Hi everyone,

here is Chapter 3, hope you like it.

Thanks for the reviews so far you guys are great.

Sirius xox

PS Not J. Just like to play with her characters.

Chapter 3

After a ridiculously sleepless night, Harry got up and cleaned the spare room for his guest. He tidied up all his books and Quidditch memorabilia and shrunk all of his old case files down and locked them away. He ran his wand quickly over the rest of the house and then went to work early and went over some of his upcoming missions. It was going to be hard having a 'partner' with him every minute of the day. Harry spent the morning researching Alexie Riddle, He still couldn't shake the feeling that she was up to something. He went down to the records department and after a couple of hours he still had no new information so he went back to his office.

It was getting close to lunch time and Harry wondered whether he had set the wards right, maybe Hermione got stuck and had to come in through the front entrance. Harry decided to go and investigate and he walked out into the front office to find Hermione sitting on Penny's desk having a nice little conversation with her. She was wearing black tight pants with short high heeled boots and a white loose over shirt that showed her black singlet top underneath. Harry looked at them both having a lovely conversation and interrupted.

"Umm excuse me ladies, what's happening here?" Harry waited with an impatient look.

"Umm sorry Mr Potter, I was bored at home so I came in and I saw Miss Granger in the hall way, she was lost so I showed her back to the office." Penny looked like she was about to cry and Harry felt terrible.

"That's OK Penny, its not a problem but the idea of having a day off is actually having the DAY OFF." Harry smiled at her and then glared at Hermione.

"IF YOU DON'T MIND MISS GRANGER!" Harry grunted out and she turned to Penny and touched her cheek, "see what I mean Love?" then she pushed herself off the desk and followed Harry into his office and all they could hear was Penny's giggles.

"What the hell are you doing Hermione?" Harry said as soon as the door was closed.

"I told you to leave her alone, she's just a kid and my friend's kid at that, you hurt her or put her in harms way then watch out Hermione cause I won't be responsible for what I do to you." Hermione looked at him and smiled and just before Harry was about to totally lose it she put up her hands in defeat.

"OK OK don't stress out Harry, for heaven's sake you're so tightly strung you need a massage, a strong drink or something." Hermione went and sat down and put her feet up on the desk yet again. Harry walked past to go and sit down and as he did he knocked her feet off his desk. They landed with a thud and Harry couldn't help but smile.

The following weeks were stressful to say the least. Harry tried to go over past missions to get different intel that may help to tidy up some past failed cases but it was a long drawn out process. Hermione was snappy and the fact that they had no time apart made it worse. She had moved in and at first she spent little time with Harry. She went into her room and stayed there and most mornings she left before Harry was even up. The fact that Harry had never lived with anyone before, enjoyed his privacy and they were in each others faces all day everyday, definitely contributed to animosity between them. Hermione had to go back to her father's every couple of weeks, he let her have her freedom as long as she touched back for the meetings and also for any attacks that were planned.

Harry and Hermione butted heads constantly and one particular day they ended up being treated by Healers as they didn't have Arthur to pull them off each other.

Harry had had a quiet day as she had been gone the last few days with her father so he got some overdue paperwork done. It was actually a productive day as he met up with Arthur to brief him on their progress. Arthur was very happy with the two of them and again asked him to come for dinner. Harry agreed and said he would come over tomorrow and as he was leaving Arthur told him to bring Hermione. He wasn't sure that was such a great idea.

Harry was sitting in front of his fire place having a fire whiskey when he heard her apparate in. He watched her door and waited and waited then when it was clear she wasn't going to come out he went looking for her. He thought she may have at least come out and said hello since she had been gone for the last few days. Harry had a modest little house with three bedrooms, kitchen/dining room combined, a large lounge room and a small backyard. The reason he bought this one was because it was nothing special, not fancy at all and it blended into the neighbourhood nice and quietly. Just the way he liked his home life.

