A/N: This chapter is inspired by prompts from lcjga, Manwe Iluvatarian, Chad Source, OmniViceUser, JemK, a . Bunda, Redeginori, Angel, John Burton Lee, Bones71, and Cecily Mitchell.
For those prompts not chosen, feel free to try again for the next chapter.
Rules: One person is entitled to give a prompt that must not exceed 5 words. In order to have more prompts incorporated into the story, I need to set a limit for each entry. That way, more people can collaborate.
It's harder to mix and match longer prompts, hence, I set a limit.
Enough said. Enjoy the chapter!
LET'S TELL A STORY
By: tweety-src-clt9
Chapter Three: Testing Harry's Sanity
Harry could feel his magical aura flaring in anger the longer they stayed at Florean Fortescue's. Every male was drawn to Hermione. It was fucking annoying. He was seriously starting to hate all men, especially the single, randy, and young. Like myself, he thought grumpily.
Finally, Hermione finished her ice cream. He no longer cared about his sundae. He could care less about dessert when he was busy reining in his desires and anger. When he heard a throat clearing, Ginny looked at him innocently.
"We're good to go, Harry. You seem lost in thought," Ginny had this mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Let's just go," he muttered as he stood from the bench. He held out a hand for Hermione and she gave him a curious look as she accepted it. It was a dick move but he possessively had a hand on the small of her back, claiming her in public as his – his, oh bugger – just his. Period.
"Catch you later, Gin, Lu," Hermione waved to their friends. He only smiled at the couple who waved back.
Harry led Hermione away from the ogling gits at Diagon Alley. He needed her safe at 12 Grimmauld Place.
oOOOOOo
"We need to set them up!" Ginny said excitedly as she turned to her girlfriend.
"Hmm… Do you think we need reinforcements? Harry can be awkward and Hermione… Well, she's rather unaware of how hot she is, isn't she?" Luna said dreamily. Her eyes glued on the spot where they last saw the future Golden Couple.
"Hon? I was thinking, we set a party up. Like a going-away party before we all go back to Hogwarts and we invite Hermione to shop for dresses… And then, we pick skin-tight clothing for her. That should make clueless Harry's eyes pop," Ginny whispered conspiratorially.
"I love that idea. We should ask help from Neville, George, Ron, and the others."
"Maybe we can find some guy who can ask her out. That should make Harry's blood boil," Ginny smirked.
"Well then, hon, to the WWW we go," Luna led Ginny to the joke shop.
Ginny smirked. It was time Harry Potter got his clueless head out of his cute arse. Honestly! The bloke was good-looking! How could he not walk up to Hermione and just bloody ask, 'Hermione, you're hot and I am too. Why not date me?'
That noble streak in Harry was his greatest hindrance from banging the Brightest Witch of the Age. It's a good thing he had awesome friends who wanted to help him. Operation Harmony needs a very thorough planning, she grinned as she saw her brother, George, flirting with Angelina Johnson at the counter.
oOOOOOo
"Ahhh! No! No! Please! Stop!"
Harry Potter woke up and ran to Hermione's bedroom. He easily let himself in with a wandless alohomora. There she was writhing in her sleep. She was screaming and her face was full of anguish. Sweat was dripping down her forehead.
"Hermione! Wake up!" he gently shook her arm.
"No! Don't! Please!"
It was breaking his heart to see her like this. He knelt by her side, his hands holding on to her arms as he shook her with more force this time. "Hermione, wake up… You're safe," he said reassuringly.
She stopped writhing and her eyes opened. She fumbled for her wand and then she saw him, "Harry?"
"I'm here, Hermione. I'm here," he said soothingly.
"Oh, Harry!" Hermione tacked him in a fierce hug, her face pressed against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her as he whispered comforting words in her ear.
"You're safe, Hermione. It's just a nightmare."
"Bellatrix – I, she – Voldemort," she murmured.
"Oh, Hermione," he tightened his arms around her. He could feel her tears on his skin. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Hermione slowly pulled away.
He grabbed his wand and conjured a tall glass filled with water and handed it to her. Since her hand was still slightly shaky, droplets of water hit the silk blouse she was wearing. It made the cloth stick to her skin and he gulped. He could see the outline of her nipples now. Oh, Merlin! Not now! He needed to rein in his desires because this was his best friend for fuck's sake!
