A/N: Wow can I just say that all you guys rock?? You left me so many reviews and it got me so giddy that I'm posting this chapter now and I will be posting the LAST chapter on Christmas Eve as my gift to you guys!
Thanks again to all of you!!! I would be doing the individual thank yous but I have to be at work in about 5 hours and need sleep :D I promise to put them up on the next chapter though!
And of course, thanks to research_dome for the great brit picking ;)
Chapter 7
It was still chilly, the morning grey still undisturbed by the sun. Harry and Hermione walked along quietly, both somewhat lost in their own thoughts.
'I wish I had another five days with her,' Harry thought as they came upon a small café much like the one they had been at late the night before.
"Is here all right?" Hermione asked, looking up at him.
"Sure," Harry answered, holding open the door. The smell of a bakery hit him and he took a deep breath. The sweet scent reminded him slightly of Honeydukes. "You go sit down and I'll get breakfast," he nudged Hermione towards an empty booth.
"All right," she agreed. "Surprise me," she added and he made a face at her as he went to the counter. Minutes later Harry was back with a few freshly baked pastries and two cups of hot coffee.
"Is this good?" He asked, setting her breakfast in front of her while sliding into the other side of the booth.
"Yes, very good," Hermione replied, smiling at him. He grinned back and took a large bite of his pastry, the filling oozing out onto his fingers. "You're a very messy eater," she commented, taking small ladylike bites.
"I know," Harry answered with his mouth full.
"It's cute," Hermione tried not to laugh as she reached across the table to wipe a crumb from the side of his mouth. Harry caught her hand with his and pressed his lips to her fingers for a brief moment.
"So," Harry said, releasing her hand. "Do... do you have your flat set up in Glasgow?"
"Yes, almost," Hermione replied. "All my furniture was sent on ahead, and I was staying at a friend's house until last night, and all I have left here is what we shoved in that locker yesterday."
Harry grinned as he finished his pastry. "Are you going to finish that?" he asked, looking at her half still sitting on the paper plate.
"Yes," Hermione snatched it up and held it out of his reach. "And we're not playing that again!"
"Why not?" Harry asked in an injured tone, pushing his lower lip out. "Didn't you have fun before?"
Hermione turned slightly red but grinned. "That's besides the point." She broke off half of what she had left and held it out to him.
"Thank you," Harry grabbed it and ate it quickly. "Hey that one was better than mine!"
"Very generous of you to give it to me," Hermione teased. Harry snorted and sat back; drinking his coffee while he watched her finish eating.
"Hardly, if I had known yours was better I'd have kept it for myself." He looked at Hermione over the rim of his coffee cup as she gave him quite a glare.
"Honestly," she muttered. "They never stay gentlemen forever."
"Hey!" Harry protested but they were both laughing.
"Why don't you just go get another one if mine was so much better?" she asked.
"Because I owe you for part of the room last night and I'm almost out of Muggle money," Harry replied.
"Don't worry about the room," Hermione waved her hand. "You paid for dinner and the wine and part of the room cost."
"I know, but you shouldn't have had to dish out for most of it." Harry argued, pulling out his wallet. Hermione put her hand over his.
"Harry, its fine- I don't mind paying." Hermione replied. "I'm the type of person that likes to split things up in terms of cost. I don't like to make the guy pay for everything; I've always been that way."
Harry looked at her; saw the set of her face and realised it would be fruitless to argue with her. "All right," he said, reluctantly putting his wallet away. "Did you want anything else?" he jerked his head in the direction of the counter.
"No thanks," Hermione smiled at him as he got up and ordered himself another pastry. "Good?" she asked as he sat back down a few minutes later.
"Mmm…" Harry nodded vigorously as he stuffed almost the whole pastry in his mouth at once. Hermione laughed as crumbs rained down on the tabletop.
"Can't take you anywhere, can I?" she joked as she leaned over again to wipe off his face.
"I'm perfectly fine with the idea of going back to that hotel," Harry said, an evil grin on his face.
"Boys," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Are you ready?" she asked, finishing her coffee.
"Sure," Harry replied, brushing the crumbs off the table and onto the floor as he got out of the booth. "What time is it?"
"Around seven," Hermione answered. "I still have two and a half hours until I have to be on my train."
Harry nodded. "Want to just walk around again? We can just make our way back to Victoria eventually," his stomach gave a slight tug when he thought about her leaving.
"Sure, that sounds nice." Hermione replied softly, taking his offered hand. They walked down the street in silence, stealing glances at one another, both feeling suddenly shy.
Harry and Hermione soon reached Trafalgar Square and sat down by the fountain. The day was warming up, and the sun was now shining over the city.
"Are you excited about moving?" Harry asked suddenly. Hermione squinted up at him; moments ago she had lay on the seat around the fountain and put her head in his lap.
"I am, yes." She replied, shading her eyes from the sun. "It's a bit intimidating, moving to a whole new place, but I've already met several people from the paper I'll be working at."
"That's good," Harry replied, bringing up his hand to run through her mass of curls and waves. "Nice to know you won't be lonely up there."
"I should be all right," Hermione replied.
Harry nodded wordlessly, unsure of what to say. He knew what he wanted to say… but Hermione seemed so gung ho on the one night relationship that he didn't think he could take rejection if she didn't feel the same way.
Harry wanted her to stay. He wanted to be with her every day for the rest of his life. He wanted to find them a place to live and come home to her at night; wake up with her in the morning. Harry sighed, tipping his face back to let the sun shine off his glasses.
