Revelations of the Heart

A/N: Just before I get into the usual routine of thanking my favourite beta’s ever, I need to let you all know something, I’ll be away on business for two weeks, and I won’t be able to get any writing done in that time, so the next chapter will be delayed by about that space of time. Just thought I’d let you know.

Thanks as always to my two wonderful Beta’s Hamie and Williamspike. You must all thank Hamie in particular for the extra length on this chapter as she gave me some valuable advice in getting extension on my ideas.

On with the fic!


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- RESEARCH –


Harry entered the Great Hall at lunch time with Ron. They had just finished Divination and had to search through the sea of students to find Hermione. Eventually, Ron spotted her sat next to Lavender Brown; she had saved the two seats across from her for their arrival. Both Harry and Ron took the seats and after exchanging greetings with the two girls, Ron, who claimed he was starving, began to eat with gusto. He completely missed the look of mild disgust that Lavender shot at him as he reached across Harry to gain access to a platter of sandwiches.

Harry smirked to himself. At least some things never change, he thought. My feelings for Hermione, on the other hand...

Harry had spent all of Divination, which he only continued to take as a sort of rest time, thinking about Hermione and the predicament he was in. He had decided to take Ron’s advice and play it cool, dropping only the occasional subtle hint to Hermione that he was interested, the kind of thing that other people might view as a mark of friendship, or an inside joke. Harry glanced down at his plate and was struck by a flash of inspiration.

“Pass the salt, would you, Hermione?” He said, motioning towards the shaker that sat by her elbow.

Hermione picked up the salt shaker and held it out for him to grab. Harry reached out, but rather than grasping the exposed top of the shaker, he lightly drew his fingers along the back of her hand. The brief contact of his fingers on her skin caused Hermione to start, and a blush began to rise in her cheeks. Harry took hold of the shaker and used it on his meal, acting as if nothing had occurred.

“Thanks,” he smiled, and just as Hermione was about to look away, Harry winked at her. Her eyes flicked back to scan his face, and Harry could tell that she was trying to decide if her mind was playing tricks on her. A little over a week earlier he’d found himself asking the same questions. However, he made no show that anything untoward had occurred as he tucked into his meal.

This is going to be quite fun I think. Harry took a bite from his sandwich to disguise the smile that played on his lips.

Throughout the rest of lunch break, Harry noticed that Hermione kept shooting covert glances at him. Probably to see if I’m checking her out again, he mused. Well, this time the shoe’s on the other foot. I know that she fancies me, but she’s not positive of how I feel. Time for some payback I think.

“It’s a bit warm in here, isn’t it?” Harry muttered, reaching up to remove his school jumper. Underneath he was wearing a tight maroon shirt that he used during Quidditch practice on warm days. The fabric of the shirt clung to his well defined muscles and showed them off quite well. He had overheard the female chasers on the team giggling about it amongst themselves in the change room.

Harry was happy with the way his body looked. He wasn’t overly muscular or bulky, as that would be a disadvantage playing in the Seeker position. Rather, he was lean, and sported defined musculature in his arms and chest, created by pulling his treasured Firebolt out of the numerous hair-raising dives he was often forced to perform to catch the Snitch. He knew from the overheard conversations that some of the girls found this quite attractive, and he fervently hoped Hermione was likewise inclined.

Harry folded his sweater and laid it across his lap, taking care to make it all look as innocent as possible. When he looked up, both Hermione and Lavender quickly glanced away, fixing their gaze on a different part of the hall.

She noticed! Harry thought gleefully. But so did Lavender. I hope she doesn’t say anything to Hermione about it. Hermione’s just the kind of person who’d tell her to go for it and then give up on getting my attention for herself.

Harry stretched his arms out to his sides, drawing more appreciative glances from across the table, which he pretended not to notice, and dropped his right arm around Ron’s shoulders in a friendly hug. “Feel like going for a walk before our next class? You can start to work off some of that lunch.” He chuckled.

A blush crept up the back of Ron’s neck, but he abandoned his plate and allowed Harry to steer him away from the table. As they stood, Harry slung his jumper across his shoulders like a scarf and walked off side by side with Ron toward the doors of the Great Hall. Both girls stared at their retreating backs, and heaved out identical sighs. Harry didn’t hear them as he strode away. However, he couldn’t help but think that lunch had been a resounding success for him, and he walked with an extra bounce in his step.

On the other side of the hall, a pair of cold, grey eyes watched the progress of Harry and Ron as they made their way out of the doors, a mixture of hatred and jealousy mirrored in their depths.


