Disclaimer:
It's ALL mine! I'm the inventor of the Harry Potter universe!
Love,
JK Rowling.
Hehe, I'm joking, of course. I'm not stupid enough to even pretend that I can ever come up with anything equally brilliant. So, the standard disclaimer applies.
A/N: I know this chapter is a bit short, but I kinda ran out of ideas. So, don't hate me. Thanks to Pottergirlajg for a positive review! Seeing how impatient you are, this chapter is mainly for you, I guess. Enjoy!
CHAPTER FOUR
Kiss the girl
Hermione woke up, feeling a mass of something soft and warm pressed against her head. Sleepily, she reached out and discovered her beloved pet Crookshanks. She stroked his thick fur. Crookshanks, who was purring happily on her pillow, caught her hand and played with it. Hermione glanced sideways at her watch on the bedside table. It read 07:30. Hermione groaned, lifting her heavy head off the pillow, and forced herself to get out of the warm bed. She yawned as she slowly trudged towards the bathroom. After she showered and dressed in her school robes, she gathered her books and quills and made her way down for breakfast.
In the Common Room she bumped into a very agitated Ron.
"Hermione," he said, glancing nervously at her, "something just happened."
"What?" she looked at him suspiciously.
"Harry fell off his broom while playing Quidditch," he blurted out.
"You were playing Quidditch now???" she was perplexed.
Ron nodded.
"But why did you decide to fly in the morning? Couldn't you wait till after the classes?" she asked angrily.
"Well, Harry really wanted to try out his new Firebolt," Ron explained.
"That's what happens when all you think about is stupid Quidditch!" Hermione roared. Then she rounded to face Ron. "It's all your fault!" she snarled. "If you cared enough about him, it wouldn't have happened!"
Ron gaped at her, opening and closing his mouth at intervals, like a fish.
"All right," she said icily. "I'm off to the hospital wing. And I'm not finished with you, Ron Weasley!" she said before leaving.
Hermione raced to the hospital wing. Frantically looking for Harry, she ran into Professor McGonagall.
"Ah, Miss Granger," she smiled, "I thought I'd see you here soon."
"How is Harry?" Hermione asked her, blanching at the thought of broken arms or legs. She was suddenly ashamed of her thoughts after the Quidditch match, when she hoped that he would fracture all his limbs.
"Oh, he's just unconscious and he hasn't got any injuries as far as I can tell. Leave it to Madam Pomfrey, she'll fix him," Professor told her.
"Thank you, Professor. I'll just go to see him now."
She went further with her search for Harry, but was stopped by Madam Pomfrey.
"I'm sorry, dear," she shook her head, "You can't see him right now. He's resting. And he is unconscious anyway."
"But…" Hermione stuttered.
"I assure you that he's fine, Miss Granger. He'll be as good as new soon."
Unwillingly, Hermione obeyed the nurse's orders.
"But if you want, you can wait here," Madam Pomfrey took pity on her.
"Thank you," Hermione smiled, taking her seat in the nurse's office.
She had plenty of time till the classes started, and judging by the nurse's words, Harry should be awake soon. She'd been waiting for an hour, and Madam Pomfrey didn't have the heart to tell her to leave. Hermione missed the breakfast, but she wasn't hungry and she was really determined to wait until Harry regained consciousness. Finally, Madam Pomfrey stopped writing in her clipboard and got up.
"I'll see how our patient is doing. Wait here," she said and left the office.
She walked along the rows of brass beds, until she found Harry's. He was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.
"You're awake! Good!" she noted with satisfaction. "By the way, you have a visitor. She's been waiting here ever since they brought you in."
Hermione came to see him! Harry immediately felt better and tried to hide his wide grin. He passed his hand through his shaggy hair, combing it as well as he could. Then he pulled the blanket up to his chin and waited for Hermione.
She was ushered in by the nurse. She was shy of approaching him first, so Harry patted the bed and invited her to sit down.
"Hi," she said timidly. "I thought I'd pop in on my way to class. How are you?"
"I'm fine," he assured her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't come to see you earlier," she apologized. "I came here as soon as I got the message, but you know how Madam Pomfrey is about visitations to the ward. She made me wait."
"I know you've been waiting," he nodded.
