Chapter 11
To Hogwarts
So… The plan to finish this during my winter break... didn't happen. Sorry. And this past semester was… intense. Simply, unbelievably intense.
BUT, I'm on summer break now. Yay! Three months of blissful freedom. Plus work and random projects and PE Club events, but that's all fun =)
*~*~*
Hermione spent one more night sharing Harry's bed with him before having to move back to her own room, and they most certainly made the most of the last morning together. They made love with a passion and intensity Hermione hadn't experienced and their simultaneous climaxes were one of the most powerful yet.
After untangling from one another and climbing out of bed, Harry and Hermione spent Friday cleaning the house before the Grangers returned home. Having the advantage of magic, it didn't take long to straighten up the kitchen, living room, dining room and Harry's bedroom.
The task that took the longest was combing the house and yard for any incriminating evidence that might have been overlooked. Hermione did not want her parents to come home and find her thong dangling from the dining room chandelier from their breakfast romp or her bra draped over the patio swing from a late night outdoor excursion.
"We should have dinner ready when my parents get home," Hermione suggested to Harry once they were sure there was nothing left out that would cause him to run for his life from her father. It was more of a "let's" idea than a suggestion, so Harry immediately agreed and they skimmed cook books from something nice and simple they could cook.
Hermione had always loved working with Harry at Hogwarts, in the library, in the common room, anywhere. They worked so well together, so smoothly and easily. Living with him this summer and especially this past week was no different. It didn't surprise her at all, either.
What did surprise Hermione was how distracting he could be. Whether he did it on purpose or it was part of his clueless charm, almost everything about Harry turned her on or caused her to lose focus some other way.
Hopefully she could pull it together for school. They had N.E.W.T.s this year!
Cooking was not an exception to the Harry-Makes-Hermione-Lose-Focus fact. Whether it was tickling her so she would squirm against him or having a puppet show with the vegetables, Harry Potter was a distraction. Finally she shooed him out of the kitchen so she could get the dinner ready with time to spare.
Hermione's parents had said they would be at the house around five thirty and by four, Hermione had the dinner completely ready and staying fresh under the appropriate charms. Plenty of time to get dressed and relax. Life was so much simpler with magic.
Hermione had just sat on the couch and put her feet up on the table to rest a bit when a familiar guitar tune filled the house.
When I wake up
Well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you
Harry came strutting-dancing into the living room.
When I go out
Well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you
Hermione laughed as he began more or less singing along with the words.
If I get drunk
Well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you
Harry had danced, strutted, swaggered his way across the room to her and held out his hand to Hermione. She shook her head laughing, but he gave her that look and that smile and she couldn't say no a second time, and he pulled her to her feet.
And if I haver
Well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man that's havering to you
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 5,000 miles to fall down at your door
Harry swung and spun and danced her around to The Proclaimers, singing along with the lyrics. Hermione danced along with him, following his lead, laughing and listening to the lyrics. From walking hard for you to growing old with you to come back home to you and all the words in between, Harry sang them to her as he held her close to him.
"I think I'll hold you to all that," she said with a smile when the song ended.
"As long as you remember `almost every penny'," he replied and she laughed, "but yes, every word, love," he told her with a kiss.
Hermione relished in the kiss until they broke apart. She rested her forehead on his. "So this is what you do when I ask you to set the table?" she asked.
"Already done, babe," Harry said proudly. "This was to make you smile. And it worked," he added, brushing her cheek with a finger.
"You're such a sweet boyfriend," she hugged him, liking that he did something just to make her smile.
"And by my calculations," he continued, "we still have an hour at least-"
"To shower and change for dinner," Hermione finished.
"We can shower together and save time."
"Save time, yeah, right, Harry."
"Water conservation. We need to `Go Green', hun."
"We would probably use more water together."
"It'll be fun, though."
Was he always this persistent?
"It would be," Hermione agreed, "but we wouldn't want my parents to pull up in their cab and wonder why we're both getting out of the shower at the same time."
"We'll set a timer."
"You've thought of everything, haven't you?"
"I'll only have thought of everything if it convinces you," he replied, pulling Hermione close to him. His fingers rubbed along her spine and she moaned softly. It wouldn't be a bad idea if they set a timer… Especially if he massaged her back like this.
"No fooling around, though," she told Harry firmly, heading to the staircase.
"Yes, dear," Harry smiled, following her up.
"And you set a timer for forty-five minutes."
"Yes, dear."
They shared a nice, warm shower, chaste by most standards, and Hermione was proud that they could refrain from intimacy. It showed there was more to their relationship than sex. Which, of course, there was.
