Out of the Cupboard

Out of the Cupboard: Part Three

 

            George watched his baby sister tousle Harry’s already messy black hair for the umteenth time. “Okay,” she said. That should do it, I think.”

            All Harry could do was stand there motionless against the desk, staring wistfully at the red-haired girl fussing over him. Again with stars in his eyes, he barely noticed George and Fred were watching them at all.

            Nudging his twin beside him in the empty classroom they snuck into, George said, “Heh, they will do anything to get their hands on each other, won’t they?”

            Fred pretended not to notice his brother, and interrupted the pair anyway by trying to step in between them and force them apart. “Alright already. That’s enough you two.”

            Trying not to blush, Ginny said, “Yes–Well, of course. I mean, are we ready everyone?”

            “Ready,” Harry said, turning away from the twins now to cover up his obvious blush.

            “Of course,” George said, beaming. “Now, lets just this thing over and done with shall we?”

            “Yeah,” said Fred, already heading back to the door. “I want to get paid.”

            George rolled his eyes at his brother before he turned to Ginny again, who was now adjusting the collar of Harry’s robe. “Now don’t worry, you’ll be fine Harry. You look great–very sexy,” she said very quietly so that Fred could not hear, holding his face with her hands to look him in the eye. Quickly, she stepped up on her tiptoes and kissed him swiftly on the lips. “Good luck.”

            Looking down quickly to refrain from laughing, George couldn’t help but glance back up at the wide-eyed young man, obviously pondering the kiss he just received as Ginny turned on her heel and strutted out the door. He walked over to the dumbfounded lad and slapped his shoulder. “Come on now, Harry. It’s time.”

            Fred and George walked behind Harry and Ginny down the hall towards the Prefect’s bathroom, still reassuring Harry that their plan would work out.

            “Just keep acting really er, sexy, and she cave in no time,” Fred said.

            Harry stopped dead in his tracks. “Sexy? I can’t act sexy!”

            “Well, just do what you’ve been doing then!” Fred said, sounding flustered.

            Harry dragged a hand through his hair once again, muttering to himself as they walked on, obviously not convinced until Ginny took his arm and said nonchalantly, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to act.”

            “Ginny–gross!” Fred whined, as Harry again bowed his head in embarrassment.

            George laughed. “Okay, could we just get on with this, I think I’d rather see Ron and Hermione with all this mushy stuff, not you two, alright? Besides, Harry here has to save his natural machismo for Hermione.”

            Ginny turned her head around and glared at her brothers walking behind her. “Thanks a lot!” she snarled.

 

 

            *          *          *

 

 

            Out of breath from pushing a heavy bench across the marble floor, Ron sat down upon it, continuing to give Hermione directions as they prepared for Harry’s arrival. “Okay, so he’s going to come in, and you’ll have sit down here by the mermaid painting,” he said. “Are you ready yet?”

            Hermione was getting ready behind a changing screen on the other side of the pool, primping. “Just about,” she called. “I hope Ginny isn’t too mad, I nicked some of her makeup.”

            She came out from behind the screen, twirling around, modeling her creation. “How do I look?”

            Never in his life had he seen anyone look so stunning. Her simple classic beauty that he had always admired aside, somehow the touch of Ginny’s makeup seemed to accentuate Hermione’s smouldering brown eyes, and lush, full lips. Her hair fell gently around her shoulders, which was now covered up by a heavy red terrycloth dressing gown, with the Gryffindor crest upon the chest. His body began to warm with an allover flush just by looking at her. She was that bloody sexy.

            He swore to himself then that he was going to tell her how he felt once this was all over. He only hoped that she felt the same way.

            Ron got up, making a b-line to her as she stood there, giggling–quite obviously at his awestruck face. Wrapping his arms around her, he looked into her eyes and said, “Simply ravishing.”

            “Thank you,” she said, smiling sweetly.

            “I don’t suppose you have any more room for me in that robe, do you?” he said in a low voice.

            Hermione laughed, feigning astonishment. “Mr. Weasley, you’re not suggesting that I disrobe?”

            He grinned. “That’s an even better idea,” he said, moving in to kiss her.

            “Wait,” Hermione said abruptly, pushing him away.

            Feeling slightly hurt, Ron asked “What is it?”

            “You’ll smudge me.”

            “That never stopped you before.”

            “Mind your mission, Mr. Weasley.”

            Ron grimaced. “Right.”

            “All right then,” Hermione said, walking back to the pool. “So how am I going to manage to fool Harry?”

