Harry furrowed his brow. "But... hm... the Dursleys wouldn't ever let me..."
Hermione gaped. "You don't actually want to stay with them, do you?" She blushed slightly. "I was hoping that I could convince my parents to let you stay over at my house this summer..."
Harry could barely contain his excitement. "You're saying you want me to spend all summer with you? Hermione!" He bounded over, hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you! You... You have no idea how much this means to me, Hermione."
"I do," said Hermione. "That's why I'm doing it. Now let's go, it's just past nine and we probably have less than fifteen minutes to pack and hide our trunks back in the chamber."
They decided to send the letter to Hermione's parents first, so they wouldn't have to double back later, and also gave instructions to Hedwig to wait for them with the Grangers. They got to Gryffindor Tower at around 9:10, or with about 20 minutes to go. With another trip to the tower, Harry once again found Ron asleep on his bed. Is he really not going to wake up unless I do it for him? Harry thought. He was just about to douse Ron with another Aguamenti spell when he thought of something. If the professors are busy scrambling to get Ron out of the tower, maybe they won't notice me and Hermione missing. He decided to let Ron lie in bed as he quickly packed his trunk, then met Hermione once again in the Common Room.
"We should head down to the Great Hall, just so a few people see us at breakfast and know we're packed up and ready to go," said Hermione.
"Good idea," said Harry. "I left Ron in bed. He's still asleep."
Hermione looked at him and nearly burst out laughing. They made their way down to the Great Hall, just as most of the other students were walking out. They grabbed a bagel each, and began to follow the crowd. Just as they passed a convenient alcove, they ducked inside without anybody noticing and Harry threw his invisibility cloak around both of them. They waited for the last few stragglers before they moved out, making sure there was nobody who would notice two floating trunks with no owners, and made a dash for the second floor girls' bathroom.
"Who's there?" shouted Myrtle as they arrived. They didn't bother replying. Seeing nobody, Myrtle said, "Oh! Is it a new ghost? Did somebody else die? Don't worry, you can hang out here with me!"
Well, I did die, but I don't plan on spending an eternity with you, Myrtle, thought Harry. Maybe with Hermione, though, he added.
Leaving their trunks in the chamber, they watched the map until all the students, except for Ron, had left the school. The heads of houses were beginning their walk through their respective dormitories, and McGonagall was sure to find Ron any minute now. This was the perfect time for them to make their move up to the Room of Requirement.
Hermione made the request for the room again, except this time asking for a room where both of them could get blood runes etched. The only difference with this room was that it provided two shower stalls, separated by a large partition and separate changing areas for the two of them, and two sets of carving knives. Hermione decided to move the whiteboard so that it lay on the ground in front of the chair, so that Harry could read the diagram while she was etching the runes into his back.
Hermione did an excellent job explaining the technique for cutting the runes into their bodies. She was rather squeamish the first time, but was far more comfortable with the procedure the second time around and finished it much more quickly. Since most of the runes were identical to the ones used in their regular Return Cluster, Harry had little trouble understanding them and concentrated on the new runes, which provided the life-monitoring and charging functions, as well as a literal dead-man's switch which would release as soon as the life-monitoring runes failed.
When she was finished with Harry's runes, they both took showers and Hermione meekly kept herself covered until she sat down on the chair, facing away from Harry. As Harry drew the outlines on Hermione's back, he let his hand brush across her skin. Dear Merlin, Hermione's beautiful. How could I not realize it before?
Noticing his hesitation, Hermione asked, "Is s-something wrong, Harry?"
"No, nothing's wrong... It's just that... you're so beautiful, Hermione. I should have noticed before. Are you sure you want me to... carve these runes into your back?" he asked.
Hermione gulped. "You think I'm beautiful? Really? You're not just saying that, are you?"
"No, Hermione. I guess I never noticed before under all those robes, but seeing you lying down here in front of me, there's no way I can say you're anything less than gorgeous," he answered sincerely.
Hermione's heart suddenly beat twice as fast in excitement. Harry thought she was beautiful! Her, the little bookworm that everyone always made fun of for being nerdy and ugly, was gorgeous, according to Harry. All the insults that other children had teased her with over the years simply melted away in the face of the one person for which who truly mattered. She twisted around in the seat and gave him a quick kiss while hugging him. "Thank you, Harry! I... I'm glad you... don't think I'm ugly."
Harry suddenly stiffened, and his face grew very red. "I... uh... you're welcome, Hermione. I can't think of any part of you being ugly at all..." He couldn't help but let his eyes drop down. "...especially not your body..."
"Huh?" Hermione looked down, and just then remembered she was topless. "Eep!" she squeaked, turning red and jumping back down onto the chair. "Um... Harry... let's just finish this, alright?"
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