Ace of Hearts
Chapter 5
A second later the group arrived at the lake, the location was beautiful. The lake itself had light blue water that naturally sparkled and was surrounded by a brilliantly green grassy bank. There were large trees that made the location seem secluded and a pale blue sky with puffy clouds sporadically peeking out from overhead. Everyone paused taking a moment to look around and admire the enchanting scenery before breaking apart to set up camp. Harry grinned; the whole place really reminded him of the lake at Hogwarts though, of course, without the mermaids.
Looking around for something he could do to help, he noticed that Ron and Dean had gone over to a couple of large trees that were side by side and were using their wands to hang a couple of tire swings. Luna was busy helping Neville magically remove all signs of smoke from his hair and nails, while Ginny had accosted Aurora into helping her lay out large blankets next to the lake. Looking over to his right Harry noticed Hermione pulling what looked to be a picnic table out of her cat shaped bag.
'I bet that things really purring now,' he thought with a chuckle referring to the bags' tendency to purr when things were being placed in or removed from it.
Still smiling at his private joke Harry walked over to his friend to give her a hand. Hermione was now busy pulling a long bench out of the bag while simultaneously glaring at Ron, who was now jerkin around with Dean, testing out the tire swings they had set up. As Harry got closer he could hear her grumbling about 'men that act like boys, but were supposed to be men, not boys...' or something like that, he really wasn't sure. The brown haired woman stopped abruptly when she noticed his presence, and smiled gratefully when he began to help her with the remainder of the bench and unpacking the other things from the bag.
"Can I help?" Aurora asked walking silently up behind him with arms wrapped around her waist.
"No thanks, we're almost done," Harry stated, turning to give her a quick smile "why don't you go have some fun, and I'll be over in a minute." He then turned to finish helping Hermione unpack.
Aurora nodded even though he was no longer looking at her; she watched them working for a moment longer and had just turned to walk away, when she was intercepted by Ginny.
"Hi, Aurora right?" She asked, and when the other girl nodded continued. "What do you say the two of us go and change into our swimsuits and while we're doing that we can get to know each other a little?"
Giving a quick look back at Harry, who was still busy helping unpack, Aurora consented to go with the younger woman. The two of them walked to the small tent that had been set up by Ginny a few feet away. The tent; round with a pointed top, looked similar to the one that the Weasley family used when they went to the Quidditch world cup except it was only equipped with a fitting room and a small unisex restroom, taking note of the nice accommodations Aurora smiled at Ginny as they entered.
"She seems…. interesting…" Hermione said to Harry after watching the two women disappear into the tent. He remained silent; blushing he reached into the bag and pulled out a cooler containing butterbeer and gillywater.
"I don't think that I've ever seen anyone quite like her," she continued while setting up the sandwiches. "With all those tattoos, not to mention those eyes…" she trailed off when, looking up, she noticed Harry giving her a sideways glance.
"I like her eyes," he commented shrugging "and as for the tattoos I think that they give her character. I don't know on her they just fit…"
"It's just that… I don't know… she just doesn't seem like your type that's all…" Hermione finished awkwardly, trailing off once more as she noticed his frown.
"Really, well you tell me what my type is?" he asked in an annoyed tone, looking her directly in the eyes. "Since you seem to know me so well."
"I was just saying that she doesn't look-"
"That's just it Hermione, it's not all about looks," he retorted harshly, effectively cutting her off. "Though even if it were, I think that she's gorgeous... but it's not. It's also about personality, sense of humor and other things that you don't know about her yet because you haven't given her a chance."
Hermione looked down for a second chastised, before looking back into his eyes.
"I'm sorry, you're right I don't know her -I just don't want you to get hurt… I… I care about you Harry and I don't want her to break your heart." She reached out and touched his cheek with her hand; Harry instinctively turned his head towards her touch.
