A/N: Hoorays for updates! This chapter's a bit weird. One more time jump, just to explain things a bit for you. ^_^ This is also a fairly long chapter, comparatively, at 7303 words. Hope you like it!
Now, something I haven't done nearly enough. I don't own anything from this universe. It all belongs to JK Rowling, except for my own, menial little bits. Please don't sue me!
R, r & enjoy!
~~*~~
"The bond... what?"
"Harry," Hermione said quietly in a cooing kind of voice, "the bond is what happens when soul mates, well, mate. It's the joining, coupling, of two people at the soul level when they give in to their feelings and bond. It's something willful and both must feel the same way. It happens when two people fall in love and act on that love."
"So we're what, bonded together?"
"Yes, but on the soul level. Oh Harry, I love you." She leaned in to him and gave him the most passionate, most feeling kiss he'd ever had. He felt, in a way, like his entire being was entwining itself with her. And he quite enjoyed it.
He pulled his lips from hers and set his forehead against hers. "I love you to Hermione." He grabbed the shirt, his shirt, and pulled it off of her. He lied back on the bed and held up the sheet for her, giving her room to lay next to him. She slid her feet under the sheet and lay down next to him. He dropped the sheet around her shoulders and pulled her in to his embrace.
"There's something we need to do today, now that all of this has happened. Someone we need to see."
"Later" he said and he kissed her deeply, but this time forcefully, needfully. She immediately lost all thoughts in her mind. He slid his hands down the length of her sides, picking her hips up to move her on top of him. He was hard again and she slick. Not once did they break their body contact, each wanting to have as much contact with the other as possible.
She guided him in to her with her hand and began to grind along the length of his body. She felt different this time, however, and she had mixed senses. In addition to his scent and the feeling of him inside her she also slightly felt an inexplicable warmth around an appendage she didn't have and could smell herself from a different point of view. This new mix of sensations mingled with her own was driving her towards the cliff of climax much faster than ever.
Harry could smell something musty. He knew, on some level, that it was his own smell, something he'd never noticed before. But rather than feeling repulsed by it he could feel what it did to Hermione, realizing that it was how she smelled him. He could also almost feel pressure in the center of his abdomen in a spot he knew damned well he didn't possess. But it didn't make the sensation any less pleasurable and, in fact, it drove him absolutely insane!
She was cresting, fast. In love with the new sensations, and with the man giving them to her, she decided to open her mind once more, just a little, to see how far the new feelings could go. She was immediately flooded with sensations and emotions that weren't her own. She felt herself sliding around him and felt him sliding in to her at the same time.
Harry sensed a change in the dynamic, felt his mind being pulled on from outside, and gave in. When he opened his mind he felt everything amplify ten-fold. The previous sensations were magnified, intensified, and he immediately began to crest, sensing how close Hermione was to her own orgasm.
They came at the same time, both within their own bodies and within each other's sensations. The combination amplified for both of them nearly drove them unconscious. Both of their ears were ringing, their nerves and skin on fire, and two ceased to be, leaving one being in absolute ecstasy.
It took a while, an eternity it seemed, for their senses to separate and their minds to retreat back in to their own heads. The sheets were twisted around the foot of the bed and soaking wet. The room smelt like musk mixed with the scent of chrysanthemums and was in shambles. Clothes on their hangers were strewn about the floor in front of the closet. Drawers were half out of the dresser with various bits of clothing laying on their fronts. The bedroom door was hanging slightly open and a little cock-eyed, as though off it's hinge. And the two wands, one holly and one vine, were crossed on the dresser, hovering a little off it's surface.
Harry was the first to speak, but didn't manage to utter more than "Shit" and chuckle to himself a bit.
It took Hermione a bit more, but "Yeah, shit."
"That was amazing. You're amazing."
"So are you love."
They lay their for another little while, both content to simply hold each other. The warm breeze from the window was enough to cool the skin, but not uncomfortably so. They said nothing more and simply were until Harry's stomach issued forth a terrible growl, suited more to a dragon than a man. They both laughed until Hermione's stomach growled as well, more quietly but no less fierce, at which Harry nearly doubled over with laughter.
