Author's Note: Sorry about the delay with this chapter. :D I've had a bit of a busy day today and was in desperate need of a nap. Hope it was worth the wait. :D
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"The snow's finally stopped."
Harry nodded, not looking up from his book. "It was bound to eventually. Now we just have to wait for the plows to come through."
"Do you think that'll be today?"
He laughed softly. "Doubtful. As late as it is, they might hit the main roads, but it will probably be tomorrow or the next day before they make it out here." He grinned over at her. "You don't mind being stuck here with me for a few more days, do you?"
"Oh god no," she laughed, stretching. "I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be."
He winked at her. "I agree."
She watched as he turned back to his book. The smile faded slowly from his face, turning more serious as he started to read again. He was slumped slightly in his chair, his legs stretched out under the table, the book resting on his lap. She watched his eyes skim over the page, stop, move to the top of the next page and start over.
Of course, it was impossible for her to keep her eyes on just his face, although she could have spent hours just staring at his sharp jaw and high cheekbones and especially those beautiful eyes. No, she found her gaze trailing down his neck and over his shoulders, down to his slightly tan, nicely-developed biceps. Oh, those biceps.
She stretched again, purposely letting the sheet slide down her body. "Harry?"
"Hmm?"
"I need a bath."
"Do you want me to run the water for you?" He still hadn't looked at her. She was certain that, when he did, he would be offering more than just drawing the bath. Sharing it with her, she hoped.
"It doesn't matter. You wouldn't mind?"
"Not a bit," he said, shutting his book. He turned to look at her, his eyes roving over her body. When they finally managed to make it back up to her eyes, he grinned. "Hey there."
"Hello," she giggled. "About that bath--."
"Right. I'll get right on it."
"Would you care to join me?"
"Like I could say no to that? Of course I will, if you don't mind."
"I wouldn't have asked if I did."
He went into the bathroom and she heard the water start. "Do you want bubbles?"
"Surprise me," she laughed. "And don't take your shorts off just yet. I want to do that for you."
She heard him laugh and felt that warmth settle in her stomach again. Great, she thought, grinning. He's not just turning me into a pervert. He's turning me into a nympho-pervert.
"It's ready whenever you are," he called, and she hopped off the bed and hurried into the bathroom. "Bubbles," she laughed. "How sweet!"
"Hey, I happen to like bubble baths too, you know." He paused, frowning. "Wow, that was the most unmanly thing I think I've ever said."
She giggled, crossing to wrap her arms around him. "You are anything but unmanly, Harry. Now, had you said you like perfume and fingernail polish, it would be a different story."
"I would think so." He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers, pulling her closer, until her body was flush against his. "Now, I think we should get in that tub right now, before I decide this hard floor is good enough for what I want to do to you."
"And just what do you want to do to me?"
"Everything. Anything and everything. And I want to do it right now."
She had never imagined how quickly she could move when she needed to. She settled herself into the water, starting up at him in anticipation. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
He laughed. "You said you wanted to take my shorts off. I was just waiting for you to do it."
She grinned, standing back up and reaching forward to grab his waistband. She tugged on it, pulling him closer, until he was right in front of her. She slowly, carefully, pulled them down, catching his bottom lip between her teeth as she did. He gave a contented sigh, running his hands over her arms. When she pulled back, he actually whimpered slightly. "Relax," she whispered, sinking down to her knees and taking his boxers down with her.
"Not even if you paid me to could I relax right now. Not with you down there, looking at me like that."
She grinned, then leaned forward and wrapped her hand around him, followed by her mouth. He moaned, arching toward her, his hands moving frantically from her hair to her shoulders and back. She ran her tongue over him and he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Move over," he muttered, and she barely made it out of his way before he was scrambling into the tub and sliding into the water next to her.
"Impatient?" she smirked.
He looked at her incredulously. "Well-yeah! Come here."
He reclaimed her mouth, pulling her onto his lap, then moved to kiss every inch of her that he could reach. Within a few minutes, both were writhing, battling to see who could touch and kiss more of the other's bare skin.
