Disclaimer: JKR owns.
A Late Night Visit
Chapter 8: Christmas Delight
[AN] Happy New Year everyone!
---
Hermione stood outside the Leaky Cauldron, feeling too numb to even bother shivering from the cold. The lights inside were dim, and Hermione stood out there, staring through the frosted over door, contemplating what she would say to Harry when she finally saw him.
It had been pretty difficult, sneaking from her room in the cold, early hours of Christmas morning. Yet she managed to climb out of her window in one piece. She was determined to find him, and she'd be damned if anyone or anything tried to stop her.
The door creaked and jingled loudly as she opened and closed it behind her. She waited in the doorway, wondering if she should try to go find Harry's room by herself. Some bustling alerted her of someone coming from the hallway behind the bar, and a few seconds later Tom came out in his pajamas.
"Miss Granger? Is that you?" he asked, rubbing his huge mitts over his eyes.
"I'm so sorry to wake you Tom, but I'm looking for Harry. It's an emergency…" she added, hoping he'd pick up the hint of desperation in her voice.
Tom shook his head, "I'm sorry miss, but Mr. Potter ain't here."
Hermione frowned, "He's not?"
"Nope. As a matta o' fact, I haven't seen him in over a few months."
"What the hell…" she muttered, glancing away from Tom. Why would he tell Ginny he was going somewhere specific, and then not show up?
There was clap that sounded similar to thunder, and instantly all the lights turned on in the pub. "What's the emergency? Is something wrong?"
"Um, it's nothing Tom. I'm sorry I woke you," Hermione quickly apologized.
Tom relented easily, "Not at all. Take care Miss; Happy Christmas."
"Yeah, you too."
Hermione left through the rickety door and stopped outside on the snowy sidewalk. Well if he wasn't at the Leaky Cauldron, like he told Ginny he would be, then where the hell could he be?
Think Hermione, if you were Harry where would you go?
It didn't take long for Hermione to think of the place. It was Christmas- Harry surely would want to be at the most homely, and safest place possible.
"Hogwarts."
Hermione quickly made her way to the side alley bordering the pub. Within a second, she had disapparated to the gates of Hogsmeade village. As fast as her stiff, frozen legs would allow, she jogged up the street, to the Hog's Head.
Her nose crinkled as she stood under the wet boar's head, swinging slightly on the board it was hammered to. She knocked on the pub's door loudly.
Some angry grumbling came from deep inside the building, and a few seconds later a window slid open from the second story.
"Oi! What's your business here?" Albus Dumbledore's brother asked violently, his thick head of twisted grey hair going wild with the slight breeze. Hermione noticed that he had his wand gripped firmly in his hand and felt silly for not having hers out as well. Harry would ring her neck if he knew…
"Aberforth? I don't know if you remember me, but my name is Hermione Granger. I'm a friend of Harry Potter's."
"Of course I know who 'ye are. What's your business?"
Hermione ignored his rude tone and continued, "I have to see Harry. He's staying at Hogwarts, and I was wondering if I could use your entrance to get into the school?"
The old man sighed and cursed under his breath. There was a loud clicking sound that made Hermione take a few steps back. For a brief second she wondered if he was going to curse her.
There was a louder snap, and Aberforth spoke, "Door's open."
Hermione smiled, "Thank you so much."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he muttered, tapping the window with his wand and making it fall shut. Hermione took that as a message for her to find the portrait herself.
She quickly and efficiently found her way to the smiling portrait of Ariana Dumbledore. Before Hermione could even ask, the picture winked at her and swung open.
"Thank you," she whispered, before climbing in. She remembered the staircase being quite long, and took off at a jogging pace.
A few minutes later, she had reached the door leading to the Room of Requirement. She felt silly, jogging through the dark, abandoned halls of Hogwarts at such an early hour. What if someone caught her?
Hermione rolled her eyes at herself and pushed the stupid, prissy comment to the back of her mind. All she wanted to focus on was quickly making it up to their room, and hopefully finding Harry inside.
She reached the portrait of the three Hogwarts founders, that guarded the trio's room. Salazar was originally painted into the picture, but was always absent from it. Hermione figured it had something to do with the fact that the Slytherin king was guarding Harry Potter's room. It was so funny and ironic that Hermione had to crack a smile every time.
She quickly muttered the password, and started her way through the hole, trying to fight back the butterflies going crazy in her stomach the entire way.
…
Harry's eyes snapped open as he heard the familiar creak of the portrait opening downstairs. He had been lying in Hermione's bed for the past few hours, going over how pathetic it was that he'd be alone on Christmas, and the fact that he had to come into Hermione's room earlier to try and sleep.
Instincts took over when he heard the portrait closing, and he popped up and grabbed his wand from under the pillow. Slowly, he crept over to the door, and was just about to yank it open when he heard a soft voice calling his name from downstairs.