"Asshole" she said as she hit his arm lightly. Both were momentarily aware of their still heightened nervous system, but neither paid it heed. "I guess we could do with some food" and she lifted herself off the bed. He didn't move from his resting place more than to turn more fully towards her, watching as her muscles rippled lightly under her skin while she stretched. She was again aware of his watching her. "Show later lover" she admonished. "I need food and we need to get a move on. There really is something we need to do today now."
"Ok, ok" he said after watching her pull his shirt on again. He stood up on the other side of the bed, fully aware of her watching him, and made a distinct show of stretching, highlighting his best attributes. He looked over his shoulder and gave her a wry smile, which she returned.
She padded over to where he was standing and slapped his arse, rather harder than was necessary. "Need to take a shower" and she kissed his cheek. She walked away towards the bathroom and was aware of his following her. "Alone" she emphasized and she giggled at the raspberry sent through her mind by him.
This is going to take some serious getting used to he thought to himself. He none the less pulled some clothing from his dresser and regarded the wands on the top. How the hell could something like this happen? And who are we going to see about all of this? She seemed to know about the rest of what happened, were they going to the library? "Mione?" he yelled as he walked down the hall.
"Yeah babe?" She felt a little strange saying that to her best friend, though not for long as she decided she really enjoyed it.
"Where are we going?"
"Diagon. There's someone I need to see to get some answers and we need to head to Flourish and Blott's for some new texts."
"Oh" he said as he entered the bathroom and set his things on the counter. "Who in Diagon are we going to see?"
"You'll just have to wait" she said as she turned off the water. She stepped out of the shower and began drying herself off, fully aware of the effect this was having on him. "Later, dear" she said as she wrapped the towel around herself and grabbed him through the boxers he had put on, though why he put them on she didn't know. "There'll be plenty of time for that later" and she walked from the bathroom.
Merlin, what have I got myself in to? he thought to himself. He dropped his boxers, though with some difficulty. Cold shower. Very cold he said in his mind as he stepped in to the tub. The cold water tap turned itself full on though he thought he may have heard a distant giggle from down the hall. The water had the desired, if not completely effective, effect.
Hermione entered their room (Our room... that's a thought) and finished drying her hair with the towel. She grabbed her wand, her real wand, and summoned her bag from downstairs. By the time she was dressed Harry had come back in from his shower. He caught her from behind and buried his lips in the crook of her neck.
"Jesus Harry! You're cold!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, had to do something about the way you left me, didn't I?"
Oh yeah she thought to herself, remembering his state just before she left the bathroom alone. She gave him a wry grin, better suited to an imp. "Like I said, later".
She made her way down to the kitchen, Harry not far behind. When she got their she looked in the fridge to see what was available but the door was closed by Harry, very nearly on her head.
"That's what Dobby's for, love. He enjoys it" he was saying as the elf appeared on the floor near them, his bright eyes beaming up at the two of them.
"What would Mister Harry and his Mione likes for breakfast?"
"You've got him calling my Mione now?" she said, a mocking and playful tone in her voice. Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Um, how about some sausages, eggs and biscuits?"
"Right right Mistress Hermione!" Dobby exclaimed.
"Dobby..." Harry said in an almost threatening tone. Dobby looked thoroughly abashed.
"Yes sir, Harry, Hermione. 'No more Mister', and that means mistress as well?" he fairly asked. He received a nod in return.
Harry pulled a chair out for Hermione and waited for her to sit. "Coffee?" he offered and got a nod in return. He set a cup in front of her. Their conversation turned almost immediately in to talk of school and students, both the problem ones and the good ones. Once Dobby had finished with their breakfast the both realized just how hungry they were and they tucked in to it with aplomb. Both ate more than they normally would and both had pleasant thoughts and looks as they ruminated on the why of that situation.
~
Two hours later they found themselves inside the nearest apparation zone to Diagon Alley: the Leaky Cauldron. They emerged from the back area down the hall and made their way to the rear door. Harry, at Hermione's behest, was not using his normal wand but a backup he had acquired during their heyday as Dark fighters. He tapped a lone brick on an apparently blank wall and watched, with the briefest flit of memory, as the wall folded out upon itself and made an arch just big enough for the two of them to fit through hand in hand, as they were now.
