- Rating:
- PG
- House:
- Astronomy Tower
- Ships:
- Harry Potter/Hermione Granger
- Characters:
- Harry Potter Hermione Granger Seamus Finnigan
- Genres:
- Romance
- Era:
- Multiple Eras
- Spoilers:
- Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix Quidditch Through the Ages Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Stats:
-
Published: 08/25/2003Updated: 08/25/2003Words: 1,875Chapters: 1Hits: 1,576
Steady Rollin' Woman
jlh
- Story Summary:
- Mandy can give Harry something that Hermione can't. Or can she? Seamus doesn't think so, and as always, he has an idea . . . ````A Harry/Hermione ficlet based on Eight Ways from Sunday.
- Chapter Summary:
- Mandy can give Harry something that Hermione can't. Or can she? Seamus doesn't think so, and as always, he has an idea . . .
- Posted:
- 08/25/2003
- Hits:
- 1,576
- Author's Note:
- This came to me about a year ago when I was standing in a Hot Topic in Washington, DC. Dedicated to Msscribe, because there is something about it that reminds me of her. In the EWFS-verse; takes place around Easter of their sixth year. A thousand thanks to Aegeus for the thorough and speedy beta.
All I ask for when I pray,
Steady rollin' woman gonna come my way.
Need a woman gonna hold my hand
Won't tell me no lies, make me a happy man.
--Led Zeppelin, “Black Dog”
Hermione Granger knew what she was getting herself into when she started
dating Harry Potter. She prided herself on being well prepared, even over-prepared,
for every situation. She had watched girls come and go from Harry’s side,
and she was aware of every difficulty in dating the famous wizard. She got
into the habit of dressing up just a little every time she ventured into
Hogsmeade, so that the candid photos that ran in the tabloids wouldn’t look
quite so bad. The worry over Quidditch games and various other misadventures,
of course, were old hat by now; being his girlfriend didn’t change that one
way or the other. Equally convenient, she didn’t have to try to charm her
way into his tight-knit group of trusted friends. She was even ready for
the casual catty jealousy of some of her female (and male) classmates.
What she hadn’t anticipated, however, was the way some girls continued to
fling themselves at Harry, even after they had been dating some months.
For his part, Harry was fairly oblivious (unless things got very obvious
indeed, whereupon a gentle word from him generally put a stop to things).
Hermione was not naturally a jealous person, and was secure in Harry’s feelings
for her, so none of these girls upset her in the least.
None of them, that is, save Mandy Brocklehurst.
Hermione thought Mandy was everything Hermione was and everything
she wasn’t. She was a quick thinker, with nearly as many facts at her fingertips.
She was second only to Hermione in charms, and was close behind in Arithmancy.
She wasn’t a natural beauty like Padma, but she was reasonably attractive.
She followed professional Quidditch religiously. But more than anything
else, she was funny.
Hermione had a healthy sense of humor, but she was rarely funny, or at least
that’s what she thought. Ron was the funny one; she was serious. She thought
it was a good balance, and hadn’t really worried about it until the midterm
change of partners in Care of Magical Creatures. Hermione would look over
from where she worked with Terry Boot to see Harry cackling away at some
remark of Mandy’s, and it would nearly drive her mad. Harry needs all
the laughter he can get, she thought, and I can’t do that for him.
“Nin, that is the most ridiculous thought you have ever had,” responded
Seamus Finnigan when Hermione told him this. The two friends were sitting
out on the green, taking advantage of one of the first truly warm days of
spring. “You make him happy—you know that. So he smiles with you instead
of laughing. Is this really such a crisis?”
Hermione flopped backwards onto the grass with a sigh. “Well, it certainly
sounds silly when you say it.”
“That’s because it is silly.”
Hermione scowled. “You aren’t helping me!”
“Help you what? See that this girl is no threat to you?”
“Oh, it isn’t that.” Hermione played idly with the grass, then said, “I
just look at her, and I look at me, and I don’t know what I can actually
do for him that she can’t.”
Seamus rolled his eyes. “I dunno, Nin. Give him unswerving loyalty? The
closeness that comes from six years of friendship? What are you asking me
here, really?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “You’re right, of course. There is no comparison.”
“Of course there’s not.” Seamus lay down on his side next to Hermione.
“So, what are your plans for Easter?”
Hermione smiled. “Harry has invited me to Chez Chien. It’s much closer
than my parent’s house, and they’re going to be away anyway. The godparents
are picking us up here on Wednesday and we’re traveling out on the motorbikes.”
“Motorbikes?” Seamus asked.
“Yes, Sirius’ and Harry’s. Harry isn’t ready to drive alone, of course,
but Sirius has worked up some spell that keeps the bikes in tandem and—why
are you grinning at me like that?”
Seamus looked like the cat that ate the cream. “I know something you can
do, that no other girl in this school can do.”
Hermione raised one eyebrow. “Seamus Finnigan, what are you up to?”
He sat up. “There is only one witch of my acquaintance who is perfectly
at home on a motorbike because she has been riding on her mum’s since she
was eight. All we need to do is make you look the part.”
Hermione sat up as well. “Miss Pommery? I don’t know, Seamus. Sirius
and Remus will be coming to get us right after class so we’ll be able to
get back before dark; I’ll barely have time to change. Besides, I’ve never
been her in front of everyone, not really.”
