A/N: IM SOOOO SORRY!!! Really I am. I know that you all hate me but life caught up with me and things have been hectic. I will not promise that this will not happen again...because I seriously do not know. Thank you all for your reviews... they're what keeps this story going. This chapter is quite short and mostly a filler... but I hope you will drop a review anyhow. As a thank you for your patience I will promise this...that in five days or less I will update the next chapter. So get to reading and reviewing, pretty please? Thank you all for sticking with me.
BEST FRIENDS
CHAPTER 13
By: Rodare
Beta'd: Rage
There! The snitch moved parallel to the ground a foot ahead of them. They were no more than two feet away from the ground itself when it did.
Harry reacted as if by instinct. He used his feet as a lever to push down on the tail of the broom in order to make it parallel to the ground. He thought he wouldn't be able to make it when as if by a whim of the gods the broom righted itself.
Krum didn't have as much luck. He had been using his heavier frame as a way to gain an advantage during the free fall, and when he saw the snitch move and the ground so close he knew he had no chance. He cursed in his mother language and knowing he must be paying for some past sins he closed his eyes.
Harry extended his arm as he balanced himself on top of his broom. Just a little more and then… He literally threw himself forward to catch the little golden ball. He grinned as he felt the flutter of wings died as his fingers wrapped around the ball. He closed his eyes and with the forethought to tuck his arms in, he fell…
***
"Mansuetus terra!" Hermione cried pointing toward the ground with her palm, as she saw Harry jump off his broom the instant Krum crashed. The thought that her wand was somewhere between the folds of her discarded sweatshirt somewhere near the locker rooms never crossed her usually over observant mind.
A soft blue light beam burst from her palm and impacted the floor of the Quidditch Pitch. Hermione was only half conscious of the feeling of her magic as it surged through her extended limb. Her whole attention was on the man she'd love since she was eleven.
**
Krum's broom broke on impact and he landed face first into the ground with a sickening smack. He bounced of the ground which was softer than it should have been but even with that he felt his nose break. He lay still feeling the remains of his broom cutting sharply through the skin of his bare chest.
Harry landed expecting the sharp pain of the sand floor. Instead he bounced hard of it once and rolled until he landed with a breath stealing thump on his back, his broom held loosely in one hand, the snitch in the other. He closed his eyes tightly against the light of the sun in this strangely warm November day.
He saw Hermione instantly and he smiled foolishly. His arousal had become nothing but a fleeting throbbing. It was now more of a psychological wanting and need than a physical one. He had caught the snitch. He had beaten Krum, he thought, his foolish smile changing to a smug grin.
"Harry!" Hermione called almost hysterically to him. He opened his eyes instantly as he felt her land beside him. She was blocking the sun now with her lithe and exceedingly sexy form as she stood there sweaty and concerned. He grinned foolishly once more and he raised his arm to her showing her the snitch. She looked exactly between the point of yelling at him or smiling. Fortunately for him, she smiled back shaking her head slightly. He straightened to a sitting position and stood up quickly. Before she could react enough to scream at him for scaring her he took her hand and placed the snitch on her palm. Their eyes met as she looked at him questioningly. Her eyes widened slightly as if what she saw in his eyes surprised her. He leaned close enough for her to feel his breath and he saw her chocolate eyes turn almost black. "Harry…"
"I need you," he whispered and he saw her shudder. She opened her mouth as if she was about to say something when the rest of their friends landed hard around them. They stepped quickly away from each other and as Harry was engulfed in congratulations she disappeared towards the fallen Krum with her team following close behind.
**
"Viktor?" Hermione asked as Madam Pomphrey was waving her wand to asses his injuries. He grinned at her through the dried blood on his face and she cringed slightly but knelt beside him. "Are you alright?"
"Ves," he answered with a more pronounced accent now. She smiled at him and conjured a towel. She handed it to him and he thanked her in Bulgarian.
"That was brilliant," Dean said grinning and Hermione stood up to face the rest of her team as Madam Pomphrey continued to fuss over Viktor. His grin faded a little as he glanced almost wishfully to where Ginny, Harry, and the others were celebrating.
"Bloody sucked that we lost though," Draco spat coolly. He seemed to have caught where Dean's gaze had lingered.
"We did fine, Draco," Lavender said with a graceful one shoulder shrug. He shrugged back almost in the same manner and Hermione glanced at Luna.
"I think we did great," she said dreamily glancing towards Ron. Hermione grinned and saw how Ron was the first to break the circle of rejoicing Gryffindors. He rushed toward them and picked Luna up grinning.
"We won!" he told her happily. She laughed and gazed dreamily up at him as he set her down once more.
"Only your team won, silly," she told him as if he was a toddler. He kissed her as everyone laughed and Draco scowled. Ron looked up and as Luna let go he picked Hermione up twirling her in the air.
"Ronald!" Hermione said wondering what on earth had come over him. "Put me down!"
"YOU SCORED!" he yelled and she laughed at his antics. He set her down and everyone laughed.
"I hope you didn't let me," she said and he pouted.
