Sweetest Sin

Chapter 15

As Ron sat down, Harry glanced at Hermione, who gave him an anxious look. Harry tried to offer a reassuring smile but he didn't do very well. There was a wide selection of desserts appearing in front of them and Harry grinned. Hermione nudged Harry in the ribs and he sighed. He knew she wanted him to start the conversation up again so he said, "How do you guys feel about N.E.W.T.'s coming up?"

Draco smirked. "Fine, Potter, how are you feeling about Potions?"

Harry clenched his teeth for a moment. "Fine. I have been doing well in Potions this year so I'm feeling pretty confident about all my N.E.W.T. exams. How about you, Ron?"

Ron just mumbled out, "Yeah, fine." He seemed to be concentrating very hard on his fruitcake.

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, look, here's the deal! Ron, Ginny and Draco are dating, they are not going to break up just because you're not happy about it, so let's get over it and try to be friends, okay?"

Ron looked up sharply at Hermione and narrowed his eyes. Draco had raised his eyebrows at Hermione's outburst and Ginny was trying to hide her grin. Harry was gripping Hermione's hand under the table, waiting to see if Ron would blow up again. Ron shoved his plate towards the middle of the table and stood up quickly. He looked around at them for a minute before walking quickly out of the Great Hall.

Hermione sighed and said to Ginny and Draco, "He will get over it eventually, Harry and I will make him."

Everyone laughed at this and by the time the feast was over, Harry had to admit he was warming up to Draco. When he wasn't making snide comments, he was actually a pretty decent guy. Draco and Ginny headed outside to take a walk around the grounds and Harry whispered to Hermione, "Let's go up to the Room of Requirement."

Hermione nodded and Harry took her hand, leading the way up to the seventh floor room. When they entered, there was a king-sized bed in the middle, and hundreds of candles illuminated the room. There were tall ones that sat on the floor, and others perched upon shelves and small tables. Hermione smiled and quietly entered the room. She turned to Harry with raised eyebrows. "And just what did you have in mind?"

Harry smiled. "It's probably not what you're thinking! I just wanted to hold you in my arms and sleep with you, just sleep, nothing more."

Hermione sighed happily and looked around the softly lit room. "I don't have any nightclothes, Harry."

Harry pointed to an oak wardrobe that was standing in the corner of the room. There was a silk screen to change clothes behind next to it. "I assume there are some nightclothes in there for you. You can go ahead and change if you like, and I'll light a fire."

Hermione moved towards the wardrobe as Harry knelt in front of the fireplace. He quickly started a fire and sat back on his haunches to enjoy the warmth for a moment. When Harry looked up, his eyes widened when he saw Hermione standing in front of him wearing a pale pink nightgown that cut off just above her knees. It was made of satin, and had lace along the top and bottom. He grinned and stood up to give her a long kiss.

After Harry pulled away, he walked over to the wardrobe to see if there were any clothes for him. There was a full set of red satin pajamas waiting to be changed into. Harry looked at them for a moment and then grabbed the bottoms. With the fire going, it was warm in the room and he wouldn't need the top. He quickly stepped behind the silk screen and stripped off his clothes. He pulled on the pajama bottoms, savoring the way the material glided over his skin.

Harry quickly folded up his clothes and carried them out with him from behind the screen. Hermione glanced over at him and she gave him a sexy smile, quickly licking her lips. "God, I love your body, Harry."

Harry flushed a bit as Hermione slowly made her way over to him. He reached his hand out and pulled her up against his bare chest. He almost moaned at the feel of Hermione's body pressed against him. Harry took Hermione's face in his hands and gave her a deep, sensuous kiss. Hermione's hands gripped Harry's waist and then she started to tug at the drawstrings to his pajama pants. Harry broke the kiss and grabbed her hands. "Uh-uh, I told you I wanted nothing more tonight than to just hold you."

Hermione said in an innocent voice, "But I never said I didn't want anything more..."

Harry smiled. "You'll just have to suffer through the night I suppose."

Hermione put on a pouty face. "Pretty please?"

Harry chuckled and walked over to the bed. He pulled back the covers and slid underneath them. "Nope."

