Sirius Black's Secret Love

Chapter 18 - The Most Powerful Magic of All

The next morning, Harry was attacked while he was still in bed by Dean, Seamus and Neville when they realized that he was back. They bombarded him with questions until he gave them an abbreviated version of the trial and the scandal regarding former Minister Fudge. He and Hermione had to retell that story dozens of times before the morning editions of The Daily Prophet arrived by owl post. Harry was pleasantly surprised to see that the coverage of the trial and the removal of Fudge as Minister of Magic seemed truthful, straightforward and balanced. He was also happy to see a full exoneration of Sirius Black have prominent coverage on the front page.

Harry looked up and saw Sirius and Professor Figg enter the Great Hall followed by an elderly wizarding couple carrying Soraya. The witch had long silver hair and was cooing over the small baby, while the wizard had long salt and pepper hair and looked like an elderly version of Sirius. Harry had no doubt that they had to be his godfather´s parents. He smiled as he saw the happy family sit down at the head table. Sirius saw him and motioned for Harry and Hermione to join them.

"Mum, Dad, I´d like you to meet Harry Potter and Hermione Granger," Sirius said introducing them. "Harry, Hermione, these are my parents Kathleen and Galileo Black."

Kathleen gave both Harry and Hermione a kiss on the cheek, "I want to thank both of you for not only believing in my son, but for working so hard to restore his good name. I can´t tell you how much this means to his father and me. We had been hoping for years that there had been some mistake made and that Sirius was innocent. Now we know that it wasn´t a mistake, it was a conspiracy against him. We cannot thank you two enough for what you have done for our family and also for the Wizarding World."

Galileo put his left arm around his wife and shook Harry´s hand with the other, "You are a fine young man. I´m glad to finally meet you." He looked at Hermione and gave her a warm smile, "And Miss Granger, you have a great future ahead of you. I have never heard of anyone shaking the Ministry of Magic to its foundations the way that you have in one afternoon."

"Thank you, Mr. Black," she replied blushing.

"I spoke with Remus last night when I got back," Sirius said to Harry. "There wasn´t much damage to the Zone. He thinks that the Lestranges were sent there to repeat their attack as a way to draw me out of the grounds here once Pettigrew´s trap was set. I don´t think it´ll take me very long to repair any charms they broke. I´ll be heading back there in a little while, but I want to spend some time with my folks first. I haven´t seen them in fifteen years. I never wrote to them while I was on the run, because I knew they´d be watched by the Ministry and didn´t want to endanger them. But now, I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. I cannot thank you and Hermione enough."

Harry and Hermione chatted with them for a little while and then excused themselves to return to the Gryffindor table for breakfast. The buzz in the room had become quite audible as the students were all discussing the events detailed in the morning´s paper and the fact that the infamous Sirius Black was sitting up at the head table next to Professor Figg with a newborn baby.

The next three days were spent taking the O.W.L.s and Harry felt exhausted when they were through. The exams were comprehensive for the entire five years of instruction they had completed. They were not only tested on their academic knowledge, but they had to perform practical demonstrations of their skills. He preferred the practical portions as he had no trouble with the transfigurations or charms, but once again he felt uninspired by the trivial information that he was expected to remember and regurgitate especially in subjects such as the History of Magic.

On Friday when they had their Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Harry was somewhat surprised to see that Professor Figg was still teaching. He had wondered how she was going to handle being a new mother and a teacher at the same time. Halfway through the class while they were busy transcribing answers to an essay question, Kathleen Black entered the room with Soraya. She handed the baby to Professor Figg who discreetly covered her chest with a blanket as she breastfed the child in class. Harry stole a glance at Ron´s direction to see that he was blushing. Harry laughed inwardly when he thought about Ron´s finding breastfeeding sexually attractive. Then he found his own mind wandering to a few nights before when Hermione sat on his lap and unbuttoned her blouse for him. Harry shook his head and willed himself to concentrate at the task at hand or he´d never finish his exam.

Harry was relieved when he received a letter later that day at dinnertime from the school´s Board of Governors saying that they were dismissing the complaint against him. They felt that his written testimony and rebuttals were convincing enough especially when they considered the revelations from the trial. All evidence pointed to him having used magic to protect the mourners and that he was not the cause of the disturbance as had been suggested. They also recognized that the private tutorials that had been given to him the previous summer had probably helped to save his life. Since it was now recognized that Voldemort had returned and that there was a strong likelihood that Harry´s life was still endangered by Dark Wizards, the Board gave him their special permission to perform magic during the summer holidays. They did however make the stipulation that he could not perform any spells in the presence of Muggles.

"So I can´t hex Dudley," Harry shrugged.

"Are you going to move in with Sirius and Professor Figg?" Ron asked.

"No, their house isn´t big enough," Harry replied. "They only have two bedrooms and one is filled with surveillance equipment. I´m sure Soraya will be sleeping in their room, but there really isn´t any place for me. Doesn´t matter though, I´ll be spending my days with them and only crashing at night at the Dursleys. I´m sure I´ll sleep better through the nights listening to Dudley and Uncle Vernon snore than I would hearing a newborn cry."

Ron nodded at that.

Neville came rushing over to the dining table and was grinning from ear to ear.

"Harry did you hear that Malfoy isn´t coming back?" Neville said. "I just overheard someone say that the investigation with him is still ongoing. They think he may have been involved in some Death Eater activity other than just keeping his father informed of things going on in school. I also heard his father is now under scrutiny as well as having worked for You-Know-Who. The Ministry is taking their time with investigations these days and doesn´t want to rush anything. Anyway, it doesn´t look like Draco will be returning at all this year."

Harry thought of Draco´s grandmother being forced to leave school after her fifth year.

"Hmm, maybe he´ll be a Hogwarts drop-out," Harry said with relish. "I bet he wouldn´t be the first in his family not to finish here."

Neville started laughing so hard he shot pumpkin juice out of his nose.

Hermione looked suspiciously at the two of them. "Is there something you´re not telling me?"

"It´s a private joke," Neville answered smiling and wiping his nose. "Oh that stuff burns."

*

Harry found that his thoughts were now totally preoccupied with Hermione. She was concerned about being a prefect and the rules against any public displays of affection. So while they weren´t trying to actively keep their new relationship a secret, it seemed to work out that way. She wanted to keep their interactions discreet, but she still found ways to drive him crazy. She normally sat next to him at mealtimes, but now she sat just a little closer to him. Sometimes she wouldn´t ask for food to be passed to her and instead would simply reach over to get the dish causing her thigh to brush up against his leg. This would send shockwaves throughout Harry´s body.

It also seemed that the common room was never empty. Students had been staying up until all hours of the night cramming for exams and there was always at least one student there at all times. After exam week was over, there were still students hanging around the common room. Now they were playing games, partying and telling jokes until the wee hours of the night.

Harry and Hermione had been able to sneak a few stolen kisses in the stairwells, but Harry longed for uninterrupted time alone with her. He finally came to realize what he had wanted, but had to wait to talk with her privately about it. A few hours before the leaving feast was set to begin, he suggested that they walk down to Hagrid´s hut and pay their large friend a visit.

"Hagrid, I need to talk with Hermione about something," Harry said quietly. "I don´t want there to be any chance that anyone could overhear us. So could you go somewhere for a couple minutes?"

Hagrid looked over at Hermione and smiled. "Sure Harry. I was wondrin´, could I borrow yer broomstick? There´s somethin´ I need ta get back fer Sirius."

"Umm, sure. I´ll bring it to you," said Harry sounding perplexed.

"Fang! Come `ere. It´s time fer a lil´ walk. `Scuse me, Hermione but I don´ want Fang to mess up me house. I´ll be back in a few," said Hagrid as he hurriedly took the big boarhound outside.

Hermione gave Harry a great smile as she launched herself at him. She slammed him against the wall between the windows. They started to kiss passionately and he could feel their kiss deepening very quickly. Harry broke the kiss before he lost all of his ability to concentrate.

"Hermione, I need to talk with you about something. I want to show you how much I love you," he paused, took her face in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes. "I´d like to make love with you."

Hermione swallowed hard, but didn´t break her gaze with Harry.

"I know this is sudden and I´ll completely understand if you´re not ready or would feel uncomfortable. If I were a normal guy, I don´t think I´d consider bringing this subject up right now. It´s just after we first admitted our feelings toward one another, but I´m not a normal guy. I´ve felt for the last year that I´m living on borrowed time. I know that I´ll have to face Voldemort again and I don´t know how long my luck will hold out. I´m worried about your safety as well. I feel like I want to make love with you this soon, because I just don´t know how long we´ll have to live."

Hermione closed her eyes and fought back tears. Harry took her in his arms and stroked her hair.

"I´m sorry about this. I don´t want to pressure you into anything," he whispered in her ear. "Tomorrow night after the wedding reception, you´ll be alone in your dorm room. I´ll have Ron and Neville sleeping in mine. If you want, I can wait until they´re fast asleep and then sneak out using my Invisibility Cloak and come visit you. We can spend a few hours together and then I´ll go back to my dorm room. I just want to have a little privacy with you and not worry about being interrupted. If all we do is finish that snogging session that we started in the common room, that´ll be fine with me. I´m not sure what all would have happened between us if Ron hadn´t woken up that night, but I know that I was enjoying myself."

