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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters; they all belong to J.K Rowlings and Warner Brothers. Although I wish I did lol.
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A/N: Just a reminder this is a Harry and Hermione pairing, if you don't like the pairings then don't bother reading it in the first place. Remember this chapter takes place a week after and it's Harry's Birthday. This chapter is where the beginning of the plot starts to come in. I don't exactly give it away just yet but one very important part is introduced. Hope you enjoy it, Read and Review!
Nelli_08: The 'R' rating will come into play in future chapters. And yes there will be intimate happenings lol. So keep an eye out for them!
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Harry Potter and the Orb of Ter'angreal
Chapter Three
By: Sapphire Rose
The week passed by like a blur, everything just seemed absolutely perfect in Harry's mind as he spent his summer with his closest friends and godfather. He didn't think life could get any better but oh how wrong he was.
It was July 31st, Harry's birthday. Accustomed to the way the Dursley's treated his birthday Harry wasn't expecting anything. Waking up, Harry stretched out of bed and headed off to take a shower. He washed and rinsed his hair thoroughly. Once he finished up, he stepped out and dried his hair while wrapping a towel around his midsection, holding it in place.
Hermione had woken up bright and early that morning and threw on a pair of shorts that were cut pretty high and a tang top. Heading out of her room, Hermione stepped in front of Harry's door, knocking lightly.
"Harry can I come in?"
Getting no immediate response, Hermione figured he was still asleep and decided to wake him up. Opening the door she slipped in, closing it behind her. But when she turned around the sight before her made her knees grow weak and her cheeks to turn red. There, was Harry Potter, standing before her in the flesh. You could see the muscle tone more clearly now and Hermione could swear she was gaping at him, she could see everything and I mean everything. Trying to regain some composer Hermione turned around quickly, shielding her eyes…
"I'm so sorry Harry; I thought you were still asleep!"
When Harry saw Hermione walk through that door he had accidentally dropped the towel around his waist a bit shocked by her entrance. When he realized his current state a slight blush crept on his cheeks and he quickly bent down to pick up the towel to cover himself with. When Harry noticed her reaction he couldn't help but blush even more. Shouldn't he be feeling a bit annoyed at that moment? After all, his best friend just walked in on him and he was sure she saw everything.
"It's alright Mione, really."
Harry walked over to his drawer and pulled on a pair of boxers and a shirt.
"I really didn't mean to walk in on you, god do I feel stupid!"
"Hermione stop worrying about it, it was an innocent mistake…you can turn around now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm positive."
She reluctantly turned around to face him; the blush in her cheeks was noticeable. Never in her life was she more embarrassed then this moment. She had to admit thought, she preferred him without the shirt. Hermione scolded herself for the thoughts that seemed to be permanently embedded into her head and she tried to smile.
"So what did you need?"
"Well I wanted to wake you up…"
"And why did you want to do that?"
"Well I wanted some company during breakfast, Ron and Lavender are still asleep and Sirius went out for a bit."
"Well I'd be happy to escort you down, just give me a few minutes to finish getting dressed."
"Oh, right, well I'll wait for you outside then."
Hermione headed out the door while Harry continued dressing himself. Harry found it rather strange that Hermione of all people didn't mention his birthday. He reasoned in his head that she probably forgot after the current situation. Harry couldn't help but think how cute she looked when she blushed. The past week he had spent a lot of time trying to sort out his feelings for his best friend. Once he was done, he walked outside of the room to join Hermione.
"Well Milady are you ready to go?"
He held his arm out to her which she gladly took.
"Yes I believe I'm quite ready."
They both shared a laugh as they headed down to the kitchen for breakfast. The morning seemed to pass by and eventually Ron and Lavender joined the duo. Not once was Harry's birthday mentioned, he could no longer dismiss it as a careless error and he began to wonder now.
"So what are you guys planning to do this afternoon?"
Harry asked carefully.
