THREE
Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon sight seeing. They visited the Acropolis Hill, and a couple of museums. Harry was fascinated with the city, but he knew that just Hermione's presence alone was the reason of most of his excitement.
"So, where is this school of yours?"
"It's located in the north side of the city, magically hidden inside a hill."
Harry looked at her with curiosity. He knew all magic buildings needed to be disguised when located in muggle cities, but he still felt as amazed by that as he had felt the first time he found out about the magic world.
Hermione was more than glad to tell Harry about the Academy. To the muggle eye, the hill where the Academy was located seemed as any other regular hill with just a few old looking houses at the foot and an abandoned house at the top.
Those houses were not abandoned, of course. They belonged to the Academy. In the houses in the foot of the hill lived students like Hermione who came from abroad. Hermione had at first been assigned to one of these houses, but at the last minute they had reassigned her to the building where she lived, which was also owned by the Academy.
The house on the top of the hill was actually the main entrance to the Academy. Once you entered through the old iron gates, the abandoned house disappeared from view to be replaced by a magnificent white marble building. At the entrance, a big wide atrium welcomed visitors with the soothing sounds of a great fountain that stood in the middle.
Big marble statues of the Academy's founders, dressed in the ancient Greek style, stood at both sides of the atrium. They resembled mythological gods and goddesses.
A spacious auditorium, where graduations and other important events took place, the Headmaster's and the professors' offices, and several other offices surrounded the atrium. The actual classroom, the labs, and the library were located underground, or better said inside the hill, spread out through eight levels.
Harry heard Hermione's description intently. He was glad to see her talking about it with such excitement. "She must be having a great time," he thought.
At about eight thirty, they headed back to the apartment. Hermione was supposed to be at the lab at ten and she needed to get her stuff first.
"How are things going between Laura and you?" asked Hermione trying hard to hide her emotions with a normal voice.
"Okay," responded Harry without looking at her.
They were at Hermione's bedroom. She was throwing some rolls of parchment and a couple of books into her book bag. She looked at him inquisitively.
"Okay?" repeated Hermione. "You don't sound too excited about it."
"Well… she's great, you know. She's a really nice person, but…" Harry was still avoiding Hermione's eyes.
"But what?" she asked walking up to him, her book bag on her shoulder.
"I don't know. I just don't seem to connect with her. I like her a lot, but I don't feel that… thing, you know." He finally looked up at her. Realizing she was ready to go, he took her book bag off of her shoulder and placed it in his.
"Give it some time, Harry." Hermione grabbed her cloak and started hearing to the door.
"I am giving it time," replied Harry following Hermione to the living room. "We've been together for almost three moths!"
Hermione turned around to face him. "What I mean is give some time to yourself Harry. Don't rush things. You'll find that thing you're looking for." Placing a hand in his arm, she added, "If it's not Laura, it'll be someone else. Just take your time."
Harry nodded. This was one of the things he missed the most, having his best friend at his side every day.
"So how are we getting there?" asked Harry, who had just realized they were ready to leave.
"We're apparating."
Minutes later, they both apparated to the Academy's atrium.
--- * --- * --- * ---
To keep her hair out of her face, Hermione tied it up behind her head with a muggle hair clip. Still a few rebel curls hung freely at the side of her face.
It was passed midnight. They were at the Academy's lab on the fifth level. They were the only two people in that entire level. Very few people actually stayed at the Academy overnight. Hermione gave Harry the five-knuts tour of the lab, to then leave him to explore on his own so she could do some work.
"You guys have a lot of interesting things here," said Harry from across the lab with his back to her. He was observing a plant that seemed to be sleeping. It actually made snoring sounds.
"Yeah. I'm sure Neville would love to see some of the plants we have here," replied Hermione without looking at Harry.
Harry agreed.
He tuned around to face her. The lab was dimly lighted since most of the plants needed that type of setting. Several torches placed high in the walls, which reminded Harry of Snape's dungeon, were the only source of light beside the fireplace that crackled in the back of the lab.
Hermione was recording some notes in a chart. She was sitting in a high stool, checking on a plant that rested on top of the counter, her feet placed in the up most rung with a book on her knees. The light from the torches reflected in her hair giving it a golden glow. She was wearing reading glasses, which had slip to the tip of her nose.
Harry stood rooted to the same spot, across from where Hermione was, looking at her. She looked so beautiful with the soft glow the light from the fire gave her. His gaze was so intense, Hermione felt it.
