May Day
a Harry Potter story
by Snuffles
It was a sunny Saturday in the middle of May. Harry was lying on his back in thick grass, eyes closed against the bright sun. Birds chattered in nearby trees, and the gentle lapping of water at the lake's nearby shore was all that accompanied the peaceful atmosphere. That, and the occasional turning of a page just to Harry's left.
Hermione was on her belly, one hand holding up her head, the other a book. Her eyes were half-closed, and she dreamily stared at the page of her novel, showing that she was as much basking in the warmth of the sun as she was reading the words. Both Hogwarts students had discarded their heavy school robes and enjoyed the pleasant weather in jeans and T-shirts. Hermione's hair had been loosely pulled back in a ponytail. Harry's glasses lay discarded on the ground next to him.
Harry was so relaxed he felt like he could almost fall asleep. Almost ... if it hadn't been for his itchy nose. He was certainly tired and comfortable enough to sleep. Though it was a Saturday, he hadn't slept in that morning like the other Gryffindor boys had. Instead, he'd been up at the crack of dawn. Earlier that week he and Ron had been given a - completely unfair and unreasonable - detention by Snape, which the cantankerous professor had naturally set for their free Saturday. Although maybe the detention was not completely unfair, as Harry and Ron had been caught sneaking back into the castle in the middle of the night... but someone had to take Grawp his two dozen boysenberry pies before the Giant ransacked the pumpkin patch again, right? At least, they had to until Hagrid was back from his holiday with Mme. Maxime.
Obviously Snape hadn't thought so. So Harry and Ron had been stuck cleaning the trophy room, without the use of magic, on their free weekend day. As the weather had been beautiful that week and Harry had enough of being cooped up inside the castle all day for classes while watching the Giant Squid sunbathing in the lake from the windows, he got up extra early to do his share of the work before lunch. Though he'd tried to get Ron to join him, the redhead had turned over in bed, pulling his blanket over his head, and told Harry to bugger off. After lunch, Ron had trudged down to the trophy room, looking extremely disgruntled, while Harry and Hermione had headed out to enjoy the day at the lake.
As apparently no student had lately been stupid enough to get caught during mischief, or perhaps because professors liked to vary detention chores, the trophy room hadn't been cleaned in a while, and had therefore been extremely dusty. Harry had spent all morning dusting off and scrubbing at plaques and cups, getting covered in dust that settled up his nose and made him sneeze repeatedly. Even a quick shower before lunch hadn't cleared the irritation from his nose, and combined with the heavy scent of flowers and the bright sunlight, Harry had been feeling a little more than averagely sneezy this afternoon.
In fact, another tickle was bothering his nose right then. Since the sensation in his nose occasionally led to an actual sneeze, it had been enough to keep him from dozing off.
Not that he particularly minded being awake. It was such a nice day that lying in the grass relaxing felt just like the thing to do. In fact, he'd brought his own book - "Quirky Quidditch - the greatest moves" - but he just hadn't particularly bothered to open it yet. Lying there, for once not wracked with worry or anxiety, and exams still a month away, was such a rare feeling, that Harry could have stayed there all day. He intended to too. He couldn't be bothered by a little tickle in his nose.
After a little sniffling, he sighed deeply as his itchy feeling expanded into a coming sneeze. "Ehh..." he inhaled, and then more sharply: "Ehh! ..." before the feeling left as quickly as it had come on.
"Mm, itchy," Harry murmured, rubbing a finger under his nose.
"Then sneeze," said Hermione languidly, glancing up from her book with a smile. "You've been doing it all day."
"You should try scrubbing the dust off of Rudolph the Rugged's Award for Outstanding Offence all morning," quipped Harry, not bothering to open his eyes or turn his head.
"I didn't get detention," Hermione replied smugly.
"Only because you insisted you couldn't go see Grawp because you had to wash your hair," said Harry, giving a sniffle. "I know it's because you don't like it when he calls you `Hermy' ... ehh ... Eccsshh!"
"Bless you. And I really had to wash my hair."
"eh'tSshhoo!" Harry sneezed again and rubbed his nose. "At midnight?"
Hermione bit her lip, the corners of her lips quirking up. "Yes."
"Liar."
"Mm."
Harry closed his eyes again and grinned. He knew Hermione didn't like seeing Grawp at all, ever since Hagrid's baby brother had tried to pick her up at their first meeting. Now that Hagrid had taken them up on their promise to visit Grawp when he wasn't around, Hermione had been making up all sorts of excuses not to have to come along. Harry didn't mind - Grawp really was rather daunting, even thought the Giant had become a bit more easy going from last year - but he did like to rib Hermione about her absences.
The turn of a page signified that Hermione was back into her reading. Harry scrunched his nose as another tickle started playing with him. He opened his eyes to glance at the sun for a moment, to see if that might hurry it along and bring out a sneeze, but all it did was make the tickle worse without it being in any hurry to relieve Harry.