"Well Sirius suggested that we stop in Hogsmead to pick up a few things. Any of you wonderful ladies willing to join us?"
"Well Ron, sadly I can't. I wanted to study a bit today so I'll stay behind."
"If Hermione's staying, then I'll stay as well. You two go out and have some fun."
"Alright then, what do you say Harry?"
"Sounds fine to me but we should head out now before it gets too crowded."
"Ok, well see you girls later!"
Ron placed a kiss on Lavender's cheek as he and Harry set out to Hogsmead. Unknown to Harry this was all planned. If Harry saw the smiles on the girls faces they would surely given themselves away. At that point they both began to prepare for the upcoming night and it was sure to be one that was remembered.
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Harry and Ron spent their afternoon wandering around the streets of Hogsmead. While they were there they picked up a few odds and ends along the way. It was getting late and Ron was continually checking his watch for the time. This of course didn't escape Harry's attention but he dismissed the thought. All day no one had wished him a happy birthday. Harry began to doubt anyone remembered at all. Even when they had run into Sirius earlier that day he didn't even get one from him, his own godfather. Finally it was time to head back to the manor.
Ron and Harry walked silently up the path leading to the doorway. As Harry opened the door he noticed all the lights were out, he could barely see in front of him.
"Ron where is everyone?"
"I'm not sure. Let's check the living room."
Ron led Harry to the living room through the darkness of the house.
"Ron do you think you could turn on the lights?"
A light switch was turned on and Harry was greeted by a loud,
"Surprise!"
He could not believe it. Standing before him was the most unexpected sight. The living room was decorated with streamers and balloons all around. Right in front of him were all the people that meant most to him in his life. Present among them we could see the Weasly family, Sirius and Remus; his friends from Hogwarts, Lavender and then his eyes fell upon Hermione. No words could describe what he felt then. A smile gracing her features as she stood there in the crowd, walking up to him. He noticed she had changed into a black mini-skirt and a red halter top, showing off a bit of her midsection. He couldn't help but stare at her with her hair flowing gracefully down her back.
"So Harry did you actually think we could ever forget about your birthday?"
Hermione said as she walked over and stood by his side.
"Honestly I did, I can't believe you all planned this for me, you really didn't have to."
"Oh come on Harry we wanted to do it."
Ron added, he expected Harry would react like this.
"Ron's right for once Harry, so let's just enjoy the party."
"You don't know how much this means to me."
"Well maybe when my birthday comes around you can make it up to me."
Ron joked around, earning him a playful shove from Lavender who recently joined him at his side.
"Well I'm going to greet the others."
With that said Harry began making his rounds around the room, greeting each and every one of them personally. As he greeted them they each handed him some type of card or package. He couldn't accept these but they all insisted so he gave up seeing as it was useless to argue.
Ron dragged Lavender off so they could spend some time together; after all he did spend an entire afternoon away from her and survived to tell the tale. He made sure to make the absence up to her in the best way he could. Hermione stood in a corner of the room talking to a few of her fellow classmates. Although her eyes kept darting off in Harry's direction, sometimes their eyes would meet, she would smile and turn away. Harry finally made his way over to his godfather and Remus. Hermione noticed this and decided to join him at his side…
"Happy Birthday Harry."
"Thanks Professor Lupin."
"You don't have to call me Professor Lupin, Remus or Moony is fine after all we aren't in school."
"Alright Moony."
"I want you to have this."
Remus handed Harry a small package and Harry smiled his gratitude.
"Why hello Hermione, nice to see you again."
Harry's gaze shifted to the beauty that stood by his side, he didn't even notice her walk up to them.
"Hello Remus, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
"Well Harry what do you think of the party?"
"What do I think? I absolutely love it Hermione! Thank you."
"It wasn't only me that helped."
"Well I'm very grateful."
Hermione moved her lips closer to his ear, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach and whispered gently in his ear.
