Hermione and Emma charged into Harrods with enthusiasm, Harry and Robert following much more sedately. The two men had found a camaraderie in their shared reticence in shopping. The more enthusiastic the women became, the more nervous the men. After Harry had handed Emma most of the thousand pounds he had brought from Gringott's, the two shared a nervous look as the two girls had marched toward the car chattering away about shirts and shorts.
When Harry had been called into the section containing men's underclothes, Robert saluted Harry briefly in the way that soldiers were sent off by comrades into a suicide mission. Somehow, when Robert himself had been called by Emma into the same section while Hermione dragged Harry toward shoes, Harry had returned the brief salute with the same sense of impending doom.
When Hermione had commented to Emma about shrinking charms, Harry had naively volunteered to follow Hermione's instructions as he could now legally perform magic. He soon realized that making purchases more portable meant that there was far more room for more shopping. After a quiet apology to Robert for his gaffe, Robert had just patted his arm with sympathy.
After a short lunch, and a trip for swimwear for Harry, Hermione and Emma had made their way into women's lingerie. Robert and Harry had taken one look at each other and then claimed a desire to go and shop in a different section. Robert didn't really want to see his daughter buying unmentionables to impress her boyfriend. Harry was far too embarrassed to stay and offer commentary on the different pieces, after already having been embarrassed by the two women forcing him to model swimwear.
The two women had looked at the expressions on the men's faces and smirked at each other for a moment. They agreed to meet them an hour later in front of the section for men's suits. Robert led Harry toward the elevators, ostensibly to take Harry to the Sports section on the fifth floor. In actuality, he took him to the bar on the fourth floor. When the bartender made a comment about his age, Robert explained that he was emancipated and had just spent several hours getting a wardrobe under the ministration of his girlfriend and her mother. The bartender looked at him sympathetically and served the beer without another comment.
The two commiserated over a couple of cold ones before taking breath mints and making their way back to where the two women were to meet up with them.
Later, Harry finally realized why one would need so much wardrobe space.
Harry, after napping in the car on the way back from shopping, had calmly explained that he would cook the meal for the evening as Madam Bones was his guest. Emma, after a silent conversation with Hermione, agreed and offered to unpack all of the shopping. Hermione had gleefully stated that she would be collecting all of his old clothes for a bonfire later that night in the barbecue pit in the back yard.
Robert had offered to be the kitchen boy and help with the menial tasks of preparing the dinner: Beef Wellington. It was an hour and a half job to do it right, but Harry decided that he wanted to impress everyone as cooking was something that he was quite familiar with. After cheating a bit by getting Dobby to bring the pastry, the rest of the preparation went by fairly smoothly. Robert promised to keep the secret of what was being prepared.
After the meal had been cooked, including preparing a light beef broth soup as a starter, preparing the added vegetables to go with the main course, the salad preparation, and making bread and butter pudding for afters, Robert watched the kitchen while Harry went and cleaned up. The two hade quite a time preventing the nosy female members of the household from finding out. Harry had distracted Hermione briefly while the meal was in the over asking for the notes on how to update the wards to allow access to certain people, but that was good only for a short respite.
Emma and Hermione had a quite enjoyable time chatting about male/female relations and Harry/Hermione specifically. After meeting him, Emma was fully supportive of Hermione's plans for summer and the two women giggled quite a bit while discussing things.
At 6:55, the door chime sounded, and Harry welcomed Amelia into the home. The next hour was spent chatting over the different courses, served by Winky at her insistence. Hermione began to object, but after Harry explained why Winky was around, Hermione just accepted it.
After the final course, Amelia sat back and said, "Harry, that was one of the best meals I have had in a long time." Comments from all of the others mirrored her sentiment. "Now, I would like to speak to you of some of the things that were mentioned and some of the things that weren't on Thursday last at Gringott's. Would you like to discuss it in private?"
