Ice Breaker

(This is a long Oneshot)

Voldemort’s reign was over. Harry and the Order had defeated him over the summer just before their 7th year.

Hogwarts was reopened, which was a fear of not happening, and Harry decided to go ahead and finish his 7th year. Hogwarts was, after all, his home.

Hermione was Head Girl. She had expected it. One of the perks was having her own room. It was just outside the Gryffindor dorms. Draco Malfoy was Head Boy. That really didn’t surprise Hermione either. He was very smart, even if he tried to hide it sometimes. Luckily, she thought, his room was clear down in the dungeons.

The first few weeks were odd. Many of the couples that were expected to get together, or back together, did, but most of the couples didn’t work out.

Ron had been interested in Hermione forever it seemed like. She gave it a go with him, but found out real fast that it just wasn’t right. It wasn’t a talk she had looked forward to having with him, but luckily he had felt it from her, and would rather have her as a friend than lose her altogether.

Harry and Ginny seemed like the most likely couple to stick together, and they did for a few weeks. Ginny had finally confided in Hermione that she didn’t know what to say to Harry or how to really comfort him and it was wearing her down. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, she just didn’t know how. A week later they had mutually decided to break it off.

Now that the war was over, even the Slytherin lot was tolerable. That was as far as anybody would go. Tolerable. They had quit calling anybody ‘mudbloods’ or ‘bloodtraitors’ and most of them even quit referring to themselves as ‘purebloods’. Hermione thought a big dip in the pool of reality had cleared their vision a bit this past summer. A lot of them lost family, either by death in the war or they were in Azkaban. It didn’t keep a lot of them from being prats; playing pranks, mostly on first years as “initiations”.

By the end of October, classes were back into swing as usual, all the couples that had broken up were now friends and a Hogsmeade weekend was coming up on the weekend. Hermione had a plan. In one way the mood around the castle was back to normal, but in another way there was tension. Her plan was to help relieve that tension. It would start out with a stop at Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop for some stationary and a quill.

Hermione fretted over how to word the invitations. They had to be worded right to weed out the jokesters. Suddenly she had an idea that brought a very conniving smirk to her face. She threw her hands to her mouth and muttered, “Bloody hell! I’ve been going to school with Malfoy too long,” but she liked the idea. She started writing.

You are invited to an “Ice Breaker”. Yes, normally Ice Breakers are held for people who don’t know each other, but we’ve been together for six to seven years now, and I believe there are things we still don’t know about each other, and this could be our last chance. What I would like, for anyone who would like to attend, is for you to submit up to five questions you would like to find out about someone. The only catch is, you don’t know who will get that question; it could even be you. This isn’t like “truth or dare”. Any question daring someone to run down the hall nude, etc., will be tossed. We aren’t first years anymore. In fact, everything must stay within the confines of the Room of Requirement. Of course, there are rules. Only those who are not in a relationship may attend. The questions, I’m sure, will get personal and I don’t want this to be responsible for any solid or budding relationship problems. All questions must be answered truthfully. If you attend, you will hear more about this. Also, any discussion about what happens at the Ice Breaker may only be discussed with those that attended, unless permission is given by those that the subject may involve. Consequences for breaking this rule will also be discussed at the Ice Breaker. If, after all of this, you are interested in getting to know your fellow classmates better, please think of up to 5 questions and write them on the enclosed cards. The questions can be lighthearted, thought provoking or personal. If it helps, we will be sitting in a circle. Please get your questions to me by Friday, November 6th at dinner by whatever means you are most comfortable with, without getting either of us in trouble please. The date is Saturday, November 7th at 1pm. (Yes, I made sure it was after lunch and there wasn’t a Quidditch game scheduled.) Please bring this invitation with you. It will be your admittance into the room. Thank you for your time and consideration, Hermione Granger

Hermione magically created a lot more copies of what she had written on the stationary she had bought and with another spell slipped five small parchment cards into the folded stationary then into an envelope. This repeated itself many, many times. She had made a plan with Dobby, one of the house elves, to give an envelope to every 6th and 7th year student at breakfast the next morning. If one didn’t come to breakfast, Dobby would know where they were. She just hoped she was doing the right thing.

Over the next week Hermione was surprised at how many question cards she received; Dobby brought her some, a few she found on her dorm bed, owls brought some too. Harry and Ron just handed their questions to her, which in one way didn’t surprise her, and in another way did.

“I figured you wouldn’t want me to know which questions are yours,” she said as she looked at the boys at breakfast. She was sitting next to Harry and he was next to Ron.

Harry smiled at her, “Like you wouldn’t recognize our handwriting,” and winked at her.

Hermione started laughing and elbowed him playfully. “Harry, the cards are enchanted to change the handwriting to a solid print so I, or whoever is reading the question, won’t know who wrote it.” She tucked the cards into her school bag.

