Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. If it were we would be celebrating a very different epilogue, you know. Anything you recognize from Twilight movie or book belongs to Stephanie Meyer and Summit Entertainment. The legends about vampires and their explanations are taken from "The Twilight Companion" by Lois H. Gresh.
A/N: Chapter 6 is here guys! Once again, I hope it isn't too similar to the movie or the book, although this time I might distance myself from it a bit, or at least not put things in the same order, lol.
Thanks to my beta Gingercat!
The Cold Ones
Chapter Six: Christmas Visit
It has been a few days since Harry and I had "gone public" in the Great Hall. I can't really define what we have here.
I know I'm in love with him, and he says he is with me too, but we haven't even kissed yet, while most couples kiss first before admitting their feelings. Of course, we are not a usual couple, so I can somewhat understand. And I'm glad to be with him, even without kissing.
But I wouldn't mind if he ravished me with his perfect lips either, you know.
As I'm walking back to Gryffindor Tower after dinner, I'm preoccupied with these kinds of thoughts, and pay little attention to my friends chatting as we go up the steps. However, I can't help a smile, albeit a bit wistful, as I see Seamus peck Lavender on the lips, and she snuggle into his embrace as they walk. They really are cute together.
Now if only Dean would wake up about Parvati, that would be perfect. The Asian witch has had a crush on him for ages, but the bloke is really thick.
I guess I'll have to devise something to help her, if I find time. Between homework, lessons, and time spent with Harry, I barely have time to write to my parents as it is. Actually, I haven't in more than a month.
I should write them tonight.
Once we finally reach the common room, I excuse myself saying I want to write to my parents, and bid the others good night.
"Good night Hermione" they call back, waving at me. "Sweet dreams" Seamus says then, winking at me. Lavender swats at him, but she's smiling. We all know Seamus is flirty by nature, but he doesn't mean too much of it. Of course, with me he is a bit more flirty, because he likes me quite a bit, but that's not the point.
He's a good bloke, and I know he will make Lavender happy, as she will him.
Plopping on my bed, I gather some parchment, a quill, and start thinking about the letter to my parents.
Should I tell them about Harry? Not what he is, of course, but what he means to me? Mmh, maybe not directly, uh?
Sucking on the tip of the quill, I ponder this a bit more, before grinning and starting to write. I know my mother will read right through this, but maybe Dad won't…
Dear Mum and Dad,
I'm sorry for not writing sooner, but
I've been pretty busy. I'm perfectly adjusted
to Hogwarts, if you are wondering, and the studies
are going well. Lessons are really interesting.
I'm really liking it here, you know. I was a bit worried
before leaving, I've to admit, but now…wow, being here is
just wonderful.
I hear a rustling sound, so I look up, and find myself looking directly into Harry's eyes. I laugh incredulously at him.
"How did you manage that? The stairs are supposed to change into a slide if they sense a boy"
"But I'm not an ordinary boy, am I?" he winks at me. Seeing as I'm still pretty interested, he speaks again. "Vamp speed, then ducking out of the stair window for the last part, so I don't have to open your door, otherwise you'd hear me. Crawling on the tower side for a few meters, and then back into your window" he grins, looking like that's the most normal thing in the world.
"Oookay" I say. "And you've been doing that for long?" I ask.
"A couple months" he casually answers, looking completely unfazed. "I like to look at you as you sleep. It's pretty fascinating" he admits with a warm smile that reaches his eyes. I'm touched at his tone, and smile back while I make the calculations in my mind. So he was here that night! I wasn't dreaming it!
Anyway, this is not important. He's here now, and I don't want to waste time thinking about that.
"Well, give me a minute to finish this letter to my parents, ok?" I say, holding the parchment up to show it to him. He nods, and sits on my bed as I finish writing.
Got to go now, will write again soon.
Love, Hermione
Yeah, that's it. I'm really eager to spend time with him right now, if you couldn't guess that.
