A/N: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling and her associates. Please support the official release.

Room of Requirement

It was the sound of birds chirping that finally pulled Harry from his sleep, his mind jostled awake by the never-ending melody of birdsong that refused to die down. Opening his eyelids, he took a moment to allow his brain to finish its boot-up sequence before he turned his head, taking in his new surroundings. Sunlight streamed in through a window on the wall, showering the room he was in with golden light that burned against his sensitive eyes.

For a moment, he was confused. This certainly didn't look like the Ravenclaw dormitories? But then, the events of last night came rushing back to him, and he felt his face flush a violent shade of crimson. This didn't look like Ravenclaw Tower because it wasn't Ravenclaw Tower. It was the Room of Requirement, where he and Hermione had fallen asleep together after their little conversation some hours prior.

He couldn't quite stop the smile from spreading on his face as he thought about the events of the previous night. He had known Hermione for over 3 years now, and in all that time, he had never seen her quite as vulnerable as she had been yesterday. Her usual, teacher-esque demeanor had been all but gone, replaced by teenage anxiety and uncertainty over the strange emotions she had been experiencing.

Shaking his head in amusement, he made to get up from the bed, before realizing that there was an unfamiliar weight resting on his chest, preventing him from moving. Shifting around to see what this weight could be, his eyes were momentarily filled with the color brown, and it took him a second to process what was happening before his brain finally caught up with the implications.

What he was seeing was Hermione's hair. What he was feeling was the weight of her head. She was using his chest as a makeshift pillow.

For a moment, Harry struggled with this newfound discovery. This type of situation was so new, so foreign to him that he didn't really know how he was supposed to react. Was he supposed to push her away? Wake her up? Go back to sleep? Apparate out?

Ultimately though, the best course of action seemed to be… well, to do absolutely nothing. It had been made very clear to him last night that he and Hermione were in a proper relationship now, and as far as he knew, sleeping together in the same bed like this was a normal thing for couples to do. It was, in other words, something he figured he would have to get used to, and not something he should be attempting to avoid or distance himself from.

In truth though, it also felt strangely… pleasant… to be with her like this. The feeling of her slender body so close to his was surprisingly nice, and so was the way her breath would tickle his skin every time her chest rose and fell.

In addition, he could also feel her breasts push up against his side, which he had to admit was rather arousing.

Well, if nothing else… it definitely beats waking up alone, he thought to himself as he noticed that his right arm had been trapped behind her neck, and was currently resting against her backside. Deciding to take advantage of this, he started running loving strokes up and down her back, eliciting light shivers from Hermione.

"Mmmm…" she hummed softly in response, a cute smile forming on her face as her body reacted to his touch.

Okay, now that…is ridiculously adorable.

Determined to enjoy the moment for as long as possible, Harry continued his loving caress, reveling in the feeling of a morning like this with Hermione. It would be hard to go back to sleeping on his own in the Ravenclaw dormitories now that he knew how bewitching it was to wake up with her like this.

The only problem here, of course, was that she was wearing nothing but a nightgown, which was mildly provoking in more ways than one. But Harry wasn't overly concerned about that. He was fairly certain he could brush off the conspicuous erection it had caused as nothing more than regular morning wood, should Hermione be unfortunate enough to notice it.

A couple of minutes later, she finally woke from her slumber, and Harry had the distinct pleasure of watching her go through the exact same motions as he had. Confusion at waking up in the Room of Requirement, enlightenment as she remembered the events of last night, and then finally embarrassment at the realization of her current situation.

"Good morning," Harry chuckled, finding her bashfulness more than a little amusing. Being like this was unusual for both of them, but Harry found that he was quickly growing to like it.

"G-Good morning," she replied, tilting her head upwards so she could look at him.

Godric, she's so cute…

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah… Really well, actually."

The embarrassment from earlier was starting to disappear now, as the expression on her face turned surprisingly soft. "You're a great substitute for my pillow."

"Aww, thanks," Harry smiled back, wrapping his right arm tighter around her and pulling her even closer to him. Judging by the way a shy smile formed on her face, it was clear that she approved. "I quite enjoy being your pillow."

"Good, because I wasn't planning on stopping," she smirked, shifting around to get into a more comfortable position with her head still on his chest.