Hermione smiled.

"So was I and I can´t help but relive that night in my dreams and daydreams. I do love you, Harry Potter," she said with a husky voice.

"So, can I come and visit you tomorrow night?" he asked hopefully. "I´ll let you decide what you feel comfortable with and I will bring protection, just in case. Because the last thing I want is for you to get pregnant."

Hermione blew in his ear and then started to kiss his neck driving him wild.

"I´ll take that as a yes," he said as his hands roamed over her backside.

*

The leaving feast was once again a celebration of Gryffindor´s win of the House Cup. This had been safely secured when Dumbledore publicly made an announcement at dinner the night after he returned from the Ministry of Magic. He congratulated Harry for saving Sirius Black´s life and to Hermione for defending the honour of five innocent parties and exposing corruption within the Ministry. Harry was awarded 200 points for his efforts, while Hermione was awarded 300 points. This was enough to safely secure the House Cup to be awarded to Gryffindor again with a new record of 848 points.

Harry couldn´t help but reflect on the leaving feast that had taken place just one year ago. That had been a somber occasion and one that left everyone feeling very apprehensive. Similarly, the welcoming feast in September had been one where Harry was looked at with great suspicion. Now this feast had a festive atmosphere to it and any fears about Harry Potter being a Dark Wizard in training seemed comical in retrospect.

Harry looked up from his heaping plate of food and saw Cho giving him a friendly wave. She was holding hands with a good looking black haired guy from her house. Harry returned her smile as he realized that Cho hadn´t been trying to blow him off after all. He also thought she probably sensed that he and Hermione were now "more than just friends."

*

The next day Harry and Sirius were getting dressed in their black wizarding tuxedos. Harry had pulled back his long hair into a ponytail and had a black ribbon holding it in place. Sirius was affixing a yellow rose boutonnière to Harry´s lapel and helping with his bowtie. Harry felt a little nervous. He knew that he needed to broach a sensitive topic with his godfather, but felt unsure of how to start.

"Harry, I wanted to tell you that Arabella wants you to stop calling her Professor Figg. She is no longer your instructor and would like for you to call her Arabella."

"Okay."

"I wish we could have you move in with us, but there´s just not enough room in that small house. It took her years to put all those charms and enchantments in that neighbourhood and it just wouldn´t be as safe to try and move so we could all live together."

"I understand," said Harry.

"Yeah, we´ll have you come over everyday just like last summer. Except now, `Old Mrs. Figg´ has decided to stay in Scotland and live in her late sister´s house and has sold the house in Little Whinging to her `nephew´ and his wife."

"Are you going to continue to use aging potion?" asked Harry.

"Nah, I only needed that to disguise myself from the Wizarding World. Now that I´m no longer a fugitive, I don´t feel like bothering with that. I shaved off my moustache for the same reason. I feel better looking like my old self again. If any of the neighbours ask, I´ll tell them that I had a facelift and dyed my hair. Makes me look twenty years younger and don´t I look smashing!"

"Your teeth...they don´t look as yellow as they used to," Harry observed.

"Yeah, I used some Muggle teeth bleachers. I just couldn´t stand looking in the mirror and seeing how stained they became over years of being in prison with no dental care."

"Umm, Sirius," Harry began nervously. "Do you remember when you told me to come to you before doing anything?"

"Yesss," Sirius looked at him and raised one eyebrow. "Are you planning on...?"

"Uh, huh. Tonight," Harry blushed.

"Do you still have the ah...?"

Harry nodded quickly. "I haven´t used them yet. You told me that I couldn´t do anything spontaneous and that I should tell you before..."

"Good. Okay," Sirius took a deep breath. "First of all, are you sure you two want to do this so soon? You and Hermione have only been a couple for about three weeks. Once you become intimate, it changes everything in a relationship."

"It´s all I can think about."

"Yes, well," Sirius flashed him a smile with a knowing look to it, "that feeling doesn´t change after you´ve done it for the first time. It will still be all that you can think about. Especially at your age."

Harry gave him a pleading look, "Sirius, you don´t understand. I´m afraid that one of us is going to die soon and I don´t want to have either one of us regret we never got the chance to..."

"Well, I suppose that line might actually work for you."

"It´s not a line," Harry said irritated. "It´s how I feel."

"I know," Sirius sighed. "You are marked for death. So am I. It doesn´t help matters that in a mere twenty-four hours time, Voldemort went from thinking he´d kill both of us to losing six of his followers to Azkaban. I´m sure his over inflated ego is still smarting from that, especially with the loss of Fudge, which has led to the mass purging of his followers and spies at the Ministry. But, Harry getting back to the subject at hand, you might just want to start with heavy petting. That generally helps girls in the transition to becoming sexually active."

"Sirius, when did my parents do it for the first time?"

"Well...umm..." Sirius cleared his throat uncomfortably. "James and Lily didn´t really kiss until about your age. They had been a couple, but..."
"And?...They´re dead, Sirius. I don´t know why you feel like you have to hide anything about them."

"I know, it´s just a tad uncomfortable talking about them in this way. I don´t think they became lovers until our seventh year, so your mother would have been in her sixth year."

"And Hermione and I have known each other since the first day. It´s not like I just met her," Harry said defensively.

"Yeah, well before you do anything there´s a few things you need to know. Girls don´t have the same level of sex drive that guys do. Especially at your age. It takes them a lot longer to become aroused. I´m sure you´ve discovered that it doesn´t take much to get excited. Heck, I remember one time seeing Professor Flitwick´s robe fly up with a slight breeze and for some reason..."

Harry snickered.

"Not that I ever found Flitwick exciting mind you," Sirius continued. "What I´m trying to say is that girls don´t respond the same way as guys. They don´t respond to visual stimuli the way guys do. They respond more to mental stimulation and Harry, the human brain is the most powerful sex organ. Far more powerful than anything between your legs. And if a woman doesn´t allow herself to enjoy sex, she can allow things to physically happen to her body - but not truly respond."

"I don´t understand," said Harry sounding confused.

"Women are far more powerful sexual beings than men. Women have an organ whose sole function is for sexual pleasure. We have an organ that carries sperm and urine. It´s just not equivalent. Women can have multiple orgasms and are incredible sexual beings - but only if they allow themselves to experience that power. Many women are simply afraid of that power. So for some reason even if all their organs are functioning properly - some women will not allow themselves to experience ecstasy. There are some women who have had numerous children and have never had an orgasm because they haven´t allowed themselves to fully experience pleasure."

"So, what am I supposed to do?" Harry asked with his eyes wide with fear.

"Well, first of all," Sirius said calmly. "You need to be paying attention to the cues that Hermione´s body will be giving you more than the cues from your own body. And it´s more important to pay attention to what her body is saying more than what her lips say. She might say `yes´ but if she stiffens up and seems rigid - stop what you are doing. That´s because her body is sensing something wrong. There are many, many people that have suffered sexual abuse as a child. I wish that it never happened to anyone, but you must be aware that there are many walking wounded out there. Anyone who has been sexually abused will have a difficult time when they are touched intimately, because it may trigger painful memories."

"Okay, so let´s hope she´s never been harmed in that way..."

"Then you still need to make sure she´s ready. Many girls are pressured into having sex before they are ready because their boyfriends want them to. Hermione´s a very special lady. I don´t want you to do anything that might risk your relationship with her. The last thing you want to do is make her resent you by putting too much pressure on her."

"I know all that."

"Good. Just to repeat the point. If she´s not ready or if she tells you to stop, you can always take care of your needs by yourself. Don´t do anything she´s not willing to do."

Sirius reached into the deep pocket of his wizarding tuxedo and pulled out a small bottle of oil. "Here Harry, take this. It´s some massage oil. I had planned to use it tonight, just to give Arabella a little pleasure. It´s still too soon after her giving birth for us to make love."

Harry waved his hands in the air.

"I know, I know, too much information. That´s fine. I won´t tell you any more about our sex life. Anyway, I think you could use it more than me. This will help Hermione to relax and even if you two don´t go all the way...she´ll probably let you touch her in some places that you´ve only dreamed of. There´s also some techniques I´m going to tell you that you might find helpful."

Sirius began telling things to Harry that made him blush furiously, but he was grateful that his godfather was taking the time to talk frankly with him. He felt really nervous and wasn´t sure what he was supposed to do.

As they finished up that discussion, Remus Lupin walked in the room. He was wearing what appeared to be his best robes, they were still a little tattered but much nicer than the everyday robes he had worn while teaching.

"Harry? Oh my, you have grown so much in the last two years. You look great," said Lupin smiling.

"I haven´t gotten much taller," he protested.

"Maybe not, but your face has matured and you look so much like James did when we were at school. How are you?"

"Great. This has got to be one of the best days of my life," answered Harry.

"It´s a day I never thought I´d live to see," joked Lupin as he elbowed Sirius in the ribs. "I didn´t think there was a woman alive that could tame this wild dog."

"Moony, old boy - I´m glad you´re here with me," said Sirius clapping him on the back.

