The Awakening
A/N: All of the characters you recognize belong to the wonderful mind of our beloved (well, most of the time *wink wink*) author, JK Rowling. If they were mine, these two characters we love so much would be together. Of well, that's what he have fanfiction for!
Hope you like it. It will be from both Hermione's and Harry's points of view. Reviews are helpful and appreciated. Let me know what you think of it. We all have different styles of writing and different ideas. Let's respect that and each other. Well, enough said, happy reading!
Hermione walked into the flat she shared with Harry and Ron and frowned at the mess in the living room.
Bloody hell! Honestly, she thought exasperated; I was only gone for five days.
She took off her jacket and hung it in the closet by the front door, sighing deeply as she did so. She figured she had the flat to herself, since it was silent and that was never the case if both of her best friends were there. She took out her wand and went room-by-room cleaning and straightening as she did so. Once satisfied that the flat was back to normal, she decided to take a much-needed shower. The drive back from the conference she had been attending had been a long one and she was tired. After a luxurious shower, she lay down on her comfortable bed and sighed. She was wearing a matching tank top and bikini panties set. She let her mind wonder as her body began to relax.
She was working as a healer in St. Mungo's and her duties grew more and more every day. She was one of the youngest, but also, one of the brightest. The position she held now was impressive and she was making very good money as the head of her department. The drawback was that she also spent a lot of time there. While Harry and Ron had plenty of time for a social life, she had none, and her fun evenings were far and few in between. If it were not for the girls only night she had with her female friends every week, she would never leave the house once she got there. At twenty-five, that was rather pitiful.
Harry and Ron were both playing Quiditch for the same team and were doing really well. The amount of fan mail that they got was unbelievable and they had a couple of baskets on the back were the owls dropped their mail daily. Harry was still single and loving it. The Daily Prophet had a picture of him with a new woman at least once a week. Ron only had eyes for Luna and was even engaged to her. Luna had taken over her father's business and it was booming. Ginny had decided to take a job at the Ministry of Magic and she had recently started dating Neville. It had taken him years to finally ask her out, and to everyone's surprise, she had said yes. They had been dating for close to six months now and they both seemed very happy. He was working as the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts since their old teacher had retired.
As for herself, she rarely went on dates. Not that she didn't have any suitors or plenty of invites, but she was so busy that she did not waste her time or theirs. Since leaving Hogwarts and finishing her training to be a healer, she had learned to finally tame her bushy hair into soft, chestnut colored curls that reached down her back. She had also started wearing make-up, not a whole lot, but she had learned to highlight her features thanks to Ginny. She kept a rigorous exercise routine and it showed. She was toned and in the best shape of her life.
After the war, things had taken a while to go back to normal, but once the dust had settled, they had decided to live life to the fullest and be thankful for what they had. Her bond with Harry and Ron was stronger than ever. The war had not been easy on any of them, and it was a true miracle that they had survived. They all had plenty of scars, both physical and emotional, to prove it. Thankfully, the years had lessened the nightmares and they had been able to remain sane through it all.
Hermione was still the smart one, Harry was still the brave one, and Ron was still the funny one. They were known as the legendary trio that had finally defeated the Dark Lord and everywhere they went, they still attracted attention. Professor McGonagall, who was now the Headmistress at Hogwarts, had erected a special garden in the school were a statue of the three of them and Professor Dumbledore now stood proudly in the middle. Neville had helped with the design and kept it in shape.
She smiled as she snuggled more deeply into her pillows and hugged a stuffed bunny to her chest. Harry had given it to her a while back and it was enchanted to wake him up if she was having a nightmare. He would run into her room every time and cradle her until she went back to sleep peacefully, sometimes even staying the whole night with her. She loved him dearly for it. Sleep finally over took her and she drifted off with a slight smile on her face.
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Harry walked into the flat and smiled knowingly when he saw how clean and organized it was. His Hermione was back! He dropped his jacket on the sofa, but then thought better of it and placed it in the closet next to hers. She would have his arse if he left it there after she had cleaned up the rest of his and Ron's mess.
He went looking for her from room to room on the lower half of the flat before taking the stairs two at a time to the second floor. He walked slowly down the hall to her door and knocked softly on it. When there was no answer, he turned the knob and pushed the door open, calling out her name quietly. He and Ron had learned not to make any loud or unexpected noises around her, since it still had the power to upset her. He saw that she was laying on her bed, fast asleep. He walked over to the side of the bed and sucked in his breath as he looked down at her. She looked beautiful and peaceful. Harry was more than glad to see that, not to mention her gorgeous body.
Hermione had ended up having the worst of the nightmares, since she had witness more than Ron had. Ron had been hit with a spell that left him unconscious right before his confrontation with the Dark Lord, and he had not seen it happen.
