A/N: I found the first two paragraphs of this when I was cleaning up my doc folder and the characters decided to speak to me. It takes place during the trio's sixth year a little after Harry and Ginny start seeing one another. It is really a oneshot that I am breaking up due to length, but if I get positive feedback, I may be coerced into making it longer ;-)

Please remember to fave and review for a lowly fanficer!

A long languid sigh was the only sound that broke the patterned cracking of the Gryffindor common room fire. Harry ran his hands through his messy hair as he watched the flames lick the air. Everything felt different. Sure he knew it would be but he had thought then it would be a good kind of different, rather than a awkward, almost empty different. However he had expected his first time with Ginny to be, his experiences of his night had not been it.

Movement from behind him, jerked him out of his pensive state. It was well past one in the morning. Not an ungodly hour, but usually later than most would be out wandering. Pulling his wand he raised it sharply, more out of habit than fear. The light of the fire illuminated the ruffle looking figure of Hermione Granger. Upon recognizing her, Harry's face reddened. He hadn't showered after Ginny's hasty exit, simply thrown on clothing and settled back onto his favorite couch in the common room. Would she know what had transpired by simply coming close to him, he wondered. Surely not! He sniffed the air and found all he could smell was the smoke smell of burning wood. Satisfied he lowered his wand. "Hermione?" he asked aloud, inwardly scolding himself for his silly train of thought.

"Oh!" Hermione jumped at seeing her best friend in front of the fire. "I didn't expect anyone to be up so late! I was just coming back from-from the library! Yes, the library! I was up late, you see working on an assignment for Professor Binns. Very important."

"But that essay is due tomorrow," Harry said, a smirk on appearing on his face as he watched his friend tug at her clothes that, upon closer inspection, were in worse disarray than he could ever recall them being.

"So?"

"You did that essay a week ago. I remember you checking over Ron's and mine night before last."

Her eyes widened at the sound of Ron's name and he could almost see her kick herself mentally for her mistake. She looked down at her bare wrist. "Oh Merlin, look at the time! I had better get to bed!"

Inwardly, Harry knew he should have let her go. He clearly looked like he had been ruffled by something and she was showing signs of wanting to run. However, his curiosity on her strange actions got the better of him and before he could think things through, he found himself calling out, "Wait!"

Hermione froze, her right foot on the bottom step of the staircase leading to her dormitory, but did not turn.

"I thought I saw Ron sneak in about thirty minutes back..." In truth, he had hidden from Ron as Ginny had made her quick escape up to her dormitory under the invisibility cloak. Ron, thank Merlin, didn't seem to have noticed Harry at all.

Hermione turned back to Harry, her face painted with shame and—much to Harry's horror—tears shined brightly in her eyes. "Oh, Harry! I think I've really mucked things up."

Harry's brows knitted together and he moved over on the couch to allow Hermione room to sit next to him. "What do you mean? Ron looked rather please with himself when he came up. I thought you two may have made up."

A snort escaped Hermione's mouth as she looked into the flames. "I guess one could say that..."

"Did you two get into a fight again?" Harry asked, exasperated. The two had only just begun talking to one another two days prior. Couldn't they stay civil for at least a week?

"Actually, we were up to exactly what you were a little over thirty minutes ago with Ginny."

It was Harry's turn to freeze. His face turned a shade of scarlet that would make any Weasley proud. "I don't know what you're on about but Ginny wasn't—"

"Oh, Harry honestly! She has been planning this for weeks! Don't you think I know?"

"Wait, how do you know she's been planning this for weeks when I only just found out tonight?" Harry asked, unable to meet his best friend's eyes.

"Well, she has liked you since second year and I am one of her few female friends."

A grunt was his only reply as he decided the safest route was to change topics. "Wait a moment. Did I just hear you say that you know what Ginny and I were up to and then go on to point out that you and Ron were up to the same thing?"

Hermione blushed, her shoulders slumping as she covered her face in shame. "Yes, we had sex."

"Hermione!" Harry said in a desperate whisper.

"Relax! There is a charm set up on the common room to keep everyone in bed until morning unless they are called on by the one who charmed the room and seeing as I cast the charm..." she trailed but couldn't help herself from adding, "Quite useful actually. It also cancels noise."

"Ah..."

Silence followed the statement as they both let their thoughts wonder back to what they had each experienced before meeting up with one another in the common room, causing them each to look away from one another in embarrassment.

Unable to force herself back up to her bed, but unwilling to let things get awkward, Hermione did what she did best and asked the first question that floated into her mind. "So how did it go?"

Immediately she wished she could take it back as Harry's face turned an odd mixture of green and puce. She quickly held up her hands. "Wait! Never mind! It is none of my bus—"

"No, no. It's alright." Harry ran his hands through his dark hair once more. "It's not like I can talk to Ron about it anyway..."

"No, I suppose not..." Hermione giggled.

"Now none of that!"

"What?"

"If we are going to have this discussion, there will be no giggling of any kind!"

Taking a few moments to school her face, Hermione nodded for him to go on.

"It went well."

"'Well'? Is that it?"

Harry sighed in frustration as he searched for words. "Well, I guess I just thought there would be more, you know?"

"Well, Ginny is a bit flat chested," Hermione teased, barely containing another giggle.

"No that's not it!" A bit of color returned to Harry's face and he stood. "Maybe this was a bad idea. I shouldn't be talking about this."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean that, now get back here and explain." Kicking herself for her ill timed joke, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand to pull him back down and immediately dropped it as a jolt of electricity jumped between their finger tips. Both of them looked at each other of a moment before Harry sat back down, shaking off the moment as a simple act of static.

