A Christmas Break

A Christmas Break.


Chapter 1

Harry opened his eyes.

“Harry,” Hermione whispered right next to him. “Do you feel all – all right?”

“Yes,” he lied.

He was back in the tent, lying on one of the blankets drenched in sweat.

“We got away.” How had they done that Voldemort had been inches away from grabbing him when they had leaped through that window. He couldn’t believe they’d got away from him again.

“You’ve not been well Harry,” Hermione said. Harry noticed a small sponge in her hand. She must have been wiping his face.

“How long …”

“Hours, it’s nearly morning. I managed to get the Horcrux off you and cleaned up the snake bite.”

“Where’s the Horcrux now?” The thought of losing their one success filled him with a sudden panic.

“In my bag I think we should stop wearing it for the moment.” Hermione looked worn out. The night’s events had clearly taken its toll.

“I’m sorry Hermione we should never have gone to Godric’s Hollow. It was a trap. It was always going to be a trap, and like an idiot I took you straight to it.”

“I wanted to go as well. I really thought Dumbledore might have left the sword there.”

“We could have both died!”

“Yes we could but we didn’t.”

Harry pulled the blankets off him and made to stand up.

“Harry you’re not well enough, get some rest.”

“No offence, but you look terrible and I feel ok, go get some rest Hermione I’ll stand guard for awhile. Where’s my wand?”

“Oh Harry I’m sorry,” tears welled up in Hermione’s eyes as she pulled Harry’s wand out of her beaded bag. The best that could be said for it was that it wasn’t completely broken, but Harry could tell it was beyond repair. It was as though a heavy sickening weight had suddenly apparated into his stomach.

“I …” words failed Harry. He and his wand had been through so much together and now it was over how could that be.

“It must have been my fault Harry,” Hermione sniffed. “In all the chaos of getting away I must have damaged it with that blasting curse.”

“It was an accident Hermione. I’ll have to use your wand for the time being.” Hermione looked as though she wanted to say more, but Harry’s dark expression stopped her. With a slight nod and a tear trickling down her cheek she handed Harry her wand, and without another word she turned and with her head bowed made for her double bunk.

Sitting down and staring out into the dark Harry had never felt more depressed and alone. Nothing they had done had gone right, and without the wand that seemed to fight Voldemort on it’s own he could only see his doom. His wand was the latest in a long line of people and possessions that meant so much to him that had been lost. Even Ron had left them, because he the great leader didn’t know what he was doing.

The next few hours passed at a snail pace for Harry as his thoughts mirrored the gloom he felt and saw all around him. The snow had continued to fall heavily all night restricting his visibility, and a causing strange unnatural silence to fill the forest.

It was no good he thought this defeatist attitude wasn’t going to help rid the world of Voldemort and set him free. Standing up to stretch his legs he walked around the tent several times making sure he stayed within the protective charms so his footsteps were kept hidden to those outside it. The physical activity started to ease the sullen thoughts he had been having, and when the snow finally stopped falling his spirits started to rise. In the far distance he could just make out the light of a muggle house, and a wave of envy swept through him at their blissful ignorance.

The upshot of his musings was that he was taken totally by surprise when the bright dawn sunshine burst out from behind the retreating snow clouds illuminating the surrounding forest. With the ground covered in bright fresh snow the dark of the night vanished in a blaze of brilliant white, and became a distant memory.

Harry’s mood changed abruptly as he surveyed the truly beautiful scene as it unfolded before him. He had never really been one for the beauties of nature, but today that would change forever. Hogwarts had provided him with months of snowy scenes, but that had only meant being cold and damp. The horrors of the previous night, that had plagued his thoughts for last few hours, vanished as completely as the dark that had helped feed them.

“Hermione,” Harry said as he re-entered the tent, “Hermione wake up.” He had to share this with her, and get her to feel what he was feeling. The blood was pounding through his body at the sudden euphoric joy he was feeling.

“What Harry? What’s happened?”

“You need to see this, come on.” Hermione looked at him blurry eyed as she climbed out of her bed still wearing the same clothes she had worn the previous day. She looked a rumpled mess. Harry grabbed her hand and dragged her through the tent entrance with only slippers on her feet. “Look around isn’t it marvellous.”

“You dragged me from my bed to look at the view!”

“Don’t you see it?”

“Yes it’s very nice Harry, very Christmassy.”

“No, no you don’t understand we can do it. We can do it all. We didn’t fail last night, not really, we beat him again. Every dawn we see is a victory against him. He was scared last night Hermione. I felt what he felt. The thought of dying terrifies him to his very core.”

“The thought of dying doesn’t fill me with joy either Harry,” Hermione said finally taking a proper look at the view.

“But doesn’t the fact that we survived make you feel more alive than ever, and if we’re alive we can’t lose.”

