FicWad

Disclaimer: See disclaimer from last chapter.

AN: After doing some thinking on the subject, I have to admit that Ron and Hermione could have been a couple. That being said, it would have been one of those normal teenager couples that didn't last, as there was just too much fundamental incompatibility between them to really last. Also, I think a more realistic deduction of Hermione's feelings would have been a confusing flip flop of romantic feelings for either Harry or Ron depending on the year. Third year, it was obvious there were some small sparks with Ron. Fourth year, I could easily see her and Harry getting closer, and her starting to consider him. Fifth year, could have been either. Between their sixth year and the events of what would have been their seventh year, I just don't see her attraction to Ron lasting. With that whole thing with Lavender, and then Harry and Hermione being alone for possibly a couple months- especially considering they were hormonal teenagers in a situation where even adults would find themselves feeling the urge to keep the species going- and then that incident at Godric's Hollow, I just don't see Harry and Hermione not becoming a couple.

AN2: I would like to give everyone a bit of free advice. I found that listening to certain tracks of music can help set the mood when writing, especially lemon scenes...and I appear to have found one that is a little too effective. That is why I say to you, DO NOT listen to Moments in Love by Art of Noise while writing or reading a lemon. Given the tantric vibe of the song, it might set the mood a little too well, and especially if you're the imaginative type able to picture what you're reading, you might find yourself needing a cig by the time you finish.

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July 19

Harry was the first to stir the next morning, though that wasn't exactly a surprise considering the rather exhaustingly fulfilling night he'd put his best friend through. He couldn't contain the smile that crept onto his face staring at Hermione sleeping so peacefully. Not wanting to disturb her slumber- and because he really had to go- Harry decided to let Hermione sleep in, and go ahead and get ready. Slowly, Harry slipped out of the rather comforting hold Hermione had around his waist, grabbed his toiletries, and slipped from the room.

Sadly, his great care to not wake Hermione was fruitless, as his mere absence was enough to disturb her peaceful sleep. The bushy brunette lamented at the loss of the comforting presence of her lover, and how she'd immediately noticed the lack of warmth from his absence. With a sigh of frustration, and realization that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep without Harry next to her- which was likely going to make Hogwarts the next year almost unbearable- she decided she may as well get up.

Hermione gave a cat like stretch, groaning at all of the misaligned joints popping back into place, before climbing out of the bed, and pulling on her knickers from the night before. She rarely ever wore the same knickers two days in a row- and usually this was only during test times when she went on her study binges, and overslept or slept in her clothes- but figured it would be better than trying to chance walking back to her room without any on at all. Next came the Harpies T-shirt that Ginny had given her for Christmas a few years ago when she'd been jokingly trying to recruit her and Harry away from Cannon fandom; not that she'd ever been a fan of the Cannons.

As she slipped the tee over her head- which had accidentally landed on Ron's bed- she couldn't help think about that day. She had to admit, Ginny's gift was both practical, and cost effective. Rather than buy one of the expensive Harpies tees, she bought a pack of plain black tees in a size large enough for Harry to grow into, and decorated them with one of her Harpies wall stick ons, which were much less expensive, and came in bulk packages. While they wouldn't last through very many washes, they did make for impressive temporary teeshirts for games and such, and preservation charms could increase the lifespans of the tees. After gifting the shirt, she'd made her pitch.

Hermione had to admit, her pitch that rather than root for a bottom of the league sausage fest, Harry could be rooting for a yearly league contender full of fit birds in snug quidditch gear was a good one. Ron had thought bringing up hot birds in quidditch gear was a lowblow, but Ginny was entirely smug about it, especially when she mentioned that the Harpies were considering a swim costume calander. While she highly doubted that it would be as showy or awe inducing as the Muggle sports magazine's calander or swimsuit issues, it was certainly something that would get a teenage wizard's attention more than anything the Cannons had produced to date.

Continuing her search of the room for her clothes, Hermione remarked that the tee was rather impressive looking. A green and black Harpy in the classic position of a bird of prey snatching its dinner from the ground, with a Firebolt broom clutched in its claws. The entire design was outlined in white so that the black edges stood out from the black of the teeshirt.

Unfortunately, while a very nice gift, she couldn't remember Harry ever wearing it, and she herself had only worn her's once before the day before. Although, that had less to do with her liking the shirt, and more to do with never having the chance to wear it. There was no chance to wear it at Hogwarts due to the weather, and the required uniforms. Then there hadn't been much chance to wear it at home, as it was sure to garner attention, and she couldn't exactly explain who the team was. Eventually, she'd just stuck it in the bottom of her drawers at home, and practically forgotten about it.

By the time she'd found it again that summer, she'd done a bit of growing in the chest area. Due to that growth, it was not only snug across the chest, but it also showed a fair bit of her belly as well. Given Molly's rather archaic views on appropriate attire, any bit of shown skin would have sent the woman into fits about dressing like a temptress; and considering how she'd reacted to Fleur's- quite modest by Muggle standards- slim fitting summer robes, and the snug blouses, pants, dresses, and skirts they covered, she was glad she hadn't chanced it.

Now that she and Harry weren't under Molly's roof, and therefore no longer subject to her rules on clothing, she was free to wear things that she'd been comfortable in at home. It hadn't been until after she'd been grilled for a good long while, and asked Tonks to take her home to get some more summer appropriate clothing as a return favor for it, that she'd rediscovered the teeshirt. Harry certainly hadn't batted an eye at her attire, except to raise a brow at the fact she was wearing a Holyhead Harpies teeshirt. He probably didn't even remember that he had one, even if it would probably no longer fit him. Gathering the last of her things, her bra that had somehow landed on the doorknob, Hermione exited Harry's room, and returned to her own to prepare for her own shower once Harry was finished.

As she entered the room she once shared with Ginny, she couldn't help wonder why she, Ginny, Harry, and Ron had even been sharing bedrooms in the first place, especially when there were more than enough available for them to each have their own rooms. It wasn't like enough members of the Order had ever stayed the night that they needed to share. Then again, given her rather obvious matchmaking attempts the couple of days Harry was at the Burrow, Molly was probably trying to make sure that none of them had any place for privacy; somewhere they could sneak off to with the wrong person.

It was as she was once again stripping off her dirty clothes, and preparing her needed bathing necessities that she had a rather interesting idea. With a naughty grin on her face, she threw on her dressing gown, and exited the room.

'I wonder if anyone thought to cast privacy spells on the bathroom.' Hermione thought as she exited her room with her shower kit, and a change of clothes.

As a matter of fact, Bill had done just that. After all, if you had a fiance that looked like Fleur, and your overbearing mother was no longer cockblocking you, wouldn't you want to try and get her pinned against the shower wall, with her long, sexy legs wrapped around your waist?

With a slight sense of urgency, Harry entered the shower room, and turned the head on as hot as it would go. Steam began to fill the room almost immediately as he set his toiletries on the small bench next to the shower, and made use of the loo. As he drained his bladder, Harry took a look around the room, and couldn't help notice the great number of modern ammenities. For a family so steeped in pureblood tradition, and so obviously anti-Muggle, one would think they'd shun a Muggle invention. Then again, he'd noticed that for all that bigots like the Malfoys- and magicals in general sometimes- were against nonpurebloods or Muggles, they were quite happy to use products created by inferior beings if it made their lives easier. He often wondered how long after the radio and printing presses were invented did it take the magicals to adapt them. He was willing to bet that it was probably a Muggleborn who had introduced them to magical society.

Quickly finishing, Harry washed his hands- although he wondered at the redundency considering he was about to wash his body so would have cleaned his hands twice- before reaching for the shower knozzle. Turning the heat down to something that wouldn't quite leave him feeling like a lobster, but certainly hot enough to pinken his skin, Harry climbed into the shower, and began to clean himself. The heat of the water felt good on his face and skin, and went a long ways in waking him up. It also succeeded, even if just for a little while, in washing away all of the uncertainty and anxiety he faced in regards to his future; all of his cares and worries going down the drain.

Aside from facing Voldemort at some pont in the future, and knowing that he was the only one who could stop the madman, he also had a Veela coming to test his manhood. While he understood that he was being overly dramatic about Isabelle's visit, that's still what it felt like, and Harry was entirely convinced that not only was he going to be found wanting, but he was also probably going to embarrass himself.

It also seemed to wipe away many of the muscle cramps he'd earned the night before with Hermione. With his eyes closed, it was a testament to how much Harry was enjoying the heated water, that he never noticed when he'd been joined in the shower. What he did notice was the pair of arms that wrapped around him, and the very familiar, and addictively comforting feeling of being hugged by Hermione. Of course, he was soon distracted from the more innocent feelings when he felt her molding her body to his, and her soft breasts press into his back; he could already feel her nipples stiffening against his shoulder blades.

His head fell back onto her shoulder as her hands began to caress his chest, and she began to nuzzle his throat. The sweet intimacy of the moment brought home just how much Hermione meant to him, and made him wonder how he'd never noticed it before. Her nails lightly scraping across his chest, brushing his own nipples brought a soft groan from his lips. All too soon, her hands began to wander away from his chest, and slowly down to trace her short nails along his abdomen, followed by her tongue sliding up along the shell of his ear. There was no stopping the breathy groan that came when she gently captured his ear with her teeth and pulled, all the while sucking on said shell.

"Well hello there handsome, fancy meeting you here." Hermione murmered into his ear, her voice light and teasing as if telling a joke.

Once again, Harry marveled at how fun and silly Hermione had been the past couple days, and couldn't help wondering if their love making had- aside from awakening the amazing sensual and sexual being that Hermione was- also awakened a more playful side to his best friend. He could certainly tell she was having a good deal of fun, the smile he felt as she peppered his neck and shoulder with kisses was telling. Just as he was getting used to the incredibly sensual, but not quite sexual teasing, Hermione threw all pretenses of innocence out the proverbial window.

