Chapter 11
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Harry and Hermione both walked slowly up to the house. The sun was just beginning to set and they wanted to get the feel of the house before they couldn't see it any longer. Hermione walked ahead of Harry, who still felt uneasy about the house.
"It might fall on our heads," he said to her as she walked inside.
"You've been so spoiled, Harry!" she laughed and entered. The floor was still there, although slightly tilted. The house smelled like wet wood, mildew, and dirt. There was a small loft ahead of them, but it was clear that walking the stairs was only for those with a death wish. Harry looked around.
"This is actually perfect," he admitted. Now that he knew the house was safe he was glad to have a roof over his head. Sure, the roof leaked in various places, but they could make a fire and sleep warmly.
Hermione looked down at the wooden house and wondered why it had been deserted; it must have been such a cozy cottage. "We need to find firewood," she said, "preferably dry." Harry looked out of the broken window, the rain was coming down harder now.
"Good luck with that," he smiled.
"We should try, and if we don't find any, we will need magic."
He agreed and they went back outside into the rain. Hermione hurried farther inside the forest. She looked up at the large tall trees around her and felt comforted by them, she had lived with trees practically her whole life and she knew they were dependable. She knew she could find a place where the trees grew close enough together to keep the ground dry. She just had to hurry--the later she stayed in the woods, the more likely she would be to get lost. She heard her shoes making squishy noises against the wet moss and decided to start picking the best firewood she could. Who knew how long it would take her to get what she wanted?
A loud thunder roared over her and the rain started pouring as if someone had turned on a faucet. As large, heavy drops saturated the world, she felt her hair getting plastered to the side of her face. Usually in the spring she enjoyed the heavy rain - it always brought her some clarity and peace of mind. But it was far too cold for that now, she knew far too much about what could happen if she didn't get warm soon.
She hurried to grab all the sticks she could find, never mind dry or wet. If she didn't hurry back she would die out here from the cold, or catch pneumonia.
She knew her way back well, no chance of her getting lost. She was more worried about Harry, it was fairly clear that he had never gone without a wand in his life. It was kind of like throwing someone who had worn a life-jacket his whole life into the ocean and expecting him to swim.
As she got closer to the house she heard Harry's voice. "Hermione? Hermione!" he was screaming at the top of his lungs. The sound of his voice made her calmer, and a bit warmer, but the panic in his tone made her worry.
"Harry?" she called out, and ran towards his voice. She knew he couldn't hear her, she could barely hear her own voice over the rain.
Harry was in the forest as well, just as wet as her. When she saw him she started running faster. He was looking the wrong way, still calling her name. The rain was so loud and she could hardly hear her own thoughts.
"Harry," she called out when she was just a few feet from him. She had startled him and he turned around hastily. He looked ready to hug her, but thought better of it.
"Thank Merlin," he murmured. Then his expression changed, "Where the hell have you been?" he demanded, sounding rather angry.
"Firewood," she quivered. Being this close to safety, to warmth, to Harry, made her relax. Relaxing also made her realize how much she was shaking, her jaw was clenching, her teeth chattering. Harry grabbed both her shoulders and shook her a bit hard.
"Where did you go?" he demanded. "I thought you were lost, and I had no idea where to look!" he was rambling and Hermione found it kind of cute, he really was out of his element.
"Sorry," she said, her teeth slamming hard against each other.
"Come here," he said kindly and put his arm over her shoulder. He steered her to the house and she followed him obediently. She knew she could have walked by herself, but she liked the feeling of his arm over her.
He opened the creaking door and Hermione moaned with delight. A large fire was crackling in the old fireplace.
"Oh my God," she whimpered and hurried forwards. She crouched by the fire and put her hands against the heat. The warmth burned her fingers but she didn't care, she just wanted to feel warm again.
"We have to get your clothes off," Harry said and Hermione turned towards him, one eyebrow raised.
"Your wet clothes," he added stumbling a bit over his words and gave her a goofy smile. She couldn't help smiling back at him.
"You're just as wet," she commented and he looked down. He looked somewhat surprised to see that this was true.
"What a mess we are," he grinned at her. She nodded without answering. Turning back to the fire she closed her eyes, she let the heat caress her face and it hurt.