"After the cake, meet me outside, I want to give you your present."
Harry nodded and Hermione turned away from them, waving slightly to join her other friends. Harry couldn't help but wonder what it was she was going to give him. Soon he was brought back to reality he looked on Remus and Sirius's faces who remained quiet the whole time.
"What?"
"Oh nothing…"
Sirius replied, but the smile on his face deceived him.
"Whatever."
Harry left them there as he went around the room.
"Those two remind me so much of Lily and Prongs it's astounding."
"I know what you mean Moony, how long do you think it will take?"
"I say no more then a month."
"Care to make a little wager on that?"
"Alright, two galleons says that Harry and Hermione will become an item within a months time."
"I say it will be at least a week, after all Harry does have Prong's charm."
Both Moony and Padfoot shook on it, smiling inwardly to themselves.
The night swept by them all, everyone seemed to be enjoying the party immensely. Finally it was time to cut the cake, the lights were turned off and a cake was rolled in by Ron and Hermione and placed in front of Harry. The candles were the only source of light given off in the room and Ron and Hermione each took a side next to Harry. Staring around at all the faces he loved most, Harry made a wish to himself, breathing in deeply and blowing out the candles, putting the room back into darkness. Applause and cheers filled the room as the candles went out and the lights were turned back on.
Hermione took the cake knife and handed it to Harry. Taking the knife from her he made the first cut into the cake. A broad smile could be seen by all on Harry's face. The cake was served and the night continued on. Hermione had disappeared from the crowd and Harry remembered to go meet his friend outside by the Quidditch Pitch.
The night air was warm but had a slight chill; the moon was bright in the sky. Heading towards the Quidditch Field, Harry laid eyes on Hermione. She seemed to be waiting anxiously there for him. Harry took this chance to admire her from behind. Some little voice kept telling him this was his best friend and an even smaller voice told him that he wanted too be more then that. Of course that smaller voice was ignored as Harry approached her.
"So Hermione what did you want?"
Harry startled her and she turned around to face him, smiling in his direction.
"Well I wanted to give you your present without everyone staring at us. I thought this would be better."
"Always thinking of everything aren't you Mione?"
"Naturally."
Harry smiled and took a seat on a nearby bench and was soon joined by Hermione. She pulled out a small wrapped object and handed it to him. He looked at the present carefully and gazed back at Hermione before opening the gift. Hermione seemed to be waiting on the edge of the bench with anticipation, waiting for his reaction. Would he even like it? When Harry finally finished opening the gift he found a box and proceeded to open that. What he found left him opened mouthed so to speak.
"Hermione how did you get this?"
"Well I found it while I was roaming around Hogsmead during school. It's a Friendship Ball, it works like a Pensieve but you only place one memory and it keeps replaying. You can also put a message on it. I wasn't sure whether you would like it or not."
Harry was speechless; this probably was the most cherished gift he ever received. It was even better then when he received his Firebolt. The image playing in the crystal was from Christmas last year. He and Hermione were playing in the snow on Hogwarts Grounds, they looked so happy together. Ron wasn't there because he went to Romania to visit his brother that year. The message in the ball was 'Harry and Hermione, Friends Forever.' He could swear he felt tears clouding his eyes from the gift.
"Hermione I honestly don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything."
Without another word he wrapped his strong arms around Hermione. She loved the feeling of being in his arms; she couldn't get enough of it and just held him close to her, not making any move to leave him anytime soon. Harry whispered softly in her ear even though no one was around to hear him.
"Thank you so much for everything, Mione."
With these simple words, chills ran up and down her spine. Harry parted from the embraced and just gazed into her eyes. Without realizing what he was doing, he began to lean his head forward. Slowly her head began to move closer to him until their lips were mere inches apart. But a noise from a distance broke them from their trance and they quickly moved away from each other as if just comprehending what was about to happen, they quickly assembled themselves into a proper state.
"Hey you guys, what are you doing out here?"
