A/N: Thanks for all the reviews again guys. Please, please review my story if you read it. It keeps me motivated to keep writing. Here is my next edition to the story. Hope you like it. Apologies to those who I incensed by screwing up the prophecy in the previous chapter. I have corrected it and a spelling mistake someone was kind enough to let me know about. So enjoy!
Harry sat at the desk in his room the next morning, chewing his lip and staring at the blank piece of parchment before him. He was thinking of what to write to Ron. He had gotten to the point in his mind of:
'Ron,
Thanks for the gift. It was appreciated greatly.'
Apart from that, he wasn't sure. In the past few days he had completely forgotten about Ron, lost in his own thoughts and feelings with Hermione. Now that he thought about having to tell his best friend that he was in love with their other best friend and that she returned the feeling, was a bit beyond him. He felt a lurch in his stomach every time that he thought about telling him, let alone when he met Ron again for the first time. He was brought out of his thoughts by a familiar set of hands closing over his eyes and a breath of warm air blowing into his ear as his girlfriend whispered "Guess who?"
Harry pretended to think for a moment, and then said "Um, the most beautiful girl in the world?"
Hermione giggled and letting her hands fall from his eyes and rest on his shoulders, she kissed him on the cheek and replied "Good answer, love."
She then moved and sat in his lap and looking into his eyes said "So, what seems to be the problem? You have been staring at that piece of parchment for fifteen minutes and unless you can read invisible ink, you're trying to think hard about something."
Harry smiled at this and realised that Hermione had been watching him for quite a while and cuddled her close to him and kissed her temple, breathing in the scent of her hair.
"Well I was going to write a letter to Ron and I was just wondering if I should tell him about us by owl or in person. I'm thinking that if we wait to tell Ron in person he might be angry that we didn't tell him as soon as this happened, however if I write to him, he might think that I am too gutless to face him with such news."
Hermione nodded, understanding the stalemate that Harry had reached and came up with the only conclusion that she could think of.
"How about Harry we arrange to meet Ron in Diagon Alley in the next few days? We already know from the note in his card that he works in Diagon Alley for Fred and George. That way we can tell him soon and in person."
Harry smiled in relief at this brilliant but simple solution to their problem. He leaned forward, kissing Hermione deeply and passionately, causing her to moan deep into his mouth and her hands to come up and wrap about his neck, her fingers sliding into his hair. When they broke apart Harry pressed his forehead against hers and whispered" That is One of the reasons why I love you so much Hermione. You know the solution to every problem, in and out of school."
Hermione smiled broadly and replied with a smirk" Well if I get the same response each time I answer a problem for you this year, I can't wait to get back to school." Giggling, she got off of Harry's lap and left the room.
Harry turned back to his parchment and began to write with a new determination. It took him about ten minutes to explain his and Hermione's plan to meet up with Ron and asked when would be a good time, hinting that he had something he needed to talk to Ron about. He rolled up the parchment and tying it to Hedwig's leg, sent her off.
He received a reply from Ron later that afternoon, which explained that Ron would be at WWW in a couple of days and that he could meet them after lunch if they liked. After a quick discussion with Hermione, with the obligatory kiss, he wrote back to Ron, affirming that that time was indeed fine and they would see him then.
Harry always admired the ability that time had to speedup when you didn't want it to. Before he knew it, it was Wednesday morning and he and Hermione were preparing to go to Diagon Alley to meet Ron. They both decided that they would go by catching the Knightbus, since Harry knew that it would not take too much time. They decided that they would spend the morning together in Diagon Alley, looking at the different shops and thought he might stop in at a jewellers that he had noticed on one of his previous trips. Hermione informed him that she wanted to go to Flourish and Blotts for a book she had been waiting to come in and he readily agreed, realising that this would give him the perfect opportunity.
They arrived at the Leaky Cauldron with little trouble and were soon entering Diagon Alley. Harry walked along with Hermione's hand firmly in his and ignored many of the stares that he had grown accustomed to. There were a lot more people than usual though, he had noticed, even back when he had come here clothes shopping with Tonks. He at first put it down to the article that had been in The Daily Prophet just before he had left school, but realised that many were taking interest in Hermione too and the fact that he was holding her hand. He grinned at the thought that they would probably make the front page now. He could just see the headline:
'The Boy Who Lives Finds Love At Last!'
///
Hermione also noticed the amount of stares that they were generating and realised that a lot of the looks were directed at her, some curious, some smug, as if they had known it from the time that Rita Skeeter had written those articles in Witch Weekly and some she noticed with a smug smile, were jealous. She saw the grin on Harry's face and nudged him in the ribs and whispered "Share the joke?"
