Too Close For Comfort

BeaumontRulz

Rating: R
Genres: Romance, Humor
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 15/06/2006
Last Updated: 15/06/2006
Status: completed

When Hermione finds her boyfriend cheating, who is there to make her feel better and offer her shelter? Hopefully humorous...

Chapters

1. Too Close For Comfort

1. Too Close For Comfort

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Too Close For Comfort

“Y’know why you’re such a good friend Harry?” Hermione slurred, looking up at him.

He smiled, “I don’t know. Why?”

“Because…” She paused, holding one finger up and frowning. “Because you saved my life and… you haven’t ever betrayed me!”

“Alright Hermione,” he said, chuckling softly. “I think it’s time we went home.”

“Nooo,” she whined, clinging onto her seat very tightly and squaring her shoulders. “I haven’t drunk my woes away yet.”

“Come on honey,” he said, trying to pry her fingers off the seat. “You’ve drunken enough of your woes away for tonight.”

“Oh alright,” she submitted, sliding off the bar stool and standing up unsteadily. Harry made a move to hold her up but she swatted at his hands, “No, Harry. I can stand up,” she said, swaying slightly as she began to make her way towards the exit.

He followed her, ready to catch her if she fell over or stumbled. She only stumbled when they were outside and Harry was swiftly at her side, his arms encircled around her body and stopping her from falling to the ground. She looked up at him, a small frown on her face,

“Are you trying to ‘get lucky’ Harry Potter?” she asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him.

He laughed softly, “You fell over Hermione. And you know I would never take advantage of you in this state.”

She suddenly smiled and leant up and kissed his lips hard. “Good boy,” she slurred, using his shoulders to pull herself up. She began to walk towards Harry’s car and he watched her for a moment, a finger pressed to his lips. When she stumbled again, Harry was caught out of his trance and rushed to her side to help her up again,

“Honestly Hermione,” he muttered.

“I’m allowed to get drunk when I find my boyfriend with another girl,” she slurred irritably, swatting at his hands as he tried to help her up. She stood up unsteadily and blinked, “Let’s find another bar Harry!”

“No,” he said firmly, sighing. He began to herd her towards the car and then helped her climb in. “We need to go home.”

“Oh fine,” she said, sighing and attempting to put her seatbelt on. When her fingers slipped around the clasp for the seatbelt, Harry sighed and leant across her to do it up for her. “Thanks,” she said stubbornly, not looking at him.

Harry nodded and pulled back. He shut her door and ran around to the other side of the car. He sat down in the driver’s seat and did his own seatbelt up. Once the car was running, he reversed and drove out of the car park, in the direction of his apartment.

“You’re going to stay at my place tonight,” he said firmly as he came to a halt at a red light. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go back to his place.”

“Mmm,” she murmured, closing her eyes and resting her head back on the headrest of the seat.

“You can wear one of my old Quidditch jerseys to sleep in until I go over to your place to get some of your stuff,” Harry continued, putting his foot on the accelerator as the light went green.

“I don’t wear clothes when I sleep though,” she slurred softly, looking slightly confused.

Harry couldn’t help but chuckle softly, “Then you won’t have to borrow my jersey. You can sleep in my bed if you want.”

“Just as long as I have you to cuddle into,” she murmured, sighing and closing her eyes again.

Harry frowned slightly and said, “Then you’ll have to wear a jersey to bed.”

“Nuh uh,” she said sleepily, tossing her head so it was facing him. “I can’t sleep if I have clothing on.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think you’d be happy to wake up tomorrow morning, naked, and with me next to you.”

“Who told you that?!” she asked, looking slightly outraged.

“No one,” he said, turning the left indicator on as he approached the driveway to the car park beneath the block of apartments he lived in.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make absurd assumptions like that,” she slurred, sitting up slightly and holding one finger up again.

“An absurd assumption would be that you’d want to sleep naked with me,” he retorted, turning around in his seat to watch the wall as he reversed into his garage.

She didn’t respond and, when he had parked the car safely, Harry noticed she’d fallen asleep. He sighed and got out of the car to run around to her side. He undid her seatbelt and picked her up like a baby, pushing the door shut with his foot and managing to press the button on his keys to lock the car. He carried Hermione over to the lift up to his apartment and poked the ‘up’ button.

