Unofficial Portkey Archive

It was well past midnight, when Harry had finally departed Hermione and was now fast asleep. It took him awhile to fall asleep, because thoughts of Hermione kept running through his head. When they had said their good nights, the last thing he wanted to do was crawl into his lonely bed. He wanted to be with her. And that had scared him. He wasn't suppose to have these feelings with Hermione. His best friend. The girl he had known since his first day here at Hogwarts. He had closed his eyes and thought of the tiny, bushy haired girl that he once knew...tried to think of her as his friend...just his friend.

That didn't work. Instead of her bushy hair, he thought of how soft and silky it felt between his fingers. Instead of her small, bony frame, he thought of how well her body had developed and how wonderful it felt pressed up against him. Her mouth...in which he once thought was only useful for silly grins...but now he knew that her mouth had many more talents. That was what took Harry so long to fall asleep. He didn't know what to think about it.

Outside, dark clouds swarmed overhead and lightening streaked across the sky in a flash. Soon, sheets of water came pouring down, banging against the windows and thunder echoed overhead. Harry didn't mind thunderstorms...and didn't hear it either because he didn't even flinch when a loud boom of thunder shook the windows.

However, Hermione who was just across the hall gasped in fear as her body flinched awake. Her heart raced and her breath quickened as she slowly sat in bed. Her room flickered when lightening flashed again and she jumped a second time when thunder stirred. Once in her life, thunderstorms never scared her. She did in fact like storms. Last year, horrible events changed that. She was taken by one of Voldemorts followers right in front of Harry, but he was powerless to stop because he had used her body as a shield. He had no choice but to watch her go as he pointed his wand at the Death Eater's face but kept his eyes on her. They were filled with sorrow and pain and hers were filled with fear and pleading for help.

He Apparated her into the forest, blindfolding her and pulling her through the trees. Her face was cut and sliced by deadly branches and thorns, his grip on her wrist was so tight that she had started loosing feeling in her fingers. The thunder and lightening had started then and soon she felt drops of water on top of her head, on her face and skin before finally it started coming down fast and hard. After being dragged in the rain and mud he finally had thrown her to the side, landing on hard rock. "Potter will eventually try to find you....and then, Master will have his revenge. You make good fresh bait."

She remembered how scary his voice was and how she feared for Harry's life more than her own. She heard him close something and then silence. She tried to take off her blindfold but her hands were tied behind her back by magic. She was trapped. So she laid on her side as the thunder and lightening still raged outside. She didn't know how long it was when Harry finally found her. Hour..two, two days? She didn't know. He had held her, rocked her gently assuring her that it was it was all over and he was here for her. He had won the battle again that night, but not the war.

Hermione threw the covers off of her and slowly made her way out of her room and through the dark hallway to Harry's room. She crept the door open to see him sound of sleep which wasn't surprising. He would sleep through anything. He was lying sprawled out on his stomach with the sheets bunched down at his waist as he breathed deeply. She hated to wake him, but she knew that she would never fall back asleep by herself. "Harry," she said softly as she walked over to his bed and peered over him. "Harry."

He stirred and suddenly lifted his head from the pillow. He blinked up at Hermione trying to get her into focus from his blurry sleep. Once he could see her clearly, it only took one look into her scared eyes to realize why she was here. "Oh, Mione," he said softly as he quickly sat up and held out his arms. "C'mere."

Hermione went without any hesitation and crawled into his bed, clinging to him tight as he laid her down on the bed. She sniffed back her tears as she snuggled closer to his comforting warmth. The storm still raged on, but she didn't hear it anymore. Not when she was with Harry.

"You all right, Mione?" he asked pulling her closer as he ran his fingers soothing up and down her arm that was draped over his chest.

She nodded. "I am now," she whispered.

"I hate him for putting this fear in you." His voice cracked with emotion as he closed his eyes, trying not to picture that night and how he found her. He swore to himself...when he was holding her while she cried that the next time he met Voldemort...it would be the last. Coming after him was one thing, but using someone he loved and cared for like Hermione was a whole other story.

"It's silly really," she said as she shifted closer to him. "To still be afraid of storms like some little girl."

"Baby," he soothed and kissed the top of her head. 'It's not silly. Not at all. You went through a dramatic and traumatizing experience. No one expects you to get over it overnight. If you were terrified of being alone during storms for the rest of your life, it would still be understandable."

"I don't know what I would do without you, Harry," she said sleepily as she started to feel sleep take over her.

His heart skipped. "I...It's me who can't live without you, Mione," he said as he turned his head so his cheek rested on the crown of her head. "I need you so badly. I always have and always will."

Hermione didn't answer. She had finally fallen back into a blissful sleep.

************

"I guess I should get going before everyone wakes up," Ron whispered to his girlfriend who was snuggled up against his side.

Julia lifted her head and peered out of the curtain to glance at her clock. "It's still early," she said.

"I know," he said as he sat up. "But it's better if I go now before your roommates wake up. I don't think I'd like it if my sister caught me in here."

Julia snorted a laugh. "Yeah, if she's HERE."

Ron looked at her puzzled. "What's that suppose to mean? Course she's here."

"Or snuggled cozily in the bed of a certain Slytherin...or maybe Draco is just two beds down."

Ron scowled. "That's not funny, Julia."

She giggled. "Oh Ron grow up. You're sister has, it's about time you do too."

"She's my little sister, Jules. I don't care how old she is or how grown, she's still my sister."

"I know..and it's cute you are so overprotective of her," she said and kissed him on the cheek.

"Check to see if she's out there."