"Harry?"
"Hermione?" he asked, pulling the door open. He walked onto the landing, wearing only his pajama bottoms, and seen the girl he had just been dreaming about, staring up at him with a relieved look. "What are you doing here?"
"I…" Hermione started. She realized that she hadn't really thought of what would happen after she found Harry. She was only focused on getting to him first. After a few moments, she figured honesty would be the best route. After all he had done for them, she owed him that, "Well, I didn't want you to be alone on Christmas."
"So you found out?" he asked dully, wringing his wand in his hands.
She nodded, "Ginny wrote me as soon as you left the Burrow. Pig only got to my house about an hour ago."
"And you just decided to come here to look for me?" There was a certain hedge of hope in his tone. Hermione didn't expect for him to be worried about her reaction. After all, she was the one that practically gave him an ultimatum.
"Well, yeah…"
As she came up the stairs to him, she also explained how she first went to the Leaky Cauldron and then here. By the look on his face, Harry felt very flattered.
"So Ron officially hates me," Harry said unhappily, scratching the back of his head.
"Harry, I would have told him with you. I never wanted you to feel like you had to choose between me or your friendship with him-"
"But I did," he said formidably, taking a step closer to her, "I chose you."
Hermione couldn't help it for any longer. She leaned in and kissed him gently.
"I did think about us over the past few days," Harry told her after the kiss ended, "And I realized that I wanted to be with you more than anything else…"
Hermione kissed him again, this time wrapping her arms around his neck, "I want to be with you too."
Harry grinned. He pressed his lips to her forehead, "At least we have each other."
Hermione smiled too. It took Harry a few moments to realize that she was shaking.
"Are you cold?"
"A little. It was freezing outside."
"I can't believe you came here at two in the morning…" he said in astonishment as he led her into her room.
"I guess you have to accept that some people will do anything for you, Harry."
He stopped short, having just set down his wand, and about to grab a blanket and wrap it around Hermione's shoulders. Harry turned to look at her, another intense look in his eyes. She was caught by surprise when he grabbed her face suddenly, and crushed his lips against hers.
It didn't take long for her to respond, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in just as hungrily. Hermione moaned as Harry's tongue swept through her mouth. His hands left her cheeks and slowly grazed down her chest. Another shiver ran over Hermione, but this time it wasn't from the cold.
Harry gripped her hips and pulled her along with him as he backed up towards the bed. He managed to flip her over just before they fell onto it. Harry climbed his way over her so that he was completely on top.
Hermione kept her fingers tightly locked through Harry's hair so that he couldn't break the kiss. Harry groaned every time she tugged on it. She knew what drove him crazy, and now she could feel his physical desire pressing against her thigh. It gave her more incentive to continue kissing him fiercely.
They had had some pretty passionate snogging sessions before, but never like this. Tonight was different- they could both feel it. Harry couldn't stay still on top of her. He wanted more of her; he wanted to touch her.
"Hermione," he mumbled, breaking the kiss and pushing himself up slightly. His fingertips lingered under the hem of her shirt, so Hermione immediately knew what he wanted.
Topless was the farthest they had ever gone, but Hermione felt just as shy as before, helping Harry take off her sweater and then her tank top. Once she was settled back beneath him, Harry stared down at her like he did last time. It wasn't until Hermione nudged him with her knee, did he break out of his trance and return his lips to hers.
"You're so gorgeous…" he whispered, moving from her lips and down her cheek. Hermione's eyes lolled back and she tilted her head to the side as Harry kissed his way down her neck, to the sensitive spot on her throat. Her breathing increased even more as she felt his hands move underneath her bra, and then to the clip on her back.
Her eyes flittered close as she felt the last barrier slip off her chest. She felt Harry's weight back on top of her. His hot breath, along with his wet lips teased her heaving breasts. It wasn't long before she was fed up with his teasing. She laced her fingers through his hair again and gently pulled him up.
"You're being impatient 'Mione," he smiled into her kiss.
"And you're being mean," she replied, still not letting him go. He let her drag him into another drawn out kiss before he pulled back.
Hermione gave him a pouting look, but he just smiled, "I love you."
"I love you too," she answered easily.
Harry gave her a lop-sided grin before leaning in. He didn't plan on interrupting for the rest of the night.
Hermione welcomed his lips eagerly, instantly opening her mouth under his. Their breathing and franticness escalated together. Harry's hands were all over Hermione's body, and she too wanted to feel more of him. Timidly, her hands raked down his sides, before moving inward.
Harry's breathing hitched as he felt her small hand on his bulge, squeezing him.
Hermione smiled lightly before gently brushing her lips against his. Harry stopped from leaning back in, when once again he felt her fingers moving below his waist.