“I should have known you would do something like that,” Harry said and smiled at her.

Suddenly a small envelope dropped over Hermione’s head and landed in her lap which caused her to jump. “If you two lovebirds can quit flirting long enough, here are my questions. By your own rules, you two shouldn’t even be allowed to go!” Draco said smugly.

Hermione turned sharply with blush on her face. “Harry and I weren’t flirting.” she snapped.

He smirked and her and Harry then shrugged his shoulders and turned to walk off. As he did he said, “Yeah right, and I’m not a Malfoy!”

“Ooh, just for that I should look at his questions now!” Hermione growled under her breath. She had a firm grip on the envelope he had dropped on her lap.

Harry put one of his hands over hers and smiled at her, “But you won’t.”

“No. I won’t.” she grumpily agreed and dropped Draco’s envelope into her school bag too. “I seriously doubt his questions are very thought provoking anyway.”

“Oh, I bet they make you think. Maybe not deep, ‘what’s the world about’ kind of questions, but I bet they get your mind going.” Harry said as he watched Draco saunter out the door.

Hermione dropped her head onto her hands, which were propped on the breakfast table. “I hope I’m not the only girl there.”

Ron leaned around Harry, and with a full mouth muttered, “You won’t be. I know Ginny and Lavender will be there if that makes you feel any better.” He tried to smile but his mouth was full.

Hermione smiled back at him and shook her head. “Thanks Ron. It does.”

On Friday, Hermione could tell there would be twenty-two people. Eleven boys and eleven girls. She wasn’t sure if out of two years worth of students, twenty-two was a good number or not, but they would see what happened. She gathered all the questions together, and did a spell to make sure there were no stupid dares in the envelopes. When they all passed she placed them, with her own questions, in a bag with the quill she had bought on the Hogsmeade trip. The only thing left now, was to work up her Gryffindor courage.

On Saturday morning Hermione awoke with a gasp. Her pajamas clung to her body with perspiration and her heart was pounding. Her body was twisted in the sheets of her bed and she had been gripping the sheets. She took a deep breath and went to take a shower.

After breakfast Hermione decided to go to the Gryffindor common room and found no one there. She went up to the girls’ dorm to find the girls of Gryffindor who were going to the Ice Breaker trying to figure out what to wear.

“Hermione! You didn’t say what to wear. What are you wearing?” Lavender asked as soon as she walked in the dorm room.

Hermione saw the look of panic on the girls’ faces and laughed. “It’s not a ball! I’m wearing what I have on,” which happened to be a pair of hip hugger jeans, stretch of course, must be sensible about these things, and a navy blue, scoop neck sweater that fit her like a glove and barely came to the top of the jeans. She had loafers on her feet, knowing she would kick them off as soon as she sat down. She had taken to doing a simple make-up charm, just enough to accent her features, and was glad her hair had finally lost it’s frizziness and laid in soft waves with nothing but a drying charm, because that’s all the time she wanted to spend on her daily routine.

The other girls looked a little more relaxed. All of a sudden she heard someone yelling at her from the common room so she went trotting downstairs and got the same question from one of the boys! “Oh, for Merlin sakes! It’s casual! Jeans casual!”

She then went over to one of the desks and wrote a note to each of the other houses.

To anyone going to the Ice Breaker, if you are worried about how to dress, it’s casual, as in the line of jeans. This is supposed to be a comfortable get together. Hermione

She then created 2 more copies and sent one to Ravenclaw, one to Hufflepuff and one to Slytherin using Hedwig.

Harry came downstairs wearing dark, fitted blue jeans and a thick, red, long sleeved, button up shirt. He found Hermione sitting on the sofa staring into the fireplace. “A galleon for your thoughts.” he said as he sat down beside her.

She smiled at him. “I was just thinking that I should go to the kitchen and ask Dobby to get me some lunch early then go to the room to get it ready now, that way when everyone arrives, we can get going.”

“Damn!” Harry said.

“What?” Hermione looked at him confused.

“You weren’t supposed to tell me what you were thinking. Now I owe you a galleon.” He was grinning.

“Well,” Hermione started teasing him back “you shouldn’t offer so much to hear somebody’s thoughts. You never know what you might hear next time!”

“Really?” He was going to say more but the boys coming down the stairs stopped him.

“Well, I’ll see you after lunch.” Hermione told Harry.

“Do you want any help?” he asked.

“Thanks, but I think I’ve got it.” She grabbed the bag with the stuff in it and headed down to the school kitchen then up to the Room of Requirement.

When she got there, she thought of the room she wanted and walked in. There in the room sat twenty-two comfortable chairs in a big circle in the middle of the room. Each corner of the room had a pot-belly stove fireplace to keep the room warm. The floors were wood with a big tapestry rug in the middle where the chairs were and the walls were stone. Along one wall was a table with stuff to drink and she had thought up a bathroom. It was simple. They were there to talk.

