2. Furtive Encounters
About an hour after Hermione came back from lunch, she was walking towards her office reviewing a piece of parchment she was holding in her hands. Suddenly, she felt someone grabbing her upper arm.
"I need to talk to you," said Steven in a very demanding voice. He pulled Hermione forcing her to accelerate her pace and once they were inside her office, he let go of her arm and closed the door.
"So... who's that guy?"
Hermione thought for a while, not sure of who Steven was talking about. "You mean... Harry?"
"Oh, I see...", said Steven with a sarcastic tone in his voice. "That was the Famous Harry Potter!"
Steven was pacing around the office resembling a trapped lion inside a cage. Hermione could see that he was upset, but what was he upset about? Could it possibly be that he was jealous of Harry? A tiny right of sunshine seemed to invade Hermoine's heart since that would mean he actually cared for her. Then again, she said to herself, how can he come and question me? He doesn't have the right to do this when he's the one that has a girlfriend. She was still trying to figure about where this was going when Steven spoke again.
"Is there something going on between you and this... Harry?" Steven's voice sounded more as a demand than a question.
"No", responded Hermione firmly, and then trying to sound as distant as she could added, "Even if there was, who are you to question me?"
Hermione's words hadn't even completely come out of her mouth when she felt two strong hooks seizing her upper arms. Steven had cut the distance between them in one step and was now holding Hermione so tight she could feel her hands getting numb. For a few seconds, Hermione felt scared. Steven's expression was very hard to read. Was that in his eyes anger, frustration, or maybe even jealousy? Or perhaps a mixture of all those feelings at the same time? Hermione couldn't tell.
Then without saying a word Steven plunged himself toward Hermione and started kissing her as if he wanted to devour her in one bite. At first, Hermione, who wasn't expecting this, tightened her body in shock, but eventually as her brain began to process what was happening, her body started to respond to the Steven's kiss and melted between his arms. Her knees started to shake as if they were not able to hold her weight. If Steven wasn't still holding her, she would've slipped to the floor.
Hermione's mouth responded to the kiss without her even thinking about it. Steven's tongue invaded her mouth and as the expert he was made her tremble from head to toe. Hermione had never been kissed with this fury and dessesperation before. She wasn't totally sure of it, but among all the incredible feelings she was having at the moment, there was also a little bit of pain from such frenzy kiss.
All of a sudden someone knocked on the door. Quickly Steven let go of her and sat at the couch by the window. Hermione, who couldn't even talk, for a few seconds didn't move. She was still shocked by what had just happened. Finally, she walked to open the door and opened it. One of the healers was standing there.
"They're waiting for you at the conference room."
"Oh... yeah! I'll... I'll be right there", responded Hermione. She had totally forgotten she was supposed to be at a meeting. As soon as Hermone said that Steven stood up and left the office without saying a word to her.
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Hermione wasn't even sure how she had managed to make it through the day. She vaguely remembered she had been at a meeting, but could not remember what the meeting had been about. She couldn't get out of her mind Steven's kiss. "So..." Hermione thought, "that means he does like me. He does have some feelings for me." With that thought in mind, she couldn't help getting home with a wide smile in her face.
"That's a face I haven't seen in a while", said Ginny when Hermione walked into the kitchen to get herself some water.
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione not sure of whether Ginny was talking to her or to someone else. "We see each other every day!"
"I mean your Happy face"
"Oh..." The smile came back to Hermione's face. She turned to get some water, giving her back to Ginny, hoping she wouldn't make any more comments or ask any questions. But of course, Ginny was not going to back up so easily.
"Does this have anything to do with Steven?" asked Ginny decided to finally put the cards over the table. Hermione choked on the water she was drinking. Ginny looked at her checking to see if she was pretending or really choking, but when she saw Hermione was breathing again she assumed she was okay.
"I've been meaning to ask your for a while about this", said Ginny trying to start the conversation in a gentle, calm way to make Hermione feel comfortable enough to finally open up to her. Hermione realized that there was no reason to keep this from Ginny any longer. After all, she did needed to talk to someone about it or else she was going to drive herself mad.
Resigned to let everything out, Hermione sat down at the kitchen table. Ginny did the same and waited for Hermione to talk. She knew the moment to talk had finally come. After taking a deep breath and placing her glass on the table, Hermione spitted all out. She didn't keep anything inside. It was as if she had finally open the door to her feelings and all of them went running out of her mouth like wild horses.
She told Ginny about her feelings for Steven, about Rita, and of course, about the kiss. Ginny gave Hermione the opportunity to talk without interruptions while analyzing the information she was being bombarded with.
Finally, Hermione stopped. She was breathing hard as if she had just run a couple of miles.
"No wonder you've been so stressed out", said Ginny talking a little more to herself than to Hermione. "Okay", said Ginny in a let's-sort-things -out way. "So, do you know this Rita person?"
"I saw her once. She came to St. Mungo's about three months ago."
"And... what did she look like?" questioned Ginny.