Harry shook his head. "No, anything that has to do with me Hermione here will learn about either right then or shortly thereafter, as she is also involved as far as I, and she, are concerned." Hermione beamed at this. "And, since Hermione is involved, her parents have to be made aware of everything as well." Said parents smiled at the young man. "So, as far as I'm concerned, anything said to me can be said in front of everyone here. Let me just clean up and bit and ...."
Suddenly the used dishes were popping away left and right shortly all that was left was port and a tea service. "Well, as I was saying, why don't we get straight into it. And, THANK YOU WINKY!" Harry called off toward the kitchen. The others around the table chuckled.
"Now, Harry, have you been reading the Prophet from the last two days?" Harry nodded. "Can you substantiate any of the comments made?" Harry nodded again. "Would you be willing to testify in any criminal proceedings?" Harry looked to Hermione for a moment and then turned back and nodded once more. "Alright then, the first things I want to ask about is the Defense instructors. What can you tell me about ...."
For the next forty five minutes, Harry talked about his experiences with Quirrell, Lockhart, Crouch Jr., and Umbridge. He mentioned that Remus was the only one he had no problem with. When Harry showed Amelia the scar on his hand saying "I Must Not Tell Lies", she was very nearly apoplectic in her comments. The Grangers were right along with her. After settling down, Amelia asked her next question.
"During your second year, it was rumored that the Chamber of Secrets was opened. The Prophet made mention of a basilisk. Can you expound upon that?"
What followed was another 20 minutes explaining what had happened and the speculations around the castle. Hagrid's arrest was met with disgust, Dobby's part was met with a bit of humor, Hermione's petrification caused her parents to reach for her and then a call for Winky to bring the scotch from the den.
Finally Harry told of the sequence of events, beginning with the message about Ginny Weasley being taken. Lockhart's accident did cause a few chuckles -- the idiot deserved what had happened. The conversation with the 16-year old Riddle was met with a bit of shock and the fight engendered a bit of trepidation. When Lucius Malfoy was mentioned, Amelia was once again stone faced, although Dobby's revenge broke the mood slightly.
Finally, Amelia pulled out a small metal bowl which looked like a smaller version of the pensieve in the Headmaster's office. "This is a solicitor's pensieve. It is much smaller than a normal one and can only hold one memory at a time. Another thing is that it will copy a memory, allowing a person to retain the memory for testimony while the memory is shown. Can you put the memory of the encounter in the bowl?"
Harry got a bit nervous at this. He had downplayed the size of the snake, and he knew Hermione would be a bit upset. The adults paused for a moment, wondering if he was hiding something about the encounter. He didn't seem like the type to play up what he had done, so they all wondered what the problem was. Hermione, however, knew that whatever he was nervous about meant that if Harry was nervous, he had left something out. She took on a slightly stern and expectant look and Harry sighed and agreed.
Amelia tapped the pensive with her wand, and the memory began playing. It started with Harry and Ron forcing Lockhart down the shaft in front of them. The visual of his threats was far more upsetting than the humorous story Harry had told. If the cave-in hadn't occurred, the adults would have cheered for the poetic justice of the backfire when he had obliviated himself.
As the scene played out, Hermione noticed Harry becoming more and more nervous. The large snakeskin had made her nervous as well -- Harry hadn't really mentioned that the snake was so big. She failed to notice how old the snakeskin was as she was looking at Harry when it came up in the memory.
The finding of Ginny and the confrontation with Riddle was enlightening to Amelia. She hadn't known all of the details of Voldemort's identity. It was something that was speculated upon at the Ministry when it came up, but no one really thought about it.
When the image of Riddle began calling the snake, Harry mentally prepared for it. The image of the shadow of Fawkes ripping out the eyes of the basilisk caused him to close his eyes and start his countdown. 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
Suddenly there was a shriek, very close to his ear. "HARRY JAMES POTTER! YOU NEVER SAID IT WAS THAT BIG!" Harry flinched back a bit while looking at Hermione. She was obviously very upset at that moment and Harry was nervous about payback for keeping it from her. However, when he looked in her eyes, he saw the terror hiding behind her anger and he reached out and pulled her into a hug. As he did this, he looked up toward the adults. Amelia had paused the playback for a moment and all three adults were looking between him and the image of a 12-year old boy facing a 60-foot basilisk. Finally, Amelia almost diffidently tapped the bowl to continue the playback.
