Hey guys, I'm sorry I took kind of long. I've been busy and had a lot going on. I've been writing this update off and on for like a week. This leads up to a great scene. Just wait until the next post!
Chapter 19
That evening, Harry leaned back against the plush leather couch as he swirled his glass of firewhiskey he made from the mini-bar. He was dressed in his only nice pair of robes he packed for the trip, in honor of the festivities at the Main House. Every Friday night they had a formal party in the ballroom and even though it wasn't mandatory, everyone went.
Harry took a sip of his drink and sighed as he collapsed his head against the couch. He hadn't spoken much to Hermione since their little incident in the cave. He had went straight back to their chairs and immediately gathered his things, mumbling something about wanting to take a walk on the beach, before sauntering off without a backward glance. When he finally returned to their room, he found her in the kitchen making lunch.
"I made you a sandwich," she had said as she mindlessly started to clean up the kitchen. "It's in the refrigerator. I'm going to take a nap before the party."
And without waiting for a 'thanks', or any kind of response from him, she made her way to the bedroom. He hadn't seen or spoken to her since. He closed his eyes as he tried not to remember what happened between them in the cave. He couldn't believe he almost kissed her. How could he be that careless? Now, they could barely speak three words to each other and he didn't like it one bit. It was one thing to tease and playfully flirt like he did to her this morning, but this…this was much different.
He looked at the clock to see that they were already twenty minutes late for the party, so he got up and walked to the double doors leading to their bedroom. "Hermione?" he called out. "You almost ready?"
"Um…almost, not quite. Why don't you go ahead down, I'll meet you there."
Harry pondered this and looked at the clock, then back at the door. "You sure? I guess I could get us a table."
"Yeah, I'm sure." Her voice sounded way too…nice. "Go get us a table."
"All right. I'll see you down there." Without waiting for a response, he walked away from the doors and headed out of the room. He took his time walking to the Main House, enjoying the evening air as he walked along the pool grounds. He could hear the music coming from the ballroom and when he finally opened the main doors, his brows lifted in amazement. The room was packed with snazzy wizards and witches, dressed up in glittery and silk robes. Some were dancing on the dance floor; others lingered around the buffet line, nibbling on the foods, or mingling by the bar. The tables were all full, so he decided to head to the bar as well.
He plopped himself down on an empty stool at the corner of the bar and ordered another firewhiskey. Once he got the drink in his hand, he swirled around to look at the crowd some more. Couples. That's what he saw more than anything, a few families and maybe a few girl groups that celebrated single life, but mostly couples. It almost made him feel sad in away. Maybe he was lonely or…well, maybe he was just plain horny, he didn't know. But either way the feeling didn't go away.
"Hi there."
Harry turned suddenly to the soft female voice and his brows lifted when he saw a beautiful blonde standing next to him. "Hey."
She leaned against the bar and gave him a smile. "You looked a little lonely, thought I might come and keep you company."
"Is that so?"
"Uh huh." She sipped her wine. "So, where's your friend?"
His brows creased. "Friend?"
"The girl you're with." She flipped her long hair over her shoulder. "I saw you at the pool today."
"Oh. Um, I'm waiting on her actually," he said as he turned towards the entrance. "She should be here any minute."
"Girlfriend?" she asked as she lifted her glass again to her lips.
He laughed softly. "Hermione? No, we've been friends since we were eleven."
"How nice."
XXX
Hermione lingered at the entrance, then floated into the sea of wizards and witches as her eyes shifted for Harry. When she spotted him, she stood frigid and all her muscles tensed. He was at the bar with another girl. A blonde, tall and silk, and totally out of her league. How could she have been so stupid? Just because of their little encounter in the cave, didn't mean anything was going to happen. It was a mistake. Harry obviously thought so, she added to herself when he saw Harry laugh with the blonde. So will I.
"Excuse me?"
Hermione tore her attention away from Harry and the beautiful witch, and turned towards the owner of the voice. He was tall and had a dashing smile with eyes the color of the sky. Wow. "Yes?"
"Sorry. I couldn't help but notice you standing here. Are you by yourself?"
"Um." Her eyes lingered towards Harry, not knowing what to say. "For the moment."
"Wow, is that Harry Potter?" he asked as he followed her gaze.
"Huh?" she asked looking at him stunned.
"That guy, over at the bar. It looks like him a lot."
"Oh." Bemused, she looked over at Harry who seemed to be drinking while the blonde did most of the talking. "Yes, I believe it is."
The man shook his head. "That guy probably has witches of all ages pawning after him."
Hermione started to scowl, then thought of the little girl at the pool named Lily. Of all ages. "Yeah, I suppose so."
"Hmmm. Well, listen. I know I'm no Harry Potter, um…I'm actually Greg Deter, but…would you mind a dance? With simple ole Greg?"
She looked up and couldn't help but smile. "Greg, I would be honored to dance with you."
While Hermione was being led to the dance floor, Harry was having his ear jabbered off by the pretty blonde. She was hot…until she opened her damn mouth. The only time she stopped talking was when she was taking a sip of her wine. Zoning her out, he searched for Hermione again and started to get worried. What could be keeping her? She shouldn't have been this late.
"Harry…Harry, did you hear me?"
He then realized that the blonde was saying his name, so he quickly turned to her. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Are you even listening to me?"
"What? Oh, of course." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Janet. I'm just kind of out of it and…" He trailed off and narrowed his eyes when he finally found Hermione. She was on the dance floor, in the arms of another man. What in gods name was this? How could she just go off like that with another guy…someone she didn't even know!
"Looks like you found her."
"Huh?" he asked Janet, blinking at her.
