Unofficial Portkey Archive

Ace of Hearts
Chapter 9

'WOW!'... `WOw!'... `Wow!'... `wow!'… Harry wanted to think more, but that was all that his brain could articulate.

Hermione stood before them looking magnificent in a blood red dress. The top had spaghetti straps and a sweetheart cut, and the material clung to her like a second skin. At her petite waist the skirt flared out into soft ripples that stopped mid thigh and made Harry wish for one, just one, really good breeze. Her long legs were tanned and smooth and she was wearing red heeled sandals that laced up to about mid calf. Her hair had been de-frizzed, probably with some type of spell, and now fell in soft waves to mid-back. Long full lashes framed her warm cocoa colored eyes and her soft lips were colored a deep ruby red.

She gave them all a small smile, looking around nervously as all attention focused on her. Hermione slightly pulled on the hem of her dress with one hand, pushing a few stray strands of hair behind her ear with the other. The silence that had descended upon the group for the last few minutes was finally broken when Fred spoke.

"Wow, Hermione," he breathed voicing Harry's thoughts "if we had known that you could look like that,"

"Ronniekins wouldn't have had a chance," George finished using a nickname that Mrs. Weasley had given Ron when he was little. Everyone immediately began to laugh especially when Ron flushed a deep red.

"Keep it up and see if I get you two any free tickets to my games with the Cannons," Ron grumbled with a frown.

The twins looked at Ron, then at each other, then back at Ron again.

"Wait, you have to give us free tickets?" Fred asked with a look of mock horror.

"Funny," added George looking thoughtful "I thought they were already giving those away."

Harry started to chuckle, but it was quickly replaced with a cough when he noticed Ron's scowl. However, he seemed to be the only one to notice Ron's displeasure as laugher rang out.

"Come on you guys stop teasing him," Hermione said with (almost) a straight face. "Today's his big day, you should be nice."

"She's right," said George, turning to look at Fred.

"You're right, she's right," agreed Fred with a very serious expression.

"You're right, I'm right, she's right," George consented, his face now solemn, before they both turned to face Hermione.

"George is right, I'm right, he's right, you're right," Fred finished, as both of them nodded, giving her grave expressions.

Hermione rolled her eyes, while everyone else looked at the twins baffled. After a moment of silence the twins broke into huge grins and went over to their brother giving him huge claps on the back.

"We're just kidding you Ron," smiled George.

"Yeah," threw in Fred "we're really proud of you mate!"

The rest of the group surged forward and proceeded to offer their congratulations and well wishes. There was a lot of hugging, back patting and all around merriment.

"Alright!" yelled Seamus. "Let's drink!"

Cheers rang out, mainly from the guys, and they did just that. Lee passed Ron and Harry a Firewiskey apiece, while Ginny passed Hermione and Aurora butterbeers.

"To Ron!" the twins said in unison raising their glasses.

"To Ron!!" Everyone coursed raising their glasses also.

Ron blush a deep red and downed his drink along with everyone else, they then all began chatting at once as the official celebration began.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

It was about two hours later when Harry finally got a chance to speak with Hermione. Aurora had been pulled onto the dance floor by the twins who accused her of not being sociable, at which point she gave them a sardonic look, since she had been talking to everyone since she arrived. After a few minutes of good-natured ribbing, Aurora finally relented and allowed herself to be lead to the dance floor by the laughing duo.

Harry was coming from the bar with a coke when he noticed Hermione sitting alone at the booth. After hesitating for an instant, he walked up and slid in next to her.

"Hey," he said looking over at her "where's our Quidditch hero?"

Hermione gave him an amused look then with a small flick of the wrist pointed towards a table a little ways down. Harry looked to see Ron, Lee, Seamus and Oliver knocking back shots with some blokes that he didn't know. He turned to Hermione and gave her a questioning look, to which she responded with a dainty shrug.

"I guess drinking just pulls people together," she commented dryly, her eyes twinkling.

"I guess…" Harry responded, looking back for a moment at the group who were now listening as Ron and Oliver boastfully told exaggerated tales of their Quidditch games, before looking back at the woman next to him.

"So…" he said.

