A/N: Here's a shorter chapter. Not much action, but enough to complicate things a little ;).
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Chapter 6 - Wrong Way
That Tuesday I went to the Cannon's Pitch during my lunch break. As I had suspected, things weren't really calm in there. That Saturday was going to be their first match and Oliver was on the edge of an emotional break down.
I sat on one of the benches, watching them train. Harry was flying above the rest of the team, eagerly looking for the snitch. He hadn't notice I was there, his mind was too focused on the the game. Oliver shouted instructions, but I don't think anyone was paying attention to him. I spotted Cho grabbing the Quaffle. I hadn't seen her play as a Chaser before. She was pretty good, even I could tell.
Harry caught the snitch and, at Oliver's sign, he let it go. I couldn't see his face, but I knew by the way he moved that he was tired and somewhat bored. Oliver was giving them a hard time. My mind drifted to the events on Sunday and what I talked with Ginny the day before.
Honestly, I thought that Ginny's theory was really stupid. But I had made a decision. I was going to let Harry know that I didn't care that much about marriage. If he wasn't ready for it, I wasn't going to press him. So, I just had to made sure that he knew I wasn't expecting anything from him. In that way, he would be at ease. I could wait...
"Hermione!" a voice said beside me. I turned to see who had spoken and found Alan Wagner looking down at me.
"Hey Alan."
"I've been calling your name for at least two minutes, but you seemed to be in a really far away place." He smiled. "Do you mind if I sit here, with you?"
"Not at all," I said. He sat down and smiled again. This was strange. In all the time I had known Alan, we'd never exchanged more than a "Hello" and "Goodbye". He seemed to be a really quite guy. "Shouldn't you be up there?" I asked, pointing at the team.
"Yeah, but I had a little accident this morning," he said, lifting his bandaged right arm for me to see it. "I just got distracted and a bludger hit me. The nurse says I'll be OK tomorrow."
"Oliver must be really happy that one of his beaters is losing a complete day of training," I commented.
He laughed. "Did you come to see Harry?" he asked.
I nodded. "I'm on my lunch break and thought I could come here to see how was he doing... But I don't think it was such a great idea. You're all too busy training."
"They should be done soon," Alan said, shrugging. "I'm glad you came. I was getting really bored just looking at them fly."
It turned out that Alan wasn't as quiet as I had expected. We talked a lot for half an hour. It was just small talk, but I found he was a really nice guy. I didn't even notice that the training was over until Harry sat down next to me.
"Hey, I didn't know you were here," he said.
"I arrived a while ago. I was waiting for your break and Alan gave me some company."
"My pleasure," Alan said, smiling. "Anyway, I think I'll take this chance to grab a bite. See you later," he bowed and walked towards the lockers.
Harry arched an eyebrow. "What was that about?" he said. "Did you really spend this time talking with him?" he asked, looking at me with curiosity.
"Yes, why?"
"I had known Alan for five years and he'd never talked to me more than five minutes."
"Well, you're not as interesting as I am," I said, teasingly.
"High ego today, huh?" He chuckled and leaned to kiss me.
"You shouldn't count money in front of the poor," a voice interrupted us. Harry and I turned our heads to see Cho smiling.
Harry let out a short laugh. I backed away, uncomfortable. Why did she have to interrupt us?
"I'm sorry, lovebirds, but Wood needs to see Harry in his office," Cho said, casually.
Harry groaned. "What does he want?"
She shrugged. "No idea. But you better go now, or he'll go nuts. I'll stay here and chat a little with Hermione, don't worry."
"Fine," Harry said, standing up with a sigh. "Don't go yet, OK?" he said, looking at me. Then, he left in Oliver's office direction.
Cho sat down beside me. What was she up to? We weren't friends, I didn't need her company. OK, stop that, I said to myself. Maybe she's just tryting to be nice. Give her a break, she just arrived from other country, she must be lonely here...
"So..." she started, her pretty eyes studying me. "Are you and Wagner good friends?"
"What?" I asked, totally taken aback with her question. I had expected she would ask me about my job or something.