"So what I mean is, it was good—amazing even—but now I'm having second thoughts." He paused, looking into the fire. "It was like, my body liked what we were doing and while it was happening things were great, but as soon as it was over all I didn't feel that sense of love or happiness that I always imagined would be there. All I felt was a hollow sense of—"

"Regret?" Hermione supplied, her eyes taking on a strange haunted look.

"Exactly. I always thought that if I loved the girl, it would be more than just sex. I thought that was how it would be with Ginny. Instead, I want her physically, but I feel less attached and more obligated..." When his companion said nothing, Harry looked up to see Hermione crying silent tears as she looked into the fire. "Hermione?" He said in alarm kneeling before her on the floor. "What's wrong?"

For a second he wasn't sure she would answer but then her words came out in a soft whisper. "Like I said, I really mucked things up!"

In confusion, Harry looked from her eyes to the spiral staircase that led to the boy's dormitory and back before his face hardened in anger. "Did he hurt you? Force himself on you? Because I swear if he did I will jinx him from here to Merlin's hairy—"

"No!" Hermione's eyes widened. "It's not like that! Well, not in a physical sense I guess. More of an emotional blow I guess. But he didn't force anything, I swear. Ron isn't the type."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't quell another emotion he couldn't quite put his finger on. "Then what did he do?"

"He told me he loved me..."

"What?"

"He told me he loved me!" Hermione cried, burying her face in her hands.

Confused, Harry asked, "I think I'm missing something here..."

She looked up at him with a teary glare.

"What? I thought you loved Ron! Isn't that why you, you know..." Harry raised his eyebrows and looked at her expectantly.

"I thought I did! But now that I have, I don't think I do!"

Catching on, Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "You don't?"

"No! You see why it's a problem?"

Harry sat back down on the couch next to her. "I know what you mean. I feel the same way."

"You do?" Hermione sniffed chancing a look at her best friend.

Harry sat forward. "Merlin, I feel like such an arse! I mean I took away her virginity, she gave it me and I feel nothing for her!" To his surprise, a watery laugh escaped his companion. His eyebrows drew together once more. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, Harry, you don't believe that Ginny was virgin, do you?"

"Well, she didn't say as much, but..."

Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder, ignoring a second jolt of electricity as she touched him. "Harry, she lost her virginity to Michael Corner."

After looking at her with wide eyes, Harry said, "But I thought..."

"Did she act like it hurt? Did she bleed after?"

Harry thought on it for a moment. Everything seemed so fuzzy and surreal. "Well, no, but I just figured with quidditch..."

Hermione gave him a skeptical look.

"Oh, bollocks..."

"Exactly..."

Both of them sat staring at the gently flickering flames, silence settling around them once more. Harry put his hand gently over Hermione's shoulder feeling yet another jolt and pulled her into a one armed hug that she snuggled into quite nicely. Kicking himself he couldn't help but marvel at how much better she felt pressed up against him than Ginny had. She was soft and comfortable, where Ginny seemed more than a little bony. She was also several inches shorter than the redhead which meant that instead of being a little taller than him, Hermione was just shy of his height. It made snuggling easier. There was also none of the awkwardness between them. With Hermione, he simply felt calm and whole in a way that he never did with Ginny.

"Harry?" Hermione whispered.

He looked down at her, surprised to see her face only inches from hers. As if draw to her, his eyes flicked quickly down to her half swollen lips and back to her eyes before slowly lowering his lips to meet hers. Instantly, his body flooded with a warm tingling sensation he had only felt once before. The distant memory of himself in Ollivander's wand shop clutching the holly and phoenix feather wand flitted briefly through his mind before it was washed away by the sensation of her soft lips on his. Hermione's fingers snaked into his hair pulling him deeper into the kiss. Instinctively, her lips parted allowing him entrance as her tongue gently met his allowing a moan to escape his throat.

As if awakened by the sound, both of them pulled back, their eyes wide. "Did you just feel...?" Hermione whispered, forgetting the charm.

Harry nodded.

Without warning, Hermione pulled him closer once more and began kissing him with the same fervor as before. Harry couldn't help but be reminded of when she got something right in charms, but had to do it once more just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. A smile spread across his lips.

Pulling back once more, Hermione looked at her best friend with understanding and excitement.

"What?" Harry said, feeling as if he had just downed and entire batch of Elixir of Euphoria.

"It's just...well...that was what was missing..."

With a gentle chuckle, Harry jumped up and pulled her into his arms giving her the tightest hug he could ever have imagined giving another person. Hermione laughed and squeezed him back with equal vigor. Everything had change so suddenly and he wasn't sure why, but things felt stronger with Hermione than they had ever felt with Ginny. Oddly the thought didn't scare him at all.

Suddenly, He felt Hermione stiffen. Pulling back from the hug, one look at Hermione's face made his smile falter. "What's wrong?"

"Harry, we've both just slept with other people."

Blinking, Harry's hands dropped to his sides. "So?"

"So, Ron loves me, Harry! I can't do this to him! You know how he is, especially with you. Things will end badly. And what about Ginny? She has loved you for years. She will be absolutely devastated!"

"I can't just pretend it didn't happen! It's you, Hermione. It's always been you!"

Shaking her head, she began to back towards the staircase once more. "I can't Harry. I'm sorry I just can't!" With that she turned on her heal and dashed up the stairs.

"Hermione! HERMIONE!" Harry shouted trying and failing to run up after her.