Clearing his throat he forced himself to look only at her face. She gave him a shy smile though that only heightened his arousal. He needed calm himself down. "Uh…go ahead and pick your side. I'm going to brush my teeth."
He quickly made his way to the bathroom. He needed to focus on something other than the fact that Hermione was waiting for him…in his bed. He jerkily reached for his toothbrush but paused at the sight of a pink toothbrush sitting in the toothbrush holder next to his green one. It just sort of stopped him. He liked it. It made his nervousness about the night disappear. It didn't matter what did or didn't happen. Just knowing that their toothbrushes now shared the same space was enough to remind Harry that this was right, being with Hermione was right.
He finished up in the bathroom as fast as he could. He wanted to get back to Hermione. He found her sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for him.
"I couldn't decide on a side," she told him, smiling a little sheepishly. " I usually sleep in the middle."
Harry chuckled. "I guess we have a dilemma then 'cause that's where I sleep too. We're going to have to compromise."
Hermione blushed at the word as several compromising positions came to mind. She shook her head and stood up, not noticing how close Harry had gotten. His proximity startled her and she started to topple over. Harry reached out to steady her, one hand on her waist, the other on her shoulder.
Any awkwardness they'd felt flew out the window then, as deep brown eyes met glowing amber. Mouths came together
and hands moved to explore. It was no longer a matter of who picked what side, but rather, where they ended up as a
mass of tangled limbs tumbled onto the bed.
Their kisses were passionate and deep, spurred on by the sudden intimacy they were experiencing. Harry's hands moved from her shoulder to her waist as they positioned themselves more comfortably on the bed. His lips left hers to trail a line of open-mouthed kisses down her jaw to the base of her throat. He licked and nipped at the skin exposed to him by the oversized collar of the t-shirt.
Hermione's hands were also busy slipping underneath the hem of Harry's shirt. She wanted to feel the way his
taut muscles responded to her touch and how his smooth skin seemed to glide beneath her fingertips. As her hand strayed
toward Harry's front, he momentarily lost his concentration and his own hand slipped down, landing on the bare skin
of her thigh. He was so intoxicated by her, by every breathy moan and sigh that he almost forgot that they weren't
ready for where this was quickly heading.
As if Hermione could sense his thoughts and subsequent hesitation, she pulled away from him, breathing hard. She desperately wanted to give in to the urges she was feeling, but she knew that it was too soon. If this relationship was going to work…they needed to take their time and not let themselves be ruled by their hormones.
"We should try and sleep…just sleep," she finally whispered, her breathing still attempting to slow down.
"Yes…I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."
Hermione brought her finger to his lips to shush him. "I got carried away too. I …just…when you kiss me, I lose my head," she admitted.
Harry closed his eyes…. he had to regain some control. Otherwise it would just start all over. He'd have to keep kissing her and touching her and if that happened…he wouldn't be able to stop.
He took a deep breath and reopened his eyes. Then he disentangled himself from Hermione and got up to shut off the
room light. He made his way back to the bed and slipped underneath the covers, pulling Hermione in next to him.
"We'll share the middle," he told her softly.
Hermione giggled and snuggled closer to Harry, using the crook of his arm as a pillow. Then she draped her arm over his
chest, entwining his leg with her own. She needed to be as close to him as possible. With a contented sigh she
whispered "Good night Harry." He tightened his hold on her and kissed the top of her head. " 'Night
Mione."
Harry was nervous. Almost a month had gone by and he'd yet to work the three assignements that Malfoy had made him agree to. Hermione knew that his hands were tied and that he had an obligation. She still felt funny about it though and she'd told Harry as much.
"From what you've told me about Malfoy…I don't trust him. And I trust him even less after hearing what Luna had to say. He definitely has something up his sleeve," Hermione told Harry.
"I don't like it any more than you do, Hermione. Look, I'll owl him if I don't hear anything by tomorrow. I'll see what I can do. In the meantime....let's please talk about something else," Harry suggested. They hadn't had much time together in the past few weeks and he didn't want to waste it talking about his crooked soon to be ex-boss.
"Okay...did I tell you the latest news about Ginny's wedding? Tomorrow we have to go in for the final dress
fitting. I'm kind of excited because our bridesmaids dresses are really pretty. Although not too pretty. We
can't out do Gin," Hermione told him with a smile.
Harry laughed. "Well, I can honestly say that I won't be looking at Ginny that day because I'm sure that even though you're not supposed to be, you will be the most beautiful woman there." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Hermione blushed at his compliment and Harry had to kiss her on the lips that time because she was just too cute.
"So...we're still on for this Saturday right?" Hermione asked, popping a French fry into her mouth.
Harry nodded. By chance Hermione had somehow managed to get them tickets to the latest musical showing at the local theatre. He knew that she was beyond excited and he couldn't wait to take her out. The last time they'd gone on an actual date had been too long ago to count.
Hermione's excitement over the evening was actually for other reasons. She'd been plotting a seduction in
her head for several weeks. She was ready to move the physical part of their relationship forward. So far, they
hadn't moved past second base (according to the encyclopedia of Luna) and Hermione wanted more. She knew that Harry
wanted her but they always reached a certain point and he would stop himself. She didn't know why he always felt
like he had to hold back but she was determined that Saturday night she was going to put his incredible control to the
test. And with any luck...he'd fail in splendid fashion.