"I saw you two talking while we were training," she said, smiling slightly. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be nosy, is just that I've tried to make some conversation with him and it was impossible. He's a strange guy."
"Ehr..." What the hell was this about? "I've known him for a long time. I had never really talked to him until today," I said. Suddenly, Cho's eyes were making me feel uneasy. Why was Harry taking so long?
"I see," she said, and made a pause. "Look, I know we weren't friends at school. In fact, we only shared some time together at the DA when I was in my sixth year..." How could I forget? I never talked to her, but she always found a way to annoy Harry for his friendship with me. I tried my best to focus on what she was saying, and caught the last words. "...but I guess you and I could be friends now."
"Um, sure..." I muttered. Cho and I friends? Why? I've never been a judgamental person, but I couldn't trust that girl. I don't know why, maybe it was just chemistry. I knew I was supposed to know her before I could make any statements, but something about her just didn't feel right.
"Oh, here comes Harry," Cho said, when Harry approached. "I'll leave you now. Nice talking to you Hermione."
* * *
That night, we were invited to the Burrow to have dinner with the whole Weasley family. Liz's parents had just arrived to London that morning, so Mrs. Weasley had invited them too. She also thought it would be a 'delightful' idea to invite my parents as well.
So, there we were, sitting in the huge dining table. The conversation was focused on Liz and her pregnancy. They were talking about names. Ron was really excited with the subject. Back in the living room, I could hear Bill and Charlie's kids playing cheerfully.
'The dinner is going smoothly', I thought. Even when pairing my mom with Mrs. Weasley wasn't a very good idea. They seemed to love making comments about Harry and me, but tonight, they hadn't said anything. Yet.
"What about you, Hermione?" Mrs. Greene said suddenly. "When are you going to give your parents a grandchild?"
Uh-oh. I knew it was too early to feel relieved. I knew my face was turning red, because Ginny was making huge efforts not to laugh. Harry grabbed his glass and finished his drink quickly. My mom and Mrs. Weasley turned to look at me, both with the same twinkle in their eyes.
"Oh come on, Mrs. Greene," Fred said, before I could talk. If it had been anyone else, I guess I would feel relieved that someone was saving me, but if it was one of the twins, it couldn't be good. "Surely you are not suggesting that Harry and Hermione should start making babies before they get married, do you?"
See what I mean?
George, Ginny, Bill, Charlie and even Ron started laughing. Harry's face was like a tomato, and probably mine was too. Mrs. Weasley shot a glare to her son and then turned to Harry and me.
"Well, dears, now that we're talking about it, when are you finally going to get married?"
"Mom, shut up," Ron and Ginny said at one time.
"It's just that I don't understand," Mrs. Weasley said. "When my Ronnie was getting married, you two were engaged. Why are you waiting so long to have the wedding?"
Harry and I exchanged a brief look. The only ones in the Weasley family that knew that all that engagement thing had been a lie, were Ron and Ginny. My mother, who seemed delighted that someone other than her had started her favorite subject, smiled at me satisfied.
"See? I'm not the only one who thinks like this. It would be so lovely to see you two in your wedding ceremony."
"Mom!" I said and turned to my father for support.
"I think the day I lead you the altar will be the happiest one of my life," he said, chuckling.
Thank you dad.
"I think this is Harry and Herm's business," Ron said quickly. "We don't have the right to meddle in their things."
"Silence, Ronnie," George said. "Even I am curious about this. I want to know what Hermione and Harry have to say. I've been wanting to attend to another wedding, there's always great food in them."
"Why don't you get married, then?" Ginny said, trying to help me. "You're 28 years old and don't even have a steady girlfriend."
"You're one to talk!" he retorted.
"Well, I don't plan to get married anyway," she said.
"That's enough!" Mrs. Weasley cut them off. She turned to Harry. "Come on, tell us, Harry. You and Hermione look so good together. I'm sure you don't have any doubts in your relationship. When are you going to give the big step?"
