Authors note: As always, I need to thank my wife, who is the first one to read my stories, and gives me her honest opinion, which I truly value. Then there is my beta, Viopathartic, who continues to help me get my stories into postable shape. Thank you ladies, I couldn't do it without you!
Chapter 2
Harry was determined to resume what he and Hermione had started in the hallway--and as quickly as possible. He walked down the corridor at an exceedingly rapid pace with Hermione in tow. Hermione was occasionally forced to run for a step or two to keep up with him, but he was pleased to note when he looked back at her that… she was smiling.
Even as they were walking away, the noises in the hallway, now sounding like footsteps, had resumed, and they were getting closer. Neither Harry nor Hermione had any clue as to who was following them, but they did not want to be found.
They had business to finish.
Trailing behind Harry as he led her down the hallway, Hermione struggled to button up her blouse with only one hand.
"HARRY?" called a voice that echoed down the hallway towards them.
The couple stopped. Hermione put her hand on Harry's arm. "That sounded like Neville."
They stood in the deserted hallway looking at each other. She could see the longing in his eyes and the growing sense of impending disappointment. She knew that's what it was because she was positive that her own eyes were reflecting the same sentiment.
"Harry," she said in a slightly pleading tone, her hand still holding his arm. "I think we need to see what he wants. He wouldn't have come looking for you if it wasn't important."
"No," Harry answered as he pulled away from her and dejectedly kicked the floor. He angrily walked in a small circle around the tiled hallway, his open shirt billowing around him. "He's probably found some stupid new plant he wants to tell me about."
"Harry," she repeated a bit more sternly this time.
"Why?" he whined at her from a spot a few feet away.
He took a deep exasperated breath and shook his head. He knew he was screwed. There was no way he was going to win this argument. He stood with his hands on his hips and stared at the ground.
"Son of a bitch!"
Hermione smiled at the look of displeasure on Harry's face. She then closed the gap between them and Harry leaned into her so that their foreheads were touching.
"Patience is a virtue Harry," she whispered as she raised his chin so that they made eye contact.
An exhausted Neville rounded the corner into the hallway and he was about to yell in triumph-he had finally found Harry---but he stopped dead.
Harry and Hermione stood before him with there eyes locked on one another. The two of them were standing less than a foot apart. They weren't touching or talking but Neville was enthralled.
There was something in the way they were gazing at each other; it was so....so passionate. He instantly felt guilty, as if he had intruded on a very private moment.
Neville was unsure of what to do. Neither of them had even glanced in his direction since he'd appeared. They were obviously aware of his presence but they hadn't said a word or acknowledged him in any way.
"I'm gonna just stand right here and wait," he thought, "When they are ready, they'll let me know. I will not ruin their moment by speaking."
Harry knew Neville was close, but he didn't care. He was totally lost in Hermione. His encounter with her earlier, was the most alive he had ever felt in his whole life. The feel of her skin, the softness of her lips, and the passion in her eyes, made his blood boil. He had never wanted anything or anyone more than he wanted her.
If bloody Neville hadn't interrupted, he would have rocked the world of the little brown eyed witch before him. He smiled at that thought and leered at her, and as if she had read his mind, she smiled and leered right back at him.
A wordless promise passed between them as they gazed at each other.
We will finish what we started.
Harry finally spoke. He hadn't broken eye contact with Hermione, but he did ask Neville.
"You need me, Nev?"
Neville had been staring down at his feet trying to make himself as invisible as possible. He was slightly startled by the sound of Harry's voice as it echoed through the predominantly empty hallway.
"Umm…uh, well uh, yeah, Professor McGonagall sent me to find you," the boy stammered.
"Any idea what about?" Harry inquired as he turned to face his friend.
"No, sorry Harry, I have no idea. She just asked me to find you," Neville replied apologetically.
Hermione had turned her back towards them and walked a few steps down the hall. She had realized that her blouse was not buttoned correctly and she wanted to fix it, hopefully before Neville noticed. There would be no way for Neville not to notice Harry's shirt. She chuckled quietly to herself as she remembered the look on Harry's face when she had torn it open.
"I have to go," Harry said to her after she joined him and Neville. His voice dripped with resentment.
"Do you want me to come with you? Hermione asked as she smoothed out her blouse, which was now buttoned properly and brushed a few stray hairs from her face.
"Neville, can you give me a sec?" Harry asked their friend as he nodded ever so slightly in Hermione's direction.
Neville got the hint. "Yeah….yeah sure Harry. I'll uh, wait right around the corner, umm….over there." He said as he walked backwards in the direction he had pointed. He gave a nervous little wave towards Hermione, who leaned around Harry so she could see him better, and then smiled and waved back.
Harry and Hermione watched him go.
