Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot. I'm just borrowing JKR's work, but don't worry I'll be careful and return them in one piece.
A/N: Hey, guys!! Here is chapter 2. It's a little longer so I hope you like it! Thank you to all of those who reviewed, and I'm sorry to inform you but my characters are a little OoC. Hope you don't mind. Read up and don't forget to review!!
A/N: I can't seem to get the italics to work here so I'll put these // to separate dream scenes from the rest.
Chapter 2 - Late Night Visitor
//Harry was in the Department of Mysteries again; he's been there every night since that one night when Sirius had fallen through the veil. He was fighting the death eaters with Neville and Hermione. And then the purple light hit her… Harry couldn't think, he couldn't breath, Neville was checking her pulse and Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding 'It's ok' he thought 'this is the part where Neville tells me she's not dead.' But the words that came out of Neville's mouth weren't the ones Harry was expecting.
"She's dead." Neville said with tears in his eyes. "And it's all your fault. She told you it was a trap. Why didn't you listen?? WHY DIDN'T YOU LISTEN???"
He kept screaming at Harry, but he wasn't listening anymore, Hermione was dead, and it was his fault. So he fell to his knees while one single word came out of his mouth.//
" NOOOO!!!!" He kept yelling with all his force but then he opened his eyes and saw that he was in his room. It was all just a dream and something had made him wake up, a noise, a popping noise.
'Oh, Merlin!' he thought starting to getting his mind working again 'There's someone here. Someone just apparated in my room. Great wards, Dumbledore!!' But when he had his glasses on and was starting to get his wand from the bedside table he felt someone fall on him crying and give him a bone-crushing hug. Then it all came clear to him as he relaxed and started soothing the sobbing girl on top of him.
"It's ok, Hermione." He whispered to her while rubbing her back and starting to cry himself. "I'm here, you're here, everything will be fine." And as he said those words it hit him that it was true, as long as they were together everything would be all right.
-----
After what seemed like a long time of just holding and comforting each other Harry decided it was time to ask what he wanted to know.
"So" he asked softly, lifting her head from his chest with a hand so he could look in her eyes. " Are you going to tell me what are you doing here??"
She have him a small nod and a shy smile. "Sorry, remember when I told you that I had this special project this summer??" He nodded. "Well, it was my apparition license. I didn't tell you before because I wanted to surprise you. Anyway, I wanted to visit you but I just couldn't pop in here during the day and risk getting caught by your relatives, so I decided to come after they were sleeping. So, that was what I did but when I came here and saw you screaming in you sleep I just kept thinking of everything that happened and how you have to be here with those horrible people with no one to comfort you …" She trailed off here because she was starting to cry again.
During her explanation Harry didn't say a word, he just kept looking at those warm chocolate brown eyes that showed so much worry for him, so much… love?? Yeah, that was it, he saw love in her eyes, and he was sure that all that love was platonic, but there was something else there that he couldn't describe, a fire, a spark, that kept calling for him. Telling him to come closer, telling him to kiss her tears away. And that left him really confused, did he want that? Did he want Hermione as more than a friend? Was his love for her more than platonic? He didn't know. All he knew was that she was there lying on top of him, and he could feel her body against his and he could smell the scent of apples and honey in her hair and that all his blood was starting to go south.
He had to keep his thoughts away from Hermione, or things would start to get embarrassing. 'Ok, think disgusting things' he was still rubbing her back to comfort her but was now back at staring at the ceiling. 'Snape in a dress. Snape and Filch in a dress. Snape and Filch in a dress snogging' That's it, he could already feel the blood running normally in his body again, but his concentration was broken by Hermione talking to him.
"Harry?? Are you ok??"
"Huh?? Yeah, I'm fine." He answered without looking at her.
"Then why are you staring at the ceiling?? Look at me, Harry. Talk to me." She said pleadingly.
He looked at her, and those eyes, he could get lost in those pools of chocolate. But why was he feeling those things now? He had looked at her eyes before and nothing happened. Why did he want so much to kiss her when just a couple months ago he had only eyes for Cho. He couldn't think about this now, he would have to wait until he was alone again and then he would be able to think clearly.
"It's nothing, Hermione, really. I was just thinking about things and how lucky I am to have a friend like you." 'And how I'd be incredibly stupid to ruin everything by kissing you.' He thought.