He walked over to her room and knocked a couple of times. There was no answer so he knocked again, a little louder this time. Again no answer and Harry fought with himself of whether he should go in or not. He walked back over to the lounge and took a sip of his drink, he glanced back at the door and then thought, stuff it, if she can't be polite enough to say hello why should I try.

Harry finished his drink and went to clean the kitchen, he wouldn't admit that he was stalling but he was hoping she would come out. He delayed his shower as long as he could but then decided to have his shower and try once more. He let the hot water run over his tense shoulders and then when he had finished washing himself he went to check on her again.

"Hermione, I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow." Harry said as he was knocking. He waited for a minute and still no response, he was getting concerned and he lifted his wand to run a scan. He did a complicated movement and he waited. After a few seconds he heard her heart beat, if she was sleeping it would be steady but if it was anything else he would know. The beat started softly but then grew to a louder thump, it wasn't the sound that concerned him, it was the speed at which it was beating. It sounded like she was running a marathon in there so Harry pushed the door open.

It wasn't locked and there were no lights on. The light from the fire shone in through the open door and Harry could see she was laying face down on her bed. He stepped in quietly and whispered her name but she didn't answer him and she didn't even move. He said it a bit louder but again no response.

"Hermione, can you hear me?" He walked over to her bed and watched to see if she would react.

Nothing.

"HERMIONE, CAN YOU HEAR ME?" He said it louder and this time and she twinged, it was only slight but he saw it. Harry stepped over closer and touched her shoulder and for some reason he knew something was wrong. He turned her over and gasped at the sight before him. She was covered in blood and she had black and blue bruises all over her face, arms and chest. Harry waved his wand and the lights came on and he didn't think he could be more shocked but he was. She looked terrible, her hair was matted with dirt and blood and she had cuts and bruises everywhere. He sat down next to her and lifted her up into his arms. Hermione grunted in obvious pain so Harry put her back down. He ran his wand over her and watched as each section turned to red, red was bad, it meant serious damage.

"Hermione I have to take you to the hospital, there's too many injuries I am not qualified to fix this. Just hold on tight to me, I will apparate us both straight to emergency." Hermione opened her eyes and grabbed his arm and grunted out a strangled no.

Harry reassured her it would be ok but she grabbed his face and made him look at her and she said no again a little more forcefully. Harry reached up and took her hand from his face and held it for a minute before he nodded.

"I'll try and fix the injuries Hermione but I'm not trained for this amount of damage," Harry looked at her and she smiled and then closed her eyes.

"Come on surely the great Harry Potter can do a little thing like fix me up," she laughed softly and even though Harry knew she was trying to lighten the mood, he wasn't in the mood to banter with her.

"Merlin help me," Harry mumbled and then got started on repairing the injuries. It took hours to heal her broken bones and internal bleeding. Once he had her vitals stable he took her for a shower. It was ridiculously awkward but he lifted off her outer shirt and then took off her pants and then in her underwear he slipped her into a hot bath. He washed her hair and continued to keep the bath at a constant temperature, the last thing he wanted was for her to get a cold. He cleaned the cuts and washed away a lot of the dirt which made the bruises look considerably worse. She looked half decent by the time he had finished and he took her out and used his wand to dry her off completely. He carried her back to bed and since he had no idea of where her pyjamas were or if she even wore any, he summoned one of his old Quidditch shirts and he slipped it on her. She was slipping in and out of sleep and when Harry put her back in bed he was sure he heard her mumble thank you but he wasn't completely sure. Harry watched her sleep and was surprised at how non-threatening she looked like this. Her hair was sprayed out on the pillow next to her head and besides the cuts on her face, she looked angelic. She was considerably shorter than Harry first thought but then he remembered that she always wore high heels. He stayed in her room all night so he could keep running diagnostics and could continue to give her the healing potion he had made up quite a while ago and stored for just these circumstances.

