A/N> Yes, I'm still alive. I'm sorry it's been so long between updates, but life has been crazy and
my back has been bad. I've been working on this chapter whenever possible, and I've also been working on the
final chapter for "The Razor's Edge". Add to that recording the new podcast that will be coming out on
Christmas Eve, and you might be able to get an idea as to how busy I've been. I don't get much free time during
the day, but what I get I spend writing as much as possible. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews on the last chapter,
and thanks to Poppywillow for her help and encouragement :) I hope you enjoy the chapter, and Happy Holidays to you
all!!!
Cocooned in her sheet and blanket, Hermione snuggled lower into the warmth and turned over for a more comfortable position. When her nose bumped into something, she opened her eyes sleepily and came face-to-face with a wide-awake Harry.
Seeing her eyes widen to the size of saucers in surprise, Harry smiled and said, "Good morning."
"Morning? It's morning already? I have to get up and take care of Lily and James!" she said in a panicked voice, clumsily trying to untangle herself from the blanket.
She stopped her frantic movements when Harry placed his hand on her arm and said, "I've already been downstairs and asked Lisa to take care of them this morning so that we could have a lie-in and talk about what happened last night."
"You what?!" Hermione exclaimed as an angered expression stole over her face. "How dare you assume to know what I want! And I'm sure that Lisa knows what happened between us last night, even if you didn't come right out and say it, and I have to work with her. She'll probably think I'm some type of scarlet woman who's just trying to take Ginny's place. How could you?"
"I just thought..." Harry started, only to be interrupted by her continuing anger.
"You didn't think at all," Hermione said furiously as she finally got out of bed and put her robe on. Walking to her bathroom door, she turned back to face Harry with tears in her eyes and said, "I'm going to take a shower. Please don't be here when I come out."
Harry watched in disbelief as she disappeared into the bathroom, wondering what he had done to make her so angry with him. He had thought that it would be nice to spend some time together that morning, especially after what they had shared the night before. It had been so long since he had felt such desire for a woman, and last night while he was inside her he could feel the wall that he had built around his heart start to crumble. He wanted to spend every waking minute with her, find out everything he could about her, and the way she pushed him away just then confused him to no end. Had she not felt the same connection that he had last night? With a resigned sigh, he got up from the bed and cast one last look toward the bathroom door. Hoping that a hot shower and some time alone might help to clear her head, Harry closed the door behind him and made his way to his office for some quiet time of his own.
~*~
Hermione had been standing with her back against the bathroom door until she heard Harry walk out of her room. Sighing and wiping the tears from her eyes, she slid her robe off and stepped into the shower. Letting the hot stream of water spray on her aching back muscles, she closed her eyes and tried not to think of how wonderful Harry's hands and lips had felt on her body the night before. She could almost feel the sensation of his lips on her stomach as he placed kisses on her hot skin, and the way his fingertips seemed to glide over every part of her most private places, illiciting feelings she had never before experienced. Becoming aroused all over again as the memories played out in her mind, Hermione let her hands roam to the places that ached to be touched and proceeded to pleasure herself, all the while wishing that it were Harry's hands instead of her own. Afterwards, she finished up quickly and got out. Drying herself, she slipped on her robe once more and made her way into her room to dress for the day.
As she made her way downstairs, she wondered how Lisa would react toward her. She had come to like her fellow co-worker immensely and the thought of losing the friendship they had started saddened her. She hadn't made many friends over the years, but Lisa was such a sweet, caring person that it was hard not to like the spunky brunette. When the sudden memory of what had happened with Cole the previous evening invaded her mind, Hermione stopped just short of entering the kitchen and took a deep breath. It had been such a crazy twenty-four hours...it was amazing how quickly her serene life had gotten so screwed up.
Gathering up her courage, she walked into the kitchen and took her seat at the table next to Lily. Smiling at the enthusiastic little girl's greeting, she turned to grab a piece of toast and Lisa walked up to her with a pot of coffee in hand. As she filled Hermione's cup with the hot liquid, she looked at her with an unreadable expression on her face and asked, "Eventful night?"
