Feel The Rhythms

Harry lay on his bed at number 4 privet drive, not thinking, not feeling. That whole process seemed as foreign to him as his life previous to Dumbledore telling him about the prophecy which both saved and damned him at once. He now knew the enormity of the problem that lay on his shoulders and the consequences of its outcome, either victim or murderer.

During the whole year at Hogwarts, Harry had very little control over his emotions, blowing up at everyone, including his best friends, Ron and Hermione. Now, however, since he had seen his godfather fall through the veil at the department of mysteries at the ministry of magic and the subsequent talk he had with Dumbledore, where his fate was described to him in thirty seconds, he had felt nothing. Numb, he thought was the best way to describe the way that he felt.

For the last two weeks he had laid on his bed all day staring at the ceiling, not moving except to go down when Aunt Petunia called him to eat, then as soon as he was finished, saying nothing, he would then rise from the table and return to his former position in his bedroom. While his sleep felt undisturbed, no dreams bothered him at all; his sleep did not rejuvenate him at all. He just woke up every morning, the same way. For something to do one day his gaze followed along the wall where all of the toys that Dudley had broken lay and he noticed a stereo that Dudley had received a few years ago that had been discarded shortly after. The hole in one of the stereo speakers was more than proof of where Dudley’s foot had once been.

He rose from his bed and wandered over to the stereo and began fiddling with it and to his amazement, after a few hours he actually managed to get it working. The sound emanating from the broken speaker was a little tinny, but he didn’t mind, it broke the solitude he had thrust himself into. He fiddled with the dial and went through the different channels until he heard a sound and a rhythm that intrigued him.

He had heard of latin music before and he had dismissed it as a lot of noise with no real point. He now, however realised that the sound actually pleased him. He found a set of earphones from a discarded and broken walkman and plugged them into the stereo, so he did not get yelled at for making too much noise and placed the stereo near his bed and layback down and closed his eyes, listening.

The rhythm overwhelmed his senses and he began to slowly move his feet to the rhythm and his mind whirled at the mixture of noises. He suddenly felt a surge of overwhelming feelings. The music carried his soul out of the concrete prison he had cast over it after the events of a fortnight ago. He felt exulted beyond anything he had known, even quiddidge and flying. He imagined himself moving to the rhythms and dancing like those men he had seen in a movie he had seen called The Mambo Kings and saw himself moving through a room crowded with people, moving as sensually as the stars of the movie, dancing towards a figure he saw in one corner of the room. He saw Hermione smile as he moved close to her and he smiled in return, beckoning her towards him, which she did, moving with the same elegance and rhythm that he possessed.

He awoke with a start as his Aunt Petunia’s voice rang out, calling him to lunch. He made his way downstairs, realising that he no longer felt numb, no longer felt empty. He returned upstairs half an hour later and determined to himself as he closed his door that it was time that he dealt with things. He took out his photo album and began to look through it for the first time in two weeks and let the tears fall as they may.

////

Hermione lay on her bed, with ‘Hogwarts, a History’ laming on her stomach, where she had left it after falling asleep in the mid morning. She didn’t understand why she had drifted off; usually she had a lot more of an attention span than this. Then again, she supposed the subject of her dream had plagued her mind day and night and had probably contributed to her disturbed nights. She smiled to herself as she remembered details of the dream, it had been so real. She had been in a large room, which looked like the great hall at Hogwarts and had been leaning against a wall listening to the latin rhythms as the people before her spun and danced together. She had then seen him, dancing his way through them all, looking extremely sexy and dashing, his body, hands and feet moving so sensually, kind of like a movie she had once seen, although she couldn’t remember the name off hand. He had smiled at her then, and an electric thrill had gone through her as he beckoned her towards him. With no thought at all she moved towards him, amazed at the rhythm and elegance that her limbs moved, not fully sure how she possessed these abilities. Then just as suddenly, she was back in her room, the book laying across her stomach, her breath coming out as though she really been dancing, wondering at the meaning of the dream.

///

Harry spent the rest of the day looking through his album and thinking on Sirius, his parents and the debarkle of the department of mysteries. Crying seemed to be a good cleansing process as he felt a whole lot better after finally letting the emotion out. He then realised that he hadn’t been numb for all this time, but had actually been holding everything in so tight, that he couldn’t possibly feel anything, fearful of what may come out. He sat and visited with his departed family and realised that they would not want him to be this way, not to hold him guilty for all that had happened. He knew that they would not want him to take all of the blame on himself. They had died for him, so that he may live, not so he could live in some kind of limbo where he felt nothing and acted like a zombie out of some horror movie except for the flesh eating part, of course. He smiled slightly at this. His first joke, since all of this and it felt good, instead of awkward as he thought happy thoughts would. He looked over at his desk where Hedwig’s cage sat along with a number of letters he had received from a number of interested parties.

He could identify Ron’s lazy scrawl over some of the parchment, as well as Hagrid’s scrawl. The parchment that most drew his attention though was the one’s he could recognise as being from Hermione. Maybe it was the dream he thought to himself. Maybe it is the fact that she is always there, one who supports him, through thick and thin, even though he been an utter pratt to her all last year, blowing up at her constantly. She had always supported him, even during fourth year, when even Ron had abandoned him out of jealousy, Hermione had been there. Because of this more than anything, he separated her letters from the others and began opening them and reading them.

Scanning through them, he could read the concern etched in all of them between the lines, even though she did not mention her feelings he could always recognise them in her letters. He saw her worry and guilt over what had happened in the department of mysteries for the first time and realised that he was not the only one who was hurting because of what had happened. He saw her heartfelt fear that she had failed him in the department, because she had been injured by Dolohov and thus wasn’t able to help him against the other death eaters.

While mulling over the words that lay on the parchment, he absently grabbed some blank parchment and his quill and withdrew a bottle of ink. Dipping his quill, he began to write, from his heart.

////

It was late evening and Hermione sat in front of her dresser, brushing through her thick mane of hair. While it was still somewhat bushy, it was beginning to calm somewhat and she could see that eventually, with a bit of luck, her hair would slowly become wavy. She considered herself plain, always had. No one had ever shown any interest towards her for most of her school career, only Victor Krum in fourth year and she considered that more of a fleeting crush than anything else, even though Victor had confessed his love to her, she still thought that he just took her to the ball simply because she did not seemed bothered much by the fact that he was a world class quiddidge player.

A tapping on her window startled her out of her reminiscing about Victor. When she looked over she could see a snowy owl resting on her window sill and recognised the owl as Hedwig. To say she was surprised was an understatement. For two weeks she had not heard a word from Harry, even though she had written at least five times to him and she knew Ron had done the same and gotten much of a similar result, nothing at all. Fearing the worst, she jumped up and opened her window, letting Hedwig flutter in on her bed and after she removed the parchment from her, the owl fluttered over to the bowl of water that Hermione always kept for her mail deliveries. She opened the parchment and started to read.

‘Dear Hermione,

Sorry about not writing sooner, but I have been having a difficult time dealing with all of the events that had happened at the department of mysteries and for a while there I could not cope. I couldn’t feel or think about anything so I have been in kind of a void for the last two weeks. The strangest thing happened though. I fixed one of Dudley’s broken radios and I started listening to some latin music. I must have drifted off, for the next moment I am dancing like one of those guys from the mambo kings and as I pass through the crowd I saw you and we started dancing together. The thing is throughout it all I started to feel again and the feeling I had when I saw you just seemed to break the wall I had built inside of me. I then woke up thanks to my adorable family, but I have been sitting here with the album that Hagrid gave me all of this afternoon and thinking about what happened.

I figured that Sirius would not want me to hide myself inside of my head and forget that I still have a life thanks to him, my parents and most importantly to you. You have always stood by my side Hermione and I thank you for it. Even during fourth year when no one else believed me you did. You believed that I didn’t put my own name into the goblet of fire and you helped me as much as possible preparing for the tasks. It was you who set up the DA and gave me the idea to teach a group under Umbridge’s nose. For all this and more, I thank you and please accept my apology for the git that I have been in the past and will undoubtedly be in the future.

Love always,

Harry.’

Hermione sat there stunned at the amount of information possessed in that one letter. All of her fears had been allayed at once and even more intriguing was the reference that Harry made to the dream that apparently both of them had shared. Now that she thought about it, it had seemed quite real, even to the way she was reacting as she woke up, as though she had indeed been dancing with him. Taking a look at Hedwig, she decided that she needed a more personal contact to speak to Harry and raced downstairs.

///

Harry was once more sitting looking at the photo album, when he heard the phone ring. Shortly later, his Aunt Petunia barked up the stairs for him to come down. As he came into the parlour, he looked at Aunt Petunia enquiringly and she handed him the phone without a word and walked off.

“Uh, hello?” He asked cautiously into the phone.

“Harry!” The familiar female voice shrieked into the phone.

“Hermione, is that you?” Harry asked unbelievingly into the phone.

“It sure is. I just got your letter and I just had to call you. I was so relieved to hear from you. But the reason I was calling, was your dream.”

“My dream?” He asked,” What about it?”

“Well I experienced exactly the same dream this morning, exactly the way you described it!”

Harry stood there stunned for a moment and then asked into the phone

“But, how is that possible?”

“Well I thought about that and I was thinking it may have been your occlumency skills. I remember that you told me that at one point with your training with Snape that you managed to start reading his thoughts and I was thinking that it was possible that you just managed to use it tonight somehow to enter my mind and give me this dream.”

Harry was shocked to say the least. He stood there for a moment too stunned to speak and then thought of something horrible.

“Hermione, I’m so sorry for invading your privacy. I have done so much to you over the past year. This just makes me feel more terrible.”

There was a moment’s silence on the phone, and Harry thought that she was probably ready to blast him through the phone when he heard a soft giggle from Hermione and then she whispered

“Harry, I didn’t mind. Actually, truth be told I rather liked dancing with you and you did look quite good.”

Harry blushed brightly at this and stammered

“Er, thanks. You looked very beautiful you know. Yours were the only letters I have read and you are the only one I have thought of since I have left Hogwarts.”

He said this with so much sincerity in his voice that she did not doubt it for a minute.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about you a lot too Harry and I can’t wait to see you. Until then, come see me in my dreams o.k.?”

She answered giggling.

He smiled a real smile for the first time in a long while and said

‘I’d like that. A lot’

They said their goodbyes and Harry went back to his room and sat back on his bed, mulling over the conversation he had just had with Hermione. He didn’t miss the fact that their conversation had been very different from any of their friendly conversations before. He wondered at this for a moment then remembered something she had said. ‘come visit me in my dreams.’ He smiled and put the head phones on and settled back, a smile on his face as he drifted away.

For the next two weeks, Harry enjoyed himself immensely, in his dreams. It was always the same situation as the dream before, only more and more happened as time went by. They now danced for hours at a time and slowly as Harry and Hermione’s bond continued to grow, so did the passion with which they danced. A week into their night dancing as Harry had come to know it by, something changed. He went into the dream as usual and they danced, moving amongst the people, only having eyes for each other. Without warning his passion overwhelmed him and pulling Hermione close to him, he leant his head down and lightly brushed his lips across hers. They both shuddered at this intimate contact and both felt as if their lips were on fire from that one touch. They gazed at each other for a moment and then their lips met again, this time in a more passionate embrace.

They could hear nothing around them and it was as if everyone around had ceased to exist. Once they broke the kiss, the need for oxygen causing this, looking around Harry noticed that indeed they had ceased to exist as they were now in a different room that was a light blue and in the centre sat a large couch. Smiling, Hermione took his hand and led him to the couch. They sat together and continued their exploration of each other’s mouths for the rest of the night.

Harry woke up the next morning, with a feeling of peace deep in his heart. The way that he had kissed Hermione seemed so natural and so right. He then started to worry whether she thought him too forward by kissing her at all, even though it was a dream. He sat up and got dressed quickly and went downstairs. While eating breakfast, the phone rang again and Vernon went to answer it.

“Boy!” He barked and Harry got up quickly to see what his uncle wanted. Vernon glowered at him and thrust the phone into his hand and stalked off muttering about ungrateful louts.

“Hello?” He asked.

“Hi Harry.” Hermione said, somewhat shy.

“Oh, Hi!” He said nervously, his face blushing slightly.

“I just wanted to ask you something, Harry.” Hermione said somewhat nervously on the other end of the phone.

Harry’s palms began to sweat and he suddenly felt quite hot. “Err, ok.” He said bracing himself.

“When we kissed last night, was that you, or was that my dream?” She asked somewhat timidly.

Harry thought about lying for a moment, but then realised honesty is always best. “Yes, it was me.” He said with a squeaky voice.

“Oh! Good!” She said happily “I was hoping so. I’ve wanted that for so long. Well see you in my dreams Harry.” With that she left a stunned Harry to hang up.

He stood there stunned for a moment, the words slowly filtering through his confusion and then he smiled. She had wanted this. She wasn’t mad, far beyond it. He stood there grinning for a moment and then, whistling, walked upstairs back to his room.

A/N: Hi everyone. I was so motivated by all of the kind words and support that I wrote this second chapter today. I hope you like it. There is a lot more to come.

Harry spent the next few days catching up on his correspondence with his friends. The only mail he had sent previous to this was the one letter to Hermione and the obligatory message to the order every few days, saying that he was fine and not to send the cavalry. He wrote to Ron and talked about quidditch and what he thought of the prospects of the Cannons, Ron’s favourite team and by default, Harry’s as well. He also expressed interest in Ron’s idea of a girl that he liked and refused to say who it was, although he had an idea it may be a girl with an often dreamy look on her face and a taste for odd hats. Harry felt almost relieved and the implication that Ron was over his thing with Hermione, although he wasn’t quite sure why, as it wasn’t like Hermione was his girlfriend or anything, they had only shared dreams, had always been there for each other, could tell what the other was always thinking, could talk to each other with just a look…

Harry paused a moment in his contemplation, his eyes widening in shock as he realised how close he was to Hermione and wondered whether he had been this daft for so long, or if it was a recent thing. He sat back for a moment, the letter to Ron forgotten momentarily as he recounted all of the incidents in the past five years that he could remember and realised with a jolt that every important one was somehow related to Hermione. In the first year he had saved Hermione from the mountain troll and she had been with him and helped him with the potion task just before he had encountered Quirrel and Voldimort. He remembered the hug she had given him with a soft smile. Then in second year she had broken so many school rules to brew the poly juice potion so he and Ron could find out if Malfoy was the heir of Slitherin, and consequently grew fur and whiskers for her trouble. His smile widened as he remembered visiting her while she was sleeping one night in the hospital wing and running his fingers through her fur along her arm and she had purred. Then third year she had tried to protect him when Sirius had given him the firebolt, even though they found out eventually that it wasn’t dangerous, and she used the time turner and helped rescue Buckbeak and rode with him to rescue Sirius. He realised for the first time now how concerned for his welfare she really was, braving his and Ron’s outrage at her actions. Fourth year, she instantly believed him that he had not entered into the tri-wizard cup and she had helped him in so many ways during that year with spells and hexes that he could perform to defend himself; he remembered her face when he was in the hospital wing and how concerned she had looked. Then last year, even though he had been horrible to her and Ron throughout the year, she still stuck by him and refused to be cowed by his tantrums and when she saw that there was no dissuading him, she had stood by his side, to her own peril. He shuddered as he thought of when Dolohov had slashed with his wand and how those purple flames had passed through Hermione’s body and Hermione collapsing with no more than a surprised “Oh!”

He remembered the raw panic that he had felt rush over him as he rushed to her side, fearful that he had lost her. He thought of how he would be if Sirius hadn’t died but Hermione had died and his heart filled with so much pain and wrenched so much that he quickly stopped, his eyes filling with tears.

“Daft, blind, stupid pratt!” He informed himself after a moment’s consideration.

He quickly returned to Ron’s letter and signed off and over the next few hours went through his other mail and responding in kind. Last of all he drew a blank piece of parchment and wrote the letter to Hermione that he felt he should have long ago.

‘Dear Hermione,

How are you doing? Are your injuries completely healed? I’ve been so wrapped up in my own suffering that I had forgotten how badly you were hurt. I also have an apology to make to you. I’m sorry for taking you for granted for so many things last year. You stood by me when I don’t think I would have. You stood by my side and helped me throughout the year, forming the DA and designing the coins so we could all communicate. You even stood by my side at the department of mysteries, even though you suspected that it was a trap and for that I thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have done without you and I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you. I hope you can forgive me, because I’m not sure I could bear it to lose your friendship. I know this will probably sound funny, considering we share dreams now, but I needed to say it. I need to heal and I think this is one of the deeper wounds I need to heal.

Love,

Harry.’

Without thinking about it, he sealed the parchment and sent Hedwig with all of the mail attached to her legs, before he could change his mind about any of it.

////

Tears ran down Hermione’s face as she read through the letter that Harry had sent. How sweet could he be? Here he was, barely having survived Voldimort again, having lost the only father figure he had ever had and he was begging her forgiveness for taking her for granted and venting his emotions on her last year. She remembered the way he had looked on the train, lost and empty, as though all of the happiness and life had been sucked out of him forever. She had wanted to hug him tightly and comfort him and let him cry on her shoulder, but restrained herself as she knew he couldn’t handle it at the time. Now, though, she thought to herself, I think its time he needed someone. She took a piece of parchment and wrote a letter to Professor Dumbledore, expressing her thoughts and her idea and sent it off with Hedwig, along with a reply to Harry’s touching letter and hoped with all her might that Dumbledore would agree.

////

Harry awoke at the end of the fortnight since he and Hermione had started sharing dreams with a long sigh. He never wanted to wake up anymore, now that the drudgery that was life with the Dirzley’s had sunk in and now that he had Hermione in his dreams. Throughout the last week, their dancing had become more and more sensual, their bodies touching and their lips constantly meeting, even while dancing. He couldn’t help himself it seemed. He longed more and more for the touch of her lips upon his, the taste of her thrilling him and evincing more passion from him than he had ever imagined. He now found himself longing for night as soon as he woke now and seemed to walk around the neighbourhood, when he did venture out, in a daze.

This morning was different; however for as soon as he woke up he heard a knocking at the front door. A short while later he heard his Uncle’s angry voice, a shriek and hurried footsteps. He jumped off his bed and grabbed his wand, which was sitting beside his bed and stared at the door, not quite sure what to do. He heard footsteps outside in the hallway and heard it stop near his door. There was a soft knock and then the familiar voice of Albus Dumbledore saying

“Harry, may I come in?”

Harry visibly relaxed as he went to open the door, then stopping for a moment, he asked softly

“Before I do Professor, just to make sure, what did you say to me and Hermione in the hospital wing our third year?”

A light chuckle emanated from behind the door and then he heard

“Well I said a few things, but I think you are referring to when I said ‘What we need is more time. Three turns should do it Miss Granger’”

Upon Harry hearing these words, he smiled broadly and opened the door to an equally smiling Albus Dumbledore and welcomed him into his room.

////

Albus Dumbledore was quite surprised by Harry’s demeanour, considering how they had parted last, in his office. The angry boy seemed to be mostly gone and the smile he gave when he opened the door was of real welcome, rather of forced politeness. He marvelled at how resilient Harry really seemed to be, but then remembered the rather long letter he had received from one Hermione Granger and the pieces fit into place.

“I trust that you’re Aunt and Uncle are treating you adequately?” He asked, knowing full well that any treatment Harry received from the Dirzley’s was less than adequate. Harry shrugged with a lop-sided grin and said “Well, they mostly ignore me since Moody’s subtle conversation with them at King’s Cross Station.”

Dumbledore chuckled and nodded “Yes, I imagine that Alistair did rather get his point across most effectively. He never really has had a problem with expressing himself.”

Harry chuckled at this and nodded, remembering Uncle Vernon falling over a luggage trolley after Moody revealed his magical eye. “Well I prefer that they leave me alone anyhow. It gave me a lot of time to think these last couple of weeks.”

Albus nodded in complete understanding and continued “Well Harry, your time is nearly up with the Dirzley’s for this summer and the problem of where you can go has come up. After recent events, I don’t think it would be fair on you to go back to 12 Grimmold Place until you feel ready to and I know from experience that the Burrow, while a most charming and intriguing place, may not be what you need at this time either.”

Harry thought about Mrs Weasley and the motherly concern she showed him, whenever he was there and thought how her reaction would be now that Sirius was gone. Smothered was the word that most readily came to mind and he knew that the others would also feel awkward around him, not sure what to say. Seeing that Harry understood what he was saying, Dumbledore smiled again and said lightly” However, I do feel that you may need some company and after discussing this with Miss Granger and her parents, I thought it might be good for you to spend the remaining summer holidays with them.”

Harry stared at Dumbledore for a moment, his mouth hanging open slightly. Realising that he had the look of a green tree frog about to eat a most succulent fly, he closed his mouth with a snap and nodded smiling broadly. “Yes sir, I think that would be the best alternative.” What he didn’t say though, was that he thought the Granger’s should be the first choice, as it allowed Hermione and himself to spend some quality time together, without Ron buzzing around them, irritating Hermione and sticking his foot in his mouth every once in a while.

Albus Dumbledore stood up and smiled, clapping his hands and said “Good then. We’ll arrange it for next Sunday then. The Granger’s will pick you up, using conventional means of transport, but don’t fear you and the Granger’s will be protected.”

Harry thought of the advanced guard from last year and nodded, understanding. Dumbledore turned to go and Harry thought of something that had suddenly become very important.

“Um, Professor?” Harry asked, getting to his feet.

Dumbledore turned a smile on his face and an eyebrow arched in question.

Harry swallowed and continued quickly “Well I have been thinking and I don’t think it would look very good if the Granger’s come to pick me up and here I am dressed in Dudley’s hang me downs. I was wondering if you could arrange for someone to come shopping with me in Diagon Alley?”

Dumbledore’s smile did not falter as he gazed thoughtfully at Harry and then nodded, saying “Yes it is quite a good idea, as you seem to somewhat swim in those clothes. I shall arrange for Tonks to come and take you shopping in a couple of days. If that is all Harry I must depart.”

Harry smiled and nodded and Dumbledore walked out of Harry’s room and downstairs, Harry following. Dumbledore turned and smiled at Harry and took his hand in his and said with a twinkle in his eye “I am sure you’ll enjoy yourself for the rest of the holidays Harry and remember if you need to talk, just owl me and I’ll come.”

Harry shook Dumbledore’s hand and nodded smiling back at the headmaster. “I’m sure I will Professor.”

Dumbledore opened the door and with one final wave and a swish of his cloak, was gone. Harry closed and door and smiled, then turning, made his way to the kitchen where Vernon, Petunia and Dudley Dirzley were watching television. Before they could say anything, Harry said brightly “Just thought you might want to know that I’ll be gone by the end of the week. One of my friend’s is coming to pick me up and don’t worry her parents are normal.”

Vernon looked both relieved at the fact that Harry would be gone as well as the fact that he did not have to put up with more wizards coming to the house. “What, you mean they aren’t your kind?” He sneered, his face resembling a rather squashed and furry tomato.

“No.” Harry confirmed. “Their dentists.” With that, he turned and made his way back to his bedroom.

That night, he didn’t know whether it was that he was finally leaving the Dirzley’s for another year, or that he would see Hermione in the flesh, his passion ignited as soon as he saw her. The music too, he noticed was more sensual than before and he recognised the opening rhythm of the Lambada as he took Hermione in his arms and their bodies intertwined and moved to the sensuous rhythm. He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers and she responded by flicking her tongue out and sliding it along his lips. He responded by leaning in closer and crushing her lips to his, their mouths opening and his tongue caressing hers, mimicking their bodies as they ground together and moved through the crowd. His hands moved up and down her back and then slid into her hair, feeling her own fingers running through his hair, pulling him closer. He stopped moving as his passion overwhelmed him and he just stood there, with Hermione pressed against him, trying to drink her in, devouring her lips and tongue throughout the night.

Before he knew it the day had arrived for Tonks to take him shopping. Dumbledore had owled him a few days ago to let him know which day and he sat downstairs in the living room, nervous to get started and not sure how to explain to Tonks, his sudden desire to have a new wardrobe. He couldn’t quite explain it to himself either. He had never been a material kind of person or vain about his looks, although he knew that a lot of girls would often look at him and giggle when he passed through the corridors at Hogwarts. He also knew that that Hermione did not mind what he wore, as she just took him for who he was, but he felt that he wanted to impress her, he wanted to look good, not for himself, but for her.

He was roused from his thoughts by a knock at the door. He walked quickly through the foyer and opened the door, smiling as he saw the familiar bubblegum pink hair of Tonks.

“Wotcher, Harry!” She greeted him and he smiled in return, closing the door behind him.

“I thought we would catch the nightbus.” She explained as they walked up the path to the street “It’s probably a lot easier than arranging a port key anyhow.”

Harry nodded and as they reached the street, he took out his wand and flung out his right arm. BANG! The violently purple double-decker that was the nightbus screeched to a halt in front of them, a light pole jumping out of the way as it veered to a halt. The doors burst open and Stan Shunpike jumped out card in hand and began reading before he noticed who it was they were picking up.

“Welcome to the nightbus, transport for the stranded witch or Wizard. Cor! Ern its Neville!”

Harry smiled and shook hands with Stan while Ern skidded to a halt beside him grinning and holding his hand out too.

“How are you guys?” He asked, while having his arm nearly torn from its socket.

“Not too bad Neville, not too bad.” Stan stopped for a moment and looked around, making sure there wasn’t anyone around then leaning forward whispered,” Tell you what Harry, Ern and I never believed for a moment that load of tripe the Daily Prophet was feeding everyone. We knew from the time we saw you that you’re a good man.” Stan finished this by slapping Harry on the back.

Harry felt absurdly touched by knowing that at least a few people believed him and he smiled at Stan and murmured his thanks. With the prodding of a grinning Tonks, they boarded the bus and Harry told Stan they were heading to Diagon Alley.

“No worries Neville!” He said brightly “You’re our only customers today so we’ll be there shortly.”

Harry handed him his fare and sat in a chair close to a handy support pole, which he grabbed just in time as the bus lurched with a large BANG!

Ten minutes later they had arrived. Thanking Stan and Ern again, he and Tonks hopped off and entered the Leaky Cauldron. Tom greeted him enthusiastically as he walked through, but the pub was mostly deserted. When they arrived out near the entrance to Diagon Alley, Harry turned to Tonks and said abruptly “I need your help Tonks.”

“What, forgotten which brick to tap Harry?” She asked, somewhat surprised.

Harry looked at her for a moment, then realising what she meant he shook his head vigorously and said somewhat embarrassed “Oh, no! I err, need help in buying some, um, clothes I’ve never bought any, I’ve always had Dudley’s to wear, but they don’t fit me and I need a change.”

Tonks grinned and said “So you’ve finally worked it out have you?”

Harry looked at her perplexed for a moment and asked “Figured out what exactly?”

Still grinning she said casually “Oh, you and Hermione of course. Gods, everyone else worked it out a long time ago; we were all just wondering how long the two of you would take.”

Harry turned scarlet and looked down at the ground, not sure what to say. A few seconds passed and then Tonks hooked an arm through his and turning him towards the wall said kindly “Don’t worry Harry; we’ll have you fixed up in no time.”

She tapped the brick and they walked into Diagon Alley and Tonk’s led him to Gringots saying that he’ll need some money if he wants something good.

After the obligatory examining of Harry’s vault key Harry, Tonks and the goblin banker were hurtling through the myriad tunnels under Gringots towards his vault. When they arrived Harry got out on wonky legs and the goblin, taking his key opened the door. Harry peered in, not sure if what he saw was true. It looked as if his money had tripled in size since he last visited. He turned to the goblin and asked if he was sure that this was the right vault. The goblin looked affronted, until Harry explained that there should be less money in his vault than this. The goblin relaxed a little then and said importantly “There was money deposited into your vault. All enquiries should be made with the head goblin.”

Harry thought about this and quickly filled his pouch with a few hundred galleons, not quite sure how much money clothes shopping would entail.

When he arrived back up in the main foyer of Gringots, he asked the goblin to see the head goblin and was shown into a richly furnished office, where a goblin, resplendent in gold robes took Harry’s hand and said most solicitously “Mr Potter, it is indeed an honour to meet you. How may I assist you?”

Somewhat taken aback by the goblin, he explained the discrepancy he saw within his vault. The goblin’s brow furrowed for a moment and then cleared as he said “Oh yes! I remember now. Mr Sirius Black had a will with Gringots that was changed before he departed this world. He left a substantial amount of money to you init and consequently, upon his death, the magical contract was activated and the money was transferred to your vault.”

Harry was stunned and wasn’t quite sure what to say. Tonks placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Harry smiled at her, showing he was o.k., then realised that the goblin was holding out a piece of parchment to him.

“This is the deed to the title of the Black mansion; this was also transferred to your name upon Mr Black’s death.”

Harry took the parchment, not seeing it and tucked it into his pocket, not sure what to think. Tonks thanked the head goblin and led Harry through the foyer back out to Diagon Alley.

When the sun hit his face, he seemed to come back to himself and realised why he was shopping in the first place. His heart filled with warmth at the thought of Hermione and smiling, allowed Tonks to lead him to Pierre’s Fashions. When he entered, he was greeted by a short balding man who took his hand in both of his and said “Ah Mr Potter, it is an honour to meet you and to have you in my humble place of business. How may I assist you?”

Harry stammered and stumbled for a moment, trying to think of what he did actually want, but Tonks then took charge, saving him from falling over his tongue, explaining that Harry needed an entire new wardrobe. Pierre’s eyes widened in delight as he led Harry away with him, selecting items off of the racks as he walked by, piling them in Harry’s arms and leading him towards the rear of the shop, where the changing rooms were. After an hour and a half, Harry walked out of Pierre’s Fashions, carrying about six bags full of his new clothes. He wore a black short sleeved shirt, which accentuated his narrow waist and his broad shoulders. He also wore hip hugging black pants which clung to his legs, emphasising his muscularity. Tonks was impressed despite herself as to how well developed he was. Hermione is very lucky, she mused as they made their way through the Leaky Cauldron and caught the nightbus home.

Harry was so nervous, his hands were shaking. He had butterflies in his stomach the size of Hungarian horntails and his hands were so clammy he had to wipe them on the bed every thirty seconds to dry them. He looked at the clock again to make sure time hadn’t suddenly sped up and found there was still five minutes to go until he saw Hermione. He got up and paced his room, looking in the mirror and trying to flatten his hair and, after thirty seconds of futility, gave up again. He kept telling himself, this is just Hermione, my best friend, just Hermione. Every time he did this though, another part of his mind would insist upon on recounting the dreams where he snogged his best friend senseless.

////

Hermione was nervous, putting it mildly. She kept looking in the mirror to make sure her makeup was just the way she liked it and kept worrying about how her hair was behaving, which was as bushy as ever. She had desperately tried to make it behave this morning, but without sleek easy’s hair potion, there was no point. She cursed herself for not keeping some and looked in the mirror again, wiping her palms on the seat to dry them. It’s just Harry, she thought, just Harry. Then another voice would say, yes it’s just the raven haired, emerald eyed hunk who has kissed you with such passion and desire. Do you think he will really want you the bushy haired, know-it-all? Her stomach made a lurch as the car stopped and she realised they were there.

///

Harry was going to be sick; he knew it for a certainty. His stomach took an almighty lurch when he heard the knock at the door. Maybe if I stay up ere, they’ll go away, he thought to himself desperately. He looked at his invisibility cloak in the corner and was about to reach for it, when there was a soft knock at his door.

“wh-who is it?” He stuttered, terrified.

There was no answer, instead the door slowly opened and he stopped breathing as he saw her for the first time. She wore black shorts that ended halfway up her thighs and Harry couldn’t help but admire a god who would make legs as long and sexy as those. His eyes travelled higher and he realised she was wearing a black shirt that was tied at the midriff, exposing her bellybutton. His knees felt weak as he gazed at the somewhat nervous Hermione who squeaked, but couldn’t say more.

////

Oh my god! Her mind screamed at the sight of Harry. She knew that his years of Quidditch training would have done some work on his frame, but used to seeing Harry in clothes five sizes too big for his frame, Hermione was not prepared for the broad shouldered, muscular man standing in front of her, somewhat nervously. She squeaked as she tried to say hi, but no further sounds came out.

////

Seeing that Hermione was as terrified as he was, helped Harry somehow get over his nerves. He moved towards her slowly, drinking in every aspect of her, trying to memorise everything he could. As he drew nearer to her, he felt the passion he had only experienced in his dreams begin to take hold. His blood began to pound and his body felt on fire. He gazed at her and smiled his lop-sided grin as he stood before her. Then not being able to wait any longer, he leaned towards her, his eyes never leaving hers.

////

She was drowning; she knew it and couldn’t care less. As soon as his eyes locked with hers as he approached she was lost. She gasped audibly as his eyes filled with desire and a shiver shot up her spine and exploded in her fingers and toes. She melted when he grinned at her with that beautiful mouth and her knees became weak as he leaned towards her and she thought she would fall, when she felt his arms wrap around her. She tilted her head up and tilted her head slightly to the side as his lips came nearer and nearer. Her eyes fluttered shut at the last moment and she sighed audibly as his lips met hers and it was as if an explosion went off behind her eyelids. Her arms slid up Harry’s back and slid into his hair, pulling him closer as her mouth opened and her tongue slid against his lower lip.

////

All control flew out the window when he felt her tongue graze his lips. With a soft grown he pulled her closer, crushing her lips against his, opening his mouth, his tongue intertwining with hers. They were interrupted by Vernon barking “Boy! Get down here!”

They broke apart, both panting at the passion that one kiss possessed. They stared at each other for a moment and smiled.

“Come on.” He whispered as he led her from his room, “Better get down there and rescue your parents.”

She giggled and nodded, her hand clasped in his as they made their way down the stairs.

A/N: Hi everyone. Thankyou all for your reviews and suggestions to my abhorrent spelling. I do have one thing to say in my defence though. I am actually legally blind, so I listened to the books, rather than read them, so the words I misspelt were actually my educated guess, rather than just crappy spelling. It’s not anexcuse though, just a reason. I have, however made up a list of all the words I have used thus far and will use your corrections as a resource for the future. Again, I am overwhelmed by the support, as I wasn’t sure how it would come across. Same with this one really ~lol~ anyhow, enjoy and please r and r as its my motivation.

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Harry and Hermione walked into the living room to find the Dursley’s engaged in conversation with the Grangers, who looked as if they were about to die of boredom. They saw their escape when Harry walked into the room and the conversation suddenly ended.

