Forbidden Love
Chapter 13
"Quidditch," Harry said to the portrait guarding the entrance to Hermione's dorm room.
Due to her position and the amount of responsibility she now had as Head Girl, Hermione had been given her own area, including a private dorm with a sitting room, its own bath and, of course her bedroom. As an added bonus and also because of her trusted position, she was also allowed to have the unsupervised company of girls and boys into her area.
Personally, Harry was grateful for the sitting area, since it was perfect for the times when they needed privacy, such as having the gang come over to discuss D.A. members, ideas and times. It also provided him the opportunity to privately talk to his friends about his sessions with Dumbledore, concerns about Voldemort and the possible locations of the Horcruxes. Even though it was her own private area, Hermione had immediately given her dorm's password to her three best friends to use whenever they wanted to.
"Hermione, you in here?" Harry called out as he jogged up the few steps into her sitting area.
"Yeah, be out in a minute!" she yelled from her room.
Harry nodded to himself, and after walking the rest of the way into the area he headed to the window to see if it was still snowing. He hoped not, since he and Hermione had to walk to Hogsmeade to meet up with Ron, Luna, Ginny and Neville. The six of them were supposed to have walked there as a group with the rest of the students, but Harry and Hermione were going over lesson plans for the D.A. and had been so into it they hadn't wanted to stop. Eventually the others got tired of waiting and headed out, deciding that they would just meet up in Hogsmeade. Ginny had given Harry a list of the places that they would be in the order they would go and a peck on the lips, and then the group left.
Twenty or thirty minutes later, Harry and Hermione finally finished creating enough lesson plans to last until a month or so after Christmas holiday. Deciding that they were finally ready, Harry had headed back to the boys dorm to change. As soon as he was done he waited in the Gryffindor common room for Hermione, but after a several minutes had passed without her making an appearance he decided to head back up to her dorm to see what was taking so long.
"Aren't you done yet?" He called, turning away from the window and heading a little further into the room.
"Just about! Do you have the list?" Hermione answered from her room.
"Of course I do," he responded, then hastily checked his pockets to make sure.
"Of course you do," Hermione mimicked with a smirk after entering the small sitting area and seeing him going through his pocket.
Harry gave a shrug and grin "What? A bloke can't make sure?"
She rolled her eyes "I'll be ready in a moment I just have to find my money. I know I put it somewhere for safe keeping, but I can't remember where."
"Can't get any safer than that," Harry replied with a cheeky grin, then laughed when a pillow hit him in the head.
As Hermione rummaged though drawers and looked under various seat cushions, Harry continued to walk around the room and fiddle with assorted knick-knacks. He grinned and blushed a bit when he came across a picture of Ron sitting on Hermione's mantle.
"Just how many pictures of Ron do you have?" he asked, picking up the silver frame. Photo-Ron grinned and winked at Harry and he responded in kind.
"Only that one, why?" Hermione responded while digging under the sofa.
"Why did you change the frame? I like the other one better," he replied as he cleaned his prints off of the sides of the metallic surface and carefully placed the photo back in its original spot.
"What other frame?" she asked, now digging under the cushions on the chair.
"The black one," Harry answered giving her a quizzical look.
"It never had a black frame; it's always had the same silv- what? Why are you looking at me like that?" Hermione asked, standing fully and putting the galleons she had finally found into her pocket.
"This picture never had a black frame?"
"No."
"And this is your only picture of Ron?"
"Not the only one, but the only one where it's just Ron. I have plenty of group pictu- would you stop looking at me like that! What is your problem?"
"That night, you had a picture in a black frame..."
"What night- oh... I...." Hermione flushed and looked away. "We, we should go, it's getting late and everyone will wonder what took us so long." She responded, hastily grabbing her coat and making her way to the stairs.
Harry rushed across the room and intercepted her just as she reached the staircase. He quickly snaked one arm around her waist, grabbing her from behind and hauling her up against him.
"We're not finished talking about this Hermione," he said softly, his warm breath tickling her ear.
Hermione was powerless to stop the ripple of pleasure that went through her body and caused her to shiver a bit.
"Yes we are," she said after a moment sounding winded. "We finished talking about this the first day we got here, remember?"
