Harry jumped a foot in the air. ‘What?!’
‘Just … just as an experience,’ she added hurriedly. ‘I’m sure there’s a girl you … you want to snog rather than me, but … I thought … Maybe, let’s get some practice? So we do it right?’
He was still gaping at her. Hell, who was this and what had she done to Hermione? Kiss her? Snog her, his best friend? To get practice? Okay, that was an idea only Hermione could come up with. So, maybe not a Polyjuiced impostor. But … snog her? He’d never thought of her that way.
The image of a red-headed witch appeared in front of his inner eye. Ginny. But she was his best friend’s sister … she was out of bounds … and she was snogging Dean …
‘Harry?’
He looked back at the brown-haired witch. There was an eager glow in her eyes. Of course, this would be new to her, and she loved learning. A grin spread across his face. Damn sure, only Hermione could come up with the idea of practising snogging. But still …
‘Uh, Hermione, I don’t think it’s a good idea …’
The glow in her eyes faded. ‘Oh. Aren’t … aren’t I … it’s me, isn’t it? I’m not pretty enough and too bookish and—’
‘No!’ Harry grabbed her arm. ‘No, it’s not that. It’s just … you’re a friend …’ She glanced at him. ‘It’s not right to kiss a f friend,’ he finished lamely.
She shook her head. ‘Don’t you see, Harry? That’s the reason why it’s so perfect! We can practise and … well, no one’s going to be hurt when the other does something wrong and … no one’s expecting more …’
He wasn’t convinced, but from her expression he could tell it would be easier to just give in than to argue with her. ‘Okay, then,’ he agreed, and she beamed at him. Nervously, he tried to flatten his hair. ‘Um … what?’
‘I think we’d better sit down,’ instructed Hermione, and, glad for this small delay, he went to the nearest bench and drew out two chairs. Sitting down on one of them, he expected her to take the other and was completely baffled when she dropped into his lap.
‘Wha—?’
‘Harry!’ She sounded as reproving as Professor McGonagall. ‘We’re practising snogging, right? This all belongs to the practice.’
‘Uh …’
‘That’s how Won-Won and Lavender do it, anyway,’ she said waspishly.
‘Uh … okay …’ He didn’t know where to look or what to do with his hands. The feeling of her sitting on his lap was strange. Having her so close made him feel awkward. ‘What next?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Harry! How did you do it with Cho?’
He shrugged. ‘Dunno … Just … kissed her?’
She sighed. ‘Okay, then. Put your arms around me.’
Hesitantly, he obeyed. So far it was fine. He had hugged her before. Well, she had never been sitting in his lap, then, but apart from that he could pretend this was nothing extraordinary. Then she wriggled a little, and he gasped and tried to get up, but firm hands pushed on his shoulders.
‘Harry, relax! Seriously, you’ll need a lot of practice!’ Why did she have to sound so smug? Grumpily, Harry tried to relax. Her hands began to massage his shoulders. He stiffened, but then did as she told him and relaxed.
After a while, he noticed that it was a nice feeling of having a girl in his lap. She was a little heavy, but that was fine. He liked the feeling of her weight. And warmth. Yes, she was warm and soft. And she smelled good. His arms around her tightened.
‘Are you relaxed?’ she whispered in his ear.
‘Hmmm.’
He felt her remove his glasses and blinked at her. Her face was now a little blurred, but he could still see her bright eyes and pink cheeks.
‘Okay?’ she asked a little breathless.
He nodded, suddenly feeling awkward again. They hesitated, then both moved forwards at the same moment, and their noses bumped against each other. She giggled nervously and he felt his cheeks flush, but then she tilted her head and their lips touched in a feather-light caress.
After a moment, she pulled back and looked nervously at him.
‘That’s … that’s what I did with Viktor,’ she said uncertainly.
‘Oh …’
‘Was it … was it okay?’
He blinked and tried to focus on her face. She sounded anxious, and if he squinted hard enough, he could see her worried frown.
‘Oh … oh, yeah, it was … nice,’ he said lamely. It had indeed been nice. Her lips were so incredibly soft, and it had felt good as she leaned into him. But it had also been rather short.
‘Um …’ Hermione wriggled a little more in his lap, and her weight rubbing over him stirred some sensations that could lead to acute embarrassment. He tried to inconspicuously edge out from under her, but she gave him an impatient slap.
