A/N- Hello again everyone! Sorry it's taken me a while to update… bloody Christmas and people needing presents lol. I'll probably only be able to update once more before Christmas because it's so busy, sorry L Anyway thanks again to everyone for reading along and reviewing, I really appreciate it! Also I know you're all probably thinking that this story is heading for a tragic ending, but bare with me and read the whole thing and I promise you won't be angry with me once it's finished! And on that note, on with the story! Happy reading!
**Islanzadi** J
Harry stepped into the hallway at Grimmauld Place and felt his heart thumping in his chest. The house was very quiet because everyone had gone to bed. He moved as quickly and quietly up the stairs as he could and waited outside Hermione's door with bated breath. Should he go in? He didn't want to wake her… He sighed and moved away heading towards his room. Luna stepped up behind him and gave him a hug before moving into her own room, with a slightly dreamy expression on her face. Harry opened the door to his room quietly and was greeted with complete darkness. He closed the door and pulled out his wand then moved to the bedside table and located the candle. He lit a small fire with his wand and gently lit the candle, watching the flickering shadow move across the wall. He turned to the side and saw Hermione sitting in his bed in her pyjamas watching him.
His breath caught in his throat as he looked at her. There were so many things he wanted to say to her and he didn't know where to start. He couldn't open his mouth; he just stood staring at her…taking in her beauty. How could he have been so blind?
"Where have you been?" she whispered. Her voice seemed to echo through his mind and he still said nothing. He watched the way she chewed on her bottom lip nervously and watched her exquisite brown eyes staring at him expectantly. He felt a wave of desire crash through him as she nervously licked her lips. He crouched on the bed and moved a trembling hand to her face, slowly stroking her soft skin. He moved his hand to her hair, brushing it softly with his hands. His fingers trailed along her lips and then moved to caress her neck. A sigh of longing escaped her lips and she closed her eyes as he began to stroke her collarbone, slowly moving his hands lower.
"I went to the veil with Luna," he whispered, his breath heating the side of her face and making it tingle with anticipation. Her eyes opened and she turned around to stare at him.
"What happened?" she whispered back, a note of anxiety in her voice.
"That doesn't matter right now," he whispered "What matters is what a fool I've been,"
"Harry-" she began, but he put his fingers to her lips once more, silencing her with soft stroking motions.
"I have been Hermione," he said slowly, staring into her eyes. He could get lost in those eyes forever. "I can't even begin to tell you what your friendship has meant to me over the years. I can't find the right words to tell you how I feel about you. Everything about you is so perfect, your smile, your intelligence, your wit and your courage. You make me laugh, and you make me want to be a better person. You make me crazy because I want you so much, I can't seem to get you out of my mind and I didn't know why. Well I do now Hermione. I'm not afraid anymore…I love you." He cupped her face in his hands and began to softly kiss her cheeks and her mouth. He could see tears slowly falling and he gently kissed those too.
"I love you so much Hermione," he whispered again, slowly pressing his lips to hers. She kissed him back slowly, her hands trembling slightly as she ran them through his hair, deepening the kiss. He felt a hot pressure grip him and he lowered her back onto the bed slowly. He raised his head to look into her eyes, and smiled. She slowly stroked his hair and his face, looking into his green eyes. She could have sworn that he was staring into her very soul.
"Show me how much you love me Harry," she whispered softly
"Are you sure?" he asked quietly.
"I love you Harry," she said simply "I wouldn't want it any other way."
They started kissing each other slowly, exploring each other's mouths. Harry trailed soft kisses down her collarbone and pushed aside her pyjama shirt to kiss the top of her chest, then nibble lightly at the exposed skin. Hermione groaned as she felt his light stubble brush against her skin, causing a fire to be lit deep inside of her. He moved his fingers to the buttons on her shirt and slowly began to unbutton them, moving the fabric aside to take in the sight of her. He saw her face get a bit red at Harry's open gaze and began to move her hands to cover herself.
