Forgotten Boundaries

There are many ways you can touch someone and still keep it inside the friendship border. Hermione and I had figured most of them out (well, she had initiated... oh, all of them), like long lingering hugs, and kisses on the cheek or forehead that are few and far between. But what happened between us on this one particular night... I wish I could tell you there was a real reason behind it. That we could still keep it as just something that could happen between friends and it didn't mean anything.

But all I could think was what the hell just happened?

---

We were in the Gryffindor common room, sitting on our favorite comfy couch in front of the fireplace. It was late, it was empty, and we were talking about Quidditch... well, I was talking about Quidditch. She was nodding along like she was interested, set on knitting more scarves and other various and somewhat unnecessary clothing items.

And all of a sudden she started giggling. Which made me go incredibly silent, because I've never really heard Hermione giggle. It was rather strange and funny. And just as quickly as she started, she had stopped.

Realising I wasn't saying anything, she looked up at me, and gave me an odd look. "Why are you staring at me?" She asked, curiously.

"Were you just..." I paused. "...giggling?"

I saw a small blush creep up her cheek. "Um... the scarf... it just tickled me. Keep talking, it's entertaining-"

"You're ticklish," I interrupted, matter-of-factly. I always found it oddly amusing when I'd learn something new about my best friend.

"And you're not?" She asked, quickly eyeing my body. A strange warm rush went through me.

So I leaned towards her. She leaned back a bit. "Harry..." I started to reach out slightly. "Harry, don't even think about it..." Her eyes were locked on mine.

She kept recoiling but she was already at the end of the couch. She had nowhere to go, so I leaned in as quickly as possible, and started tickling any area I could reach. She had to hide her scream as to not wake anyone up,and her reflexes were quick: she managed to get my underarms and successfully slowed me down for a second.

She used this to her advantage by rolling us off the couch and onto the floor, making a loud thump! but it didn't slow her down, she was now on top of me, and I used the moment to capture her leg between mine so she couldn't move. She tried to get up with no avail, and started tickling my chest, but I managed to grab her hands and pull them down to the ground.

And that's when it happened. "That's not fair," she pleaded, and tried to get up...

Sucessfully grinding her hips against mine. And I gasped. I don't know if she heard it. She wasn't looking at me anymore. The strangest feeling was going through me, I tried not to awknowledge it... but at the same time I was hoping she would do it again...

And suddenly she shifted her hips. Maybe she was only trying to get up again, just maybe...

But then I did it. I just pressed my hips up against hers a bit. And set them back down. My heart was beating quickly. What was going on?

She still wasn't looking at me. So I let go of her hands. She could move now, she could get up and leave, and we could pretend this never happened. My heart was pounding. I wonder if she could hear it.

And she started to lift her hips up, but she suddenly came back down, pressing herself harder against me. I took another deep breath. We were barely moving now. It was just her body... on top of my body... oh god, I wonder if she feels that...

Her head was low now, almost at my chest, like she was refusing to look at me. This just felt so good, but it was Hermione... my best friend Hermione.

I don't know how long we stayed like that. But after the long silence and still gentle rocking of our hips against eachother, I let out a small moan and out with it came her name.

"Hermione..."

And suddenly, everything stopped. She looked at me for only a second, before quickly pushing herself off of me and onto the floor.

"Harry... I'm... going - to go to bed," she quickly stammered, her face red, and she took one last glance before she disappeared up to the girl's dormitory.

And I stumbled back onto the couch, staring at the fire.

I leaned back, trying to calm myself down.

But all I could think was what the hell just happened? I had no idea she was lying on her bed, wondering the exact same thing.

AN: Saying I'm surprised by all the reviews I got would be a huge understatement, I'm just hoping that this next chapter can live up to all of your expectations. Again, I'm pretty sure that every single review I got here also wanted me to continue. Ah, all of you are amazingly sweet. Thank you!

I woke up the next morning, still replaying what had happened last night over and over in my head. I had been up for hours contemplating whether or not I should let it go. Still, something was very different.

I had to scoff at the idea of actually liking Hermione... it's not as if it wasn't possible, but it was her. She is pretty, granted, and she is a nice person, but we've known eachother since we were eleven...

But breakfast the next morning made me realise that I was quite wrong.

