Well, here it is- the last chapter. I hope it came out up to par.
--jamie
disclaimer…not mine…
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She did it. She broke up with him. And I'm more terrified than I've been in my entire life. I have no idea how to act around her now. I always used her relationship with Krum as sort of an excuse to not let her know how I feel. My excuse is gone now, I have nothing stopping me and I can't do it. Presently, we're sitting at a table off to the side of the dance floor. Now, I know what I said, I said I'd tell her tonight. That was a filthy lie. I'm shaking so bad right now, I can barely talk, let alone tell her that I'm hopelessly in love with her. We haven't danced yet, I can't really dance to fast songs and judging by the way she's made absolutely no attempt to get me out on the dance floor, I don't think she can either. As long as they keep playing this stuff and no slow songs, I think I'll be all right. Great. I spoke too soon, a slow melody drifts to my ears. She turns and looks at me uncertainly. I suppose we can't just sit here all night, so I stand, on unsteady feet, and offer my hand. She accepts it and we slowly make our way to the floor. I was a little concerned, my hands are awfully clammy right now, but hers seem to be a little damp as well, that's oddly comforting. We stop walking and I can see Ron off in the corner groping a blonde. At least someone's enjoying themselves. Hermione wraps her arm around my shoulder and raises our joined hands into position. I slide an arm around her middle, leaving ample space between our bodies, and we start swaying slowly. We must look terribly formal. What now? I feel really awkward, I feel like we should be talking or something. She must be thinking along the same lines because I hear her say,
"Nice weather we're having lately, isn't it?"
"Uh, yeah, unseasonably warm."
God, I am such a moron. I have the woman I love in my arms and I'm holding her far enough away that another person could fit between us. And on top of that we're talking about the weather. This is ridiculous. Like I said before, there's nothing stopping me now. I take my hand from hers, she gives me a quizzical look, and I slip it around her waist. She seems to understand now and she reaches up to place her other arm around my neck. That's better. I think this is the closest I've ever been to her. She makes a contented sound and nestles in to my shoulder. This is great, this is better than great, this is mind-blowing, earth-shattering, completely and totally astounding. We dance in time to the music, any pretense of conversation forgotten. They appear to be making up for the lack of slow songs earlier and play a few in a row. At one point I feel her lips skim my neck and my knees nearly buckle. That had to be an accident. She couldn't have done that on purpose. Thank God for accidents. It is announced that this next song will be the last of the evening and Hermione pulls me closer. She mumbles something unintelligible in my ear and while I'm curious as to what she said, I can't seem to find my voice to ask her to repeat it, so I just nod. The song winds down and Hermione tugs me out of the hall. Apparently what she had said during the song was that she wasn't tired and that she wanted to sit up in the common room a while. Who am I to deny her? We sit down on the couch facing the fire and I watch the flames flicker. I can see her fidgeting out of the corner of my eye, she sees me looking at her though and stills. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, I lean into her, just enough that our sides our touching. I tell myself that's all I need, that this is enough for now. It's a lie, but, hey, it's the only thing keeping me sane. She murmurs my name,
"Harry…"
I look down to indicate she should go on, but she quiets.
"Yes?" Whoa, my voice sounds oddly husky, likely from the lack of use it's had in the past minutes.
"Er…um… nothing."
I turn my focus back to the fire, it holds my attention for a few moments, but I soon turn back to Hermione. She seems to be intently watching the flames. I wonder what she'd do if I put my arm around her? You know what? I'm sick of wondering. I gently extricate my arm from where it's situated against hers and lay it tentatively across her shoulders. This could be a casual thing, right? There are some "friends" out there that sit like this all the time, we're fine. Yeah, right. She stiffens at first and then relaxes into me. We sit in silence for a while, I'm about to look down to see if she's fallen asleep when I feel her nuzzle deeper into me. Almost reflexively, I tighten my arm around her. This is nice. This is how it should always be. I throw what was supposed to be a quick glance down at her, but I can't seem to get my eyes to shift back up, I wind up gazing at her. After what seems like an eternity, she flicks her eyes up to meet mine, I'm not sure if she felt me looking at her or if she was just checking on me, whatever the reason, there's no turning back now. Our eyes lock and I'm suddenly in full panic mode. What do I do now? If this were any girl but Hermione I'd have already gone into kiss her, but it's not. It IS Hermione, I need some sort of sign. She tilts her head up slightly and that's all the encouragement I need, I bend down and touch my lips to hers. Neither of us move for a moment, I think we're both in shock. I shake myself out of it and slowly begin to move my lips against hers. I kiss her top lip and then her bottom and she starts to respond. I run my tongue along her lips- it doesn't take much - and she opens her mouth. I slide my tongue past her open lips and touch it to hers. Oh. My. God. She starts rubbing her tongue against the length of mine and I'm almost too stunned to react. Almost, though not quite. I use my free arm to pull her closer, and she responds by putting her arms around my neck, her fingers start playing with the hair at the nape of my neck. Our tongues continue to duel and I lean back on the couch, taking her with me. I'm growing bolder and I slip my hand under the back of her shirt and begin to stroke my fingers along her spine. She shivers and inadvertently grinds herself down onto me. I'll say it again- Oh. My. God. She pulls her lips away from mine and I think for a second that she's going to put a stop to all this, but then I feel their wet warmth on my neck. Holy God. She starts licking and kissing her way up and down my neck, I have no idea how she knows this, maybe it's instinctive, but being kissed on the neck renders me almost completely incapable of forming coherent thought. A low, gurgling sound emanates from the back of my throat and I hear her laugh softly. She comes back up to meet my lips and our mouths open almost immediately. Our tongues tussle for a bit and I move my hand further up the back of her shirt, I come upon the clasp of her bra and hover, waiting for some form of protest. None comes. I begin to unhook the garment when the portrait door swings open. We pull apart guiltily and crane our necks to see who it is. It's Dean Thomas, and he appears to be drunk, he stumbles to the steps and clumsily climbs then, I guess the punch at the Yule Ball was more potent than I had realized. He pays absolutely no attention to Hermione and I and soon I hear the click of the door, indicating he's in our room. Hermione's still lying prone on top of me and she slowly looks back to my face,
"So, uh…"
"Wait, Hermione. Let me say a few things here before you start in…"
"No."
What? Did she just say 'no?' I did not expect that.
"Huh? Why not?"
"Because I'm going first. Harry, I've wanted what just happened to happen for quite a while now. That's part of the reason I was so conflicted about Viktor. I love him, but I'm in love with you. Does that make sense? And I stayed together with him for so long because I was of the mind that you shouldn't mess up a good thing, but I realized that maybe you should mess up a good thing, when there's a potential for a great thing with someone else. So that's what you are to me, Harry, that's what this is- my chance at something great."
Wow.
"Wow. Herm, I had no idea."
"Oh…"
"No! It's not like that! I'm thrilled! I couldn't be more willing to take this chance. It's been you for such a long time now, Herm."
"And I hope it continues to be me for even longer."
"It will, trust me, it will."
I raise my head up to meet her in another kiss and she smiles against my lips. This is gonna be great…
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…and that's the end, folks! Thanks for reading!
-- jamie