"Don't," he whispered gently "You're beautiful…" He moved his hand to her breast slowly and began to stroke it softly, his hands trembling more and his breath leaving him in quick and nervous gasps. She gasped and raised her back up to meet him as he increased the pressure of his touch. He slowly lowered his mouth to one of her perfect pink nipples and began to roll it with his tongue and then tenderly sucked on it. He grazed his stubble along her nipple to catch the other one with his mouth and Hermione let out a soft moan. He sucked a little harder this time, enjoying the feel of her pressing herself urgently against him and digging her nails insistently into his back. He sat up and brought her with him, sitting her on top of him. She kissed him hard and began tugging urgently at his shirt, her whole body shaking in a nervous anticipation. He pulled it over his head and groaned as she started to move her hands all over his chest, slowly lowering them to his trousers. He moved his position so that he was kneeling before her, and she looked directly into his eyes and she slowly unzipped his trousers and moved her hand to cup him. He hissed at the sudden touch and had to concentrate on his breathing as she slowly explored this new territory with her hands, and then watched his reaction timidly as she slipped him into her mouth.
After a minute Harry could stand it no more and gently pulled her head away to kiss her passionately. He slipped his hands to her pyjama bottoms and slowly slipped them off. She moved off of the bed to stand on the floor and slowly pushed her underwear down, watching him watching her. He stood up to meet her and they stood in silence looking at each other's bodies in the candlelight. She was so beautiful that he could hardly catch his breath, and he thanked whoever created man that he could share this moment with her. Harry moved towards her and began to kiss her once again, he slowly moved his hand to where she was wet and began stroking her softly watching her reactions in wonder. He then slowly began slipping his finger in and out of her, breathing deeply at the new experience and hoping he was doing it correctly. She gripped onto him and bit into his shoulder as he started rubbing her harder, and he smiled at her reaction. She fell back onto the bed and he glided his hands all over her, wanting to feel every inch of her skin against his hands. He trailed kisses from her breasts of her stomach, slowly inching his way lower. He looked up at her to make sure it was ok, but saw that her eyes were closed tightly and her chest was rising and falling rapidly. He slowly moved his head to between her legs, grazing his stubble against her tender flesh. She gasped in pleasure and shock. She let her hands rest on top of his head grabbed hands full of his hair as he continued to tentatively lick her, then started to suck on the little nub of flesh. She pressed his head into her and felt the fire within her starting to build at the increased pleasure. Harry followed the movements her hands made on the top of his head to set the pace and she began to moan louder and louder. She moved her hand to the side and grabbed his wand to quickly cast a charm around the room…then let the wand fall to the floor as Harry brought her to a climax that made her entire body explode and shake in the aftermath. She was breathing heavily and her body was slick with sweat. Harry looked at her with desire clearly shown in the depth of his eyes. She brought his head up to meet her mouth and kisses him hard, tasting herself on his tongue. She ran her hands down his chest that was also slicked with sweat. She kissed him tenderly everywhere that she had been fantasising about for so long, unable to believe that this was truly happening. She lay down on the bed shakily and opened her arms towards him, beckoning him to her. He lowered himself down, quivering at the realisation that the time had finally come. He couldn't believe how nervous he was, but relaxed slightly when he saw the same feelings mirrored in Hermione's eyes.
He positioned himself on top of her and stared into her eyes, unsure of what to do next. She smiled gently up at him and ran her hands down his back, then snaked them between their two bodies to guide him to her entrance.
"I don't want to hurt you," he whispered, trying to hold himself at her entrance and having a hard time doing so when he could feel her moistness slowly dripping onto him.
"Don't worry Harry," she whispered back "I want to be as close to you as I can be. I love you…" With that she pushed against the base of him and urged him to continue. He slowly kissed her lips and pushed himself into her bit by bit, trying to be as gentle as he could. She gasped in pain and closed her eyes tightly. A few tears of pain slowly leaked out of her eyes and she buried her head into his shoulder. Harry looked down at her concerned, should he stop? Hermione moved her hands to his bum and grabbed it, swiftly pushing him up the rest of the way into her. He heard her cry of pain and he felt her buck against him slightly, his head was telling him to stop because it was hurting her, but his body urged him on. He moved inside of her, his pace quickening. He heard her gasp as he thrust deeply into her and looked down to see Hermione's face screwed up in a pained tension. He put his hands to her eyes and covered them for her. He felt a tightness building within him and began to breath heavily, pushing himself inside of her faster and faster, he let out a shaking sigh as the pressure began to climb to an indescribable point. Finally he let out a long moan and collapsed wearily against her, spilling himself deep inside of her. After a few moments of laboured breathing he raised himself onto his elbows to look at her, worrying if he had really hurt her. She seemed to read his thoughts.