            “It should be easy enough,” Ron said. “Harry’s a fairly shy guy. It won’t take much. Just make sure that you let him know that you intend to seduce him–at any cost–and he’ll creep out, and give in straight away.

            “No problem,” she said in her seductive voice as she began to get into character.

            A hesitant voice inside his head began to tell him that perhaps he should tell her how he felt right now–before it was too late.

            “Hermione,” he said hoarsely. “I need to tell you something before we do this.”

            She looked at him curiously. “Yes?”

            “I–I mean, we . . . er . . .” Ron didn’t know what to say just then, but a look of understanding came over Hermione’s face.

            “Don’t worry, darling,” she said, putting a single soft finger up to his lips. “They aren’t nearly as clever as we are.”

            Ron’s courage faltered and instead he said, “We’re going to beat them, you know.”            “I know,” she said, looking into his eyes with great affection.

            He turned back and started back towards the screen, before she stopped him again.

            “Ron,” Hermione said, raising her hand questioningly, “But what if–“

            Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and it cracked open.

            “Hermione? Are you there?” It was Harry.

            Scrambling quickly behind the screen before Hermione could finish asking her question, Ron peeked through some holes he punched in the screen earlier. She put her hand down behind her head, as though she was stretching, as Harry waltzed inside, leaving the door wide open behind him.

            Harry’s own eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of Hermione in her dressing gown.

            “Wow,” he said. “You look terrific. Er, that’s a very nice dressing gown.”

            “Thank you. But I think you’ll enjoy what’s underneath even more,” she said seductively, eyeing the one he himself was wearing. “Now close the door and come inside.”

            Harry held up a couple of goblets and a pitcher from behind his back and offered them to her. “I brought some pumpkin juice from the kitchens. Would you like some?”

            “Oh yes,” she said delicately, “I would love some.”

            Harry walked over to the bench and poured the pumpkin juice. He came back and handed her one of the goblets and asked, “Shall we toast?”

            “What would we toast to?” Hermione asked back.

            “Er, let’s toast to . . .” Harry thought a moment. “Er, friendship.”

            Hermione smiled seductively. “Friendship, with benefits.”

            “Right,” Harry said. And for a moment, Ron could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

            “Cheers.” Hermione raised her glass to Harry, barely touching it making a light clinking sound.

            Ron watched the pair as they began sipping from their goblets. But the sip soon turned to a drink, and then to a steady gulp, until both had emptied their cups completely and they lowered their glasses into an uncomfortable silence.

            It was Hermione who finally broke the silence. “Well, I suppose there is no sense in delaying the inevitable any longer is there?”

            Harry grinned devilishly. “No, I suppose not.”

            Eyeing him suspiciously, Hermione put her hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture and asked, “And you are okay with this? You know, it’s only a physical thing, right?”

            Ron watched Harry send back an equally comforting hand on her shoulder and leaned in towards her. “Of course. No strings attached,” he said lightly.

            “All right then, you go and start the bath water and I will go freshen up,” Hermione encouraged, spinning back around quickly away from Harry, who nearly toppled from leaning towards her, and she walked quickly towards the screen.

            As soon as she rounded the corner, Ron grabbed her and mouthed, “What are you doing?”

            She bit her lip nervously. “I don’t know Ron, this is too weird. I’m not so sure he’s bluffing anymore.”

            Her words stung Ron in the heart. The thought of Harry having his way with Hermione was an even more unbearable thought than her being with Victor Krum. But he had faith in his best friend, and he knew in his heart that Harry would never betray him like that. At least he hoped so.

            “What? Of course he’s bluffing!” he said with a twinge of doubt in whisper. “You just aren’t being sexy enough!”

            Without a sound, Ron watched Hermione’s face turn from pink to a shade of scarlet that he had only recognized in his own family. “Ronald Weasley!” she snarled, as her whisper became almost audible. “How dare you–“

            ”SHHH! Will you be quiet!” Ron mouthed again, cupping his hand over her mouth. He glanced at his peephole. “He’ll hear you!”

            He released his hand from her mouth and he watched her as she sighed in resignation. “This is ridiculous! I am not going to end up shagging–“

            ”You won’t have to,” Ron cut her off again. “He’s going to crack I know it. We are going to win. He just needs a little extra push that’s all.”

            He stepped back from her for a moment, sizing her up. The with a torturous smile, he stepped back and grabbed both sides of Hermione’s dressing gown, which was still tightly wrapped around her, ripping it wide open, revealing his girlfriend in a rather small red lace bra and knickers.