Once they were in Harry’s apartment (after a small incident involving Hermione deciding to try to turn around in his arms as he tried to open the door), he carried her to his bedroom and laid her down carefully on the bed.

“This was fun,” she murmured, looking up at Harry tiredly.

He smiled and moved down the bed to take her shoes off her, “Yeah, it was.”

She smiled happily and turned her head on one side, gazing at a photo of herself, Ron and Harry on the bedside table. The photo was taken on their last day of school. She was in the middle, and Harry and Ron had their arms around her shoulders and waist. She watched the photo version of herself giggle happily as the photo version of Harry picked her up and Ron tickled her.

Hermione smiled at the memory and looked back at Harry. He had removed her shoes and socks, and was now looking up at her.

“Do you need any help undressing?” he asked, standing up off the bed and going to his wardrobe and withdrawing his old Quidditch jersey.

She sat up slightly and began to undo her shirt, “It’s harder to put clothes on while drunk than to take them off,” she said, as reasonably as she could.

He smiled and dropped the jersey on the bed. “I’ll be out on the couch then. Call me if you need anything.”

He left the room and went into the kitchen to pour himself a drink of water. He glanced at the couch and drew his wand. He waved it at the couch and it transformed into a nice, comfortable double bed, with a nice warm blanket covering it. He downed the rest of his water and walked into the living room and stripped down to his boxers. Then, he climbed into the bed and took his glasses off, placing them down on the coffee table next to the bed.

As he settled himself down on the bed, he heard the door to his bedroom open. He looked over at the door to see Hermione leaning against the doorframe, only wearing his Quidditch jersey.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, sitting up and watching her cross the room to him.

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” she asked, climbing onto the bed. She circled her arms around his waist and said, “I won’t be any bother, promise.”

Harry smiled and slipped an arm around her shoulders, “Alright ‘Mione.”

She smiled back and they snuggled down in the bed together, Harry pulling the covers up over their bodies.

“Thank you Harry,” she murmured, closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder.

He leant down and kissed the top of her head, “S’ok ‘Mione.”

---

When Harry woke up the next morning, it was to a half-empty bed. He frowned slightly, patting the space where Hermione should have been for a moment.

“’Mione?” he called out, turning around to grab his glasses from the coffee table.

“I’m just in the kitchen,” she replied, looking over at him from the stove. “Stay in bed.”

“Why?” he asked, raising the glasses to his eyes. He smiled as he watched her flip a pancake over in a frying pan. “You don’t need to do that.”

“I figured since you were so nice letting me stay here, and then sleep with you, that you deserved breakfast in bed,” she said, half-smiling as she took the cooked pancake out of the frying pan and placed it on top of about five others.

“Don’t you have a hangover?” he asked, raising one eyebrow as she squirted maple syrup over the pancakes.

“I wasn’t called the smartest witch in the year for nothing Harry,” she said, smiling as she carried the plate of pancakes over to him. “I actually found a potion that cures hangovers.”

Harry laughed, “Why didn’t you tell me this? You could have spared me many painful mornings.”

She grinned rather mischievously as she sat down on the bed next to him. “I figured you deserved to feel the consequences of your drinking.”

He snorted, “And you don’t?”

“Be quiet,” she said, poking her tongue out at him. “Do you want your pancakes?”

He grinned cheekily at her and took the plate from her. “Thank you Hermione.”

She smiled and climbed back under the sheets with him, ripping a small piece of the pancakes off and nibbling on it.

“Why are you changed?” he asked, beginning to eat.

“Well, like I told you last night, I can’t sleep in clothes. So halfway through the night, after you fell asleep I took your jersey off and… Harry, don’t cough like that,” she scolded him, patting his back softly, for he had swallowed some pancake down the wrong way.

“You took it off?” he asked incredulously. “I hope you were wearing underwear.”

“Of course I was. Anyway, I couldn’t seem to find the jersey this morning so after I made that potion to get rid of my hangover, I had a nice shower,” she said, in a matter-of-factly voice, shrugging.

“I hope I didn’t touch you anywhere,” he said awkwardly, gazing down at his pancakes with sudden interest.

She smiled and patted his knee, “It doesn’t matter if you did.”

“Why not?” he asked, looking up at her.

She shrugged, “It’s just a part of my body. And it’s not as though I’ve never touched your chest before.”

“Yeah, but it’s different with women,” he said, setting his pancakes down on the coffee table and turning his body to face her. “Men can just wander around without shirts on, women can’t.”

