Forbidden Love
Chapter 15
Hermione stood in the kitchen next to her mum, cutting carrots and trying to hide her annoyance. Every few minutes Ella Granger would look at her daughter, give a small smile and then look away without saying anything. Hermione was reaching her wits end and after the thirteenth time it happened she had finally had enough.
"What, mum?" she asked in an exasperated tone.
"What do you mean?" her mum inquired with an overly innocent look.
"You know what I mean, why do you keep smiling at me like that?" Hermione responded frowning.
"What? A mother can't be happy to see her daughter again?" Mrs. Granger responded while handing her a bowl for the carrots.
Hermione gave her an incredulous look.
"You've been gone for several months and I'm just happy to have you home, ok?" Mrs. Granger said raising a brow and then huffed. "Don't make me regret being so excited about your return."
Hermione gave a resigned sigh and though she still felt there was more to it then that, she decided to give her mum the benefit of the doubt. "Sorry," she mumbled turning back to her ministrations.
"So," Mrs. Granger said after several minutes of silence. "How did Harry do in Quidditch this year? I know how excited he was about being captain."
"So far so good," Hermione commented, "he led us in a huge victory against Slytherin." She turned to her mum and grinned, "You should have seen it mum, was incredible. It had been raining all day, but hadn't gotten particularly nasty until just after the game started. Everyone was busy watching the chasers score points, they were doing pretty well too, especially considering how dirty the Slytherins play," she frowned at that comment. "I was watching Harry when suddenly he shot into the air," Mrs. Granger raised a brow. "He must have seen the snitch," Hermione stated in a tone that implied it was the most obvious thing.
"Anyway, then of course Malfoy, the other seeker on the Slytherin team, saw Harry and went after him. The little ferret actually tried to grab Harry's broom in an attempt to throw him off." She gave an offended look, "Can you believe that?" Ella shook her head. "Don't worry though, Harry got away with no problem. He's a great flyer, he can do circles around Malfoy any day," she smiled. "Anyway, then he -er, Harry- abruptly changed directions and flew down towards the ground at an insane speed. I mean even I was starting to get worried, but then suddenly he came to a halt and Malfoy, not being as good as Harry on a broom," Hermione added with a pointed look, "wasn't able to stop and hit the ground pretty hard just as Harry flew back up to the level of the stands. He gave me a smile and a wink before holding up his hand," she was now grinning, "and he had the snitch! Gryffindor won the game two hundred and fifty points to thirty. It was wonderful, not to mention the second shortest game in Hogwarts history. Slytherin was so embarrassed that no one had to put up with their crass remarks for over a week!" she finished looking at her mum with an elated expression.
Mrs. Granger gave her another one of those smiles before turning to rinse out a cup.
"Well honey, though I don't know half of the things you were talking about, I must say it does sound quite exhilarating. Harry sounds like he's magnificent to watch."
"He is," Hermione replied turning and starting on the tomatoes "he's the youngest person to ever make Seeker and only person to ever make the Quidditch team their first year."
"Wow, that's quite an accomplishment." Ella said throwing a look over her shoulder at her daughter "So... how long have he and Ginny been dating?"
Hermione was so surprised by her mother's abrupt change in topic she almost cut her finger "Wha- mum, what does that have to do with anything?"
Ella shrugged and leaned against the counter, looking at her daughter. "Oh nothing, I just saw them kiss at the station earlier and the question came to mind. I figured it might be a bit rude to ask Harry so..." she shrugged and left it hanging.
"Well not that it matters, but they've been together for about eight or so months... just two more than Ron and I," Hermione responded giving her mum another suspicious look.
"Ahhh." Mrs. Granger replied, while wiping her hand on a dishtowel.
"And what does that mean?"
"Nothing."
"No, mum it means something, what does it mean?"
"Nothing, it's just..."
"It's just what?"
"Oh nothing, never mind."
"Mum," Hermione said in an uncharacteristic whine.
Ella gave her daughter an amused look "Well, when I saw them at the station earlier and they kissed, it just seemed..."
"It seemed..." Hermione hedged.
"It seemed that Harry wasn't very interested, that's all. So, I assumed that perhaps the relationship was new and he wasn't comfortable with it yet." Mrs. Granger finished giving a nonchalant shrug.
Hermione frowned "Well mum, Harry's had a...." she hesitated "hard life. He's not easily comfortable with people h-"
"He's comfortable with you," her mum interrupted.
"What?"
"I said he's comfortable with you," Ella repeated giving her daughter a serious look.
"Well, that's just because we're friends."
"And he and Ginny aren't?"
"No- I mean yes, of course they are."
"So shouldn't he be comfortable with her then?" her mum responded with a smirk.
"Perhaps he was uncomfortable because you were watching him," Hermione retorted with a smirk of her own.
Her mum's grin became more pronounced, "You weren't."
Hermione opened her mouth and then closed it unsure of what to say to that. After a few moments she finally regained her voice. "You saw us?" she asked in what amounted to no more than a strangled squeak. Her mum grinned and nodded. "Just you?" her mum shook her head no, her grin getting wider. "All of you?" Her mum once again nodded in response.
