The Girl in the Picture
by Elva Rhiannon

Rating: PG13
Ship: Harry & Hermione
Canon: Books 1 - 5
Genre: Romance
Status: In progress
Length: 920 words in 1 chapter
Published: 25 Mar 2005
Last updated: 25 Mar 2005

This is a response to a challenge in the forums by HermionesAlterEgo. Harry and Hermione split after graduation and they
haven't spoken since. He misses her, but one day finally decides to find her and confess his heart when he sees a
picture of her in an unlikely place!

From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/4068/

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. In Which Ron Cooks Scrambled Eggs (Again)

Author’s Note/Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters… Someone more brilliant than I created them and I’m merely
playing. This particular fic is in response to a challenge in the forums by HermionesAlterEgo – I’ve not managed to get
myself a forums account yet and couldn’t post to say I’d taken it up. Here’s to my second ever post on Portkey!

Harry sat glumly at the kitchen table across from Ron and Neville, picking at the eggs Ron had fried for breakfast.

“Don’t tell me you suddenly don’t like scrambled eggs!”

“Ron, we’ve been eating scrambled eggs for breakfast for months!” Harry replied, and gave the fluffy yellow stack a
vindictive stab with his fork. “Couldn’t you practice cooking something else now?”

Run looked hurt. “Luna likes scrambled eggs! I want to impress her with perfect scrambled eggs on our honeymoon! I only
have two weeks left before the wedding!”

“You make fine scrambled eggs, Ron,” Neville said absently between bites while he read the paper. He clearly did not
want in on the pending squabble between Ron and Harry. “Besides, I can understand wanting to practice. Padma and I are
getting married in six months and if I could cook without destroying anything, I’d want to practice too.”

“Married, married, married! Everybody’s getting married! And your mum asked me just yesterday if I was going to get to
that! I don’t want to talk about it – eggs or marriage. I’m going out!” He got up from the table and stalked toward the
front door.

“Oy, Harry! If you happen by the store, we need some more soap!”

“Yeah, yeah.” The front door slammed and there was silence at the table.

“Now what would you suppose that was about?” Ron asked.

“I would imagine that he’s feeling glum about Hermione and the rest of us are all getting married and having babies.”
Neville sipped at his tea. “After all, Harry said last night in passing that today would it would 29 months since
Hermione left.”

Ron sighed, but then he frowned. “She didn’t leave – he pushed her away. Said that she would be happier and better off
away from him. He was having post-Voldemort depression and drove her away. I guess Riddle kind of won in a way – he took
the one thing away Harry really couldn’t live without. Harry made him dead alright, but I think Riddle had a victory of
his own. Anyway, I haven’t heard from her in a year or so; last I knew she’d gone to America.”

Neville stood up and put his dishes in the sink. “It sounds like a great part Harry’s fault. And here I felt sorry for
him.” He took off for his room in the three bedroom flat they shared in a tiny wizarding district surrounded by Muggle
London. Ron was left with the dishes again, but it wasn’t so bad. He pointed his wand to the sink and said “Cleanserio!”
and the dirty dishes washed themselves.

Meanwhile, Harry was fuming. He stormed down the sidewalk, hands shoved into his denim jacket pockets and balled into
fists. Damn their happiness! No, he rebutted himself. He knew he really didn’t feel that way; he was really proud of his
friends. But he was jealous and today he was ready for everybody else to be as grouchy as he. He’d mentioned it briefly
last night, but it had been on his mind for weeks. Today was the day that marked the 29th month Hermione had been gone
from him.

Of course now he knew it had been his own damned fault, but he wasn’t ready to admit that. He kicked at the blossoms on
the ground, generally irritated with himself and life right about now. A star seeker on the national team, a successful
business man, Harry was quite comfortable in most aspects with life. He enjoyed living with his best mates Ron and
Neville, but once in a while, he had days where all he could think about was her. What he could have had, what he
foolishly tossed away… A magnolia flower was on the ground in front of him and he gave it an extra hard kick. The fact
that both Ron and Neville were going to be married quite soon also made him more than a little cantankerous.

He found himself in a business district and thought he ought to pick up some soap – hadn’t Ron ordered some as he was
storming out the door? Harry wandered from aisle to aisle searching for bath soap, but all he could seem to find in the
personal hygiene section of the store were cosmetics. Make-up everywhere. He stopped and stared at the shelves and racks
of cosmetic goods and wondered how women survived in the world with all the stuff they were supposed to put on their
faces. When he turned to go, an image on one of those racks caught his eye and he nearly fell over himself in
astonishment.

“Hermione?” His dazed voice echoed down the empty aisle. The woman in the poster had wide almond pale brown eyes and
dark feathery lashes, soft wavy chestnut hair cascading behind her and the perfect lips he remembered kissing so well.
Her perfect alabaster skin was glowing in the light. It was obviously a makeup ad, but the beautiful young woman with
the half lidded eyes and seductive smile was definitely none other than Hermione Granger.