He chuckled softly and leaned down and whispered into her ear "Was just thinking what the article's title will be. About us." He added, just in case she didn't realise what he was talking about. Hermione's eyes widened at the implications of his words and then a crafty smile lit her face and she turned to him, stopping in the middle of the street for all to see. When he gave her a quizzical look, she wrapped her arms about his neck and kissed him passionately for a good five minutes. When the kiss ended, Harry looked dazed for a moment, then when his eyes cleared, she leaned forward and whispered "Well I thought that would definitely give them something to talk about."
///
Harry couldn't help himself, he just burst into laughter and after a moment, Hermione joined in with him. They linked arms and continued on their way down the street and stopped off at their favourite ice cream parlour to buy large peanut butter and strawberry ice creams, which they ate, sitting at one of the small table's outside. They both held wide smirks on their faces from their public display of affection and Hermione quipped "Well, now we definitely have to tell Ron, otherwise he'll know by tomorrow anyhow."
Harry nodded and agreed, but a lead weight settled in his stomach none the less as he thought of Ron's reaction. He knew that Ron had had a thing for Hermione back in fourth year from the way he had acted when she had gone out with Victor, but hoped that things had gone well with that mystery girl that he had been talking about in his letter.
They parted ways in front of Flourish and Blotts and Harry promised to meet her in front of WWW in one hour. He quickly made his way through the crowds and soon found the store he had seen previously. He entered the shop and there was a small tinkle as the bell sounded. He gazed through the glass cabinets, looking at the many jewels and rings that were displayed. A middle aged witch came up to him behind the counter and smiling, asked him if there was anything she could help him with. He rapidly went into a deep discussion with her about exactly what he wanted and she ushered him through a partition through to the back part of the shop.
An hour later, Harry had made his purchase and stood outside WWW, waiting for Hermione. She turned up ten minutes later and taking his hand, smiled at him, showed him her book, a book on ancient runes, and they entered the shop. Harry was shocked to see the shop so packed full of people. Witches and wizards of all ages were in there, poring over the different items that they could use on others for their own amusement. Harry was impressed and indeed it seemed that they were far more successful than he realised they would be. They both made their way to the front counter where Fred and George were in conversation with a middle aged wizard and Ron was wrapping a teenage witch's purchases. After handing the witch her change, Ron greeted his friends with his usual grin and said "Hey you two, isn't this great!" Fred and George, seeing who Ron was talking to, rushed over and wrung Harry's hand and greeted him enthusiastically, once more thanking him for his investment. They gave Harry a large bag stuffed full of WWW items, which the twins had prepared upon hearing that their benefactor was going to meet Ron and told him that all of the items had descriptions of what they would do and instructions on how to use them. Harry thanked them for the bag and goods and he, Ron and Hermione made their way out of the shop and over to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch.
Tom led them through to a small dining room, set just for three and they all sat down and gave Tom their orders for lunch. He waved his hand and three bottles of butter beer appeared on the table, the frost making the glass milky. All three picked up their bottles and took long sips of the liquid. Ron was first to speak in the silence that followed.
"So what have you guys been up to in the last week?"
Harry looked at Hermione, who nodded slightly and Harry sighed and answered Ron, saying "Ron, we have something that we need to tell you."
Ron looked concerned at these words and looked to both Harry and Hermione, before asking "Ok, what's going on? Is it bad?"
Harry shook his head and smiled, saying "No Ron, nothing like that. We wanted to talk to you Ron about us." Saying this, Harry took Hermione's hand in his and looked at Ron expectantly. Ron looked at their hands joined together, his brow furrowed, thinking. Knowing that Ron was sometimes a little short on the upkeep, Hermione said softly "Harry and I are in love, Ron."
Ron's eyes widened in comprehension as he finally got what they were talking about. "For how long?" He asked his expression unreadable at the moment.
"Well," Harry answered, looking at Hermione, worried, "Only the last week, really. We only just worked out how much we really meant to each other. Well at least I did, I think Hermione had it worked out for quite a while."
Hermione smiled softly at Harry and then turned her attention back to Ron, who seemed to be struggling with something. Harry braced himself for the explosion that he knew was imminent. Ron's face purpled and he bellowed "It's about bloody time you two woke up!"
Harry didn't know who was more shocked, himself or Hermione, from the look on her face. He took a steadying breath and said incredulously "You're not mad?"
