Chapter 9 - Carpe Diem
A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating. I've been very sick lately, suffering from anemia. To make up for it I'm posting chapters 9 and 10 together.
I almost panicked when I felt a pair of strong hands reach out and yank me into the supply closet on my way to the
Gryffindor common room. I went for my wand, thinking the Sons of the Serpent had infiltrated the school and I was under
attack, but it turned out to be Harry.
"Don't hex me," he said throatily, and laughed.
I think Harry was going to say something else, but I didn't give him the chance. I silently used the most powerful locking and privacy spell I knew while throwing myself against him and kissing him furiously. So far Harry has been very suave when he touches me, running his hands over my body in ways that slowly arouse me, but this time there's desperation in his touch. His hands still roam my body, but he makes no secret of his desire to feel my skin.
I moan when I feel his thumb against one of my nipples. They're so hard it's damn near painful. He pushes me against the wall and lifts me up. Like in many of the dreams I've had about being with Harry, I wrap my legs around his waist and he grinds into me. He knows just the place to press against me and starts an excruciating rhythm that makes me gasp every time he presses.
"Harry," I whisper. "I want you."
He hesitates and uses his wand to cast a sphere of golden light that hovers over us, illuminating the dark closet.
"Not here," he says, swallowing. "I want it to mean something."
"No, not that," I say, knowing he thinks I mean our first fuck. "I want to taste you. I want you in my mouth."
I'm surprised I could say it so bluntly with so little embarrassment. Such dirty talk is usually enough to make me blush just thinking it, but I'm able to say these things to Harry without shame. He sets me back on my feet. There's a small table in the back and he sits on it and unbuttons my shirt before unhooking my bra, which unfastens in the front, and frees my breasts. He takes the time to enjoy suckling each of my nipples and kissing me before asking if I'm sure I want to do this.
Damn right I'm sure I want to do this. "Take off your shirt," I tell him.
Harry smiles and pulls his sweater off. God, he's so beautiful. His muscles are developed, and there's this line of black hair that goes from his navel and disappears into his trousers, which are tight from his erection. I want to be on my knees so badly that I quickly undo his trousers and pull them down until he's fully exposed before me. The tension inside me is tight.
I've read about how to do this, but I've never actually put anything into practice. I hope I don't do anything embarrassing, like scrape him with my teeth or gag. I decide to start by taking his cock in my hand and holding it up so that I can lick his balls. I'm pleased with the moan this illicits from him and follow up by boldly putting my mouth over his balls and gently sucking them.
"Hermione…fuck…"
Harry turns out to be a vocal lover. I know I'm pleasing him when I run my tongue up the underside of his cock and then begin suckling the head while I use my hand to jerk him. I try not to move too fast. I'm enjoying every sound, every taste, and I don't want to rush it. At the same time I don't want to torture Harry either. I pick up the pace until he tells me he's about to come. I take him out of my mouth and he comes on my breasts. I've never had anyone's spunk on my chest before. I thought I'd hate it, but I don't. I continue stroking him until his release is complete.
When it's over I use my wand to siphon off Harry's cum. We quietly dress, but Harry spends a few minutes softly kissing me before stroking my face.
"He'll want to know where we were."
"Maybe we should tell him," I say.
Harry shakes his head no and pulls me close, resting his hands on my arse.
"He knows, Harry. We can deny it, but he knows."
"Not yet."
I nod in agreement. "We were walking," I say simply. "If he doesn't like that we wanted to hang out that's his problem, not ours."
Harry smiles. There's something in his eyes that I don't know how to identify. "So practical," he says. "I love that about you, Hermione."
"The day I broke up with Ron, he said you had something big to tell us."
"I bought a cottage in Godric's Hollow," Harry says.
"Harry!"
"Kingsley is going to cast the Fidelius Charm on the place on the first day of break. I want you to be the Secret Keeper."
The trust Harry shows in me by asking me to be his Secret Keeper touches me deeply. I love him so much right now it literally hurts. It's an effort to swallow but I do and nod yes.
"Of course I will."
He kisses me again. It's the last thing I want to do, but I leave first, careful to make certain we're not being watched, and head off to class. I wish Harry and I didn't have to skulk around like this, but at the same time I want to keep this our little secret, because I know that as soon as word of our relationship gets out, not only will we lose Ron and Ginny, we'll gain all the unwanted attention of the press, including Rita Skeeter's savage quill.
***
Ron is missing.
This is the last day before the start of Christmas break, and Ron has gone missing, along with Ginny's boyfriend Rob Littleton, and a Slytherin girl named Grace McDonald.