Hermione let her thoughts wander as Harry's fingers continued to stroke her long hair. She wanted to stay, yet she wanted to leave. She was getting her chance to make something of herself if she went up to Glasgow, but now it had grown so complicated.
One day ago she hadn't met Harry Potter. One day ago, she was not in love with anyone. One day ago she had no reason to stay in London anymore.
"What is your favourite vacation spot?" Harry asked suddenly, jolting Hermione from her thoughts.
"What?" Hermione asked, confused.
"Where do you like to go for a vacation?" Harry asked, twisting a curl between his fingers.
"What made you think of that?" Hermione was amused.
"I don't know," Harry shrugged and grinned down at her. "Just curious I guess. We talked about everything else already I think."
"Yes we have," Hermione replied. "Hmmm…" she thought hard for a moment then smiled. "I think I'd have to say Athens."
"Athens?" Harry was surprised.
"Yes, in Greece." Hermione replied. "I went there with my parents when I was sixteen. We went to the Acropolis, which is absolutely unbelievable in person, and the whole city has so much history to it."
Harry chuckled. "You love to learn things don't you?" he asked.
"Yes I do," Hermione replied. "What's so funny about that?"
"Nothing," Harry said, but his eyes were twinkling in amusement.
"Well what about you," Hermione asked. "You probably prefer somewhere exotic where you can lounge around in nothing but a swim costume."
"That happens to be true," Harry said. "Jamaica is one of my favourite places in the world."
"Who'd have thought?" Hermione quipped.
"It's really a gorgeous island… although it's quite poverty stricken in some areas, and there are lots of beggars, the tourist parts are really well protected, and there's also this amazing waterfall that you can climb." Harry talked eagerly about Jamaica and Hermione listened attentively, admiring the way his eyes grew bright as he grew excited about a topic.
"I really want to go back sometime," Harry was saying now.
"It sounds lovely," Hermione replied. "Maybe I should try to get down there."
"You'd like it," Harry replied, smoothing back the hair he had been playing with. There was another silence between them as they looked at one another. "Why does this all seem so awkward all of a sudden?" he asked.
"I don't know," Hermione answered. "Maybe it's because I'm leaving soon… we both know its ending." She felt a knot in her chest tighten at her words.
"Yeah," Harry replied, not liking what she said. "It's a good thing we're separating now," he said, more to convince himself than anything. "I mean, this way, everything ends on a good note."
"Right," Hermione said, the knot getting tighter. "No breaking up or fighting… just… we part as friends, that's all."
"That's it," Harry nodded slowly. "Well… I suppose we should get walking if we want to make it back to the station soon."
"All right," Hermione sat up, pulling down her jumper while grabbing her bag. "Are we going to walk the whole way?" she asked.
"Sure, why not?" Harry shrugged. "We've still got an hour and a half." He grinned suddenly. "Perhaps we can swing by Diagon Alley and grab a Daily Prophet," he laughed as Hermione swatted at him.
"I will not buy a single copy of that paper," she retorted. "I want nothing to do with it ever again!"
"All right," Harry said, still laughing. "I'll just get one later." Hermione made a face at him as he put his arm around her shoulders. He pulled the Underground map out of his pocket, looking at the different streets.
An hour and fifteen minutes later, they had made it to Victoria Station. Harry retrieved their bags from the locker, then taking Hermione's hand. "What platform are you going from?" he asked.
"Um," she dug into her bag and pulled out a ticket. "Eleven- it's over through there."
"I'll walk you to your train then," Harry said, feeling a heavy weight enter his stomach. 'It's not too late!' His mind screamed. 'You can still ask her to stay here with you! Or go with her!'
"Sure, that would be nice," Hermione answered softly. Lacing their fingers together, she leaned against Harry as they walked through the station. Once reaching her train, they stopped and looked at one another.
"Well, this is it I guess," Harry said, pulling her into a hug. Hermione let her bag fall and hugged him back as tightly as she could.
"Good luck," Hermione choked out, tears suddenly threatening to fall. "Good luck with everything…"
"You too," Harry sounded strangely hoarse as well. He stepped back and stroked her hair, cupping his hand under chin and tipping her face back. "It was a wonderful night."
"Yes," Hermione blinked furiously. "Yes it was." She rose up on her toes and pressed her lips against his, kissing him as hard as she could. He opened her mouth with his tongue and Hermione made a few small sounds that nearly drove Harry to move them onto the train and into a private compartment. Not wanting to make a complete spectacle of themselves in public, he finally pulled away from her a few minutes later.
"That's you," his voice nearly broke as the whistle on the train blew.
"I should go," Hermione said, not moving out of his embrace.
"Yeah," Harry answered, staring down at her. 'Ask me to go with you Hermione… ask me to go!' He thought.
'Ask me to stay Harry, please!' She begged silently. "I should go," Hermione managed to utter again. Harry nodded and kissed her once more, keeping it brief this time. "If you're ever in Glasgow look me up… if you want to…"
"Okay," Harry let her go and stepped back as she got up on the steps. The doors began to beep as they slid closed, and he watched her car as it began to slide away down the tracks.
Hermione waited until she couldn't see Harry anymore, and then went down the narrow corridor until she found an empty compartment. Sliding the door shut behind her, she sat down on the bench, the tears finally falling.
Harry tossed his bag over his shoulder and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Sighing deeply, he looked at the now empty track and began to walk away from it. He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he'd just made a huge mistake in not asking her to stay.
Next chapter on Christmas Eve! See you all then!