“Well, we could. But I don’t suppose that would go down too well,” she added thoughtfully. She shrugged again and said, “Just don’t worry Harry.”

He sighed and nodded. “Well, would you like me to go over to your boyfriend’s apartment and grab some of your stuff?”

“Ex-boyfriend. And please,” she said, sighing and looking away from him. “I don’t really want to see him.”

Harry nodded again and leant forward and hugged her to him tightly. “It’ll be okay Hermione,” he said softly to her ear.

She smiled weakly and pulled back to kiss his cheek tenderly, “Yes, but only because I have you.”

“Aww,” he said, grinning and kissing her cheek back.

He moved back slightly and looked into her eyes. She smiled and rested her forehead on his, the tip of her nose touching his. “I suppose you should finish your breakfast and then get ready,” she said softly.

Harry felt her breath on his lips and couldn’t help but smile slightly. “I suppose.”

She pulled back and slid off the bed. “I’ll be in your room reading then.”

Harry nodded and he swung his legs off the bed and stood up, picking the plate of pancakes as he did so. “Could you transfigure the bed back?” he asked, walking to the kitchen and sitting down at the bench.

“Sure,” she said, grabbing her wand from the counter and waving it at the bed. As it transformed back into a couch, she noticed a scarlet sleeve poking out at the side of the cushions. “I found your Quidditch jersey,” she said, yanking it out of the couch and holding it up to show him. “I must have kicked it down the other side of the bed when I took it off.”

He gave her a half smile and said, “You can keep it if you want.”

She smiled and rolled her eyes at him; “I’ll put it back in your wardrobe.”

Harry nodded and turned back to his food, eating it up quickly. Once he was finished, he went into his room to find Hermione sitting in the middle of his bed with her nose in a book. He smiled and rolled his eyes,

“Are you going to stay there?”

She smiled and looked up at him, “I’m comfortable, for your information. I won’t be going until you make me.”

He laughed, “Alright then. I’ll be out in ten minutes to get changed and then you must leave.”

“Not unless I’m still comfortable,” she called as he shut the door to his bathroom behind him.

---

“I’m not moving,” she said stubbornly as he exited the bathroom ten minutes later.

“Come on Hermione,” Harry whined, holding the towel at his waist very tightly and feeling droplets of water run down his back from his hair.

“Just get changed here or in your bathroom,” she said reasonably, looking up at him. She smiled in appreciation as she watched stray droplets of water slide down his torso.

“The whole bathroom is wet,” he grumbled, “and it’s all steamy.”

“So get changed here if you’re going to be a baby.”

Harry poked his tongue out at her and opened his wardrobe, still holding onto his towel with one hand. He pulled out boxers, pants and a shirt, and proceeded to put the shirt on, first securely fastening the towel around his waist.

“Do you want me to go and get some of your stuff first?” he asked, buttoning the shirt and turning around to face Hermione.

“If you could,” she said, glancing up at him from the book. “And when you come back we can go out for coffee or something.”

He nodded and finished buttoning his shirt up. “What do you want from there?”

“Just some clothes and my books.”

Harry nodded again and pulled his boxers up and under his towel, flashing Hermione a nice view of his arse as he pulled them up and the towel fell off. “Is that it?” he asked, pulling his pants on.

Hermione, after having laughed softly and rolled her eyes said, “Yeah. I’ll get the rest of my stuff when I’m feeling a little better about being around him.”

“Okie dokie,” Harry said, crossing the room to sit down next to her. He raised an eyebrow as she giggled slightly and glanced down at his waist. “You saw my arse, didn’t you?” he asked accusingly.

She grinned very mischievously, “You do have a rather nice bottom, my dear.”

He snorted and poked her softly, “On that note, I’ll be off to retrieve your clothes and books from the lair of doom.”

She laughed again and pulled him into a hug. “Thank you Harry,” she said to his ear, kissing his cheek softly as she pulled back.

He smiled and stood up off the bed. “See you soon.”

And he disapparated.

---

“Alright mate, stop fucking whoever you thought was important enough to break Hermione’s heart and help me gather Hermione’s stuff up!” Harry yelled throughout the apartment as he appeared in the living room.

“Shut your face,” Harry heard Hermione’s ex-boyfriend, Michael, mutter darkly as he came out of his bedroom, a bathrobe wrapped around his body.

