Cluelessness

Bloody Sakura

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 4
Published: 16/05/2004
Last Updated: 16/05/2004
Status: completed

Sometimes it takes you so long to see the obvious. One-shot.

Chapters

1. Cluelessness

1. Cluelessness

Cluelessness

Rating: PG.

Genre: Romance/None.

Summary: Sometimes it takes you so long to see the obvious. One-shot.

17-year old Harry Potter woke up on a Sunday morning, feeling an unusual weight over his chest. He looked down to see one of his best friends, Hermione Granger, laying there by his side, her head over his chest and her arm around his waist. He blushed at the realization that both of them had nothing except a red and gold blanket covering their bodies.

Harry reminded himself of last night's events. He had finally left the Hospital Wing, where he had been for three days, after defeating Lord Voldemort. His fellow housemates had made him a welcoming party, and it lasted until four in the morning, when almost everyone was too high to stay awake (Ron had gone with Seamus and Dean to Hogsmeade, and they came back with lots of ale). Only Harry and Hermione weren't (completely) drunk, and they made sure their housemates were on their beds before they called it a night.

Before Harry could go to his dormitory, thought, Hermione said she had something to talk to him. Then... everything was a blur, and Harry just knew they had their ways with one another.

Now, Harry was there, looking at the sleeping form of his best friend, and trying to remember why they jumped on the sack. If there was any reason besides the alcohol, of course.

It's not like Harry didn't want it, though. He started to feel "differently" about Hermione somewhere around their fifth year. But she was with Ron then, and he unconsciously started a denial process. Even when Ron and Hermione broke up ("That was such a stupid idea we had", Hermione had said, "We spent more time fighting than talking, for Merlin's sake"), he couldn't force himself to admit his feelings for her. Hiding his true feelings for her became something like a second nature. In fact, after his childhood with the Dursleys, when he wasn't able to voice anything, he discovered it was quite easy to do so.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt his best friend stirring. He looked down at her and saw she was opening her eyes, groggily. "Hello, sleepyhead," he said playfully. It felt so normal to wake up besides her he couldn't help the joke.

"Hey," she said, and smiled weakly at him. "What time is it?"

He picked up his glasses on his bedside table, and looked at the magic-powered clock on the wall. "Hmm... It's almost noon. I suppose we slept too much after last night's party," he said with a grin.

Hermione felt a stir on her stomach. That grin. He could melt if he shot her a couple of those. The first time she saw that grin, back on third year, she didn't knew why it had such a powerful effect over her. In fifth year, she actually realized that grin was just one of the things she loved about him. That year, she realized she was in love with Harry. But she feared that revealing her feelings could break their friendship, so she never told him. Harry didn’t help with his endless streak of girlfriends. Unfortunately, as most as she would denial her feelings, there were some things she couldn’t hide. The way she reacted to that grin, for example, was one of them. Harry seemed to use that whenever he wanted something from her. Sometimes she wondered if he knew of the power it had.

She was brought back from her musings when she heard him calling her. "Hermione," he said with a wave of worry in his tone. "Sorry Harry, I just dazed off here," she said, and offered him another weak smile trying to hide her embarrassment. 'Well,' she thought, 'at least it seems he's not aware of the powers of his smile'.

She was about to move out of the bed when she realized she had nothing on her, except for a red and gold blanket. The same blanket that happened to be covering her full view of her best friend. 'Oh my God,' was her only thought. He felt a blush rising from her breasts up.

Harry realized that Hermione had just noticed where they were, and how they were. At least they remembered to close the curtains around the bed. 'And I think Hermione used a silencing charm too'. He looked at her and expected her to say something.

Hermione was silent as she was flooded with memories from last night. They had a party, and everyone was drunk except for her and Harry. Well, Harry wasn't that drunk. She was the only one completely sober. She was Head Girl after all. She had to set an example. 'I don't think you were very successful, Miss Granger,' a voice said on her head, 'after all, it isn't a good example to jump on the sack with your best friend'. Hermione ignored the voice and proceeded on her memories. That night, she had decided she would finally reveal her feelings to him, so, after everyone was sleeping, she had told Harry she wanted to talk to him. She couldn't remember what happened later. She looked at Harry, expecting him to fill the blank on her memories.

"Hmm, Harry..." she began, unsure of how to ask him about it. It wasn't very common for Hermione to be at a loss of words. But how was she supposed to tell him she couldn't remember anything that happened? She was sure it wasn't good for a guy's ego to hear his performance in bed was so forgettable. She decided to be blunt. "I can't remember anything that happened last night after we got up here".

Harry was surprised, but not as much. Hermione hadn't drunk any ale, but too much butterbeer could be as bad as muggle whiskey. Okay, not so bad. But Hermione wasn't one for drinking and he was sure she crossed some boundaries last night. 'Yeah, like having sex with you,' his mind told himself. He smacked himself on the side of head. 'Shut up'.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. Harry just realized smacking himself wasn't something one could call normal. "Err... I was just trying to remember," he said apologetically. "I don't think hitting yourself will help, Harry," Hermione answered with a smile. "After all, if your brain worked better because of your injuries, I'm sure your grades would be higher than mine by now," she added mockingly. Harry took some seconds to understand the joke (he was sleepy and half-drunk, after all). Hermione just teased more. "See, I told you head damage doesn't help the brain". She laughed, and Harry joined her. They were cut by Ron's sleepy voice. "Shut up, Harry, people want to sleep here", the red-haired said.