The second Neville was out of sight Hermione leapt off the ground and wrapped herself around Harry.
"What the--" he muttered in shock as Hermione rained down kisses upon him. Harry, caught off guard by her attack, staggered backwards into the wall. He regained his balance quickly and swung Hermione around so that she was now the one with her back to the wall.
Their tongues were furiously exploring, and there hands were everywhere. She was running her fingers through his already disheveled hair while he gave her a vigorous chest massage as he pinned her up against the wall. When they finally broke their kiss they both took a much needed deep breath and simultaneously said, "Wow."
He put her down. She re-smoothed out her outfit and he did what he could with his hair. She then drew her want and pointed to his shirt with a quick, Reparo.
"Thank you," Harry said as he looked down at his shirt which was once again whole.
"You're welcome," Hermione smiled at him.
"God you're gorgeous," he said as he placed his hand behind her neck and drew her in for a gentle kiss. She stepped to him and placed her hands on his hips as she kissed him back.
"Gotta go," he said when they broke apart.
"Where should I meet you?" Harry asked as he raised an eyebrow and winked at her.
"I need to head back to the dorm for a minute but I'll meet you in the common room, and we can go from there," Hermione purred at him as she placed her hands on his chest.
Harry walked backwards towards the corner where Neville was waiting as Hermione's hands unhurriedly dropped away. His eyes drank in every detail about her, and he smiled the whole time until he finally disappeared from sight.
Hermione watched Harry turn the corner. She hugged herself tight and leaned her head back as she hopped in place squealing with delight. She had never been so happy in her life. After years of waiting for Harry to come around, it had finally happened. She walked back to her common room grinning from ear-to-ear the whole way.
Neville fell into step with Harry as they walked quickly down the corridor towards McGonagall's office. For most of the trip Neville said nothing because Harry seemed lost in thought, but he, unable to stop himself, finally asked, "Are you and Hermione….together?"
"Kind of looks that way, Nev, but can you keep it quiet? There are other peoples feelings involved here, and Hermione and I are not really ready to deal with those just yet."
"Sure, Harry, I promise; I won't say anything to anyone," Neville assured him.
"Harry, can I ask you another question?"
"Yeah, go ahead," Harry replied as they walked.
"Well…what happened to your shirt? You know…before?" the nervous Gryffindor asked sheepishly, as he avoided looking directly at Harry. Harry smiled and chuckled to himself as he thought about what had happened to his shirt and how to reply.
"Actually Neville, that's something I'd rather not get into at the moment," Harry told him as they continued walking. Neville looked somewhat embarrassed at having asked that question, and he nodded in understanding at Harry's answer.
Harry and Neville arrived at McGonagall's office. Neville stopped and stared at Harry as they reached the office door unsure of what to do next.
Neville, finally backed up a step before stammering, "Harry, I really am sorry about…." and he trailed off, too embarrassed to finish.
Harry reassured him, "Its okay Neville. Really." His friend smiled gratefully and turned to leave, but Harry called after him. "Neville"
The tall boy turned back towards his friend to see Harry with a finger to his lips. Neville nodded, smiled and set off as Harry closed the office door.
_______________________________________________
Hermione slowly drifted through the castle heading in the general direction of her common room. She was completely lost in the happiness she felt. Twenty-four hours ago, Harry had been just her best friend; now he was so much more. She got chills just thinking about him--his hands touching and caressing her, and his mouth, the things he had done with his mouth! Every nerve ending in her entire body was alive at the mere thought of what he had done to her and the prospect of them both doing so much more together. She smiled and picked up her pace; she had something special for him to see, and when her excitement overwhelmed her, she actually started to run.
"Come in Harry, have a seat," the Headmistress greeted him.
"Thank you Professor," he replied politely as he settled into the comfortable overstuffed chair in front of her desk.
"I have something most unsettling to speak to you about," McGonagall began as she paced slowly behind her heavy oak desk. "This….sort of behavior is severely frowned upon at Hogwarts."
Harry nervously adjusted his position in the chair, wondering if a rat fink in one of the paintings had turned him in. As McGonagall continued speaking, Harry started to drift away. He began to smile as he thought about a half naked Hermione backed up against the wall while he fondled her and…..
"What did you just say, Professor?" he asked quizzically as he snapped out of his lust--filled haze and actually caught some of what she was saying.
"I said that it appears as though a love potion may have been placed into your drink at lunch today."
His mind was humming; all he could think about was his entire afternoon and evening spent lusting after Hermione.
"Young Miss Weasley" she continued, "was overheard confessing to a group of her fellow students. Do you have any reason to believe that the information given to me could be true?
"Ginny?" he repeated, "Why would Ginny--" His thoughts were flying around in his head at lightning speed. Then, Hermione's smiling face appeared and filled his consciousness, and he asked, "Are you going to let Hermione know?"
