Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. Everything belongs to JK Rowling, and I'm merely allowed to play around with them. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 16

-o-O-o-

Sirius stopped stalking her after the 'Room of Requirement incident', or so she liked to call it in her head. Things returned to normal.

No Sirius.

No Regulus.

Normal was rather boring, though.

Professor Dumbledore apparently thought the same thing as she did, because he ordered enchanted mistletoe to be put all around the castle. It was fun for most people, those who only stood watching, but for those to whom it happened, happiness was rather limited.

Especially when late to first period, Potions, because of a faulty alarm clock. Of course, if you tried to pass by little corridors and secret passage ways full of spiders, cockroaches and other little beasts, it was even worse.

When it happens with someone you haven't talked to in precisely three months, there's no word for it.

Yet it happened to Hermione.

She cursed her ill luck as she passed behind the tapestry representing six unicorns, desperately trying to make it to Potions in time. She had never been late for class, and it wasn't going to start now. She tripped over her bag as she came out on the other side, only a couple staircases away from the Potions' tower.

Unfortunately for her, Fate must have had some sort of grudge with her, because as she rounded the corner to the last flight of stairs, she hit some sort of invisible barrier and bounced off it, landing hard on… Her back?

She turned around and groaned internally. Just who she didn't want to see. He seemed to be in the same position as her, glaring at her through his light grey eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" Regulus Black hissed at her.

She looked up at him, shocked. The barrier pushed her towards him so that their chests were almost touching. Well, his chest touching her face. "Me?" she asked. "I should be the one to ask what you're doing."

He glared at her. Something moved in the corner of her eye and she looked up. She paled significantly. A single branch of mistletoe curled itself around a chandelier and imprisoned the two people underneath within its barrier.

"Shit." she mumbled.

Regulus snorted. "Yeah, I get what you mean. Now if you'd lift that enchantment so we can go to Potions' class-"

"It's not me!" she snapped at him, before pointing at the ceiling.

He paled too, and mumbled: "Shit."

"Took the word right out of my mouth!" she said sarcastically.

He looked at her and glared. "I'm not doing anything with you!" he hissed.

She scoffed. "Neither am I!" she claimed. "We'll just have to wait for a teacher to come and free us." They waited for over ten minutes, before Hermione felt something push against her back. She looked at Regulus and saw that he appeared to be pushed too. "What's happening?" she shrieked, panicking.

"It appears that the barriers are going to push us together until we do it." he said, forgetting to sneer as he felt himself being pushed against Hermione.

"Regulus," she gulped. "I'm afraid we're going to have to…"

"No!" he yelled, spreading his arms as if to make the barriers slow down, which they didn't, of course. "I am not touching something my brother's been thrusting his tongue down mere minutes ago!"

She tried to slap him, but her hand was stuck between his shirt and hers. Instead, she settled with shouting: "You idiot! Do you never listen to what anyone says?"

He found the strength to smirk as he answered: "I am completely immune to gossip."

"Sirius and I broke up!" she bellowed. He froze and something in his eyes changed. "We broke up months ago, but you were too stubborn and acting as if you had your wand stuck up your arse that-"

He kissed her.

One would say it was a nice way of ending an argument, and for a second, both did too. Her eyes fluttered shut as his lips moved against hers slowly, tantalisingly, until she started to respond. Neither noticed that the barrier was receding, too caught up in their action. When they were free of movement once more, Hermione's hands moved behind his neck of their own accord, twirling her fingers in his raven black locks.

His tongue brushed her lips slightly, and she parted them, allowing him access to her mouth. He probed around for a while, slipping his hands to the small of her back, until her shy tongue probed at him too. The two of them battled for a while, their breaths now coming in short pants and each pulling the other even closer.

It was no longer sparks she had in her lower belly, like she did while kissing Sirius, it was an actual bonfire. She was burning for more and it didn't even bother her. Her hands began massaging his scalp and he gave a long, loud moan into her mouth.

That was when she realised what she was doing.

Her eyes shot open and she pushed his away brutally. 'What do you think you're doing?!' a little voice in the back of her brain asked. 'You were enjoying this!' She shook her head, silently telling the little voice to shut up.

She looked up and saw Regulus, a confused look marring his face. She figured his probably reflected hers. His lips were slightly swollen, and his tongue kept darting out to wet them. Suddenly, she wanted to kiss the living daylights out of him again.

She was mentally screaming at her little voice as he cleared his throat. "So…" he started awkwardly. "Friends again… I guess?"

It didn't take a genius to figure out that his 'I guess.' actually meant 'I hope.' She waited a little, considering the offer, before nodding. "Friends again." she confirmed.

He nodded, his face going slightly pink. "So… Err… Hermione…" She realised she actually like the sound of her name rolling off his tongue. 'Will you shut the fuck up?!' she asked the little voice. He cleared his throat and she turned her attention back to him. "Should we go?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Lead the way." she told him softly. He turned around and headed for the corridor. "Erm… Regulus?" It felt slightly weird to call him by his first name once again. He turned around and looked at her questioningly. "The classroom is that way." she said, pointing to the mounting staircase.

He blushed bright again. "Yes… Erm… Of course, it's just that… We did take some time and…" She blushed too. "I bet class is going to be over soon… So we might as well go… I dunno…" He scratched the back of his head. "To the library?" he ended it as a question, sounding unsure of where to go.

Her eyes sparkled. "To the library, it is then." she declared, setting off down the corridor, Regulus at her tail.

-o-O-o-

She gave a slight whimper as their bodies moved together, slick with sweat and panting heavily. He had both of her hands pinned above her head and was now sucking at her special spot on her neck, all the while moving inside her. The bonfire at the pit of her belly was more like fireworks, now, shooting all around the place and making her produce noises she'd never known she could make.

