a/n: I'm very sorry for the long wait; hopefully the fluff at the end of the chapter will help to make up for it. As always, thank you for the reviews!
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chapter 11: delicious
Despite the ruined potatoes, dinner was quite enjoyable; Harry and Hermione sat together at the kitchen table consuming their meal in relative silence. However, Harry found it somewhat difficult to maneuver his fork using his bandaged hand. Well, it serves you right, said Hermione's voice inside his head. He smiled to himself, knowing she was right as always. Her voice startled him out of his reverie.
"What's so funny?" she asked with a half smile adorning her features.
"Nothing's funny; just thinking about you and how you're always right," he replied with a grin.
"Not always," she scoffed, "Just most of the time." Hermione smiled at him and returned to her food.
"True, very true," he said before returning to his own plate.
A few more minutes passed; the silence in the kitchen only broken by the clinking of forks and knives on plates. Harry caught Hermione watching his attempt to cut his chicken using his injured hand with an amused look upon her face, and immediately pretended to scowl at her, resulting in her laughing loudly before she reached over and helped him. A moment later, Hermione took a long sip of pumpkin juice, put down her glass, and sighed loudly.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, his voice laden with concern. Hermione was silent for a while, apparently gathering her thoughts, before she answered.
"Do you really believe we're safe in here?" Hermione began slowly, "I mean, if Voldemort has ways of finding us as soon as we step outside, what's so safe about inside?" she finished in an anxious tone.
"Well, I don't trust Professor Dumbledore when it comes to informing us about Order business, but I do trust him with my life. Besides, we both know he's an extremely powerful wizard; surely the wards around The Burrow are strong enough to keep us safe…" he trailed off sounding unsure.
"You're right, Harry," she said in a more confident voice than his, "Everyone always says Professor Dumbledore was and is the only one Voldemort ever feared; obviously there's a reason behind that."
"Yeah, exactly; we have nothing to worry about," Harry said as he finished his food. He stood up and walked over to the sink with his plate and empty glass. Hermione joined him at the sink with her plate and they washed the dishes in silence. When Harry was drying his hands with a dish towel, he said, "Let's write back to Ron; I'm sure Hedwig is feeling restless by now - she hasn't been outside in ages and it's about time she had a job."
"Good idea, and if it's all right with you, I'd like to send a note to Ginny as well - girl stuff, you know."
"Actually, I don't know what 'girl stuff' is, seeing as I'm not a girl, but of course you can use Hedwig to send her a letter." Harry was curious about this letter Hermione wanted to send Ginny. He knew they were close friends, but he had never thought she was into "girl talk."
"Thanks, Harry!" she exclaimed as she hugged him tight around the waist. "Come on; let's get some parchment and a quill." They held hands as they walked upstairs to Harry and Ron's bedroom; Harry went straight over to his trunk and pulled out a couple rolls of parchment and two quills. He paused briefly as he stood up and caught sight of his bed; it was suddenly strange to have Hermione in his bedroom like this. She had been in Ron's room with him many times before, but it wasn't like before anymore; now she could possibly be in there for much different reasons. Harry shook his head quickly before his train of thought flew straight into the gutter; now's not the time for thinking those thoughts, he admonished himself. He turned and handed a roll of parchment and a quill to Hermione before taking her hand in his again and returning to the lounge. Harry stretched out on the floor, comfortably lying on his stomach as he began writing; Hermione took a seat in an armchair, sitting sideways with her parchment on her legs.
Ron,
Hermione and I are both happy to hear that Luna went with you to Romania; sounds like you're all having a wicked time so far. Anything 'happen' between you and her yet, mate? We both think she's always had a bit of a thing for you; if you know what we mean, ha ha.
Harry paused for a moment, contemplating whether or not to tell Ron about his and Hermione's new relationship. He wanted to, of course, Ron was his other best friend, but there was always a chance that the letter would be read by someone else. Harry imagined the damage that would be done if the letter fell into the hands of the twins, or, even worse, Mrs. Weasley.
"Hermione," Harry said, looking up from his parchment. She jumped slightly and looked up from her own letter to Ginny. "I was just trying to decide whether or not we should tell Ron about the, er, change in our relationship."
"You mean you don't know whether or not you want him to know we're going out," she answered bluntly.