"I'm sorry Harry; I don't understand your question. Why would I let Miss Granger know? Do you believe Miss Granger may have been affected as well? Did you share your drink with her at lunch?" McGonagall asked as she stared at him and waited for an answer.
The ramifications of what McGonagall had told him had just crystallized in his head. He began to worry that irreparable damage to his relationship with Hermione was now a very real possibility.
If what he had done to Hermione was the result of a potion that only he had been given, then that would mean that what she had done, or allowed him to do, she had done out of true affection. If she even suspected that he didn't truly return her feelings after what had happened between them, then even their friendship would be over. Hermione, no longer in his life! The anger in him began to build until he finally exploded.
"THAT FUCKIN BITCH," Harry screamed with murder in his eyes as every old lady doodad and thingamabob on McGonagall's desk shattered into a million pieces.
"She just ruined my life!" he wailed in anger as he headed for the door. "Where is she, oh…I'm gonna kill her."
"STOP!" McGonagall shouted forcefully as she blasted Harry with an Immobulus. "Mr. Potter you will refrain from using that type of language in my presence and your behavior at the moment is totally unacceptable." She looked over the shattered remains of her treasures scattered across her desktop. "From your response I take it that you believe this rumor to be true. However, when you are released you will come back, sit down and restrain yourself or I will be forced to do it for you. Then we will discuss this further."
Harry seethed with anger--mostly at Ginny, but at the Headmistress as well. He took a deep breath and attempted to calm himself. When he felt his composure starting to return he inquired through gritted teeth, "Will you please release me from this spell, Professor?"
To which McGonagall replied, "If you are quite finished."
________________________________________________
Hermione reached the common room and climbed through the portrait. Dean and Ron had just finished their game of chess. "Hey, Hermione," Ron called to her. "Where's Harry?"
He glanced around for his other best friend. Before she had the chance to answer his question he blurted out, "Bloody hell Hermione, what happened to your hair?"
She had started to smile as she remembered the tussle with Harry that had led to the present state of her hair, but instead she found herself scowling at the redhead and replying defensively, "It's windy!"
Ron jerked his head back in surprise at her answer and asked, "In the castle?"
She furrowed her brow once more and snapped at him, "What is this, the Inquisition? Go bother someone else."
She then ran up the stairs to her dorm leaving a startled Ron mumbling to himself. "Must be that time of the month…..snapping at me for no reason." He then grumpily shuffled away.
Hermione heard what Ron had said but she smiled as she bit her lip. "No, it's NOT and thank goodness." She opened her door, threw herself onto her bed and lay there with her arms spread wide. She stared at her canopy and thought about Harry.
"Oh," she said as she scrambled off the bed and over to her dresser as she remembered why she was in her room in the first place. She yanked open her top drawer and began rifling through it, desperately searching for what she knew was in there somewhere.
She emitted a slight, "Yes," when her fingers touched the soft silky black fabric. Hermione looked around before pulling out the black bra and panties trimmed with lace.
She had been shopping in Diagon Alley over the summer, preparing for the start of the school year when she saw it. Lingerie wasn't really her thing; she was definitely more a book kind of a girl, but it was a very pretty set. As far as some of the sets available in the shop went, it was modest by comparison. So naturally, she adored it instantly.
She checked the door to her bedroom and then tucked the underwear under the front of her shirt and sprinted to the bathroom smiling. The silky underwear against the flat of her stomach felt wonderful, and she couldn't wait to finally be wearing them.
She started to strip out of her present outfit before she had even closed the bathroom door. Two seconds later she was down to her everyday bra and panties and then down to nothing.
Hermione looked at herself closely as she stood in front of the mirror. "Not too bad," she observed, although a wisp of insecurity did flash through her thoughts. She pinched her waist from the sides, and then she ran her hands down over her hips. "Not overly hippy," she thought as she hit her hips with the heels of her hands. Then she focused on her breasts, turning sideways while she sucked in her stomach. "Not very large, but I'm not built like a boy either," she critiqued while staring at her profile. She put her hands over her stomach.
"Pretty flat," she nodded. "Though a little softer than I would like it to be," was her opinion as she scrunched up her face. But, all in all, she was fairly pleased with her assessment.
Now it was back to business.
Hermione picked up the lingerie and smiled. She then stepped into the panties. She felt the smoothness of the silk as it glided up her calves, across her thighs, and wrapped itself snugly around her bottom. She got a slight chill as the cool soft fabric of the bra caressed her as she slid it on. It almost felt as if fingers were very gently brushing along the sides of her breasts and she imagined that it was Harry teasing her. She closed her eyes for a second and expelled a long breath.
