Disclaimer: I don't own original Harry Potter characters or situations, They belong to J.K Rowlings. If I owned them, I would be sitting in Hawaii right now sipping drinks with little umbrellas in them and having hot guys serving my every need. *sigh* Oh well.
A/N: this chapter isn't beta-ed yet but it will be later tonight and I will re-upload. I havent' addressed the reviewers yet on this, when I re-upload you will all be addressed. Sorry this chapter took so long but I was fighting a case of writers block. You all know how that can be, Enjoy chapter 2
Amulet of Torna
Chapter 2-Roman Holiday
BOUNCY SQUEEK BOUNCY SQUEEK BOUNCY. Harry woke to a serious bouncing of his bed, he lifted his head and tilted his body to the side looking upward, his vision was still blurry as he saw a tall figure bouncing up and down on his bed. BOUNCY SQUEEK BOUNCY. He rubbed his eyes from the sleep, he was able to see properly. It was Hermione jumping up and down on his bed like a little girl on Christmas morning.
"Come on Harry time to get up. Time to get up." Hermione said in excitement. BOUNCY SQUEEK BOUNCY.
Harry yawned, "Hermione how can you have this much energy at…." He looked over at the digital clock on the nightstand. "At seven in the morning."
Hermione shrugged, BOUNCY SQUEEK KLUNK she landed on his bed. "I'm just really excited about going to Italy with you." She smiled. "So get up already." Hermione said as Harry sat up; as he did so the blanket fell away revealing his bare chest to her sight. Hermione gave an appreciative whistle. "Lookin' good Potter." She wiggled her eyebrows.
A smaller yawn fought its way out of him. Harry smirked. "You like what you see do you?"
"Always." Hermione replied with a delightful smile.
Harry lifted a brow of his own, "Now that you've seen mine, do I get to see yours?" He leaned forward and stuck his finger in the top of her tank top and pulled it a bit trying to look.
She pushed his hand away, "maybe you will, if you're a good boy and do what I say." Hermione lifted her finger up in the air.
"Is that how its going to be is it?" Harry said with a half grin.
"Yes." Hermione said calmly.
Harry and Hermione stared at each other for a long moment, it was a stare down. They were supposed to keep eye contact until the other blinked.
Out of nowhere Hermione practically flew at him, knocking him back onto the bed with her on top of him. She smiled down, looking sweetly. Hermione saw Harry blink, "I win." She said, a triumphant smile graced her face.
"And what would you like as a prize Miss Granger?" Harry asked innocently.
"Just you Mr. Potter, just you." Her voice had dropped to almost a whisper.
Harry's hand reached up and cupped her cheek; he felt her press more into hand while he watched her eyes close. "You have me Hermione."
Hermione's heart melted and she smiled, she lowered her lips to his where she kissed him lightly. She felt his mouth open to her with a growing need to feel more than just her lips on his. Harry's hands reached up and cupped the back of her head when he felt her tongue enter his mouth and tangle with his, he kissed her harder with such a wanting that it nearly controlled him. He shifted his body so that her legs opened and she was straddling him.
Hermione softly moaned feeling him pressed in between her thighs, she pulled back a little and glanced down at him. "Harry-my parents, their-house." She took in a short breath "We can't do this here." She said, her breathing erratic.
"Do you want to stop?" Harry asked still fighting against his own self control.
"I don't want to… but we have to." Hermione searched his eyes for his reaction.
Harry took in a deep breath, "whatever you want love, I will do." He smiled.
Hermione smiled back and quickly leaned in giving him a soft, sweet kiss.
There was a knock at the door and Hermione practically jumped off him, landing on the floor with loud thud followed by an ooow. The door burst open and Hermione's grandmother rushed inside.
"Is everything all right in here? I was coming up to let you know that breakfast was ready and I thought I heard a noise." Mavis looked around and saw Hermione on the floor, her hair had been tousled and her face was flushed. She glanced over at Harry who was covering himself with the comforter. Mavis popped her hip out and her hand came down on at is she stared at the two teenagers. "I suppose I don't have to guess what was going on in here."
Hermione stood, "N-nothing was going on in here Nanna." Her face was still flushed.