Hermione tried to remember the only time she had seen Rita. Without a doubt Rita was a beautiful woman, not only that but her appearance as perfect as humanli possible. Everything in her person, from her flawless make-up to her well groomed, shiny hair to her well-thought outfit was perfect. How could she not be? Being Steven such a handsome man it was more than obvious that the person he'd choose to be with him had to be as good looking as he.
Hermione knew perfectly well that if Steven was to decide who he would be with based on looks, she didn't have a chance on being the choosen one. Hermione thought of herslef pretty, but most definitely not a beautiful woman. As a matter of fact, she knew her appearance had never been as perfect as Rita's, except maybe the time she went with Victor to the Yule Ball. But other than that she didn't like spending too time in front of the mirror. And don't even mention that bushy hair of hers she always had a trouble taming. No, definitely beauty was not her strength.
"Well?," asked Ginny who had seen Hermione's facial expression change so much during the last two minutes that she wasn't sure what was going on through Hermione's head. Hermione went ahead and described to Ginny as much as she could of Rita's appearance.
"I see... and, you know how long they've been together?"
"Two years. They celebrated their second anniversary last Friday"
"Last Friday..." repited Ginny finally understanding Hermione's behavior that day at dinner.
"And you think he likes you?"
Hermione thought about it for a moment. She remembered how Steven looks at her, the way he accidently touches her arm, or how he talks to her in such a warm tone. She thought about all those little details that for anybody could mean nothing, but for someone in love mean the world.
"I guess..."
"Then how come he hasn't done something about Rita?" said Ginny. "How come he's still with her?"
"Well...," said Hermione trying not to panic about that thought. "Think about it Ginny. Maybe he's been as confused as I have about his feelings. They're been together for two years! And all of a sudden, here I come and make him have doubts about his realtionship. It must be hard to try to end a relationship when you've been together for so long. Don't you think?"
Ginny thought about it for a minute, then said "Yeah...maybe, but maybe he just doesn't want to end the relationship. Like you said they've been together for so long that maybe something like this won't make him end it."
"You're just saying that... because you don't know him." Hermione knew that Ginny's intentions were good, but she was totally sure that Steven felt something for her just as she did for him.
"Maybe you're right" said concluded Ginny, but for some reason she didn't feel that good about it. She just knew, by Hermione's expression, that a simple talk was not going to be enough to get the message thruogh.
"Just promise me one thing," begged Ginny in a gentle voice. "Please honey, think about what I told you, but do it with your head, not with your heart."
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The following day Hermione worked all day along with her research team. Not one minute during the day she was able to be alone with Steven. Still from time to time, he would give her a look that made Hermione nervous, even more than how she already was.
Hermione could not stop looking at Steven's lips, those lips she had finally been able to taste. She couldn't believe how Steven was able to act and look so calm after what had happened between them. He was acting as if nothing had ever occurred and conducted himself as usual. Hermione, on the other hand, often found herself daydreaming, thinking about the kiss, and then instinctively looking at Steven's mouth. She could not help wondering when she'd be able to get another taste of that piece of heaven she'd found in Steven's arms.
She was able to taste it again the next day. Hermione was in the lab checking the results of the tests they had been working on the previous day when Steven walked in and without ceremony when straight toward her. Since the lab was not the ideal place for some private time. Steven whispered in Hermione's ear that he'd meet her in her office in five minutes and left as quickly as he had arrived.
Nervously, Hermione looked around to check if anybody had seen that, and felt quite relieved to see that the only two people who could've noticed something were very busy mixing some ingredients in a cauldron with their backs to them. Trying her best not to look too eager to leave, Hermione walked slowly towards the glass door and out of the lab. Then as discretely as she could got to her office.
Steven was already there, when Hermione walked in and closed the door behind her. He immediately grabbed her and started kissing her as desperately as the previous time. He took the parchment Hermione was holding in her hands and tossed it to the side.
Hermione's body fully responded to Steven's kiss. As the previous time, her knees begun to shake uncontrollably. Steven slowly began to steer Hermione towards the couch and once they reached it, threw both himself and Hermione onto the couch. Hermione felt the weight of Steven's body on top of her pushing her deep in the cushions. She could smell the intoxicating aroma of his body mixed with his aftershave and Irish soap. She closed her eyes and let that wonderful smell invade her senses.
To give a little brake to their lips, Steven started to trace Hermione's jaw line with his tongue. Hermione could feel the warmth of his tongue burning her skin and was even afraid that it would leave a mark. Meanwhile Hermione's hand had found their way towards Steven's blonde hair, while Steven's hands were frantically exploring Hermione's body.
One of his hands started going down her side until he got to her tight. Steven caressed it for a few seconds and then moved his hand to the back of Hermione's knee and pull her towards him. They were as close as they could possibly be. Steven had resumed kissing and biting Hermione's lips while desperately trying to take in the sweet flavor of her mouth with his tongue.
Then someone knocked at the door bringing them back to reality. Hermione pushed Steven aside and made an effort to rearrange her clothes. Steven stood up and run a hand through his hair to fix it. Hermione couldn't do anything but pray to God that it wouldn't look too suspicions.