She sat down on one of the chairs and pulled out the sandwich Dobby had prepared for her. He had wanted to make her more, but after ten minutes she convinced him that she was too nervous to eat more, and she would call him if her stomach settled down and she wanted more.

She got to work when she was done and was ready when everyone started to arrive. There were nine Gryffindor: Hermione, Parvati, Lavender, Ginny, Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean and Seamus; five Ravenclaw: Padma, Luna, Lisa, Michael and Anthony; four Hufflepuff: Hanna, Susan, Justin and Ernie; and four Slytherin: Pansy, Daphne, Draco and Blaise. It didn’t surprise Hermione that the Gryffindors outnumbered the other houses since she had sent out the invitations and she was a Gryffindor.

After everyone had been seated Hermione started to explain the rest of the rules. “OK, this is how this will work. In order to stay, you have to sign your invitation. That will state that you agree that what is said in this room stays with the people who are in the room now. As the invitation stated, you may only talk about what is said with people who already know about it. Also, you must tell the truth while you are in here. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the muggle children’s story of Pinocchio, but in it, if he lies, his nose grows. If you sign the contract, you will be enchanted so the same thing happens to you. It was always one of my favorite stories growing up.” There was some muttering around the room and several people touched their noses. “If somebody talks to somebody outside this circle, without permission from the person the story is about, then there will be a consequence. Also from the story of Pinocchio you will slowly start to turn into a donkey, a jackass if you will. Now, anybody who wants to leave now, may. They will have all this obliviated when they walk out the door.” No one got up, but there were a few dropped jaws around the room.

“OK then.” She had the quill out that she had charmed and signed her own parchment first and passed it around the room where everyone signed their invitations.

“How do we know this will even work?” Draco asked with a smug smile on his face.

“OK, ask me what my name is.” Hermione said.

“Oh, I’ve got loads better questions than that!” Draco said.

“And you had your chance and gave me your questions already. Besides, you’re looking for what happened when someone lies right now, right?” Hermione looked right at him.

“Right,” he said. “OK, what’s your name?”

“Draco Malfoy” Hermione said and her nose grew an inch straight out. Everyone in the room gasped. “Sorry, my name is Hermione Granger.” And her nose returned to normal.

There were comments of ‘bloody hell’, ‘wicked’ and a couple that weren’t quite as friendly.

“Alright then. I did a spell to make sure there were no dares, so I haven't seen the questions in the bag. The only questions I know are the ones I submitted, same as the rest of you. They have been enchanted. I don’t know who the questions will choose. The questions may choose more than one person, or only one."

Hermione walked to the middle of the circle and placed the bag on the floor. She opened it and walked back to her seat. She kicked off her shoes and curled her legs up under her.

The bag started to flutter as all eyes were on it. Suddenly one of the parchment cards flew out and soared to Susan. She read it out loud “Have you ever had a crush on a teacher?” Her hands flew to her face. “Oh, why me?” she asked herself.

“Who?” several people started asking her. “Is it Snape?” somebody else asked. That snapped her out of her embarrassment.

“Snape! Merlin, No! Bloody hell! I had a crush of Professor Lockhart our second year.” Susan was trying to sink into her chair.

The boys in the room were either laughing or “ewwing”.

Hermione came to her defense, “Susan, I don’t think you were the only one,” and there were several nods from the girls in the room.

“Oh, I’m so relieved I wasn’t the only one.” Susan looked like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

The next question to fly out of the bag landed in Hermione’s lap “Have you ever appreciated a sunset? Were you alone or with someone special? Hmmm,” she said thinking “I’ve seen them of course, and noticed how pretty they were, but I don’t know that I’ve ever stopped and really appreciated one.”

The bag fluttered again and went to Neville “Say something nice about the person on your right," he read out loud. He didn’t have to look to his right to know Lavender was sitting there, but he did anyway. He was very nervous but looked right at Lavender as he spoke. “Well… I’ve always loved your name. The lavender plant is one of the most versatile around you know. Besides beauty, lavender is used for healing and soothing, for fragrances, for teas because of its wonderful taste…”

“Hey, Longbottom” Draco interrupted, “are you talking about the plant or the girl?” he smirked.

Uncharacteristically undeterred, Neville continued. “Well, anyone can see that Lavender here is beautiful.” Neville leaned in slightly toward her and breathed in, “Mmmm, and she smells as nice too. I suspect a bubble bath with lavender and honey.” Neville started to sit back in his chair as he said, “I wouldn’t know about the taste.”

Lavender had been taking in everything Neville was saying about her. She had never had anyone talk about her like that before. When Neville was leaning away from her, saying he wouldn’t know about the taste of her, she couldn’t help it. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled him to her. Their lips locked and Neville’s arms wrapped around her and his hand wound in her hair.