Putting away the ink, quill and parchment and putting the letter in my bag so I'll remember to send it tomorrow, I turn to face him.
"I want to try something" he says, moving closer. "But you've got to hold completely still" he warns me. He moves closer, and closer. Tilts his head…oh my… is he going to do it? Is he?
I can't help moving toward him too, closing the already little space between us even more.
"Don't move" he reminds me. I still myself, waiting for him to keep moving. I rationally know why he's moving so slowly, and asking me to stay completely still. It's his teeth. They are razor-sharp and could cut me easily if one of us made the wrong movement, and even such a small graze can infect me.
But knowing it rationally, and actually holding still while you're about to be kissed is not easy. I have to use all of my willpower to do so, otherwise he might stop.
Finally, his lips brush against mine. Merlin, they are so soft! I want to keep kissing them all night, and then all day!
He moves back for a moment, before moving back toward me, brushing his lips against mine again. I can't stand it anymore, and I start to kiss him back, moving toward him as I seek his lips with mine. I wrap my arms around his neck, slipping my tongue into his mouth, completely forgetting the risk of getting cut by his teeth. He seems to have forgotten too, because he meets my tongue with his own, and the moment they touch, I feel like the butterflies in my belly have finally let loose into my whole body.
I can feel goosebumps on my skin, the way his tongue his caressing mine with utter adoration. A girl could get used to this, you know. I moan softly into his kiss, and he suddenly pushes me down on my bed, taking charge. I can feel his hands running down my sides, and then back up, as our kiss grows more and more heated, tongues now fiercely battling for dominance as I bury my hands into his raven locks of hair, marvelling in the silkiness of them. I immediately know this will become a new favourite hobby of mine, running my hands through his messy, unruly hair.
I gasp as he cups my breast, his eyes asking if that's ok. I keep kissing him to let him know it's more than ok, and I inch my hands under his shirt…and BAM!
He's suddenly on the other side of the room, slammed against a wall, looking completely breathless, closing his eyes for a moment as he takes a deep breath. He then looks at me again.
"Sorry" I hastily say.
"I managed to stop" he says, still leaning on the wall.
"Yeah? I wish I could say the same" I admit. He sighs.
"I can never lose control with you" he tells me. He makes a move toward the window, and I call out at him.
"Don't go" I say. "Please" I add then, looking hopeful. He gives me a shaky smile, it's clear he's still a bit rattled at how close we came to losing control, but he moves toward my bed again. Gingerly, he sits near me, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"So, you mentioned you have been watching me sleep for two months. When do you sleep then? Not during the day, because we are at school or spend time together anyway. Not at night, and that is somewhat right, because vampires are supposed to be nightly creatures…"
"I don't sleep" he replies, taking my hand in his own.
"Ever?" I say, surprised.
"Ever" he confirms, slightly smirking at me. "Usually I go hunting in the Forest at night, at least when I'm hungry. But that's not everyday. I can go on for a week after drinking my fill of animal blood, and if I were to drink human blood, I could double that time" he explains.
I just nod, fascinated.
We chat for at least two hours, both lying on my bed, side by side, before I start to feel sleepy.
"Don't leave, please" I mumble as I feel my eyelids grow heavy and I let sleep take me.
"I won't" I hear his whispered reply, and smile contentedly.
--
As I wake up, I feel something different from my pillow under my head. Blinking twice because of the glaring light, I turn my head to gather my surroundings, and blush deeply as I find Harry's green/golden eyes staring back at me.
"Good morning" he smiles. "Slept well?"
"Never slept better" I admit, as my blush deepens when I realize that somehow during the night I've shifted and ended resting my head on his abdomen. "Sorry" I mutter, and he raises his eyebrows at me.
"About what?" he asks, confused.
"Sleeping with my head on you. Must have been uncomfortable for you to lay there all night without being able to move" I reasoned as I moved to get up.