As her nails reached it on her downward trip, Hermione's hands crossed his waistline, and went straight for his genitals. She wasted no time grasping his penis, and stroking the surprisingly still flaccid length. Then again, after the marathon the night before, it wasn't too surprising that it took some direct stimulation to get it going. Besides, with how amazing her hands felt on his slick flesh, it certainly wouldn't be long before that state of nonreadiness was remedied. While not quite expert, Hermione's gentle caresses had him rapidly swelling in her grip; especially when her left hand moved down to titillate his testicles.

Groaning in disappointment at having to do so, Harry grasped Hermione's hands and pulled them away, before turning to face her. That the tip of his throbbing penis drug across her hip, and her inner thigh, before settling to point insistently at her as Harry put about a foot of distance between them was not lost on either teen. Staring at her surprised him once again, and Harry couldn't help letting his eyes sweep slowly up and down her body. Hermione certainly was very pretty in an understated way, but it could certainly be overwhelming at times when one was blindsided by just how attractive she really was.

From her bushy brown hair which- as evidenced by the now saturated locks plastered to her face, shoulders, and back- was actually more wavy than frizzy as one might guess; and seeing her now just reiterated just how sexy Hermione was with her hair wet. To her caramel brown eyes, now darkened with lust giving them a sinfully delicious chocolate tone.

Her strong, yet femininely toned shoulders and arms, obviously from carrying around her constantly full, book filled bag on a daily basis. Her soft, pillowy breasts, just a little more than a handful, and topped by small, brownish-red buds that were even more enthralling to him than Veela allure. In Harry's humble opinion, they were damn near perfect. He would say they were perfect, but he'd seen Fleur in a wet bathing suit that left little to the imagination, and figured that a full Veela would unfairly have the patent on perfect breasts. Her belly, smooth and mostly flat, with just a hint of paunch, and a fairly sensitive, ticklish navel that he found he enjoyed teasing.

Down past her belly were her curvy hips, hips that one affluent or obsessed with such qualities, would deign perfect for child bearing. These flowed into toned, well shaped legs, again showing off just how much exercise carrying around her heavy book bag was. And while he couldn't quite see it, Harry was well aware of the amazingly tight, firm flesh of Hermione's pert rear end.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"You're beautiful, Hermione." He smiled at her, relishing in the shyness caused by his compliment warring with the plain arousal and desire already there on her features. "I'm sorry if I alarmed you, but I just wanted to look at you for a moment."

She blushed again, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pulling Harry close.

Grinning wide, Harry immediately allowed his arms to slip around her, increasing the closeness. He felt Hermione's breasts once again smushed into his chest, and had to admit, that he rather enjoyed it. Harry groaned at the feel of her, the softness and firmness pressed into him providing an interesting dichotomy of feelings for him. Chuckling, the hands caressing her back slid down, and he grasped her hips, pulling her to him that way, pressing the length of his arousal against her thigh, and the bottom of her belly.

For a moment, she simply allowed him to hold her, smiling as she gave a soft sigh, before grabbing his wrists, and pushing his hands around to her bottom. From there, her arms wrapped around his neck as she leaned in to to kiss him. Harry let his hands be guided to her bum, where he proceeded to grab two handfuls of her delectable derriere. The toned flesh felt marvelous in his hands, softly resisting Harry's enthusiastic grope.

Harry responded immediately, pulling her close, and kissing her for everything she was worth. Lost in the kiss as she was, Hermione once again just seemed to melt against him. Pulling away, and capturing her bottom lip with his teeth, he gave it a small tug. Harry kissed her again, and using his perch on her bottom, pulled her pelvis as close to his as was possible. She responded by shifting around until his penis had adjusted into the position she wanted, and kissed him again, while grinding his arousal against her center. Depite the water flowing over them, Harry could still feel the heat coming from her core, and it aroused him even more.

"Mmmn," Hermione intoned after a particularly firm grinding of her hips. "-you're so tumescent, Harry."

"Tumescent (1)?" Harry asked, startled by the word he didn't know.

Giving him a sultry smile, Hermione nipped at Harry's chest before responding in a low voice. "It means hard Harry, which you most certainly are. How about I help you with that?"

Without further ado, Hermione knelt before Harry, pressing her body tightly against him so that her breasts and stiff nipples left trails of tingles down his front. The stimulation she received from the action was rather lovely in itself. Taking him in hand, she pumped his shaft a couple times before giving the underside of the head a playful lick. She continued stroking him, alternating the tightness of her grip, giving his head slow, teasing swipes with her tongue.

With a mischievous grin, and a twinkle that reminded him far too much of a certain headmaster- and now was certainly not the time or place to be noticing something like that- she flicked the tip of his glans with the tip of her tongue before her grip relaxed, and her hand stalled to rest on top of his stiff shaft. The flicking ended with a slow, sensual swipe of the underside of Harry's head that pulled a frustrated groan from Harry. It was almost time to really start, but before that....

Hermione tilted her head, and bodily sunk lower so that she could both see, and have much easier access to the bottom of Harry's length. Sucking gently at the previous point of contact, she pressed her tongue firmly against the underside of Harry's shaft, and lovingly slid it along his length to the base, before tilting her head in the opposite direction, and moving back to the tip. She did this a few more times, trailing up and down his length along either side of the large vein found there. Once she reached the base for a third time, she paused and placed a slow, sensuous, suction filled kiss right at the spot where the base of his penis connected with his scrotum.

Again, following along the large vein, she planted several more of these kisses up his length to the tip, and back down again. On her last trip back to the tip, Hermione flattened her tongue, and again gave him a long, slow caress back to the head. This was followed by her swirling her tongue around the crown, before pulling away, and planting a soft kiss to the tip. She gave him a devious wink, before leaning back in, and licking from the base to the tip. Without stopping, she went from licking, to swirling her tongue around the head, before engulfing it. Harry moaned loudly as her velvet soft lips slid over his cock. As Hermione sucked, slurped, and stroked his turgid member with her right hand and mouth, she brought up her left to gently cup, squeeze, and fondle his testicles, grinning up at Harry with each sound of submissive delight he released.

That hot, naughty, monkey sex from the night before had led Hermione to a of couple rather interesting discoveries. The first was that she really enjoyed the position she was in. While she knew quite a few girls that thought giving blowjobs was degrading- her feminist aunt and cousin certainly did- Hermione found that she quite enjoyed giving head. Or rather, it was more along the lines of she enjoyed giving Harry head; mostly because he just relaxed and let her do as she pleased, and go at her own pace. This allowed her to take her time and tease him, to temporarily take control of him. While her lips were wrapped around him, he was hers in every way, and he was at her mercy. Just knowing that with the proper application of oral technique she could monopolize all of his thoughts, desires, and feelings was envigorating and mildly addictive.

The other thing she'd noticed was that Harry was very responsive to her sexual wiles, and quite vocal about it. It was more than a little intoxicating knowing the control she could have over him when they made love. She never would have imagined being able to wring those unbearably sexy moans, whimpers, and full body shudders out of him as she drove him ever closer to climax before dragging him over the edge with her. Hermione knew she was a bit of a control freak, and she certainly relished the control that Harry gave her have during their love making. She really enjoyed making eye contact, loved staring right into his eyes as she trapped Harry in her mouth, and made him fill it with his thanks.

Of course, this was a two way street. While she undoubtedly had a large measure of control over her lover when her lips were stroking him to climax, it was the same way when the tables were turned. When Harry's head was between her legs, and his tongue was doing things to her fanny that just had to be illegal somewhere as good as they felt, she was his to control and rule over. There had been more than one occasion the past few days where Harry's tongue had her contemplating getting 'Property of Harry Potter' tattooed on her rump. Hermione allowed herself a naughty smile at the dirty direction that thought had taken her imagination, curious how Harry would react to suddenly finding such a tramp stamp on her tush one night while he shagged her from behind.

She quickly shook that thought away before she got too tempted, refocusing instead on what she was doing. Pulling back with a soft pop, she began to kiss slowly down his shaft along the big vein. When she reached her new point of attack, Hermione gently teased him by licking each of the sensitive bulbs, then up along the slight dip between them. She flicked her tongue up and down between them, before sucking softly on the skin that surrounded them. Hermione dropped a kiss like suckle on each sensitive gland, before sucking his left testicle in. She sucked and caressed his bulb as if it were the head of his penis for a few moments before releasing it, and licking the bottom of sac. After repeating the action with the other, she pulled back, drawing the skin of scrotum with her lips.

Harry let out a cry of utmost delight, his hands smacking into the wall behind Hermione as he tried to brace himself against the onslaught of sensations. When Hermione had started working him over with her mouth, it had been brilliant, but when she'd started in on his bollucks, his legs had gone weak, and he'd almost crumpled to the shower floor. That, had been nothing compared to what she was doing now. Looking down at the incredibly sensual woman lavishing attention to him, he could see her pulling each of his balls in, and pushing it back out repeatedly with nothing but suction. He had no idea where she'd learned a trick like that- Tonks- but he was glad she did.

When she heard that incredibly vulnerable sound that she loved come from Harry, Hermione decided that it was about time to put him out of his misery, figuratively speaking. That throaty little whimper always made her pulse quicken just so, and releasing his testicle with a soft pop, she gave up all pretense of drawing his pleasure out. She started with just her lips barely pressing against the tip of his cock, almost like a chaste kiss, then- almost painfully slowly- slid her lips down over the head, and down his shaft as far as she could go. Hermione swiped him vigorously with her tongue on the way down, and sucked deeply on the way back up.

From there, she just went for it.

Hermione bobbed her head quickly several times, before slurping heartily as she pulled away, sucking him harder than before to make him cum as quickly as possible. Pausing to catch her breath, she blew on the tip of Harry’s penis, before diving back in; her tongue massaging his organ, while she sucked as hard as she could on every upward bob. Combined with her twising, stroking hands, and her writhing tongue swiping at his most sensitive parts, Harry found himself quickly driven to his limit.

Harry came with shout of his partner's name.