Harry helped Hermione shampoo and condition her hair and washed her back, complete with massage, and Hermione returned the favor. After the shower, Hermione shaved Harry's face, the little hair there was. She liked that Harry trusted her enough to let her do this, she liked that she could show how much she cared for him by doing this.
The two went to their separate rooms after their chaste shower and dressed. Hermione already missed sharing a room with Harry. Maybe I won't have to wait that long… she thought, applying light make-up in the mirror and remembering the private dorm for the Head Boy and Girl.
Prefects get their own bathroom, Heads get their own dorm. Perks do come with power.
Hermione was checking the food, seeing that it was still fresh for dinner, when her parents walked through the door. "We're home!" they called, dragging their luggage.
"Why didn't you have the cabbie honk?" Hermione asked hugging her mother. "We would have come out to help with your bags."
"You can't levitate them into the house, dear," her mother answered.
"Harry can help carry them. He's got those Quidditch arms."
"It's so nice to be volunteered," Harry said dryly as he came down the stairs and hugged Hermione's mother and shook her father's hand.
"Well, the house is still standing," her father said looking around in a mock survey, "and there's no massive damage. You kids aren't in the stocks or burning at the stake. Good job taking care of things, Harry."
Harry's smile looked, to Hermione's eyes who knew him better than any other, slightly uncomfortable and she knew she was thinking of how he "took care of things". Hermione's face warmed with a blush at her thoughts of the week, of Harry's hands on her, of his tongue touching her...
"Are you okay, sweetie?" her mother asked her.
"Yeah, Mum," she answered quickly, smiling. "It's warm in here, isn't it? I have dinner ready if you're hungry. I'm sure you are after your trip."
When the door was safely shut, Harry levitated the suitcases up the stairs and Hermione seated her parents and began hovering dishes to the dining room table.
"Look, Helen, they brought out the fancy plates," Robert said. "Our homecoming is a special event."
"Oh, shush, you," Helen told him. "Just because I don't want my nice, expensive plates to get ruined doesn't mean I don't think events are special."
"Oh, Hermione, dinner smells delicious," her father exclaimed as she set the food down and Harry entered the room.
The four of them ate dinner and Hermione's parents told stories of their trip. After dinner they gathered in the living room and shared photos they had taken.
They stayed up fairly late sharing stories from their week before heading to bed. Harry and Hermione went to their separate rooms after a brief, chaste good night kiss.
Hermione lay in her bed, vowing not to be pathetic and miss Harry when he was right down the hall. She had grown used to sharing a bed with him, and liked his strong arms holding her, his warm body pressed against her, sliding into her…
She moaned and rolled on her side, hugging her pillow. Her body already ached for Harry's.
This was going to be a long weekend, Hermione decided.
*~*~*
Saturday and Sunday were probably the two longest days of Hermione's life, thus far. It was as though a giant clock was following and slowly clicking away the seconds until she could be with Harry again.
Not that she wasn't with Harry; he was always nearby somewhere. But to be with him, to hold him, and to kiss him and snog him senseless, to lay naked with him, and make sweet love to him… Oh, how she missed it.
And it had only been a day. She felt pathetic.
Hermione found that she missed laying together with Harry the most. Waking up beside him for the previous week had been the best part of the summer.
Though slow, the weekend was busy, with packing of trunks, washing of cloths, finding of books that had been scattered about the house.
Finally, after long last, after hours and hours of no more contact than hand holding and brief hugs, they were loading the car to drive to King's Cross. In just a few short hours, Hermione could trap Harry in the prefect's compartment and snog him till his toes curled. Among other things.
Hermione was saying good bye to her mother while her father and Harry loaded the trunks and animal cages into the compartment when her mother said, "Hermione, there's something we need to talk about," in the serious-mom voice.
Her stomach felt the beginnings of dread and humiliation as she nodded and managed a staggered, "Okay."
With compassionate and concerned eyes, her mother asked, "Were you careful, sweetie?"
Hermione nodded, her eyes dropping to the wooden boards of the train station, "Yes, Mum."
"Good," she said, her arms wrapping around her in a hug. "You better stay that way."
That's it? Hermione thought. No lecture, no chastising, no disappointed sigh, nothing? "That's it?" Hermione voiced, perplexed.
Her mother smiled, "You're a big girl now, honey, and you're smart. You've always made good decisions, and you're old enough to live your life and any consequences your decisions lead to. Would I rather you'd waited, yes, but it's your life, Hermione, and things are different from when I was your age."
