Worth Loving

Chapter 11: Longing

Hermione did not even bother to show up at dinner that night, or so Harry noticed while he wished he could throw some of his food at his aunt, in hopes of making her stop that bickering that she was trying to get across to him. Truth was, he did not understand a thing she was saying, something about royal matters or so, but nor did he care. His mind had other pressing thoughts at the moment.

Fortunately for Harry, Oliver was able to successfully interrupt her attempted argument.

"Well, my bedtime has arrived. Harry, don't forget, hunting day tomorrow." Oliver grinned at him.

"How could I?" Harry replied, but did not even bother to look up at him.

"All right, good night"

Oliver strolled upstairs and Fleur took the opportunity to go silently behind him, after excusing herself with a thin smile.

"All right then, I am heading my chambers too. Good night aunt Alexandria." Harry stood up, thinking he could get away if he just went immediately behind Oliver and Fleur, but he was not so lucky.

"Allow me to accompany you," his aunt insisted.

"Sorry?"

"I will accompany you up to your room." Alexandria smiled diplomatically, another word for "fake," in Harry's opinion. .

"Dear aunt, your chambers are opposite to mine, and I certainly don't need help getting to my room. I can get there by myself."

"But I want to tuck in my favourite nephew."

Harry frowned. His aunt wanted something, but he could not quite put his finger on it.

"I am your only nephew and I am twenty years old, I don't need tucking in," Harry spat coldly. He wished his aunt would tell him exactly what she wanted.

"Fine, but let me at least accompany you. I feel we barely spend time together anymore."

"And?" The word escaped from his mouth before he could stop it.

"Harry, that hurts!" Alexandria appeared insulted. "After all, who took care of you when-"

"Fine Alexandria, you are free to do whatever you want. It is your castle after all." Harry was sick and tired of his aunt bringing up the topic of his father's death.

"That's better. Soon to be your castle too, you know."

"I don't think so."

"Harry-"

"Stop it, we have been through this, I will not take it."

"Really? Are you sure nobody can change your mind?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous."

"Not even the Spartan girl?"

****

"Oliver, wait up!" Fleur screamed from behind him.

Oliver pulled into an abrupt stop. Fleur had not made her presence known and he had been too busy with his own thoughts to notice her out of his own accord.

Suddenly, his body tensed up out of nowhere when she finally caught up with him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You really need to walk slower," Fleur complained as he turned around.

"Fleur, sorry, did not hear you."

"No worries," she smiled seductively, passing a hand through his already sweaty chest.

"You wanted something?"

"Just you," she whispered. The prince of Ithaca immediately backed away.

"What?"

"I really could not stop thinking about you all day," she said calmly.

"You could not?" Oliver was going berserk by now. Why should that single statement make his heart beat twice as fast?

"Of course not. Who could, after that kiss you gave me last night?" she asked, leaning close to his ear.

"Fleur, it was you who-"

"Well, you did not complain, did you? Actually, you kissed me back. It left my mind swarming with curiosity last night."

"Curiosity?"

"Just wondering...if you wanted more where that came from before you return to Ithaca."

Fleur's lips moved slowly towards his cheek, giving him a kiss at the corner of his lips that threw all his senses away. He reached for the side of her face and pulled her towards him, crashing his lips into hers.

She moaned as he pulled her body tightly against his.

Before she knew it, she was leaned against his room's door as he kissed her neck. Fleur was only thankful that there was nobody in the hallway. Who knew only a peck could provoke such a reaction on the prince of Ithaca?

"Are you going to make love to me?" she asked between soft moans.

Her statement made him stop his sensual attack to meet her sapphire eyes.

"Do you want me to?"

"I want what you want."

Without hesitation, Oliver took the beautiful princess in his arms, kicking the door to his chamber open and shutting it behind him as he eased Fleur down to bed, diplomatic propriety and honour matters aside.

****

"I beg your pardon?" Harry stopped all movement as he faced his aunt.

Her question had knocked his senses back into him. Could Hermione actually do that?

"You heard me. It is all over your face, you foolish boy."

"Alexandria, I would never put Troy on jeopardy. I would not let a Spartan control me and I am surprised by the stupidity of your question," Harry spat angrily.

"Is that what you tell yourself every night before you go to sleep and start sweating?"

"Where are you going with this!"

"Take the throne so she can get sent back to Sparta Harry. You know she will not rest until she gets what she wants. Troy's doom!"

"I am not taking the throne for your mere pleasure Alexandria!"

"You are behaving like a child, Harry!"

"I suppose that is why you walked me to my room, then? So I would not fall down!" His anger was rising with every statement his aunt made.

"No. In fact, I was going to make sure you stop in your own room." Alexandria raised her head and looked down at him with a hint of disdain in her eyes.

"Where did you think I would stop, wench?"

"Do not talk to me in that manner Hector!"

"Harry!" The green eyed prince shut his chamber's door in his aunt's face. He could not believe this.

He should have been outraged at the mere suggestion that he could be manipulated like a puppet by the hands of no other than Helen's daughter. However, the only thought that crossed his mind was:

Had his feelings for the Spartan princess been that obvious?

"Well, they were pretty obvious this afternoon," his mind reminded him.

As his mind wandered around the subject of the Spartan princess, he remembered Hermione had not eaten at all that evening. In fact, nobody could assure him that she had eaten anything at all during that day, as she had locked herself in her chamber for the majority of the afternoon.