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“Are you sure that you’re okay with me going after Hermione, Ron? It’s just that you hardly said a word at lunch. Usually we can’t shut you up.”

“Yeah, I’m fine with it. Trust me.” He added as Harry let out a derisive snort. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind at the moment okay?”

“Yeah, alright then.” Harry grunted, flopping down under the large tree by the lake that his father and friends had frequented during their time at Hogwarts. “It’s just that I reckon you’re the best mate a guy could have, and I didn’t want to fall out with you over this. If it all goes pear-shaped with Hermione at least I’ll still have someone to talk to.”

“Don’t talk crap Harry, it’s obvious that she’s into you just from the way she reacted at lunch.”

“You don’t think it was too over the top then?” Harry asked, absent mindedly shredding a dead leaf in his hands.

“Over the top? Ohh no, it was quite subtle really. Wearing that Quidditch shirt was a good one, what gave you that idea?” Ron let a mocking smile spread across his face.

Harry didn’t even look up from the pieces of leaf in his hand as he heaved out a relieved sigh. “I overhead Katie and Demelza talking about it after Quidditch practice one day and…” Harry paused, the self-satisfied grin sliding from his face as he looked up and realised that Ron was rolling around on the grass, laughing hysterically.

“What in the name of Merlin’s so funny?” Harry grumped.

“You actually think you were subtle?” Ron gasped, trying to speak between fits of laughter. “The only way you could have been more obvious was if you’d have run into the Great Hall naked with ‘I want to have sex with Hermione Granger’ painted on your chest!” Ron dissolved into another gale of laughter at the crestfallen look gracing Harry’s features.

“Yeah, alright, very funny Ron. You’ve had your laugh at my expense. Now, do you think you can enlighten me as to where I went wrong, Oh wise master?”

Ron sucked in a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. “I won’t lie to you Harry, running your fingers along the back of her hand when she passed you the salt was genius.”

“How could you have seen that? Your face was buried in a mountain of food!” Harry said, absolutely mystified.

“Don’t interrupt me while I’m enlightening you Harry. It’s a complicated process.” He snorted back another chuckle. “I was watching to make sure you didn’t stuff up too bad. If you went astray I’d have saved you from going from bad to worse. Anyway, as I said, the fingers were great, but taking off your jumper like that was a little bit of overkill, don’t you think?”

“I just thought I’d give her a look at what I’ve got underneath the clothes,” Harry muttered, embarrassed at being lectured by his best friend.

“And that’s all well and good, but you don’t even have Quidditch practice today, so why would you be wearing the shirt? And saying that it was warm, how much more cliché can you get? After Hermione’s come out of her physique-induced stupor, don’t you think she’ll realise what happened? And even if she doesn’t, which is unlikely, then surely Lavender will.”

“I noticed that Lavender was watching too; you don’t think that she could be a problem for me and Hermione do you?”

“It wasn’t just Lavender who saw mate. Remember who you are, you’re the Chosen One, The Boy Who Lived! You’ve quite likely got your own fan club!” Ron chuckled at his wit “Half of the girls at our table saw, not to mention the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.”

Harry groaned in resignation. “Damn, so I kind of shot myself in the foot a bit hey?”

“Just a little, but it also worked to your advantage too. Hermione definitely got to see ‘what you’ve got under the clothes’ as you put it. She might just be fascinated enough to want to see more. But you will have to be careful about flirting with the ladies now, don’t forget there were a few other people who liked your little show.” Ron ginned widely.

“A few other girls you mean?”

“Huh?” Ron looked confused.

“You said a few people liked it. Surely you meant a few other girls,” Harry said, exasperated.

“Umm, err, I meant to...” Ron spluttered, gesticulating wildly.

“Calm down Ron, I was only messing about.” Harry nudged his friends shoulder in a friendly manner and stood up.

Ron let out the breath that he’d unconsciously been holding and, looking relieved, allowed Harry to help him up off the ground.

Harry quickly dusted off his pants. “Come on Ron, we’d better get moving, lunch break is almost over, wouldn’t want to be late for class would we? Hermione would have a fit.”

“Yeah, I guess so; at least it’s nearly the weekend. Just two more classes and we’re there.”

Smiling, Harry threw his arm back around Ron’s shoulders, and the pair walked slowly back toward the castle.


* * * *


“For your homework, I want eighteen inches of parchment, to be handed in first thing Monday, on the strengths and weaknesses of Vampires, and what defensive spells you could best employ in order to buy yourselves some time before your inevitable demise. It is more than obvious to me that none of you would stand a chance in such an encounter, given the standard of your course work thus far.”