Hermione was stunned. Never would she have expected her mother to make that statement and so calmly. "How did you know?" she wondered.
"Your father and I aren't blind or stupid, sweetie."
"Oh…" Her father knew. And was alone with Harry. "Is Dad scolding Harry?"
Her mother put an arm over Hermione's shoulders and they walked toward the train door. "Scolding, warning, threatening, castrating… He was very vague when he mentioned it," she answered, then laughed at Hermione's worried expression.
*~*~*
Harry and Hermione did not get have a chance to be alone in their Heads Compartment for some time after the train ride began. After donning their school robes, complete with shiny Head badges, they met the year's prefects and gave them the instructions for the trip and for arrival at the school before sending them off.
They visited with Ron, Neville, Luna and Ginny for some time, sharing their summer vacations, laughing at embarrassing stories and joking with one another.
"We better do our rounds, Harry," Hermione said pointedly after looking at her watch.
Harry gave a heavy. "Yeah, I suppose," he agreed wearily. Hermione couldn't tell if he was acting or if he really didn't want to leave their friends. Her intentions were to do the briefest of inspections then lock the two of them in their compartment with the necessary charms in place and become reacquainted with the sexiness of Harry Potter.
"New badge, same bossy Hermione," Ron commented with a grin.
"Stuff it, Ron," she retorted with a mock glare. "Don't forget to do your rounds, too."
"Aye, Aye, Head Girl Granger," he saluted.
After a quick (very quick) glance along each car in the train, Hermione pulled Harry into their private compartment, careful to not be seen by any inquisitive eyes. Once inside, she drew her wand and cast a Silencing Charm, a Locking Charm (with a little something extra to ensure security) and a Trespass Charm down the hall.
Dropping her wand on the seat, Hermione sauntered to Harry, her hands releasing her robe to pool at her feet. She walked her fingers up Harry's chest to the clasp of his school robe.
"Did you really," she slid the robe off his shoulders, "want to stay with Ron" a tug at the tie loosened it, "and Neville" a shirt button flicked open, "and Ginny," another button, "and Luna?" Hermione tugged at the shirt, buttons clattering to the floor. "Or did you forget about our private Heads cabin?" she asked, her fingers now trailing down his chest and abs to work on his belt.
Harry smirked, leaning against the wall to watch Hermione do the work of undressing him, and she felt a flood of excitement rush to her center. Did he know how that smirk affected her?
Time for fun, Hermione thought with a seductive smirk of her own.
Pulling hard, she ripped the belt from the loops and Harry's eyes widened slightly in surprise. The smirk faltered when Hermione pushed him back against the seat. Pulling at the ankles of his trousers, she freed Harry of them and his shoes. She straddled his lap, skirt riding up to expose her bare thigh, and her hand slipped inside Harry's boxer to feel his hardening member.
Harry moaned at her touch and Hermione moaned at touching him. Yes, a weekend is far too long, she thought as Harry's hands grabbed at her bum and pulled her against him, his lips pressing to hers in an immensely passionate kiss.
Their hands roamed the other's body, becoming reacquainted with every curve of skin and muscle after the absence. Harry's hands moved up Hermione's back under the shirt and unsnapped her bra. She gasped, pulling away from the kiss and arching into Harry, as a hand cupped her breast and pinched the nipple and Harry's lips and teeth nipped at her neck.
She was so wet and ready for him, so aroused, so in need of being filled by the splendid, wonderfulness of Harry. Hermione ground her center against Harry's firm manhood pressed between them.
"Harry… Please…" she moaned. "I need you."
He moved both his hands to her arse and pulled her to him as he thrust against her and she gasped. His fingers looped under her panties and ripped them off her. "That's for ripping my shirt," he growled in her ear and another surge of arousal stream to her core, to where she desperately needed Harry to touch her.
His hands tightened on her hips and lifted her onto his stiff member, and gasped loudly, "Oh… sweet… leaping… Harry!" and thought she would orgasm instantly from the sudden fulfillment after two and a half days of deprivation.
Hermione's eyes rolled in her head as Harry moaned and suckled at her neck. "It's been too long, sweets," he said, and she groaned in agreement.
Holding her body close to his, Harry flipped them so he hovered over her. "You know, love," he began, nuzzling her neck, "I've always done wanted to do you in this school girl uniform."
He rotated his hips and she groaned deep in her throat. "Oh, by all means, Harry, do me," she told him with a twitch of her eyebrows.