His first thought was to get her some food. However, after replaying what had happened that afternoon in his mind, he thought better of it. By the looks of it, she would surely rather rot than see him again.

She obviously had not liked his effrontery, but if she had not, then why had she not pulled away?

"I have to apologize, first thing in the morning," he concluded, for apologizing tonight, for obvious reasons, would not be a very wise thing to do. And trying to analyze the situation and why had the kiss lasted and Hermione had not stopped it could not change the fact that his gesture could not have been more inappropriate, and Hermione obviously had not approved.

He slumped himself in his bed, feeling that today had been an exhausting day indeed.

But before he could close his eyes, a knock on his door interrupted his attempted slumber.

"If it's Alexandria, I swear I will execute her myself," he told himself.

But his eyes opened wide as Hermione's face came into view.

"Harry."

"Hermione-"

She held a hand up to silence him before he could try to apologize. Her face held no emotion, but her eyes were keen to avoid his.

"About this afternoon, I wanted-" Hermione began to speak. Suffice to say, Harry immediately interrupted, clearly seeing where this was going.

"Look, I'm really sorry-"

But his statement was cut short by her lips, which suddenly clashed against his, effectively stopping all argument or intents of one.

The effect that her soft lips were having on his mouth was intoxicating and that made Harry let out a groan before she broke the kiss, gasping for breath.

"The only thing I'm sorry for...is not kissing you back this afternoon," Hermione admitted bluntly.

"Wha... you..." Harry's mouth was sputtering words while his mind was fighting the desire to pull her into his arms and make up for lost time.

He knew he should have said something, anything to get them out of their currently compromising situation, for what he was doing right then stood against the very things he believed in and protocols that his country got ruled upon. However, the mere sight of her and her next request made such a task impossible.

"Please just kiss me Harry." Hermione's lips leaned back into his as Harry followed Hermione's request, pulling her tightly against him while the door snapped shut.

Hermione leaned against the closed door while Harry moved onto the skin of her neck and her hands travelled to the un-knitted hunter green robe that was covering his body, successfully pulling his garment off.

Harry groaned as Hermione's lips touched his chest and rest assured the night's argument and his conscience's advice were long forgotten as he eased the beautiful Spartan princess into his bed and got on top of her, stripping her of her clothes.

Hermione clung to Harry's neck as her head leaned back, allowing his mouth to trail up a path of kisses over her throat. And that was when she lost herself in his embrace. She was going to be Harry's tonight and strangely, at that moment, she could not remember wanting anything more.

****

Hermione's chestnut eyes opened in the middle of the night. She woke up to notice that she was pleasantly warm as blankets were tucked over her body, but the main source of warmness was coming from Harry's arms , which were resting around her waist, pulling her tightly against him. They were so close that she could feel his breath tickle her face.

That was when her mind brought her to her senses. What was she doing? She came to Troy for a task, and that was what she was precisely not doing, of all things. And the bargain definitely did not include spending the night with the heir to the Trojan throne.

What had she done?

There was a reason she had not responded to that kiss. It was against her honour, her better judgement, and basically all the things that Sparta stood for. Harry had been good to her, as friendly as could be expected, but that did not mean that their relationship was allowed to go beyond strictly diplomatic terms. She had come to his room to apologize for leaving so abruptly and also to put a stop to what the prince of Troy had begun so hesitantly. However, those were the last things she did, as evidenced by the position she had just found herself in. As soon as she had seen him, the longing for returning such a hesitant kiss had returned, and she had thrown all caution, her honour, and her virginity to the winds.

Her bodily instincts could not be blamed, for the prince was certainly a handsome man, but her mind should have known better. For all she knew, the prince had acted out of lust and this would not and could not lead anywhere past a pleasant night. And who was to say she had not acted out of lust herself? After all, she hardly knew the man. Now, she would be lucky if the prince kept this quiet, for it would mean her ruination and dishonour once she was back in Sparta... all valid reasons to get out of that room.

Hermione carefully removed Harry's arm from her waist as she sat up on bed, covering her body with hunter green blankets. The moon still shone brightly, so it had to be a little after midnight.

She stood up, seeking her clothes over the so wildly discarded pile on the floor. But before she could get hold of her garments, a hand rounded her wrist gently.

She looked back on the bed to discover Harry's emerald eyes fully open and gazing at her in a sleepy manner.

"It's not even dawn yet. Stay," he whispered.

"Harry-" she tried to take her leave, to tell him she was in enough trouble as it was. And she should not have even called him by his first name in such a compromising situation!

"Please don't leave," he begged her, kissing her hand and pulling her back to bed.

Hermione sighed and tucked back in as Harry pulled her back against his chest and cupped the side of her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

This would just have to wait until morning. Since the mistake had already been made, there was not much she could do, except do as he asked to not risk making him angry. And yes, there was the real reason for her stay, which was that she wanted to stay with her source of warmth as much as he wanted her to stay. Of course, she would never admit that.

"You're so beautiful." He started planting soft kisses in her forehead as her head emerged from his chest to question his current display of affection.

But Harry brushed her lips softly and Hermione's arms came to rest around his neck, questioning and sense of duty forgotten once more. The last thing Hermione remembered was him, whispering soft words in her ear and planting soft kisses around her face as her eyelids closed into a peaceful slumber, blissfully unaware of the consequences of her actions.