Now Harry, Ginny and I sit in Professor McGonagall's office with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley. Mr. Weasley has come in because it's his son who has gone missing, and Kingsley has taken the investigation himself since it most likely involves the Sons of the Serpent. Ron was named on the list of their highest valued targets, and now he's gone.
Despite our recent differences, I reach out to take Ginny's hand, and she squeezes my hand in return, holding onto me. Her back is straight and her face is stoic, because that's Ginny-strong in the face of fear and uncertainty, but I feel her hand tremble in mine.
Kingsley asks all the usual questions, like when was the last time we'd seen Ron, what was he doing, what was his state of mind, was he with anyone else that he doesn't usually associate with. We all had the same useless answers. We'd seen him that morning as we prepared to walk down to breakfast like always. He'd said he needed to use the loo, one that is frequented by Gryffindors on the way to and from the common room and the classrooms, and would be straight down.
"That was a bit unusual," Ginny says thoughtfully. "He's never detoured to the loo like that before."
"Was there anyone around? A student you couldn't place, or perhaps from another house who wouldn't have a reason to be there?"
"Sometimes my boyfriend comes up to walk down with me," Ginny said.
"Your boyfriend's name?"
"Rob Littleton."
Kingsley and Arthur exchange a glance.
"What?" Harry asks, picking up on this.
"The Littleton family has reported death threats from the Sons of the Serpent."
"Why? What was their connection to Voldemort?" asks Harry.
"He's got a cousin married to a Squib. This cousin of his killed a Death Eater in a duel a few months before Voldemort's fall. It's a very loose connection, but still…Robert Littleton is among the missing."
"What is Grace McDonald's connection?" I ask.
"Her mother was a suspected traitor, harboring Muggle-borns and Squibs during the last war. It's never been proven one way or another. The McDonald family has never been named by the Sons of the Serpent in any of their correspondence with the Ministry."
"Once again I'd like to ask about Ron's demeanor. Did his behavior seem out of sorts in any way?"
"When we were in the common room he was quiet, like he was upset about something, but he wouldn't say what," Harry says.
"Do you have any ideas what he could have been upset about?" asks Kingsley.
Harry and I exchange a look with Ginny.
"It's important you give Kingsley every detail," Mr. Weasley says.
"Ron thinks Hermione broke up with him to be with me," Harry says.
"Did you?" Kingsley asks. His voice is completely neutral. I know he doesn't care who I date, at least not on a personal level, but he will care if it has anything to do with Ron's disappearance, and frankly so I do.
"No," I say. Part of me fears they know I'm lying, but my voice is strong and confident. I hope I'm convincing. Ginny pulls away, leaving my hand to feel suddenly cold, even in the warmth of the office.
"When did you first suspect Ron may be in trouble?" Kingsley presses.
"Ron has Potions, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and a free period with us before lunch," I say. "He didn't show up for any of them. At first I thought he was blowing classes off, but when he didn't show up for free period I got worried. It's not like Ron to skip classes."
"Do you have anything, Kingsley?" asks Arthur quietly. He, too, is a stoic man, but he's already lost one son, and I can see the fear that made his jaw clench and unclench as he rubs his chin.
Kingsley shakes his head. "I have a team interviewing students and sweeping the grounds, but so far nothing."
Harry, Ginny and I are dismissed. Professor McGonagall wants us to work with the Prefects to organize the students to remain in the common rooms of their respective houses until they're released for Christmas break tomorrow. We also have the duty of working with the Aurors who will patrol the corridors to make sure no one wanders around alone. We leave the Headmistresses office together, but Ginny pulls ahead of us, heading for the stairs that will take her to the Gryffindor common room. I start to go after her, but Harry holds me back.
"It'll just start a row. Let her be by herself," Harry says.
I turn to Harry. I haven't been this scared since I was on the run from Voldemort, but then I had Ron there. Well, most of the time. The times he wasn't there I had reason to believe he was safe at home. Now he could be off somewhere, getting tortured, and it scared me to death.
"I know what it's like to be tortured by the Cruciatus curse, Harry. What if they're doing that to Ron right now? What if they've killed him and they-"
Harry pulls me into an alcove, out of the sight of any passersby, and hugs me close, telling me Ron is a fighter and a survivor. He'd been to Hagrid's looking for Ron prior to reporting to the Headmistress's office, and I can still smell the fresh winter air in his clothes, mixed in with the smell of the soap that I like so much. I breathe deeply and take comfort in his embrace, and the feel of his hands on my back.
This is what I love most about my relationship with Harry: the friendship we've built up since we were eleven years old is like a solid foundation underfoot in a storm of fear and uncertainty. We can't stay long. We don't want anyone to happen upon us and fuel even wilder rumors than are already circulating about us. Harry kisses me slowly, and softly, and then we set off to tend to our duties.