September quickly faded into October and classes remained as difficult as ever. Hermione and Matt spent much of their time in the library, studying, practicing, and writing. Some days it felt more exhaustive than others. The pair even spent weekends there, forgoing invitations to go to Hogsmeade with Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Draco.
One evening Matt threw down his quill and leaned back in his chair and groaned.
"Oh man, these runes are all running together, I need a break." He said and stood to stretch. Hermione looked up from her work and watched him, enjoying the view.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Hermione asked, looking at him, he looked tired. "You've been sleeping well, haven't you?"
"Yeah, for the most part." Matt said, not entirely convincingly. Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"You know, you look like Spock when you do that." Matt said matter-of-factly. Hermione blushed.
"Oh…I always liked Mr. Spock…" she admitted.
"Of all the references I make, I intentionally avoid the more obscure ones, like Star Trek, and that's the one you actually get?!" he sighed with a smile.
"Well, my parents would watch it occasionally and I would often sit with them and read. I would still get what was going on and all…" Hermione replied. Matt leaned down to kiss her affectionately. "Not that I mind, but what was that for?"
"For being so incredible. You're all nerdy and smart and sexy. You're the total package." He said to her. Hermione blushed and smiled.
"You're not so bad yourself you know…" Hermione said with a smirk. Matt grinned and winked at her.
"I need something to snack on and drink. I'm going to go see if I can find us something. Do you want anything?" Matt as he moved around the table they were occupying.
"Um, actually, something to drink wouldn't go amiss." Hermione said.
"Pumpkin juice, comin' up!" Matt said and headed out of the library.
"Be nice to the House Elves!" Hermione called after him. Her eyes grew wide when she realized how much trouble they would get in for bringing food into the library. But he was already gone before she could stand up to call him back.
It took Matt longer than he would have liked to admit, getting from the library down to the kitchens. Hermione had told him the trick to get in and he was very polite to the elves who were working down there. He was laden with a plate of sandwiches and two flagons, one of pumpkin juice, the other of water. By the time he got back to the library it was nearly dark.
After sitting everything down, Matt conjured a couple of cups and poured them drinks and began to resume their work.
"How did you get all this past Madam Pince? She's a stickler for food and drink being banned in the library?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, as I was coming in, I called her over and told her Filch needed to see her about a book in the top of clocktower. She'll be gone a while to get to the opposite side of the castle." Matt said grinning.
"That was very clever. Are you sure you weren't supposed to be in Slytherin?" Hermione teased.
"Not telling!" Matt winked back at her.
The weather had turned stormy in October and that Friday was no different. After another couple of hours of homework Matt moaned and leaned back rubbing his eyes.
"These translations are murder." he said, throwing his quill down once more. "I give up. I think I'll give this a fresh start tomorrow."
Hermione leaned over to him and pulled his parchment over.
"You've got this translated wrong. This is supposed to be a letter, not a word. This one can be either a single letter or an entire word, remember?" she informed him, pointing to it on his paper.
"What?" Matt said in shock, leaned over and read over what she had said. "Oh my…oh…you're right! That makes so much more sense. If I do that, then this becomes that…and it alters this subjugation here…and then…it all…makes…sense." He made scratches on the paper and sighed. "Thank you." The relief was audible in his voice.
"You're welcome." Hermione said with a smile and triumphantly set down her quill and rolled up her parchment. "And that means we're both caught up on homework, doesn't it?"
"Indeed! Which means we have the whole weekend free!" Matt's voice was growing with excitement.
"What do you want to do?"
"I want to spend it with you. Maybe just cuddled up, reading. Something not a textbook." He said as they packed their books and things away.
"That sounds love-" Hermione shrieked and leapt into Matt's arms as the library was filled with a blinding white light and an almost deafening roar of thunder. Hermione looked up from his chest and seemed almost apologetic.
"You ok?" Mat asked, his arms wrapping around her and rubbing her back. She did not meet his gaze. She seemed to be extremely interested in their shoes and the design on the floor. "Hermione?"