Harry, Ron and Hermione rose as one from their table, packing away their quills and textbooks before stepping out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and into the growing flow of students filling the hallway after the last class of the day.

“That greasy bastard,” fumed Ron. “Who else but that prick would give us eighteen inches of homework over a weekend? I swear, one of these days…” He made a violent upper-cutting motion with his fist, nearly hitting a small first year student who had just appeared out of a tapestry. The younger boy squeaked in fright and ran off through the crowd.

“Ronald! You almost hit that poor boy!” Hermione said, chastising him for his actions.

“Yeah, but I missed didn’t I? No harm done.”

“Even if you did miss, you still scared him half to death, I think you should find that boy and apologise.”

“I don’t even know who the jumpy little bugger was, Hermione! Be reasonable!”

Harry gave a start when Hermione rounded on him. “Did you see who that boy was? Or even what house he was from?”

Harry had the good sense to look apologetic. “Sorry Hermione, I was a bit preoccupied.” He cracked a wan smile; Ron was grinning and flashing him a ‘thumbs up’ behind Hermione’s back. “I can help you find out who he was if you really want me to.”

Ron’s smile slipped into reverse and he scowled at Harry for the betrayal, flipping him a finger before Hermione rounded on him again. “I think I’ll let Ronald off this time, I’m sure he feels guilty enough as it is. Isn’t that right?”

“Yeah Hermione, I do,” muttered Ron, hanging his head in mock shame while scuffing the toe of his shoe on the ground. It was such an accurate impression of a young child scolded by his mother that Harry couldn’t help but laugh. He was soon joined by Ron, while Hermione shook her head at their antics, trying in vain to hold back her own laughter.

Harry threw his arms around the shoulders of his two friends and steered them up the stairs that lead to their common room. “Let’s go and relax before dinner hey?”

“Shouldn’t we get a start on our homework for Snape?”

“That’s our Hermione,” Ron chuckled. “Always striving to achieve… But seriously Herms,”

“Don’t call me that!”

“Okay then, Hermy,”

“That either!”

“How about Herm-own-ninny?” He laughed

“I think what our Ronnie-kins is trying to say,” Harry interrupted, smiling. “Is that we can always start work on it after dinner. Let’s just relax for a while hey?”

Hermione pretended to pout. “You boys always gang up on me, it’s not fair.”

“Can’t you just indulge us this one time?”

“Alright Harry, just for you though,” she replied, sticking her tongue out at Ron, who promptly tried to grab hold of it.

Harry stepped between the pair, acting like he was a referee in a boxing match. “Now, now children, let’s be civil.”

Hermione laughed and threaded her hand into his. Harry felt something electric at their touch, and he almost lost his train of thought. He made a swift recovery, however, by grabbing a protesting Ron’s hand with his free one, and leading them down the hall, into the comfort of the common room.


* * * *


Harry and Ron came down the spiral stairs from their dormitory carrying their DADA books, parchment and quills, to find Hermione already set up on one of the work tables placed around the large room. She had a stack of reference books on the floor next to her chair, and seemed to be deep in thought, reading a book that was open in front of her.

The two boys sat down on the other side of the table, knowing how Hermione liked to have space to spread out her things, and set up their own books.

“While you were both goofing around upstairs, I made a quick trip to the library to get some reference material,” indicating the stack near her right foot. “I wanted to get in tonight because you can be sure all the good ones would be gone by tomorrow.”

“You’re a godsend Hermione,” Ron said earnestly. “Where would we be without you?”

“Probably failing,” Hermione smiled, a small blush rising in her cheeks.

God, she’s so cute when she’s embarrassed. How am I supposed to concentrate when she’s sitting across from me? Harry thought.

“Here you go,” said Hermione, handing them both different books. “These should have some good information; make notes on what you find and at the end we’ll put all of our notes together and see what we’ve come up with.”

“Thanks ‘Mione.” Harry said gratefully. Ron nodded in agreement and the trio dove into their reading. The scratching of quills on parchment the only sound from their table for the next hour.

Harry looked up from his notes to see that Hermione was completely engrossed in her book. He sat and watched her for a while, loving how much she could devote her concentration to a task.

I wonder if she would strive for success in other areas as much as she does in school. Harry grinned at where his thoughts were leading him. He chanced another glance across the table to find that Hermione was still buried in her book, but she was now blushing furiously. What could possibly be in a book that could cause that reaction?

