I Could Get Used to Being Treated Like This
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Harry's Dreams
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"You're kidding me!" Ron said. "Bloody time travel?"
"Shhh," Hermione said, husting him. "Madame Pomfrey could come back at any moment!"
Thirteen year-old Harry Potter was curled up in the hospital bed on Ron's right side while Hermione was cuddling up to Ron from his left. Both took care with the position of their legs so as not to touch Ron's broken one. Harry and Hermione each had a hand on Ron's chest in a comforting manner.
Harry and Hermione took turns explaining to Ron in hushed whispers what they'd just finished doing and how they'd rescued not just Sirius but Buckbeak as well.
"Ah man, you guys, that's amazing," Ron said in a hushed tone. "You two are out there breaking the laws of magic and saving lives while I was stuck here in bed being useless."
"You got to go into the forest and down to The Chamber with Harry last year while I laid here uselessly in this very same bed," Hermione said. "So I think we're even."
"You figured out the monster was a basilisk, Hermione, I wouldn't call that useless," Ron interjected.
"And you stood on a broken leg between me and who we thought was a mass murderer," Harry supplied. "You're not useless, Ron. Oh, and Sirius told me to relay another apology about your leg. He's really sorry."
"it's fine. I took that nasty potion. I'll be okay by morning," Ron shrugged. "Hey, aren't you two exhausted?"
"Definitely," Harry replied.
"Absolutely," Hermione sighed.
"Well that's enough story time, go to sleep you two," Ron said. "Oi, and where do you think you're going?"
Harry had sat up and Hermione was already halfway to her bed. "You… said to go to bed," Hermione said.
"I don't think so, lay back down here, both of you," Ron said.
"But Madam Pomfrey-" Harry began.
"She won't care," Ron said. "And even if she did she wouldn't tell anyone. I'm in pain, guys. I… I need you right now. This is really hard."
Hermione returned to Ron's bed and Harry laid back down as well.
"Okay, Ron… we'll stay," she said, placing her hand back on his chest.
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The next morning
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"Knock knock, rise and shine!"
The door to Harry's room creaked open. Harry sat up in bed groggily.
"Sirius!" Harry said clambering out of bed and giving his godfather a hug. "What are you doing here?" Harry asked. "Molly said you wouldn't be here til dinner."
"Our portkey to the Falkland Islands got rescheduled and we have to leave after lunch. Remus and I decided to come early so we could spend a bit of time with you before we go."
"Oh, well excellent," Harry smiled. "Why are you guys going there anyway?
"Oh, I didn't tell you because I didn't want to put werewolf stuff in writing. There's a small island off the coast of the main island where you can't see the moon at all due to the moon's orbit and being close to the south pole or something like that. Anyway, Remus doesn't have to transform, we can just go there for a few days. It cost a bit of money to get a legal international portkey so he's never been before, but now I'm free I can buy it for him."
"That's wonderful!" Harry smiled.
"This is amazing by the way" he said, pointing at the dragon on Harry's bare chest.
"You like him?" Harry grinned. "Molly still doesn't know."
"That's good. She'd probably try to kill me if she knew I let you get it," Sirius barked with laughter. "Get dressed and come down for breakfast. Remus is waiting to see you downstairs."
Molly had a standing invitation to anyone from The Order to join The Weasleys for family lunch at the Burrow on Sundays at One O'clock. Lunch was usually in the garden when there were guests. Sirius and Remus hadn't made it to lunch on Sundays at all yet. This would be their first one.
Tonks was here to visit Bill again. Ginny thought Tonks probably fancies Bill. Harry figured she was probably right.
All the Weasley siblings came as well except for Charlie of course. He'd come home briefly after the downfall of Voldemort to celebrate but that had been nearly a month ago now, so he'd already gone back to Romania. Percy was mostly trying to talk with his parents and doing his very best to avoid Fred and George and their pranks.