Hermione slowed her motions to more steadily milk and draw out his orgasm, but never stopped sucking and stroking him as he filled her mouth with seed. To his amazement, she pulled back so only his head was still trapped, and began to drink the spurting mouthfuls of cum in heaping swallows. Harry could hear the audible gulps, and it only served to prolong his eruption. When the flood ebbed away, she pulled back, and licked her lips. Harry subconsciously realized that he'd shot enough cum in her mouth to thoroughly knock up every woman currently staying at Grimmauld Place, and she'd swallowed it all. He was even more amazed that he was able to release that much after the marathon they'd shared the night before.

After finally catching his breath, Harry pulled her to her feet, and captured her lips with his. While he could still just barely taste himself, he ignored it in favor of plundering his girl's mouth, and making her go weak at the knees. And speaking of knees, after deciding that turnabout was certainly more than fair, Harry made to drop to his; all the while kissing down her torso, pausing very briefly for a suctioned pull at each of her nipples. He was shocked to find his progress down her body halted.

"Sorry Harry, but I just don't think I can wait for it." She informed him. "If you want, this afternoon you can strip me naked, and tongue me to a gibbering wreck if you want, but I really need you inside me right now."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Harry taunted as he brought his lips to Hermione's relishing in the feel of her kissable, pouty lips.

It was a quick kiss, however, as his lips soon trailed down to her neck. If there was one random part of Hermione's body that Harry loved- aside from the obvious ones- it was her neck. Long and slender, it was a neck that just begged to be kissed, sucked, nipped, and nibbled on, and Harry was very much obliged to do so. As he did so, he slowly back her up until she was pressed lightly against the shower wall.

Hermione loosed a low purr as Harry's lips worked her neck over, desperately hoping that he'd not stop, but hoping that he'd stop teasing, and make love to her. A small part of her was also hoping that he would leave a very visible, and equally impressive mark on her neck that would tell everyone what they'd been doing. While admittedly a little impatient for Harry to enter her, her eyes still widened when he did, especially at the sheer suddenness of his penetration.

One moment she felt him nibbling her neck, the tip of his penis lightly probing her opening as he lined up correctly, and then the next she felt deliciously full; Harry having pushed his entire length in in a single shot. She tightly gripped Harry, smiling at the grip he had on her waist helping to keep her stationary as she paused to adjust to the intrusion. Even after being with him several times, she still needed to pause at the start each time. While Harry wasn't overly large, he was still certainly big enough that time to adjust to his thickness was needed. After a few moments, she ground her hips into him to let him know that he could move.

Harry started off easy, a slow rolling forward of his hips to get things moving. He groaned into her throat at the tight, moist sheath that was gripping his erection. While he was admittedly becoming addicted to going down on Hermione, and her doing the same, he certainly enjoyed the feeling of her most sacred place sliding along the length of his cock. It was almost indescribable how it felt to have her gripped around him. The velvety smoothness of her muscles holding tightly and fluttering, combined with a glove-like fit that was hot like a furnace was almost too much to comprehend. The torturously pleasant friction that assaulted the nerves in his cock robbing him of breath and groans.

His hands trailed up her sides, traversing the length of her arms, as he drew them above her head. Hands pinned to the shower wall, clasped with his own, Harry captured Hermione's lips in a soft kiss before slowly and reluctantly breaking it, and travelling along her jawline. Once again, his mouth found its way to her neck, and began working it over. Not exactly sure why, Harry found himself determined to leave a calling card on the sensuous column, and set to with a passion, all the while slowly thrusting into her.

As he continued to suckle and nip at her neck, Harry also slowly picked up his pace, before holding at a moderate, steady rhythm. He released her left hand so his right arm could wrap around her waist, but with a mind of its own, his hand quickly trailed down to cup her amazing bottom of its own accord. This allowed Hermione's free hand to follow suit, wrapping loosely around Harry's torso. When Harry's other hand joined the first, it prompted Hermione to do the same as well. With his hands firmly gripping the taut cheeks of Hermione's arse, Harry suddenly picked up the strength of his thrusts, enjoying the way it caused her soft breasts and hard nipples to brush against his chest as they bounced.

With a groan of delight, Hermione's left hand slid up Harry's back, and came up to rest at the back of his shoulder, pulling him closer to revel in the feel of his warmth pulled flush against her as if to merge them into one being, while the other slid down to his rear end. The heat from their bodies as well as the enclosed shower, the slickness from the water cascading down upon them, the delicious friction of Harry's flesh sliding against her own encapsulating grip, and the pleasure of Harry's thrusts echoing in her belly made for a wonderful symphony of pleasurable sensation. A cacophany of coital euphoria cascading across and throughout her body; all the while, the spray of the shower beat down upon the two lovers.

Nibbling on her lip to keep from crying out- after all, they still didn't know if the bathroom had been privatized with spells or not- the brunette decided she needed something to help further muffle the sounds fighting to escape her lips. She began to softly mimic Harry, using her lips, tongue, and teeth to tease at his throat, and return the favor; marking him as she just knew he was her. Of course, that didn't last long, as her newly awakened mischievous side took over, and kissed up his neck and began nibbling on his earlobe. Harry's eyes rolled back, and he let loose a slow moan of pleasure. His ear lobe and shell were certainly his weak spots.

Eyes closed and relishing the sounds he was making, Hermione was wholly unprepared for the sudden jerky pair of thrusts- her ear nibbling having thrown him off his rhythm for a moment- that resonated all the way from the top of her head, down to her toes, and back up to her center. She released a passionate sound that was half yelp and half grunt as Harry had suddenly hit her just right, and stolen her breath away. She couldn't help marvel at how even Harry's miscues seemed to still luckily find the right spots that drove her wild.

Much like Harry's hands, Hermione's left leg risen of its own accord, rubbing against his outer thigh, now wrapping around his waist. At the same time her arm slid up around his neck from his bum, her hand entangling itself in his wet, already messy hair. When her other leg drew up and joined the first wrapped around his waist, Harry was forced to take a firmer grip of her backside due to the the shift of her weight, pulling them even closer. This, along with basic gravity, resulted in Harry's already fairly deep penetration reaching even deeper. Hermione let out a hissed whimper of delight, biting down just a bit harder than she intended to as her body contracted hard at the feeling.

Already feeling like an orgasm was rapidly approaching, Hermione's hand left his shoulder, and hooked both arms around his neck. Not only did this give Harry a bit of a break at holding her up- not like it seemed he really needed it- but also gave her better purchase to reciprocate Harry's thrusts. Her head suddenly lolled back against the shower wall, eyes clenched shut tight, with her cries of passion serenading her rapid ascent into bliss. With Harry pumping furiously into her as he was, Hermione could easily sense how near her end was.

Feeling that trembling fire begin in her belly and loins, she gave into her lust as she began throwing her own pelvis back in a frenzy to meet her man's thrusts with the same furver and intensity that he was. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck like a lifeline, Hermione pulled Harry to her as her peak came upon her like a runaway freight train. Her senses went completely blank for a few moments......before crashing back down upon her, leaving her gasping for breath as she felt like a lit Weasley Whizbang lighting up the night sky in an array of colors, chaos, and mayhem.

Sadly- or not, depending upon who you asked- while Hermione was cumming quite nicely, Harry wasn't quite done yet. Much to her chagrin/delight, Harry kept thrusting away, prolonging the intense orgasmic shocks, and quickly sapping her strength since she wasn't being given the chance to come down or recover. It would appear her man was trying to make her peak again before she'd even gotten completely past the first one.

Harry had felt her body seize up, and kissed her on instinct. While not necessary due to the privacy charms- not that they knew- Harry's lips claiming Hermione's muffled the scream that came next, and could have easily echoed loudly throughout the townhouse otherwise. Harry felt Hermione's arms and legs- somewhat weakened from her recent peak- trembling as they struggled to remain clutching him. This would make their love making difficult before long as it would be mostly Harry's slick, slightly unstable grip on her wet bottom that kept her from falling once she relaxed- especially given Hermione's tendency to go boneless for a few moments post orgasm- and that wasn't going to be much longer.

Given that Hermione's orgasm clinch, much like her hugs, were borderline deathgrips- which was amusing considering that orgasms were considered 'little deaths'- Harry decided to take advantage of the fact that Hermione's orgasm would provide him a temporary reprieve from holding all of her weight in only his hands. Granted, Hermione was surprisingly light, but once he started hitting his stride, and nearing his own peak, his strength would take a hit.

Leaning forward so that he was bodily pressing her to the wall as he repeatedly filled her fluttering flower, Harry made his move. Reluctantly releasing the grasp he had on Hermione's fabulous bum, he drew his arm back around her hip, and hooked it under the inside of her thigh, lifting her left leg over his arm, before doing the same with the right. With a surprising amount of strength, Harry bounced Hermione up so that he could clasp her delicious bum once again. With her legs draped over his arms at the elbow, her slight weight was now more evenly distributed between Harry, the wall, and her own arms around his neck- which no longer had to hold him as firmly, allowing her to enjoy what Harry was doing. Again, not that her somewhat slim frame carried a whole lot of weight, but with the awkward grip, combined with the water spraying down upon them, it had made things more difficult than they needed to be.

A few thrusts later, Hermione had recovered her strength and bearings, and again began slamming her hips back against his. Wrapping her right arm further around Harry's neck until it was locked at her inner elbow, her left arm slid under his, and she clasped her fingers together, while groaning into his throat in delight. Her legs, hooked at the ankles at the small of his back used all of their strength to help pull Harry deeper into her with every one of his forward movements.

For several minutes the only sounds were breathy moans and groans, the squelching of Hermione's wet tunnel being repeatedly filled and emptied, and the sounds of wet sking slapping together with gradually increasing force and speed. Harry moaned against her neck as he pumped into her with quick, deep strokes that held her pinned against the wall, clinging to him, calling his name as she felt herself being quickly driven to another fantastic release. This, in turn, caused Harry to further pick up the speed and strength of his own thrusts. Neither lasted much longer at this point.