"So…" was the amused response.

"You -you look really nice tonight."

"Thanks."

"No," Harry pressed, causing her to look at him. "I mean really nice, actually it would be closer to incredible than nice."

Hermione turned a deep crimson color and looked down at the table, fiddling with her napkin for a second before looking back at him and giving a radiant smile.

"Thank you," she said looking back at him "you look very handsome."

"Thanks…I…"

"Hey, why aren't you guys dancing?" Ginny asked, bounding over and sliding in next to Harry.

Hermione smiled "Look at your brother…" the three of them redirected their attention to the group at the table. They were once again knocking back shots, this time cheering each other on. Ron's face was a deep red as he slapped Dean on the back and then wobbled dangerously for a moment before regaining his balance by gripping the table.

"Now does that look like a man who's capable of dancing with anyone?" she finished giving the Ginny an incredulous look.

Ginny and Harry continued watching as Ron finally gave in to gravity and toppled to the ground. Oliver and Lee who were laughing, but still slightly less drunk, helped him to stand back up which he did with some difficulty. Ginny looked back at Hermione grimacing.

"Okay, so you have a point," then she smiled "but who said you had to dance with Ron? Harry's sitting right next to you, you could dance with him."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other for a moment before Hermione replied.

"I don't think so, I'm having fun relaxing and watching everyone else-"

"Watching everyone else do what Hermione?" the younger woman interrupted in an exasperated tone. "Have fun?… Come on, we're supposed to be celebrating! You like to dance and you look incredible. You cannot sit here like some wall flower reject at the Yule Ball."

Hermione opened her mouth to respond but was once again interrupted by Ginny.

"Harry, what do you think? Doesn't she look too hot to just be sitting here alone?"

"Well actually she isn't alone, I've been sitting here with her-"

"You know what I mean," she snapped in an annoyed tone.

Harry gave Ginny a confused look just to get under her skin, for which he received a very hard punch in the arm.

"Ow," he said laughing. "Yes, yes, she looks too hot to be sitting here alone." He then looked at Hermione with a solemn expression. "Ms. Granger, would you do me the honor of a dance, so that we can both escape the pestering of Madam Weasley and join the more dignified class of the people on the dance floor?" Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Why yes Mr. Potter, I would be delighted to join you on the dance floor where we can find more distinguished companionship," she replied with a small giggle.

`I didn't know she giggled,' Harry thought to himself smiling while following Hermione as she slid out of the booth. Once they were both standing he took her hand and led her to the dance floor where a slow tune by the Weird Sisters was starting to play.

They got a little farther into the crowd that had formed on the floor and then looked at each other unsure of how to proceed. After a few moments on uncertainty Harry placed his arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her close to him, while she circled his neck with her arms. Harry felt her nuzzle his neck a bit as she settled comfortably into the embrace and they swayed slowly and fluidly to the music. He closed his eyes and pulling her a little closer inhaled her scent, she smelled like lilies with a hint of new parchment, he smiled.

'She feels so nice,' he thought to himself while unintentionally stroking her back with long graceful fingers, 'she smells so nice,' he could feel her feather light caress as she innocently fondled the hair at the nape of his neck. `I love holding her, I love the feel of her, I love …' he stopped his dangerous thoughts settling for placing a feather light kiss upon her forehead.

"Harry," Neville said squeezing in behind the dancing couple, Harry and Hermione slowly pulled away from each other looking at him expectantly.

"Is everything alright?" Harry asked with a trace of worry in his tone.

"Well... that depends on how you define alright," Neville replied smiling a bit.

"What do you mean?"

His small smile turned into a bigger one. "Follow me," he said turning and making his way off of the dance floor.

Harry and Hermione gave one another confused looks, before he shrugged and they headed off in the direction Neville had just gone. Once the reached the top of the stairs by the booth, Neville turned, gave a grin and stepped aside. There, at the booth, with a huge smile and extremely messy hair sat Ron -and he was totally and completely sotted. Harry heard Hermione expel a breath before stepping forward to talk to her boyfriend.

"Ron," she said in a patient tone "I think it's time to go home, are you ready?"

