A/N This chapter starts out a bit PG-13 just to give readers a heads up. Nothing graphic but it does move the story along and will be necessary for the next chapters. Happy Halloween to everyone!

Harry woke up warm and comfortable, his nose buried in curls faintly scented with vanilla and cuddled down under several blankets since the bed at Grimmauld Place didn't have curtains around it and the high ceilings didn't help with holding in the heat. He shifted slightly, trying not to wake his bedmate when he realized something. It wasn't just that he was especially warm because he was cuddling, his one arm was actually under Hermione's flannel pajama top, his hand gently cupping her left breast.

'Shit.'

This wasn't the first time this happened. Right after the Yule Ball he found himself in a similar situation. He woke the morning after with his head fuzzy and his hand in a place it really shouldn't have been. It didn't help that they must have just stripped off their formal wear and tumbled into bed. His right hand had been gently holding one of Hermione's breasts. A breast which was only covered by a thin silk slip with an entirely too low cut neckline.

He'd gotten away with it then, rolled over and managed to get out of bed with a fuzzy head and his mouth tasting like the ashes of a thousand marshmallows. He hated marshmallows.

"Harry?"

'Fuck'

"Harry, I know you're awake, I can practically hear your brain buzzing."

Slowly removing his hand from under her top, Harry eased himself back to face what he was certain to be an angry Hermione. Instead, she was smiling softly and shaking her head. Her cheeks were flushed a lovely shade of pink though.

"Mi, I am so unbelievably sorry! I didn't mean it"

"Harry, stop." She put a finger to his lips to end the stream of apologies. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Didn't do anything wrong! Hermione, I groped you in my sleep, how is that not wrong?"

"Precisely, in your sleep. Harry, I'm not going to hold you accountable for putting your hand under my top in your sleep in a room that I swear Sirius has a cooling charm on. I'd be upset if you did it on purpose and then lied about it…"

"I wouldn't!" Her eyebrow raised. "I mean, not without asking you first. That is, if I or you wanted to ask. What I mean is…"

Hermione laughed.

"I know and that's why I'm not mad. Harry, you're a fourteen and a half year old boy and you spend your nights cuddling in bed with a girl. Trust me, this isn't the first time you grabbed my breast."

Harry shot up to a sitting position but Hermione grabbed him and tugged him back under the covers with her, throwing an arm over his waist and snuggling in close. That brought up a whole different problem and one that Harry was well aware of happening every morning (hell, and at noon and during the day).

"You…you knew? I mean the night of the ball?"

"Yes, I knew. We both were so exhausted we sort of stripped down where we stood and dropped into bed. I woke up needing the loo and noticed where your hands were. And Harry, I'm not about to blame you for something you knew nothing about." She stared at him. "So, what else is bothering you?"

Fidgeting, Harry looked everywhere but at Hermione. "Would you be mad at me if I said I kinda liked it? Waking up like that, I mean?"

Tilting her head in a way that reminded Harry of her grumpy Kneazle, she sighed. "Again, teenage boy, Harry, of course you liked it. Is this going to be weird between us?" She wasn't sure she should admit she liked it as well. Harry still looked like he was about to run off and jump out the window at any moment.

He thought about it. With any other girl, like Ginny or Cho, he would be on edge wondering if she was waiting for some other sign he fancied her or some public display of affection but with Hermione he felt…content, at peace. He wasn't exactly sure of his feelings towards Hermione yet, given that he didn't grow up with any examples of what positive feelings should be, but he was glad she was giving him the space to work those emotions out whether she knew it or not.

Which was a far cry from what Remus was worried about the entire time they were in Grimmauld Place for Christmas break. The werewolf was pushing his worries the entire two weeks they were visiting.

"No, not if you don't think it's weird."

"It concerns Harry James Potter. I left weird behind in a wrecked bathroom with a Troll first year."

Chuckling, the two got ready to meet the two Marauders for the day before Sirius decided the "lovebirds" needed a tactical wake up.

Sirius had been all atwitter when Harry and Hermione stumbled into the Vault common room after the ball, slightly tipsy and grinning like loons, still singing an oddly muggle Weird Sisters tune. The next morning, when they failed to wake by eleven, Padfoot snuck into the room and pounced on the two slumbering teens, causing a commotion and ending up with purple and pink fur.

