Chapter 3
True Friendship
Past
The Ministry of Magic thought it would be a great idea to put Aurors and Healers together so that unnecessary loss of life was put to an end. This was one of their better ideas. So it was put into work, she was the first female Healer to actually go out into the field. She was first assigned to a very handsome man called Jack Johnson, and soon they started dating. She thought it was the best thing that could ever happen. She was wrong. They had gotten married and Jack had refused to allow any of her old friends to come to the wedding, so she wasn't able to see them. A short time later however, she was handed a piece of paper announcing his request for a divorce. A very tragic end to the love she thought she always wanted. Shortly after their divorce Jack was promoted to a desk job which he gladly took, and she later realized the only reason he'd divorced her was because he'd gotten promoted.
Harry had come to her apartment not even two weeks after the divorce was finalized, as soon as he heard about it, and sat with her until the early morning hours as she poured out her soul to him and cried seemingly endlessly on his shoulder. He just listened; he just held her and rocked her gently as though he had all the time in the world to spend with her. He never rushed her, she remembers the day as clearly as though it had just happened.
There's a soft hesitant knock on her door, she wipes her eyes as she reluctantly gets up from the couch she's been crying on for the past month or so. She doesn't know who it is, she doesn't care, all she wants to do is die and to stop feeling this intense pain in her heart. She throws open the door without looking at whom is standing on the other side, "Go away," she all but growls as she turns around to slam the door in who's ever face.
"I will if you wish," a soft reply stops her in her tracks. Instantly turning around she finally looks at the person who'd knocked softly on her door.
"Harry," she says in shocked question, she is more than surprised, last she knew he was on special assignment. A very dangerous special assignment, one she knows very few people return from and she had feared for her friends return.
"Hello Hermione," he says just as quietly.
"Hello," she says incredulously, "is that all you have to say after all this time," she says smiling for the first time in weeks as she throws her arms around him in a tight hug.
"I thought it would be a good start," he says once she releases him and pulls him by the hand into her apartment, quickly closing out the rest of the world.
At his words she can't help but laugh, "my god Harry, how are you," she asks him as the two of them sit down, her on her couch and him in the closest chair so he can look at her more directly.
Harry shrugs his shoulders, "alive," he says to her honestly.
"I've been so worried about you," she confesses loving the fact she is talking with him again.
"I've been worried about you too," he says with a small smile.
Hermione's heart lifts as she sees his smile, she doesn't know what it is about Harry, but he's always able to make her feel better just by being in the same room. "What brings you to this part of the world," she asks returning his smile.
"On vacation," he says with a dismissing shrug.
"On vacation," she repeats, "and you use your vacation to come visit me," she asks startled.
"Who better," he asks her looking her straight in the eyes.
She knows he can tell she's hurting, he always knows, she also knows he can see she has been crying. "Anyone," she says truthfully, "I'm not worthy of friends," she says as the tears start to flow once again.
He's by her side in an instant and pulls her into a hug as she bursts into tears, burying her face in his strong shoulder. "That's my girl," she hears as she cries, "let it all out," he tells her over and over until sleep takes her away.
Sometime later she wakes up to the soft sounds of someone in her kitchen; she's startled at first until she remembers her visitor. She opens her eyes to find she's still on the couch and is covered by the blanket that lay across the back of the couch. She smiles as she hears his soft whistling as he moves about in her kitchen. Slowly sitting up she wraps the blanket around her as she stands up and walks over to the entrance to the kitchen where she's able to see her best friend working over her stove. She watches him as he moves easily about her kitchen preparing food to eat, it is then she realizes how hungry she is.
"Awake are you," he asks as he stirs what's in the pan.
"Yeah," she yawns in answer.
"You okay," he asks her looking over in her direction.
She can't help but smile at this, "as long as I have you as a friend I will be," she says knowing it is truth.
"Good," he smiles at her, "have a seat, the food will be ready in a moment," he says with a nod of his head to the table on the other side of the kitchen.
She smiles and shakes her head at him, but is grateful to him for not pressing the matter yet, though she knows he will and she doesn't mind. She knows he only wants to help, in any way he can, even if it means cooking dinner and letting her cry on his shoulder. She walks over to the table and is shocked with what she sees there. There are two plates set across from each other, two glasses, silverware, and two side dishes with pineapple with cottage cheese on top, a bowl of freshly cooked rolls, a pan of green beans, a picture of some sort of drink, and two napkins. She smiles at the sight as she throws the blanket around the back of her chair and takes her seat.