Whoops and hollers broke them out of their own little world. “Ummm… much better than the tea!” Neville said to which he was graced with a smile from Lavender and laughter from the group.

“Good answer Mate,” said Seamus.

The next question from the bag was for Hermione and it made her laugh. “Have you ever punched someone?” She got the giggles and looked right at Draco. He didn’t think it was as funny. Harry and Ron were starting to laugh too. Hermione had a feeling either Ron or Harry had submitted this question. She finally regained her composure. “Well, besides playful punches, Malfoy has been on the receiving end of my temper once in third year.”

Draco finally smiled at her. The way she had worded it didn’t put her in any better light than him. “Yeah, you’ve got a pretty good right hook there Granger. I deserved it though.”

“Yeah you did,” but she was still smiling.

“Now that’s a story I’d like to hear,” Blaise said looking between Draco and Hermione.

“Maybe another time,” Draco said.

There were several questions that popped out of the bag that made people laugh, loosen up, and get to know each other around the room. When they found out Justin’s pet peeve was somebody talking with their mouth full, they warned him not to watch Ron eat. The other houses found out that Ron wasn’t a morning person and sometimes it took his roommates casting spells at him to get him out of bed. They found out that Daphne could sing, but didn’t do it because she thought she would be teased by the other Slytherins. Blaise had gotten so drunk at a party this last summer that he woke up in a bedroom and didn’t know where he was. It ended up being the guest room of his cousin’s beach house but he had no idea how he got there. He had never drank that much before and hasn’t since.

The questions seemed to be getting more personal the more comfortable people were getting. The next question popped out and went to more than one person. This was the first time this happened. The question was folded in half. It went to Ginny, Lavender, Pansy and Hermione.

“Who goes first?” Ginny asked without looking at the question.

“It doesn’t matter; we all have to answer it.” Hermione said looking down at it. She gasped when she saw it. “I’ll go first. The question is ‘Do you own a thong? Are you wearing it now?’ Gee, I wonder what gender wrote this question?” Hermione asked sarcastically. “No. None of my knickers are thongs.” She looked over at the others.

Pansy smiled, “Most of mine are, and yes, I’m wearing a pair now.”

Lavender kind of coughed and said, “I have some. I’m not wearing a pair right now. Didn’t need them for this outfit.” She looked sideways at Neville and noticed he had caught his breath. She smiled to herself.

Ginny was biting her lip and had turned a bit red. “Ron, you might want to plug your ears.”

“Oh, bloody hell!” he said and buried his face in his hands.

Ginny continued, “About half my knickers are thongs and yes, I’ve wearing a pair now. Didn’t want lines to show in my pants.”

The bag rustled again, and a question went to Seamus, “What do you usually sleep in? Just my boxers.” He grinned.

“Not a mental picture I needed” said Justin.

“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s such a bad mental picture.” said Lisa. Seamus winked at her.

Suddenly the bag seemed to go crazy and a question came flying out to everyone in the room. Hermione didn’t expect that. She looked down at the question and read it out loud, “Have you ever skinny dipped? Um, no I haven’t unless I did as a small child and don’t remember, but I don’t think that’s what this question refers to.”

There were a lot of “No’s” in the group, but there were a few that had; Seamus, to no one’s surprise; Pansy; Michael; and Blaise said he thought he remembered doing that before he got plastered this last summer.

Ginny blushed when it was her turn. Again she turned to Ron and motioned for him to plug his ears. Hermione thought her poor friend was going to have a heart attack before the end of the evening. “Well, yes I have. Who wrote these bloody questions?”

The next question out of the bag went to Luna, she looked at it and read “What's the "naughtiest" thing you've ever done or thought about?” She blushed and looked at Ron. The rest of the group looked between the two. They had never seen Luna blush before. Ron looked surprised himself. “Well, I guess it would have to be what I’ve thought about. I’ve thought about stunning Ron late one evening, levitating him to an empty classroom, tying him up then rennervating him and having my way with him.” Everyone in the group was looking at Luna with their eyes wide, not believing what she had just said.

Ron was staring at her with his breath caught, “Bloody hell, Luna. You don’t have to stun me. Just let me know when!”

“How about tonight?” She asked in her singsong voice, not caring that twenty other people in the group were gaping at her.

Apparently neither did Ron, “I’ll see you tonight.”

“OK, now that one shagging session has been set up!” Blaise let statement fall in the air everyone could feel the sexual tension.

More and more personal questions came out of the bag and the tension in the room was getting thick. Another question flew to several people “How many people have you made out with and who was your favorite and why?”

Draco was the first to answer. “I really don’t know how many I’ve made out with, if you count snogging, but it’s not as many as the rumors say it is. I’ve only gone all the way with two, despite the rumors. My favorite, sorry Pansy, was a girl names Anna. None of you know her. She didn’t know anything about what was expected of me from my father, so I could just be myself around her. We met while on vacation once and it was just one of those things.” Hermione thought she saw everyone soften just a bit for Draco.