"You know… I don't think I'm going to be able to go back to sleeping in the Ravenclaw dormitories now that I know how nice it is to wake up with you."

A small blush erupted across her cheeks at his words, but she nodded in agreement all the same.

"Yeah, I haven't slept so well in weeks. It certainly beats being woken up by Luna and her incessant rambling about Nargles."

"She talks about Nargles first thing in the morning?" Harry laughed, somehow not finding that particularly hard to believe.

"Oh yes, all the time. I've tried telling her time and time again that the existence of Nargles has never actually been documented or confirmed by anyone other than her father, but I don't think she believes me."

"That's not very surprising. To Luna, her father is probably a more reliable source of information than any textbook could ever be."

They shared a smile at that, before a moment of silence passed between them. Suddenly, Harry was assaulted by an incredibly strong urge to kiss Hermione. The way her messy, brown hair fell in her face and her chocolate-colored eyes stared into his own caused waves of longing to rush through his body, making it difficult to concentrate on anything but her.

She must've noticed his sudden desire, as she carefully bit down on her lower lip in a maddeningly arousing way that completely shattered every bit of self-control he had left.

Bending forwards, he captured her lips with his own, stifling a groan as her tongue suddenly came forwards to meet his. It would appear Hermione was also feeling rather frisky this morning, as her arms came to wrap themselves around his neck as their kissing intensified.

Time became a concept of little importance as the two indulged in one another for what felt like a short eternity.

That was, until there came a knock on the great iron doors leading in to the Room of Requirement.

Shooting a frenzied look towards the entrance, Harry felt his blood freeze to ice in his veins as he saw the door handle on one of the doors being pushed downwards, signalling that someone was about to enter.

In their lust-induced frenzy, they had completely forgotten one simple fact: that the Room of Requirement was accessible to anyone who knew its secret. Meaning that, in theory, they could be interrupted at any given moment.

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME.

Grabbing ahold of Hermione's shoulders, he pushed her down into the bed next to him, her hand moving away from his nether regions as he pulled the duvet over them so that only their upper bodies were visible.

A couple of seconds later, Luna Lovegood came strolling into the room, looking distinctly pleased with herself.

"Uhh… Good morning, Luna," Harry started, trying his best to prevent the irritation he felt at being interrupted from entering his voice.

"Good morning, Harry. Sleep well?" the blonde girl asked, a dreamy smile plastered on her face as her silver eyes met his.

"Y-Yes, surprisingly so, actually."

"That's good to hear. Oh, and morning to you as well, Hermione."

"G-Good morning," the now thoroughly embarrassed witch responded, a fierce blush coloring her cheeks a deep crimson as she shifted in the bed to meet the eyes of her Housemate.

"I see the two of you are back to being friends again," Luna continued, nodding to herself as she spoke. "Or more than friends, actually. That's nice. It was about time you made it official."

Harry had to mentally restrain himself from facepalming. This was not a conversation he wanted to have right now, especially not when he was in such an embarrassing position and sporting the boner from hell.

"Now, I know it must be nice to sleep in together, but I would recommend getting up soon. It's almost lunchtime, after all," she stated, drawing a sharp gasp from Hermione.

"Lunch?! Does that mean… we missed some of our classes?!"

"Yes, you did. You missed History of Magic with Binns and Charms with Professor Flitwick."

"HARRY, WE NEED TO GET UP RIGHT NOW!" Hermione damn near shouted, flying to her feet in seconds, completely forgetting about what they had been doing just moments earlier.

"Oh dear Godric, have mercy," Harry cried silently to himself, mourning the loss of his own release. Hermione must've noticed the despondent look on his face, as she walked over to his side of the bed and leaned close, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.

"I'm sorry… It's unfair that I was the only one who got to feel good, so I promise I'll make it up to you later," she whispered in his ear, before planting a quick kiss on his cheek, seemingly not caring about the fact that Luna was standing just a couple of meters away from them.

Hermione's proposal wouldn't help him alleviate the pressure he was currently suffering from, but it was nice to know she felt guilty enough about it to at least offer him some kind of consolation prize. Needless to say, Harry would be looking forward to this hypothetical "later".

