Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, Harry and Hermione would be married right now.
A/N: My take on the challenge "Secrecy" by reptilia, you can find the requirements here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26369 . Hope you'll like it, and if you read, please review to let me know how I'm doing, ok? Thanks!
Secret Wizards
Chapter Thirteen: New Love
After the owl had left, Harry and Hermione made a quick work of preparing lunch. As they ate, Hermione asked him if he was ok, as he was being a bit silent.
He smiled, taking her hand in his own. "Yes, I'm ok. It's just that this is a big change in my life. I'm sure it's for the best though" he reassured her and she nodded. That afternoon, they busied themselves in the reports they had to write for their mission. It was three hours later that she looked up from her sheet, and called him.
"Harry" she said. He looked up, just to be met with her apologetic stare.
"Don't worry. You have to tell the truth, so write down what exactly happened" he said, reassuring her. He had been a fool, and if he got fired because of it, well, then he deserved it. He could always find another job, or not work at all. Money was not a problem, but he couldn't stop beating himself up for his stupidity. He could have got Hermione hurt, or worse, killed.
He sighed loudly before picking up his quill again.
When they were finally finished, he spoke.
"Would you like to go have dinner somewhere nice?" he suggested, and she smiled.
"I'd love to, Harry, but…" she said, motioning toward the forgotten newspaper. He understood, and his shoulders slumped.
"We can go out once the divorce is official" she suggested, to cheer him up. He nodded, still a bit down. He really wanted to give her a wonderful night as a thank you for letting him stay.
"At least let me cook" he said then, and she nodded. "I'm not this good a cook, after all" she shrugged, and he laughed.
"Hermione Granger isn't more than brilliant in the kitchen?" he asked with feign shock.
"Prat" she said, swatting him on the head with a book of hers which was nearby. He, however, was not Seeker for nothing, and caught her arm in mid swipe.
Their eyes locked, and they realized how close to each other they had drifted while working on those reports.
Finally, Harry cleared his throat and stood up. "I better start on that dinner" he said, moving into the kitchen. Hermione closed her eyes, letting out a frustrated breath.
"I can't do this" she thought, before standing up herself and going to help him cook.
They ate chicken breast with roasted potatoes, some salad and fresh fruit. Neither of them was particularly hungry, other thoughts occupying their minds as they ate in silence.
The pair then set to do the dishes, which were clean in few wand moves, then they settled once more on the couch for a movie.
This time, it was Harry who picked it from her collection, and soon the TV was showing "Bad Boys II".
Hermione playfully rolled her eyes at his choice of movie, and he stuck his tongue at her, then he started tickling her sides. She squealed, and moved far from him on the couch, giving him a mock glare that soon dissolved into a bright smile. Moving back close to him, she snuggled into his embrace.
As the movie credits started showing on the TV a bit more than two hours later, Harry bid her goodnight and retreated into the guest room. There, he made a quick job of changing into his nightwear, and then he slipped under the sheets, wishing Hermione was there with him like in Australia. Sighing, he turned on his side, and with time he fell into an uneasy sleep.
In her bedroom, Hermione went through the same processes, and she too wished Harry was in bed with her.
"He could have been, if I had stopped holding a stupid grudge and done something to let him know my feelings" she thought, as sleep took her.
--
He was outside the storehouse in Sydney. He could see Hermione inside, bound to that chair, Michaela making fun of her. She had tears in her eyes and Harry's heart broke. Soon, Frikplask joined the two women, with his followers behind him.
"I guess we will have to kill you, Miss Granger" the man sneered. "But before, me and my cronies will have a bit of fun with you" he announced. Harry wanted to save her, but he couldn't find a way to enter the building. He had to witness all of those thugs raping her, one after the other, until only Frikplask was left.
"I'm sure a Mudblood like you will be a good fuck. You're nothing more than a whore, Hermione Granger, and as one you shall be treated". Then he proceeded to have his way with her, Hermione's face stained with tears falling.
