Disclaimer: Usual disclaimer applies, you know the drill.
A/N: Many many apologies for how long it's taken to write this chapter!! *glares at RL and AWOL muses* I'll try to have the next chapter out soon.
For Gil aka Romulus Lupin, and galtxtr. :-)
Chapter 4 Reunion
He was there. He was really there. After months and months of missing him, of wondering where he was and how he was doing, he was really there. Somewhere in the back of her dazed mind, she noticed that he looked tired, dispirited, as if he'd lost something important, but for now, all that mattered was that he was there.
Harry had come home.
In another minute, another time, Hermione might have been embarrassed at her loss of control as she leaped at him and hugged him as hard as she could. But not now. Not when Harry, her Harry, whom she had missed so much, was really there. It was him, his face, his voice, his smell, his arms as he returned the embrace somewhat awkwardly, and his little breathless laugh, as he finally managed to gasp, "Um, Hermione, breathing becoming an issue."
She released him with a little laugh, still keeping a hold on his hand as she pulled him inside the door, shutting the door behind him as if afraid he was going to leave again. "I'm sorry, but oh Harry! I- you- it's- where in the name of Merlin have you been?"
Harry looked slightly guilty at this reminder that he had not written at all while he was gone. He had meant to. Merlin knew how many times he had picked up a pen or a quill, intending to write, if just a postcard, to Hermione, but then had decided against it. He knew he could write and tell her that he was fine and he missed her but he didn't want to write if all he could tell Hermione would make any communication the short, impersonal note of casual acquaintances. He knew that if he was going to write to Hermione, he would confide in her his doubts and questions and all that had made him leave, because he didn't know how to write impersonally to Hermione. He trusted her too much, was too used to confiding in her. "I traveled, first over Europe, stopped off in Egypt, then Canada and America."
Hermione opened her mouth to ask the inevitable question, Why, but she saw a flash of something like apprehension, even dread, in his eyes and wisely changed her mind. "Have you seen Ron yet?" And when she saw Harry relax almost imperceptibly she knew she'd done the right thing. Whatever had driven Harry away and whatever it was that had made him come back, he wasn't ready to talk about it. And she knew from experience that butting her head against the brick wall that was Harry Potter brought little but bruises and frustration.
"No. I just got back yesterday and you're the first person I came to see." His voice was quiet and she smiled at him.
"I'm so glad you did." She paused, then continued, her voice low and sincere. "I missed you, Harry."
He smiled then and the last remnants of awkwardness at being together after so many months apart vanished as if they had never existed. "I missed you too, Hermione."
She smiled and kissed his forehead quickly.
For a moment, he remembered all the other little gestures of affection and friendship Hermione had shown him over the years, so many little actions that had warmed his starved heart, even if he didn't realize it at the time.
"How is Ron?" Harry asked, wondering how Hermione would react to the question.
Her face lit up as she suddenly realized something. "Oh, Ron will be so happy you've come back, Harry! He was just telling me yesterday that he hoped you would come back in time for the wedding! I told him, of course you would be." She let out a small laugh and grinned at Harry. "Thanks for proving me right!"
He forced a smile. Wedding? He hadn't thought that Ron and Hermione would be engaged, even if they were together. "Glad to help," was all he said.
"Let me owl Ron. He has to know you're back," Hermione said, going to her desk.
Harry was silent, just watching her as she wrote, wondering idly how many times he'd seen her write in her neat small handwriting over the years.
If he hadn't left, would Hermione and Ron still be together? Would Hermione be his now, if he hadn't left?
The questions bothered him and he started speaking, only vaguely aware that he was voicing his thoughts aloud. "I'm happy for you. I know I couldn't expect you to wait for me when I left with only a note and didn't write while I was gone. I-"
Hermione interrupted him, and he realized with dismay that he'd been rambling aloud. "Harry, what are you talking about? Wait for you, how?"
He looked at her in some bemusement. She was staring at him, frowning, lines in her forehead that always formed when she was confused about something. "I mean, you and Ron."
"Me and Ron! Harry, what maggot's got into your head? Ron's engaged to Luna. He just proposed to her yesterday, actually. Me and Ron! Honestly, Harry! What on earth made you think it?"
"I- well, I was watching you two yesterday and you just seemed so comfortable together, so complete together… I just assumed…" his voice trailed off. He had all but told Hermione how he felt. He hoped desperately Hermione hadn't noticed, or would not mention it. Idiot! And now, actually explaining his assumption made it sound even more far-fetched than Hermione apparently found it, from the look on her face.
A silence fell, this one not so comfortable as Harry called himself names mentally and Hermione wondered if she had just imagined the wounded look in Harry's eyes as he talked about his thinking she and Ron were together.
Ron… Suddenly Hermione laughed, amused at herself.
Harry stared at her. "What's funny?" he asked, half-suspiciously, afraid she was laughing at his own stupidity.
"Oh Harry, your coming back must really have muddled my thinking. Why am I writing a note to Ron when I could just floo him and tell him to come visit? It'd be so much easier and quicker."
She got up, going over to the jar of Floo powder she kept on the mantelpiece when Harry stopped her with a word. "Don't."
