Forbidden Love
Chapter 24
Hermione gave a languid stretch, giving a surprised look to her right when her arm hit against something. Looking in that direction, the cream-colored pillows of her sofa came into focus. She stared blankly at them for a minute before what happened last night came rushing back. Harry waiting in the common room - his dream about Voldemort - them talking in her sitting room - him saying that he missed her. She gave a soft smile and then blushed - them kissing on the couch… falling asleep in his arms.
She gave a sleepy smile and sat up on the couch, he had said that he had wanted to see her today… today… her brows furrowed as a thought tickled the back of her brain. Today… suddenly it came to her, toady was Valentines Day! Ginny was planning on sleeping with Harry tonight! She had to warn him, had to do something… Hermione hopped off of the couch and rushed into her room, quickly grabbing some clothes and hurrying to the shower.
Twenty minutes later she fussed nervously with her ponytail hoping that the de-frizzing spell that she used would hold and hurried to the Great Hall. Entering the enormous room she quickly headed towards the middle of the Gryffindor table, but was surprised to see only Neville and Seamus sitting there eating breakfast.
"Where is everyone?" she inquired of the dark-haired boy as she took a seat on the bench and looked around the room.
"At Quidditch practice," Seamus chimed in after Neville gave her a blank look and a shrug.
"Oh…" she responded biting her lip slightly "okay, well thanks." She gave him a smile before hurrying back out of the Great Hall and towards the Quidditch pitch.
As she reached the massive structure, Hermione quickly headed through the team entrance and to the field. Reaching the opening to the playing field she saw the Gryffindor team still on the ground, listening intently as Harry spoke to them. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but by the looks of approval on his teammates' faces, Hermione knew whatever it was they agreed. When he finished talking the team formed a huddle, placing their hands in the middle for a second before pulling away and shouting `Gryffindor!'
Once they were done everyone hopped on their brooms and flew swiftly into the air- well, almost everyone. Hermione watched mutely as Ginny and Harry stayed on the ground, he said something to her and the redhead girl responded by touching his arm lightly and whispering something in his ear. He gave her a small smile and a scant second later the other girl came forward capturing his lips in a kiss.
Hermione recoiled away from the image as her heart lurched painfully in her chest, taking a few deep breaths she closed her eyes and willed her herself to calm down. By the time she looked back at the field it was empty and both Ginny and Harry were in the air with the rest of the team. Placing a hand on her stomach she somberly made her way back to her dorm deep in thought.
`Maybe he just hasn't had a chance to tell her,' she thought anxiously as she made her way past a group of noisy students headed to Hogsmeade.
`Maybe he's not going to,' her brain commented badly a minute later.
`Of course he is,' her heart chimed in, `he said he would.'
`So, just because he says something doesn't make it true,' her mind responded sharply.
`Yes it does, if Harry says something he means it.'
`Really?'
`Yes, really.'
`He said he loved Ginny,' her mind remarked snidely.
Hermione stumbled a bit on the stairs, it was right…er, she was right. He had said he loved Ginny, he had told her that several times over the last year.
`He's never said anything about loving you,' it persisted, `in fact when you told him you loved him, he didn't say anything at all.'
Hermione gave a frustrated growl, startling a third year that was walking past. Ignoring the girls' strange look she rushed up the moving stairs to the tower, mentally berating herself. Why would she say something like that? Was she always such a bitch? - Wait, did she just call herself a bitch? She paused in front of the Fat Lady and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Okay- now she was officially going mental.
"I just need to sit and think clearly," she mumbled to herself before saying "Toadstool," in a voice loud enough for the portrait to hear.
The Fat Lady gave her a disapproving look for dallying and then swung the door open to allow her access. Heading straight through the common areas and giving the password to the portrait guarding her dorm she swiftly entered. Heading up the stairs and into her sitting room she paced for a minute before taking a seat on the couch.
"I just have to trust Harry," she stated aloud, "he says he's going to talk to Ginny and he will. He won't let anything happen between them; heck he probably just woke up late this morning and didn't have time yet. I'm sure he'll talk to her right after practice." Having worked the issue out logically, Hermione relaxed a bit. Picking a book up off the table she began to read it silently, doing her best to concentrate on the words in the text as opposed to the clock on her mantel.
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Several hours later she was back to pacing the room, it was now almost seven-thirty and she hadn't seen Harry all day. She had even gone to Hogsmeade looking for him, but hadn't been able to find him anywhere. Hermione gave a frustrated huff and rubbed her face, he should have been here by now. He had said all he had to do today was Quidditch in the morning and Occlumency with Snape in the afternoon, so she should have seen him at least once today. He had said that he had wanted to see her, right?
