Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. I'm not an Heron shipper, thank you very much.
A/N: My response to the "My sin, My virtue" challenge from cosmopolitan, here's the link to it: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26784 Hope you will enjoy, and as usual if you read, please review, ok? Thanks! Oh, by the way, I think this could be considered a collection of one shots, everyone focusing on a different sin/virtue. Just so you know and aren't disappointed by the lack of continuity between the chapters, lol. Also, the chapters will feature a virtue, and then the opposing sin in the following chapter.
Thanks to my beta Gingercat!
The Seven Virtues And The Seven Sins
Chapter One: Chastity
Hermione Granger was in her room, quickly scanning through her wardrobe for something to wear. Discarding a series of outfits, she finally pulled out a sleeveless black silky dress. Satisfied with her choice, she went to shower. She had to be quick, Steven would be arriving to pick her up in less than an hour for their first date and she didn't want to make him wait.
As she was under the shower, she didn't hear Harry coming back home from the Ministry where he worked as an Auror. She, Harry and Ron had shared a flat since after finishing their final year at Hogwarts, following Voldemort's demise.
They had lived together through thick and thin for seven years and couldn't fathom separating, although they knew the time would come for them to have their own families and homes.
So, it was with mild surprise that she left the bathroom only with her towel on and stumbled upon Harry in the hallway.
Blushing furiously, she quickly nodded at him to acknowledge the fact he was back, before retreating to her own room. Not that something like this hadn't happened before, but the incident made her think back to a couple weeks ago when she caught Harry leaving the bathroom after showering, and the sight of his naked chest and well built figure had made her blush even more than now.
However, there was no time for that now. She had to get ready for her night with Steven, her co-worker at St. Mungo's. He had been asking her out for a long time now, and she finally decided to give him a chance, mostly because she wanted to try and forget her crush on Harry which had been a constant companion for years now.
"Damn zipper" she muttered under her breath, as she tried to get it up but found she couldn't quite reach the top. "Harry, please, could you give me an hand here?" she called, and a moment later he was there, leaning on the doorway, a smirk on his face.
"Got stuck with the zipper, Miss Granger?" he teased her
Her huff was a good enough answer and he chuckled as he walked behind her, lifting her curly brown hair, exposing her neck, before pulling it up all the way.
"Who are you dolling yourself up for tonight?" he asked leaning over her shoulder, unconsciously sending a shiver down her spine.
"Steven Haltern, my colleague at St. Mungo's" she replied spraying a bit of perfume on herself and grabbing her purse. "He should be here about…" but her sentence was interrupted by a car horn outside. "Now" Harry finished for her.
She smiled at him, nodding, and then moved to go meet her date.
"Have fun" Harry called after her, before sighing once she was out of hearing range.
--
It was four hours later when Hermione returned, slamming the door after her. Harry and Ron were involved in a chess match, but upon her arrival, both looked up to see her sitting on the couch near Harry, tears staining her face.
The redhead reckoned he better retreat to his room before he managed to upset her even more, so that left Harry with the job of comforting her. Pulling her close, he whispered in her ear, "Want to talk about it?"
"Oh, Harry, it has been terrible!" she sobbed, before recanting the night events.
"Hermione, you're stunning tonight" Steven complimented her as she met him outside the house. He had the door open for her and she thanked him as she entered his car. Soon, they were on their way to one of the finest magical restaurants in London, "Merlin's Ambrosia".
"I must say I'm pretty impressed" Hermione admitted as a waiter escorted them to their table. "I've heard it's mighty difficult to get a table here without a reservation made way beforehand"
"And you're perfectly right, but my family has been friends with the one of the owner for generations, so I'm one of the few lucky friends that don't need reservation" he said with a smile.
Soon a waiter came back to them with the menus and they placed their orders. Steven chose a grilled grouper with a homemade sauce, while Hermione chose a chicken salad. They also chose white wine to go with their meal.
As they ate, they quietly chatted, enjoying the company. Hermione had to admit that their cooking skills were top notch, as she took a bite of Steven's grouper.
"They pride themselves on having a long tradition of serving the freshest catches daily" Steven explained as he took a sip of his wine.
Of course, when the moment for paying the bill came, Steven insisted that Hermione let him pay, and she begrudgingly did.