“Harry, it’s nice to see you again. Are you ready to go?” Mr Granger asked standing up.

Harry smiled “Just about. I just need some help to pack some things and bring my trunk and Hedwig’s cage down. Can you both help me?”

Harry might have thought the Granger’s were spring-loaded as they practically leapt for the stairs and Harry and Hermione were hard pressed to keep up. Harry directed them into his room and closed the door.

“I’m sorry about them.” He said indicating downstairs.

“Oh that’s alright, Harry, we were pre-warned by Hermione, although I’m sure I have found out more about the Dursley’s car and your Uncle’s drill business than I would ever care to know.” Mr Granger said, grinning. He held out a hand and said, smiling “I’m pleased to formally meet you Harry. My name is Jim and that’s how I prefer to be addressed as, not Mr Granger. That’s my dad, not me.”

Harry laughed and shook Jim’s hand and answered “I’m pleased to meet you Jim.”

Hermione’s mother then came forward and hugged Harry saying “It is a pleasure to meet the man who has saved my little girl so many times and seems to have captured her heart.”

Harry blushed scarlet and Hermione cried out “Mum! You promised not to say anything!”

Mrs Granger laughed and pointed to Harry and Hermione, saying “Well from the look of your hair and clothes when you came into the living room, you had already greeted each other quite thoroughly. The only reason your relatives didn’t pick up on it Harry is that they don’t give a damn. However, since I do I noticed it, as well as the look in your eyes as if you had both been hit by trains! Oh, by the way Harry, my name is Ellen and feel free to call me just that.”

Harry stood there stunned for a moment, processing all of the information and realising that while Hermione’s parents knew he had just snogged their daughter, he apparently still had all appendages intact. He smiled and nodded, finally after a light nudge from Hermione, who giggled and said “Pleased to meet you too Ellen. I’m already packed, I just figured you guys would prefer to get out quickly, rather than listen to my Uncle.”

Jim and Ellen nodded, laughing and bent down, picking up Harry’s trunk. Harry went over and picked up Hedwig’s cage and grabbed Hermione’s hand, leading the way downstairs. Hermione opened the door, while the Grangers said their goodbyes and they all trooped out to the Grangers car.

After storing Harry’s trunk in the boot, the Granger’s watched Harry as he whispered to his owl and let her loose. She soared through the sky above them and Harry stored the cage in the boot also. He slid into the back seat next to Hermione, who smiled and leaned over, giving him a light kiss on the lips before grabbing his hand. Harry sat there stunned for a moment from the effects of the kiss and Hermione giggled. Harry thought he could fall in love with that sound as they drove away from Privet Drive.

They drove for a few hours before they reached the Granger’s residence. Harry answered Jim’s questions about Quidditch enthusiastically and told him stories about matches that he had been involved in. Hermione smiled at the way Harry’s face lit up when he talked about flying and couldn’t help feeling a thrill when she thought about the looks on the girl’s faces at school when they found out she and Harry were an item. She could scarcely believe it herself, save for the fact she was holding Harry’s hand and she could remember vividly the two real kisses they had already shared. The look in Harry’s eyes when he glanced at her told her all she needed to know to shut up that doubtful voice in her head that had been talking incessantly to her on the way to pick him up. She was happy and nothing could stop that.

Harry helped Jim carry his trunk inside and upstairs to the guest room, while Ellen carried in Hedwig’s empty cage, behind Hermione. She noticed Hermione gazing at Harry’s back and grinned, whispering to her daughter “Admiring your property, dear?”

Hermione jumped, blushing but then smiled and nodded “I still can’t believe he chose me, mum.”

Ellen chuckled softly and answered “Well if it helps at all, I think Harry is probably thinking the same thing. I remember you telling me that he wore his cousin’s old clothes, it seems something or someone has spurred him into getting a new wardrobe.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Hermione, who went the shade of a large beetroot. Ellen laughed, but was secretly pleased that things were going so well for her daughter. If what she had heard and read about Harry were of any indication, her daughter had extremely good taste.

After Jim had helped Harry to position his trunk at the foot of the bed, he went back downstairs with Ellen, who gave Harry Hedwig’s cage with a warm smile and wink. Harry blushed again, not sure what the wink meant, but reasoning that it could only mean good things. He was putting his clothes in the drawers when he heard the sound of his door closing. He turned around and found Hermione leaning against the door smiling slightly. Harry smiled back, and gestured for her to sit down on the bed. She did so, patting the bed beside her in invitation, which Harry took. They held each other’s hands and looked deeply into each other’s eyes, contented for the moment that they were together. After a moment, Hermione shifted slightly and said quietly

“Harry I want to talk to you about this.”

Harry’s stomach dropped when he heard these words, dreading that they meant she didn’t want what Harry did, a relationship and much, much more. Seeing the look on Harry’s face change like this, Hermione quickly placed her hand lovingly on his cheek and said softly and kindly “Not about stopping Harry, I just want us to talk to each other about our feelings. I want to know where you stand, so to speak.”

Harry sat there and thought about this for a while, not quite sure how to respond. He looked into Hermione’s eyes and did his best.

“I don’t know what love feels like Hermione. I’ve never had it given to me and I’ve never felt it, except for Sirius, but that was for a father and brother, not for a woman. This feels different however, not a bad different though, a good different. It feels so much stronger and intense. I can’t bear the thought of losing you, I think I would just die and even the thought of what happened in the department of mysteries is enough to bring tears to my eyes. I think its love Hermione and I think I love you. I think I have for a long time, just never realised the depth of my feelings for you until this summer.”

He looked up to see tears streaming down Hermione’s cheeks. Feeling terrible, he started to apologise, when Hermione shushed him with a finger to his lips.

“That is the most sensitive and romantic thing someone has ever said to me Harry.” She whispered, smiling softly.

Harry looked slightly confused. “Then why are you crying?” He asked.

“Because I’m so happy you feel that way Harry. I’ve been in love with you for so long, but thought you would never notice me beside the girls at Hogwarts. I’m too plain.”

Harry shook his head emphatically at this and said forcefully “That isn’t true ‘Mione. Not one of those girls can hold a candle to your beauty. Not only are you very beautiful on the outside, but you possess such warmth and compassion for others and an agile and intelligent mind that you have the complete package. I would never want anyone else.”

With these words Hermione flung her arms around Harry and buried her head in his chest, sobbing. Harry stroked her hair and soothed her, but feeling well pleased with himself that he had provoked such emotion. He took a couple of tissues from the box on his bedside cupboard and offered them to Hermione who took them, wiping her eyes and cheeks.

“Sorry for being such a sop.” She said with a hiccup “Bet you didn’t want someone like this for a girlfriend.”

He smiled and kissing her lightly, said “Well you have a bit of an emotional wreck on your hands too. Remember last year? I didn’t exactly win the prize for the calm, cool and collected wizard of the century did I?”

This got them both laughing. When they both quieted Harry asked a question that had been bothering him for the last half hour.

“’Mione, why did your parents allow us to be in here alone? Don’t they think I am going to ravish you and take away your innocence?”

Hermione smiled at this and answered him with a small kiss and a whispered “Who says I won’t take your innocence?”

Harry’s eyes widened in shock and Hermione was overcome with a fit of the giggles. Harry, realising she was teasing him launched into a furious tickle attack, leaving Hermione gasping for air after about five minutes. When she had recovered she again smiled and taking his hand said “They trust me Harry. It’s as simple as that. They know me and they know you from my description of you and some of the books I have given them to read and they trust you too. You have that way with people you know.”

Harry nodded, realising how he always seemed to be the natural leader of any group and his thoughts then went to the DA and how everyone were so willing to follow him into battle.

A short time later after being more thoroughly reacquainted with each other, Harry and Hermione were called down to dinner. Harry offered to help with setting the table, or cooking, but was forced to sit down at the dinner table by Ellen and Hermione, both saying that he was a guest and therefore not allowed to help. Harry knew better than to argue with Hermione when she had that look upon her face and by the way Ellen acted, he knew where Hermione got her stubborn streak from. A short time later Jim joined him and they began talking about the wizarding world and various other small matters. Before the girls could come out into the dining room, Harry cleared his throat and looking serious said to Jim.

“Jim, I need to express my gratitude for welcoming me into your home. I feel honoured that people, who have the barest notion of who I am, feel able to welcome me into their home.”

Jim looked surprised and pleased at Harry’s words and placing a hand on Harry’s shoulder, said “Harry, from what Hermione has said of you and the words you have just said, I know we made the right decision. You have helped Hermione in so many ways at Hogwarts, even in ways she probably doesn’t know. For this I am eternally grateful. More so that your relationship with her is becoming so much more.”

Harry nodded at this; a slight blush adorning his cheeks and said with his head bowed “Sir, I love her so much, I would do anything to protect her. I cherish her.”

Jim smiled and giving Harry’s shoulder a comforting squeeze, leaned back, saying “I know, son. I can see it in your eyes when you look at her. It’s the way I feel about Ellen.”

They were interrupted when the two ladies of the household came through the kitchen doors, carrying platters. Hermione laid the platter she was carrying gently on the table as not to spill it, she looked at Harry and smiled. He smiled back and gave her a wink that made her blush and smile ore widely. They all sat down to a dinner of roast chicken and cold salad. Harry managed to keep up his end of the conversation during the meal, although this was a new skill he had to develop quickly mostly being ignored at the Dursley’s made it often a pretty silent meal for Harry. He and Hermione brushed legs against each other throughout the meal and their feet intertwined in an intimate game of footsie. Ellen noted the teenager’s preoccupation from time to time and smiled knowingly at her husband, who rubbed his foot against her leg in response.

The two couples sat down in the living room, Jim and Ellen sitting on the lounge and Harry and Hermione sitting down in the love seat. Harry was getting used to holding hands in front of Hermione’s parents now and smiled and chatted with them while their meal settled. Hermione then went over to the television and opening an drawer, began rifling through video cassettes. After about five minutes she made an triumphant noise and, turning on the television, pushed the cassette in, pushed play and sat back down next to Harry with an impish grin on her face. Harry soon knew what she was up to as Latin music began playing and the title of The Mambo Kings came up on the screen. Harry chuckled and kissed Hermione’s cheek and she smiled back at him, squeezing his hand. Jim and Ellen watched this with slight confusion, but shrugged their collective shoulders and began paying attention to the movie.

Harry watching the movie began to remember the dreams he and Hermione had shared every night for the past few weeks and he began to notice how warm it was in the room. He placed his arm about Hermione’s waist and she snuggled into him, her eyes watching the movie, with intensity. All four people in the house were mesmerised by the movements of the actors in the movie and were captured in the passion that emanated throughout the movie. When at last it was over, Harry noticed that Jim and Ellen were flushed as much as he guessed he was and Hermione looked at him with an intensity that made little shivers race up and down his spine. Jim and Ellen rose from the lounge, arms about each other and kissed Hermione and wished Harry goodnight and went upstairs, ready for bed. Hermione pulled Harry to his feet and led him upstairs to a door across from his own, opened the door and led him inside.

He guessed from the colours, the presence of Crookshanks and the bookshelves that lined one wall, that this was Hermione’s room. He sat on the bed and watched as Hermione strode over to the stereo on her chest of drawers and selecting a cd, pushed some buttons and turned to Harry and smiled as a slow, Latin rhythm began to play. She motioned him to join her and he did so with a nervous look. He looked into her eyes and whispered “’Mione, I don’t know how to dance.”

She smiled at this and placing her hands around his neck, pressed her body against his and whispered in his ear “Then we’ll learn together, won’t we?”

He relaxed and wound his arms about her waist. Slowly as they moved, they began to find a rhythm between them that was almost natural. They swayed together, their bodies entwined, either of them not wanting the other to move away for the barest instant. Hermione looked up into his emerald eyes and smiled, her face tilting and moving towards his. He met her halfway and their lips met in a soft, slow and sensual kiss. They swayed together, bodies slowly grinding together, moving to the rhythms of the music, lost in their own world. After an hour, when Harry felt as if he was going to explode, he kissed Hermione and whispered “I had better go. I don’t want to take things too fast and if I don’t leave now, I can’t control myself.”

Hermione nodded, feeling both relieved and disappointed at the same time. She felt the same overwhelming urge that he did, but she didn’t want to ruin things by making that big step too soon. She moved into his arms and hugged him tight, whispering “I love you Harry.”

Harry smiled tenderly and whispered “Love you too ‘Mione.” Letting go of her slowly, he opened the door and, blowing her a kiss, went into his own room, closing her door behind him. Hermione lay back on her bed and smiled dreamily, remembering how it had been to really kiss and dance with him. It was better than the dreams, much better.

Harry closed his own door and went over to the window and opened it to let Hedwig inside. She fluttered over to her cage and hooted at him. He smiled and patted her head, saying “Yes girl, I’m a lot happier now. So much more happy.” He stripped off to his boxer shorts and pulling back the covers, climbed into bed. He cleared his mind of all thoughts as Snape had taught him and drifted away soon after, to a dreamless sleep.

He awoke sometime early in the morning to hear the sound of his door shutting quietly. Through the moonlight, he could see Hermione’s form silhouetted as she moved to his bed.

“Harry, are you awake?” She whispered nervously

“Yeah, what’s wrong ‘Mione?” He answered, leaning on his elbows.

“This is probably going to sound silly, but I missed you. Can I sleep with you?” She whispered tentatively. He smiled and moved over, drawing back the covers, so she could slide in beside him. He placed an arm around her and she snuggled into his chest, saying “That’s better. I’m so used to having you in my dreams, that I felt lost.” Harry smiled at this and kissed her forehead and whispered

“It’s not silly at all, love. Sweet dreams.” With those words they drifted away together.

Harry woke to find himself alone the next morning. He wondered at this for a moment, and then saw the note next to his glasses. Putting his glasses on, he read the note Hermione had quickly scribbled.

‘Harry,

You were sleeping so peacefully this morning that I didn’t want to wake you. The bathroom is the third door on the left. Come downstairs when you’re ready.

Love,

‘Mione’

He smiled as he read this, especially at the nickname he had started using for her. He got up and collecting his toiletries, went off to have a nice, hot shower.

Half and hour later, he walked into the dining room, wearing a tight white t-shirt and figure hugging jeans. Hermione took one look at his clothes and choked on her orange juice, spraying the table. Ellen turned around to see what caused such a reaction from her daughter and whistled appreciatively. Harry turned scarlet and Jim laughed good-naturedly, saying

“Sit down Harry, before these two maul you.”

Both Ellen and Hermione had the good grace to blush as Harry sat down next to Hermione and kissed her on the cheek whispering “Good morning.”

Hermione smiled, still recovering and whispered back in his ear “It is if you look that good every morning.”

Harry shrugged, embarrassed all over again and took some toast and began buttering it, his smile barely concealed.

Breakfast was a jolly affair and the Granger’s informed Harry that, unfortunately, they had to go into the office today, due to a back log of patients. Hermione smiled and said cheerily “That’s ok; I’ll show Harry around town.”

Harry smiled at her and they quickly finished breakfast and bade the Granger’s goodbye. When they were outside, Hermione smiled at him and grabbed his hand and kissed him soundly on the lips. He returned the kiss, and then breaking away, said

“So where to first Milady?”

Hermione giggled and answered “Well, I thought we would go to the local shopping centre. They have all sorts of shops there and I’m sure we’ll find something to interest us.”

Harry smiled and they walked side by side, chatting happily. He soon gathered that Hermione was anxiously awaiting their OWL results. Harry hadn’t even remembered about these and felt something drop in his stomach at the reminder. He felt his hand being squeezed and looked up, seeing Hermione watching him.

“You’ll do fine Harry. I’m sure of it.” She told him firmly.

Harry smiled and kissed her, then gestured ahead of him, and they continued, until they reached the shopping centre about twenty minutes later.

They walked around for most of the morning, admiring the different items for sale in the stores. Harry bought Hermione and himself ice creams and they sat, while eating their ice creams, staring into each other’s eyes and smiling. They were interrupted by a lady carrying a basket of roses.

“Rose for your love, sweetie?” She asked smiling at Harry and Hermione. Harry looked at the flowers and then at Hermione who smiled and nodded. He decided he was really going to surprise both women there and asked “How much for the whole basket?”

Hermione gasped and the rose seller smiled and quoted him a price. Harry handed over the money and she gave him the whole basket. He smiled and turned to Hermione and said as he presented them to her “Roses for you my dear, although they pale in comparison to you.”

Hermione didn’t know what to say, she was blushing slightly as she took the roses, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Harry gently brushed the tear away with his thumb and said quietly “I’m going to keep telling you these things until you believe me ‘Mione. There’s no one but you for me.”

Having finished the ice cream a while ago, Hermione carefully placed the basket on the table and flung her arms around Harry’s neck and kissed him soundly. “Your so sweet Mr Potter, has anyone ever told you?” She asked in a whisper as they broke apart.

“No one until now.” He answered, smiling.

“Well you are she said simply and picking up her basket of flowers and taking his hand, led him away upstairs.

They arrived at a shop that was called The Latin Way. Looking inside, Harry saw that it was a dance studio. He looked at Hermione with his eyebrow arched in question. She looked at him innocently for a moment, but she knew he could see straight through her. Finally she gave up and grinned at him, saying “When we first started dreaming I thought of this place. Mum showed it to me one time we were here and I decided that for your birthday present, we are going to learn to dance, like I said last night.”

Harry realised all of a sudden that he had been led here all along and he couldn’t help but chuckle at the realisation. He knew he couldn’t refuse her either as it was such a well thought out gift and his birthday was only a few days away after all. Smiling at each other, they walked into the dance studio and Hermione went over and talked with the dance instructor, a striking Spanish woman, who was thin and lithe, no doubt due to a lifetime of dance.

Both women approached Harry and the dance instructor, Alexis, as he found out later, circled him, appraising his physique.

“Hmm, well we have a lot to work with here. I can tell you are very fit and from what your girlfriend tells me, you both certainly have chemistry together.”

Harry blushed at the compliments and looked at the ground, not sure what to say. A hand gripped his arm and he looked up startled, to see Alexis smiling at him.

“Never be embarrassed of your natural gifts, or the love that you share with this beautiful young woman. I saw it from the moment you both walked in together, especially when you look at each other. Now I am going to teach you over the next three weeks until you have to go back to that school your girlfriend mentioned. I know already that you have rhythm, now it is time for you to learn to dance!”

She led Harry and Hermione inside her studio and over the next hour, she showed Harry and Hermione a few basic steps and then got them to try them together. They were a little awkward at first, trying to remember what Alexis had shown them. She then stopped them and said to both of them.

“Don’t look at your feet; look into each other’s eyes. There is your passion, your desire. Use it feel it flow through you.”

They both nodded and the music started again. This time they looked into each others eyes and the dance studio ceased to be, there was only each other. They moved together seamlessly, their feet following Alexis’s instructions unconsciously. Alexis smiled as she watched them, sure they did not even realise she was still there. She let them dance until the end of that song and clapped her hands loudly, bringing them out of their trance.

“Excellent! Excellent! That was a fine example of Latin dancing at its core. That will be the lesson for today. I shall see you tomorrow and don’t forget to practice.”

The couple nodded and smiled, their hands intertwined and thanking Alexis, they left for home.

A/N: Hi everyone. Thankyou for your reviews and understanding. I’m planning to have this story go onfor quite a long time and plan to have it go on throughout Harry’s sixth year. I’ll update as regularly as I can. Please keep reviewing guys as it motivates me to keep writing.

Harry woke up on the morning of his birthday with someone nibbling on his ear. Smiling, he opened his eyes to see Hermione grinning at him impishly as she then moved her lips to his in a long, slow, passionate kiss. He returned the kiss, lightly playing with her tongue with his own, and then slowly sucking on her lower lip. He knew that this drove her wild and couldn’t help but do it when he had the opportunity. Instead of backing away from him as she usually did though, she moaned and pressed her body hard against his. He could feel her breasts pushing against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her and slid his hands down to slide them up underneath her nightgown, running them up and down her naked back. She shivered in his arms and wrapped a leg around his and he took this as a sign that she was enjoying it. He slowly moved his left hand around and cupped her breast in his hand, squeezing softly. Hermione arched into his touch and he lightly ran a thumb over the hardened nipple that had been pressing into his palm. Her moan grew louder as she mashed her lips against his and he felt his own desire responding as Hermione’s hands ran up and down his muscular chest. Before he could do anything that he regretted however, he pulled away and chuckled, saying

“Well that was some wake up. I wish I had my birthday everyday!”

Hermione giggled, trying to catch her breath and hugged Harry tightly to her and whispered

“If you keep doing things like that to me, love, you’ll get a lot more than a wake up kiss.”

Harry shivered in delight at the thought, but reminded himself that now was not the time to tempt those ideas, as Hermione’s parents were sure to be up. He kissed Hermione softly and sat up, stretching. Hermione watched entranced as the muscles rippled beneath his skin, then glanced up and realised that she had been caught staring by the roguish grin on Harry’s face.

“Like what you see milady?” He asked an eyebrow arched.

Hermione blushed a little and said softly “Yes indeed my lord. Yes indeed.”

He smiled, swinging his legs out of the bed and sitting beside her. Taking her hand in his, he kissed her palm softly and whispered as he gazed into her eyes “Well milady, it is yours completely, especially this.” He took her hand and placed her hand against his chest, just above his heart. She smiled at this and standing, said “Well you had better get up; Mum and dad are waiting downstairs for you.” She leaned down and kissed him and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Harry grabbed his toiletries and proceeded to have a long cold shower, which was necessary after the morning’s activities.

Half an hour later, Harry walked into the kitchen and was shocked to find not only the Grangers there, but a huge pile of presents, waiting for him. Seeing Harry’s stupefied stare, Ellen commented “We found all of these on the doorstep this morning Harry. I am guessing they are from all of your friends.”

Harry could only nod at this comment, stunned and sat down in a chair and began to slowly unwrap his gifts. Ron sent him a box of chocolate frogs, with a card explaining that the twins had given him a part-time job in their new shop, so he was able to afford this for him. Harry smiled, realising how much better in mood Ron would be now that he had his own money. Hagrid had sent him a wood carved figurine of a hippogriff, who he instantly recognised as Buckbeak. He placed the carving on the table and Jim and Ellen exclaimed over it and watched amazed as it slowly unfolded its wings and flapped them briefly. Harry turned to the card Hagrid had sent and read that he had gotten Professor Dumbledore to enchant the figurine so that it moved. Harry smiled as he remembered how Hermione and he had flown on Buckbeak, saving Sirius from the Dementors kiss two years before.

Harry slowly waded through the presents, unwrapping an assortment of sweets from friends and members of the DA and interesting defence against the dark arts books from Moody, Tonks and Lupin. Finally, there were only two presents left. Ellen took the Large square package and gave it to Harry and said “Harry, though we have only known you for a few days, we felt we have known you for quite a lot longer. So happy birthday and we hope you like it.”

Tears filled Harry’s eyes as he took the present and a great feeling of warmth filled his heart. He had to clear his throat a couple of times to be able to speak when he then murmured his thanks. Slowly unwrapping the paper, He found a box containing a pair of Italian made leather shoes. He ran his hands over the leather and marvelled at how soft it was. Pulling off one of his own shoes, he put on one of the shoes and found to his surprise that it was a perfect fit. He stared at the Grangers, not sure what to say. Ellen resolved this quickly for him as she came over and hugged him tightly, saying “I hope you enjoy this birthday as much as possible, Harry. I doubt you have had much to celebrate in the past.” Jim joined his wife in the hug with Harry and after a moment, Hermione completed the circle of people with their arms around Harry. For the first time, he felt completely loved and completely part of a family. Eventually pulling back, he wiped his eyes on his arm and again thanked the Grangers, saying that he was so touched by the thoughtfulness. Jim and Ellen’s smiles widened and again they told him he was welcome.

Feeling Hermione’s hand on his shoulder, he turned to find her holding the last of his presents, a small box wrapped in silver paper with a gold bow. “I know that I’ve already given you a present Harry, but that was before you came to stay. I got this by owl order from Diagon Alley.”

Harry couldn’t help but grin at Hermione, at how generous she really was. She shyly handed him the box and he unwrapped it and slowly opened the lid. He gasped and looked up at Hermione stunned. Slowly, he took out the fine gold chain with the heart pendant with two diamonds and a line running diagonally through it, where it could be broken into two. The diamonds sat in the middle of either half, glittering brightly. If he thought that he couldn’t speak before, he now knew that he would have trouble speaking for the next week. He choked out a thankyou and putting down the box and the chain, took Hermione into his arms, kissing her and hugging her tightly, whispering how much he loved her. He didn’t realise that he was crying until he pulled away from Hermione and felt the wetness on his cheeks. He looked at Hermione and saw too that she was crying. Slowly, he took the pendant and broke it into two. He slid one half of the pendant off of the chain and was surprised to see the chain split and form into two chains, one for each half. He threaded the loose half through the new chain and slowly, he placed it around Hermione’s neck and, clasping the two halves of the chain together, whispered to her “Half for you, my love, though you have all of my heart and soul.” He kissed her softly and then turned around so Hermione could place the other chain around his neck. He tucked the heart into his shirt and realised that the light within the diamond was glowing brightly, rather than the glimmer he had seen before. He turned to Hermione and noticed too that the diamond in her half was glowing brightly as well. Seeing the question in his eyes, she said simply “The note with the heart said that when the two halves are split and given to two people who truly love each other, the diamonds glow and the light will never die so long as their love survives.”

Harry again felt his heart swell and he kissed Hermione deeply his arms wrapping around her waist. A few minutes passed, when he heard a light cough behind him. Realising that Jim and Ellen were in the room, he broke apart from Hermione, blushing scarlet, ready to apologise. He saw, however, that they were both grinning and he relaxed, smiling, holding Hermione’s hand in his. Their fingers intertwined and he softly squeezed her hand and she squeezed back, smiling at him with adoration in her eyes.

Once they had cleared away the wrapping paper and Harry had taken his presents upstairs to his room, they all sat down to a late breakfast. Being a Saturday, the Grangers did not have to go to work today and they informed him that they were taking himself and Hermione out for the day. He tried to feebly protest, knowing that it was probably no good, and gave up pretty much straight away when he was given that look he associated with Hermione. Smiling in triumph, she rose and with Hermione’s help, cleared the table. Once they had both left the room, Harry eyed Jim and they both suddenly burst into laughter. Jim was the first to get control of himself and he said with a wide grin “I see that you are a fast learner. You have already noticed the stubborn streak associated with both of the women in my life and have also realised the futility of arguing once they make up their minds. Took me a while to work it out.”

Harry chuckled again and said “Yeah, I figured it out about halfway through first year that Hermione wasn’t a person to mess with. I’m just glad she’s on my side!”

They both chuckled again and Jim, looking serious said to Harry “You are a fine young man and I am glad that Hermione has chosen to be with you. I know that I can’t control the direction in which you both decide to go, but I just hope that you treat her the way she deserves to be. I can tell from the way you look at her that you know what I mean.”

Harry nodded respectfully and said “Yes sir, I certainly know what you mean. I love your daughter with everything inside of me and while I won’t promise you that nothing will happen, know that I would never hurt your daughter, not for anything in this world.”

Jim nodded, pleased with this response. He truly knew that Harry loved Hermione and he knew that his daughter felt the same. He just hoped that things worked out for them.

Harry thoroughly enjoyed himself on his birthday. The Grangers took him to a wildlife park, where he was enthralled by the different wild animals. Hermione enjoyed herself as well, watching Harry’s face as he watched a herd of wild Zebras grazing the grass. He looked so relaxed and happy. She was so glad that she and her family were responsible for this and was determined to give him as much happiness as possible, no matter what happened. She hadn’t approached the subject of Sirius or Voldemort, but she knew it was just a matter of time before reality came back with crushing force. She would be there for him though, as much as he needed her to be.

They had lunch at the wildlife park and then drove to a cinema where they watched a romantic comedy, all four of them enjoying the movie thoroughly. They then made their way to a local Italian restaurant where the Granger’s often went and sat through the night, eating drinking and enjoying each other’s company. Just as they were finishing their dessert, an Italian band set up and began playing love songs. Harry stood and bowing, offered his hand to Hermione and asked “May I have the pleasure of this dance Miss Granger?”

Hermione smiled and taking Harry’s hand rose and walked with him to the dance floor. They took each other in their arms and danced slowly to the music, gazing deep into each other’s eyes. Jim and Ellen watched this with small smiles upon their lips. They glanced at each other and Ellen laid her head upon her husband’s shoulder and whispered “Our baby girl is so much in love, Jim. What a man she has chosen, I don’t think I could have chosen better.”

Jim smiled and kissed his wife’s forehead and answered “No, I don’t think we could have. I think she is in safe hands.”

An hour or so later, they all departed and drove back to the Granger’s house. Jim and Ellen said their goodnights and headed upstairs and Harry and Hermione headed into the lounge room and settled into the lounge, their arms about each other.

“Did you enjoy your birthday Mr Potter?” Hermione asked with a smile.

“Yes, most certainly I did Miss Granger.” He answered. “Most of all I enjoyed it though because I was with you.”

Hermione smiled at these words and leaned up to kiss Harry. His lips met hers and they sat there, not moving, just enjoying the feel of their lips on each others and their tongues intertwining. Finally, they broke apart and rested their foreheads together, looking into each other’s eyes. “I want you to be with me forever.” Whispered Harry, not taking his eyes from Hermione’s.

“As do I, love.” She responded, kissing him once more. They rose together and headed upstairs. Hermione disappeared into her room, but a few minutes later walked into Harry’s room, having changed into her night clothes and slid between the sheets, watching Harry as he stripped down to his boxers. She again marvelled at how this kind, considerate, beautiful man had chosen her. He smiled at her as he slid into bed beside her and took her into his arms. “Sickle for your thoughts?” He asked.

Hermione gazed into his emerald eyes and whispered “Just thinking how lucky I am to have you in my life and beside me here.”

Harry kissed her tenderly and said softly “I am the one whose lucky, ‘Mione. I thank whoever is out there for the day that you came into my life, looking for Neville’s lost toad.”

Hermione giggled softly and snuggled into Harry’s chest. They fell asleep, their thoughts centred on each other as they drifted away.

Hermione woke up in the middle of the night to loud moans coming from Harry. She lit the bedside lamp and looking at Harry, realised he was in the throes of one of his nightmares.

“No!” He whimpered, “He can’t be gone, he’s just behind the veil, he can come back! He can come back!”

She realised with dawning horror that Harry was dreaming of Sirius. She softly began to stroke Harry’s hair. He stiffened at her touch, but relaxed when she whispered “It’s alright Harry, I’m here.”

“’Mione.” He whispered, still asleep and hugged her to him tightly, as if he was afraid he would never see her again, “You’re safe?”

“Yes Harry,” She responded “I’m with you. I’m safe.” He relaxed at these words, but kept hold of her, but she didn’t mind. After a few more moments, they both drifted into dreamless sleep once more.

Hermione woke the next morning to find that Harry was already up. She saw the note on the bedside table, just as she had done that first time and she smiled, opening the letter.

‘Mione,

I remember my dreams from last night and I remember you comforting me, whether that was dream or not, I thank you. You’re my only comfort, but you don’t know the whole story. Meet me out the back, I’ll be waiting.

Love,

Harry.’

Hermione quickly dressed and went downstairs and out into the backyard. Harry stood there, leaning against a retaining wall, watching the sun rise. She walked behind him and wrapped her arms about his waist, resting her head against his back. He placed his hands upon hers and squeezed softly, then began to talk.

“’Mione, I miss him so much, I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have you to pull me out of my misery. I felt so completely numb, so lost. I lost the only one I ever considered a parent and I never had that much time with him to begin with. I keep losing the people I care about. Slowly one by one they are taken away from me and its all his fault.”

Hermione didn’t know what to say. She knew that sooner or later he would open up about Sirius, but had no idea the extent of the pain that was stored inside his heart. She could literally feel the pain coming off of him in waves as he talked about Sirius. She hugged him a little tighter, urging him to go on. After a moment, he did.

“After Dolohov attacked you, I went into a complete panic. I didn’t know if you were alive or dead. If Neville hadn’t found your pulse, I probably would have gone to pieces then and there. As it was, he did and I got myself calm. Death eaters then rushed into the room and I left Neville to look after you and ran off, hoping to lead them away from you. It worked, as they all followed me. I knew I could not defend myself against them, but I had that damned prophecy in my hands still, so they couldn’t touch me. Then Neville came in, so they used the cruciatus curse on him.”

Hermione gasped at this revelation. Neville hadn’t spoken of it while she and Ron were recovering in the hospital, but she suddenly found new respect for their friend. Harry continued;

“Just as I was about to give it to them to save Neville, the Order came to the rescue. They were all duelling with the death eaters and I was trying to get Neville out of the chamber, when we were attacked. In the confusion, the prophecy got smashed. I then saw Sirius and Bellatrix Lestrange duelling on the dais and I saw him duck a curse she had thrown at him. He was laughing and jeering at her. He didn’t move in time when she threw the next one though. I remember the look of surprise on his face and the way that his back arched as he fell backwards. I went to race down there, but Lupin stopped me. He knew, you see, before I did. He tried to tell me, but I couldn’t accept it. I just kept calling his name out, getting angry with him for not responding, not understanding. Then I knew. It hit me like a sledgehammer and the pain tore through me. Dumbledore then appeared and the Death eater’s panicked. He didn’t capture Bellatrix though; she escaped before he could hex her. I chased after her, I wanted to make her suffer as much as she had made me, and I wanted to inflict so much pain on her, that when I finally found her, I performed the cruciatus curse on her.”

Hermione was in shock. She didn’t know which terrified her more, the fact that she could have lost Harry so many times that night, after she had been rendered unconscious, or that he risked it all to chase down the murderer of his godfather. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she hugged Harry, but she knew there was more, she could feel it.

Harry stood there for a moment, thinking about his memories, and then said “I was hiding behind that statue in the entrance hall of the Ministry, when Voldemort appeared. He tried to finish me off then and there, but Dumbledore came up after us and duelled with him. He then possessed me, but couldn’t stand my feeling for Sirius, love. He can’t stand love, that’s what Dumbledore told me in his office after it had all happened. He also told me the prophecy ‘Mione”

For the first time, she felt she could speak. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Hermione turned Harry around and found that he too was crying. Taking his hands in hers, she asked, looking into his eyes “What did it say, Harry?”

Looking back, He said as if from memory;

“The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches

Born to those who have thrice defied him

Born as the seventh month dies

And the dark lord will mark him as his equal

But he will have power the dark lord knows not

And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives

The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies.”