Again, Hermione reached the finish line first, creaming all over Harry's probing length a second time, her scream echoing as it bounced off the shower walls while her pussy spasmed relentlessly around his sensitive organ. As her inner walls contracted and released, it coaxed a loud groan from Harry as he released deep inside of her. Deep in the throes of a full body tremble as her peak washed over her, Hermione was completely unaware that Harry's legs had given out, and he'd collapsed to his knees on the shower floor. It was only the fact that he was leaning back on his haunches that allowed her to slump forward, rather than falling backwards.

The pair sat there on the shower floor, the spray of warm water beating down on them as the exhaustedly satisfied teens recovered from their mutual climaxes. Their breaths came in heavy pants, as Hermione's hand cupped the back of Harry's head, and held it to her bosom where it had fallen to. The nails of her other hand gently tracing his back, Harry gave a small smile as his own came up, and began to gently trace the outline of her breast, as his tongue slid out to gently tease her still budded nipple. Hermione let out a sigh of delight as Harry's lips trailed up her chest, and to her throat, where he nuzzled her gently.

With her legs still loosely wrapped around Harry, Hermione crossed them, and used what strength she still had to pull herself further into his lap until she was sitting almost indian style. Cupping his cheek, she brought his face up from her neck, and stared deeply into his eyes. The soft, tender kiss that Hermione planted to Harry's lips was rather chaste, and both were more than happy to just relax, their foreheads pressed together, and bask in the contentment of post-coital euphoria. With a satisfied grin, Hermione moved her head just a bit to bump her nose against his, catching his curious attention.

"I swear, you keep loving me like this Mr. Potter, and I might be inclined to force you to marry me." Hermione teased, before burying her face in his neck.

To her shock, Harry answered right back, unhooking his arms from Hermione's legs, and wrapping them around her waist proper. "You keep saying things like that, and I might be inclined to hold you to that threat Miss Granger."

Hermione's face flamed at what could have easily been a weak betrothal, or at the very least a declaration of intent. Though, in all honesty, it wasn't like she was going to complain either way at this point. Despite how she'd said it, there was very little joke to how she felt. Even if her logical mind and various social conventions said it was probably a bad idea at this stage in her life, especially considering the circumstances she was in, Hermione Jane Granger was fairly certain that she could say 'I do' right at that moment, and not ever regret the decision for a single moment of her life.

It was times like this that Harry was glad that Hermione had decided to use the potion rather than charm for their birth control. It was well known that with enough intent to conceive, a fairly powerful wizard could overcome the protection offered by the Contraceptive Charm. If the witch partner was just as insistent upon conceiving a child with her wizard, then the charm would have amounted to little more than a waste of magic. While it might not have come into play that first night, their subsequent joinings, and the feelings he'd developed for his best friend could have led to a major accident; especially after last night.

It didn't help that both Harry and Hermione were fairly strong magically, and both had been entertaining thoughts of spending the rest of their lives together, and having a family. With as many times as Harry had finished inside of her, there was almost no chance that Hermione wouldn't be carrying his child by now. Though, to be honest, the only real issues he'd have with that situation would be having to explain things to her parents, figuring out how they'd finish their schooling with a baby to take care of, whether he had enough money to provide for his small family, and being a good parent. He hoped at least he could get advice from Molly, Arthur, and Hermione's parents for that latter point.

The two stayed like that for several more minutes, and both were sincerely glad for heating charms on the showers. Finally, Harry sighed, and retracted his arms. While he certainly wouldn't have minded just sitting there holding her, and relishing the slight tickle of her warm breath ghosting over his face, neck, and chest, he knew that they had to get up, and get going with their day. By unspoken signal, the pair separated themselves, Hermione letting out a slight sigh of disappointment at the loss of Harry inside her.

After they got back to their feet, both still a little bit shaky-legged, Hermione grabbed the soap and washcloth, and began cleaning her best friend. Slowly and carefully she washed his front, taking her time to stroke his chest, and his legs and feet, before grinning as she took his limp todger in her cloth covered hand. She lovingly caressed Harry, and smiled at the soft moan her actions elicited, although she was a little disappointed that his cock didn't so much as react to her ministrations. Then again, that just meant she'd shagged him completely limp, which gave her more than a bit of smug satisfaction. Sliding her hand a little further, she used the same methods to clean his scrotum, getting a similar response from her shower companion.

With his front clean, and deliciously soapy, she instructed Harry to turn around. Hermione teasingly and softly raked her nails up and down his soapy back as she washed, delighting in the delectable hiss he made whenever she ran them along his skin. As she washed what she thought was one spectacularly gorgeous bum, Hermione had to resist the urge to pinch it. In the end she failed, but at least she did manage to finish washing the rest of him before she indulged herself. With an impish smile, Hermione rinsed the cloth out before she passed it and the soap to him.

With a gentle twirl of his finger, Harry gestured for Hermione to turn around as he lathered the washcloth. With surprisingly gentle hands, Harry washed Hermione's back, massaging and kneading her shoulders and arms as he went. His slow movement down her spine, between her buttocks, and the very thorough cleaning he performed there caused her to shiver, before he moved sideways to wash her bum. Unlike Hermione, Harry didn't bother resisting the urge to teasingly squeeze and grope her bottom. He finally continued down to wash her legs and feet, surprising her when he washed both front and back at the same time, before standing back up.

As Hermione made to turn around so that Harry could wash her front, he stopped her, and pulled her against him, hugging her from behind. She gasped as she felt his soapy, flaccid length slip between the cheeks of her rear, and groaned as Harry's hands began massaging her breasts. That he was nibbling on her ear only added to the wonderful feeling.

As Harry began washing her chest and stomach, he decided to broach a subject he knew they needed to discuss; even at the risk of killing the mood.

"Hermione?" Said witch gave a soft contented hum to let him know she was listening. "Do you think we'll ever be friends with Ron again?"

"You're asking this now?" Hermione groaned. "Way to spoil the mood, Potter."

"Sorry, I just feel a little guilty about how things happen is all."

"Do you regret us being together?" Hermione asked.

"Of course not." Harry quickly reassured her. "-and I'm not about to get all sulky, depressed, and broody over it like I did the past two years. That being said, I kind of understand where Ron is coming from."

"Really?"

"He fancied you a lot, Hermione, even if he was a git sometimes and never said anything." Harry said. "Then, not only did you tell him point blank that you were going to make love to me, but he had to listen to us doing it for several hours because no thought about a Silencing Charm."

"Okay, so he does have a legitimate gripe, and we can't just cut him off for being a git." Hermione admitted. "I still stand by what I told him, though."

"Oh?"

"That there can't be anything between he and I with you and me hanging over his head." And that was before she even factored in how much her feelings for Harry had changed since he'd made her a woman. "I don't know if he'll be able to get over what he heard. Heck, I don't think I'd be able to get over something like that in his position. Besides, you've spoiled me."

Harry sighed, before gaining a teasing smile. "Yes, well I can't say that I feel any different. While my feelings for her were only budding, I do believe that you've practically ruined me for one Miss Weasley."

Showing the rather playful side that frequent shagging had brought out of her, Hermione retorted. "Well if I didn't, Isabelle certainly would have." Harry sobered at that. "Sorry Harry, but really, I think you'll be fine. Even if she shags you barmy, she's a Veela, she's supposed to be able to do that to a bloke. That just means you've found some of that normalcy that you've been coveting since our first day at Hogwarts."

The pair shared a chuckle at that comment, before Harry went back to bathing his lover. As his hand and the washrag trailed between Hermione's legs, he marveled that there wasn't so much as a twitch from his own organ. And this was despite being wedged between the glorious globes that made up Hermione's spectacular bottom; though that didn't stop Hermione from grinding into his hand, and finding another small climax.

'I guess between last night, and this morning, I'm completely tapped out.' Harry joked to himself. 'I guess that's a good thing, because I'll probably need the entire day to recover for when Isabelle arrives tomorrow.'

Harry and Hermione shared a few more sensual, loving moments together in the shower as they helped wash each other's hair, before finally turning the water off after a thorough rinse. They left the tub and toweled each other off slowly, enjoying the tender care and affection, before Harry left the bathroom and snuck back to his rooms, but not before Hermione stole one last chaste kiss, her face covered in an impish smile. The thought on both their minds being that making love in the shower with piping hot water raining down on you as you did your business was incredibly erotic, and something they were certainly going to have to again.

Quickly dressing in the clothes that she'd brought with her, and taking very good care of her teeth, Hermione calmly returned to her room to deal with her thankfully still damp hair.

888

A bit later, Harry and Hermione finally made it to breakfast, and immediately began eating the breakfast Remus had made and saved for them. Taking note of the time, and seeing the pair so vigorously devouring their breakfast, Tonks couldn't help commenting.

"You two were awfully late for breakfast this morning." Tonks teased. "Bill and Fleur left for work almost half an hour ago. And you're so hungry....must have really worked up an appetite."

Giving his cousin a gimlet eye, a completely unapologetic Harry replied. "Hermione decided to help me wash my back this morning, and it's a well established fact that Hermione is very thorough in everything that she does."

"Given what we heard a few nights past, I'm impressed that the privacy charms that Fleur cast on the shower was able to constrain the decibels she's capable of." Tonks teased right back.

"One has to wonder how much you two have been going at it." Remus said.

While Harry's raised brow gave the impression of 'like you don't already know', he was curious about where Moony was going with his contemplation. "Why do you say that?"

"I'm probably the only one who can tell," Remus said. "-but your scents the past few days have almost practically merged into one. Normally, I can faintly smell the two of you on each other, which given your close friendship, and Hermione's very affectionate nature towards you, isn't exactly shocking. Ever since the two of you started sleeping together, your scents on each other have grown stronger to the point that this morning, it's almost like one scent bathing both of you."

"I don't know whether that's enlightening, or disturbing." Hermione admitted.

"Since I can't really give a definitve answer to that, I think it might be best if we all pretend that I never said anything after teasing you two about being late for breakfast." Remus commented.

The two teens finished their meal in relative peace, before a certain temporarily out-of-work Auror confiscated him.