Harry smiled a very sarcastic smile and said, “Would you like me to hurt you? Because I will!”

“No!” Michael said quickly, holding his hands up in defence.

The smile left Harry’s face as he pushed past Michael, into the bedroom. He narrowed his eyes as he heard the shower going and glanced over his shoulder at Michael,

“She’s still here?”

Michael nodded and bit his lip. “If I knew you were coming I would have made her go.”

“I don’t care,” Harry said shortly, going to the wardrobe and opening it. He found Hermione’s drawers and pulled them open, taking most of the clothing out. He then drew his wand and conjured a large suitcase. “Wingardium Leviosa,” he muttered, moving the clothing into the suitcase. He then closed it and shrunk it with his wand before pocketing it.

“Did she want anything else?” Michael asked.

“Just her books,” Harry said, going over to the bookcase and looking through them thoughtfully. “Are they all hers?”

“Yes.”

Harry couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Hermione cataloguing and organising her books into alphabetical order whenever she moved into a new house, as he conjured another suitcase up. He waved his wand at the bookcase and the books floated down into the suitcase neatly. Harry closed the case and shrunk it with his wand and placed it in his pocket with the other shrunken suitcase.

As he turned around to say goodbye, the door of the bathroom, and a blonde woman clad in only a towel wrapped around her body walked out.

“Oh, sorry am I interrupting something?” she asked, frowning at the tense silence between Michael and Harry.

“Harry was just leaving,” Michael said, looking pointedly at Harry.

Harry snorted softly and looked the woman up and down, “You left Hermione for her?”

Michael rolled his eyes, “Thank you for stating the obvious Potter. Now please leave.”

“Whoa, this is Harry Potter?” the woman asked, her eyes widening.

“Not now,” Michael hissed at her.

She glared at him and looked back at Harry, smiling in an odd sort of seductive way. “What are you doing later on tonight Harry?”

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked back at Michael, “You left Hermione for someone who would leave you in a second?” Harry looked back at the woman and said, “I plan on spending the night with Michael’s ex-girlfriend, my best friend, Hermione Granger. You know, the woman who will hunt you down eventually.”

The blonde paled slightly and looked back at Michael, “You didn’t tell me he was friends with her.”

Michael scowled at her and crossed his arms.

“I’ll be off then,” Harry said glancing around the room to check nothing else of significance was left there. He looked back at Michael, “Don’t attempt to talk to Hermione until she comes to you.”

“You say that like it’s a threat,” Michael said, glaring at Harry and clenching his fists slightly.

“It is,” Harry said through gritted teeth. “I won’t warn you again.”

And with that, Harry disapparated.

---

Hermione jumped slightly as Harry popped back into the room, losing her place in her book,

“Harry!” she said reproachfully, frowning and trying to find the page she was reading.

“Sorry,” he said, taking the shrunken suitcases out of his pocket and expanding them back to their original size. “I have most of your clothing and all of your books.”

“Thank you!” she said happily, crawling off the bed and kneeling down in front of the suitcases and opening them. She grinned happily as she found her books, and searched through to make sure all of her books were there. “You’re such a good friend,” she said, standing up and hugging Harry tightly.

“Of course I am,” he said, patting her back.

“I’m going to put these in your bookcase, okay?” she asked, sinking to the ground and going through the suitcase, bringing out two books in each hand and going to Harry’s bookcase.

“Alright. Want me to help?” he asked, kneeling down and looking at the books.

“Sure.”

He gathered five books up in his arms and took them over to the bookcase too, “Would you like them in alphabetical order?” he asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

She laughed softly, “You know me too well my dear.”

They were there for at least half an hour as Hermione integrated her books between Harry’s, making sure that they were all in perfect alphabetical order, by the author’s last name. Once finished, she stood back to admire their work,

“It’s a work of art,” Harry remarked, smiling as he watched her gaze at the books.

She laughed and slapped his arm lightly, “Of course it is,” she said, grinning at him. “We made it together.”

“Aww another tender moment,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and kissing her temple. “Aren’t we sentimental today?”

She laughed again and turned her head to kiss the side of his mouth affectionately, lingering for a moment longer than usual. “How about that coffee now?”

“Good idea,” he said, taking his arm from her shoulders, “But methinks you should get changed first. You’re still in your clothing from last night.”

