Sweetest Sin

Chapter 6

Over the next few weeks, Harry and Hermione slowly settled into their relationship, learning to become comfortable with each other all over again. Soon there were stolen kisses in the hallway and Harry was almost never found without Hermione, and vice versa. One evening as Hermione was about to head down to dinner, Harry approached her. "Hermione, will you come with me?"

She looked at him curiously. "Of course, Harry."

He took her hand and soon she found herself outside of the Room of Requirement. Hermione smiled at him and he returned the smile warmly. He opened the door for her and she gasped with surprise when she saw the room. Harry stepped inside and smiled. It was just how he had pictured in his head as they had paced back and forth in front of the door except for one thing. There were different sections of the room, divided by white lacy curtains, which is what he had intended, but there was an extra section, blocked off by black, lacy curtains. He was confused for a second and realized it must have been something Hermione had been thinking of.

Hermione moved towards the table lit by candles and laden with food as Harry headed for the black curtains. He parted them and his eyes grew wide. There was a king sized bed there, with satin sheets and rose petals covering it. As if that weren't enough, there was red negligee lying on the bed, waiting to be changed into. Harry stumbled backwards and headed for the table in a daze. He sat down at the table and put on a smile for Hermione. They ate the food, talking very little throughout the meal.

When they had finished their dinner, Harry reached out for Hermione's hand and led her to the next section. There was a roaring fire and a loveseat. On the table in front of the loveseat were some chocolate dipped strawberries. Hermione smiled and sat down on the loveseat. "These look delicious, Harry."

Harry grabbed one of the strawberries, holding it to Hermione's lips. She bit into the sweet flesh of the strawberry and Harry watched her intently. Some of the juice was still on her lips and he leaned in, gently kissing her. He worked his way to her neck, gently rubbing his tongue on her soft skin. She moaned softly and then murmured, "What's in the next section?"

Harry pulled back and looked at her for a moment, "Well, it wasn't something I was thinking of when we were walking back and forth in front of the door, so I'm assuming the next section is your doing."

Hermione gave him another curious stare as he pulled her to her feet and pulled back the curtain on the next section. Her hand came up to her mouth and she could hardly believe what she was seeing. She turned to Harry and he gave her a sheepish smile. "We can go if you want..."

Hermione turned and looked back at the bed, picking up the negligee. She turned to Harry and gave him a kiss. She pulled his shirt off over his head, running her hands down his body. Hermione pulled back from the kiss and looked at Harry. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

She quickly headed back through the curtains and Harry stood there for a minute or so before Hermione appeared again, wearing the negligee. Harry looked at her from head to toe, taking in the see-through material. Hermione gave him a sexy smile and came over and started kissing him passionately. He twisted his fingers in her hair, kissing her fiercely. She broke the kiss and gave him a smile, looking down to slowly undo his belt. Harry watched her doing this, slowly licking his lips.

Hermione backed slowly towards the bed, taking Harry's hands in hers. She sat down on the bed and he moved to stand in front of her. He started kissing her again, and soon she was lying back on the bed with Harry on top of her. He slowly pulled off the negligee. He kissed her again, gently running his hands over her body. Hermione arched her back beneath him and then pushed him over onto his back. She undid his zipper and slowly slid his jeans off. Harry felt his boxers growing tighter and he said softly, "Hermione..."

Hermione put her finger over his lips. "No, don't say anything, Harry; we both know what we want."

He nodded and Hermione began kissing him, her hand sliding down his chest and over his stomach, pausing for a moment before sliding her hand underneath his boxers. Harry felt all his muscles tense up and he ran his hands down Hermione's back, and began pulling off the red panties. Once they were removed, Hermione slid her hand out and started pulling off Harry's boxers. Harry swallowed hard, his mouth dry. Hermione straddled Harry, but didn't sit back. She began kissing him, sliding her tongue between his lips. After a few moments, she settled back on top of Harry, wincing at the initial pain. Harry tilted his head back against the bed, "Oh...Hermione..."

Hermione started moving her hips, a bit awkwardly at first, and leaned over to kiss Harry again. Finally, a moan escaped her lips as all her muscles shook, her nails digging into Harry. Harry watched her expression and smiled. He quickly moved so Hermione was lying on her back and started working his hips faster. Several more sweaty minutes passed and Hermione's muscles trembled a second time. Moments later, Harry was groaning into her neck.

Hermione shut her eyes, catching her breath and trying to absorb everything that had just happened. She swallowed and then slowly opened her eyes. She saw Harry looking down at her and gave him a small smile. He gently brushed the damp locks of hair back from her face and then gently kissed her forehead. He pulled back and moved to lie next to Hermione. She turned over on her side so she was facing him and he did the same. Hermione gave Harry a smile. "I'm glad you were my first time, Harry."

Harry looked surprised and then slowly said, "Well...I'm glad I was your first time, Hermione..."

Hermione sighed contentedly and then suddenly looked at Harry. "Wait a second, wasn't this your first time?"

Harry looked uncomfortable. "Um, no, I didn't think it was yours either, I mean you were with Viktor for so long..." he trailed off.

Hermione felt shocked. "So, you've slept with another person?"

Harry looked away from her. "Well, yeah, more than one person, Hermione. I've had girlfriends, you knew that."