"How did you get the fire--."
"Magic," he answered before she could finish. "I just couldn't get," he was cut off by a large roar of thunder outside. They both turned to look through the cracked window. Harry looked back at her and continued, "...it started, everything I found was wet through and through. And I knew we needed to be warm tonight. Look how fast it got dark," he waved towards the window. She agreed with him, magic had certainly been necessary. She looked out the window.
"Wow, what a storm," Hermione thought out loud. Harry nodded, he couldn't stop his mind from wondering what would have happened if he hadn't had his wand. Surely, they would have frozen to death.
Well there are always other ways to keep warm, he mused to himself and his cheeks felt a bit hotter.
"You're right," Hermione said and Harry looked startled at her, his cheeks even warmer.
"W-What?"
"About dry clothes," she added and he nodded sheepishly. She walked over to her bag and started grabbing things. "You know the drill," she teased.
"Sure do," he said and turned from her. He heard her unzipping her pants and he pointedly looked down at his feet.
Quddditch, Ron's feet, homework, and bird droppings, he thought hurriedly trying not to think about her undressing. He heard--what he guessed--was a shirt going over her head. La la la, he thought, Fang, Trolls, and the Monster Book of Monsters…
"Keep turned around," she said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked but she didn't answer. What did it mean? Did she mean he might peak? How rude of her to think that of him. Or did she mean something else--like that she was going to be getting completely naked. Oh lord, OK, think hard now, he said to himself. Something completely unrelated, something that's not…exciting. Merlin, Mad-Eye, Ron's little sister Ginny. He was sure he heard something fall to the floor now.
"Done!" Hermione finally said and Harry exhaled. He spun around and found Hermione in her My Little Pony pajamas. "Your turn," she added. The thunder clapped loudly again and her head snapped to the side. "Boy, am I glad we are inside and not outside," she admitted and Harry nodded. She sat down by the fire and didn't turn when Harry changed.
He was fast and soon by her side.
"What a trip," he mumbled and sat down crossed legged next to her. She smiled at him when she saw how hard it was for him to sit like that, his muscled legs were not made to sit on the floor.
"Are you still cold?" he asked and looked at her wet hair. It was staining her wet My Little Pony pajama top. She nodded. He walked over to his bag and grabbed a large knitted sweater and tossed it to her.
"Are you sure?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course," he nodded and kept digging in his bag. She pulled the dark red sweater on. The scent of Harry overwhelmed her and she closed her eyes. There was a loud sound from outside, it sounded like the heavy rain had pulled a branch down and they both stared out the cracked window. Without thinking about it Hermione grabbed a full fist of the sweater and pulled it to her face, taking a deep sniff.
"How cute," she smiled and pointed to the light blue H on the shirt, trying to not focus on the weather.
"A gift," he murmured and kept digging in the bag. "Ah!" he finally said and pulled out what he was looking for.
"Food!" Hermione exclaimed.
"I believe you did ask for some for our next stop," he smiled at her. She had looked so joyful when he had showed her the food and he wished he could always see her like that.
"I believe I also asked for a bubble bath, a comfortable bed, and room service," she laughed. "Or maybe I just thought about it."
"Next time," he smiled. Hermione and Harry's eyes locked, Hermione hesitated for a moment before she said.
"Do you promise?"
"I will surely do my very best," he agreed. He shot her a crooked smile and Hermione's eyes sparkled a bit. Harry sat back down next to her, on the cold wooden floor.
"I've got," he looked down at his hands, "Cheese, toast, and two tomatoes," he declared.
"Perfect, we can make real cheese melts then. Too bad you didn't buy marshmallows," she said thoughtfully.
"Well, who would have thought we would be in front of a fire tonight," he answered. Hermione reached for the food and started making sandwiches. She tried to stick them together and handed Harry the first one. "No, you take it," Harry argued.
"Please," she rolled her eyes, "Just because I am a woman, you don't have to act all chivalrous." Harry looked suspiciously at her.
"What if I want to?" he asked.
"Well, I am my own boss," she smiled but he could see the honesty in her reply. He had to admire it. She didn't want anyone to spoil her for any reason. But still he had to disagree; everyone needed to be spoiled once in a while, no matter who they were.