"I couldn´t miss seeing Padfoot tie the knot. I just wish you didn´t have to do this on a day like today," Lupin said wistfully. "I´ll have to leave early and miss out on all the fun."

Harry understood. Tonight was going to be a full moon.

"Sorry about that, but Dumbledore thought it would be best to do this today. At least you can see me get married, have some dinner and maybe stay for a dance or two before you head to the Shrieking Shack."

"Who´s watching the Zone?" Harry asked.

"Fletcher. Snape is going to be there with him during the wedding, but McGonagall´s going to replace him during the reception. They´ll be staying together there until Arabella and I arrive back home tomorrow." Then Sirius leaned towards Harry, "Arabella´s hoping that they´ll hit it off with each other."

"McGonagall and Fletcher?" Lupin said amusedly. "They´d make an odd couple."

"Maybe so, but they´re both lonely," Sirius added. "Arabella hates to see people lonely for that long. She, umm, even suggested that her aunt give Fletcher a haircut."

"A haircut?" asked Harry. "What good would that do?"

"Oh it´s been known to bring people together before," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked perplexed.

"Don´t ask. You don´t want to know," Sirius said.

"Did you say once that Arabella´s parents had died?" Harry asked changing the subject.

Sirius nodded.

"So is your father walking Arabella down the aisle?"

Sirius shook his head quickly, "Uh, no. You just touched on a subject that Arabella has very intense feelings about. She´s never liked the idea of a man `giving away´ a woman to another man. She said it reminds her of batons being passed as if women were simple possessions. No, she freely gave her love to me and she will walk herself down the aisle."

"Oh, I never thought of it that way," Harry said sounding embarrassed.

"I hadn´t either until she said something. In fact in her first wedding she had both of her parents walk her down the aisle and her husband had the same thing done. It was more like the joining of families which she preferred symbolically than the old bridal give-away imagery that she hates so much."

Harry then thought of something which made him start laughing and he shook his head slightly, "I´ve got to tell you guys this. Ron told me last year that he thought you two were a couple."

Sirius gave Harry a look of shocked amusement, then he and Lupin looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"What ever made him think that?" asked Sirius.

"Uh, I think it was when you two hugged in the Shrieking Shack," Harry answered sheepishly.

Sirius looked at Lupin up and down. "Sorry, but I like my lovers to have a little less hair on their chests. And definitely less hair on their backs!"

"Padfoot´s not my type either," Lupin said with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, by seventh year Moony looked like he was a walking mass of fur - even when there wasn´t a full moon," laughed Sirius.

"Shut up, Padfoot," Lupin said laughing and looking fondly at his friend.

Sirius embraced him in a big bear hug, which turned into a mini-wrestling match.

"I missed you so much," Lupin said as they broke the embrace.

"Me too, Moony," Sirius said. "See Harry, real men can hug and still like women."

"I told him that he was wrong," Harry offered, "but that was before I knew about you and Arabella."

Sirius looked at his watch and patted Harry on the back, "Come on, it´s time to go."

"Sirius, I didn´t have a chance to get you any gift," Harry said sounding disappointed.

"Harry, you saved my life and you came up with a plan to exonerate me. I don´t think there´s any greater gift you could give me. I certainly don´t need something from you with a bow on it," Sirius said.

"Well, how about something for Soraya?"

"Okay, we´ll go shopping later this week," Sirius relented. "Hey Moony, make yourself useful. We have guests that need to be ushered to their seats."

"Sure thing, Padfoot. Come on, Harry let´s go," said Lupin.

They walked outside into the bright sunshine and into the topiary gardens. There were rows of white wooden folding chairs set up with a long white satin walkway in between them. A makeshift altar was set up in front of a water fountain.

The guests were milling around in the rose gardens. Harry noticed that the house-elves were all wearing the same outfit. They had white button down shirts, short navy blue pants, red knobby socks, black shoes and wore the same styled red beret that he had seen in Dobby´s room. It looked like they were wearing uniforms. It was hard to tell the females from the males, but upon closer inspection he saw that the females wore red bows around their necks while the males had red ties.

"Umm, Harry, you´re looking sharp," Ron sniffed as he came up to his friend.

"Er, thanks," said Harry blinking as he looked at Ron´s dark green robe. "Your dress robe looks better than the one you wore last year."

"Anything would be better than that," Ron said as he rolled his eyes. "Hey, what´s up with the elves? They almost look like militants."

"You never know what they´re up to," Harry said cryptically. "We need to come up with new signals."

"I know, I know. I´ve been trying to think of something subtle, but better than sniffing," Ron then pulled on Harry´s arm. "Who´s that with Filch?"

"Must be his date."

"I never thought I´d see Filch with a date. Hmm, she looks a little familiar to me. I just can´t place her," Ron said.

Harry was still bound by Dumbledore to keep the life story of Mrs. Norris a secret, so he hoped Ron wouldn´t recognize the family resemblance with Narcissa Malfoy. He supposed that since the student body had left the school that Mrs. Norris thought it was safe to show her face at the wedding. Besides, he figured that Arabella probably insisted that the elderly witch share in the joyous occasion and thought that since the staff was trusted by Dumbledore and that they were therefore trustworthy with the woman´s secret whereabouts.

Harry walked up to Mrs. Norris and offered his arm to walk her to be seated. She looked much more at peace with herself than the day she revealed her secrets. Filch even looked different. He had a contented smile on his face and his disposition no longer seemed cruel and bitter.

Lupin was busy walking different faculty members down the aisle. He took both Professors McGonagall and Sprout down at the same time. Later he took Professors Vector, Sinistra, Trelawney and Madam Pince. They seemed to be waiting in queue for Lupin and didn´t want a mere student as their escort.

Harry noticed that there was a crowd of people that had gathered in front of Neville´s parents. Frank and Claire Longbottom looked much better than they had when they arrived at Hogwarts. They were still using wheelchairs because their muscles hadn´t fully recovered. They could walk for short distances, but still needed assistance. Harry had met them briefly a few weeks earlier when Neville wanted his parents to meet him. They had been very polite and kind and spoke highly of James and Lily Potter. Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody was standing near the Longbottoms and seemed almost jovial.

Mr. Weasley walked into the garden and was visibly surprised to see Neville´s parents.

"By Merlin´s beard, I don´t believe it! Frank. Claire. Wh-what happened?" he stammered.

"Arthur, it´s good to see you again," Mr. Longbottom said extending his hand.

"It´s good to see you too," Mr. Weasley said shaking his hand, "but...what happened?"

"It´s a long story," Mr. Longbottom sighed, "and one that we will have to tell you. It would be better for us to do that officially though, in your office later this week."

"Sure, I´ll be looking forward to that," Mr. Weasley said. "I´ve taken tomorrow off to see the kids home safely, but I will be in the office the rest of the week. Heck since Fudge´s dismissal, I´ve wound up staying at the office for at least twelve hours a day. The investigation just gets bigger every day. The Ministry truly was a viper´s nest of corruption. Today is the first day I´ve taken off since the scandal broke."

"I feel at ease knowing that you´re our new Minister of Magic," said Mr. Longbottom.

"Now Frank, I´m just the acting Minister until the inquiry is complete. Then we´ll have to schedule an election."

"But you´ll be running for the position, won´t you?" asked Mr. Longbottom.

Mr. Weasley smiled and winked at him.

Dumbledore came up behind Neville. The Headmaster was wearing a midnight blue cloak decorated with embroidered golden stars. He put his hand on Neville´s shoulder and said softly, "As soon as your parents make their statement to the Ministry, we´ll start planning that long overdue funeral service. I also think that your parents might be ready to go back to your home in the next week or so."

Neville nodded and then he and Harry helped move the Longbottoms into a prime viewing area on the bride´s side of the gallery. Madam Pomfrey sat near them. Harry returned to the staging area and helped to show Percy and Penny to their seats. As he walked back he saw Ginny waiting anxiously for him. She was wearing a terra cotta coloured dress and copper coloured lipstick, which complimented her complexion. She squeezed his arm as he was walking her down the aisle to her seat.

"I never got a chance to dance with you at the Yule Ball. I thought maybe we could have at least one dance tonight," she said with hope in her voice.

"Sure, Ginny. Come and find me," he said. He hoped that Ginny wouldn´t be too disappointed when she found out about his relationship with Hermione.

Soon the rest of the guests were seated. Kathleen and Galileo Black were the last ones to go down the aisle carrying Soraya. They were seated in the very front row beaming at their handsome son the groom.

As Harry and Sirius stood at the front of the altar, Dumbledore cast a spell on a large golden harp. Soft, beautiful notes began to play and Hermione began walking down the aisle. Harry´s heart melted as soon as he saw her. He had never seen her look quite so beautiful and mature. She was wearing a white satin tea length dress with a scoop neckline, a large purple sash at her waist and carried a bouquet of yellow roses that had purple, green and white ribbons fluttering in the breeze. Her hair had been plaited into a French braid with baby´s breath adorning it. His heart skipped a beat as she gave him a warm smile as she passed by him. He had to shake his head and remind himself that she wasn´t the bride. He looked up at Sirius and saw his godfather draw himself up in anxious anticipation of his bride´s entrance.