She threw herself down onto the chair and stared blankly at the wall, he was with Ginny, she just knew it. That's where he was. How long had he been with her? Had they made love? Did he plan on staying with her now? Had he changed his mind? Hermione gave another harsh sigh as heartbreaking questions she was powerless to answer assaulted her mind.
`I knew it,' she thought, pulling her legs up into the chair and hugging them. `He changed his mind. Why would he want me anyway?' she asked rhetorically before putting her hands over her face and beginning to cry softly. A minute later she felt warm hands encircle her wrists and pull at them. As her hands were pulled away from her face, Harry's troubled green eyes came into view.
"Hermione?" he questioned softly, "Are you alright? What's wrong?"
Instead of answering she launched forward, pulling him into a hug. Harry laughed quietly, hugging her back before pulling away and standing. Grabbing her hand he pulled her over to the couch and took a seat, gathering her back into his arms.
"Now what's wrong?" he inquired once more.
"I thought you had forgotten me," she mumbled, giving a small chuckle.
"What?" Harry asked, pulling back so that he could see her face.
Hermione blushed and focused on his chin instead of his eyes. "I didn't think you were coming… I- well, I thought perhaps you had forgotten me."
He frowned and tipped her head up with his finger, "I would never do that Hermione." He gave a wry smile, "Heck I couldn't if I tried… trust me I know."
They stared at one another for a moment before he came forward and placed a light kiss on her lips.
"I meant it when I said I wanted to spend the day with you," Harry commented, lightly stroking her chin.
"Yeah, well the day's over, its night now," she retorted with a smirk.
Harry blushed, "Yeah, sorry about that… it was kind of a long day…" Hermione gave him an expectant look. "Well first I woke up late- after I left here that is. You see I had gone back to my room to get an extra hour sleep, but I guess I kind of passed out. Then that git Ron decided to wait to wake me up until after he had eaten breakfast. So I only had time to run downstairs and grab a glass of juice and a piece of toast before practice. Then after practice I ran back here to take a quick shower and it was off to my fun-filled Occlumency session with Snape." He sighed rubbing his brow, "During which the wanker got mad about one of my implanted memories… I think it had something to do with the fact that this one had him doing some things with Mrs. Norris, that would have you calling the Department for Control of Magical Creatures," he finished giving her a smirk, Hermione shook her head and nestled closer to his warm body.
"So what happened?"
Harry gave a short grunt, "The prat gave me detention, three hours of picking apart spiders," he grimaced, "and I do mean part by part."
"Eww," Hermione replied, making a face. After a moment of continued silence, she pressed on with was she had really wanted to know. "Harry?"
"Yeah."
"What happened with Ginny?"
He sighed.
**********
Harry cursed quietly to himself as he made his way down the corridor of the dungeon and back up stairs. It was almost seven o'clock; he was supposed to have met Ginny for their Valentines Day thing at six thirty. Then, to make matters worse, he had not had a chance to talk to her about their relationship yet. He had tried at Quidditch practice, but she had just kissed him and flew away, so he tried again after, but she had yelled something about needing to go to Hogsmeade to get something and rushed off to the girl's dorm to change. He had even attempted to catch her after his shower, but she had already left for the village. So here it was, six forty two at night on Valentines and he was heading to the Room of Requirement to meet with Ginny… as opposed to heading to the dorms to see Hermione like he really wanted to.
Looking up he realized that he had reached the afore mentioned area and sighed. Taking a deep breath he thought of `a romantic getaway' like Ginny had requested and the door to the room appeared. Hesitating for an instant, Harry placed his hand on the knob and cautiously headed in.
"Bloody hell," he murmured to himself upon entering and taking note of his surroundings.
The room smelled lightly of flowers and was glowing gently, lit by several candles strategically placed around the area and the warm fire from the fireplace. Romantic music played softly in the background and rose petals lightly littered the floor. There was a table decorated with two place settings, champagne glasses, an ice bucket with what looked to be sparkling cider sticking out of the top of it and a vase of red roses in the center. However as unexpected as all of that was, nothing stunned him as much as what was located just behind the table…
Harry slowly made his way further into the area, coming to a halt in front of a large four-poster bed. As his eyes scanned the area, he noticed a large cream-colored satin comforter, several downy satin covered pillows, a fluffy burgundy robe thrown across the foot of the bed and more rose petals littering the surface.
"You're late," a female voice said softly from just behind him.
Quickly turning Harry came face to face with Ginny.
"Yeah… uh, sorry about that. Snape gave me detention."
The redhead rolled her eyes, "the git," she mumbled before coming forward.
Harry attempted to take a step back but only succeeded in falling backwards onto the bed; Ginny smiled.
"You look nervous Harry," she commented with a mischievous grin.