Hermione heaved a sigh and walked over to the bed. She sat down on the edge and looked out across the room, just thinking. Harry ran his hand down her back and said softly, "What's wrong?"

Hermione shook her head, glancing over her shoulder to give Harry a smile. "Nothing's wrong, babe, I was just thinking for a second. Let's go to sleep."

Hermione slid underneath the covers with Harry and turned to face him. Harry gently touched her face and then kissed the tip of her nose. Hermione giggled and did the same back to him. He smiled at her and in a few minutes, the warmth and comfort of the room overtook him and he was asleep.

Hermione laid there for a few minutes and listened to Harry's even breaths. Then she shut her eyes and she too, fell asleep.

*~*

Ron trudged up to Gryffindor Tower and slowly climbed through the portrait hole. He stopped short when he entered the common room and saw Lily sitting near the fire. She had her back to him so she hadn't seen him enter. Ron sighed and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Lily jumped and looked up at him. Ron said quietly, "Can we talk?"

Lily shook her head. "Not tonight, Ron. I just am upset and I don't want to talk. But I promise to talk to you tomorrow. Okay?"

No, it wasn't okay, but Ron nodded. "Fine, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He glanced around the common room for a moment and then decided to head on up to his dormitory. He slammed the door shut harder than he needed to and looked over to his mirror, where he had a picture of him and Lily stuck in the corner. He ripped it off the mirror and slammed it facedown on his dresser. He took some pajamas out of his wardrobe, quickly changed, then climbed into bed. Ron laid awake for a long while before falling asleep.

The next morning when Ron went down to breakfast, he was surprised to see Lily sitting with Draco and Ginny at the Slytherin table. He saw Harry and Hermione sitting at the Gryffindor table and Ron felt unsure of what to do. Finally, he heaved a sigh and walked towards Lily. When he approached the laughing trio Draco turned to give him a cool stare and Lily looked up at him with a smile. "Hey, Ron! You can sit with us if you'd like, seeing as you already know my cousin."

Ron's eyebrows furrowed. "Your...cousin? Who?"

Lily gestured across the table. "Draco, of course!"

Ron's eyebrows shot up so fast it was amazing they didn't fly off his face. "What? Draco is your cousin? You're related to this jerk?!"

Lily frowned angrily. "Nevermind, Ron, we don't want you to sit with us. Just go away."

Ron realized that calling her cousin a jerk probably wasn't the best move to make and he stood there for a moment, trying to think of what to say to smooth the situation over. He couldn't think of anything and Lily repeated, "I said go away, Ron!"

Ron hesitated a moment longer and then walked away from the table. He made his way over to Harry and Hermione and sank down on the bench across the table from them. He rested his forehead on his arms and Hermione said quietly, "What's wrong, Ron?"

Ron mumbled from beneath his arms, "Lily hates me; I think she's going to break up with me. She...she's related to Draco, and I attacked him and offended him."

Hermione said soothingly, "You'll work it out, you two just need to be alone, you shouldn't try to work this out with an audience. Take her to the Room of Requirement or something and just talk to her. A fight doesn't mean your relationship is going to come to an end. Come on, you need to eat some breakfast."

Ron looked up and Hermione piled his plate up with food. Ron grimaced and said, "I'm not very hungry, I don't think I'll eat."

Hermione pushed the plate closer to him. "Nonsense, you need to eat something, you didn't eat any dinner last night, and you can't talk to Lily if you collapse."

Harry nodded. "Things aren't as bad as they seem, Ron. Eat something, it'll make you feel better and once your body feels refreshed, your spirits will too."

Ron chuckled quietly. "Fine, fine! You win! If you will say something that corny, Harry, you must really want me to eat something."

Harry grinned and Ron dug his fork into his food hungrily. Hermione and Harry did their best to lift his spirits and by the end of breakfast, Ron was looking more alert and more optimistic. Once the plates were cleared, Hermione said, "Harry and I are going to go back to the common room and study a bit, there are only a few days left to break. You go get Lily and talk to her; she is not going to shoot you down, okay?"

Ron nodded and hurried towards Lily, who was getting ready to exit the Great Hall. Hermione smiled and turned to Harry, taking his hand. "Well, let's go study"