"Okay then, time for your first real lesson." Tonks said, looping her arm in Harry's, and escorting him to the den. "Right then, pay attention, because we only really have time to go through all of this once."

And with that, Tonks explained the training to him, complete with diagrams. Harry had to admit, he was kind of glad that it was easier to learn to master changing the less of the gift you had. It was very extensive, and to be honest, he was kind of glad he didn't have the full gift like Tonks did. Meditating to find ones center, learning to detect magic, wandless self-transfiguration, it all seemed really difficult and time consuming to him. While he wouldn't have shied away from the difficult training if he had been so lucky as to get the full range, time was something he didn't have much of if this was going to be useful. While he was intrigued at how similar to Animagus training this was, he pushed that thought to the back of his mind to ponder on later. When she'd finished- just over an hour after she started- she gave him a pointed look.

"Now, since we're kind of strapped for time, we're going to have to get you started the quick way." She explained. "How good are your at feeling your magic?"

"Frankly, I don't have a clue." Tonks looked thoughtful.

"How did you feel when I cast the detection spell?"

"Like a Disillusionment Charm, then a really invasive inspection." Harry replied.

"Now that's damn impressive." She said shocking him. "Most people never reach that level when under a detection type Charm. Even I only get a feeling of being constantly stared at. Okay, this means you have a natural aptitude at detecting the effects of spells cast on you. What I'm going to do, is cast two spells on you, the Color Changing Charm, and Hair Growth charm. I want you to concentrate on how the changes feel when the spells alter your appearance, and then we'll get you started on trying to mimic them."

"I'm game, but do you really think I'll be able to get it?" Tonks sighed.

"Well, I don't know, really." She said. "Having such a small part of the gift, and your aptitude at detecting spell effects says this should actually be easy, and take no more than a few hours work. On the other hand, since we're kind of skipping the meditation part for the moment, I don't know. By the way, I want you to start working on that during your free time. While changing your hair, and altering your eye color are possible without the meditatioin exercises, being able to find your center makes it easier to do until changing becomes second nature. Not only that, but for more complex changes like your tongue, you're going to have to be able to do so as there are a lot more things like muscles and nerves to consider. The main reason I'm starting you this way, is that I'm hoping that by getting your eyes and hair down, when we do start working on your tongue, you'll have some experience making changes, and along with the meditation, changing your tongue will be much easier. So, shall we give it a shot?"

As Tonks cast the spells, Harry tried to focus on the feeling of the spell as it washed over him, but it didn't work too well. Of course, Tonks, being the playful witch she was, could contain her mischievous side as she took great pleasure in growing his head and body hair several feet long, cackling all the while. This of course, was distracting in its own right, and finally Harry cracked.

"Enjoying yourself?" Harry asked.

"Very much so." Came her reply. "Hehe, you look like a midget Wookie."

"Wookie?" Harry teased.

"Hey, my dad is a Muggleborn, and that movie is a bloody classic." Tonks defended. "Now, tell me what you felt."

"Um, I got kind of distracted once you started growing my pubic hair." Harry admitted. "I didn't expect you to do that, and it broke my focus."

"Okay, we'll try again, and I'll warn you next time." Tonks said, casting a finishing spell to undo her work.

This time as she cast the spells, Harry tried focusing on his hair rather than the spell itself. This time, the Hair Growth Charm was very easy to feel, even moreso when she began growing the hair in more sensitive areas. Harry likened the feeling of his hair growing to being stretched out; something that had felt really weird when Tonks again couldn't help growing his pubic hair as a joke.

The Color Change Charm wasn't so easy, as it didn't really have a definable feeling he could compare it to. It had eventually taken Tonks casting both spells back to back- and boy had getting the timing down been tough- so that the effects of the spells occurred at the same time. Of course, that had come after they'd spent almost an hour trying to figure out how she could cast both spells at once. Even with her back-up wand, she couldn't do it. It was impossible to dual cast while speaking the incantation, and concentrating on both spells to do them silently, without mixing them up and causing problems, was severely tough as well.

Eventually Harry had wondered if it was possible to cast them almost at the same time to get it to work. Tonks had taken that idea, and finally figured out the order of casting, as well as the timing needed for each casting to get it right. By the time she'd gotten it right, Harry had once again become a miniature Wookie, and his hair had run the full rainbow of colors, and then some. Still, while he hadn't made any progress in mimicking the changes, he had at least gotten the feel for the effects of both spells. All in all, a decent first lesson.

888

As the pair made their way down the stairs from the den, Harry asked if there was a way that they could do something similar with his tongue.

"I was thinking that we could maybe use the engorgement charm on my tongue to simulate the effects." Harry said.

"Good idea in theory, bad idea in practice." Tonks lectured. "There is a reason the Engorgement Charm isn't supposed to be used on the body, specifically parts of the body with numerous blood vessels."

"Wait, I thought that it was safe to use on animals so long as you knew the counter curse." Harry queried. "I also remember Malfoy using a hex on Hermione that made her teeth grow, and Madam Pomphrey fixed that up easily."

"Yes, it can be used on animals, but it's used to increase the size of the entire animal at once." Tonks explained. "You will never see it used by a competent witch or wizard to enlarge a single part of the body. Doing so can cause significant damage to the area due to the rapid, inconsistent swelling of the part. Think of it this way, a few dozen students are running through a slim, two person hallway that suddenly expands to allow for several people to move freely side by side. About fifty feet after expanding, the hallway goes back to it's previous size, however the group of running students aren't able to stop. What do you think would happen?"

"A very bad pile up." Harry admitted.

"Exactly, and that's what happens to your blood cells when the Engorgement Charm or Swelling solution are used on a single body part." Tonks said. "If not quickly reversed, it can cause quite a bit of damage. As for that poncy little git's hex, the only thing that the Densaugeo makes grow is the enamel, which isn't really a problem."

"Oh, well that buggers that." Harry grumbled, to which Tonks ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry, we'll figure something out kiddo."

Upon reaching the ground floor, the two separated, Tonks headed to the Ministry for Magic to deal with some paperwork for her job inquiry, and Harry downstairs to the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen, Harry found himself surprised for several reasons. The first was that lunch, rather than the simple fare that Remus normally provided having taken over culinary duties since Harry's lessons started, was more along the lines of a Hogwarts lunch. The second thing that had him surprised was a seeing a familiar excitable elf happily bustling about the kitchen. The third thing that surprised him was the very vicious scowl that Hermione was giving to him, which was followed by his last surprise.

"Harry James Potter, how could you enslave Dobby like that?!" Hermione growled. "I thought he was your friend?"

It was only his sheer look of utter confusion that kept her from continuing. Deciding to find out what was going on, Harry turned to the elf.

"Um, Dobby what are you doing here, and what is she talking about?" Harry almost groaned when Dobby developed that look that all guilty children get when they're busted.

"When Dobby is seeing nasty old Kreacher at Hogwarts, Dobby is realizing that Master Harry Potter sir is being without an elf to take care of him." He explained. "So Dobby is coming to be Master Harry Potter sir's elf."

"Er, thank you, I guess." Harry started, gaining a beaming smile from Dobby. When he noticed that Hermione was about to throw a fit, he continued. "But what does she mean about me enslaving you? While I can admit that I wouldn't mind you working for me, I don't even know how you supposedly became my elf."

Remus had to admit that Harry did a very good job of skirting that issue. Complimenting the funny elf, as well as placating Hermione all in one go. Looked like he'd inherited the Lily's silver tongue. Even if they'd had fun, he still couldn't figure out how she had gotten the Marauders to dress as characters from the Wizard of Oz, and attend that Halloween Party of her parents. He still remembered Padfoot dressed as Toto.

Happy to help his master, Dobby explained. "Dobby is becoming Master Harry Potter sir's elf when Master Harry Potter gives Dobby an order, and Dobby obeys without getting paid for it."

"But, I would have paid you if I'd known that." Harry protested.

"Dobby knows, but Dobby wanted to be bound to the Master Harry Potter sir." Dobby said, looking a bit ashamed at tricking Harry.

"Fine, but you're getting an allowance of a galleon a month." Harry said. "Since I can't give you clothes as presents anymore without freeing you, I'll just have to make sure that you can get your own in any style you like."

Harry heaved a sigh when Dobby started pulling at his ear nervously, and gestured for Dobby to speak. "Just giving clothes to elves isn't being freeing them, Master or Mistress has to being meaning to free elves, or elves has to being wanting to be free when we is being given clothes."

"So, unless Harry abused you, or gave you clothes with the intention of freeing you, giving clothing would mean nothing?" Hermione asked, getting upset at all the time she'd wasted knitting fourth year when Dobby nodded.

"Wait, wouldn't that mean anyone who gave you an order that you followed would have bound you?" Harry asked.

Dobby shook his head. "Dobby is being a free elf, so Dobby is being able to choose which orders is being part of Hogwarts duties, and which is being orders of new master."

"Heh, Lily always said that the elves were a lot more clever than anyone gave them credit for." Remus said with a chuckle at the two teens' flabbergasted looks.

"Okay, one ground rule, no more calling me master." Harry said. "Even if you are my elf, you're still my friend. Also, I'm still going to give you a wage. You can use your money on a hobby or something."

"Dobby is understanding Harry Potter sir." Dobby then looked shy. "And Dobby is liking to paint."

888

After lunch, the two teens settled in the library on one of the couches for another of their own personal enhancement sessions. Harry would be working on meditating and finding his center, while Hermione would be doing more research on the ritual to see if there were any other advantages they could exploit, or if there were any side effects that he should be aware of. Unfortunately, both of these potential avenues of time occupation seemed to be about to be put on hold, as Hermione still looked quite unhappy about what had happened at lunch.

"Hermione, are you still angry at me for having Dobby as my elf?" Harry asked, hoping this wouldn't be a sore spot between them.

"Oh of course I'm not angry at you." Hermione said, sitting next to him, and snuggling into his side. "I know you'd never mistreat him, I just don't like the whole House Elf situation is all. Considering that Dobby chose to bind himself to you, and without your knowledge at that, I can't really blame you or be angry. On the other hand, I just can't help but think about all of those other elves who didn't have that choice, and who aren't as lucky to have a caring master."