"I remember that you said that it was a picture of Ron."
"No, you said it was a picture of Ron. I never said that."
"So... it wasn't a picture of Ron?"
"I'm not saying that either, look Harry let's just drop this ok," she turned her head and looked back at him with pleading eyes. "Please?"
When she whispered the last part her warm breath tickled his lips and this time he was the one to get a ripple of pleasure. As his body shuddered, a look of awareness entered Hermione's eyes; they quickly took on a smoky appearance as the hue darkened to a rich chocolate color. Her lips parted as a small breath escaped, causing the scent of chocolate and mint to tickle his nostrils. Harry unconsciously licked his lips as he tried his hardest to concentrate on anything other than the fact that he wanted to kiss her.
"We should go," he said after a moment.
"We should," she replied, giving a small nod of affirmation.
"We agreed to put aside-"
"I know and we have - we are-"
"These feelings will stop, we can make them-"
"-or ignore them."
"Then it's decided."
"Yes."
Even though it was now decided, they continued to remain where they were. He didn't attempt to move his arm from circling her small waist and she didn't endeavor to make him. The longer Harry's arm stayed wrapped around Hermione the more he could feel her relaxing. Her back was pressed against his chest and the hair from her ponytail rested against his shoulder. Harry took a deep breath and inhaled the sweet lilac scent that surrounded her as she began to softly stroke his arm. His body reacted to the feather light touch in more ways than one and as his fingers began to gently stroke her waist, he realized how much he missed having her in his arms. Hermione's gaze went from Harry's eyes to his lips and back again.
"Why won't they stop?" she asked in a soft breathy whisper.
"I don't know."
"Hermione are you in there!" A voice yelled, and a scant second later they heard a loud knock on the wall.
Harry and Hermione abruptly moved away from one another at the sound. As she ran down the stairs to the answer the door Harry pulled the list from his pocket, just for something to do and gave a startled frown when he realized that his hands were shaking. Feeling embarrassed at his reaction to what had just happened, he quickly shoved his hands into his pockets as she opened the door.
When she swung open the portrait Hermione was surprised to see Zach Smith standing on the other side looking flustered.
"Hey Hermione," he said quietly, walking past her and into the sitting room. "Oh, hey Harry," he added after taking note of the dark-haired boy. "Uhhh, is everything ok?"
"Oh yeah, wonderful!" "Everything's brilliant!" they replied in unison.
Hermione cringed at how contrived their responses sounded and quickly sought to change the subject.
"So, what's going on?" She asked Zach, taking note of his flushed face.
"I'm not feeling well," the boy responded rubbing his neck "in fact I was on my way to see Madam Pomfrey. I might be coming down with something… or I ate something rancid in Hogsmeade, I'm not sure," Zach grimaced. "Either way, I couldn't stay and I know the Headmaster would want at least one of us there, so I asked your friends where you were." He looked at Harry "Your girlfriend said you two were working on some homework and I could probably find you still here so I headed over. Do you think you can head to Hogsmeade to supervise?" he asked Hermione, just before turning a troubling shade of green. Zach put his hand on the back of the couch to steady himself and took a deep breath, shooing away Harry and Hermione who had both taken a step forward to help.
"Sure no problem, we were just heading there anyway." Hermione replied with a worried expression. "What exactly did you eat Zach?"
The boy started to respond but quickly covered his mouth instead.
"What do you say I help you down to Madam Pomfrey's office?" Harry offered stepping forward and placing a hand on the boys shoulder.
"That's not necc-" before he could finish he lurched forward, Hermione used her wand to summon a waste bin just in time.
"Oh, but I think it is," Harry said when Zach was done. Taking his arm, Harry allowed the other boy to lean on him.
The three of them slowly made their way down the stairs and through the school to Madam Pomfrey's office. After stopping a few more times so that Zach to empty the remainder of his Hogsmeade lunch in the bin Hermione had brought along, they finally arrived at their destination and released the other boy to the school nurses capable hands.
Once they had dropped Zach off, Harry and Hermione quietly made their way out of the school and towards Hogsmeade to catch up with their friends. As they walked down the road, the strong winds pushed Hermione over a bit so that her hand and arm were grazing Harry's. He looked over at her momentarily out of the corner of his eye, but continued to walk without comment and still looking forward she did the same. Neither of them mentioned what had happened in the room and though their hands continued to brush against each other, neither of them moved.