But Hermione had and it had upset her a great deal. She had been at his side every step of the way and had been tortured almost as bad as he had. Had it not been for their combined power, he didn't think they would have made it out alive. His love and respect for her had grown to unbelievable heights since then. Yet, and unfortunately for him, she had no idea that he felt that way.
She was laying on her side, hugging the bunny he had given her against her chest. Her curls covered the pillow and his fingers itched to run through them. He didn't miss and opportunity to caress them. He loved their scent and soft texture. He swallowed hard when he noticed what she was wearing. Harry had seen her plenty of times in the tiny bikinis she seemed to favor, but this was different, more intimate somehow. The top had ridden up exposing her belly ring and the tattoo on her lower back. He smiled as the memory of that time came flooding back to him.
At one of their more memorable post-war celebrations, she had gotten extremely drunk, and throwing caution to the wind, she had gone into muggle London and had both the piercing and the tattoo done on the same night. She had decided to tattoo a heart with tribal designs around it, as if protecting it. She explained that the heart represented her and the tribal designs represented both him and Ron. They had been touched by her decision to do this and he had to admit it looked very sexy on her. Her smooth legs were firm and tanned, and he could not help but notice once more how her arse filled her knickers quite nicely.
He sat on the bed softly and leaned one hand on the other side of her. With his free hand, he started running his fingers softly over her arm and the top of her back. She stirred a bit, but kept on sleeping. He finally gave in and ran his fingers slowly through her curls making her smile a bit.
"Are you awake, Mione?" he whispered as he continued to caress her back in small circles. He ran his fingers over her tattoo, feeling the slightly raised skin there.
"Mmmm," she mumbled back and he smiled.
He leaned down and dropped a quick kiss on her cheek. "Do you want me to leave?"
"No," she mumbled again still keeping her eyes closed.
He continued to caress her, feeling like a cad for taking advantage of the situation, but unable to stop. It was not everyday that he had the opportunity to do this, even when their relationship was on a different level. While she loved Ron dearly, their physical contact was kept to a minimum because of his relationship with Luna. With him, however, she was more open and spontaneous. She was always hugging him and she loved to sit on his lap. When they watched the telly together, he would lay his head on her lap and she would play with his hair absently for hours. If she was excited, or for special occasions like his birthday or Christmas, she would give him a peck on the lips and he would die a little inside. But he kept himself in check all the time since he didn't trust himself around her.
"That feels good," she whispered still without opening her eyes.
A soft smile adorned her lips and it was all he could do not to lean in and kiss her senseless as he had been wanting to do for ages. He was going mad with wanting her, but at the same time, he was afraid of her rejection.
His friends knew how he felt, since he had told them while she was away in her conference. They had not been surprised to hear his confession. Apparently, he had not been as careful as he had thought. From her he hid it behind the many women he dated and pretended to be the lover boy the media loved to follow around town. She always got on his case about dating so many different girls, and tried to talk some sense into him, but it was no use. If she only knew that she was the only girl he wanted.
She finally opened her eyes, blinking the sleep out of them and her smile grew bigger when she finally focused her beautiful chocolate brown eyes on him. He could have drowned in their depths.
"Hi, handsome. Did you miss me?" she asked coquettishly turning so that she was laying on her back. Her full breasts pushed against the thin fabric of her top and her nipples were starting to harden. Harry tried not to gulp as he brought his hand from her back and played softly with the small hoop in her belly.
"You know I did, Mione. And I'm glad you're back safe and sound."
Unable to control himself, he leaned down, pressed his lips against hers, and stayed like that for a few seconds more than was normal for them. He came back up and noticed the surprise in her eyes.
"Sorry," he said immediately. He removed his hand from her belly and tried to get up, but she grabbed his hand quickly and kept him in place.
"It's okay, Harry. I have kissed you plenty of times before and you let me. Don't worry about it, okay?"
He nodded and smiled. "Did you eat?"
"No, and now that you ask, I'm starved," she told him.
"Want to go with me for a bite? Ron's staying at Luna's tonight."
"Where do you want to go?" she asked trying to distract her mind from the fingers that were still playing with her belly ring. She was suddenly more than awake.
"Somewhere nice. We haven't been out in a while and I feel like dressing up a bit."
"Mmm, I see."
"Unless you're tired of course, and then we can just order in."
"I took a long nap, so I feel fine. We can go wherever you want."
"Great!" He smiled at her and ran his fingers softly from her cheek to the base of her neck. "I'm going to go and take a shower and we'll meet downstairs in half an hour."
