Sweetest Sin

Chapter 5

Harry collapsed into a chair after dinner and ripped his glasses off his face. He rubbed his eyes and sighed. Hermione had sent him subtle flirtations all through dinner and it was driving him crazy. Hermione wasn't sure what she wanted from Harry, but apparently she wanted to toy with him in the meantime. He leaned his head back and shut his eyes. I can't let Hermione act like this. Either we're friends or we're more, I'm not dealing with this yo-yo of emotions.

Ron entered the common room and walked over to Harry. "Hi, Harry."

Harry sighed again. "Hey, Ron."

"Hermione sure was flirty tonight. I thought she needed time to think about things, what is her deal?" Ron said, sitting down next to Harry.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, but I don't appreciate her toying with me like this. I told her I wanted to be friends until she made up her mind, I just don't know."

Moments later, Hermione entered the through the portrait hole. Ron and Harry fell silent immediately. She looked back and forth between them, sensing that they had been discussing her. She gave Harry a long look. He wouldn't be telling Ron about us, would he? That's our private business, even if Ron is his best friend. She turned and headed for the dormitory, climbing the long staircase. She walked over to her bed and laid back on it. She glanced at a framed picture of her, Ron, and Harry. Harry was in the middle with his arms around her and Ron. She watched the moving picture and saw Harry pulling Hermione closer to him, and they looked at each other. Hermione stared at the expression on their faces and then shut her eyes.

Hermione awoke with a jolt. She had been in the middle of an intense dream. Her and Harry were in the Room of Requirement, and the lights were out...Hermione ran a hand over her forehead and found it dripping with sweat. She licked her dry lips and sat up in her bed. She could tell that her pulse was racing. She headed for the pitcher of water and poured herself a glassful, quickly swallowing the cool liquid, still running over the dream in her mind. Harry had been kissing her, kissing her mouth, her body, slowly pulling off her clothes; her hands toying near his belt. She shook her head, trying to erase the dream from her mind.

She knew she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep and she grabbed a book, heading to the common room. She walked quietly, so as to not disturb anyone else. She sank into one of the cushy chairs, curling her legs beneath her. She opened the book to the page she had marked and began to read. Soon the hours were slipping away and she nodded off in the chair. She woke when she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Harry's green eyes. He smiled. "Why are you sleeping down here?"

She stretched and yawned. "I couldn't sleep and came down here to read for a while, I just dozed off I suppose."

He pulled her to her feet and she asked, "What time is it?"

"Oh, about quarter to six o'clock," Harry said.

Hermione reached for Harry's hand, and pulled him closer, needing to feel his lips again. He gave Hermione an inquisitive look and the next thing he knew, Hermione was pressing her lips against his. He was shocked to feel her hands sliding up under his shirt, rubbing against his chest and stomach. It was as if Hermione needed to explore his body, and she ran her hands down his back. Finally, she ended the kiss, and Harry stared at her for a long moment before speaking, "Does this mean you've made your decision?"

Hermione looked down. "No, I... I needed to just, I don't know, I just needed to kiss you again."

Harry backed away from her. "Hermione, I am not your plaything, I'm not here for your convenience, when you want someone to flirt with, or kiss, or do whatever with!"

Hermione advanced towards him. "Harry, that is not it at all. I'm not trying to make you feel that way!"

Harry looked away. "Look, Hermione, I'm fine with you taking time to make your decision, but don't play games with me in the meantime, okay? We are strictly friends until you sort out your feelings!"

With that he turned and headed back up to the boy's dormitories. Hermione felt shocked. She had never intended on making Harry feel that way. But she knew he wasn't REALLY angry, just frustrated. She sat back down on the chair and thought back to the kiss. It had felt so right, so natural, and so comfortable. She sighed and wandered back to her dormitory, wanting to talk to Harry.

She sat down on her bed and grabbed the picture she had been looking at the night before. She stared at it for a long moment then touched her fingertips to the cool glass. The glass misted over a little from the warmth of her fingertips. Hermione looked at Harry's face, smiling to herself. She closed her eyes and tried to picture her and Harry together romantically. The vision came quite easily, her and Harry curled up together in the common room, kisses by the lake, and her mind went back to her dream from earlier.

Hermione began to change her clothes, smiling to herself. She looked into the mirror hanging on the wall, styling her hair quickly and putting on some makeup. She glanced at the clock and saw it was getting close to 6:30. She headed down to the empty common room and about twenty minutes later, Harry came down the staircase and stopped short when he saw Hermione. She was wearing a short black skirt and a pink sleeveless (and low cut) shirt. He tried not to notice the stripe of skin showing between the shirt and skirt.

Hermione smiled at him. "Can we talk?"

He looked at her suspiciously. "Yeah..."