The audience turned and stood as Arabella made her appearance under the arched trellis that was draped with roses in full bloom. She was wearing a floor length ivory gown made of satin with an empire waist and a scoop neckline. Her bodice was encrusted with pearls and she carried a large bouquet of white roses. Her long hair was braided and she had a headpiece covered in pearls. She had a radiance about her that was palpable. Sirius looked at her with such love in his eyes that they began to water. Dumbledore smiled warmly as the bride took her place next to the groom.

"It is with great pleasure that I stand before you today to join together Sirius Black and Arabella Figg in marriage," Dumbledore announced. "Love is the most powerful magic of all. Their love was forged out of tragedy and has spanned many years of separation and isolation. Yet it endured and it now flourishes. This is a love that has transformed them into being better people and now proud parents.

"Life is a series of obstacles and the test of one´s character is how you respond to those obstacles. Some people declare defeat and refuse to respond to a challenge. Others willingly meet every obstacle head on. But finding happiness and love is also a challenge and one that demonstrates your true mettle. To find happiness and love regardless of your station in life and the handicaps that have befallen you can sometimes be the greatest challenge of all. One must seek out happiness in whatever they are doing and to try whenever possible to lighten the load of others along the way of Life´s journey. And that is the Meaning of Life.

"Sirius Black do you freely enter into the contract of marriage with Arabella Figg?"

"I do."

"And do you Arabella Figg freely enter into the contract of marriage with Sirius Black?" asked Dumbledore.

"I do."

"Do you have the rings?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry handed two rings to Sirius. The groom took his bride´s left hand in his and placed a large ruby solitaire on it and followed it with a gold band with Celtic knots engraved on them.

Sirius looked her in the eye and said solemnly, "Arabella, I promise to love you, to care for you and to be faithful to you for all the days of my life."

Hermione handed a ring to Arabella. The bride placed the matching gold band with engraved Celtic knots on the groom´s left hand.

"Sirius, I promise to love you, to care for you and to be faithful to you for all the days of my life," she said gazing lovingly at him.

"In the name of Merlin and all that is holy, I consecrate and bless this union," Dumbledore said and waved his arm. A broomstick flew through the air and landed before the bridal couple´s feet. "Once you jump over the broomstick you will be married."

Sirius and Arabella squeezed each other´s hand and made a small jump over the ceremonial broomstick. He pulled her into his arms and gave her a long and passionate kiss. Professor McGonagall blew her nose loudly as the audience applauded politely to the married couple.

Dumbledore waved his arm and a cage full of white doves was magically opened allowing them to fly into the sky. Harry then noticed that the headmaster´s terrarium was placed on the ground next to the doves´ cage. The glass that covered the terrarium disappeared and various bugs flew out. One large black beetle seemed to shoot out of the glass container like it was a rocket. Harry suppressed a laugh realizing that Rita Skeeter was now free. Her knowledge of Sirius being in Dumbledore´s camp could no longer harm anyone. He hoped that her prolonged period of `inconvenience´ might prove to be a learning experience to her about the dangers of misrepresenting oneself.

Sirius and Arabella walked arm in arm down the aisle with smiles that would light up a city. Harry offered his arm to Hermione and they followed down the aisle at a much slower pace. They stood near the rose covered trellis and formed the receiving line and greeted all the guests. It felt strange for Harry to see all of the faculty members in a different setting. It was still school and all, but this seemed different somehow.

Shortly afterward they had the formal wedding photos taken. Harry was very careful to keep his head forward and looking at the camera. He had learned a painful lesson about wizarding photographs and didn´t want any repeat embarrassments especially under these happy circumstances. After that was done the wedding party sat down at the head table where the dinner had just been served. It was an elegant serving of beef tenderloin medallions with a port reduction sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and steamed baby vegetables.

A waiter came around and poured wine into their champagne flutes. Harry was surprised to see that he was served, but quickly grabbed his glass. He found that it tickled his nose and was surprised with the fizzy taste on his tongue.

Lupin walked behind Sirius and Arabella and lifted his wine glass, "I know that traditionally this role goes to the best man, but I simply must say a few words before I have to leave. I´ve known Sirius since we were both eleven years old. There isn´t anyone I can think of that has been more like a brother to me than he has. I´ve also known Arabella for close to twenty years. And I would never have thought of putting those two together as a couple. That´s because she was always careful, meticulous and thoughtful. Sirius, on the other hand was a brash, leap-before-you-look kind of guy. I didn´t think that he´d ever settle down. And now with the benefit of a few more years under our collective belts they have come together and complement each other beautifully. Arabella has tamed the mad dog and now he´s even a devoted father. That´s something I simply never thought I´d live to see. Here´s to Sirius and Arabella. May your love grow stronger and last for a long, long time."

He lifted his glass and everyone followed suit. Sirius smiled and punched Lupin on the shoulder.

"Thanks Moony, I love ya pal!"

"Same here Padfoot. And now, I think I´d better be off before I spoil things," Lupin said and turned to the bride. "Arabella, congratulations and I wish you the best of luck with this guy."

"Thank you, Remus," she said as she gave him a warm kiss on the cheek. "I´m glad you could share this day with us. Now please hurry."

Lupin gave her a kiss and smiled at her with a look of adoration in his eyes. "You are an incredible woman. Sirius is a very lucky dog."

"Off with you!" Sirius barked as he smacked him on the back.

"Harry, I hope to see you soon," Lupin said as he took his leave.

Sirius leaned over to Harry and said in an undertone, "You can only have one glass of champagne. Same goes for Hermione. I don´t want either one of you to be under any influence of alcohol when you are together later tonight. Got that?"

Harry nodded and looked over at Hermione. Sirius was right, alcohol could lead to disastrous consequences if they tried to get intimate and were drunk. They would need to have their wits about them, especially with this being their first time.

After dinner concluded, the Weird Sisters set up their instruments on one corner of the dance floor. They were warming up and Harry felt a familiar uneasiness in his stomach. Dancing. He shook his head. He never warmed to the idea of dancing. It was something he would rather never do.

The first dance was reserved for the bride and groom. They danced slowly and sensuously across the dance floor. Harry wondered if Arabella would have danced faster if she hadn´t given birth only three weeks before. He sat there watching them and being entranced. He didn´t realize that Hermione had sat down next to him.

"We´re up next," she said.

"What?" he asked.

"The second dance is for the wedding party. Sirius´s parents will also be on the dance floor. At least at the beginning of the song, then other couples will be allowed on to join us."

The song ended and Hermione took him by the hand to the dance floor.

"I don´t really know how to dance," Harry confessed.

"You don´t need to," Hermione said kindly, "just put your hands behind my waist, like this." She said as she positioned his hands in the small of her back. "And I´ll put my arms around your neck like this."

Harry began to feel very warm holding her in his arms.

"And now we can just move slowly on the dance floor. We don´t have to worry about fancy steps or anything like that," she said softly. "Just hold me."

"I can do that," he said pressing his body against hers.

They swayed slowly to the music. Harry could feel the warmth of Hermione´s body through the fabric of her dress. He caressed her back as he felt her chest rise and fall against his. He wanted to make love with her right then and there, but knew that they´d have to wait just a few more hours. The dance floor soon filled with other couples.

"I love your scent," he said inhaling deeply.

"I bought that perfume with you in mind," she whispered in his ear.

"Are you still concerned about public displays of affection?" he asked.

"School´s out remember? Those rules no longer apply," she replied with a smile.

Harry turned his head started kissing her. They quickly lost all notice of the song that they were dancing to and they continued moving in a circle after the music stopped. It took them a few moments to realize that everyone around them had stopped dancing and were now staring at them. They broke their kiss and looked around the crowd and were embarrassed as they were applauded. Harry noticed that Ron turned his head and Ginny hastily left the table and did not look pleased at all. Oh well, Harry thought, she had to find out sometime that he had given his heart to another.

Harry and Hermione decided to sit the next dance out and sat down at a neighbouring table. Percy looked like he had consumed a few too many glasses of champagne. His eyes were bleary and he was running his hands through his hair.

"I was a fool. I was just a bloomin´ idiot. Dad, Mum, you were right all along," Percy said to them with slurred speech. "I thought that if I simply followed what Fudge said that I was helping the Wizarding World. I never stopped to question anything that he said or did. I just checked my brain at the door. You-Know-Who didn´t need to try and recruit me, because I was doing everything Fudge wanted. Now as I look back, there were so many things that were wrong. I should have recognized it. You tried telling me that since last summer, but I wouldn´t listen. I thought I knew everything and that you were out of touch."

Percy took another long drink of wine. He turned and looked apologetically at Harry. "I´m sorry I thought you were evil. I should have known better. I´ve known you for years and you´ve been accepted in my family...I was blinded by my own ambitions. It was easier for me to think bad of you than to admit a worse reality might be possible. Even when all the evidence pointed that you were telling the truth. I was helping in the effort to put you away. You, Dumbledore, Snape, Black and Figg. If it weren´t for Hermione...," he choked, "you´d all be in Azkaban. I shouldn´t even be here. I don´t deserve to be. I - I "

"Now Percy," Mrs. Weasley said in a comforting voice, "Sirius and Arabella know that you aren´t evil. You were just eager to please. Too eager to please. I think you´ve learned a painful lesson that people are not always what they appear to be. Crouch, Fudge or Sirius Black."