"Yes it hurt," she whispered "But it's supposed to the first time. Thank you,"
"For what?" asked Harry
"For covering my eyes like that," she whispered, stroking his back softly "It was the most gentle thing you could have done Harry."
"I wasn't expecting it to hurt you that much," he said quietly "I thought you'd start enjoying it after a bit…"
"Harry it was wonderful because it was done with love," said Hermione softly, kissing his lips softly.
"Yeah it was. I love you so much Hermione." said Harry quietly, rolling off of her and moving to her side. She snuggled into him and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as he dared to without breaking any bones.
"Besides," she said mischievously "It's not like we're only going to do it one time Harry. It'll be better now that the first time is over with." He nodded his head and pulled her tightly to him. They fell asleep in each other's arms and dreamt of nothing, both more content than they had ever been.
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Regardless of the pain and nervousness the first time brings to young lovers, the feeling of being that close to someone you truly love is addicting and lights a fire of longing that warms your very soul. Their bodies found each other in the middle of the night and early in the morning. Hermione cried with the intense love she felt and Harry thought he would die from feeling so loved and loving so unselfishly in return. They lay wrapped in each others arms early in the morning, watching the sun slowly rise and cast her bright rays into Harry's bedroom. He softly stroked her hair and face, while she simply looked into his eyes, wondering why she thought that living had been so wonderful before she had found Harry's love.
"You know I suddenly understand all those cheesy lines they write for weddings," murmured Harry, softly kissing the tip of her nose
"They're not cheesy Harry," said Hermione with a joking look in her eyes
"No they're not," said Harry seriously "I have found the one whom my soul loves…" He moved his head and kissed her softly. She smiled up at him and softly stroked his hair, then ran her finger across his jaw line.
"Me too," she whispered, then smiled mischievously before adding "I could hold that cheesy romantic line against you. Imagine what the boys would say if they knew you would ever say something like that!"
"You wouldn't dare…" said Harry jokingly, running his hands to her waist where he began to squeeze playfully, earning him a girlish screech.
"No I wouldn't," she said more seriously "That's the most romantic thing I've ever heard of…"
"You're just saying that so I won't tickle you," said Harry playfully, moving his hands to her waist again.
"No I'm not. It was a lovely thing to say…please move your hands," she said pleadingly
"Well…no!" he said, and tickled her mercilessly until she found something to do to him that would keep him quiet for a while. It was quite a while before either of them got up…
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After showering Hermione walked down to the kitchen. She felt so happy she could yell at the top of her lungs. Harry loved her! He actually loved her! She couldn't believe what had happened, she felt as if she was walking on air and had to try hard to stop a stupid grin coming to her face. She entered the kitchen and saw all everyone sitting at the table about the begin breakfast. She raised her eyes and looked at Harry across the table. His hair was still damp and she could smell his soap from here. She began to feel warm again and tried to force those images out of her mind. Mrs Weasley offered her a cup of tea and she accepted it gratefully. She could see Harry staring at her and she felt her face start to heat up. Why was he looking at her like that? Was he trying to make her insane? She had only just had sex with Harry and she was surprised at how much she wanted to do it again. It was a good thing she loved Harry, because if it had been any other guy then she would have hexed him into the next century for causing her that amount of pain last night. But this morning had been a pleasant surprise and she was looking forward to, erm, experimenting more…
"Morning Hermione," said Luna with a large smile on her face "How are you?" Hermione smiled back at Luna, a very big smile that showed all of her teeth and made her eyes light up.
"Wonderful!" she said happily "How are you?"
"Never better," said Luna with a gleam in her eyes. Hermione giggled a little then began to help herself to the sausages and eggs in front of her. Who would have thought she could have such an appetite?
Ron stared angrily at the exchange between Luna and Hermione and ate his breakfast quickly. He didn't look at any of them as he walked out of the room and stomped loudly up the stairs before shutting his door with a bang…this was starting to become a regular thing at Grimmauld Place so they didn't react with too much shock. Mrs Weasley rolled her eyes and removed her apron swiftly.
"Well," she said quickly "Remus and I have some business to attend to this morning so I hope you'll be ok if I go out for a while,"
"We'll be fine mum," said Ginny darkly, eyeing Hermione's happiness with obvious distaste.
