Chapter 2
If Hermione hadn't been wearing the horrific shoes the costume department wanted her wear, she would have been tempted to run the short distance to her hotel, dragging Harry along behind her if necessary. Unfortunately for her, she was wearing those horrific shoes so she was forced to walk slowly keeping pace with Harry.
"Why are you so quiet?" she asked him after several minutes of unsettling silence.
She could see the apprehension in his eyes when he looked at her. "Harry stop worrying about it so much. I swear it's just a rehearsal. Merlin knows we need at least one," she said trying hard to hide her growing excitement.
Harry took a deep breath and sighed. "You're right, Hermione. It is just rehearsal and we really do need one. I don't know what it is about it though," he said pausing to look at her, "something about it just seems … odd."
"You nervous about having to kiss your best friend, Harry?" she said playfully pushing against his arm.
Harry laughed and threw his arms around her shoulders and playfully pulled her into a semi-headlock and rubbed the top of her head. "Something like that, yeah," he said laughing.
Hermione was laughing as she pulled back from him a little. She wrapped her arms around his torso and laid her head on his shoulder. "What if I promise I won't bite?" she said only half-jokingly.
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and laid his head against hers. "Well what would be the fun in that?" he jokingly replied.
Hermione laughed then straightened herself up to kiss him on the cheek before settling back against him. Harry turned to kiss the top of her head and caught the scent of her hair. He felt himself being drawn inexplicably closer. She smells like peach, he thought as he closed his eyes and smelled her hair again. I like peach. He finally kissed her head and they continued their walk in companionable silence with their arms wrapped tightly around each other and Harry's head resting against hers.
"Let's sit out here for a few minutes," Harry said when they arrived outside Hermione's hotel. He guided her to a bench not far from the reception entrance and waited for her to sit down before he sat down next to her.
"Always the gentleman, aren't you Harry?" Hermione teased affectionately.
"Yeah, well," he looked at her and raised his eyebrows, "it works."
Hermione nodded her head wistfully and softly replied, "Yeah, I bet it does."
Harry watched her for a moment then decided that a quick change of topic was in order. "So," he started, "about this movie. You never did tell me why we're doing this."
Hermione chuckled. "Harry," she said shaking her head and smiling at him, "you know exactly why we're doing this."
"Remind me," he said, unable to stop the smile that started with his lips then shined brightly in his eyes.
"We agreed years ago that when Voldemort was defeated we would do something stupid, selfish, and totally against everything that would be ever be expected of us," she replied. "I'd say a low-budget movie like this qualifies, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah," Harry said nodding his head and looking as though he absolutely could not fathom the fact that they would even contemplate it, much less star in it, "I'd say it qualifies."
"It is kind of a bizarre little movie, isn't it?" she said frowning slightly.
"Yeah," Harry replied, "who writes this stuff anyway?"
"I have no idea," she said shaking her head.
Harry looked at her in surprise. "Hermione Granger…" he started, "my Hermione Granger," he paused and stared at her in mock-disbelief, "has not thoroughly researched this movie, the director, the writers, the producers, and everyone else involved in it…right down to the shoe-shine boy, I might add. Unbelievable!"
Hermione looked at him with a strange expression on her face. "Your Hermione," she said staring at him questioningly and ignoring his attempt at teasing her. "Since when am I your Hermione?"
Harry's cheeks flushed red and he stammered, "Well…not my, my Hermione…you know…my best friend Hermione…my…" He was waving his arms around as he tried to think fast while thoughts of why the hell can't I just answer swarmed through his head. He stopped at the sound of her laughter.
"Never mind, my Harry," she said waving her arms in the air. "Just forget it. You turn any more red and you're likely to spontaneously combust."
Harry laughed then visibly relaxed. He leaned close to her ear and said softly, "Well, you know you are my Hermione in a way. You always have been. No one else has been there for me the way you have. I can admit now that I was selfish when it came to you. You were always my Hermione and I never wanted to share. Not even with Ron."
Hermione cleared her throat and sighed deeply in an attempt to quell the rising pain in her chest. She swallowed hard and tested her voice, "So…" she started, "about this movie." She moved a couple of inches away from him and looked at her hands folded in her lap before she finally found the nerve to look at him. His words had touched her deeply and she knew that it would be so easy to repeat them back to him, but she wouldn't…she couldn't.
"What about it?" Harry asked his voice sounding unusually gruff.
"Well, we play a married couple who likes to…" she paused and closed her eyes as her cheeks began to flush, "who likes to…" she looked up at him and was surprised to see a smile on his face.