“Nin, how many times do I have to tell you this? You are Miss Pommery;
Miss Pommery is you. It made you less nervous at first to think of her as
someone separate, but she isn’t, not really.”
Hermione was silent for a moment, looking out across the lawn at the lake.
“You know, Seamus, you have to wear trousers when you ride a motorbike.
Those little dresses won’t do. But those brown boots of mine should work.”
She turned to him and smiled. “Well, we have two weeks; we should be able
to figure out something.”
Seamus laughed. “That’s my girl!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Harry walked out of Hogwarts castle, he was surprised not to see his
girlfriend waiting for him. The way she had run out of Care of Magical Creatures
he had figured she would have been changed out of her school uniform and
robes and ready to go, particularly as he had been waylaid, first by Mandy
and then, briefly, by Dean. But he had had time to don jeans, t-shirt, boots
and a jacket, grab his bag, and come back downstairs before Hermione.
Harry found Dean still sitting on the front steps with Mandy, as several
other students lingered nearby. He knew that Dean was eager to see the motorbikes,
but why Mandy had lingered was puzzling. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready
to catch the Hogwarts Express?” he asked.
“We have an hour,” Dean replied, “and Seamus has already gone up to get
my things. You have to board the train in uniform, anyway.”
“Padma insisted on bringing down my bag,” Mandy said. “Though I’m sure
she’ll make Ron actually carry it.”
Dean nodded. “I don’t think she’s lifted a finger since they started dating.”
“A finger?” Mandy said. “She’s barely lifted an eyebrow! He’d carry her
back and forth to class if she’d let him.”
Harry gave a small laugh but made no reply, hearing the sound of engines
nearing. “Here they come,” he said, pointing out at the two bikes coming
down the long drive toward the castle entrance.
Dean and Mandy stood and watched as the bikes neared. Sirius, always one
to make an entrance, was riding without a helmet, his hair flying in the
wind. In his black leather jacket, black jeans and boots, he looked nearly
as dangerous as the papers had always said he was. Remus, for his part,
wore the most conservative clothes one could and still ride a motorcycle--old
Quidditch corduroys and a barn jacket, with a vintage helmet atop his head.
“Wow,” Mandy said breathlessly.
Dean glanced at her, amused to see the usual first reaction to Sirius Black,
but he was more interested in the bikes. He and Harry both walked onto the
drive to greet the men and look at the machines. Soon after they introduced
Sirius to a star-struck Mandy they were chattering away, mostly about Sirius’
vintage Triumph and Harry’s brand-new one. Several other students had approached
the group to greet their former professor and admire the machines.
Then Sirius, who was facing the castle, said, “Looks like someone else is
dressed to ride.”
Harry turned to look, and promptly lost his ability to speak.
Hermione was walking out of the front door of the castle with Seamus just
behind her. Like Harry, she wore a t-shirt, jeans and boots, a jacket slung
over one shoulder. The jeans, however, were old ones, worn and faded, that
fit her hips snugly before flaring out over her brown leather boots. The
t-shirt, stolen from her mother, was emblazoned with a faux-runic logo from
an old classic rock LP, but as Hermione’s mother was even smaller than she,
the t-shirt was rather tight, and the logo stretched across her breasts.
Between the t-shirt and the jeans, a flash of skin showed when she moved.
Her hair hung loose across her shoulders and looked just a little bit wilder
than usual. She walked up to Harry and handed him her bag but said nothing.
As she walked past him to greet Sirius and Remus, he looked down to see
that the jeans fit her derriere as snugly as her hips, and he swallowed hard,
though his mouth was completely dry.
Hermione gave Harry’s godparents each a big hug, then turned to face Harry.
Dean had stepped back slightly to stand next to Seamus, but Mandy stood
stock still, staring, as did some of the other girls.
Remus cleared his throat. “Well, I think we should get going, shouldn’t
we? Hermione, put your jacket on; I think you’re getting cold.” He made
eye contact with her, then dropped his eyes slightly.
Hermione bit her lip to keep from laughing as she pulled on her leather
jacket. “So, am I riding with you, Sirius?”
But before he could answer, Harry said, “Please, Sirius, can’t Hermione
ride with me? We’ll be in tandem, so she’s as safe with me as with you.”
Sirius looked at Hermione, then at Remus, who shrugged, then back at Harry.
“I don’t see why not. But you’ll have to be extra careful.”
“Brilliant!” Harry exclaimed, putting their bags into the side compartments
of the bikes.
“Hermione, I know you’re used to being on a bike, but don’t hang on too
tight—he’s just learning,” Remus warned.
“Oh, I won’t,” she replied as she slung her leg over the back of the bike.
Harry got on in front of her and felt her hands on his hips. “You don’t
have to worry about her, Remus,” he said. “She never holds on too tight.”
Remus got onto Sirius’ bike and muttered, “That one is full of surprises.”
Sirius laughed. “I hope he can handle it,” he whispered back. Then, louder,
“Ready to go?” At Harry and Hermione’s nods, Sirius started up the engines.
The two bikes roared down the long drive to the front gate, then sped out
of sight on the road beyond. The group of students broke up, wandering into
the castle, except for Dean and Seamus who had stood waving goodbye to their
friends, and Mandy, who hadn’t moved since Hermione had emerged from the
castle.
“Well, I never!” Mandy said at last, and stormed off into the castle.
“I’ll just bet you haven’t,” Seamus muttered under his breath, a remark
that was rewarded by a cuff to the head from his boyfriend.