The sun was streaming in through the window and Harry stirred and instantly felt his back was sore. He realised he was still in her room and he quickly looked over to her bed to see she was still asleep so he ran another diagnostic. She had started to repair and everything looked fine even the cuts on her face were nearly healed. Harry was secretly pleased that she was fine, he was petrified that she would die on him because she refused to go to Emergency. Hermione started to stir and opened her eyes to see Harry's green anxious eyes looking at her.

"How do you feel?"

"Fucking brilliant Harry."

There was the charming Hermione back again Harry thought. Hermione moved her shoulders slowly and then started to move each part of her body until she could actually sit up. Harry put his hand out so she could sit up but she said no and it hit Harry more than it should have.

"OK Hermione I'm going to work, feel free to stay here for the day and recover." Harry started to walk out when she spoke to him.

"Nuh can't Harry have to go back, dad will be looking for me. I'll probably see you tonight." Hermione stood up and looked at the shirt she was wearing and then looked at Harry but whatever she was going to say was lost because of the look on his face.

"Are you out of your fucking mind Hermione, why go back to him? Look what he did to you? You're damn lucky to be alive." Hermione walked over to her wardrobe and took out a pair of black leather tights and a black fitted top.

"It wasn't dad this time, its cool Harry I'll be back tonight. Don't worry you won't lose your little informant." The sarcasm dripped off her tongue and of course Harry took the bait.

They argued again for a further half hour before Harry stormed out and Hermione dressed and apparated out. Harry was in a right foul mood all day and poor Penny copped it a couple of times. By the time it was early afternoon she crept in to bring him a cup of tea.

"Mr Potter, here is your tea, do you need anything else?" Harry felt terrible seeing how sheepish Penny was.

"Penny I'm sorry I had very little sleep last night, but that's no excuse to yell at you I am very sorry." Penny smiled and told him he should go home, it was very quiet today and he could do with the rest.

"You know what Penny I think I will, I'm supposed to go to Minister Arthur's home for dinner tonight so maybe an afternoon sleep might do the trick." Penny smiled and left Harry to fix up his papers and then leave.

Harry apparated back home and looked around secretly pleased he was alone. He went and had a hot shower and then wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of cold water. He looked outside to see that his garden seriously needed tending to. Harry finished his glass of water and turned around to see Hermione standing in the door way. The look of lust was clear on her face and she wasn't shy to show she was appreciating the view. She looked him up and down slowly mentally taking off that damn white towel.

His body was well built especially since he had to keep fit for his job. She watched one droplet of water make its way from his shoulder where it dripped off his hair, down his chest slowly and across the rippled abs of his stomach. The drip stopped at the top of the towel and disappeared under it and Hermione could feel the effects of his body on her own and wished she could just rip that towel off. Harry watched her stare at his body and was just a little pleased with himself. He knew she was getting to him but she seemed so stone faced and cold it was hard to tell whether he had any effect on her but this made it very clear.

Harry walked over and stood in front of her and then stepped in close to walk past her. She looked up his body until she made eye contact with him and then Harry leant in closer to her face and as much as she wanted to grab his head and pull him into her mouth so she could kiss the living daylights out of him, she restrained herself. Harry was getting closer to her mouth and just before he touched her lips he turned his head and whispered into her ear, "See something you want Granger?" Harry walked away not waiting for a response but he was sure he heard her grunt out a "Shit!"

Harry got dressed in some black pants and a black button up shirt. He left the top buttons open and then tried to tame his hair. It wasn't working. Harry felt a hand come up behind him and then she messed up his hair.

"Leave it messy, you know Harry you can't always tame the wild." The double meaning was not lost on Harry and he looked at her in the mirror.

"You think so Hermione, I don't know I like to think that I can tame wild things, wild things just need some structure and maybe some security." Hermione looked at him through the bathroom mirror and Harry thought she may have shown a brief second of vulnerability but it was gone as quick as it took her to cover up.