Percy sighed heavily and turned to Penelope, "Penny, can you ever forgive me? I´ve treated you horribly in the last few months. Arguing with you over trivial matters such as appetizers and party favours. I love you so much and I realize now that my obsession with success was damaging our relationship. I wouldn´t blame you if you wanted to break off our engagement, but I beg of you to please give me another chance to prove my love to you."

She looked at Percy with tears in her eyes and kissed him.

"Percy, you are on the right track," Mr. Weasley said leaning forward, "to have a long and successful marriage you need to learn to say two words, `yes, Dear.´ And you need to realize that there are certain topics that are not worthwhile debating because you´ll never win. Things like wedding plans and decorating your house. You don´t want to argue about curtains or area rugs. It´s best to recognize that if you want harmony in your relationship that sometimes your opinion will only complicate matters."

Mrs. Weasley patted her husband´s hand. "Percy, listen to your father on this. He knows what he´s talking about."

Percy began to pick up his glass of wine and Penny took it from him.

"I think you´ve had enough," she said as she grabbed his hand. "Come dance with me, my love."

They left the table and Percy stumbled as they went onto the dance floor. Hagrid came up to the groom and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sirius, I´ve got somethin´ fer ya. I apologize if she´s gonna need some work fixin´ up. I used her five years ago ta´ reach Harry when his uncle tried to hide him from us. The Dursley´s took the lad to a remote island out in the sea. I had ta´ fly it there to reach `em. I wound up leavin´ her there and was happy to see she was still waitin´ there fer me. Course I tried ta´ put a curse on it so that no one could move her."

Hagrid then walked behind his hut and rolled out the long lost large black motorcycle. Sirius´s jaw dropped.

"Hagrid!" Sirius said beaming as he went to examine the bike close up, "You brought her back to me. My first true love. Thank you so much, do you have any idea how many dates I got because of this bike?"

Arabella cast him a disapproving look.

"Come on, Bella. If I remember correctly, you liked riding on it, too," he chided her.

"It did come in handy a few times," she admitted.

"Sirius, did you realize that we passed the Muggle Protection Act because of that bike?" began Mr. Weasley, "Something like a flying motorcycle was a bit too flashy and too many Muggles had seen you flying around on it."

"Arthur, did you put in any grandfather clauses in that act by any chance?" asked Sirius.

"Well, umm," Mr. Weasley said uncomfortably, "as a matter of fact, ah, yes. Technically your bike isn´t covered under the Act."

Sirius slapped him generously on the back, "You´re a good man, Arthur! I knew that I always liked you. Yup, the two things I´ve missed the most over the years, besides Arabella of course, was this bike and my black leather pants."

"Leather pants? I don´t remember seeing you wear anything like that," she said sounding very interested.

"Well, I only wore them on dates and back then you were not only my boss, but an old married lady. I never would have worn them around you, but umm, I could get another pair," he said smiling, "just for you."

"Sounds nice," she said giving him a knowing look.

"Maybe I ought to get Harry a pair while I´m at it," Sirius said giving Hermione a wink.

Hermione looked appreciatively at Harry, "Hmm, leather? That I´d like to see."

Harry started shaking his head and blushing.

"Sirius, that´ll make his Aunt Petunia have kittens," Arabella protested.

"So what!" Sirius scoffed. "He´s a young man and he ought to be able to make up his mind about a few things. And if we have any problems with the Dursleys this summer, I´ll let them know exactly what I think of them. Since I´m not a fugitive anymore, I feel free to speak my mind."

"And what pray tell do you think you´ll say to them?" asked Arabella.

"I think if I went over there with my wand on my belt, told them that I´m his godfather and that I´m very unhappy with things - that they´d listen up. Especially if I said that they were damned lucky that I was behind bars when Harry was a little boy otherwise they´d have found themselves transfigured into swine for treating him so badly."

Harry grinned at the thought of how Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would be shaking in their shoes to have Sirius walk into their living room in his full Wizarding glory.

"Oh that´ll work alright, but I´m not sure that´s the best tact," Arabella said shaking her head.

"Fine. `Catherine´ can work on all the cover stories she wants to in order to get Harry over to our house every day. But if you ever fall down, I have my Plan B," Sirius said grinning at Harry.

The photographer came up to Sirius and Arabella and announced that it was time to cut the cake. The wedding party walked over to a three-tiered white cake with purple roses and green leaves adorning it. On the top rested figurines in the shape of a dog and a cat. The couple made their ceremonial cutting of the first piece and then gently fed each other some cake. Fred made a snide comment that the groom ought to try and bonk the bride with the cake, which led to a piercing glare in his direction from Arabella.

The photographer then made an announcement that it was time for all the single ladies to come to the dance floor for the bouquet toss. Hermione and Penny walked directly to the site as well as numerous female house-elves.

The photographer noticing the table with many female faculty members walked over to them.

"Are any of you ladies single?" he asked.

"And what if we are?" Madam Pince asked sharply.

"Umm, well, you see, we are going to have the bouquet toss and umm..."

Professor Sprout rolled her eyes. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say that anyone interested in fighting over a bunch of flowers will voluntarily go to the dance floor. I for one feel that I´m a bit old for that nonsense."

He gulped and left the table, looking very embarrassed.

Mrs. Weasley brought Ginny by the hand to the dance floor.

"Honestly, Ginny. This is supposed to be fun," Mrs. Weasley scolded.

Ginny looked sulky and stood next to Penny with Hermione on the other side. The female house-elves were all surrounding them.

Arabella looked over her shoulder and smiled at Hermione. She raised her left hand and placed it dramatically over her eyes. She then brought her right arm upwards to toss the bouquet, but at the last moment turned around and hurled it directly at Hermione.

Ginny looked bitterly disappointed.

"Arabella," Mrs. Weasley complained. "You aren´t supposed to just throw the bouquet at your intended target. It´s supposed to be a toss-up."

Arabella smiled, "It´s my wedding, Molly. I can choose what traditions I want to follow and which ones I want to change."

Mrs. Weasley shook her head and muttered under her breath as she put her arm around Ginny and led her back to the table.

"It´s time for all the bachelors to gather round," Sirius said as he brought a chair to the centre of the dance floor.

The Weird Sisters struck up a bluesy song with lots of saxophone in it. Bill, Percy, the twins, Ron, Harry and Neville as well as the single male house-elves all stood in a semi-circle around the vacant chair waiting for `the show´ to begin. The photographer had learned his lesson with the female faculty members and did not try to recruit Snape or Filch to join in the festivities.

Arabella slowly walked up to the chair and took a seat. She dramatically crossed one leg and started moving it in slow provocative circles and lifting her skirt showing a generous portion of leg. Sirius got down on one knee and took off her shoe. He took two fingers and traced a line going up the inside of her calf, circling her knee and slowly going up the inside of her thigh. Howls of delight were emitted by the gathered bachelors. As he found the garter, Sirius used one finger to lift the elastic band and gently draw it down her leg. As he held the blue ribboned garter in his hands he stood up and gave his bride a kiss to the cheers of the crowd.

The bachelors then started elbowing themselves in trying to get in the best position to catch the garter. Sirius looked at them and chuckled. He turned his back and shot the garter into the air as if it were a large rubber band. The blur of blue and white lace streaked through the air and was headed directly towards Harry, when Ron jumped in front of him. Ron was grasping at the air with empty hands and realized that the garter had disappeared.

Ron´s face became clouded with anger. "That´s not fair!" he scowled at the groom.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders and gave his godson a wink, "Who said I had to be fair?"

Harry was confused by this exchange and then reached into his pocket. He found that the garter had magically appeared there. He drew it out slowly and then twirled it in the air.

"I guess I got it," he said sheepishly.

Ron shot him a darkened look.

Hermione then sat down in the chair on the dance floor as the Weird Sisters started to play the same sensuous song. She crossed her legs and let one shoe dangle off her toes. Harry knelt down and smiled up at her. He tossed the shoe over his shoulder, took one finger and stroked the underside of her foot making her flinch. He stretched the garter over her foot and used both of his hands to slowly drag it up her leg. He stopped at her knee and snapped it.

The twins howled, "Higher, higher!"

"You can do better than that," Bill chided him.

Hermione arched an eyebrow at him and then nudged Harry with her foot. He took hold of the garter again and inched it upwards under her crinoline petticoat. He was careful not to expose her leg to the crowd, so his hand movements were hidden from view. He wasn´t quite sure exactly how far he could go up her leg before this exhibition was no longer simply risqué, but became indecent. He had almost reached the midway part of her thigh when he felt the texture on her legs change. He felt lace and a small rubberized clip. When he realized that she was wearing silk stockings rather than simple pantyhose, he felt his heart pound. He stopped at that point and touched her bare skin in a circular motion with an index finger. He looked up in her eyes and saw that they were filled with desire. Harry then allowed his hands to glide down her leg to the approving whistles of the twins, Bill, Percy and Neville. Ron had sat down next to Ginny, they both looked very angry.

