Harry didn't speak when he came back into the room and Ron didn't ask him anything. He just gave him a nod, clapped him on the back and went through the connecting door to the room next door. Harry stood over the bed and stared down at Hermione. It scared him how fast things had changed, but maybe it seemed fast because it had always been there, just waiting for them to acknowledge it. He took his glasses off, laid them on the table next to the bed, and scrubbed both hands over his face. With a practiced flick he unclasped his cloak and draped it over the chair Ron had vacated. A wave of his wand put the wards back up and he climbed in the bed next to Hermione. The need to be close to her right now was too powerful to fight. He slipped under the covers and wrapped himself around her from behind, noticing how she automatically curled into him even in her sleep. Harry buried his face in the soft hollow of her throat and for the first time all day really allowed himself to reflect on how close he had come to losing her, a few tears slipping out to moisten her skin. He was shaking with the effort to not totally give in. He pressed hot kisses on her collarbone and startled a bit when he felt her roll over to face him.
"Oh Harry" she whispered, so softly he barely heard her. "That woman…" but he cut her off with a finger across her lips.
"Shhh, I don't want to talk about her. I just want to lay here with you." Without his glasses he looked more vulnerable than she had ever seen him.
She reached up and wiped his tears away. "You saved me again."
"I'll always save you `Mione, you're my girl."
"Your girl. I like the sound of that." She smiled and pressed a kiss to his fingers.
"You scared me today. I don't want to ever feel like that again." He admitted, eyes clouding up again as the image of her on the floor of her room flooded his mind. "God `Mione. I thought you were dead." His voice was fierce with emotion and when their eyes met he couldn't hold back anymore.
The moan she let out as his lips crashed on hers almost made him come undone. This was not the same type of kiss as before, it was visceral and primitive. It was a kiss of need and of knowledge. Their tongues clashed, and battled, demanding entrance and staking claims. There were more moans and he wasn't sure which were hers and which were his. His hands left her hair and made their way down her back, pulling her closer to him, if it was possible. Hers were roaming his chest and face, fisting in his hair and then stroking back down again. When one of his hands found its way under the hem of her shirt she tore her mouth away from his and threw her head back, unwittingly allowing him access to the unexplored territory of her neck. He quickly discovered that there were several spots there that literally made her squirm and make noises he didn't know were possible. Somehow, a small sane voice in the back of his head make itself heard and with more than a bit of difficulty he drug his mouth off her neck and rested his head against her collarbone.
Her lungs were burning, trying to pull much needed oxygen into them. She was certain she had just had the most passionate experience of her life. "Gods `Mione, if I don't stop now I don't think I'll be able to." She heard Harry rasp, his breaths coming in short, staccato bursts. Bringing a hand up she stroked his cheek and smiled, "Would that be so bad?"
Harry let out a frustrated growl and pushed himself up on his hands so that he hovered over her. "You are killing me, you know that right. I fully intend on being the last man you're ever with, but our first time is not going to be in a substandard hotel room while there's a murderer loose."
Harry's words made her stomach tingle and her heart skip. This man continued to amaze her on a daily basis, no wonder she loved him so much.
The thought struck her like a bolt of lightening. She loved Harry, she had always loved Harry, but she was actually in love with Harry. She must have had a strange look on her face because Harry was looking at her with concern. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I'm in love with you." She stated
It was now his turn to have a strange look on his face. "Wh..what did you say?"
Her grin started small, and grew, "I said, I'm in love with you. I love you Harry Potter."
Tears were now running down his face, unchecked and he was barely able to choke out his words. "I uh….no one, no one has ever said that to me before. I mean, that I can remember. You uh..you really love me?"
Hermione had tears of her own now "Yeah, you silly man, I really do. I probably always have. I think it's what I'm supposed to do. You know I think we make our destiny, that even prophecies are self-fulfilling, but I think that I was always going to end up here, like this with you. I'm not me without you."
"And I am certainly nothing without you. You're my soul `Mione, always have been." Harry lowered himself and rolled them over in one deft move before searing her with his eyes. "I love you Hermione Granger. I love you. I love you. I love you." Each declaration punctuated with a kiss, the last one drawn out until they parted sated and happy. She curled up next to him, head on his chest and one leg draped over his and they fell asleep to the sound of Hermione's contented purr.
The next morning Harry woke up before Hermione and lay awake just watching her. He was amazed at how many changes had happened so quickly, and how right they all seemed, even though some terrible things were going on he couldn't help but take a moment and revel in the fact that she loved him, really loved him. He brushed a soft kiss over her cheek and smiled as she snuggled closer to him in her sleep. Two more kisses and her eyelids fluttered before finally opening.
