In This Moment

~A/N> Hello! While Portkey was down last night I got bored and tried to work on my ongoing stories. Unfortunately I became stuck on one and while thinking of how to continue with it, this plot bunny formed in my head. It's the work of the naughty little smut muse that lurks in my mind at times and I also think I was channeling some long-forgotten romance novelist :p Anyway, I hope you, erm...enjoy it while I get back to my other stories :) Oh, and the italicized part is a flashback.

Harry watched her across the room, the way her dress swept along the floor as she walked and the way the light seemed to dance in her hair. Everytime she looked up and met his eyes she could see the disguised longing in them.

They'd been stealing glances at each other all night. She would look over at him and turn away the moment he turned to watch her mingling amongst the other guests, her laughter wafting across the room like beautiful music.

Tonight was the night of the Ministry of Magic's Annual Ball and Harry had graciously volunteered to have it in the renovated ballroom at 12 Grimmauld Place. It looked nothing like it had the first time he saw it during his fifth year at Hogwarts, he had completely redone every room in the enormous house, making it his own in every possible way.

Nine months before, they had been in a Ministry meeting and he had been asked by Kingsley Shacklebolt to represent the Auror department in the meeting since he had to attend to a recently captured Death Eater personally. The Minister was demanding that he interrogate the Death Eater himself so that there were no mess-ups that would allow Voldemort's lackey to go free. Reluctantly, Harry had agreed to go, with the promise of one extra day off that week.

It had been more boring than anything he'd attended before, including some of his most boring classes at Hogwarts. He found his mind wandering a lot, and when the Minister had called on him to report on his department, he was caught off guard and felt his cheeks grow warm with embarrassment. While he read from the sheet Shacklebolt had sent along with him, he could feel someone staring at him and after finishing the report he looked up and caught her watching him.

She had smiled at him and then quickly turned her attention back to the Minister, who had advanced onto the topic of the Ministry's Annual Ball. He had been distracted by the look that had been in her eyes when he had caught her staring...it was a look of interest, and he daresay he had seen a flicker of desire there, if only for a millisecond of time. While his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of her, half-assed listening to the Minister's rambling dialogue, he heard a snippet that caught his attention immediately. "I'm sorry sir," he had said, interrupting the Minister, "But could you repeat that?"

"I said, Mr. Potter, that we would be unable to hold the Ball here in the Ministry this year and asked if anyone had any suggestions as to a possible location?" he replied, looking very put out by Harry's lack of attention.

"You could use the Ballroom at my house, sir," he replied, causing the Minister to look surprised, "I could arrange it so that the floo is accessible for the night, and it just so happens that I recently finished renovating it to it's original brilliance."

"That's a very generous offer Mr. Potter," the Minister had said with a big smile on his face, "If you wouldn't mind, the committee and I will come by tomorrow to tour your house. I'm sure it will be fine, but I'd like to see it beforehand."

"No problem, sir," Harry replied easily, "It just so happens that I have the day off."

After that, the preparations had been swift and now everyone was dancing around the polished hardwood floor, dressed in their finest dress robes. Harry had gotten a lot of compliments on the Ballroom, and many queries as to the rest of the house.

"Sickle for your thoughts?" came a throaty voice very near his ear.

He turned to see Ginny Weasley next to him, practically draping herself along his side, trying to send the message that he was hers. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he extracted his arm from her vice-like grip and said in a bored tone, "Done mingling already?"

He didn't have to look at her to know she was pouting, something that grated his nerves and made him want to tell her to grow up. As he watched Seamus Finnegan breeze by as he danced with Luna Lovegood he turned to Ginny as she asked, "Why are you always so mean to me? There are plenty of other guys that would..."

"Then go be with those 'other guys'," he said through clenched teeth, "It's not like I asked you to be my date tonight, you just assumed you would be and showed up without an invitation."

"But Mum said..." she started again, only to have him interrupt again.