Then, someone shouted. "Avada Kedavra!" and a green flash approached the brunette. Just before the Killing Curse hit her, she turned in his direction, and said, "It's all your fault, Harry"
"Noooo! Not Hermione! Kill me instead!" he shouted in his sleep.
--
"Noooo! Not Hermione! Kill me instead!"
The piercing shout resounded in the quiet of the flat, rousing Hermione from her sleep. She immediately ran to Harry's room, finding him crying freely, still not awake, as the nightmare was still going on.
She shook him awake, and he blinked twice before realizing where he was.
"Hermione? You're alive?" he asked, uncertain.
"Yes, Harry, I'm alive" she said, smiling at him and wiping away the last tears. "I'm not going to leave you"
He pulled her close, inhaling her scent, and let out a rattled sob. "I…I was there, outside the storehouse, and you were bound, and I couldn't find a way to enter…Frikplask and his minions had their way with you before they killed you, and I couldn't do anything to prevent it…and just before you died you blamed me…" he told her about the nightmare, as if telling her would make him forget it sooner. He had learned he could tell her anything, she would not think less of him.
"Oh, Harry" she said, kissing the top of his head. Then, she made her decision. She slipped inside the bed with him, and laced her arms around his waist.
Harry was looking at her intensely, and she could see fire in his green eyes. Finally, he took a deep sigh.
"I need to tell you something" he said, and she nodded.
"Tell me anything, Harry" she breathed, tickling his face as they were really close now.
"I'm in love with you, Hermione" he finally said after a minute or so of silence, desperately searching her eyes for a reaction.
Hermione gasped, and didn't know what to do, what to think. The moment she had dreamed for an year now had come, and she was too shocked to say something.
"May…may I kiss you?" Harry asked, tentatively, and she lay there, unresponsive, for the longest time. Finally, when he was going to move away from her embrace, thinking she was rejecting him, she made up her mind and nodded, a wide grin spreading on her lips as the idea that Harry was in love with her finally registered in her brain.
He shakily grinned at her, not completely recovered from the nightmare, before closing the distance between their lips, in a kiss that started soft, tentative, but that quickly escalated to hot, needing, hungry, with a battle of tongues taking place in their mouths, the occasional nibbling that elicited moans from both of them.
Harry's left hand found her bum and he squeezed it, making her yelp, before she kissed him again, her own right hand buried in his black unruly hair, caressing it, revelling in its silkiness, while the other one was placed on his muscular chest.
He then moved his hand upwards, caressing her back, while the other became lost in her brown curls. He could smell her vanilla shampoo that he had come to appreciate while they were on mission.
At last, his hand brushed the swell of her breast and her breath itched. He stopped, but the way she was kissing him told him it was ok.
"If you want to stop…" he said, but she shook her head.
"I've been dreaming of this for a long time now" she admitted, and the simple fact she had had fantasies of them together almost drove him over the edge.
He started kissing her neck, cupping her breasts in his hands through the fabric of her pyjama, and she moaned, arching her back as to push her mounds of flesh harder into his palms.
Harry then lifted her pyjama top, stopping his ministrations long enough to take it away, and then he started kissing her on the neck, where he found a particular spot that elicited a strong moan from her, all the while kneading her hardened nipples. She managed to smirk at him through her gasps of pleasure.
"You're over-clothed, Potter" she said, lifting his own pyjama top over his head.
"Much better now" she cooed, running her palms over his broad, strong chest, and making him groan. The knowledge that she was the one being able to make him react this way sent a thrill directly to her core, between her legs, and her panties dampened even more. He then gently pushed her back onto the bed, and while flicking one nipple with his thumb, took the other in his mouth, sucking, circling it with his tongue, gently nibbling on it.
"Harry!" she gasped, arching against him. He then switched nipples, not wanting the other one to feel less important, before he resumed kneading them both with his thumbs and started kissing the valley between her breasts.