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Harry had just had a particularly grueling Occlumency session with Dumbledore and was feeling quite tired. Having decided to forego dinner for some much needed rest, he was sitting alone in the common room when his girlfriend walked in. His first indication that something was up was the fact that Ginny didn't say anything when she entered. His second was the determined look on her face. Harry looked at his girlfriend from behind heavy lashes as she slowly made her way to him, only opening his eyes fully when she stopped directly in front of him and placed her hands on her hips.
"Are you upset with me?" she asked in a sharp tone, a frown on her face.
"No, why?" he responded sleepily; sitting up in the chair.
"You've been acting weird since we came back from Hogsmeade last week and I wanted to know if you're mad at me or something."
"No, I'm not. I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you thought I had been acting different or that you felt that way," he replied frowning.
The angry expression left her face as she took a seat on his lap. "Harry what's going on?" the redheaded girl asked in a gentler voice.
"Nothing, well not really," he responded, looking down and rubbing his brow.
Ginny placed her finger under his chin and brought his head back up so that he was looking at her. "Something is going on and I need you to talk to me... don't you trust me?" She finished with a wounded look.
Harry sighed, of course he trusted her but he couldn't talk to her... not about this. Running a hand through his hair he scraped his mind for something to say to appease her.
"Dumbledore thinks that Voldemort has been quiet for too long," he replied after a moment, giving a worried look "he also feels that the time of peace that we had was only so that Voldemort could regain his strength. He says the dream that I had may have been a sign that his full power is almost back."
"Well you haven't had any dreams since then have you?" she asked looking concerned.
"No, but that doesn't mean he's not doing anything, it only means that I don't know what he's doing." He gave a frustrated sigh and once again ran an agitated hand through his hair. "On top of that the Occlumency lessons are getting more and more difficult and Malfoy and his cronies are trying to start crap as usual. The workloads for our classes are getting bloody insane and with the additions of Quidditch, Occlumency and D.A. I don't know if I can handle it all. Not to mention the fact that if Snape rides my arse any harder I'm going to have to get him hand rails!"
Ginny giggled and ran her fingers through Harry's hair "Don't stress so much Harry, you're doing great. The D.A is running better than it has ever been and everyone is in awe of the awesome lesson plans that you and Hermione come up with," she gave a wry smile. "Heck, I even have first years asking me if I can get them on a waiting list. We're doing brilliant in Quidditch and even though practice can be a bit demanding everyone loves you as the captain and we just know that we're going to wipe the floor with Slytherin next week. I'm sure Dumbledore is not at all disappointed with your progress in Occlumency and Malfoy and his minions are about as dangerous as ever...which means they're not dangerous at all. As for the thing with Snape... unfortunately there's not really anything you can do about that. However, I do know something that I can do to make you feel better."
He rose a brow "Really and what it that?"
A wicked gleam entered her eyes and she leant forward brushing her lips lightly against his for a minute or two, before applying more pressure and deepening the kiss. As Harry relaxed a bit more into the kiss, she slipped her tongue into his mouth and her warm body melted against his. One of her hands tangled in his hair and the other one lightly massaged his shoulder. Breaking contact momentarily Ginny stood and readjusted herself so that she was straddling him, and as she came back down onto his lap Harry circled his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. After a few minutes of heavy kissing, Ginny pulled back leaving them both panting for air. Still a bit dazed Harry licked his lips where the taste of butterbeer lingered. 'I like the chocolate and mint better.'
"What does that mean?" Harry's eyes shot to Ginny who was giving him a perplexed look. He hadn't realized that he had spoken aloud. "Harry, what does that mean?"
"I...uh…"
He was saved from answering when a voiced wined from behind Ginny. "Oh geez, you two aren't going to start snogging again are you? This is getting ridiculous."
Ginny turned and glared at her brother "Bugger off, Ron."
"And in the middle of the common room where anyone could just come right in and see," he made a face. "Then everyone would say that my sister's a harlot and I would have to spend the rest of the year fighting to protect your honor."
Harry chuckled then chimed in "With my help of course."
