And I managed to finish this in time! Go me! Oh, come on. Give me some credit, okay?
I'm working on chapter four now, as well… so as I said yesterday: With some luck I might post it tomorrow.
I'm guessing that I've now written the part everyone has been waiting for: Hermione managing to corner Harry. Oh, I'm so evil, I know. But, I'm having so much fun with this, it's incredible!
Oh, and a lot of your have been asking why Harry's behaving like "a dolt" or commented that Harry seems to be rejecting her… Well, I hope this chapter clears it up a bit more. If not, well… I'll explain my thoughts about it in my next author's note, okay?
I just have to tell this you, though. The amount of reviews I've gotten on this has absolutely blown my mind! I've never gotten this much reviews on a fic before. I'm forever your best friend because of this. Or at least until you ask to borrow money from me.
Anyway, I do hope you'll like this next chapter.
Cheers!
Chapter three: Caught in the Dark
Harry yawned as he jerked awake. He had no idea why he'd woken up, whatever dream he had was now long forgotten. He yawned once again and stretched; or well, rather more trying to stretch. Something was lying in the way.
He glanced down and squinted, desperately trying to make something of the blur he was seeing. He cursed his poor eyesight as he continued to squint through the darkness. Something brown and fluffy? seemed to be rather contently resting on his chest.
Harry frowned and drew a gentle hand through the brown mess. Hair. He suddenly realized. The brown and fluffy was hair. Funny, it almost felt curly. Frizzy, even…
His eyes widened. Hermione! How had she managed to sneak in? And what on earth was she wearing? He gripped his glasses from his nightstand and slipped them onto his face. It almost looked like… He groaned as realization sunk in. It looked like one of his t-shirts. One of his favourite t-shirts at that.
He nudged her lightly. "Hermione," he whispered, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat. "Hermione!" he whispered again with an accompanied nudge.
She began stirring. "Hmm?"
"Hermione! What are you doing here?"
She smiled at him while reaching for his chin with her hand. "Sleeping, my love."
Harry shook his head tiredly. Why was it always him? "Listen, Hermione… you can't be here. You're in the boys' dormitory, in the middle of the night. You have a dormitory of your own."
"But… you're here." She stroked his cheek lightly.
Harry gazed down at her and almost gave in right then and there. "Merlin, Hermione…" She was so beautiful, her eyes big and dreamy. But he had to resist. He had to. "Listen, Hermione." He paused, trying to gather enough energy to continue. "What you're feeling isn't real. I don't-"
She smiled at him. "It's the realest thing I've felt and that's real enough to me." She reached up and with only a moment of hesitation, she kissed him.
Harry's eyes widened once more and he opened his mouth to protest, but all that came out was a moan. He had promised himself to keep his distance, that he'd keep away and not cross the boundaries. But somehow, now when it came to it, he just couldn't gather enough resistance to do so.
Resisting Hermione had always been trying, and this last day had been hard. With Hermione throwing himself at him his resistance had already been down to almost nothing.
The kiss was wonderful, almost magical. He felt like he could float. He could have kept on kissing her forever… But somewhere deep down he knew it wasn't real. He broke the kiss. "Hermione, I-"
She sighed happily and buried her head in his chest. "I love you, Harry." Her voice low and husky.
Oh, how he wished it could be real… He gathered the little of what was left of his resistance. "Listen, if you don't go back to your dormitory, we'll be in deep trouble tomorrow."
Her hands started massaging his waist. "Are you sure it wouldn't be…worth it?" She purred, irking her head upwards, towards his face again.
He moved a bit further a way from her, trying to distance himself. "Uh, well." He started, trying a new tactic. "I'd be in trouble as well."
Her fingers travelled from his waist upwards. "You've never had any troubles with it before…"
"Yeah, but, uh…this is different. I, err…don't want you to get in trouble."
"Oh, Harry. I don't care as long as I'm with you."
Harry stared upwards, his mouth forming the word `why'. "Hermione…" He sighed as he knew it would be impossible to convince her to go. But then, an idea struck him. "Okay, fine. Stay."
She smiled widely, her eyes shining with happiness. "Really?"
"Yeah, just go back to sleep."
She rested her head on his chest again. "You're the only man for me, Harry Potter," she whispered.
He patted her head a bit awkwardly.
---
Luckily for Harry it didn't take Hermione too long to fall asleep. Some few minutes later, when he was sure that she wouldn't wake, he climbed out from his bed and stretched.
He gazed at her. Merlin, she was beautiful when she was sleeping. She looked so peaceful, so happy… Harry shook his head to clear it. He had to keep his mind on the matters at hand.
He bent down and covered his friend's light frame with his extra blanket. He carefully picked her up and carried her down the stairs. He had been planning to carry her up to her dormitory, but now he realized that he probably wouldn't manage to walk up the stairs to the girls' dormitory because of the enchantments placed on them.
Harry sighed and placed her gently in the couch in stead. Well, now there wasn't much more he could do… except, maybe, getting his t-shirt back. But he sure wasn't going to do anything about that.
He gazed at her for a while before kissing her forehead gently with a slight smile. Merlin, he hoped she'd be back to normal by tomorrow.
If not, well, then it would be a world's first: Harry Potter loathing the fact that it was a Saturday.
---
To be continued…
-->