Hermione watched Harry like a hawk. Her penetrating gaze was making Harry very uncomfortable. She hadn't said anything to him so far at breakfast, but even her hair frizzled with latent anger. He didn't know what to say to break the silence.
A part of him was still leaping with joy at the successful result of his ritual the night before. Another was tied up in knots, making it hard for him to chew the bacon he'd just put in his mouth. It tasted like sawdust and he was tempted to spit it out into his napkin.
"Stop staring at me," Harry said weakly, swallowing thickly and gulping down orange juice to wash away the taste.
"Where were you last night?"
"Asleep," he lied. "I didn't think it would be a big deal. You were out patrolling with Daniel and I figured you had homework to complete when you got back."
"I wanted to spend sometime with you," she said, stabbing at her scrambled eggs and stuffing the bite into her mouth.
Harry watched her face as she ate. Her brown eyes were flashing with annoyance. Her lips were pursed together as she concentrated on her plate, making them look utterly kissable and pouty. Suddenly, Harry didn't feel nervous at all about her anger.
"Look," he began, irritated, "I'm sorry, all right. Are you going to be mad at me all day?"
"Thinking about it," Hermione muttered crossly.
Harry's eyes lit up mischievously as he grinned. "If you stay mad at me, you're not going to be thoroughly kissed tonight."
Hermione stopped eating and stared at him, her mouth agape. "That's utterly ridiculous."
"Well," Harry drawled, taking another piece of bacon and eating it whole. It tasted delicious and he took another. "You're only punishing yourself by punishing me."
"Why you insufferable--"
"Unbelievably gorgeous, talented, and thoroughly kissable, Potter?"
"Harry!"
"What? I don't want you to be mad at me. I can't kiss you either, even though you do have an adorable pout."
Hermione's red face turned brighter as she tried to hide behind her edition of Hogwarts, A History. Harry laughed at her distress and ate another slice. If anything she turned even redder at this until finally Harry took pity on her and dragged her from the table. They made it to the entrance hall before Hermione turned around and smacked him in the chest.
"Ow," he said rubbing the spot where she hit him. "What was that for?"
"Harry James Potter, you pig!"
Harry captured her hand, which had been raised up to hit him again, and used it to pull her forward against his chest. He could feel her breathing against him and dropped his chin to catch her gaze. Their eyes meshed, and Harry, who'd been itching to do this all morning, sought her lips with his.
He demanded entrance and she yielded with a sigh. His hands curled around her waist pulling her harder against him as he delved deeper into her mouth. The kiss dissolved into another; slower, warmer, wetter. Hermione switched the angle, brushing her tongue languidly against his own. Harry moaned, his fingers digging into her hips.
A cough distracted Harry and he pulled away looking towards the source of irritation. Daniel was standing by the suit of armor, giving Harry a death glare. Harry squeezed Hermione's waist gently and stepped back, dropping his hand to catch one of hers.
"No inappropriate public displays of affection in the halls," Daniel informed darkly as he approached them.
"What was inappropriate about it?" Harry challenged, tightening his grip on Hermione's hand as she tried to pull away.
"Acceptable behavior does not extend beyond hand holding and chaste kisses," Daniel replied, crossing his arms.
Hermione succeeded in removing her hand from Harry's grip. He frowned at her, but she ignored him, using her freed hand to shakily push back her hair from her face. She righted her clothing, but in the end her face was still pink and her lips still plump and a little red from his kisses.
"I'm going to have to deduct points and give you a warning."
"Now wait a minute--"
"Rules are rules," Hermione agreed, staying Harry. "How many points?"
Daniel gave her a once over that had Harry bristling with anger. "Ten, from each of you. If I see you two again, it's going to be detention with Filch."
Hermione nodded, fixing a pained smile on her face. "Okay. See you in Divination tonight."
Daniel looked at first surprised, but then he looked pleased. "Sure thing, Mione," he said, flashing a million galleon smile.
Harry guided Hermione away from his brother quickly, grumbling under his breath to her. "Lousy, no good, little wanker. Where does he get off?"
"He was just acting as Headboy, Harry," Hermione reprimanded, poking him in the ribs, and looking over her shoulder. "There's a reason that rule is in place."