“Oh. Whoops,” she said, laughing to herself as she walked to the suitcase with her clothes. “What should I wear Harry?”

“Something comfortable,” he said, sitting down on the bed.

She nodded and searched through her suitcase for a pair of jeans and a nice blue t-shirt. “Have I ever left any shoes here?” she asked, frowning slightly.

“Yeah, your sneakers are in my wardrobe.”

“Can I borrow some socks?” she asked, pulling her sneakers out of his wardrobe.

He laughed softly and said, “Sure.”

She dropped the sneakers and socks she’d pulled out and raised an eyebrow at Harry, “Are you going to leave?”

He grinned cheekily and walked to the bookcase and pulled a book out, “Methinks I’ll stay and read a book.”

She smiled and rolled her eyes, “Hoping to see my bottom?”

“You saw mine, it’s only fair!” he said, walking back to his bed and sitting down on the side facing her.

She snorted and said, “I am not showing you my arse.”

He smiled knowingly and said, “Alright,” in a maddeningly patient way.

She rolled her eyes again, and began to undress, pulling her shirt up over her head. Harry’s eyes widened slightly as they rested upon her pert and cloth covered breasts,

‘They weren’t covered last night,’ his mind reminded him. He bit his lip and looked swiftly down at his book.

When he looked up at her again, she was dressed and slipping her feet into her sneakers. “Let’s go then,” she said, smoothing her t-shirt over her stomach.

Harry nodded and stood up with her. “We’ll wander over to that little coffee shop we used to go to in Diagon Alley, okay?”

“Okay.”

---

“Harry, you’ve got a foam moustache,” Hermione giggled as he tried to lick it off.

“Where?” he asked in indignation, trying with all his might to lick it off.

“Oh honestly, come here,” she said, reaching out and wiping it off with her thumb. “See?” she said, showing him her thumb, before licking the foam off thoughtfully.

He poked his tongue out at her and took another sip of his coffee, the result being that he had another foam moustache.

“Harry,” Hermione said in an over-exasperated voice.

He laughed and wiped it off with the back of his hand, “You know you love me.”

Hermione gasped dramatically and looked around, “Who told you that?!” A smile broke out on her face and she said, “What are we doing later on?”

“I dunno,” he said thoughtfully, “Before Michael… y’know, I was planning on going out to a club tonight. But after last night methinks you should stay in,” he added with a smile.

She smiled cheekily and sipped her coffee, “If you wanted to go out, we can go out. I promise not to get as drunk as I did last night.”

“No, I just want to spend some time with you at home now,” he said, reaching across the table and touching her hand. “We can order pizza and rent some good movies.”

“That sounds much more fun than a club at the moment, to be honest,” Hermione said, squeezing his hand. “Alright, we’ll do that. But no horror movies.”

“Aww come on Mione,” Harry whined, “They’re the best kind of movie! They freak people out and there’s always a good sex scene!”

Hermione snorted, “Just because you’re not getting any. To save you the trouble I suppose I should just buy you some porn.”

Harry grinned, “Would you?”

She laughed and slapped his hand, “No!”

“Oh alright,” he said, still grinning at her, “Romantic comedy or something then?”

“I think it would be best,” she said, sipping her coffee.

“You’ve got a foam moustache,” Harry said, smirking as he reached up to remove it with his thumb. “See, I’m not the only messy drinker,” he said, showing her his thumb. He licked the foam off and said, “Want to rent the movies now?”

“Good idea,” she said, downing the rest of her coffee and standing up. She brought out her purse and was going to open it before Harry placed a hand on hers,

“I’m paying ‘Mione.”

She smiled, “If you insist. But I’m paying for the movies.”

---

“A Batman marathon!” Hermione said suddenly, running towards the back of the shop and dragging Harry by the hand behind her.

“Hermione calm down!” he exclaimed, avoiding making a shelf of movies fall over by an inch.

“I want to see if they’ve got any Batman movies!” she said, tugging him forward. “Ah good, they’ve got Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. The best ones.”

“What about Batman Returns?” Harry asked.

“That one was grotesque and the guy who played Batman was not attractive,” she said briskly, taking the two movies down from the shelf.

“And of course, that’s the most important thing, isn’t it?” Harry asked, smiling at her.

“Oh yes, Bruce Wayne must be attractive my dear. Or else he wouldn’t be an eligible bachelor,” she said reasonably, poking her tongue out at him.