"Hermione, what do you take me for?" Mavis said with a stern, but calm look on her face. "I was a teenager myself once, sure it was awhile ago." She paused a minute and thinking back to those days of her youth, "but I remember it just the same." She pointed to the door with her chin, "Hermione go fix your hair and then go down to breakfast. Harry here will be along in a moment, I want to have a little chat with him."
Harry swallowed the breath he had been holding, oh I'm going to get it now, curse these damn male hormones, He thought to himself. Harry would have held his fist up to the air threatening like, but he was around other people and it would make him feel idiotic.
Hermione nodded and walked out of the room closing the door behind her.
Mavis turned to Harry, "now I know we all talked about this last night before you two went to up to bed, but I again want to tell you that you two are going to Rome. It's a bit intimidating if you don't know the dangers. You need to look out for each other; anything can happen in that city, it has a lot of history. Something I'm sure Hermione would also be interested in." Mavis glanced down at the floor and then up about the room a bit. "For some reason I trust you with Hermione more than I have trusted any other fellow with her, do not break her heart."
"Mrs. Granger-" He was interrupted.
"Please call me Mavis." She said.
"Okay then Mavis, I would not break her heart. What makes you think that I would?" Harry found that slightly offensive.
"Because Harry, Rome is filled with really beautiful women. And well you are almost a man. And no man is immune to a pretty female." Mavis said with some wisdom behind her words.
Harry took in a breath. "I know this is going to sound cheesy and well to you it might seem like just another typical guy line to work his way into a girl's pants, but none is more beautiful to me then my Hermione. She is everything, and certainly no other pretty face will turn my head."
Mavis smiled, "I believe you. Just be on your guard." She crossed her arms in front of her. "I was just giving you the same speech that I gave my son Kevin when he went to Paris with Hermione's mother. So it's nothing personal." Mavis smiled. "Now please tell me before I came in here that you two weren't planning to-" Mavis was cut off quickly.
"Well" Harry scratched the back of his neck nervously, something he had picked up from Sirius obviously. "Nothing was planned, but nothing more went on. Hermione has a good head on her shoulders, she's the more sensible one."
Mavis nodded. "I think I'll be on my way, let you get ready for the day." Mavis started for the door. "Breakfast is ready for you when you want it." She left the room closing the door behind her and Harry got ready for the day.
While in his boxers he jumped from the bed and went over to his suitcase. Harry picked out a fresh pair of boxer shorts, a dark red t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts. He quickly closed the suitcase up. He headed straight for the bathroom. As Harry stepped from the room he was startled by Hermione jumping away from the wall next to the door. She had a distressed look in her eyes and he was a bit concerned.
"Hermione, what's the matter?"
"You didn't get in trouble did you?" She asked, biting her bottom lip in worry.
Harry lifted his hand and brushed his fingers along her cheek, "no trouble what so ever." He said with a tiny smile.
Hermione relaxed and let out the breath she had been holding. "Good." She said with a relived smile. "I want my family to like you, and with me being in your room with you practically naked that wouldn't exactly get you on their good side." She glanced down for a moment, "speaking of practically naked." She looked up at him, confusion in her eyes "why are you walking around in your underwear?"
Harry smirked, "Oh I thought you would like me walking around in my underwear."
A small laugh escaped Hermione, "well I wouldn't mind, but I think my parents might have a small problem with it."
"In that case, I'll just continue on my way to the bathroom so I can take a quick shower and get properly dressed for your parents." Harry continued on his way into the bathroom as Hermione who was smiling turned and started down the stairs towards the kitchen.
Hermione sat down at the kitchen table and picked up her glass of orange juice. Her mother set a plate full of food down in front of her. Hermione sighed looking at the huge stack of waffles, and the fruit surrounding it. She could never eat all her mother placed before her. She heard a soft meow and turned her head towards the archway, Crookshanks came into view, his tail swaying lightly as he walked.
The cat sauntered over to Hermione and jumped up into her lap. Hermione reached down and scratched his cheek and gave him a good amount of petting. Crookshanks purred and settled himself into her lap.
"Hermione are you going to spend all breakfast petting that cat, eat up before it gets cold." Jenna said with a smile.