"Nothing to drink?" she asked as she placed her own sandwich on the sticks. Harry looked sheepishly at her. "What?" she laughed.
"I bought two bottles of wine," he admitted.
Hermione laughed. "Trying to get me drunk, eh?" Harry looked guilty and shameful and she quickly added, "Lovely. There is nothing more appropriate at a moment like this, stuck in the wilderness, freezing to death…." He smiled again and Hermione could have sworn his smile made her hotter than anything. "Music would be good," Hermione stuttered.
"Sorry, didn't think that far," Harry answered and took a bite out of his sandwich. As he was chewing he handed the bottle of wine to Hermione and she tasted it.
"Listen!" she said and they both turned to the window, the rain was really pounding down hard outside.
"I hope it won't bring this house down," Harry said.
"It won't," she answered honestly.
"You sound sure."
"Well I can never be sure, but just imagine all the storms and crap this house has taken. But it is still standing," Hermione met Harry's interested look and felt a bit ashamed. "I-I mean…"
"No, I understand what you mean." They ate their sandwiches quietly.
"Another one?" Hermione asked kindly and Harry nodded. She made one for Harry, but not for herself. As it was roasting she drank some more wine.
"So tomorrow we'll be with Viktor, then?" she said.
"Hopefully."
Hermione wanted him to say something else. She wanted to reach their goal, but she wasn't happy about it. She was rather sad about it to be honest. Harry looked into the fire and Hermione gladly took the opportunity to look at him. He was so dangerously handsome, he wore glasses, true. It might not have been a feature she looked for, but on Harry it just looked natural.
"And then we can rest there, and learn all we need," he said thoughtfully. He looked sideways at her and their eyes locked again, she tried to look away but it was so hard to break the connection, what the hell was it with the eyes of Harry Potter that made her so transfixed?
"Can I ask you something?" he said and broke the tension. She nodded but didn't speak. "You lost your parents right?" she looked away then, "and they were Muggles… did you ever think about not joining this world? I mean, you could have done that and been anything in the Muggle world, why did you decide to join a world that is so awful to you?" Hermione looked at him and saw that he truly wanted to know.
She took a deep breath and took another sip from the bottle before she handed it to Harry.
"Harry, you lost your parents, right?" he nodded, "But you could have had a wonderful life with Sirius. Rich, famous and popular…why didn't you? Was it all about revenge?" she asked and tilted her head.
"No!" he answered honestly before he could stop himself. "It was the right thing to do."
"Exactly."
He looked at her again, her hair was drying now, and it was becoming even curlier than he had ever seen it. Her face looked marvelously golden in the fire light and in that moment she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He reached out and put a strand of hair behind her ear, she leaned a bit against his hand. Their eyes were still locked.
"I am sorry you lost your parents," he whispered, his hand still by her ear.
"I am sorry you lost yours," she answered, her voice even quieter than his.
"But you…you could have had another life," he thought aloud and gently stroked her cheek. When she couldn't stop herself and closed her eyes, he pulled away. "You deserved it," he was whispering now, and gently let his hand fall down next to him. He shook his head a bit, what was he doing? He was on a mission and she was...the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. "I think we should try to get some sleep," he murmured and she tried to read his face.
"Sure, "she said and she couldn't help but feel rejected. He had pulled away from her so fast. Harry tossed a few more wet pieces of firewood on the fire, but the magic fire didn't care about the wetness. Hermione was lying on her side looking into the fire when she heard Harry laying down close behind her.
"If you get cold, just tell me," he mumbled.
"Why, what will you do? I can put wood on the fire by myself," she said a bit snappy. She hadn't meant to be so obvious. He mumbled something that sounded like a goodnight and Hermione continued to look into the fire. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with her? Was she reading everything wrong? And who in their right mind would want to stay in this place? But she did, she wished she had just a few more days, hours, minutes with Harry here. When would she get to spend time alone with him after this?
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When Hermione woke up the fire was still crackling in front of her, and she felt hot. It just took her a few moments to realize that she was warm for more than one reason though. Harry was holding her close from behind; it wasn't just that he was lying as close as he could to her, he was holding onto her for dear life.
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Well I can see that I have readers - just no reviewers * hint hint *
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