Soraya gave a wail and Kathleen Black brought her to Arabella.

"Oh, it seems she´s hungry again," Arabella said as she took her daughter in her arms. "I think we ought to be leaving."

Sirius thanked everyone for coming and told Harry that they would see him in the morning. They were going to stay at the inn in Hogsmeade for the night. It was much more spacious and accommodating than the cramped staff quarters.

Harry had enjoyed the wedding and the reception, but he couldn´t wait for it to be over. Hermione gave a large yawn, which Harry suspected was a fake. She wanted to turn in and hoped to start a trend. Any giddiness that he had felt after drinking the one glass of champagne had worn off hours ago. Now all he felt was the dull throb of desire.

*

Harry lay awake in his bed with the curtains closed. He was listening for Neville and Ron´s snores. He wanted to wait for a long enough time so they were safely asleep. He kept looking at his watch and seeing the time slowly creep forward. Ten minutes of snoring seemed long enough and Harry quietly crept out of his bed with his bathrobe and slippers and wearing his Invisibility Cloak. He slowly walked down the stairs and stepped on the edge of the stairwell avoiding the center where it creaked. His heart was pounding as he quietly rapped on the door leading to the fifth year Gryffindor girls´ room.

Hermione opened the door and after he walked inside she grabbed the Invisibility Cloak off of him. She slowly traced her tongue around her lips and breathily said, "Well, Harry..."

He met her eyes and then slowly looked down her body. She was wearing a thin dress cloak tied loosely at her shoulders. Under it she was wearing a black nylon camisole with lace on the bodice and a black half-slip. After lingering on her figure he brought his eyes level to her gaze and blinked. "Er, you look beautiful."

"Harry, everyone in the court saw our signals...maybe you ought to tell me the password before we umm, begin?"

"Moony, Padfoot and..."

"Prongs," she finished throwing her arms around him and kissing him. Harry´s hands began running up and down her body. As he felt the warmth of her body beneath the thin silky fabric he felt his desire for her strengthening, when she abruptly broke their kiss.

"Help me put my trunk in front of the door," she said as she lifted one end.

"Why don´t we do a charm to lighten it?" he asked as he struggled with the weight.

"I did that in order to get it over here. I don´t want to forget and make it easy for anyone to interrupt us."

"What do you have in there? Bricks?" Harry asked as he helped heave it in front of the door.

"Books. What else? Oh and just so you know, the windows are charmed so no one can see in."

He looked around and noticed that Hermione had lit candles around the room to add a romantic glow. The full moon also added a bright radiance to the room. The other four beds had their curtains all hung down while her bed had the drapes drawn open and the covers turned down.

She led him over to her bed and they sat down slowly. Harry stroked the side of her face.

"Hermione, I love you. I want you to know how much you mean to me. We will only go as far as you are ready. I don´t want to make you feel pressured," then he paused. "Do you feel nervous?"

"A little. It´s my first time, please be gentle."

"I don´t want to hurt you," he said softly. "Let me know if you feel uncomfortable at all. I´ll stop, okay?"

She nodded and he gave her a soft lingering kiss. Then he stood to take off his bathrobe. He reached into the pocket and took out his wand, a bottle of massage oil, two condoms and set them on the bedside table.

"Two? Did you think we´d do it twice?"

"No," Harry said blushing. "It was just in case I did something stupid like rip the first one. I´d have a back up."

Hermione gave him a smile, took off his glasses and set them on the table, "You´re very sweet."

Harry untied her dress cloak and took it off her shoulders. He set it on the end of the bed and then tilted her chin in his hands and gave her another lingering kiss. His lips then slid down her neck as she rolled her head.

"Why don´t you lie down and I´ll give you a massage. It´ll help to relax you," he said quietly.

She nodded and stretched out on the bed on her stomach. Harry kneeled on the bed next to her, took the massage oil and poured some in his hands and started kneading the muscles on her neck and shoulders. She was a bit tense at first, but soon responded to his soft touch and he began to feel her relaxing. He rubbed her back and arms and it seemed as if her body was melting into the bed. This was far different from the massages he had given to both Sirius and Arabella. He had been trying to relieve their sore cramped muscles, but for Hermione he was trying to elicit a pleasurable response. Harry started massaging the bottom of her feet and then moved to her calves. He slowly worked his way up her legs, but kept a safe distance from her buttocks. He wanted her to actively decide before he touched her there or on her inner thighs.

"Why don´t you roll over now?"

She did and Harry laid his body down next to her looking in her eyes. "Can I go further?"

She nodded and then kissed him. Hermione´s hands were undoing the buttons on his pyjama top and slipped it off him. Soon her hands were roaming the front of his chest.

"It looks like you´re starting to get a little chest hair," she observed.

"There´s not much, but yeah it´s starting to grow."

Harry slowly moved the lacy shoulder straps of her camisole down exposing her small breasts. He softly caressed them moving his hands in a circular motion before he began kissing them. Harry watched Hermione´s ribcage rise and fall as her breathing slowed down. He raised his head and kissed her on the mouth again as his hands started to gravitate down to her waist.

"Can I touch you down there?"

"Please."

Harry put his hands underneath the silky fabric of the half-slip and moved it upwards towards her waist. He found that his desire for her was increasing to a fevered pitch as his fingers began to explore the area between her legs. He looked at her face and saw that she had closed her eyes and was lost in the abandon of pleasure. He smiled as he realized that he was doing this right. She was responding to all of his touches and caresses. She trusted him fully with her body. He pressed himself against the outside of her thighs. It was almost more than he could bear. He would need to either stop now or complete the act.

"Hermione, do you want to make love?" he asked looking her in the eyes.

"Yes, Harry," she said huskily.

Harry took off his pyjama pants and boxers. He reached over for the condom on the bedside table. He placed his glasses back on his face to help him see as he tore the wrapper. He fumbled a little as he tried to put it on.

"Oops, wrong way," he mumbled.

Hermione stifled a small laugh. Harry removed his glasses and then took her face in his hands and gave her a long passionate kiss. He then lay down next to her and his hands slowly worked their way down her body. His hands helped to separate her legs as he moved over and guided himself inside of her. As Harry entered her, he was shocked at the intensity of the sensations felt by his body. It was as if all of his nerve endings were concentrated in one area. He felt as if it wasn´t simply their bodies physically joining together, but a joining of their souls.

Hermione had emitted a strangled gasp as they had become one. Sirius had warned Harry to expect that she might experience some pain, but assured him that it would soon pass. Harry held her tenderly in his arms and began to kiss her face. He kissed her furrowed brow and felt it soften under his touch.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, "I´ll be fine."

Harry kissed her again. Soft gentle kisses and then he kissed the side of her neck making her head roll again. He took one of her hands and moved it between them. Her hand started to massage the area and as the tension in her body subsided, Harry began to slowly resume making love to her. As he continued he felt as if they were joining each other physically, psychically, and emotionally. He had never imagined feeling as close spiritually with another person. He couldn´t imagine making love casually with just any willing partner, it was far too powerful and intimate an act. Hermione´s body began to shudder as she dug her fingernails into his back. As she moaned in ecstasy, Harry felt himself exploding within her. He collapsed and put the full weight of his body upon her, panting heavily. Afterwards, they looked deeply in each other´s eyes and found that they both had tears in them.

"I love you, Hermione Granger."

"Lover. You´re my lover. Oh, Harry. I never thought you´d love me."

"Why is that?" he asked brushing the hair off her face.

"Because..." she choked back the words, "because I was too smart for you. And because I wasn´t good looking enough for you. I didn´t think that you would ever be interested in me. I´ve loved you for so long, but I knew that you only thought of me as a friend. At the end of our first year, I was afraid you might die trying to save the Philosopher´s Stone and so I hugged you. You were more embarrassed by that than you were scared about facing Voldemort. After that reaction, I was afraid that if I ever let you think that I loved you - that I might lose your friendship. I couldn´t bear that thought, so I tried to hide my true feelings about you."

"Hermione," he said softly. "Sorry, I was a bit slow on the uptake."

"And last year when it was clear that you liked Cho, I sort of resigned myself to never being the object of your affections. I began to wonder if anyone would ever love me."
"Is that why you started dating Viktor?"

"Yes," she said quietly. "I never did feel anything towards him. I feel guilty about that, but I did try to let him down gently and honestly."

"Did you ever feel anything towards Ron?" Harry asked nervously.

"I tried to. I sensed that he was jealous of Viktor and that maybe it was because he liked me. The problem is that Ron has never tried to understand me. He´s never taken the time to understand why I care about the plight of house-elves. He also shows no interest whatsoever in understanding Muggle culture. It´s my home world and he´s not curious about it at all. It´s his callous disregard of what matters to me that made me realize it would never work for us. Besides that, it would always have been me trying to convince myself to fall in love with someone other than you."