A couple others went then, of course it was Ginny’s turn again. Ron shook his head. “This isn’t fair,” Ginny said. “Everyone I’ve made out with is in this room!” This caused a laugh from the room. “OK, Ron first off, just so you can sit through this, we didn’t go all the way. None of us. And boys, I didn’t write this question, so don’t blame me OK?” she was looking around the room. “OK, I’ve made out with Michael, Dean and Harry.” She said quickly.

Draco wasn’t going to let her go at that. “That wasn’t the whole question, babe?” he said with a twinkle in his voice.

“Uh! Well, you each have your positives.” Hermione felt sorry for Ginny. She glanced over at Harry who didn’t look real comfortable with this question either. Ginny continued, “I think when Harry and I were good, we had what I thought was a close emotional bond, but now I think it was more of a schoolgirl crush. Felt good though.” And she smiled. Harry smiled back at her. “Michael was my first kiss, and that will always be special. I went out with Dean the longest and I think we, physically anyway, had the best time.” Dean winked at her and she blushed.

Lavender asked, confused, “But I thought you went out with Neville too?”

Ginny looked at her and smiled. “Neville is one of the sweetest men I know. We did go to the Yule Ball together. It’s where I met Michael actually. But the question was who I’ve made out with. Neville and I have always only gone out as friends.” She smiled at Neville and he smiled back at her. Ginny noticed an almost relieved look on Lavender’s face.

The next question went to Harry. He read “When was the last time you kissed someone? Well, if we’re talking about a peck on the cheek it would probably be today,” he looked at Hermione and she nodded her head. “But if you mean more than that then it would be back when Ginny and I were together.”

“Damn, Potter. You could probably have just about any girl in this school, and you haven’t even kissed anyone in nearly two months?” Blaise just shook his head.

“Blaise, I don’t want to go around snogging just anyone!” Harry yelled.

“Oh, yeah? Who do you have in mind then?” Blaise questioned.

“That’s none of your business!” Harry snapped back.

“Guys!” Hermione stood up and yelled. “If the question wasn’t written down before we came in here, it doesn’t have to be answered. If somebody chooses to answer an extra question, the same rules apply. So watch it!”

As if the bag could sense that a distraction was needed a question flew out to Ginny.

“What is it with this thing? Is it cursed to come to me all the time?” Then she looked at the question. “Oh no! Oh no, no, no!” She was turning redder than anyone had ever seen her turn in her life.

Ron was looking at her. “I’m not going to like this one am I?”

Everyone was waiting. Ginny looked back at the card to make sure she had read it right. She read the card. “Have you ever fantasized about anyone in this room that you have not been with? If so, who and what was involved?” She took a few deep breaths and listened to the “Ohs” coming from the rest of the circle. She looked up and caught Draco’s blue-grey eyes. She quickly blurted out the answers to the question. “Yes, Draco and a broom.”

“What?” Draco asked with a huge smile on his face. “I didn’t catch that part about the broom.”

“Yeah,” Seamus was teasing “You have fantasies of cleaning with Malfoy or something?” He gave Draco a look that said he knew that wasn’t right.

Draco smirked back at him. Ginny groaned. Draco held his breath and gazed at Ginny. He liked that sound. Ginny softly explained. “No. Um, well Slytherin and Gryffindor are playing Quidditch and Draco notices the Snitch behind my back. He dives for it. I turn to catch the quaffle and Draco flies right into me, knocking me off my broom and onto his. Um, I’m straddling him, facing him, and holding on to make sure I don’t fall off. I don’t know if that’s even physically possible.”

“I’m willing to try if you are.” Draco said staring at her.

Ginny glanced up at him from the spot in the carpet she had been looking at. He wasn’t smirking. In fact he looked like he couldn’t breathe. She smiled at him, “OK” she said.

“There’s two!” Blaise said leaning back in his chair.

“Shut up Blaise!” Draco and Ginny both snapped at him which caused him to smirk.

Even more questions were coming from the bag and Hermione was beginning to think the bag had a mind of its own. Before long, Blaise and Pansy had hooked up. They had always stayed away from each other out of respect for Draco, but apparently he didn’t care. Others were coming together too.

The next question went to Harry. He looked at it and swallowed hard. When he read the question, Ron, who was only two seats away had to ask him to read it again because he couldn’t hear him. Hermione had heard though and she held her breathe. Harry read it again, “If you could make out with anyone in this room, who would it be?”

Before he could answer the question, Draco popped in with a smirk on his face. “Hell, anyone in this room can answer that!”

Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes he could see the group waiting for his answer. He looked over at Hermione who was looking at him. “You.” was his only answer. She sucked in her breathe and a single tear fell from her eye. He reached over to wipe the tear away and she touched his hand. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “I’m sorry. I can’t help the way I feel. I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”

“Don’t be sorry. You’ll never lose me as a friend.” she whispered back. Harry was heartbroken. He had misinterpreted her words.