"You could say that," Hermione quietly answered.
Lisa nodded knowingly and didn't say anything further. As they ate quietly, James got up and placed his bowl in the sink. Just as Hermione opened her mouth to say something to him, Lisa said, "Why don't you and Lily go upstairs and play, and either Hermione or I will be up in a little while?"
"Okay," Lily said happily as she took James hand and followed him out of the room.
Hermione watched them leave and as she turned back to Lisa, she saw her flick her wand and cast a silencing spell on the room. After putting her wand back on the table, next to her plate, she looked Hermione in the eyes and asked, "Want to talk about it?"
"I don't know," Hermione answered truthfully, "I'm not quite sure I understand it myself yet." When Lisa stayed silent Hermione continued, "I, well...last night Harry and I...oh, I can't even say it!"
Lisa watched her for a moment before asking, "Did you sleep with Harry last night?"
"Yes," Hermione replied, her voice full of anguish. "I didn't mean to, really I didn't. I went to shower, and when I walked into my room afterwards he was waiting for me, and...oh, I just don't know what to do."
Lisa stayed quiet for a while, and Hermione started to fidget nervously. Finally Lisa said, "Luna told me that you would come along eventually."
"What?" Hermione asked, confused.
Lisa smiled at the evident confusion in her voice and replied, "Luna and I were best friends during our days at Hogwarts. When she and Harry got married, and she found out she was pregnant, Luna asked me if I would come work for them. I was struggling financially and I knew she was trying to help me out, so I took the job. We had so much fun together, it seemed as if I was getting paid to spend time with my best friend. I helped her with James after he was born...she and Harry were so happy together, and they were ecstatic when they found out they were expecting Lily." Lisa sighed as she remembered all the great times she had experienced with Luna and said, "Soon after Lily was born, Luna started acting strange. It seemed like she was trying to distance herself from Harry and the children. When I confronted her on it one day, she confided in me that she had 'seen' her death and that she would be gone soon."
At Hermione's obvious look of disbelief, Lisa said, "I take it you don't believe too much in divination?"
"No," Hermione replied, "It was never a favorite subject of mine in school."
"Mine either," Lisa said with a smile, "But Luna was something of a Seer, and she gave quite a few readings and predictions that came true. I believed in her ability, as did Harry, so when she told me how she had foreseen her own death, I was afraid for her. When six months went by and nothing happened, I was foolish enough to let myself think that she had been wrong. When Harry told me what had happened...she was like a sister to me, and it broke my heart when she died."
Hermione looked sympathetically at Lisa, knowing how much it hurt to lose someone you loved, and waited silently for her to continue. After dabbing her eyes with a napkin, Lisa sighed and continued, "A week before she was killed, she and I were sitting at this very table, talking about the future. She had brought up her vision and said that there was something else that had been revealed to her in it. She had seen that Harry would find his true soul mate a few years after she was gone and said that the woman would have trouble accepting her feelings because of being hurt badly in the past."
Lisa's hunch was strengthened when Hermione wouldn't meet her eyes after she said the last part. Figuring that she had nothing to lose, Lisa said, "He hasn't slept with anyone other than Luna...until last night that is. He must care about you a lot if he let his defences down enough to let you in, and I'd hate for him to be hurt again."
"How did you know that he's not been with anyone else?" Hermione asked, wondering just how close a relationship she and Harry had.
"I'm sure he told you about only going out with two women since Luna's death?" When Hermione nodded her head in confirmation she said, "Did he happen to tell you that the second woman was me?"
"You and Harry dated after Luna died?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"Yeah, we went out twice and then we realized that it wasn't going anywhere. I think we were just lonely, and we both missed Luna so much. We found comfort in one another," Lisa replied quietly.
"Do you have feelings for Harry?" Hermione asked cautiously, not really sure she wanted to know the answer.
