A Piece of Forever

Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR and I make no money off this, purely for good innocent fun.

This is the longest chapter that I've ever written so far and I hope you enjoy!


Chapter Eight:


Hermione cracked her gum between her teeth, her brow furrowed. She handed Hedwig an owl treat and she flew off without waiting for a reply.

She folded the letter from Harry and stepped into the fireplace, grabbing some floo powder.

“Harry Potter!” she said and came face to face with her friend, sprawled on the couch, having breakfast.

He yelped and started. “Good God, Hermione!”

“What do you mean someone wants a date with me?” she asked, making herself comfortable.

“Help yourself,” Harry gestured to the pot of steaming coffee and the stack of toast. Hermione buttered one side of a toast and bit into it.

“Well, you see, yesterday after you left, you know after practice?” Harry said through a mouthful of toast.

“Harry,” Hermione swallowed and smiled affectionately at Harry. “Please don’t talk with your mouth full.”

Harry rolled his emerald green eyes at her and swallowed twice. “After you left, there was this reporter. Her name’s Loki MacKenzie and she wanted to talk to you, you know, ask you a few questions- namely what is Malfoy’s favorite ice-cream flavor. “

“And you said yes?” Hermione put down her toast and adopted her hands on hips pose, staring down at Harry who cringed. “You agreed to set me up with the paparazzi?”

“Look,” Harry said defensively. “She was pretty.”

“And what has that got to do with-“ Hermione broke off and stared knowingly at Harry, a grin lighting up her face. “Harry, you like this reporter girl!”

Harry’s face grew hot and Hermione’s grin grew wider. “I knew it!” she crowed. “You fancy her, don’t you? You didn’t want to turn her away because you fancy her.” She studied him for another few moments and continued smugly, “And if I’m not wrong, you asked her out.”

“God, Hermione, how do you know?” Harry asked incredulously.

“Harry,” Hermione sighed, “I wasn’t the smartest girl in Hogwarts for nothing.”

“Ok,” Harry admitted grudgingly. “I told her I would get her a date with you if she went out on one with me.”

“When?” Hermione demanded. “Your date, I mean.”

“Tonight, I’m taking her to dinner,” Harry said. “We’re meeting at the Three Broomsticks first.”

“Where are you going for dinner?” Hermione badgered.

“I don’t know yet!” Harry replied, “I was going to ask her for her opinion!”

“Merlin, Harry, you have make a reservation! You need to owl her, tell her to dress up and you’re taking her to a restaurant for dinner. Then you have to dress up, pick her up from home and go to dinner together!” Hermione lectured. “God, do it now!”

“Where?” Harry was beginning to panic. He hadn’t done anything! He was going to mess the whole thing up.

Hermione paused and said slowly, “On the other hand, you could take her to a nice place for some food, a walk around town and then, if it all works out, a goodnight kiss would be fine.”

“That sounds a lot better, I don’t think a first date calls for the suit and the candle-lit dinner,” Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

“Sorry, I was too excited for you,” Hermione laughed. “You should have seen your face. You really like her, don’t you?”

“She’s…” Harry struggled to find the right word.

Hermione smiled. “Special?”

Harry broke into a smile. “Yeah, special.”

“Tell her that I’ll meet her for coffee in the Three Broomsticks tomorrow at three,” Hermione stood up.

“Thanks, Hermione,” He said.

“Owl me if you have any questions,” Hermione twinkled her fingers at him. “Good luck on your date.”

Harry watched as she disappeared in the fireplace. “Thanks, I’m going to want all the luck I can get.” He mumbled to himself.

~

Loki held up the shirt against her chest, scrutinizing her image in the mirror. “It makes me look fat,” she groaned and tossed it on the pile on her bed as she pulled out the next shirt in her closet.

“Uh-uh,” she dismissed it, sending it into the pile on the bed.

An hour later, she decided on a cream coloured skit that was just above her knee, a white tank top and pink sheer top over it. She spent fifteen minutes deciding whether to go with her pink wedges or her stilettos but went with the wedges in the end.

She showered, dried her hair, and made sure it was stick straight without any kinks or tangles, before she put on her makeup.

It was six forty five.

She grabbed her bag and apparated to the Three Broomsticks.

She tugged in her blonde hair self-consciously and was painfully aware that her heart was beating faster than usual. Why was she making a big deal out of such a casual date. It wasn’t as though he was taking her to some posh restaurant so why was she so nervous?