Hermione hugged Harry tight to her as the full import of what he said hit her. Either Harry or Voldemort. She had always vaguely known that something like this may eventually happen, but to have it spoken in a prophecy, made it so much more final and terrifying. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing Harry, now that they had found each other. She broke away from him and taking his hands again, looked into his eyes and said “You will win Harry. I know it and I’ll be there beside you, no matter what. I don’t want to lose you now that I have you.”

Harry broke down at these words and hugged Hermione to him once more and answered, his voice breaking “I don’t want to lose you either ‘Mione. I love you.”

They stood there, hugging and crying for a long-time, their hearts and souls melding as all secrets, hidden before, were now shared and they were now so much stronger for it, together.

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 31^st 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 1^st 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.

A/N: Once again, thanks for the reviews and kind words. I’ll keep writing as long as people like the story. Hope you like this one.

When morning came, the sunlight glimmered through the window and lay across the bed. Harry felt the light and warmth across his face and opened his eyes with a smile. The reason for his smile was lying in his arms, still fast asleep, snuggled into his chest. He lay there for a while, just looking at her, watching the way her chest rose and fell with each breath and the look of utter contentment upon her face. He leaned down slightly and began to lightly nibble her ear. After a moment, he felt her move slightly and he felt her arm wind around his back, holding him where he was. He took this encouragement on-board and proceeded to lick and suck on her earlobe, nibbling lightly. She moaned softly and he drew back and smiled, looking into her soft brown eyes.

“Good morning, love.” He murmured softly, kissing her lips softly.

She smiled in return and snuggled closer to him, whispering “Any morning that I wake in your arms is good, love.”

They kissed softly, slowly exploring each other’s mouths and feeding off of each other’s passion. As their desire rose, Harry moved from her lips, down to her neck, and began to lick, suck and nibble on the delicate places he had found the night before. With a soft sigh and a low moan, Hermione lifted her chin, granting him full access to her neck, wrapping her hands about his back, loving the feel of their naked torsos pressed against each other. Slowly, Harry moved down and took one of her nipples into his mouth, savouring how it puckered up and became a tight little bud through his ministrations. Hermione moaned deep in the back of her throat and gently cupped his head, keeping his head pressed to her breast. She began to squirm again as the warmth inside her panties began again and she could feel herself growing damp. She ran her hands down Harry’s muscular back, marvelling how the muscles flexed and relax beneath her hands. Harry positioned himself between Hermione’s legs and she willingly opened her legs further to allow him enough room, trusting him implicitly.

Harry’s mind was on fire by this point. His excitement was evident as it pressed against Hermione’s upper thigh. He adjusted himself so he lay pressed against her warmth and rocked gently forward, the friction sending delightful spasms through his groin and up his spine. Hermione felt a shiver and delight shoot through her loins and throughout her body at the delicious pressure and friction that Harry’s rocking was causing. Her breath became erratic and she guided Harry’s lips back up to her own and kissed him passionately, releasing his face, her hands then slid down his back and grabbed his butt and squeezing it and feeling how muscular it was, pulled him tighter against her and ground herself up against him. Harry gasped at this new sensation and new he wouldn’t last long and from the moans that Hermione was making as he kissed her, she wasn’t either. He began rocking faster and grinding his hips harder into her as his feelings and impending orgasm overcame him. Hermione gasped and began to moan loudly into Harry’s mouth as her climax reached her and pulled her down into a blissful darkness. She raked her nails up Harry’s back as she came, almost screaming into his mouth as her release crested and began to ebb. The feeling of Hermione’s nails was too much for Harry’s overtaxed system and with one final grind and moan; he spent himself and lay against Hermione, gasping for breath, still giving Hermione little kisses as he came back to earth. Looking into her eyes, he grinned and said

“Good morning, love.”

Hermione wrapped her arms about him and hugged him tightly and replied with a giggle “Morning, love.”

They both rose and Hermione took the first shower and Harry sat on the edge of his bed, thinking about how great last night and this morning had been. He took out his photo album from his trunk and flipped through it until he came to the photo of his mother, father and Sirius at his parent’s wedding. He smiled, looking at them and wished they could have met Hermione. Well, he thought, Sirius at least had, but not as Harry’s girlfriend. He thought his mother and father would both approve of her and hoped wherever they were, that they were watching over him and Hermione and give them their blessing.

When Harry came down to breakfast, there was no sign of Hedwig, or any mail from Hogwarts about his and Hermione’s plan. He decided that he was best not worrying about it at the moment, because he was sure that Hermione would be a fabulous tutor, especially since she kept all of her notes from every subject and they were very thorough, from the times he had had to borrow them during a study period. He stretched his arms over his head and winced at the slight stiffness he felt in his muscles. What he needed was a good workout. Hermione then came into the room and gave him a good morning kiss as if they had not spent the night and morning doing interesting things to each other. As he buttered some toast, he suggested that they go to the pool, as he was in need of some exercise. Hermione agreed eagerly, thinking that she would love to see Harry in only swimming trunks. Although she had seen him in much less just recently, watching him scantily clad in public and knowing that he was all hers still gave her a thrill. As soon as they finished eating, they both went upstairs and prepared to go. They packed all of their things into a small carry bag, which Harry took, and headed out the door.

The pool was only a quarter of an hour away from the house, so they walked there and chatted happily about how cool the lake at Hogwarts would be now and laughed about the challenge in the Tri-Wizard tournament when Harry had tried to save Ron, Hermione, Fleur’s sister and Cho Chang. Harry was still a little embarrassed about thinking that Dumbledore would allow anyone to be injured in the task, but was quite happy when Hermione took his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder, saying “Your always my hero, Harry. Even when Victor saved me in the lake, I knew that you would if he failed.”

Harry was touched by how much faith she had in him, but then realised that throughout most of their school career, one way or another he had saved her, whether it be from marauding trolls, or a too full schedule.

They arrived at the pool and saw to their delight that there weren’t a great amount of people there. Harry took their towels out of the bag and laid them flat on the ground and anchored them with the sun tan lotion and their drink bottles. He then stripped down to his swimming trunks; a pair of red briefs with a gold stripe and a lion on the backside. He heard an appreciative whistle from behind and whirled around to see Hermione grinning at him, her eyebrows wiggling mischievously.

“Nice lion.” She commented and he had to grin back. He heard some more whistles and looked over to see some girls lying on the other side of the pool, watching his physique with lustful looks in their eyes. Hermione noticed this too and walked up to Harry and gave him a passionate kiss, letting the girls know who he belonged to. Harry couldn’t help but chuckle and said “Little jealous ‘Mione?”

Hermione smiled back and leant forward, whispering in Harry’s ear “Not at all, love. Just marking my territory.” With those words, she began to strip down to her bikini. Harry’s eyes bulged out of his head when he saw her suit, what there was of it anyhow. The thin straps of the bikini top met with a small strip of material that barely covered her nipples, but left quite a lot of cleavage to tease him. The bikini bottom barely was modest and only just covered her most intimate parts. Taking a look at Hermione he leaned forward and whispered “Well compared to you baby, there is nothing or no one that matches up.”

Hermione smiled and blushed at this compliment and linking hands with Harry, led him to the pool.

They swam and splashed for a while, revelling in the cool water. Harry dove under the water and swam between Hermione’s legs and pinched her bottom as he went through, making her jump and giggle. He then came up behind her and wrapping his arms about her waist he leaned down and ran his lips along her neck. She tilted her head appreciatively to the side, allowing him more access to her neck, holding onto his hands tightly. He nibbled lightly on the skin at the join between her neck and collarbone and heard a light moan come from her lips. She turned around and kissed him deeply, wrapping her arms about his neck, oblivious to the stares they were attracting from the rest of the people who were at the pool. Harry responded with his own passion in turn, but broke away and murmured, gasping “’Mione, we better stop. We are in public you know.”

Hermione became aware of the silence surrounding them and glancing around, realised that everyone was staring at them. “Well we better go home then and continue, don’t you think?” She said in a low sultry tone, making Harry’s back erupt in gooseflesh. He had never heard Hermione like this before and found all of a sudden that he was just as eager as Hermione to leave. They quickly gathered their things and pulled on their t-shirts and shorts over their costumes and left.

The trip back from the pool took a lot longer, due to the fact that every few minutes, they had to stop and kiss each other passionately. They were both flying out of control and they both knew it. They even got told off by an old lady who was walking her dog, saying that they should take it inside if they couldn’t control themselves. They couldn’t agree more happily with this observation and practically ran the rest of the way home. When they were inside, Hermione took Harry’s hand and led him upstairs to her room. As soon as they were inside the room, Harry pinned Hermione against the door, kissing her mouth with such passion that her legs buckled and she would have slid to the floor if Harry had not been here to hold her up. He pulled her t-shirt up and over her head and untied her bikini top and kissed, licked and nibbled his way down to her nipples. Hermione’s hands ran through Harry’s hair and she moaned and whimpered at Harry’s ministrations. She felt his fingers sliding between her shorts and her bikini bottoms and her shorts then slid to the floor and she stepped out of them and kicked them over to the corner of the room. Harry then lifted her in his arms and carried her over to the bed and laid her gently down. He continued his ministrations on her breasts and Hermione felt as if she was on fire. Harry slid his hand down and began to rub Hermione between her legs, causing her to jerk her hips and moan loudly. Harry couldn’t bear it any more and took hold of the waist of the bikini bottoms and slowly slid them off of her legs, revealing her fully to him. Hermione felt suddenly self conscious and covered herself, blushing slightly. Harry just looked at her, his eyes meeting hers and she slowly moved her hands away, but said “Harry, I want you inside me so badly, but we can’t. I don’t want to get pregnant and the spell I need to do I can only do when we go back to school, because of the underage magic laws. We can do other things, however.”

He smiled and nodded his understanding and slowly began to kiss up her leg. She shivered at the touch of his lips on her skin and her legs opened willingly, urging him forward. He complied kissing up her inner thigh, but skirting around her lips, not touching them, but laying kisses all around. Hermione moaned in frustration. She had never let anyone touch her there before, except for Harry and now she wanted his lips so badly and his tongue, oh yes his tongue. Finally, not being able to take it anymore, she took his head in her hands and guided him to her apex, moaning with delight when he ran his tongue up and down, causing all sorts of erotic feelings to course through her body. He tasted her and knew he would never get enough of her; he suckled on her, eliciting gasps and whimpers from Hermione, her hands clinging desperately to the back of his head, urging his tongue deeper into her recesses. He complied flicking his tongue in and out of her and plunging it in as deeply as possible inside of her. She could feel his tongue inside of her and wanted so much more, but knew that she couldn’t and wouldn’t and trusted Harry not to push it too far either. He then moved his tongue up and found her button. He licked around and felt her hips shudder and jerk beneath him and he heard her moan his name. He thought he could hear her moan his name like that forever and decided that he did indeed enjoy this immensely. He then placed his lips about her and began to lightly suck, waiting to see what her reaction would be. Her hips arched up off of the bed unconsciously as she shrieked, her orgasm surprising and overwhelming her. Harry clung onto her, keeping his lips in touch with her and continued to suck and tongue her. She cried out again and again as orgasm after orgasm slammed through her. Finally, she collapsed back onto the bed, her body quaking and shivering with the after effects of so much pleasure.

Harry slid up the bed and cuddled next to her and kissed her. She could taste herself on Harry’s lips and didn’t mind that much after what had just happened. She wrapped her arms about him and managed to stutter out “That was amazing, love. Amazing!”

Harry chuckled softly and kissed her forehead, saying “Glad you enjoyed it love. It was the first time I had done something like that. I just wanted to make sure I did a good job.”

Hermione stared at him, her mouth open, realising that what he said was true. “Well,” She said with a shaky laugh, “If that was your first attempt, I can’t wait until you get really good at it!”

Harry laughed softly and kissed her again, relaxing on the bed. Hermione sat up suddenly, realisation dawning on her face and she stared at him, saying “Harry, I’m so sorry; I completely forgot that I haven’t done anything for you!”

Harry shook his head, about to say that he didn’t need anything, just her reaction to his ministrations was enough for him, when she placed a finger on his lips, silencing him.

“I want to do this for you, Harry.” She whispered and kissed him soundly, seating herself on his hips. She kissed his neck and sucked on his earlobe and he moaned and ran his fingers up and down her back, making her shiver. She sat him up, pulling his t-shirt over his head and then forced him to lay back down, then moved further down his body, stopping to lightly bite his nipples, causing him to moan loudly in surprise. She then kissed lightly down his stomach and her hands slowly pulled his shorts down, taking his swimming briefs with them. He expected her to take him in her hand again, but was surprised when he felt a soft, wet warmth engulf him. His eyes flew open at the sensation and he looked down, to see Hermione lightly sucking on him, her head bobbing slightly. The sight itself was enough to make him climax, but he fought it desperately, wanting the feeling to last for so long. She could feel him tense, trying to fight it and she let him out of her mouth and whispered, “Harry I want you to enjoy yourself.”

He nodded and she went down on him again, marvelling at the softness of the skin against her tongue, and how something so soft on the outside, could feel so hard beneath her hand. She couldn’t wait until they could make love. She wanted it so desperately that she ached. She bit him lightly, making him jerk beneath her and moan loudly. Harry couldn’t stop it now if he wanted to. With as much will as he could muster, he forced himself to say “’Mione, I’m cumming!”

Hermione quickly withdrew from around him and quickly ran her hand up and down him, watching as his body arced and his climax overwhelmed him. When he was done, she lay beside him and kissed him, saying “That was my thankyou present.”

Harry laughed softly, still struggling to catch his breath and nodded, saying “That was amazing ‘Mione. You made me feel so wonderful.”

Hermione smiled at this and said softly “Only as good as you made me feel, love.”

He looked down at himself and sniggered, saying “I’m a mess, need to go and clean myself up.”

Hermione giggled and said in answer “Yes, I think we both need to. Come on.”

Taking his hand in hers, she led him to the bathroom, where they showered together, washing each other, enjoying each others bodies and kissing all the while.

After they had finished their shower, they walked downstairs to find something to eat. Harry noticed Hedwig first and rushed to open the window, letting her swoop in and walked over, releasing the letter tied to her leg and sliding a bowl of water next to her that Hermione had filled. He sat down and ripped open the letter, eager to see what it said.

‘Dear Mr Potter,

In answer to your letter yesterday, I have consulted with Professor Vector and Professor Dumbledore. They both feel that while it may be somewhat of a challenge to you to take on basically two new subjects this year, due to you having to study the last three years worth of theory as well as the NEWT theory as well, they feel confident in yours and Miss Granger’s abilities to be up to the challenge. Please therefore accept my congratulations on an excellent choice for your subjects for the next two years and we look forward to seeing both of you on the 1^st of September.

Professor McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress.’

Harry had a huge grin on his face and Hermione squealed with delight after taking the letter from him and reading through it. She took Harry’s hand and ran back upstairs with him, forgetting her hunger for the moment and rummaged through her trunk, taking out the last three years of notes on arithmency and a brand new study planner. Leading Harry back downstairs to the kitchen she began to talk excitedly about how they could schedule their time so he got the maximum benefit from their time. Harry grinned, seeing Hermione so excited and full of energy and she stopped glaring at him

“Harry James Potter, why are you laughing?
”

He grinned still and taking her hand, kissed it saying “Seeing you so excited about teaching me and making all of these plans, just to help me. It’s very endearing.”

She smiled as well and leaned down, kissing him lightly on the lips and then sat across from him, taking the study planner and began to make notes on it, while talking to Harry about the structure of their study sessions. It worked out that they would study in three hour blocks, with a one hour break in between, and on weekends they would then review what they had gone through during the week and Hermione would devise little quizzes to check that Harry’s understanding was sound. They also decided that they would start this study plan in two days time as they needed to go to Diagon Alley to get their new books and Harry needed to get his own books to catch up as well.

Hermione was ecstatic for the rest of the day and almost squealed with delight when she told her parents the good news. Jim and Ellen had the wisdom to keep a straight face until she left the room to add additions to the study planner, then broke up. Glancing at Harry, they wished him luck in his endeavours and thought that he had chosen wisely with Hermione as a tutor, especially as she was so excited about it. Harry couldn’t agree more and they all enjoyed a festive night of food, wine and music.

A/N: Hi all. Thank you once more for the great reviews. I really enjoy reading them and they spur me on to write more as I have said before. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

The day came when Harry and Hermione had to go to Diagon Alley for their school supplies. They had arranged with Ron by owl that they would meet up with him later that afternoon, when he finished his shift at WWW. They decided that they would go a little earlier, just to spend some quality time together. They arrived at the Leaky Cauldron at about ten AM, being dropped off by Hermione’s mother, who agreed that she would pick them up at about eight o’clock that night, as Harry and Hermione would have dinner together at a restaurant that Harry had piked and not told Hermione about, although she had tried every method of getting the information out of him.

Harry walked with Hermione through the Leaky Cauldron and knew that most of their fellow students would be in Diagon Alley today and knew that this was the first time that most of them would find out about him and Hermione. He really hoped that nothing unpleasant would happen, but he was prepared just in case. He knew that Slitherins were likely to be there a much as the others were, so before leaving that morning, he had borrowed a roll of tape and wrapped together about a dozen sickles, side by side forming a silver bar about the width of his hand. He knew he couldn’t do magic and had learnt this particular art from his cousin, who he had overheard talking to his friends in his room this summer. He knew that if he hit someone with it in his hand, that they would indeed be sorry. However, at the moment he was concentrating on having a good time with his girlfriend. He tapped the third brick on the wall and the gateway formed before them and they walked through.

They saw quickly that they were right. The street was more crowded than usual and they could see familiar faces moving through the crowd that they remembered from Hogwarts. Seeing how thick the crowd was, Harry let go of Hermione’s hand and wrapped his arm protectively around her shoulders, drawing her nearer to him as he began to pick his way through the crowd. Hermione looked up at him, grateful for his protection as she was often terrified of being in a large crowd as she often got pushed around and constantly bumped. It seemed though; being with the boy who lived had its advantages in that respect as well, as people seemed to part, letting them through as they saw who it was and the whispers started as they saw who he had his arm around. Hermione again saw the different looks on peoples faces; shock that they were a couple, smugness as if some people knew it would eventually happen, prompting Hermione again to wonder how long her feelings for Harry had been apparent and last of all looks of jealousy, particularly from a lot of girls, as they saw Harry’s arm about her shoulder. He gave her shoulder a light squeeze and looking over to him, she saw him grin and whisper “Seems we’ve attracted a few looks, love.”

She giggled and nodded murmuring so that only Harry could hear her “Yeah, I notice a lot of the girls have developed a sudden envy of me.”

Harry looked to where she was indicating and smirked at the looks on the girl’s faces. He had heard the term ‘The Green Eyed Monster’ before, but this was his first view of it and he was quite surprised at how many girls were jealous of Hermione. Sensing his consternation at the looks, Hermione lightly dug her elbow in his ribs and said with a smirk “Didn’t you know Harry that you were voted last year Hogwart’s most eligible bachelor? It was written in every girl’s toilet throughout the school. I’m sure that it would have leaked over to the boys.”

Harry just shook his head, stunned at the idea that he was on a list in the girl’s toilets of all places. He quickly wove his way through the crowd and entered a building that didn’t look as if it had been washed in 200 years. He climbed the stairs, his arm now about Hermione’s waist, now that they were out of the crowd. They walked through a dimly lit passageway and Harry opened the door at the end for Hermione, ushering her through. Hermione gasped as she saw the room before her. The ceiling of the room had been bewitched much like the ceiling at Hogwarts, displaying the clear blue sky outside. The supports for the ceiling had been transfigured into tropical trees, adorned with ferns and orchids. Brightly coloured parrots nestled amongst the trees, chattering and giving the restaurant a very warm and friendly appeal to it. The ferns and plants were arranged in such a way as to shield each table from the others, allowing complete privacy.

The head waiter came over to them and recognising Harry, bowed and said deferentially “Ah, Mr Potter, it is a pleasure to meet you at last. The preparations have been made as you wished. Please follow me.” With these words, he led them through the tables and finally to a corner table surrounded by palms and ferns, candles adorned the walls and table, making the atmosphere very secluded and intimate. Harry pulled out Hermione’s chair and she smiled at him, touched by the lengths he had gone to and sat down, giggling slightly when he pushed it in a little for her. He then moved around the table and sat directly opposite to her and smiled his lop-sided grin, the one that made her melt on the spot. After a moment of gazing into his beautiful emerald eyes, she leaned over and asked “So, what’s the special occasion?”

Harry smiled a wide smile and taking her hand in both of his, he lightly massaged the top of it and said “Well, I don’t really need an excuse for taking my beautiful girlfriend out to lunch, but if you need a reason, I guess this is the first time that we have really announced to the whole school that we are a couple. I’m so glad that we are together ‘Mione that I feel every day is worth celebrating. I guess you know the depth of my feeling for you; after all I have spent the last four or five weeks showing you through one way or another. I just want you to know that you are the most special person in my life. I never want to be without you, never.”

Hermione’s eyes filled with tears at the level of feeling that was in those words. She leaned over the table and taking her hand from his, took his face in her hands and kissed him softly and slowly, their tongues meeting briefly before they parted and sat back in their seats. Tears still rolled down Hermione’s cheeks as she whispered “I never want to be without you either Harry. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I can barely stand the thought of being alone at night without you while we are in school.”

Harry frowned, nodding, as this too had been a concern for him, but brightened, smiling and said “Well, let’s enjoy ourselves and live in the moment. We love each other and it’s a beautiful day to be in love with a beautiful woman.”

He picked up his menu from the table and began to peruse it and said to Hermione, indicating her own menu “Choose anything you like, love. Anything at all.”

She smiled and began to peruse through the menu, but eventually decided on a seafood curry, while Harry chose steak and kidney pie and they both ordered iced tea to drink. They ate in companionable silence, often gazing at each other with love in their eyes. When they had finished their meal, the waiter returned to take their plates and Harry ordered a chocolate mousse for dessert, two spoons and a bowl of strawberries. Hermione smiled at this and enjoyed the thought of sharing a dessert with Harry.

When the dessert arrived, Hermione eagerly reached for a spoon, to taste the dark rich mousse, but Harry stopped her hand shaking his head slowly. Hermione frowned, confused. Harry smiled at her and taking the spoon she was reaching for, dipped it into the mousse and slowly extended it towards her a questioning look on his face. Comprehension dawned on Hermione’s face and a light blush coloured her cheeks as she nodded in assent to his silent question and opened her mouth. Harry gently passed the spoon between her lips and she closed her mouth, taking the mousse and tasting it, the look of pleasure on her face evident that the mousse was very good. Harry then took a strawberry between his fingers and dipped it into the mousse covering three quarters of it and gently placed it on her tongue. Hermione couldn’t help but moan at the feelings that were coursing through her. She felt so alive and so loved by this simple action that Harry was doing, feeding her. She noticed that he had gotten some mousse on his fingers and she reached out and took his wrist in her hand and slowly and deliberately, looking Harry in the eyes, sucked the mousse off of each individual finger, slowly licking her tongue across the pad of each as she was finished. Harry gulped and noticed how warm it was in the restaurant all of a sudden. He moved his chair so that he was closer to her and leaning forward kissed Hermione deeply, tasting the mousse and Hermione’s own distinctive taste. Hermione responded kissing him back with passion, her hand lightly resting against his cheek. They broke apart and smiled into each other’s eyes. They continued taking turns in feeding each other until the strawberries and mousse was gone. They then made their way out of the restaurant; Harry paying and thanking the head waiter. The waiter bowed and smiled, saying “I am pleased that we met with your satisfaction, Mr Potter. Please come again, anytime.” Harry thanked him once more and walked with Hermione, hand in hand, back out to Diagon Alley.

They arrived at WWW just as Ron was coming out. He greeted them both with hugs and all three of them headed off to do their shopping. All three of them needed new robes, so they stopped off at Madame Malkins first, then headed over to the owl emporium to buy Hedwig and Pig more owl treats. Hermione also bought Crookshanks a toy mouse that scuttled around realistically when a cat was near it. Harry thought that Crookshanks would enjoy that toy very much, remembering third year and the way he had pounced after Scabbers, although they had found out later, and the real reason.

Their last stop was Flourish and Blotts, as they figured it would have the heaviest items that they were to buy. They purchased their books for sixth year and Harry also purchased an extra few books on arithmency and defence against the dark arts, to do a bit of back up learning. Ron jokingly commented that hanging around with Hermione must have rubbed off on Harry and received a punch in the arm for his trouble, Hermione glaring at him in mock hurt. They were coming out of the shop when a familiar cold, drawling voice said “So is it true Potter? Have you finally stooped lower than I thought you could and taken up with a mud blood?”

Harry whirled around and came face to face with Drako Malfoy. He looked a little more dishevelled than usual, Harry noticed, his hair not as clean as usual an faint stains on his robes, where before they were immaculate.

“Malfoy,” Harry said, his teeth gritted and his eyes slitted, “Had a fun summer? Visited your dad much? Do they allow visits to Azkabaan? Or perhaps you can’t go there and get a kiss from daddy; perhaps the Dementors can give him one for you though?”

He turned back around and set of with Ron and Hermione, surreptitiously moving all of his bags into one hand and sticking his other into his pocket, gripping the roll of coins. Sure enough, he had only gone a couple of paces, when he felt Malfoy’s hand on his shoulder and a cold voice in his ear, saying “He’ll get out soon though, Potter, him and the others. They’ll come after you and your mud blood girlfriend and finish you both off just like your mother and father.” Harry didn’t wait to hear whether Drako had anymore to say, he whirled around, his fist coming out of his pocket and swinging where he heard Malfoy’s voice coming from. There was a sickening crunch as his fist met with Drako’s jaw and a howl of pain from Drako, He saw Drako’s eyes roll up into the back of his head and he smiled to himself, pocketing the sickles once more and taking Hermione’s hand in his, led his quite stunned girlfriend and equally stunned best mate to the Leaky Cauldron.

Tom led them back to the same room they had occupied the week before and they sat down around the table, depositing their bags in extra chairs. Ron gave a hoot of laughter, finally coming out of his shock and clapped Harry on the back, saying “Harry that was bloody brilliant! He never knew what hit him! I never knew you had such a punch on you mate, I never want to get you angry!”

Hermione joined in the laughter as well, still concerned about the scene Harry had made, but reasoned that it had all happened so fast, that no one probably saw what had happened except her and Ron. She then noticed Harry wincing slightly and quickly looked at his hand, seeing it was bruised and lacerated. She cried out in panic and took his hand in hers and quickly said to Ron to get Tom, the innkeeper. Ron ran off and was back in a moment. Looking at Harry’s hand, he quickly summoned a bowl full of green liquid that Harry recognised as essence of Murtlap tentacle from last year. Tom took his had and gently dipped his hand into the liquid, saying “This solution also has a healing potion in it. Rest your hand in it for twenty minutes, Mr Potter and it should be fine, although I can’t say much for Mr Malfoy’s jaw.”

All three of them gaped at Tom who chuckled and said “Don’t worry Mr Potter, there were quite a lot of people who heard what Malfoy said to you and your friends. No action will be taken against you, but Mr Malfoy has been told that his jaw is broken and for punishment for saying such things, he was given a healing spell that will take two days to repair his jaw, so he’ll be in quite a lot of pain for a bit yet!”

All three relaxed at once, hearing this news and grinned at the thought of Malfoy in more pain. After taking their orders for dinner, Ron asked Harry how he had managed to hit Malfoy so hard. Harry explained about the roll of sickles he had made and pulled them out, showing Ron. Hermione shook her head and said to Harry “Didn’t you know that that would hurt you as well, Harry? Your fingers were in between the coins and Malfoy’s jaw!”

Harry lowered his head and murmured something about not thinking about that. Hermione grinned despite herself and said, lifting Harry’s chin “Well, I guess in the end it was worth it. Next time, ask me before planning something like that, ok?” He nodded his head and Hermione kissed him softly. Ron made gagging sounds and they broke apart quickly, laughing at Ron. Tom soon arrived back with their food and they ate, while talking about school, their subjects and life at Hogwarts now that the High Inquisitor was no longer there.

“Harry, will you still be teaching the DA this year?” Ron asked.

“Well, I hadn’t thought about it much.” Harry admitted. But then said “I think though that it would still be good to keep up with, since we don’t know the calibre of the new defence against the dark arts professor. Besides all students should be prepared if Voldemort attacks them and we know that the younger years don’t nearly know enough defensive magic.”

Ron nodded, as did Hermione and they continued their meal, talking about the progress of the class last ear, before they were compromised. Harry secretly hoped that Marietta Edgecombe still had those boils on her face. He briefly thought of Cho Chang and hoped she quit the DA. He had no desire to have anything to do with her. He decided during the summer, that she had just been using him to pump him about details of Cedric when he died. In a way, he thought to himself, she was worse than Skeeter, using his feelings towards her for her own means. He felt a gentle hand on his and looked up startled, to see Hermione looking at him sympathetically. He felt a rush of love towards her and wished that he had realised his feelings last year, instead of now. He smiled back at her and kissed the back of her hand. Hermione smiled and turned back to Ron, who was talking to them both about the hopes he had for the Chudleigh Cannons this year.

At eight o’clock, they made their way out of the Leaky Cauldron and said goodbye to Ron at the door who would be Fluing home. Ellen was waiting there and they loaded their shopping into the boot and sat in the back seat, holding hands and telling Ellen about their day, omitting the Drako Malfoy incident. Ellen smiled, looking at the two in the backseat, gazing into each other’s eyes. This was a magic she had known of before her daughter received her Hogwarts letter. They looked at each other the way she and Jim always had and still did.

When they got home, Harry and Hermione lugged their shopping upstairs and went into their respective rooms, unpacking their goods and packing them inside their trunks. Harry kept out his books on arithmency and his extra books on defence against the dark arts he had bought, figuring he needed to be ahead of the others to be able to teach them effectively. Hermione came into his room and wrapping her arms around his neck, kissed him soundly and deeply. After a few minutes, Harry broke away, gasping and saying with a laugh “What was that for, ‘Mione?”

She smiled dreamily up at him and responded, her arms still wrapped about his neck “That is for the best day I have ever had. That restaurant was so thoughtful and romantic.” She laid her head against his chest and he wrapped his arms about her, hugging her close.

They both decided they had better make an appearance downstairs and so, hand in hand, they walked into the living room and taking his usual seat, Harry was surprised when Hermione sat in his lap, laying her head against his shoulder. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Jim and Ellen broke them out of their trance, asking how things had gone today and they repeated what they had told Ellen. Hermione then told them about what Harry had done to Drako Malfoy. Harry wasn’t sure how Hermione’s parents would react, but was surprised when Jim laughed out loud and Ellen couldn’t smother the giggles that were coming out of her. They then explained to Harry that Hermione told them all about the Malfoy’s and told them about all the names that he called Hermione during the year and how he was always trying to get Harry.

“Got what he deserved, finally.” Jim commented, and the rest couldn’t help but agree. After half an hour, both Harry and Hermione were yawning, so they rose, saying their goodnights and went up to bed.

Hermione lay snuggled in Harry’s arms as they lay in his bed, wishing they could stay like this, even at school. She resigned herself to the fact though that as soon as they were back at Hogwarts, they would be forced to be apart.

///

Harry lay there, thinking much the same as Hermione did, but was thinking of ways of getting around it. His mind whirled with ideas and he knew he would have to plan with Hermione what to do. He turned to Hermione, who was half asleep and voiced his thoughts.

“Hon, we need to find a way to be together at school. I don’t care what it takes.”

Hermione nodded, agreeing. Harry thought for a moment and said thoughtfully “Well I could lend you my cloak and you could sneak into the boy’s dormitory at night. All we need to do then is to put a silencing and sealing spell on my curtains so no one can hear us. Or I could teach you the disillusionment charm. Either way, I think we can work something out.”

They both felt a lot happier now, knowing that no matter what, they would be together. Harry was also sure they could find places where they could do some extra curricular activities; he would just have to ask Dobby. With broad smiles on their faces, they drifted off.

A/N: Hi all. Once again I am overwhelmed by the support my story has received. You are all very kind and I appreciate all of your reviews. I hope you like this one.

Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the holidays going through some of the hardest work that Harry had ever experienced. He found that Hermione was a brilliant teacher and he found the concepts came quite easily to him, even though when they first started, he didn’t have the faintest idea about what arithmency was. He found that the application of arithmency was fascinating, all to do with the energies involved in performing magic, sort of physics for magic. The more he associated it with practical application, he figured the easier it was going to get for him. Hermione was surprised in spite of herself. She had seen Harry apply himself before and had been impressed, especially when he learnt the summoning charm in fourth year. This however, was something completely different for Harry to learn as it contained concepts that he had never encountered before. It really was akin to learning a new language. They had managed to cover an enormous amount of work in the time that they had before they went back to school and Hermione found that Harry could grasp the new concepts so easily that she found it somewhat scary. The more and more Harry learnt of arithmency, the more respect Hermione found herself having for her boyfriend.

During their off times, they enjoyed each other’s company and explored each other in very intimate ways. Harry could see every detail of his girlfriend’s body by just closing his eyes and he knew exactly how to please her and what really got her fire going. He knew now that he could just give her one look and it would make her melt, or smoulder quietly for hours, until she couldn’t handle it anymore, where she would nearly drag him up to their bedroom for some fun. Hermione found much the same about Harry. She knew him with an intimacy that she would have found astounding before these summer holidays. She too knew every thing that made Harry burn with desire. She loved teasing him as much as possible throughout the day, just doing enough to leave him smouldering beneath the surface, and then when night came and they were alone, he was almost feral with the ferocity of his passion. She loved it when he was like that though. She found that she loved moments when she just left him speechless though. Like a few days ago when she had come down late, due to a late night of studying each other, to find her parents already gone to work and Harry sitting outside, watching the sky. She took a banana from the bowl of fruit and walked out, greeting Harry with their customary good morning pash. She sat beside him and asked him whether he had slept well, peeling the banana. He started replying when he saw her place the banana in her mouth and bite off a chunk. The mental image that Hermione eating that piece of fruit made was mind boggling to say the very least. He found all of a sudden his mouth was dry and he could not speak to save his life. He had also apparently forgotten the skill of breathing as well as he gaped at Hermione and she continued to eat her banana, completely unaware of the effect she was having on Harry. After about thirty seconds of silence, she looked up and saw the look on his face. She arched her eyebrows in question at Harry and he just continued to gape at her, his mouth hanging open slightly. She began to giggle as the look he had in his eyes was hilarious. She began to go through her mind exactly what she was doing when he had gone quiet and it was as if a light bulb went off inside of her head as realisation hit her full and square in the chest. She completely lost control then and found herself rolling about on the floor, laughing so hard that she could barely breathe. Harry watched her stunned for a moment and then realising why she was laughing, started laughing too. After about thirty seconds, he too was rolling about on the ground, the tears rolling down his face as he clung to Hermione and she hung onto him, the tears wetting her cheeks as well.