Slowly Hermione turned her face to look at him. He was so gorgeous. Time had done wonders on him. He was no longer that thin boy. Now his shoulders were broad, his chest firm, his muscles well-toned. His face was no longer the face of a boy, but that of a man, with a strong jaw and pronounced features.
When Hermione met Harry's eyes, her stomach made a somersault. "Oh god!" she thought. "Why did he have to come and torture me?"
She tried to go back to her notes, but Harry's stare was still on her. He slowly started walking towards her. Hermione's heart started pounding in her throat. When he finally reached her, Hermione was able to look clearly into his eyes.
What was that she was seeing? He had never looked at her like this, as if he was trying to memorize every single line of her face. He slowly took the book that was lying on her knees and placed it on the counter. Then, he removed her reading glasses and placed them on top of the book. Finally, Harry took one of her hands and pulled her up to make her stand up.
They stood like that for a few seconds. None of them spoke. They were both looking into each other eyes. Harry grabbed one of her loose curls with his fingers and caressed it gently to then move it aside. He placed a hand on the side of her face, gently rubbing her cheek with his thumb.
Softly, he began to trace the lines of her face with his index finger, from her forehead to her nose to her lips. Hermione closed her eyes. The sensation of Harry's touch was too intense she was afraid he'd be able to see through her eyes just how much she enjoyed it.
Then, she felt something else tracing her lips, Harry's tongue. He had leaned forward until their faces were inches apart. First, he placed a soft kiss on her lips. Then, his tongue began tracing the softness of Hermione's lips begging to be let in.
Hermione responded. Soon Harry's tongue found its way inside her mouth. The kiss intensified as he tried to take in her sweet flavor. Hermione could not believe what was happening.
Her mind, usually sharp, was slowly processing the moment sending a wave of tingling sensations down her spine and all through her body. Her knees started shaking, as if they were not able to hold her weight.
Sensing this, Harry placed both his arms around her back. Hermione tied her hands around Harry's neck. Slowly, Harry's lips moved away from her mouth and his tongue began to trace her jaw line until it reached her ear.
Gently, Harry bit it. A moan escaped of her throat causing Harry to look at her, afraid he might have hurt her. Once he saw her eyes were still tightly closed, he went back to kissing her lips.
Harry raised one of his hands and took off the clip that was holding her hair. After her hair cascaded down, he grabbed some of her long curls and brought them to his nose. He inhaled their wonderful scent with his eyes closed.
Hermione opened hers to see what he was doing. After a few seconds, he looked back at her, desire burning in his eyes. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her with even more passion than before.
His hands began to wonder freely through her body, from her back to her hips to her arms, trying to explore as much as possible. Then, Hermione felt one of his hands pulling her jumper up. She gasped as she felt the touch of Harry's hand on her bare skin.
Slowly, Harry began to lift up her jumper. Hermione raised her arms, allowing him to slip it off, being left with just her bra. Carelessly, he toss it to the side to then resume the kissing, his hands exploring her body now more openly.
Hermione slid her hands down until she found the buttons of Harry's shirt. She pulled them off without breaking the kiss. Soon his shirt ended next to her jumper. Hermione run her hands through her chest, feeling how his muscles tensed under her touch.
Then Harry heard a voice in the back of his head. It was saying: "STOP! Don't do this." Harry pulled away and looked at her with shock in his eyes as if he had just realized what was happening.
"Hermione…"
Hermione realized he wanted to stop, but she wasn't willing to let him go. She had waited many years for this moment. Now that she had felt Harry's lips on hers, her hands on her body, she wanted more. She needed more.
"Please Harry," she said in a whisper. "Don't stop. I want this."
To keep him from saying anything else, she placed her mouth over his and tried to reassure him with her kiss that she wanted to be with him. She started to steer Harry towards the back of the lab where the fireplace was.
In there, there was a big couch the students usually used to sleep for a while during their night shifts. A couple of blankets were neatly folded right next to the couch. Hermione pushed him towards the couch.
Harry stumbled and fell sited into the couch. Hermione smiled at him while straddling him with her legs and sitting on his lap. She buried both her hands in his raven hair, gently pulling his head back.
She leaned forward and slowly traced her tongue around his neck and to his ears, nibbling at his earlobe. The little bit of resistance Harry was trying to put up banished away. He closed his arms around her back pulling her towards him, kissing her with all the passion he had accumulated during the years.