Hermione looked down into the full plate again, "there's just too much here." She whispered lightly to herself.
Crookshanks ears perked up and the cat looked up at her, Hermione suddenly got an idea, she looked over at her mother who was still making the waffles, her back was to Hermione. Hermione picked up a waffle with her fork and carefully placed the waffle under the table and tossed it to the floor. Crookshanks jumped off Hermione's lap and onto the floor where he began to eat up the waffle. Hermione continued doing that until she only had a waffle and a half left. She then began to enjoy her breakfast.
After a nice, short shower, Harry dried off and took care of his morning necessities such as brushing his teeth, shaving and such. He got dressed and when his hair dried a bit, he tried to get it do what he wanted, but alas it was no good. He left the bathroom.
Harry went back into the guest room and placed his used underwear back in the suitcase but in a different compartment as to know it was dirty and needed a wash. He grabbed his wand and its holder, he looped the holder into his belt loops and fastened it much like he would a belt and slipped the wand into the holder. He was sure if there was a life or death emergency the Ministry would overlook his use of magic. Of course he wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary. Harry pulled his shirt hem down over the wand so it couldn't be seen.
He closed the suitcase and locked it, he carried it out of the room and down the stairs. He sat the suitcase in front of the door where Hermione's was and hurried into the kitchen, he saw Hermione sitting at the table already eating the waffles which her mother had made.
Jenna smiled at Harry as he took a seat next to Hermione, she set a plate of food in front of him. "There you go, now eat up and don't let any go to waste."
Harry stared at the stack of waffles. There were at least five waffles in the stack, along with some fruit and a slice of ham. He looked at Hermione and leaned over so he could talk to her quietly. "There is no way I can eat all these waffles."
"Neither could I." Hermione said quietly. She pointed down under the table and Crookshanks was sitting there feasting on a waffle.
He kept the laugh in, "ah I get it. Okay so Crookshanks is kinda like the family dog?"
"You have no idea how much that blasted cat eats, he eats twice as much as me, and then like three times more than my dad." Hermione shook her head back and forth. She continued to finish off her breakfast, out of the corner of her eye she saw Harry tossing pieces of waffle down to the floor.
After breakfast was finished and cleared, Harry and Hermione grabbed their luggage and headed to the car. Their plane would leave in about an hour and a half and it was always best to get to the air port an hour before it leaves, just in case a problem arose.
Kevin then started up the car and they were on their way to the airport.
Harry and Hermione said good bye to her parents and they boarded the plane. After settling down into their seats, sure it wasn't as luxurious as when they went to the US with Zara but it wasn't bad either.
They heard the information about buckling seatbelts and what would happen in case of a crash. The flight attendants voice came over the loud speaker and told the passengers where they would be heading. A few moments later the plane started moving down the runway and it took to the air. They were on their way to Italy.
Hermione was reading Great Expectations when Harry tapped her on the shoulder. She placed her thumb in the center of the book and closed it a little. She looked at him with a smile.
"What exactly is your cousin like?" Harry wondered.
"Oh boy." Hermione took a breath, "Amelia is worse then Zara. We've seen Zara's life, it's nothing compared to Amelia. You see she is a fashion designer, twenty six years old, has a different boyfriend or girlfriend which ever she is in the mood for like every week. She has a few tattoos in discreet places, a few piercings and she's totally in with the night life."
"She sounds like quite a handful." Harry said completely alarmed at the tale of Hermione's cousin.
"Yes she is." Hermione said with a laugh, "I remember when I was around twelve or so and she came over to spend a week with us. She was the biggest flirt on the face of the earth. My parents and I were out running errands and we came home to find her surrounded by like seven guys. She is a guy magnet, a girl magnet too sometimes."
"What kind of fashions is she a designer for? I have never heard of her." Harry watched Hermione carefully a tiny blush rose to her cheeks.
"Amelia is sort of a designer for the….interesting." Hermione replied.
"Huh?" Harry asked, he was confused, "how interesting?"
Hermione took in a breath and then let it all out. "She's a designer for fetishes and naughty underwear." She was blunt.
