Twisting Around
Chapter 9: In Good Company
Hermione opened was awake, but she had not yet opened her eyes. Instead she enjoyed the feeling of the pillow beneath her head, which was, in fact, actually Harry's arm. She didn't believe that Harry was awake yet, so she tried hard to not wake him up. She soon found out that she was mistaken.
"Good morning, Hermione"
Hermione rolled towards Harry and opened her eyes to find Harry's eyes glinting mischievously.
"How long have you been awake?" asked Hermione, knowing Harry had been lying in wait.
"A while"
"Doing what?" Hermione continued to pry.
"Just watching this beautiful girl that somehow found her way into my arms"
"That's better" Hermione said, before kissing him. The kiss ended much too soon for Hermione's tastes when Harry pulled back just as the kiss was turning passionate.
"We do need to get up, Hermione. It's going to be a busy day, and the morning is quickly disappearing."
It was then that Hermione realized that it was light in the room, yet neither wand had been used. She chided herself for not noticing earlier, although she did grant herself that she had been quite preoccupied with the adorable boy she had slept with. Not in that way, Hermione scolded the wicked side of her mind.
Hermione got out of bed and looked at the ceiling. The night before it had just been a black surface, but now it was blue with white puffs spread throughout.
"Harry…the ceiling…how?" Hermione asked confusedly.
Harry grinned. "How? You should know that. You've read Hogwarts: A History. I finally read it while I was here and decided to see if I could pull off the enchantment. I almost got it right. It doesn't show stars at night, but that's about it."
"Harry, this is absolutely brilliant." Hermione praised.
"Glad you like it, but since you've taken your own sweet time , I guess you'll have to settle for cold water."
Harry dashed into the bathroom with a pile of clothes in hand, and Hermione heard the sound of running water. A few minutes later, Harry came out, fully dressed and toweling his hair off.
"I just couldn't deny you hot water, Hermione" Harry said with a smirk.
Hermione looked through Harry's clothes to find something to wear. Grabbing the clothes, she took up occupancy in the bathroom, but not before saying "Good. I might've had to hex you if you had." The door shut behind her, cutting off any reply Harry might have made.
Harry picked up Hermione's wand while he waited for her. He worked with it until he heard his girlfriend's voice.
"What are you doing?"
Harry looked up to see Hermione dressed almost exactly like he was, although the clothes were a little big.
"I'm deactivating the underage magic tracker in your wand. I figure they might try to use it to find our location."
"Good idea. You have a lot to teach me apparently."
"And I will enjoy every moment of teaching the pretty know-it-all." Harry smiled at her, and Hermione smiled back to show she wasn't angry about being called a know-it-all.
"Are we ready to go?" Hermione asked.
"Just about. As soon as we disguise ourselves, we can go. After we leave Diagon Alley, then we can undo the disguises."
"I'd like to drop a letter off for my parents as well. Do you think we could swing by their house?"
"No problem. We can head there first and then head for London. Hold still while I give you a disguise."
Hermione did as instructed, and only moved once Harry told her he was done and she should go look in the mirror. Hermione now had blond hair and blue eyes.
"Blond?" Hermione questioned incredulously.
"I figured nobody would ever guess that Hermione Granger was disguising herself as a blond. This way it'll be quick to remove, since we aren't changing our faces."
"Ha ha, it's your turn now."
Hermione took great pleasure into turning Harry's hair blond and his eyes a very light shade of blue.
"You can be blond as well."
"This is your punishment? You're slipping"
"I thought it might be a bit obvious if I gave you serious spell damage."
"We're ready. Let's get going."
"Definitely"
Harry and Hermione walked out of the Death Eaters' headquarters before apparating in front of Hermione's house.
Hermione struggled to keep her emotions in check. She knew that this could be the last time that she would ever see her childhood home. Hermione forced her legs to propel her forward, and before she lost her nerve completely, she dropped the letter through the mail slot.
Harry took her hand as she walked back to him. "C'mon, let's get out of here."