Julia sighed and then poked her head out to see her other two roomates sleeping, but Ginny's bed was covered. "She has her curtains up like me," she said. "So it either means she's not there or Draco's there."

Ron took a deep breath. "I'm not gonna think about it, I'm not gonna think about it." He then started to look around for my clothes. He found his jeans bundled up at the end of the bed and his boxers were under the covers somewhere. "Help me look for my clothes will ya?"

"Oh, here's your sweater," she said as she picked it up. "Can I wear it?"

"No," he said as he snapped it away. "Just another thing you'll steal and I'm running low on sweaters."

She giggled. "You are so cute in the mornings," she said as she got up on her knees and knelt behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist while he fiddled with his clothing. "You're hair is the best, it sticks out everywhere...almost as bad as Harry's."

He grinned as he threw on his sweater. "Yeah, only difference is I can tame mine."

Julia helped him straighten his sweater. "Are we going to Hogsmeade today?"

"Yep. I'm going to go and shower and get dress, then maybe go wake up Hermione and Harry." Once he had his boxers on, he finally slid out of the curtains to slip on his jeans. He leaned back in to give her a kiss good bye. "See you in a bit."

She leaned up and kissed him again. "Okay."

"Love you," he said and gave her one last final kiss.

Julia smiled against his lips. She loved to hear him say that. "Love you, too," she said back.

Ron gave her a smile before walking quietly to the door, scowling at Ginny's covered bed on the way out. He quickly went to his dorm room and over to his bed as he laid back down. It was too early to get ready, so he decided to take a short nap before hopping in the shower. Neville's snores however kept him up, so he finally gave up and went to grab his shower things out of his trunk and went off to get ready for the day.

He was shocked and happy to see that Julia was on her way to the prefects bathroom as well, so of course they took advantage of this scenario since they were the only ones up this early. His shower, obviously, lasted a little bit longer than he thought so by the time he got back to the dorm room, his rommates were waking up getting ready for the Hogsmeade day as well.

Once dressed, he decided to go over to Harry and Hermione's common room to see if they were awake yet. He went down to the common room, passing first and second years who were unable to go to Hogsmeade, and out through the portrait door. Harry and Hermione's room wasn't that far from the Gryffindor tower, it was only a few staircases down and one corridor over to the left. He said the password, which Harry and Hermione tells him so he could visit whenever he wanted.

The common room was quiet. The only thing that made any noise was the crackling of the fire roaring with life in the fireplace. He placed his cloak on the back of one of the couches and made his way up the stairs, deciding to wake up Harry if his lazy arse was still in bed. "Harry, are you...." His words were cut off at the sight of his two best friends cozied up in bed together. Hermione was on her side, her back pressed up against Harry's bare chest as his arm was securely wrapped around her as if he was protecting her from all the evil in the world. He blinked as he walked closer to them. He saw that Harry's fingers were linked with Hermione's and Harry's face was nuzzled deep into Hermione's hair. "Bloody hell."

Harry stirred and slowly began to wake up. His stretched his tired body as his eyes started to flutter open and then blinked as soon as he saw Ron standing over them. "Ron?" he asked, his voice still tired from sleep.

"Harry, what is Hermi...."

"Shh!" Harry said as he put his finger to his mouth. "Don't wake her up, she had a hard night last night."

"What?" he whispered. "What's wrong? Why is she in your bed?"

"Ron, you can't be surprised, did you not hear that storm last night?"

"Storm?" he asked now understanding. "There was a storm? No, I didn't hear it."

"Well, unfortunately, Mione did so she came and woke me up. She was terrified."

Ron's eyes softened as he looked down at her. "Poor thing, that night must have been awful for her."

"I don't wish to talk about it," he grumbled. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, just seeing if your going to Hogsmeade today, breakfast is starting in a hour."

"I forgot it was a Hogsmeade weekend," he said. "Sure, we're coming. Let me wake up Hermione and then I'll meet you at breakfast."

Once Ron left, he looked down at Hermione and almost didn't want to wake her. He also knew she would hate it if she missed out on a Hogsmeade visit. "Mione," he said softly as he ran his hand gently up and down her arm. "Wake up."

"Mmm," she said sleepily as she shifted onto her back and then turned towards him, wrapping her arm around his waist as she buried her face in his chest.

He smiled softly and couldn't help but realize how much he enjoyed waking up next to her. Her scent was the first thing he noticed when he woke up...then it was her warmth and how good she felt against him. Now, he found himself wanting to kiss her awake...slowly and gently. He couldn't though. It was just pretend. And they were alone. "Come on, Mione....rise and shine."

She yawned and stretched her body, arching up against him. She didn't see Harry look up at the ceiling trying to fight off a moan. "Harry?" she asked sleepily. "What time is it?"

"Time to get up," he said and kissed her on the forehead. "Hogsmeade visit today."

She nodded as she yawned again. "Okay, just...give me a minute."

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he propped himself on his elbow so he could look down at her.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "Thank you for last night."

"It wasn't a problem at all. Anything I can do to help you."

She smiled. "Did you sleep good?"

"Like a baby," he said with a grin. "You're better than a teddy bear."

She giggled. "You're pretty snugly yourself, Potter." She then leaned up and kissed the corner of his mouth. "I'm awake now, I'm going to go get ready."

"Okay, I'll meet ya downstairs in an hour?"

"Sure thing...see ya then."

"See ya," he said softly as he watched her leave. As soon as she closed the door behind him he fell back on his bed with a heavy sigh. He was definitely in trouble. "I think I need to take a COLD shower this morning."

Yep....he was in trouble all right.