OK, I couldn't update before because of this site's problems. Now that I know that I have to turn this into an HTML file, I'll post a couple of chapters to make it up for the long wait.
Chapter 8 - Harry's Concern
WEDNESDAY
"How are my two favorite ladies doing?" greeted Ron when he met Elizabeth and me in the church that morning.
"You're late," I pointed out.
"Aww I was hoping you wouldn't notice," he said, teasing. He gave Elizabeth a long kiss in the mouth that made me shudder. "How did it go?"
"Perfect, honey," replied Elizabeth. "I already talked to the priest and everything is set for Saturday."
"Great," said Ron and then he turned to me. "Hey, what do you say if we go and get Harry to have lunch all together?"
I agreed immediately. I rather be with Harry if Elizabeth and Ron were going to get all cute and loving. We apparated in the pitch where the Chudley Cannons trained. We arrived a little early, so we sat down on the grass, looking at the members of the team flying above us. I spotted Harry. Although I couldn't see his face, he looked weird. Usually, Harry flies so fast that you only see a color spot in the sky, but this time it was more like his broom had lost all its strength.
Obviously I wasn't the only one who noticed that.
"What's the matter with you Potter?!" yelled Oliver Wood, the Cannon's manager, when the team landed. "Since Monday you haven't paid attention in training!"
"I'm sorry Oliver," I heard Harry apologizing. He was looking at the floor, moving his feet. Ron and I exchanged a confused look.
"You're sorry? That's all you've got to say!? The season starts in two weeks and my Seeker has his mind anywhere but in the field!!" Oliver's voice was so loud that I'm sure that every single person in London could heard him.
"Look, it won't happen again," muttered Harry.
"You said that yesterday, Potter!!" roared Wood. Geez, I had forgotten what a maniac he was. I looked at Harry's face. He was serious, not the usual smirk he had plastered when Wood babbled. Oliver seemed to notice that too, because his expression changed and he put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Are you OK, Harry? You've been acting really weird this week. Do you have any problems? Something I can help you with?" he asked, his voice concerned.
Harry shook his head. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. I just have a lot in my head right now."
"Look, Harry, I'm your manager, but I'm also your friend. If you need to take this week off, I can..."
"No, Oliver, I don't need a week off," interrupted Harry. He turned his head and noticed us. His expression changed, and he smiled. Oliver saw us too.
"Hi Hermione," he said coming to greet me. I knew Oliver was used to see me in Quidditch practices, because I usually brought lunch to the team. "Hey! Weasley! I see you've come back," he said, shaking Ron's hand.
"Yes and he's playing with Puddlemere," commented Harry, approaching.
"No way! You're in the competence? I can't believe you!" said Oliver. "Let's see how you do this season and maybe we could see if you can become a Chudley Cannon," he winked.
"That would be incredible!" exclaimed Ron, not being able to hide his excitement. He was a fan of the Cannons. "Oh, this is my fiancée, Elizabeth Greene," he introduced Elizabeth.
"You're some lucky bastard," commented Oliver, looking at her. "Nice to meet you, Elizabeth. Well, I gotta go. Harry, go with your friends and don't come back today OK? It's an order. And don't forget about our little chat."
Harry nodded. He turned to us.
"We came to kidnap you so that you could have lunch with us," said Ron, "but it seems that it wasn't necessary. I had forgotten Oliver's grumbles."
"I'm sorry you had to hear that," said Harry, embarrassed. "I'm going to take a quick shower and I'll join you, OK?"
While we waited for him to came back, I couldn't help but wondering what was going on with Harry that I didn't know of. When I saw him at the end of the day, he was always in a happy and relaxed mood, but the expression I had seen on his face today was more like the one he used to have in our Hogwarts days, when he was always concerned about something.
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While we were eating, I tried to study Harry without him noticing. He didn't seem concerned or unhappy. He kept joking with Ron and making smart remarks every once in a while. One of two: or he was just tired back then, or he was a better actor than I gave him credit for. I was so wrapped thinking about what was going with Harry, that I didn't even realized Ron was talking to me.