"Well, till now he does seem to be a perfect gentleman" Harry pointed out, a bit confused at what had Hermione so upset.
She gave an hollow laugh. "He does, doesn't he?" she sarcastically repeated, shuddering lightly as Harry's thumb wiped away a lone tear. "But that's not the end of the story, and you'll soon see what was so ugly about it"
As they were in his car, Hermione asked him what they were going to do next.
"Well, I have a pretty good idea of what I'd like to do" he said with a wicked smile, eyeing her almost hungrily. She suddenly felt self-conscious about the dress she chose, which was pretty revealing of her cleavage and of her curves in general. She had developed through the years, and filled out nicely, so it wasn't rare anymore that a man would look twice at her, but right now she felt a bit uncomfortable.
"Steven, about that, I'll let you know that it is my desire to wait until my wedding night to indulge in that" she said, and he suddenly hit the brakes hard, stopping the car, looking at her in disbelief.
"What? You want to wait…till your wedding night?" he said, the last part leaving his lips as he almost laughed. "Who ever does that anymore, Hermione?"
"Well, I don't care about the others, but I do" she proudly replied, covering herself with her arms.
"You're telling me you chose that fucking skimpy little dress, but have no intention of having a good shag tonight?" he said, raising his voice a bit.
She just glared at him, and he glared back.
"You're nothing but a little tease, Hermione. I've been asking you out for so long, and you drop this on me now, when I've finally come to within an inch of having my fantasies fulfilled?" he said, leaning his hand on her exposed leg and inching it upwards.
"Well, sorry if someone is looking for more from a relationship than a good shag" she spat, slapping his hand away, before opening the door and leaving, Apparating to the front door of their flat as Steven got out of the car himself and started following her.
When Hermione was finished with her story, she turned toward Harry, wondering why he was so silent, and was almost shocked to see his murderous look.
"I'm gonna kill him" he muttered. "I'm gonna fucking kill the bastard"
"Harry, please, calm down" she said, cradling his face in her hands and forcing him to look at her. "I dealt with him on my own, and if he tries something at work, I'll hex him into the next millennium, so you don't have to worry. I was just a bit shaken as I came back, but I'm ok now" she reassured him, and Harry could see in her chocolate eyes that she was telling the truth.
With great apprehension, he leaned back on the couch, pulling her close. He made a decision right then, and to hell with the worry of ruining a wonderful friendship.
"Hermione" he started, and she looked up at him from the position she was in.
"I need to tell you something, too" he started, nervously gulping as he did. "Tonight, and all the other nights you went on dates with some other guy, I felt something inside me die. I knew I had no right to stop you from being happy, but I couldn't help wondering if that guy would be the one to take you away from me. At first, I thought it was worry over losing a big part of my life, and in a certain way I was right, I just didn't realize how big a part of my life I would be losing" he continued.
Seeing that she wanted to interrupt, he motioned for her to let him talk. "I'm not sure I could resume talking if you interrupt me" he said. "Slowly, I understood it wasn't only that, it was more, but then I was scared by the fear of acting on what I had discovered I was feeling. I was scared to lose you as a friend if I did. But what you told me tonight…I dunno, it triggered something inside me, and I can't rein it in anymore" he said, pausing to take a long breath, before continuing, looking her straight in her eyes.
"What I'm saying is that I'm utterly in love with you, Hermione" he said, before leaning in and brushing his lips against hers, giving her all the space to retreat if she so wished, but she didn't. Instead, she locked her arms around his neck, and kissed him back, deepening the kiss as her tongue ran on his lower lip, begging for entrance that he immediately granted.
As they remained there, on the couch, snogging their brains out, Ron was watching from behind a corner, and couldn't help a smile spreading on his lips. Satisfied with the outcome of the chat, he retreated to his room, leaving them alone.
Minutes later, when they were resting in each other's arms, enjoying the feeling of their new found love, Harry pulled her close and whispered "Just so you know, I'm more than ready to wait until your, our, wedding night, as long as we organise the wedding soon"
She just laughed, kissing him once more, before whispering back "I'm sure that won't be a problem"
Grinning like mad, both slowly fell asleep right there, on the couch, where the next great adventure of their lives had just started, one that they would, once more, experience together from the beginning to the end.
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