Romance Americana

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The Great Hall was decorated splendidly in all the Houses' colors. As Harry, Hermione, and Ron took their seats, they noticed Kate missing.

"Hermione, where the bloody hell are the American students?"

"Ron, relax. They need to be introduced to the school formally. Then, when the Feast is done, you can go snog Kate. Just give it a minute, okay."

Ron's ears turned red as he mumbled, "Fine," and turned his attention to the doors leading into the dinning hall. Harry could practically feel the anxiety coming off his best friend in waves. He was about to mention it to him when the doors burst open. Professor McGonagall was leading the new first years and the Americana students.

Harry leaned over to whisper in Hermione's ear, catching a whiff of her perfume; he almost swooned then and there. When he had recovered, he asked, "Hermione, are they going to be sorted?"

"I'd assume so. How else are we to decide were they sleep?"

Harry nodded and backed up from Hermione. It did make sense. The only bedrooms available to students were in the house dorms.

McGonagall was now waiting for something; what she was waiting for became apparent when Dumbledore stood up to speak.

"Hello again, and welcome to another year at Hogwarts. As you can see, we not only have new first years, but exchange students as well. Our visitors are from The Americana School of Sorcery. They will be sorted along with the first years, and then, after the sorting, I will explain about this year's Quidditch season."

Professor McGonagall got up and began with the new first years. As soon as the newbies were finished, the Americans were sorted. Hermione, for once in her life, had been wrong. There were 40 Americana students, not 20; of the 40, ten were to be sorted into each house. Lucky for Ron, Kate was put into Gryffindor. When she sat down, she "accidentally" missed her chair and wound up in Ron's lap. The result was a rather dirty look from the teachers; they didn't approve of anything even slightly sexual with in the halls of Hogwarts. The problem was, Kate didn't seem to care.

Shortly after Ron's newest snog partner sat down, McGonagall called out, "Quinnlin, Shannon." A tall girl with wavy brown hair was now the newest addition to the Gryffindor House. Her twin brother (Quinnlin, Matthew) went to Ravenclaw.

"Damnit. How many twins do we have to loose to the bloody Ravenclaws?!" (This was Seamus; he had been upset about the loss of Padma Patil ever since he realized the beauty only males saw in female twins. When Hermione had called him perverted, and Parvati had slapped him a few times, he quickly covered his tracks by spreading his anger from strictly female twins, to twins in general.)

"He's brainier than most. Quinn's smart, but not that smart."

Kate's friends stuck her tongue out in a rather undignified manner, causing the pair to burst into a fit of giggles. Shannon (Kate had a habit of calling her Quinn) struggled to regain control before responding to the light tease.

"You ain't one to talk, Ms. Morgan. You may have made it in Hollywood, but your Potions grade speaks for itself."

"Bite me, Quinn. Come back and talk when you learn how to dance."

"What the hell does dancing have to do with anything? Just because it gives you a chance to rub against my brother in a rather provocative way-"

"That's enough on that subject. By the way, where did Nikola and Lauren end up?"

"Nik went into Hufflepuff, Lauren to Slytherin."

"Dani and Jarrod?"

"Dani went to the Hufflepuff with Nik, and Jarrod joined Matt. Any others, or can I eat now?"

"Just one. Where the hell is Benny?"

"Ah yes, the illustrious Mr. Benjamin Spattz. Slytherin."

"It'll be a good season then; the teams are evenly stacked."

Harry was confused. What season. What were they talking about? "Um, what season?"

Kate fixed his green eyes with her clear blue. "You'll see Harry; in fact, I do believe Dumbledore is about to make his announcement."

Indeed he was. The Headmaster stood once more to speak. "And on to my second announcement for the evening. The Quidditch season will be slightly different this year. We will be having a "Battle of the Schools" so to speak. The American teams shall form their own teams, making a total of four American teams each. They will be the counter parts to our own school teams. The season will be played out a usual, with the Americana teams playing Americana teams, and Hogwarts teams playing Hogwarts teams. When a champion team from each school is decided, they will play each other for the final game. In order to make this work, the official start of the Hogwarts Quidditch season is tomorrow. See the bulletins in each of your house common rooms fro more information. Now, please, dig in."