Hermione felt her face flame; she was mortified. Her mum, her dad and Harry had all seen her kissing Ron!
Mrs. Granger took pity on her daughter and gave her a light pat on her shoulder "Don't worry honey I already calmed them down so it should be ok."
"Thanks mum I appre- wait, calmed them down? Them who?"
"Your dad and Harry of course."
"Ok, daddy I get but... why would you need to calm down Harry?"
Her mum didn't respond but instead gave a small shake of the head.
"What?"
"Sweetheart if I have to answer that for you, then you're not as bright as I thought you were," Ella said rinsing the lettuce.
Hermione frowned "I don't know what you mean, there's nothing between Harry and I."
Her mum gave her a skeptical look.
"What? There isn't, we're just friends!" she persisted; her mum rolled her eyes. "We are. Harry's with Ginny and I'm with Ron."
"I know dear," Mrs. Granger replied in a monotone voice, Hermione scowled.
"I happen to be crazy about Ron, we're great together, we have a real connection... he- he completes me," she finished, wincing at her lame ending. "Ok, so maybe that wasn't a good way to put it," she mumbled.
"Maybe not," Ella responded laughing, taking a seat at the table her grin faded and she gave a small sigh. "Don't get me wrong dear; I like Ron, I really do. He seems like a nice chap and his parents are really good people... I just... I don't see between you and Ron what I see between you and Harry."
"I... but... what is it that you think you see between me and Harry?" Hermione asked taking a seat at the table also.
"What I see is a real connection, you two seem to be able to talk about anything. Not to mention the fact that you're always talking about him."
"I am not-" she started but relented at her mum's dubious look. "What I mean is, I'm always taking about them both."
"Really? I hadn't noticed," she continued before Hermione could comment. "When you were younger you would talk about them both. Though I must say you usually didn't have very pleasant things to say about Ron," she added with a thoughtful expression.
"Well he was a git then, but now he's great, he's a great friend, a great boyfriend and a great Quidditch player too."
Her mum looked at her in surprise "Ron plays Quidditch?"
"Well yeah," she responded "he's Keeper and a really good one at that."
"Oh... I hadn't realized, you never mentioned that Ron played too."
Hermione winced a bit "Really? I thought I had."
Mrs. Granger shook her head "No, you only ever mention Harry when talking about Quidditch."
Hermione blushed "Oh… well he is great- er, Ron that is - Ron's great… at Quidditch... and stuff..."
Her mum laughed, "Well Ron may have great Quidditch skills, but Harry has great eyes. You don't often see that shade of green."
Hermione groaned "Mum stop it, Harry has a girlfriend and I have a boyfriend so please don't start or I'll tell dad."
Her mum shrugged and gave her a bored look "Do you really think I'm afraid of your father?" Hermione tried to frown but ended up laughing instead, her mum joined her a moment later. "Though I must admit, he is cute when he's mad," Ella finished with a thoughtful look.
"Well Ron's cute all the time," Hermione added with a smile.
Mrs. Granger smiled too and then leaned forward with an impish twinkle in her eye, and in a conspiratal tone whispered to her daughter. "Well Ron may be cute, but Harry's bloody sexy."
Hermione's mouth dropped "Mum!"
"What," Ella said leaning back in her seat "I may be farther up than you in years, but I still know a hot bloke when I see one."
"Mum!" she exclaimed again her face turning red.
"What?"
Hermione gave her a look.
"Oh come on Hermione admit it," Mrs. Granger said with a grin "Harry's hot."
"Is not!"
"So he isn't hot?"
"Of course he is-not to say- what I meant," her mum laughed again and Hermione found she was really beginning to hate that sound. "What I mean is that Harry and Ron could both be considered hot."
"I thought you said Ron was cute."
"He is-"
"So that settles it then, Ron's cute, Harry's hot."
"Mum!"
"What's the matter pumpkin?" Mr. Granger asked walking into the room, followed closely behind by the boy in question.
"Nothing," she said quickly, trying to hide her flush and worrying that if her mum kept it up she would turn that color permanently.
Harry and Mr. Granger both gave her looks that said they didn't believe her, but were wise enough not to comment.
"So Harry, you ready to get started on that studying?" she asked in an effort to escape the room... and her mum.
"Studying? On break?" Mrs. Granger said frowning. "Now that's no fun."
"Yeah, but it's something that I really need," Harry interrupted before Hermione could answer. "Kind of an extra credit thing your daughter was kind enough to give up part of her break to help me out with."
Hermione flushed even more from his declaration "Yep, so let's get started," she added, hopping up from the table and pushing him towards the door, making sure to avoid eye contact with her mum.
"Oh Hermione," Mrs. Granger called out just as her daughter made it to the exit.
She turned and gave her a wary look. "Yes mum?"
"In this Quidditch match... you know, the one with Slytherin," Hermione nodded, "I was just wondering dear... how did Ron do?"
Hermione opened her mouth to answer then closed it. Giving her mum a glare she turned and stomped passed a confused Harry to her room, ignoring the taunting female laughter from the kitchen.
-------------------------------
Harry groaned falling back on the bed "Come on Hermione, I need a break."