"Security, nah no such thing, no-one can promise you security Harry, its a false sense that stupid people believe in. Your hair is wild, leave it like that and learn to love it." Hermione stepped in closer to him and Harry turned and sat back on the bathroom vanity and folded his arms across his stomach.

"I tend to disagree Hermione, if I loved my hair enough and made it feel safe, wanted and loved, it wouldn't need to be wild because it would finally have somewhere to call home." Hermione again looked at him deep into his eyes and then shook her head and stepped back.

"I think we stopped talking about hair a while ago," and she changed the subject, "so where are you going tonight, got a hot date?" Hermione really didn't want to know but the words escaped her mouth before she could take it back.

Harry watched the inner turmoil on her face and wanted to laugh but he didn't, this was the first time since she moved in that they actually interacted in a non hostile way.

"I'm going to Minister Weasley's for dinner, you've been invited too actually?" Hermione's eyebrows went up and then she looked like she had an idea and that worried Harry.

"OK I'll come, let me have a shower and I'll be ready in about half an hour." Hermione decided that the little encounter in the kitchen gave Mr Potter a chance to get a taste of his own medicine.

Harry had a drink of whiskey while he waited for Hermione to finish getting ready. He hoped above all hope that Ginny wasn't going to be there tonight. She was seriously a thorn in Harry's side and with Mrs Weasley hell bent on marrying them off it made it even harder. Harry had a mouthful- left and took it as he heard her heels on his wooden floor. He turned around and then choked on the whiskey and spat it out all over the floor in front of him. He had a coughing fit and Hermione watched feeling just a little proud of herself.

"See something you like Potter?" Hermione smiled and raised her eyebrows in a seductive way and Harry looked away. She walked over to him and the red dress she was wearing was so tight he could practically count her ribs. The dress had sleeves but they were on the tip of her shoulders and Harry noticed that they carefully covered the bruising from the incident last night. The dress came above her knees and then she had very high heeled shoes on so it made her legs look like they went on forever. Her hair was down, sitting in curls all the way down her back to the top of her bottom and she was carrying a small black clutch bag.

Boy this was going to be a long night...

Harry put his hand out so they could apparate to the Weasley's home but as Arthur was now the Minister, Harry knew if she wasn't very close to him they would both be rejected because of the strong wards in place. He thought it might be safer apparating to the entrance area rather than inside the house. Hermione put her hand in his and then stepped into his body, very closely. He could see the golden glints in her eyes and then when his thoughts were threatening to run away with him, he concentrated and apparated them both to the Weasley's. Harry stepped away from her and straightened his clothes.

"Hermione please let me do the talking tonight ok, you can be a cousin of mine from abroad. It's easier than dealing with all the questions," Harry fixed his shirt and then tried again to tame his hair but no go. Before he knocked she reached up and grabbed his hand and Harry looked at her questioning her actions with a shake of his head. Then she did something he definitely did not expect, she kissed him hard straight on his lips. She ran her hands in his hair and pushed her body into his and he could feel every part of her supple body against his. Hermione tilted her head and demanded entrance into his mouth and Harry complied easily. It was forceful, hot and sexy and Harry was sure he would have a noticeable reaction to the kiss. She pulled back and then smiled.

"Right now the first kiss is out of the way so we won't look awkward when I am introduced as your girlfriend."

Harry shook his head and said a firm NO but it was too late she had already knocked.

"Well unless there are some other eligible men in there I can have then you're it Harry, so smile baby you're all mine," and at the same time the door opened before Harry had a chance to change her mind so he forced a smile on his face.

"Harry darling, oh you have brought company, who is this lovely lady?" Mrs Weasley was certainly trying her hardest to be polite.

"Hello Mrs Weasley I'm Harry's girlfriend Hermione, Minister Weasley said I could come I hope that's ok?" she sounded so sweet Harry was almost sick.

"Of course dear, please come in you have to meet the rest of my family, everyone is here."

Oh good God this was going to be a long night, Harry thought painfully.

Hope you enjoyed it, thanks again for your kind reviews.

Sirius xox