While she said she wasn't angry, Harry could still see the pronounced- even if rather cute- pout that still adorned her face. Never one to like seeing his friends unhappy, Harry decided that he was going to cheer the sulky Hermione up, and he knew just how to do so. At least, he hoped so.

"Hey Hermione, I think I've got an idea of how I can take your mind off of that for a bit." Harry said. "Maybe help cheer you up a bit as well."

Rather curious what Harry was thinking, she inquired."How so?"

"Well, I seem to remember someone promising me this morning that I could strip them naked, and tongue them to a gibbering wreck if I wanted." Harry said.

Hermione's face lit up as Harry reminded her of her promise from that morning. While she wanted to sit and sulk a bit about the plight of the House Elves, there was no stopping the smile that completely ruined her bad mood. Well, if Harry wanted to eat her into a good mood, then who was she to deny him. With a grin, Hermione hopped off the couch, grabbed Harry by the hand, and nearly drug him to her room. Once there, Harry proceeded to strip her naked, and indeed tongued her to a gibbering wreck; but only after rubbing her fanny and suckling at her nipples for almost ten minutes driving her near spare with need.

Never one to be outdone, Hermione of course returned the favor, showing him no mercy as her lips and tongue pleasurably tormented him, before bringing him off quickly. Although she certainly enjoyed the oral fun they had spent nearly an hour engaging in, in the afterglow, she had to mentally marvel at how Harry was able to get and maintain an erection after the night before. This was especially so after their morning shower since he hadn't responded to her nudity or her touch even the slightest after spilling into her. She didn't even get a twitch when her washing could have easily been considered rubbing him off; almost as if she'd rendered him incapable of doing so.

Feeling rather calm and mellowed after the mutual orgasms, Harry and Hermione redressed and returned to the library hand in hand, deciding to take advantage of the lethargy. Taking a seat on the couch side by side, they decided to try meditating together.

"So, how do we start?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure, I've never meditated before." Hermione admitted. "Hang on, I've got an idea."

Standing from the couch, Hermione padded over to the work table that she'd been using that morning, and began to sift through the small pile of books. Harry couldn't help the way his eyes followed her bum, especially in those short khaki shorts of hers. Hermione had such a fantastic arse, and the fact that it was connected to a pair of such deliciously toned legs was just short of criminal. He was only just able to keep himself from panting like a dog when she leaned over the table to reach for something, and her shorts rode up even higher on her amazing thighs. Having finally found what she was looking for, Hermione returned to Harry, and retook her place on the couch, sitting crosslegged facing her best friend/lover.

"What's that?" Harry asked, looking at the blank book cover. "Will it help?"

"This is a book on Occlumency, and I'm pretty sure it will help." Noticing Harry's reaction, Hermione huffed. "Honestly Harry, I know that you've had bad experiences with it, but this is really something you should consider learning, even if just the basic exercises of compartmentalizing your mind."

"Hermione, I'm horrible at Occlumency." Harry complained.

"Harry, I have every confidence that you can and will defeat Bellatrix with the training that you're going through in the next few weeks before we initiate the plan, but therein lies the problem."

"How so?"

"Well, during your lessons with Tonks, I've been doing some more research on the ritual we're planning to use. When you win, you will gain all of Bellatrix's memories and knowledge. If you aren't capable of at least compartmentalizing to separate yourself from Bellatrix, and suppress or deal with all of those extra memories, then you could lose your sense of self. I would hate to succeed, only to fail when I lost the Harry I've come to love so dearly. Even if you don't go through with the full training- though I think that it's a good idea as well- you should at least learn to organize your mind."

"Alright, I'll give it a shot if you really think I should." Harry agreed.

Hermione chewed her lip in a cute way, as she puzzled out how to word what she was going to say next. "Also, I think you were right about it not being your fault that you couldn't learn. Not only was he not teaching you properly, but Snape was either intentionally trying to sabotage you, or he....he was abusing you and those lessons as a way to indulge his grudge against your father."

"Either way, he's a slimy git." Harry said, using one of Ron's favorite descriptions of the man.

"I-I'm sorry I never believed you about how bad those lessons were," Hermione said, placing one of her hands on his knee. "-I just never thought he'd assault you like that. However, according to this book, the fact that Snape never even suggested meditation, or any types of exercises to help practice clearing your mind was an obvious sign that he was teaching it poorly, and that something was severely wrong with the lessons."

"Really Hermione, it's okay." Harry said, taking her hand, and kissing it. "So, what does that book of yours have to say?"

With a smile, Hermione opened it to a book marked page.

888888

Over in Ottery St. Catchpole, Ronald Bilius Weasley was having a right proper sulk. How they could do something like that? They both knew that he fancied Hermione. He'd told Harry as much, and given the conversation that they'd had that fateful morning, it was obvious that Hermione knew he fancied her as well. So why did they do it? Why did Harry have to take Hermione away from him? It's not like he couldn't have any girl he wanted already; plus the lucky bastard already had a hot Veela coming to have sex with him to get him ready for the ritual, so why did Hermione have to do it too? It just wasn't fair.

And to make matters even worse, he didn't even have a sympathetic ear in his own house. Well, that wasn't exactly true, as both Ginny and his mum had tried to comfort him about Harry and Hermione 'dating', but that wasn't enough. Granted, that wasn't the entire truth, but it wasn't as if he could actually tell them what was going on. Sure, he might have wanted to rant and rage at the unfairness of the situation, but even if he didn't like the fact that Harry and Hermione were together, he wasn't so stupid as to reveal something that might get rid of You-Know-Who.

Still, when he'd stormed from the floo with his trunk, and told his mum and Ginny about the pair, he'd been hoping for more. Ginny's crush on Harry was well known, so there should have been a much more intense reaction than the sad sigh, and shrug she'd given. His mother's reaction was suspicious as well. Her desire to have Harry for Ginny was as obvious and well known as Ginny's crush, yet the way she'd just given him and Gin sad smiles, and tried to comfort them made it seem like she didn't care at all. What happened to that infamous, explosive temper? He'd at least been expecting her to get angry like she had back in fourth year after that article about Hermione by that Skeeter bint.

By this time, Ron had worked himself into a right proper sulk, and decided that he was going to give them the silent treatment while he reconsidered his friendship with Harry and Hermione if they were doing this to him.

Elsewhere in the house, two others were contemplating the recent events. Four floors down from where Ron was sulking, a fairly pretty, petite redhead heading into her fifth year was also contemplating the recent turn of events happening at 'Grim Old Place' (2).

At first Ginny had been as annoyed by Harry and Hermione being together as her brother was, and felt a deep sense of betrayal from her friend for stealing Harry. That had lasted all of an hour before she'd come to her senses. Given her previous crush- okay she could admit it was an obsession that bordered on stalkerish, especially at school- she had paid a lot of attention to Harry. She had also been a lot more observant than Ron, and noticed just how close Harry and Hermione were. Regardless of what Hermione had told her, Ginny had always concluded that Hermione- not Cho, who Harry had gone on record as revealing as his crush- was her biggest threat and competition for Harry. The way they doted on each other had shades of her parents- which scared the little girl in her who most certainly wished for the fairy tale ending- and she knew that all it would take was a single spark to set off that raging inferno.

When Hermione had told her she didn't have those feelings towards Harry, and had even given her advice on how to get closer to Harry- which because it worked, had made Hermione less of a threat, but still a possible one- she thought she might have a better chance with him. Frankly, while disappointed, she wasn't surprised, and couldn't really blame anyone for those two being together. Fred and George had likened the situation between the two to a Potions lab of all things. It was like having all the ingredients for a masterpiece of a potion laid out, with the cauldron already set up and ready to go. Their stubborn insistence that there was nothing between them was like the Potions Master trying to figure out whether he actually felt like brewing the potion or not.

All in all, she was happy that they'd gotten together, at least from a friendship standpoint, even if a part of her still wished it was her. There was also the fact that there was no guarantee that they wouldn't stay together forever...but she certainly wasn't about to hold her breath on that one. And really, if it wasn't her, then she was thankful that it was at least Hermione- or she'd have even been okay with Luna- that had snatched Harry up, rather than some silly Boy-Who-Lived groupie. Besides, she did have a boyfriend, so she couldn't exactly complain about the situation.

One more floor down in the kitchen, Molly Weasley was also thinking about what she'd learned. When Ron had stormed through the floo, and revealed that Harry and Hermione were dating, she'd been sad for her two youngest. When Ron had revealed how fast the new couple were moving, well all of her sensibilities had been immediately offended. She'd been ready to throw a hissy fit at the fact that the two teens were having sex before having a proper betrothal, and give them both a piece of her mind. At least until she remembered that while she may consider them as good as her's, they weren't her children, and they weren't under her roof.

Not only that, but they were at an age where they should be old enough to make these decisions for themselves. Even as much as she didn't like it, and even as much as she sometimes tried to coddle and protect her babies, they were no longer babies, and Ron and Ginny were in the same boat. Heck, given what she and her husband had gotten up to at that age, well she certainly didn't have much room to talk.

Molly knew that aside from her social moors being offended, she had taken the news better than her son and daughter. While she'd been hoping that Harry would end up with Ginny and Ron with Hermione, and had even tried her hand at matchmaking with the quartet, even she couldn't ignore the obvious affection that Harry and Hermione shared.

In all honesty, she was shocked that it had taken the two this long, and had hoped that their insistence that they only had platonic feelings for each other- even if she'd seen married couples who didn't have that level of love and devotion for each other- would hold out. The longer those two resisted being an item meant that the greater chance that Ginny and Ron had of bringing those two wonderful people into their family. Every mother wanted what was best for their children, and she could easily say that Harry and Hermione were just that.