"Nope!!" Ron responded with a gigantic grin, shaking his head to reiterate the point.

She rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling for a second before looking back at Ron. Who, though he was pretty much quiet, kept sporadically shaking his head no with an extremely dopey smile on his face and his eyes closed.

Laughing Harry noticed that Ron wasn't the only one out of sorts. Lee and Oliver seemed to have fallen asleep on each other. Harry grimaced as a long tendril of spit oozed out of Lee's mouth and slid into Oliver's hair. Turning away from the disgusting scene in front of him, he saw Aurora sitting at a table right next to the booth, chatting quietly with Luna and to Harry's surprise the two seemed to be having a good time together. He decided to investigate.

"Hey," he commented with a smile, approaching the duo. "Hi Luna, how's it going?"

She gave him a secretive smile and looked at him in silence for a few seconds before responding in her normal melodious voice.

"Hullo Harry, it's going just fine thank you..." she then lent forward and whispered in a conspiratorial tone. "Of course that's because I didn't fall for the tricks of the Zormontrats. They like to dress up as your friend and lead you into precarious situations..." she then looked over his shoulder "poor Ron, yet another victim."

Harry nodded seriously before backing away from Luna and giving her a small smile.

"Are you ready to head out?" he asked Aurora who was sitting quietly next to the blond haired girl with a tickled expression on her face from listening to their conversation.

"Sure, I just have to grab my cloak."

"I should get that for you."

"That's okay. I'm a big girl Harry I can get it myself."

"No, let me-"

"I said I got it."

Harry frowned for a minute before responding, "I'll tell you what, why don't I just say my goodbyes and we can both walk over to the cloak room together? After all that is where we Apparate from anyway."

"Fine," Aurora conceded smiling "since two trips would be pointless."

"Okay, I'll just let everyone know that we're leaving." With that finally decided he turned and walked the few steps back to the booth.

Upon reaching the table he realized that he, Hermione, Neville, Luna and Aurora seemed to be the only ones that had not had a bit much too drink. The twins, who were a bit on the tipsy side but not completely sotted had woken up Lee and Oliver. The latter of which was now touching the back of his head with a frown, unable in his drunken stupor to suss out just how his head had gotten wet. While Oliver pondered this mind-boggling question, the twins had struck up a rousing chorus of 'Weasley Is Our King' with Lee and... Harry bent down, squinting. Wait...was that Seamus? The dark haired man was sitting Indian style under the table, his head rocking right to left in time with the singing. Though he did seem to be joining in, it was only for about every other word or so.

Ginny, who was herself a bit wobbly, was trying to balance Dean against her so that he wouldn't fall to the floor. However, after a moment got tired of her boyfriends added weight and let him slide down. Harry cringed as he hit the floor with a ceremonious 'thump'. Hermione was in a similar state to the one Ginny had been in just a second ago as she tried to keep Ron standing, while he kept continuously trying to sit. Yet, once the twins started their second, louder, version of `Weasley Is Our King', Ron finally allowed Hermione to stand him up at which point he turned to face his brothers. With the same dopey smile that he had been wearing earlier, he then proceeded to attempt to conduct their singing like a choir master however, the second time he swished his hand Harry heard something crash. He looked at Hermione and they both quickly realized that Ron was conducting his "choir" with his wand.

"Ron give me the wand." Hermione said in a tone that was much calmer than Harry thought it would be.

"Nope!" he responded shaking his head again, while giving a huge flourish of his wand. A woman on the dance floor screamed when her dress flew up for no reason, exposing her knickers.

"Ronald," she demanded in a tone that implied that she was loosing her patience "give me the wand, now."

"No, I can't Myknee... I neeeeed the wand to aps...abp...asperrate us home," he wined.

"Ron you are in no condition to Apparate us anywhere." She replied in a stern voice while reaching for his wand, he evaded her grasp, holding the wand over his head.

"Come on Herbineee, stop being suchs a farty foofer," he continued in a slurred voice while still holding the wand out of reach.

Frowning deeply Hermione turned and gave Harry a pleading look. Without hesitation he stepped forward and removed the wand form his sotted friends care.