The marauder still thought it was totally worth it.

They had one day left of break and weren't really ready to go back to Hogwarts. They'd been able to go out in Muggle London and see a play and even catch a movie over the break. Going out to tea shops and the mall like normal muggle teens and enjoying every minute of it. Harry even held Hermione's hand the whole time they were out, just because he could, with no reporters to snap pictures and spin tales of love triangles and cheating scandals. He'd even tried ice skating which proved to him that Hermione did have several athletic bones in her body, she just preferred sitting in front of a fire with a book far more than being out in the fresh air.

"I hope you aren't worrying about what Remus said. Because Harry, I'm not sold on the idea of us focusing our more negative emotions. If that were true, Malfoy would be a speck of dust inhaled by Parkinson and sneezed out on Snape."

"Really, Hermione?" He raised a brow. "That's disgusting. So you would normally clock Ron one?"

She huffed out a breath, ruffling her hair. "If given half a chance, I would love to. Harry, you have no idea how much I hold back, how much I have been holding back when it comes to one Ronald Weasley. He made me cry more out of frustration than anything else. Mum and Dad always stressed never to give in to bullies. To let grown ups handle things. It usually made the bullying worse with names like teacher's pet and brown nose but I kept my head down because it was what my parents wanted and I wanted their approval and affection. My parents don't have that sort of say at Hogwarts. I don't think Sirius minds getting reports that I lost my temper and clocked Ron Weasley."

"Maybe not, but not taking the time to think it through isn't really you."

"And taking the time to actually work on your essays and reading isn't really you. You're more a fly by the seat of your pants, dashing off an essay half an hour before class sort of guy. I'm not saying it to be mean but, Harry, we've both changed. Now that Remus knows what he's looking for, he can spot it a bit easier but even then he only knew us for a year. We'd have to let Neville, Ginny, or the Twins know what we did to really get an understanding of how much the spell changed us personality wise. I now know I have to hold my temper better. But I have a feeling all bets will be off if something happens to you. I don't think I could stand back and let someone else handle things if I'm there."

Harry trudged down the stairs to the kitchen. "I don't think I want anyone else to know about the specifics of the spell. I mean, what if it gets back to Dumbledore? Then Snape will know. If Snape knows, who knows how he would use it against us?"

"He'd most likely try and find a way to give you detention, declare you cheating, and try to have you beheaded."

"Beheaded? Violent are we this morning, Miss Granger?"

Hermione laughed as she pushed past him into the kitchen. Tea and toast appeared on the table courtesy of Dobby, but the teens ignored it in favor of poking at each other.

"You know, maybe it's only fair that I grab your bum since you grabbed my…hey!" Hermione squealed as Harry moved to swat at her instead.

"You know, it's only fair."

"Why you -"

The teens chased each other around the table, laughing like loons before the door opening distracted Hermione and allowed Harry to slide over the table to tackle her to the floor.

Remus poked his head in and sighed. "Are you two done in here?"

Hermione tried to push Harry off her but gave up and plopped her head back on the floor. "We're done. You both can come in now."

"Are you sure, Kitten? Most people sit at the table, not under my godson."

"Yeah, well, most people don't know how comfortable Hermione is," Harry gave a smirk and ran his fingers up her sides, making the witch laugh.

"I don't think I should be watching this," Remus shook his head.

"Nonsense. The boy's better behaved than I ever was!" Sirius gleefully crowed before plopping down to a muttered 'like that would be difficult to be'. "So, we want to give you a little gift, something more to keep you safe since you two figured out the mysterious golden egg."

The night before they left for Yule/Christmas break, Harry and Hermione took the golden egg into the swimming pool in the vault and dunked it underwater. Once they figured out the mermaid song, they began to brainstorm with Remus and Sirius about what object Harry would sorely miss. The Goblins were proud of them figuring out the clue and offered several books to help with Harry having to stay underwater for an hour in frigid February temperatures but highly doubted the judges would allow any of the participants to permanently lose their item if they didn't retrieve it in the time limit.

"Really? Can you do that?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't see why not. The Goblet's magic doesn't seem to think your protection spell is cheating, then again, that could be because the magic is tied to whoever entered you in the tournament and not with you. Anyways, with a little help from our favorite elf, we have these."

