The Given Choices

*** Chapter Two ***

Hermione laid awake in her bed as she thought about the day's events; earlier they had celebrated Harry's sixteenth birthday. It had been an exhausting day. After Mrs. Weasley's filling breakfast of eggs, beacon, biscuits, and oatmeal, everyone had enough energy to start their day. Tonks taught self-defense lessons to Ron, Hermione and Harry. After two hours of physical defense their muscles ached, muscles, which she had only read about in books.

She had helped Mrs. Weasley fix all of Harry's favorite foods for his birthday dinner. Of course, her place at the table was on his left side. After dinner, a few members of the Order stuck around for Harry's presents. There was a definite theme to the gifts he received for his birthday. Dumbledore returned Harry's Firebolt to him and reinstated his Quidditch abilities to play once again. McGonagall told him he had his position as Seeker, Ginny would be a Chaser, and Ron made Captain, all without any try-outs needed. With that announcement, all the students in the room became quite happy.

Other gifts the birthday boy received were: a subscription to a monthly Quidditch magazine; special-order gear; Seeker books; a Chudley Cannons jersey; the Snitch his father had used when he was at Hogwarts; and Hermione's gift.

Since the day it was bought, Hermione debated with herself whether to give the present to Harry or not. Prior to arriving at Headquarters for the summer, she and Tonks went shopping. As they passed a store in Diagon Alley, the glittering gold gift caught her eye and she immediately thought of Harry. Hermione was sitting on pins and needles as she watched Harry open the long thin box. The look on his face went from surprise to utter happiness. He held up the gold chain. It was a necklace with a charm dangling from the bottom. The clerk assured her that it was the appropriate length for a guy to wear. The gold charm was a miniature-flying Snitch. It spread its wings whenever the owner touched it with their fingers. Harry had asked her to help him put it on; everyone said they really liked it and that it was just right for the Gryffindor Seeker.

Ever since he smiled and kissed her on the cheek to thank her, she wasn't able to stop smiling. Hermione had discovered she had feelings for Harry, as he had spent so much time by her bedside after the Department of Mysteries incident. But she could tell that he didn't feel the same way; he cared for her just as he cared for Ron and his other friends.

Over the past two months, they had gotten extremely close as they spent a lot of time talking with each other. Hermione had seen him yell, cry, throw things, and cuddle into a ball at her feet as he talked about the death of Sirius Black. She knew how much he missed his godfather and he finally accepted the fact that it was not his fault. The feelings of a crush in the hospital turned into more over the past couple of months. Being in the same room as him made her happy, thinking about him at night as she fell asleep made her happy, and making him happy made her beyond happy.

Hermione turned over in her bed and saw that Ginny was still up. The girl laid in the bed across from her with her nose stuck in a Quidditch game book. "Hey Gin. What do you think about Harry?"

The redhead turned to look at her. She put the book down and pulled the covers off her legs to walk over to Hermione's bed. She sat with her knees drawn up under her chin and said, "Well, he's the bravest guy I know, he - for the most part - is smart, a great Seeker, and has a very fine arse. But he's not for me, especially since he likes someone else."

Hermione sat straight up and almost knocked Ginny off the bed. "He does? He told you that?"

"Oh, yes. Harry and I have heart-to-heart talks all the time," Ginny stated sarcastically and then noticed that Hermione looked like she took it seriously. "No, Mione. I was joking. Let's just say I can tell."

"Well, who does he like?"

Ginny tucked a stray strand of red hair behind her ear. "Let's see. She's witty, strong, very intelligent, makes him blush whenever she looks at him, and quite pretty."

The brunette grabbed the littlest Weasley by the arms and shook her playfully. "I want a name, not a bloody description."

Ginny started to laugh hard but covered her mouth, careful not to alert the rest of the household that they were still awake and talking. "Here I thought you were the clever one out of the three. He likes you, Mione."

"Me? Are you sure?"

Ginny shrugged her arms loose from the girl's strong grip. "I am extremely sure. He looked like he was trying to hold your hand during dinner. Harry kept moving his hand closer to yours but then would move it back before you noticed. Then he kissed you after dinner. It may have seemed like a thank you kiss but his body language said differently. Lupin was so happy he looked as though he might burst. I just think Harry's afraid you don't feel the same way."

"Really? Well, it looks like I might have to make the first move then. Won't I?" She grinned.

~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had just walked upstairs from their trip to Diagon Alley. Moody suggested they go right after they got their book list from Hogwarts. It was not safe for Harry to walk in the open and he was okay with that. He sent Hedwig to Gringotts giving his permission to let Hermione sign for anything in any of the stores. Harry gave her an additional list of the school supplies he was running low on.

The trip was uneventful with Tonks, Moody, and Mrs. Weasley with them. Hermione had gotten everything on Harry's list plus a few new tee shirts and jeans; he seemed to have outgrown his current clothes. Mrs. Weasley and Tonks helped her pick out five different colored shirts and three pairs of jeans that Harry would look good in, and Mrs. Weasley had stated she knew boys sizes just by sight after having six boys of her own. Moody offered to shrink and carry all of Harry's things until they got back to the Headquarters.

With the stacks of books, supplies, and clothes, Hermione used her foot to knock on Sirius's old bedroom, which Harry had claimed as soon as he came back. There were no sounds from his room and she decided that he must be somewhere in the house. Her right hand was just barely able to turn the knob of his room and luckily the desk was located a little past the door just inside the room.

She piled the new purchases on the desk and was about to leave when she finally noticed his bed. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of Harry taking a nap without his glasses or his shirt. He looked so peaceful and so incredibly sexy with that Quidditch chest slowly moving as he breathed. Hermione reached over and silently closed the door, leaving her alone in the room with him. Her feet moved towards the bed as she examined his well-toned arms and the thin line of dark hair that was a line from his stomach to inside his blue jeans.

Hermione sat on the edge of the bed right next to his hips. With a slight movement, she laced her fingers through his as he continued to sleep. The small voice in her head instructed her body as she leaned over and pressed her lips to his; when she was about to pull away, a hand went into her hair to stop her retreat. He opened his lips to give her a better kiss, which caused a low moan to escape her throat. With a little adjustment, she laid her body next to his on the bed and he angled his toward hers.

Their kisses were slow and explorative as their hands wandered over each other's arms, backs, and necks. After about twenty minutes, Harry pulled back slightly and traced her jaw with his fingers. "I like being woken up that way. We might have to have you do that every morning."

"I'd like that, but I wouldn't mind being woke up like that either. Its funny; I came up here to deliver your stuff and I ended up with swollen lips from a good snogging," she commented as she played with his dark hair.

He looked over her shoulder and saw all the stuff she had bought for him. "You did a good job. I'll just have to thank you," he stated with a mischievous grin.

"It was my pleas-" Hermione was interrupted as he captured her lips again and continued to thank her for another ten minutes.