"Yeah," Harry retorted drolly, "an antiquated one."
"Rules exist to uphold order," replied Hermione stubbornly.
"And are meant to be broken," Harry said shooting her an amused look as they rounded the corner and took a side staircase up to the Ancient Runes classroom. "Let's risk it and snog again. We might get lucky and Snape will be the one to find us next."
"That's not funny, Harry."
"Doesn't mean I don't want to do it though."
Hermione opened and shut her mouth twice with an audible click before replying, "You're incorrigible."
Harry grinned and sprinted forward to open the door for her. She thanked him primly and walked through. He followed, taking a moment to admire the pert sway of her bum under her robes. Hermione looked over her shoulder at him and he quickly adverted his gaze and took his seat beside her at the front of the class.
During Professor Babbling's lecture, Harry listened and wrote notes with half an ear. The other half of his attention was focused on Hermione. Particularly, her mouth, which was currently nibbling on the end of her sugar quill.
Dumbledore came halfway through the double period wearing outrageous orange colored robes with black cats prancing around them. The Headmaster requested Hermione to join him in resolving a particular matter that arose. Harry wondered what had happened that required Hermione's explicit attention, but didn't comment on it as she gathered her stuff to leave.
"Take notes for me, please, Harry?" Hermione asked, slinging the shoulder strap of her bag over her head.
Harry nodded and watched her leave to go to Dumbledore. When the door clicked shut, Harry's attention was taken up by Babbling continuing with his lecture. He took notes more attentively now, but a part of his mind was occupied with trying to figure out what could have happened. Would his brother be called in as well? His scar wasn't prickling, so it had to be a regular school matter. Nothing to be suspicious about. Right?
The bell rang an hour and a half later. Harry stood up gratefully from his seat and started to pack away his things. He cast a charm on his notes to create a duplicate copy. Before placing both of them in his bag, he made sure to remove the doodle he made of Daniel getting repeatedly smashed in the face by his Headboy badge from Hermione's copy.
Harry ducked into the library on his way to Arithmancy to steal a few books from the restricted section. Madam Pince eyed him beadily and made motions to walk out from behind her desk and follow him. Annoyed at the librarian's attention, Harry slipped behind the overstuffed shelves and cast a disillusionment charm on himself and a silencing charm at his feet. The feeling of breaking eggs drizzled over him; when the sensation stopped, Harry continued on his way to the back of the library.
He snuck over the little gate and went to the Dark Arts section. He reasoned that if Horcruxes were evil, an evil wizard would have been the one to create them. He bypassed the histories and started looking at other titles. A few of them were hilarious and Harry had to stop himself from laughing outright when he read Good Help is So Hard to Find: Choosing Your Minions. A few seemed a bit more reliable and so Harry grabbed them from the shelves and shrunk them. The book entitled, Dark Magic is White Magic the Ministry Doesn't Want You to Learn, didn't want to leave its spot on the shelf and Harry had to persuade it with a few disintegrating hexes at it's spine before it wiggled loose.
Satisfied, Harry shrunk the book and stuffed it into his pocket. He jumped at the sound of the first bell ringing and quickly left the library just barely avoiding running into Madam Pince. Halfway to class, Harry remembered he was still disillusioned and hurriedly cast finite on himself. He made it just in time to Professor Vector's class. The bell rang as Harry started toward Hermione. She was looked over her shoulder at him and smiled in relief.
"Sorry, I'm late," Harry offered, sitting down and pulling out his notebook. "Had to double check something in the library. What did Dumbledore need you for earlier?"
Hermione watched him for a moment before facing back towards Vector asked quietly from the corner of her mouth, "A girl was trapped in the vanishing cupboard. Did you take notes?"
"Of course I did," Harry whispered, dipping his quill into the inkwell and writing the date, topic, and sub-topic, Professor Vector had on the blackboard.
"Well?" she asked impatiently, holding out her hand.
Harry pushed it aside with a smile. "You don't need the notes now. I'll give them to you later… for a price."
Hermione's eyes widened and she abruptly faced away from him. Harry laughed at her softly and dipped his quill. Professor Vector handed out worksheets to everyone as she walked by. Harry handed one to Hermione when the professor placed a few at the corner of their workstation. Hermione hummed delightedly and whipped out her old notes. Harry pulled his eyes away from her and looked down at the handout.