Harry was afraid Ron had realized he had company; but sighed in relief when he didn't say anything else. He looked at Hermione and she nodded at him. She probably had the same thing in mind. Hermione found her wand lying near a pile of clothes (their own discarded clothes) and muttered a small "Silencio!" around the bed. She looked at Harry again.

"Did we remember to do that last night?" she asked.

"Dunno," Harry answered. "If we did, it was probably you. And I don't even know if we did something. I remember kissing you and such, but I don't remember... well... you know," he said, looking down as a blush crept on his cheeks. Hermione blushed too. "I suppose we did it," she said. "I'm a bit sore... there," she added. She was sure the sun had nothing on the heat that came from her face.

"Oh," was the only thing Harry could say. He looked at Hermione again.

Hermione could feel Harry was a bit confused at how they had ended up like that. Her analytical side decided to kick in. "Well Harry," she began, "we both remember taking our friends back to their beds, right?" Harry nodded. "Then, I supposed we both remember that I called you for a talk and then... No one remembers," she continued. He nodded again.

"Good. So... If we can't remember what happened then, let's get back at the last point we can remember. See, I wanted to talk to you about... Hmm... About our relationship." Harry nodded again, but this time was more like by reflex then understanding. He was slowly remembering the talk they had last night. Hermione had came to him and told him how did she felt about him. She said he was more than a friend, and that she had felt that way since fifth year and... He couldn't stop himself from blushing. He saw Hermione was also blushing.

"I suppose you remember some of our talk now," she said, weakly. "If you don't, I think I can say all of it again... I had rehearsed that," she admitted. "When you left to fight Voldemort, I could think of nothing else but you... Then I decided to tell you everything as soon as you came back."

Harry looked at her in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me before?" He tried to ignore the fact that he was the one that had been in denial for almost three years, and had never even thought about confessing. At least Hermione was courageous enough to do it.

"Well, you see... You were with Lavender until one day before your departure. And before that, you were with Susan, and Hannah, and..." He made a gesture to interrupt her. "Okay, I've got it. I'm sorry about that," he said. She gave him a meaningful look. "You don't need to apologize to me," she said. "It's just right you've been trying to find a girlfriend."

"That wasn't my purpose," he said gravely. "I wasn't trying to find a girlfriend. I was trying to hide my feelings for you," he continued. Hermione's eyes widened. She wanted to say something, but found herself speechless again. "I don't know if I said that last night," Harry said. "I probably did, I don't think you would be here otherwise," he continued, giving her a mischievous wink, "but everything you said about me, it's true about you too".

"But... Why didn't you tell me before?" Hermione asked. They looked at one another, surprised at how similar their reactions had been. Harry gave her a weak smile.

"Like you said... You were with Seamus before, then with Terry, then with Ernie... Not to mention Ron," he answered, before she interrupted him. "You were with Ginny at that time," she said. "Ron and I just gravitated to one another. It's your fault if you finally surrendered to Ginny's hero worship," she added mockingly.

"Blame Cho for that. If she hadn't bruised my ego like that, I would probably have looked for someone who didn't think of me as a superhero," he answered playfully. His relationship with Cho Chang had been very troubled. She was always comparing him to Cedric Diggory, and in her point of view Harry was always worse. 'Why did she date me, then?' was Harry's most prominent thought at that time. They had broken up because Harry couldn't stand it. Hermione had helped him a lot back there, but his denial made him turn to Ginny instead of admitting his feelings.

"Cho Chang is now number one on my to-kill list," Hermione replied, and they laughed. When they were done, they both noticed a slight change in each other eyes. Instead of the awkwardness, they were now looking at each other lovingly. Hermione broke the silence once again.

"So, Potter, you've been pining for me since fifth year, I suppose," she started. "It does wonders to a girl hearing the Great Harry Potter pined for her during so much time," she added playfully. They laughed again for some time. "I remember that at the beginning of fifth year, I supposed you were smitten with Fleur," she said matter-of-factly. "Remember, when she sent you those letters during the summer? That was when I realized I was jealous," she admitted.

Harry suppressed another laugh. "She just wanted to ask me about Bill," he said. "You know, she saw Bill and Mrs. Weasley before the Third Task, and she supposed Bill was my cousin or something. So, she asked me all she could about him. Then, she got that job here on England to get near him... And you know the rest already," he finished. Bill and Fleur had married during last Christmas. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny had spent the holidays in the Burrow in order to go to the party.

Hermione smiled back at him, and they stayed silent for a while. Hermione wanted to ask him about the other girls, but she knew they had no meaning to Harry. Harry thought the same thing, and decided to break the silence by changing the subject. "Hmm... So... I guess everything's out in the open now, isn't it?" Harry asked, leaning closer to her. Hermione nodded. "Yes... I suppose it is," she answered.

"Why didn't we do it before? It would have been so easier," he said, leaning even closer. "Maybe we just didn't want to see," Hermione answered, aware that the conversation was near to an ending.

"So... That's why we've been telling ourselves it would destroy our friendship and things like that?" Harry asked again, his forehead touching hers, and their lips almost touching. "It's impressive what denial can do to someone," she answered playfully.

"And that's also why we've been dating lots of people we weren't clearly interested in?" he asked once again. His breath could be felt on Hermione's lips. "Shut up and kiss me, Potter. We've already proven it's better when we talk later," Hermione said bluntly. Harry smiled mischievously.

"I was just waiting for that."

A/N: I had promised myself I wouldn't write anything else until Confused Paths was finished. But this thing popped out on my head and... I couldn't help it. I know it's not very good, but I hope you like it. It was inspired on the talk I had with my own girlfriend before we started dating. It took us four long years of denial. +_+ R&R. ^_^