Snow

Chapter Five: By the Light of the Fire

The snow was coming down harder. They were the same large flakes as earlier, only now a blustery cold wind joined in on the fun, and when Hermione glanced outside the common room window, she couldn't help but shiver. Glad she was, that she was inside. But she was sure the shiver had a lot more to do with the sense of foreboding that lurked in the recesses of her mind. Could Voldemort really come looking for her?

Was she really safe as long as Harry was around? She had never doubted him before, and she wasn't going to start now.

"Now what are you thinking about?" came the sweet voice that Hermione loved to hear.

She eagerly pulled herself from morbid thoughts and looked up to meet Harry's emerald eyes.

"Nothing. Just the snow," she said and stepped away from the window towards the fire where he sat. "I see you haven't got any work done,"she said briskly.

"Hermione, it's Christmas. You've got to be kidding me," he tossed back, eyebrows furrowed.

Hermione only sighed and looked longingly into the fire.

"Not much of a talker, are you Hermione?" he asked in a rhetorical tone, noticing how beautiful her face looked when reflecting the flames of the fire.

"Oh...I suppose I've got things on my mind. Nothing to worry about," she added, not wanting Harry to ask questions.

Harry didn't ask questions, though. He knew that if Hermione really wanted to talk, she would.

She watched as he stood up and stretched, and without knowing why, she stood up with him.

"I've got this idea..." she said, and Harry suddenly realized that she was distinctly shy about what she was going to say.

"I'm listening," he said, raising his brows in confusion.

"Well, it being Christmas and all, and since your dorm room is empty, and so is mine...I thought we could share a room. Like maybe I could take Ron's bed or something, or you could take Lavender's," she said hurriedly.

This shocked Harry. He even took a step back, his face now switching to a look of bewilderment.

"We don't have to… it's just… It's really lonely being all by myself," she added, mistaking his look of shock for look of horror.

"I'd love it," he blurted. "We'll take my room. Since you've got Lucinda and Mercedes in your dormitories. Are you sure about that? I mean, that'd be breaking the rules, wouldn't it?" he reminded her.

A small wicked grin spread across her lips, and his heart jumped.

"Like that's ever stopped me before, Harry. And if you're lucky, I just might wear my new p.j's..." she said softly, enjoying the look of shock on his face as it increased.

"My, my, Hermione. I never thought you had it in you," he said, shaking his head from side to side.

Her eyebrows crossed.

"What?" she asked.

"You're flirting. Ah, but that's OK," he quickly added when he saw her eyes shooting daggers at him. "It's not you're fault after all...a babe magnet such as myself," he sighed dramatically.

Hermione punched him playfully in the arm. "My, aren't we full of ourselves today. Don't press your luck, Potter," she said before punching him again.

He laughed and grabbed her arm before she could land a third punch. "I'd watch it if I were you, Hermione...Or you may end up sleeping with one eye open tonight," he warned.

Her grin only increased.

"I'd like to see you try something...clever Harry Potter. Exactly what would you do to me while I slept? Wait...forget I asked...I don't want to know!" she cried, raising her palms up in front of her, taking a step back.

"Oh? You want it to be a surprise, do you?" he asked slyly.

She took a step forward and punched him playfully again. "Don't count on it, Harry, I was merely indicating that I don't want to know what goes on in a 16 year old boy's head," she told him.

"I'm a boy now, am I? You won't be thinking that tonight..."he said, shocking even himself.

He couldn't decide what had possessed him to talk to her the way that he was. He never had before, and he realized that it just felt so easy...so casual...he liked being able to joke with her, regardless of the content of the teasing.

Hermione's eyes widened with a mixture of excitement and humor.

"Now who's flirting?" was her response, as her heart beat furiously. Harry took a brave step forward, their bodies now an inch apart.

"I don't know...but that's a good question," he said softly.

Her heart felt like it was trying to pound itself out of her chest. Could he hear it? She forced herself to look up at him, brown eyes meeting green. His right hand had somehow latched itself to her hip, his left index finger softly outlining her jaw line. Her breathing stopped. He was touching her. She didn't know why he was touching her, but at this moment she wasn't about to ask.

She didn't even notice that he was just as shaky, just as shocked, and just as excited. It was like an invisible force pulling him to her, and he wasn't about to fight it. He swallowed and kept his gaze locked on hers.

"You uncomfortable yet?" he whispered, continuously grazing her jaw line. She let out a raspy breath and nodded slowly.

"Yeah, me too," he whispered in return.

The invisible force was attacking him now, pulling his face downwards. She licked her lips slightly, just before his own closed the gap between them. It wasn't a full kiss. His lips softly grazed her own, and withdrew slightly, as if testing the water. She shuddered beneath him, opening her lips for invitation, and he quickly accepted, plunging them both into sweet sensations.

The hand on her hip pulled her closer, his other hand now resting on the side of her face. One of her hands gripped his sweater, pulling him closer, and she eagerly responded to him by deepening the kiss. It was passion like she had never felt, surging through every molecule in her body. It wasn't the same warmth that she had felt while hugging him, but a fiercely hot fire, drowning them both into oblivion.

The kiss drew to a slow end, but they didn't step away from each other. They didn't look at each other with shock and horror. Instead they smiled, and Hermione buried her head into his chest, sighing with contentment. Had that really just happened? She lifted her face up to him and grinned wickedly.

"Well, it looks like you were right about one thing," she said to him.

"Yeah?" he asked, his voice husky.

"You're definitely not a boy after all."

To Be Continued...