            “Yeah,” he said triumphantly, “That should do it.”

            Hermione could only stand there in shock, completely speechless. Ron grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around to the edge of the screen.“Now get back out there and seduce our best friend!” he demanded in her ear again as he smacked her bum hard, pushing her out.

            She hopped back out from behind the screen, recovering from a near stumble back into a sexy pose beside the screen. Ron returned to his peephole and saw that Harry had also stripped down and was fumbling with the bath water, turning off a faucet from which purple foam bubbles came. From the looks of it, the bubbles would more than adequately cover a naked body in the water.

            Harry stood up there and began to turn around as he said, “You all right there, Her–“

            But he stopped, obviously surprised by Hermione’s sudden lack in coverage of her charms. Ron watched Harry open his mouth slightly as he gazed at her, but he couldn’t place if it was out of awe or horror, and at that moment, he began to regret having opened her robe.

            “Bath’s ready,” Harry said softly, unable to tear his eyes away from the red lace barely covering her body.

            “Wonderful,” Hermione growled, walking towards him. “But let’s not beat around the bush any longer. There’s only one reason that I invited you here tonight.” She stopped only inches away from him, pressing her body firmly against Harry’s. “And it wasn’t to get clean, I assure you.”

            Grabbing Harry by the back of his neck, she pulled him towards her, their faces mere inches away from each other. “I promise, I won’t bite . . .hard.”

            For second, Ron could swear that he saw Harry glance at the screen he was peeping behind. But the random thought was quickly washed away as Harry pursed his lips to engage her in a tight-lipped kiss, that seemed to last eternity. Ron was clenching his teeth so hard by now, his head was beginning to hurt. This was a mistake, a horrible mistake. He should not have made her go back out there when she so obviously didn’t want to, and now she was about to seduce his best friend right in front of him!

            Finally, they pulled apart, and Ron watched both Harry and Hermione turn away in embarrassment. She began to raise her hand unconsciously to wipe her mouth, but stopped, gaining her head again, and turned back around.

            “I’m sorry Hermione,” Harry said, sounding guilt-ridden.

            Hermione lowered her voice to a sultry purr. “Sorry for what? I’m only sorry that we hadn’t done this sooner.”

            Ron leaned against the screen even closer now, watching them approach each other again for another kiss, only this time Harry placed his hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer. Ron could no longer stand it, his best friend was kissing his girl. His girl! And there was nothing he could do about it.

            His hands now also clinched in anger, he watched Harry slip a finger under her bra strap and begin to pull it down over her shoulder.

            Oh the ruddy hell he wasn’t going to do anything about it–

            “Wait!” Hermione said pulling away suddenly. “I–I can’t do this.”

            Harry stepped back, drawing his hand away quickly as he registered her reaction in his mind. After a moment of sinking in, he smirked and asked, “Why is that?”

            “Be–because, I love Ron!”

            Harry’s smirk grew into a full blown smile. “Gotcha.”

            At that moment a loud tear and crash was heard from behind them. Ron had fallen through the changing screen.

            “Ron!” Hermione yelped, and ran over to him.

            Seemingly unharmed, Ron raised himself up on his hands and asked dimly, “What did you say?”

            Hermione couldn’t help but laugh as she knelt down to him and helped him up. “I said I love you, you clumsy prat!”

            “You love me?”

            “Of course I do! I wouldn’t go through all of this for just anyone, you know. There’s never been anyone else.”

            Ron’s heart soared at her words, and there was only one thing he could think to do. “I love you too,” he whispered to her before he lunged into her for a breathtaking kiss.

            As they broke apart, Ron could hear a light sniffling coming from the other side of the room, but when he looked at Harry, he was grinning broadly back at them. Then he heard an “Aww.”

            “What was that?” he asked Hermione, loosening her from his grasp.

            Out of thin air, George, Fred and Ginny revealed themselves beneath Harry’s invisibility cloak, near the bench on the other side of the room. “Good show!” George announced.

            “Yeah, very revealing,” grinned Fred, reminding Hermione of her attire. She squeaked and turned around to wrap herself back up in her dressing gown. “By the way,” Fred said, turning to his twin as he remembered himself. “I believe you owe me some Galleons, my dear brother.”

            George dove his hand into his pocket and pulled out a handful of Galleons, in which he happily placed into his twin’s outstretched hand. “Here you go, mate.” George turned to his little brother and his now covered up girlfriend. “That was quite a good act, the both of you.”