"Hermione, I´m sorry it took me so long. You have been so close to me, that I couldn´t even see you clearly. I do now and I am utterly amazed by you. You are beautiful, but your true beauty comes from the fire and passion within your soul. That will last your entire life. At the end of our third year Dumbledore told me that when I saved Pettigrew´s life that it created a bond between us. He said that when one wizard saved another one´s life that it was magic at its deepest, at its most impenetrable. I know that we´ve both saved each other´s life several times over and now after doing this together, I cannot imagine having a stronger bond with anyone."

"Well, that is until we conceive a child together," Hermione said softly.

"I´m not ready for that," Harry said quickly.

"Don´t worry, neither am I."

"I want you to know that there is no one that I trust with my life as much as you."

She swallowed hard at that. "What about Dumbledore or Sirius?"

"They´re my mentors. You are my equal. My partner, my lover, my soul mate. I want you in my life permanently. One day I intend on marrying you."

He leaned over and kissed her fully on the lips. Tears streamed down both of their faces. He took her face in his hands and looked her squarely in the eyes. "If I were to die tomorrow, I would have no regrets. I have now experienced love fully and have bared my soul with another."

"Oh Harry," she sobbed. "I love you so much. How am I supposed to survive without seeing you for two months? Or even the next two years here when we´ll be close to each other, but won´t be able to do this again."

Harry kissed the top of her head, "I´ll ask Sirius. I´m sure he´ll think of something. We´ll see each other this summer somehow. We´ll just have to figure out a way so your parents won´t chaperone us. And uh, I think Sirius might have some experience about rendezvous here."

"Having a Marauder for a godfather does have its advantages," she said and then sounded a bit nervous. "Harry, did you ever do this before?"

"No, I had never even kissed a girl before you. Why do you ask?"

"Because, you were really good. I´ve heard that the first time is usually pretty awkward, but you seemed to know exactly what to do."

"Umm, I had a long talk with Sirius earlier today," Harry admitted. "He made me promise last summer that I would come to him before I did anything like this. He gave me some suggestions and told me some things not to do. He has a lot of experience with women."

"So he knew that we were going to do this tonight?"

"He´s the only one who knows, well maybe now Arabella."

"I guess that´s okay, especially if you turn to him for help arranging this type of thing in the future" she said lazily tracing figure eights on his chest. "Harry, I don´t want you getting experienced with other women. Just me. I want you all to myself."

"Same here," he replied, "I´m not interested in anyone else and I want you all to myself."

They clung to each other for hours just enjoying being in each other´s arms. They kissed and ran their hands over each other´s body endlessly. Neither wanted the night to end. Finally, Harry felt that he must leave and return to his dormitory before he became so drowsy that he might fall asleep and risk waking up in Hermione´s room in the morning.

As they put their nightclothes back on, Hermione took her wand and waved it over the stained bottom sheet of her bed. It started to shrink until it was the size of a postage stamp.

"What did you do that for?" asked Harry.

"I´ve been collecting and destroying my loose hair and nail clippings for an entire school year. Do you think I would let something like this bed sheet with such clear magical powers land into someone else´s hands? No, I want it firmly under my control."

She then opened her locket and placed the small scrap of fabric inside. She held the necklace in her hand and smiled. "Now when I hold this, I´ll be remembering this night and how much I love you."

Harry grabbed her in his arms and gave her a long and full kiss goodnight. "I´ll see you in the morning."

"Until then," she said dreamily.

Harry left the girls´ dormitory with his mind and heart in the clouds. He was cautious not to make any noise. He quietly returned to his bedroom and tip toed across the room to his bed. He silently removed his slippers and placed his glasses on the bedside table. Then he carefully moved the red curtains and climbed in his bed. Only when he was safely behind his bed curtains did he remove his Invisibility Cloak. He lay down in bed and breathed a big sigh of relief. As his head touched his pillow he smiled. He was looking forward to dreaming about Hermione and reliving that night in his dreams.

"So Harry. You were gone a long time," came Ron´s angry voice across the room. "Did you shag her?"

Harry felt the blood rush to his face.

"Ron! Don´t talk about her that way," Harry warned.

Ron ripped open Harry´s bed curtains and stood glaring at him. "Did you? Don´t lie to me. I´m tired of all your lies. I know you were with her. You were gone for three hours. Did you think I wouldn´t notice?"

Harry stood up and looked him straight in the eye. "Hermione and I are in love. What we do in private is none of your business."

"Oh really? You´re not the only one in love with her. If you hurt her, so help me I will kick your ass."

"I would never do anything to hurt her and you know it. Ron, you´re my best mate, but Hermione is my soul mate. I don´t want the fact that both of us love her to ruin our friendship. You are just going to have to learn to deal with the fact that Hermione and I are together, because nothing is ever going to come between us, not even my friendship with you."

"How do you know she doesn´t love me? And isn´t with you just out of pity?" he spat.

"Ron, trust me on this. Hermione loves me. I even asked about her feelings for you. She´s been in love with me for years, but when I started paying attention to Cho, she gave up hope that I´d ever notice her as a girl. That´s when she started looking at you as a romantic prospect. Except that you kept rejecting things that were important to her."

"Like what?" Ron asked hotly.

"Like your constant ridicule of her interest in house-elves. Her passion for justice is an integral part of who she is. To reject that is to reject her as a person, Ron. She also felt that your continued hostility to learning about Muggle culture showed that you weren´t interesting in knowing where she came from. She embraced the Wizarding World as soon as she learned she was coming to Hogwarts. And yet, you can´t even try to learn the first thing about popular culture in her world. That´s why she realized that it would never work between you two. Because you weren´t willing to accept her for who and what she is."

Ron and Harry looked fiercely at each other for a few moments. Harry was not going to back down. Everything he told his friend was the truth and Ron knew it. He would just have to face the facts that Harry had won Hermione´s heart and accept it. Ron then slowly nodded and clapped Harry on the shoulder.

Ron´s face looked tortured and his voice was thick with emotion. "You be good to her. If you don´t, I will kick your ass."

Ron went back to his bed. Harry laid his head on his pillow and his mind was spinning. Minutes before he had been in the arms of the woman he loved. He had never felt such a sense of completeness and love. And now after arguing with Ron he felt like his soul had been plunged into the depths of despair. They had never really spoken to each other about their own feelings toward Hermione before. Harry had suspected that Ron cared for her deeply, but now he knew for sure. Harry didn´t know how Ron would be able to interact with him and Hermione now. However, that was something that only Ron had control over.

Harry also realized that Neville was no longer snoring. He began to wonder how much Neville had overheard. He was now feeling a little shameful. He had tried his best to protect Hermione´s reputation, but now Ron and possibly Neville knew that Harry had been alone with Hermione in her bedroom for hours. He sighed heavily and punched his pillow. There was nothing he could do about that now. As he closed his eyes for sleep, he felt a mixture of emotions roil within him.

*

The next morning Harry vowed to himself that he would try to stop worrying what other people thought of him and Hermione being together. He knew that eventually people would expect them to become intimate anyway, so what difference would it really make in the great scheme of things as to when people began to think of them as lovers. He planned on being with her for a long, long time. As soon as he saw her smiling face, his heart was lifted. She ran to him and gave him a great big welcoming hug and kiss and linked her arm around his back to go down to breakfast.

After their morning meal and saying their goodbyes to Dumbledore, the Longbottoms, the house-elves and Hagrid, the students took the flying carriages to Hogsmeade where they would wait for the Knight Bus to pick them up. Sirius and Arabella were waiting for them at the bus stop and were holding Soraya and leaning against his gleaming motorcycle. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had also stayed overnight at the inn and were chatting with the newlyweds.

As they gave their trunks to Stan Shunpike for storage in the compartments under the bus, Sirius transfigured his motorcycle into a small bicycle so that it would fit in the storage space.

"Harry have you ever been to the third floor on the Knight Bus?" Sirius asked.

"No, isn´t it the same as the first and second?" Harry replied.

Sirius just shook his head and beckoned him to follow. As they walked onto the third floor, Harry realized why his godfather liked this floor the best. There was a large bar at one end and comfortable couches lined the walls. Hermione was drawn to an upright piano that was bolted to the floor in the centre of the room.

"A piano. I never knew they had one on board," she said looking at it eagerly.

Ron looked at her with a mixture of impatience and irritation. "What? Are you going to play Chopin for us?"

"Ron, that´s pronounced Show-pan, not Choppin," she said gently. "And yes, I do know the classics, but I prefer Rock and Roll."

Hermione sat down on the bench, stretched her arms and cracked her knuckles. She began to warm her fingers up with doing a few scales and then she flashed a smile at Ron and said, "Just watch."

Hermione began to play a few notes in a halting manner, but then after a few bars Harry started to recognize it.

"Is that...Elton?" he asked.

Hermione nodded as she began to play faster and more confident in a bluesy manner. She began to swing her head and her shoulders in time with the music. Harry sat down on the piano bench next to her as the Knight Bus took off with a Bang!

"Elton who?" asked Ron.

"Elton John!" Harry said smiling.

As Hermione belted out "B-b-benny and the Jetssss," Harry found himself grinning from ear to ear. Witches and wizards were beginning to gather around and looked at Hermione with great interest. When she finished the song the assembled crowd applauded her.