Ron looked at him with a hurt expression "Harry... why, Harry, why? I need my rond, I can't get home wifout it," his expression turned from hurt to pleading.

Harry gave him a reassuring smile "Don't worry mate, I'll get you home okay? Just give me one moment." He pocketed the wand and gave a smile to Hermione who mouthed 'thank you' to him. He then turned around and grabbed the remaining few sober people he could find, so that they could figure out how to get everyone safely home.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Twenty-five minutes, three Apparations, two muggle cab rides and one floo later Harry, Ron and Hermione Apparated into their flat. Ron who was stationed between his two best mates kept letting his head lull from side to side giving them both drunken smiles.

"Wasn't tonight fun..." he asked leaning over so close to Harry that Hermione stumbled a bit from being pulled and Harry cringed from the smell of his liquored breath.

"I looooooooovvvvv you guys," he said looking forward as he was maneuvered past the coffee table. He looked at Harry "I llllloooooooovvvveee you Arry, you're my mest bate!" he gave a drunken smile before letting his head fall the other direction toward Hermione "I llllllllloooooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeee yyyooooooouuuuuuu Myknee," he conitnued in a singsong, slurred voice "but diffent from Harry," he finished with a resolute nod.

"Gee thanks Ronald, I love you too," Hermione replied in a slightly sarcastic tone, struggling a bit under his weight due to the constant stumbling.

Harry, noticing her difficulty leant a little to his left, shifting more of the weight upon him. They finally reached Ron's room and, with a little extra effort on Harry's part were able to get the door opened. Stumbling into the dark room, they hurried forward and deposited Ron onto his bed.

"Can you believe it?" he asked in a wonder laced voice. "I Roonil Wazlib am a Chootney Cannon."

With that said, and one last huge grin he flopped back onto his bed and began to snore loudly.

"Thanks Harry," Hermione said giving him a small smile. She then proceeded to put a waste bin by the side of the bed, whispering a small spell to make it bottomless. When she began to remove Ron's shoes Harry decided it was time to make his exit and slipped out of the room.

He was in the kitchen pouring tea when Hermione walked in rubbing her neck. She had taken off her shoes and pulled her hair back into a pony tail, but other than those minor changes she looked the same as when she was at the club... including the red dress. Harry looked away when she came in looking adorably disheveled, turning automatically to pour her a cup of tea.

"Thank you," she smiled had he handed her the warm cup.

"How is he?" Harry asked taking a sip of his tea.

Hermione lifted a brow, "Completely pissed."

Harry smiled, once he finished the remainder of his tea he sat the cup on the counter and leant against it to watch her finish her drink.

"I was a bit surprised you didn't join in the drunken reindeer games," she added with a smile, after a few moments of silence.

"Can't," he grinned "Auror's are on call at all times, so unless I change careers some time soon, getting pissed is not in my immediate future."

"Good, there's nothing more unattractive then a guy getting completely soused and drooling all over you." Hermione cringed making a face.

Harry smiled before giving a small yawn, leaning his head back he closed his eyes for a moment.

"Harry?" he heard Hermione say in a questioning tone, when he opened her eyes she was standing directly in front of him.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for pulling you away from your date with Aurora to help with Ron."

He looked down at the floor for an instant before looking back up at her and giving a small smile.

"That's okay, I was tired anyway," he replied with a shrug.

"Harry?" she questioned again.

"Yes," Harry responded in an amused tone, causing her to smile a bit.

"About, Aurora," she hesitated "...are you two getting serious?"

He paused for a second, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. Looking down at the floor he answered her.

"Well, it has only been a month, so the answer to that is no. We talked about it and have decided to take it slow," he looked up at her "day by day, you know?"

"So do you like her? You know, like her, like her?"

"Well, yeah I suppose, we're still getting to know each other. I mean there's a lot I don't know about her, and a whole lot that I haven't told her about me, so..." he shrugged. "We're starting from the ground up trying to build this thing," he looked her in the eyes. "Where we stand now I do like her, and I think she has potential..." he trailed off.

"Potential for what," Hermione asked giving him a suspicious look.

Harry shrugged "I don't know, potential... you know, for me and her to one day have what you and Ron already have."