"Hermione?" he gasped, his voice muffled by her shoulder.
"Hmm?" she moaned back, sucking on the top of his ear.
"I want to be in you. Now."
She knew she would never get tired of hearing those words. She shifted until she was kneeling across his lap, keeping her eyes on his as he slipped inside of her. "Oh god," she sighed. "It's so perfect."
"Oh yeah," he murmured, leaning to put his lips on her again. "Bloody brilliant."
They'd yet to try this particular position, and she didn't know the finer points of doing it well. She experimented with a few different moves, then sighed. "Um, Harry--?"
He wrapped his hands around her waist and leaned her back slightly, speeding his movements. "Just like that," he whispered back. "However you like it."
"I like this," she moaned, letting her head fall back. "A lot."
He laughed. "It's definitely-uunnnh. Oh yeah, it's nice."
One of his hands slipped around to her stomach, then lower and she gasped. "Oh! Harry!" She couldn't help speeding the movement of her hips. It seemed her body knew what she wanted whether her mind did or not, and it was determined to do what she wanted.
Harry thrust his own hips up from beneath her and she wailed, arching back so far that her head almost dipped in the water. She thought she might very well have drowned if Harry hadn't kept one hand on her waist and pulled her. She collapsed against him, panting.
He held her, his face buried in her neck, until she had calmed down some. "Hermione?" he said softly, his voice cracking.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Um-can you move again, please?"
She almost laughed. "Right, sorry."
This time, she had the opportunity to pay attention to what he liked, and she learned a few new tricks. Most importantly, though, she got to watch his beautiful face. He dropped his head back against the side of the tub, letting his eyes fall shut, making soft grunts in time with her movements. She leaned forward to brush her lips against his throat and his hand jerked against her thigh.
She leaned in closer to him, letting the bare skin of her breasts brush against him and he moaned. "God, Hermione," he sighed. "Harder, please. Please, Hermione, harder!" She had left him breathless, was making him whimper even, and had never felt so sexy, so powerful, in her life.
Until, that is, he climaxed. His head was thrown back, his eyes shut tight, and he literally screamed as his hips bucked wildly. She left him alone for a minute, just watching as he panted and gasped, nearly slipping under the surface of the water. When he finally opened his eyes and looked at her, it was with an expression of complete and total relief and gratitude. "All right?" she asked softly, leaning in to kiss him gently.
"I've never been so all right in my life," he grinned drowsily. "Aren't we supposed to be, I dunno, bathing?"
She laughed softly. "I suppose. Although I really just want to stay here until the waters turns cold or we melt."
He sat up and shifted, taking hold of her shoulders. "Turn around."
She started to ask why, then realized she didn't care. She turned so that her back was too him. He urged her to lie back, running his hands through her hair as it floated in the water around her. Her eyes fell shut of their own free will and she did what his hands directed, sitting up when he indicated, letting her head fall back so he could spread the shampoo through it, lying back again to let him rinse it.
He lathered a washcloth and began to wash her back and she reveled in the feeling of being so pampered. So this is what it's like, she thought, sighing in near ecstasy. "Want me to wash you?" she asked, giggling as his hand moved around her to wash her stomach.
He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm having a good time doing this."
She leaned back against him just enjoying the feel of him against her back, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her. "There's a potion I think we ought to get."
"What kind of potion?"
"It's for extended--erm, activity. Keeps you in the mood longer, lets you go more than one round. That sort of thing."
He laughed softly against her cheek. "And just how do you know about this potion?"
"I read about it, thank you very much. But you just tell me it doesn't sound like a good idea."
He grinned. "It sounds like a wonderful idea. I'm sure we'll come across an apothecary somewhere. We can pick it up then."
"And until then?"
"We've got youth on our side." He bent his head to kiss her neck. "And never underestimate the benefits or pure enthusiasm."
She giggled. "Oh, never. Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing."
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She took her time drying off, sliding her robe onto her shoulders. She was so relaxed that she couldn't have cared less about going to dinner at this point. She didn't care what she did as long as she did it with Harry.