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A passage of time
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It was nearly dinnertime. Molly was inside just finishing up the preparations. Percy had gone back to his flat and Tonks and Bill were off on a date apparently. Harry and the remaining Weasleys were out in the garden saying their goodbyes to Remus and Sirius, Molly having already done so. A car pulled into the dirt drive and parked in front of the garage.
"Is that…" Harry said.
"Hermione!" Ron finished, rushing past Harry and up the hill to where Hermione and her parents were getting out of the car. Harry quickly ran after Ron.
Once Hermione was out of the car and she'd spotted the boys she too broke into a run to greet them.
When she got to him Hermione jumped into Ron's arms and he spun her around. As they came to a stop, Hermione planted a kiss directly on Ron's mouth.
Harry, who had only arrived a few moments after Ron, felt like he'd been punched in the gut. So it was Ron… she wanted Ron. He thought.
Ron's eyes went wide and he stopped spinning. The kiss had lasted only a moment but he was already replaying it in his mind over and over as he put her down. He was so surprised he hadn't even kissed her back. As soon as she was free she lunged at Harry, wrapped him up in a hug, and kissed him on the mouth as well. Harry didn't have enough time to respond either before she'd already pulled away from him.
Oh, well maybe she hasn't picked Ron then, Harry thought. "You're early! We thought you wouldn't be here till this evening."
"I couldn't stay away. I missed you both so much!" Hermione smiled, still wrapped up in Harry's arms. "You simply must tell me everything you've been up to. You can't have put it all in your letters, I want to know everything."
Ron re-approached and wrapped his arms around the both of them and they shared a three person hug.
"We missed you too, 'ermione," Ron said, kissing her on the top of the head. Her hair muffled the first syllable of her name when he'd said it.
"Yeah, you've got to tell us everything about your trip, 'mione," Harry smiled, burying his nose into the crook of her neck. He, like Ron, lost a couple syllables as he mumbled into her neck.
The three stayed hugging like that for a couple of minutes before finally pulling apart. Once Harry finally looked up he realized that time hadn't frozen around him. Molly, Arthur, Sirius, and Remus had all gone to greet the Grangers. Fred and George were taking Hermione's things inside. From what Harry could tell, no one had noticed the kissing. Ginny was milling around waiting her turn to greet Hermione. She did exactly that once the boys let Hermione go. This hug was much more normal and included no kisses.
"Better check your trunk for pranks and traps," Ginny smiled. "I heard Fred and George talking about pranking a girl. It's either you or Tonks. You'll be staying in their old room by the way."
"Oh, did they finally move all their stuff out into their flat?" Hermione asked as they headed back into the garden."
"They just finished moving all their stuff out yesterday to make room for you," Ron said.
The Grangers stayed for dinner, said goodbye to Hermione, and left. Hermione and Ginny went up to Hermione's new room to check for traps and unpack.
Harry and Ron sat by the fireplace playing a game of chess.
"She kissed us both," Ron said suddenly in a hushed tone as he moved his bishop across the board.
"Yeah… she did," Harry said. "Wish I'd kissed her back."
"Me too," Ron said. "It happened so fast, I wasn't ready."
"Yeah, same… What… what does it mean, do you reckon?" Harry asked.
"It might just mean she sees us as family," Ron shrugged. "She kissed her parents goodbye… She kisses us goodbye for the summer every year too. Is this really that different?"
"Ron, she kissed us on the lips," Harry said, taking Ron's bishop with his knight. "She's never done that before."
"Should we ask her what that meant?" Ron said.
"Ask me what what meant?" came a voice from the stairway. Harry and Ron both jumped as Hermione slipped down the stairs and joined them. Ginny had apparently gone to her own room. Ron was in a chair and Harry was on the couch, so Hermione sat by Harry.
"No traps or pranks by the way," Hermione confirmed. "The twins must be pranking Tonks."
Harry and Ron shared nervous glances. After a moment, Harry finally spoke up. "We want to know what you meant by those kisses, Hermione."
"Oh, goodness, did you not like them?" Hermione gasped. She covered her face briefly in embarrassment before launching into an explanation.