They disapparated, and found themselves in Diagon Alley. Both Harry and Hermione wanted to get out of the crowded wizarding venue as quickly as possible, so they didn't dawdle while they bought some clothes for the lovely witch. Hermione insisted on going to Flourish & Blott's, and Harry agreed instantly, knowing that it was futile to object.
After Hermione bought a few armloads of books, which were then shrunk and placed in a small nondescript bag, they entered muggle London through the Leaky Cauldron. Harry breathed a sigh of relief once they had left.
Hermione smiled at Harry and asked, "Where are we going now?"
"I know there's a shopping mall not too far from here. I figured we could grab lunch there and spend the afternoon looking around before heading to the restaurant I picked out for dinner."
"Lead the way, my Harry" Hermione commanded, latching onto Harry's arm.
"My Harry? Hmmm, I like the sound of that" Harry grinned
"Yes, you're my Harry, Hermione proved it when she finished the kiss that had been interrupted that morning.
Ignoring the stares they had received from the innocent bystanders, they made their way to the mall and ate a quick lunch before beginning their muggle shopping spree.
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It was at about this time that Mrs. Granger found the note that Hermione had left. She had just been coming out of the bathroom after brushing her teeth following the lunch she had shared with her husband.
Recognizing the writing, not to mention the fact it had "To mom and dad" written on the envelope, she hurried to find her husband.
"Hermione's sent us a letter"
Mr. Granger snatched the letter out of his wife's hands and opened it up. They were both eager to hear from their daughter, for Albus Dumbledore had informed them of Hermione's disappearance, and the conditions under which it had happened.
"Dear mom and dad," Mr. Granger read aloud, "I suspect you have already heard something of what happened to me, and that you are worried. If you haven't heard, there was a battle in the village of Hogsmeade yesterday, and Harry appeared. I told you about what happened to him, and how Albus Dumbledore's Machiavellian nature brought it about. Anyways, Harry showed up, and he seemed so lost and confused. One of our former teachers, Remus Lupin, showed up, and he was about to kill Harry, who just stood there. I could not let Harry die, so I attacked Lupin. I left with Harry, and I am with him now. I did this because I love him, and will do anything to help him, no matter what it is. Harry is in a dangerous situation, he is caught in the middle of this wizarding war, and being attacked from both sides. Together, Harry and I will succeed, we will survive. To do this, I may have to perform evil deeds. I may have to kill. I hope though, that no matter what I do, that you will still love me and be willing to call me your daughter. I love you both very much. Your daughter, Hermione"
Mrs. Granger was in tears by the end of it, and Mr. Granger was faring little better. He used the family computer to make a copy of the letter, and then scrawled a note on the copy. The owl Dumbledore had left looked up at Mr. Granger's approach, and allowed him to tie the copy to its leg. After watching the owl fly through the open window and off into the distance, Mr. Granger went to hold his wife.
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The most common sound heard around Hogwarts that day was quiet whispering. The events of the previous day were fresh in everyone's mind. Some were discussing the deaths of their friends and classmates, while others worried about the fate of the war. However these topics were discussed in an everyday voice. The domain of the quiet whispers belonged to the discussion of Hermione Granger.
Very few people knew the facts behind what had happened, but the rumors were flying around. A few said that Hermione had been killed in a most grotesque manner and a few more claimed that she had become You-Know-Who's slave. The group that was closest to the truth were those who said that Hermione Granger had been kidnapped.
Almost everybody had asked or tried to ask Ron what had happened, but he refused to even respond to the question. Ron hadn't even told his own sister what had happened. Ginny knew anyways, as Professor Dumbledore had called in a small group of Hermione's closest friends, excluding Ron, who already knew, to tell them what had befallen her. He had also sworn them to secrecy. Morale would take a heavy blow, he said, if the truth were to be made common knowledge.