The scene played out with the audience in complete silence. When it was over, Harry excused himself and took Hermione into the hallway to calm her down. After a few minutes, Harry led Hermione back to the gathering and sat back down. Harry waited for the comments.
Amelia looked at the teenager. Finally, she said, "I think if I tried to look at every memory tonight, we'd be here until midnight or later. How about you just answer the questions for now and I'll ask for copies of the memories to look at later."
Harry nodded his head. "Probably a good idea."
"Now, I have to ask about the escape of Sirius Black."
Harry spent the next hour telling all about the rest of his Hogwarts experiences. Amelia asked for copied of different things, bottling each one up separately and labeling them after. Memories included the rescue from the Dursleys, the confrontation in the Shrieking Shack, the experience at the Quidditch Cup, the final task of the Triwizard Tournament, Harry's first detention, the confrontation with Malfoy which caused him to get suspended from the team, the attack upon Arthur Weasley, the confrontations the night of the Ministry battle, the prophesy, and what had been learned at Gringott's.
When all was said and done, Amelia thanked him for such a complete look at the truth behind the rumors and speculation. She mentioned possibly having questions after she viewed all of the memories and he assured her he would answer anything she wanted.
Before she left, Harry added one more thing. "I have some intelligence that I forgot to put in my letter to you."
"Go on."
"Voldemort has his followers at the Ministry pulling resources away from Azkaban. He has plans for another mass breakout. I humbly suggest investigating the possibility. Even if what I learned was wrong, there would be nothing wrong with checking it out."
She looked at him one more time and nodded her head. She thanked the Grangers for having her, and Harry for the fine dinner. She apparated out with Winky popping off after her once she had thanked him for letting her help with dinner.
Harry bade good night to the Granger family and made his way up to his room. It had been a very long day. After saying goodnight to her parents, Hermione followed him.
Amelia reflected on the dinner and conversation she had just been a party to.
Harry Potter had just proven that he was even awe inspiring than rumors had made him out to be. She remembered the stories from the Daily Prophet from the last year and reflected on the smear campaign he had been subject to. Between Rita Skeeter, Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge, Albus Dumbledore or a whole host of others, she was now firmly of the opinion that their best chance at defeating Voldemort lay with a 15-year old Hogwarts student. And that made her nervous.
It was time for the Ministry of Magic to do its job. And her job right now was investigating the claims made by Harry about Voldemort infiltrating the Ministry. He had given enough information that it actually could be followed up on.
Fawkes sat on his now-mundane perch and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle that the office of the Headmaster had become.
Twice now, Dumbledore had attempted to send a charmed letter to his new master. Both times, Fawkes had flamed out, waited about 5 minutes and flamed back in with the letter undelivered, acting confused and lost. Both times Dumbledore sighed and indicated some annoyance at his new master's former guardian.
The letter to his master's mate had been returned with the information that she had no information on the boy's whereabouts.
The red-headed humans had provided much of the entertainment for the red and gold phoenix. They had come to the whiskered one's office making loud complaints and apparently very upset about his new master's deceased guardian. The plans that had been made had been thoroughly trounced by his new master.
Fawkes had hidden his head under his wing as though annoyed at the loud noises, but in actuality fighting to not trill in amusement at the spectacle
Voldemort was lying in his sick bed.
After two more days of unconsciousness after whatever Potter had done, he finally was aware enough to get a report on what was happening with his followers. The progress at Azkaban was proceeding nicely. Within two weeks, Azkaban should be sufficiently weakened for a raid to be successful without too much loss of life.
In actual fact, he did not care about whether his followers lived or died -- the only thing he cared about was the power he could demonstrate by razing the place.