Ron laughed hard, his eyes watering, one arm braced on the table to prevent himself from rolling on the floor. Some few minutes later, when he had calmed himself down enough he turned to them, his eyes still streaming tears and said "You two, for being the best and brightest students at Hogwarts are really a pair of daft gits, you know?"
Harry and Hermione, still too stunned, just shook their heads. Ron smirked and went on, saying "Everyone knew that eventually you two would get together. It was so predictable; I was surprised that Trelawney didn't say something to the effect."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, the confusion leaving their faces simultaneously and big smiles adorning their faces instead. They both went over to Ron and hugged him tightly. Ron's ears went scarlet at this show of affection from his friends, but he hugged them back with a big grin on his face." Just warn me before snogging or anything ok? Don't want to lose my appetite or anything."
All three of them burst out laughing at this and Harry said with a grin "Ron, I doubt you could ever lose your appetite. It's physically impossible!" They all burst out laughing again at this and sat back down, the tears streaming from their eyes. When they all had calmed down, Harry with a mischievous glint in his eyes said "Ron, you've been warned and pulled Hermione into his lap and, wrapping his arms about her, kissed her deeply and passionately. Hermione responded back with equal passion and they both moaned into each other's mouth at the same time. Hermione's hands ran through Harry's hair and Harry's hands tangled in Hermione's bushy hair. Five minutes later, they broke apart and looking over together at Ron, they noticed the completely stunned look in his eyes and burst into laughter again. Ron recovered slowly and grinned at his two best friends.
"I guess I deserved that." He observed dryly. Harry and Hermione both nodded, still laughing. At this point Tom came back into the room, levitating three plates brimming with food.
They all sat back down in their seats and had an enjoyable lunch with Ron, who told them all about his job at WWW and about the girl that he was interested in, who was it turned out, Luna Lovegood. Both Harry and Hermione encouraged Ron to ask her out, telling him that they suspected that she really liked him as well. Ron's ears again turned pink, and he mumbled that he would think about it. They walked back with Ron to WWW and Ron proceeded to tell Fred and George the news about Harry and Hermione. Both twins looked at each other and George handed Fred a galleon, saying "Damn, I thought it would happen back at Hogwarts this year!"
Fred chuckled and winked at the couple who were both stunned once more. Eventually, when they recovered, they said their goodbyes to Ron and the twins and walked off arm in arm, marvelling at how well their day had gone.
They arrived back at the Grangers a short while later, thanks once more to the Knightbus, although they both felt somewhat worse for travelling on the lurching triple decker bus. Harry would be glad when he was allowed to apparate, but until then resigned himself to using the more unpleasant modes of travel. They spent the rest of the afternoon, sitting out in the back garden, Harry with his back against a tree and Hermione, sitting between his legs, resting against his chest. They talked about how surprised they were about the Weasley boy's reaction and admitted to each other that they had really felt a lot more than friendship for each other since about second year. Harry told Hermione how he came to visit her when she had accidentally turned herself into a human cat, in the middle of the night in his invisibility cloak and how he used to stroke her fur on her arms and she purred. Hermione giggled at this and told him that she had felt it and knew it was his touch, but had thought it a dream, so had not done anything other than purr. He then told her how he had come to see her when he could after she had been petrified, even though Madame Pomfrey told him that Hermione didn't know he was there. Hermione took his hand in hers and kissed it, saying that she was glad he was always there. He responded, kissing her neck and whispering in her ear "Always and forever, my love."
Hermione shivered at the kiss and at the feeling of his breath tickling her ear. She turned her head so they were eye to eye and kissed him deeply and whispering in return "Me too, love. Always and forever."
Harry cuddled Hermione closer to him and wished that the summer would never end. As if in answer, Hermione suddenly pointed to the sky. Following the direction she was pointing he could see two owls, swooping towards the Granger's house. They quickly got up and raced towards the kitchen, where the birds were headed.
Hermione swung open the kitchen window to let the two birds in and Harry recognised them as two school owls. They both carried two letters, one with the Hogwarts crest upon it, the other the seal of the ministry of magic. They both relieved the birds of their individual loads and once having done so; the birds instantly took flight and soared out of the window.
"Harry!" Hermione squealed, holding her two letters. "It's our results!"
Harry let his stomach drop once more at this and he looked at his letters with some trepidation. Hermione began to look nervous too and handed her letters to Harry and said "I can't open it Harry, you read it to me."
Harry smiled at this and handed his to Hermione and requested the same of her. He ripped open the envelope of the first letter and began to read. His smile widened as he read and looking up at Hermione, he leaned forward and kissed her, whispered "Every subject with and outstanding! Congratulations sweetheart! I'm so proud of you!"