"So the reason I can't use my wand is...?"
"Because I want to make sure that the Priori Incantatem will still recall it" she said as she steered him to the right side of the street. "Here, this is where we'll get some more answers."
Harry found himself in front of a shop he hadn't entered for some years. Ollivander's was just as he remembered: a stately, subdued shop full to the brim with walls and shelves full of thousands upon thousands of wand boxes, each waiting for their owner to claim them. And it dawned on him: she knew about the Bond but not the wands. He opened the door for her and they entered the slightly dusty shop.
"Coming, coming" said a quiet, yet cheery voice. "Ah, Mister Potter. And Miss Granger. To what do I owe the honor of your company?"
"Well, Mr. Ollivander, I have some questions to ask you. About wand lore." Hermione pulled the two wands from the inside of her robes, their glow now only slightly visible even in the darkened store.
"Oh my word" said Ollivander in astonishment, his quiet voice filled with who knew how many emotions. "How long ago? When did you notice?"
Hermione told the story, Harry filling in little parts as though her voice were his own, though they left out some of the more sordid details.
"My word. Not in... Come with me, both of you." With the flick of his own wand the store front closed and the door locked. "We have much, much to discuss." That was the last they were able to understand from him for the next few minutes as he was mumbling to himself a great deal. They arrived in the back room of his shop, though it was at least twice the size of the front and filled with drawers, pieces of wood and a good number of hanging items, only a few of which were recognized in the short glimpses Harry and Hermione gave them.
Ollivander subjected both of the wands to a number of instruments. Everything from scales to magnifying glasses to his own fingertips were used to prod, measure and assess the wands. After fifteen minutes he pulled out what looked like a pensieve. Both of the pair grew concerned and attempted to move forward but were halted by "I'm not retrieving memories, per se. I'm looking at the wands' memories. I won't see anything that happened last night but what happened to the wands themselves" and he gave them a sly smile, though short lived and the twinkle of an eye reminiscent of Dumbledore.
He placed both wands in the shallow bowl and began to chant lowly to them, almost as if he were singing a babe to sleep. The bowl began to fill with a golden liquid, though not a liquid. It appeared like vaporized gold slag and hurricane wind. With a prod from the old man's wand it began to swirl very fast and an image familiar to them both appeared to float just above it's surface. But aside from the colors and the two songs there really were few similarities.
In the blue above the holly wand was a phoenix making a slow circle within the confines of a sphere. Above the vine was a green unicorn tossing it's mane and braying musically. As the tendrils moved towards each other the two animals seemed to see each other. As they wove together the animals started to move closer to each other. The brief gold flash, they now saw, was the two animals apparently becoming one because now, in the ovoid shape, was a golden animal, a Gryphon with a short, silver horn and flames at the tip of it's tail, back of it's wings and upon it's hooves and talons.
"Oh my" said Hermione, a sentiment that was echoed by Harry. "But what does it mean?"
"It means that something has happened that hasn't happened for a very long time, as far as I'm aware."
As Ollivander stared at the image it began to dissipate, mist becoming transparent slowly. But none of them would ever forget what the animal looked like. But what animal was it? I've never seen one like it.. "When you said that it was something that hasn't happened for a long time, what did you mean?"
"I mean, my dear girl, that you now have, the two of you, a pair of bonded wands. When your souls bonded, or rather when you acted upon the bond that was already there, it was so strong that your wands were bonded as well. This requires a specific set of circumstances. But it is also so rare that it has become a thing of myth, of legend, and it is not documented. I doubt that any but extremely accomplished wand makers who study their lore, a group I humbly place myself in, would even be aware of it's existence."
He closed his eyes for a minute, as though hoping to find a better explanation written on the backs of his eyes. Harry and Hermione were dumbfounded, though whether from this explanation or the extreme remoteness of it's possibility, neither knew.
"I think, perhaps, you should find some more information on your own. There are... friends, I must contact, hopefully establish a more... profound explanation of this. And it's consequences." He continued to mutter to himself as he handed the wands back to their respective owners, though none of it was intelligible as speech as far as Harry could discern. Hermione, however, persisted.