Eventually they both calmed down and lay there, gasping for breath, their arms wrapped about each other. They looked into each other’s eyes and began to snicker again, but quickly got control of themselves before they could have another fit. They walked back inside, hand in hand and began to walk to their study area i.e. the living room. Hermione lightly punched Harry on the arm, grinning and said mockingly “Mr Potter! I can’t even eat my breakfast without you thinking of me doing something obscene to you!”

Harry couldn’t help grinning and answered, saying “Well it’s not my fault if you are so good at being obscene with me.” He kissed her on the lips and grinned in victory when he saw the stunned expression on her face and sat down and flipped open his arithmency book, preparing to start for the day. He suddenly found himself without the book and a soft weight settling in his lap, with her lips glued to his, kissing him with a passion and urgency that he hadn’t felt before coming from Hermione. When they broke apart, all Harry could do was gaze at Hermione with a stunned expression on his face. She smiled at him and whispered before getting up “Gee Mr Potter, you say the nicest things to me.” With that she sat opposite him and started going through her notes where they had left off the day before.

Soon enough it was August 31^st and Harry and Hermione were packing their belongings. They continually kept passing in and out of each other’s bedroom as it seemed their possessions had migrated because of their proximity to one another as well as the fact that they spent so much time in each other’s rooms. Hermione had also procured Harry’s old quiditch robes, which were now too small for him, but fit Hermione perfectly. She took to sleeping in them at night, instead of wearing her nightdress. She loved them because they had the smell of Harry so ingrained in them that she doubted the smell would ever go away. She found, that surrounded by his smell, that she always felt safe with his robes on. Harry thought it was cute that she wore his robes and was touched by how attached Hermione had become to wearing them. He doubted that if she was allowed to wear them during the day, she would ever take them off.

They finally both collapsed onto Harry’s bed, their trunks fully packed and Hedwig stowed away in her cage, ready for the trip tomorrow. Hermione rolled on top of Harry and placed her legs on either side of his hips. She leaned down, giving him a slow kiss and said “I love you Harry Potter. I have for so long and will continue to forever.”

Harry smiled, he loved to hear her say that and responded “Love you too ‘Mione, Always have, always will.”

They lay there, their foreheads touching, their eyes centimetres apart and smiled at each other. “You know I want you to marry me someday, you know.” Harry said matter-of-factly.

Hermione froze, not sure if her ears had heard what she thought they did. “You want to marry me someday?” She almost squeaked, her eyes filling with tears. Harry wasn’t sure if she was crying for happiness, or if she was very upset with him, so he just went with the truth again and nodded, smiling somewhat worriedly at her. She flung her arms about him, sobbing into Harry’s chest and he held her and stroked her back and ran his hands through her hair, soothing her. When she calmed down enough, she looked up and whispered “Just don’t wait too long to ask me, ok?”

He nodded, smiling in relief that she wasn’t mad and kissed her deeply, not ever wanting to let her go.

The morning came quickly and Harry and Hermione came downstairs, ready for the day and the inevitable questions that would fly towards them about their relationship. Harry’s eyes were slightly puffy and he looked like death warmed over at such an early hour. Hermione kissed him, saying “Good morning, love.”

“Humph.” He mumbled and Hermione giggled, touching his cheeks and said

“Not a morning person are you?”

He shook his head and she led him to the table and piled some breakfast on his plate. After getting some food into him, he started to wake up and he smiled at Hermione, grateful that she understood him so well. They quickly finished and Ellen and Jim helped them load their luggage into the car and they set off for King’s Cross Station. They arrived at the station with plenty of time and Jim went and got them trolleys for their luggage. They walked into the station and walked between platforms nine and ten. Hermione hugged both of her parent’s goodbye. Harry hung back not sure what to do and Jim came over and shook hands with Harry, saying “It’s been great to have you over for the summer, Harry. I’m pleased to have gotten to know you so well. Look after my little girl this year, ok?”

Harry smiled and affirmed that indeed he would keep an eye on Hermione, two if he could help it and thanked Jim for his hospitality this summer. Ellen then grabbed Harry and drew him into a tight hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek, saying “You’re welcome to come over anytime you like Harry. I consider you one of the family now. Take care of yourself, ok?”

Harry felt touched by her words and nodded, hugging Ellen back, saying “Thankyou Ellen, I have felt so welcome at your house. This has been the best summer of my life.” Ellen smiled at this and Harry and Hermione turned and walked to the barrier. Making sure that no one was watching them, they leant their trolleys against the wall and all of a sudden they were through and on the platform. They walked around to the end of the train and helped each other load their luggage into a compartment. They placed Hedwig and Crookshanks onto seats, saving their places and went outside, looking for their friends, holding hands. They met up with Hannah Abbott and Ernie McMillan, who greeted them both and congratulated them on getting together. They both asked Harry about the DA and Harry affirmed that they would indeed continue with the group. They both seemed pleased. Harry then saw two red heads in the crowd and pointed them out to Hermione. They both smiled and saying goodbye, headed over to Ron and Ginny. Ginny squealed and hugged Harry and Hermione tightly and pulled Hermione aside, saying that she had to tell her all the details about how she and Harry got together. Hermione grinned despite herself and promised that they would indeed get together later and she would tell her everything. Almost everything, she amended to herself. Harry greeted Ron with the man’s handshake and grinned at each other. Harry and Hermione helped Ron and Ginny put their things in the same compartment they were in and they settled down, chatting. Jinni and Hermione began talking excitedly to each other, Harry could only pick up every fifth word, so shrugging to Ron, and they began talking. Ron apparently had a wide selection of WWW merchandise in his trunk and was full of ideas as to how they could get the Slytherins with his purchases. This reminded Harry about the bag of goodies that he had been given by the twins and reminded himself and Ron that they had to go through it later, as the twins had hinted to him behind their hands that there were a few experimental products that they had thrown in and he should owl them and let them know how they went. He promised to with a quick nod and a wink. Hermione reminded Ron severely that he was a prefect and was thus expected to act responsibly in public. Ron’s ears turned a bit pink and he scowled but nodded his head glumly, only catching Harry’s eye when Hermione turned back to Ginny and winked saying in a low voice “Just means I can’t get caught, that’s all.”

Harry chuckled at this, but was saved from replying wen Neville longbottom came in and joined them. They all greeted him enthusiastically and He blushed deeply, not used to such friendliness. He sat down next to Harry, who asked him how his summer had been and he smiled, saying that his gran had been so proud of him for his help in the department of mysteries that she treated him well all summer, complimenting him and even went and bought him a new wand. He pulled it from his pocket and showed them; proudly saying that it was dragon heartstring, thirteen inches long and made from oak. Harry clapped him on the back and congratulated him, as did the rest of the group.

The train began to move off and Ron and Hermione stood, saying that they had to go to the prefect’s meeting. Hermione bent and kissed Harry softly, prompting catcalls from Neville, Ginny, Ron and Seamus and Dean, who had just come into the compartment. Blushing slightly, Hermione made her way past the boys, followed by Ron. Seamus and Dean took their seats and they both began to tell the others about their holidays. They listened to Seamus describing the old warlock they had stay with them and how he had had many adventures he told them about. Dean had stayed with Seamus for the holidays, so he added in small details from time to time that Seamus missed out on. Luna then joined them and seated herself in the corner after greeting everyone and took out her copy of the Quibbler and began to read. Harry was used to this by now and didn’t mind, but Seamus and Dean gave her an odd look, before continuing to tell everyone about their holiday. Harry listened with as much interest as he could muster, but he missed Hermione. He began looking at the door every five minutes, hoping she was going to come back soon. The lunch trolley came by and He bought a whole stack of food for everyone, saving some things for Ron and Hermione. Neville looked at him with a small smile on his face as Harry returned to his seat. When he sat down and gave Neville a questioning look, He leaned over and whispered “So, what’s it like to be in love?”

Harry looked surprised for a moment and Neville chuckled, saying “You have been looking lost ever since Hermione left. It must be wonderful to feel that way about someone.”

Harry nodded, looking thoughtful, and then he began to speak to Neville in a low tone

“I’ve never really had love in my life before now, being brought up by the Dirzley’s, I felt more like a stinky pair of socks most of the time than a boy. When I first came to school, I found through my friendship with Ron, Hermione and you guys a little bit of what it was like to be liked. It was a completely foreign feeling to me as all I had ever known when I was younger was loathing, or total disregard. When I found Sirius in my third year though, I found someone who I cared for and saw as a father figure. I loved him like a father and a brother and I’m pretty sure he loved me back, from the way he always put himself in danger, even at the department of mysteries, where he lost his life to save me. I think it was because of this love, that I realised what I had with Hermione was similar, but so much stronger. I gather all of you guys could see it; from the reactions we’ve seen of the news that we’re a couple. I didn’t see it for what it was though, until I lost Sirius. It changed my perspective and I began to wonder how it would be if I lost my friends instead of Sirius, which came close for you, Ron and Hermione. I tried to think of how it would be if I had lost Hermione when Dolohov cursed her and I couldn’t imagine it. Such pain and despair overwhelmed me that I felt as if my heart was being torn in two. It was then I realised I would do anything to save her and protect her; anything at all. I can’t envision my life without her in it, as it would be meaningless to me. Does that answer your question?”

Neville looked at him for a long moment, his face thoughtful, and then he nodded and clapped Harry on the back, saying “You of all people deserve happiness, Harry and I wish you all the best.”

Harry smiled at this and gave Neville a quick hug. Everyone, who had been listening, unknown to Harry cheered at this and came over, clapping Harry on the back and wishing him well. A sob from the door made Harry look around. Ron and Hermione stood in the door and from the look on their faces; they had been standing there while he had spoken. Ron looked completely stunned and in almost awe at Harry’s words. Hermione had tears streaming down her face and she rushed to Harry. He took her in his arms and rocked her slowly as she put her head against his chest, sobbing. Harry asked her softly what was wrong and she responded “Harry, I now know how much you feel for me. I never knew someone could love me as much as you do. It makes me so happy!”

Harry smiled and hugged her tighter to him and continued rocking her until she had calmed down. She then sat up, wiping her eyes and smiled at Harry. He smiled back and Ron came over and sat next to them and clapped Harry on the back, saying “You two do deserve each other. I even knew this when I had feelings for Hermione back in fourth year. That was more the reason why I got so mad at you Hermione, rather than my own feelings for you. That’s why I never told you about my feelings, because I knew you were destined for each other, once you got your heads out of the sand, that is.”

The whole room erupted into laughter at this and Harry and Hermione hugged Ron. He hugged them back for a moment, and then his ears going a darker shade of scarlet, he went over and sat next to Luna Lovegood and began talking to her about her summer. Harry and Hermione were both shocked by Ron’s forwardness and marvelled at how much he had grown in the last year in maturity.

They spent the rest of the trip talking and laughing. It was only towards the end of the trip that Harry wondered where Malfoy was, since he usually made an appearance to jeer at them or make some snide comment. Hermione informed them all that he wasn’t in the prefect’s meeting, as he had been replaced as sixth year prefect by another sixth year Slytherin. There was a good deal of chuckling about this. Then Neville spoke up, saying “I saw him earlier when I was trying to find you guys. He seemed to jump when he saw me, I think for a moment he thought I was you, Harry. I don’t think he’s ventured out of his compartment all trip.”

Everyone laughed harder, hearing this and everyone congratulated Harry once again for managing to break Draco’s jaw. Harry tried to look modest, especially when he saw the reproving look Hermione gave him, but inwardly he was smiling to himself.

It was dark as usual by the time the Hogwart’s express made its way into Hogsmead station, and everyone made to get off, Harry picking up Hedwig’s cage and Hermione holding the wicker basket containing a very peeved Crookshanks. Neville kept Trevor firmly in position under his hat as they made their way to the carriages drawn by the Thestralls. Harry patted the one pulling their carriage and grinned when he saw some of the odd looks he got from other students. Hermione, after placing Crookshanks carefully inside, came back out and tentatively moved her hand to where Harry’s was and lightly ran her hand along the Thestrall’s neck. Harry took her hand and gently guided it over the neck and head of the animal, explaining how it looked, letting her feel the features that he was explaining. The Thestrall sat motionless, enjoying the attention. They both eventually made their way into the carriage and shutting the door, they began their bumpy journey to the castle.

They arrived shortly after and Harry helped Hermione from the carriage, she smiled her thanks as the others piled out. Once they were all there, they proceeded together to the great hall. They sat down together and chatted animatedly about their hopes for the new defence against the dark arts professor. Snape sat in his usual spot and glared at Harry, who glared back in return. Something contorted Snape’s face when he did this and Harry was pleased to see Snape turn away from him to begin conversation with Professor Flitwick, who was propped on several cushions in order to reach the table. Harry felt a hand slide into his and he smiled at Hermione and kissed her lightly. This elicited gasps from a lot of the surrounding tables, but Harry didn’t care. He was sick of hiding his feelings and sick of the public scrutiny that he received. He just hoped that Hermione could put up with it better than he had in the past. She had gone a soft shade of pink when she had heard the gasps and animated conversation that surrounded them after their kiss.

Everyone then silenced as Professor McGonagall walked in carrying a low stool and the weather beaten sorting hat of Godrick Gryffindore. She sat the hat on the stool and walked over, opening a door to a side chamber and leading a long line of very nervous first years to stand before the teacher’s table. They too stared at the hat and it began to sing its usual song of welcome to the students, explaining about the four great houses and what ideals each of the founders saw in their pupils. After about five minutes it finished to loud applause from the students. Harry joined in with them, glad that this year the hat was not warning them about standing together as one, as it did the previous year. The students were then sorted into their respective houses and Harry noticed, with pride, that the majority of students were sorted into his house while the Slytherins only gained about five students at the most. The other houses gained about 10 each, but Gryffindore gained in excess of 25 students. Dumbledore magically enlarged the table to accommodate the new students. He smiled down at them all as he opened his arms in welcome and the hall quieted, waiting for his speech to begin.

“Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I trust you are all well and have had plenty of time this summer to forget what you learnt the previous year. I have a few start of term announcements before we can tuck into our wonderful feast. The dark forest is forbidden to all students.” He paused here to gaze significantly at Harry and Ron, who felt their faces getting hot. Hermione giggled behind her hand and Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled as he turned back to the rest of the school, continuing.

“Our new defence against the dark arts teacher could not be here tonight, but I am assured that he will be here in time for his first lesson tomorrow. Ah yes and Mr Filch has informed me that most items that may be procured from Weasley Wizarding Wheezes are forbidden. Now everyone, tuck in!”

With that the platters in front of them filled with food and they all tucked in, all talking about who was the new teacher for defence against the dark arts.

When the last piece of treacle tart had faded from the platters, leaving them sparklingly clean, Dumbledore sent them off to bed. Hermione and Ron helped the fifth year prefects to guide the first years to Gryffindore tower and Harry raced ahead, already knowing the password, to get to his trunk. He raced up the stairs to the dormitories and reaching his room, he opened his trunk and quickly found the invisibility cloak and, stuffing it under his robes, and he walked back downstairs in time for the entrance of the others. He sat in a chair as the prefects gave the first years the usual talk about not giving out the password to other houses and directions as to where their beds were. After they trooped off, Ron sat down in a chair opposite Harry and Hermione sat down next to Harry and placed her hand on his lap. Surreptitiously, he took the cloak from under his robes and passed it to her under the table. She took it calmly, not evincing any emotion about what she was doing and managed to carry on a conversation with Ron all the while. They were soon the last three in the common room and Ron rose to his feet, yawning and bade them goodnight. When Ron was out of sight, they both leaned toward each other and kissed, their tongues meeting and intertwining, their hands caught in each other’s hair. They broke apart, oxygen being the main reason and Hermione said in a low voice so she wouldn’t carry upstairs

“Harry, I want our first time to be special, not something rushed into because we can now. I want it to be romantic and filled with love.”

Harry smiled at this and nodded, agreeing completely. He knew that the first time for a girl did hurt, from his own research. Taking her hands in his and looking deeply into her eyes he whispered softly, so only she could hear “Me too, love. I don’t want to rush into it either. I want it to be special and right for us. I want you to feel so completely loved. I have an idea, but it will take a while to organise. Are you willing to wait?”

Hermione nodded, a single tear sliding down her face, so happy and relieved that Harry was so understanding. She kissed him softly and rose, saying “I will need to get changed, so I’ll see you upstairs, ok?”

Harry nodded and rising to his feet, made his way upstairs. He stripped down to his boxer shorts and slid between his warmed sheets, waiting for her. She came in five minutes later; the only sound she made was the click of the latch as she closed the dormitory door. He watched as the curtains surrounding his bed slid aside and slid back into place again. He took his wand from the bedside table and muttered a sealing and silencing spell, then smiled as Hermione’s form appeared in the moonlight. She smiled back and slid in between the sheets, snuggling into his warmth and kissing him deeply, her hands running up and down his chest. He returned the kiss with a fervent passion and ran his hand lightly up her side and lightly cupped her breast in his hand, tweaking the nipple, hearing her moan into his mouth. His hand slid lower and he gently massaged her through her panties. Her hips jerked forward of their own accord and she kissed him harder, her legs sliding apart, willing him to do more. He slid the fabric aside and entered her with one finger, sliding slowly in and out of her, her whimpering muffled between their lips. He then felt her hand slide under his boxers and she took hold of him in her soft, small hand. He moaned himself, not able to stop it and she smiled, kissing him more deeply. They both moved their hands in unison, their excitement building as each found the spots and techniques that elicited spasms of delight from the other. Finally, able to bear it no longer, their hands flew in rhythm with each other, their minds whirling, their moans now constant as they kissed, their lips mashing together, their tongues engaged in a furious battle. They both cried out in unison as they both crested the wave at the same time, their bodies convulsing with the force of their explosions. They both collapsed back to the bed, gasping and cuddled together, after casting a quick cleaning spell on each other. Hermione lay with her head on Harry’s shoulder, her fingers playing lightly with the hair growing on Harry’s chest and whispered “I love you Harry, now and forever.”

Harry repeated the same to Hermione and they kissed tenderly, their eyes closing as they drifted off, safe in each other’s arms.

A/N: Hi all. I think I’ve managed to spell everything right. If not, sorry. Now some people have said I should use a beater. I want to run a poll to see whether the majority think so. Just bear in mind that I write every day and I don’t know how long the beater would take to check through my work, so it may be once every two or three days that you get an update. Anyhow, let me know and I’ll base my decision on the result.

Harry and Hermione woke up early the next morning, to make sure that Hermione was not caught in the boy’s dormitory. After kissing Harry goodbye, Hermione donned the invisibility cloak and slipped out of the door and up to her own dormitory. Harry sat on the edge of his bed, scratching his head and trying to wake up. He rose and walked into the bathroom and took a long, hot shower.

After waking up sufficiently, he turned off the shower and got dressed, just as Ron was stirring under the bed clothes. Harry came downstairs, to find Hermione waiting for him. They kissed, holding each other and sat in front of the fire, waiting for when Ron came down, Hermione sitting in Harry’s lap, her head against his chest and their fingers intertwined. Ginny was the first of the group downstairs and she greeted the pair cheerfully, sitting next to them. They smiled at her and chatted with her until Neville and then eventually Ron joined them. They all walked down to the great hall together and were greeted by members of the DA as they walked in. Harry and Hermione sat together and the others sat all about them and began eating. Professor McGonagall appeared halfway through breakfast and handed out the timetables to the students. She gave Harry and Hermione a warm smile as she passed them, handing them their timetables and they smiled back. Ron whooped, getting everyone’s attention. He pointed at his timetable, saying “Double defence against the dark arts this afternoon! We’ll find out who our new teacher is!”

Harry looked at his own timetable and found that this was true. Harry also noticed that their first lesson was arithmency. Hermione looked at him and smiled, seeing that he saw as well what they first had. He squeezed her hand and rising, they said goodbye to Ron and headed off to their first class.

Harry found that he enjoyed the class and liked Professor Vector, a teacher he had only seen in passing and never actually spoken to before. He took Harry and Hermione aside before the class began and asked them how their studying had gone throughout the holidays. Hermione responded, telling the professor how far they had gone through Hermione’s notes and how easily Harry seemed to grasp the concepts. Professor Vector was obviously impressed with their progress and welcomed Harry to the class, hoping he found it as challenging and interesting as his other subjects. Harry responded that he was sure he would. He found through the first lesson, that his assumption that the subject was like physics was not exactly true, it was more like mathematics, but it did have practical applications in the wizarding world. He did find the new lessons difficult as he did not have three years of grounding, but Hermione helped him and by the end of the lesson, he felt satisfied that he would get through it ok, with Hermione’s help.

The pair then found that they had a free period after their class, so they went to the library and did some revision study, continuing Harry’s catch up in arithmency. Hermione kept telling Harry how proud of him she was and how well he was doing with their study and in the class. Harry blushed and looked down at his parchment not sure what to say. Hermione kissed him, whispering “Don’t be embarrassed, love. I’m just so thrilled at how you’ve developed academically.”

Harry smiled and kissed Hermione on the cheek before resuming his study. They met with Ron for lunch and he told them how his divination had gone; apparently Professor Trelawney hadn’t yet found someone else to predict the death of. Harry and Hermione shared a look and rolled their eyes at each other and laughed that they were thinking exactly the same thing. Ron snorted as well, but was too consumed with stuffing his face to speak. The rest of the group sat around them, chatting about their first lessons and Harry looking at all of them, thought for the first time about forming an inner group of the DA, made up of those who had come with him to the department of mysteries, as they were the most loyal. He filed this thought away to discuss with Hermione later and listened as everyone talked, adding in his own occasional comment.

All the sixth years rose as one toward the end of lunch and made their way to the defence against the dark arts classroom. They waited outside for a little while, then, realising that it was past the time for their lesson to start, Harry went forward and opened the door slightly, to see if the teacher was inside. He could remember the room from last year, the walls covered in plates with kittens playing in them, a lot of doilies and lace about and vases of dried flowers. This however was a different room entirely. It had been magically enlarged and there were a number of stone pillars around the room, big enough for two people to hide behind. The room was also dark, with only a few candles lit and the windows completely covered by thick, heavy drapes. Harry, with his hand still on Hermione’s leaned back and whispered to her “I think we are going to be tested. Follow me and be on your guard, ok?”

Hermione nodded and quickly relayed the message of the contents of the room. Harry and Hermione opened the door, fully and crept inside. As soon as they were both completely inside, two stunning spells shot towards them from the darkness. Harry seeing them pulled Hermione with him as he dove to the floor. He caught himself and rolled behind one of the pillars, Hermione right beside him. They peeked cautiously around either side of the stone, but could not see where the attack had come from. Harry thought about this and realised that the person must be somehow invisible. Harry quickly saw that Hermione thought this as well, as she raised her wand muttering an incantation. A large globe of light appeared over the area where the attack had come from and Harry saw the shadow just as the person moved. He shot a stunner towards them and they dived out of the way, only to be caught by the full body bind jinx that Hermione used on them. Their arms and legs snapped together and they tumbled to the floor, motionless. Harry and Hermione quickly moved over to them and Harry realised that whoever it was, they were disillusioned. Harry performed the finite incantatum charm and the person slowly appeared. Harry found himself staring at Mad Eye Moody. He grinned and Harry smiled back, holding his hand out to him, helping him to his feet.

“Not bad Potter, Granger.” He grunted.

Hermione and Harry grinned as the others slowly made their way into the room. Moody turned to them and gestured towards the pair. “There you see a perfect example of constant vigilance. Potter surveyed the situation and even though he new it was a trap; he came in and managed through co operation to defeat me. 20 points to Gryffindor!”

He then began to tell the class about the disillusionment charm that he had performed to hide himself from them and explained how it was useful as an offensive and defensive tool. He complimented Hermione on using the magical light charm, which illuminated his shadow thus being able to identify where he was. He then taught them the incantation to use and the action to correctly perform the charm. He put them into groups of three and Ron joined Harry and Hermione. They all by the end of the lesson were able to disillusion each other and themselves. Moody told them to practice and to write a foot of parchment about the advantages and disadvantages of using the charm with examples, and then dismissed them, saying for next lesson to be as prepared as Harry and Hermione had been.

As they walked out of the class, everyone congratulated Harry and Hermione on being able to work out where Moody was and then managing to defeat him. People looked at them with awe and respect. Harry rolled his eyes at Ron who grinned and shrugged, saying “Well you do deserve the attention this time Harry. Not many people can put a fast one over Moody and live to tell the tale.”

Both Harry and Hermione agreed with this and they all moved downstairs to dinner. Over dinner, Harry discussed the idea that he had had earlier about forming an elite group within the DA made up of the people who were with them at the department last year. He explained that while the others in the Da were trustworthy, the ones who were with them last year, really proved their loyalty beyond a doubt. Both Ron and Hermione agreed with this and they began to formulate how they would communicate with just that group. Hermione took on responsibility for working that part of it out, which Harry readily agreed to, since her idea of the fake Galleons last year was brilliant. After a moment, Ron asked

“So, what are you going to call this group then?”

Harry thought about it for a moment and then said with a grin “I thought in honour of Sirius that we would call them the marauders!”

Ron whooped and clapped his hands appreciatively and Hermione smiled at him, obviously approving as well. Katie Bell then came up to them just as they were finishing dinner with a smile on her face and said “Hey guys, guess what? I’ve been made Quiditch captain this year. I’m going to set up trials next week to fill the positions that have been left open after Angelina and Alicia have left. You guys will be available right?”

Harry and Ron both enthusiastically agreed and congratulated Katie on making captain. She grinned and walked off to let the rest of the team know. Harry turned to Hermione and asked “Will you come and watch, ‘Mione?”

Hermione looked up and smiled, looking into Harry’s eyes and said softly “You know I will. I want to make sure you stay in one piece Potter.”

Harry smiled in return and kissed Hermione softly, Ron pretending to gag on his food. They ignored him for the moment and just gazed at each other.

They finished dinner shortly after and made their way back up to Gryffindor tower. Harry and Hermione took out their defence against the dark arts books and began to do their homework. Ron just gaped at them open-mouthed until Harry, looking up asked him what was wrong. Ron shook his head saying “Mate, it’s the first day of lessons and both of you are studying and doing homework.”

Harry looked at Ron for a moment and then explained “Ron, the last thing I want to do this year is to get behind in any subject and spend the rest of the year trying to catch up. I have a lot on my plate with arithmency, since I have to learn the previous three year’s worth of work as well as study it at NEWT level. I just want to make sure I get the best marks possible. You know they only accept the best for Auror training. Besides, Moody was serious about being prepared you know. Not only that but if I am going to teach the DA again this year I have to make sure I am the best at what I teach.”

Ron nodded and sat down too, resigned, taking out his own homework. Hermione gave Harry’s hand a light squeeze and looking up, he saw her beaming at him in admiration. He smiled back and bent back to his work. They were all finished by eleven o’clock and Ron went off to bed first, sensing that both Harry and Hermione wanted to be alone. They sat in their favourite position, in front of the fire on the couch, Hermione sitting on Harry’s lap, her head resting against his chest. Harry traced his finger down Hermione’s jaw line and she smiled at him, kissing the tip of his finger. He replaced his finger with his own lips and they kissed deeply, Hermione’s hands bunching in Harry’s robes as she tried to pull his body closer to hers. She moved her legs to either side of Harry’s lap and slowly ground herself against him as she continued kissing him, Her tongue sliding into Harry’s mouth, meeting with his and playing with it. She let go of his robes and ran her fingers through his hair, loving the feel of it running through her fingers. Harry ran his hands over her body and Hermione whimpered into his mouth, wanting more from him. He slid one hand beneath her robes and slid his hand up the back of her thigh, to cup her backside in his hand and squeezed softly. Hermione responded by griding her hips harder into Harry’s lap, to which he groaned and lifted Hermione in his arms, made his way up to the dormitory. He quickly performed the spell on Hermione to disillusion her as they reached the top and led her to his bed. Once the hangings were closed and the silencing and sealing charms were performed, he performed the counter jinx on Hermione and devoured her mouth in his. Their clothes flew off in a tangle as their passion exploded from within them. Soon they were both naked and fell onto the bed their bodies still locked in a passionate embrace. Harry slid down Hermione’s body kissing and sucking, until he reached her centre. He plunged his tongue deep within her, tasting her. Hermione cried out despite herself and gripped Harry’s head, pulling his head closer to her. He responded by beginning to lick her in long deliberate strokes, driving Hermione wild. He took her clit between his lips and began to suck and lick it, biting softly and Hermione cried out in pleasure and suddenly screamed as her orgasm overwhelmed her and she held Harry’s head close to her as he drank her juices.

Harry slid up beside Hermione and she straddled him, kissing him deeply, her passion firing up again. Harry moaned as Hermione bit his earlobe and started kissing his neck. She suckled on his nipples for a moment, eliciting gasps from Harry, before quickly moving down to her goal and taking Harry deep into her mouth. She gripped him with one hand while bobbing up and down on him, stroking him and cupping his balls in her other hand. Harry couldn’t see or think. All he could do was feel the enormous pleasure he was feeling from Hermione’s efforts. He knew he wasn’t going to last long at this rate and it only took a few minutes of it before He groaned “’Mione, I’m going to cum!”

Hermione, instead of stopping, went faster and with a groan, Harry arched his back, his orgasm overwhelming him and as his cum shot out, Hermione swallowed as much of it as she could, tasting Harry for the first time and not finding it too bad. Harry finally slumped back on the bed, not believing what happened and what Hermione had just done. Hermione slid back up the bed, grinning like the cat that had gotten the cream. Harry supposed she had as he drew her to him and kissed her, unable to speak. He pulled the sheets and blankets around them and they snuggled together, basking in the glow of their love. Harry played with a strand of Hermione’s hair that lay against her skin, twirling it between his fingers, wondering at how curly it was. Hermione smiled at his fascination and knew she had the same fascination with his messy hair, loving to run her fingers through it. They talked for a little while before falling asleep.

Their week continued along that line until their first potions lesson. Snape with his usual sneer came in, closing the door behind him and the room quieted at once. There were a lot few people in this class than had been before and it was a combination of all four houses. Snape looked them all over, his face twitching slightly when he saw Harry and Hermione in his class.

“Well, welcome to advanced potions. I am surprised to see some of you here; however, as you have managed an outstanding in this subject in your OWLS, I will be expecting extremely high levels of accuracy and devotion to this subject. If you do not follow this course of action, expect not to last very long in this class as I will get rid of anyone who is dangerously incompetent.”

Hermione and Harry shared a look, both knowing that this was directed right at Harry. Harry decided to ignore Snape as much as possible, which was quite easy to do since he was working with Hermione. Snape waved his wand at the board and snapped “Begin!”

By the end of the session, Harry and Hermione had concocted the potion to the specifications and it was the correct colour that Snape described. They corked two bottles, just in case and Harry took them one up to the front and Hermione placed the other in her back with a clear label, stating the date and time of their lesson and the potion. Snape just sneered at Harry, glancing at the potion and quickly turning away. Harry walked back to his desk, and cleaned up and headed out the door with Hermione when the bell rang. They walked down the corridor hand in hand. Hermione suddenly grabbed hi, pulling him into a broom closet, kissing him passionately, her hands running through his messy hair, her hips grinding into his. He was stunned momentarily, but responded back, squeezing her breasts lightly through her clothes and grinding back against Hermione, his tongue meeting with hers. After a few minutes, they tidied themselves up and quickly walked out of the closet and towards the great hall.

Harry sat down, the grin plastered on his face, Hermione sitting demurely next to him. Ron noticed the look on Harry’s face and asked “What re you so happy about?”

Harry jus shrugged, saying “Just glad to have gotten through Snape’s class without losing a limb.”

He then began ladling stew into his bowl, ignoring Ron’s continued looks at him. He did, however, feel the hand that slid onto his inner thigh, giving him a light squeeze. He nearly spilled stew in his lap at the touch, but quickly controlled himself. He shot a glance over to Hermione who was smiling slightly and quickly thought. He put the lade back into the stew and took his spoon I his right hand, letting his left hand fall to his lap. He then slid his hand over onto Hermione’s leg and began to bunch her skirt up her legs slowly. Hermione looked surprise, but her face became quickly unemotional as she felt his hand gathering up her skirt, not sure what he was about to do. Harry kept eating, half his mind on what he was putting in his mouth, the other half concentrating on the task at hand, so to speak. Finally, he could feel Hermione’s bare leg and he slowly drew his hand up her inner thigh, tracing his fingers around in little patterns, making Hermione jump lightly. Harry smiled slightly and continued, until he reached her panties, then began to rub up and down between her legs. Hermione’s breathing became laboured and quickened as she felt the waves of pleasure coming from Harry’s hand. He quickened his pace and Hermione moaned deep in her throat. Ron looked at her concerned, and asked if she was alright. Hermione didn’t trust herself to speak and so she nodded slightly and looked down at her plate, biting her lip. Harry moved aside her panties and slipped two fingers into her, his thumb rubbing her clit. Hermione gasped softly and her hips moved involuntarily as she could feel the beginnings of her orgasm. He quickened his pace and Hermione put her head on the table, panting in order to stop herself from crying out. Harry slipped his fingers out from her and pulled her panties back into place. He took his fingers and pretending to dip them into his plate, put them in his mouth, saying

“Mmmm, this stew tastes good.”

Hermione looked over, still panting with a wicked smile on her face and she whispered close to his ear “You can have that stew anytime you like Potter, but wait till I get you alone later.”

Harry shivered slightly and whispered back “Can’t wait.”

This suddenly reminded him of something he had been meaning to do and he rose quickly, kissing Hermione lightly, whispering “Be back in a moment.”

She nodded, slightly confused and he walked out of the great hall and downstairs and down the corridor with all the pictures of different dishes of food. He stopped in front of the bowl of fruit and reaching up, tickled the pear. The pear giggled and squirmed and then turned into a door handle. He turned the handle, opening the door and stepped inside the kitchens. He was hit full force in the stomach by an odd looking being, who he realised was Dobby, with his hats all stacked on top of one another. He was squeaking happily “Harry Potter sir, you came to see Dobby! Oh Harry Potter is so kind!”