Harry breathed in deeply, nostrils flaring a little. He blinked, his face blank as it concentrated on the tickly sensation. Again his hand came up to rub at his nose.
It took another few minutes for the feeling to finally expand to the point where Harry thought he might be close to a sneeze. He rubbed at his nose again; which this time actually helped the feeling get stronger. "Ehh..." he inhaled, and then the feeling ebbed. But his eyes stayed closed and his nose still twitched. Again he took in a shaky breath. "Ehh..." And again the sneeze left him hanging.
"Come on, Harry," a breathy voice whispered in his ear, making his hair tickle the side of his face. "Sneeze out that nasty tickle. You know you want to."
Harry's face fell, and he snapped forward. "Hehh'ksshht!" Because of its build, the sneeze was a bit more violent than its predecessors had been. Harry's eyes snapped open to look at the girl at his side.
"Hermione!" he said indignantly, as he caught her laughing eyes. He grinned mischievously and rolled over from his back to his belly, so he was right next to her. "We'll see how you like it," he said.
Hermione's eyes widened as she caught his drift a second too late. He had already pinned her under him before she could move, his seeker reflects catching her hands and pinning them at her side. With a free hand, he tickled her sides.
"Harree!" Hermione squealed, squirming beneath him and trying to get away. "Stop it!"
Harry only grinned wider, tickling her relentlessly. "How's that, eh?" he teased. "Not so funny now, is it?"
Hermione giggled breathlessly, pushing weakly at his arms. "H- Harry," she chocked out between laughter. "E-Enough!"
Harry took his weight off her by resting it on his elbows, his torso still above hers. "You surrender?" he asked merrily.
Hermione, out of breath, slapped his shoulder. "Never!" she grinned, shifting beneath him to get more comfortable.
It was at this time that the mood shifted from playful to something more serious. This close, Harry could count all the tiny little freckles that the sun had brought out on Hermione's nose. Her lips were rosy and shiny with balm, and with a shock he realised that what was feeling so soft against his chest, were her breasts against which he was partly resting.
Hermione fell still in his arms, her eyes widening in realisation. She had never seen his bright green eyes this close up, and she had difficulty not sinking into their brilliant depths. He smelled like grass and shampoo, and the weight and warmth of his body pressed pleasantly against her slighter form.
Before they thought about what they were doing, their lips met. It was the most sweet and intense feeling Harry had ever experienced, and it felt so completely natural that he was unsure why they hadn't done this a million times before. Her arms came around him, and her lips opened to his.
Suddenly the kiss wasn't so innocent anymore, and lost in the moment, Harry and Hermione didn't think about anything for a long while.
It was Hermione who finally broke away, though she looked reluctant to do so. Her cheeks were pinkish red, and her lips swollen with kissing. Catching Harry's eyes, she smiled the prettiest that Harry had ever seen her do.
"That was unexpected," she said, in a breathless voice again. Harry liked this sort better than the one from tickling.
"But nice," Harry said, raising his eyebrows in query.
"Yes." Hermione verified, smiling secretly. "Very nice."
"That's good."
Harry watched her blush brighter, even as her eyed sparkled. "Does this mean you might want to do this again some time?" she asked innocently.
"I might be persuaded," said Harry casually, feeling his own face heating up.
Hermione gave a gentle laugh. "Good."
Harry was about to roll off her, his weight was bound to be squashing her by now, but instead his eyes glazed over as quite suddenly his breath hitched. Ducking his head so his hair fell in front of it, and turning his face away from Hermione's, he sneezed. "Ehh'tssht!" Then his head bobbed against her shoulder again as a second sneeze quickly followed the first. "Hehh'ttsshhoo!"
"Sorry," Harry sniffled, rolling back on his back. He rubbed his nose again for the umpteenth time.
Hermione rolled with him until she was the one on her belly and put her head on his shoulder, one arm flung over his chest. "That's okay," she murmured, snuggling up to him. "You're not catching. Sneeze if you must."
"I will," Harry said, his eyes already fluttering closed and blocking the clear blue sky. "Right ... ehh ... now ...ehehh!"
He felt Hermione chuckle against his shoulder more than heard her, as the sneeze built to fruition. He covered his mouth with his hand as his head snapped forward. "heh! heh! ... Tsshht! Oh," he sighed. "Enough sneezing already."
"I don't mind," Hermione said sleepily, her nose buried in his T- shirt. "I don't mind if Grawp is going to come up and dance the hula with Flitwick. This is nice."
"You are nice," Harry smiled, looking at her hair which had shaken loose from her ponytail, and unable to resist brushing his fingers through the wild strands.
When Ron came to find them just before dinner, they were sleeping. He stared at them for a moment, blinking, before waking them up with a gentle shake. Sitting up blearily, the first thing Harry and Hermione did was share a delighted grin. When the three of them walked back up to the castle to have dinner, Harry's hand met Hermione's naturally, and they didn't let go.
END
These characters belong to JKR, not me.
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