"Not uncomfortable at all" he shrugged. "Plus, I have been too busy admiring you to notice, even if it had been uncomfortable" he admits, his pale cheeks taking the faintest trace of pink. I guess that's as near to blushing as a vampire can get.
"Well, I'll see you in a few minutes in the common room then. I've got to get dressed" I said, gathering some fresh clothes from my closet, and trying to make him get the hint that he should go and let me change. He made no move, still lying on my bed, grinning mischievously at me.
"I don't mind watching you do that" he says, trying to sound innocent. I narrow my eyes at him.
He chuckles, and raises his hands in defeat. "Ok, ok, I'm going" he says, finally moving from the bed. Satisfied, I turn back to my closet, muttering about having a perverted vampire as boyfriend, but I don't get to the end of that because I feel a hand caressing my pyjama-clad bum for a moment before it lightly swats at it. I turn, incensed, and see him dangling from the window, sticking his tongue out at me, before he finally leaves.
"Git" I say, but I smile despite myself as I head to have a shower.
Last night has been a huge step forward in our relationship. We finally kissed, and while it got a bit out of hand and we need to be more careful about that, the snogging was absolutely fantastic. Not that I have much experience in the department, but still, it was amazing.
Finally stepping under the water spray, I can't help thinking that it would be very nice if Harry was here with me right now, washing my back and then doing other more interesting things with my body…
--
As I was entering the Great Hall to have breakfast, I meet Harry with his family leaving. He winks at me, and I blush as I enter. I sit near Seamus and start filling my plate, ignoring his stare, when he finally speaks.
"So you and Potter, uh?"
"Yeah" I reply, still ignoring his antics. He shouldn't be concerned with my love life, he has Lavender to take care of.
"I don't like it. He looks at you like…like he wants to eat you!" he finally blurts out, and that I can't ignore. I burst out laughing at the irony of it.
Seamus, if only you knew how close you are to the truth!
"You're exaggerating" I tell him with a tiny smile, before taking a last sip of my pumpkin juice, then I stand up and walk away. I stop then, and walk back to him.
"By the way, Seamus…you should worry more about Lavender and less about me or you're going to lose her" I whisper in his ear, before leaving again.
--
It's after classes, and Harry and I are taking a walk around the lake. It's cold, but not too extreme. I like the scenery, we are heading toward Christmas and it has snowed quite a bit these days, so the grounds are all white.
"It's beautiful" I say, and he nods, taking my hand into his own. I've grown used to our difference in body temperature, so I don't even shiver anymore when he does that.
"So, do you have plans for Christmas?" he suddenly asks, and I shrug. "Nothing special, I've chosen to stay here instead of going back to France. Gives me a chance to further settle here" I tell him.
"I'd like for you to come to the Burrow" he says. "The Weasleys' home" he explains, seeing my confused face.
"Whoa! You must be serious about me, Mr. Potter! You want me to meet your parents" I tease him, and once again he blushes, as much as a vamp can. Then I look down. "What if they hate me?" I softly whisper.
He chuckles at that.
"Let me get this straight, you're worried not because you'll spend some days in a house full of vampires but because you're afraid my parents won't like you?" he says, disbelieving.
"I'm funny, uh?" I sneer, a bit peeved at him for not taking my worry seriously.
"It's going to be alright. They'll love you" he says, pulling me to him and wrapping his arms around me. I cling to his coat, feeling safe in his embrace.
That's it, I'm completely crazy. I feel safe in a vampire's embrace, for Merlin's sake!
I can't help the broad smile that spreads across my face though.
--
I join the crowd of students walking to Hogsmeade to board the train, going home. I'm not going home though, I'm going to visit Harry and his family. He squeezes my hand to reassure me that they will love me. I hope he's right.
We claim a compartment for us, Luna, Ron, Fred and George. Bill and Ginny aren't here though.
"They are going to spend the whole trip snogging and shagging in a deserted compartment" Fred says, grinning. I blush at his explicit approach.
Harry glares at his brother, and I notice Luna does too. It's strange, I've never seen her angry. Not that I've seen her a lot, though.