"What do you mean by 'consequences', sir? Is there a chance that this could impair us somehow? That we won't be able to do magic like we used to be able to?" Hermione queried the old man until she was blue in the face, her questions becoming more and more desperate. Harry could tell that she was becoming hysterical, behaving as though she was tainted somehow. The same way she acted the first time Draco Malfoy called her 'mudblood'.
Harry raised his wand at Hermione. "Sedatus Adaugeo" he said quietly but firmly and Hermione immediately began to calm down, though she looked aghast at him for a moment. "Does that answer your question dear?" She could only stare at him. By the look on her face she must have thought the spell would backfire. Or turn me in to a toad...
"How could you have known that something wouldn't go wrong?!"
"If I didn't know better I'd think you didn't trust me. Ollivander, how long will it take you to find what you're looking for?"
He was still muttering to himself, though he had begun pulling a few books off his overloaded bookshelf. "Can't say, can't say. Those that I must contact are... difficult to find. Could be a week, could be a month, never can say. Is there somewhere that I can contact you when I've found the information?"
"Yes, the school. Send word to the headmistress, she'll know how to contact us. I'll make sure of that" Harry replied. "We'll take our leave then. I think we have some talking to do" he said as he looked at Hermione.
"Thank you Mr. Ollivander."
"Good day to you" he said as he uncharacteristically, and unceremoniously, waved them off, not even looking up from the books.
They walked out of the store in to a bright mid-morning sun. "Let's get some coffee honey" Harry said, placing his hand on the small of her back and guiding her to Fortescue's shop just down the way. She was still deep in thought and wasn't paying much attention to where she was walking.
"I've never seen an animal like that, have you?" I've seen gryphons, hippogriffs, phoenixes and all manner in between. But never anything like that. Ever. "Did you recognize any other features? Harry?"
They had reached Fortescue's and taken seats outside, just out of the reach of the sun under an umbrella. Harry was staring in to the brightly colored fabric, contemplating the ramifications of what they'd just heard, what had happened over the last two days and, more importantly, what he'd just seen in that wand memory. Yeah, I recognized some other features. Creatures of fury, malice, they're said to be the devil's own steeds and even traverse the planes. The spawn of a thousand bad dreams, able to ride the air, leaving a flaming trail wherever they go. A Nightmare. Perfect word for it too... "Yeah, something may have seemed similar. But I'd rather check first before jumping to conclusions."
"Then you need to go to Flourish's too?"
"No. What I need to find won't be in any of their books. I'll have to go back to the school. We need to get back up there anyway, don't we? Finish planning for our respective finals?"
"You still haven't finished yours?! Merlin, it's like we're back in school! You and Ron always copying off of me, forcing me to do your work for you!" She gave him a stern look, not unlike Molly would have, but was betrayed by the humor in her eyes.
"Hey now!" Harry retorted, looking affronted by her accusation. "I've got loads planned -" she gave him an incredulous look "and I've just to decide on how much to put in to O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. I've got to be picky since I don't have too much to say in the matter, really just one or two things. Now, what's say we get up the way and finish our shopping so we can finish the day in laziness?"
She found it hard to fight the argument. They finished their coffee quickly and dropped a couple sickles on the table which vanished as soon as they vacated their seats. They made their way up the street, Hermione's arm threaded through the crook of his elbow, neither of them paying the remotest attention to the flash of red hair ducking behind that morning's copy of The Daily Prophet that had been visibly molested by a pair of white-knuckled hands.
Couldn't even wait a week to be seen in public, could you? Damn you. Damn you both. Ron was beyond pissed, though why even he couldn't figure out. He knew very well that he wasn't that mad about her not going to the games, even the finals. And he was very happy for her getting the potions position at Hogwarts. No, they'd been having problems for a while. He just didn't want to admit it. But after what Ginny had said...
~
"Ginny, can we talk?" Hermione had apparated outside the Burrow's wards and made her way slowly to the front porch. The door was already opened, Ginny making her way outside to see who had come calling.
"Sure. What's wrong?" she asked as Hermione threw her arms around her best friend's neck and began crying in earnest.