"Alright, let's head to the Great Hall then," he sighed, pushing away the duvet once his erection finally died down. Missing a couple of classes, despite Hermione's exaggerated reaction, wasn't too big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. The only punishment was likely to be a subtraction of House Points, which Harry couldn't have given less of a shit about. The Hogwarts House Cup genuinely didn't matter what so ever, after all. Only First and Second Years really cared about it.

"You should probably head there on your own before us, Luna," Hermione added with a sad smile. "Unless you want to be seen hanging around Hogwarts Most Hated."

"Is that... actually what people are calling me now?" Harry asked with a hint of amusement. "Hogwarts Most Hated?"

"Well, it's a work-in-progress title, but last I checked, yes," Hermione nodded.

"… Damn. This thing with Malfoy has really ruined my reputation, huh."

"You say that like there was anything left to ruin in the first place."

"Touché."

"Okay, I'll be going then," Luna interjected, the dreamy expression on her face turning sad for just a moment. "We can still meet up here in the Room of Requirement later tonight, if you want to."

"Sounds good to me," Harry shrugged, shifting to look at Hermione after Luna had walked out of the door. "Shall we head out as well, then?"

"Yes," she responded, but not before transfiguring her nightgown into normal school robes and smoothing out her hair. "You should probably put on some clothes as well, Harry. I don't think showing up in the Great Hall in your underwear would do much to help with your reputation."

He had to admit she had a point there.

Beauxbatons Academy of Magic

Fleur Delacour let out a long sigh of exhaustion as she closed the book in front of her, her tired eyes shifting to stare at the large pile on her right which she had yet to even start on. Preparing for the Triwizard Tournament was a taxing affair, especially when done in combination with her usual schoolwork. The chosen Triwizard Champion from Beauxbatons would be excused from all classes once the tournament actually started, but for now, that position stood vacant.

If everything goes according to plan, however, I won't have to think about classes at all come late October, as long as I make sure that I'm chosen as the Champion.

The version of herself she showed to the world, the one who was going to be entering her name into the Goblet of Fire, was one that was not afraid to acknowledge her own abilities and magical prowess. That version knew she had a real chance at becoming the Champion, and took pride in that superiority and ignored the jealous whisperings of those she considered beneath her.

When Fleur had been branded an outsider by the others at school, that ice-cold persona had been the only way to deal with their mocking stares and remarks. She had been forced to pretend to be above it all, pretend that their words could not hurt her, and as a direct result of this, the "Ice Queen" had been born.

The real version of Fleur, however, the one she reserved for her family members, was not nearly as perfect or invulnerable. That version cared about every jealous whisper, every false rumor and every snide remark that was thrown her way. It annoyed her that she could be so weak as to care about what others thought of her, but there was nothing she could do about it. Her mind craved affection and friendship, and no matter what she did to distract herself from this, those desires always came back to haunt her.

Perhaps, in another universe, there existed a version of her that had both of those things. A version that wasn't shunned by the other girls, a version that didn't have to pretend to be something she wasn't. But if it did, that was not her current reality.

Well, no point in dwelling on such far-fetched dreams, she thought to herself as she grabbed the next book from her stack, flipping it open to look at the table of contents. I can't change the world I was born into, so I'll just have to make the best of my situation.

A small part of her absentmindedly wondered if the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, had to deal with similar issues. If he secretly hated the fame and recognition, and only wanted to be acknowledged as the person he was and not as the savior of the Wizarding World.

How ironic that would've been...

Despite what she had told Gabrielle in the Dining Chamber just a couple of days prior, she was secretly looking forward to meeting him. As much as she hated to admit it, she wanted to see how he had turned out, growing up with such a huge achievement tied to his name.

Who knows... maybe... just maybe... he'll be like me.

The thought of it brought a smile to her face.

A/N: I apologize if this chapter came off as slightly more filler-y than normal, it just turned out that way after I wrote that morning scene with Harry and Hermione in the Room of Requirement. I hope you enjoyed it regardless, even if nothing substantial really happened.

No long A/N this time I'm afraid, it's late and I would very much like to head to bed.

If you enjoyed the read, feel free to drop a review with your thoughts, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.

-Twisted