Harry's eyes grew wide, "Oh, okay then."
"She's very successful," Hermione replied with an unsure smile.
"Oh I don't doubt that." Harry cleared his throat. "And this is the same person who helped you with your new look last year?"
Hermione nodded, "some things aren't that drastic. But a lot of her outfits and things tend to show a lot more skin or are really tight." Hermione leaned back into her seat. "I didn't go as drastic as I could have." Hermione then sat forward abruptly. "Oh I almost forgot to tell you. I brought those Translation Beans that way we don't have to wonder what all the Italian's are saying to us, we will understand them perfectly." Hermione said with a smug smile.
"Anxious to try those out are you?" Harry said with a knowing smile.
"Well I have been dying to see how they work, and now we'll get to try them first hand." She placed her bookmark inside her book and closed it completely. She placed it back in her bag.
"Did you get a letter from Ron?" Harry glanced out the window, this is the first time he got the window seat. Hermione let him have it because he had never had the window seat before. Last time on an airplane Hermione had the window seat now it was his turn. He liked how the world looked so far below them, they were much higher up then he has ever been, even on a broomstick. Although that was nice, this was exceptional.
"Yes, he said he was going on vacation with Zara." Hermione opened her package of complimentary peanuts, honey roasted peanuts to be exact.
"His whole family had been invited." Harry turning around looking at her he saw Hermione offer him a peanut but he declined.
"That's really great for them; they never get to do anything like that as a family." Hermione popped a peanut into her mouth.
Harry couldn't help the small fits of laughter coming from him, "What do you think Ron's mum thought of Zara?"
Hermione too couldn't fight the laughter, "I remember the fist time I met her, she was so different."
"And that hair, I had never seen such a color on a person before." Harry said thinking back to last school year.
"I wonder what she is going to do this year?" Hermione looked towards the ceiling of the plane in thought.
Harry relaxed back into his chair more. "Well I'm sure they'll have a great time while on vacation together, we probably won't be hearing from Ron all summer."
Hermione nodded "In the letters from Zara and Ginny, it was stated that Zara and her family stay at their beach house all summer. So I think Ron will actually be enjoying that to the fullest extent. If you understand what I mean" She wiggled her eye brow.
A light chuckle escaped from inside of Harry and he turned smiling at her, "I know I'm going to enjoy being with you, whether we are intimate or just in each other's company."
She felt her heart burst into tiny little sparks, and Hermione leaned in pressing her lips to his in a soft kiss. The sounds of children giggling broke the moment and Hermione pulled back. She turned towards the aisle and saw two little girls giggling at her. Hermione stuck her tongue out at them, which made the children burst up into laughter again.
Harry shook his head in amusement. "You are just a big kid yourself aren't you Hermione?"
Hermione then stuck her tongue out at him and she saw him burst into laughter. She too joined in on the fits of laughter.
The plane continued on its way, some hours later they heard the captain's voice come on the loud speaker telling them that they will be arriving at the Fiumicino airport in Rome within a half hour.
* * *
At the airport Harry and Hermione got of the plane and started down the hall. The moment they stepped into the waiting area they were approached by a short brown haired girl wearing neon green Capri pants and a white halter top. She was smiling brightly. You could see she had a piercing in her eyebrow, her ears had at least six piercings on each ear. The girl rushed over and developed Hermione in a tight hug.
After the girls broke apart Hermione smiled, "Amelia I want you to meet Harry."
Amelia looked up at Harry, she hated being so short she was only five four and it really bothered her. "Glad to greet you Harry, I have heard about you some." Amelia said with a smile.
Harry noticed that she also had a stud in the middle of her tongue, He couldn't resist he had to ask. "Did that hurt?" He pointed a bit
Amelia laughed, "Oh yes all the piercings hurt like a bitch but you get over the pain, I have a few more but only my boyfriend gets to see those." She winked.
Both Harry and Hermione laughed with Amelia.
"Come on let's get your luggage and then get you over to my flat." They started towards the baggage claim. "You two don't mind sharing a room do you, I only have three and my boyfriend occupies one most of the time, and then mine is the master bedroom."
"Oh no Amelia we don't mind in the least." Hermione said while looking at Harry.