“See!” Draco said, as he saw what was going on. “I knew it!”

“Shut up Malfoy!” Harry retorted and sat back.

The next question floated right into Hermione’s hand. She was still flustered from Harry’s admission and didn’t pre-read the question before she started reading it out loud. “What/who was the last dream you had about? Give details.” Her hands flew up and covered her face. Harry reached over and touched her shoulder to comfort her.

“Are you OK?” he had leaned in to her. “Was it a nightmare?”

She shook her head no. She slowly brought her hands down and everyone could see she was flushed. “Umm, no Harry it wasn’t a nightmare. It was about you.” She could hear snickers. “We were studying in the back of the library…” she was blushing remembering what had happened in her dream. Having Harry caress her back at the moment wasn’t helping. “You know how I hate having to wear that tie, so I started to take it off… well it wouldn’t come off, so you reached over to take it off. After you had it untied you used it to pull me to you and you kissed me. No peck on the cheek kisses either. All I can remember after than was a lot of kissing, touching, I think I was taking your shirt off and you were taking mine off. I’m not exactly sure. I woke up with by heart pounding, I was twisted in my sheets and I was soaking wet from sweating.” Harry hadn’t taken his eyes off of her while she had been describing her dream. He realized his mistake moments ago. He grabbed Hermione and pulled her into his lap and fiercely started to kiss her. She responded with soft moans and whimpers.

“Whoa! Whoa, you two! Wait and get a room!” Draco said with a laugh.

Another flutter from the bag and the question went to Lavender, “Have you ever fallen asleep while taking a bath? Well that’s pretty tame considering some of the questions we’ve had, huh? Yes, I find bathes very relaxing and quite frequently fall asleep while taking bubble bathes.” She looked over at Neville and noticed a smile on his face that told her he probably had different things than sleeping in mind for a bubble bath, but was much too much a gentleman to say anything. She smiled at him and shifted her position in her chair so she was leaning over his chair. Neville leaned over to her. “Would you like to join me for a bubble bath?”

Neville stroked her cheek with his hand, “I can’t promise I’ll let you fall asleep.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” She reached up and kissed him.

The bag fluttered the last question, Hermione knew it was the last question because it deflated, but went to several people in the room. It went to everyone who seemed to have hooked up that evening.

Draco read it. “Tell us about any fantasies you have about food and sex. Wow! Yeah, food and sex, that sounds like fun to me!”

Ginny blushed, “I like chocolate and strawberries.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Draco winked at her causing her to blush even more.

Luna piped up with, “I think it’s funny to eat candy or bananas in a seductive way, at a time when there’s nothing your boyfriend can do about it.” She was looking at Ron and smiling. He knew he was in for it.

Seamus said, “I like honey, but it does get sticky. That can be fun too though.”

Lisa smiled, “Ooh, I never thought of honey! I’ve heard whipped cream is fun.”

They soon got to the last couple and everyone was starting at Harry and Hermione. Hermione cleared her throat, “Well, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using food to enhance a couple’s sex life now and then. But, I know I want my first time to not have the “extras”, so I guess I haven’t thought about it much.”

“I think I’ve given it a bit more thought,” Harry looked at Hermione and blushed a little “but that’s not where I want to start.” He smiled. “I do think getting through dinner is going to be interesting.

With that, Hermione looked at her watch. “Oh, dinner will be starting in ten minutes. We’ve been here for five hours! Thank you all for participating. I wonder if you all had an agenda or if this bag has a mind of it own. But I think everything worked out OK. Remember though, you can only discuss what happened here with those within the circle, unless those it's about says it OK.”

Draco had to ask, “What if it’s obvious to other students and they ask us? Like, if they see Ron and Luna snogging, or whatever, and ask one of us if they are going out?”

“I would just tell the person that that was something they would have to ask Ron or Luna. If or when Ron and Luna make some type of public statement, then the rule is lifted for them, etc. If they are caught while trying to hide their relationship, then that doesn’t count. Make sense?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Draco said. Everyone nodded.

“OK, let’s go to dinner.” Ron said, “I’m starved!”

“Would you like me to feed you?’ Luna said as she brushed by him.

“Oh bloody hell,” he said and brushed his hands through his hair. He knew getting through dinner that night was going to be tough.

Plans were being made by several new couples as they were walking to the Great Hall for dinner. They all split reluctantly to head to their own house tables.

Food arrived and everyone served themselves.

Harry and Hermione sat together as usual, but closer than they had before. Their legs touched and they bumped each other constantly throughout dinner. Every time Harry touched her she thought she was going to pass out. It was taking everything Harry had not to snog Hermione right there in the Great Hall.