He picked Hermione up in his arms and whirled around the room with her. She clung onto him tightly and shrieked and laughed at how happy Harry was for her. He put Hermione back down on her feet and gestured for her to open his letter. She tore open the envelope and her eyes widened and tears began to fill them as she read. "Harry you got an O in potions!" She squealed, flinging her arms around his neck. Harry was stunned. He knew he had done well in the exam, especially in the practical, but never realised he had done so well. Hermione let go of him and continued to read. It ended up he also got O's in charms, defence against the dark arts and transfiguration, a D in divination, which he didn't really consider a great loss, an A in history of Magic and an E in care of magical creatures. His relief was overwhelming as he hugged Hermione again, realising that he had the marks to be able to continue towards his goal of becoming an Auror.
They told the Granger's their results as soon as they came home and Harry was pleased and a little embarrassed to receive the same tight hug Ellen had given Hermione upon hearing her results. Jim clapped Harry on the back and shook his hand, saying that he was proud of him as well. To celebrate, they decided to order pizza and watch a movie. Harry let Hermione pick the title as she had done much better than he did; although she did argue convincingly that she had not been attacked by Voldemort in the middle of one of her exams. She ended up picking out a mystery/thriller involving a serial killer and a cop out to get him. It was rather a dark sort of movie and Harry thoroughly enjoyed it. He enjoyed even more though, every time a scary scene came up or something happened to shock her, Hermione would leap into his lap and place her face against his chest. When this would happen he would shush her and stroke her hair, telling her when the scary scene had finished. He thought she looked really cute when she peeked out from behind his chest when he told her this. She saw him smile and poked her tongue out. He poked his out in return and wiggled it suggestively and she slapped him, giggling.
When the movie was over, they both realised what with the excitement of their exam results, they hadn't bothered
opening up the other letter they had received from Hogwarts. They quickly tore open their own letters and quickly
scanned through them as Jim and
Ellen watched. Harry's letter read
'Dear Mr Potter,
Please find attached a copy of the courses you may select for your sixth year at Hogwarts. Please check the subjects you choose and return the form by owl no later than the 31st of August. Also find a list of the books you will require for each subject and remember that the Hogwart's express departs from platform 9 ¾ at 11 AM on the 1st of September.
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress.'
He quickly scanned through the subjects and marked off advanced potions, advanced transfiguration, advanced defence against the dark arts, advanced charms and advanced care of magical creatures. He frowned as there wasn't anything else he wanted to select out of the subjects he had taken. Hermione, seeing Harry's frown, asked what was wrong. He quickly explained to her his problem. She frowned slightly, thinking as well and then her face brightened. Well you could take a different subject, one you haven't studied before, and I would suggest arithmency as it would be useful to you throughout your career as an Auror."
Harry thought of this and asked "But how can I study arithmency when I haven't done the OWL level?"
Hermione's smiled grew wider as she said, clapping her hands "I could tutor you Harry! We could begin studying straight away to give you a good grounding in it before we go back to school. We'll have to ask Professor McGonagall of course."
They both raced upstairs to Harry's room where they composed their letter, requesting that Harry be allowed to do arithmency and explaining their reasoning and Hermione's offer. They sent Hedwig off before the ink was even fully dry and Harry hoped with all his might that Professor McGonagall would agree. If what Hermione said was true about arithmency, he would find it useful, not only with being an Auror, but possibly also against Voldemort and he was determined that anything that might help him, he would do. He had more determination than ever now to make sure he defeated Voldemort, not the other way around.
Hermione sat on his lap and kissed him and then smiled, saying "This year will be great Harry, We'll nearly have the same timetable this year, we'll only be apart from each other while I have ancient runes and while you train for Quiditch."
Harry sat up straighter at the thought of this and voiced his concerns.
"'Mione, do you think I'll be allowed to play?"
Hermione snorted into her hand and looking Harry in the eyes said solemnly "Harry, you're the best seeker that we have had in over 500 years. I'm sure that as we speak McGonagall is making sure that you're on the house team."
Harry smiled at her, knowing that she was right and kissed her again, whispering "What would I do without you 'Mione?"
She grinned and said smugly "Probably having to repeat fifth year for one thing, but also probably still in the hospital wing, recovering from all of the extra injuries you would have received throughout the years."
Harry had to agree with this summation. He knew he wouldn't be where he was today if it wasn't for Hermione. He voiced his thanks in the only way he could think and proceeded to snog her senseless. Half an hour later, after Hermione had recovered some semblance of normality, they both went downstairs and bade Jim and Ellen goodnight. As before Hermione came into Harry's room after getting changed and snuggled next to Harry.