"Hey, brother, I think we pissed off the ladies" George says, nudging his twin and looking at Luna.
"You two are worse than trolls" the blonde sniffs, cuddling with Ron, who says nothing, but by the twinkle in his eyes I think he is on the twins' side.
Eventually, we move on to less dangerous conversation, and I find out that the twins have a fascination with pranks and jokes. Their dream is to open a joke shop, or so they say.
"Just like Zonko's" George says, but Fred interrupts. "Not like Zonko's, beloved brother. Far bigger and better" he says, nodding seriously.
"Oi, there, businessmen!" Ron calls from the corner he and Luna are snuggling in. "Make sure you have a discount for Hogwarts students, will you?"
Harry rolls his eyes, and pulls me on his lap. I let him, and lean on his chest as he wraps his arms around me. It's not long before the train movement lulls me into sleep, as I'd been too nervous to sleep well last night.
--
Finally we arrive at King's Cross, and there we gather into two different cars. In one are Bill, Ginny, Fred and George. In the other one, me, Harry, Luna and Ron.
"How come you had cars ready here?" I ask, curious. Harry shrugs. "We usually have Arthur and Molly come to pick us up, but they said they couldn't be here at this time today, so they just brought the cars. We already had the keys with us as we drove them here on September 1st, so it works for all of us" he explains. I nod, satisfied with his answer.
It takes us a bit longer than an hour to get to the Burrow, and as we get out of the cars, I look at the building in front of me, very surprised.
"It's beautiful…and airy" I whisper. Harry, the only one who hears me as the others have already started walking toward the house, chuckles.
"What did you expect? Coffins, dungeons and moats?" he teases me.
I look at him, and tease him back. "No, not the moats"
"Not the moats" he repeats, shaking his head smiling, as he leads me to the house. "This is the only place we truly can be what we are" he then says to me quite seriously. I understand.
Here, no one will question them if sunlight makes their skin sparkle, nor do they have to explain why they don't sleep, or why they are uber-fast and strong, or why they don't eat anything.
Speaking of which, I smell pasta. Harry groans.
"Merlin, I told them not to do that!" he mutters, and leads me to the kitchen, where we hear the others already being greeted by their parents.
As we reach the doorway, I timidly stand by Harry, not because I'm scared of them though.
"Hermione, this is Molly, my adopted mother" Harry says, motioning toward the redhead woman behind the counter. She was chopping something, probably for the dish they are cooking for me. I am amazed at seeing her look so pretty and young, before I remember that vampires don't age and she is not really the mother of all of them anyway.
"Hi" I timidly say, and she grins at me. "Welcome" she says, putting down the knife and coming to give me a hug. A strong hug, at that. I'm left almost breathless.
"You gave her a reason to use the kitchen for the first time" the man who must be Arthur says with a smile, coming to greet me too.
I can see Ginny glaring at me, and if looks could kill I'd be dead by now. I don't know what her problem is, she's the only one acting that way.
Harry must have sensed that because he glares back, pulling me closer. "Ignore Ginny, like I do" he whispers, loud enough for her to hear though, almost as if he's challenging her.
"Yeah, of course" she raises her voice. "Let's keep thinking this isn't dangerous for all of us"
So that's her problem.
"I wouldn't say anything to anyone" I protest.
"She understands" Arthur says with a warm smile. Bill walks toward us too, nodding. "We know, Hermione. But the fact is that you two have gone public now, and…"
"Bill" Molly warns him, but Ginny is unstoppable now. "No, Mum, she's got to know. If anything goes wrong, it's going to be hell to pay for the whole family" she says, still with a hostile tone.
"Wrong as in…I become the meal?" I meekly say. They all chuckle, and I try smiling too, but it comes out very weak. Harry gently pushes me out of the room by the shoulder, still glaring at Ginny.
"Come on, I'll show you to your room and the rest of the house" he says, and I'm more than glad to follow him.
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