He got up and left the room, closing the door softly behind him. Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and sighed. What had just happened? she wondered wildly. Harry had never kissed her like that before. While it had just been a soft touch of his lips against hers, he had lingered longer than was necessary. And what was all the touching and caressing about? He never did any of those things. It was always her and it worked out just fine that way. But if he was going to pick up that habit, they were going to be in a lot of trouble.
She had been awake for a while, letting him touch her softly before finally acknowledging his presence. It had felt so good and it had been so long since the last time she had been caressed. She was not completely immune to his charms and his eyes were almost hypnotic in nature. It was not the first time they had been close, they even slept in the same bed from time to time, for Merlin's sake!
She took a deep breath and got up. Walking into her huge closet, she tried to decide what to wear. If Harry wanted to dress up, she would have to as well. She looked around for a bit, finally running across a black dress she had bought a while back on a whim but had not had a chance to wear. It was skin tight and short, exposing plenty of her back and legs. Since Harry seemed to be so amorous, she would give him something to sweat about. She picked up her favorite strappy high heals and a small evening bag.
She was dress and ready to go just in time. She was wearing very sexy underwear and she applied her favorite French perfume to different pulse points in her body. Harry loved that particular brand on her and she decided she was in the mood to torment him a bit. She pulled her curls up, letting a few loose tendrils cascade down her back. Her make-up was simple, yet she looked striking. The media was used to seeing Harry with beautiful women on his arms and she would be damned if she did not look as good or better for him.
Once she was ready, she stood in front of her full-length mirror and ran her eyes critically over herself. I'd do me, she thought smiling merrily. She did not want to dwell on the fact that she had gone through so much trouble to look fantastic for Harry, so she picked up her bag and left the room.
Harry had his back to her as she walked into the living room. She was glad she had dressed so well, since he was wearing a suit.
"I'm ready," she said and smiled as he turned around to face her.
He could not help himself. His mouth dropped open but no sound came out of it.
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Harry's mind came to a sudden stop and all of his thoughts collided against each other. Since she was now laughing at him, the little witch, he tried to regain his composure, or what was left of it.
"You look absolutely stunning, Hermione," he finally managed to croak.
"Thank you, dear sir! You look pretty smashing yourself."
And it was true, she thought. He was wearing a black suit with a light blue shirt underneath. He had left the first few buttons undone as well as the jacket. His hair was as messy as usual, but that just added to his raw sex appeal. She was stunned to realize that she wanted him. Oh, Merlin, the night was going to be interesting indeed.
Her eyes widened a bit at that revelation. Control yourself, Hermione, she admonished herself sternly. Do NOT go mental on him, and do NOT, under any circumstances, jump his body right now. Maybe later, came the sudden afterthought making her blush a bit.
Harry watched the play of emotions on her face and his heart took flight. Could it be? Could she feel the same way he did? Was she interested in him as more than a friend?
Before he could think more on the subject, she regained control of herself and smiled at him. "Shall we go?"
"Yes, I think we should. I called a taxi and it should pull up in the front at any moment now. I didn't want to drive in case we drank a bit too much, you know."
"That was very thoughtful of you, Harry. You're right; tomorrow is Saturday and I don't have to be at work, so a bottle of wine sounds splendid."
They heard a horn beep and smiled at each other. "Just in time!"
He was glad, since his pants had gotten decidedly uncomfortable since he had laid his eyes on her. He opened the door and let her out first, locking it behind him with a couple of strong charms.
Harry opened the taxi's door for her and slipped in after she settled in the seat. She raised her eyebrows when she heard him tell the driver where they were going. That particular restaurant was very trendy and very expensive. To make reservations, you had to call weeks in advance and she was surprised that they were heading that way.
After talking for a little while, Hermione noticed they were close to the restaurant and voiced her concerns.
"How are we going to get in there tonight, Mr. Potter?" she inquired.
"I know you hate to take advantage of our fame, but since you look so beautiful, nothing else will do and I'm going to rely on that fame to get us in the door!" he finished smiling wickedly at her.
"Harry James Potter, have you gone mad?" she gasped. "You really think they're just going to let us in just like that!"
"I know they will. It is good for their business. I use them and they use me. It works out beautifully every time," he finished laughing at her expression.
"You're terrible, Harry, but I have to love you just the same," she finished smiling and leaned over and gave him one of her famous pecks on the lips. She then ran her fingers softly over his lips to remove the traces of lipstick from them. "I don't want to leave my mark on you and ruin your chances with some other girl."
"Mark me all you want, Mione, since tonight I only have eyes for you," he said as he leaned over and kissed her back, and as before, he lingered just a second too long. He smiled when he felt her breath leave her body.
Serves her right, he thought. Between her clothes, her curls and that damned perfume he loved so much she could bring a lesser man to his knees.
Before she could wonder what he meant by that, they pulled up in front of the restaurant and the door attendant was already walking their way to open the car's door.
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