"Just wait till you meet him Hermione, he's so hot. Imagine this six foot five of hard chiseled abs." Amelia sighed, "And he's soo cute. He has a face like a god, so very sexy."
"Amelia calm down, I'm sure he's not all that great. Just cause he looks good doesn't mean there isn't something wrong with him. You always tend to pick the wrong type of guy."
"Oh and you always pick the right one?" Amelia said with a smirk.
"True, I have had my share of bad ones." She then turned to Harry who for some reason was quiet through this whole conversation. "But this time I think I made the right choice." Hermione smiled.
Harry smiled back and took her hand in his.
Amelia smirked, "Oh you two are together are you? Last time I heard you were just friends."
Hermione still holding onto Harry's hand turned her attention to Amelia "Who is this boyfriend of yours, in your letters and phone calls, you would go on and on about him, but we never got a name of who he is."
"I am so ditzy sometimes, I always forget to mention his name. His name is-" Amelia was cut off by the loud buzz letting people know their luggage was arriving. This distracted Harry and Hermione from listening to her. They went up and immediately began looking for their suitcases. Hermione found hers fairly easy, Harry then grabbed his quickly.
"All right do you have yours Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Hermione lifted it and set it down in front of her.
"Okay teens lets get to my flat, its really cool." Amelia said as she, Harry and Hermione left the airport.
Amelia drove them to her flat, they took the stairs up to the fourth floor, where Amelia got out her key and unlocked her door. She opened the door and let them in first.
Harry and Hermione stood with their mouths opened at the size of her flat. It was situated somewhat like a studio, there marble carvings up the walls, the ceiling was carved into what looked like grapes and vines the reached the center of the ceiling where a lovely grape shaped chandelier hang down. The floors were created of beige tile, there were tall windows that let in a large amount of light.
"This way." Amelia said, "I'll show you to your room." She brought them up three steps and towards two double glass doors with white curtains on the inside. Amelia opened the door "This is your room, I hope you like it." Amelia heard the voice of her boyfriend calling for her as soon as the front door closed. She grinned, "Oh he's back. You two get unpacked and then you can meet him." Amelia quickly turned and raced back towards the front of the flat.
Harry and Hermione went inside the room and closed the doors.
Hermione turned to Harry "So what do you think?"
"Of Amelia?" Harry sat down on the end of the bed and glanced down at the floor for a moment, it was the same tiles as they were in the rest of the flat. He then looked up at her and saw Hermione slowly nod. "Well I can't really make a judgment call of her as of yet, I don't even know her."
Hermione noticed he seemed far away, She sat down next to him. "Harry what's wrong?"
"Nothing?" He studied Hermione's face carefully.
"Don't give me that, I know there is something wrong. You know you can talk to me about anything." Hermione lifted her hand and ran her fingers through his hair.
"I'm a little concerned I suppose, about your cousin's boyfriend. The way she described him to makes me feel a little less than- and well what if you fall for this guy?" Harry was cut off.
"Oh Harry don't think that way, Amelia has a way of blowing everything out of proportion," She smiled "And why would I fall for this other guy when I have you." Hermione leaned in and pressed her forehead against his, "It's always been you, there will never be anyone else for me." She lifted her head and looked him straight in the eye.
Harry's hands gently framed her face "Hermione, I never want you to think you've lost out on something because of me."
She lifted her hand to cover of his "I'm not losing out on anything, I have you here with me and that's all that I need."
He held her gaze for a moment and brought her close, Harry's mouth covered over hers and he took possession of her lips. One of the doors to the room was pulled open disrupting their moment.
"Excuse me." The female voice said.
Hermione turned with an aggravated look upon her face "yes Amelia, what is it?" Her voice stung with irritation.
"Oh there will be plenty of time for you two to-" Amelia was cut off by Hermione glaring. "Fine, come out and meet my boyfriend and then I can take you to my business and then we can go to dinner." She left the room.
Hermione turned back to Harry, "I'm sorry my cousin has no consideration."
"Don't worry about it Hermione," Harry said with a smile. "We'll have our time later." He grabbed her hand and they stood up from the bed and walked out of the room. The two of them walked into the living room, Amelia was standing in front of someone sitting down on the couch, so he was blocked completely.