Hermione sat up quickly, clutching the sheet around her. "I didn't think you were screwing all of them!"

Harry took in a deep breath and said, "Look, Hermione, I didn't sleep with all of them, it's been three people and--"

Hermione cut him off, looking scandalized. "You never told me that before!"

Harry looked extremely uncomfortable. "Well, frankly, Hermione, it wasn't any of your business, that was my personal life. It's not like I went around having sex with random people! I mean, it's not unusual for people to have sex with their girlfriends! I'm seventeen years old, Hermione; did you honestly think I'd never been laid?"

This was obviously quite the wrong thing to say and Hermione furiously got out of the bed and quickly changed into her clothes. Harry hurried to get dressed but wasn't fast enough before Hermione said, "I can't believe you, Harry! I thought this meant something, I thought this was special, I thought it was more than just getting off!"

With that she turned and ran from the room, leaving Harry standing there still holding his shirt in his hands. He sighed and looked down, feeling frustrated. How could Hermione get mad at him for having experience? He cared about her more than he had ever cared about anyone and he would never use her for sex. He sat down on the bed and put his face in his hands, a guilty voice nagging in his head. True, he had only slept with three people and true, they had been his girlfriends. But he also knew that there were times, even after they had broken up, that he had gone back and seduced them. He knew he had used women, and Cho floated into his mind.

Harry laid back on the bed and thought back to the end of sixth year. After one of his finals he had received a note from Cho asking him to meet her in this very room. That evening he had hurried up to the seventh floor, paced back and forth in front of the room and then entered. Cho had been lying on a bed in the room, waiting for him. He had had sex with her, and a short time after they finished he had begun getting dressed when Cho suddenly said, "Harry, I want you back, please, let's try again we can make it work."

Harry had turned and looked at her. "Is this why you brought me here tonight? To have sex with me and try and tempt me back?"

Cho had just given him a slightly guilty look and he had scoffed, "No way, Cho, it's over."

He headed for the door and she had furiously chased after him, blocking his exit. "What?! So you were just using me?!"

He had simply stared at her then, and his look said it all. Cho slapped him as hard as she could across the face then, screaming at him to never talk to her again; that he was a horrible person and she never wanted to see him for the rest of her life. Harry ran from the room, reeling in shock. He had lain awake that entire night, realizing what a terrible thing he had done, and what a cruel and selfish person he had become. It was the last time he had had sex, until tonight, which was why he had been so hesitant with Hermione. He didn't want things to go wrong; he had tried hard to change. But he realized that he had become his old self again as he had talked to Hermione afterwards. I'm seventeen years old, Hermione; did you honestly think I'd never been laid?

Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He sat up and pulled on his shirt. He pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes for a moment before he headed for the door.

Back in her dormitory, Hermione flung herself down on her bed, crying uncontrollably. She couldn't believe that she had given herself to Harry, thinking that it would be something special that the two of them would share. She turned over onto her side, grimacing at how sore she felt. She wished she could take it back but she knew it wasn't a possibility. She laid there for several hours when Hedwig fluttered in her window. Hermione looked at Hedwig as she stuck her leg out so Hermione could untie the package. Hermione fed her and gave her some water and then watched as she flew out the window and back to the owlery.

Hermione slowly opened a package and found a cassette there. She had to smile, a tape, such a Muggle thing to do. She went to her trunk and fished out her cassette player and slipped it in. The music started and Hermione listened to the song:

Sick and tired of this world,

There's no more air,

Tripping over myself,

Going nowhere.

Waiting, suffocating,

No direction, I took a dive and,

On the way down,

I saw you and you saved me from myself.

And I won't forget the way you love me.

And on the way down,

I almost fell right through.

But I held on to you.

I've been wondering why,
It's all in me,

Have you always been inside,

Waiting to breathe?

It's all right,
Sunlight on my face,

Wake up and yeah I'm alive cause,

On the way down,

I saw you and you saved me from myself.

And I won't forget the way you love me.

And on the way down,

I almost fell right through.

But I held on to you.

I was so afraid,

Of going under,

But now the weight of the world,

It feels like nothing,

No, nothing.

Down down down, you're all I wanted.

Down down down, you're all I needed.

Down down down, you're all I wanted.

You're all I needed.

And I won't forget the way you love me.

All that I wanted, all that I needed, now,

On the way down,

I saw you and you saved me from myself.

And I won't forget the way you love me.

And on the way down,

I almost fell right through.

But I held on to you.

Yeah I held on to you.

I held on to you.

The song ended and Hermione pressed the 'stop' button. She sighed and put the cassette player away. She decided to head down to the common room and try to find Harry. She stopped at the mirror and wiped away her tears, knowing the puffiness of her eyes would say it all anyways. She got down there and Ron immediately came over. "Hermione, are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'll be fine, Ron."

He gave her a quick hug and she exited the common room in search of Harry. She spotted him heading down the corridor towards the portrait hole and she stopped, crossing her arms in front of her. Harry looked up and saw her and said softly, "Hi, Hermione."

She gave him a cool look. "We need to talk."

He nodded and she walked past him briskly, knowing Harry would follow her. She headed out the front doors and walked towards the lake. She settled down next to a tree and leaned back against the trunk, and waited while Harry sat next to her.