"Hello! Earth to Hermione!" he said, waving his hand in front of my face.
"What... What?" I said, snapping back.
"I was talking to you, but you kept staring at Harry," Ron said, frowning.
Elizabeth giggled "Well she's in love, Ronnie," she said and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
I rolled my eyes. In that moment, a beautiful white owl flew to our table.
"Hi Hedwig," greeted Harry, taking a piece of parchment that she had brought.
"Who is it from?" I asked, curious.
"Sirius," he replied. I knew Sirius was in Spain at the time. Harry unfolded the piece of parchment and started reading it.
"What does it say?" I asked.
"Will he make it on Saturday?" asked Ron when Harry didn't answer my question.
"Yes, he says he wouldn't miss it for anything," Harry said, standing up. "Excuse me," he added, and he walked towards the other side of the restaurant.
I followed him with my gaze.
"I'm going to the ladies room," said Elizabeth. "I'll be back in a sec."
Ron grabbed a piece of bread and stared at me.
"What's going on with Harry?" he asked.
"How should I know?" I replied before I realized.
Ron arched an eyebrow. "Well, you're his fiancée after all. If you don't know, then nobody does."
"I don't know, Ron," I said, exasperated. "Something must've happened to him this morning, because last night he was fine."
"That's not what Wood said," argued Ron. "Did you guys have a fight or something?"
I blinked. "What makes you think that?" I asked, hastily.
"I don't know," he shrugged. "Just an idea that crossed my mind."
I was going to reply, but Elizabeth came back to the table and started talking about something I really didn't hear. A few minutes later, Harry came back.
"Where were you?" I asked immediately.
"I went to write a reply to Sirius," he said.
It was strange that Harry hadn't wanted to show me Sirius' letter. He usually gave me all the messages his Godfather sent to him.
"Well, we should probably go now, we have to meet Lizzie's parents," Ron said, after we finished eating. "We'll see you guys tonight," he added.
Right. Tonight was Wednesday and I had invited them to have dinner at my place. Ron and Elizabeth dissaparated.
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Back at my flat, I went to the kitchen. I had decided I would start cooking the pudding I had planned to serve as a dessert, but when I arrived to my flat, I felt the urgency to talk to Harry. I didn't even bothered to knock. I apparated in his living room right away, because he didn't have ward spells concerning me.
Harry was lying in the sofa, reading The Daily Prophet when I arrived. He looked at me and smiled.
"I thought you had gone and buried yourself in the mysteries of the kitchen," he said.
"I'd rather burying myself in another mystery much more interesting," I said, sitting in the rug, next to the sofa.
"And that would be...?"
"You, silly," I said. "I want you to tell me what's going on."
He sat up. "What do you mean? Nothing's going on."
"Don't lie to me Harry, you know you're a terrible liar. I heard what Oliver said to you today. Why have you been so distracted in training?"
"Oh, come on Herm, you know Wood, he always overreact about anything when it comes to Quidditch."
"I saw your face, Harry. You are concerned about something."
"I'm just tired, that's all."
"Is this because of me?" I asked in a whisper.
Harry stood up from the sofa, and I stood up too.
"You? What would concern me about you? Nothing has happened to you. This is not about you... This is not about you," he said very fast.
"Oh, now I get it," I said, with my hands in my hips. "I know what is going on with you Harry Potter."
"You... do?" he asked softly.
"Yes. You're feeling guilty about lying to Ron, don't you? You can't live with yourself for what you're doing to help me."
Harry stared at me, dumbfounded, and blinked a few times.
"I'm sorry Harry," I said, hugging him. "I'm sorry I have got you into my craziness. I promise you, I'll work everything out, OK? But please, stop worrying, I hate to see you like this." He didn't say anything. "And don't you ever dare try to fool me again, you hear?" I added, letting him go.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"If I hadn't seen you this morning, you would have kept pretending nothing was concerning you," I said. Harry, once again, remained silent. "Are you going to tell me what Sirius had to tell?" I asked, remembering the note.
"Oh... It was nothing, just that he was fine, and he was coming this Saturday. You know, the same as usual," he replied, grapping the newspaper again.