She flushed red and gave a derisive laugh causing him to frown.

"What?"

"You don't want what we have," she stated quietly, a mocking smile settling upon her pretty face.

"Why not?" he quizzed looking confused, though internally his heart speed up.

After all he wasn't an idiot, he knew what had happened between him and her a couple of weeks ago. That kiss haunted not only his dreams, but also his waking moments and it was just considered innocent -hell it was almost virginal by today's standards. However every time he closed his eyes there she was looking at him with desire in her eyes and sometimes, even when he was at work, he could still feel the feather light caress of her fingers on his back.

But surely that wasn't what she was talking about, after the kiss she had pretty much avoided him --not that he went out of his way to see her-- and earlier in the kitchen when he pretended nothing had happened she looked extremely relieved. Seeing her relax made him feel even more like a wanker, because he felt that he had taken advantage of her when she was upset. And only wanker's took advantage of emotionally distraught women. Plus, only a HUGE wanker took advantage of an emotionally distraught woman who was also their best mate's girlfriend.

'His girlfriend for now,' he thought, surprised at the selfishness of what had just popped into his head. Hermione was Ron's girl, she had always been Ron's girl. They loved each other and he had learned a long time ago to put his feelings aside for their happiness. When did that lid that he had screwed so tightly over his emotions start to come undone? Forcing himself back to the present, to get away from his dangerous thoughts, he realized that she had never answered him.

"Why not?" He asked again, not noticing the hint of desperation that had crept into his voice.

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Just Because."

"That's not an answer."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"This is ridiculous, what is wrong with wanting a relationship like you have with Ron."

"Oh, you mean a relationship where your girlfriend kisses your best mate," she said in an angry tone, but when she looked up into his eyes she finished in a whisper "and then proceeds to dream about that kiss every night."

Harry stared at her in shock for a moment, after receiving no response from him Hermione's head fell. Instinctively Harry reached his hand out, using two fingers he lifted her chin so that she was looking at him once again and whispered two words that he wasn't sure ever he meant to say aloud.

"You too?"

*************************************************************

"So do you like her, you know, like her, like her?" Hermione asked before she could stop the words from leaving her big mouth.

"Well, yeah I suppose, we're still getting to know each other. I mean there's a lot I don't know about her and a whole lot that I haven't told her about me, so..." Harry shrugged. "We're starting from the ground up trying to build this thing," he looked her in the eyes and she felt a chill. "Where we stand now I do like her, and I think she has potential..." he trailed off.

"Potential for what," she asked anxiously.

He shrugged, "I don't know, potential... you know, for me and her to one day have what you and Ron already have."

She felt herself flush, he wanted what she had with Ron, but he wanted it with Aurora, while more and more she wanted it with him. Hermione gave a sardonic laugh.

"What?"

"You don't want what we have," she said quietly, a mocking smile lingering on her face.

"Why not?" he asked looking totally clueless to her inner turmoil.

How could he ask her that after what had happened between them, sure it was a very chaste kiss by most accounts but the way it had made her feel... the way it still makes her feel when she thinks about it. 'I guess it wasn't as important to him,' she thought to herself, suddenly feeling a bit depressed.

"Why not?" Harry asked again interrupting her thoughts.

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Just Because."

"That's not an answer."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"This is ridiculous, what is wrong with wanting a relationship like you have with Ron."

"Oh, you mean a relationship where your girlfriend kisses your best mate," Hermione said in an angrily, but when she looked up into his warm green eyes she lost all of her steam, and her train of thought, ending in a whisper with words she never meant to say, "and then proceeds to dream about that kiss every night."

Harry stared at her with a look of complete shock, her head fell 'Hermione you silly bat, why would he want you when he has such a beautiful girlfriend,' she thought to herself. She was in the middle of a very intense self-hating, pity party when she felt his warm fingers on her chin, using two of them Harry lifted her head so that she was looking at him once again and whispered two words that made her heart stop.

"You too?"

Hermione didn't know what to say, she could barely breathe. Harry, Harry had dreams about their kiss? How could this be?