"No, what you need is to get this down and I'm going to make sure that you do," Hermione responded looking up from the heavy text.
"It's been almost a week and all we've done is study, I need a break." Harry whined, heaving a dramatic sigh and pretending to faint.
Hermione chuckled; if he hadn't already been famous enough as "The Boy Who Lived" she just might suggest that he go into acting. His flair for dramatics had really come out over the last couple of days. She gave a small smile. He looked so adorably pathetic.
Harry was laying down with one foot on the floor and the other on the bed. His hair, which was normally quite unruly, was surprisingly even more disheveled than usual, since he had a habit of running his fingers through it when he was upset or annoyed. Hermione quickly discovered that attempting to learn techniques for something that they could neither do, let alone practice to see it was working, left Harry in the state of annoyance more often than not.
With this being the case, the dark strands of hair that had never really lain down to begin with were now sticking up at even odder angles than usual. His black t-shirt was extremely rumpled with a few stray cookie crumbs from the pack she had given him - due to him insisting that he needed to replenish his strength in order to go on - decorating various parts of his person. Harry's dark blue jeans were slightly wrinkled and covered in random ink splotches from earlier, when she had insisted that he take notes.
With his eyes closed, Hermione had a rare opportunity to observe him without his notice. 'He really is an attractive guy,' she thought to herself. Suddenly her mind flashed back to her and her mum's conversation last week. 'She's right, he is hot,' as soon as the thought popped into her mind Hermione blushed and pushed it away.
"Are you ok?" Harry asked; her gaze snapped back from his chest to his eyes, to find that he was looking at her though heavy lids.
"Yeah," she responded looking back down at the text. "I just want to make sure that we get this right. There's no way I want Snape to be privy to your memories and I know you don't either."
"I know," Harry said sitting up with a groan "but a small break can't hurt." he added while attempting to rub the stiffness out of his shoulder. "We still have days to study. Besides, we need to go Christmas shopping."
Hermione looked at him "You haven't gotten your presents yet?"
"Well...no, I haven't had a chance."
"Oh. I've already gotten mine," she stated in a mater-of-fact tone, turning her attention back to the text. "Brilliant! This book has some really intricate exercises that I think are going to help," Hermione said flipping to the next page.
"I haven't."
She looked up with a confused expression "You haven't what?"
"Gotten my presents," he responded in an exasperated tone.
Hermione gave a resigned sigh. "Fine, I'll see if mum or dad can give us a ride to Diagon Alley. Besides, there are a couple of books I really want to get that I had seen in Flourish & Blotts earlier anyway. One had some really detailed information on deciphering Ancient Runes and the other had some great mental exercises that I think will help immensely with your Occlumency lessons." She closed the book with a snap and looked at him with the excited expression that she often got when talking about new or interesting books. "Even though I had only had a chance to glance at the contents last time we were at the store, I'm quite certain that what I did see, coupled with the techniques that we've been practicing could definitely be useful in your sessions with Snape."
Harry let out another loud groan then grumbled, "Just what I need, more books to study from."
She frowned at him "It is just what you need. The more prepared the better, that's my motto and these books have great exercises to get you ready."
"We don't even know if they're working," Harry commented standing from the bed and giving a long stretch, as his long arms went over his head, his back arched causing his shirt to rise and exposing a set of well toned abs.
"Well," Hermione replied giving a sigh at his negativity, looking up from the book she almost choked on her tongue. "Wee, we-we…" She cleared her throat when Harry gave her a confused look and focused back on her book. "We can't be sure that it's working, but Harry if you just believe in yourself even half as much as I do and believe that it's going to work, then I know it will."
He rolled his eyes in response, "As sweet as that is Hermione, just believing that something will work doesn't mean it will."
"Yes it does," she responded, looking back at him.
"Really? - Well tell you what, I believe I'm a Crumple-Horned Snorkack," he looked down at himself, examining his hands, arms and legs before giving Hermione a look of mock surprise, "wha -- what happened, I thought surely if I believed..."
She glared at him. "Not with that attitude," she grumbled turning back to the book.
"So let me get this straight; you believe in Crumple-Horned Snorkacks?"
"No, of course not," she commented once again glowering at him.
"But Luna believes and you said that all someone has to do is believe," he countered with a smug look.
"Not about something as ridicu- look, why are we on the subject of Snorkacks anyway?! It has absolutely nothing to do with your Occlumency and you know it!"
Harry shrugged before turning and walking towards the door. "Just trying to make a point."
"Well you didn't."
"Come on Hermione, we both know I did," he replied throwing a smirk over his shoulder and sauntering out of the bedroom.
She glared at the empty doorway for a moment contemplating murder before grudgingly getting up to get dressed.
"He knew that I was just trying to make a point," she grumbled "stupid prat. I don't know how I could have ever even thought for a second that he was cute, because he's not. The only thing Harry Potter is, is bloody annoying!" she finished, making sure to say the last part in a louder voice as she walked into the hallway. Casting one more glower towards Harry's room, Hermione stomped off to go for a quick shower and a much-needed moment of solitude.
A.N. Well that's it for this chapter... what happens next? Stay tuned and see! Please Review!! Ja ne!
-->