"God, I've been terrible sis!" They made their way in to the kitchen and a hot cup of coffee was sitting in front of her without even asking. Her presence at the Burrow was almost expected since she'd been seeing Ron for years. She knew then that Ron hadn't told any of them. She composed herself after a few sips of the hot liquid. "Gin, he didn't tell you, did he..." It was more of a statement than it was a question.
"Yeah, he did. But I'm the only one he told. I still don't understand it though. What happened?"
"Well..." she started, unsure how best to explain. "We haven't been doing well for a while. We always fight, and never about anything important. It's kinda like we've said everything we could say to each other already, like there's nothing more to talk about. With him it's always Quidditch. And I'm so involved with school that it's really all I have to talk about." Ginny gave her a look that she knew to mean 'well no shit' which she returned in kind. "Even the sex wasn't really worth it anymore," Ginny shuddered at the thought "like it was more of a chore or a duty. There hasn't been any passion there for a long time Gin. Did you know he wasn't really considering getting married?"
"No!" Ginny exclaimed aghast. "I thought he would have wanted to marry you right off! None of us could figure out why you weren't married already."
"His professional career was 'too important to take the time off for getting married'". She said the last bit in a near perfect imitation of the real thing. Both of the girls laughed at the thought and impersonation.
"Do you know how long Neville dogged me to go with him to that party we had?"
"M mm" Hermione grunted, her mouth full of coffee and raising her eyebrows. She swallowed heavily. "How long?"
"Five months." Hermione threw her a questioning look. "He asked me out just a couple days after Harry and I broke up. I'd been talking to him about the whole thing, about how I'd been a git for still wanting Harry and all. Said he'd realized it too. Dumb ass shouldn't have said that." She gave her friend a knowing look and giggled along with her for a few minutes to the diminishing of men's egos everywhere.
They talked for a while about the stupidity of boys, how they're always acting like right bastards, never saying the right things when it really matters, etc...
"But we're not much better..." Hermione mumbled, her face growing quite pink and very guilty looking. Ginny picked up on it immediately.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I went to Harry after Ron and I broke it off. I was going to stay at the Hollow during the holidays, doesn't seem right to stay at Ron's or here. I was really distraught over everything and I've always been able to talk to Harry -" Ginny looked affronted.
"Like you couldn't talk to me?" she said a little too heatedly.
"Of course I could talk to you!" Hermione replied abashedly. "But I've always been closer to Harry than anyone else, except you and Ron." This seemed to sate Ginny a little at least. "Anyway, we were talking and drinking and... and he kissed me..." she finished in a small voice.
"What do you mean he kissed you? Like he hugged you and kissed your cheek? A peck on the lips?"
Hermione breathed heavily. "No Gin, he kissed me. I mean really kissed me, passionately."
"How could he do that?! After you'd just broken up with his best friend! What a bastard... I'll throttle him next time I see him..." and she continued debasing Harry's character.
Hermione let her continue to stew in her anger for a minute, though this may not have been the most intelligent course of action given the part she hadn't told her yet. Well, better get it over with. "That's not the worst of it sis... He kissed me again after we broke apart. I didn't stop him."
"Of course you didn't stop him! He's bigger than you, he's really strong and -"
"No, Gin, I didn't want him to stop. I wanted him to keep kissing me. I grabbed the back of his head and forced him to keep going."
"Why did you do that, Hermione?" Ginny asked in a nearly threatening tone.
"Because I was enjoying it. A lot, like it was always supposed to be him and me kissing." Ginny had started to glare at her as though she could burn her with her will.
"Hermione... why... what... makes you think that it was supposed to be you and him?"
"I don't know Gin. It just felt right. Like really right. And then Ron walked through the door."
Ginny had apparently forgotten her anger for the moment, waiting to hear what her brother's reaction was.
"He yelled at both of us, something like 'what the fuck are you doing', but I don't really remember. My head was spinning. I... I left. I imagine they're still going at it right now."
"Wait, you mean this was just a bit ago?" Ginny screamed in accusation.
Hermione was staring in to the dregs of her coffee cup, hoping to see an answer, a way out of this horrid situation. An unpleasant recollection of Professor Trelawney's class came to her mind, which she shook off uncomfortably. "Yes. I came straight here after leaving the Hollow."