They kissed softly at first, tasting each other's lips, their tongues softly touching, their hands slowly moving around each other, drawing the other nearer. Slowly, they deepened the kiss, their tongues intertwining; their lips pressed harder together, their hands wandering along the other's back. As they continued kissing and began moaning into each other's mouth, Harry moved his hand under Hermione's night dress and slid it up her flat stomach. Hermione shivered at Harry's touch and it felt as if her skin was burning wherever Harry's hands touched her. Her hands moved around and ran up and down his muscular chest and along his flat and toned stomach. She smiled into his mouth as she felt the muscles jump slightly at her touch. Harry's hand slid up and cupped her breast, his thumb flicking along the nipple, eliciting another moan from Hermione and she arched her back, pressing her breast more firmly into his hand. He rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger and squeezed lightly, Hermione moaning more loudly this time. He broke the kiss with Hermione and pulled her night gown up and over her head, leaving her in just her panties. Hermione's face was flushed and she had a glassy look in her eyes from the passion she felt and she quickly grabbed the back of Harry's head and forced his mouth back to hers. It was Harry's turn to moan now as he felt the passion emanating from his love. He reached both his hands up and cupped her breasts, lightly kneading them and rolling her nipples between his fingers. She moaned again and squirmed, wrapping one of her legs around his and grinding her hips against his. He broke the kiss again and began to lightly kiss her neck, nibbling at the skin, hearing the gasps and light moans from Hermione as he found a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. He kissed down over her collar bone and down between the valley of her breasts, his fingers, still teasing her nipples. Hermione was gasping, her fingers running through Harry's hair, soft whimpers coming from her at every touch. He kissed across her breast and, releasing her nipple from his fingers, he took it gently into his mouth and lightly sucked. Hermione stiffened at the feeling of Harry's lips around her nipple and her hands held him firmly to her breast, her moans louder and constant now. She couldn't believe how much feeling could come from Harry sucking on her breast, she felt so warm and her panties were getting extremely wet. She needed him to touch her there, she knew it as a certainty. Taking his other hand from her breast, which he switched to with his mouth and tongue, she gently guided him to the apex between her legs and ran his fingers up and down the damp cloth. She shuddered at the touch of his fingers upon her, but kept guiding him, until she knew he had gotten the drift of what to do. She released his hand and ran her fingers through his hair again, letting herself succumb to the pleasure. Harry found the beginning of her cleft with his fingers and pushing the cloth in, he ran his fingers up and down running over the small bump near the top, eliciting moans and whimpers each time he did. He concentrated his fingers on that area and Hermione began to writhe with pleasure, her face getting flushed. She was close now, she could feel the pressure beginning in her stomach and making its way out to her fingertips. As she reached the cresth of her orgasm, she grabbed Harry's head in both of her hands and forced his mouth on hers, muffling the cries of ecstasy coming from her as it crashed over her, her tongue pushing against his, her hips bucking wildly.
When she subsided, she broke off the kiss and lay there, covered in sweat and gasping for air, her eyes half lidded and her face flushed. Harry thought she looked so sexy, looking the way she did and was quite pleased with himself that he had ellicited such a response from her. She smiled at him and climbed on top of him and kissed him deeply, grinding her hips against his and whispered in his ear "It's my turn now."
With these words she kissed down his neck and nipped across his collarbone and flicked her tongue out when she reached his nipples and he gasped in surprise. She tongued her way down his taut stomach and swirled it inside his belly button for a moment and with her hands slowly reached in and grasped him in her fingers. He moaned at the touch of her hand upon him, and she could feel him hardening in her grasp. She pulled down his boxer shorts, releasing him and she gazed in wonder at him, the first she had seen, except for in text books. She glided her hand up and down, and felt him shudder as she did. She leant up and kissed him deeply, increasing her friction on him as she did. He arched into her hand; he couldn't help it and moaned loudly as she squeezed him. He could feel himself reaching the point of no return and tried to tell her this, but she ether didn't hear him or couldn't care less as she increased her pace more. He cried out into her mouth as he writhed beneath her, his climax overwhelming him entirely. He laid back panting when she released him from the kiss and she lay beside him, her head on his shoulder, watching with a smile.
"That was amazing 'Mione." He whispered when he had regained his voice.
She smiled and kissed his lips softly and whispered back "You were amazing too, love." They cuddled together murmuring and kissing softly. They pulled the blankets and sheets over themselves and fell asleep in each other's arms, fully sated.