He reached across the table and lifted the edge of her book to look at the front cover. “Eternal Dark: The Vampire Chronicles? What’s that book about Hermione?”

She reacted swiftly, closing the book with a snap. Harry had a brief chance to see the name of the author before she rested her hands on the cover.

“Lyvah M Fromev? What kind of a name is that? Fromev sounds almost French, but Lyvah?” Ron asked, having looked up from his own work at the sound of the book closing.

“What are you two, some kind of Wizarding Secret Service?” Hermione muttered, blushing even deeper.

Harry grinned. “Nope, we’re just curious friends. Don’t you just love us?”

Hermione groaned “Okay, so I’ve been caught out. To answer your question Ron, I’d say ‘Lyvah Fromev’ is just a pen name, to hide the author’s identity.”

“Why would they want to do that? It seemed like you were enjoying your read, you haven’t even tried to correct us once in the last hour.”

Hermione grimaced. “Thanks Ron, very blunt.”

“Just doing my job,” he smiled sweetly.

“I’d suspect that hiding their identity was important, seeing as the author is a Vampire. Wouldn’t want to let the community know who was spilling all the Vamp secrets would they?” she said, ignoring Ron’s jibe.

“You mean that’s the autobiography of a Vampire?” Harry asked, genuinely interested. “What sort of things did he write about?”

“Not he, she.” Hermione corrected. “And it’s not exactly an autobiography, more of a look at Vampire culture from the inside if you know what I mean.”

Harry nodded. “So, what were you reading before I interrupted you?” He was keen to find out what had caused her embarrassment.

Hermione blushed again, before opening the book to the page she was last reading. “I’ll read it to you,” she said, hushing her voice so that Harry and Ron had to lean in to hear. “It is common knowledge that Vampires must drink the blood of Humans to survive, and retain their beauty. What is not so widely known, however, is that, on occasion, Vampires will also partake in drinking the blood of another Vampire,” Ron gasped. “This doesn’t hold the same purpose as feeding on a human, seeing as Vampire blood does not contain the life force that is our sustenance. However, the exchange of blood from one Vampire to another is occasionally used in sexual situations.”

Hermione’s breath hitched, but Harry urged her on. Steeling her voice, she continued to read. “When two Vampires are particularly close, they may choose to exchange blood at the peak of orgasm. The blood rush increases the magnitude of the orgasm for both parties, and can raise the experience to an almost narcotic high. This practice is not widely performed, however, as for a few brief minutes after the exchange both Vampires have complete access to the other’s mind. Therefore, only Vampires with a close initial relationship are willing to allow such an exchange.”

Hermione’s voice died off and she looked away from the two awestruck boys across from her, utterly embarrassed.

“Well,” said Ron, “That’s not the kind of book you’d expect to find in the school library. Not even the restricted section would have information like that.” He shook his head in shock. “Better than an orgasm? Wow.” He muttered this last part to himself more than the others, but both of them heard it.

“I didn’t get it from the library, I bought it for some reading. It sounded quite interesting,” Hermione stated, her voice miraculously staying level.

“Interesting is one way to put it.” Harry grinned, making a joke of the situation to try and put the others at ease. His mind was whirring as much as theirs he would suspect. The way Hermione had talked about the increase of the orgasm had caused a definite reaction below his belt, and he was randier than he had ever been before. He was trying to come up with a suitable excuse to leave for the night when Hermione provided it for him.

“Let’s take a break for the night, okay? We’ll start again tomorrow morning.”

Harry and Ron could only nod dumbly as she packed up her books and rushed off up to the girl’s dorms. The two boys silently packed up their things and went their separate ways.

I’ve got to relieve this tension. I was just about to jump Hermione right then and there. God, that was so hot. What I wouldn’t give to see Hermione orgasming underneath me, or on top of me for that matter…

Harry all but bolted up the stairs to the boy’s dorm room to grab his towel and a change of clothes, before heading straight to the shower.


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A/N: Another Chapter down! This one was heaps of fun to write, and I threw in a little reference to a brilliant fic that my Beta WilliamSpike put me onto. It’s called “Forever Knight” and is written by “DeliverMeFromEve”. Hermione’s book is called “Eternal Dark” by “Lyvah M Fromev” See how I did that?

All of the information Hermione reads from her book is taken from, and slightly edited to fit my purposes, DeliverMeFromEve’s fic. It really is brilliant.

Here’s the link for those who want to read it: http://fanfiction.portkey.org/story/5185

Enjoy the read, but don’t forget to come back to my fic will you? Please?! LOL!

Also, thanks so much to all who review, it makes my day!