Practical Time-Turner Applications (1 of 3):
Misjumps and How to Prevent Them
Analyze the follow equations and fix the mistake that causes a misjump.
Harry worked steadily on the handout, which was several pages long, throughout the period. At one point, Hermione called Professor Vector over to ask her a question about problem four. Harry listened in and backed up three problems to look at his work. Seeing that he had done what Vector was trying to tell Hermione how to do, he went back to problem seven. There were ten in all and Harry felt pretty confident he could complete them before the bell rang.
He was just finishing up problem ten when the bell rang and the class moaned dejectedly. Hermione joined the lament as she put her quill down with a sigh.
"Haven't finish?" Harry probed lightly.
Hermione shook her head and carefully stack her work together to put with the handout in her bag. "I don't think anybody did. I'm not sure we were meant too either."
"I did," Harry said, stepping out into the aisle. "Just as the bell rang. What problem are you on? If you need help finishing--"
"I'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own," Hermione inserted sharply, following him out into the aisle. "I don't need your help, Harry."
"Fine, then you won't get it," Harry returned brusquely, pushing through the classroom doors and casting a point me spell on his wand. It swiveled and came to a stop in the direction the defense classroom had been last. He hoped this meant the classroom was finally settling down for the year and wouldn't make him hunt it down anymore.
"Look, Harry," Hermione said, walking faster to keep up with him, "I'm the one people come to for help. I have never encountered anything academically that I couldn't handle. I'm sorry, but I really want to do it on my own."
Harry slowed somewhat, watching his wand swivel to the left, and nodded. "I get it. I won't offer next time, okay? I'll just assume you won't want it."
Hermione chewed her lower lip and after a moment asked timidly, "Would you like to help me after Divination?"
"You have to go patrolling with Daniel, first though, right?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice mild.
Hermione paused mid-stride and exclaimed, "I completely forgot about that!"
Harry's mood lightened at her response about his brother and hurried them down another corridor. The armored knights burst out into song as they passed which lifted his mood even more. Hermione started giggling uncontrollably at the bawdy limericks being sung at them from all sides.
Harry stopped and bowed exaggeratedly in her direction and offered her a hand. She accepted and Harry swung her into a clumsy dance that carried them down the stretch of hallway. Breathless, Hermione let go of his hands and patted down her bushy hair.
"That was certainly exciting. I don't think I've ever heard the armor sing before other than during the winter holidays and certainly nothing as naughty as that."
"I bet they were charmed to do so when somebody walked by," Harry murmured thoughtfully, enjoying her flushed cheeks.
Hermione frowned. "You mean as in a prank?"
Nodding, Harry motioned for her to precede him and walked behind her the last few steps to the D.A.D.A. classroom. She opened the door and held it for him as he followed her into the class. Hermione sat in the middle of a row, next to Su, saving a seat for him on her right. Harry took his seat as Hobday, his goatee trembling menacingly announced that if the occamy didn't return soon he would put the whole class in detention.
Harry whistled mentally to himself as he listened with only half an ear and took out his notebook. He created a few snake doodles. He even made some of occamies with different shaped wings. A few of them were feathered but most he drew with leather wings that were reminiscent of bat wings. Hermione poked him hard, nodding her head in Hobday's direction as he shifted topics to Veritaserum and why it was no longer a creditable method to gather evidence.
It was interesting for Harry to see how it went from the end-all-be-all way to collect evidence to bottoming out as an unreliable source. All it took was a few important cases during the Death Eater Trials, nicknamed DEETs, after Voldemort's first reign of terror to establish its ineffectiveness. One person had been under both the imperious curse and the potion while testifying. A few more had the antidote condensed into the shape of a muggle pill. The testifier would bite the pill in half to keep from incriminating himself. It was a big conspiracy cracked by Auror Cloudy Moore.
Harry was so caught up in the lecture, he'd stopped taking notes just to listen. As class ended, Harry wondered what it'd be like to be known for cracking a conspiracy. A certain type of celebrity status would surely follow, and while it wouldn't last forever, it would ensure his name in history texts.