This time it was her turn to stare at him. "Why not? Don't you want to see Ron? He'll be so glad you're back, you know." She sobered. "It was all Ginny and I could do to keep him from trying to find you, somehow, when you'd been gone about a month. Ginny finally threatened to physically tie him to a chair and confiscate his wand if he wouldn't promise not to do any such thing."
"Oh," was all he could say, somewhat limply. He hadn't given much thought to how much Ron and Hermione would worry about him, despite his assurances. They were too used to worrying about him from all their years at Hogwarts to stop, no matter how high of an opinion Ron, at least, had of his ability to take care of himself.
He came out of his guilty reverie to realize that Hermione was frowning slightly, one brow lifted in a questioning expression, and he realized that she had asked him why he didn't want her to contact Ron. He couldn't think of anything to say, so instead just reached into his pocket and took out what he mainly wanted to bring up first.
It was the card that she had left on Lily, James and Sirius' tombs.
"Oh, that," she said lamely, wondering if Harry wanted to know why she had continued to leave flowers there after so long, wondering how she could explain her motives when she didn't fully understand them herself…
"I just wanted to say…" he paused then met her eyes directly, "thank you."
And she smiled and suddenly knew that, whatever had made Harry leave and whatever had kept him from coming back for nearly two years, it hadn't been because of anything she had done, as she had sometimes feared in some of her moments of self-doubt. "You're welcome."
He smiled too and realized that he felt happier, lighter, just standing here in Hermione's flat than he had in months, years even.
"Now you can tell Ron," he added.
Hermione's expression turned suddenly mischievous. "Actually, I think I'll just tell him to come here and let him be surprised. I want to savor his expression of shock," she winked at Harry, who laughed and agreed.
Less than 5 minutes later, Ron knocked on the door and Harry looked over at Hermione, who nodded and got up, while Harry moved out of the line of sight from the front door. He could hear Hermione greeting Ron, calmly enough, and Ron's response and then Ron stepped into the room and saw Harry and stopped dead as if he'd just run into a brick wall.
Hermione slipped past him, just as Harry smiled at Ron and said, "Hi, Ron," as casually as if it had just been a couple days since they had last met.
A strangled noise, halfway between a gasp and a laugh, escaped Ron's open mouth as he stared at Harry, blinked as if expecting Harry to disappear, and then stared again. "Harry?" he finally managed to croak.
Harry took one step forward, still grinning and only said one word. "Ron." And as if the word or the action had broken his paralysis, Ron crossed the space between them in two bounding steps, clapping both hands on Harry's shoulders as if to make doubly sure he was real, while a wide grin stretched across his face. "Harry, my God, mate! I can't believe it's you! I mean, bloody hell, Harry, where in the name of all that's magical have you been?!" He continued on, speaking quickly. "Wait'll Mum and Dad find out, and Ginny! Mum nearly went ballistic when we told her you'd gone, and even Dad looked worried. Ginny was upset until Fred and George started teasing her about still having a crush on you and then she got angry and threatened to hex them. And Remus! Does he know you're back yet? Remus was, I think, the most worried of all of us, well, except for Hermione, I think," he added, glancing at Hermione who had been watching all this with a smile. "Remus will-"
Ron stopped short, as he suddenly realized something, turning away from Harry and fixing a mock accusing glare on Hermione. "You! You sly thing! You should have told me or warned me or something, before you had me come here! You shocked ten years off my life! If I had had a weak heart, I would be dead by now and it'd be on your head."
Hermione only grinned at him. "Oh but really, it was too much fun to resist. It's not every day I can see you gaping like a fish out of water, you know. Besides," she continued after a pause as she saw Ron's lips twitch with suppressed laughter as he struggled to maintain his stern expression, "it wouldn't be fair for you to have had a warning when I didn't have one either."
Ron gave up the attempt to look accusing and grinned. "Okay, okay, you win." He grinned at Harry. "It's good to have you back, Harry! Look at us, the Trio's together again."
Harry grinned back at Ron and then smiled at Hermione, the look on his face softening ever so slightly as he looked at her.
Ron noticed Harry's expression change as he looked at Hermione, saw the look that flashed in his green eyes and nodded to himself. Harry was in love with Hermione. He'd wondered about it before Harry had left but never brought up the subject, especially since Harry's disappearance, afraid to hurt Hermione. But now he knew. That fleeting look in Harry's eyes had told him everything he needed to know. Now Harry and Hermione just needed to be nudged- ok, not nudged, pushed, together… And he was just the friend to do it too, he decided.
Ron slung one arm around Hermione's shoulders and one arm around Harry's shoulders in a companionable fashion, as he'd done so many times over their Hogwarts years. "Harry, mate, you're lucky you came back now. If you'd stayed away much longer, I'd have sent out dragon-hounds to find you and drag you back!"
Harry laughed along with Hermione, feeling some of the gaping emptiness he'd felt in his chest since he'd left England, close up. They were together again and it did feel good. The Trio, the unbeatable team that had faced countless dangers and evil together and defeated it all… Together again. And for the first time in a very long time, Harry wasn't afraid of the memories or of the future. He was with his best friends in all the world. What couldn't they face if they were together?