"No," Lisa replied with a reassuring smile. "I realized on our second date that I considered him more as a brother than a possible love interest. He's someone I can talk to whenever I have a problem or just need to talk, and he comes to me if he needs a friendly ear to listen."
"Oh," was all that Hermione said. Her head was full of confusing thoughts and she rubbed her temples as she felt the beginnings of a headache coming on. "If you don't mind watching James and Lily this morning, I think I'm going to go lay down for a while."
"Of course I'll watch them," she replied. Hermione thanked her and just as she went to walk out of the kitchen Lisa said, "Please think about what I said, and don't shut Harry out. I've noticed that you seem to care about him as much as he cares about you, don't deny yourself a shot at happiness and true love."
Without another word Hermione left the kitchen, and a very curious Lisa, behind.
~*~
Harry had spent the time that Lisa and Hermione were talking in the Kitchen pacing in his office. Visions of the night before kept replaying in his mind, along with how wonderful it had felt to hold Hermione in his arms while they danced. He couldn't get her out of his head and it was driving him mad. Walking over to his desk chair, he dropped into it with a sigh and his eyes landed on the picture of Luna that he kept on his desk now that Ginny was gone. Picking it up he said, "I have no idea what to do Luna, I haven't felt like this since I fell in love with you." Feeling shame wash over him he muttered, "Actually, what I feel for her seems more...intense somehow and I feel like I'm being unfaithful to you. But she is so wonderful with Lily and James, she loves and treats them as if they were her own children." Running a hand roughly through his hair he set the picture back onto his desk and said, "I screwed up when I allowed Ginny to barge into my life, I'm not going to mess it up again by letting Hermione get away."
Deciding that he needed to talk to Hermione right that second, Harry got up and made his way into the hall, walking right into the person he was going to find.
"Can I talk to you for a moment in my office?" Harry asked formally, causing Hermione to give him a strange look.
"Um, sure," she replied, following him into the room. She sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk as he closed the door and followed her inside.
He sat in the chair next to hers and when he turned and faced her she had a somewhat surprised look on her face. Reaching out, he took one of her hands in his and said, " I don't know how you feel about last night, but I want to tell you that I'm glad it happened."
"I'll admit, I was unsure when I rolled over and saw you in my bed this morning," Hermione replied. "What happened last night was wonderful, but I don't want to do anything to make Lily and James uncomfortable around me. They're doing so well now, I don't want to jeopardize that."
"I don't either," Harry agreed, "But I want to be with you at the same time."
They sat quietly, looking at each other as various thoughts ran through both their minds. Before he could think about what he was doing, Harry leaned over and took her face in his hands. Leaning in, he claimed her lips in a passion filled kiss, trying to convey everything he felt for her. As he tasted her, he could feel himself grow hard and he kissed her harder.
Her heart had sped up as he started kissing her, and as the kiss grew more passionate she found herself lost in the feelings that were washing over her. With all thoughts of Lily and James far from her mind, Hermione kissed him back. Suddenly needing to be closer to him, she slid over without breaking the kiss and sat so that she was straddling his lap. Burying her hands in his hair, she moaned as his hands slid under her shirt and he started to knead her breasts . Losing themselves to their desire for one another, they started to unconsciously grind against the other, looking for release.
Bringing his hands from under her shirt, Harry wrapped his arms around her back and stood up, taking her with him. Sitting her on top of his desk, he waved his hand towards the items that cluttered it and sent everything flying and falling to the floor. Laying her flat on her back, Harry proceeded to undress her and himself. As he joined them together once more, he looked her in the eyes and said, "I love you."
With tears suddenly blurring her vision, Hermione stared into his beautiful green eyes and with a quivering voice replied, "Merlin help me, I love you too."
Harry stared at her, losing himself in her limpid brown eyes, in wonder of the feelings she invoked in him. Leaning down, he kissed her tenderly and proceeded to take them both over the edge of reason.