‘Stop twisting, Harry,’ she scolded. ‘Was it that bad?’
‘N-no, it’s just …’
’What?’
‘Er …’ How do you tell your best friend that if she kept wriggling like that you’ll get a bloody hard-on? Harry blushed furiously.
But Hermione paid no intention to his discomfort. She was a woman on a mission.
‘Okay, Harry, I showed you what I did with Viktor. Now … could you … well, show me what you did with Cho? So that we can compare, you know, and progress from there.’
Harry wished he had never agreed to this mad idea.
‘Uh, okay, but … close your eyes.’
Hermione eyed him suspiciously, but did as she was asked. Harry licked his suddenly dry lips, took a deep breath and leaned in. He kissed her slowly, cautiously, waiting for her reaction. When she began to respond, he opened his lips and brushed his tongue over hers. She started and gave a surprised squeak, but Harry did not pull back. He’d never gather enough courage again.
After the first surprise, Hermione relaxed against him and tentatively opened her mouth. Harry slowly slid his tongue between her lips and over her teeth, and when she did not protest, deeper into her mouth. He teased her tongue with his, and after a moment she got the drift and teased back.
Harry’s arms around the girl in his lap tightened, and he deepened the kiss. Her enthusiastic response encouraged him further, and he thrust his tongue into her mouth. She squeaked again, but not in protest. Her hands on his shoulders tightened, and she snuggled closer to him.
Harry soon forgot whom it was he was kissing. The girl was willing and warm and soft, and she tasted incredible. And she wasn’t crying. It was the best kiss ever!
She shifted again in his lap, and one of her buttocks rubbed enticingly over his slowly hardening cock. It twitched, and Harry moaned into the girl’s wonderful mouth. His hands began to wander over her back, from her shoulders to her bum which he gave a slight squeeze. She sighed into his mouth and shifted again.
Harry’s head clouded with lust as his teenage hormones raged out of control. He wanted to feel more of her, feel her skin and find out if it was as soft as her lips. He wanted to kiss her forever and yet longed to taste more of her. His hands caressed her back, up and down, and then slipped under her sweater and blouse, and came into contact with her bare skin.
It was soft and hot and felt incredible. He moaned again, and his cock swelled in anticipation. Instinctively, he bucked up his hips against her. She gave a little sound that seemed to shoot straight into his groin, and he gripped her waist and pressed her down onto him. She gasped and wriggled a little, and he moaned again in heedless pleasure.
She moaned an answer and began sucking on his tongue. It nearly killed him, and he thought his cock would tear a hole through his boxers and trousers. The cloth didn’t seem sufficient to contain anything so hard.
He tore his mouth away from hers, and she whimpered in protest and tried to pull him back, but then he pressed his lips on her neck, kissing and nibbling and tasting her. The hands that had tugged on his hair loosened and began to caress his scalp. It felt wonderful, and whenever her fingers touched the spot right behind his ears, shivers ran down his spine. He wanted to see if she enjoyed the touch there as much as he did and placed a small light kiss on the soft skin behind the shell of her ear.
‘H-harry, oh, Harry …’ she moaned, and he concluded that she liked it and did it again. After peppering her skin with tiny kisses, he turned his attention to her ear, nibbled and sucked on the lobe and traced the shell with the tip of his tongue.
Her hands raked over his back and then clamped down on his shoulders.
‘Harry, Harry,’ she panted, ‘oh, stop, stop! Harry!’
Stop? Had he done something she didn’t like? He raised his head and peered questioningly at her. She looked gorgeous, with her wet, red lips and flushed cheeks.
‘What’s up?’ he wanted to ask, but all he did was croak.
She pulled a trembling hand through her hair. ‘Harry, is … is this still snogging?’
What was she talking about? Sure he was snogging her, and if she would stop talking, he’d go back and show her more.
‘Uh … that was … that was really … good,’ she stammered.
Harry took that as a sign to continue and kissed her again, playing with her tongue while his hands crept further under her clothes and brushed over the bare skin of her neck. She made that small, pleased sound again, and he went on to discover her back, the hard ridge of her spine, the shapes of her shoulder-blades, the muscles in her back moving as she massaged his shoulders, the soft curves of her waist. Daringly, he dipped his fingertips under the waistband of her skirt and traced the crease of her bum with one fingertip. Wonderful, it felt bloody marvellous.