"Get out." Hermione wasn't sure what she'd heard. Ginny's teeth were clenched. She'd said it quietly, visibly trying to control her anger, hold it back. "I said get OUT!" she yelled, becoming louder with every syllable. She was standing now, her wand in her hand.
"Ginny, what?! What are you so upset about?"
"He threw me out, Hermione! He said it was because I didn't love him, that I 'wanted the boy who lived, not Harry fucking Potter'! I never could figure it out, but now I know." She was seething, staring daggers at Hermione as though she were her most dangerous, most hated enemy. "Now I know why. He wanted what he couldn't have. So he'd bide his time, wait for you to break up with Ron! I wouldn't be surprised if the two of you planned this. Now get the fuck out of my house!"
Hermione was crying, tears staining the front of her dress. She ran to the back door and out, moving as fast as her twitching muscles would let her. My best friend in the world and she thinks I planned this! She should know me better... She stopped just outside the edge of the wards. She was still crying, though her anger was taking over now. No, I won't let her think that. I'll make her see, even if I have to force it down her throat!
She turned back to the house. Ginny had slammed the door in rage and was still screaming at nothing behind it. Hermione walked to the door to find it sealed, locked against her. Alohomora she thought, tapping the tip of her wand at the handle and it clicked, swinging open just barely. She walked in to the kitchen to find Ginny mid rant at the air, her face red from screaming, her eyes red from crying furiously. Ginny stopped in her tracks and raised her wand level with Hermione's eyes once she'd caught sight of her. Impedimenta, Sedi Subito, Silencio. Ginny found herself thrown hard on her arse on the bench and unable to speak, her wand in Hermione's hand. She continued looking daggers at Hermione.
"Damn it Ginny, you'll listen to what I have to say whether you like it or not. I'll tie you up completely if I have to but you'll listen. And don't try to hex me, we both know I'm much faster than you." Ginny let her wand arm fall to her side but never losing grip of the wand in her hand.
"I didn't ask for any of this and I didn't plan it. And don't think Harry planned any of this either. He was happy for me and Ron for Merlin's sake! Don't make this out to be some grand scheme to ruin your life, that's just selfish. My guess is Ron's thinking the same thing, being the prick that he can be sometimes." Nothing she was saying was having a calming effect on Ginny. She started to cry again. "I didn't plan this. But I'm not sorry it happened. I've never been as happy about anything in my life, except when we took down Voldemort." Ginny shuddered, as did most people still, even though it was some eight years after the fact.
"I'm leaving. You and your stupid prat of a brother can talk to me and Harry when you both stop acting like assholes." Hermione stormed out the back door again crying, though feeling slightly better at telling her friend off. If I can still call her a friend...
~
Yes, he could still be pissed off. He had every right. They fucking betrayed me, can't they see that? No, they're too much in love with each other to give a shit about their friends.
Harry and Hermione had made their way to Flourish and Blott's where she was currently looking for books on what she had termed 'The Olde Rights' (which he balked at, only guessing their meaning) and had set him about looking for books on wand lore. He wasn't sure what he was looking for but searched none the less for books about wand cores. She found him reading deeply in to a section in a recent book that was discussing what had supposedly happened between his and 'Old Tom's' wands. He was muttering to himself and looked as though he'd very much like to find the author and have his way with him. But there were some unnerving similarities between what had happened between his and Hermione's wands and his and Voldemort's. Merlin, I just hate this whole damn thing right now...
She took the opportunity to study him. He's got a very nice profile. Strong shoulders, defined jawline, and there really is something about that hair... It took her just a moment to realize that she very much wanted to shag him just then. She had an impish smile on her face. She unbuttoned all but two of the buttons on her blouse, exposing the areas up to just below and just above her bra. She sauntered over to him, reaching out with her mind and whispering his name as seductively, as wantonly as she could. Haaarrry...
Harry had just enough time to let his jaw drop as she fairly pounced on him. She was kissing him so fiercely that he was sure the chair he was in would tip over backwards. He pushed himself from the table and pulled her to sit sideways on his lap. Thank Merlin we're in the back of the shop... he almost thought to himself, that being a very difficult thing to do just then. When she broke the kiss they were both breathless, he red in the face, she red as far as he could see down the front of her blouse.