Slowly, he kissed his way down to the waistband of her pyjama, and slid them down. She lifted her bum to help him do that, then bit her lip when he started lavishing feather-like kisses on her legs, up to her thighs, before settling between them.
He hooked his fingers under the waistband of her knickers, and pulled them down with a teasing pace.
"Harry!" she snarled, and he chuckled, the nightmare by now a distant memory as he was lost in his passion for the young woman under him.
"Eager, aren't we?" he huskily said, when he finally threw the panties away and moved up to her face to claim her lips in a searing kiss. All the love for her was poured in it, and she responded in the same fashion, just to gasp when his thumb touched her slit for the first time.
After he had teased her enough, Harry pushed down his own pyjama and boxers, and Hermione grabbed him with a smirk. "My turn"
Harry learned then that retaliation could be wonderful if coming from a certain brunette witch, and he had to stop her before it would all be over before even starting. He then slowly slipped inside her, and she clung to him for dear life as the sensations building inside her were like nothing else she had experienced before.
As he thrust slowly but with a rhythm, inside and out, she felt her climax come, and dug her nails in his shoulders as she screamed his name to the night, feeling like she had gone straight to Heaven. He came just moments after, and collapsed on her side.
Wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close, he sweetly kissed her.
She smiled warmly at him. "I love you" she whispered, doodling on his chest with her finger, and he kissed the top of her head. "I love you too" he said, "More than myself, in fact" he added then, before both fell in a deep, resting sleep, the first of many nights they would spend that way.
--
As sun peaked into the room from the window, Harry stirred. He looked down to his chest where a weight was resting, and smiled fondly. Hermione's head was there, her right arm draped over his stomach, their legs entwined, her chest pressing on him, giving him a really pleasurable sensation.
"Morning" came the sleepy greeting that startled him from his thoughts.
Looking down at her, he met those chocolate orbs, the radiant smile she was giving him, and he felt his heart swell. He had never seen a sexier sight in his whole life, and felt his lower regions start to stir. There was something in the smile she was giving him that tugged at his very core, making him need her, physically need her, almost more than the air he breathed.
"Morning, sexy" he said, giving her a roguish grin, and she blushed. He pulled her up a bit and softly kissed her.
"Now this is a proper good morning" he joked, and she swatted his arm playfully.
When they finally got out of bed ten minutes later, putting on the first things they found, Harry made his way to the kitchen, while Hermione stopped in the bathroom to start get ready for the day. She felt a mess and couldn't understand how Harry might find her attractive at the moment, but he had made sure to let her know he did.
Smiling to herself as she combed her hair, she felt giddy thinking back to the previous night.
Harry loved her! She couldn't believe it, and thought it must have been a dream, a really good dream but unreal nonetheless, till she opened her eyes and found him in bed with her. That was the moment she realized it was all true. It had started with Harry waking her with his screams from the nightmare, and that was proof enough for her that he had understood his lesson.
There was no point in torturing him more, so she made her decision and forgave him at once, completely giving him her heart, knowing he wouldn't shatter it again.
It took her twenty minutes to fix herself enough that she was satisfied with her looks. "After all, I've a boyfriend now, it won't do to scare him away with bad morning looks" she girlishly thought as she headed to the kitchen, knowing very well Harry wouldn't be scared away by something this trivial, and still, wanting to look her best at every time for him.
Hermione then approached him, sneaking her arms around his waist, as he was finishing their breakfast.
"Need some help?" she whispered into his ear, and could feel him shiver.
"Not really…but if you keep distracting me, our breakfast might just get burnt" he cheekily replied, squeezing her bum. She gave him a mock outraged look, before giggling.
Harry, who had stepped away and turned to check on the pancakes, looked at her in shock.
"Did Hermione Granger just giggle?" he exaggeratedly said. "What is the world coming to?"
"Oh, shush it, you big baby" she said, before claiming his lips in a kiss. When they finally parted, Harry smirked at her.