"I'm off to Divination now, Harry," Hermione said, breaking his thoughts as she brushed her lips against his cheek and wandered out into the hall.
Harry trotted after her and caught her hand up in his, linking their fingers together. When she departed to the north tower for Trelawney's biweekly lecture in craziness, he swung her back into his arms for a searing kiss. Hermione broke it off quickly and dashed away.
Harry headed for the second floor girl's lavatory to start the second potion. Halfway there, Hedwig came swooping down from one of the many windows and perched on his shoulder. Harry flashed her a grin, stroking her soft white feathers in greeting. She nuzzled into his hand and nipped on his fingers, hooting softly.
"Hey there, girl," Harry murmured, slowing his pace. "I haven't seen you in a while. What have you been up too? That male owl still bothering you?"
Hedwig bobbed her head, hooting sharply, her yellow eyes flashing annoyance.
"I see," Harry chuckled. "Want to escape him for a few days and stay with me?"
She bit his earlobe and took flight down the corridors, beating him to the girls' toilet. Harry followed through the swinging door and ran right through Myrtle. He shuddered violently as he turned back around to face her.
"Sorry about that Myrtle," Harry grimaced, brushing at the lingering iciness on his skin.
"Hello, Harry," Myrtle said brightly. "You're going to work on the more complicated of the two potions now? Three more months for us to brew together all sorts of things."
"Er… yeah," Harry said, holding in another shiver. He faced the sink and peered down at the shimmering golden snake on the underside of the faucet. §Open,§ he hissed softly and stood back. Hedwig swooped down gracefully and was gone.
Myrtle pouted, flying up to him. "Not down there again!"
"Yes, down there again," Harry confirmed, casting the sticking charm to his feet and descending down the pipe.
At the bottom he looked up at the glowing light from the dancing torches and shouted §Close!§ The bright circle of light disappeared so that there wasn't even a sliver of it left, entombing Harry inside the Chamber. Hedwig hooted from a stone outcropping, catching his attention.
§Snake-human!§
§His name is Harry, you stupid bird.§
Harry glanced away from his snowy white owl down at the pair of snakes lounging against plush velvet cushions.
§Serion, Oorjit--§
Oorjit reared, flapping his wings and snapping his jaws, hissing angrily, §I am not a stupid bird, you common belly crawler! I'm magical being from an ancient and majestic species--§
Harry stepped forward and picked Serion up in one smooth gesture. Oorjit lunged forward, but Harry hit him firmly on the head as Serion heckled the bird-snake. The occamy fell backward, sulking while Harry deposited Serion a few feet away, chiding them both on their foolish pride.
§Honestly, you'd do better, the both of you, if you wouldn't goad each other.§
§He started it,§ Serion grumbled, curling up and yawning.
§Did not,§ Oorjit shot back with a snarl.
Harry shook his head at the two of them and motioned to Myrtle to follow him into the second and larger Chamber. He set to work clearing the space of the last potion. He dumped the cauldron contents into the water bordering the walkway and scrubbed it clean. He sent a silent wandless scourgify to the floor stones. He also reordered and stacked his ingredients.
Harry pulled out the pamphlet containing the 'Prepping the Body for the Change' potion recipe. He checked off the list of ingredients against the stash he had down in the Chamber. Lionfish spine, check. Salamander blood, check. Devil Snare roots, Ashwinder eggs, and fluxweed, check. Bubotuber pus, Doxy venom, and Erumpent fluid, check. Just going over the list reminded Harry of how he'd given himself a strong dosage of hallucinogenic with the first potion. This time he would surely need a small supply of bezoars handy, since half the list was poisonous in nature.
Myrtle giggled delightedly when she saw what he'd put to the side for the next potion. Harry threw her a dirty look and poured over the instructions. With the exception of a few ingredients, he could prepare them all right now for easy brewing. It took Harry all through dinner to do just that and by the time he was done, his stomach was growling mulishly. It took him another thirty minutes to start the potion and get it to the first stage of temporary stasis.
Harry was climbing the staircase and yelling over his shoulder ten minutes after that. "If it starts to turn moldy, come get me right away, Myrtle."
"Even if you're in class?" the girl ghost asked slyly as Hedwig darted past her spectral form.