Harry patted him on the back reassuringly, grinning and carefully disentangling himself from the house elf. He squatted down on his haunches and looked Dobby in the eyes, saying “Ok Dobby I need a favour from you. I need you to do it in secret as well.”

Dobby nodded excitedly, saying “Anything Harry Potter, sir. Anything at all.”

Harry started explaining his plan and Dobby listened intently.

Twenty minutes later, Harry walked back into the great hall, slipping beside Hermione, giving her leg a squeeze and helped himself to a piece of trifle. Hermione looked at him questioningly, but Harry just shook his head, smiling and eating. Hermione shrugged to herself and planned how she would get the information from him later.

A/N: Well thankyou to everyone who replied to my little survey. From what I have gathered so far I have three people who want me to get a beta reader and about ten so far who don’t. So the don’ts win. Hope you enjoy this chapter. ~waves~

Hermione watched from the far corner of the common room as Harry and Ron relaxed playing a game of wizard’s chess. No one could see her, which was just as well, considering what she was about to do. She had disillusioned herself five minutes before and had crept down to sit opposite the boys, watching her prey. Gathering all of her courage together, she rose quietly and moved silently over the carpet and stood near where the boys were, considering her next move and thinking how she would accomplish it without anyone noticing what was happening and without Harry freaking out. She smiled to herself and got on all fours and crawled under the table and between Harry’s legs. He was concentrating so much that he did not notice anything the matter; that was until his zipper seemed to be undoing itself of its own accord. He quickly moved his hand down to pull his zipper back up, but felt a hand grasping his and move it back to his lap. He looked down and saw nothing, then felt a gentle kiss on his hand and realised, comprehension dawning in his eyes. He quickly looked around the common room and saw that most of the students were in here and determined not to make a fool of himself. He could already feel himself hardening as the cool air met his skin. He felt a hand feel around inside his boxers then grasp him securely, stroking him for a moment. He desperately tried to remember what he was doing on the chess board, but gave up quickly as he was freed from his pants and he felt wet warmth enclose about him. He groaned softly and covered it up by clearing his throat loudly and then concentrating on the pieces once more, while his eyes crossed at the pleasure Hermione was causing. Ron looked at him oddly for a moment and then went back to making his move. Harry could feel Hermione bobbing up and down on him. He knew that she was trying to make him cum as quickly as possible and thought that she was actually doing a pretty good job. He could feel himself shaking all over from the feelings she was causing in him and he knew from the tingling he was beginning to feel that he needed to find some way of covering up his impending orgasm. He looked desperately around and could find nothing he could use. Feeling it overwhelm him, he bit deeply into his hand to mask the sobs coming from him as his orgasm consumed him. He tasted blood, but didn’t care at the moment. He vaguely felt Hermione place him back inside his pants and move away, but couldn’t focus yet. By the time he could, he found out that Ron had won the game and his hand was bleeding quite badly. He cast a quick healing spell he had learnt during his late night study sessions and the wounds closed on his hand. He got shakily to his feet, saying to Ron that he didn’t feel so good and walked jerkily up to the dormitory, knowing that he had been bested.

Hermione was waiting in his room behind his bed hangings and looked concernedly at Harry’s hand when he appeared, grinning wryly at her. He explained what he had used on the wounds and Hermione nodded, relieved. Harry quickly undressed and slid into the bed next to the already naked Hermione and kissed her, saying “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

Hermione pretended to think about it for a moment and then nodded, grinning slyly. Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the night trying to better each other and eventually fell asleep, exhausted.

Safe to say Hermione had no luck finding out what Harry had been doing, but they both had fun as she tried. They both were a bit tired the next morning, due to a lack of sleep and hard, vigorous physical activity. They both stifled yawns as they ate breakfast, not saying much to anyone, but stealing looks at each other, whenever they thought they could get away with it. Ron noticed this lack of conversation from his best friends, but he was preoccupied this morning, by Luna Lovegood who had come over to say good morning and Ron had invited her to sit with him and have some breakfast. He knew he liked the girl without a doubt; he just seemed to be unable to say much around her except for the most general of conversations. He decided however that this morning was the morning. When Harry and Hermione got up to leave, he waved them off, saying he would catch up with them at charms. They both raised their eyebrows enquiringly and he waved them away again, thinking that they had literally become clones of each other, the way they acted the same all the time. Luna was rising to her feet as well and Ron rose with her, taking her by the hand, saying “Do you have a moment to talk, Luna? It’s important.”

Luna smiled dreamily at him, as she always seemed to do and nodded. Ron smiled at her and led her outside into the crisp morning air. They weren’t far away from the castle when he turned to her, his expression serious. “Luna, I like you, a lot.” He blurted.

“I know Ronald. I like you a lot too. You are a good friend.” She answered, smiling.

Ron took a deep breath and plunged on ahead “No, Luna. I like you a lot more than a friend. Will you be my girlfriend?”

Luna’s dreamy expression left her face and a wide smile replaced it. She nodded and stepped towards Ron, whispering “Yes Ronald, I will. I like you more than a friend as well. I have for quite a while. I was hoping that sooner or later you would notice.”

Ron smiled and drew Luna closer and slowly pressed his lips to hers in a soft tender kiss. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms about his neck, truly happy.

Ten minutes later, Harry and Hermione saw Ron walk in, a dreamy look upon his face and both smirked, realising what had happened.

“So, you’ve finally asked her then?” Harry enquired, his eyebrows nearly touching his hairline.

Ron grinned nodding, his ears going bright pink.

“And?” Hermione pressed, eager to hear the news, although from Ron’s expression she already knew the answer.

“She said yes and we kissed.” He said with a huge goofy grin on his face. They both secretly congratulated him, patting him on the back and telling him how happy they were for him. They then focussed on the lesson, Harry and Hermione holding hands beneath the desk.

Just after lunch, Harry was called over my Professor McGonagall and was told that Professor Dumbledore wanted to see him. He waved to the others to go on without him and he followed Professor McGonagall to the headmaster’s office. She said the password “Fizzing Whizbys!”

She then stood back once the stone gargoyle had leapt aside and Harry stepped onto the moving staircase and ascended to the office of Albus Dumbledore. He knocked and entered and saw that Dumbledore was seated behind his desk. Harry sat in the chair in front of the professor and smiled, waiting for him to begin.

“First of all congratulations are in order I believe. You and Miss Granger do make a lovely couple I must say.”

Harry blushed slightly and thanked the professor. Dumbledore smiled at him, his eyes twinkling, then continued.

“I gather you still intend to teach the DA this year?”

Harry nodded and also brought up his idea of the inner circle of the marauders. Dumbledore’s moustache twitched in what Harry recognised as a smile and he nodded, saying thoughtfully “Yes, they did show you tremendous loyalty and you know you could rely on them for anything. I suggest what you do is organise the normal meetings, and then keep the inner circle behind, which shouldn’t be hard. Then you can have your separate meeting.”

Harry thought about this and realised it was a simple, but brilliant plan. He usually sent everyone off in pairs anyhow, so it wouldn’t be hard and no one would realise that there was any difference. He thanked Dumbledore for the idea and then informed him of something that he had planned, coming up on Christmas. Dumbledore’s eyes lit up and he nodded, giving his permission for the preparations he needed to make and assured him that he would speak to Professor McGonagall in regards to it. Harry smiled, thanking Dumbledore once more and opening the door, left and went back down. He found Ron and Hermione in the library and, giving Hermione a kiss, excitedly sat down and explained what Dumbledore had said about the marauders. Hermione nodded, slapping her head at the simplicity. Ron could only shake his head in admiration at Dumbledore’s brilliance. All three of them planned the meeting in three day’s time, knowing that it would not interfere with anything important. Harry changed his fake galleon to the correct date and time while they sat there in the library, then they all rose and went to their next class.

The night of the DA meeting came and at seven o’clock, he, Ron and Hermione made their way to the room of requirement and after Harry walked past the blank piece of wall the required number of times, he turned and grasped hold of the door which had appeared and stepped inside. About fifteen minutes later the others in the group began filing in and by seven thirty, Harry was sure that everyone who was going to be there was. Harry was relieved to see that Cho Chang wasn’t there and he noticed that Hermione seemed satisfied as well. He grinned and stood in front of everyone and brought the meeting to order. He began by going over what had happened in the department of mysteries and the different spells he and the marauders had found useful in their struggle against the death eaters. Hermione was impressed at how easily Harry talked through the events that had cost him his godfather’s life. Harry faltered when he came up to what happened to Sirius, but looking at Hermione, seemed to draw strength from her. His voice firmed and he illustrated the point that you should never be complacent because that is when you will be caught unawares, just like Sirius was. The first thing he got them all to do was to practice the shield charm and they took it in turns to try to break each other’s shield. He explained to everyone that he thought visualisation was also an important part of the spell and added to the strength of the spell and illustrated by casting his own shield charm and then managing to rebound several stunning spells that he got the others to throw.

He then concluded the lesson; letting the people who were not in the marauders go, then turned to the others closing the door. He smiled at them all and said “Before the rest of you go, I wanted to ask you all something. I really appreciated the support you gave me in the department of mysteries and even more the fact that you are still all my friends after leading you all into a trap. I have decided that I really need you guys. I can try to be the hero and go it alone, but I know that I will never get anywhere without all of my friends, which is what you all are to me. I want to start an inner group of the DA. Those who will stand by my side through thick and thin. I want you guys, if you’ll join.”

The others all stood there, thinking for a while, and then Neville spoke up.

“I can’t speak for the others, but I will stand with you Harry. I saw for myself what Voldemort’s followers can do to families and to people, after all I suffered under the cruciatus curse myself last year. I know that while you will eventually be our saviour, you are going to need help and I for one want to be there for you. You have been a great friend to me all through our years at school and have always been kind to me. I consider you a good friend and would be honoured to join.”

The others all nodded and Harry grinned, relieved. He put his hand out in front of him and the others all gathered around, putting their hands on top of his. When all had done so, he said softly “Here is to the marauders and to the fall of Voldemort!”

The others echoed his last words and all smiled. Harry then explained that after every DA meeting he wanted them all to hang around and they would then conduct their secret meetings. He also told them that they needed to bring the younger years into the DA as well and asked everyone if they could bring at least one new student with them next time.
They all agreed and departed after Harry checked that the coast was clear. Ron turned to Harry and he answered his unasked question by telling him that he would be along in a little while. Ron grinned and winked, closing the door behind him.

Harry turned to find Hermione standing in the middle of the room. He went to her and wrapped his arms about her, hugging her. She hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder. When she looked up, she noticed that the furnishings had all disappeared and some of the candles had as well, leaving a low light within the room. Music began to play and Hermione looked at Harry, amused. Harry winked and stepping back, held his hands out to her. She moved into his embrace and they began to dance slowly, moving as one around the room, looking deeply into each other’s eyes. The music changed tempo with their mood and as their passion rose, the music got faster and hotter. They moved together, grinding their hips into each other, exchanging the occasional kiss, which only caused their passion to burn higher than it had before. Harry found that he was sweating profusely and quickly took off his robes and pulled off his top. Hermione soon followed his example. Within five minutes they were dancing naked and their moans were in unison as they ground against each other. They stopped for a moment as the music stopped and heard a thud behind Harry. They both looked to see a large four poster bed. Harry grinned wryly at Hermione who giggled and quickly donning their robes and disillusioning themselves, they made their way back to the common room and to bed, where they engaged in anything but sleep.

The next day, Harry spent some time helping Dobby in the favour he had mentioned. It was hard work as most of it was physical labour, but Harry had found a few useful spells in his time studying at the library and soon had the hang of how they worked. Dobby worked feverishly; glad to help Harry in such an important endeavour. Harry also knew that they would need to get some different things from shops at Hogsmead and gave Dobby some galleons to purchase the items, as well as some money for his help thus far. Dobby had tears rolling down his face when Harry did this and Harry gave him a quick hug and said he really appreciated all of the help he had given him. Dobby smiled brilliantly and with one click of his fingers, was gone. Harry went to the bathroom to have a quick wash and met Hermione in the library. He evaded her questions as much as possible, just letting her know that eventually, he would let her know, just not now. She accepted this answer with a frown, but let it pass. Harry then suggested to her that after Quiditch practice, that she meet him at the back of the broom shed and they would do something special together. Hermione reluctantly agreed to this, not quite sure what Harry had in mind and they continued their study. Ron spent a lot of time these days with Luna, which gave Harry and Hermione a lot of time together, which was the way they preferred it, as they often felt uncomfortable showing their affection towards each other in front of Ron, who may have felt more like a fifth wheel. They were studying for their defence against the dark arts lesson, as each time they came into the classroom, they found the challenges getting more and more difficult. Moody didn’t apologise for this, saying that they would only have one chance to defend themselves when death eaters attacked them, so he would not let up and make sure they had that one chance. Consequently, Harry and Hermione were learning more and more complex spells to defend and attack, although Moody had gotten the best of them a couple of times. Harry thought though that Moody was impressed, as he often gave Harry and Hermione a wink as they left his classroom. Harry had also heard that none of the seventh years had actually managed to defeat moody yet and thus had enormous piles of homework each week, explaining to Moody where they had gone wrong. Harry thought though if they had had the practical experience that he had, they probably would have much better instincts towards defence and Hermione agreed, saying the most fearsome things that they would have had to face, would have been some of Hagrid’s creatures during lessons.

Harry’s hopes that Malfoy would continue to leave him alone and avoid him all year vanished during the evening as he was hurrying down to the Quiditch pitch for training. He was just rounding a corner, when he saw out of the corner of his eye, a red bolt shooting toward him. He leapt to the side, rolling and the spell exploded against the wall where he had been moments before. He whirled around to find Malfoy, Crabb and Goyle advancing on him with their wands drawn. Harry experienced a moment of unreality as he remembered the previous year when he had faced the elders of these three at the department, but knew this times he could not rely on his friends. “So, Malfoy, three on one your style is it?” Harry enquired coolly, not letting his eyes drift from the three. Malfoy sneered, his cold voice dripping acid as he said smoothly “Oh you see Potter, I need witnesses to say that you threw the first spell, so then I am justified in jinxing you. Don’t want to get punished again do I?”

Harry didn’t wait to hear more as he knew his life depended on his next movements. He quickly cast the protective shield and the others, not hearing exactly what he had cast; quickly cast disarming and stunning spells towards him. The three spells bounced off his shield, dissipating it entirely, but one of the stunners caught Goyle full in the chest and he flew backwards and lay motionless on the ground and the others quickly dove behind statues to prevent getting hit by the other spells. Harry dove behind a suit of armour himself and thought desperately of ways to trick his opponents. He muttered a few words and an image of himself appeared next to him, crouching behind the statue as well. Harry whispered in the mirage’s ear and it nodded and dived forward and pretended to run off. Spells shot past where Harry crouched and he watched as the spells seemed to hit the fake him and it sprawled realistically on the floor, not moving. He smiled as He saw Crabb run past where he was and he casually cast a stunning spell which caught Crabb in the back, felling him like a rather thick tree. Harry didn’t have time to turn around before he felt something very hard hit him in the back of the head. He fell forward, but managed to keep a hold on his wand as he rolled, not seeing who it was, although he suspected it was Malfoy, he cast a tickling charm, which gave him enough time to be able to focus. He saw Malfoy doubled up in the corridor, his sides heaving. Harry quickly cast a stunning spell and Malfoy fell to the floor.

Harry slowly got to his feet, his vision somewhat hazy from the hit he had received. He looked down and realised that Malfoy must have grabbed one of the suit of armour’s gauntlets and smacked him over the head with it. Harry began to walk, hoping he would run into someone, anyone really, who could help him up to the hospital wing. His vision became darker and darker, he could no longer make anyone out, but he kept walking. Just as he collapsed, he heard a voice cry out his name before he fainted dead away.

Harry woke up, not sure exactly where he was. His vision was blurred and he realised that someone had taken his glasses off. He fumbled around and located the table next to him and his glasses sitting on top of them. He put his glasses on and realised that he was in the hospital wing, recognising the familiar ceiling and walls and the beds all lined up neatly from wall to wall. At that moment, Madame Pomfrey bustled over and said “Oh good, your back with us Mr Potter. Miss Granger will be delighted.”

“What happened?” Harry asked, not sure what had happened after Malfoy had brained him.

“Well from what I have heard Miss Granger went looking for you when you were late for Quiditch practice. Apparently that charm you both wear also has the ability to let the other wearer know when the other person is in danger. She came in to find you stumbling along, with blood dripping down your face and a nasty gash to the back of your head. You fainted in front of her and she managed to get you here up to me. Lucky thing too. You had a fractured skull and quite a few bruises from where you were hit. Now drink this and lay back. You stillneed your rest!”

Harry took the goblet proffered to him, drinking the liquid down and realised that by the light coming in through the windows, it must be late afternoon.

“Um, how long have I been in here?” He asked, not really sure if he wanted to know.

“Three days.” Madame Pomfrey huffed, fluffing his pillows. “You were very lucky you know, five more minutes and you would have been beyond my help!”

Harry sat quietly thinking about this, but was interrupted from his thoughts by the door opening at the end of the ward and Professor Dumbledore sweeping in. Madame Pomfrey nodded to the Professor and went inside her office and closed the door. Dumbledore took the chair next to Harry’s bed and asked “How are you feeling, Harry?”

Harry tried to refocus his eyes and said “Well at the moment there are two of you sitting there, but I’m awake so that’s something.”

Dumbledore smiled briefly, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Harry, can you tell me what happened between you and Mr Malfoy?”

Harry then recounted exactly what happened and Dumbledore sat there listening. Five minutes later, when he had finished and was taking a drink of water, Dumbledore cleared his throat and said “I put Mr Malfoy, Crabb and Goyle under veritaserum to find out exactly what had happened. They gave the same story that you just told me. I must apologise to you Harry. I thought that the punishment that Mr Malfoy received before the term began as well as being stripped of being a prefect would be enough deterrent for him to not try anything else. Apparently it wasn’t so. For such an attack on someone, especially you Harry, as well as the fact that you were nearly killed, I had no choice but to expel all three of them.”

Harry gaped at Dumbledore, not sure what to say. Dumbledore continued his voice still serious “It seems that Mr Malfoy had been planning this attack for some time, but the fact that you were usually surrounded by your friends and members of the DA still deterred him. He, however found the perfect time to attack you, wile your friends were outside, waiting for you.”

Harry nodded and said “Madame Pomfrey told me that I was quite lucky to make it back at all, sir.”

Dumbledore nodded and said “Yes. The seriousness of this attack has caused me to give everyone within the school a warning that violence of this sort will not be tolerated. Your teachers have also not counted your absence against you and have given Miss Granger the material for you to go through once you are better. You don’t have to do any home work though, as long as you learn the material.”

Harry nodded, thinking that Professor Snape would not be pleased at this. Dumbledore seemed to read his thoughts as he continued “I must tell you that Professor Snape is thoroughly disgusted that students within his care could make such an attack. He has made it clear to everyone within his house that if he catches any of them even looking strangely at another house, he will be giving them a whole month of detention pickling rat’s brains. Suffice to say they are keen not to have to do that!”

Harry smiled at this; still stunned that Snape would say such a thing. Dumbledore rose to his feet and said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“I’ll let you get some rest. I daresay that Miss Granger will be along soon to give you a thorough telling off!”

Chuckling, he departed and Harry drifted off to sleep, marvelling at Snape’s actions.

Harry woke up later in the day to find Hermione and Ron sitting beside him, talking quietly. Hermione, seeing him awake, flung her arms around his neck, her tears soaking into his pyjama top. He held her tightly to him and whispered soothing words to her, running his fingers through her hair. He looked at Ron and smiled. Ron smiled back, but Harry saw that Ron had a drawn look to his face and knew that they had both been by his bedside while he had been unconscious. Ron made an excuse that he had to catch up with Luna about something. When he had left, Hermione sat up, wiping her eyes and said “I was so scared when I saw you. I thought for a moment I had lost you. I now know what you meant when you wrote to me in the summer and said how your heart wrenched in two. Its how I felt. I’m never letting you out of my sight again!”

She hugged him again, more tears rolling down her cheeks and Harry gently ran his hand along her cheeks, wiping the tears away.

“Don’t worry ‘Mione, I’m not going anywhere. Not for a long time. I think it is a good idea for someone to always be with me though, Dumbledore told me that if I hadn’t always been with people earlier on, Malfoy would have attacked sooner.”

Hermione nodded, still sniffling and Harry handed her a tissue. She wiped her eyes and smiled at Harry and said “I guess for the first time I’ve really understood how dangerous your life is.” Harry’s stomach dropped, but lightened when she said “Don’t worry though, Harry, I’m not going to be scared off just because your life is a little more interesting. It’s just going to make me appreciate so much more the time I have with you.”

Harry smiled and kissed Hermione softly. She responded just as tenderly and pressed him back into the pillows, saying “Now, you rest. I want you all better so I can show you how much I really appreciate you!”

Harry grinned and winced, feeling still a bit sore. Hermione kissed him on the forehead and left him to mull over his thoughts.

A/N: Hi all. Thanks for the kind reviews again. I appreciate it a lot and hope to have your continued support with this story and others. Enjoy!

Harry spent two more days in the hospital wing, before Madame Pomfrey would let him out, but on strict instructions to take it very easy over the next week as the potion needed time to fix all of the injuries that he had sustained. So, on the third day, Harry walked slowly from the hospital wing, helped on either side by Hermione and Ron. He walked slowly down the stairs, as his sense of balance was still disrupted and he clung onto both of his friends so he would not fall. They helped him walk slowly into the great hall and as he entered, he noticed that all conversation ceased as everyone watched him being helped to the Gryffindor table. He finally sat down with a great sigh and smiled his thanks at his friends, who sat on either side of him. Hermione gave him a kiss on the cheek and asked him what he would like to eat. She ladled him some soup and buttered a roll for him. He thanked her with another smile.

He looked around when he heard a great movement of people behind him and saw most of the tables of ravenclaw and hufflepuff coming over to say they were glad he was back on his feet. Harry was touched by the support he was receiving from the two houses and thanked them all, smiling. Dumbledore then stood and tapped his goblet with his spoon for silence. Once he had it he spoke, saying

“I’m sure that everyone knows of the events that happened five days ago. I for one would like to welcome Harry back to the school proper and to wish him a speedy recovery.” He lifted his goblet in salute to Harry and looking around; Harry noticed that most of the rest of the school had done so as well. He felt his cheeks burning, but smiled; glad he had so many friends. Hermione took his hand in hers and smiled at him and he smiled back and resumed eating his dinner.

After dinner, Harry was helped back up to the common room, where he sat in the lounge in front of the fire and Hermione sat next to him, her head leaning on his shoulder. Ron sat across from them in one f the overstuffed armchairs that surrounded the fire. Harry spoke up for the first time since dinner and said

“I hope that Draco has gotten what he has deserved. He got me while my back was turned, then again, I should have suspected something like that to happen.”

Hermione sat upright and said quickly to Harry that she would be back. She disappeared upstairs and Harry had only enough time to exchange puzzled glances with Ron before Hermione was back clutching a copy of The Daily Prophet. She opened up the paper and showed it to Harry. Harry took the paper and gasped at the headline:

‘Death Eater’s Son to Face Attempted Murder Trial!’

According to the paper, Draco Malfoy was to stand trial for his attempt on Harry’s life. Professor Dumbledore had contacted ministry authorities just after he had visited Harry, it seems. The minister, upon hearing about the attack and wanting to make up for his stubbornness when Harry had been telling him for a year that Voldemort was back, immediately launched a full investigation into the matter. Upon Draco’s expulsion from Hogwarts, he was arrested at the gates of Hogwarts and immediately transported to Azkaban along with his two accomplices, Crabb and Goyle. The trial was scheduled for two weeks time, but a spokesperson from the ministry said that the case was pretty clear cut and justice would be swift and vengeful.

Harry gave the paper to Ron with a large smile upon his face. He felt very good knowing that Draco will now be able to see his father on a regular basis. Hermione hugged him to her and said “Now he can’t bother us anymore, love. I’m not going to let anyone harm you ever again, if I can help it.”

Harry hugged her back and felt safe in her arms. Ron gave a whoop as he finished reading the article and made Harry and Hermione laugh at the little victory dance he did around the common room. Soon enough, the whole tower knew about Draco’s fate and an impromptu party began. Dobby appeared with a whole crate of butter beer and a large tray of cakes and sweets. They all enjoyed themselves until eleven o’clock, when Harry was dozing off in his seat, snuggled up next to Hermione and Professor McGonagall said they should all get to bed. Ron and Hermione helped Harry up to the dormitory and Hermione undressed Harry and put his pyjamas on him. She helped him into bed and she quickly undressed herself and put on one of his t shirts, sliding into bed next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest, just glad that he was alive and would recover fully in time.

Harry woke the next morning to find himself in bed with no recollection of how he had gotten there. The last he remembered was that the party was going full force and he was feeling a bit tired. He looked down and saw he had been changed into his pyjamas and looking slightly to his left, realised that Hermione probably had had a hand in all of it. He smiled and watched her as she slept and thought again, how lucky he was to have her. He now knew how important she was to him, more than ever since the attack and knew that he needed to get better if his new plan was to come to fruition. Hermione then opened her eyes sleepily and Harry smiled and kissed her softly, whispering “Good morning, love.”

Hermione smiled, stretching and said “Good morning yourself. How are you feeling?”

Harry responded that he was feeling better. He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. He was amused to hear the snores coming from behind Ron’s hangings. He began to rise and felt Hermione’s hand about his waist. He smiled at her, but as he rose he could feel the strength slowly coming back into him and knew that in a few more days he should be back to full strength. With a little help from Hermione, he managed to get dressed and made his way down the staircase to the common room, but found that holding onto the banister and Hermione; he was able to achieve it. Hermione helped him over to a chair and they sat and waited for Ron to make an appearance. Ginny and Neville joined them and chatted to Harry and Hermione, both of them telling Harry how happy they were to see him up and about. Ginny told Harry not to worry about the Quiditch match coming up as she was quite happy to cover for him as seeker, until he was feeling better. Harry thanked her and joked that it was good that the team had her, what with his interesting life, as Hermione had put it. They laughed and joked until Ron finally made his way down. Harry found that he only needed Hermione’s assistance as he walked so Ron just walked beside him, ready to catch him, just in case. They made their way into the great hall and Harry helped himself to a large serving of Bacon and eggs, feeling ravenous. Feeling completely stuffed by the end of his meal, Harry went with Ron and Hermione down to care of magical creatures. Hagrid greeted Harry enthusiastically; nearly causing broken ribs from the hug he gave him and sat him down in a chair he had gotten from inside his hut. Hermione and Ron stood either side of Harry during the lesson as Hagrid explained to them about the latest creature he had managed to procure, a tiny little goblin like creature that stood about five inches tall with a lot of hair. They all took notes while Hagrid explained the uses of the creature and how to care for it. Hagrid then got a group of the students to prepare the raw liver the creature liked, while standing next to Harry and said gently “Glad you’re back on your feet, mate. I wanted to get my hands on that brat myself, but Dumbledore thought it handier to make a public example of him. He deserves what he gets anyhow.”

Harry winced; thinking of the damage Hagrid could have inflicted on Malfoy and thanked his giant friend, clasping his hand. Hagrid gave his hand a quick squeeze and went over to the group of students, making sure they sliced the liver thinly enough.

Harry spent the rest of the day working slowly through his lessons and being welcomed back by both teachers and students. Snape even let up on his constant sneers at Harry and only glanced occasionally over to where Harry was seated, an odd look upon his face. Harry didn’t mind though as any good thing that happened in potions was a bonus in his eyes. Hermione never left his side throughout the day, constantly making sure he was comfortable and had everything he needed. He realised how much this had all scared her. During dinner, he got Ron to deliver a quick message he had scribbled to Dobby, asking him to meet him in the common room later that evening.

Later that evening when Dobby arrived, Harry quickly explained to Dobby the change in his plans and asked the elf if he thought it was possible. Dobby squeaked excitedly, saying that he would make sure everything was ready when he needed it. Harry smiled at Dobby and thanked him and the elf, bowing low, disappeared with a crack.

Hermione then came back into the room, her arms full of books and Harry smiled, taking some of the books from her arms and placing them about the table. He worked with Hermione for the rest of the night and once more, she helped him up to bed. He noticed for the first time that she was not using the disillusionment charm and asked her why not. Hermione smiled and wrapping an arm about his waist said matter-of-factly “Well Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore both thought that I would be the one person best able to take care of you and help you, so they gave me permission to stay with you until you are feeling better.”

Harry grinned at this and collapsed on the bed when they reached it, saying “Does this mean I get a back rub and sponge bath?”

Hermione giggled at this and said with a naughty tone in her voice “Well I think I can handle the back rub, but as for the sponge bath, I thought a tongue bath would be much more fun!”

Harry chuckled and said “Well I’ll take the back rub, but I think I might want to wait a couple of days until I’m a bit better for the latter.”

Hermione nodded, still smiling and proceeded to massage Harry’s back and once he was completely relaxed, helped him dress in his pyjamas and slid in next to him, cuddling up to him.

Harry was able to walk with no trouble by the end of the week and he was glad as his plans wouldn’t have worked otherwise. Hermione still was with him constantly, so he was forced to rely on Dobby to complete what they had started. He had faith in the elf’s abilities though as he had given him very specific requests. Harry, Hermione and Ron spent Saturday out in the fresh air and walking around the grounds, to help Harry’s body recover fully. Harry felt refreshed and exhilarated as they made their way to Hagrid’s after a walk about the lake. Hagrid greeted them cheerfully and gave them each a glass of dandelion juice. They all sat outside and talked about the upcoming match with Ravenclaw and was amused to see Hermione’s face darken every time she heard Cho Chang’s name. He hadn’t really given her much thought, since their return to Hogwarts and only saw her briefly from time to time. She often looked at him when they did meet, but he ignored her, not thinking she was worth the trouble. He wondered to himself again and again what he had seen in her, but quickly scratched it up to hormones and her looks.

He was brought back to himself by Hermione asking him if he was alright. He nodded, smiling and sipped some more juice from his glass. They then spent a pleasant evening playing exploding snap and joking around with the rest of Gryffindor tower. Hermione used the disillusionment charm for the first time that night since he had been injured, explaining that because he could walk on his own that there was no valid reason she could use to be seen coming up to bed with him. He smiled and nodded. They spent the rest of the evening kissing and cuddling, Harry telling Hermione that he did not want to overtax his system too much, since he had only just gotten better. Hermione readily agreed, just glad that he was ok and happy just to kiss and cuddle anyhow. She felt a little sadness that Harry had not worked out that tomorrow was her birthday, but reasoned that he had been through a very painful ordeal, so was entitled to a little leeway. Harry smirked as he saw the sad look on her face and with a little effort he could just glean what she was thinking, he drifted off to sleep, knowing that tomorrow was going to be a lot of fun, if things worked out right.

Harry woke up early the next morning and kissed Hermione on the nose until she woke up. He grinned at her and said in a soft whisper “Happy birthday ‘Mione!”

She smiled, delighted that he had remembered her birthday after all and hugged him tightly to her. After letting him go, she sat up and said with a soft smile “I know you didn’t have time to get me a present Harry, but its ok. Having you back to full health is more than enough of a present for me.”

Harry smiled and kissed her softly. They both rose and went down to the common room after getting dressed. It was quiet, being so early, so Hermione did not bother with the disillusionment charm this morning and walked down hand in hand with Harry and sat at one of the tables to wait for their friends to wake up and come down. Half an hour later when they were all there, they all went downstairs to the great hall for breakfast. Harry grinned as he walked into the great hall and heard Hermione gasp beside him. In front of the seat where Hermione usually sat there was a huge birthday cake, complete with a scale model of Hogwarts and the surrounding ground on the top layer. There was a sign hanging over the table pronouncing ‘Happy birthday Hermione!’

Hermione burst into tears as the whole of Gryffindor and most of the teachers rose and sang happy birthday. She turned and hugged Harry, saying “I know this is your doing, you and your disappearing acts during the last couple of weeks. Thankyou so much!”

Harry hugged her back, glad she liked it so much, but keeping his inner grin to himself, knowing that she would sense more behind it than him being happy at her response. Hermione walked over to the cake and taking the knife from Harry cut the first slice. Everyone except the Slytherin table applauded and some house elves began cutting the cake and handed it out to the students. Hermione sat smiling throughout breakfast, so happy and feeling immense love towards Harry. No one had made a big fuss over her birthday before and she wasn’t even sure that Harry had even known when her birthday was. She made a note to herself that her boyfriend was far sneakier than she first suspected and made a pledge to keep her eyes more open around him in future.

Harry told Hermione that the day was completely hers to decide what to do with, but at the end of the day he had another surprise for her. She suggested that they spent most of the day alone, together by the lake. Harry agreed to this idea and suggested the idea of a picnic for lunch. Hermione readily agreed and Harry said he would meet her back in the entrance hall in ten minutes and went off towards the kitchens. Hermione took her card and present that she had received during breakfast from her parents upstairs and was surprised ten minutes later as she came back down to find Harry carrying a large picnic basket. She quickly hurried downstairs and helped him to hold the basket and chastised him for getting too much food. He shrugged and gave Hermione his lop-sided grin, which always made her give in. With an exasperated sigh and a smile, she allowed herself to be turned around and they headed out into the bright sunshine. They walked for a while, happy enough to be in each other’s company and not needing to talk. They found a spot half way along one side of the lake that was hidden on all sides by a tall stand of trees. It had a large clearing that had closely cropped grass leading up to a small platform of rock that jutted out into the lake. Harry placed the basket down by one of the trees and taking Hermione’s hand led her to sit at the end of the platform, having taken their shoes off and dangled their feet in the water. Hermione smiled and leaned on Harry, her arm about his waist and his arm about her shoulders.

“It is a beautiful day.” She said softly, looking over the water.

Harry nodded his face placid and peaceful. “Yes, it’s very beautiful. I’m always glad when I come back here; it’s not just my school, but my home.”

Hermione nodded, understanding and linked her arm through his, still gazing out into the distance at the forest. They spent the morning just sitting and being with each other, watching the clouds in the sky and looking over the waters of the lake. Harry appreciated the silence and serenity of his surroundings and Hermione appreciated just being there with Harry.

