Afternoon Nap

A couch. An afternoon. Time well spent.

Harry sat on a plush sofa in the common room of the Gryffindors. It was his fifth year at Hogwarts. The DA was running smoothly. And Harry was positive that all his friends would get an O.W.L. in DaDA thanks to their practical abilities. Plus Hermione had hammered hundreds of facts into all of their brains over the course of the lessons.

Secretly Harry was hoping that a lot of Slytherins would fail the exam but he knew his luck better than to expect it. Coming next year they would get a new Professor for the course anyway. Harry mused if he should...

Hermione slumped against him. Harry looked to his left. Her head lay on his shoulder. She had clearly fallen asleep. Her breath was even and very shallow.

"Hermione?" he asked softly.

The young witch did not even stir.

A faint smile graced Harry's lips and he came very close to shrugging his shoulders. His friend was under so much pressure lately. Most of it was created by herself but it was stress nonetheless. It would be good for her to take an afternoon nap.

Harry wanted to return to his musing when he noticed the thick tome on Hermione's lap. It was perilously close to falling over her knees. Maybe it would even land on her feet? Hermione would wake up if it fell.

It was out of range for Harry's right arm and his left was blocked by Hermione's sleeping form. Being a wizard came in handy right then. Harry whispered "Wingardium Leviosa!" and levitated the book from her lap to a table close by.

Harry wondered what he had been musing about. He had thought about Hermione being under stress and... what else?

Having a sleeping girl lean onto his shoulder was a peculiar sensation for Harry. He could not remember that he had ever been this close to someone asleep. He shared his dorm with four other boys. But they had obviously never touched while sleeping. That would have been weird. Very weird! However, this was okay.

More than okay actually. It was kind of pleasurable. Hermione was not to heavy. He was not cold but her body heat on him felt nice. She even smelt nice. She smelled of... herself? Harry frowned at his own stupidity. Obviously one smelled of oneself. But what was it Hermione smelled like?

A while later Harry wondered what he had been thinking about. He tried to remember: He had sat on the couch. Next to Hermione. And had done? Nothing? How long had he sat here? He looked at the window opposite of the couch. If offered a magnificent view over the grounds. Harry checked the sun. It was hidden behind white clouds but he could make its position out. It was still high in the sky. Although it was slowly sinking as well. Was it two o'clock or even three? Had he really sat here since lunch doing nothing at all?

Hermione moved. Her shoulder slipped half past him. Her head was still on Harry's shoulder but she would fall over soon. He already felt her weight shift. She would wake up if he let her drop down!

The young wizard looked hectically around. What could he do? He noticed a cushion right next to him! He grabbed it and placed it on his lap. Very cautiously he moved his arms to stabilize Hermione. His right hand held her head and with his left he managed to awkwardly grab her from below and hold her side.

Whether it was his movement or his timing had been exactly right was questionable. However, the result spoke for itself. Hermione's head was placed on a soft cushion on his lap. Her back was perfectly straight. Her feet barely touched the ground...

Hermione's legs kicked softly. For a moment Harry feared he might have woken her up. He breathed a sigh of relief when her feet came to rest on the couch.

Only a few moments later Hermione twitched yet again. She puffed and gave the impression that she was displeased. Harry looked worriedly at her. What could be the mat...ah! A few strands of hair had come loose. They had fallen onto her face and were tickling her nose. Harry picked the thick strands of hair delicately up and placed them with the rest of her bushy mane.

Harry checked if everything was fine now. Hermione's hair was perfect. She lay comfortably and in a stable position and... he stared. The young wizard could not help himself. He had a perfect view at Hermione's cleavage. And what a view that was! She was normally developed for a girl of her stature. She was not wearing something overly revealing either. However, her left arm hugged her chest in a way that pressed her... goods upwards and out of her clothes making them so much more prominent!

Harry's eyes stared at the unblemished skin for a time that felt very long.

He checked the common room if anyone was watching him.

His eyes returned.

He looked away.

He glanced back.

He stared out of the window.

It was obviously wrong to look but the temptation was too big.

Very, very cautiously Harry tugged at the back of her collar. He was intending to pull the clothes back over her. Harry gave up very fast. He was not successful. He only made her breasts bounce enticingly.

All of a sudden Harry was very glad that he had chosen to place the cushion on his lap.

The young wizard concentrated on not looking down. He tried to convince himself that he had hurt nobody by looking. And who could blame him? Hermione was a beautiful young woman. More than just beautiful! She was as close to perfection as a human could hope to become. She had proven that at the Yule Ball.