Hermione smiled at him, a real smile know, and hugged him again. 'Looks like that was the right thing to say.'
"Oh, Harry!" She said squeezing him once more. "I'm the lucky one here. You are such a great friend. I missed you so much."
"Yeah, real lucky! Having a friend who yells at you, and don't listen to you and almost gets you killed. Very lucky indeed!" He replied bitterly.
"Harry James Potter! Don't you dare say those things." She said in her most Molly Wesley voice. Than a lot more softer "You truly are a great friend, in fact, you are my best friend. Why do you think I'm here? Charity? I truly care about you, Harry. Don't you ever doubt that."
"Ok, I won't. I promise." He said with a small smile. Seeing his this Hermione smiled back.
Then they stopped talking. They were just staring at each other's eyes. Hermione on top of Harry, with her hands on his lightly toned biceps, looking at him as if for the first time and Harry under her with one hand on her back and the other gently caressing her cheek.
Then it happened, Harry didn't know who started it, all he knew was that he was kissing Hermione. His best friend Hermione and he were kissing. But he didn't want to think what this meant, he didn't want to think about the consequences. All he could think about was how soft her lips were against his, how right this felt, how his whole body was tingling and how this warm feeling was spreading all over him. This was nothing like his one and only kiss with Cho, that was awkward and weird, this was perfect. Harry couldn't take this anymore, he slowly opened his mouth under Hermione's and she, following his lead, did the same. Their tongs met and they started exploring each other's mouths, tasting, and sucking, and nibbling. This wasn't a sweet innocent kiss anymore, it was passionate and hungry, as if their lives depended on it. Hermione's hands were now in Harry's hair, making it, if possible, even messier and Harry's were pulling her to him, trying to get her closer. He wasn't caring anymore about his blood going south, because he was pretty sure all his blood were already concentrated there, and since Hermione didn't seem to mind (there was no way she wasn't feeling him pressing on her) why would he.
When they stopped a little to catch their breaths, Hermione voiced the question that was in Harry's mind but he was trying to ignore with all his might.
"Harry?"
"Huh?" He answered planting kisses down her neck.
"What are we doing??" She asked before gasping when Harry started sucking on her neck.
"Kissing." Harry said simply and then as an after thought. "Aren't you supposed to be the smart one??"
She slapped him playfully in the arm to get the big grin out of his face and started talking again a little exasperated. "I know THAT. What I want to know is what this means??"
He sighed and decided to try one last time to convince her to stop talk and keep kissing. "Well, we ARE kissing. So, that would mean…" he trailed off there and then finished in a hopeful tone "that we shouldn't be talking."
She looked at him for a moment, biting her lower lip as if considering very carefully what he had just said. Then she smiled brightly at him and leaned to kiss him again stopping briefly just inches from his mouth taking his glasses off. "I like the way you think, Potter." And as she captured his mouth in hers she could feel him smiling against her lips.
--------
Harry woke up late morning from the best sleep he's had in ages. He had had a nightmare as usual but then he'd had the most wonderful dream ever, he and Hermione were kissing, and it was great. He had never thought of Hermione like that, he always pictured her like a sister, but he highly doubted that he would feel that good after kissing a sister. With a smile on his face he stated to stretch with his eyes still closed but then he realized there was something on his arm, with his other hand he got his glasses from the bedside table and as he looked at his right arm a huge grin appeared on his face. Hermione was still there, lying by his side using his arm as pillow. It hadn't been a dream and Harry couldn't be happier.
He stayed a few minutes just watching her sleeping, she was so beautiful and peaceful. Then she started stirring and opened her eyes, those incredible brown eyes. Harry couldn't help but smile at her and that smile grew even bigger when she smiled back at him.
"Good Morning, Sleeping Beauty" He said after giving her a soft kiss on the lips.
"Good Morning" She smiled at him and gave him another kiss. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah, best night in ages. What about you?"
"I slept okay but my pillow is a lot softer than your arm." She replied with a playful smile.
He leaned over and kissed her again. They kept kissing for a while until Hermione pulled back and looked at him with a serious expression on her face.
"We really have to talk about this." She said moving her hands back and forth between them.
"Okay. You go first." He said sitting on the bed and helping Hermione so that she could sit too.
