40 Days

November 29, 1997

I sat on the floor in front of Harry while he slowly combed and braided my hair. He was only dressed in boxers and I only wore a shirt, but I didn't feel awkward or embarrassed. How could I when he had made it his mission to seduce me with pleasure?

I shivered as he paused to work on a tangle, little pleasurable tingles on my scalp from the small tugs on my hair. "I love your curls."

"More like a bushy mess."

"Only because taking your time with your hair is never on your list of priorities."

I laughed at that. "What about you? Yours sticks up half the time, too."

"Then we were always a matched set, aren't we?"

I put my hand on his foot, where it was against my thigh. "With a time limit."

He stilled briefly before continuing his work on my hair. "Yes."

We both sat in silence, thinking while Harry finished braiding my hair. He conjured a hair tie easily and tied off the end, and as soon as he let go, I turned around, kneeling between his spread legs. "Do you love me Harry?"

"Yes, you're my Hermione." He answered without pause, his pale eyes fixed on me.

I licked my lips nervously, my hands coming up to rest on his knees. "I want you to make love to me, Harry... without the locket on."

He leaned forward slowly, the locket between us, and I could feel the curse tightening on me. It became harder to breathe, but I kept his gaze. "Are you trying to trick me, Hermione?"

Tell the truth.

"I love you. I want to make love to you... but not when you're wearing that locket."

His hand closed over the locket and I held my breath, my heart beating in hard, slow thumps. Harry moved so slowly at first I thought I was imagining it, but no, his hand was lifting. For the first time in fourteen days, he took off the fucking locket.