Ch04

Her heart demanded action. Her body shivered: trembling all the way out from her spine to her fingertips and back again. It was like a rope being cut or a chain unlocked. Hermione practically leapt forward and captured Harry's lips. All her inhibitions were gone, blown away by the tempest of one simple fact: He was pulling away! She knew, as deep as instinct, beyond conscious thought, that if she let this moment slip away it would never come again.

Hermione poured everything into that kiss. All the hurt and pain that Ron's leaving inflicted on her as well as her frustration and anger at having to continue moving forward despite that pain. However, that was just a part of what she poured into her kiss. There was also wonder. Wonder, trust, and a quiet, warm sense of joy. And something else. A feeling- a kind of emotion she hadn't yet been able to put a name to, but she could feel it growing, gently spreading through her like the soft, sun warmed petals of a flower.

Hermione… Though her sudden, passionate kiss surprised Harry, it froze him for only a moment. He hadn't meant to put them both in this situation. He'd only meant to reassure her. But he had gotten too close and hadn't realized it until it was too late. They were so close and they were getting even closer. But then Hermione hesitated, and Harry was sure that she had managed to shake off whatever had ahold of them. So he gathered what frayed scraps of will power he could and started to pull away from her.

Pulling away from her was the right thing to do, he was sure of it, though it was difficult… so very difficult. Hermione… her kiss had taken that painfully self-sacrificing act and tossed it right out the tent flap after his broken wand. Harry's moment of shock passed, and he unfroze, his noble intentions evaporated and forgotten in a blink as if they'd never existed. Hermione circled her arms around his neck as his arms circled her waist, each clasping one to the other as their kiss deepened.

Harry stopped thinking. Hermione stopped thinking. Their bodies, however, were not without direction. Their clothes were discarded and they were across the room next to the cot so quickly it was almost as if they had apparated there. There were no more thoughts, no more realizations, no more epiphanies. There was just heavy breathing, a soft moan from Hermione, and a deep groan from Harry.