Disclaimer: Any characters you recognize from the first 6 books in the Harry Potter series by J K Rowling belong to the aforementioned J K Rowling. I am simply playing with them for my amusement, and to see what kind of reaction I can get.
(10) Nightmares
Some time in the wee small hours of the morning, Hermione awoke with a start, she knew something was wrong, she couldn't find her wand at first, and then remembered she had put it away so she wouldn't be tempted to use it. She then conjured a candle without her wand and lit it. Levitating the candle around the room she could see that all was normal in her room, but something was still wrong … somewhere. Harry … something with Harry, she got up quickly and found her wand, tucking it into the waistband of her pyjamas. She unsealed her bedroom door and went out into the hall closing the door and sealing it as she went. She found Harry's room and listened at the door long enough to hear noises inside … it sounded like a muffled fight. She unlocked the door and went in, closing it behind her. Harry was having a nightmare, writhing and twisting on the bed as though he was trying to get loose from something and in a muffled voice he shouted "No … not her … not Hermione." She ran up to the side of the bed, not sure what to do, she hesitated for a few moments and he seemed to calm down though he was still twitching a little. She waited a few minutes before starting to walk away. Half way across the room he started getting worse so she stopped. Stopping didn't calm him so she again walked closer to him and waited. He seemed to be a little less agitated, so she came closer and after a moment he calmed noticeably. Returning to the side of the bed gave the same results as before.
Hermione's mind was in its own turmoil, what to do, what's proper … appropriate … hell, this is Harry, she'll do whatever it takes. She knelt down on the floor and reached under the blankets to find his hand. She found his arm and slowly worked her hand down to his hand, and gently held it. A moment later he was completely calm and soon his breathing was regular and even. Relief washed through her as the troubled feeling in the back of her mind disappeared and was replaced with contentment.
Now what … if I let go what happens and she realized her knees were protesting because of the hard floor, how long do I have to keep this up? She removed her hand from his and soon the troubled feeling in her mind returned. She wondered if the feeling was only in her imagination or real until his breathing became more erratic. She reached out and touched his hand again. His breathing slowed and normalized … a minute later she had the contented feeling back again. Merlin, now what? I can't stay on the floor all night and I can't climb into bed with him, what will he think in the morning when he finds me there, what will he try to do? So many questions and two painful knees, time to act. Harry if you love me as much as I know you do, you won't take advantage of this she thought as she released his hand and carefully climbed onto the bed. She stayed on top of the covers and quilt. By now the troubled feeling had returned to her mind. She lay on her side facing him using one arm as a pillow and draped the other over him and soon the contented feeling returned. How am I going to explain this to him in the morning and then she realized, when she helped him learn Legilimency he could see this in her mind and he would know. She could feel his warmth through the quilt and his scent was so tantalizing, she was soon content herself, moments later, fast asleep.
Some time during the night their positions had changed, she was using his chest as a pillow; one arm was still draped over him while the other was around his neck. He had both his hands out from under the covers and on her waist and his chin was in her bushy brown hair.
Harry slowly woke up, first realizing there was a weight on his chest making it hard to breathe, and then a relaxingly familiar scent registered in his sleepy mind. He tried to put those two things together and it didn't make sense until he opened one eye to a sea of brown hair. Now he could hear her slow breathing and he thought he could feel her heart beating through her chest. What a glorious way to wake up, he thought as his mind cleared. The covers were down to their stomachs and whatever she was wearing must be so thin he was sure he could feel her every curve and dimple all the way down to the covers as he didn't wear a shirt, just his boxers in bed. She was snuggled up so tight to him even one of her legs was between his. His hands must be on her waist, one arm was pinned under her the other was free to move, but dare he move it, would she wake up. He knew if she woke up she would feel self conscious and need to leave, Merlin, he would feel self conscious. Was he being selfish to want to enjoy this as long as possible? Why was she here, what happened in the night? He lay there perfectly still, trying to breathe evenly, trying to calm his urges, trying to remember what might have happened in the night to bring her here. He remembered having nightmares, she was being tortured by Death Eaters … then something drove the nightmares away. That must be when she came in here. She must have heard him and come here to find out what was wrong. Her presence, her love drove the demons away. The only way to keep them away must have been to stay close to him. The contented feeling in the back of Hermione's mind had changed from simple contentment to blissful joy. This triggered some awareness in her mind, but not enough to bring her out of her comfortable warm sleep. He heard her moan, it was a happy sound; she wriggled against him, readjusting her position slightly. He could feel his reaction to her movement and was sure she must be able to feel it too.
His eyes watered, he wanted to cry for the struggle she must have gone through in her own mind that allowed her to stay. While they hadn't done anything, someone walking in on this would assume the worst.
Hermione's blissful joy feeling changed to one of not quite fear and she started to wake. She grumbled at the apparent lumpiness of this pillow, something was poking in her ribs and something else had been pressing in her thigh but was fading to a memory. Something, no, two somethings on her waist and the pillow that her chest and head were resting on were so warm she didn't want to open her eyes. Now she could feel the pillow vibrate, the rhythm sounded like a heartbeat that was out of sync with her own. Reality slowly dawned on her, she had gone to Harry in the night, he was having nightmares and the only thing that cured them was her, so she stayed. Now she realized her arms were wrapped around him not the covers, where were the covers, she dared not open her eyes yet until she sorted out her surroundings. There was something between her legs, was that his leg? She groaned audibly and then heard his voice.
"Good morning my angel, I trust you slept well."