"No! I mean, I want him to know, but I don't know if it's something that should be said in a letter that could possibly be read by other people. You know how we're trying to keep this a secret; at least until we return to school. I don't want out chances to be alone to be ruined by a letter."
"Well," Hermione said, biting her lip and looking as though she was deep in thought, "it's just that it's Ron we're talking about here. He might be angry or feel left out if we keep something like this - something this big - from him for a long time like this…"
"Even if he is a bit upset at first, he'll come around eventually," Harry replied, very much hoping he was correct.
"You're absolutely right, Harry, he always calms down in time."
"Yeah, exactly what I mean." Even though it sometimes takes a lot of time, Harry thought as he remembered the whole Triwizard Tournament fiasco. He watched as Hermione returned to her letter before concentrating on his own note to Ron once again.
Fred and George's new product sounds interesting; I can think of two friends who would be perfect test subjects - one's a bold but funny guy, and one's a different yet intelligent girl.
Harry thought that if Ron couldn't get that hint, he was even thicker than he was when it came to girls and love. He shook his head and returned to his letter with a grin.
Neither of us know what could be up with Ginny, but it's probably nothing big; maybe she's just in a strange mood. Hermione is writing her a separate letter; Ginny will probably tell her what, if anything, is going on. Anyway, say hello to Luna and the rest of your family for us; we miss you, Ron.
Best,
Harry and Hermione
He stood up and stretched as he re-read the finished letter. Satisfied with the end result, Harry walked over to Hermione's chair, saying, "Finished the letter to Ron; I thought you'd probably want to read it before I sent it off with Hedwig." He stole a glance at her letter to Ginny, but all he saw was Hermione neatly signing her name at the bottom of quite a lot of writing before she rolled up the parchment.
"Thanks, I'd love to read it. I finished my letter to Ginny as well," she replied with a smile. Harry matched her smile with one of his own as he handed over the letter to Ron. He watched as she read it with a smile playing on her lips; she soon finished, and Harry noted that her smile had become a rather mischievous looking grin.
"He had better get that hint you threw in there about him and Luna," she said as she held out both the letter to Ron and the one to Ginny.
"My thoughts exactly," he replied, taking the two rolls of parchment from her outstretched hand. There was a moment's silence between the two of them as the atmosphere of the lounge suddenly changed from relaxed and peaceful to distinctly filled with tension. Harry got the strange feeling that he was almost obligated to do or say something to break the sudden tension of the room.
"Well," was all he managed. That did the trick…not.
"It's late," Hermione stated, obviously feeling the change in atmosphere as well.
"Are you tired?"
"Little bit, yeah."
"D'you want to go to bed, then?"
"I suppose so." Why can't she give me a straight answer? he wondered in mild amusement.
"Okay, let's go." Harry held out the hand that was not carrying the parchment and quills and Hermione took it; they made their way to the upstairs corridor. They reached the door to Hermione's room in a relatively short amount of time, and she turned to look at Harry. Judging by the way her brow was furrowed and how she was biting her lip, Harry figured she was thinking particularly hard about something. Usually he would have let her think in silence, but tonight Harry was feeling quite antsy.
"Er, is something wrong, Hermione?" he asked tentatively, not really wanting to disturb her. Hermione jumped again, and Harry noted that was the second time tonight she was startled when he addressed her. Apparently I'm not the only antsy one here.
"No," she began slowly, "but…well it's just that…oh, I don't know how to say this without sounding either stupid or extremely forward…" Hermione trailed off as she looked away from Harry's face. It was a rare occurrence when Hermione Granger was worried about sounding "stupid" or "forward," and that fact did not go unnoticed by Harry.
"You're far from stupid, and you don't need to worry about sounding too 'forward' with me," Harry stated plainly as he tried to look her in the eyes.
"Fine, I'll say it. I was wondering if you might want to sleep with me tonight," she asked tentatively. Obviously seeing the look of shock that was plastered on Harry's face she added quickly, "I meant in my room. Like, if you would stay in my room with me. Tonight. Not - not the other thing."
Harry had momentarily felt his heart jump straight into his throat when she asked him to sleep with her. Of course that was something he wanted eventually, but the shock of Hermione asking him such a question was overwhelming. He couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed when she explained herself, but that disappointment was quickly replaced by guilt at having felt that way.
"I - yes, Hermione; I'll...sleep with you tonight." That was probably the most awkward thing I've ever said to her.