"I know you're just looking out for me Hermione and I don't mean to sound so rude. It's just that… I need…" she stroked his face "I need a…"
"You need a certain type of girl Harry, someone special…" she moved closer to him "you need…"
"Hey you guys!" Neville yelled while jogging over, now in his swim trunks. Startled Hermione jerked her hand away from Harry's face and took a step back. "Are you okay?" Neville asked noticing that both of them looked flushed.
"Of course Neville, were fine." Hermione stated in a priggish tone, he looked uncomfortable for a second, then shrugged before continuing.
"I was just wondering if you guys wanted to join us, we're going to try to organize some type of game."
Looking past Neville, Harry noticed that everyone else seemed to be in the lake or near it. Ginny and Dean were swinging upside down from the hanging tires, while a laughing Ron was splashing water at a his sister trying to get her to fall. And Luna... well, she seemed to be attempting to... talk to the fish? Harry shook his head smiling, she was a bit weird but he could honestly say things were never boring when she was around.
Noticing that someone was missing, Harry scanned for Aurora and located her sitting on a log by the lake. She had changed into a navy blue two-piece with a bikini top and bottoms that looked like boy-shorts. He smiled as he noticed that the once maroon streaks in her hair were now a deep navy blue.
"I'm not ready to go in just yet," he heard Hermione say, "I have a few more things to put out and I wanted to catch up on some light reading."
Neville gave her a queer look before nodding and looking expectantly at Harry.
"Well, we did come here to have fun." Harry said smiling. "So I'm going to do just that."
At that, he took off his shirt, and having worn his trunks as shorts, he only needed to kick off his shoes before sprinting past him and diving gracefully into the water. Neville laughed and then running behind Harry proceeded to do a cannon ball into the lake, effectively scaring away the fish that Luna had been chatting with. The golden haired woman looked up surprised, but noticing her boyfriend waving happily at her she shook her head in amusement and slowly walked the rest of the way into the water to join him.
Harry, after helping Ginny-- who had fallen off her tire-- sufficiently splash Ron to get even, swam over to the log were Aurora was sitting.
"Hi," he said once his feet touched the ground. He then walked towards her until the water came up to his waist. "I'm sorry it took so long to set up, I hope that you weren't uncomfortable."
"No, of course not," she responded smiling and tilting her head to the side "I have actually been pretty well welcomed, your friends seem very nice and..." she leaned a little to the side to look past Harry before finishing "...interesting."
He turned just in time to see Luna, who seemed to be making some strange type of fish face sink below the surface of the water. Looking back at Aurora they stared at each other for a second and then laughed.
"Yeah, they're a interesting bunch… but I'll tell you," he walked up to the log and took a seat next to her "a guy couldn't ask for better, trust me. If you ever get into trouble you couldn't find a more loyal group than them to watch your back." He finished smiling while his eyes scanned over everyone, after a moment they rested on a petite brown-haired woman who was reading a thick book.
As if she felt his gaze, Hermione looked over the top of the heavy volume and their eyes clashed. Harry felt a tingling flow though him, a type of connection that he always seemed to get when looking into her eyes, however a moment later it was broken when Ginny ran up the slope towards her. He abruptly looked down, then after composing himself turned his attention to the beautiful witch next to him. Aurora was gazing at Harry with her perceptive silver eyes and after a moment she turned and stared back towards the lake.
"You like her don't you?" He started at the quiet question posed by the woman next to him.
"Who?"
Aurora turned to him with a smirk on her face and one perfectly sculpted, and pierced eyebrow raised.
"Oh, her..." Harry looked in Hermione's direction for a second before looking back at Aurora and faking a smile "No, of course not."
She gave him an incredulous expression.
"No really," Harry held up his hands. "We've been friends forever, she's like a sister to me... and on top of that, she's dating Ron."
Aurora stared at him strangely for a second longer before turning and looking at Hermione who--finally persuaded by Ginny-- was just putting down the heavy library book she had brought with her. And then Ron, who was having a contest with Dean on who could flip the farthest off of the tire swings, loser had to eat a random candy for the Skiving Snackbox that Dean and Ginny picked up earlier from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
"Really?" She asked in a disbelieving tone, once again looking at Harry.