Ginny sat facing the Slytherin table and found that Draco had scooted people down so he was directly opposite her. He kept glancing up at her and catching her eye. He would smirk at her. She would wink at him. When he was done eating dinner he noticed there were strawberries on the table. He looked around and noticed a first year had a school bag. He wondered why, but told him he needed a piece of parchment and to borrow a quill. The first year handed Draco what he needed and watched. Draco wrote a note, “Meet me by the Quidditch locker rooms after dinner. Draco” then he placed a small strawberry in the middle and took out his wand. He transformed the parchment into a bird and blew it to Ginny. Ginny took the bird in her hand gently, as if it were real and smiled. People who had seen what happened were looking between the two. She opened the letter and saw the strawberry and blushed a little. She read his note, looked up at him and seductively placed the berry between her lips and slowly drew it into her mouth then licked her lips. Draco picked up a larger strawberry and slowly licked the end where the stem had been cut off. By this time a lot of people were watching.

Blaise elbowed Draco to get his attention. “Um, mate. You aren’t being very secretive” he whispered.

“I don’t give a rat’s arse!” Draco said; his breathing was very labored.

Neville and Lavender were sitting together and the Gryffindors who had not attended the Ice Breaker looked shocked. Neville helped Lavender with the heavy platters and pointed out a dessert she had never tried that had lavender in it. He mentioned it was one of his favorites.

Ron found Luna across from him at the Ravenclaw table. He looked up and caught her eye. She had a cherry tomato on the tip of her fork and was twirling it just inside her lips. She was staring right at him. He groaned and dropped his fork which caused Harry, who was sitting next to him to look up and see what had caused Ron’s reaction. Luna reacted quickly and ate the tomato and went back to her dinner as if nothing happened. Harry looked at Ron and he just shook his head. Luna played her game throughout dinner. Ron ate very little dinner, receiving comments from several friends around him that they had never seen him eat so little and asked if he was feeling well.

By the end of dinner, everyone was more than ready to go.

Ginny walked out of the hall and could feel Draco’s eyes on her. She smiled and headed outside toward the Quidditch pitch. She knew he would be right behind her.

Ron stood up and watched as Luna picked up a handful of strawberries and tucked them into her robe pocket. She nodded her head at him and he followed her out of the hall.

Neville helped Lavender stand up from the table and she took his hand. It shocked him at first, but then he squeezed her hand and pulled her closer to him as they too walked out together.

Blaise winked at Pansy who leaned in and kissed him. A chorus of whoops and hollers was heard around the hall from the students still left. “I guess that’s a public statement?” Blaise asked her as he smirked.

“I’m not good with secrets. I hope everybody else gets on with it too!” she smiled back at him.

Harry and Hermione had seen Blaise and Pansy and looked at each other. Harry knew if he kissed Hermione right now he might not be able to keep it decent. He stood up and offered her his hand instead. They walked back toward the Gryffindor common room. “Do you want to come in and sit by the fire, or play a game or something?” Harry asked, motioning toward the main common room.

“Well, not unless you do. I was wondering if you’d like to come in?” motioning toward her room. Harry had been in her room many times, but they both knew tonight would be different.

“Yeah I would,” he said in almost a whisper.

Hermione said the password to get into her dorm room and they stepped through the portrait. Suddenly Hermione was nervous. Harry took her hand and led her to her large bed. He sat down on the edge and Hermione sat down next to him. “We won’t go any further than you want Hermione. We can even sit here and talk if you want.”

Hermione looked at him and caught the look of desire in his eyes. She reached up with her free hand and brushed his cheek, causing Harry to suck in his breath and close his eyes. “Kiss me Harry,” she whispered.

He opened his eyes and found Hermione’s gaze. He leaned forward and gently kissed her lips. Hermione melted at his touch and whimpered. It was all Harry could take. He wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her to him, and then ran one hand through her hair until his hand was on the back of her head. He angled her head to a better angle and pushed his tongue past her lips into her mouth and found her tongue waiting for him in anticipation.

Hermione gripped Harry’s hair with both of her hands, loving the way it felt in her hands. She let one hand slide down to his neck and could feel the heat from his skin.

Harry let out a moan at the feel of her touch on his skin. He pulled away from the kiss and put his forehead on hers. “Hermione?” His simple question was enough; he didn’t need to say anymore. Hermione reached for her wand and pointed it at herself saying a protection spell. She laid her wand on her bedside table and, gazing into Harry’s eyes, reached for the buttons on his shirt. Harry sat there and let her undo the buttons reveling in the feel of her fingers along his chest and stomach each time she reached for a new one.

She was agonizingly slow though and Harry finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He growled and dove for her neck as he scooped her off the side of the bed and laid her down. He straddled her and kissed and nibbled on her neck, making her throw her head back and moan.