"Okay," Hermione replied very much sounding as though she didn't expect him to say yes. Who would say no to a question like that? Harry thought incredulously. She turned around and pulled him into her room before closing the door with a rather loud slam that caused Harry to nearly jump out of his skin. "Sorry," she said with a small laugh. Harry mentally berated himself for being so jumpy, and willed his mind and body to calm down. He vaguely registered that his palms were clammy and his hands were slightly shaky. I'm only sleeping in her room, get a grip! She'll probably have me sleep on the floor or something, he thought as he looked around the room. A small single bed with a white duvet was situated on the far wall of the bedroom, and a mattress with another white duvet lay on the floor beside it. A large wardrobe covered an entire wall with a writing desk against the opposite wall. It was a small room overall, but cozy and effective none the less.
Hermione let go of his hand and walked over to the wardrobe; she stood on her toes, opened the top drawer, and pulled out what must have been her pajamas. She turned to look at him with an odd expression on her face. Once again, she was biting her lower lip, but it didn't appear as though she was deep in thought this time, at least not to Harry.
"Don't you, um, have to change?" she asked. Harry realized what her odd expression was for - she didn't want to change in front of him, which was understandable. After all, he himself wasn't entirely comfortable yet.
"Oh - yeah - I'll be right back," he answered and walked towards the exit. Harry fumbled with the door handle for a moment before it opened and he left Hermione's room. He shut the door behind him and drew in a shaky breath, wondering what on earth was wrong with him. Harry took another flight of stairs to the top level of The Burrow and his and Ron's bedroom; he crossed the small room to his trunk and pulled out a pair of pajama pants. As he undressed and pulled on the pants, he debated on whether or not to put on a tee shirt as well. What's proper for situations like this? I'm kind of skinny...but Hermione doesn't care about that. Will it make her uncomfortable, though? No, it shouldn't, she's been with me when I was wearing a swim suit - and I didn't have a shirt on then. But then again I really wouldn't know if she was uncomfortable at that time, seeing as I never bothered to ask her. Should I have asked her? No way, people don't swim in bloody tee shirts just because they don't want to make their friends uncomfortable. Do they sleep in tee shirts? I've just gone full circle, this is insane. Harry shook his head forcefully and decided to not wear a shirt; he picked up his wand from the floor and padded downstairs to Hermione's door.
He knocked lightly and said, "Can I come in? It's Harry." Of course it's Harry; who else would it be? I'm such an idiot.
"Yes," he heard Hermione answer. Harry opened the door and slipped inside before closing it with care, not wanting to slam it like Hermione had before. He saw her standing in the center of the room, pulling her hair into a messy pony tail. Apparently Hermione had the same taste in pajamas as he did; her pants were red and white like his and she, too, was barefoot. She had a white tee shirt on though, of course, but had Harry worn one it would have been the same colour and they would have been identical. That's just a little creepy, he thought in mild humour. Hermione finished fixing her hair and took a moment to look him up and down. Feeling somewhat self conscious, Harry crossed his arms in front of his chest and blushed. At this, Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed the short distance to stand directly in front of him.
"Honestly, Harry, you look just fine," she said as she pulled his arms away from his chest. Just fine? Harry was surprised to find himself thinking. "Actually," Hermione continued suddenly sounding shy and lowering her voice, "'Just fine' doesn't really do you justice. You look…well, now don't laugh, but you look sexy," she finished as she blushed. The absolute last thing Harry wanted to do at that moment was laugh; instead he grinned broadly before enclosing Hermione in his arms and kissing her lightly.
He had fully intended to let her go after a quick kiss, but it soon became apparent that this wasn't just a quick kiss; it quickly deepened and before Harry knew it, his hands were running up and down her back and hers were tightly clutching his shoulders. At some point standing just wasn't good enough for the two of them, and Hermione began to lead him back towards the bed. Harry's thoughts were swirling at breakneck speed, but he did manage to wonder in amazement how Hermione seemed to almost transform when they were together like this. They unceremoniously fell back onto the bed and were forced to break the kiss as they shifted to find a comfortable position.
Harry quickly learned that there were very few greater experiences out there than lying on top of your girlfriend on a bed. Delicious, he thought as he attacked her neck with his tongue while she sighed and whispered her appreciation into his ear. He was just working up the courage to move his hand under her shirt when they were both startled by an extremely loud noise and the rumbling of the walls around them.