"Your friend?" she said nodding to Hermione. "Looks like she's taken care of."
"Yeah," he grumbled into his drink. "Looks like it."
"Something wrong?" she asked with a knowing smile.
"No." He set his drink down and sighed. "It's just…we were suppose to meet here and she's off with another guy, you know?"
She laughed. No, scratch that. She giggled. Harry blinked and then scowled at the amused expression on her face. "What?"
"Harry…did it ever occur to you, that maybe she walked in, saw you talking to me and thought, 'Hey, if he's off talking with someone else, I certainly can.' I'm sure she was a little pissed."
Harry's brows lifted and then he turned to see Hermione looking over at them. When she realized they made eye contact, she quickly looked away. "You think so?" he asked Janet bringing his attention back to her.
"Pretty sure," she laughed. "I'm a woman, I know what we think." She cocked her head and studied him while he was looking at his female friend. Yeah, he was definitely hooked. "So, would you like to dance?"
"Huh?" he asked blinking at her. "Dance?"
"Uh-huh," she said with a grin.
"Um. Well, I don't think Hermione would like that, do you? She might get angry and…."
She grinned. "Jealous?" she finished for him when she noticed he was figuring it out.
"Wow," he said with a little smile. "You're good."
She shrugged. "I try." She then plopped down on her stool and tugged his arm. "Let's go."
"Wait," he said as he slid off his stool. "This doesn't bug you at all? Me, using you to make Hermione jealous?"
"Are you kidding? Not at all. Besides, my friends are crazy jealous right now."
Harry looked over to where she was gesturing her head to see a table full of girls who were watching their every move. "Girls trip?"
"You bet, and if it makes you feel better, just think I'm using you to make my friends jealous."
He let out a laugh. "I think I can do that. Let's dance."
XXXX
"Want to get out of here?"
Hermione tore her attention away from Harry and his dancing partner and looked at her own. "I'm sorry?"
He gave her a dashing smile. "Well, I was thinking. We've been dancing for a while now and I'd really like it if we could go somewhere private. Were we could…get to know each other a little better?"
By the tone in his voice, she could tell what he wanted to do to get to know each other and it wasn't a romantic walk on the beach and light conversation. She started to protest, but then a familiar laughter rang out and she looked over Greg's shoulder to see Harry laughing with the blonde. She then recalled Harry saying something about indulging yourself during the trip. We're on vacation, we are allowed do indulge ourselves…on more ways than one.
All right, Potter. You indulge yourself with your blonde little floozy and I'll indulge myself with this handsome and charming wizard. With that said, she looked up at Greg and gave him a smile. "Okay. Let's go."
XXXX
"Uh oh, we've got trouble," Janet said.
"What?" Harry asked turning around.
"Looks like Hermione and her little friend are flying the coop. Our plan backfired."
Harry watched Hermione being led through the crowd, while holding hands with the tall and annoyingly handsome wizard. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Janet asked as she gave him a nudge. "Go after her."
He sighed. "And do what?"
"Um, I don't know…maybe stop her from having sex with that guy!" she exclaimed.
He shook his head. "Hermione's not like that, Janet, she would never have a one night stand."
She gave him a bored look. "Didn't you say she just broke up with her boyfriend?"
"Yeah."
She rolled her eyes. "That's a good enough reason, Harry. She's alone and feeling vulnerable, of course she's thinking about fooling around with him. And watching you dance with me all night, probably persuaded her decision as well."
Harry's heart dropped. "Shit. Oh, shit I really messed things up, haven't I?" he asked her frantically.
"Not yet you haven't, stop talking to me and go after her!"
"Right…you're, right. Okay, thanks, Janet."
"Go get her, tiger!" she laughed as she watched him race off.
XXXX
"Are you sure it's okay to use your room?" Greg asked as they walked down towards the hall.
She shrugged. "Sure, Har…um, my roommate won't be by anytime soon." She scowled at the thought of Harry spending the night with the blonde witch and her blood boiled. "Probably won't be back till morning."
He nodded. "Good, that way we can be alone." He ran his fingers down her hair as she unlocked the door. "You have such beautiful…."
Hermione yelped when someone grabbed her arm and yanked her inside. Harry's face appeared through the crack and stared at the man with disgust. "Excuse us a moment," he said and had the satisfactory of slamming the door in his face.
"Harry!" she exclaimed once he turned to face her. "What are you doing?!"
"What do you think I'm doing?" he yelled in frustration. "I'm preventing you from making a mistake. I BIG mistake."
"I can't believe you!" She huffed out an impatient breath. "You have no right!"
He took a step towards her. "I have every right," he breathed.
"Why do you even care?" she asked in almost a whisper. "You were off with that blonde all night and…."
"She means nothing to me, Hermione and I only danced with her, because you were off dancing with that stupid prat!"
"He's not a stupid prat! And if you excuse me, I must get back to him. What you did was rude and…"
Harry grabbed her again before she could walk past him and then backed her up until her back slammed against the door. "I'm not going to stand her and watch you walk away from me." He was hovering over her now and his voice was quiet, but just as forceful, almost like a growl.
"Why do you care?" she asked desperately. "You're the one that was telling me to indulge myself while I'm on vacation." She tilted her chin up and looked him square in the eye. "I'm just taking your advice."
"And I hope you follow through with it," he said a little louder and then suddenly pressed his body up against hers, enjoying the way her eyes widened in both confusion and excitement.
She let out a gasp when his hips rubbed against hers. "Harry…"
"The only wizard you're going to have sex with tonight is me," he stated firmly and before she could even think of what to say to that, Harry's lips crashed against hers…just to prove his point.