"You know, that is a most pleasurable way to shut up someone, but I'd really appreciate if you didn't go around practicing it"
"And why would that be, Potter?" she coyly said, looking up at him through her eyelashes.
"Because now that I've finally got a hold of you, I don't plan to let you go anytime soon" he huskily replied, crashing his lips down on hers again, and making her gave a tiny moan as their tongues clashed together.
Soon later they were surprised by an owl carrying the latest issue of the Quibbler. Scanning it, Harry found out that Ginny had given Luna an interview.
Harry Potter is not a cheater!
By Luna Lovegood
Following the Prophet's claim that Harry Potter, Savior of the Wizarding World, was a cheater, Ginny Weasley gave the Quibbler her version of the facts.
"Harry and I had agreed to divorce. We realized we couldn't function as a married couple anymore and that we didn't actually love each other like that. So, when he came home after his latest work trip, I told Harry I had the papers for the divorce ready and he just needed to sign them" Ginny explained. She then showed me the signed papers.
"He did, and only after that, being officially a free man again, he left to go see the woman he really loves, Hermione Granger. I guess I've always known they were right for each other, although I had hoped I could be the woman to hold Harry's heart when he and I hooked up, but in the end it was just that he mistook what we had for true love, when his soulmate was in front of him the whole time. I'm not angry at how things ended between us, and I'm glad we realized our mistake before bringing any child into the equation. Things would have been much worse if we had, blossoming into much more angst for everyone. For this, I can't thank Harry enough, because it was him who realized first it would be wrong to do that, while I were giving him an hard time about it"
Ginny smiles at me while saying this, and finally confesses, "I just wish for him to be happy, and I'm sure Hermione will see to that"
Harry had an huge smile on his face when he finished reading, and turned, just to find Hermione reading over his shoulder.
"She was right when she said she had all covered to deal with Rita's article" she chuckled.
"Yeah, she took a page from your book" he said, looking up at her fondly. Hermione blushed, understanding what he was referring to. She had set him for an interview with the Quibbler back in their fifth year, letting him tell his truth about Voldemort's return.
That morning, they discussed the issue of who should be resigning from their job to go around the rule that forbid co-workers to date each other. Harry felt it was him who should resign, and Hermione argued that fighting Dark Wizards had always been his dream since fifth year. In the end, he managed to make her see that with the huge mistake he had done in their last mission, he was risking his job anyhow, so it was better if it was him who resigned.
When they were finished eating lunch, later that day, Harry kissed her on the top of her head, hugging her close, and then he Apparated to the Ministry. Making his way to Chief Secret Wizard Hanlemore's office, he gave him a letter of resignation.
"I take you and Hermione are together now then" his boss said, in one of the few moments when he talked to Harry not as a boss but as a friend.
"Yes, we are, sir" Harry replied. "And since we need to go around the rule about dating co-workers, considering my huge mistake on last mission, I reckon it's better that it is me who resigns"
"You are aware that your memory of this group will be wiped out and you'll have to deal with Hermione being secretive about something you don't know a thing about, right?" Hanlemore said, seriously.
"Yes, sir"
"Very well then" Hanlemore said, grabbing his wand. "We'll miss you, Potter" said with an half smile, but before he could perform the charm, a loud knock on his door was heard.
"Come in" Hanlemore bellowed, and Hermione entered.
"Hermione!" Harry said, surprised. "What are you doing here? We talked about this…"
"I know, Harry. But I just can't do it. I can't stay part of this group without you being here with me, so I'm resigning too. It would be too painful to have to keep you in the dark about what it is that I do, and have to leave you without being able to tell you where I'm going. I just can't do it" she said, and her eyes told Harry he wouldn't be able to talk her out of it.
Two Obliviate later, they stood in the Ministry cafeteria, scanning over possible jobs, not knowing what they had done till that moment but knowing they had just resigned and needed a new occupation.
But till they had each other, nothing could worry them.
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