"Then why didn't you show it to me?"
"I didn't think it was important. Besides I'm not forced to show you all my mail, am I?"
"Of course not," I said "But you always show me Sirius' letters."
"Look, I would show you this one now, for you to see that I'm not hiding anything from you, but I threw it away," he said, opening the newspaper again.
"Did your interview came out yet?" I asked.
"Nope. I don't know if I should be relieved or afraid."
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"Jesus Christ, Hermione, I thought you had worked on your cooking," said Ron when he first tried my pasta.
Elizabeth shot him a severe look. I stared at him, confused.
"You didn't like it?"
"Well, no," he said. "But it's not a surprise is it? I mean, your cooking has always sucked," he added with a smile.
I think this deserves an explanation. Ron has always teased my about my cooking and I've always laughed along with him, because I knew it was true. But in this past year, I thought I had improved, because Harry always ate it without complains. In fact, he seemed to like it. A year ago, I wouldn't have mind Ron telling me my cooking sucks, because it was his favorite joke... But now it didn't feel right.
"I have to disagree," I heard Harry saying. "I think Herm's cooking is getting better every day."
"Yeah, well, you have to say that because you're engaged to her," said Ron. "But I can be honest."
"Ron!" said Elizabeth.
"Baby, she doesn't mind!" said Ron, smiling. "I've always teased her for it, haven't I Herm?"
"Yes," I replied, looking at my plate. Was my food really that bad? I couldn't tell. I looked at Harry and he gave me a reassuring smile. His plate was clean.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm having another one," he said, serving more pasta in his plate.
"Uhm honey?" said Elizabeth suddenly, shifting in her seat. "I wanted to discuss something with you."
I realized immediately she was going to mention the US - UK thing. I couldn't believe she had chosen this time to talk about it, with me and Harry there. But then, maybe she wanted my support. She probably was afraid. I waited in silence for what was coming.
"Sure, what is it?" said Ron, losing interest in the food and looking at her.
Elizabeth looked at me. Her face was pale. Poor thing. "Well, I was thinking... That maybe you could reconsider my dad's offer."
Ron almost spitted his butterbeer.
"What?"
Elizabeth trailed off and looked at me.
"Let me get this straight," Ron said, his face slightly red. I could see his eyebrows furrowing. It looked like he had completely forgotten about Harry and me. "You're telling me this because you want us to stay in the States, aren't you?"
"Well... yes?" she said, her voice barely audible.
"I thought we had settled this, Liz," he said. "I thought you knew and accepted that I wanted to live here, in England. You said you were OK with that. And now you come up with this?"
Elizabeth opened her mouth a couple of times, but didn't say anything.
"Ron," I said, feeling sorry for her. He looked at me, as if he had just realized I was there. "I think you should consider Elizabeth's opinion. She's giving up a lot of thing to be with you."
"Giving up?" he repeated.
"Yes. She won't be able to work here because you wouldn't like her to go to Hogwarts, which is a boarding school. She's giving up her profession, among a lot of other things."
Ron looked at me, then at Elizabeth, and then at me again.
"And how do you know that?" he asked. He turned to Elizabeth. "You've been telling Hermione those things and you didn't mention them to me? Who are you marrying to?"
"She didn't want to upset you," I said.
"I can't believe this," said Ron, shaking his head. He stood up. "Let's go, Liz, we'll talk about this in som other place. Hermione and Harry don't need to hear this."
Elizabeth stood up hastily. I could see she was about to cry. Ron grabbed his jacket. "I'm sorry about this," he said, and dissaparated. Elizabeth muttered a goodbye and she was gone too.
I stared at the spot where they had been, until I felt Harry's piercing eyes on my back. I turned to face him.
"That was uncomfortable," I commented.
"Somehow you don't seem uncomfortable at all," he said, narrowing his eyes. "In fact, I would dare to say that you were expecting this."
"I'm not going to deny Elizabeth told me about her concerns," I said, defensively. "But it's not my fault that's an issue between them."
Harry just kept staring at me.