But she was not only looks! She was beautiful on the inside as well. Hermione was clever, compassionate, strong-minded, faithful and so many things more...

Harry growled silently. That was hogwash! He was despicable. It was not okay to goggle at your best friend's cleavage while she was sleeping peacefully.

Harry felt guilty. At least that enabled him to keep his eyes under control.

Her arm shifted at some point. Harry felt the movement and looked down out of reflex. His eyes betrayed him and darted to her chest but thankfully there was nothing overly noteworthy to stare at.

After a while, Harry was once more at peace with himself. What he had done was not so bad in hindsight. He had looked at other girls before and he had been able to live with that – so what? He would just never think of Hermione's cleavage again. Problem solved once and for all. He nodded at himself.

Hermione stirred. Two minutes later Harry had to wiggle his left arm out of the tight space between her back and the backrest of the couch. His hand had fallen asleep. Once his blood had resumed flowing he wondered what to do with his arm.

Since he could not come up with an alternative he placed his hand on Hermione's upper arm. He breathed a sigh of relief when she lay perfectly still.

Harry grew bored. He blinked at the title of Hermione's book. What had she been reading? He could make the words on the tome out if he squinted his eyes. Alas, he had no idea what the words meant. Maybe there was something else to occupy him?

Upon looking around Harry found a Quidditch Weekly. He leafed through it and put it away after a short while. He checked if Hermione was still comfy. He glanced out of the window and tried to figure out how late it was yet again. Hermione could doubtlessly explain to him how to construct a sundial.

At some point, Harry noticed that more and more students returned to the common room. He checked the window. It was windy outside. Luckily the backrest of the couch shielded Hermione very effectively from the hubbub of the appearing students. She kept on napping despite the common room filling up.

Suddenly Fred and George stood right next to Harry. They smirked at him.

Harry placed his index finger on his mouth and glared warningly at the twins. If they woke Hermione up, by doing something premature like clapping their hands or screaming into her ear there would be hell to pay!

The two Weasleys looked at each other and grinned.

One of them – maybe Fred? – pulled a parchment out of his trousers. He ripped a corner off and pointed his wand at it. He held it under Harry's nose. It read: -Dude-

While Harry blinked in confusion the second twin had written onto another corner: -just-

The third corner read: -ask-

And the fourth: -her-

Harry frowned. Probably-Fred wrote an exclamation mark -!- on the back of one used corner.

Harry stared confused at the two Weasleys. The two boys acted like pantomimes. Harry corrected himself mentally: They were acting like clowns. They pointed at him and made gestures which clearly depicted him as an idiot.

Green eyes glared hard at the twins. There was nothing else Harry could do for the time being. He thought about cursing them. The young wizard was confident to beat the two upperclassmen in a duel if he had the first spell. But a duel would ultimately lead to Hermione waking up in a very unpleasant manner.

One twin nudged the other and gestured to leave. Harry thought in triumph: that twin had to be George! Fred shook his head. He ripped the remaining part of the parchment in two. He turned it around and Harry recognized a shopping list.

The scales fell from Harry's eyes. It was a Hogsmeade weekend! That was why the common room had been so empty!

Fred and George once more scribbled on two snippets of parchment. They looked at what their respective brother had written. Each one handed his paper over in a way that made their four arms look like they were knotted. The two of them switched places afterward and exchanged the parchments yet again by simply handing them over.

Finally, they turned them around so that Harry – who was not amused at all! – could read them. They read: -girl- -friend-.

Harry turned red and scowled. Fred and George smirked before finally leaving Harry and Hermione alone.

More students arrived and the common room became louder. Hermione stirred. Harry managed to take his hand from Hermione's upper arm just in time before

she rose to a sitting position. The witch rubbed her eyes, blinked and stared out of the window to guess how late it was.

"Early afternoon," Harry told Hermione.

Her head swung around and her brown eyes fixed his green ones.

Harry asked: "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade? We could eat a piece of cake or do some shopping..."

"It is a Hogsmeade weekend?" Hermione asked incredulously.

Harry nodded at his friend.

The witch exclaimed: "I totally forgot!"

"So, wanna go?"Harry asked once more.

Hermione's lips parted and she flashed her perfect teeth. "Anytime."

Harry stood up. He held his hand out. Hermione cocked her head slightly making her hair shift. She studied his face for a moment. Maybe she found what she was looking for? She smiled warmly and accepted his hand.