They'd been expecting it. It seemed the whole school knew it was coming. There had been a tension in the air, every day, for the last week. Voices were hushed, when they were used at all outside of the classroom, and laughter, if there was any, sounded highly unnatural.
Hermione had walked the halls as though in a dream. A strange thrumming filled her, causing her skin to tingle. She would practice spells with Harry every chance they had, learning curses and jinxes, trying--desperately trying--to prepare. And for it all, she had this almost unnerving sense of certainty. They were going to win. When it all happened, they would win.
It came. Harry had done all that needed to be done. All that was left was to finish it. She followed him onto the grounds, wand raised, throwing spells with a power she'd never known she possessed. People fell, from both sides, and she just kept fighting. She lost track of Harry, but she knew, just knew, what he was doing. She knew he was taking his stand against Voldemort. And she knew when it was over. She knew that he'd won.
She searched for him as the battle died off, dodging stray curses from the few small patches of dueling going on. She wasn't interested in fighting anymore. She wanted Harry. She had to find him.
She saw Neville off to one side, throwing everything he had at a masked Death Eater, and surprised even herself when she almost carelessly fired off an Impediment jinx that sent the man flying. She didn't stick around to see Neville finish him off. Harry. She had to find Harry.
Her heart caught in her chest when she finally spotted him. He was lying near Hagrid's cabin, sprawled on his back, one arm flung out from his body at a near impossible angle. "Harry!" she screamed, dashing toward him, falling to her knees next to him.
She felt relief wash over her so heavily that she gasped at the weight of it. He blinked up at her, a small smile playing over his face. "Oh, thank God," he muttered. "You're--okay." He reached his hand up toward her face, but dropped it back again, sighing heavily. "You're--oh, god, you're okay." He let out a long breath and choked out a laugh. "You're--all right."
"I'm fine, Harry. I'm fine. Not a scratch. How are you? Are you hurt?"
"Just winded," he coughed. "Might have dislocated my shoulder." Her hands went automatically to it and he let out a cry, shifting away from her with a heartbreaking wince. "D-Don't touch," he moaned. "Please."
She felt tears sting her eyes and quickly withdrew her hand. "All right, Harry. All right, I won't touch it." She glanced around, hoping desperately to see someone who could help him. "Don't move, okay? Just keep still."
He grunted, his eyes sliding shut. "At least that's the worst of it," he muttered, grinding his teeth. "I consider it lucky, really. Who--?" He stopped, a look of immense pain crossing his face, making him gasp. When it had passed, he sighed. "Did we--lose anyone?"
She shrugged, wiping her eyes and staring around her. Where was everyone? Why wasn't anyone coming to help the wounded? "I don't know. Don't worry about that right now. Just relax."
"I'm as relaxed as I can be," he said softly, shifting and wincing again. "In fact, I'm downright sleepy."
She barked out a laugh, sniffling. "It's over, right? Is it over? Did you end it?"
He nodded. "I ended it. He's gone." He started to sit up, but she put her hand on his chest.
"No, just--lay still, Harry. Just wait. Just hold on."
"Trying," he muttered, "Sleepy."
She sniffed again, running her sleeve over her eyes. Harry was quiet and she immediately started to worry. "Hold on, Harry," she whispered, reaching out to touch his face. "It's over now. Just--hold on. It's all over."
She finally let herself collapse onto his chest, let the tears come. It was over, finally over.
"Hermione?"
She sniffled against him. "It's over," she muttered. "Oh, God, it's over."
"Hermione. Hey, come on. Wake up."
"It's--hmm?" She forced her eyes open and pulled back, looking up at him. "Harry?"
"You were talking in your sleep." He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her forehead.
"Oh. Was I? I was--I was dreaming about the--that day." She sniffed against, wiping her eyes. "It's silly, I know, but I still--do that sometimes."
He smiled slightly. "It's not silly. I do it too. I think mine are a little more frightening than yours, though. You didn't sound like it was a nightmare."
She shook her head, letting him pull her back in close to him. "It wasn't. It's never a bad dream, just-- a little strange."
"How so?" he murmured, his face buried in her hair. His hand traced gently across her shoulders and up and down her back.
She shrugged, laughing softly. "I don't know. I just remember this--feeling, this certainty that you were going to win, that we were both going to live. And I felt so--strong, powerful. It must have been the adrenaline, you know. The fight or flight thing. I just felt like--like I could cast any spell ever invented."
His hands had stopped, and she imagined, for a minute, that he had stopped breathing. Then, he coughed. "Amazing what fighting for your life will do to you, huh?" he said softly.
"Yes, definitely. But we made it. All of us. I still can't believe it sometimes."
"Believe it. It's done and we're still here."
She nodded, snuggling as tightly against him as she could managed. "Thank god." She listened to him breathe. "I was so scared for you, though. I knew you were going to win, but--when I saw you lying there--," she sniffed. "I thought you were dead. I thought I had been wrong and that we'd lost you."
He laughed softly. "No such luck. I'm still here."