An errant thought crossed Hermione's mind....Malfoy could ruin her plans with one little Owl. She'd have to think of something to keep that from happening. Or at least prepare herself for the disappointment of a canceled evening when it did.
****
Harry was awake bright and early the next morning thanks to the tapping of the glass panel on the window
" Potter...long time to see, huh?"
"Can I help you with something, Draco?" Harry asked through clenched teeth.
"As a matter of fact you can. You see...We have another tip off and this one's going to be big' so I need your wand and your men ready at my disposal. ''You got that Potter?'
Harry swallowed hard. Of all the jobs...he would get stuck with Malfoy. He knew that he needed to talk to Hermione as soon as possible. "Fine," he told Malfoy through clenched teeth. "Is that all?"
"Actually...no. I think that I want you to be on call all Saturday night. I've got all of the other guys lined up with jobs. You can make yourself available for any last minute assignements. I can call with the particulars sometime Saturday."
"Saturday's no good. I have other plans," Harry started to say.
"Cancel them. You have obligations to me first. Whatever else you've got planned with her will have to
wait,"
Malfoy told him.
Harry was ready to reach out beat the shit out of Malfoy.
Unable to get back to sleep, Harry got up and decided to study for his higher level exmas. He couldn't afford to
mess up . He had to try and focus a little. He could go talk to Hermione at the lab after his class. They could have
lunch if she wasn't too angry with him over his news.
The secretary at the front desk was a friend of Harry's by now and she regretfully informed him later that Hermione wasn't around. He went back to his apartment and found his owl patiently waiting for him
"Harry...sweetheart, it's Hermione. Luna and Ginny kidnapped me from the lab today. We're going to go
to our last dress fitting and then spend the rest of the day at a spa. We've got dinner reservations for tonight. I
was wondering if maybe you could see about switching shifts tonight to come along. Otherwise I won't get to see you
tonight. Okay...well I have to go. Ginny's looking at her watch and then glaring at me. I think that means we have
to get going. I...Bye." The message ended and Harry smiled. But his smiled quickly became a frown when he thought
about her dinner invitation. He picked up the phone and dialed her cell phone. He didn't want to spoil her day with
his bad news...but she'd understand about the assignement, he was sure. She knew it had to happen sooner or later.
He left a message on her voice mail explaining his 'assignement' to her and apologizing profusely. Then he
promptly collapsed onto his couch, rubbing his eyes. He wasn't sure what to do with himself now. He wasn't in
the mood to study or anything but he needed to find something to occupy his time so he wouldn't be able to dwell on
the evening of torture ahead of him.
****
Hermione was having an incredible time with Luna and Ginny. It had been ages since they'd been able to do anything together. So the spa time was giving them the opportunity to get all caught up with each other.
At the moment they were all in the mud room, their faces and bodies covered in the miracle mud. It was Luna's turn to talk now so they were listening to a Ron's story. Luna and her long time boyfriend Ron Weasley, who happened to be Ginny's older brother, had what you would call an on again off again relationship. They'd been off for the last month but were apparently back on. It was hard to keep up with them.
"Luna....why do you even bother?" Ginny asked. "Ron's never going to change. He's always
going to be....Ron." Ginny loved her brother but he was a bit of a drifter and not necessarily dependable.
She'd never understood how he could be so restless and uncommitted.
"I realize this....and that's part of why I love him. He's not afraid to be himself...to give into his
urges. And he fights back with me....it's great!" Luna said with a contented sigh.
Hermione laughed...she couldn't help it. Only Luna would or could appreciate a man with Ron's personality.
" I wouldn't be laughing, Hermione. You've definitely been hit by cupid's arrow. I'd even go as far as to say that you'll be the next one doing the wedding march," Luna teased her friend. She could almost picture the blush forming under Hermione's blue mask.
Hermione protested that it was too soon for that but inside she was secretly hoping it would be true.
"Harry....well, he's great. Everything is going really well at the moment. Ever since this whole job thing though...he's been struggling . . And I was thinking that....well, I was thinking about asking him if I could ....uhm...live with him," Hermione told them.
Ginny squealed. "Does that mean that you two have...moved forward?"
Hermione groaned. "No, not yet. We're still sort of waiting."
"Waiting on what? Written permission? What's the hold-up?" Hermione rolled her eyes at Luna's
questions. Her friend never stopped confusing her. One minute she was saying 'you need special panties,
Hermione,' the next it was 'you should really slow things down.' Now it was this.
"The hold-up had absolutely nothing to do with my end of things. Although maybe that's part of the problem. I'm too willing. Harry...he wants to take things slow, like at a snails pace slow," Hermione told them. "And while I think it's very sweet of him, it can be frustrating."
"I'll bet. You've been repressing your animal instincts for twenty three years. You're ready to cut lost and he's not ready to be the scissors." Luna paused thoughtfully. "So maybe that means you need to be the scissors. You need to cut him lose....let his hidden Stag out," Luna informed Hermione.
Hermione blushed at Luna's phrasing. "Yes well…...that's sort of why I have it all planned out. Saturday night, after we go see the musical....I rented us a hotel room and I'm going to set it all up. Candles....champagne...silk sheets...the works." "Merlin the Great help us all, Hermione Jayne Granger has seduction on her mind. I never thought I'd see the day," Luna teased.
"Yes.. well...just don't expect to see me at all
on Sunday," Hermione told her with a giggle. They all burst into laughter then. Hermione had definitely changed
from her reticent ways since she'd met Harry. He wasn't going to know what hit him Saturday night.