Amelia turned hearing them approach she had the biggest smile upon her face as she came towards them. The person on the couch stood not looking up at anyone yet. Hermione noticed him and jumped back, and quickly turned around so her back was to him.
Harry thought that was odd and he leaned in closer, "Hermione?"
Hermione looked at Harry not making a sound and then turned her attention ahead of her.
Amelia started laughing thinking that Hermione was only bashful, "Oh cuz, there's no need to be shy. Come on."
She took in a breath and then turned around to face Amelia's boyfriend, Hermione saw his eyes widen with shock. She barely heard Amelia's voice introducing him as Carlo Yuri.
"You are Amelia's cousin?" Carlo asked astonished.
"You are Amelia's boyfriend?" Hermione asked at the same time, she felt very uncomfortable.
Amelia thought this was odd she looked between the both of them, "you..two know each other?" She was confused.
Hermione started laughing nervously, "heh, heh, you could say we know each other."
Harry thought he had heard his name before somewhere, but where?" He eyed both Hermione and Carlo in thought.
"Yes love." Carlo said turning to Amelia, "It turns out your cousin and I were neighbors for most of our lives."
Hermione nodded, "can you excuse me for a moment, I need to use the rest room." She quickly tore away from the room and quickly headed into the bathroom where she locked the door. She looked at her face in the mirror, she was pale. She had to sit down. She flipped the toilet seat cover down and sat down. Hermione rested her elbows on her knees and buried her face with in her hands.
As soon as the bathroom door closed Harry turned back to Amelia and Carlo. He thought a minute. His eyes narrowed as it all came back to him, he instantly hated this Carlo guy.
Amelia was even more confused now, "what's the matter with her?"
Carlo just shrugged.
"I'm going to go find out." Harry followed Hermione's same path and came to the bathroom, he pressed his ear to the door he could hear light sniffling on the inside. Harry knocked "Hermione, you okay?" He said to the door.
"Uh yeah, yeah I'm fine." She said through the door.
"Can I come in?" Harry asked. After a few seconds the door opened and Harry saw her, her eyes were red. "Oh sweetie, it can't be that bad." He pulled her into the warmth of his arms "Sure he was an old boyfriend-" He was cut off.
"No, he wasn't really an old boyfriend Harry." She turned her face into his chest, "I hate him, so much."
"Oh you can't hate anyone, you don't even hate Malfoy." Harry said, his hands cupped her cheeks and tiled her face upwards. "It's not in you to hate." He wiped her tears away with his thumb.
"Yes I can hate Harry, I hate Him." She said quietly, "and I do hate CarloYuri. You have no idea what he did." Harry wondered if it was all clean and clear like that in her letters to Ron a few years ago. His thoughts were interrupted bye Hermione's voice, "Don't leave me alone with him Harry, please."
Harry held her tighter to him as she rested her head against his shoulder. "I won't, I promise." Whatever it was, it must have been pretty bad. Harry would figure out what this Carlo did to his Hermione, it seemed to be more than a mere broken heart.
"Can't you two keep your hands of each other for two seconds." Amelia teased.
"I'm going to hurt her before this vacation is over." Hermione replied she felt and heard Harry laugh.
"We're hormonal teenagers and she should know the answer to her own question." Harry said light heartedly. He glanced down at the top of her head, "are you going to be okay?"
Hermione nodded, "If he stays away from me, I'll be just fine."
"Hermione do you want to tell me?" Harry asked her carefully.
She took in a breath, "I was an idiot, he used me. Took slight advantage of my weakness, I didn't realize that before it was already done and over with." Hermione was quiet.
"Oh Hermione, I'm so sorry." He felt slightly bad and he so wanted to hurt Carlo for taking advantage of his Hermione. "I won't let him hurt you Hermione," Harry said as the memories of the last time he said that came flooding back. He narrowed his eyes at the thought, no one was going to hurt her ever again and his arms tightened around her. No one was ever going to hurt her again.
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Well that's it for chapter two. I hope you all liked it. Stay tuned for chapter 3-Amelia's Bright Idea