron watched her leave, his expression utterly confused. "What's up with her?"

Harry simply shook his head. "No idea."

What in buggering hell just happened?

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TBC