Conquered Love
Disclaimer: Not mine, belongs to the brilliant author, J.K. Rowling
Chapter 2: A Long Time In the Works
...
Harry groaned. The pounding in his head did not feel good at all. It felt like hammer's were pounding his temple in a repeated cycle: slow, fast, slow, fast.
He rolled over, wanting to feel the cool sheets of his bed against his face. As he did he caught a whiff of something. Something that smelled quite calm, like a nice flowery vanilla scent. A scent that smelled painfully familiar. A scent that he had spent many lazy hours wondering how it would taste against the wearer's skin.
Hermione's scent.
His eyes shot open, blurring the scene around him. Ignoring his headache he reached for his glasses on the bedside table. He shook his head trying to clear his mind and remember anything that happened last night.
'Dumped Brooke... came home... party... lots of glowing green liquid... that stupid green fairy floating over my shoulder... Hermione... Hermione...'
"Damn," Harry whispered, furious that his memory faded out as soon as he thought of Hermione. Harry turned to look at the pillow next to him that was wearing Hermione's distinct smell. The pillow had a round indenture in the middle of it, looking as if a head had slept there the previous night. His hands frantically ran down his chest and legs making sure he had appropriate clothing on.
He sighed in relief, "Merlin, what the hell happened last night?"
He threw the remaining covers off his body and stood from his bed, immediately making his way for his bedroom door. As he clambered down the stairs, holding on to the railing for dear life, he couldn't help but hope that Hermione wasn't to angry and disappointed about the way he acted last night. He wanted to find her and tell her as soon as possible the reason for him being so pissed last night. He would tell her that he and Brooke had ended it, but of course that wasn't the real reason... he could care less about Brooke, it was Hermione who he really wanted and Hermione who was the one girl that was out of bounds to him...
He tripped over the last step and fell onto his hands and knees, his glasses tumbling off his nose and into the door way of the kitchen.
"Blasted stair case..." Harry grumbled extending a hand and shoving his glasses back onto his nose. He stumbled into the kitchen in quite a sour mood, now with a pounding head and sore knees. Right away the sight of a bright purple vile standing next to a note on the kitchen counter caught his attention. He walked over and reached for the note next to the hangover potion he knew Hermione must have set out for him.
Smiling slightly he read out loud,
'Harry,
I completely forgot about work this morning, I only had time to stop off and get you this before rushing to the office. Please understand, I know we had plans to go shopping for Ron and Lav's house warming gifts today but I promise I'll make it up to you when I get home.
-Hermione'
Harry's heart plunged as he read the closing. Just hyphen Hermione. Usually there was something more endearing like 'Your best friend' or even 'Love' when she was in a good mood. Of course she didn't know how 'Love, Hermione' affected him. He was positive know one knew of what her subdued affectionate words did to him...
He sighed again throwing the letter in the bin and quickly downing the potion she had left him. 'Well at least I must not have made a complete fool of myself last night... when Ron's hung-over and she's angry with him she usually hides the potion from him...'
He wished he knew what had happened last night. He hated not remembering his own actions and he knew if he asked one of his mates to reiterate it they would just make up some silly story that would only result in Harry being extremely red in the face.
He was quiet for a moment, racking his mind of any details he had skipped from last night, 'I came home... Lavender was already tipsy swaying in her seat next to Ron who constantly kept reminding the crowd that he was getting married and that they were all invited... Fred and George offering him-'
"Fred and George!" Harry yelped, running a hand through his hair as he remembered. He had stopped by the twins shop about a week ago to see how business was running since he owned a portion of their capital. They mentioned some new products they were getting ready to put on the shelves including a new Memory-Reminder Concoction, which after drunk allowed you to recall the events of a night that you were pissed. "This is perfect," Harry said to himself walking into the foyer to grab his trainers.
With a pop he left number 12 and arrived in front of the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. He wasn't surprised to see quite a crowd inside of the large shop since it was Friday around noon.
"Harry!" yelled Fred (or George?) from behind the cashier's counter as Harry made his way through the door.
"What do we owe the pleasure?" asked George (or Fred?) coming up behind him with a large orange box in his hands.
"Um, I was actually wondering if I could have a favour?" asked Harry a bit shyly as he followed the twins into the back or what they called 'the lab'.
"Need some special concoction, don't ya?" asked George throwing the box off to the side and walking over to a storage crate.
"How'd you guess?" asked Harry sitting down in a chair.
Fred scoffed and sat down next to him, "Honestly Harry, by the way you were last night I'm surprised you're still alive."
"Yeah, still alive after Hermione got hold of you that is," his twin said with a devilish smirk, striding over and handing him a fair sized bottle.
"Was she really mad? Did I piss her off that bad?" asked a quiet Harry, his cheeks reddening.
"Harry, mate... let's just say she was a bit offended when you started cleaning up her 'isle five'," Fred said with an identical smirk.