"I'm so sorry, it's just I missed you both so much and we kiss goodbye sometimes I just thought, you know, why not a kiss hello?... and I was sort of thinking it would be nice if you kissed me hello back but instead of waiting to see if you would do it I sort of just aimed for your mouths to make sure your mouths touched me… I'm so sorry if I crossed a boundary, boys."
"What?" Ron said, his hand frozen over the board above his queen. "Hermione, no, the kiss was brilliant!"
"Yeah, Hermione, were both just saying how nice it was, weren't we, Ron?" Harry said.
"Y…yeah," Ron said, finally lowering his hand away from the board, the chess game forgotten for the moment. "We were actually just saying it had happened so fast that we…" Ron blushed and was not able to finish his sentence.
Harry swooped in to finish Ron's sentence. "It happened so fast we didn't get the chance to kiss you back properly," Harry blushed.
"Oh," Hermione said, visibly relaxing. "I… sorry I was so quick then. Did you, uh… did you still want to?"
"Kiss you back?" Ron asked, blushed even redder.
"Well… yes," Hermione said now, also blushing. "I won't be so fast this time… I'll go nice and slow…" She suddenly became very interested in looking at the chess board. She couldn't seem to look either of them in the eye.
"I'd like that," Harry said hesitantly.
"M…me too," Ron supplied.
Hermione looked up across the board at Ron before turning to her side to look at Harry. "Go on them," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and biting her lip.
Harry and Hermione locked eyes. Harry cautiously leaned in. Hermione grinned before leaning in too and meeting him halfway.
Harry felt Hermione's soft lips on his. She parted them slightly and took his upper lip in between her lips. Harry sucked her bottom lip briefly and she gave him just a hint of a nibble on his lip with her teeth but before he knew it, she had pulled back. The kiss has been longer than the one in the garden, though still short. It had been quite nice nevertheless.
Harry grinned wide. "That was bloody brilliant, Hermione," he said.
"You're not so bad yourself," Hermione giggled. She looked over at Ron who seemed frozen in place. "Come over here and give me a proper hello kiss, Ronald," Hermione ordered teasingly.
"...right…" Ron said, getting to his feet and then joining the other two on the couch.
Hermione leaned in and nibbled Ron's lips just at enthusiastically as she had Harry's. The kiss, like Harry's, lasted just a few seconds. When she pulled back she smiled at him and then giggled.
"What?" Ron asked, sounding self conscious. "Was I that bad?"
"No, Ron, you were both perfectly fine kissers," Hermione giggled again, sitting back against the couch. The boys could now see past her and look at each other if they liked since she was sitting further back in her seat than them.
"Then what's so funny?" Harry asked.
"You two are my first kiss," she said. "I always thought it would be one of you… but I never thought it would be both of you."
"What about Krum?" Harry asked.
"Oh we never kissed," Hermione said. "I never let him."
"You can't really say we're your first kiss though. Ron's your first kiss," Harry said. "He got to you first when you arrived.
"Well, true, but neither of you kissed me back in the garden. I kissed Ron first but Harry kissed me back first, just now," Hermione explained. "The ones in the garden only sort of count since the kiss was one-sided."
Ron laughed. "Yeah, sure, depending on how you look at it, either of us was your first kiss… so I guess you could say we're both your first kiss."
"Well was I your first kiss for the both of you then?" Hermione asked. "Or have either of you two been running around kissing people and not telling me?"
"Oliver kissed me three times, but I never kissed him back," Harry said sheepishly. "I'm not sure I count that."
"Oh, that's right, you meanted that. Don't count it if you don't want to, Harry," Hermione said.
"Okay, I won't…and if I'm not counting Oliver, then I suppose Ron was my first," Harry said jokingly.
Hermione's jaw dropped. She looked back and forth between the boys, looking for any sign of deception. "You're not kidding… I'm sorry, what the hell did I miss while I was in Greece?"
Ron was red as a tomato now and all frozen up, unable to speak.