"Right… How do you feel about me?" She asked tentatively.
'Oh, fuck!! I was really hoping she wasn't going to ask me that.' He thought groaning inwardly. The truth was that he had asked himself that very same question as he was watching her earlier and he hadn't come up with an answer. She was his best friend, he liked a lot but he didn't know if he loved her. Well, he did love her but he wasn't in love with her. 'But how am I going to tell her that.' He thought groaning again, but this time, out loud.
"It's okay, Harry. You can be honest with me. I want you to be honest with me." She offered after hearing him groan.
"I like you, Hermione. I like you a lot but it's just that… " he trailed off but she finished his sentence.
"You're not in love with me." She stated looking into his eyes. He averted her gaze and nodded slowly.
"Good." She sighed relived.
"What??" He asked not hiding the surprise in his voice.
"It's just that I'm not in love with you, and it would be really awkward if you were." She explained quickly.
"Oh. So now what? We just forget it happened?" Harry asked in a sad voice. He really had liked kissing Hermione.
"Well, I was hoping not." She said looking down.
"Go on." Harry prompted in a brighter voice.
"See, the thing is… I had a great time last night… and this morning." She said still not looking at him.
"Me too." He replied tilting her face so she was looking at him. They smiled at each other and she continued.
"So, I was thinking that maybe we could have a 'best friends with benefits' kind of relationship. We would still be best friends but we would also snog." She suggested.
"But isn't that what dating is about?" He asked a little confused.
"Yes, but we wouldn't make any serious commitment. No promises of undying love, no jealousy, no public displays of affection and no cover stories in the Daily Prophet. We would have all the good parts but not the bad ones. Nobody would know a thing." And that last statement was what convinced Harry. He was sick of everybody knowing everything about his life, and a secret relationship with Hermione would be just perfect, he wouldn't get all the attention he would get if they went public and she wouldn't be targeted for being his girlfriend.
"You, Ms. Granger, just got yourself a deal." He said in a playful tone before pulling her to him to start enjoying their agreement.
But then, just after their lips parted she jumped out of bed so quickly that one would think it was on fire.
"Oh… Oh, Merlin…" she started saying with a look of pure terror on her face while looking at the window that showed the sun up and bright.
"Hermione? What's wrong?" asked Harry concerned.
"What time is it Harry?" she asked ignoring his question.
"Huh? 9:45" he answered a little confused looking at his watch. And then getting a little scared as he saw all the color in Hermione's face disappear.
"What am I going to do? What am I going to do? I'm dead, that's it, I'm dead. Will you go to my funeral, Harry??" She blabbed, laughing nervously, obviously panicking over something.
That was Harry cue to do something, he wouldn't have her talking about dying even if it was just a joke. So, he walked over to her and hugged her thigh, trying to calm her down.
"You're not going to die, I won't let anything bad happen to you. Now tell me what's wrong."
"My parents always check on me before they go to work, which was 2 hours ago…" She trailed off there, it wasn't really necessary to continue anyway, he got the picture.
"Did they know you were coming here??" she shook her head. "Ok, can't you give them any excuse like, you woke up early and went for a walk or something??" He offered.
"Well…" she said looking at him now. "that's not all bad, it's a long shot 'cause it's not like me to leave the house without letting them know, but it might work" she finished with a smile. "You know, you are getting smarter, Potter." She said playfully but then sighed and continued. "But I have to go now."
"Already?" He asked pouting at her and holding her tighter as she tried to disentangle herself from his embrace. "Can't your walk take a little longer??"
"I'm sorry." And Harry could see in her eyes that she really was. "I wish I could stay here with you, we didn't even had a chance to talk yet, but I really have to go. The more time I take the tougher will be my punishment. I pop back here as soon as I can, ok?"
He sighed "Ok, but don't forget about me. I will get lonely" He said in a dramatic tone.
She smiled cheekily at him and answered after a long passionate kiss. " I wouldn't do that." He smiled back at her and watched as she walked to the corner of the room to apparate away from the window.
Just at this moment Dudley entered the room to tell Harry something but lost the words when he saw Hermione.
"Hey, who are you?" He asked but when he was going to take a step closer to her she gave Harry a small wave and disapparated, leaving a smiling Harry and a shocked Dudley behind.