Grinning wickedly, Harry kissed her as he began to thrust, a few slow and deep strokes leading to driving into her quickly and firmly. Hermione moaned, opening her mouth to massage Harry's tongue with hers.
His rhythm began slow and steady and soon Hermione felt the pleasurable tension begin to build. Harry's mouth latched to her neck, kissing and sucking. She moaned and gasped as he moved inside her and his lips kissed down to lavish attention on her sensitive nipples.
"Oh, Harry!" Hermione cried, her breathing increasing in speed and her gasps rising in pitch as she neared her orgasm.
Harry's face hovered over hers with a sly grin. "Not yet, sweets," he told her with a kiss and change of pace and motion in his thrusts. He moved slower, pressing himself to rub firmly against that oh-so-tender spot inside.
Every time she neared climax, Harry adjusted his rhythm. The variations were driving Hermione up the wall with pleasure. She needed release. She needed that dam filled of pleasurable bliss to burst and wash her with sexual satisfaction.
"Harry…" she moaned. "Please…"
With that devilish smirk that always made her inwardly swoon, he licked his fingers and swirled them gently and firmly against her clit. A moment later, Hermione's jaw dropped in a silent scream, fireworks exploded before her eyes and she felt doused in pure ecstasy as her orgasm crashed over her.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered Harry's grunt of completion and his warm, comforting and sweaty weight resting on her.
Breathing returned to normal and Harry rolled to a sitting position beside Hermione, with her legs still sprawled over him.
"That was... intense," Harry said after a moment.
Hermione could only smile and moan in agreement.
"Two days is far too long for us, dear," he added and she nodded lazily to concur.
They were silent a while, enjoying and reacquainting with the harmony of post-coital bliss. Hermione loved lying tangled with Harry after making love. It was so intimate and comfortable and she felt was one of the ways that really showed the companionship of their relationship.
"You know," Harry said slyly, his fingers creeping their way along her leg to her womanhood, "we have a good fifteen minutes till we have to do our rounds again." The suggestion was not lost to Hermione as his finger caressed her clit gently.
Hermione grinned wickedly as she grabbed his lapels to pull his lips to hers.
*~*~*
Hermione exited the carriage, with another glance at the thestrals. It was new for her to see them. Harry had seen them the past two years, but it still unnerved her a little. More so than believing the coach was pulled by nothing but magic. She waited as Harry climbed out and stood beside her. Ron, Luna, Ginny and Neville had exited first and began walking up the steps, several girls glancing at Neville as he walked past, but Harry and Hermione held back.
Hermione looked up at Harry, knowing the torment of emotions she would see, and gave his hand a comforting squeeze, telling him without words, I'm here for you, love. Their friends stood at the doors as other students skirting past, waiting to see if they were okay, if Harry was ready to return to this place. Glancing down at Hermione, Harry nodded slightly, gave a small half smile Hermione returned, and together they took the steps one at a time to their future.
Last year when they left for summer, the Entrance Hall had been vast and empty corridor, with tapestries and painting on the wall, much of them devastated. Now the hall was fully restored, and in the middle of the hallway stood an impressive memorial Dumbledore had assembled. A tall spire engraved with the names of those who lost their lives that final day of battle, of those who fought to defend what they thought was right. At the top on all four sides, in large distinguished, block letters clearly visible, stood the words, "WE WILL NEVER FORGET"; it summed the night perfectly, in Harry's opinion, in all aspects.
Shadowed lightly over the names were portraits of heroic events from that bloody night, images and illustrations of centaurs and house elves, of witches and wizards, all fighting with one another to overcome the evil that was Voldemort and his supporters.
It was elegant in its simplicity and conveyed the honor and bravery of those who fought, who lost their lives, without unnecessary flair that distracted from the point.
"You okay?" Hermione asked gently, taking his hand in hers.
He nodded solemnly. "Just wish I could have done better," Harry told her softly.
"Harry…" He had made so much progress! He could not start regressing now. She wouldn't allow it!
"I know," he said. "I know; I did all I could at the time. I just still wish…" his voice trailed off.
Hermione hugged his arm and they continued to the Great Hall for the Welcome Back Feast of their final year at Hogwarts.
*~*~*
I love I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers. It came on at a PE Majors party we had and we all started rocking out to it. 80s music flashback + alcohol + good friends = awesome fun
Serenade = cheesy, but I don't care, haha
I always liked shaving my ex… *sigh*
The part with the memorial at Hogwarts I wrote just after the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. It seemed fitting.
Random Side Note: Dry Spell ended! *content sigh*
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