"Of course," Ron stated in a serious tone.
"Oh please, stop being such a drama queen you git," Ginny retorted, and then glowered at Harry "and stop encouraging him."
"How am I being dramatic? You're in an open common room, sitting in a chair, straddling my best mate with your skirt almost up to your knickers; you tell me what they would think?" Ron returned with a smirk.
Ginny looked down and flushed, before hurriedly hopping up and adjusting her skirt. "Shut up Ron."
"That's what I thought," her brother said with a grin.
When Ginny got off of him, Harry looked past her to see Hermione standing not far from Ron. He was surprised; he hadn't realized that she was there since she hadn't said anything. The brown-haired witch, who had been looking into the flames of the fire, abruptly turned and looked at him. Harry was shocked and a bit disturbed to see that her eyes were devoid of emotion. He was also troubled by how guilty he felt about it; after all Ginny was his girlfriend it was perfectly natural for them to snog... right?
Ron walked the rest of the way into the room and plopped down onto the couch, "So what are you guys up to- well, what else are you guys up to?" He corrected giving them both pointed looks, before turning to his girlfriend. "Are you going to stand there all night Hermione? You're beginning to look like one of the suits of armor in the hallway."
Hermione threw him a glare before coming forward and sitting in the chair opposite Harry on the other side of the table. Ron sighed and got up, squeezing on the chair next to his girlfriend, he placed a hand lightly upon her shoulder. Hermione gave him another glare as he leant forward and whispered something into her ear. Harry frowned when a blush crept up her face and she gave a small smile at whatever the other boy had said. And his frown intensified when Ron turned her face towards him and began to gently kiss her lips.
"Geez, now who needs to get a room," Ginny said sarcastically taking a seat on the arm of Harry's chair.
Ron glared at her "mind your business Ginny."
"Why, you never mind yours Ron," she retorted with a smirk.
"Shouldn't you be trying to maul your boyfriend right now?" he responded glaring.
"Shouldn't you be trying to stop me?" she replied with a smug look.
"Ugh, that's it! Hermione, why don't we head up to your dorm to be alone?" Ron asked while glaring at his sister.
Harry quickly looked at Hermione to see how she would respond to Ron's question, only to find she was staring at him... or at least it looked like she was. Following her gaze, Harry glanced down and noticed that he was gripping the arm of the chair so hard that his knuckles were white. Eyes wide he quickly released it and looked back up at Hermione, they made eye contact for a moment before she turned to Ron.
"No, Ronald, we have pre-holiday exams coming up and we need to study. After all that is what we came up here for, you know since you got us kicked out of the library, remember?"
Ron looked heavenward for a moment then frowned. "We wouldn't have gotten kicked out if she hadn't been so bloody sensitive about people just asking each other questions."
Harry felt tension that he hadn't even known was there ebb from his body as he slowly relaxed and gave a smile, he knew who 'she' was; Madam Prince was notoriously strict about students talking in her library.
"What I want to know," Ron continued, unaware of the calming effect the change of subject had on his best mate "is how she can not realize that that annoying 'Shhhhhh!' thing she does is louder and much more obnoxious that the talking."
Harry grinned and nodded his head in response, Ginny laughed and Hermione seemed to be trying her best not to smile.
"Well as true as that might be Ron, that doesn't change the fact that we need to study," Hermione said giving him a stern look.
The red-haired boy let out a long dramatic sigh and plopped back in the chair. Before he could come up with another way to put off his schoolwork they heard loud tapping.
"What in Merlin's beard..." Ginny mumbled getting up off the chair.
Harry followed her and they traced the noise to the far side of the common room. Ron and Hermione stayed in their seats, but remained as quiet as possible so they wouldn't disturb Harry and Ginny as they searched for the source. As they neared the third window in from the wall the tapping got louder, pulling back the curtains Harry finally saw the cause.
"Hedwig," Harry said aloud as he quickly opened the window to allow her access.
The snow white owl flew into the room and made a graceful landing on the table in front of the fire, immediately shaking the snow from her feathers and giving a soft 'hoot'. Harry went to the chair, grabbed an extra owl treat that he kept on him out of his robes pocket and gave it to her as a reward. Once Hedwig was somewhat appeased he picked up the letter she had let fall onto the table upon entering.