"Really," he said smiling, knowing what an odd mismatched couple the two were...seemed to be. "Look, I'm sorry if I haven't been paying you much attention today. It's just that I'm not used to... well I don't really da... go out very often."
"I know," she said looking amused.
"You know? How do you know?"
Aurora smiled, gently kicking her feet back and forth in the water.
"Ginny told me," she looked at him, eyes twinkling.
"Really," he asked raising a brow "and what else has Ginny told you?"
She shrugged "Nothing much, just that you don't date very often and the few times you have dated, none of the girls have ever been around to long enough for her or anyone else to meet... Well, with the exception of Ron, who's met one or two..."
Harry frowned; he didn't know if he liked the idea of Ginny talking to Aurora about him. `I wonder if she told her about us,' he thought, and then shook his head. `No, she may like to talk but she also knows how to keep certain things personal.' He focused once again on Aurora who seemed to be watching him closely and gauging his reaction.
"Was there anything else?" He asked after a moment, just to make sure.
"Just that she thought you might really like me -to invite me to come along today." She answered smiling, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
He smiled too, that was one of the things he liked about Aurora. She was an upfront, bold type of person but without being too pushy. It was one of the things that made her such a great Auror, her forward questions coupled with her tactful approach got her a lot of answers and respect when working. Next to him and two others, both male, she was one of the top Aurors' in the office.
They had been staring into each other's eyes for a while when Harry's eyes dipped down to her soft looking lips. Lips, that in turn, curved into a small smile.
'I wonder what it would be like to kiss her...' he thought, looking back into her eyes to find her gaze fixed upon his lips. Licking them he leaned in towards her slightly, noticing his movement she looked back into his eyes and after a small hesitation did the same. Their lips were about to touch... when they were suddenly covered in cold water.
"What in the name of Merlin!" Harry yelled as he and Aurora shook water off of their arms. Looking up he saw Hermione and Ginny laughing. Glaring at them both, while pushing his soggy hair out of his face he cast Aurora an apologetic look before hopping off of the log and tearing off after the laughing women.
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"That's just it Hermione, it's not all about looks," Harry said effectively cutting off her comments
about Aurora. "Though even if it were, I think that she's gorgeous...but it's not, it's also about
personality, sense of humor and other things that you don't know about her yet because you haven't given her a
chance."
She looked down for a second feeling petty and a bit humiliated, before forcing herself to look back into his eyes.
"I'm sorry, you're right I don't know her. I just don't want you to get hurt… I… I care about you Harry and I don't want her to break your heart." Hermione reached out and touched his cheek with her hand, her body temperature rose when Harry instinctively turned his head towards her touch rubbing his smooth chin against the base of her palm.
"I know you're just looking out for me Hermione and I don't mean to sound so rude," he said apologetically. "It's just that… I need…" he looked at her with hunger in his eyes, feeling her pulse quicken she slowly stroked his face "I need a…"
"You need a certain type of girl Harry, someone special…" she moved closer to him "you need…"
"Hey you guys!" Neville screamed jogging over, now in his swim trunks. Startled Hermione jerked her hand away from Harry's face and took a step back. "Are you okay?" Neville asked noticing that both of them looked flushed.
"Of course Neville, were fine." She stated using a snotty tone so that he wouldn't ask any more questions. He looked uncomfortable for a second and then shrugged before continuing.
"I was just wondering if you guys wanted to join us, we're going to try to organize some type of game."
Hermione looked at Harry for a second and noticed that he didn't seem to be paying attention anymore, so after a moment of silence she answered Neville.
"I'm not ready to go in just yet," she said shrugging and motioning to the bag at her feet. "I have a few more things to put out and I wanted to catch up on some light reading."
Neville gave her a bizarre look and then turned a questioning gaze to Harry.
"Well, we did come here to have fun." Harry said smiling. "So I'm going to do just that."