Harry nodded affirmatively, not looking back as he exited the Chamber. "Even if."
"How about in the shower?" she asked tenaciously, popping up through the floor. Her eyes wide and innocent behind her spectacles.
"No! Then you're to tell Serion so he can come get me," Harry said quickly.
She pouted at him as he exited the toilets with Hedwig. It was a lucky escape on his part.
A quick trip to the kitchens provided him with enough sandwiches to feed a contingent of Aurors for a week. Munching happily he entered the common room and looked around for Hermione. Hedwig launched off his shoulder and took her place on the mantle over the blazing fire. His eyes met and found Luna's, who tucked her wand behind her ear. She was sitting with two fifth year girls, Harry didn't recognize and Harry slid his gaze to the other side of the common room.
Hermione was sitting in a big squash chair, stroking Crookshanks as she read from her Divination book, So You Think Fortune Telling is a Bunch of Hoopla? Harry waved to her and pointed to the boys' dormitory while mouthing, "I'll be right back." She nodded and went back to reading.
It took Harry a few minutes to unpack his things and grab the stuff he needed to work on for a few assignments. His potions book for one and his arithmancy notebook for another. He trotted back downstairs and set up on the table next to Hermione's chair. He got done fairly quickly and moved himself over to the long couch where he read from the restricted library book, Dark Lords are Just Misunderstood, by Come M Erida, careful to keep the cover out of Hermione's line of sight.
By the time it was ten past midnight they were all alone in the common room. Everybody else had gone to bed. Hermione looked up from her homework, which she'd been diligently pursuing for her Divination class despite it's wooly elements.
Hedwig hooted from her perch, peering down at them with her large yellow eyes. Harry chuckled and withdrew his sack of owl treats he'd nicked from Hagrid earlier in the week. He opened the bag and tossed her a few, which she caught and nibbled on delicately.
Hermione watched Hedwig for a minute before snapping her books shut and pulling out her Arithmancy homework. She looked at Hedwig briefly before looking his way. She stood up, bringing the handout with her and sat down on the couch beside him.
"Would you like to check number four for me?" she asked primly, briefly reluctant to let him pull the handout from her grip.
Harry flashed her a melt-your-cauldron grin and tugged it free. He quickly flipped to the problem's page and read over her notes. They worked on that for a few minutes, before Hermione grabbed the worksheet from him and tossed it in her vacated chair.
Turning around, Hermione leaned against his chest and pressed her lips to his in a light chaste kiss. She closed her eyes and pressed against his mouth a little more firmly. Just the feel of her lips against his jolted Harry like that Hufflepuff cup did whenever he tried to pick it up.
His arms encircled her waist, tugging her forward. Hermione braced herself, her hands spanning the breadth of his chest. She pressed the line of her body tightly against him, changing the direction of the kiss as she did. Harry moaned his approval as he deepened the kiss once again, swirling his tongue around hers.
His fingers curled around the nape of her neck, burying themselves into her hair. She sighed softly, opening her mouth wider over him, as they lost themselves in the kiss.
"Hermione," Harry asked, pulling back, his fingers still laced in her hair.
"Yes, Harry?" Hermione whispered, blinking her eyes opened.
"Where is this going?" Harry asked, meeting her gaze. "How do you feel about me?"
"Harry?" Hermione said uncertainly, sitting up a little.
Harry let her hair slip free from his grasp. "People don't notice me Hermione. But you've asked me out even though you know I'm not my brother. So I guess, I have to ask, why?"
"You want me to stroke your ego?" Hermione guessed, scooting away from him.
"No," Harry countered, capturing her hands in his so she couldn't escape. "An honest answer would suffice."
Hermione closed her eyes and sighed, tugging her hands free. "Because I never took the time to care before and this year I've seen you be noble and self-sacrificing where you should be selfish and uncaring."
Harry smirked at her clearly remembering her actions on the train ride. "What else could I have done when you were behaving like a foolhardy Gryffindork."
Hermione swatted at his chest, her burning cheeks belying her attempt at anger. Harry's grin broadened before swooping down and capturing her mouth with his own. She was surprised but quickly melted into the kiss, her soft moan of delight ringing in his ears.
º«««º»»»ºEnd Chapter 10º«««º»»»º