"Not...really…" she admitted. Hermione had been keeping a secret. Ever since the Battle of Hogwarts back in May of that year, she had developed a fear of thunderstorms. The thunder rolling across the skies reminded her of the sounds of battle, the castle exploding around them, the cries of the injured and of death.
"Thunderstorms get you, huh?" he asked quietly. Hermione simply nodded into his chest. "That's ok. I'm here. I'm right here and not going anywhere. I've got you." He said and wrapped his arms around her completely and simply held her. Hermione's breathing slowed as her initial panic resided.
"Let's get back?" she asked. Matt nodded and stuck his elbow out. Hermione quickly wrapped her arms around his offered arm, and they set off back to Gryffindor tower. As they walked, Matt placed his free hand over hers and gently rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. The small affection seemed to help keep her calmer between thunder crashes, during which she would squeeze his arm.
They approached the portrait and Matt swore. The Fat Lady was gone.
"What do we do?" Matt asked, annoyed. He knew Hermione just wanted to climb into a safe warm bed and sleep through the rest of the storm.
"It's impossible to say where she's gone or for how long…we'll have to wait out here…unless…" Hermione said, her voice laced with worry. Another sharp clatter of thunder and she pressed into Matt more.
"Unless?" Matt pressed. He felt bad but he did not like the idea of sleeping in the corridor, even if would be with Hermione right next to him.
"The Room of Requirement. It could provide us with beds." She replied. Matt nodded in agreement.
"Then let's head there." Matt let Hermione hold onto him as tightly as she needed to on the trek up to seventh floor corridor. They walked past the empty wall across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy three times. Matt concentrated hard on a place to sleep. Hermione was trying to, but the thunderclaps caused her to flinch. After their third pass the door appeared.
"Oh, good. It worked." Hermione said, giving Matt's arm a squeeze as they walked in. Hermione looked at her boyfriend as they stepped into the room. It looked entirely different than the last time they were here for Hermione's birthday. Inside was a very comfortable-looking bedroom, thick plush carpet on the floor, a bathroom off in one corner a couple of dressers and a single bed with a pair of nightstands with candles on each side. "This is…um…cozy?"
"Yeah…" Matt could hear in Hermione's voice it was not quite what she had been hoping it would become for them. "We'll have to share the bed. Are you ok with that?" he asked her.
"Yes…it's fine…" Hermione said. "I just didn't think we'd be doing that so soon."
"Hey, it's ok. We're dating, right? It's something that couples do. And nothing happens unless you say it does, deal?" Matt said and kissed the top of her head.
"Deal." She said with a smile. "We are going to have to change though…" she suddenly felt nervous. Hermione was not sure how she felt stripping down in front of him just yet. While it was true, she did want to eventually get to that stage, they were not there yet.
"Oh! Don't worry, I'll turn around and shut my eyes." Matt said as he looked in the wardrobe and pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants.
"Ok…I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise you know…" Hermione replied cheekily. Matt chuckled.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to, well, you know, doing more than just sharing the bed with you." He said as he took his shirt off. Hermione had her back to him as he had his to her, but she could not help but turn and sneak a peek at him as he disrobed himself and pulled his shirt on followed by the bottoms.
Matt kept true to his word and once his shirt was on and his sleeping pants pulled up, he closed his eyes and waited for Hermione's signal she was changed.
Hermione sighed as she slipped out of her clothes, feeling relief from her bra and top as she neatly placed them on the dresser on her side. She leaned over just to see if Matt was really keeping his eyes shut or not. Part of her wanted to trick him but she knew she was not ready to play games that could lead elsewhere, not entirely anyway. Once she had her pajamas on, she cleared her throat.
"You can turn around now."
Matt opened his eyes and turned to face her, smiling. He climbed onto the bed, and she followed his lead.
"This is a rather small bed, isn't it?" Hermione said as she looked around at it.
"Yeah, we'll have to be pretty close. You ok with that?" he asked. Hermione nodded as the storm flashed again. For a moment, Hermione thought maybe it had blown itself out. Matt pulled the covers back and slipped underneath them, Hermione doing the same thing. She pressed herself against Matt and he turned over. Suddenly they were in a remarkably similar position to when he had tackled her in the Great Hall just a few weeks prior. Her cheeks blushed as he was spooning her, and she did not mind it.