She then watched as he pulled his shirt over his head and flushed right up to her roots as he once again exposed his well tanned, muscular chest. Harry kicked off his shoes and barely sparing her or Neville a glance ran and dived gracefully into the lake, he was followed quickly by a jovial Neville who then did a huge cannonball into the water.
Smiling and rolling her eyes at their childlike exuberance Hermione pulled the final food item (a chicken and ham pie) from her bag and placed it on the table. Then grabbing her book she headed towards the blankets that Ginny had lay out earlier. She was just sitting down when she noticed that Harry seemed to be wading towards Aurora, ignoring the clench in her stomach Hermione conjured a big pillow with her wand and sat down to continue her book, which she had started last night and blocked all unwanted thoughts from her mind.
It was a few minutes later, when she was reading chapter twenty-eight of 'Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions' that she felt someone's gaze upon her. A feeling that was similar to getting a rush or a chill flowed threw her body. Pulling the book down some to peek over the top she immediately noticed Harry watching her. His intense green eyes had locked upon her and she felt as though she had been hit with a Petrificus Totalus spell and no matter how she tried she was unable to turn away from him… that is until he suddenly looked away.
"And just what do you think your doing?!" Ginny demanded walking up and effectively blocking her view of Harry. Having been caught staring, 'By Ron's sister no less!' a deep flush covered Hermione's face, and it wasn't until Ginny began to laugh that Hermione realized that she hadn't noticed her interaction with Harry.
"We're supposed to be having fun you know," the other woman commented smiling. She then took the book from her grasp and tossed it onto the ground.
"Hey!" exclaimed Hermione, retrieving the text and glaring at Ginny.
"Come on...fun... fun, Hermione -do you remember that?" she motioned towards the lake. "Everyone else remembers fun... you know the thing that most people find outside of books... After all, it is the whole reason that we're here," she finished crossing her arms and giving the other witch a smug expression.
"Fine, you're right that is what we came out here for." Hermione relented. Marking her chapter she set the book gently next to the pillow, then, while giving a glare to the grinning Ginny, she then removed her shirt to reveal her pink bikini top, kicked off her flip flops and began to walk towards the water.
"Uhh, Hermione... I think you forgot something," Ginny stated motioning towards the shorts that the older witch still had on.
"I prefer to keep them on, okay?" She responded stiffly, looking a little uncomfortable. Taking pity on her friend, who was obviously uneasy without her shorts on, Ginny nodded before grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the lake.
The two women ran to the edge before jumping in and swimming over to join everyone else. Once they got a little ways out into the water Dean swam up to join them giving Ginny a peck on the lips.
"Where's Ron?" She asked, evoking laugher from Dean, who then motioned to a large tree near the bank.
Ron was doubled over and seemed to be heaving. The two women looked at Dean questioningly who, smiling, held up half of a soggy piece of candy. Both women immediately rolled their eyes at how childish their boyfriends were.
"Dean, go give him the antidote so that we can play the game."
"What game?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, it's this game that Dean and I saw on-line at his mum's house. It's called chicken," noticing her mates doubtful glance, she decided to explain more. "You play it in the water, the girls -you, Luna, Aurora and I will get on the guys -Ron, Neville, Harry and Dean's shoulders. Then we'll then get in a large circle and try to knock each other down and who ever is the last standing is the winner," she finished with a triumphant expression.
"I…don't...know about that…"
"Come on, you'll love it," Ginny interrupted her, as she turned to give Dean a 'what are you still doing here' look. Grinning he began to make his way merrily to where Ron was still heaving, with the antidote half of the candy. "Okay, now that, that's taken care of where are Harry and Aurora?"
Hermione and Ginny looked around for a second and then turning to their right and left respectively, they noticed the couple sitting on a log having what looked to be a serious conversation.
"Maybe we should leave them alone..." Ginny said, taking note of the intimate vibe between the two, but failing to notice Hermione's glower.
"Not a chance," Hermione replied, upon noticing the other girls' surprised expression she quickly recovered and continued in a snotty tone. "If I have to play this silly game, then so do they. Besides they'll have plenty of time alone later, now's for having fun."