"Molly was wrong," he said in a dangerously quiet tone, "So run along and attach yourself to one of those 'other guys'."

With a "Harrumph!" Ginny turned away from him sharply, walking quickly away from him with her nose in the air.

Feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, Harry turned back to watch the dancers and stopped as his gaze traveled over her once again. After locking eyes with him, she turned back to her date and whispered something in his ear, causing him to nod and then place a gentle kiss on her forehead. Swallowing the anger that was threatening to rise within him, along with the jealousy he dare not admit to, he waited a few ticks after she left to follow her.

Watching as the material from her dress drifted around the corner in front of him, Harry followed her to the bathroom and just as she turned to close the door he slipped inside with her. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked indignantly. His eyes roamed over her face, taking in her flushed cheeks and the undisguised desire in her eyes. When his gaze drifted lower he noticed that her chest rose and fell quickly as her breathing sped up.

"You look beautiful Hermione," he said quietly, walking closer to her. She took one step back from him as he advanced, the look in his eyes causing liquid desire to course through her, pooling between her thighs. She stopped abruptly as she came up against the sink, watching transfixed as he walked up to her and pressed his body flush against hers. Her breathing hitched as a wave of wanton lust washed over her.

"Harry, I don't think..." she started, but he quickly silenced her as his lips crashed down upon hers hungrily. His tongue immediately sought entrance to her mouth and she opened readily, moaning as his tongue plundered hers almost savagely.

With all thoughts of objecting now far from her mind, Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight, as if afraid he might change his mind and leave her at any moment. Breaking the kiss, both of them breathing heavily, Harry drew his wand from his inner robe pocket and cast the strongest locking and silencing spells he knew.

Letting go of her only long enough to shed the robe and dress shirt he wore underneath, he sucked in a tortured breath as he felt her hands glide down his chest, leaving a trail of fire in their wake that was threatening to consume him. Claiming her lips once more, Harry brought his hands up to run them through her beautiful brown, curly hair that she had worn down that night just for him because that's how he said he liked it. As his mouth trailed from her mouth to the delicate skin of her neck, she raised her head to give him better access to the sensitive flesh. She could feel his hands fumbling to undo the closure on her dress and when he finally became frustrated with his lack of progress he simply pulled roughly on the fabric, causing the small buttons to seperate from the fabric and then fall to the floor.

He quickly divested her of the now-ruined dress, his hands roaming freely over her silky soft skin as he kissed her with all the desire he was feeling in that moment. She reached down to undo his trousers and as she pushed them down his legs he clumsily took off his shoes and stepped out of them as they bunched around his ankles. Clad only in their underclothes, they helped each other remove those quickly and stood kissing hungrily, skin to skin.

Hermione felt as if her body might go up in flames from the intensity of need she felt for him. She felt drunk from his kisses and she could practically feel her body thrumming in anticipation of what they were going to do. Feeling bold she let her hands slide down his chest again, over his flat stomach, her hand finding what it had sought. With an almost agonizing slowness, she wrapped her fingers around his erection and heard a low, gutteral growl escape him. Next thing she knew, he had taken her in his arms and lifted her up so that her bum barely rested on the sink behind her. On instinct she brought her legs up and loosely wrapped them around his waist.

Without hesitation Harry positioned himself and plunged into her quickly, almost savagly, relishing the way her body enveloped him in it's tight warmth as she cried out in ecstasy. He was welcome, he was home...and she was his if only in this moment. He stopped, fully sheathed within her, trying to reign in enough control so that he didn't experience his release instantly. He groaned when he felt her lips on his neck, nibbling and sucking gently, almost causing him to lose the tenuous grasp he had on his composure.

He withdrew from her slowly when he felt he could safely continue and pushed back in just as slowly, causing Hermione to emit a sound of frustration. Kissing her way to his ear, she licked the lobe seductively and in a husky voice that was almost his undoing whispered, "Fuck me Harry."