Reports from Severus on the Order of the Phoenix were promising. Apparently, Dumbledore and his golden boy were at odds. This gave him satisfaction as it was always an advantageous thing when your enemies were at odds with each other. He charged his most intelligent follower to research ways to foment more discord between them.
He did notice that he no longer felt an echo from Potter. As he tried to push out with his mind, he felt no response whatsoever from the link that he had shared for the last 15 years. He was of two opinions on this. It would make it much harder to manipulate and terrorize the boy, but at the same time he would not be subject to any negative reactions if Potter found some way to use the link against him. There was always some bad with the good, he reflected.
After a while, though, he also noticed that the small amount of power he seemed to get from the link was also lost. In his arrogance, this factor he considered unimportant in the long run. Once the boy was dead, he would have lost the power trickle anyway. As long as the wizarding world was cowering in fear of him, he could research any number of things which would increase his power.
However, it might be to his advantage to find out why the link was gone.
The Weasleys were reeling from the stories that had come out in the Daily Prophet. Arthur was worried about how this would affect his position in the Ministry. He wasn't too worried as the main focus of the Minister of Magic was shoring up support. As he was a "small player" attacking him on Harry Potter's behalf wouldn't increase his support from the pureblood side, and there were far too many larger issues concentrating on one family would be considered a waste of his time in the eyes of the general public. They would have to just hunker down and ride out the storm.
Molly, however, was incensed. Anything which made her look bad was something that could not be accepted. She had sent a howler off to the Prophet demanding an apology for attacking their good name. She also was almost done with the next batch of potions. She would have to make sure they were sent to "the poor boy" as soon as possible. She couldn't give him a full course, as the potions had to be undetectable by the next summer, but by that time her daughter would have had the opportunity to convince him that she was the only girl for him. In addition, she needed to send some to the know-it-all which was far too close to Harry Potter for her liking. Luckily, there was no mention of her being controlled by potions in Sirius Black's will.
Ron Weasley was imagining having Hermione as his sex slave. His mother and Dumbledore had promised, and nothing would stand in his way of beating Harry Potter at something.
Ginny Weasley, however, was making contingency plans. She knew that her family and Dumbledore wanted Harry controlled, and if she ended up wealthy because of that it was fine in her book. At the same time, she knew that without the control of potions or spells, there was a good chance that that avenue was lost. Therefore, she was making a list as to possible alternatives. Neville Longbottom came from an old family with money, and he wasn't too disgusting. He was a klutz, but then again that would make him tractable. Justin Finch-Fletchly came from muggle money, but to her money was money. Ernie MacMillan's family was also fairly well off. One thing she decided: She would not be subservient in whatever relationship she ended up in. Just like her mother, she was going to be in control. That was one reason Draco Malfoy was low on her list, no matter how much money the Malfoys had.
The Weasley twins were putting together a report for their Chief Investor. Unlike their younger siblings, they had taken to the values that they had been told, not what their family actually practiced. Honor was important above all else, and as far as they were concerned, they owed their loyalty to Harry Potter. It did not bear mentioning that pranks came a close second. The fact that Harry had financed their joke shop meant that this wouldn't change their mind anytime soon.
Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks were out on a date. They were supposed to be watching Privet Drive for any sign of Harry Potter. The fact that they knew Harry was nowhere close to Privet Drive made their job so much easier. They could accurately report that there was no sign of him.
Moony had finally, after much prompting from his pink-haired paramour, inspected the vault that was opened by the key that Sirius left for him. He wanted to give it back to Harry, but even he recognized that the cub would in no way, shape or form accept it. When he had opened the vault, he was shocked to learn that he was in control of an excess of 2,000,000 galleons. Even if he never worked again, and bought the Wolfsbane potion every month for the rest of his life, he could still support a wife and children.
Although the idea of children scared him, he realized he couldn't refuse the metamorphmagus that had finally convinced him that she didn't care if he was a big bad wolf. The turning point had been the night before when she had shown up to his place dressed as a grandmother with a scarf that proclaimed loudly, "EAT ME, PLEASE!". After blushing profusely, he decided that if he couldn't beat her, he'd join her.