Harry's brows rose, was she kidding? Of course he was freakin nervous, heck he was down right ready to panic! Here he was stuck in a room with Ginny, surrounded by a romantic atmosphere, sprawled across on a large bed while she stood before him looking very enticing in her Hogwarts robes. Her face held a hit of makeup around the eyes, her lips were a soft pink and her unbound hair pooled around her shoulders. As her smoky eyes stared back at him filled with attraction, Harry looked briefly at the door attempting to mentally calculate the distance he would have to run to get there.
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked coming forward; he shifted on the bed.
"Uh… don't you want to eat or something first?" he asked, nervously pulling at his collar.
"Not really," she replied coming forward a bit more so that her robes were now grazing his knees. "However if you're hungry I'll feed you," she finished with a suggestive wink.
Harry gulped.
"Ginny… uh, I don't know if- well, I just don't think- uhh… Ginny we shouldn't…" he finished with a strangled squeak as the words got caught in his throat when the younger girl dropped her robe.
`Oh shite.'
Ginny stood before him, now clad only in a set of lacy red knickers, a small gold chain and a pair of red heels. The chain fell between two round breasts that peeked from the top of the lacy bra, and her flat stomach rose and fell as she breathed. Small calves lead the way to long shapely legs that seemed to go for days, however when they did stop going they led to somewhere that he definitely shouldn't be looking. Harry flushed and quickly averted his gaze; Hermione was going to kill him!
"Harry?" she inquired when he looked away.
"Yeah," he replied while doing his best to focus on the fire.
Ginny frowned and placed her hands on his knees; opening them she stepped between them and peered at Harry.
"Why are you looking at the fire?" she asked with a confounded expression.
"I-uh, thought that I saw a face… I think someone my be watching us, perhaps we should go," he said hastily, however when he looked forward once more he realized the he was eye level with Ginny's….er, attributes.
Giving a groan Harry covered his face and fell backwards onto the bed… big mistake. The redhead climbed onto the mattress and straddled him, then leaning forward so that her chest lightly brushed his own Ginny placed a kiss gently on his neck, before slowly making her way up to his ear.
"Gin-" he cleared his throat, "Ginny, maybe we should stop."
She pulled back and frowned at him, "What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing, just- maybe this isn't a good idea that's all. I mean who knows what can happen, someone could walk in, there could be a fire in the school… you could get," he blushed, "well you know."
Ginny sighed and sat back onto his lap. "Harry stop worrying, it's all taken care of." She rolled her eyes at his dubious look. "No one can walk into the Room of Requirement without knowing what they're looking for unless it's an emergency, Hogwarts has been around for hundreds of years I doubt it's going to spontaneously burst into flame tonight. And as for the last part…" she hesitated, blushing a bit, "well- Hermione helped me with a spell so it's all taken care of."
Harry gave a distressed look; Hermione had helped her? Hermione knew about this?! Why hadn't she told him- warned him? Did this mean that she didn't care if he shagged Ginny? He groaned and rubbed his eyes, bloody freakin women! Of course she cared, this was probably some stupid test or something.
He whimpered as Ginny began to kiss his neck once more, while her hands roamed his chest.
"You know what I want?" the girl asked softly pulling back and looking at Harry seductively. "Since I saw you on the train at the end of summer I've been absolutely dying to see you with your shirt off," as she said this she gripped the hem of his shirt with her fingers and began to work the garment off of his torso.
"Ginny," he replied putting his hands over hers to stop her from removing his clothes. "We really need to-" he was cut off as a surprised moan escaped from his lips when she grinded against him. "Bloody hell," he said for the second time that night before putting his hands on Ginny's hips to forestall her distracting movements. "Ginny we really need to-"
"I know what you need," she interrupted with a wicked smile, "I can feel it."
She pressed down against his hardness and rotated her hips, Harry groaned. Stupid sodding male body! Didn't this thing have any control over itself?! Giving a deep sigh and strengthening his resolve Harry placed his hands on Ginny's hips and easily hefted her off of him, sitting her down on the bed to his right.
"Harry, what?" she asked looking completely baffled.
"Ginny," he tried again sitting up, "we really need to talk."
She frowned and gave a worried look, "About what?"
Harry sighed, "About us."
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"So what did you say to her?" Hermione asked pulling away and shifting so that she could look at him.
Harry gave a small shrug, "I told her that it was over, that I just didn't feel the same way about her that she did about me and I didn't want to lead her on."
Hermione chewed on her lower lip, "How did she take it?"
Harry exhaled slowly and leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees. "Well… she asked me not to end it and wanted to know what had changed…" he trailed off looking at her for a moment before looking down at his hands. "I told her tha- that I didn't love her anymore… that I wasn't sure that I ever had really- well at least in that way. I let her know that I did still care about her very much and I wanted her in my life- just- you know, not as my girlfriend."