"I'll… I'll explain," Harry laughed. "I usually sleep in a bit so Ron or Ginny usually come get me up."
"Wait, at school aren't you usually up before Ron though?" Hermione interrupted.
"I've been staying up late a lot," Harry shrugged. "Also, without classes and without the Dursleys barking at me to do chores, I usually sleep in until about ten. Molly doesn't care as long as I get my chores done."
"Oh, she makes you do chores?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, just a few," Harry shrugged. "It's not bad at all. Way better than the Dursleys. I did all the chores at the Dursleys… anyway, when your first letter arrived Ron came in to wake me up… and then I don't really know what happened. I was mostly asleep."
"I called Harry Sleeping Beauty as a joke," Ron supplied.
"Oh yeah, that's right," Harry laughed. "And I didn't want to get up so I told him he had to get Prince Charming to come and kiss me awake."
"Anyway, so I did," Ron finished. The boys eyes met and they laughed. Hermione's face still showed how shocked she felt.
"Wow. Okay, well you two are my first kiss but I supposed you're each other's first kiss then," Hermione sighed, sounding slightly disappointed.
"Well, not quite," Ron said. "We've got the same dilima we had a few minutes ago. Harry never kissed me back."
"Oh, did you want me to kiss you back?" Harry chuckled.
"Not particularly, it was only a joke," Ron shrugged.
"I dare you to do it," Hermione said suddenly.
Both boys looked stunned… Hermione was blushing. "Hermione, you hate dares," Harry said.
"You just want to see two boys kiss," Ron said. "I didn't know you were such a pervert."
"S…so what if I do?" she stuttered, blushing even deeper. "If you two kiss properly right now… then any of the three of us could honestly claim that both of the other two of us were our first kiss… you know, by the same logic we've been discussing. You half kissed each other before kissing me and you properly kissed each other afterwards. That just sounds, I don't know… nice. Three best friends… all sharing their first kiss…"
"Well I'm not about to back down from a dare," Harry said quickly, looking back at Ron once more.
"If I had to kiss any bloke I suppose I'd choose you, Harry," Ron said.
Tentatively, Harry leaned across Hermione's lap. Ron sighed, rolled his eyes and said, "Well I'm not backing down from a dare either," before also leaning in.
Hermione's jaw dropped and her whole both shivered as the boy's lips met just in front of her. Harry took the lead by opening his lips and taking one of Ron's lips between his own. Ron answered the challenge with a slight nibble. Harry went back in with a bit of tongue. The kiss lasted about five seconds, nearly twice as long as she had kissed them, before they pulled apart.
"Damn, Harry, you're as good a kisser as Hermione," Ron said. "I thought I'd hate that. I reckon I would have if it had been any other boy."
"Er, Hermione?" Harry said, waving his hand in front of her. She'd sort of frozen in place a bit.
"I think we broke her, Harry," Ron smirked.
"That was… er… okay, wow," Hermione stammered now using one hand to fan herself a bit. "Er, anyway, I'm exhausted from traveling and I really just came back down to say good night so, er… goodnight then."
"G'night, Hermione!" The boys both called out together.
Harry's Dreams
"How's your arm, Harry?" Hermione asked worriedly. Fourteen year-old Harry Potter was sitting up on his hospital bed the morning after the final task… the morning after Voldemort's return.
"It's healed technically but it's still really sore," Harry said, turning his arm over to show Hermione and Ron his red forearm. "Pomfrey says the dagger was cursed. It will leave a scar."
"Don't worry about that, mate, it's right on top of the scar you got from the basilisk," Ron said. "No one will know the difference."
"Gee, thanks Ron, that makes me feel loads better," Harry said, rolling his eyes.
"How tender is it?" Hermione said, placing her hand kindly over his forearm. "Does it hurt if I touch you?"
"It's really tender… but that feels really good. Your hands are so cold, Hermione. It's like an ice pack."
Hermione chuckled and sort of stared off into the middle distance. "Glad I could help…" she said distractedly.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Ron asked.