Emma Granger lay in bed with her husband of 16 years and 7 months, contemplating what they had learned and witnessed earlier that evening. At one point, because of the boy's -- no, the young man's reactions, she was wondering if her daughter only saw him through rose-colored glasses. And then she had actually seen one of the adventures that her daughter had told her about.
She had learned that instead of being less impressive than the story, it had actually been more impressive. And that had been hard to believe. She had noted his daughter's reaction when she had seen the creature that Harry had defeated at age 12 and knew at that point that no matter how impressive the stories were, they would likely be a pale comparison to fact. That Harry had not bragged more, even to his best friend, spoke of his lack of desire for being singled out for glory. As far as she was concerned, this was a good thing. Glory hounds tended to make mistakes and get themselves killed much easier than those that didn't want the glory. And with Hermione's nature, Harry would learn to think before he acted. And that was entirely a good thing.
Her husband had been just as impressed, and confessed that he would not in any way act the over-protective father. The boy had entirely won his approval and his only concern now was her happiness.
No, Emma mused, she wasn't worried about their relationship in the slightest. In fact, after discussions she had with Hermione while the men were cooking, she imagined that Harry was feeling quite nervous and overwhelmed just about now. In her mind, she cheered her daughter on right before she turned to her husband to engage in her own nighttime escapades.
At that same moment, Harry Potter was lying in bed watching his girlfriend walk toward him, quite nervous and quite overwhelmed.
When he had made his way up to his room to get ready for bed, Hermione had walked in his room, handed him a pair of green boxers, one of the robes that she and her mother had picked out and told him that he would be joining her in her room after he brushed his teeth and such. She had also made sure that he brought his wand.
As he had spent the last two days with her in his bed, he thought that this was only fair. He had petted Hedwig before she left to hunt for the evening and put on the things that she had given him. He paused, wondering if he should also grab a t-shirt, but decided that he would follow Hermione's instructions to the letter.
After his time getting ready, he had made his way down to her room to find that she was making her way to the loo to do her own preparations for bed. She told him to get in bed, and she would join him shortly.
So, he had taken off his robe and stood dressed only in the emerald green silk boxers that he had been told to wear, trying to once again decide if he should have brought a t-shirt. Finally, he placed his wand on the bedside table next to his glasses and got into bed to wait for her. He was overwhelmed by the scent of Hermione. It was obvious to his nose that this was her bed, and as a result his boxer shorts were becoming somewhat strained.
She shortly walked back into the room, carrying the clothes she had worn that day, once again dressed in a robe. She asked him if he could silence the door, and he nervously complied. Once that was done and she had dumped her clothes in the hamper, she had turned quite deliberately toward him and began taking off her robe. What he saw next he found to be quite overwhelming.
Below her robe, Hermione was NOT wearing the expected t-shirt and shorts that she had worn both of the previous nights. Instead, she was wearing a lacy black bra which left very little to the imagination and lacy black knickers which proved quite well that she spent time grooming around her bikini line.
Harry was quite overwhelmed at the site, as it was obvious that Hermione was quite prepared to show much more than he thought she was ready for just 5 minutes earlier.
*** LEMON STARTING SOON ***** (A/N: If you want to skip it entirely, it ends when the chapter ends)
Hermione deliberately picked up a towel and walked toward him. Her smile all but said, "Prepare for anything".
She placed the towel on the bedside table on her side of the bed, and got in next to him and quite enthusiastically started kissing him with passion. As this was something he had done before, he was quite prepared to reciprocate fully.
When her tongue had snaked it's way across his lips, he had opened his mouth and the two began exploring each other's mouth with the sensitive appendages. During their kiss, Hermione had grabbed his hand and placed it firmly against her chest. Unlike a t-shirt, the lacy bra allowed him to feel much more of her bare flesh.