Now that she had finished putting the lingerie on, she felt transformed. Something about the feel of the material and the sleekness of the lines it created made her feel sexy, and pretty.
She smiled broadly.
She turned to the side again to check her profile in the lingerie and she thought, "He's gonna go nuts when he sees me in this," and she got a little giddy.
Hermione pulled herself together and put on her skirt and blouse and headed down stairs to look for Harry.
________________________________________________
Harry sat quietly in the chair across from McGonagall's desk. Once the headmistress felt he had calmed sufficiently, she released him from her spell and ordered him to sit. She then explained to him that some of his fellow classmates had alerted her to a conversation they had overheard regarding Miss Weasley and a love potion. Unfortunately, Ginny had left for a weekend of shopping with her mother and Miss Delacour, so she was unavailable to be questioned until Monday.
Harry numbly absorbed everything he was told. He shook his head and all he thought was, "Why?" He had known forever that Ginny had a crush on him, but he couldn't believe that she had resorted to a love potion to try to get him.
Had Ginny's stupid potion caused the uncontrollable horniness he felt towards Hermione? He didn't really know, but he knew he had never felt that way about anyone before. Had felt? Yeah right, that was a joke; he still couldn't control his 'blood flow' where Hermione was concerned and judging by the growing bulge in his pants, which was being caused this very second, by the mere thought of her, the feeling wasn't dissipating at all. For Merlin's sake, he hadn't even seen her in nearly an hour and he was still in 'go' mode--big time.
"Professor, how long does a love potion last?' Harry was finally able to ask after discreetly adjusting his problem.
The headmistress quickly replied, "I don't know Harry. Without speaking directly to Miss Weasley to find out what she may have used I won't be able to give you a true answer. Normally, though, these types of potions last from mere minutes to a few hours. Only a truly gifted witch could make one that could last as long as a day."
Harry listened to her then fidgeted in his seat as he tried to figure out a way to say what he really wanted to ask her. "Professor, are there….other types of maybe similar potions that would, well….affect a person strongly but in a little different way?"
He finally managed to sputter out his question while avoiding her gaze at all costs. He had also just that second come to the conclusion that he probably should not have asked that question.
McGonagall folded her arms in front of her and then stared at him for a very long time. She had a quizzical, yet somewhat disapproving look on her face. McGonagall had definitely gotten the gist of what he had asked and didn't seem too happy about it, but apparently she wanted clarification. "What exactly are you tying to ask me Mr. Potter?"
Damnit.
"Oh great …I just went from Harry to Mr. Potter," he thought. "That's not good….and sure, like I'm really just gonna come right out and ask my 'grandmotherly type figure' if there is a spell that would make me so damn horny for my best friend of six plus years that I was all set to fuck her standing up in a very public hallway of this very fine school not an hour ago? And…if I could, that's exactly what I'd be doing right now!"
"Go ahead, ask her that!" his thoughts dared him to say. He dropped his head into his hands and then ran his fingers through his hair as he contemplated his reply.
"Actually, Professor, I think I'm good answer-wise." He then stood up to leave her office. He needed some time to think. She let him go this time saying as he left, "All right," but she was watching him very closely.
Harry just mumbled a quick "Thanks" as he went out the door.
He was screwed and he knew it; he was left, right, and sideways screwed, as far as he could see. There was just no way around it. What was he supposed to do? He didn't really have a choice in the matter.
He knew that there was no way that Hermione wasn't going to ask him about his meeting with McGonagall the second she saw him. So, that ruled out not telling Hermione about the potion.
"Well, I know I couldn't do that anyway." He actually felt like a bastard for even letting such an idea run through his head. He had to think more clearly, but it wasn't going to be easy.
"Yeah, no kidding!" It's just that he desperately wanted Hermione, and he was sure that she was waiting for him to meet her at that very moment. He was also pretty damn certain that any chance they had of picking things up where they had left off was totally gone. "Thanks, Ginny," he venomously spit.
"So…Okay, I have to tell Hermione about the potion,"
Once I do, there will be no way to convince her that what had happened between them was real, and he knew that. He also couldn't be completely certain that his feelings weren't in some way chemically enhanced.
"What the hell was in that damn potion anyway….Viagra?" I've been perpetually hard for like hours. That's not normal, right?" he wondered.
"I know I've never felt this way before. Could it have been a coincidence that today was the day I finally noticed Hermione that way? Damn right it could," he thought. "But her logical mind is never in a million years gonna buy that. So it looks like I'm going to have to convince her."
"It was real, I believe that, and there's no way I'm gonna let that bitch Ginny take that from me, or Hermione. No way!"
"I'm gonna find her, tell her, and hang on tight," he decided and that was the plan for the rest of the night.