She stared into his eyes and could see her very own silent questions reflected back at her. Breathing slowly Hermione took a step forward, leaning in a bit father and lifting her arm she placed her half empty tea cup on the counter just next to him. However instead of returning her hand to her side she placed it softly on Harry's back, he tilted his head down slightly, biting the corner of his bottom lip in a nervous fashion.

Displaying more courage than she actually felt, Hermione closed the remaining distance between them. Getting on her tip toes she caught his bottom lip between her teeth, pulling a bit, and then slowly suckling it. Harry groaned against her lips before deepening the kiss, she felt his arms close around her and her body being pressed against the full length of him. His tongue dipped into her mouth slowly as if he were attempting to torture her with lingering kisses.

Hermione responded whole heartedly, deepening the kiss and increasing the pace, she felt Harry stiffen for a moment before readjusting his hands. In one fluid motion he had picked her up and placed her on the counter behind him, her dress bunched up around her thighs as Harry settled between her legs. She moaned into his mouth as his hands roamed her body, touching it thoroughly. Wanting equal exploration she trailed her hands down his broad back, before bringing them around to his front and running them over his chest.

Her head fell back as he began to kiss her ear and his warm mouth left a searing path as he kissed her all the way down to the base of her neck. Hermione gripped at Harry's shirt pulling it up some and sensing what she wanted, he pulled away for a second then returned before she could whimper in protest. This time when she placed her hands on his shoulders she felt the warm velvety smoothness of his skin, her nails lightly scratched his back as she felt him peel down the straps and the top of her dress. Then rougher as he placed his lips at the valley between her breasts begin gently kissing and caressing her with is warm mouth. Practically panting with need she gripped his shoulders painfully for a moment, before grabbing his hair and forcefully pulling his head back.

Once she had him how she wanted him she tilted her head forward and did what she had wanted to do for a very long time. Her small tongue came out and languidly traced his Adams apple. As she felt him tremble under her touch and a huge burst of adrenaline shot through her, Hermione began to deepen her kisses moaning in rapture. He tasted like chocolate with just a hint of salt. After a few minutes of neck play, Harry maneuvered so that they were once again kissing deeply. Placing his hands at the base of her back, he pulled her forward so that he was resting fully between her legs, their bodies touching intimately. The feel of him against her was so good that Hermione let out a small moan in pleasure, their mouths met again and their tongues clashed as they rocked mindlessly against each other. Their breathing sounded more like panting as their desire rose and they hungrily explored each others bodies with their hands. Hermione's hand was touching his rippled stomach, feeling him quiver beneath her touch she allowed her hand to start to proceed lower. Harry's body froze as he tensely waited for her to reach her destination.

"Harry, Harry are you there?!" They froze against each other, eyes wide they both looked towards the door.

"Harry, hello..." the voice said again.

"Crap," said Harry pulling away from her "that's Aurora."

Hermione suddenly felt exposed, like a huge bucket of ice water had been dumped upon her. She grabbed the straps on her dress hastily pulling them and raising the top to cover her bare chest. She then slid off of the counter onto wobbly legs, but before she could fall Harry reached out to steady her.

"I'm sorry," he said looking extremely apologetic. "I have to see what she wants or else she may just Apparate over. Just wait here and I'll be right back."

He leaned forward and gave her a quick searing kiss before pulling away. Grabbing his shirt off of the floor, he threw it on and rushed into the living room still buttoning up.

A few minutes later he came back into the kitchen with a serious expression.

"Bellatrix," he said solemnly "I have to go... I'm sorry."

Hermione nodded and watched as he headed down the hall to his bedroom to put on the rest of his Auror uniform. When he left she fell back against the counter still shaking, looking with unfocused eyes, she watched the tea from her cup earlier drip onto the floor. She couldn't believe what had just happened, what they done... what had they done...

A.N. I know Harry's part was a bit long in this, but I just kept writing for him until the story told me it was a good time to switch POV. Did you know that when I first started writing this story I thought the whole thing would only be about 10 chapters... well you see how that worked out, so I'm not even going to guess on how many more there are, I'll just keep doing what I've been doing and let the story tell me when it's done. S That's it for chapter 9, stay tuned for chapter 10!!! Ja ne!

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