Hermione lightly touched his arm and gave him a probing look, "You don't love her anymore?"
He stared reflectively at his hands for a moment longer before looking back at her. "No…" he licked his lips, "I- I love you…"
Hermione opened and closed her mouth a few times before taking a shuddering breath. "Really?" she inquired softly, with a hopeful expression.
Harry nodded. "I think I always have…"
"But- I thought that you, you know, you had said that you loved Ginny," she remarked with a frown.
Harry ran a hand though his hair, "I think- I think what I loved about Ginny was that she was a Weasley," he frowned. "You see, if she and I were together and got married- then I would be a Weasley too. And Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would be my parents and Ron and the twins would be my brothers," he sighed. "In all honestly I don't think I ever loved Ginny… I just, I loved her family," he looked at Hermione and grimaced, "that makes me a horrible person huh?"
She gave him a soft smile and ran her fingers though his hair, "I don't think so, personally don't think that she really loved you either." Harry gave her a startled look. "Think of it this way Harry- Ginny swears she's loved you since before she met you. How can you love someone you've never met?" he shook his head. "You can't," Hermione answered, "you can't love someone you've never met because you don't know them. You don't know their habits, good or bad, their flaws, their quirks… you don't know them. Ginny fell in love with Harry Potter- not Harry."
Harry gave her an admiring look, "I never thought of it that way."
Hermione gave him a miniscule smile, "Just give her a couple of months, she'll be okay."
Harry nodded before looking at her with a frown. "What's this Ginny tells me about you helping her out with the plans for tonight?"
"Oh…" Hermione winced and trailed off.
"Hermione," he prompted, when she still didn't answer he proceeded cautiously. "You didn't want- you know…"
"No!" she exclaimed, and then sighed. "Look, I had to help her or she would have gone to Lavender Brown."
"You're kidding me," Harry responded with a dubious expression.
"No, she was hell bent on- well, having it off with you tonight- even if that meant asking the advice of one of the most notorious gossips in the school," Hermione replied with a shrug. "So it was either have me help out discreetly or have everyone know what was supposed to have happened between you two tonight by breakfast tomorrow."
Harry shook his head, "Well then I guess I owe you a thanks," he commented grudgingly.
Hermione beamed at him, "Yes, I believe you do."
He smirked and shook his head, "Fine. Thanks Hermione for heading off yet another rumor at my expense."
She raised a brow, "Is that it?"
He gave her a guarded look, "What else do you want?"
She shrugged and smiled impishly, looking at him coyly through her dark lashes. Taking the hint Harry smiled and then came forward and pulling her into a searing kiss. She moaned as his tongue slipped into her mouth and relaxed against him. As they kissed Hermione buried her hand in Harry's dark locks and drew him closer to her, while he buried one hand in her auburn curls and put the other at the base of her back. Before she knew it, Hermione found herself straddling Harry's strong form. Decided to take advantage of the new position, she pressed down a bit, slowly grinding against him and chuckling a bit as he groaned against her lips.
Hermione let out a startled squeak when Harry suddenly rose, putting his hands on her thighs he held her steadily against him and slowly made his way to her bedroom. Upon entering he threw her onto the bed and kicked the door shut, Hermione laughed as he began to stalk her like a large cat.
"Harry stop," she said giggling and quickly making her way to the other side of the bed as he crawled onto the mattress. He shook his head in response and gave a naughty grin. "Harry, I'm serious don-" she cut off with a startled yelp as he grabbed hold of her.
In the next moment she was pinned between the soft mattress and Harry's hard body. His eyes twinkled merrily and he gave her a roguish grin before capturing her lips in another kiss. Hermione moaned and arched slightly off the bed as he caressed her hip, then wrapping her legs around his waist she pulled him closer. Harry lightly squeezed her thigh and pressed harder against her softness giving another boyish smile when she moaned and closed her eyes.
"Hermione!" a voice called from her sitting room.
Harry and Hermione froze as their gazes snapped to the closed door of the bedroom for a minute before looking at one another with panicked expressions. They recognized that voice, and it belonged to Ginny.
A.N. Yay! Harry and Hermione are finally together! But what now? How are they going to handle Ginny?… I guess you'll have to read to find out. So until the next chapter. Ja ne!! Oh, and I would like to give a special kudos to jaklee733 who guessed quite closely how the thing with Harry and Ginny would work out. You had me cracking up when I read your review, great job and not quite it but close enough that I just HAD to comment on it you should write a fic, when you do link me and I'll be sure to check it out ^.~ . *lol* Please Review everyone, let me know what you think!!!!
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