The first thing she saw were the gorgeous green eyes of the man she loved. She smiled and he couldn't help grinning back at her. "Good morning Mr.Potter." she said jokingly.
"Good morning Dr. Granger." He replied in kind
"Oh you." Hermione said with a swat at his shoulder "I think you and Ron have called me `Dr. Granger' more in the last twenty-four hours than you ever have."
"Yeah, well, we have our reasons." He said defending them.
"Yes, yes, I know, it's all very protective and macho. I get it." She bussed a kiss on his nose and rolled to get out of bed when a flash of pain through her side stopped her. She gasped and grabbed at her ribs.
Harry heard her and was around the bed, kneeling in front of her in a flash. "Hey, you ok?" His hand was lying on her thigh and moving in comforting circles.
"Yeah, I think I just got up too fast. Are there any more of those potions left?" she inquired
"Let me check. You sure you'll be ok." He asked with concern and cupped her cheek in his hand.
She smiled reassuringly and turned her head to kiss his palm. "I'll be fine. But I think I'll just lay back here until you get back."
Harry apparated up to Hermione's old room and was glad to see that Madame Pomfrey had indeed sent refills via the floo. He got them back to Hermione in a flash and after a few minutes she was feeling better and wanted to take a shower.
Harry made sure she was ok before grabbing his glasses off the table and going to the door that opened to the room next to them.
Ron was already up, having a cup of coffee and reading the international edition of the Daily Prophet when he walked in. When he saw the rumpled state of Harry's clothes and how his hair was sticking up everywhere a wide grin cracked his face.
"Don't you start." Harry warned, although there was a note of teasing to his voice.
Ron held his hands up in mock surrender. "I haven't said a word mate. The evidence speaks for itself." He said with a wave at Harry's appearance. "I guess it goes without saying that you had a good night."
Harry dropped in the chair across from Ron and poured himself a cup of coffee before continuing. He felt a bit unmanly for telling Ron this, but he was quite sure he would burst if he didn't tell someone. "You need to get your mind out of the gutter mate." Harry chided.
"Sorry, too many years with Fred and George, oh and being male, that may have something to do with it too." Ron countered with a grin.
Harry cleared his throat before taking the plunge. "She uh…she told me..she told me she loved me."
Ron let out a whoop and smacked Harry so hard on the shoulder his coffee sloshed out of the cup. "Of course she did. Bloody hell mate, I've been watching you two tap dance around each other for years. I still don't know why it took so long for ya to figure it out, but the important thing is that you did. You deserve it Harry, don't question it."
Harry nodded, impressed as always when Ron was struck with a moment of understanding. "Thanks, I appreciate that."
With that Ron clapped his hands together and said "Alright, enough of this girly stuff, we are two of the Ministry's finest and we have a murder to solve."
Ron filled him in on what he had talked to Kingsley about. Harry chuckled when Ron said that Kingsley had threatened to come over himself after hearing about Caige's accusations.
Hermione stepped under the spray of the shower and let it beat down on her. She had slept better last night than any other night in her life. It was almost hard to believe how much things had changed, but how much they had stayed the same. She would never know why they had thought they were risking something.
Bending down to grab the shampoo bottle she was suddenly struck by a blinding pain behind her eyes that drove her to her knees. She wasn't in the shower anymore, she was somewhere else and there was pain and pressure and she saw herself fighting desperately with someone but she couldn't get a look at their face. Another flash and Max's face was in hers, distorted and wavering before she was thrown again to her old room, stumbling into the bathroom, reaching for the towel rack for support and missing, crashing into the standing mirror. Glass all over the floor and more blood, and then she was back in the shower, gasping and unable to pull herself up as the throbbing in her head was too much.
Ron and Harry were still discussing the case when a muffled noise in the adjacent room made them look up. Ron saw Harry's eyes narrow for a moment and then he was flying for the connecting door. Ron scrambled to his feet and was right behind him.
Harry had felt the pain and terror coming from Hermione again and burst into the bathroom. He tore back the shower curtain and saw her collapsed in a heap, shivering and unable to open her eyes. A towel was thrust over his shoulder and a hand reached over to shut off the water as he wrapped her up and pulled her out. Harry deposited her on the bed and Ron grabbed the nearest thing to drape over her which happened to be Harry's Auror robes. After making sure she was warm and covered he stroked a hand over her cheek and was relieved to see her eyes open.
"What happened luv?"
Her face fell and a look of pure terror crossed it. "I saw what happened. I…oh Gods, I remembered what happened. I saw Max die, I was there!" and then she collapsed in sobs against him.
A/N: Ok, not a lot of development with the case in this one. Sorry, I had to get some smoochies in. Thanks for the reviews! Hope you enjoyed it!
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