"We almost lost him, Ron," Hermione said, trying and failing to hold back tears. "I… I don't know what I'd do if I lost either of you."
"Come here, Hermione, I'm not going anywhere," Harry said, pulling her into a hug.
"He's… he's going to keep trying to kill you, Harry," Hermione said after the hug. Her tears continued, albeit slowly.
"Well then we'll just have to fight him off again when he does," Ron grinned.
Hermione looked between her boys and smiled softly at their determined looks. "You're both so brave," she sniffled. "Well… alright then… I'll just have to be brave t…too," she said, sitting up straighter. "We're going to beat him, Harry. You and Ron and me. We're gonna beat him."
"Damn right we will," Ron said.
"Thanks guys," Harry sighed. "We'll figure this out… together."
The next morning
"Rise and shine, Harry!" Hermione called as she slowly opened up his bedroom door.
Harry drowsily opened one eye. Without his glasses he could barely make out the outlines of both Hermione and Ron.
"Can't. Sleeping Beauty, remember?" Harry said, closing his eye once more.
"Go on then, Ron, kiss him awake," Hermione giggled. Harry had been hoping for her to kiss him, but it wasn't like he hated the idea of kissing Ron. Ron didn't like him that way… but Ron was handsome and kissing was still nice… if Ron fancied men Harry would probably allow himself to fancy Ron as much as he fancied Hermione. Harry stayed quiet and licked his lips in anticipation.
"I'm sure he meant you, Hermione," Ron laughed.
"Harry's bisexual, Ronald, he could easily have meant you," Hermione replied.
"Well sure, but I'm not bisexual, am I?" Ron said, rolling his eyes. "I mean… like I said before, if there was any bloke I wouldn't mind kissing it's Harry, but I'm not exactly crazy about the idea…"
"But you're Prince Charming, not me," Hermione teased.
"You just want to watch two boys kiss again, you randy little pervert," Ron teased.
"S…so what?" Hermione said shyly. "
"Surprise me," Harry said. "Then I'll guess who it was."
Hermione and Ron fell quiet. Harry then heard a few hushed whispers and some scuffling noises as one of them approached Harry's bedside. Harry held back a laugh. A moment later someone, he wasn't sure who yet, was leaning over him. A pair of lips were planted over his. Lips danced. The kiss was his longest kiss yet, lasting just over five seconds. Harry kept his eyes closed throughout. The person stepped back.
"That was Ron," Harry declared, opening his eyes finally and sitting up. The sheet fell away from his body to reveal his tattooed chest. Hermione shivered at the sight.
"How'd you know?" Ron asked sheepishly. "Do our lips feel differently?"
"No, you both have really soft lips, that's not it. Hermione pulls away after just a few seconds," Harry shrugged. "That kiss was longer."
"Oh I could kiss you for longer next time if you want," Hermione said. "It's just this is all so new, you know? I don't want you to feel like I'm throwing myself at you. Also, friends don't usually kiss. We're a bit abnormal though, aren't we. We're certainly closer than most friends, I feel."
"Well I don't know if it's normal for friends to kiss or not, but I really enjoy kissing you both," Harry grinned. "So… I guess what I'm saying is that either of you can kiss me as often as you like and for as long as you like."
Hermione's eyes went wide. "Really? Okay!"
"You know, Harry, I just might take you up on that from time to time," Ron said. And, er, same here, Hermione, obviously." Ron added sheepishly.
Hermione grinned. "In that case…" Hermione grabbed Ron, since he was closer, and pulled him into their first proper snog. The kiss lasted for nearly thirty seconds and included sucking, nibbling, and a fair bit of tongue.
Harry watched, getting more and more aroused as the kiss continued. He slowly got out of bed and leaned against his bedside table to watch them.
After half a minute, and with little warning, Hermione pulled away, stepped towards Harry, and kissed him too. Even having expected it, Harry was still surprised by her enthusiasm. A soft moan escaped his lips and she ran her tongue along his upper lip. They kissed sensually for about as long as Hermione had kissed Ron when Hermione finally pulled away.