For Ginny, she wanted a kind, humble, caring man who would treat her daughter well, and love and respect her. While many would accuse her of wanting Harry to join their family to improve their impoverished situation, she'd have chosen Harry as an ideal match for Ginny even if he was a pauper. For Ronald, as much as she loved her son, even she could see that very little motivated him aside from chess, quidditch, or a hearty meal. From all accounts- which Percy had been only too happy to provide via Hermes- Ron had been something of a slacker the first couple months of school. When Harry and Ron had befriended Hermione, she had lit an academic fire beneath the two.

While she felt that neither of the two had really lived up to the potential she could sense in them- which given that both seemed to equal or surpass her William in that area was mildly disappointing- without Hermione, things could have been much worse. While she knew it was a longshot that her son would fully live up to his potential- and she could admit that coddling her youngest two like she had may have had some impact on that- she'd desperately wanted Hermione for her Ronald because she knew the young lady would never allow him- either of her two boys- to waste his potential. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

Oh well, nothing that could be done about that. Checking the stew she'd been preparing, Molly smiled, and inhaled the wonderful scent of her mother's homemade stew. While she'd changed and tweaked many of her mother's recipes to more cater to her family's sometimes picky tastes, this stew was the one unchanged recipe. She refused to cater to picky appetites on this one, because this is the one recipe that reminded her most of her former family. When she made this stew, it allowed her to remember the good times with her parents, her rambunctious brothers- who she sometimes felt had been reborn as Fred and George- and even her two cousins who'd been orphaned in the very first Death Eater attack.

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In Wiltshire, Voldemort watched as Severus Snape stalked into his throne room with a steaming goblet in his hand. The smoke wafted from the goblet suggested that it was still hot.

"My lord, I came as soon as I could." Snape said, placing the goblet on the table, before falling to his knees in a bow.

Glaring into the goblet, Voldemort was forced to admit that he had no clue what this potion was, or did. That meant he would have to ask. "What is this, Severus?"

"It is the strongest pain relief potion that I know of, my lord." Snape replied.

"I figured as much, since that is what I ordered you to bring me." Voldemort hissed as he examined the steaming liquid that looked and smelled like cat urine. "What exactly does it do?"

"Forgive my impudence, master." Snape prostrated. "It is a potion I developed to help counter the effects of Cruciatus exposure."

"Oh?"

"I developed it when realized that I would be of no use to my lord as a potioneer if I earned your displeasure, and couldn't brew because of cramping and pain." Snape admitted. While he favored the man with a glare, aside from the potion's origins, Voldemort had to acquiesce that nothing Snape said was untrue.

Voldemort lifted the foul smelling goblet, and quickly drank the potion, grimicing as it tasted even worse than it smelled. The instant relief he felt, however, made it worth it in the end. Not only that, but he felt relaxed in a way he hadn't felt in a very long time. A much more mellowed Voldemort regarded his minion.

"Rise, Severus." Voldemort hissed. "I have a new job for you. The specific location of the pain leads me to believe that Potter is somehow behind these massive pounding headaches I've been having lately. You will figure out what he is doing, and how to stop them, or you shall learn how it feels to be punished for failing me when I'm irritated."

As he slunk out the door, Snape shuddered at the threat. While he'd been punished for failure before, he'd never suffered a punishment while the Dark Lord was anything but calm and collected, barely mildly disappointed that his plans had failed, mostly because he'd not really expected much success from them anyway, but knowing that it would be best not to set a precedent.

After Severus left, Voldemort sat back in his throne like chair, and pondered the possible sources of his headaches. He was sure that Potter had something to do with it. Ever since his attempted possession, he'd been feeling out of sorts. Not only that, but when he'd finally regained his strength, and tried to infiltrate the boy's dreams, there was something like a wall of the most disturbing feelings he'd ever felt blocking his way. The boy was up to something, and he would need to find out what.

Stroking the head of his familiar, he let loose a malicious chuckle. "It is admittedly rather daunting being on this side of some kind of plot or scheme, dear Nagini. However, given the boy's track record, and the fact that he's not sharing this plot with Dumbledore, I doubt that whatever plan he has will be worth anything."

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In an office located in a school in Scotland, an old man sat at his desk taking a small break from the monotony of his administrative duties. Duties that were very much vital for the coming school year, and that he had put off for much too long in his side task of seeing to Voldemort's demise. A very dangerous task that had resulted in the current condition of his hand.

As he let his mind wander from the budget report he was currently working on, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore couldn't help being curious what the trio of youngsters had actually wanted from Grimmauld Place, and whether or not they had found what they were looking for. His first guess was that Harry wanted something to remember Sirius by, and he sincerely hoped that Harry had found himself a worthy keepsake. At the same time, their behavior had suggested something other than a momento in the form of some trinket or treasure. It certainly smacked of all of their secret adventures over the years.

The old man couldn't help but smile as he pondered all of the things the trio had accomplished at Hogwarts together, and wished upon all the things he could that certain preparations could be invalidated. Still, he was a realist in the worst way at times. While he could hope that the trio were researching a way to remove the Horcrux from Harry's scar without him having to sacrifice himself, he knew that was wishful thinking. Regardless of the dark tomes the Black library no doubt had, it wasn't exactly like one could stumble upon that sort of information. Not only was knowledge on the vile things rare, but unless one actually knew what to look for, it was almost impossible to suss out the few nuggets that could be found. He was fairly certain that neither Harry, Hermione, nor Ronald knew anything about Horcruxes, so they couldn't possibly be doing any research on their destruction from a living vessel. Dumbledore sighed, tossing aside his wishful thinking.

Glancing down at his hand, a bit of vital advice, and a rather interesting bit of obscure knowledge to help protect oneself from the circumstances of said advice came to mind. The old man stood from his desk, and walked over to a cabinet that held many vials of memories. Finding an empty one, he placed his wand tip to his head, pulled a silver strand free, and placed it in the vial. He sincerely hoped these lessons he was storing would help the three if the worst should come to pass.

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Around fourish in the afternoon, Hermione opened her eyes and gave a sigh of frustration as she realized they'd reached a point where they weren't really getting anything more from the meditation. Harry wanted to push on, but Hermione reminded him that trying to force it would only cause his progress to reverse. Harry relented at that, but didn't like it, sulking just a bit. That sulk changed when Hermione suggested that they start thinking of ways to improve his oral technique. After hearing about some of his lesson with Tonks, she'd realised that while Harry was very good in her personal opinion, it might not be the same for a more experienced woman. That acknowledged, they decided to come up with a list of things that he could try with Isabelle, but Harry suggested that they run it by Tonks first since she and Fleur both had admitted to having experience with girls.

"So, what have I got to work with," Harry asked. "-and what can we add?"

"Well, like I mentioned before, Parseltongue could be a great advantage for you." Hermione began the discussion. "If a penis sized tongue is as good as Tonks said, then a flicking and vibrating penis sized tongue writhing around inside would be even better."

"Yeah." Harry agreed as Hermione wrote it down, blushing as she most likely was considering how that might feel. "What about writing the alphabet on the g-spot with my tongue? It could be something that could be combined with growing my tongue once I get that down."

"Where did you hear that?" Hermione asked as she added it to the list.

"Sirius gave me the talk that Christmas before he died." Harry answered. "It was one of the tricks he said always worked for him."

"Yes, I could see how that might work." Hermione said as she considered it. "Especially if you were to use cursive writing with some of the more complex letters."

"Um, if you say so." Harry said, just a bit embarrassed. He'd never gotten the hang of cursive writing in school, mostly because the Dursleys discouraged him from doing so. Harry watched Hermione mutter things to herself for a couple more moments before her eyes went wide.

"Runes!" She suddenly cried out.

"Um, I'm not following." Harry said, before thinking it over, and gasping. He remembered seeing some of those really complicated runes that Hermione had been learning last year. "Wait, you mean like the cursive writing, right. Since there are lots of complicated runes, tracing them would work the same way, right."

"Well, there is that, but I was thinking of something with even greater potential." Okay, now Harry really didn't follow, and said as much. "Think about it Harry, what if there was a way to use runes? You could draw them with your tongue or finger, and activate them during the challenges. Maybe even find a combination that would make your opponent more sensitive. I have to admit though, I don't even know how to go about making a rune cluster like that, but I can start you on runes, and I do know how to activate them without a wand just in case."

The pair continued the discussion for another hour, coming up with numerous ideas for their project. Most were discarded as improbable, due to either not knowing how it could possibly be made to work, or them not having enough time to make it useful. Before long, they were summoned by Dobby for dinner. While she still wasn't happy with the situation, Hermione was forced to admit that having Dobby taking care of the meals was a boon. While Remus was a decent cook, his area of expertise lay more in the quick and easy meals that could be made with light resources. One could only eat so much pub grub before they grew sick of it, and with Harry's lessons, and their study taking up much of his time, Harry wasn't available to feed them.

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Later that evening found Harry and Hermione sitting on the latter's bed; Harry perched against the headboard, with Hermione sitting between his legs, and his head on her shoulder. In her lap, her third year Runes text was propped open. In the time since they'd started working on it after dinner, they'd already made it through the first four chapters of the book. Hermione had been admittedly surprised when despite his claim that he just knew he'd end up lost in translation somewhere, Harry had actually picked up the basics of the subject almost as quickly as he picked up the lessons in Defense.

As Hermione began giving him a summary of what to expect from the next chapter, Harry found his mind wandering. As they often did the past few days, his wandering thoughts strayed to his best friend/lover. Hermione had meant so much to him over the years that it sometimes boggled him just how big a part of his life she was. She was a very special young woman, and there was much to love about her. One of the most obvious things that set Hermione apart from other girls was her incredible intelligence, and Harry had to wonder if she might be borderline genius. She was incredibly self-disciplined and level-headed, and he sometimes envied her ability to absorb, retain, and as Seamus once said, regurgitate their lessons at will.

She was also a very caring person, and he had no doubts she cared about all of her close friends a great deal. She could be quite demonstrative with her affection with her close friends. She always had kind word, or a hug for him when he was down, and he was often struck how a simple touch or caress of his arm or hand could ease the tension he always seemed to build up at Hogwarts. She was also a serial snuggler. He'd already lost count of the number of times she'd leaned against him in the common room while reading a book, and suddenly took his hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. To be honest, he quite liked the closeness he shared with her, even before they started shagging.