Suddenly she straddled him, allowing him to feel a warmth through his boxers right above his throbbing member. As he massaged her chest with one hand and her back with the other, Hermione ran her hands up his back and into his hair. She then took one of her hands and grabbed the hand on her chest, and moved it to the clasp which held the bra in place. He paused a moment and whispered, "How far?"
She looked at him with some heat and replied, "Just hands tonight, who knows tomorrow?"
He once again kissed her as his fingers released the clasp. She pulled back and put out her arms, waiting for him to take off the concealing garment. Slowly he carefully slid it off, taking in his first full sight of Hermione's breasts.
He sat there for a moment, a look of awe on his face. Finally, Hermione grabbed his hands and placed them directly over her nipples. He slowly explored the feel of her naked chest, and rubbed his hands over her, if not overly large, very respectable and VERY beautiful teats.
Hermione moaned as he gently rubbed her nipples with his thumbs.
Finally, he leaned forward and starting kissing her again. Slowly he made his way down to her neck as he continued massaging the small globes he held in his hands. soon he moved his mouth down her chest and held her back as his mouth made contact with her left nipple, which had hardened considerably since she had first placed his hands on them.
He sucked gently on it, as he held had one arm around her. His other hand he used to gently play with the nipple he didn't have his mouth on.
Hermione moaned even louder and ground herself against Harry's already straining member. He groaned in return. Finally, Hermione pulled off of Harry's lap and pulled him down so that he was somewhat one top of her she reached his head and pulled his lips against hers while letting his hand still play with her bare chest.
Soon, she grabbed his hand and pulled it down her body toward her now very wet knickers.
He pulled back and looked at her with the eyes wide open, as she smile a sultry smile in return. He needed no further coaxing as he reached his hand down and rubbed her lace covered sex.
Hermione smiled at him as she the towel on the bed between her legs and then pulled her knickers aside to give him unrestricted access. He kissed her again as he used his fingers to rub up and down her very wet lower lips. Finally he pushed a finger inside and slid it inside. She moaned into his mouth as he seemed to instinctively reach toward the inside wall with his finger and press up against the front wall. He used his thumb to rub up against the small hard numb he brushed against when his finger was fully inserted.
Suddenly Hermione moaned very loudly and stiffened. She grabbed his hand and forced it still while she trembled through an intense orgasm, harder and much more intense than she had ever achieved herself. She whimpered his name as her walls clenched around his finger.
He looked at her with awe as she rode out the powerful sensations. Finally she caught her breath and opened her eyes and smiled up toward him and murmured a quiet, "Thank you, that was wonderful." His smile became somewhat goofy. Her smile took on a more seductive tone as she continued, "Your turn."
She pushed him over so that he was on his back fully. She grabbed the towel that already contained her ejaculate and lay it across his stomach. She leaned over and kissed him hard as her hand snaked in to his boxers for her first feel of that portion of the male anatomy.
It was much bigger around that she had expected, taking her cue from the books she had read. It was bigger around than either "Harry" or "Potter". She smiled devilishly into his mouth as she slowly began moving the skin up and down over the glans. Harry moaned into her mouth as this was the first time that any other hand than his own had ever touched him in quite this way. He pulled her harder against him as he deepened the kiss as much as he could while losing coherence rapidly.
As Hermione sped up the motions, as her research had indicated she should, Harry started panting heavily and his breaths came more and more quickly. Finally, he tensed up and moaned very loudly as his orgasm hit. The towel collected most of the result, although Hermione felt some of it cover the fingers of the hand she had used. She continued moving her hand on his member until she felt it begin to soften. Harry began to try to catch his breath as he looked at his smugly smiling girlfriend and said, "Hermione, have I told you yet that I love you?"
She moved her mouth back to his for a sensuous kiss before she replied, "Me too, Harry. I love you, too."
***************** Lemon End ******************************
I've been working up to a lemon scene in my writing. Believe it or not, I want a review as to whether it smacked of reality or not. Just remember, this Hermione has had a chance to chat with her mother extensively and was already quite sexual, even if it was just with toys.