I could hardly eat the bacon and eggs that I had piled onto my plate. I kept nervously glancing up at Hermione, who managed to barely look at me the entire morning. The extent of our talking was a quick, friendly "Hello" before we both blushed and decided that eye contact and general interacting was not a good idea for a while.

But I did want to catch her eye. I didn't really have a reason, more curious about what would happen. Every time she took a bite I would focus on her mouth, and then mentally scold myself for even thinking about Hermione's mouth.

Ron was still going on and on about how fantastic this breakfast was, but paused for a moment when he noticed neither of us were saying anything. "Hermione, what's wrong with you? I'm talking about the food and you haven't once mentioned house elves..."

She let out a sigh, stood up, and left the table.

"What's wrong with her?" Ron asked, mouth full of food.

I paused. "Not sure," I lied, hoping he didn't catch it.

---

It's quite rare that me and Hermione would deliberately avoid eachother. Of course it's even more rare that me and Hermione would end up on top of eachother and do... well, what we did.

I accepted that she wouldn't talk to me. Still, I wished she would... I really didn't want Ron to catch on to what was going on between me and her. And I, myself, didn't even know what it was.

I was walking back to the Gryffindor common room by myself.

And all of a sudden, "Harry!" she said, grabbing my arm quickly. I jumped.

"Hermione?" And then it got awkward very quickly. She almost looked like she regretted trying to start a conversation, or whatever else it was she was trying to do.

She glanced down the corridor both ways, I opened my mouth to say something, but she quickly put a finger to her mouth, grabbed my arm again, and pulled me straight into...

...a broom closet?

My heart started beating really quickly, once again. "Hermione, what's-"

"Shh!" She interrupted, closing the door behind her. It was now completely dark. I reached for my wand, but she seemed to be reading my mind-

"Don't." And then it happened. She pushed me up against the shelves quite hard.

"Ow," I muttered, leaning forward a bit.

"Sorry," she said quietly, "I thought it was a... wall..."

Her voice sounded quite shaky. Then what she said seemed to click. She was going to push me against the wall...? My face felt incredibly warm, thank god it was so dark...

And she pushed me against the door.

This isn't happening.

She was pressed up against me. I know my breath was raggedy, hers was too. This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening...

I felt her breath against my face. It isn't happening...

And then her lips. Not happening...

But I pressed back. I had to. I just had to, and it wasn't enough... no, not enough at all... instincts completely took over, as I opened my mouth, and her tongue met mine.

We slipped deeper and deeper into this little world we'd created, and it felt so good, so... soft... so... amazing...

I sighed into her mouth as I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer to me. I wished she could be even closer, and I suddenly really believed that she could read minds because she quickly pressed herself against me with such force, but right then-

CRASH!

I felt my head smack on the floor behind me, it seemed to burn and felt like it would burst. She landed right on top of me. Everything was so bright, my heart was beating too fast for it's own good, my breathing was too quick...

"Is that Harry Potter?" a drawling voice I knew all too well said curiously. I closed my eyes, wincing at the pain I felt on the back of my head. "With that mudblood? Oh, the boys are going to have a field day with this one," he said with a laugh.

Shit.

AN: So, um, I'm a horrible, horrible person. A lot of not so fantastic stuff's been going on lately that has been having an effect on me wanting to write anything remotely romantic or cute, but then I recently spent an entire hilarious night making out with this one random "look at me I have a cane named Pimpy" buddy of mine... and now I'm back in the "wee!" game. Sorry it took so long for this chapter... I hope that someday, you all can forgive me.

And to everyone that reviewed... all of you are incredibly amazing. Thank you so very much!

The next few minutes were definitely a blur.

Draco laughing. Hermione quickly getting off of me and getting defensive, "We weren't doing anything!" My head feeling like it would burst. Draco threatening to tell everyone. My head feeling like it would burst any second now. Hermione getting more defensive, "We were just getting some things for McGonagall!" My head really feeling like it would burst.

The only thing I could think of was Ron, I'm not sure why.

"What happened to you, mate?"

"Oh, you know, I was snogging Hermione in a broom closet even though you obviously fancy her and then Malfoy caught us..."

No, no... that wouldn't work.... Draco had found us. Something was bound to happen. Something.

At some point I opened my eyes, realising I was under Madame Pomfrey's care.

---

"Ah, you're awake... drink this," Pomfrey handed me a tiny vial of potion, and the headache was gone instantly.

