They met at lunch, like every day. If Hermione was any warmer towards Harry than usual, nobody really noticed. They did touch their legs under the table and caressed each other's thighs occasionally, but nobody saw it.
"We need to go to DADA lesson now," Ron said, looking quite unhappy.
"I need to take something from my trunk," Hermione said. "Save a seat for me."
"And I need the loo," Harry said. "Save me a seat, too."
Ron grumbled at that. It wasn't like Hermione to forget something, yet even he knew that she really had a very heavy load of studies. It was a wonder she was still coping with it, he thought.
Hermione and Harry met at that same abandoned corridor. They hid in the depression of one of the doors. Hermione took a piece of parchment and wrote down the time before she took her Gringotts letter. Harry also grabbed it. She tapped it with her wand, saying "Gringotts".
Travelling by portkey was not pleasant. They felt as if they were pulled by their navel, squeezed and tumbled and finally deposited on the marble floor of Gringotts, seconds later. Hermione managed to stay on her feet and to also stabilise Harry, just barely.
Once they felt surer on their feet, they looked around, noticing that they were standing in a large office. A goblin was standing behind a large desk. "Welcome to Gringotts".
Almost three intensive hours later, they felt both dazed, and not only due to travelling in those speedy carts. Hermione was wearing the Lady Potter ring, made to look like a cheap ring, similar to the ones many young girls wear, while Harry's Lord ring was made invisible and undetectable on his finger. "You may use your letter to go back," Sharpclaw told them. "Just tap the letter and say, 'back,' and it will take you back to where you came from."
A short, unpleasant ride later, they stood in that abandoned corridor once again. Hermione led them a bit deeper into that corridor and chose to hide in another depression — one intended for a statue that wasn't there. She then used her time turner to move them three hours back. "We must wait here until we see our previous selves leave. Then we may safely return to Ron."
Hermione always felt a bit awkward watching herself when using the time turner. She was sure it was even more awkward for Harry. Still, once their wait was over, she urged Harry to go to the nearest toilet room, as expected. She took a different route, eventually arriving at the DADA class a bit before Harry, who was almost late, yet Professor Lupin only patted his shoulder and motioned him to join his friends.
–..–
They didn't have a chance to discuss things privately until well after dinner. By then, both were completely exhausted, having had a much longer day than anybody suspected. "I'll wait for you in the common room at six," Hermione told him, "and bring your invisibility cloak with you."
Harry nodded. Hermione would have liked him to kiss her as well, but the common room was no place for that, especially since they wanted to keep their new relationship secret. She just pressed his hand, trying to convey her love this way. Harry smiled at her. She saw him yawning widely before disappearing up the stairs to his dorm room. Hermione also hid a yawn as she hurried to her own dorm.
–..–
When she returned to the common room, a few minutes before six in the morning, Harry was already there, sitting in front of the fire, looking quite sleepy. She smiled tenderly at the sight and sat at his side, grabbing his hand. "Good morning, my dear husband," she whispered.
This seemed to be the right way to act, as Harry seemed to become more alert, as he turned towards her and smiled, answering just as quietly, "Good morning, Lady Potter. I love the sound of it. Slept well?"
"Quite well. I managed to sleep more than nine hours, due to this," she tapped her chest, where the time turner was still hidden under her shirt. "Let's find some place where you can show me how much you missed me." The mischief was evident in her voice as she grabbed his invisibility cloak to cover them both before leaving.
They soon found an appropriate place. Once they closed the door behind them, Hermione removed the cloak. Moments later, they were already showing their love to each other in the most ancient way, by uniting several times with barely a pause.
With that urgency taken care of — at least temporarily — they started discussing their visit to Gringotts. "Did you know you were so rich?"
"No. Hagrid only mentioned that my parents left me enough. He said it when he took me for my first visit to Diagon Alley. Dumbledore, my supposed guardian, never talked to me about any such things. Maybe he still considers me too young to handle that kind of information."
Hermione shook her head. "Adults tend to underestimate us. Some of our classmates are really still very childish, but I believe that Lord and Lady Potter are quite mature enough." Her giggle seemed to contradict her words, but she didn't mind. Since her birthday, when she and Harry became a couple, she felt much happier than ever, smiling much more often, and even giggling — something she had seldom done before.
"He should at least have told me. I would have bought some more appropriate clothes, had I known I could really afford them. Maybe I would have even found another place to live, without my relatives."
Hermione gave it some consideration. "It could be that he wants you to stay with your relatives for some reason we don't know. Although he knows a lot, he doesn't seem to like giving much away. He didn't tell you why Voldemort was after you, even after you had to confront that monster twice, not counting that encounter as a baby."
Harry frowned. "That only makes it worse." He was silent for a moment and then asked, seemingly skipping to a different subject, "Don't you want to tell your parents about… us?"
Hermione shrugged. "What for? They can do nothing about it; they won't understand it, being a magical bond. They simply don't need to know about it yet. We may tell them before going on the summer vacation, though, as I wouldn't like to spend it without you."
"What about the winter holidays?"
"They don't matter. I may be able to persuade my parents to let me stay, and even if they don't agree, I may still use the time turner so I can also spend the time with you." She gave it another thought, and her smile widened. "Maybe I can even make them invite you for the holidays. I've already told them you are my best friend, and they may suspect I have some deeper feelings for you. They're quite smart, for adults."
Harry had to laugh. He always liked listening to her talk, although he didn't always pay attention to her words. Now he was also enjoying seeing her completely naked. She seemed to feel very comfortable that way, as long as it was with him alone. Being with her now, knowing they were bound for life, made him happier than he could ever expect. Still, seeing her naked made his hormones kick in again. Hermione didn't miss the way his expression changed, nor the way another part of him became excited. They were soon riding another wave of orgasm and then fell asleep in each other's arms.