She took his hand and pulled him from the common room. They headed for the seventh floor and soon found themselves at the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Hermione walked in first, Harry hesitantly following her. She found out there was only a loveseat in the room, sitting in front of the fire. The room was lit by candles and Hermione smiled. She went and sat on the loveseat, motioning for Harry to join her. He sank onto the loveseat next to Hermione and she took in a deep breath and said, "Well, Harry, I've been thinking and I've decided that I wanna take things to the next level with us, and see what happens, because I care about you more than a friend, and I can't ignore that."

Harry smiled. "Sounds good to me."

Hermione ran her hand over his leg and he looked at her with raised eyebrows. She leaned in and gave him a long, tonguey kiss. They sat there kissing for a while and Hermione grabbed Harry's hand, slowly guiding it up her shirt. Harry took the hint and soon Hermione found herself lying back on the couch, Harry on top of her, still kissing her passionately, his hand lost underneath her top. Finally Harry pulled back, moving off of her. "I...I think we need to stop."

Hermione stared at him for a second and then sighed, sitting up and straightening her clothes. Harry ran his hand through his hair, making it look even worse than usual. Hermione smiled and then leaned over and gently kissed him. "Let's head to breakfast then, okay?"

Harry nodded and they both stood up. They exited the Room of Requirement and Harry slipped his arm around her shoulders as they walked towards the Great Hall. Hermione reached up to grab his hand draping over her shoulder as they walked along in silence. They entered the Great Hall and spotted Ron. He looked surprised as they approached and he looked back and forth between the two of them, looking like he wanted to say something.

Hermione smiled at Harry and he turned to Ron. "Uh, Hermione and I, we're taking our friendship to uh, the next level."

Ron grinned. "I figured that was just a matter of time, I'm happy for you two!"

Hermione and Harry grinned and then started in on breakfast. Afterwards they headed to Gryffindor Tower to collect their books and head off to Transfiguration. Hermione sat down in her usual seat and expected Harry to sit next to her but he took his usual seat as well, leaving Ron in the middle. She was surprised but didn't say anything and Harry didn't seem to think it was a big deal. Ron sat down slowly in between them and Hermione busied herself with getting out her books, parchment, and quill, then turning her attention to Professor McGonagall at the front of the room.

They begin to work on transfiguring animals into flower vases. Hermione of course, succeeded on her first try and distracted herself by using various spells to put flowers in the vase. Harry watched her out of the corner of his eye, and after a few tries, successfully transfigured his animal into a flower vase. He turned his attention to Ron; he seemed to be struggling with the spell and directed him on what he was doing wrong. Soon, Ron too had transfigured his animal.

McGonagall walked around checking everyone's work and nodded at the trio. "Good job, you three, nice touch, Miss Granger. Full marks."

They all grinned and Hermione looked very pleased with herself. They pulled out their parchment and took some notes as McGonagall lectured them on transfiguration. Hermione scribbled away while Ron and Harry jotted down a phrase here and there. McGonagall dismissed them and Harry quickly gathered up his books. He stood and headed for the door, Hermione quick on his heels.

He started down the hallway as Ron came up next to him and started talking to him about their upcoming Quidditch practice. Hermione tried to take Harry's hand, but he pulled it away quickly. Hermione looked at him. "Harry, what's wrong?"

He was staring down the hall and she followed his gaze and saw Draco Malfoy. Hermione felt furious. "So what, Harry? I'm only good enough when we're alone?"

She stormed off down the hallway and Harry sighed. Maybe it wasn't a good idea taking things to the next level with Hermione. He didn't seem to be handling it well. He said, "Ron, I'll catch up with you in the common room, okay?"

Ron nodded and Harry sprinted down the hall after Hermione. He saw her heading around a corner and knew she must be heading for the owlery. He hurried after her and stopped outside the entrance to catch his breath. He entered quietly, hearing the birds rustling about. He saw Hermione leaning against the wall, staring up at the owls, tears sliding slowly down her face. Harry took in a deep breath and walked towards her.

Hermione jumped when she heard footsteps and turned away, quickly wiping her tears from her face. She turned back as Harry approached her. He looked down at her, giving her a half smile. "Guess I'm not too good at this more-than-friends thing am I?"

Hermione shook her head fervently. "No, you're not!"

Harry bit his lip. "Well, I just...I'm trying to get used to this, and we went from friends to more than friends pretty quickly. Maybe...maybe we should go back to just friends, and work back up to that more-than-friends status more slowly?"

Hermione stared at him for a long moment before finally saying slowly, "Well, if that's how you want it, Harry, then I guess that's how it will be. You waited for me, I'll wait for you, and we'll get there together, okay?"

Harry grinned. "Good, because I don't ever want us to be upset with each other, Hermione, you mean too much to me."

Hermione couldn't help but smile and they exited the owlery. They walked side by side back to the common room, and Hermione climbed through the portrait hole, Harry following after.