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The rest of the evening went by with out much incident. The Yanks were shown their rooms in the houses, and Harry and Hermione settled into their new rooms. It only got uncomfortable when Harry went into Hermione's room to talk to her.

"Hey, 'Mione, you in here?" When he got no response, Harry moved further into the room. "I was just wondering when we were going to look over the-"

Harry stopped in mid sentence. As he had walked in, Hermione had walked out of her bathroom (another perk of being the Head Boy / Girl)... wearing only her bra and panties, and a robe that barely covered either.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Hermione," Harry managed to get that out while turning one of the most brilliant shades of red Hermione had ever seen. "I didn't know you were getting ready for bed..."

Hermione just smiled in response to Harry's embarrassment. "Harry, it's okay. It's not like I haven't seen you in your boxers. What did you need to talk to me about?"

"Hermione, I don't think now's the time... and when exactly did you see me in my boxers?"

She let out a small nervous laugh. "At the Weasley's; you walked around in them all the time like you owned the place."

Harry didn't remember any such event, but he let it slip. He could examine Hermione's reasons for lying about him and his boxers later.

"'Mione, I still really don't think we should be talking with you in your underwear; what if someone decided to walk in? You know how sordid some people's minds are."

"Fine." She walked over and locked her bedroom door. Instead of comforting him, the sound made him even more nervous. He was now in a locked room with Hermione; if only the circumstances were different. But no, he was now forced to be the responsible one. Maybe he should let it drop; let Hermione act all responsible.

'What on earth would she do if I kissed her now?', Harry thought. Maybe I should just find out. As Hermione made her way back to him after locking the door, Harry stepped up to her.

She must have noticed something in his eyes, his eyes that gave so much of what he was thinking away. "Harry, what's wrong?"

His only response was to grab her around her waist, pull her close, and kiss her. He started slow at first, hoping not to scare her. When he felt her returning the kiss, he ran his tongue across her lower lip, seeking her permission and approval. She moaned into his mouth and Harry felt Hermione's tongue dart forward to taste him as well. Only when oxygen was necessary did they part.

Leaning her forward against Harry's, Hermione inquired, "Harry, why did you do that?"

"What, didn't you like it?"

Hermione laughed at his insecurity. If he only knew what that kiss had done to her. There were ways to show him, of course, but all of them would make her seem like a slut.

"No, Harry, I loved it. But you just made it so much harder to ask you to leave."

"Why?"

"Because, Harry, right now, I want to do some things that I doubt my parents would be proud of my doing."

"Oh. Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes, Harry. But you still have to leave."

"Alright. Goodnight, Hermione." He dropped another quick kiss on her lips before leaving. His year had taken a definite up turn.

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Harry lightly pulled the door to Hermione's room shut, so not to wake any other students in the dorms. He was their Head Boy; how would it look to have him coming out of the Head Girl's room with rumpled clothes, and her lipstick on his collar?

Harry didn't have to ponder that question for very long; Ron and Kate caught him leaving Hermione.

"Jesus, Potter. First day as Head Boy and you're already trying to boink the Head Girl? Where are your morals, man? You're supposed to at least wait until tomorrow night."

"Shut it, Ron." With that, Harry headed to his own room across the hall. Ron called after him.

"Harry?"

"Yes, Ron?"

"It's about bloody time you two got together."

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Down in the Slytherin Dungeons:

"Hello, cousin."

Lauren Malfoy turned around. She was a pretty girl, prettier than most of the girls in Slytherin. Her blonde hair and icy blue eyes were the same color of her cousin's. Lauren didn't hate Draco; just her Uncle Lucius. He was always bitching about her choice of friends, and at her parents for letting her go to Americana; if he only knew what Lauren had become a part of.

"What do you want, Draco?"

"I was just wondering why your mum and dad didn't tell us that you were coming to Hogwarts for the year. They normal don't wait for a chance to needle my father."

"Watch what you say about my parents! And your father needs to be brought down to fall flat on his ass."

"Not that I disagree with you, but still, it would have been nice to know you were coming."

"Why? So you could pack away all of your whores? Don't look so shocked, Draco. You know that everyone in the Malfoy family has a sex drive that can kill. So, who is she anyway?"

"Who's who?"

"The Gryffindor girl you're laying. Or, that you want to lay."