"You're sure you're good with this?" Matt asked, surprised she was letting him be the big spoon to her little one.
"Yes…I…" she started. After several long moments, Matt prompted her.
"You…?" he asked in a hushed voice.
"I…feel safe this way." Hermione said and settled in a little more, his arm draping across her stomach, and she accidentally ground her butt against his crotch. He let out a small moan. "I'm sorry!" she said not having meant to have teased him.
"It's ok." He said and kissed her cheek. Hermione decided she would make up the transgression.
"Oh, here." She said and took his hand from her stomach and moved it up to her breast. Even though it was on top of her clothes, she decided she wanted him to feel a part of her body he had not before. Hermione even placed her hand over his and used her hand to make his squeeze her breast. She let out a little gasp of pleasure and kept her hand on his. "You can keep it there, if you like."
"Ok. I do, so I will." Matt said, smiling at the permission she was giving him. They settled in and slowly the pair drifted into rhythmic breathing and sleep, despite the raging storm outside.
The following morning Hermione and Matt both stirred about the same time and Hermione blushed at seeing Matt's hand still cupping her breast. She could not believe she had been so bold the night before. But she also could not deny it made her feel safe, especially with her newfound fear of thunderstorms. No one had known about it, not even Ron or Ginny. She had little alone time with her ex when they were at the Burrow and were not permitted to share a room. So, Ron had never found out about her fear nor had Ginny, despite them sharing a room, but thankfully, not a bed.
"Hey." Came Matt's soft whisper.
"Morning." Hermione replied, stretching still under the covers. Matt followed suit, although he did not immediately disentangle himself from her.
"You sleep ok?" he asked.
"I did. Thank you." She replied. Hermione cheekily used his hand to give herself one more squeeze before pulling his arm up and slipping out from under it.
"Good. I slept well too, best I've had in a while, I think." He said with a smile as he leaned over to kiss her good morning. Hermione smiled and returned the affection.
"We should get down to breakfast." Hermione said. Matt's stomach rumbled at the mention of food, and he looked down at himself.
"Sounds like a plan to me." He said and turned his back. As Hermione changed, Matt could not help himself and snuck a peek at her back as she pulled her sleep shirt off. He wondered what he felt the night before looked like, but he was quick to turn back so he did not see anything, and she would not feel he betrayed her trust.
They arrived at the Great Hall hand in hand, Hermione leaning affectionately on his shoulder, both smiling.
"What happened to you two last night?" Ginny asked as they sat down.
"Late night studying." Matt replied immediately, almost too quickly. He had not lied, that was true.
"We were in the library until late." Hermione said "And when we got back to Gryffindor tower, the Fat Lady had gone…"
"Not again. She does that a lot after dark…" Neville said in annoyed tone.
"Yeah, so we had to spend the night in the Room of Requirement." Matt explained.
"Ooh! The Room of Requirement! Bet you had a lot of fun there!" Ginny teased.
"If by fun you mean sleeping, then yes. I was exhausted and the storm-" Matt paused when Hermione shot him a look that said he should not finish that thought.
"What about the storm?" Neville asked as they ate.
"Well, it was pretty bad, and it freaked me out a bit you know? I'm from the U.S. when it storms like that, where I'm from, half the time there's a tornado. And you do NOT want to be caught out in a tornado. Trust me." Matt said. Hermione slipped a hand under the table and rested it on his thigh, giving him a thankful squeeze.
After breakfast, as they were heading back to the common room Matt paused Hermione.
"You could have told me they didn't know." He said quietly.
"I'm sorry. I just…I don't want them to thank badly of me…" Hermione said.
"I'm sure they wouldn't. But I get it, it's an irrational fear. I'll keep your secret, for a price." He said grinning.
"What's your price?" Hermione was suddenly worried and feeling very vulnerable.
"Just this…" Matt said leaning down and capturing her lips with his. Hermione's anxiety melted away as she returned the kiss.