For a brief second, he though he might have been imagining it, but after glancing down and seeing Hermione's hands on his pajama tie, he was positive that it was real.
He looked back into her eyes, somewhat shyly, "You sure?"
Hermione nodded before tilting her head up and kissing him languidly. Harry tried to calm himself down as he moved to settle in between her legs and then lifted a hand to the button on her jeans…
…
Hermione lay awake, half on top of Harry, tracing a finger over his right eyebrow. He had been sleeping peacefully for the past two hours or so. Hermione maybe slept for fifteen minutes after…
She smiled, thinking about the step they had taken just a few hours ago. She had always dreamt that Harry would be the
one she lost her virginity to, and ever since they had started their affair it became a more plausible fantasy. Now
that it was done and over with, Hermione felt that it was the most perfect experience of her life. Nobody in the world
could have been more sweet or gentle then Harry had been.
She pressed a kiss to his chin and continued to gaze at his face. Just as she was lifting her finger, to start tracing over his other eyebrow, his eyes blinked open.
It took him a second to blink the sleep out of his eyes and focus on her. But when he did, a lazy smile spread over his face, "Hey."
"Happy Christmas," Hermione replied, matching his grin. "Sorry if I woke you."
"It's alright. I like waking up to you."
Hermione smiled again, and moved down to snuggle her face into his chest so that he couldn't see the blush he had just caused to appear on her cheeks.
Harry moved an arm over her back to hold her to his chest. A few blissful moments passed before he became slightly flustered, "Hermione?"
"Hmm?"
"You're- you're okay, right?" he asked awkwardly. He had asked during, but all she had told him was to keep going. The last thing he wanted to do was put her through pain.
"Yes," she said after a few seconds, "I mean, it hurt, but I heard it gets better with practice."
"And you plan on getting plenty of practice with me, do you?" Harry teased, pinching her side.
"We'll be old pros soon enough," Hermione said with a laugh.
"You're amazing. I wish we could stay here forever."
Hermione smiled into his chest, "What time is it?"
"About 5:45. Do you have to go?"
Hermione sighed, "Yes. My parents will be up by six."
Harry really hated the fact that she had to leave. He wanted nothing more than to get to spend Christmas with her, locked up together in her room.
Harry felt Hermione get up and pull the covers up with her. She started looking around the side of the bed for her clothes. Harry couldn't get the silly grin off his face as he watched her walk around and collect her jeans and top. She was so amazing to him. He couldn't describe the feeling; knowing that he'd have a special part of her to keep for the rest of his life…
"When do you think I'll get to see you again? End of holidays?"
Hermione made a sound and then shrugged. She pulled on her tank top and then looked back at him. Honestly, she didn't want to make any promises she couldn't keep. But then again, she didn't want to wait another two and a half weeks before she could touch him. Suddenly, a thought struck her and she smiled.
"Hey, why don't you just come back to my house with me and spend the rest of break there?"
Harry's face lit up, but then he paused, "Will your parents let me? I mean, I am the reason they had to change their identities for a year. And they must hate me for putting you in danger for seven years straight. I bet your dad really won't allow it when they find out we're together…"
Hermione grinned as Harry rambled on. She climbed up on the bed next to him, "Harry, relax. They'll love you."
"How can you be so sure?" he asked skeptically.
"Because I love you, and my parents will support my decision on who I choose to become romantically involved with."
Harry stared at her with a hint of a smile on his lips. He felt a sudden swell of love and affection for the girl next to him, and took a second to admire how beautiful and frazzled she looked.
Hermione bit her lip, taking his silence as rejection, "You don't have to come if you don't want to. It was just a suggestion."
Harry quickly shook his head, "No, I want to." Before she could question him, he got up from the bed and started looking around for his clothes as well. Hermione smiled at him as he pulled on his trousers, and continued getting ready with a new sense of enthusiasm.
…
"Alright, so tell me honestly. What are the odds your dad will wind up hurting me?" he asked her cheekily as they finished putting on their clothes.
Hermione laughed and shook her head. Harry gave her an exaggerated look, "Likely? Does he have guns?"
"You scared Potter?"
Harry gave her an incredulous look, "Yes."
Hermione laughed, "I promise I'll come to the rescue if he starts showing off his dental scalpels." She tugged him down by the shirt and gave him a reassuring kiss.
"Well let's hope that's enough for both our sakes."
Hermione grinned and pecked him on the lips again, "We should get going."
Harry grabbed his shrunken trunk and put in his pocket before pulling Hermione in close and throwing the invisibility cloak over them. 'Eeks' and giggles could be heard all throughout the halls of Hogwarts, early that Christmas morning, as Harry and Hermione tickled and kissed all the way to the statue of the one-eyed witch.
---
Remember, this is rated 'R'. Please, no angry reviews that I didn't continue that certain scene!
… But any other reviews are welcomed and appreciated :]]