Dare she open her eyes and look up to where his voice came from. It was then she realized the pyjamas she was wearing were so thin as to be almost transparent and she didn't bring a robe. If she rolled over or got up there was going to be nothing left to his imagination or anyone else's she met in the hallway. "Harry, what must you think of me, climbing into bed with you at the first opportunity", she mumbled into his chest, her eyes still closed.
"I think you saved both of us from at least six Death Eaters. That's very brave of you to risk yourself for me."
Now she had to open her eyes and look up at him, too late she realized this was giving him an unobstructed view of at least half her chest as he closed his eyes.
"Those pyjamas had better be comfortable, they're certainly not meant to block my view." They both blushed.
Hermione concentrated on them and made them black and opaque before saying, "Open your eyes, is that better?"
"Well … now I can concentrate on you and not the view. Did you have a good sleep?"
"Merlin, yes … as lumpy as this pillow is", she snuggled into him inferring he was the pillow. "If you keep having these nightmares, I expect I could force myself to do this again", she giggled.
"The nightmares are normal. If you can live with a lumpy pillow, I could get used to a good night's sleep. Waking up with you here was such an incredible rush of feelings. What made you check on me, was I making a lot of noise?"
"I don't think so; you did speak, but not that loudly. I got a feeling that something was wrong, I woke up, but I didn't know what was off. My room was okay so I checked on you. I could hear movement and noise from outside the door so I came in. The only thing that calmed you completely was my touch."
"Climbing in with me couldn't have been an easy choice."
"No, it wasn't, all kinds of things went through my mind, and you could take advantage of this so easily." She wiggled herself up the bed so they were face to face and gave him a kiss.
He smiled as she slithered up half on top of him, and returned the kiss gently then groaned saying, "I think I am taking the advantage, we need to talk, but not here and not now. You should get back to your room, I hear others moving around. Fawkes will take you." Fawkes appeared a few moments later and Hermione, with a smile on her face, was taken back to her room. Harry thought to himself, if this keeps up I'm going to be taking a lot of cold showers.
<><><><><><><><>
They had slept in and Vernon had not bothered them. When they both came downstairs the Dursleys said nothing. Harry made breakfast for two as Hermione looked up answers to some questions she had about Legilimency. They kept looking at each other and then looking away.
After breakfast, Harry reminded the Dursleys that he needed to be here only one day a week to maintain the protection they enjoyed. After his birthday, the protection Dumbledore placed on this house will expire and Harry didn't expect to be back here after his birthday unless it was to pick up his things.
The teens went out the back door and sat facing each other on the bench. They both had their books from yesterday with them and Hermione started going over the theory of Legilimency with Harry. By noon, they both had the basics worked out and were able to look into each others minds at will. Harry remarked that he didn't feel the brute force of the intrusion that he had felt from Snape. Hermione was curious, so he brought up a memory of Snape's intrusion for her to see and feel. Hermione had to agree that Snape's attacks were much more painful than the encounters they were currently experiencing. It was near noon and they decided to break for lunch.
Hermione was on edge, waiting for Harry to say something about this morning, the talk he said they needed.
With lunch over, they started wandless magic for a while. Harry had found some techniques in the book he was reading. That still left about three hours before they could leave for the Grangers. Harry had sent Hedwig to Emma last night when he knew what time they could leave Privet Drive, so the Grangers were expecting them before half of five.
They decided that was enough study and practice and they should get some exercise. Harry told Aunt Petunia they were going for a walk. They would be back around five and leaving shortly after that for Hermione's home. They set off in the opposite direction from yesterday and mostly covered new ground.
During their walk, they talked around the subject of the overnight sleeping arrangements and how serious she was about liking her new lumpy pillow as well as the fact that he got a good sleep out of it. Both were being very careful in the wording of there responses. Neither would admit to any feelings for the other besides the obvious friendship. Hermione was getting desperate, she needed an answer … good, bad or otherwise she needed an answer. They were passing a bench seat in the park they were walking through. She took his arm and stopped him, telling him to sit. She sat straddling the bench leaving him enough room to do the same … he mirrored her position and they watched each other for a moment.
Hermione, as she expected, had to start, "Harry, don't say anything, just hear me out, I need some answers from you and I'm not getting them. I want to ask you a few questions and I want your honest response. I won't use Legilimency on you, but know that I can tell if you are lying."
"Why would I lie to you?" he responded.
"Would you go back to dating Ginny if Voldemort was gone forever?"
"This is one of those girl questions, isn't it? You won't come out and say what you really want or ask the question you really want the answer to." He responded with a slightly harsh tone.
"Right on one." She replied, "Now answer the question … honestly."
Harry took in a deep breath and let it out very slowly before responding, "That's complicated to answer … given no other immediate choice … probably, but … there is another I'd choose … if only..." and he let the answer hang there.
"If only?" Hermione prompted.
"I don't believe she wants me in that way."
She reached half way across the gap for his hands before saying, "Have you talked to her about it?"
"No, I'm afraid … I'm afraid it might turn out badly. It's safer if things remain the way they are."
Sighing, she responded, "Much time has been wasted, much heartbreak has been wrought for lack of speaking. Who ever she is probably feels the same about you. Harry, you deserve all the happiness you can get, you need to talk to her … tell her of your feelings, at least then you know."
"I … I … can't." he said.
"New question." she said, "If I was to date Terry Boot from Ravenclaw, would you be upset?"
"You … you … like him?"
"That's a question, not an answer … answer the question. If I was to date Terry, would you be upset?"
"Bloody hell Hermione," he nearly shouted, "Yes, I would … I would be mad at myself." Harry took several long, deep breaths, calming down, before he whispered, "I … I want you … I think I love you … no … I know I love you …" he said looking down at the bench.