"Ok, I'll be back soon. Be good, and for goodness sakes don't go into the drawing room! Something else has decided to live in there and we don't know what it is yet." They all nodded their heads in agreement, and fifteen minutes later they were practically pushing her into Lupin's arms so that she would leave.
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Harry walked slowly up the stairs towards Ron's room. He knew he had to talk to him, but he didn't feel the kind of desperation he had before. Ron was his best friend, and he didn't want to lose him. But he loved Hermione, and if it came down to it then he would choose her over him. Whether or not that made him a bad friend he didn't know, but he didn't want to be punished for something that made him feel so wonderful. He knocked on the door and waited for Ron's surly call of -
"Come in,"
He opened the door quietly and let himself in, closing the door afterwards. Ron looked at him angrily then moved his eyes to stare at the ceiling. Harry summoned a chair from the end of the room and sat next to Ron's bed.
"What do you want?" asked Ron angrily
"I want to explain Ron," said Harry quietly, not taking his eyes off of Ron.
"I think I already know everything Harry," he said waspishly
"No you don't" said Harry sadly
"Get on with it," said Ron snapping, "I don't have all day to listen to your pathetic excuses,"
"I should have told you when I knew I wanted to be with Hermione. I should have told you that we had started seeing each other, and for that I apologise." said Harry quietly.
"But you're not saying sorry for stealing Hermione from me?" said Ron angrily
"She was never yours to steal," said Harry simply "You weren't together. She wanted me and I wanted her. I'm sorry that you're feelings got hurt."
"Yeah, I'll bet you're really sorry," said Ron sarcastically.
"Don't be a wanker Ron," said Harry sighing "You know I wouldn't say I was sorry if I didn't mean it. You also know that if you didn't mean anything to me then I wouldn't be here trying to work this out. You're my best mate Ron; I don't want us to not be friends. Life isn't the same without you by my side…"
"Like you need someone like me Harry," said Ron sadly "You're the famous Harry Potter, here to save us all. What do you need with a great gangling git like me?"
"Ron you've helped me with everything I've ever had to do. I don't even want to think of how my life would have been if I hadn't met you. If I tell you something, will you promise to keep it to yourself," said Harry urgently. Ron eyed him with a mixture of anger and suspicion, and then reluctantly nodded his head.
"Luna and I went to the ministry yesterday," he said quietly "we went back to the room with the veil…" Ron's raised his eyebrows in surprise and leaned closer to Harry, momentarily forgetting his anger.
"What was there?" asked Ron in a voice of awe
"I saw my parents, and Sirius…and Dumbledore." said Harry quietly
"Wow," said Ron "What did they say?" Harry told them briefly of their reunion and then, with his heart breaking, what Dumbledore had said afterwards. Ron got up off of his bed and started pacing up and down the room, with tears visible in his eyes.
"You have to tell Hermione," said Ron eventually
"No," said Harry firmly
"Harry, she's got a right to know…" said Ron, the tears now coming fast down his face.
"I love her Ron. She doesn't need to know this. Lets just make the next few months pleasant for her, ok?" said Harry again, but a little gentler this time, trying not to let his voice become choked. His poor Hermione, his poor beautiful Hermione. Ron nodded his head and sat back down on his bed heavily.
"Ron," said Harry quickly "I know we're blokes and we don't normally say stuff like this. But you're like a brother to me. I honestly don't know how I would have made it without you and I don't think I could if I had to be without you now. I fell in love with Hermione, it wasn't anything I could control and I would never do anything to hurt you if I could have helped it. You can't control love Ron, I know that now."
"You are my brother Harry," said Ron quietly, wiping tears from his face "I'm not saying that I can suddenly forget everything that happened and that we'll be back to normal because we probably won't for a while. But you're my best mate. Nothing is ever going to change that Harry,"
"Love you too Ron," said Harry grinning, which earned him a pillow in the face. Ron laughed slightly and then sat down on the bed, looking at the floor.
"I wish you'd never gone behind that bloody veil…nothing like some bad news to make friends stronger eh? "
"It's the way it has to be…and my heart is broken over it. But one thing I learnt today is that love goes on Ron, it never ever dies." said Harry simply. Ron looked up at Harry and moved towards him. He threw his arms around him and held him tightly…
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