"Thanks," I muttered, handing it back. "Where's Hermione?"

"She went back to your common room," Madame Pomfrey replied hastily, tsking. "Tripping over a quill... honestly..."

Tripping over a quill? "What?" I asked.

She paused. "Miss Granger said that you had tripped on a quill she had dropped." She paused. "That is what happened, is it not?"

Oh, I understand now, Hermione's a liar. "Er, yeah, thought I heard you wrong," I mumbled.

I made my way back to the common room, feeling lucky that I didn't run into a single person. I really didn't want to deal with what rumors must already be circulating...

I mumbled the password to the fat lady, and made my way inside. A few Gryffindors were wandering the common room, some were sitting on the comfortable chairs and a few on the floor. I only glanced for a moment and memories of the previous night flooded my head.

Then people seemed to realise I was there.

The people on the couch started whispering, glancing over at me, and I let out a sigh.

I knew it.

---

I went straight to my dormitory and collapsed onto my bed. It was early, but I didn't care... having people once again discuss my private life was not enjoyable, and I'd much rather dodge them than anything else.

So I leaned back, not bothering to change my clothes, and fell asleep.

---

Stop shaking me, I thought vaguely, and opened my eyes quickly... and saw Hermione's.

She looked flushed, standing over me.

"Hi?" I asked, not quite sure of what to do.

She kept looking at me, then sat down on the bed.

"Harry," she started, and her voice was low. "Malfoy told everyone."

Obviously. "And they believe him..." I muttered.

She nodded.

"Do you believe him?" I asked.

"Well, it did happen, but-"

"Did it?" I asked, sarcastically. "I thought I, you know, tripped on a quill."

She paused, looking flustered, but continued on. "I wanted to talk about it with you before I came out and said it was true or not."

And suddenly, I felt better.

"Hermione..." But I drifted off. I was suddenly looking at her mouth again, and unconsciously swallowed, and scooted closer to her. "I just..."

And this time she was looking at me. Looking right into my eyes... so I leaned in, and gently brushed her lips with mine.

But she pulled away. "Harry," she sighed. "Why are we doing this?"

Because you can make me forget about everything that likes to haunt me, even for just a moment? Instead, out came: "I don't know."

She almost looked like she would cry.

"Let's not think about it," I said after a moment. It was the most honesty I could muster up.

And very quickly, my heart beating fast again, I kissed her for the second time in a matter of minutes. She suddenly pressed back, and everything seemed to disappear once more. It was just me and Hermione, and that was it.

I pushed her onto her back, climbing on top of her... I can't believe this is happening... almost a reverse of the previous night's events. Her hands made their way around me, I straddled her legs, kissing her with all the effort I had in me...

It may as well have been a dream at this point. All coherent thought seemed to leave my mind.

She sighed into my mouth this time, and she pulled me closer as I let instincts take me wherever I needed to go, and I ran my hand underneath her shirt. She suddenly let go of me, instead reaching her hands to my pants, and quickly started to unbutton...

And I froze up.

Hermione was unbuttoning my pants.

Something about it was so unsettling, like someone punched me in the stomach, my best friend and I were not doing something that was just between friends, and she seemed to freeze up too.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly, and sat up.

The look on her face mirrored what I assumed mine looked like. "Me too," she whispered, and just as quickly as before, she left.

And once again, I was left wondering about what had just taken place.

I suddenly glanced around the dormitory, silently thanking everyone for not having walked in on us.

So much for sleeping...

AN: I can almost hear the roar of angry readers come to a very, quick halt. I bet you're all looking at eachother going "Didn't think our constant yelling and angry 'WRITE NOW!!!!' reviews would work..."

Well, here we go. Second to last chapter. I revised in my head exactly what was going to happen. So, who's up for some Angry!Ron?

I want to apologise for this chapter coming so late. And to every single person who's reviewed (or read and didn't review) thanks for even bothering to check this out. Fanfiction is one of the few outlets where you can actually find people willing to read and willing to give you honest feedback. And honest is amazing.

And, just for the record, this story WILL become worthy of the rating I have ever so proudly adorned it with when I first posted it. 'Cause you all are dirty perverts, and us authors are the dirty perverted suppliers. :p

What the hell was going on?

I could keep telling myself that we could still be friends, but she must know as well that we have hit the point of no return.