“Well, are those the only two movies we want?”

“Methinks so,” Hermione said thoughtfully. “Do you want any others?”

Harry shook his head and they walked up to the counter and paid for them. “Do we want to stock up on popcorn and sweets?” he asked as they left the video shop.

“Good idea,” she said, steering him towards a nice little supermarket.

---

“Let Batman Forever commence!” Harry exclaimed dramatically, holding the DVD remote out and pressing play.

Hermione laughed and brought a bowl of popcorn from the kitchen over to him, jumping over the back of the couch and sitting down next to Harry.

“Yum,” Harry said, taking a nice handful of popcorn from her and stuffing half of it in his mouth.

She smiled and crossed her legs on the couch, placing the bowl of popcorn in between her legs. “Alright, no talking,” she told him, taking two pieces of popcorn and placing them in her mouth.

“But what if I want to ask a question?” he asked.

She poked him and said, “If you talk then I won’t let you have any popcorn.”

“Oh alright,” he grumbled.

They sat there quite happily for the next few hours, watching the movies. By the time Batman and Robin was coming to a close, Harry was leaning back on the couch while Hermione cuddled up to him, her head on his chest. When the movie ended he looked down at her to see her eyes were closed and she was pouting slightly, since her cheek was squashed up against his chest. He smiled and nudged her softly,

“The movie’s over,” he whispered.

She opened one eye sleepily and glanced at the television screen, “Well spotted,” she murmured, sighing and opening the other eye to look up at him.

“Do you want me carry you to my room?”

She nodded and moved off Harry slightly. He stood up and turned the movie and television off, before leaning down and picking Hermione up like a baby. He carried her into his room and laid her down carefully on his bed.

“I’ll be out on the couch…”

“No, you’ll be in here,” she interrupted him, sitting up to face him. “Last night was unnecessary. We could have stayed in here.”

He smiled and said, “You like to sleep naked, remember?”

“Half-naked, thank you very much and I think you coped quite well last night.”

“I didn’t know you were half-naked.”

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I can try to sleep in your jersey.”

“Why don’t I just sleep on the couch?”

“Because I want someone in the bed with me,” she said, biting her lip. “And I don’t really think its right that I kick you out of your own bed.”

“Well… just as long as you’re fine with me…”

“I am,” she reassured him, patting his knee.

He nodded, “Then I suppose I should change for bed. You go brush your teeth first and I’ll just quickly clean up out there.”

Hermione nodded and he stood up off the bed to go out to the living room. Her eyes slid down his back to his backside and she couldn’t help but smirk as she remembered the rather nice view she had of it naked that morning. As he disappeared around the corner she was snapped out of her reverie and stood up off the bed, to go to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth before bed.

When Harry came back from the living room, Hermione had just finished brushing her teeth. She came out of the bathroom just as he was heading for it, and as he passed she smiled at him,

“I’ll change and get into the bed, okay?”

“Alright, I’ll be out in a moment,” he said, closing the door to the bathroom. Once alone, he found himself suddenly rather nervous. ‘Because she’ll be naked with me,’ he thought to himself, his stomach suddenly feeling as though he’d just jumped from a great height. He shook this nervousness off, ‘She’s just Hermione. It’s not as though anything will happen.’

As he began to brush his teeth, a new thought occurred to him,

‘Is she just Hermione?’

He glanced at the mirror and frowned at himself. What on earth was he thinking about? She was Hermione, his best friend of fifteen years. The woman who’d stood by him throughout all that time. Harry sighed and spat out the foamy toothpaste into the basin.

‘She’s definitely not just Hermione anymore, that’s for sure,’ he thought to himself as he rinsed his mouth out with water.

He then washed his face and dried it with a towel, before opening the bathroom door. Hermione was sitting up in his bed, with his Quidditch jersey on, and reading some sort of magazine, frowning slightly.

“What are you reading?” he asked, beginning to strip down to his boxers.

“Witch Weekly,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “They don’t have anything important to talk about, do they?”

Harry laughed softly and shook his head, “No. It’s full of gossip about celebrities. I’ve been featured in a couple of their articles. Even with you, a couple of times.”

Hermione smiled and said, “Oh thank you for reminding me of Rita Skeeter.”

