I am so sorry it took so long, this past week has been nuts. A lot of my family was in town this week so I had something going on every night! So today was the first time I had a chance to really write. I hope the wait was worth it!!
Chapter 7
"What do you want to talk about?" Hermione asked as she pulled the blanket over both of them. Even with the fire roaring, it was still a drafty cave.
"Well, lots of stuff I guess," he said trying to remain calm when Hermione snuggled closer to him.
"Okay, starting with what?"
"Well, I don't really know where to start. Um, I know we haven't really discussed it yet, about…you know…what happened the night you came back from talking to your parents?"
He felt her stiffen. "Oh. Right. We did never talk about it."
Harry looked at her as she stared into the fire. "Yeah, well…I've been thinking about it I guess."
She looked up and their eyes met. "Why?"
He could see the reflection of the flames in her eyes. "I don't know. From the moment you closed the door that night I've been wondering why I kissed you. Trying to figure it out."
"I see." She broke their eye contact and went back at staring at the fire. "And what have you figured out?"
"I'm still trying to figure it out," he said, wishing she would look at him again. "Maybe you can help me out?"
As he hoped, her eyes flickered back. "Since you never brought it up until now, I assumed you did it out of pity. You felt sorry for me."
His eyes widened and turned abruptly towards her. "What? You thought….no, god no." He turned her face back with his hand when she was about to look away. "I didn't kiss you out of pity, Hermione. I promise you that."
Hermione reached up to take the hand that cupped her chin. "Then why did you?"
He blew out a breath as he unconsciously linked his fingers with hers. "Because at the time it seemed the right thing to do. And maybe a part of me…a selfish part…liked the idea of being your first kiss."
Hermione blushed as she shyly avoided eye contact. "Oh."
He smiled a little. "Is that okay?"
She matched his smile and then nodded. "Yeah."
"I'm not sorry I did it, but I am sorry if I caused you any embarrassment."
She shook her head. "I wasn't embarrassed."
"Hermione." He took both her hands and looked into her eyes. "You ran into the door."
Her eyes narrowed. "Had to bring that up?"
He chuckled. "Sorry. Not one of your finest moments."
"No," she said laughing at the dreadful memory of running straight into the door. "It was your fault, the kiss left me dizzy and my brain was completely incapable of working."
Hearing that pleased him immensely. "Wow, thanks."
Her eyes narrowed. "I didn't really mean it as a compliment."
"I took it as one anyway," he said smiling.
She rolled her eyes. "Let's move on shall we? You want my opinion on why you kissed me?"
"No, I think I know why I did," he said as everything started to become clear. "But to be sure I need to ask you a favor."
"Okay," she said softly. "What?"
He swallowed the hard lump in his throat. "I need you to let me kiss you again."
She let out a little gasp as her mouth opened slightly. "You want to kiss me again?"
"Yes," he breathed, almost groaning. He wanted to kiss her so bad he couldn't breath.
Hermione all of the sudden looked very nervous, like she usually did before a big test. It made him smile inside. "And if you kiss me again, what do you hope to prove?"
"Whether or not I…" He had to stop and find his voice, but when he did it barely came out. "Have feelings for you."
"And what if I don't have feelings for you?"
The thought made his stomach turn unpleasantly. "Then I'd ask if I can kiss you anyway. If have feelings for you and you don't have feelings for me, it's best I figure that out now so I can get over it."
The corner of her mouth lifted. "Seems logical."
"Er…do you not?" he asked and cleared his throat. "Have feelings for me, I mean."
"I don't know," she answered honestly. "We're in the same boat I guess."
Relief swept over him and let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "So…you'll let me kiss you?"
She smiled. "Yes, Harry. You can kiss me."
Thank Merlin. He gave her a wobbly smile as he started to pull her close. He reached up to cup her face delicately in his hand and they both gravitated to one another. Their lips were inches away when Hermione tensed up and backed away. "What's the matter?"
"Er…maybe it's not a good idea to do this in front of Ron," she said looking over at Ron who was still silently snoring.
As frustrated and anxious he was to kiss her, he knew that if Ron woke up and saw them snogging, it wouldn't go well. He stood up and brought Hermione to her feet and grabbed her hand. "Come on," he said taking her a little farther into the cave out of site. He stopped and stuck his head past the cave wall that hid them to check and see if Ron was still sleeping. He was still snoring away and so he turned at Hermione who's face was now just a dark shadow. "How's this?"
"I can't see you very well," she said reaching out to him.
"Well here," he said taking out his wand. "Lumos." The tip of his wand glowed giving them a nice circle of light. He then balanced his wand vertically on his palm lifting it up above them before moving his hand away. The wand still floated about their hands magically. "How's that?"
"Neat trick," she said grinning since she was the one who taught it to him a few months ago.