"Who's it for?" Ron asked, taking a seat on the couch next to his chair, as Hermione took one on the table.
"It's for me-" Harry responded flipping it over a few times.
"Of course it's for you," Ginny said making a face at Ron "it's your owl. The real question is who is it from?"
Harry shrugged "I haven't opened it yet."
"Well open it," Ron said impatiently.
"Well shut up," Harry replied annoyed.
Ron opened his mouth to speak again but was silenced when Hermione placed her hand over it. "Go ahead and open your letter Harry," she said after giving Ron a reproachful look and removing her hand.
"Thanks," he responded with a smile.
Harry tore open the letter, immediately reading the signature to see who signed it. His surprise must have shown on his face, for all of his friends immediately came closer to have a look at the note.
"Who sent it?" Ron asked again, unable to get a clear view.
Harry looked up at him, then at Hermione. "Your mum."
"My mum?" Ginny responded from behind him "Why would my mum sen-"
"Not your mum, Hermione's mum."
Hermione looked at him in surprise for a moment, while Ginny and Ron looked at her with the same expression before turning their attention back to Harry.
"But why would my mum send you a letter?" Hermione asked with a bewildered expression.
Harry shrugged and then quickly read the letter.
"Well what does it say?" Ginny asked impatiently.
He gave her a quick look before answering "It says... that she and Mr. Granger would love it..." he hesitated before looking at Hermione "they would love it if I would come to their house for Christmas Holiday. It says that they've fixed the room up for me and look forward to my visit."
"But you're coming to the Burrow for Christmas," Ron said, "we decided last year, remember?"
"Well- yeah, but..."
"But what?" Ginny asked, frowning "It's going to be our first real Christmas together, you know, as a couple... you have to come."
Hermione just watched mutely, her expression giving him no indication as to what she was thinking. After a few minutes of silence and scrutiny from the Weasley siblings Harry responded.
"I'm sorry you guys but I have to," he continued before they could interrupt. "This summer, when I had no where to go the Grangers took me into their home. They treated me like family - I know what you're thinking - you guys treat me like family too. It's just that I don't want it-" he paused searching for the right words "I don't want it to seem that it was ok to be with them this summer when I didn't have any place to go, but when I have a choice I don't want to be there. You know?" He turned to Ginny with a pleading look. "Please understand Gin, they were so kind to me this summer and if they really want me to come for Christmas I feel like it's my duty- no that's not the right word... it's my honor to return that kindness. Please understand," he finished giving his girlfriend a beseeching look.
Ginny frowned and looked down. "I guess I understand, it's just that… after not getting to see you this summer I was hoping-"
"Don't worry Ginny," Hermione said speaking for the first time since asking about the letter. "Remember, my parents agreed to come up to the Burrow on Christmas Eve, so that means that Harry'll be coming with us."
"I'm not so sure about this..." Ron commented from next to Hermione. "Didn't you guys spend enough time together this summer?"
"What does that mean?" Hermione asked frowning.
"It's nothing like that Ron," Harry said.
"I know, I know. It's just-" Ron responded backing from his girlfriends glare and sighing, "you know how I can get sometimes, sorry." He then looked at his dark haired friend. "Harry, my mum's bound to be disappointed."
"I know, but either way it goes someone's mum's going to be disappointed. I'm sure Mrs. Weasley will understand if I explain it to her," Harry said.
"Fine... but you explain it to her," Ron replied.
Harry grinned, then laughed "Sure no problem... wow, I never thought I would have to decide between two places to spend my holiday, this is definitely a first."
As his friends nodded in agreement, Harry got up and went to the window to open it again for Hedwig. The owl had taken the time that they were talking as an opportunity to rest and was now giving impatient hoots from her spot next to Hermione. Noticing that she could now leave she hopped from the table and flew out of the window, Harry closed it tight behind her and watched as she get lost in a sea of white flurries.
So it was decided... he was spending Christmas with the Grangers.
A.N. Well that's it' for this chapter, what happens next? I don't know... no seriously I don't I haven't written it yet. However, don't fret I do have an idea so stay tuned and see, same bat time, same bat channel. I should be updating next week. Don't forget to Please Review and Ja ne!
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