Hermione woke up, hearing some distant noises. She checked her wristwatch — it was almost lunchtime. Her gaze moved to Harry, who was still snoring softly at her side, his arm stretched over her body, and a tender smile appeared on her face. 'My husband, my love. How wonderful it is to know that we're going to be together for many years to come. You're such a wonderful mate, sating me so nicely whenever I give you a chance. I love you so much!'
She caressed his face tenderly and was surprised when he suddenly moved, capturing her fingers between his lips. "I've heard you!"
"How could you? I didn't say anything. I was quiet, wasn't I?"
He smiled. "I heard you speaking in my mind, almost as if you were whispering in my ear, but not quite."
"Why didn't I sense your thoughts?"
He shrugged. "Maybe they weren't coherent enough to understand. I was just waking up, you know."
Hermione heard his stomach grumble, making her aware of her own hunger. "We missed breakfast, and it's almost lunchtime. I think it's time we get dressed and use the time turner, so we can have a proper breakfast."
They left that room a few minutes later, but five hours earlier, still hidden under the cloak. They waited for the entrance to the Gryffindor tower to open and then slipped in, unnoticed by anybody. "There's nobody on that couch, near the fire. We may just slip there and pretend to have been sitting there all along," she whispered to Harry.
He nodded. They reached that couch and sat down, staying hidden from view while Harry took the cloak off them and folded it into his robes. He then stood up and stretched, making the others aware of his presence.
Ron was just coming down from the dorms. "I wondered where you've been, as your bed was empty."
"I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep, so I came here. Hermione woke me up a few minutes ago."
"Well, aren't you both hungry? I'm starving! Let's go get some breakfast!"
"Just wait a minute. I need to let Crookshanks out. He'd been in the dorms since before the weekend."
"Just don't let that monster of a cat near my rat," Ron huffed, as Hermione mounted the stairs, returning a moment later with her ginger cat in her arms. Once they went out, she put Crookshanks down on the floor. "Have fun!" she said, patting her pet, urging it to go. The cat didn't need much persuasion. It first looked at Ron, though, finding that he didn't have the rat with him, and then hurried away.
Much later that day, when they returned from dinner, they saw Crookshanks walking side by side with a big black dog. Hermione wondered for a moment about this odd friendship, but with so much homework to do and her new husband to entertain, she let it go. She had more urgent and important things to busy herself with than some odd friendship between animals.
The rest of the week went about the same way. Both young lovers would wake up early, spend some quality time in the hidden room of their choice, and then use the time turner to rejoin their classmates for breakfast, acting as innocent as ever. Yet Harry was becoming evidently more tired in the evening, so much so that Neville took him aside for a talk.
"Are you feeling well, Harry? You've been extremely tired each evening since the weekend, although you seem fine in the mornings. That may be a sign of a magical illness. I think you should visit the hospital wing for a thorough check-up."
Harry felt a bit worried. He didn't think it was becoming so evident. "I'm fine, really. I've been having some weird dreams lately, mostly about girls. I've read it was normal at our age, but I wake up several times every night and too early in the morning."
"You should still see a healer, I believe," Neville insisted. "Just to make sure it's nothing serious."
Harry shook his head. "I'll ask Hermione to check me and find some way to help. I don't like going to the hospital wing. I've already spent too much time there. Thank you for your concern, though."
Neville blushed at the thanks. "I thought you should also know that Longbottom and Potter have always been allies, for as many generations back as one can remember. I hope we can continue that alliance, and part of it is caring for your ally."
This brought a smile to Harry's face. "I really appreciate this, and I'm sure we can be allies. I'll also make sure to rid myself of this extra tiredness."
Neville smiled reluctantly. He patted Harry's shoulder once and moved away, unsure about exceeding his welcome. Even the things he had said were quite out of character for the shy boy, showing that he really had courage where it counted.
Harry told Hermione about that conversation. "We've already read in the Potter book that Longbottoms were always allies. I didn't know if Neville was aware of it, yet I'm glad. As long as we don't need to count on his memory, I believe Neville can be a much truer friend and ally than Ron could ever be."
Hermione gave it a thought. "I think we may need to tell him about our bond. Since I'm your wife, he is also my ally, and he should be aware of this."
Harry was still reluctant. "Neville may not yet be mature enough to keep that secret, although I trust him more than I trust Ron. Let's wait a bit longer, maybe until the New Year, before we tell him."
"Alright, but you need allies, and Neville seems to be quite a fine young man, or will be soon."
"What can we do about my tiredness? I do feel like I'm more tired than usual lately."
She smiled at him. "You're putting more hours into each day, using the time turner. We should use it to give you some more sleep as well, and more food, as you need more energy for the longer days."
They adjusted their daily routine. They woke up a bit later and went for an early breakfast, before taking their secret time together, adding in at least two more hours of sleep. They then used the time-turner and joined their dorm mates for breakfast — their second for that day. Harry also tried to eat larger dinner portions. He couldn't eat as much as Ron did, but even half of that was more than he had usually eaten before.
–..–
Hermione wrote to her parents, telling them that she was starting to feel closer to her good friend Harry and asking them to invite him for the winter vacation. She got a reply a few days later. "You may invite Harry with our blessing. Your father is a bit worried, though. He thought he would have a few more years before needing to confront the idea of you dating boys. I had to tell him that I started dating at about the same age. Actually, after hearing you talk non-stop about that boy since the first year, I'm already eager to meet him and see why you have such a crush on him."
Hermione let Harry read the letters, but blushed nicely when he reached the part mentioning her crush. Harry didn't mind, though. "I think I had a secret crush on you, too, or I wouldn't have let you become my friend. No boy had a girl as his friend in the first year, as you probably know."