PART I. HOGWARTS
'Harry?' she breathed into his neck, emitting a shiver down his spine.
Prologue:
~ Something Funny ~
Something funny was happening to Harry Potter.
Darkness shrouded the hospital wing. It was midnight, and Harry was in the process of being cured of a powerful love potion known as the 'Aphora Bewitching Potion'. Actually, he was already cured; Madame Pomfrey was just being pedantic, as usual. She resolved, though it was quite unnecessary, to keep Harry and the two other love potion recipients overnight.
Ginny Weasley was one recipient. She was down the other end of the ward, having been admitted earlier that afternoon. She'd taken love potion and, for some peculiar reason, fallen in love with her brother and Harry's best friend, Ron. Draco Malfoy, one of Harry's least favourite people, was the other recipient. He'd been admitted at the same time as Harry, and like Harry, the love potion he took made him fall in love with Harry's other best friend, Hermione Granger. Malfoy was currently snoring loudly in one of the bed's opposite. It was amusing to listen too...
'Can you believe Malfoy snores like that? You'd think he was choking on his own ego.'
Harry jerked upright in his bed, startled, and turned to the chair next to him. He couldn't see properly, so she handed him his glasses. Then he saw -
'Hermione!'
Hermione was sitting right there! Like magic, as if she'd apparated; but this would be impossible. For one, Hermione wasn't able to apparate; and two, no apparating could be done within Hogwarts. Hermione herself told Harry this on a number of occasions.
'You scared me half to death! What are you...' But Harry's words trailed off. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he noticed Hermione hadn't donned her robe, and was wearing a delicate, white night-dress. It was rather distracting; one reason being he'd felt he'd seen her in it some time before, but couldn't pin point when.
'What are you doing here?' Harry asked properly, picking up his words. 'How did you get in without being seen?'
These were perfectly reasonable questions, none of which Hermione answered. Since when did Hermione not answer questions? Instead, she preferred to observe Harry in silence for the moment. Harry found it most uncomfortable.
'Hermione?' he tried again. She sat silently a little longer and then, with steady grace, stood up.
'Sssh,' she hushed in a soft, long breath. Harry watched her, hypnotically, as she prowled towards him. Something very, very strange was going on! He had no idea what it was, and could certainly not have predicted what came next: Hermione lifted his covers, sheets and all, and climbed into bed with him! Harry almost tumbled out the other side in pure shock.
'Her...Herm...Hermio...Hermione! What are you - ' he panted incoherently, until Hermione clasped a hand over his mouth.
'Keep your voice down,' she whispered, and removed her hand. 'You don't want Malfoy to wake up.'
But Malfoy waking up couldn't have seemed less trivial to Harry at this time. Hermione Granger was in bed with him. Hermione Granger had wrapped her arm around his chest. Hermione Granger's feet were entwining with his. Hermione Granger's head was nestling into his neck!
'Harry, relax. I just want to hug you.' She said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
'Can't...can't we hug later?' Harry managed to say; surprised he could talk at all. 'Like, when we're standing?' And more appropriately clothed he thought but didn't dare speak.
Hermione hushed softly again and snuggled closer. Harry lay there, pathetically motionless. He'd never been this intimate with a girl before; and this wasn't any girl - this was Hermione! He could feel his heart beating at a crazed pace. He could feel Hermione's heart beat against him, too. She was a lot calmer then he was.
'Harry?' she breathed into his neck, emitting a shiver down his spine.
'Er...yeah, Hermione?'
'If you want to kiss me, you can.'
He didn't hear that…
'Sorry?' he piped up, his voice slightly higher then usual.
Hermione propped herself up on her hands and knees, so that she was hovering above him in a crawl position. Harry gulped. Having her over him like that, shadowing his body and staring into his eyes, felt both terrifying and...exhilarating. 'If you want to kiss me, you can,' she said again, as clear as day.
It was official: Harry's entire being had turned to gillyweed. 'Wha...what do...kiss...huh?'
'You obviously want to kiss me, Harry. Otherwise, why would I be here?'
Why would she be here? Harry pondered this, when something in his brain suddenly went click. And then, like lightning, everything changed. Everything slowed down, particularly his heart rate. He was calm, he was clear, and he'd put his arms around her. She stared at him, and he stared right back, all previous feelings of nervousness and confusion flying away.