His dark hair tickled her chin, but she hardly cared, his movement being more than enough of a distraction. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer, wanting more contact. She moaned loudly as he hit a spot inside her, sending pleasant shivers up and down her body.

He looked up from her neck and stared directly into her eyes. His light grey orbs showed so many emotions as he whispered her name:

"Hermione."

She shot up with a jolt, her pyjamas stuck to her body with sweat, her breath short and laboured.

She ran a hand through her hair as she realised that it had been a dream. She groaned slightly as she noticed the stickiness between her legs. She hadn't known dreams could elicit that sort of reaction from her.

She moved her legs so that they were outside her bed, placing her head in her hands as she tried to calm herself down. 'I just had a wet dream.' she told herself. 'A wet dream about Regulus, of all people.'

She inhaled slowly and exhaled, trying desperately to steady her heartbeat. Something shifted in front of her. She saw a figure move and ask: "Hermione? What's happening?"

She turned to look at the window and noticed how dark it was. It must have been in the early hours of the morning, not much later. The figure in front of her shifted and stood up, before sitting back down on Hermione's bed. It was Mary.

She started rubbing soothing circles in her back. "Are you alright?" she asked softly. "Was it a nightmare?" Hermione shook her head. Mary frowned. "You should probably take a shower." she said, picking one of Hermione's sweaty curls and examining it.

Hermione nodded, before standing up and moving to the next door bathroom. She stripped and stepped into the shower, turning the water to its coldest temperature.

The icy droplets cleared her mind, and she was once again able to think properly. She had had this dream because Regulus kissed her, and nothing more. She had been surprised at his intensity and had a dream about it. It did not mean, not in any way, that she harboured secret feeling for him or anything of the sort. She was just confused. Period.

Because of him.

She groaned and turned the shower off, wrapping herself in a fluffy towel and bushing her wet hair.

After they had gone to the library, both had headed to their respective classes and had not seen each other since. End of story. She had absolutely no reason to think about him. Okay, their time had been awkward, neither of them mentioning the kiss in their conversation, managing to avoid it altogether.

She yanked her hair brush through her curls in frustration, breaking a knot that had formed there. 'What about Sirius?' the little voice asked.

"What about him?" she said out loud, although she knew perfectly well the answer. Did she have a wet dream because she needed a rebound after Sirius? She shook her head; Sirius and she had broken up a long time ago, if she had needed a rebound, it would have been just after.

Sirius meant nothing to her anymore. He was just a friend. Nothing more, but nothing less.

She stepped out of the bathroom, noting that Mary was still sitting on her bed and waiting. When she saw Hermione, she looked at her and asked: "So?"

Hermione sat down next to her friend. "So what?" she asked.

A smile tugged at Mary's lips. "So, if it wasn't a nightmare, what was it? A bad dream?"

Hermione shifted her head from side to side. "You could say that." she answered vaguely.

Mary rolled her eyes. "Come on, Hermione, you know you can tell me." she coaxed, pushing her friend's shoulder to the side slightly.

Hermione sighed. "It was… A wet dream."

Mary froze. "You mean you dreamt of you… doing you-know-what?" she asked softly. Hermione simply nodded. Mary put her hands to her mouth and whispered: "Oh my God." she repeated that over and over for a few minutes before she asked, putting her hand back on Hermione's shoulder: "Starring who?"

"Well, obviously me," she said, to which Mary nodded. "And… Well… Regulus Black."

Mary shook her head. "Excuse me, I'm pretty sure I misheard." she said.

"I had a wet dream starring Regulus Black;" Hermione confirmed, turning her small frame towards her now praying again Gryffindor friend.

"Regulus?" she asked again. "But I thought you and him…"

"Weren't getting along." Hermione finished for her. "I know. But we were both late to Potions and we got stuck under the mistletoe and… Things happened." she explained.

Mary stared at her like if she was sporting a second nose. "You snogged Regulus Black?" she asked, rather loudly.

"Shhhh!" Hermione said, looking around to see any changes. She noted none and therefore continued. "If you want me to be honest," she started. "He snogged me." she admitted.

After another little prayer, Mary asked: "And how do you feel about this?"

Hermione closed her eyes. "I don't know." she said truthfully. "I honestly don't know. I mean I'm pretty sure I don't have feelings for him, yet when we kissed, it was like…"

"Ka-Boom." Mary finished for her. "Remus and I are the same." she admitted when Hermione looked at her strangely.

Hermione shook her head. "Regulus and I… Hell, there isn't even a Regulus and I, but what I can tell you is that we're not the same. There's no love between us like there is between you." she tried to explain.

"But there is mutual attraction." Mary reflected.

Hermione laughed. "Mutual?" she asked, snorting slightly. "I'm the ugliest girl on Earth!" she said, to which Mary shook her head.

"Remus admitted to me that he and Sirius had a fight over you, James was attracted to you when you first moved here… Hell, I bet even Snape liked you at one point, as he saved you from the lightening curse!" Hermione tried to rebuke her, but she cut her. "It's not because you don't see your own beauty that no one does either. You're beautiful, Hermione, never forget that."

And Mary left it to that. Both girls slipped inside their beds after that, none of them slipping in inappropriate dreams. Neither knew that someone else was having a difficult night at that time.

-o-O-o-

Yay! I updated! :) I managed to, despite that urge to puke every half hour or so!

Please review, I love those! Like I love you guys! Go Team Regulus! Make yourself known! *Waves a flag in the air with 'GO REGULUS!' written on it*

Next chapter: What else happens during that night, and who has trouble sleeping.