At around noon, Harry unpacked the picnic basket, unfolding a large white table cloth and proceeded to lay out cutlery and plates and various cold meats and salads and a selection of sandwiches. He finally pulled out a large pumpkin pie and two large bottles of pumpkin juice. Hermione laughed at the amount of food and knew for certain that under normal circumstances that such a basket could not hold so much food or implements. Harry just smiled and held out his hand to help her sit. She sat and Harry served her, putting cold meat and salad on her plate and offering her the plate of sandwiches. Hermione felt so happy and thought this was so romantic. She took a cold chicken and cheese sandwich and nibbled on it watching the man she loved as he prepared his own meal. He piled food onto his plate and giving Hermione a smile, began to eat. She couldn’t help but giggle at how ravenous Harry appeared to be and she had to remind herself that while the potion helped the body to heal, Harry did require a lot of nutrients. When Hermione didn’t think she could eat another bite, Harry unwrapped the pie and sliced it up, giving Hermione a large slice and a fork. She protested, but after another ten minutes there were only crumbs left from her slice. They both cleaned up, putting the remains of their picnic in the basket and leaned back against a large tree, their arms about each other.

“I’m so glad I met you, ‘Mione” Harry said, winding a long piece of Hermione’s hair about his finger.

“I’m glad I met you too, Love.” She answered, placing her hands on either side of his face and kissing him tenderly. They both sat there, content to watch the sky and the lake.

It began to grow dark when they finally made their way back to the castle. Harry took the basket down to the kitchens and said he would meet Hermione in the entrance hall shortly. He told her to wear her cloak as they were going somewhere and she nodded, rushing upstairs, eager to find out what the surprise was. When she came back downstairs, Harry was waiting for her and he smiled. He held out a blind foldh and said “I’m going to put this aroundt your eyes so I know you won’t peek.”

Hermione was a little unsure, but submitted to having to be blindfolded. Harry took her hand in his when he was done and led her out side, letting her know when there were obstacles and steps. He led her across the lawn and left her momentarily, then returned and guided her into what appeared to be an underground tunnel. He led her along and whispered that they were nearly there. He then let her know that there were steps ahead and he helped her to climb them and led her through several doorways. He then positioned her against what felt like a wall and then removing the blindfold, said “Happy birthday ‘Mione”

Hermione gasped. There was a room dimly lit by candles before her. In the centre of the room stood a large oak round table, with candelabra in the centre, and flowers surrounding it. There were two places set and a beaming Dobby in a little tuxedo nearly jumping up and down with excitement.

“Happy birthday Miss Granger!” He squeaked and she smiled, the tears running down her face. Harry took her hand in his and led her to her seat, helping her sit.

Dobby bustled around them once Harry had seated himself and soon enough they were eating delicious food prepared especially for their dinner. Hermione still couldn’t believe what was happening. She wondered how he had found the time to set all of this up and suspected that he had contracted Dobby for most of the work. Harry looked up and smiled at her as he finished his meal and pushed his plate away, wiping his mouth with his napkin. Hermione pushed her plate away as well, full from the rich food. Harry then stood and taking Hermione’s hand in his, led her to another room where a leather couch was the only furniture in the room. Harry sank into the leather, pulling Hermione down onto his lap. She smiled at him and kissed him deeply and whispered “Thankyou for a wonderful day, Harry. I appreciate it so much.”

Harry smiled and kissed her, saying “I appreciate you, ‘Mione. I’ve never shown you how much. I want to now.”

They kissed for a little while longer, their hands running through each other’s hair, their tongues intertwining. Harry then stood and led Hermione to the room where they had eaten dinner, to find that the furniture had disappeared, leaving the floorboards glinting in the dim candlelight. As they entered the room, music began to play and Harry turned, taking Hermione into his arms and they began to dance. Hermione was completely lost in Harry’s eyes and the feelings of happiness and contentment she had. She could not remember ever being so happy, thinking she may burst with the feelings flowing through her. Harry smiled at her and leaning forward kissed her softly and whispered “The night has only begun ‘Mione. Enjoy yourself and follow your heart.”

He told her to wait where she was as the music faded and walked off into another room. She was left to ponder his words and the meaning behind them.

A/N: Hi all. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Many more to come!

Hermione stood there waiting for Harry, the anticipation was nearly too much for her. Harry had done so much for her today and had been so thoughtful towards her and the things he had created for her today like the lake picnic. She wondered what could possibly top today, but all of her questions were soon answered when Harry came into the room. He had a large smile on his face and he beckoned to her and she came to him. He took her hand in his and led her to another room in the house. She gasped again as she walked into the room and saw the floor covered completely with rose petals and the room lit softly with candlelight. She looked around the room and then at Harry questioningly.

Harry stepped towards her and bent down on one knee, taking both of her hands in his. Her eyes widened as she realised the possibilities of this act. Harry smiled at her and spoke.

“Hermione, I love you. I have for so long, but never realised that it was more than friendship, until my dreams showed me the error of my ways. Now my dreams have come true as we are together and I love you more than ever. You have been so kind to me since I was attacked by Malfoy and I think I now know how scared you must have been when you saw me faint in front of you. Afraid that you may lose me. I felt the same way in the department of mysteries, although I didn’t understand the feeling back then. Both of those events have given me a new appreciation for what I do have and learning to live to appreciate what I have now. Hermione I want to wake up with you beside me everyday. I want you to be my last vision at night and my first in the morning. I want to grow old with you and have my family with you. Will you make another of my dreams come true and marry me?”

Hermione was speechless as Harry poured out his hart to her on bended knee. She felt so happy and she couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on her face as the tears rolled down her cheeks. She nodded and fell to her knees wrapping her arms about his neck and kissing him deeply, still crying. Harry pulled her tightly to him, kissing her back, responding to her own passion with his own. Tears were rolling down his cheeks as well from happiness as he realised he was going to get married. He broke away from her and dug into his pocket and pulled out the box containing the item he had bought in the jewellers at Diagon Alley some weeks before. He opened the box and turned the box to Hermione. She gasped as she saw the sparkling diamond set into the ring. The diamond was quite large and surrounded by sapphires, Hermione’s birth stone. He took the ring out of the box and taking Hermione’s left hand in his, placed the ring upon her third finger. She was fascinated by the ring and held it this way and that and watched as the candlelight bounced off the gems. He smiled, rising to his feet and taking her hand in his, helping her to her feet. He held her tightly to him and said to her softly “Do you want to have two ceremonies? One in the wizarding world and one in the muggle world?”

Hermione nodded, saying “Yes I think my parents would like a muggle ceremony, especially as most of their friends are muggles and they would want to celebrate with them.”

Harry nodded, smiling and leaned forward, kissing his fiancée. Hermione responded, returning his kiss and wrapping her arms about his neck. Harry bent slightly and scooped Hermione up in his arms, surprising Hermione who gave out a small squeak. She didn’t need to worry though as Harry was sure he would have no trouble carrying her. He climbed the stairs at the end of the room and walked up a hallway that looked somewhat familiar to her. He pushed open the door and walked into the room, closing the door with his foot. He kept kissing Hermione and walked over to the four poster bed, laying her down gently. She broke away from him and whispered “The shrieking shack?”

He grinned and nodded, saying “I had planned this for Christmas, but recent events made me realise how important it was to live in the moment, so Dobby and I have done what we can, although Dobby did most of the work. I just financed it.”

Hermione giggled softly and opened her arms to Harry. He lay down next to her and kissed her passionately and she responded, their tongues meeting, their passion rising. Their hands moved over each other’s bodies, exploring and finding familiar contours and curves.

Hermione opened Harry’s shirt and ran her hands over his bare chest and over his taut stomach. Harry shivered as he felt her hands on his skin and he ran his hands up under her top and slid them up over her stomach and cupped her breasts, still encased in her bra. She moaned into his mouth as he squeezed her breasts lightly and ran his thumbs over her nipples. He slipped his hands about her and undid the clasps of her bra and slipped his hands under the material, feeling her naked breasts beneath his palms, lightly tweaking her nipples between his fingers, making her gasp. He pulled back from their kiss and took off her top and bra, removing his own shirt as well. Hermione grabbed his head and forcefully brought his lips back down to hers and kissed him roughly, their lips mashing together and their tongues engaged in a furious battle. Harry broke from the kiss gasping and kissed down her neck and sucked just below her ear, leaving a mark and making her groan louder, her nails running lightly down his back. He shivered and kissed down, taking one of her nipples in his mouth, sucking gently, biting softly. Hermione’s hands came up and cradled his head, keeping his head at her breast. Her passion was so intense and overwhelming that she could hardly think. She knew that tonight was the night and knew that it was right. Harry switched to her other breast and Hermione gasped at the new sensations as well as the feeling of the cool air on her wet nipple.

She let go of Harry’s head and began to undo the buckle of Harry’s pants, and unzipped them, slipping them over his hips. She slid her hand under the waist band of his boxers and grasped him firmly. He gasped and moaned into her mouth as she slowly stroked him, pausing at the end of each downstroke to squeeze him, causing him to moan louder. He moved his hands down to her waist and quickly undid her pants, sliding her pants over her hips. Hermione kicked them off over the end of the bed and Harry did the same with his pants.

They lay together, side by side on the bed, kissing and stroking each other. Harry rubbed her through her panties, while she stroked him under his boxer shorts. Harry couldn’t stand not touching her skin anymore and quickly sat up and removed her panties and, spreading her legs wide, plunged his tongue deeply inside of her. She cried out, not expecting this, but loving the feeling his tongue created on her. He reached up as his tongue delved within her and began to lightly rub her clit, causing her to jerk and shudder uncontrollably from the sensations shooting through her body. Hermione’s breath quickened and she was moaning constantly, crying out when Harry found a particularly sensitive spot. He withdrew his tongue from her and began to lick her clit with long, slow strokes, his fingers sliding into her and Hermione moved her hips in time with his movements. Hermione rubbed her own breasts as
Harry continued his work on her and rolled her nipples between her fingers, creating more sensations. Reaching over quickly, she grabbed her wand and cast a quick spell on herself, knowing that if she didn’t do it now, she would probably not remember later. Harry sat up then and slid up to kiss her deeply. She kissed him back, tasting herself on him and not caring. She slid his boxers down off of his hips and grasping him, guided him gently to her opening. He slid just inside her entrance and looked deeply into her eyes, whispering “I love you ‘Mione, forever.”

She smiled up at him and whispered back” I love you too, Harry. Make love to me.”

Harry slid in gently, feeling her stretch as he slid in. He reached her barrier and looking into her eyes, he pushed forward sharply, breaking her hymen. She cried out and tears came to her eyes at the pain. He stopped and gently wiped the tears from her eyes, kissing her softly. She hugged him close to her while the pain lasted. When it ebbed away she let him go and whispered “Go slowly at first, love.”

He nodded and slid back out until only his tip was inside of her and then slowly slid in again. She only felt a little pain this time, but it was intermixed with pleasure. He slid fully in this time, his length stretching her a little more, but he could feel her lubrication around him. She gasped softly as he slowly withdrew again and just as slowly re-entered her. Her hips rose up to meet his stroke this time and she said breathlessly “A little faster, love. It feels good now.”

Harry responded by speeding up and each time he was fully inside of her, they made a little smacking sound. Harry groaned within his throat, the feeling of being inside of Hermione so exquisitely good. Hermione gasped at the end of each stroke as he filled her. She lifted her legs higher to allow him more access to her and he pulled them up and over his shoulders and plunged deeper into her. She cried out in pleasure, her head moving from side to side. She completely lost track of where she was, not caring how much noise she made. She just wanted to continue to feel Harry inside of her, to make her feel this good. She could feel the tingles beginning in her stomach and knew she was close. She could also feel Harry hardening more inside of her and knew that he was close as well. Harry groaned her name as he continued, lost within his own feelings and leaned forward, kissing her passionately, almost folding her in two. Hermione moaned louder into his mouth as the different angle of his thrust now, slid along her clit. She cried out and it became a shriek of pure joy as her orgasm overwhelmed her. It felt like wave after wave of pleasure was crashing through her and she felt as if she was drowning. It went on and on and she didn’t think it would stop. It felt so good that she wasn’t sure that she did want it to stop. She then felt a flood of warmth inside of her and a groan from Harry as he climaxed. She found the sound so sexy that she climaxed again, screaming from the intense pleasure, clinging desperately to Harry, her nails digging into his back as she wrapped her legs about his waist. They stayed that way for minutes, their chests heaving, their bodies drenched in sweat. Harry rested his head on Hermione’s shoulder, still breathing hard, but he felt completely satisfied. He rose up on his elbows and looked down at Hermione and smiled softly, kissing her tenderly. She smiled as well, and kissed him back. They stayed locked together, just like that just looking into each other’s eyes.

Eventually, they rose and cleaned themselves off with a quick spell. It took them a while to get dressed though as they constantly kissed, feeling so much closer now that they had united in that one act of complete and utter love. When they finally were dressed, Harry took her in his arms and lifting her up, he carried her out of the room and downstairs. Hermione rested her head against his chest and locked her arms about his neck, looking into his eyes with complete and utter love. He smiled tenderly down at her, keeping a wary eye out so that they didn’t fall. The passage way was wide enough so he continued to carry her along the passage, her wand providing the illumination as Harry walked. Her gaze never left his face until he had to set her down just before the entrance to the tunnel. He quickly cast the disillusionment charm on them and they quickly walked out and across the lawn towards the castle.

They quietly opened the doors and made their way up to Gryffindor tower, stopping in every alcove they found to passionately kiss and embrace, their love and passion for each other overwhelming them. They gave the password to the fat lady, who glanced at them suspiciously, as she could not make them out very well, but opened up anyhow. They crawled in through the portrait hole and sunk into the couch in front of the fire and kissed again, their hands running over each other’s bodies. Their passion reached a crescendo point again and they knew that soon they would not be able to control themselves. They almost ran up the stairs to Harry’s bedroom and once they had cast the charms on the curtains about them and had cast off the disillusionment charm, they fell into each other’s arms and made love with a fervency and urgency as if they hadn’t made love for days, rather than half an hour before. It felt so much better this time to Hermione and she reached her orgasm quite quickly, the waves of pleasure kept slamming into her with each thrust that Harry made and she grew hoarse with the amount of screaming she did as she climaxed again and again. Harry couldn’t take the constant tightness around him and with a loud cry; he filled her again, collapsing onto her, holding her close to him. They fell asleep, still joined, their love filling every particle of their being.

They awoke a few times during the night. First it was Harry waking Hermione, who woke to the sensations of Harry sucking on one breast, his left hand playing with her clit and his other hand rolling her other nipple between his fingers. They joined again, this time Hermione taking Harry from behind. Hermione liked this position as it allowed Harry to plunge deeply within her. She could also thrust back to meet with Harry and this created stronger sensations within her. Her orgasm surprised her with its strength and ferocity and she buried her head into the pillow beneath her, muffling her cries and sobs as Harry continued to thrust into her.

A few hours later Harry awoke to find Hermione licking and sucking him, taking him deep within her mouth. As soon as she realised he was awake, Hermione crawled on top of him and rode him to another screaming orgasm. They both fell asleep for the last time that morning, completely exhausted and awoke a few hours later, very tired, but extremely happy none the less. They spent some time just laying in bed, kissing each other, but then rose quickly, realising that it was a school day and they needed to get ready. Hermione gave Harry one more quick kiss before casting the spell on herself and rushing up to her own room. Harry had an extremely hot shower to ease the aches in his muscles. He groaned with relief as the pressure from the shower massaged the aches and knots out. He quickly shut off the shower and once he had dried himself, quickly dressed and went downstairs to find his fiancée. She wasn’t alone though, as he found Ginny down in the common room with Hermione exclaiming over her engagement ring, which Hermione was proudly showing off with a grin. She saw Harry as he came down and rushed into his arms and kissed him deeply, wrapping her arms about him. He responded kissing back with equal passion, until a polite cough from Ginny forced them apart blushing and smiling. Ginny was grinning and said “Well if I didn’t realise that you two were in love before, that performance just then left me in no doubt!”

They all laughed at this and they were soon joined by Lavender and Pavarty, who both squealed at the ring on Hermione’s finger and hugged both Harry and Hermione, saying they knew they belonged together and to wish them well. Neville clapped Harry on the back, smiling broadly and gave Hermione a quick hug, blushing, before sitting down next to Ginny. Harry noticed how close they were sitting and how at ease they seemed to be with each other and smiled, winking at Hermione. She looked where his eyes had been and grinned, winking back.

Ron then came downstairs and looked at everyone, asking “What’s going on?”

Harry and Hermione both rushed over to him and told him that they were engaged. A broad grin broke over his face and he gave them both a hug, saying “That’s wonderful guys. I’m so glad for both of you!”

They all went downstairs for breakfast. As Harry and Hermione entered, Harry heard gasps coming from all around them as the morning sunshine glinted off of the ring’s jewels, so that it seemed like there was a small ball of fire attached to the ring on Hermione’s hand. Harry saw that not only the students were stunned either as both Professor Flitwick and McGonagall had their mouths open at the beauty of the ring and the light that it reflected. He caught Professor Dumbledore’s eye and he smiled as Dumbledore gave him a wink, his eyes twinkling merrily. Girls from all of the houses came over to see Hermione’s ring, congratulating her and Harry. Hermione glowed with pride and Harry could tell she loved the attention that was being showered on her as well as the fact, he suspected, that he was now definitely out of the market. Cho Chang even came over for a look and politely congratulated Hermione, who took her, comments graciously, although as she left, Harry could have sworn he had seen a gleam of triumph in her eyes when Cho’s back was turned. They had a merry time at breakfast and Harry ate quite a large helping of food, as did Hermione, their appetites quite a bit larger for some reason. Their hands constantly brushed each other under the table and their feet intertwined. Harry was thinking of how he could manage to spirit Hermione back up to their bed after each lesson and wished desperately for a time turner. He looked into Hermione’s eyes and knew she was thinking the same thing and she leaned over, whispering “You better watch out Mr Potter, I’m going to grab you and have my wicked way with you every chance I get!”

Harry kissed her neck softly in response, making her shiver and moan slightly and breathed into her ear “Not if I grab you first, love.”

She grinned at this and gave him a lustful wink, making most of his blood rush south of the border. They quickly finished what was on their plates and rushed off, saying to Ron that they had forgotten something and they would meet him in their first lesson; rushing off without waiting to hear his response.

Harry grabbed Hermione as they hurried along and pulled her into a broom closet, closing the door with a sharp snap behind them. Hermione quickly undid his pants and shoved them and his boxers down and falling to her knees quickly took him into her mouth, sucking with wild abandon. Harry groaned and leaned back against the wall, letting her have her way with him. When she thought him ready enough, she quickly rose up and took off her panties and hiking up her skirt, nearly leapt on Harry. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs about his waist as he positioned himself and drove deeply into her. She cried out and kissed him fiercely, sucking his tongue into her mouth. They moved with a wild abandon, the passion of each one, driving the other to greater and greater heights. They came together in a fierce storm of passion, both of them crying out into each other’s mouths, Hermione biting down on Harry’s lower lip, then sucking on it gently, before kissing Harry passionately as they both came down from their climaxes. They quickly rearranged their clothes, Harry pulling his pants and boxers back up and fastening them, Hermione pulling on her panties and smoothing her skirt. They smiled at each other and Harry quickly led her out of the closet and towards their first lesson of the day.

A/N: Hi all. I’m glad you liked the previous chapter so much; I know a lot of you were hanging out for that. Enjoy!

Harry and Hermione spent the rest of their first day as fiancées cuddling close together during classes and stealing kisses whenever they could during lessons. Their hands constantly touched each other and Harry even had the audacity to pinch Hermione on the bottom while in potions, but wasn’t caught by Snape’s eagle eyes. They took every opportunity during study sessions in the library during free periods to become inadvertently lost in the stacks and passionately kiss while slipping their hands under each other’s clothes, touching each other’s skin and lighting one another on fire. They weren’t trying to tease each other, but inadvertently did so just by the mere presence of each other and the light touches and caresses and kisses they managed to grab. Harry knew for certain that he felt as if he was on fire by the end of the day and he couldn’t wait until he could get Hermione alone and ravish her. Hermione confessed to Harry as they walked through corridors that she couldn’t wait to tear his clothes off either. Harry had never heard the hungry tone in Hermione’s voice before. It made him shiver every time he heard it, knowing that the tone was meant for him and promised him of many things to come later that night. Professor McGonagall stopped them before they arrived at Gryffindor tower and told them that Professor Dumbledore would like to see them. They both exchanged looks and hoped that they hadn’t been caught by someone or that someone had complained about their open affection towards each other. They walked quietly behind Professor McGonagall, holding hands. She led them up to the gargoyle and gave the password “Blood suckers!”

The gargoyle leapt aside and Harry and Hermione stepped onto the moving staircase. They made their way up to the door of the principal and knocked, waiting. They heard Dumbledore’s voice urging them in and they opened the door and walked through. Dumbledore was seated behind his desk as usual and both Harry and Hermione were relieved to see that he had a large smile on his face. They visibly relaxed and shared amused glances with each other before taking seats next to each other, directly across from the headmaster. Dumbledore surveyed them both and said with a smile “My congratulations to the pair of you for making this decision. I must say I couldn’t be more pleased that you two have decided to make your union formal.”

Both Harry and Hermione smiled and Harry spoke up, saying “Thankyou sir. We are glad that we have your blessing. We would like to ask you if you can perform the hand feisting for us here at Hogwarts.”

Dumbledore’s smile widened and he stood, walking around his desk and took one of Harry’s and one of Hermione’s hands in each of his and said “It would be my pleasure. I performed the same ceremony for your parents, you know Harry.”

Harry didn’t know this of course, but smiled, thinking that he was following somehow in his parents footsteps.

“Have you given much thought to when you would like the ceremony?” Dumbledore asked after a moment. Harry looked at Hermione and she nodded slightly at him, smiling. He turned back to Dumbledore and said “Well we don’t want to wait too long. We were thinking of around Christmas time, when most of the school has gone home. That way we can invite guests and it won’t disrupt school too much.”

Dumbledore smiled and nodded at this, clearly pleased with their decision. Harry then crossed his legs and cleared his throat and said somewhat apprehensively “Um, Professor, we need a favour from you.”

Dumbledore inclined his head, listening and Harry continued “Well we both would like to tell our parents. Hermione would like to tell her parents and I would like to tell the Weasley’s since they are the closest thing to a family that I have. We would like to tell them in person though. Is it possible that we can get permission to see them this weekend perhaps? We just feel it is so important to tell them face to face.”

Dumbledore was already smiling as Harry finished and said mildly “Well I see no problem in arranging port keys for you and Miss Granger to see your families. I’ll arrange it all for you. Come and see me Saturday morning and you can see them then.”

Harry and Hermione both beamed at Professor Dumbledore and thanked him profusely for his kindness. He smiled and squeezed their hands, saying “Anything I can do for young love, I will. Haven’t you noticed how many broom cupboards there are in the castle?”

They all laughed at this and chatted amicably for a while. Dumbledore then asked “Have you given much thought to your living arrangements?”

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, clearly startled, and then looked back at Dumbledore. Hermione spoke up, saying “Well no we haven’t really.”

Dumbledore nodded, saying mildly “Well you probably thought Miss Granger would continue to sneak into the boy’s dormitory at night?”

Harry couldn’t help but snigger and Hermione after a moment of being in utter shock had a quiet fit of the giggles. They both realised how naïve they had been to think that they could fool the greatest wizard in their world. He didn’t seem angry at this knowledge, so they both grinned openly, blushing slightly.

Dumbledore chuckled, saying “I can assure you that you were not the first ones to want to be together all the time, including at night. That is why the boy’s dormitory does not have the same charm on the staircase as the girls. The girl has to be willing you see. It is also why the boy’s beds also have drapes around them for added privacy.”

Harry and Hermione both nodded, their questions answered about Gryffindor tower by this one statement. Obviously the founders knew that students would fall in love and made sure that while no one was taken advantage of, couples could still be together if they chose to be. Dumbledore perched on the edge of his desk and said “Now that you are both engaged and you’re wedding not that far away, I think it a good idea that we give you separate accommodations.”

Harry frowned and said “But wouldn’t the board of governors have something to say about such arrangements?”

Dumbledore smiled and shook his head slightly and said “While the age for performing magic is 17, there have always been instances in the history of Hogwarts where students have been engaged and married before that time. The age of consent is 16 in the wizarding world to engage in carnal acts and you both meet that requirement. The board of governors only have policy as to what is taught here and who is hired, but the day to day running is left to me and no one else can supersede my judgment in matters like this.”

Harry and Hermione both looked at each other and smiled, happy that soon they would be living together as a proper couple. Dumbledore said that after they had seen their parents on Saturday and returned to the castle, he would show them their new accommodations. They both thanked Dumbledore again and made their way back to Gryffindor tower, arm in arm.

When they climbed through the portrait hole, Ron noticed the smiles on their faces and said with a leer “Been busy, I suppose?”

Hermione slapped Ron lightly on the arm and blushed. Harry chuckled quietly and said “No, we have just been to see Dumbledore to talk about the wedding. We’re going to see Hermione’s parents and yours. Do you want to come?”

Ron nodded eagerly and Harry continued “Also we have decided to have the hand feisting at Christmas and I would like you to be my best man, Ron.”

Ron smiled and pulled Harry into a manly hug and clapped him on the back, saying “It would be my honour, mate. You’ll have to do the same for me though, mate, when the time comes.”

Harry hugged Ron back and grinned, nodding his agreement. Hermione smiled at her two boys and joined in the hug. When they disentangled from each other, they also broke the news to Ron about their living arrangements. Ron’s eyes grew wide and he said “You two had better be careful you don’t get pregnant before the wedding!”

The couple shared a look between them and Harry said “Well we already are. Hermione is performing the contraception charm which lasts for 24 hours at a time. So don’t worry about that.”

Ron looked at them suspiciously for a moment and asked “You’ve already done it?”

Hermione turned crimson and Harry nodded, thoroughly embarrassed. They then explained how Hermione had been sneaking into the boy’s dormitory for most of the term. Ron grinned and shook his head and said “I’ll have to remember that one myself.”

They both looked at him and Harry broke up and Hermione joined him after a moment, the implications of what Ron had said hitting them fully. Ron grinned at his two friends, but didn’t say anything more. They spent the rest of the evening in front of the fire and talking about their futures. Hermione snuggled in Harry’s lap and he held her close to him as they talked with Ron. They asked Ron how things were going with Luna and he smiled, saying “Well I must say she is different, but not in a bad way. She acts all dreamy around others, but not with me. I can really talk to her and she understands me so well. I understand her as well. I don’t know why I use to tease her so much. She is wonderful.”

Harry and Hermione smiled at Ron, glad he had found someone. After another half an hour Ron made his way upstairs, leaving the couple to snuggle in front of the fire. They looked into each other’s eyes and Harry said “So, how is it to know you’re going to be Mrs Potter soon?”

Hermione smiled and kissed him softly, saying “It feels wonderful, love. I can’t wait.”

Soon they made their way upstairs and Hermione didn’t bother with the disillusionment charm. They made slow, passionate love that night. They kissed softly and slowly, their bodies intertwined, moving together, feeding off of each other’s passion. They climaxed together and rested in each other’s arms, completely satisfied, feeling secure.

Before they knew it the end of the week was near. They completed their final lesson of the week and made their way to the great hall for dinner. Harry felt somewhat apprehensive at the thought of telling Jim face to face that he wanted to marry his daughter, but Hermione reassured him that he would be fine. “Remember you are a very powerful wizard Harry. I don’t think he’ll react too badly though.”

Harry felt a little more reassured by this and helped himself to the roast potatoes in front of him. Hermione then voiced her opinion that she didn’t know how the Weasley’s would react, considering how protective of Harry Mrs Weasley was. Harry answered her fear, saying “I hope she will understand that we are happy with each other ‘Mione. She may be a little shocked at first, but she’ll accept it.”

Hermione leaned over and kissed Harry on the cheek, saying “You always know what to say to make me feel better, don’t you?”

Harry nodded, grinning and Hermione began to put food onto her plate as well. Ron, seeing Hermione kiss Harry, yelled out “Oy! You two get a room why don’t you?”

Everybody laughed at this, even the teachers at the head table. Harry and Hermione went to bed early that night, wanting to make sure they were alert in the morning. They exhausted themselves making passionate love and drifted off into dreamless sleep.

They awoke early the next morning. Harry woke Ron as Hermione left to get dressed and went and had a shower. Ron was sitting on the end of his bed as he came back out and said “You nervous?”

Harry nodded, his pale face telling more about his feelings. Ron clapped him on the back as he made his way to the bathroom and said “Well just think, at least her father can’t do magic and you can!”

Harry grinned at this and made his way downstairs, just as Hermione made her way down from her own dormitory. She looks radiant, Harry thought to himself as he greeted her with a kiss. She wore black pants and a white knit top. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail and she had applied light make-up, which accented her brown, sparkling eyes. They sat down and waited for Ron, who came down five minutes later. They went downstairs and ate a light breakfast before making their way up to Dumbledore’s office. Harry gave the password and Ron made a face at the thought of the blood flavoured lollies he had seen at Honeydukes. They rode the staircase up to Dumbledore’s office and greeted the headmaster with smiles as he beckoned them inside. They saw an old newspaper, a shoe with a hole in the toe and a deflated football. Dumbledore explained that both Harry and Hermione had to hold each item for them to work. Harry frowned and asked “Sir, why is there three items? We are only going to two places.”

Dumbledore smiled and said “Well you said to me you wanted to tell your parents, Harry. I thought you might want to see where your parents were laid to rest and introduce your lovely bride to them.”

Harry’s mouth opened and closed, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. Hermione took his hand in hers and smiled and Ron moved to his side and clutched his shoulder in support. Harry eventually smiled at both of them in thanks and taking a deep breath, took hold of the items. He held out the newspaper and Hermione touched it as Harry grabbed Ron’s hand. Harry felt the familiar tug behind his navel and they were whisked away in a rush of colour and sound. They slammed into the ground after a few moments and Harry staggered, but caught himself and he held out a hand to steady Hermione. Ron seemed used to the travel by now and merely walked a couple of paces to wear the momentum off. Harry looked around and realised that they were on the edge of a forest in a clearing. He looked behind him and saw a cottage with shingles on the roof and honeysuckle that climbed up the porch supports and covered most of the roof. Harry realised that this must be his parent’s place and wondered who had repaired it, as he remembered Hagrid telling him that it had been destroyed by the battle between his parents and Voldemort. Ron touched his shoulder and pointed to a trail that led into the forest. Harry nodded and they set off along the path.

They walked for half an hour before coming to a clearing near the centre of the forest. Hermione held Harry’s hand as they saw the two gravestones that were at the centre of the clearing, with a stone lion sitting between them, as if guarding them. They walked slowly up until they stood at the foot of the graves. Harry could see the names of his parents and the message

‘May their rest be peaceful and the joy in their lives be remembered’

Harry was touched by this simple message and thought how alike his parents were to him and ‘Mione. He stepped between the two graves and looking at both he said

“Hi mum, Dad. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, but I never knew where you were. I love you both, but I think you already know that, wherever you are. I’m getting married to a wonderful girl. I think you would have liked her. She reminds me of what I know of you, mum. You were always strong and smart, standing up for what you believed in. She is just the same. She makes me so happy. I just wish you were here to be with us.”

As he said these words, tears rolled down his cheeks and Hermione placed an arm about his shoulders. He looked up at her and smiled, saying “I know they would have loved you too ‘Mione. I’m sure of it.”

Hermione smiled, her eyes a little wetas well and she hugged him close to her, touched by his words. After a few more minutes, Harry turned to Ron and asked “Ready to go?”

Ron nodded and smiled. He grabbed hold of Harry’s hand and Harry held out the shoe to Hermione, who pulled a face and touched the shoe. They were off again and a moment later they slammed to a halt in front of the Granger’s home. Ron looked at the house, interested since he had never been to Hermione’s place before. Harry went up and knocked on the door and it was opened by Ellen after a few moments. Ellen smiled and pulled Harry and Hermione into a crushing embrace.

“It’s so good to see the two of you!” She exclaimed. She turned to Ron who was standing a little awkwardly away from them. “You must be Ron.” She said, holding out her hand. Ron shook her hand, his ears turning pink and mumbled that he was pleased to meet her. She led them all inside to the living room. Jim embraced his daughter and shook Harry’s hand, smiling and welcomed Ron to their home. They all sat down and Jim, after a moment’s silence, said “Well we received your message saying you were coming, but aren’t quite sure what it’s all about.”

Harry cleared his throat nervously and Hermione squeezed his hand supportively. He looked at Hermione’s parents and said somewhat nervously

“You both know that I love your daughter. I would die to protect her and would do anything to make her happy.”

Hermione’s parents nodded and waited for more. Harry continued

“I was badly injured a week or two into the term and it really made me realise how important she was to me and it became quite apparent how important I was to her. I decided that I wanted Hermione in my life on a permanent basis. I want to be with her always and I feel so happy when I am with her. On her birthday I asked for her hand in marriage.”

Jim looked a little shocked at this revelation that Harry had been hurt and even more so at the information that Harry had asked his daughter to marry him. Ellen, however, didn’t seem surprised at all and rushed over, hugging Hermione. She broke away momentarily and asked “You did say yes didn’t you dear?”

Hermione laughed and hugged her mother saying “Of course I did. I want to be with Harry forh the rest of my life. I have never been surer of anything as much as I am of this!”

Jim then came over and smiling, held his hand out to Harry. Harry rose to his feet and shook Jim’s hand. Jim then pulled him into a bear hug and said “Welcome to the family, Harry.”

Harry smiled and Ellen then hugged him expressing her delight at the news. Hermione then joined them in a four-way hug. Everyone had tears in their eyes when they broke out of the hug. Ellen then went out and prepared some tea and Hermione joined her to help. Ellen gave her a warm smile as they prepared the tray and said “So, how is he in the sack dear?”

Hermione nearly dropped the cup she was holding in shock, but Ellen quickly caught it and placed it on the tray, chuckling. Hermione stared at her and Ellen with her hands on her hips said in a mocking voice “Oh, come on Hermione. It’s all written on your face that you two are a hell of a lot closer than you were during the holidays. You also have that look in your eyes of a well loved woman. So?”

Hermione grinned and blushed and Ellen laughed lightly, saying “That good, huh?”

Hermione nodded shyly and Ellen hugged her daughter to her, saying “Well honey, you have a great man there on your hands. Treat him right and I’m sure he’ll make you happy.”

Hermione sniffed and hugged her mother back, saying “He already does, mum.”