"I had a pretty good teacher," he said taking a step closer to her. Not wasting anymore time he cupped her face once more and slowly their faces drew closer until their lips met in a soft kiss. He felt his stomach jump a bit and a twinge in his heart as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him. He hadn't been this close to her since the day they danced at the wedding and he almost forgot how wonderful she felt. He lingered a second more, before finally pulling back only a few inches so their lips were still a breath apart. "Did you feel anything?" he breathed.
"Maybe," she murmured nuzzling her lips with his. "You?"
Since she was toying with him, he took the pleasure of nipping at her bottom lip. "Maybe."
She shuddered. "We better try again then," she said leaning up to him.
"Definitely," he agreed and kissed her again, still keeping the kiss gentle as their lips met again and again. They were short and sweet, as if they were taking samples of appetizers before the main course. "Okay." He moaned against her lips and felt all his blood drain to his toes. "I can honestly say that I'm definitely feeling something."
"Me too," she moaned and then shoved him until he stumbled back into the hard rock wall.
"Hermione!" he laughed with wide eyes and the memory of a her doing a very similar action a few years back when she shoved him in a broom closet flashed through his mind. He couldn't say anything else, her lips pressing urgently against his prevented him from doing so. Once he got over the shock of a very aggressive Hermione he retaliated by gripping his fingers in her hair and kissed her back desperately.
When she opened her mouth slightly, he used the advantage and slid his tongue into her mouth, tasting her for the first time. She tasted just as sweet as her scent and a hunger for more exploded inside him, so he took his fill. He poured everything he was feeling into the kiss, feelings he didn't really know or recognize, but he knew that if she stopped kissing him he would surly die.
With their lips still locked, he rolled until he was the one pressing her against the wall with his body. They never broke rhythm, but they did turn the kiss up a notch both plunging deeper as their hands groped and possessed. "Hermione," he gasped tearing his lips away to give them both a chance to breath. He trailed his lips down her jaw, running open mouth kisses along the column of her neck as he felt her grip and tug at his hair.
"Harry," she gasped as she arched against him while he moved his aggressive mouth across her chest then up to the other side of her neck. "Kiss me again…please."
More than happy to oblige, his mouth found hers once more and before he could even process what he was doing, he hiked her up against the wall. Her legs wrapped possessively around his waist, squeezing him closer to her, and a jolt of pleasure erupted through him and Hermione. They both gasped as they pulled apart, staring at each other while the caught their breaths.
What were they doing? A kiss that was suppose to be short and sweet turned into a crazy mind blowing snogfest that made them completely loose their heads. He was about to go further with Hermione than any girl, even with Ginny. Ginny wanted to take that next step and a part of him wanted to as well, but something was always holding him back. Now though, nothing was holding him back, because he wanted nothing more than to keep going until….
He shuddered at the thought of being that way with Hermione. As much as he wanted her, this wasn't the time. He set her down on her feet and leaned into her, pressing his forehead against hers. "Guess we got a little carried away."
She smiled as she cupped his face with her hands. "A little." He kissed him softly. "I didn't mind though."
He shut his eyes and buried his face in her neck, holding her tight. "Me either." He kissed her neck. Once, twice, then a third time and felt Hermione tremble and whisper his name. "I wish we weren't in a cave with our best friend snoring a few feet away."
"Oh Harry, me too," she sighed as she met his lips with hers, kissing him slowly and deeply. They lingered as long as possible, neither of them knowing when the last time they were going to be together. When he pulled away he always had the intention of stopping, but he would always go back for one more. It was never enough.
"We better go back," she whispered. "Ron should be waking up soon and you need some sleep."
Sleep was still the last thing on his mind, but he knew she was right. He would be no good to anyone if he didn't get a little bit of shuteye. "Okay, but I don't know if I can fall asleep knowing you are right there, but I can't touch you. I want to be with you."
She smiled softly and took his hand. "Come here," she said as she led him back out to where Ron was sleeping. She sat down against the wall and grabbed her pillow, placing it against her thigh. "Lie your head here."
He grinned as he sat down next to her, then stretched his legs out before placing his head on her pillow. He could smell her scent on the pillow and he took a deep calming breath as he closed his eyes. He then felt her fingers run through his hair and felt himself start to relax. "That feels great."
"Try and sleep, Harry," she whispered as she kept strumming her fingers through his hair.
The light scent of apricots and Hermione's soft touch was better than Hermione's sleeping draught. He had no problem falling right to sleep.
Later, he woke up briefly without opening his eyes, but he sensed Hermione sleeping closely next to him and he reached blindly for her. She mumbled his name and he felt her back snuggle up against him as his arm embraced her and held her tight. He went back to sleep immediately, never realizing that Ron had been up and witnessed the whole thing.