And speaking of shagging, Harry couldn't help his mind wandering to what he'd seen of her the past few days. While he knew that Hermione was very insecure about her looks, Harry was of the opinion that she really had no need to be. Sure, she wasn't a drop dead gorgeous girl like Cho, or the Patils, but he thought she was turning out to be very attractive in her own right. Harry had not failed to notice her growing femininity. How could he when the budding aspects of said growth had been pressed so firmly into his back third year when they'd been flying Buckbeak up to Flitwick's office in the west tower to save Sirius? Since then, he thought her shape had grown even more womanly, and quite pleasant to his sight. Harry knew he could spend quite a long while staring at Hermione, drinking in her lovely form.

All in all, Harry was very glad that she was a part of his life; not only because of how attractive she was becoming, but because she was extremely important to him, and he genuinely enjoyed her company.

Still, there was a downside to what they'd been doing. With the new dynamic they'd recently added, it kept Harry wondering where that left them. Were they still just best friends, or were they more than that now? Sure, they'd exchanged compliments of both a loving and sexual nature, and they'd even both made declarations of love towards one another, but what did that really mean? Was the change in their relationship as he hoped it now was, or was he just reading too much into what he thought were Hermione's subtle hints? Why couldn't relationships be easy like Defense class or or at least come with an instruction manual?

"Harry, are you paying attention?" Hermione asked, breaking him from his thoughts. "You aren't, are you?"

"Sorry Hermione." Harry apologized when he focused and saw that she'd turned to face him.

"It's alright Harry," She started. "-we have been working on this for awhile now. How about we pick this up tomorrow after lunch, okay?"

Smiling at him, she gave him a tender kiss over her shoulder, and with that one simple gesture, the dam inside Harry broke. He couldn't take not knowing anymore, he had to find out where they stood. "Hermione, I know we've been, um...."

"...intimate?" She provided.

"Yeah, let's go with that." Harry said blushing. "Well, we've been doing it a lot the past few days, I was just wondering what it made us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are we an item now, or are we just shagging friends or something?" Harry asked, deciding to just be up front about it.

"I-I don't know, honestly." Hermione's answer threw Harry for a moment. "Over the past few days, I've really enjoyed being with you, and I'd be lying if the thought of you and I being official hasn't crossed my mind several times. The fact is, knowing what you're going to be facing in the next few weeks with Bellatrix and possibly Narcissa as well, along with the practicing you're still going to be doing with Isabelle, I don't know if I'd want my 'boyfriend' being that casual with other women."

"Completely understandable," Harry said, knowing that if the rolls were reversed, he'd have something a lot less polite to say about the situation. "-but all you'd have to do is say the word, and I'll stop."

"No, that's not an option now, especially considering everything we've already done towards it." She admitted. "Besides, you mean more to me than anyone else save my parents. Losing you would hurt far too much, and if this will help make sure that you survive, then this is definitely the way to go. I told you before that I think you need to do this, but I never did tell you why."

"No, you didn't." Harry agreed. "Are you going to tell me now?"

Hermione shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know how I know, but something tells me that you doing this ritual is a step in the right direction for ending this war quickly and decisively. Plus, if you were able to perhaps perform the ritual with Isabelle, and come out on top, I'm sure that would be a sign that you can easily deal with either Bellatrix or Narcissa. That isn't even counting whatever extra knowledge you might gain from her."

"So, maybe just 'very good friends who are so obviously nuts about each other they should be married' with benefits until this whole ritual thing is resolved?" Harry asked, earning an amused smile, and nod from the young woman sitting in his lap. "Promise that we can give it a real go once everything is resolved? I know this is supposed to just be you helping me prepare for the ritual, but given how our relationship has developed, I can't help but feel doing this is going to cause me to fall in love with you."

"That, I think, sounds like a plan." Hermione agreed, both with the plan and his sentiment.

"So, about those benefits?"

Sitting behind Hermione with his arms around her as he was, it put him in a prime position to tempt his bushy haired girlfriend- at least as far as he was concerned. With a teasing grin, Harry began dropping ghostlike kisses to the nape of her neck, a spot which he'd found set her on fire. Sadly, much as she really wanted to, Hermione knew that they couldn't go that route tonight.

"As much as I would love to become the Girl-Who-Got-Her-Back-Blown-Out-By-The-Stud-Who-Lived," The two got a nice chuckle out of Hermione's rather impressive hyphenated potential monicker. "-you have a date with a Veela tomorrow, and it wouldn't do for you to be too exhausted to learn from her, because you spent the night before blowing my back out of alignment."

With a disappointed sigh, Harry's arms tightened around her, pulling her back flush against his chest, before making a mildly ironic- considering he and Hermione had only been a potential item for three days, and a definite agreed upon future couple for a few minutes at best- comment. "It's moments like this that make me wish I could learn everything I needed to from you, like I normally do for Voldemort related stuff. That way you could officially be my girlfriend now, and I wouldn't have to wait to have the best part of my life become an even bigger part of it."

The smile that lit up Hermione's face as the two readjusted themselves into a comfortable sleeping position didn't leave the entire time the two cuddled before drifting off. Even as she fell asleep listening to the soft thump of Harry's heartbeat, her smile refused to budge.

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Key

1. yes, I saw this in 'Harry Potter and the Emerald Coven' by Hallows Seeker, but I didn't use it exactly the same way. At least, I hope I used it differently enough not to get slapped with a lawful dispute.

2. I'm using the layout described in the Harry Potter wiki

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Notes on Char. Behavior

I know no one probably cares at this point, but I hope I'm playing the characters mostly true to form; well, as true to form as circumstances would allow.

Harry- Harry's a somewhat socially awkward teenager who's been told his whole life how worthless he is, so I could easily see him being nervous or apprehensive about his rendezvous with Isabelle despite his being a teenage male being guaranteed amazing sex from one of the sexiest beings on the planet.

Hermione- Hermione came into the series with a very strict moral compass, and set of values, especially in regards to the rules. Over the years, she's repeatedly ignored these morals if it was required- mostly as it pertains to rule breaking, and borderline legal things like the polyjuice and timeturner- when it was to help Harry, or if there was a very valid excuse. As it is, her being just a bit uninhibited the past few days falls into both situations. She's helping Harry with the plan, and the plan has given her a valid excuse to let herself go and have a bit of intimate fun with someone she cares very deeply for. Under normal circumstances- situations like with canon- if Harry and Hermione did somehow get together in canon, at the same point they did in my fic, I could see them being intimate for the first time at some point during the Horcrux hunt if their relationship lasted through the sixth year drama.

Ron- Some may think that I went a little overboard with Ron's reaction to Harry and Hermione. Consider what happened during the Tri-wizard tournament, and combine that with what he'd been forced to listen to before he left headquarters. How do you think you would feel if you had to listen to several hours of your best friend fucking senseless the person you had very strong feelings for? How much would it bother you that those several hours featured your hopeful future paramour screaming their name, and the repeated announcement that they are reaching orgasm?

Ginny- While I'm willing to admit that on some level Ginny still failed to truly separate Harry from the Boy-Who-Lived she'd grown up hearing about, I believe that she at least evolved beyond the stage of BWL groupie. I'm even willing to accede the point that it was due more to the very real parallels between the adventures the character had in the books, and the things Harry had done over the course of his time at Hogwarts. I mean really, waking up from practically death to Harry and a slain basilisk would have a profound effect on any damn body. Also, much like Molly, while I have no doubt that she wanted to be with Harry, it wasn't exactly like she was the only girl who did. While she could be a catty bitch if the mood struck her- the thing with Fleur, and her comments to Ron about him being the only one of the trio who never snogged anyone in HBP- I doubt that she'd become the evil, potion doping, psycho stalker that she's sometimes portrayed as in fanfiction. Would she be disappointed that she missed her chance? Most likely. Would she whine and mope about it? Doubtful, as she wasn't exactly hurting for male attention, so it wasn't like she couldn't play the field until she found the guy she'd spend the rest of her life with.

Molly- I know a lot of people might not like how understanding I made Molly, but I'm trying not to bash, and look at things realistically. Do I think that Molly wanted her Big Happy Weasley Family? Of course. Do I think she was extremely obvious in her attempts to match up H/G and R/Hr? Definitely. Do I think she'd resort to the cliche fanfiction methods? No. As much as we like to portray her as evil and conniving, Molly practically wore her heart on her sleeve; she was simply just overbearing, highly opinionated, and far too willing to push her opinions and standards onto other people. She also struck me as the kind of woman who would mother you whether you wanted it or not. In that vein, if she cared for Harry and Hermione as much as she claimed to, then I think she'd accept and support the two becoming a couple, regardless of what she wanted, which is what I decided to go with.

Voldemort- Highly intelligent, not insane, and not a megalomaniac. He does have a touch of arrogance, that even though it's well earned, can sometimes effect his judgment.

Dumbledore- He is not evil, and not so set in his ways that he won't welcome an effective alternative to one of his plans that- while necessary- he really hadn't want to go through with.

Notes: Just so you know, I won't be going into a whole lot of detail about Harry's training with Isabelle for the simple fact that sex with a fullblood Veela would probably be indescribably amazing. I don't know nearly enough similes, metaphors, and adjectives to repeatedly describe Harry getting shagged silly while he learns to keep up with Isabelle, nor do I really feel like looking them up. Therefore, it will be behind the scenes action, but just know that it is happening.

Also, reading some of my notes for future chapters, I'm finding myself highly tempted to do a nonHarmony version of this. The whole thing with Isabelle has gotten me interested in that pairing. I'm already committed to a Harmony ending for this, but would you be interested in a similar- pretty much the same, but altered to fit a different pairing- version of this? What do you think?

Random Polls: Who is the hottest woman in the Harry Potter series?

Which do you think makes a more believable looking Veela, Clemence Poesy or Natalie Dormer?