They then brought the tray out into the living room, where Ron was telling Jim about some Quidditch matches that he had seen over the summer. Hermione smiled, seeing that her father was spellbound by the play-by-play description Ron was giving. Harry smiled at her as they walked in and she felt a surge of love towards him. They all sat and chatted amicably for an hour and then said their goodbyes as they had to go to the Weasley’s. They gave the Grangers the date of the wedding and let them know they would be in touch. They walked outside and Harry grabbed hold of Ron and then held the punctured football out to Hermione, who took hold. They went off again and a moment later arrived in the front yard of The Burrow.

They had only been there for a moment when the front door swung open and Mrs Weasley stood there beaming at them. Harry then remembered the clock that the
Weasley’s owned and realised that Mrs Weasley had known the moment they had arrived. She came forward and embraced them all and ushered them inside. They all walked into the kitchen and were greeted by Mr Weasley who was sitting at the table reading a copy of The Daily Prophet. They all sat down and chatted, while Mrs Weasley bustled around, making tea. They were informed that the twins would be home soon, so Harry and Hermione held their news until the two arrived. Half an hour later the fire in the lounge roared and the twins came tumbling out, along with Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, their girlfriends. They all greeted Harry, Hermione and Ron, sitting down at the table. Fred then stopped talking and pointed at Hermione’s hand, asking “What’s that?”

He was pointing to Hermione’s ring. Harry then launched into the explanation of what had happened during the summer, with them both getting together and the attack at Hogwarts. He then spoke fondly of the care that Hermione had taken of him and how scared and worried she had looked when she came into the hospital wing just after he had woken up. He took her hand in his and said “I decided I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, so I asked her to marry me and she accepted.”

There were shrieks around the room from all of the girls and Mr Weasley, Fred and George rushed over to Harry, shaking his hand and congratulating him. They kissed and hugged Hermione, congratulating her as well. Angelina and Alicia both kissed Harry on the cheek and congratulated him and squealed over Hermione’s ring, congratulating her as well. Harry looked up at Mrs Weasley. She had tears in her eyes and she pulled Harry and Hermione into a hug, saying “Oh, I’m so happy for the both of you! I knew that that Skeeter woman was onto something, even back then, but that the two of you hadn’t realised it yet. Oh, I’m so happy!”

They both hugged Mrs Weasley back, tears rolling down their cheeks as well, the relief also overwhelming.

The three of them stayed for dinner and a merry time was had by all. Harry and Hermione tucked into Mrs Weasley’s delicious cooking, having missed her special brand of cuisine. Ron stuffed his face as usual, but was soon waylaid by his two brothers.

“So, has ickle ronnykins got a girlfriend?” Fred enquired in a falsetto voice. Ron turned crimson and it was evident to all what the answer was. Mrs Weasley then asked “So then Ron, who is the girl?”

Ron seemed to be choking on the mouth of potatoes he had in his mouth and quickly took a large swig of pumpkin juice. When it was evident that he could not delay the inevitable any longer, he said “It’s a Ravenclaw girl called Luna Lovegood. Her father is the owner of The Quibbler.”

Fred and George snorted into their food and earned slaps over the head from their respective girlfriends. Mrs Weasley looked thoughtful and said “Oh yes, Ginny has mentioned her a few times. I’ve met her father, he’s a very nice man.”

Ron goggled at his mother for a moment, his stomach dropping at the thought of Luna’s father and what he might do to Ron when he found out he was dating his daughter. Mr Weasley cleared his throat, wiping his mouth and said “I’m very proud of you Ron, for seeing past what everyone says about her. She is a nice girl; I’ve met her during the summer when I had business at The Quibbler for the Ministry.”

Ron smiled and Mrs Weasley began to serve dessert, which was Apple pie with clotted cream.

Finally the three said their goodbyes and received one final hug from Mrs Weasley. They took hold of the football once more and they were transported back into Dumbledore’s office. He looked up from his work, smiling.

“So, from the fact that Harry has all of his limbs where they should be, I gather it all went well?” He enquired.

The three nodded and told him about their day. Dumbledore smiled once they had finished and said “Excellent. There is nothing to stop the ceremony then since you both have the blessing of your families. Mr Weasley, you may go back to Gryffindor tower and I’ll show you two your new quarters.”

Ron smiled at the two of them and disappeared downstairs. They then turned and followed Dumbledore along the same path that Ron had taken, but stopped several metres short of the portrait of the fat lady, in front of a pretty looking witch from medieval times, if her clothing was anything to go by.

“Griselda, this is Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. They are the couple I told you about. “

He then turned to the two and said, smiling “I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Griselda and let you become more acquainted with your quarters.”

His moustache twitched at this last comment and he turned and disappeared around the corner. They looked back to the painting to find Griselda smiling at them.

“Welcome to the two of you. I’ll be the guardian for your quarters. During my lifetime, I was a seer who was able to see auras. I still have the talent, even in this painting, so there is no need for a password as I can tell you apart from any other in this castle. You may enter.”

They thanked Griselda and walked through to the room behind the painting. It was a smaller version of the common room, with its own smaller fire crackling in the hearth. There was a large table in one corner for them to study and a bookshelf lined with large, thick tomes. They walked through and examined their bedroom. It was a large circular room, with a large king sized four-poster bed in the centre. Their two trunks had been already moved and sat at the foot of their new bed and their personal affects were placed neatly on the bed side cupboards. There was a mirror in one corner and Hermione walked over to look into it. She was surprised when it spoke up, saying “You look lovely, Dear.”

Hermione jumped and blushed. Harry sniggered and she threw him a dirty look. She advanced on him and he backed up, suddenly wary at the look on her face. She quickly lunged at him and pinned him on the bed, her legs about his hips, her hands holding his arms above his head. He smiled innocently up at her and said “Hi there.”

She giggled and kissed him softly, saying “Hi yourself, my fiancée. I love you.”

Harry kissed her and answered, saying “I love you too ‘Mione. Isn’t this great?”

Hermione smiled, sitting up, letting go of his arms and looked around.

“Yes, it’s excellent.”

Harry then gave her a naughty look and said “Well, I think we’ll have fun christening the place. In here, in the bathroom, in the common room out there, on the table, on the couch, on the rug by the fire…”

Hermione laughed as he continued describing the places he wanted to make love to her in. She cut him off by kissing him and said in a sultry voice “Well, quit talking about it and make love to me now.”

Which he did, gladly.

A/N: Hi all. Wow the number of reviews was incredible. I’m now attempting to put more plot into my story, so let’s see how interesting I can make this ~eyes glint dangerously~ Hope you like it.

Harry and Hermione spent the night acquainting themselves with their new quarters. Safe to say that by morning they had managed to christen most spaces they could fit on or into. Harry woke up lying snuggled next to Hermione on the rug near the fire. Hermione lay nestled in his arms completely naked, as was he. He traced his finger along the side of her face and drew it across her lips. She stirred slightly, snuggling more firmly into his arms, her eyelids flickering briefly. He then leaned forward and slowly pressed his lips against hers, lightly running his tongue along her lips. Unconsciously her lips parted and he deepened the kiss and he felt her slowly respond as she awoke. Her arms wrapped about his neck and she pressed herself more firmly against him. He kissed her with great passion and his fingers ran through her hair and then his fingers ran down her spine, making her shiver slightly. He broke the kiss and ran his lips down her neck and she moaned at the feeling of his lips, teeth and tongue as he licked, sucked and bit lightly. She moaned softly and lifted her head back, exposing her neck fully to him, allowing full access to his questing mouth.

He ran his hands over her body and cupped her breast, his fingers finding her nipple and squeezed it softly, eliciting another moan from Hermione. She ran her hands down his back and felt his taught muscles and ran her palms down over his backside. He moved his mouth down over her collarbone, kissing and nipping lightly at the skin and then took the nipple he had been playing with into his mouth. Her hands moved back up his back and ran through his hair and held his head there, suckling at her breast. His other hand moved up and cupped her other breast, rolling the nipple between his fingers. He slipped his free hand over her stomach, making her arch in his embrace and slid it between her legs, running his fingers through the dark curls that grew there. Hermione shivered again and moaned loudly at the feelings that Harry was creating all over her body. Harry slipped his fingers in between her folds and slid gently into her, her growing wetness lubricating his fingers. He first slid one then two fingers into her moving slowly at first and Hermione began to rock her hips in time with his movements. His thumb moved up and pressed against her clit and she gasped loudly at the flood of sensation. Harry left her breast and moved his lips up to hers and kissed her deeply with passion. She responded, plunging her tongue into his mouth and finding his, tangled with it, tasting each other. He slipped his fingers out of her and rubbed them over her clit, causing Hermione to moan even louder. He slid between her legs and her thighs parted willingly. He positioned himself and with a groan, he slid into her wetness, savouring the feeling of being in her once more. She wrapped her legs about him as he was fully inside of her, to allow him more access. He began moving slowly within her, Hermione’s hips rocking with his rhythm, her hands running up and down his back, drawing fine red lines over his back with her nails. A light sweat broke out on them as they moved, their internal fires rising higher and higher, and their minds being consumed by their lust, love and desire for each other. Hermione sucked Harry’s tongue into her mouth and mashed her lips firmly against his, her hands reaching down to grab his backside and pulling him deeper in towards her, driving him deeper still. She cried out into his mouth as he penetrated parts of her he hadn’t before, stretching her slightly. She could feel herself beginning to quiver and the tingling sensations began as her climax began, taking her up to the crest of the wave of pleasure and then drowning her in its depths. She cried out again and again as Harry thrust into her harder and faster, feeling his impending orgasm coming. Just as she felt she was about to pass out from the sheer pleasure, Harry groaned and flooded her with his seed, clinging to her as he bucked against her, his face a mask of exquisite pleasure. They lay there intertwined for a few more moments, panting, trying to regain their bearings in the real world. Hermione kissed Harry softly, smiling and said “Well, that was a good way to wake up!”

Harry grinned and chuckled, leaning up on his elbows, looking into her eyes and said “So you won’t mind if I do that every morning?”

Hermione giggled softly, wondering if he was always going to be this insatiable and found she liked the idea if he was. She led him to the bathroom where they enjoyed a shared shower, kissing and washing each other’s bodies. They then dressed and made their way to the great hall.

Ron was waiting for them at Gryffindor table and they greeted him cheerily and loaded their plates with bacon, eggs, sausages and fried tomatoes. Ron’s eyebrows lifted in question at the amount of food on their plate. Harry and Hermione both shrugged and began to eat. Ron gave them a knowing smile and continued eating his own meal. Luna soon joined them and sat next to Ron, giving him a kiss on the cheek in greeting. Ron stopped eating long enough to smile at her and return the kiss after wiping his mouth and she giggled, touching his cheek and pulled an empty plate towards her and began to butter some toast, saying “So are you two taking full advantage of your private accommodations?”

Ron choked on his food and Luna patted him firmly on the back. Harry and Hermione both turned crimson, but Hermione gave Luna a smile and a quick nod. It was Harry’s turn to choke on his food, not believing Hermione’s forwardness. Ron also gaped at Hermione, but kept eating, deciding that it was more important to get sustenance than question anything said.

Harry looked up to the head table and caught Dumbledore’s eye. He smiled and winked in welcome. He then tilted his head, indicating that he wished to see Harry afterwards and Harry nodded and indicated Hermione with a questioning look. Dumbledore nodded slightly and Harry understood. He leaned over and whispered in Hermione’s ear “Professor Dumbledore wants to see us after breakfast.”

Hermione looked up at the head table and then back to Harry and nodded, smiling and kissed Harry on the cheek. When they finished their meal, they told Ron they would catch up with him and walked up to the entrance to Dumbledore’s office. They rose up and entered the office.

“Hello Fawx.” Harry greeted and patted the phoenix on the head. Hermione came over and Harry guided her hands over the bird’s silky feathers. Fawx croaked at Hermione and Harry smiled, saying “I think he likes you.”

Hermione smiled as well. At this point, Professor Dumbledore came in and smiled, saying “I’m glad you have made Fawx’s acquaintance Hermione. He is a good friend to those who are loyal to me.”

They all sat down around Dumbledore’s desk and Dumbledore steepled his fingers in front of his face and said “Now Harry, I have asked you and Hermione here on serious business. The dark lord has heard of your relationship and in my opinion is bound to try to get to you through Hermione. He has tried a number of times to attack you directly and has failed. He may perhaps think that Hermione is somewhat of a soft target.”

Harry’s hand found Hermione’s and he squeezed her hand reassuringly. He looked Dumbledore directly in the eyes and asked “So, what can we do sir?”

Dumbledore shifted his gaze between the two in front of him. He said softly “The only thing we can do for now is to stay vigilant and take precautions to make sure that you are both safe. I suggest that you both start taking occlumency and legilimency lessons. Owing to the fact that Professor Snape was not as compliant as I had hoped last year, I will take you both through the lessons. I have already taken the liberty of placing protections around your home, Hermione, so don’t worry about your parents. They are constantly protected, as are you while you are in the school grounds.”

Harry got the picture and asked “So, you want us to remain on the school grounds at all times then? No trips to Hogsmead?”

Dumbledore nodded and Harry looked at Hermione to gauge her reaction. She didn’t seem to mind though and she said “Well I don’t mind that as long as I am with Harry.”

Dumbledore nodded and smiled, then continued “I have also taken the liberty of talking to Professor Moody. He has agreed to give you both extra lessons in defence against the dark arts. He has informed me that you two are already advanced, but he will be teaching you far more advanced spells. You may consider this early Auror training, since that used to be his occupation. Also he has requested an assistant to help him with your training, since you will both be facing more than one opponent on occasion, should something happen. The death eaters are known to like the odds stacked in their favour, which is apparent by the fact that they were all there waiting for you at the department last year Harry, expecting that you would come on your own.”

Harry and Hermione both nodded their acceptance of this and Dumbledore added as a parting word “Oh and keep up the Da training as well as the marauders. They will be important to safeguard the both of you and the school.”

Harry turned at the mention of the two groups he had formed and said, his hand on the door handle

“Well Professor, I would like to have help in teaching them if I could, perhaps Moody or his assistant could come to our sessions and give a hand?”

Dumbledore nodded, smiling and Harry followed Hermione back down the staircase and out into the corridor.

As they walked to the remainder of their first lesson, Harry squeezed Hermione’s hand and said “Are you ok?”

Hermione looked at Harry for a moment and sighed, saying “Well I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. Not just for me Harry, but for you as well. It was nice that we had this time to focus on each other, but I knew sooner or later that the reality of our situation would come into play. To answer the question you haven’t asked me Harry, I knew full well that this would probably make me more of a target since the dark lord found out about us. It is a risk I am willing to take. I am not going to let him rule my life and make decisions for me as to how I can lead my life. I love you and I am going to marry you and that’s final!”

Harry grinned at this and saluted her, which caused her to break into giggles. He stopped and turned to her and took her into his arms and said “Don’t worry ‘Mione. We’ll be able to do this. All it means is that we have to be careful, that’s all.”

Hermione nodded, her head resting on his chest, and then she looked up at him and grinned, saying “Well if we need to have a change of scenery, there is always the room of requirement. It will become any place we want to, like The Three Broomsticks, if we want it, Dobby can provide the butter beer from the kitchens.”

Harry looked at Hermione, startled and realised that she was right about the room. He smiled and said with an accusatory stare

“You’ve been thinking about this for quite a while haven’t you?”

Hermione shrugged and said in her matter-of-fact voice “Well, it was logical that Voldemort should eventually find out about us. It would only be logical for us to stay within the grounds, since the wards of the castle are there to protect the students from attack. I assumed that sooner or later Professor Dumbledore would ask us to become more vigilant and stay within the walls.”

Harry nodded and found he could not fault her logic in this matter. He also reasoned to himself that most of the wizarding world knew most of his life and that quite public display they made in Diagon Alley and the subsequent article about it would have alerted those who covertly worked for the dark side. They continued walking, discussing plans for the Da and the Marauders. They also wondered at the assistant that Moody was going to hire, speculating who it would be. Harry hoped that it was someone in particular, but kept his mouth shut, not wanting to jinx it by saying it out loud.

They spent the rest of the day planning the next DA meeting and going through Harry’s defence against the dark arts books he had purchased from Flourish and Blotts, as well as the book Lupin and Sirius had given Harry for Christmas the previous year. They clued Ron in on what was going on and the content of their conversation with Dumbledore. He shrugged when he heard they were not allowed to leave the school grounds, saying “Well I knew it would happen sooner or later. Look how they reacted when they thought Sirius was after Harry Now he has Voldemort himself after you, as do you Hermione. It’s a wonder they don’t have guards around you all the time.” Harry had thought about this, but had dismissed it, thinking he would probably be able to protect himself and Hermione better than any guard they could hire.

During dinner time, he signalled all the Marauders that they should gather about. They all came and sat around Harry inconspicuously, since they were all most Gryffindors anyhow and Luna had become an honorary one because of her relationship with Ron. Harry cleared his throat and said, pretending to butter a roll

“We have something to discuss with all of you tonight. It can’t wait till the next Da meeting. We’ll all meet at the room tonight around the usual time.”

They all nodded, understanding this cryptic remark. At seven thirty, all of the Marauders were at the room of requirement seated in the table that Harry had thought up. They sat and waited patiently for Harry to begin.

“I want you all to know first that ‘Mione and I had a meeting with Dumbledore this morning. He informed us that his spies within the dark side have gained information that Voldemort has learned of Hermione and me and our impending wedding. He has decided to target Hermione as well as me, in case he can’t get to me, getting the woman I love is the next best thing in his reasoning it seems.”

The Marauders sat there, shocked as Harry continued

“Dumbledore has decided that ‘Mione and I need advanced training in defence against the dark arts. Moody will be teaching us additional lessons. I have also asked that either Moody or the new assistant he is getting come to our sessions to help out with your training as well. The simple reasoning for this is that if you guys are around us when we are attacked, because I am sure we will be, you will need to be able to fight and protect yourselves as well. We held our own against the death eaters at the department, but it showed great deficiencies in our learning.”

Everyone nodded agreeing with Harry’s conclusions, still shocked at the news. Ron spoke up first, saying

“Do you know if we can trust this assistant that Moody is getting though Harry? We don’t know if he may be working for the Dark Lord.”

Harry nodded, respect growing for Ron’s maturity. He looked at Hermione, who said “Well Ron, we figure that Dumbledore and Moody would only bring someone in they trust implicitly to help in such an important role.”

Ron got the hidden meaning behind Hermione’s words, that it would probably be one of the order that would work with Moody and nodded, satisfied. Harry got to his feet and said

“Well I just wanted to let you all know the latest as we found out. I trust you all with our lives, because that is what I am doing by telling you all of this. The two of us are also confined to the grounds of Hogwarts now as well because of the increased danger. We would be too easy a target in Hogsmead for an attack. All of you be on your guard though, as all of my friends are probably targets. Always travel together or in pairs if you have to. Never walk alone in Hogsmead. Understand?”

They all nodded, getting to their feet as well and quietly left, making their way back to Gryffindore tower. Harry and Hermione went with Ron to see Luna safely back to Ravenclaw tower. When they finally arrived back at the portrait hole, Harry and Hermione said goodnight to Ron, who climbed through the hole and they walked back down the corridor and greeted Griselda, who opened the passage for them. They walked through and sat down in the couch in front of the roaring fire. Harry sat staring into the fire and thinking deep thoughts. Hermione sat nestled against him and watched his facial features, trying to glean his thoughts. Finally, he came out of his reverie and smiled at her, leaning down to kiss her softly.

“Sorry, was just thinking that my life was never made to be easy.”

Hermione grinned and touched his face tenderly, then sat up and said

“Well I have been thinking for a while about what Dumbledore has said and how we are now more of a target. Now if from what you have told me is true, you are usually protected during the summer by a form of ancient magic that Dumbledore enforced using his magic and the sacrifice your mother made, right?”

Harry nodded, puzzled where Hermione was going with this. Hermione continued

“Well, Voldemort obviously didn’t think about ancient magic being that important, otherwise he would have known that your mother’s sacrifice would have granted you protection. He could have just stunned her or something, rather than kill her and then finish you off.”

Harry nodded, understanding her reasoning on this point.

“Well,” Hermione continued, “that means that there might be some form of ancient magic that we can use to protect ourselves when we are attacked. All we need to do is to find the right magic.”

Harry smiled, nodding and hugged Hermione close to him, saying

“You’re brilliant, you know that?”

Hermione giggled softly and nodded, looking happy. They both decided to approach Professor Dumbledore with the idea in the morning. They snuggled in the couch together, enjoying the warmth of the fire and then went to bed, making passionate love, then talking, hands and bodies intertwined about their future in a Voldemort free environment. They soon fell asleep, Hermione into dreamless sleep. Harry, however, began to have one of those dreams he had had just after Sirius had died in the department. He kept seeing Cedric dying in the graveyard and then his dream switched to the department. He didn’t want to dream this and thought desperately for Hermione. He felt a presence and behind him he heard a door open. He looked around and there was Hermione. He rushed over to her, throwing his arms about her. She held him close to her and whispered “It’s ok, I’m here now.”

Harry felt the room about him change as he held her and opening his eyes, he was relieved to see their common room. He stared at Hermione and asked “But how did you get in my dreams?”

Hermione shrugged, smiling and said

“Well I heard you needed me, so I came. It wasn’t hard, I just focussed on your face and I found myself behind that door.”

She waved toward the door she had come from as she spoke. Harry smiled again and led Hermione over to the couch. They both sank down into its depths and Harry said, resting his head on her shoulder

“You always make me safe.”

Hermione wrapped her arms about him and they drifted together into a mist of dreamless sleep.

A/N: Hi all. This chapter didn’t come to me all that easily, but I think it worked out alright. Plot is a lot harder apparently than just romance. Loll. Ah well. Thanks for all the reviews. Just answering a couple of questions posed to me. Ron isn’t that much in the story as a main character because I noticed in the last book, Hermione was with Harry all the time, but Ron kind of disappeared into the background and just became one of the bigger group. As for Ron and Luna, obviously they are together, but I’m not sure if I will put much about their personal time together. As for Ginny and Neville, not sure. I think the rules for posting may prohibit that relationship. I’ll need to read up to make sure it’s ok before I go there. Enjoy.

After breakfast the next morning, Harry and Hermione presented their idea to Dumbledore regarding the research for ancient magic. Dumbledore seemed very interested in the idea and said that he would speak to Madame Pince about giving them unrestricted access to the library, including the restricted section, which is where they would probably find all examples of ancient magic anyway. Harry and Hermione were both excited to be able to go through all of the books that were previously denied to them. Harry voiced the idea to Hermione while in their private quarters that they could also research different spells as well that they may use in attack or defence.

“Perhaps,” Harry said, just before they exited their rooms,” We could find some of the spells that Moody will teach us?”

Hermione agreed with this and they spent the rest of the day waiting in anticipation for lessons to finish so they could begin their research.

During defence against the dark arts where Moody had paired them up to perform a tricky spell which reflected the spell back at your opponent invisibly, while giving the illusion that the spell had hit the intended victim and produced the desired result, which was difficult at the best of times and even more difficult to work out if the spell had succeeded until the attacker had been struck, Ron was told of their special permission to research in the restricted section.
Ron instantly volunteered to be a research assistant, eager to get his hands on the restricted texts himself. Harry agreed provisionally, saying that he had to make sure that Dumbledore was fine with this. Moody pulled Hermione and Harry aside just as class finished and said

“Alright you two, we will begin your advanced sessions this Friday night. Meet me in the room of requirement. There you’ll meet my assistant and we shall begin.”

They both nodded, their curiosity peaked at who was going to be the assistant. They went down with Ron and Neville to lunch. Harry approached Dumbledore as he was passing to go up to the head table.

“Professor, do you have a moment?” Harry asked as he reached Dumbledore’s side. Dumbledore halted and turned to Harry, smiling and inclined his head for Harry to proceed.

“Well sir I was just wondering if it was alright if we have Ron help us in our research.” Harry asked.

Dumbledore pondered this a moment and then said

“Well I don’t see the harm. You no doubt will share some of your research with the DA as well as the Marauders anyhow and you would be sure to let Ron know of any discoveries you have made, considering you three are so close. It should be fine.”

Harry smiled broadly at Dumbledore and thanked him. Dumbledore smiled and continued up to the head table. Harry joined Hermione and Ron and gave Ron the good news. Ron was grinning broadly and said

“This will be great! I’ll be as helpful as I can, although I guess I’ll mainly cart the books and research the ideas that you two come up with. I know I am not a genius in the brains department and it is well known in the common room that you two are the brightest of our year.”

Harry and Hermione both smiled at Ron and Harry wondered once more about his friend and at how mature he now seemed. He thought to himself that Luna must be having a very good effect on Ron. As if thinking her name conjured her, she arrived at Gryffindor table and kissed Ron on the cheek, her arm about his waist. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he gave her a goofy, sappy smile. Harry reminded himself to talk to Ron later to get an update on his relationship with the Ravenclaw girl.

Afternoon lessons tended to drag on for the three as all they really wanted to do was get to the library and begin their research. They knew that it would probably take a long time for them to find anything useful in their defence against Voldemort, but they didn’t mind, as all of the information kept in those books must be there in the restricted section for a reason.

“We all have to be careful though with the information we gather. You don’t want something to happen to any of us, so be extremely careful. It isn’t the information only that makes the books in the restricted section dangerous.” Hermione cautioned them as they were heading to the library. Harry remembered the book he had read first year from the restricted section and shuddered, remembering the blood curdling scream it had given as he had opened the book. They all agreed to check with Madame Pince before opening any book, to make sure they didn’t get into trouble or get harmed. It was a good thing they did too, as she informed them that the books on the back shelf were forbidden without her there to mutter the counter charm on the books before they were opened. One of the books, apparently, could burn your eyes out if you did not use the incantation to remove the curse before opening it. Their excitement was tempered with caution at the reminder of how dangerous the books are. They all selected large tomes from the stacks related to ancient magic and trooped back to their study area and began flipping through pages, not exactly sure what they were looking for.

Their first nights study ended with all three of them having sore, tired eyes from reading the fine grainy print and having gotten nowhere as far as their research was concerned. Harry did borrow a book called ‘Most vile curses and their counter charms’, thinking that there was a possibility that some of the spells in there may come in useful. After saying goodnight to Ron, the couple headed into their private quarters and Harry settled himself in front of the fire and leafed through the book, noting that some of the pictures, showing the effects of the spells were truly horrifying. One spell seemed to have the ability to make the person cast upon to turn inside out. Harry felt his stomach roll over lazily and Harry quickly shut the book, wishing he hadn’t read it after all. Hermione, noticing the look on his face said “what’s the matter?”

“I just saw something in this book that made me think twice about researching the dark arts in the restricted section.” He informed her, still green.

Hermione took the book from him and leafed through the pages until she was looking at the spell Harry had been studying. She looked a little shocked but said

“Well, we need to know the worst that can be done Harry in order to protect ourselves from it. It may be disgusting, but it is possible that one of the death eaters knows this spell, so we need to study it.”

Harry nodded, agreeing wither logic, but he didn’t think his stomach could handle any more of the pictures inside, so he put the book down on the table and snuggled with Hermione for a while before they went off to bed.

Friday soon was upon them and after finishing their lessons for the day, and eating a hearty meal, knowing Moody they would need the energy, Harry and Hermione headed up to the room of requirement. They opened the door cautiously and peered in to see Moody and a familiar figure with their heads together, engaged in serious conversation.

“Professor Lupin!” They both shouted in unison, making the two before them jump. Ramus Lupin smiled and came over to embrace Harry and Hermione.

“Hi you two. It’s good to see you!” He said with a broad smile. They both hugged him back and stepped back, smiling. They noticed that his clothes were no longer tattered and rather than the normal robes he usually wore, he was dressed in black slacks, with a black shirt and leather boots. He smiled as they noticed his attire and said

“Look a little different don’t I? The reason is that Sirius left me some money from his will, so I now don’t have to work if I don’t want to. However I have found it more convenient to wear these clothes while training as they allow for more flexibility and allow me to manoeuvre more efficiently. You don’t know how many times a duel has been won because of someone being caught in their robes and unable to dodge a curse.”

Both Harry and Hermione nodded, listening and Moody then joined in the conversation, saying

“We are not going to teach you spells yet, that comes later. The first and most important way to defend yourselves is managing to get out of the situation in the first place. If you can escape, you do, understand?”

Harry and Hermione nodded, as it made sense not to fight if they didn’t need to.

“Right, now we are going to teach you the basics of camouflage and stealth tonight. A good Auror can do this at an elementary level, while some like Ramus here, have developed skills to the point where they teach others. If not for the fact that the Ministry is full of bigots who can’t stand the fact that he is a werewolf, he would be one of the lead trainers in the Auror division. As it is he is training all of the order.”

Harry thought of Umbridge when Moody said this and for the first time had a twinkling of an idea.

For the next half hour, Ramus lectured them upon the principles of camouflage and stealth. He explained to them that while invisibility cloaks and the disillusionment charm were useful tools, they were not to be relied upon as there were always methods people could use to penetrate these disguises.

“Transfiguration is an important tool in these instances as many don’t realise that a transfigured person is anything more than what they appear to be. It allows covert operations while being out in the open. However, the person has to be exceptionally advanced in order to fully benefit from it as transfiguring yourself requires considerable adeptness and concentration. There have been quite a few blunders made by people who were not conscientious enough and ended up half transfiguring themselves. Not a pretty sight let me tell you.”

Harry looked at Hermione and knew while his skills in transfiguration were adequate for his school level, he had a long way to go before considered advanced enough to transfigure himself. Ramus watched the look on Harry’s face and said

“I am aware of your progress in transfiguration, Harry. I have asked Professor McGonagall if she would consent to giving you more intensive lessons during a week night and she has agreed. She has also asked me to tell you to research animagus transfiguration as she will be exploring this option with both of you in your first lessons.”

Harry nodded and realised that his work load had just become a lot heavier. He had stopped his revision with Hermione on arithmency, since Professor Vector said that he had a thorough enough grasp of the concepts to be able to take classes as normal and had just begun to enjoy some of the spare time he had had. He gave Hermione a resigned look and she giggled and squeezed his hand and whispered

“Come on, it won’t be that bad. After all, we will be studying together you know.”

Harry smiled at this and thought perhaps it wouldn’t be that bad after all. Ramus then went on to explain about stealth and the uses that the silencing charm can be used for.

“Casting the charm on yourself can be useful, as most people will not be able to hear your movements. Combined with an invisibility cloak or disillusionment charm, it can be quite effective. However, when you are transfigured, you need to learn how to move quietly, but still appear normal. You don’t want to make yourself too apparent by making too much noise, but you don’t want to get even more attention by making no noise at all. There have been studies conducted in the Auror department within the Ministry and they have concluded that there is a specific level of sound where most people will not notice you. We will practice this next week in the forbidden forest. We will meet you by Hagrid’s hut next Friday.”

With that, Harry and Hermione rose and thanking Ramus and Moody, went back to their room. Harry sat down in the couch and pondered the information they had learned tonight, while Hermione scoured the bookshelf in the common room, looking for a book on animagi. She sat down ten minutes later with a book entitled ‘Finding the Animal Within’. He leaned over her shoulder and read along with her about the incredibly complex art that was becoming animagi. They both learned that the first part of the process was to learn what kind of animal they were to become and figured that this would probably be the first lesson with Professor McGonagall. They continued reading until midnight, and then retired to bed.

They spent the weekend working on their homework with Ron in the main common room of Gryffindor tower. Luna joined them as well, Ron having brought her in on regular occasions since they had become an item. Harry took a break on Sunday afternoon to see Professor Dumbledore regarding the upcoming trial of Draco Malfoy.

When he arrived at the headmaster’s office, he found Professor Dumbledore reading a copy of The Times. Professor Dumbledore waved him over to a chair as he finished an article. Seeing Harry’s bemused look he said with a smile

“Do you remember me telling you last year that I read muggle newspapers as well as our own? Well now you’ve caught me. How can I help you, Harry?”

“Well sir,” Harry began, unsure,” I wanted to talk to you about Draco Malfoy’s trial.”

Dumbledore folded his hands on the table and nodded, listening.

“I know you’re head warlock of the Wizen Gammot, and I wanted to know if I could attend the trial as well as address the court, once the trial is over.”

Dumbledore looked a little startled at this request and asked

“Can I ask why you want to do this Harry?”

Harry nodded and said

“It is regarding some events that happened last year sir, as I have relevant information that the court may want to hear. I would need a pensive though and some way to magnify the image so the whole court will be able to see what I have to show them.”

Dumbledore thought this over, getting up and walking over to where his phoenix Fawkes sat on its perch and absentmindedly scratching its head, said

“I think it won’t be a problem. I take it we may need some security personnel on hand?”

Harry nodded, saying

“That may be wise sir. Some people may not be happy with my revelation.”

Dumbledore smiled at this, saying

“I shall arrange it then. Don’t let anyone know about this though Harry. We don’t want any fore knowledge of this getting out. I don’t know what it is and don’t want to know, as I think it will be quite enjoyable as a surprise. You can, of course, tell Hermione, but leave your revelations just to her, agreed?”

Harry nodded, rising to his feet and thanking Dumbledore. Dumbledore spoke up before he left, saying

“Tomorrow night meet me here with Hermione to begin your first Occlumency lesson.”

Harry nodded and he went back to the common room, his heart lighter and a smile playing across his lips as he thought of the uproar he was about to create.

He sat back down next to Hermione and continued his homework, which they finished just before dinner. As they were walking down with Ron to the great hall, he leaned close to Hermione and whispered

“I have something I need to tell you about after.”

She nodded, as she continued walking and he slipped an arm about her waist, kissing her on the cheek. Ron walked with Luna, hand in hand and they chatted about the upcoming quidditch match in October. Due to Harry’s injuries, the match had been rearranged and it was now Slytherin versus Ravenclaw. Harry thought this was funny, considering that Slytherin had lost their seeker, although Malfoy in his opinion was more of a liability to Slytherin than an asset. Ron was gleeful at the prospect of Slytherin being humiliated and couldn’t wait until the match. They reached the great hall and Harry sat down and pulled a large bowl of goulash towards him and began ladling it into his bowl. Hermione sat and watched him with a smile on her face. He noticed after a moment and asked

“Something funny?”

Hermione nodded, giggling and said

“Just how much your appetite has increased since we’ve come back to school. It’s amazing how much food you consume on a daily basis. You’re giving Ron a run for his money!”

Harry looked at her for a moment then grinned and whispered, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively

“Perhaps due to our nocturnal activities?”

Hermione’s eyes widened and she blushed and slapped Harry lightly on the arm. He laughed and started eating. After a moment of recovering from her shock at his words, Hermione began putting food onto her plate. Harry was amused to see that her appetite seemed to have increased as well, but thought it wise not to mention it.