“I’ve never felt as scared as I did yesterday Harry. When you said ‘he’s coming’ I thought this is it I’m going to die. I’m not like you Harry I can’t shrug off a near death experience just like that.” Harry looked into the eyes of his closest friend, not once had she ever let him down. She had always been there for him through the good and bad times and treating him just the same. He would do anything for her he realised, just as she would do for him.

“Then don’t shrug it off, use it. Revel in it. Revel in the fact that we got away. Revel in the fact that you’ve done it once, and you can do it again.”

Hermione looked deep into Harry’s green eyes that had always fascinated her since they’d first met and saw a wild animal fire in them. A shudder went down her spine, and deep within her a suppressed beast demanded to be let out. Over the last year or more this same beast had threatened to erupt on several occasions, but each time she had squashed it. It had always been Ron, that inconsiderate git, which had stirred it before, never Harry. She’d never felt that way about him before, and she was sure that he’d felt the same way. Those green eyes burned furiously in a way that drew her in and the beast demanded to be released once more.

Hermione had always prided herself on her self control, but today standing before a man who had never been more alive to her than at this moment she wanted to lose control. She wanted to feel what Harry was talking about. She wanted to feel the utter joy of being alive that he was feeling. Throwing caution to the winds Hermione released the monster and launched herself at Harry. They’d hugged before on many occasions but this time she hugged with an animal passion.

Grabbing the back of his head she pulled him down towards her mouth and kissed him, kissed him hard. This was no peck on the cheek. It was just the opposite. For a moment she felt Harry flinch in surprise, before he to gave in to his own primeval demands and returned the kiss just as passionately. Hermione’s other hand grabbed his backside and pressed him into her body, and already she could feel the effect she was having on him. Her heart was pounding and fluttering in her chest all at the same time.

When Harry’s hand slipped into the back pocket of her jeans and squeezed, while the other hand ran its nails down the back of her neck she thought her chest would explode. Pulling back she could see the same uncontrollable desire in Harry’s face that she could feel bursting out of her.

“Not here,” she panted, “inside.” Harry was right behind her as she dove back into the tent and with a quick flick of her wand, he sealed the door flap shut abandoning the wand on a nearby chair. No sooner had he done that than Hermione began to tug at his jumper pulling it up over his head and throwing it to the ground. She tried to undo his shirt buttons, but her hands were shaking so much that she kept fumbling them. Unprepared to wait and regain control she grabbed both sides of the shirt and ripped them apart sending buttons flying throughout the tent.

Harry’s exposed chest made her pause as she took in the well defined muscles that bewitched her when they moved as Harry removed the remains of the shirt. When Harry began to pull her own thick jumper over her head she raised her arms willingly. The temperature inside the tent seemed to have risen sharply and her skin felt as though it was aflame. She pulled the polo necked shirt she was wearing off herself as Harry flung the jumper next to the other one.

The mad scramble paused as Harry admired her. Hermione suspected that he had seen Ginny like this at some stage and wondered in the back of her mind if he was comparing them to each other. Without thinking about it she unclasped her black bra and let it fall away setting her breasts free. No-one, not even her mother, had ever fully seen them, and a thrill ran through her as she realised that Harry was the first person to have that honour. In the girls dormitory she had always studiously avoided changing in front of the other girls.

“They’re beautiful,” Harry croaked and with one finger he gently caressed the outline of her right breast, stopping at her hard erect nipple. A new wave of passion swept through Hermione from the delicate sensual touch, and the beast demanded total and utter control. A low growl escaped her throat and with both hands she pulled at the top of Harry’s trousers. More by luck than skill she undid the belt and top button and pulled the zip down, but she didn’t stop there.

With a swift yank she sent the trousers down below Harry’s knees. He removed his shoes by stepping on their heels, and kicked them away ignoring the still tied laces. Stepping out of his trousers all that was left to remove were a set of black boxers, and a pair of grey socks both with holes and the big toe sticking through.

Hermione eyes though were not on the socks, they were firmly riveted on the large tent pole in the black boxers. Air had suddenly become very difficult to come by for her. The beast within her screamed to release the tent pole, but she was unable to move transfixed as she was by the sight.

Instead she undid the top of her own trousers carefully slipping them down and stepping out of them. She kicked the slippers off that she had been wearing when Harry had dragged her out to see the view. She was now only wearing the matching black panties to her previously discarded bra. Hermione felt exposed and not a little embarrassed, but a low groan from Harry and a twitch from the tent pole banished such thoughts.

Backing away from Harry, but still maintaining eye contact, Hermione headed towards her bed. Harry stood watching her as she climbed in ripped the top blankets off and lay on the sheet still facing Harry who hadn’t moved from his position. He was standing in the middle of a sea of discarded clothes, but his eyes never left her.

Hermione arched her back lifting her bottom up off the bed and removed the black panties. Harry still hadn’t moved so with a nervous smile she made a come hither gesture with her hand.