Hermione handed over the empty glass of water and she seemed to be much better now. She pushed her hair away from her face and she looked him up. Her eyes flashed with something he couldn't name but it easily disappeared.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Will you – stay with me tonight? I – I don't want to be alone," she whispered. Her cheeks were flushed. She was like the shy little eleven-year-old all over again.
"Of course," he smiled before he vanished the glass.
Hermione moved to make space for him. He settled himself on her bed praying to the gods that she wouldn't notice his wayward thoughts when she wrapped an arm around his waist, her face pressed against his chest once again.
Since Hermione was much shorter than him, he could feel her slightly drenched blouse (and her nipples) pressing against his chest. His only thoughts were, you must not hug me, Hermione. He sighed as he prayed he would survive the night without jumping her.
Busy with his own thoughts, Harry was unaware that Hermione smiled slyly. Her last thought before succumbing to the land of dreams was that a sexy shirtless Harry Potter would now be her new Patronus memory.
oOOOOOo
Hermione woke up early so she got out of bed, brushed her teeth, tied her hair in a bun and quietly made her way downstairs. She wanted to thank Harry for last night. Bellatrix Lestrange still haunted her dreams now and then. So, she was truly grateful that Harry was so sweet to have been there for her. His strong arms shielding her from the memories of that nasty witch comforted her that she slept like a baby.
As she was beating the eggs, she grinned. She wasn't oblivious. Harry seemed to be in a dilemma right now – he was confused about his feelings for her. She knew he was attracted to her even if he tried to hide it. In fact, she was kind of guilty for torturing him. Despite the guilt, she must carry on with her plans to attract him (or any other wizard for that matter).
Her parents had given her an ultimatum. She must secure an engagement with a wizard before her Hogwarts graduation, if not, then they would set her up with a bloke of their choice. They were keen to take her away from the wizarding world to protect her from all the darkness and bigotry, hence, their idea to marry her off to a non-magical. Since she was still feeling guilty for obliviating them, she grudgingly agreed. After all, there must be a wizard who was willing to marry her, right?
She never set her sights on Harry, thinking he was out of her league. With the way he was looking at her recently, not to mention his body's reaction to sleeping beside her last night, well, maybe she might have a chance with him after all.
oOOOOOo
Harry was still a bit sleepy when he walked down the stairs to grab some water from the kitchen. But then, the first thing he noticed was Hermione's bum in the air, her long tanned legs were on full display too since she was bending over in front of the kitchen cabinets. And try as he might, he could not stop himself from licking his lips. Damn! The bloody witch just had no fucking idea how fine she truly was.
He cleared his throat and Hermione yelped. She turned around to face him, there was an adorable flush on her cheeks. "You startled me!" she exclaimed.
"What are you doing?" he asked with amusement.
"I was cleaning the – never mind. I made breakfast," she proudly pointed to the food on the table.
"Hmm… I can tell. Thank you. Where's Kreacher and Winky?" he glanced around.
"I told them I'll handle breakfast so they decided to clean the house."
"Let's eat!" she said happily.
"Let me help set the – oh! It looks like we got mail," Harry pointed to the window. He pointed his wand and the owl flew in and dropped a letter in front of Hermione.
"Seamus Finnigan," Hermione muttered as she read the name on the envelope.
Harry frowned. Hermione read the letter and she looked up to see his eyebrows furrowed.
"What does it say?" he tried to conceal the anger in his voice.
"He's asking me out."
"When?"
"Er, this afternoon."
"No! You can't!" he exclaimed.
"And why not?" she challenged.
"Well – I – I need your help with Gringotts business," he blurted out.
"Oh, alright! I guess I can turn him down," she rolled her eyes.
Harry thought, Seamus Finnigan you better watch out.
A/N:
Prompts Used
"Drip Drip Down Her Blouse" by lcjga
"Harry claim Hermione in public" by Manwe Iluvatarian
"Bend Over To Clean Up" by Chad Source
"Hermione knows what she's doing" by OmniViceUser
"Everyone's matchmaking, they're oblivious" by JemK
"You must not hug me" by Redeginori
"Tall long glass of water" by a . Bunda
"Shopping for tight clothes" by Angel
"Harry's obliviously sexy shirtless scene" by John Burton Lee
"Harry really hates other men" by bones71
"Random Wizard Asks for Date" by Cecily Mitchell
TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. SEND IN YOUR PROMPTS. REMEMBER, A MAXIMUM OF 5 WORDS IS ALLOWED PER ENTRY.