Not too much later Harry comes over with the other pan and sets it in the middle of the table, "screw-doles," he says in reference to the food in the pan. "I don't know if you've ever had them or not, but its pretty good stuff," he says to her.
"It looks great," she says smiling her thanks to him.
The two of them ate dinner and talked quietly about things long since past, Hogwarts, their holidays as kids, her current job and how great it is to see each other. After dinner was over the two of them washed and put the dishes away, Harry pointing out to her that there are leftovers and she shouldn't let them go to waste. To which she laughs knowing he's teasing her and she's ever so happy to have him around her. After they finished with the dishes the two of them went out and sat on the couch and Harry finally asked her what was wrong, to which she poured her heart out and cried seemingly endlessly as he held her tightly to him.
She woke the next morning to find herself in her own bed, she sat up thinking what happened yesterday was only a dream, but she still feels better in her heart. She doesn't know what it is about Harry, but he seems able to heal people just by listening to them. She's never been able to figure it out, though she admits she hasn't really looked into it. She doesn't want it to lose its magic.
Getting up from the bed she takes a shower and gets dressed for the day to come and for the first time in what seems like forever she doesn't dread life. She walks out into the front room and can't help the smile from crossing her face as she looks at her sleeping visitor on the same couch she slept on the day before. He looks so young and care free when he's asleep. She walks over to the chair he had taken when he first came in yesterday and watches him breathe in and out.
It is then she realizes they haven't talked about him, not once have they talked about his current life and what he has gone through. She also realizes the great Harry Potter has never before taken a vacation. She feels a tear slowly slide down her cheek as she puts four and four together and she can't help the feeling of gratitude in her heart for the man in front of her.
"Hmm, no," a sad voice mumbles from the couch. Hermione instantly looks at him more closely and realizes he's having another dream. Her heart accelerates for fear of what he is forced to see, forced to undergo. She's never met anyone who's been forced to undergo so much, so young. She gets up from her chair and goes over to him.
She places her hand on his head feeling the heat, the sweat there, "Harry," she says to him knowing he'll wake up from her words.
Instantly his eyes flash open and she is greeted with his emerald green eyes, "morning," he says after a moment.
She smiles at him knowing he hates talking about his dreams and since their fifth year at Hogwarts he hasn't told anyone but Dumbledore about them. "Good morning Harry," she says kneeling down beside him. He watches her move, never taking his eyes from hers. "How did you hear," she asks him.
He smiles and shrugs slightly knowing she won't take no for an answer, she's still startled with how well he does know her. "If I tell you how, then I won't be able to continue to be updated with your progress," he tells her honestly as he sits up and puts his glasses on.
"Why," she asks him sitting next to him.
He looks at her for a moment, "you're my friend," he says at last as though that is all the answer she needs. She raises her eyebrows and he shrugs back. "Hermione," he says after a moment not knowing what else to say. "I only have three days vacation," he says to her and instantly she regrets asking him these questions, for pouring out her heart to him. He sees this and shakes his head to stop her train of thought, "let's not waste time on why I'm here and let's get having some fun," he tells her bumping gently into her shoulder putting an instant stop to her regret.
"I love you," she says honestly.
Harry beams at her his most brilliant smile, "and I love you," he says putting his hand out, "friends forever," he offers and she takes his hand accepting his offer.
"And ever, forever and beyond," she says giggling.
The two of them spent the next three days talking and having fun, Hermione couldn't remember a time since they graduated since she's had this much fun. They went to a couple of Muggle movies, a couple of fun parks, Diagon Alley, the mall where Harry introduced Hermione to a fun game of can you guess what the Muggle is thinking, they even went to the Burrow to see the Weasley's, and they walked a lot not really caring where they ended or how they went about getting there.
It was a sad day when they had to Part Company yet once again, "Harry," Hermione says as she walks him to the door of her apartment.
"Yeah," he says looking at her as he swings his bag over his shoulder.
"Thanks," she says giving him a kiss on his cheek.
He smiles, "any time," he tells her as he gives her a hug then walks out of her life once again. Yet for Hermione it isn't as though she will never see him again, he isn't rejecting her, he will still learn about her through some secret source he has and refuses to tell her about. She can't help but smile at this thought; she can't help the feeling in her heart knowing he cares for her so much that he has found a way of knowing how she is even when she doesn't tell him. She loves him more than she will ever tell. He is her best friend, her sanity, her family.