"They look like they're having fun to me." Ginny retorted noticing the couple seemed to be getting closer to each other. Not hearing a response she turned her head and noticed that the other woman was gone.
Looking at the water she could see Hermione swimming just below the surface towards Harry and Aurora. Never one to miss a good time, Ginny quickly swam after her friend and broke the surface a scant second after Hermione did.
Hermione looked at Ginny as she appeared next to her "I don't know, maybe you're right we shouldn't-" before she could complete her statement she noticed Harry and Aurora move towards each other out of the corner of her eye `Are they about to kiss?'
Without even thinking about it, Hermione used all her strength to splash the couple drenching them in the cool lake water. Harry and Aurora shook their arms in an attempt to dry themselves (probably more as a result of instinct, than effectiveness) as the two women started to laugh. Harry glared at them from beneath long lashes running a hand through his hair and after giving a quick look to the girl next to him he slid off of the log into the water and began to chase them.
Hermione and Ginny, still laughing, decided the safer course was to split up and make Harry decided whom to go after. Without hesitation he set off after his brown haired best mate. Hermione squealed in delight as his strong arm wrapped around her lifting her slightly, then causing them both to tumble into the water. They had been wrestling and laughing together for several minutes when Harry suddenly froze. Looking over her shoulder Hermione gave him a questioning glance.
"Harry what-" she stopped as she felt a hardness pressed against her backside, his arms loosened around her and he started to pull away.
Hermione quickly placed her hands on his forearms before he could withdraw and arched her hips, pressing herself intimately against him. She could feel Harry's warm breath on her neck as his arms once again tightened around her waist, closing her eyes she let her head fall back.
"Hermione..." he whispered hoarsely in her ear, making her shiver all over and she instinctively moved against him.
"Harry!!" Someone called; the couple abruptly released each other and Hermione being shorter than Harry immediately fell below the surface. Reaching out to grab her Harry pulled her up again and she began treading water.
"Sorry..." he said blushing, though she wasn't sure just what he was apologizing for.
"That's okay," she replied giving a shaky smile. "I didn't mind..."
Their eyes once again connected and as Hermione looked at him she was overcome with attraction. The top of Harry's broad chest that was above the surface had glistening water droplets rolling down it; his dark hair was pushed out of his face, though still adorably sticking up in places. His full lips were slightly parted and her weak spot; his emerald green eyes were fixed upon her, silently observing her appraisal of him.
"Hey! Are you guys ready to play chicken?" Ron asked happily as he swam up, but after reaching them he paused for a moment, the smile that he had been wearing slowly disappearing as he looked between the two. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Harry answered, "we were just kidding around and I accidentally dunked her too hard," he finished smoothly.
Hermione discreetly arched an eyebrow at him, before looking at Ron and nodding in affirmation.
He looked between them for a second, but when they both continued to hold his gaze he smiled, seemingly satisfied with Harry's explanation.
"Come on Harry, you know not to be to rough with her, or she'll never travel outside of the world of books," he teased pushing his best mate lightly on the shoulder.
Hermione glared at him, "Hey! I travel outside of the literary world constantly and do interesting things all the time!"
Seeing both Harry and Ron give her disbelieving expressions caused her to become even more upset and her glare became even more intense.
"Humph... I'll show you," Hermione muttered in angry tone before disappearing into the water, about ten seconds later she appeared a few feet away. "Are you boys coming... or are you chicken?" She finished arching a brow and then proceeding to backstroke the rest of the way toward the remaining members of the group.
Ron and Harry looked at each other grinning before diving into the water and swimming over to join their friends.
AN: Wow... that was longer than I thought it would be, I didn't plan on having two chapters about
the lake but *shrugs* sometimes that's how a story works out. They likes to do what they likes to do. Stay tuned
for Chapter 6 'Continued fun at the lake' oh, and of course a there will be a friendly game of chicken... or
will there...
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