“Hi,” she nearly fell off her stool at the sound of his voice.

His hair was as messy as ever although it looked like he did make an effort to make it appear less tousled. He grinned at her. “Hermione says that she will meet you tomorrow at three for coffee here.”

“Great,” Loki beamed. “So, where to?”

“Dinner, where do you want to go?” He asked.

“I quite enjoy the food here actually so if you don’t mind, we could just eat here and save the trouble of looking for somewhere to eat,” she suggested.

“Good,” he agreed, sliding into the seat opposite her. “Let’s order.”

~

Hermione protested profusely as Ginny pushed the dress towards her.

“Wear it! Now!” Ginny ordered.

“Ginny, look at it! It’s so short!” Hermione exclaimed, holding the dress up, completely aghast.

“Hermione, you’re 22 years old, this is perfectly suitable, besides we are going to a pub!” Ginny said in exasperation.

“I’m not as sexy nor am I as daring as you, Gin,” Hermione argued. “You may look absolutely delicious in a skimpy thing-“ She gestured to the black mini dress that Ginny had on, “But I won’t, trust me.”

“I won’t until you put that on right now,” Ginny said.

Hermione gave up, put the dress on and marched out of the bathroom in a huff. “See!” she told Ginny, “I look like a freak!”

Ginny gaped at Hermione. “Merlin’s Beard, where have you been hiding that body of yours, Hermione?” She rushed over, eyes wide, “You look brilliant!”

“It’s exposing, my boobs are practically falling out of this! And I’m simply not comfortable with my legs being exposed like this!” Hermione trilled.

“Hermione, your boobs certainly won’t fall out, this dress has been charmed to cover all the parts its supposed to cover, and your legs are lovely. It’s not too short and it looks great on you so will you just rest your case?” Ginny sighed.

Hermione considered for a while. “Only if you let down the bottom another inch. It’s really too short!” she insisted.

“At your service, just give me one second,” Ginny brandished her wand, smiling.

~

“I cannot believe you brought me onto your roof!” laughed Loki. “And I have no idea how you talked me into this!”

Harry grinned. “You let me talk you into this,” he said, twisting his head to the side to look at her, lying next to him on a blanket.

She breathed deeply. “The view is astounding,” she stated, turning her face up towards the sky again.

“I know,” Harry said quietly.

The sky was sprinkled with stars and a comma of a moon smiled down at her. She raised her hand up, spreading her fingers apart. She imagined her fingers to grasp at a corner of the sky, pulling so the entire sheet of black along with the stars and the moon unraveled, falling to cover the both of them like a blanket, protecting them from everything else.

“Loki.”

“Hmm?”

“You are not like any other girl I’ve ever met.”

“Is that a compliment or an insult?” she asked, turning to face him, only to find that she was now face to face to him, barely an inch away. She felt his warm breath fan across her skin and goosebumps raced down her arms.

“A compliment, of course,” he whispered and then he rolled over in a single swift move so that he was on top of her, his mouth covering hers gently.

Loki thought her heart had stopped beating. His mouth was soft as he kissed her and she wrapped her arms around him, kissing him deeper, not wanting to let go.

His hands found her face, cupping her head in both his hands and brushing his thumbs over her cheeks, sending shivers down her spine. She gasped as he nibbled gently on her lower lip. As her lips parted, his tongue slipped in.

She moaned, her fingers lacing through his messy hair and let their tongues tangle with each other’s. She felt his low moan vibrate through her, sending a warm ball of golden fire right down to the very bottom of her belly.

Harry felt all the blood in his body rush south as she moved below him, making small throaty moans as he kissed her fiercely.

He slid a hand up her shirt, caressing the skin on her stomach, making her whimper deliciously.

Her hands found his belt buckle and Harry stilled, a million questions and doubts swirling in his mind. If it all works out, a goodnight kiss would be fine, Hermione had told him. This, what they were about to do, was no simple goodnight kiss.

He broke the kiss to meet her eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Loki let a smile curve her lips, “Harry, are you sure you want me to think twice?”

Harry laughed. “Will you still say yes after thinking twice?”

She pretended to consider. “I will still say yes after thinking twice, thinking thrice, think-“ She trailed off as he proceeded to kiss her again, more thoroughly than before.

“Wait,” Loki pulled away.

“What? Did you change your mind, because I can wait,” Harry said breathlessly, trying to catch his breath.