"You know I didn't," he stated sincerely. Then he grinned at her and rolled his eyes, "As if I would purposely lose to an amateur such as you. I'll see you guys up at Gryffindor Tower. Luna and I are gonna go nick some food from the kitchens for the party."
They watched him go with Luna laughing as she rushed to keep up with his long strides.
"I need a shower, Seamus," Lavender said as if she was stating the weather.
Seamus almost squeaked as with a graceful wave Lavender started walking towards the castle. He rushed after her and they laughed. Dean waved at Draco and Hermione as he mentioned something about needing a shower but not wanting to interrupt the love birds he went to the Gryffindor locker room.
"You actually scored," Draco said sounding as close to impressed as his Malfoy arrogance would let him. He glanced at her and smirked well-naturedly. "You did pretty well … for a bookworm."
"Ronald probably let you score," Ginny spat almost vehemently. Hermione and Draco turned to face her. Harry was coming towards them but he was still a bit ways off. Before either of them could as much as blink she had turned around and stomped angrily towards the castle.
"I …I need a shower, too," Hermione said in a defeated voice. She rushed toward the girl Gryffindor locker rooms without glancing back.
Ginny heard the hurt in her voice and something inside of her broke. She had thought things would be fine as soon as they landed, but seeing Draco talking to Hermione so intimately had made her temper rise once more. She turned sharply to apologize to her former best friend, at the exact moment Hermione disappeared toward the locker rooms. Feeling wretched Ginny turned and sprinted toward the castle without another glance.
Draco watched Ginny turn with regret clearly written on her face and then he saw her sprint toward the castle the instant Harry reached him.
"What happened?" Harry demanded looking torn between following whom he was expected and whom he wanted.
"I need, Gin," Draco said distractedly. He saw Harry looked baffled and realized his mistake. "I mean…I …"
"I get it, Draco," Harry said quickly. "Where's Mione?"
"Locker rooms," Draco said surprised that Hermione had told Harry about Gin.
He watched the man that had changed his life since he was eleven rush toward the locker rooms without another glance. Potter didn't know it because he was a fool in his own way, but he had touched so many lives by being something more or something less than just the Chosen One. Because of him he was although not necessarily a good man, he had at least turned out a better man that what his father had wanted. Because of that for the first time in his life, Draco Malfoy, was grateful.
**
Harry didn't wait to see what Draco would do. All he wanted was to know was why Hermione had gone in such a rush.
He walked into the girl locker rooms surprised that the Founders had not placed a security mechanism here as they had in the girls' dormitories. Still, he had a slight feeling of dread as he walked inside. He called her name but when she didn't answer he grew bolder and quickly strode toward the back. It never quite registered in his mind that he was walking towards the showers. He was not even slightly prepared for what he would see after he came to the end of the red and gold locker lined hallway. All he was concerned with was finding her and make sure she was alright.
What he saw made his heart do a back flip in the pit of his stomach, as ridiculously as that sounded. He had found Hermione alright. She was walking out of the showers in all her glory. She was slightly bent over since she had been reaching for a large Gryffindor towel that she had placed on a bench. Her back was facing the shower which was fortunate or he might have lost the ability to think at all. As it was all could manage was to stand there waiting for her to straightened up.
"Harry?!" she squeaked jumping back a step as she looked up. In a flash she brought up the towel and wrapped it around herself quickly. It was so fast he caught no details but the fact that her naturally creamy skin was tanned all over. She glared at him slightly, as a red tinge colored her cheeks. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?!"
"I …I ...ugh…" Harry stuttered as he stared at her up and down. She blushed an even darker shade of red that would make any Weasley proud and looked away from his penetrating eyes. She murmured his name in a rather soft scolding whisper.
"Stop staring," she said a second later a bit more clearly. He blinked and forced himself to meet her eyes. She moved her head slightly to the side to regard him better and then reached for his hand. "What is it?"
"I…nothing…"he said and took an unconscious step toward her. She didn't back away from his but she released his hand. "I…I saw Ginny rush off… I came to see if you were fine."
"I… It was nothing, I'm fine," she said with a shrug. She broke his gaze and shimmed past him toward the lockers. He followed her and stood behind her as she pulled her clothes out along with the snitch that he had given her.
He was so close to her he could smell the generic shampoo that was always in the locker rooms, but beneath it he could smell her, the smell of lavender that was so hers. He was drawn as a moth to the fire
He leaned in and placed a soft though lingering kiss on her neck. She tensed instantly but she didn't pull away from his touch. Instead she calmly shut the door of the red locker and turned gently around to face him. He continued to kiss her neck, but she pushed gently against his chest making him look up. She moved her free hand to rest on his cheek as she looked into those impossibly dark eyes of his.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked softly. He leaned once more but instead of kissing her he merely wrapped his arms around her hugging her tightly.
"Nothing's wrong," he murmured burying his face against her neck. "I…just…I needed to hold you."
"Oh, Harry," she whispered hugging him tightly. Harry moved his lips to the crook of her neck making her shudder slightly.
"Let me kiss you."
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