He lost all control after that. Those three words...he lost the ability to think after that and just started ramming into her, causing her to moan and repeat his name over and over again. His hands traveled over her breasts, kneading and pinching her nipples, causing her to throw her head back in reckless abandon. The two lovers, lost in a dance that they wished would never end, became awash in their feelings for the other. Pumping in and out of her at a now-frantic pace, Harry closed his eyes at the ecstacy he was drowning in and buried himself in her one last time, emitting a satisfied groan with his release that was met with one of her own at the same time.

As they stayed joined, panting and shuddering from the orgasmic experience they had just shared, Hermione buried her face in his neck and breathed in his woodsy, musky scent that she loved so much.

A few minutes later, realizing that they had already been gone from the Ball far too long, Harry and Hermione used their wands to clean themselves up. Harry repaired her dress, watching as she put it back on and then turned to the mirror to try to fix her hair. He loved the way she looked at that moment; her hair was wild and framing her face, her eyes were alight with a glow that could only come from within, her cheeks were tinged pink and matched her beautifully swollen lips.

He stared into the mirror as Hermione checked her appearance one more time to be sure it was perfect and he felt his heart swell with his feelings for her. Realizing that she would soon be going back to him, his face fell and she noticed his change in demeanor immediately. "Don't," she said quietly, meeting his eyes in the mirror.

"Don't what?" he asked non-chalantly as he broke eye contact, knowing all the while that she could read him like one of her beloved books.

"Don't dwell on it," she replied, turning to face him. She walked up to him where he leaned against the wall and placed her hands behind his neck, drawing herself up to place a gentle kiss on his lips.

"It's hard not to," he said, his tone holding a small amount of frustration, "I dream about you every night, of how good it feels to hold you in my arms, and then I wake up to find myself alone in my bed...in this damn empty house. You belong with me Hermione, not him."

Hermione smiled at him sadly as she moved one hand up to caress his cheek and replied, "You know I can't leave him right now Harry, he just lost Arthur and he's not dealing with it very well. His emotions are up and down all the time, I never know how he's going to react to something I say, it makes me nervous at times..."

"Has he hurt you?" Harry asked suddenly, knowing his red-headed friend's temper well.

He released the breath he was holding when she shook her head 'no' and pulled her to him. Hugging her tightly, he placed a kiss on the top of her head and said regretfully, "We'd better get back to the party."

Silently, she released her hold on him and he did the same, both of them feeling an immediate loss of warmth and comfort. As he took off the locking and silencing spells he had placed on the room, she gave him one more kiss, turned and walked out of the room without looking back.

Feeling the loss of her immediately, Harry ran his hand angrily through his hair and stared at himself in the mirror, wondering how his life had become so fucked up. Deciding to not go there, he turned abruptly toward the door and opened it just enough so that he could make sure the hallway was clear.

He made his way back to the party, walked in and blended with the crowd once more, acting as if he had never been gone. As one of the Minister's lady friends regaled him with the most boring story he had heard all night, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he looked around to see if he could find the cause.

His sweeping gaze stopped suddenly as he saw the cold, hard stare that his best mate was leveling at him. The two stood sizing each other up for a moment before Harry casually dipped his head in greeting and watched as Ron returned it with a jerk of his head. When a strange look passed over his friend's face his heart skipped a beat as the thought that he might know slammed into him. When Hermione looked up and saw Ron staring, she followed his gaze and her eyes widened when she saw Harry staring back. With her own heart beating a bit faster, she looped her arm around Ron's and said something to get his attention.

As the pair walked up to a group of people he watched as Hermione turned toward him and gave him the smile she reserved just for him. It was in that moment that he realized that even though she was with Ron physically, her heart and soul belonged to him. He would just have to be patient and wait until she finally left Ron for good, then they could live the life they were destined to have together and she would be his...mind, body, and soul...forever.