"I was so worried," she smiled awkwardly. "It wasn't very smart of you to play Quidditch in the morning, Harry. It's still misty."
"Yeah, I know that now," Harry chuckled. "But stop worrying, I'll be out of here today."
They relapsed into silence again. Neither knew what to say. Hermione was relieved to see him alive and well, and Harry was happy to see her face when he woke up. Both forgot the awkward moment they had shared in the library last night.
Madam Pomfrey came in suddenly, startling them.
"You need rest," she turned to Harry, "and you have a class to get to."
"Can I stay a little longer?" Hermione pleaded.
"All right," she relented, "five more minutes!"
The nurse left and Hermione looked up at Harry. For the first time in many days she bravely met those dark green eyes. They were full of tenderness and love, she thought with surprise. Harry stared back at her. Her beautiful hazel eyes were locked on his and he didn't feel nervous. Love for her overwhelmed him. He wanted to swoop her in his arms and kiss those half-opened pink lips.
He leaned forward and stopped, just inches away from her face. She stared at him, unblinkingly. He construed her silence as consent and kissed her tenderly. She returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around him. Their tongs touched, first timidly and then more boldly.
Hermione felt rather light-headed. She couldn't believe that her dream was coming true. She was kissing Harry! And he was kissing her like it was the only thing he ever needed. Harry couldn't believe his luck either. There she was, kissing him with such passion. She was kissing him, not some slimy stranger who didn't even care about her like he did.
The fervent kiss went on and they didn't even come up for air. They both wanted to prolong this magical moment. They were so engulfed in their mutual passion that the only thing on their minds was each other.
When they broke apart, they just stared at each other. Hermione felt a rush of blood to her cheeks and Harry smiled, seeing her blush so cutely.
"Mr. Potter, the time is up!" called Madam Pomfrey from the corridor.
"I have to go," Hermione mumbled and ran out of the hospital wing.
When Madam Pomfrey approached his bed, he didn't even bother to wipe the goofy grin off his face. He didn't care if she understood what had just happened. He wanted the whole world to know that he kissed Hermione and that he loved her very much. As to her feelings, he was sure that they were the same, or she wouldn't be kissing him like this. No, he couldn't be mistaken.
Madam Pomfrey had a hard time persuading Harry to drink a pepper-up potion. He was just too agitated. Nevertheless, he drank the achromatic liquid till the last drop and Madam Pomfrey finally left him alone. When the sleep took over him, he was still grinning.
Meanwhile, Hermione was running down the twisting corridors, not seeing where she was going, until she reached the door with an "OUT OF ORDER" board on it. It was known as the Moaning Myrtle bathroom and no one ever used. She hoped to hide there from everyone and think things over. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She could not fathom what she had just done. She kissed Harry! She must be raving mad!
"This is ridiculous!" she cried out. "I can't be falling in love with Harry! I just can't!"
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. The girl she saw there had kiss-swollen lips, her hair was rustled and her cheeks were burning.
"Aha, you've been kissing a boy! Look at yourself!" Myrtle shrieked, appearing behind her.
"Myrtle, please, leave me alone," Hermione said shortly. "I can't talk right now."
"No one ever wants to talk to me! Of course, who would want to talk to boring, ugly Myrtle? Everyone has an interesting life, and I have to stay here alone, without any friends!" she blubbered and then disappeared inside one of the cubicles with a big splash.
Hermione couldn't care less at the moment. She had her own problems to take care of, and she didn't even know where to begin. She quickly washed her face and ran to her class, barely making it on time.
* * *
"You all right, mate?" Ron asked nervously, approaching Harry's bed.
"Yeah," Harry sighed, "just a scratch."
Ron's face lit up. "Thank Merlin! I thought Hermione would feed me to Manticores, when I told her that you fell off your broom. She blamed me for being a lousy friend and she is still very cross with me."
"That sounds a lot like Hermione," Harry chuckled.
"Yeah," Ron sighed. "So, you'll be all right then? She'll let you out today, you think?"
"I hope so. At least there is nothing wrong with me."
Harry guessed that Ron, who was always hungry, was impatient to get to dinner on time.
"You go now," he said, "I'll see you in the evening."
Ron nodded and nearly galloped out of the hospital wing.