            Hermione smiled, “Well, it certainly wasn’t easy.”

            “That’s for sure,” Harry said. “But I assure you I didn’t mean anything by it. I swear.”

            “It’s true. He wouldn’t have ever done it if I hadn’t persuaded him for the bet,” Ginny said, handing Harry his own dressing gown.

            “You did this for a bet?” Ron asked in surprise.

            “Of course!” the twins said in unison, and George went on, “We were all tired of you both sneaking about all the bloody time. We decided to put an end to it.”

            Astonished, Hermione asked, “You mean–Harry, you knew?”

            “Oh, come on!” Harry said, rolling his eyes in exasperation. “Everyone has known long before you two ever did. I knew it was only a matter of time.”

            Hermione sighed deeply and turned back to Ron, who was looking as though he was thinking intently on something, “Well, I suppose this means that we’re out of the cupboard, love.”

            “Indeed,” Ron agreed. “But there is one more thing I must say.”

            “What’s that?” was all Harry could get out before Ron’s fist connected with his jaw, causing him to fall into the pool of suds.

            “Don’t ever touch my girl again!”

 

            *          *          * 

 

            The evening couldn’t have been more beautiful. Ron sat next to his official girlfriend, Hermione Granger, who loved him, in the courtyard where they had been kissing each other senseless for a good half of an hour. He couldn’t help but beam with happiness at the girl at his side had just asked him what he was thinking.

            “I was just wondering how Harry’s doing,” he responded, with only a twinge of guilt.

            “That wasn’t very kind of you to do that to him,” Hermione said sternly. “You really should blame your brothers and sister for what happened.”

            “I know, but he still deserved it–even for just looking at you the way he did.”

            She laughed. “You are absolutely shameless!” And she grabbed him by his face and kissed him again, allowing Ron’s hands to slip inside her dressing gown as she did so.

            “You know, I’m rather glad we finally came out,” Hermione added as Ron began kissing the nape of her neck.

            Ron pulled away in surprise. “You are?”

            “Well yes,” she said, deciding out loud. “Though I will definitely miss the sneaking about.”

            Ron grinned and went back to her neglected earlobe and whispered, “Well, I’m sure we can still find ways to sneak about from time to time if you like.”

            “Good,” she sighed breathlessly.

            After a few more moments of fantastic groping and reckless kissing, Ron looked into Hermione’s warm brown eyes and asked wistfully, “How on earth did I find you?”

            Laughing to herself again, Hermione told him truthfully, “I found you, remember? On the train.”

            “But you weren’t looking for me, remember?” he corrected. 

            “No, I suppose not. Then I suppose it was luck then . . . and a little bit of magic.” Hermione said, adding a little wink to her smirk.

            “Ah ha! It was my superior wizarding skills with the Mountain Troll wasn’t it?” asked Ron teasingly.

            Hermione feigned some hard contemplation before responding dreamily with, “Nah, it was your brilliant strategy and bravery on the chessboard.” She leaned in closer as he draped his arms over her shoulders, touching foreheads as they stared into each other’s eyes. “A regular knight in shining armor.”

            “Too right you are, my darling. Only I’m usually the damsel in distress,” Ron joked.

            “I love you,” Hermione laughed.

            “Are you sure?”

            “Hmm, let me think . . . most definitely.”

            “I love you too,” Ron growled and pulled her in for another lip lock. Life couldn’t have been more perfect.

            Finally, Hermione and Ron broke away from their kiss, continuing to cling to each other as they looked into the starry skies. “I suppose we should go back up, it’s nearly curfew,” Hermione sighed.

            “Just a few more minutes. We have plenty of time.” Ron said when he suddenly caught a glimpse of two figures in an window on the second floor. He recognized their silhouettes immediately. It was Harry and Ginny. “What do you suppose they’re doing over there?” he asked.

            Ginny looked as though she was checking on the growing shiner that Ron had gifted his best friend, putting her hand to his face in a comforting gesture.

            “Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Hermione said hurriedly, getting up from her seat, and tugging on his arm. “Come along now, we should get going.”

            Ron thought about how well Ginny seemed to complement Harry as the silhouettes talked in the window. “You know,” he nodded to the pair. “They would make a very nice couple, don’t you–“

            Suddenly, the two shadows merged together in a passionate embrace. Arms and hands washing over each other, and he couldn’t tell where his baby sister ended and his best mate began.

            “HEY! GET OFF MY SISTER!”

 

The End