Hermione tugged Harry’s shirt out of his jeans and managed to finish getting it unbuttoned while losing herself to the sensations Harry was creating in her. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and ran her hands down his back.

“Oh…” Harry whimpered and the next thing she knew her top was being pulled over her head. Harry started trailing his kisses lower. From her neck he went to her collar bone then nuzzled his way to her chest. Harry licked the outline of her pretty lace bra, teasing her. Hermione groaned and he could feel her wriggle underneath him. He then ran his tongue over the lace of her bra where he could see her nipples. Hermione let out a low cry, arched toward him and gripped the backs of Harry’s shoulders and he could feel her nails dig into his skin.

Breathing heavily, he reached in behind Hermione and released the clasp holding her bra together. Looking up into her eyes he slowly lowered the strap from one shoulder caressing her arm as he went. He looped one finger in the offending strap and peeled it off her arm then slowly lifted it up to reveal her chest. She was breathing so hard and so fast that her chest rose and fell for him. He flipped her bra aside and ran the back of his fingers around her breasts. He was making her moan and whimper and he was enjoying causing her this pleasurable torture.

Hermione couldn’t stand it anymore though. She grabbed his hair and guided his mouth to her breast. When his hot mouth came in contact with her nipple and he started to suck and flick at it with his tongue, Hermione screamed. “Oh, Harry!” Harry reached up to her other breast with his hand and started massaging it in small circles. He was causing Hermione to make so many noises he thought maybe they would hear them in the Gryffindor common room, but at this point, he really didn’t care.

He left her breast and heard her whimper in protest. He kissed his way down her belly until he reached the waist band of her jeans. He looked up at her, asking one last time if she was sure. She reached down and ran her fingers through his hair and threw her head back. Harry slowly unbuttoned her jeans and stripped them off of her. He noticed that the lacy knickers she wore, while not thongs, clung to her and were sexy as he could see through them.

He stood up and divested himself of his own jeans and shoes then resumed his kisses on her stomach. He could feel her shaking with desire and her gasps and moans were driving him mad. Like he did with her lacy bra, he ran his tongue around the edges of the lace on her knickers and caressed her legs. She instinctively opened her legs for him. “Oh, Hermione, you smell so wonderful,” he whispered as he lightly nipped the edges of her thighs.

That was the last straw. Hermione grabbed Harry by the hair and pulled him up to her. She looked him right in the eyes. “Harry, if you don’t stop teasing me right now I’m going to hex you!”

Harry smiled and kissed her deeply. He reached down with one hand and removed the lacy knickers she was wearing and slipped out of the boxers he still had on. He gasped when he felt her hand run over his bottom and grabbed both her shoulders as he moved his mouth to her neck again. “Oh, Hermione!” he moaned into her neck. She moved her legs so they were on either side of his hips and with her feet she stroked his long muscular legs. He shuddered and looked into her eyes. He then leaned up on his elbows to position himself to enter her. When he felt her hand wrap around his cock to guide him to her, he whispered, “Hermione” then felt her hot and wet and pushed gently to join their bodies. There was only a moment when her body resisted, and he waited to make sure he wasn’t hurting her. Hermione started arching her back and wiggling her hips. “Harry!” she moaned.

Harry pulled back until just his head was in her, then pushed in past her barrier, gasping. He waited a moment for Hermione to get used to him then starting thrusting taking longer and longer strokes. He loved the sounds this caused Hermione to make as well as the feeling coursing through his body.

“Oh! Faster Harry.” Hermione whimpered and Harry obliged. He also bent down and started kissing her neck. He could tell she was getting close, and he wasn’t far behind.

Hermione grabbed Harry’s back. “Harder Harry! Oh, please don’t stop!” she yelled.

Harry leaned up and thrust into her as hard as he could. He could feel her going over the edge. She arched her back into him and screamed “Oh Harry! That’s it! Harry! Harry!” Her explosion was all it took. He was barely holding on as it was. Her wave overtook him and he roared out it pleasure.

He collapsed and laid down on top of her, hugging her. Her arms wrapped around him, her legs were still wrapped around him. Neither wanted to ever leave that position. But the fact that Harry weighed quite a bit more than Hermione finally won. Harry slipped off of her and laid down next to her and gathered her into his arms. “I love you Hermione. I think I have since you fixed my glasses on the train our first year, but being a stupid boy it took me forever to figure it out.” He smiled at her.

“Well, you would think being ‘the smartest witch of our time’ that I would have picked up on my own signs too and realized that I love you too.” She smiled up at him from where her head was resting on his chest and lightly kissed his lips. She sighed and snuggled into his strong arms.

He ran his fingers through her hair and kissed the top of her head. "At least we didn’t waste any more time. I’m so glad you had that Ice Breaker party, and for whoever wrote that question.”

Hermione blushed and smiled, “Um, I wrote the one you got.”

“Really? That’s funny. I wrote the one you got.” He held her tighter and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.