The Kindling Fire Between Us

Hermione walked up some stairs, but instead of heading back to her room, where she might run into Draco, she walked to Gryffindor tower. After mumbling the password, she entered the common room and plopped down in a chair facing the fireplace. She closed her eyes and envisioned what had just happened. She remembered how Draco\'s beautiful tongue slowly licked the quill. She then remembered her dream. The way that same tongue touched her most intimate places and made her feel only pleasure.

She shivered. There was so much sexual frustration building up in her these days and she knew there was only one very bad, but extremely tempting way to vent it.

Her thoughts of tongues and such were quickly erased when she heard the common room door and and shut. The voices of some other 7th year boys filled the room. She usually would just block them out, except this time she heard Harry\'s name being mentioned. Hermione kept still, hoping her presence wouldn\'t halt their conversation.

\" Ya, so I heard he screwed some girl during the summer,\" one boy said excited.

\' No, Harry would never...\' Hermione\'s mental argument with what he was saying was cut off by the deep voice of another boy.

\" I heard that too! And from what I\'ve picked up, she was pretty good, if you know what I mean,\" the boy said suggestively as he elbowed one of his friends in the side.

\' Good lord...Harry\'s never had sex...if he did, he would tell me...right?\' Hermione listened further, vainly hoping they were talking about some other Harry.

\" Harry\'s so lucky. I can\'t wait till I have sex,\"

\" Never had sex, eh?\"

\" Uhh...yes... yes, I have! I meant that I never..,\"

\" You don\'t need to explain yourself to us. We all know you\'re just a wanker!\"

\" Oh, shut up! Let\'s just drop the subject. Everyone already knows about the Harry thing anyway,\"

\" Actually, not everyone. I overheard Harry telling Ron not to let that girl they always hang out with know. You know, the brainy, kinda intimidating one. What\'s her name again? Harmony... Hermy...\"

Apparently they hadn\'t realized Hermione was there. Usually she would wait till they were gone, then walk quietly out of the room, trying not to realize the inevitable truth of how everyone only knew her as Harry and Ron\'s braniac sidekick. But today was a different story. First of all she had just found out that Harry had lost his virginity. Not that she had any hopes of being the lucky girl, but hell, she at least expected him to consult her before doing the deed. Second of all, not only Harry, but also Ron had been hiding the secret from her. She realized now what they had been talking about on the train and in the dining hall. Ron had known since the beginning of the year and hadn\'t even bothered filling her in on what was going on with her supposed other best friend. Third of all, those assholes couldn\'t seem to figure out her damn name. Not only had they all been going to the same school for almost 7 years, she had classes with some of them. Hermione was mad. Hermione was very mad.

She quickly stood up and turned around. The boys halted their guessing game and starred, hs ghs gapping, eyebrows lifted to the highest point. Yes, the wrath of Hermione was definitely going to be unleashed.

\" My name, for your information, is Hermione! Her-mi-one! And maybe if you weren\'t so wrapped up in your own pitiful little lives like the flaming gits you are, maybe, just maybe, you\'d realize that!!\"

With that she walked quickly towards the door, all eyes still upon her. She opened it, but looked back at them one last time.

\"And may I suggest that next time you try guessing a clatesates name, with whom you\'ve gone to school with for the past 6 years, make sure there not in the same freakin\' room!!!\" She slammed the door and stormed through the halls, paying no attention to the people around her. In the mood she was in, it wouldn\'t matter if they were all being turned into a juicy pulp by Voldermort himself. As she headed up some stairs, she suddenly felt a hand pulling her arm. Jerking her head back her eyes fell upon the man of the hour himself.

\" Oh, Harry! Fancy seeing you here,\" Hermione knew there was no way this was going to end peacefully.

\" Hermione, what\'s going on? You were walking through here like the end of the world was coming,\"

\' Oh, and how I wish it was,\' Hermione thought as she eyed Harry. She saw a flash of red behind him. Ron was now going to join in on the festivities.

\" No, dear Harry, you see, the reason why I\'m mad is because it seems as if I have acquired some information about a certain someone...oh, I dunno, let\'s call this someone Harold. Well, Harold and his friend...let\'s call him Ralph, have been hiding something from me. A very important thing. A thing they should not be keeping a secret. A thing that is forever going to affect their friendship with me. Now, Harry, can you possibly guess what they\'ve been keeping from me? Can you possibly know what is forever going to change my opinion of them is? Can you, Harry? CAN YOU?!\" Hermione was now scaring Harry. He\'d never seen her like this, but he knew she had a good reason for being mad. He didn\'t know what to say. After a minute of awkward silence, he decided on taking a logical, or rather what he saw as logical, approach to dealing with Hermione.

\"Hermione...It\'s not that big of a deal. So what, I had sex. Do I really have to tell you everything I do with girls? Hell, I didn\'t think you would want to listen to that stuff anyway,\" Harry looked at her pleadingly, hoping she would forgive and forget. Hermione took a step forward. She met him straight in the eyes, then slapped him. It was the most satisfying thine hae had ever done in her life.