As a result, the quiet whispers pervaded the entire school, and the Gryffindors walked in a perpetual aura of silence. The Gryffindors who knew refused to say, and the rest of Gryffindor surrendered to the knowledge that they would not find out. Consequently, there was very little conversation between the Gryffindors, who were visibly shaken.
The day began fading to night, and by then, the icy silence that Gryffindor had maintained had spread. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw joined the Gryffindor's in their mourning, as Gryffindor had also suffered the most deaths of any house in the previous day's battle, the consequences of being brave. Very little was heard from those three houses. The Slytherins had also fallen silent, their snickering and snide comments had been completely ignored, leaving them with no one to entertain but themselves, and they lost interest in that fairly quickly.
The teachers wore masks of stone, and no one could even guess at what was going on behind their knowledgeable eyes.
Hogwarts was a very gloomy place to be that day.
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Harry had taken Hermione to a small Italian restaurant called Ristorante Napoli. Hermione eyes glinted with mischief when she said "Half of the Italian restaurants in the world are called Ristorante Napoli. That is so unoriginal"
"The food is still good, and I'm sure you'll love it, and even if you don't you'll still love me." Harry grinned back.
Hermione suppressed the urge to kiss him right then and there in front of the entire restaurant. Instead, she gave him a smile full of promise, before leading him to a small corner table. As soon as they sat down, a waiter appeared, making it seem as if he had noiselessly apparated.
"Good evening, I am Antonio and I shall have the honor of being your guide through the delicious meal that you are about to partake."
He handed them two menus and promptly disappeared.
"I like this place," Hermione stated. "They have a supreme confidence about them, yet don't come off as arrogant"
"It wouldn't matter even if they were arrogant," Harry replied with the air of somebody about to utter an irredeemably quotable line. "After all, justified arrogance is the most dangerous commodity in the world."
"I thought you were the most dangerous commodity in the world" Hermione replied cheekily.
"There is that" Harry agreed. "And I must reward this brave girl for taking such a dangerous commodity as me." Harry kissed her on the cheek.
Hermione smiled, and then opened up her menu while Harry did the same. She agonized over the decision she had to make, as everything sounded like a prize winning dish. Finally, she resorted to the time tested method of random selection and found herself choosing chicken marsala when her finger landed on it. Noticing Harry's upraised eyebrow, she asked "Well, how did you decide?"
"I don't. I just tell the waiter to recommend something." Harry answered.
Antonio did his mysterious reappearing act once again to take their orders. He returned soon with the wine they had ordered, and made a ritual show of pouring it before leaving the young couple alone.
Harry and Hermione conversed about everything and nothing. They enjoyed being able to talk freely about matters of little consequence. The arrival of their meals forced an interruption, for both were too busy eating the delicious food.
After the dessert, Harry paid for the meal and the couple got up to leave. Hermione linked her arm through Harry's as he escorted her out of the restaurant.
"So, did you enjoy the meal?" Harry asked.
"It was absolutely delectable. I am sure though, that it still isn't as delectable as you are." Hermione said as she moved her arm to wrap around Harry's waist.
All of the wine they had had had loosened them up. (A/N: I never imagined I would find a way to grammatically use had three times in a row, w00t.)
Neither of them cared though, as their thoughts were elsewhere, elsewhere as in with the person standing next to them.
"I modified the anti-apparation wards on my chambers so that we could apparate directly in. We have about five minutes before we can."
"Alright, let's just walk for a while."
They did just that, exploring their newfound closeness, knowing they were only going to get closer.
"It's time" Harry said.
Holding each other, they apparated into Harry's room. They found out that they were a little too accurate in their destination when they bounced lightly off of the mattress on Harry's bed.
Laughing, they began to shed their clothes which they found very inconvenient at the moment. The kisses came fast and furious, and skin was broken in their fervor.
Their love had grown to become too large for emotions alone. The couple soon found the enjoyment to be found in a physical manifestation of their love.
A/N: I went in about twenty different directions in this chapter, none of which I had intended to go. That's how it works I guess. Review, I command thee. Reviews are key. I rhymed for once. This is bad.
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