Because not only had what occurred, occurred more than once, everyone knew... even if it was a silly rumor to many people, they still loved believing it.

I could only lie awake in my bed, my pants still unbuttoned... I should have fixed it, but I kept it like it was, a stupid reminder of not telling her exactly how I felt. But if I couldn't put it in a coherent sentence to myself, then how was I supposed to let her know?

She must think I'm using her.

And then I had to question how soundproof this room was, or if the yelling and fighting were just much louder than usual.

"WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME?!" I clearly heard Ron's voice yell from the Common Room, all the way through the door and down the stairs.

"IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" I heard her yell back, and my heart started beating.

Not the excited kind like it was earlier, but the frightened kind. The kind that I knew something major was going on and it was changing everything.

Why did we have to be in the Common Room alone that night?

"YOU'RE RIGHT, I'M ONLY YOUR BEST FRIEND! I'VE ONLY KNOWN YOU SINCE YOU WERE ELEVEN! WHY WOULD YOU TWO GO BEHIND MY BACK-"

"WE DIDN'T GO BEHIND YOUR BACK-"

"AND TO HEAR IT FROM MALFOY!"

And then there was silence.

She'd be crying right now.

He had to hear it from Malfoy... I didn't even realise what a punch in the face that must have been for him. To know that his enemy knew about what was going on between the two of us before he ever did.

And I know I wouldn't have been able to tell him. He liked Hermione. A lot. Even if he didn't flat-out say it, the way he acted whenever he'd talk about her... we were hurting Ron.

And I was hurting Hermione.

And the fact that I was hurting anyone hurt me even more.

She must have left because there was no more yelling.

And no more than a few seconds later I heard footsteps storm towards the door near me, and I saw a very red-faced Ron look right at me, and not say a word.

I sat up quickly, and just looked at him.

"Ron, I'm-"

But he interrupted my apology. "How long?"

"How long?" I repeated his question.

"How long have you two been sneaking around? Bet you two didn't think you'd get caught-"

"Last night," I interrupted him.

He just looked at me.

"Ron, I'm sorry... it was all a big misunderstanding. Last night, we were in the Common Room, and something just kind of... happened. We didn't mean for it to happen."

He paused. "Are you two... dating?"

I sighed, and shook my head. "I have no idea what we're doing."

"Do you like her?"

I paused.

"Harry." He said it with a tone of confusion. "Do. You. Like. Her."

His face was still red, he was fuming. I knew he wanted to punch me as hard as he could at the moment. And at the moment, I would probably have let him.

"I... yeah. Yeah, I do, but I didn't even realise it until..."

"Until what? Until you guys snogged eachother senseless and Malfoy walked in?"

"That wasn't supposed to happen! None of this was supposed to happen! But it did, and I don't know what's going on!"

That was my honest moment. To say I was confused right now would be an understatement.

"You knew I liked her."

I paused again. "And you had too many chances, and yelling at her before you knew the whole story seems like a pretty bad idea to win a girl."

We were both stubborn people.

"You hurt her when you yell at her," I continued. "You make her cry. You make her upset. No wonder she's never shown any interest in you."

He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again.

"You only like her because you think that's what you're supposed to do. But there are other girls. Look at Luna, she's all over you."

He let out a sigh.

"Harry..."

I looked right at him.

"If you so much as hurt Hermione..." He paused for his dramatic effect, but turned serious. "I will kill you."

He gave me a strange, small smile. "She's downstairs, she's crying."

I grinned as I stood up.

"And Harry, your pants are undone."

It was my turn for my face to get red.

The Common Room was very tense, the aftermath of a usual Ron and Hermione fight.

And she was sitting all alone, on that very same couch where it all started.

I just walked up to her, and said, "Let's go for a walk."

She looked up at me, her face tear-streaked. She nodded.

------------

We were silent the entire way out of the castle, and walked towards the lake, where we sat down next to eachother.

"I talked to Ron," I mentioned.

She was still silent for a moment.

"I... slightly talked to Ron," she muttered.

"I heard it."

"Oh."

Another silent moment.

"Hermione?"

Another pause.

Me and her, we weren't very good with using words when it comes to our emotions.

So I just reached out, and grabbed her hand, and gave it a squeeze.

She looked at me, and met my eyes, and gave me a very sad smile.

Then she squeezed back.

"We'll be alright," she said.

"Yeah. Yeah, we'll be great."