“Yeah but after we left school people caught us on camera holding hands as we wandered through Diagon Alley,” Harry said, picking up his discarded clothing and taking them to a small wicker basket at the end of his bed. He placed them in the basket and said, “They then brought those old articles by Rita back up, don’t you remember?”

“Oh God, I think I repressed those memories,” Hermione said, shuddering slightly. She placed the magazine on the bedside table and said, “Let’s never buy Witch Weekly again, okay?”

“Good idea,” Harry said, climbing into the other side of the bed.

“Sleep now?” she asked.

“Another good idea,” he said, smiling warmly at her. “Are you going to…?” He gestured at the jersey.

She laughed softly and said, “I’ll take it off when the candles are out.”

“Alright. Well I suppose good night,” he said, leaning over and kissing her cheek softly.

She kissed his cheek back tenderly, “’Night.”

He reached to the other bedside table for his wand and waved it. The candles were extinguished and Harry settled down, placing his wand and his discarded glasses back down on the bedside table. Hermione struggled for a moment with the jersey, and then threw it to the ground, snuggling back underneath the covers.

They lay there for a moment, in silence. Harry was on his back, staring up at the ceiling, his body rigid with anticipation. Hermione was turned away from him, clutching at the bed sheets over her shoulder. She turned a head back to look at Harry and could see his rigid outline.

She sighed and turned over on her back, reaching over to touch his shoulder, “Are you alright?” she asked softly.

He turned his head on one side and smiled, “I’m fine.”

“You’re not relaxed though. Do you want me to put the jersey back on?”

“No!” he said, probably too quickly. He could sense her grin and he smiled sheepishly, “I want you to be comfortable. I’ve just not ever really slept with a half-naked girl before. My exes always insisted on wearing clothing to bed because they thought I’d probably get ideas during the night.”

Hermione couldn’t help but laugh, “And you think you’ll try something because I’m half-naked?”

“Well, you are a pretty damn attractive woman,” he said reasonably. “And I do love you. As platonically as a guy can love a woman.”

She smiled and said, “You know I love you too Harry. And thank you for the compliment. While we’re giving them out I must say you do have a nice bottom. Look, why don’t you hug me from behind? I’ll make sure your hands don’t venture up,” she added, seeing him look slightly uneasy.

“Okay,” he said.

Hermione rolled onto her side and felt Harry snuggle up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist and pressing his body into hers.

“That’s better,” he murmured to her neck.

“Good,” she whispered, her hand finding its way down to his and squeezing it.

“’Night Mione.”

“Goodnight Harry.”

---

When Harry and Hermione woke up, only a few hours later, it was to a rather… uncomfortable position – not necessarily painful, but more awkward. They were still at least both the right way up in the bed, and Harry sure was glad of that. But their positions were reversed. It was Hermione’s chest that was pressed upon Harry’s back as she subconsciously played with the skin around his belly button in her sleep.

“Are you awake?” he whispered, tensing the muscles in his stomach and thighs as he realised that she was pressed up against his back.

“Mmm,” she murmured sleepily, removing her hand from his stomach. But her eyes were suddenly wide open as she realised their positions. She quickly moved back from him, “I’m so sorry Harry!” she exclaimed, biting her lip.

“It was bound to happen,” he said, laughing softly as he turned around in the bed to face her. “I thought you knew that?”

“Well, I always considered myself a rather still sleeper,” Hermione said reasonably, holding the bed sheets tight to her chest.

Harry snorted, “Well I think we know now that you’re not. Do you want to go to sleep now?”

She sighed and rolled onto her back, “I’m feeling rather warm actually.” She rubbed her eyes and then looked sideways at Harry. “Since you’ve already felt them, you shouldn’t have much problem with seeing them.”

“And it’s not as though I can see very well anyway,” he added, biting his bottom lip slightly.

The corner of her mouth uplifted in a small smile and she pushed the bed sheets off her torso, exposing her chest to the darkness of the room. Harry’s eyes trailed around the very fuzzy and dark outline of her body, and his stomach jumped slightly as he realised her nipples had hardened as they came into contact with the cool air.

“That’s better,” she murmured, closing her eyes and raising her arms above her head to rest on the pillow behind her.

Harry just nodded, still watching her fuzzy outline.

“Did you see her when you went to Michael’s apartment today?” she asked suddenly.

Harry tore his eyes away from her body and looked in the vague direction of her head, “Yes.”

“She’s blonde,” Hermione remarked, “Michael always did tend to stare after the blonde women when we went out.”