Harry blushed darker, "Uh-"
"Don't worry, we won't embarrass you further. We'll leave the memories for you to discover on your own. Don't drink it until you're at home, it'll knock you out for a few hours and the memories will come back to you in a dream." George finished, the both of them clapping Harry on the back with an amused look.
...3 and a half hours later...
Harry groaned as he rolled over in a fitful sleep, making him fall off the couch and land face first on the rug below. His eyes shot open, half in pain and the other half in shock. He pushed himself off from the ground and sat back up on the sofa in the living room, his eyes glazed over and his mouth slightly agape. The events of last night played in his mind over and over, and eventually Harry smiled softly. She said she loved him back, she kissed him back...
He jumped as he heard the muffled sound of a door closing down the hall.
She's home, he thought running both hands through his already tousled hair. He got up from the floor and straightened out his shirt, suddenly very nervous to speak to her. He knew he had to, he just hoped that she had the same feelings from last night that he still had.
"Oh you're home," Hermione said from the entry way of the living room.
"Um, yeah, yeah I'm home. Here. Where else would I be?" he asked fitfully, speeding through his sentences. So much for smooth, Potter.
Hermione eyed him suspiciously, "Did you drink the potion I left you?"
"Yeah," Harry said, "Thanks by the way."
"Sure, I knew you'd be needing one after last night," she turned around and headed toward the kitchen.
"About last night," Harry said nervously, following after her.
"Yes, you were pissed, and no, I'm not telling you what happened, you'll have to remember on your own," said Hermione with a small secretive smile.
"I remember what happened last night," he said in a playful defensive tone.
"Oh, good, so you remember drinking an excessive amount of alcohol that turned you into a stumbling flobberworm that wouldn't stop talking until threatened with force."
Harry smiled at her playfulness, "No, actually I wouldn't be able to tell you about that. I was referring to me telling you I loved you."
Hermione went red and nearly dropped the cup she was holding, "Um, oh yeah, you were really pissed last night," she finished trying to pass it off like it was nothing.
"Hermione," he said walking up to her and making her face him, " I never planned to tell you that while I was pissed but I'm glad I did because I don't know if I ever would have had the courage to tell you."
Hermione just stared at him with a blank expression while he continued, "I just... I felt that way for a long time but it just never seemed the right time to tell you and then I seen your failed relationship with Ron and I didn't want it to like that for us because I couldn't stand you not being in my life or our friendship being ruined."
Hermione continued to stare at him as he finished his speech. After a few moments she looked away from him and started shaking her head softly, "Harry, I don't know what to say."
"Well I remember last night you telling me you loved me back..."
Hermione blushed furiously, "Oh, about that-"
"It's okay if you don't, I just... just wanted to know if it was mutual. If not we can forget this and go back to the way things were," Harry said rather dejectedly. He wanted her to know that even if she didn't return his feelings he still wanted them to be friends. Friends 'til the end...
Hermione looked back up into his eyes and gulped, "I don't think we can go back to the way things were. Especially since you kissed me..."
"That I did," he said sheepishly.
Hermione smiled at his nervousness, "And if you do remember correctly... I did kiss you back."
Harry's head snapped up to look her in the eyes, "What are you trying to say."
"I, um- I didn't lie last night. I really do love you back... I'm sorry just hearing it now... when you're sober," he let out a laugh and she smiled, "I don't know it just makes me all..."
Harry laughed again and grabbed her hand, forcing her to look into his smiling face, "I love you."
Hermione smiled and nodded like it was common knowledge, "I know you said so enough last night," Harry laughed again and unconsciously moved closer to her, "I love you, too," she finished gently as Harry approached her.
"So you did kiss me back last night. Even in the state I was in... Miss Granger I do believe you were taking advantage of me!"
Hermione laughed with him and then added, "It's not like it was some heart stopping kiss."
"Hey!" said Harry clearly offended, "I was pissed. I'm ten times better when I'm sober."
"Just ten times?" she asked sounding like she was getting less interested by the second.
"A zillion times," he said with a serious face.
Hermione looked him in the face before raising her eyebrows and saying, "Yeah, okay."
"I am!" Harry said moving closer and placing his arms on both sides of the counter, effectively trapping her in.
"You smelled too," Hermione said trying to contain her laughter, "It didn't help that you were practically slobbering all over me but you were also reeking of unmentionable toxins."
"Hey, hey, where's this hostility coming from?" he asked as she continued to smile at him, " First off, I don't slobber... I don't care how pissed I am, and second, those unmentionable toxins you smelled just might have been my cologne so watch what you say."
Hermione scrunched up her face playfully, "Oh, ew. And to think someone that smelled like that kissed me..."
"Lucky for you I'm not wearing any cologne today," he said in a more gentle tone as he leaned in.
"I guess that means you can try again," she whispered before their lips met in a kiss that had been a long time in the works.
...
Here's the second chapter, I hope you all liked it. It's rather funny because this fic was supposed to me more on the angst side, and it turned out to be more cute and lovable. Please review and tell me what you think!