Harry’s desk isn’t particularly comfortable. Hermione isn’t completely sure how she ended up sitting on it because the kisses distracted her. Now that he’s pulled back and is staring at her, she becomes aware of the file under her bum and the quill that she broke at some point. Fortunately, Harry doesn’t have a favorite quill. She hopes.

“You kissed me,” Harry murmurs. He reaches up to pull a stray pin out of her hair and drops it on the desk behind her.

“You kissed me first.” Well, that’s certainly a mature reply. If they were five and bickering over a toy. She feels thoroughly snogged, which is appropriate since that’s exactly what she is. The initial kiss became another and another until hands were groping everything they could reach and she was perched on his files with her legs around his waist. Oh! She unwinds her legs and stares at Harry’s tie.

“I think I might have pulled some of your hair out,” he admits as he moves his fingers through the thick locks. “I, uh, was in a hurry to get it down.”

It feels good when he brushes her hair like that. Too good. Alarms are going off in her brain and sirens are reminding her that Harry’s her best friend and that means ‘hands off’. Maybe it’s okay as long as she doesn’t use her hands…no, she can’t think that way. Sex changes everything. Relationships are ruined when sex happens and dynamics shift. She knows that from experience. She and Ron are friends now, but it took them some time to reach this point, and they’re not as close as they were before they had a failed relationship.

“You okay?” She glanced up and sees that Harry is frowning down at her. He brushes his thumb along the curve of her cheek as he says, “You kissed me back. I didn’t force you or anything.”

“What?” She blinks before she realizes what he must think. “Oh, honestly, Harry. I’m thinking. We just snogged. We. You and me. My best friend and I. Forgive me if I’m preoccupied with figuring out what the bloody hell we’re going to do and unable to hold a conversation about my hair, which is probably a mess right now.”

“Uh, I know who ‘we’ is,” he points out, still frowning. “It’s not a mess. You look disheveled, which is actually pretty sexy. Well, it is because I did it. If some other bloke had done it, I’d be reaching for my wand.”

“See? That’s what I mean. You’re threatening to hex non-existent wizards for snogging me. You said who knows what to Terry today to frighten him away, and now there’s the reaching for your wand thing. What is this?” She reaches up to touch his neck and then traces his jaw with her fingers. She isn’t angry. She’s just confused and somewhat scared because this is a big change, and she isn’t sure what it all means.

“More Boot. I thought we finished talking about him,” he mutters. “He shouldn’t have asked you out. If he hadn’t, then I wouldn’t have realized how bloody jealous I was at the thought of you dating him. Or anyone. Except me. This is all Boot’s fault.”

She drops her hand and scowls at him. “The only reason that you kissed me is because you were jealous? What, you didn’t want to lose your best friend? You were scared that I might actually fancy him? I can’t believe this. You’re such a—a---man.”

“Glad you noticed.” He flashes the adorable smile that normally makes her agree to anything he says, but it isn’t working right now. “I wasn’t sure that you ever had. Noticed, that is. I did. About you, I mean. A bloody beautiful woman with too many curves and all this hair that makes a bloke think about things he shouldn’t when it’s his best friend.” He tilts his head to the side slightly. “Actually, it might be your fault instead of Boot’s.”

“I didn’t mean it as a compliment.” She shakes her head. “I meant that you’re behaving like a spoiled little boy who is upset that someone else might play with his favorite toy. Possessive and sulky is what I meant.”

“You’re not a toy,” he says sharply. “You’re an amazing woman who deserves someone who will treat you like a bloody queen. Boot isn’t that someone. I could be, though, if you’d stop examining every little thing like it’s a school assignment and just give me, give us, a chance.”

“Asking questions and trying to understand isn’t the same thing as examining everything,” she points out. At his skeptical look, she shrugs a shoulder. “Okay, maybe it is, but just a little.” She sighs as he tugs on her hair lightly and moves her hand to rest over his heart. “I nearly lost Ron because our relationship didn’t work. I can’t lose you, Harry. You’re too important to me. Even if I want you, I’m not sure that I can have you.”

“I’m not Ron.” He tightens his grip in her hair and leans down to press his lips against hers. The kiss quickly escalates, and he pulls her closer as heat spreads over her body. When he pulls back, he’s breathing hard, his hair is messy, and he looks like he wants to shag her right there on his desk. He rests his forehead against hers and sighs. “You already have me, Hermione.”

End