Ron and Lavender came over to join their friends, obviously oblivious to what almost happened between their friends. Harry was cursing Ron in his mind at this point; he didn't know whether to be annoyed or absolutely grateful.
"Well Harry and I came out because I wanted to give him his present."
The thoughts in Hermione's mind were going a mile minute. Was she just about to kiss her best friend or was she imagining that? Was he about to kiss her as well? Hermione thought that couldn't be, she was just a bookworm, he couldn't possibly think of her like that.
"Why don't you two come back inside? The party is a hit if I do say so myself."
"Alright we're coming Ron."
Hermione stood up from her seat and began to walk back to the party and soon Ron, Lavender, and Harry followed her.
For the rest of the party Harry and Hermione kept a distance from each other, which Ron and Lavender thought was very odd. Several glances were stolen in each others direction. Both Harry and Hermione were so confused. Eventually the party came to an end and the guests began to leave either by floo, apparition, or driving home. The party was a complete success. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Lavender, and Sirius slumped on the couch totally exhausted.
"Once again thank you guys for the party."
"Why do I have the feeling we'll never hear an end to that?"
"Really Ron sometimes I wonder about you"
"And in what ways do I make you wonder Lavender?"
Ron said in a playful tone which only made Lavender blush.
"Alright you two I don't need the images."
"Sorry about that Hermione."
"Well I don't know about the rest of you but I'm heading to bed now."
"Alright, goodnight Mione."
"Night Harry and Happy Birthday. See you all in the morning!"
You could hear the soft footsteps of Hermione heading up the stairs leading to her bedroom.
"I think I'll head up to bed as well."
This only made Ron pout.
"But I don't want you to go to bed."
"Well Ron you can walk me up if you like."
Ron and Lavender stood up from the couch and headed up the stairs. This only left Sirius and Harry in the living room, both could just imagine what the two love birds would be doing up there but they tried to forget about it.
"Well Harry I haven't had the chance to give you your present yet."
"You didn't have to…"
"Well I did and your accepting it whether I had to or didn't."
"Fine."
Sirius pulled out an amulet from his pocket. It was made of white gold and had a red ruby located in the center of the piece. The design was simple; it looked like a weave of lines all around which gave it the look of an antique. It must have been very old; it hung from a chain of links made of the same white gold. Harry just stared at the object as Sirius handed it to him.
"Your father wanted to give you this on your seventeenth birthday. It happens to be very special and was passed on from father to son in your family. It's called The Heart of Gryffindor. Basically it's been apart of your family since the time of the Founders, it's your family heirloom."
Harry placed the amulet around his neck and stared down at it in amazement.
"My father wanted me to have this?"
"Yes he did, I've had it in my vault the whole time but let's head upstairs now and go to bed. When you get back to Hogwarts Dumbledore will probably want to speak to you about it."
"Alright Sirius, goodnight and thanks."
"Night Harry."
Sirius and Harry went up to bed. Harry placed all the cards he received on his desk and his presents around his room. He didn't remove the amulet, when he first put on the amulet on he could swear he felt a new surge of power run through him. He placed Hermione's gift by his bedside and just stared at it before turning out the lights and going to bed himself. The manor fell into silence and everyone was asleep, well everyone except for maybe Ron and Lavender that is but other then that the house was peaceful and quiet.
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A/N: Well that would be the end of chapter three. Things in my story will start to connect and eventually the whole plot will be out in the open. Coming in later chapters Voldemort, more Harry and Hermione romance, Ron and Lavender, Diagon Alley Trips, our favorite ferret Malfoy and of course Hogwarts! Until I fully reveal the plot just enjoy the romance since I'll eventually have to get those two together. I have the next seven chapters outlined, so my story will be fast pace. Other then that hope you enjoy the rest of it. Read, Rate, and Review! The three R's as I like to call it. Suggestions are always accepted!
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Created on ... June 28, 2003