She twitched and giggled at this touch, and pulled back. ‘Don’t, Harry, that tickles!’
He grinned and did it again and revelled in her giggles that made her body rub against his. But when he grew bolder and slipped both hands into her knickers to cup the fleshy cheeks of her bum, she stiffened and squeaked in protest.
‘Ah, no! No, no, Harry, only snogging!’
She struggled against his embrace and then scrambled off his lap. Her knees were a little wobbly, and she stumbled against the next desk. Her hands gripped the edge of the table tightly, and she took several deep breaths to calm herself.
Harry blinked owlishly at her, his desire-clouded mind not understanding what was going on. One moment, she was giggling and rubbing against him in the most encouraging manner, and the next she jumped up and told him no?
‘Eh?’ he croaked, then cleared his throat and tried again. ‘Wh-what’s wrong?’
The girl brushed her hair out of her face. ‘It’s … aren’t we going a bit far, Harry? I mean, I don’t know that much about snogging, but … but, um, fondling doesn’t seem to be part of it, does it? I mean, I’ve never w-watched Ron and … and that girl snog. Maybe they do … fondling. But I don’t know … I’m not sure … um, Harry?’
The mentioning of Ron had cleared his mind, and with a groan Harry had buried his face in his hands. God, what kind of friend was he? Snogging the girl he knew his mate liked, his own best friend! Snogging and … touching her like this? He cursed his cock for putting stupid ideas in his head.
‘Sorry, Hermione,’ he mumbled roughly through his fingers. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to … do that. Go that far. It’s just … uh, sorry.’
He raised his head a little and peered at her over his fingers. She was only a blur of colour, and he turned and fished for his glasses. After he had found them and shoved them up on his nose, he peered at Hermione again. She was still standing, or rather leaning, against the desk, her cheeks beet red, her hair a mess, and she was watching him with an odd expression in her eyes. Harry scooted back.
‘Um … are you angry with me?’ he asked cautiously.
She slowly shook her head. ‘Harry,’ she began in a very strange voice, ‘what did you mean “go that far”?’
Harry rubbed his brow, feeling embarrassed. The bloody erection tenting his trousers did nothing to relieve the awkwardness of the situation. God, he felt bad for getting so hard over his best friend!
‘Um … well, just what I said, I guess.’ He shrugged nervously. ‘I just … you said kiss you like I kissed Cho, and … well, I guess I got … uh … carried away. Er …’
He eyed her suspiciously, wondering whether she would explode. But she only regarded him with that odd expression in her eyes.
‘Harry, do you … like kissing me?’ she asked slowly.
This was such an understatement that he burst out, ‘Like it!? You ask me if I … like it?!’
‘Oh, thank you very much,’ she snapped at him, eyes now flashing with anger. ‘I know that I’m not pretty like Cho or Ginny or Lavender, but … anyway, you c-could have s-said that n-nicer!’
She turned and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders heaving in silent sobs. Harry stared incredulously at her. What was that about? He got up, grimacing as his still hard cock brushed painfully against the seam of his jeans, and stepped over to Hermione. Tentatively, he laid a hand on her shoulder. She flinched away. Harry, listening to her muffled sobs, frowned.
‘Um, Hermione, what’s wrong?’ he finally asked. And in the next second, he stepped back involuntarily as she whirled around to him, eyes flashing.
‘What’s wrong?’ she screeched. ‘How am I supposed to react when my best friend snogged me silly and then said he didn’t like it?!’
‘Wh-what?’ Harry asked feebly. ‘No, Hermione, I did! I did like kissing you!’
She snorted and crossed her arms across her chest. ‘Yeah, sure,’ she drawled. ‘Do you think I’ll believe that?’
‘Bloody hell, Hermione,’ Harry cried in exasperation. Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed one wrist and tugged it free against her struggles, and then pressed her palm against the bulge in his trousers. ‘Does that translate to you as like it?’
Her eyes widened, and she gasped as she felt him hot and hard under her hand. She stared at his crotch, and then up at his face, and then back down where his hand still held hers. Her mouth opened and closed, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t move, either.