“She’s also stupid,” Harry said, sitting up slightly and propping himself up on an elbow. “She asked what I was doing tonight and he was standing right there.”

Hermione laughed softly and rolled over to prop herself up on an elbow, facing him. “Did she say anything else?”

“Well, I told her you’d eventually hunt her down and she shut up after that,” Harry said thoughtfully.

“Good,” she said, sighing and resting her other arm on the curve of her waist, playing with her belly button absentmindedly.

“Are you… alright?” Harry asked tentatively.

“The relationship certainly wasn’t something to hold on to,” Hermione replied, smiling a small, but sad smile at him. “But you know, cheating is just something that I don’t appreciate.”

“Of course you don’t,” Harry said softly, reaching over and rubbing her arm. He seemed to remember he was dangerously close to her exposed chest and withdrew his hand rather quickly. “If you want, I can hunt both of them down,” he added.

Hermione grinned, “Ah that would be nice. But no, I think I’ll just be happy that I’m rid of him. Besides, I’d rather spend my time laughing with you than plotting with you.”

There was a small silence before Harry spoke again,

“Do you want to go to sleep now?” he asked softly.

She nodded and leaned forward to kiss his cheek goodnight. “’Night,” she murmured to his skin. She pulled back and gazed into his eyes for a moment, waiting for him to respond. She moved her body slightly closer to him, so that the tips of her breasts were now barely touching his chest. He bit his lip and looked down between them – his lower body suddenly felt rather excited as he felt her soft skin move against his.

He moved a hand up to the side of her head and pulled her to him, finally making contact with her mouth with his lips. The kiss quickly turned passionate and Harry rolled over, pulling Hermione on top of him. She laughed in the back of her throat as she felt his hands enclose around her buttocks, and she slid one leg in between his. He moved one hand up her back, tracing her spine gently and running his fingernails across her bare back.

Hermione shivered and broke the kiss, opening her eyes to gaze down at him,

“How long have you wanted to do that?” she asked breathlessly, shifting her body across him so that she could sit up on his hips slightly.

“I’m not quite sure,” he replied, biting his bottom lip slightly. “Although you being half-naked really did set me off.”

She smiled apologetically and kissed him again. She found his hands and moved them around from her back to her front, guiding them up her body to her chest. The kiss ended as his hands enclosed around her breasts and Harry gazed up at his hands. Suddenly, he leant over and grabbed his glasses and wand.

“I want to see you properly,” he explained hastily, putting his glasses on and muttering, “Lumos.”

His wand tip glowed, lighting Hermione’s features up eerily as she sat up on his hips, her hands resting on the base of his stomach, softly stroking the skin there. Harry grinned a very childish grin at her and she smiled back, leaning forward to take his glasses from him. She placed them back on the bedside table as she leaned forward to kiss him again…

---

When Harry woke up the next morning, it was due to a slither of sunlight peeking through the gap in his curtains, just passing over his left eye. He lifted his head sleepily, scowling at the irritating brightness, and moved his head slightly out of the way. He glanced down at himself and smiled as he found Hermione snuggled up next to him, one leg wrapped lazily between his and her arm resting on the middle of his torso. She sighed slightly as Harry shifted his body out of the sunlight, and moved her leg from between his.

“Are you awake?” he whispered.

“Mmm,” she murmured, opening one eye to check it really was Harry. She smiled weakly and moved slightly off him and onto the pillow next to him. Their lower bodies were still covered by the bed sheets and she scratched her bare stomach softly, yawning widely.

“Sleepy still?” Harry asked, turning on his side to prop himself up on an elbow.

She laughed softly, “I didn’t get that much sleep, remember?”

Harry smiled apologetically and said, “You don’t want me to be sorry for that, do you?”

“Oh no,” she murmured, poking his stomach softly, “It was far too much fun for me to make you say sorry.”

“Then does that mean you’ll stay?” Harry asked tentatively.

Hermione thought for a moment, glancing over at the bookcase and then at Harry. She smiled warmly at him and sat up, stretching her shoulders and back. She relaxed and moved across to straddle his waist,

“That could be arranged,” she said with a small smirk, leaning forward and kissing him again.

“Good,” he said, once the kiss ended. “How about a shower?” he asked, smirking at her slightly.

She laughed and kissed him once more before climbing off him, “Good idea.”

---

The End