Sirius opened his palm and presented a pair of necklaces, one with a malachite bead and one with a tigers eye, on a simple silver chain.

"These are portkeys that will work even within Hogwarts wards. Mostly because we are portkeying you out and not into the will take you directly to the common room of the Vault. You need to set a code word for them, something you won't accidentally say in normal conversation, and once set, the necklace will activate with the code word," Remus continued.

"But I thought you couldn't apparate or portkey in and out of Hogwarts? At least without the Headmaster giving permission," Hermione asked.

"True," Remus replied, "Which is where our friend Dobby came in. Elves can move through wards with no trouble, so he added the magic necessary to the necklaces. I know you have armed escorts but that isn't perfect as we saw with Krum in the library and with the mail incident. Sirius and I wanted a way for you to be taken directly to safety. The other necklace will also heat up and glow softly letting the other person know the partner was activated."

Harry started to reach for the malachite necklace before changing his mind and grabbing the brown bead. Sirius grinned at the boy while he blushed, he thought his godson would go for the one that matched Hermione's eyes while Remus thought they would each take their own matching ones. He just earned ten galleons.

"So we just have to come up with an activation word?" Harry asked, examining the stone.

"Yep. Just tap your wand to the stone and say the word or phrase you want and it'll be ready. They both don't have to be the same but we'd like you to set them before you get on the train in the morning."

Both teens nodded and tucked their gifts under their shirts. The four started on breakfast once Dobby deemed it safe enough to serve and tried to enjoy their last day of relaxation before heading back to Hogwarts.

"So, Harry, any ideas on what the organizers might take from you for the task?" Remus asked while buttering some toast.

"Mmm, I've been thinking about it and three of us are seekers. Okay, two of us are just school seekers but still, our brooms are pretty important to us, Krum especially, so I was thinking maybe my broom. I doubt Dumbledore would want to reveal my dad's invisibility cloak to anyone, so I think that's pretty safe. I don't know about Fleur though."

"Fleur's not into Quidditch the way the boys are so a broom, even if she has one, it wouldn't be important to her," Hermione added. "I talked to her quite a bit at the Ball and I get the feeling she's lonelier than she seems, at least for girl friends and friendly gossip. But we may have come up with a way for Harry to stay underwater for an hour and to stay warm under the lake in February."

"Really? Do tell."

"Gillyweed. Neville found it in a book he had."

Remus nodded. "That should work nicely. And you'll have plenty of time to test out doses and practice swimming with it before the task. You'll still need to address how to reach the Mer-village and make the best use of your time though."

Swallowing a bite of sausage, Harry agreed. "Yeah, I'm thinking of talking to Hagrid about that. Just asking him about the lake in general and the Merpeople. He should just give things away then," Harry chuckled.

"That's rather Slytherin of you, pup."

He shrugged. "I just want to get through this thing in one piece. Whoever thought to make the second task in the lake in February must have been a few chips sort of a picnic because I don't know what everyone is going to be looking at. That and I've never really seen wizards swim all that much. When I stayed with the Weasleys we floated in their pond but not actually swimming."

Hermione smiled. "As if the organizers took any people into account when they planned this tournament. Honestly, dragons - which could break though wards simply enough if all four worked together, then the audience would have been toast. A task in the middle of winter, in the Scottish Highlands, in a lake of all things. They could have made it some sort of obstacle course, showcase skills such as duelling, shielding, and flying but no, they choose something that, magically, I can't think of a way for an audience to see."

"Oh, that would be wicked. TV cameras following the champions and broadcasting whatever they saw!"

"If only muggle electronics would work. I haven't really had time to research into creating a rune scheme to shield electronics from magic. I've started it, but between the tasks, researching the blo- I mean, the Goblet, which seems impossible at this point, and keeping up with classes, it sort of fell to the side. Maybe I should start again so you can have telly this summer?"

"Don't put yourself out, Mi. I've gone without watching telly for this long, I'm sure I can wait a bit longer."

Remus sighed. "All I need is Sirius to get hooked on afternoon serials. We can work on your rune scheme together, Hermione, that way I'll know how to fix it if something goes wrong. The house might not survive if Sirius is hooked on "Neighbors" and the tv goes out."

Harry and Hermione snickered while Sirius tried to find out what a 'soap opera' was and why they were so addictive to housewives (and husbands who hid their addiction from said wives).