She stood, stretching, and wandered toward the bathroom door. He was standing, still naked, at the sink, smearing shaving cream on his face. She watched him, almost entranced, as he ran the razor over his skin. He caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye and glanced at her. She smiled at him. "Don't mind if I watch, do you?"
He shrugged, turning back to the mirror. "If you want to. Not much of a show." She thought it was. For some reason, it was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen. He leaned in close to the mirror, squinting to see what he was doing since his glasses were still in the bedroom somewhere, and humming what sounded like Love Me Do under his breath.
"You're seem to be in a good mood."
He grinned crookedly at her, rinsing the razor. "A shag like that is bound to put you in good spirits."
She didn't take offense at the term "shag". It was just Harry, she knew. "So, what do you have planned for after dinner?"
"There isn't all that much to do, now, is there? We can come back upstairs and watch TV, if you want. Or we can--well, no, that's pretty much our only option." He winked at her in the mirror, smirking and tilting his chin to shave his neck.
"We could find something else to do, I'm sure."
He laughed softly, rinsing his face and reaching for a comb. He tried to get his hair to lay down, which, even at its currently very short length, she knew was impossible. The hair immediately around the part stuck out at odd angles, and several other strands completely resisted combing at all, snapping straight back to where they'd been after the comb had passed. She laughed, watching as he frowned at the mirror and cursed his hair. "It might behave better if you put some kind of product on it."
"It would behave better if I shaved it off," he said, giving up and tossing the comb down. "I'm used to it by now."
"Can I try?" she asked, stepping up behind him and resting her face against his arm.
"If you want to, but it'll just frustrate you," he said with a shrug. She motioned for him to sit down on the edge of the tub, then dipped the comb under the running water again.
He was right, it was frustrating. No matter what she did, the hair stuck up of it's own accord. It went were it wanted, which was usually the complete opposite direction of where she wanted it to go. "It has a mind of its own," she muttered, reaching for her toiletry bag. "Do you care if I put some gel in it?"
"No, that's fine."
He didn't sound terribly enthused about it, but he didn't argue either.
She squirted some orange styling gel onto her palm and rubbed her hands together. When she smeared it onto his hair, he winced slightly. "What?"
"It smells like flowers."
She laughed. "It smells like coconut and kiwi, Harry. Besides, the smell isn't that strong. No one else will even notice." She combed the gel through his hair and, incredibly, it all laid down just right. "There," she pronounced happily, stepping back to look at it.
"What?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "Don't tell me it worked."
"It did. Look in the mirror."
He stood and stepped closer to the mirror, looking as closely as he could at his image. "No way," he muttered. "You couldn't possibly have--. No bloody way. How did you do that?"
"Just the gel," she said proudly. "Do you like it?"
He laughed, still carefully studying his reflection. "Like it? It's brilliant. It's never looked so good."
She grinned. "I actually like it either way, but it is very different seeing it tamed for once."
He took one last long look, then turned back to her. "I'll have to let you fix it more often. Thanks."
She felt her cheeks grow warm. "My pleasure."
He put a hand on her chin and tilted her head back until her eyes were on his. His lips brushed hers and she sagged against him, forgetting about everything but him. When he pulled back, she sighed. "We should stop that and get dressed," he said, stepping back. "Otherwise we're never going to get down to dinner."
She grudgingly let go of him, not caring, at the moment, if they went to dinner or not. She just wanted him to kiss her again. She nodded and followed him back into the bedroom. He was careful pulling his shirt over his head, trying desperately not to mess up his hair, and she felt another surge of pride. God, he's beautiful, she mused, watching him dress. So damned beautiful.
She pulled on her own clothes absent-mindedly, catching her own tangled mane back into a tail. She would undoubtedly look like a slob next to him, but she didn't care. She caught him stealing glances at her as well, and that made her feel more attractive than she'd ever felt in her life.
"Ready?" he asked her a few minutes later, lacing up his trainers.
She nodded. "Absolutely." She took his arm, wondering if this could be counted as their "first date".