I looked at Harry from the corner of my eye. He was nervous, and kept exchanging looks with Ron, who was sitting across from him. His hand was on his pocket. I decided to do something. This was my chance to let him know that I wasn't expecting him to propose. That I wasn't interested in marriage at all.
"Well, we are not planning to get married for now," I said and everyone turned to look at me. I felt Harry's gaze fixed on me, and I could tell he was surprised. "We are fine as we are now, so I guess you'll have to attend to some other wedding George." I smiled to everyone and took a bite of my salad. My mother was shaking her head, Mrs. Weasley looked shocked and Ginny was smiling proudly at me. I didn't look at Harry, so I couldn't say which was his reaction. I guess he was relieved.
"But why not?" my mother asked, not wanting to leave things like that.
"Because, it's not the right time, mom," I said, tired. "I'm focused on my career now," I added, knowing it was a terrible excuse. But I rather them blaming me than Harry. Of course, I didn't think like that. But I wanted Harry to believe that I thought like him. That we weren't ready. And I had to go to the extreme for that if I wanted him to believe it.
* * *
Ron couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could Hermione say that with such a straight face? Wasn't she aware of Harry's feelings?
Of course she wasn't. If she knew, she wouldn't have said that. He looked at Harry. He was looking down to his plate, eating slowly. Ron sighed. He knew that Harry had planned to propose to Hermione during the dinner. It was obvious that her mother or Hermione's would bring up the marriage subject and Harry would use the oportunity to drop the question... Argh, he felt like hitting Hermione for doing this!
The mood in the table had changed. Bill had been wise enough to change the subject and now they were talking about some new law the Ministry had just created. His mother and Mrs. Granger were talking quietly, and Mrs. Greene was looking at Hermione disapprovingly. Ginny was grinning for some strange reason. He turned to look at Liz. She was smiling to herself.
"Why are you smiling?" he whispered.
"Am I?" she whispered back.
"Yes," Ron said. "What are you thinking?"
"Nothing... I'm just thinking this whole situation is very funny."
"Funny?" Ron said, puzzled. "What's so funny about it? I don't think Harry thinks it's funny!"
"Of course he doesn't. Neither does Hermione. THAT'S why it is funny."
Ron frowned. "I don't understand."
"I know you don't, honey, you're too dense," she said, lovingly and kissed him quickly.
"Well, are you going to explain it to me since I'm that stupid?" he said, offended.
"No," she smiled sweetly at him. "And I didn't say you are stupid, I said you are dense."
"What are you two whispering about?" Ginny said, standing up. "Come on Ron, help me with the dishes."
"I'll help too," Hermione said, eager to leave the table.
Ron followed Ginny and Hermione to the kitchen.
"Hermione," he said, before she could go to the dining room again. "Did you really mean what you said?"
"What?" she asked.
"About the... not wanting to get married thing."
"Did it look like I was joking?" she asked.
"No, but-"
"Leave her alone, Ron," Ginny interrupted. "Hermione knows what she's doing."
* * *
"Harry, wait up," Ron said, when Harry was grabbing his cloak to leave. "Are you OK?"
Harry looked around. Hermione was saying goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "Yeah..." he said. "I'm glad I got to know what she thought before I made a fool of myself."
"Don't say that, you weren't going to make a-"
"Right. I almost asked her in front of your whole family and in front of her parents and she was going to say no!" Harry said, sighing. "I guess I'll have to wait. Maybe next year she'll be ready."
"That's ridiculous. You don't have to wait, just ask her."
"Hello? Did you hear what she said?"
"Well, maybe she just said that because she doesn't know you want to propose to her. If you ask her, she could change her mind."
"I'm not going to ask her," Harry said. "I can't believe Cho was right."
"Cho? What does she have to do with this?"
"She said I should find out how Hermione felt before asking her. That if I asked her, and she rejected me, it was going to be bad for our relationship. She even said that maybe Hermione was focused on her carreer now. And I said that Hermione wasn't like that." He let out a sad laugh and Ron looked at him with pity. "I'm OK, Ron. This won't change things. I still love her more than anything and I know she loves me too. It's just isn't the time."
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