"I knew you had it for books, Mione, but... shit!"
Hermione simply smiled at him and squirmed on his lap, feeling his arousal. "Hmm... now there's a thought. Wonder how quiet we'd have to be in here" she said as she managed to get her fingers under her bum to cup his erection. He jumped and damn near pushed her off to the floor.
"Am I to take it by your actions that it's later now?" he said, a feral look playing at his features. "Because I'm definitely ready to head home..."
"Ah Mister Potter, I think you're beginning to get the hang of this time thing. I'll just pay and we can be off."
"Pay? So you found what you were looking for?" he asked as they made their way to the front of the store.
"Just a few things about the bond..." Harry new full well what Hermione's idea of 'a few things' meant: he'd have to add another row on to one of the already stressed bookcases back in his library. Sure enough she led him to a stack of books that was easily a foot and a half high, a couple of which had to be at least 750 pages long. "Just pick those up, would you dear?" she said with an indulging smile. She, on the other hand, grabbed a very large tome that seemed to be over 1500 pages in length and 15 inches square. "I'll grab this one."
The purchase set them each back 200 galleons. "It's our money now as far as I'm concerned" he said in a tone of finality after she started arguing. "After all, they're going to wind up in the library at the Hollow, won't they? Come on, let's get home."
They disapparated to the edge of Godric's Hollow, opting for a long walk through the small village to simply relax in each other's company. By the time they got back home the sun had decided to make it early evening. Just inside the front door were four large, brown packages, each bearing the silver seal of the bookstore, shrunk and lightened to make it easier for owls to carry. Neither of them had wanted to tote the books home through the city. Hermione made to start tearing at the paper but Harry had caught her about the waist and buried his face in the crook of her neck.
"Oh no you don't" he mumbled through her hair between kisses. "I've decided that it's definitely later enough."
She pulled his hands far enough away from her to spin around in his arms. "Why Harry, I do believe you're right" she simpered. She kissed him deeply, slowly. Her hands immediately found themselves tangled in his unruly locks. His were busy working her blouse further and further up her body as he kneaded the flesh beneath his fingers. He backed her to the living room and slowly laid her back on the squishy couch, not once breaking contact with her lips.
He trailed kisses down her chin to her neck. He continued his path south kissing the wallow above her collarbone and down between her breasts, which were now moving quite quickly with her shallow breathing. He slowly undid first one then the second button, letting the front of the shirt fall to her sides. He kissed along the center of her body, stopping to lavish attention on her belly button, before continuing to the hem of her tight jeans. She was squirming under his attentions, knotting his hair in her fingers. He retraced his path back to the valley between her breasts.
She decided either that she could take no more or wanted to taste his body. She grabbed his shoulders and rolled herself off the couch, falling on top of him on to the soft carpet beneath. She kissed at his neck, paying particular attention to the pulse points just under the surface of his skin, while she unbuttoned his shirt. She followed a similar path to his, though she didn't stop at the hem of his pants. She gripped the corner of the button hole with her teeth and flicked her head to the side, loosing the fabric around his waist. She dropped the zipper on the front very slowly, each tooth of it sending a strange flicker of motion through his groin, before she returned slowly to his mouth.
Not content to be the only one losing multiple pieces of clothing he gripped the closure of her bra at the back. He made a snapping motion with his fingers, loosing the clips with one, deft movement. She lifted herself up on her elbows and gave him a questioning look. "And just where did a proper wizard learn a trick like that?"
"Oh, here or there" he said as he rolled her over to her back, removing the lacy fabric from her body. He lay on his side, pressing as much of his body against her as he could in this position. He let his hand wander aimlessly, stopping to grip each nubbin on her breasts at every pass. Her skin felt like tingling trails had been left on it by a feather. It was an odd mixture between tickling and obscenely arousing. She recognized a pattern quickly though.
"Ruis gort?!" she laughed. He looked slightly affronted. "Did you mean to say 'red field'?"
It took him a second, being almost completely distracted by the way the muscles of her stomach were contracting under her skin. Really is a fantastic site he thought to himself. "Well, no..." he said sheepishly. "I meant 'red neck', ruis muin."
