Chapter 46: The Living Hedge and the Leather Liquidation part- 2
"Just cut me down!" Hermione begged.
Harry moved closer. He had to get right next to her to cut the vines without hurting her.
Now for the Fabric Manipulation.
Hermione was wearing dragon-hide. Tough stuff. But I had the Advanced skill now. I could alter the properties of the material.
(Fabric Manipulation: Change Dragon-hide property from 'Solid' to 'Viscous Liquid'.)
It was a cruel, beautiful bit of transfiguration.
Harry reached out to grab the shoulder of her leather jacket to steady her while he cut a vine.
As soon as his hand touched the leather, the property change triggered.
The stiff, protective dragon-hide suddenly lost its solidity. It didn't tear; it melted. It turned into a thick, maroon goo that dripped off her body like melted chocolate.
"What is happening?!" Hermione shrieked as her armor liquefied.
"It is melting!" Harry yelled, his hand suddenly slipping off her shoulder and sliding down her bare, wet arm.
The "armor" dripped away. The jacket, the trousers, the heavy boots—all of it turned to sludge and slid off her body into the grass.
Hermione fell from the loosened vines, landing in Harry's arms.
She was covered in maroon slime. And underneath the armor?
She had worn nothing. Because dragon-hide chafes and she had assumed the armor was impenetrable.
So, Hermione Granger fell into Harry Potter's arms, deep in the maze, surrounded by a sensual fog, wearing absolutely nothing but maroon slime.
(...cough...)
Harry caught her. The slime was slippery. His arms wrapped around her bare waist, sliding up her back. Her front crashed against his chest.
The Fog of Desire kicked in.
This fog heightened touch sensitivity by 200%.
Harry gasped. He felt everything. Every inch of her skin pressed against him felt like an electric shock. The slime acted as a lubricant, making the contact even more intense.
"Hermione," Harry groaned, his knees buckling under the sensory overload.
"My armor," Hermione whimpered, clinging to his neck because if she let go, she would fall into the mud. "It turned to soup. Why did it turn to soup?"
"I don't know," Harry rasped. "But... you are slippery."
"Don't let me go," she begged. "I am naked in a hedge. If you let me go, the thorns will get me."
"I am never letting go," Harry swore, his voice thick with the effects of the fog.
They sank to their knees in the grass, hidden from the world by the swirling mist (and the fact that I had Illusioned a fake hedge wall around them to block the view of any wandering champions).
Harry looked at her. Her hair was wild, her skin was gleaming with the remnants of the melted leather and her eyes were wide and terrified... but also pleading.
"Harry," she whispered. "The fog... it feels... heavy."
"I know," Harry said. He reached up and wiped a streak of maroon slime from her cheek. His thumb lingered on her lip.
The Fog pushed them. The Pheromones pushed them.
Harry leaned in. He kissed her.
It wasn't a tentative peck. It was a desperate, hungry collision of mouths, fueled by adrenaline, magic and months of suppressed tension.
Hermione made a small noise in her throat and kissed him back, her fingers tangling in his messy hair.
I watched on the Omniscope, eating a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.
"System Alert," the voice announced, practically smoking a cigarette. "Incident recorded. Type: The 'Leather Meltdown'. Total armor failure leading to full exposure. High-intensity contact in a psycho-active environment. First Kiss achieved. Target: Hermione Granger. Hero: Harry Potter. Rating: Triple-S Class. Reward: Skill 'Reality Warping (Minor)' and two hundred attribute points."
(Reality Warping,) I choked on a bean. (That sounds dangerous. And fun.)
Back in the maze, the kiss broke. They were both panting, foreheads pressed together.
"We have to... we have to finish the task," Hermione whispered, though she made no move to get up.
"I don't care about the cup," Harry muttered, running his hands down her bare arms. "I want to stay here."
"Voldemort is back," Hermione reminded him, her voice trembling. "Or he might be. We have to go."
"I cannot take you out like this," Harry said, looking down at her exposed form. "You are... very visible."
"Transfigure something," she pleaded. "Turn the slime back into clothes."
Harry pointed his wand at the puddle of melted leather.
"Reparo!"
The slime shuddered. It crawled back up her legs. But because Harry was distracted (and not very good at household charms) and the material had been chemically altered by my skill, it didn't reform into armor.
It reformed into a tight, maroon, leather bikini.
(...cough...)
Hermione looked down.
"It is... better than nothing," she sighed, defeated. "Let us go."
They stood up. Hermione looked like a warrior princess from a very low-budget fantasy movie. Harry looked like a man who had just won the lottery.
"Stay behind me," Harry commanded, raising his wand. "I will blast anything that looks at you."
They moved through the maze. With Hermione watching his back (and Harry occasionally glancing back to check on her "armor"), they fought through a Blast-Ended Skrewt and a Sphinx.
Finally, they reached the center. The Triwizard Cup glowed on a plinth.
Cedric Diggory was there, sprinting toward it.
"Harry!" Cedric yelled. "Watch out! Spider!"
A giant Acromantula dropped from the mist above.
"Stupefy!" Harry and Cedric yelled together.
The spider flipped over.
Harry and Cedric looked at the Cup. Then Cedric looked at Hermione in her leather bikini.
"Er..." Cedric blinked, politely averting his eyes. "Rough time in the maze, Granger?"
"Don't ask," Hermione growled, raising a rock threateningly.
"Take it, Harry," Cedric said, stepping back. "You saved her. You deserve it."
"We will take it together," Harry said. "On three."
Harry grabbed the handle. He grabbed Cedric's arm. And he wrapped his other arm firmly around Hermione's waist.
"One, two, three!"
They touched the Cup.
Hook behind the navel.
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