Loki eyed the thick ridge of arousal in his pants and looked up. “Honestly, I don’t think you can wait,” she laughed and he looked embarrassed. He rolled off her, trying to calm himself down.

Loki sat up, supporting her body with her elbow and studied him. “I’m a virgin, Harry, so I would really…” she swallowed as her face burned. “You know… if you could go slow.”

Harry sat up right. “You’re a virgin?”

“The furthest I’ve ever went is French kissing,” she laughed. “Do you think I’m a prude?”

“God,” he gazed at her, his emerald eyes wide in wonder. “You never cease to surprise me.” He added before she could ask. “Good surprise.”

“Do you still want to do this?” she asked.

“God, yes, more than anything-“ He said but she silenced him by covering his mouth.

“In that case, are you going to keep on talking,” she smiled at him. “Or are you going to make love to me?”

Harry moved closer to her, brushing his lips to hers lightly in answer. “At your service,” he breathed and Loki looped her arms around his neck, closing her eyes in bliss as he planted loving butterfly kisses from her lips down her jaw and onto her neck.

~

Draco tipped the glass of vodka back and let the liquid burn its way down his throat. He held up two fingers to the bar tender, signaling for two more.

He was about to drink the two glasses when someone gripped his hand firmly.

He turned around to yell at the person to mind his own business when he came face to face with Hermione who was wearing the shortest dress he had ever seen on her- it was tight, dark red, short and looked amazing on her.

“You promised me not to drink,” she said softly.

“I know, Hermione, but now I’m drinking over you,” he said. “There’s a difference.” He felt her remove her hand and drank the glass.

“Don’t,” she said shakily. “I’m not worth it.”

Draco met her eyes, “Hermione, you are. Trust me, you are.”

“Please, stop. I hate to see you like this,” she pleaded.

He picked up the second glass, hesitated and grudgingly put it down. “But it’s going to go to waste,” he complained. Hermione shook her head.

“No, it’s not,” she snatched the glass and choked down the vodka, spluttering. “Merlin, what is this?” she coughed.

“Vodka,” Draco said, smiling in amusement. “Hermione, God, you don’t drink…”

She shrugged. “There has to be a first time for everything.”

“Why are you here?”

“Ginny made me,” she rolled her eyes.

“Oh,” he nodded. “I knew you wouldn’t come on your own accord, especially in this.”

She looked down at her dress and blushed, tugging the dress down self-consciously. “She forced me. I’m feeling extremely exposed in this.”

He chuckled. “You’re still the same Hermione I know.”

“You mean I’m the same prude Hermione?” she asked dryly.

“No, I mean you’re still the Hermione I love,” he said quietly, covering her hand with his.

Hermione snatched her hand away. “We shouldn’t.”

She stood up and disappeared among the crowd. Draco got to his feet, tossing a few sickles on the bar and followed, calling her name.

He found her in a corner, watching Ginny Weasley dance the night away.

“Hermione, why did you leave?” He asked.

“I didn’t want to let people see and call me a third party, a family wrecker.”

“Hermione, you are not the third party! You are not a family wrecker!” he said firmly. “How can you even suspect that I think that about you?”

“To you maybe not, but to everyone else, I’m sorry to break it to you but I’m the third party.”

“Hermione,” Draco said slowly. “Does other people’s opinion really matter that much to you? Isn’t it enough that I believe in you? Isn’t it enough to know that I love you?”

She tore her eyes away from those hypnotizing gray eyes, afraid that she would get lost in them like all the times before.

“Hermione, can’t you forget the fact that there are other people spreading lies about you, about us? Can’t you just look at me?” He sighed.

Hermione whipped her head around, her hair slapping his face and he felt his heart race at that familiar scent. “What do you want from me, Draco? I’m afraid I don’t have anything left,” she said in a defeated voice.

“Even if you lose everything you have, I swear, you’ll always have me,” he whispered.

“No, you’re Alyssa’s now,” she said through gritted teeth, trying not to think about how painful that sounded.

“No, I will be no one else’s but yours,” He cupped her cheek then traced her hairline gently with his thumb, his gray eyes sweeping over her face with an expression of awe in his face. “God, I have never seen anything as beautiful as you, Hermione.”

She closed her eyes at the feeling of his hands clasping around hers, how she felt so complete, as though she was a jigsaw puzzle and he was that big crucial piece that was missing. Two halves of a whole- that was what they were.

She leaned forward, resting her head on his chest; content just to hear his heart beat in time with hers.


~*~

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