Harry Potter and the Year After

Chapter Nine: Drunken Kisses

Chapter 9: Drunken Kisses

Harry wove his way through the tipsy crowd. He had to find Hermione. He saw Ginny soon after Ron. She'd called to him from across the kitchen but Harry only shook his head and turned away.

Finally, after no success on the lower floors, he went back up the stairs. He found her. She was sitting on Sirius' old bed. It was a bedroom that Harry hadn't actually been in while living here for the last couple of days. It still appeared to be ransacked.

"Hermione," Harry said, stepping over the rubbish, "I..." Should he apologize? It wasn't really his fault, was it?

"I don't want to talk about it," she said without looking up from her lap.

"Please don't be upset about it. It wasn't real," Harry said. He sat down next to her on the bed, unsure if he should. After the winter and Christmas together, Harry had felt sure that if she'd ever had any feelings for him, they probably would have come out then. Not that he had really thought about her that way then.

Honestly, Harry had never really thought of Hermione that way. She'd always just been Hermione. He was forced to think about it now, though.

He thought over the vision, or Fate, or whatever it was. The way Hermione had looked at him while holding their child... It was almost worse than looking at the false projection from the locket before Ron had killed it. And yet, it was somehow good. In the vision, he'd felt something. It was more love than he'd ever felt—a warmth in his heart so comforting, so whole, as though there was almost too much blood for his heart to beat properly.

"But it wasn't real," Harry said to Hermione.

"Right," she said. Her voice sounded hollow to him.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Why be sorry? It's not like anyone is forcing that future to happen. Divination is just a load of rubbish anyway. Even if it were to be real, which it isn't, it would only be one of twelve possible Fates."

She looked up at him and only then did Harry realize how close they'd been sitting. Harry recalled the kiss they'd shared in the vision. It had been so real... because it really had been real, even if they were drunk and high, they'd kissed while technically unconscious in the real world.

It was rather confusing. Harry knew that he'd liked it. He watched Hermione gaze at his mouth and knew that she must be remembering it too.

But Ron... wasn't she in love with Ron? They could never do this to him.

"Ron can't know about this," Hermione said without looking away.

"Of course not," Harry said automatically. Did she mean she was about to kiss him again or about the first one with the vision?

What would Ginny say? Right, Ginny wouldn't care...

And as though he'd been summoned there, Ron stumbled in through the door.

Speak of the devil and doth he appear. Harry hadn't meant to use Legilimency on Hermione but it seemed as though he'd let her guard down for that moment. Or maybe it was because Harry had so badly wanted to know what she was thinking in that moment. Hermione stood suddenly and Harry followed.

Her thought distracted him: did she always think in old English?

"There you two are," Ron said. He was clearly very drunk.

"Oh Merlin, Ron, how much have you had?" Hermione said, striding forward. Ron slung his arm around Hermione's shoulders. Harry stared at them.

"What were you two doing up here?" Ron asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Harry's just upset about Ginny," Hermione explained quickly, shooting Harry a look. Harry nodded in agreement to Hermione's statement. It wasn't untrue, but it also wasn't the answer to Ron's question.

"Well," Ron said with his nose in Hermione's hair, "Ginny left, so no worries. You two should come back down."

"Right," Harry said. He strode forward and tried to pass by his two best friends. But Ron slung his other arm around Harry's shoulders.

"I love you both," Ron said, holding Hermione and Harry closer to himself in the doorway. Harry stumbled as he half-tripped over one of Ron's feet. Harry couldn't believe it when, with an awkward side-long glance up at Ron's face, he noticed that tears were streaming down his cheeks. Had someone told him about the Fate already? "So much. I love you Hermione," Ron said and kissed her sloppily on her mouth. Guess not.

"I love you, too, Harry," Ron said and rested his forehead against Harry's. Harry glanced over at Hermione, whose face was only inches from his own. He'd expected her to be amused, but she was staring blankly, her mouth slightly agape.

Harry squirmed slightly as he tried to gently extricate himself from Ron's grasp. Ron was holding onto him too tightly. If he wanted to break free, he'd have to be more violent... Harry turned his face away because he didn't want to rebreathe Ron's alcohol-breath.

"Ron," Hermione tried, "I think you've had a bit too much. How about you lie down for a while." Ron ignored her though. Instead, he kissed Harry's cheek.

"Ron," Harry said in a warning tone. Ron didn't seem to hear him. But then Hermione moved, pressing Ron up against the doorframe. Harry was forced to come with them because of Ron's firm grip on him, but he turned slightly so he was facing Hermione. Harry watched as Hermione started snogging Ron, hard. He was readily returning her kisses.

Mercifully, Ron released Harry, who immediately backed up a few steps. Harry felt relieved, as though he'd been let off the hook somehow. No amount of alcohol could have gotten Harry to kiss Ron...

Harry practically ran down the steps. He couldn't get the image of Hermione kissing Ron from his mind, as though it had been burned into the backs of his eyes. Desperately, he hoped that Ron wouldn't remember any of it in the morning.

***

"Come on," Hermione said, pulling away and pulling Ron toward the black, canopied bed.

"Seriously?" Ron asked. His eyes seemed to twinkle. Hermione wondered if it was from the alcohol. It was the look he would get on Christmas morning.

"Mm," she said, nodding. He stepped toward her and, grabbing at her dress, he pulled at the straps from her shoulders. She felt a shiver come over herself as it fell to the floor.

Without looking, Hermione took Ron's wand from his back pocket and aimed it at the door. It slammed shut and locked. Ron didn't seem to notice. Then, she dropped his wand amongst the rubbish and pulled his shirt over his head.

Hermione sat down on the bed and Ron leaned down over her, kissing her all the while.

"I've missed you so much," Ron said, slightly slurring his words.

"I've missed you too," Hermione said. Once Ron leaned closer, she guided him down to his back. Then, straddling him, she started trailing kisses down his neck to his chest.

And then, she heard the unmistakable sound of Ron snoring. Looking up at his face, she froze. For a moment, she watched as he slept.

She was more relieved than anything. Gently, she crept off of him and tiptoed back to where they'd dropped some of their clothes.

Once she found her dress again and slipped it on, she pulled her wand from its special pocket sewn into the side. Then, using a hover charm, she lifted Ron so his head was resting on a pillow. She set his shirt down next to him on the bed. Then she covered him with the bedclothes and left his wand on the bedside stand.

With a kiss on his forehead, she unlocked the door and went back down to the party.