If you want to kiss her Harry, you can.
And he did.
Harry pulled Hermione against him and kissed her. He kissed her with a need he never knew possible. He kissed her and clung to her as if she were going to leave him. Any moment now, she'd be gone...
Malfoy's cold voice arose from the foot of the bed.
'You're going to pay for this, Potter!'
Light.
Harry opened his eyes. Light was shining all around him. Realising he was without his glasses, he reached for them on the bedside table and put them on. It was morning. The curtains were drawn, revealing a beautiful, sunny day outside.
What happened?
Malfoy wasn't at the foot of his bed. Hermione wasn't lying against him, nor was she in the chair by his side. Then, feeling very silly, Harry realised what was going on: it was a dream.
Before Harry could think any further on this, the matron Madame Pomfrey appeared with a breakfast tray.
'Good morning, Mr Potter. I trust you slept well?' she said cheerfully, placing the breakfast tray on his bedside table.
'Yes,' said Harry, rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses. 'I slept...fine, thank you'
'I'm surprised you slept at all, considering you had that on top of you all night.'
She was eyeing Hermione's open Potions book, laying face down on Harry's chest.
'Oh,' said Harry, peering down at it. 'That...'
Tutting, Madame Pomfrey removed the book at once and put it aside. 'I'd leave the studying for when you're out of the hospital, Mr Potter,' she advised him, and disappeared up the hallway to collect breakfast trays for Malfoy and Ginny. Once she was out of sight, Harry took back Hermione's Potions book. He figured he must have gone to sleep reading it. Opening it up again, he cast his mind back to the dream. Kissing Hermione. Since coming off the love potion, Harry had been feeling some very unusual feelings where Hermione was concerned. Like yesterday, when she'd kissed him on the cheek; or after dinner, when she came back to sneak him some treacle tart; or earlier, when he absentmindedly wrote...wait.
Harry was staring at the now familiar page in Hermione's Potions book - the one where he'd crossed out the words You're so beautiful and replaced them with You are incredibly beautiful. But he only remembered writing this once...except now, it appeared he'd written it down twice more:
You are incredibly beautiful
You are incredibly beautiful
You are incredibly beautiful
Something funny was happening to Harry Potter.
Later that morning, Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley were released from the hospital wing. They were announced cured and ready to return to their classes. Everything was to back to the way it was...totally and utterly normal. Apparently.
~ Love Is Never Made Easy ~
In late hours of the night, on the same day Harry and others were released from hospital, trouble was already brewing.
'Right this way Mr Filch, Professor Dumbledore gave it to me yesterday,' said Madame Pince, striding purposefully to the library.
'The sooner the better!' scowled Filch, marching alongside of her. 'Dumbledore wants that rotten book out of the library as soon as possible - and I couldn't agree more! That book is a hazard! Anything endorsing love potions is a form of black magic in my opinion.'
Madame Pince chuckled. 'Love potions? Black magic? I think you're overreacting, Mr Filch. Love potions are quite innocent compared to black magic.'
'Innocent?' Filch spat offensively. 'By Merlin, love potions are anything but! That Aphora Bewitching Potion, you saw what that did, didn't you? It was chaos and mayhem! One boy hit himself over the head with a chair, and two more tried to kill each other during the last Quidditch match! Not to mention a girl fell in love with her own brother, and another young man from Bulgaria flew - '
'All right, Mr Filch! You've made your point. Don't worry about the book, I put it in a safe place.'
They reached the library. Madame Pince led Filch into her office; a small, dingy room with piles upon piles of books hoarded about the place. To the back of this room was a desk, and behind the desk was a safe. Madame Pince took out her wand and whispered a password. The safe opened.
'Well?' said Filch, his patience dwindling.
'Oh my...' said Madame Pince faintly, sparking an irritated grunt from Filch.
'What do you mean "oh my", do you have the book or don't you?'
'This is impossible...quite impossible! I checked it only twenty minutes ago...'
'Madame Pince!'
'The book, A Wizard's and Witch's Guide to Love Made Easy. It's gone Mr Filch!'
-->