At the Great Hall Ron was treated to a hard stare from Hermione, who looked at him briefly and then turned away. Ron had given up all hope to understand her mood swings. Not feeling any remorse, he turned his attention to his lamb chops.
Hermione barely touched her food. How she sat through all her classes, she did not know. She was still in a haze, all the images replaying in her head, making her blush every time. She dreaded the moment when Harry would be released from the infirmary and she'd have to face him. She didn't know what she was supposed to tell him. Should she just come out and confess that she'd been dying to kiss him for a long time now? He kissed her like he really wanted to do that too, but she wasn't entirely sure.
For the lack of a better pastime, she went to the library again. She was relieved that nothing in the secluded corner reminded her of the palm-reading episode, or she wouldn't be able to concentrate on her work at all.
She worked diligently for hours: first slogging away at Charms and then Arithmancy. But it didn't work too well. Instead, the harder she tried to concentrate on the charts, the more her mind drifted back to something completely opposite, bringing back the memories of a certain Gryffindor, his face, his voice, his lips… Hermione groaned and shut her textbook with a loud thump, earning a disapproving stare from Madam Pince.
As the evening drew nearer, she became more restless. She realized that she couldn't hide in the library forever, so she picked up her books and slinked out of the library. Half way up to the Griffindor Tower, she stopped in her tracks and her mouth curled in a half-smile. She remembered that she had something important to do.
Hermione walked into the owlery, her mind made up. She looked around to see about a hundred of screech- and barn-owls ruffling up on their perches. She chose one bird and attached a letter to its paw. The owl hooted with displeasure, apparently unhappy at the prospect of flying into the night, and took off. Hermione watched the owl fly away, until it became just a tiny dot on the horizon and then finally disappeared out of sight. Hermione heaved a contented sigh. She did it. She sent that goddamned letter at last. It took all her courage to write it, carefully formulating her apologies, and it took her even more courage to send it. She just hoped that Viktor felt the same way and that he would understand her motives for breaking up with him. Well, there wasn't much to break up, really.
Suddenly she heard light footsteps, interrupting her train of thought. Hermione turned to face the intruder, feeling her heart thump twice as hard upon seeing the familiar lock of black hair in the shadows. Harry stepped forward and they looked at each other. Was it his emerald eyes that attracted her to him like this? And what magnetic force pulled him to her? Harry stood there casually, leaning against the wall, with his hands in his pockets. He didn't expect to find her there, but he certainly wasn't disappointed. Hermione felt her heart skip a beat, when she saw his boyish smile. Dismayed, she turned around and leaned against the window-sill. She heard him approach her. Now he was standing close behind Hermione, his chest brushing against her back. His masculine scent was hard to ignore. She felt his arms wrap around her body and she grabbed the cold stone of the window-sill for support.
Harry wasn't sure what to do, but he mustered all his courage and came closer to her. What the heck, he would just plunge into this, head first. There was no turning back now.
"Harry…" Hermione trailed off.
The air seemed to be electrified. His strong arms were wrapped around her waist, and his chin rested on her shoulder. Hermione closed her eyes. She realized that she would hate him to leave now. She wanted him to stay. In fact, she wanted it so badly, that she would probably run after him, if he walked away. Dreamily, she turned around in his arms and looked at him. His eyes were on her face, observing, moving ever so slowly, as if caressing her. Vaguely, Hermione thought that she should be angry at him for making her feel so helpless again, especially now that she was trapped between his virile body and the wall, but all her anger dissipated. With trepidation, she traced his jaw line with her finger.
"Why did you kiss me in the hospital wing?" she asked.
The moment of truth has come for both of them.
"Because I love you, Hermione," he said, not breaking the eye-contact.
Her eyes welled up and tears flowed freely down her face.
"Hermione?" Harry was perplexed.
"You have no idea, Harry," she sniffed. "I thought I'd never hear you say this. I thought you couldn't be in love with me. I'm not even pretty or funny like other girls."
"I don't need other girls. I chose you, because you are very special to me, Hermione," he said softly.
"Oh, Harry," she sobbed as she snuggled against him, "I love you so much!"
She unclasped him from her tight embrace and tilted her head back. Their eyes locked again and Hermione found herself sinking in the bewitching green depths. When Harry brought his lips to hers, her mind was set adrift.