Harry Potter: Love's Second Chance

Hermione was still thinking about the compliments Harry had said to her, and it took a few seconds for his words filtered in. "Oh…then you're…" Hermione looked at Harry's bare chest and realized that it was more than his chest that was bare under the covers.

"Yeah, starkers."

She stared at him a few more seconds, her cheeks blazing red before her mind reengaged. "Oh, here," She reached into her beaded bag she had carried all over the country in the last year and pulled out a set of clothes for him. "I'll step outside for a couple of minutes."

Five minutes later, the two of them were back sitting on Harry's bed facing each other. "Are you really sure you want to do this?" Harry asked again, sighing heavily.

"Yes, Harry. Just one kiss and we go back to being best friends and get on with our lives."

"Okay, well here goes," Harry saw Hermione's eyes close as he leaned closer to her. He hesitated briefly when his lips were only an inch away from hers, but then he closed final distance. As their lips touched a pure sound seemed to emerge from the very air around them; a sound that reminded both of them of the song of a Phoenix. Though each had their eyes closed, their eyelids blossomed with light as a golden glow enveloped them, but soon they only noticed each other. The kiss deepen, lips parted and tongues intertwined in a soft battle. The thoughts of the past days, and even their lives seemed to disappear, as the kiss continued. Nothing felt as perfect as the others lips upon their own.

Finally, the kiss ended, and the two of them stared into the eyes of each other. Nothing else could be seen, but soon they realized it was more that there was actually nothing around them to see. They were no longer in Gryffindor tower, but in a room of pure white.

"What happened?" Hermione asked still slightly dazed from the power of the kiss she'd just received.

Harry looked around and then back at Hermione, who was standing there totally nude. "Uh, Hermione, you're not wearing any clothes."

That statement fully reengaged Hermione brain as she looked down at herself. An arm went immediately over her ample breasts, while her other hand moved to cover her privates. Looking over at Harry, she got a look at what he didn't let her see earlier. "Neither are you, Harry."

Harry's hands immediately covered up his privates as well, but unfortunately he had spent too much time admiring Hermione that his body had responded in a way that made covering difficult. He turned away from Hermione to reduce his embarrassment.

As he tried not to return his gaze to Hermione's body, he started looking around. An odd familiarity of the room struck him. It took him a second recognize what it reminded him of. "This looks similar to the place I saw Dumbledore last night. Or at least, feels like the same place."

"When you died? I mean..." Hermione's voice trailed off as she realized how Harry must feel about that experience.

"Yeah. I mean, it feels the same anyway. "

"So, we died?" Hermione asked. "We survived Voldemort, and died while sharing a kiss?"

"I don't know. Dumbledore said there was another step, a way to go on if you're dead," Harry explained. As he contemplated the experience from the previous night, he remembered something else. He quickly thought of having clothes to wear, and sighed in relief when a bundle appeared. "Think of wanting clothes, Hermione," Harry instructed his friend as he quickly started pulling on the pants and shirt.

"What…oh," Hermione replied and a few second later another pile of clothes appeared.

Harry turned to Hermione once she had her clothes on, while still keeping his hands in front of his pants. "Well, was that the kiss you wanted?"

"Uh…yeah...it was very…uh…magical," She replied, thinking of the entire body sensation that the kiss had caused. She could still feel tingling throughout her extremities and other more central spots of her body. She also knew it had been just like her dream.

"FINALLY!" A voice ranged out as a petite woman appeared in front of them. "About bloody time too."

"Finally what?" Harry asked as he reached for his wand that was not with him. "And who are you, and where are we?"

"Finally, you two kissed and sealed your soul bond," The woman answered. "I have been trying to get that kiss out of you two for almost seven years," The woman's hands went to her temples as if trying to massage a headache away. "Seven long, long years."

"Soul Bond? What's that?" Hermione asked.

"First things first, I am Miranda, Goddess of Love," The petite woman said.

"Goddess of Love? You're joking right? Even if you were a Goddess, the Goddess of Love is Aphrodite, or Venus, or even Hathor," Hermione replied.

"Hmmp. Though I do like to kid from time to time, I am most certainly not joking now. Yes, I am the Goddess of Love. As for my name, do you think I don't know it? It's Miranda. Want me to spell it for you? I can't help it if the poets of your societies didn't like Miranda. Hard to rhyme Miranda with anything, they said, we'll just call her 'Venus'. Bloody stupid minstrels."