"What was that song?" one witch with long wiry black hair asked her.

"Oh it´s just an old song by a Muggle musician," Hermione replied. "It´s one of my favourites."

Sirius smiled and looked at some of the wizards who looked puzzled, "You know teenagers and music. They´re irrepressible."

"Are you Hermione Granger?" the witch asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"I want to shake your hand. My name is Artemis Flowers and I for one am grateful for all that you have done for the Wizarding World. We are in your debt for exposing the corruption in the Ministry. I can´t thank you enough."

"Why thank you," Hermione said blushing.

"And are you...Harry Potter?" Artemis asked.

"Yes, I am," he replied offering his hand to her.

"It´s a pleasure to meet you. And are you two...?"

"We´re now a couple," Hermione said proudly.

"Well, good. I can´t think of a nicer young couple," Artemis replied as she took her leave.

A few other witches and wizards came up to shake Hermione´s hand and some cast appreciative glances over to Sirius and Arabella as they recognized what famous company they were in.

After the well-wishers left them alone, Harry turned to Hermione and said, "I didn´t know you could play piano."

"I started when I was five. I wound up playing the piano a lot over the Easter holidays. After I went to the libraries and bookstores looking for law books, I needed something to calm my nerves," said Hermione as she raised an eyebrow and looked at him suggestively. "There are a lot of things you don´t know about me, Harry Potter."

"I plan on sticking around and finding them all out," he replied with a grin on his face.

Hermione turned back to the piano and began to pound out "Crocodile Rock." Harry sang along not caring whether or not he sang in tune. He was enjoying himself. Hermione nudged him with her shoulder and shot him a teasing look when she sang the line, "Susie´s dress so tight." This caused the twins to howl with laughter. Then when she sang the line about Susie leaving him for some foreign guy she looked Harry in the eye and vigourously shook her head. Harry was feeling happy and in love. Nothing was going to spoil his mood. Not even thoughts about going home to the Dursleys. Right now, singing pop songs filled his heart and spirit with joy.

Ron turned to Hermione as she finished the song. "Is your offer still good for me and Ginny to come visit you this summer? I think maybe we should get to know some Muggle popular culture. It looks like fun."

"Sure. I´ll ask my parents when a good time would be."

Harry smiled at that. Maybe Ron was trying to expand his own horizons. He wasn´t worried that Ron would be able to woo Hermione away from him. Especially not when he saw her casually move her locket back and forth on the chain and smile at him.

"I don´t know Ron," said Mr. Weasley warily. "I´m not sure how safe it would be for you. After all, her parents aren´t magical and you might be setting yourself up as sitting ducks."

Arabella then smiled and leaned forward, "Hermione, there´s something I have to tell you. After the trial, I realized that you would need protection. You now have such a high profile by bringing down the Minister of Magic, that you represent a very real threat to many forces within the Wizarding World. Even if you weren´t linked with Harry. So, I implemented a plan, Operation: Safehouse that I made years ago for just such emergencies. Your parents are renting a house from one of my neighbours, so you´ll be under the same type of protective surveillance that Harry is under."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a look with each other and then broke out in grins. Harry then looked at Sirius who had a smile on his face.

"Surprise!" said his godfather.

"How did a house become available?" asked Hermione.

"Well, I had a couple different plans depending on what was needed. In this case my neighbour just `happened to win´ the Grand Prize in a contest she didn´t even remember entering. She got an all expense paid trip to Monte Carlo, the French Riviera, and the Greek islands all for the next three months."

"That sounds really expensive," said Ron.

"It is," Arabella agreed, "but Hermione´s security is worth it. The late Nicolas Flamel left a very generous endowment for Hogwarts. This will barely make a dent in it. I´m hoping that she will finally find that sugar daddy she´s been desperately searching for. If not, I may have to send Remus down there with a love potion to help the process along."

"Arabella, that sounds like you´re planning on harming a Muggle," Mr. Weasley said with a warning note in his voice.

"Believe me Arthur, it would only be used on someone who had sampled the merchandise but hadn´t committed to buy."

"Is this Nadine?" Harry asked grinning.

"Yes, I thought it would be nice to feed two birds with one hand," she answered smiling. "Bring Hermione under my security wing as well as rid myself of an annoying neighbour."

"How old is this woman?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"She´s in her early thirties," Arabella replied.

"Hmmm, you know Bill hasn´t seemed to find anyone that strikes his fancy. Perhaps he ought to expand his horizons to include Muggles."

"Oh Molly, you wouldn´t want Bill going out with Nadine," Arabella said quickly shaking her head.

"Why is that?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Sirius leaned over and whispered in her ear. As he spoke to her, Mrs. Weasley´s eyes grew larger, her face turned red and her jaw dropped.

"Definitely not!" she snapped. Then she smiled guiltily at Sirius and giggled, "Tell me some more."

Sirius threw his head back and roared with laughter.

Arabella turned back to Hermione, "Your parents have already moved into the house which is a few doors down from mine. It´s a bit of a commute for them, but it is for your safety. During the daytime, you can also come over to study with Sirius and myself."

"Good," said Hermione brightly. "It´s never too early to start preparing for the N.E.W.T.s."

"You´re right about that," said Arabella nodding.

Harry laughed and shook his head. He didn´t want to think about studying for a few days. He was glad to be free of worrying about legal briefs, expulsion hearings or Azkaban. He didn´t want to think about the upcoming house-elf revolution and what that might mean to the Wizarding World. He wanted to forget about any worries he had about Voldemort, Death Eaters or any infernal spawn due to be born by Lilith. Maybe that unholy creature would grow up to someday overthrow Voldemort, similar to what Zeus did to Cronos. Or maybe, it could just be something that some other hero like Heracles would have to deal with in the future. All Harry knew was that right now he wanted to bask in the glow of feeling loved. Voldemort might subscribe to the Machiavellian belief that it is more secure to be feared than to be loved, but Harry had never felt as secure in his life than he did now that he was in love.

Harry whispered in Hermione´s ear, "Maybe we won´t have to wait as long as we thought for us to do it again."

She nodded, gave him a knowing smile and whispered back, "I think we shouldn´t let my folks know right away about us. If they think we´re a couple, they might insist on me being chaperoned during the day when they´re at work."

He smiled at her, "I know how to keep secrets."

Hermione started nibbling on an earlobe.

Fred looked at them and said, "Oh yeah, they´ll be studying all right. Anatomy by Braille."

"Yeah, get a room!" George said.

"Come on you two, be nice," said Mrs. Weasley. "It´s about time one of those two boys started paying attention to her. I´ve been surprised it took this long for someone to notice she´s a girl. And a nice one at that."

Harry glanced over at Ron and saw that his face had turned red.

"Okay Ron," said Mr. Weasley, "I guess that since Hermione´s house will be safe, that it´ll be fine for you and Ginny to go stay with her for a week this summer. But you won´t be able to go about Little Whinging unless you´re accompanied by either Sirius or Arabella."

"Why don´t we plan it around the end of July?" Hermione suggested. "I bet the Dursleys have never had a birthday party for Harry. I´d like to plan something special for his birthday."

"Yeah, sounds good," Ron grumbled.

Ginny shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she glanced in Harry and Hermione´s direction. "Sure, I´ll come too."

"You guys will love it," Hermione said cheerfully. "We´ll have movie marathons, different kinds of movies each day. Ron you´ll love the James Bond films and Ginny, I´ll be sure to get some good chick flicks, too. You´ll also learn all about music from the Beatles and the Moody Blues to the Sex Pistols."

"The...Sex..." Ron stammered.

"Pistols," Hermione said finishing his sentence. "They´re a Punk Rock group. I don´t really care for that kind of music. I don´t care for Rap, Heavy Metal or Grunge Rock either, but I think you should at least be familiar with it."

Ron and Ginny seemed to cheer up a little at that. They passed the rest of the ride with Hermione playing other songs on the piano that the Weasley children tried to pick up the words on. She played Fleetwood Mac´s "Don´t Stop (Thinking about Tomorrow)," Billy Joel´s "Piano Man," and Don McLean´s "American Pie." Harry enjoyed defiantly singing, "This´ll be the day that I die." Everyone´s throats became hoarse from singing and laughing.

As they disembarked from the bus in Little Whinging, Harry tried his best to appear as an upstanding young man before Mr. and Mrs. Granger. He certainly didn´t want them to know that the previous night he had been intimate with their only daughter. They shook hands with him, but seemed much more interested in talking with Sirius and Arabella and cooing over Soraya.

Harry turned to say goodbye to Hermione. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, but restrained himself knowing that her parents were only a few feet away.

"I´ll see you in the morning," she said huskily.

"Until then," he said looking lovingly in her eyes.

As Harry walked the few blocks to Privet Drive pulling his trunk and carrying Hedwig´s cage, he felt a new sensation. For the first time in his life, he was looking forward to his summer holidays. He was in love and had his girlfriend living nearby. He was looking forward to spending time with his godfather, his favourite teacher and a new baby. He hoped that he might get to ride on the back of Sirius´s motorcycle and he was also hoping to spend lots of time unchaperoned with Hermione. Things were indeed looking up for Harry Potter.

The End.