All four of them made their way to the library after dinner. Luna took a book on mythical creatures from the shelves and walked back to the table, while the trio picked out some more books on ancient magic and began scanning the pages again.

After about twenty minutes, Ron said

“Here’s something. It says here that there is a way to dissipate the magic cast by a particular wizard, providing that there is a blood relationship between the wizards. Harry didn’t you say that he took some blood from you in order to rejuvenate his body?”

Harry nodded, his hope rising at this idea. They quickly wrote down the information regarding the spell and hastened to Dumbledore’s office. They all rushed in to find Dumbledore dressed in his night gown and a sleeping cap with a red pom-pom on the end. He looked up enquiringly at the four and Harry quickly recited the information they had found. Dumbledore examined the information for a moment and then said

“Interesting. This could be something. I’ll investigate it further on your behalf if you like and I’ll come back to you with my findings. However, I want you not to think that this is the solution if it does work. Always have multiple angles that you can defend yourself by. It is better to over prepare than under prepare, remember that.”

Harry nodded, still elated by the discovery and Ron suggested they celebrate. Harry nodded and went down to the kitchen with Ron, while Hermione went with Luna to the Gryffindor common room. They returned fifteen minutes later with trays full of cakes and half a case of butter beer. They spent the rest of the night eating and drinking, hoping that they had found something they can use to finally get Voldemort out of their lives. Harry and Hermione returned to their own rooms and went straight to their bedroom. Hermione turned to wrap her arms about Harry’s neck and she kissed him deeply, and then rested her head on his chest, saying “I really hope this works out. If it does, we are basically going to render most of Voldemort’s magic useless.”

Harry nodded, saying “I hope so too. Remember what Dumbledore said though. I’m sure even if we render him useless, he will still have all of his followers around him, all willing to do away with us at his command. We still need to prepare for all contingencies.”

Hermione agreed and releasing Harry walked over and sat down on the bed and taking her brush from the bed-side table, began to brush out her hair. Harry sat down beside her, watching, then stopped her, taking the brush from her and began to run it through her hair working out the knots as he did so. Hermione relaxed, loving the feel of Harry doing this for her. For some reason it seemed so romantic that Harry took care of her in such little ways as this.

“What did you want to tell me?” She asked, her eyes still closed.

Harry smile and told her of his conversation with Dumbledore and his plans. She chuckled and said

“That will be interesting to see. I can imagine the headlines now.”

Harry chuckled and put the brush aside once he had worked all of the knots out and sitting cross legged on the bed behind her, began to plat her hair. He had seen Pavarty Patel do it in the common room before and had paid close attention. Now he found it quite easy as he worked and soon had Hermione’s hair platted right down her back, reaching her waist. Harry had never realised how long her hair was, the bushiness always concealing it. She turned around and looked at him, smiling and Harry thought she looked quite pretty like that and said so. Hermione blushed and kissed him lightly on the lips and said

“Let’s get some sleep, ok?”

He nodded and extinguishing the lights, they crawled into bed and cuddled up together.

A/N: Hi all. Glad you all liked my last chapter. More plot coming your way with a little smut in between. Oh, yes for those of you who send the flames, at least have the courtesy to login or give a name before criticising. I don’t mind anonymous comments that are good, but I think it’s a little cowardly to not at least put your name to criticism. The rest of you enjoy!

Harry found himself on his knees once more. He looked up to find Dumbledore in front of him with a hand out to help him up. Harry smiled gratefully and took the hand and hoisted himself to his feet. He could now manage to block any attempt to penetrate his thoughts, but found that it took a lot of energy, ending with him on his knees on more than the odd occasion. Hermione helped him over to a chair and he sank into it, smiling at her gratefully.

“Well I must say Harry that you have improved since your last lesson with Professor Snape.” Professor Dumbledore said with a smile. Harry nodded, smiling wearily and said

“Yeah, but for some reason blocking my thoughts drains me too much. Is there a way I can do this without having to resort to draining myself?”

Dumbledore furrowed his brow for a moment, deep in thought and then lifting his head he met Harry’s gaze and smiled, saying

“I do believe there is a way, Harry. A kind of deception really. Instead of completely blocking your thoughts, you shield them with a false memory. For example say for instance you have a memory of the department last year, instead of that memory being in the forefront of your mind though, is, say the department of mysteries filled with house elves doing the can-can.”

Harry looked at Professor Dumbledore for a moment, not entirely sure he had heard the man correctly. Then the image of what Dumbledore had described entered his head and he broke up and was soon rolling on the floor. Dumbledore and Hermione both joined him in his laughter, although they both managed to keep their seats. After a few minutes, Harry sat back in his seat and wiped the tears from his eyes, still chuckling softly to himself. Dumbledore gave him a few moments to gather himself and gestured that they should continue with the lesson. Harry stood in the centre of the cleared space in the office and Dumbledore raised his wand once more. Just before he uttered the incantation, Harry thought of the image Dumbledore had described and sniggered as he heard the word “Legilimens”

Harry saw the thought rise in front of his eyes and laughed as he saw the large line of house elves, Dobby in the centre of them with all of his hats perched jauntily on his head and his odd socks flying up in the air as he enthusiastically danced. The vision broke and Harry found himself still on his feet. He looked over at Dumbledore and saw his shoulders shaking with mirth, tears flowing down from behind his glasses and into his beard. Harry grinned as well, thinking how realistic the scene had really looked, ridiculous as it seemed. Hermione, realising that it had worked, jumped up and rushed into Harry’s arms, saying

“You did it Harry! I’m so proud of you!”

Harry grinned even more and hugged Hermione back. Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder as well, giving it a squeeze and said

“I’m proud of you too Harry. You seem to have an innate ability to be able to block and conceal your thoughts. Perhaps another gift you were given without Voldemort’s knowledge.”

Harry nodded, thinking this was a possibility as well and asked

“Professor, throughout the summer and even while at school, Hermione and I have been able to share our dreams with each other. Whenever I think of Hermione and I’m in trouble, she can always come and help me. During the summer I dreamed I was dancing with her and she had exactly the same dream and even recounted all of the details of the dream. Can you explain this?”

Dumbledore sat in his chair and looked at the two before him and said

“Well at the moment I can only speculate. I believe it could be your latent legilimency abilities Harry, drawing Hermione into your dreams, although it surprises me that you managed it at such a great distance. It may also be something else, but I need to check on it. Will you allow me to research this and then more fully answer your question?”

Harry nodded and he and Hermione left Dumbledore’s office.

They went down to the kitchen, as Harry needed some sustenance after being drained from the training. They were given large slices of chocolate cake with sticky, gooey chocolate icing and whipped cream. Harry tucked into his and soon, half was gone. Hermione laughed again at how ravenous Harry was and he gave her a sly smile. Reaching over, he wiped some icing over her cheek. She shrieked and retaliated by wiping some whipped cream over his forehead, getting some in his hair. What ensued then was a full on food fight. There were shrieks and laughter as pieces of chocolate cake and whipped cream flew through the air. Five minutes later they looked at each other, laughing. They were both covered from head to foot in food. Harry grinned at Hermione and she grinned back. He walked over to where she stood and leaning forward began licking the food from her face. She shivered softly and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of his tongue on her skin. Once her face was clean and they had shared a passionate kiss, she returned the favour and cleaned Harry’s face using her tongue. She nibbled on his ear once they were finished and whispered huskily

“We’d better go to our room, unless you want to corrupt the house elves by giving them a show!”

Harry grinned, the image of the dancing elves filling his mind again, but he took Hermione by the hand. Saying farewell to Dobby, Harry led Hermione back up to their room. Griselda raised her eyebrows at the state of their clothing when they appeared in front of her portrait and a wide grin spread over her face.

“Err, enjoyed dinner did we?” She enquired, trying not to laugh.

“No,” Harry said solemnly,” Dessert actually.”

Griselda broke into giggles as her portrait swung forward and they walked through. Hermione was giggling as well as Harry led her into their bathroom. They stripped off their clothes and threw them into the magical hamper, which, when opened again, would have their clothes clean and neatly pressed. Harry thought the hamper might have a stomach ache after digesting what they had done to those particular articles of clothing though, as he led Hermione into their shower. Hermione took the soap and began lathering up Harry’s chest, her hands moving over his pecs and then moving down over his stomach. She lathered up her hands really well and went further south, gripping him in her hands and began moving in slow strokes. Harry closed his eyes at the sensation of Hermione’s lubricated hand moving on him and moaned softly. Hermione now knew she had him exactly where she wanted him. Rinsing him off with the flow of water from the shower, she got on her knees and looking up at him, took him into her mouth, swirling her tongue around the tip and down the shaft as she took him deeper. Harry gripped her shoulders to steady himself as she worked. His mind had gone blank at the sensations and he was incapable of rational thought. He pulled away from her before she could make him go over the edge and pulled her to her feet. Pinning her against the wall, he kissed her passionately and bit her lightly on the neck, eliciting a moan and gasp from Hermione. He lifted her hips and she wrapped her legs about him as he positioned himself and drove into her. She moaned at the feeling of him filling her and wrapped her arms about his shoulders. He leaned down and took one of her nipples into his mouth, using his teeth to lightly graze the skinand his tongue swirling around the hardened bud. He began forcefully withdrawing and plunging back into her, his passion and animal lust overwhelming him. Hermione had never known Harry to be this way, but loved the raw desire that almost dripped off of him as he plunged into her again and again. She had never felt so wanted before and knew she would never get enough of him. She cried out as her orgasm tore through her and Harry groaned and leant his head against hers as he filled her, his body convulsing. Hermione could feel him pulsing inside of her as he filled her and she came again, her cries filling the steamy bathroom, her nails clawing down Harry’s back, leaving bloody weals. They collapsed to the floor, kissing and caressing, holding each other tightly. They lay there panting for a while, letting the warm water wash off the sweat accumulated from their love making. Eventually they stood and after shutting off the shower and drying, they got into bed, snuggling under the covers and fell asleep.

They arrived at Professor McGonagall’s office at 7 pm and knocked. Professor McGonagall opened the door, smiling warmly at the two and ushered them into her office. They sat down in the comfortable seats opposite McGonagall and waited. She pulled out a tin and offered them ginger snaps. They both took one and chewed on them as Professor McGonagall began to speak.

“Now you both know why you are here. I gather you have both studied on animagi transformations?”

The pair nodded, still chewing and McGonagall smiled, saying

“So then you know the first task we need to accomplish is to work out what your animals are that you will be able to transform into. Harry, since your father was an animagi, from what Professor Dumbledore tells me, I don’t think you should have too much trouble transforming. Miss Granger you have quite a talent for transfiguration, I believe you are the most talented student I have seen in 20 years, so I don’t doubt your abilities either. Now Harry if you can stand over here, I will begin.”

Harry got up and stood in an area that he suspected had been cleared for the purpose. He stood in the centre of a circle about ten metres wide in diameter. McGonagall stood on the edge of the circle and raising her wand mumbled an incantation that Harry didn’t quite catch. He felt his body beginning to change as did his vision. His pupils seemed more sensitive to light as he could see everything in the dim room quite clearly. He saw the stunned look on Hermione’s face as well as the satisfied expression on McGonagall’s face as he looked around. Suddenly, he was standing as he was before and he looked over to Professor McGonagall and asked

“I gather it worked. What was I?”

It was Hermione who answered though, she got to her feet and came over to Harry and looking into his eyes she whispered “You are a Cheetah, Harry. One of the fastest and most agile of the big cats.”

Harry was stunned and Hermione helped him to sit down in his chair. McGonagall still had a satisfied look on her face and she said

“I had gathered you would have been something fast with excellent vision. You are the first cheetah that I have heard of though Harry. Now, Miss Granger if you please?”

She gestured to the circle and Hermione giving Harry a reassuring look, walked to the centre of the circle. McGonagall performed the incantation again and Harry’s eyes widened as Hermione sprouted fur and took on the form of a cheetah. Harry wasn’t the only surprised person in the room though as Professor McGonagall seemed speechless. When Hermione transformed back she looked at Harry’s wide eyes and Professor McGonagall’s stunned expression and asked

“What? I know it worked, do I look horrible?”

Professor McGonagall shook her head and gestured Hermione to her seat. Sitting, Hermione shot a puzzled look to Harry, who, having recovered from his own shock, took Hermione’s hand in his and whispered in her ear

“You are a cheetah as well ‘Mione”

Her eyes widened in realisation and she looked at Professor McGonagall asking

“I’ve never heard of two people transforming into the same animal, isn’t that strange?”

Clearing her throat Professor McGonagall said

“Well Miss Granger, I have never heard of two people being able to transform into animals who look so similar. The only distinguishing features I could see between you and Mr Potter was his lightning shaped marking on his forehead. Well that is enough for tonight; I will speak to Professor Dumbledore about this and will endeavour to find an answer.”

Thanking the professor, Harry and Hermione went up to Gryffindore common room. They found Ron and Luna snuggled in front of the fire on the couch. Harry and Hermione greeted them both and Harry sat in one of the squashy armchairs and Hermione sat in his lap. They chatted for a while about lessons. Finally, Ron asked them

“So, how did your first lesson with McGonagall go?”

Harry and Hermione exchanged a look and Harry said

“It went alright. We found out what animals we can transform into.”

Ron was very interested at this and asked

“So? What are you both then?”

Harry shifted, then said

“Well, we’re both the same animal. We’re cheetahs.”

Ron’s eyebrows went up and Luna said

“I haven’t come across a report of two people being able to become the same animal before. Did McGonagall say anything?”

Hermione nodded, saying

“Yes she was in shock when we both transformed. She said she had to speak to Dumbledore about it. She says she has never heard of it either.”

Ron changed the subject and began talking about the upcoming trial of Draco Malfoy, wishing he could be there. It was scheduled for two days time and only Harry and Hermione were allowed to go. Harry because he was a witness to the crime and Hermione was there to support Harry, since Dumbledore was part of the proceedings. Ron was slightly mollified when Harry told him he would tell him exactly what happened and Hermione smiled at Harry warmly. They soon rose and said their goodnights to Ron and Luna and made their way back to their rooms.

Harry awoke early of the morning of Draco Malfoy’s trial and felt quite nervous about what he had planned at the Ministry. If things worked out as he hoped, then the trial would definitely make the papers. To make sure of this Hermione had sent Hedwig off to Rita Skeeter, tipping her off that she may want to go to the trial and stay afterwards for Harry’s address to the Wizengammot. Harry felt a warm hand on his chest and he looked over to see Hermione smiling softly at him.

“You’ll be fine love.” She whispered softly, seeing his nervousness. “Just tell it how you described it to me and it will go fine. Have faith in your beliefs, I do.”

Harry smiled at her gratefully, feeling a little better and kissed her good morning. They got up and dressed quickly, making their way to the great hall and having a quick breakfast. The trial was due to start at 9:30 so they bolted down some toast and quickly headed up to Dumbledore’s office. He welcomed them inside and pointed to the dented and rusty tin can that sat on his desk, saying

“This will take you to the ministry and back to Hogwarts. I have put the same conditions on this as the others you have used, that you both have to be touching the port key for it to activate.”

They both nodded and Harry picked up the can and held it out to Hermione, who touched it with her finger. Instantly they were carried off in a swirl of colours and sound. They slammed into the ground in the foyer of the Ministry of Magic. Tucking the can away, Harry and Hermione walked over to the security desk. They had their wands weighed and the guard took them down to the court chamber. They sat in a little room off to the side of the main chamber, waiting. Twenty minutes later, they heard the commotion of the trial beginning and then Harry was called into the chamber. Hermione came with him, grasping his hand in hers. She remembered his account of what had happened to him last year in this room and knew he still had great trepidations about coming into this room. Draco Malfoy, Crabb and Goyle were seated in chairs and were manacled there in the centre of the room. Harry’s seat was off to the side and closer to the door. He sat down and Hermione stood behind him, a hand on his shoulder.

Dumbledore sat next to a woman he didn’t recognise but gathered was Madame Bones. She looked at him kindly and began speaking

“Can you please state your name for the record?”

Harry gulped remembering the familiar words from last year, but Hermione’s hand on his shoulder helped. “Harry James Potter.” He said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Now, Harry, can you please tell us the events which caused you to end up in the hospital wing at Hogwarts?”

Harry straightened his shoulders and began telling his story. He left no detail out and he heard gasps and ay few people mumbling as he described the way the three had attacked him. When he recounted the feeling of great pain when he had been hit from behind, there were murmurs of outrage. When he finished, some ten minutes later, Madame Bones asked

“Harry, can you then tell us about your recovery?”

Harry nodded and recounted how he had woken up three days later after fainting in front of Hermione and how Madame Pomfrey had told him that he had had a fractured skull. He recounted also how he had been constantly dizzy and very week for two weeks after and that he required constant help from his friends to even walk. The noise grew louder within the court room as people heard this and Madame Bones had to ask for silence as Harry finished.

“Thankyou for your testimony Harry, would you like to stay for the rest of the trial?” Madame Bones asked him with a smile. Harry nodded, smiling his appreciation at her and he and Hermione sat in the visitor’s gallery.

Testimony was then taken from the three accused, with the help of veritaserum. They recounted in monotones the events and they corroborated Harry’s story. There was silence in the court room once they had finished. Madame Bones then said in a firm and somewhat cold voice, turning to the jury

“You have heard testimony about the events and crimes that these three are accused of. How do you find them? All for guilty?”

All of the hands of the jury rose into the air and Harry noticed Draco turn white and his fingers grip the arms of his chair. Dumbledore rose to his feet and began speaking

“For this abysmal attempt at taking someone’s life Crabb, Goyle and Malfoy, this court has found you guilty. Do you have anything to say?”

Crabb and Goyle looked at him stupidly, but Draco said, terrified

“I just wish to say that my father is responsible for my actions, sir. I would not have attempted taking Potter’s life if not for the years of abuse my father had heaped on me.”

Dumbledore shook his head sadly at these words and Harry quickly realised that no one in the room believed Malfoy one bit.

“Sentencing will now take place on the three guilty criminals. I would suggest life in Azkabaan, but I do not think that with the Dementors gone from there that it is really a fitting sentence. I therefore suggest that the three be made to walk through the veil in the department of mysteries!” Madame Bones’s voice rang out and gasps were heard from the public gallery. Harry’s expression did not evince any emotion, as he thought all of Draco’s actions throughout the years warranted this. All of the jury raised their hands in unison as they were asked to consider the sentence. Draco began sobbing in his chair as applause rang out throughout the chamber and six Aurors led the condemned away.

Once the three were out of the room, several wizards came in carrying a large pensive and one section of the floor was made into a platform with a large screen behind it. It was positioned so all could see it and Madam Bones indicated for Harry to step down to the floor.

“Mr Potter, a request has been made to the Wizengammot for you to address us concerning information you wish to provide about events that occurred last year. Do you wish to proceed?”

Harry swallowed the large lump in his throat and responded

“Yes Madame Bones.”

He stepped up to the platform and went over to the large pensive. Thinking about the events that he had set this up for, he placed his wand beside his forehead and withdrew several strands and deposited them into the bowl before him. They swirled around and Harry began speaking

“I wish to make this court aware of the actions of individuals involved in this government during the last school year.”

There was a murmur from all about Harry as he put his wand into the mixture of thoughts and prodded them. The surface became clear and a scene began to play out. Looking behind him, Harry noticed that the screen was reflecting what was happening in the bowl. He stood back, letting the full court see. The first events were his confrontation in the defence against the dark arts lesson with Dolores Umbridge and his evincing that Voldemort was returned. It showed Umbridge’s toothy smile as she pronounced detention. The scene then changed to that night when Harry had gone to her office and the use of the quill that drew blood on the back of his hand in the words ‘I must not tell lies’. There were many murmurs as this was repeated for the next four nights. The scene then switched to when Umbridge had caught him with his head in the fire of her office. Many shouts were heard as Dolores nearly used the cruciatus curse on Harry and Harry could see her sitting up high behind Madame Bones and the many wizards looking at her with obvious disgust. Then came the admission he was waiting for. Her voice rang out strongly throughout the chamber as the crowd hushed.

“I ordered the Dementors to attack you, dear boy. Everyone in the Ministry was convinced that they had to discredit you and only I had the guts to do something about it!”

Everyone was looking at Umbridge now, who had gone the colour of rancid milk. Many wizards and witches who were sitting around her moved away from her hurriedly as if the nearness of her could contaminate them.

The screen then changed and the trek through the forest was being played out on the screen. More gasps came as they heard Umbridge calling the centaur’s filthy half-breeds and referring to Hagrid as that half-breed oaf. When the scene before them finished, the court remained silent, as most of them were in shock at the events they had seen. Harry took this opportunity, stepping forward and addressing the court.

“I have just shown you some of the events that happened last year as this government conspired to cover up the return of Voldemort. They would have succeeded as well if it wasn’t for me and my friends bringing it to everyone’s attention that without a doubt that he was back, by luring him into the Ministry itself. My godfather would not have needed to die if Dumbledore and I had been taken seriously in the first place. I would like charges pressed against Dolores Umbridge for the attack on myself and my cousin during the summer of last year. I also would like charges pressed against her for use of one of the unforgivable curses, as it was clear without my fiancée’s intervention she would have performed the cruciatus curse on me. I also believe that a full and thorough investigation of these matters need to be looked into, especially the Minister of Magic’s lack of action for two years, as it has been that long he has known of my and Professor Dumbledore’s claims.”

There were shouts of approval from all around him as Harry finished. Dumbledore came down and muttered a few words and gestured. Another pensive appeared and the swirling memories split into two and Dumbledore deposited the duplicate pair into the new pensive, saying to the court

“These memories will be kept as evidence of the crimes committed and for the investigation, do you agree Madame Bones?”

Madame Bones, still in shock, nodded, her jaw clenching in fury at what she had seen. Harry and Hermione left the court in an uproar as Aurors placed Dolores Umbridge under arrest. They walked back to the elevator and made their way to the foyer. Harry smiling held out the tin can. Hermione leaned forward and kissed Harry, taking hold of the can. They kissed as the world disappeared around them and they were transported back to Dumbledore’s office. They sank into a seat, still kissing, Hermione on Harry’s lap as they waited for Dumbledore. A small cough alerted them of his presence and they broke apart to see Dumbledore smiling at them both, his eyes twinkling merrily.

“You are to be congratulated Harry. You have brought Dolores Umbridge and the minister himself into disrepute. I doubt he can recover from this. I will be lodging an application to have all legislation attaining to half blood humans, as they are called, to be repealed immediately. Remus Lupin will be quite pleased at this.”

Harry and Hermione beamed at this news and Dumbledore took Harry’s hand in his, shaking it firmly.

“I thank you for this Harry. Fudge was still not doing a lot in regard to hunting Voldemort. Hopefully the new minister will act more aggressively.”

They both stood and thanked Dumbledore and went downstairs and back to their lessons.

A/N: Hi all. Sorry this chapter is a little short. My wife is going into hospital tonight to have our baby, so I may be gone for a few days. I’ll try and write when I can though. Hope you enjoy this.

Harry spent the rest of the day as per normal, as no one but Ron and Luna knew anything about him going to the trial. Harry told Ron as much as he could during the day and finished giving him all the details over dinner. Ron’s eyes grew wider and wider as Harry described the scene surrounding the view of his memories. Finally, when Harry had finished with the image of Dolores Umbridge being arrested, Ron could only shake his head and gaze in wonder at his best friend.

“Wow, talk about a day in the life of Harry Potter. This is going to be all over the papers tomorrow. Everyone will know and then all the questions will start.” He commented.

Harry just shrugged, knowing that sooner or later the whole school would have found out. He didn’t really mind that much as it was his intention to bring the acts of Fudge’s government to the attention of everyone. That way, he knew, they would be forced to a reckoning for all of the idiotic things they had done in the last two years.

Harry and Hermione spent an enjoyable evening with Luna and Ron. After completing their homework in the library, they all went to the common room and the girls sat about while Ron defeated Harry once more in chess. Harry never minded being beaten by Ron, as he knew it gave his friend something he could be proud of. He had, after all, beaten Professor McGonagall’s chessmen in the first task way back in first year and no one had beaten him since.

The next day brought the first flood of news about the trial and subsequent revelations by Harry. Harry noticed there was a lot more talk in the great hall as he entered and he noticed as soon as people saw him the volume within the room doubled. He sat down at the Gryffindor table and saw the looks most of his fellow students were giving him. He chose to ignore them for now and concentrated on his breakfast. He did notice though that most of the staff up at the head table seemed to be preoccupied with the contents of their own newspapers. Eyeing Hermione from behind his toast, he winked and she smiled at him. They both decided to eat a quick breakfast and departed early from the table in order to avoid the inevitable questions until later in the day. Their lessons progressed as normal, although Harry got an extraordinary amount of points awarded to Gryffindore for seemingly insignificant things. Professor Flitwick seemed to award 20 points to Gryffindor just for being on time to his class. It continued on throughout the day, giving all of the students the obvious impression that the entire faculty greatly appreciated what Harry had done. Harry was quite amused by this behaviour and by the end of the day he had a large smile on his face. He decided that tonight was a good time to have a meeting for the DA and changed the coin in his pocket to reflect the day’s date and seven thirty that night as the meeting time.

Everyone had arrived at least fifteen minutes early to the meeting and there was only one reason for this he could gather. When they were all there, rather than waiting for the appointed time, he began talking to them all, not being able to handle the looks he was given by both the old members and the new recruits that had been brought for the very first time.

“I guess you have all read the papers this morning and are wondering if it is all true. Let me tell you that it is and I said exactly what was said in the newspapers. I showed the Wizengammot my memories and they unanimously elected to place Umbridge under arrest and to investigate the Minister of Magic’s conduct.”

Everyone was stunned by this revelation. There was growing admiration in all of the faces that surrounded Harry. He felt quite uncomfortable with this new attention he was receiving for yet another thing he had done, so he quickly plunged into their lessons. He explained the principles of stealth and deception that Lupin had taught him and explained exactly what it all meant.

“I propose that on Saturday night, we all meet here again. I will be the hunter so to speak and it is your jobs to enter this room and remain free for twenty minutes. If you can do so, then you have passed the test. If not, then we concentrate further on methods of being able to conceal yourselves. Agreed?”

Everyone nodded, excited at the thought of this contest and Harry smiled at them, knowing he would enjoy this immensely. Everyone left after this and after seeing Luna off with Ron, Harry and Hermione retired to their own rooms.

The next morning saw more commotion in the great hall as the members of the Da told their respective houses of the factual content of the reports in the newspapers. Harry looked over the paper Hermione was reading and saw that there had been such a public uproar after yesterday’s revelations that a full blown investigation was publiclly declared and the muggle Prime minister was getting involved as well. There were reports of many people accusing Fudge of being a corrupt fool who just wanted to keep his power rather than respond to a crisis developing under his nose. There was surprisingly a lack of response from Fudge, who had been unavailable from the moment Harry made his statement. Harry smiled as He and Hermione rose with the rest of Gryffindor to attend their lessons.

Friday night quickly neared and both Harry and Hermione were quite nervous about the prospect of taking on Moody and Remus at the same time. They both walked quickly down to Hagrid’s hut at seven thirty and waited for their teachers to appear. They did after a few minutes and motioning, the two wizards led them off through the forest until they reached a clearing some fifteen minutes later. The two wizards walked around the edge of the clearing and made gestures with their wands and mumbled incantations. Harry could see a fine thread of silver enveloping the clearing all around them. When it connected together, it vanished. Satisfied the two wizards turned to the couple and said

“We’re safe now. Nothing can penetrate the shield we have woven and no sound can be heard outside.”

Harry and Hermione nodded and Remus began lecturing again.

He explained to the two of them that movement in the forest was very difficult to conceal as there was always debris that littered the ground.

“Twigs can give you away by snapping under your weight. Branches can come out of the darkness to either hit you or snag you in them, creating more noise. Now it is completely impossible to make no noise, but there are ways to fool other people and creatures as to what exactly you are. Being able to imitate other creature’s movements within the forest is very important, as there are some creatures no human or animal would go near if they had sense. Other animals are considered completely inconspicuous, such as small creatures.”

Harry saw where this line of reasoning was going and, raising his hand asked

“So, if we learn to imitate certain characteristics of animals, then we can travel through the forest, not only relatively unscathed and unchallenged, but also can sneak up on opponents who may think we are just some creature that normally belongs wherever we are?”

Remus smiled and nodded, saying

“Exactly Harry. You have your father’s grasp of stealth.”

Harry smiled at this compliment. Moody and Remus then disillusioned them and cast silencing spells on them and they went trekking through the forest, hearing the different sounds around them and tracking animals that they came across. They followed a sound of hooves for a while and Harry noticed that while the sound remained constant, there was a particular rhythm involved in the steps and he also noticed how little sound apart from the hooves beating on the ground the horse made. After half an hour they returned to the circle and once they had erected the force field charm, they took the disillusionment charm off of themselves and Remus then began showing them how walking in certain ways could mimic the animals they had heard. Harry was amazed that Lupin was so good at this until Hermione seeing the shock on his face, leaned over and whispered

“Harry, remember that Remus has some of the senses of the werewolf, even though he is not transformed.”

Harry nodded, realising that this would give Remus a distinct advantage over other teachers and once more appreciated Moody’s choice for assistant.

Harry and Hermione spent the rest of their lesson practising the movements that Remus had showed them and being corrected by him and Moody. They were exhausted after so much concentration and walked back to the castle, their shoulders slumped and their feet dragging. They arrived back at Griselda’s portrait hole and, after she let them inside, they both went to their bathroom and drew a hot, steaming bath. The bath was big enough for the two of them to fit in at the same time, so Harry got in first once the bath was full and Hermione followed, sitting between his legs, with her back pressed back against his chest. Harry held her to him as they luxuriated in the bath, enjoying the hot water and the restorative effects it had upon their sore, tired muscles. They both dried off and slid into the warm bed and fell asleep in each other’s arms pretty much straight away.

Harry awoke the next morning early and took a hot shower to rid his muscles of the kinks and knots they had developed while he slept. Apparently the training session had been far more rigorous than he realised. He was just ready to get out as the shower slid open and Hermione, with a coy smile on her face, entered. He smiled at her and leaned forward, kissing her softly, saying

“Good morning. How are you feeling?”

Hermione smiled at his question and leaning up and pressing her body against his, she said

“Actually, I’m feeling unloved at the moment. Perhaps you should demonstrate how much you appreciate me?”

Harry smiled at this invitation and quickly took her into his arms and kissed her deeply, running his hands down over her back to squeeze her backside. Hermione moaned softly and ground herself against him as they continued to kiss, their tongues intertwining. Harry pressed her back against the wall and she gasped as the cold tiles came into contact with her warm skin. He smiled and kissed down her body, stopping to suckle on her nipples, eliciting moans from her and then moving down to his intended target. Spreading her lips, he plunged his tongue into her and with his fingers, began to rub at her clit. Hermione’s legs began to shake at the intense reaction her body was having to this stimulation and she cradled his heading her hands, running her fingers through his hair as he ministered to her needs. He then withdrew his tongue from her and taking her clit in between his lips began to suck on it while tonguing it mercilessly. Hermione sobbed as she clung onto his head. She shrieked as her orgasm came over her and it was so intense that if she had not been holding onto Harry, she would have slid to the floor as her legs buckled. Harry held her up though and rose to his own feet and kissed her deeply once more. She began to stroke him, but he stopped her and turned her around. She was puzzled for a moment, then realised with a shiver of delight what Harry was going to do. She bent over more fully; allowing Harry better access and Harry entered her from behind and began thrusting into her, driving himself deep within her. Hermione found that she liked this position very much as Harry reached very deep inside of her with each stroke. She knew that he would not last long due to the fact that she gripped him so hard from this angle, but didn’t care as the difference the feelings this position was creating were bringing her to climax once more. Harry began thrusting in more quickly as he felt his orgasm coming. They made smacking sounds as Harry’s pelvis made contact with Hermione’s butt, which jiggled deliciously in Harry’s eyes every time he thrust into her. Harry groaned as he filled her with his cum and she shrieked as her own orgasm overwhelmed her. She straightened up and turned, wrapping her hands about Harry’s neck, kissing him deeply. After a few minutes, she broke the kiss and laying her head on his shoulder, said

“That was amazing. I could never get enough of you.”

Harry smiled at this and kissed her lightly on the forehead. They finished their shower and dressed, ready for breakfast.

There was a great deal of excitement around the great hall this morning, as today was the first quidditch match of the season. Harry was as excited as the others, but was also thinking of the test he was planning for the DA after the match. He ate a large breakfast and chatted eagerly with Ron about the prospects of the two teams. Harry agreed with Ron’s assumption that Slytherin was going to be beaten badly, especially because they did not have an adequately trained seeker available. They were using their reserve seeker, a boy who had never played in an actual match, due to the fact that Malfoy would never miss a match where he could show off his supposed prowess with a broom. The two girls, Luna and Hermione, rolled their eyes at each other and giggling, talked amongst themselves, their heads bent close together. Luna had one of her patented hats on. It had a giant raven on it which cawed loudly every time she pulled the string attached to the hat. Ron didn’t seem to mind that his girlfriend looked so strange though, he just grinned at Harry’s questioning look and said

“Well, at least she’s going for the right team!”

Harry couldn’t help but smile at this comment and, finishing their breakfast they all rose and headed towards the quidditch pitch.

The match was a debarkle from the beginning. The Slytherins, knowing that they would not win the match, resorted from the beginning to foul as many times as possible, perhaps hoping they could force the Ravenclaws to withdraw due to injury. There were roars of protest from the crowd as foul after foul was perpetrated on Ravenclaw. They didn’t really even need to race towards their goals in Harry’s opinion, as they scored nearly 100 points just from the penalties. The four of them were situated about half way along the pitch, to see both ends just as well. Harry saw the snitch appear, just as Cho Chang did. She raced towards it and just managed to close her hand around it as she was hit full force by the two Slytherin beaters. She crumpled to the ground, luckily not too far away, but she had won the game anyhow. The final score was Ravenclaw 360 points to Slytherin’s 50 points. The four of them cheered as the Ravenclaws did a victory lap and then descended to see if their seeker was ok. The two couples made their way back up towards the castle, chatting animatedly about the match and Ron, elbowing Harry, said

“You better watch out mate. If they acted that way towards Ravenclaw, you can imagine how they’ll act when we play them.”

Harry nodded, his stomach sinking slightly. Hermione, overhearing their conversation, frowned as well, worried for Harry. They went inside the castle, their thoughts once more turned towards Harry’s well being.