"You know," he said chuckling softly, "you're cute when you blush like that. How come I never noticed that before?"
Hermione smacked his arm and gave an exaggerated huff. She quickly composed herself then squared her shoulders to look straight at him. "Don't you think it's strange that as a married couple we like to…" she paused again, but this time Harry took pity on her.
"…to pretend to be strangers who've just met for the first time before coming on to each other and then going off to find a place to shag?"
Hermione blushed a deeper shade of red. She made a move to smack his arm at the bluntness of his statement but she ended up grabbing his hand instead. "Well, yeah…" she said hesitantly. "Do you really think we can pull it off?"
Harry shook his head. "Not without looking like total idiots I don't," he said. "But we've already committed to doing it so it's not like we can back out." He looked at her with questioning eyes. "You don't want to back out now, do you?"
Hermione laughed. "Ironic, isn't it?" she said. "First I'm trying to tell you that it's going to be fine and now you're reassuring me. I wonder when it'll be my turn next."
Harry laughed with her. "Very soon, I imagine," he said thoughtfully, "very soon."
"Okay," she said getting into the spirit of things again, "I doubt we have all night to get through this so let's get it over with, all right?"
"Whatever you say dear," Harry replied. She eyed him momentarily and he shrugged. "We're married remember? I'm just getting into character."
"Keep it up and you just might make some lucky woman a great husband one day," she replied. "Just remember to keep saying `whatever you say dear'. That's a good line."
Harry rolled his eyes and laughed again. "Whatever you say dear," he repeated once more for good measure.
Hermione rolled her eyes back at him and laughed. "All right," she said taking a long, deep breath. "I'll go in first and find a place to sit. You know what to do after that. Just give me about a five-minute head start."
"All right," Harry sighed in agreement. Suddenly he wasn't so sure he was feeling up to it as all of his anxiety began to return three-fold.
Hermione stood up and, forgetting for the moment what she was wearing, stretched her arms high into the air and leaned forward to stretch her arms, legs, and her back. Her micro-mini skirt rose another inch and the lower part of her bum peeked out from beneath it. Harry began to sweat when he thought she might bend forward far enough to touch the ground. She was wearing a g-string and he felt his eyes grow large and a stirring in his pants as he stared at her. Damn, is it getting hot out here? He wondered as he began to pull off his leather jacket. After what felt like an eternity, she finally lowered her arms and stood up straight before turning around to face him. He was still staring wide eyed at where her arse was just a moment ago and he looked as though he was having trouble breathing.
Hermione lowered herself to a squatting position in front of him and without realizing it exposed the front part of her to him. "Harry, are you all right?" she asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"
Her hand was resting on his knee and her legs were spread apart just enough to tease him. He swallowed hard and shook his head. "Nothing Hermione," he said, his voice sounding hoarse, "nothing's wrong. Just um…just go on inside…five minutes…I'll give you five minutes."
"Okay, Harry," she said though worry still resounded in her voice. "If you're sure you're all right."
Harry put his hand on her elbow and urged her to stand up before he lost any amount of self control he'd somehow managed to cling to until now. He stood up with her and nodded. "Yeah…I'm fine. Just go, I'll be right behind you."
Hermione nodded her head then turned to walk into the hotel to find a place to sit in the bar. Harry sat down heavily on the bench. "How the hell am I going to do this?" he muttered. He sat up on the bench and smacked his hands on his knees. "Bloody hell…she's a woman! Merlin! Not a girl…a bloody woman…when the hell did that happen? She's my best friend…she's not supposed to be a woman!"
After a few minutes had passed Harry stood, put his jacket on, and then walked slowly toward the hotel entrance. He took a deep, steadying breath as he opened the door. He walked deliberately across the lobby to the entrance of the bar. This is only a rehearsal…this is only a rehearsal… the thought repeated over and over in his mind until he finally began to relax. Think of Sandra… "She's gonna kill me if she finds out!"
"Excuse me sir? Were you talking to me?"
Harry turned to find an older gentleman staring at him inquisitively. "No sir, sorry," he mumbled in reply. The man nodded his head and gave him a furtive sort of look before walking away. "Way to go, Potter," Harry said quietly to himself, "you're gonna have people thinking you're crazy before this is over."
Sandra…Sandra…Sandra…
Harry took a few more deep breaths and took his first hesitant step forward…all the time wondering what in the bloody hell he'd gotten himself into.
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