"Harry… Hermione…" Ron said as they came apart. "What does this all mean? Friends don't usually kiss."
"Yeah, and friends don't usually send sexy photos to each other either," Harry added.
"I…" Hermione began. "I don't know," she said, biting her lip. "You know I love you both… right?"
"You've signed all your letters that way for years but that's the first time you've said it out loud," Harry replied.
"Well I mean it," Hermione said. "We did the impossible together. We fought the ministry's tyranny and won. And we fought Voldemort and won, just like we said we would. You're my best friends and I just want to show you how much I love you as often as possible… hence the kissing."
"If you love us both would you say you fancy us both then?" Ron asked.
"Ron and I talked, Hermione, and we both fancy you," Harry said.
"I… think I definitely fancy you both, yes," Hermione blushed. "I could never choose between you."
Harry scratched his head. "We agreed we both like the idea of dating you but that we wouldn't fight over you."
"We were actually hoping you would pick one of us to date," Ron said sheepishly.
"I don't know if I want things to change if I have to choose," Hermione said, her eyes suddenly tearing up. "I can't choose. Don't make me choose. Please don't make me choose."
Ron stepped forward and hugged her tightly, burying his face on her hair. "We'd never make you choose, 'Mione," he said.
Harry joined the hug a moment later. "Nothing has to change, 'Mione. We're just best friends and that is more than enough for me. So what if we kiss sometimes? Kissing can be something private we do as friends. No one else needs to know."
"Thank you. Both of you," Hermione smiled. "I just want to try to have some semblance of a normal life now that Voldemort is gone. Maybe we can talk about dating in a year or two? Maybe a bit of time will help us all sort out our feelings?"
"Sounds great," Ron replied. Harry nodded
"I'm really liking this new nickname, by the way" she sniffed, wiping away her tears and smiling.
Ron raised an eyebrow. "Nickname? What are you talking about?"
"You both keep calling Mione," she said. "It's cute. I like it. Did you come up with it together?"
"We've been calling you Mione?" Ron asked, clearly confused.
"When we put our faces in her hair the first few syllables of her name are muffled," Harry laughed. "I noticed but I didn't think of it as a nickname."
"What, like this?" Ron said, burying his face back into her curls. "'ermione!" He said, laughing.
"Yeah, like that, but say it a little more lazily to drop the 'er'," Harry said, pushing his face into her hair from the other side. "'mione!" He laughed too.
Hermione began to giggle again. "Okay, stop you two!" she laughed. "Accident or not, I like it."
"In that case, Mione, you said something nice a moment ago and I'd like to reciprocate. I love you as well," Harry said. "And I love you too, Ron. You're both the most important people in my life."
"I love you guys," Ron said. "Now who's ready for breakfast?"
"Can I… get a couple more kisses first?" Hermione asked innocently, her eyes darting back and forth between the boys.
Harry beat Ron to the punch by grabbing Hermione by the chin and planting a kiss on her lips. One of her hands found his chest and she began to pet his quidditch-toned muscles. Not to be out done, Ron leaned in and trailed soft kisses along her jawline waiting for his turn with her lips.
After a full minute of snogging Harry was actually the one to pull away. Ron quickly turned her head towards him and claimed her lips for himself while Harry trailed kisses along her neck.
The neck kisses seemed to be some sort of trigger for her in a way the jawline kissed had not been and she began moaning softly into Ron's mouth. Her other hand found its way up Ron's baggy sleep shirt and began to pet his chest. Ron then enthusiastically moved a hand to her arse and squeezed. Harry realized what Ron had done when Hermione squeaked. Seeing as she didn't pull away from the kiss or reprimand him, Harry decided to do the same, grabbing her other arse cheek as he continued to kiss her neck.
The kisses slowed and Ron finally released Hermine's lips. "I could get used to being treated like this," Hermione simpered.