"That's not funny, Harry," she said, sighing. "Do you know how hard it was afterward? I mean, I thought you were fine and then--then to go to the hospital wing and find out that you--that you weren't." She cleared her throat, willing herself not to cry. "I couldn't understand it. You were fine and I was talking to you and then you went to sleep and no one could figure out why."
"I was tired, Hermione."
"You don't sleep for a week straight just because you're tired, Harry," she muttered. "I still don't get it. I don't know why they couldn't find anything at all wrong with you."
He shrugged. "Maybe because there was nothing wrong to find? I'm serious, Hermione. I'm fine now, right? I was just worn out, that's all."
She sighed. "I suppose. I just hate not having the answers."
"Don't worry so much about the answer when the outcome is right. It's like looking a gift horse in the mouth. You'll get your nose bitten off."
She couldn't help laughing. "You're crazy."
"I'm also sleepy," he yawned. "Are you all right? Can we finish this discussion tomorrow?"
She laughed. "I'm fine. Go back to sleep."
Her mind wouldn't let her fall asleep quite yet. She kept reliving that week spent at Harry's bedside, worrying and wondering.
*****************************************************************************
Her first thought the next morning was: This is how I want to awakened every day for the rest of my life. Definitely.
His lips brushed against hers and she smiled against them. "Morning," she murmured.
"Afternoon, actually. I think we overslept a bit."
She grinned, opening her eyes and staring up at him. "Ah, well. We didn't have any plans anyway."
"True," he laughed, crawling over to lay on top of her, lowering his weight onto her carefully.
"In fact," she said, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair, "I think we should stay in this bed all day and not get up for anything."
"Sounds good to me." He rested his head on her shoulder, sighing heavily. "Except that I'm a little hungry."
"That's what room service is for."
He chuckled. "I like the way you think. So should we call now or in a little while when we take a break."
"A break from what?" she asked, trying to keep her tone one of pristine innocence. It didn't work.
He raised his head and looked down at her, quirking an eyebrow. "Funny. All right, I'll play along. From loud, wild, utterly mind-blowing sex. I plan to keep you in this bed all day, shagging until we can't stand up, and then making you get up anyway so we can go downstairs for a nice dinner."
She smirked. "Ah, but is your mind all I'm going to be blowing?"
He laughed and it sounded more carefree and happy than any she'd heard from him in a long time. "Hermione Granger! You just said something completely perverted! I'm proud of you!"
She giggled. "You're a bad influence on me." She leaned up and caught his mouth in a fierce kiss, and moaned softly when he returned it with even more passion. There was nothing teasing about him this time. His hands moved with a purpose over her bare skin, as though he wanted to touch her everywhere at once. When she lowered her hand to wrap around him, he moaned loudly, pushing into her. He slipped quickly between her legs and nudged gently into her, never taking his lips from hers.
She had to break off after a minute, not only to breathe but also so she could let loose at least one of the sounds that were building up in her throat. "Oh, Harry," she murmured, clinging to him as he moved his mouth to her neck, sucking on the spot just below her ear. "Unnnh, god."
His shoulders were tense as he moved inside of her, and his hips seemed to be straining against themselves. He was holding back, obviously.
"Harry," she whispered against his ear. "I won't break."
He leaned up and looked at her again, a small smile on his face. "I know." He shifted his position slightly and hit a spot that made her gasp. "I'm pacing myself," he grinned, and she had to giggle.
"Oh, god yeah," she sighed as he continued to move. "Oh, right there."
He was staring down at her with an intensity that made her shiver and she fought hard to hold his gaze. She watched as he started to breath more heavily, watched his eyes cloud over a bit. "Hermione," he moaned, and the sound made her shiver again. As though just the sound of his voice could finish her off, she felt her orgasm build quickly, and clutched tightly to his shoulders as he pushed her over the edge.
She arched against him, gasping out his name, feeling the electrical surge of passion shoot through her from the top of her head to the tip of her toes, leaving her breathless and shaking. She managed to slide her eyes open again and almost came again from the look in his eyes.
She had to kiss him. She didn't think she could live another minute without having his lips on hers. She pulled him down to her, wishing she could hold him like this forever, wishing he would keep kissing her like that for just as long. "Hermione," he whispered, his voice rough, so full of need it was almost pained. "God, Hermione."
She pulled back and watched his face as he lost all control, his eyes falling shut, his mouth open, his hips thrusting wildly. She watched every moment of his climax, trying to remember the expressions and sounds, trying to memorize just how gorgeous and sweet he was in that moment.
His head fell to her shoulder and he panted heavily. "Ah god," he muttered. "Oh hell, that was--."
She giggled, running her hands through his hair and turning her head to kiss his temple. "That good?"
He laughed softly. "That brilliant." He lay there until his breathing calmed. "So, lunch? Or should we have a nap first?"
She shrugged. "I don't care. As long as I don't have to get out of this bed, I don't care."
He chuckled, brushing his lips across her shoulder as he sat up and moved off of her. "You don't. Not until tonight. Just stay right there and I'll get you something to eat, all right?"
"Thank you."
He grinned at her. "Anytime." He brushed another kiss across her lips and then onto each of her cheeks.
She leaned back into the pillows, stretching and sighing. She felt an insane urge to giggle again. This trip just kept getting better and better.