She was still laughing as she turned on her side. He turned to lay on his back, her head falling on his shoulder with his arm around her. She began to trace a similar patter on his chest. "Ruis muin" she said once she'd finished. "You added an extra slash, changing muin to gort, 'field'." She kissed the spot on his chest where she'd made the symbols, allaying some of his humility. She looked him in the face fully. "I love you Harry Potter."
"I love you too Hermione Granger."
They laid there for a while, their amorous feelings somewhat diminished, until Harry's stomach alerted them to the fact that they hadn't eaten since earlier that morning.
"I think it may be time for a bite, don't you?" he asked her.
She stood, not bothering with the bra and only fastening one button on her blouse, a look he thought he could become very used to. He shook his head to un-rattle his brain. "How does chicken sound?" She simply nodded as she pulled him up. "What kind of chicken shall we have?" he asked as he moved to the kitchen, not really bothering to straighten his garb.
"Hmm... how about Chicken Parmesan with linguine?"
He gave her a strange look. "And where did you learn to appreciate such fine Italian cuisine, little miss London?"
"Daddy. He used to cook a lot. That and our trip to Sicily when I was younger. l'Alimento là era fantastico!"
Harry began assembling all of the things he would need to make the dish, much to the dismay of a now very upset Dobby whose doubts were only waylaid at Harry's insistence that he try his marinara sauce. "I shall have to learn how to make the sauces from Harry Potter! I's having no idea that you was that good at cooking sir! Very great man indeed" he said, taking a seat to watch Harry cook. Hermione was hiding a giggle poorly behind her hand.
They ate on the porch for a change of scenery. Dobby had set a small table for two, electing to take his food back to his small room. Once finished they decided to have a look at the stars, something neither had done much of since their nights in astronomy classes. Harry conjured a blanket and some pillows for both of them, though she seemed more inclined to use his whole body as a pillow for hers, a concept he was quite taken with. It took them both only about half an hour to fall asleep, their days activities and the sumptuous food taking their toll. Dobby conjured a warm, fluffy blanket over them as he was clearing the table some time later, not wanting to wake them.
's not going to rain tonight he thought to himself.
It was warm with a slow, sweet smelling breeze sweeping the lawn. It was a glorious night with a full moon casting odd, silvery shadows across the lawn. A lone shadow detached itself from that of a tree. It was stretched across half the lawn due to the acute angle the moon was currently in, it's shape distended and contorted so it could not be made out from the rest. It moved off to the west, toward the sea, it's length wrapping itself around every contour on the ground and the edge of every blade of grass.
When it reached the hill behind the house it stopped momentarily at a large, white rock. It seemed to shorten, as though whatever figure it would have belonged to would have stooped down to examine the grass.
James and Lily Potter
Loving parents and dedicated friends.
May their sacrifice never be forgotten.
The shadow disappeared silently, leaving nothing but a slight, barely audible tearing sound behind it as a lone, tear shaped droplet fell from a few inches above the foot stone. It struck with no louder a sound than a pin dropping and seeped in to the stone immediately, leaving a slightly darker patch in the center.
~
Near the shores of a black lake, in the back of her office, Minerva McGonagall was startled awake by a voice, that could not be, calling to her softly, though quite discernible over the wind at her windows. She rose from her bed, fastening her tartan robe about her waist as the torches in the room and hall lit themselves.
She made her way to the front office where she saw, if only for a moment, what had to have been a ghost. It can't be. It just bloody can't... "Albus, did you -" she began, turning around to face the large portrait of Albus Dumbledore that was hung behind her desk.
"Yes Minerva, I did" he interrupted, seeming to stare at the in the air as though it would turn in to a pink, fluffy bunny as soon as remain unoccupied. "I saw him too." A single tear fell from his face to his robes, darkening the deep blue, painted fabric and coming to rest on the tip of a crescent moon.
~~*~~
A/N: Sedatus Adaugeo: A spell used to make someone calm. Literally 'make calm' or 'to make calm'.
Sedi subito : Force to sit.
Just my feeble attempt at spell making. ^_^
Something else: the little bit with the shadow... Got this aspect of the idea from the song & video 'Angel's Son' by Sevendust.
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