Harry turned to Hermione as they still sat in the booth seat. "You going to be alright sorting through your things by yourself?"
Hermione smiled genuinely at him. "I'll be fine. It's just a matter of not wanting to do anything today," Hermione responded. Harry grinned.
"You know what?" he paused as Hermione turned and looked at him curiously.
"What?" she asked obliviously. Harry cracked another small smile as his arm found its way to her shoulders and squeezed them gently.
"I don't have anything I have to do today. Why don't I come with you and help you with whatever you want?" he suggested. Hermione smiled.
"You don't have to Harry," she mumbled.
"Well too bad. Let's go," he responded happily, sliding out of the booth seat and offering a hand to Hermione for her to get out.
Harry and Hermione went on their way and Ron was heading off up to the Puddlemere stadium to get things squared away for their vacation.
Ron apparated to the main tower where all the offices were. The white tile floor radiated the afternoon sun and the windows shimmered from the rays pouring in at different angles. He continued to walk down the window-lined hallway, with its high ceiling. He carried his robe in one hand and his feet clicked lightly on the floor as he went.
Finally, Ron came to the door he was looking for. He knocked and the door immediately opened. Ron stepped into coach Dawson's office and had a seat.
"Coach, I just wanted to tell you that I'll be gone for two weeks, starting next Saturday."
Coach John Dawson was roughly thirty-five years old, about six-foot tall and blond hair. His eyes were brown and his body was as average as they get. Being a quidditch coach for Puddlemere kept him in good enough shape. He looked at Ron from behind his desk.
"Oh? Where will you be going?" He asked him. Ron smiled at him.
"My friends are dragging me along on that muggle cruise thing. We all need a vacation and I've been saving my time for this."
John looked at him some more and smiled. "Well do me a favor, will you?" he asked.
Ron blinked in a curious but lost way. "Sure," he answered reluctantly.
"If you get sunburned while you're gone, don't complain when you come back because it will make me that much more anxious for a vacation."
Ron smiled, grateful he wasn't going to say something to nag him.
"Besides, you'll be expecting a heavy practice when you get back, won't you?" he said slyly. Ron faked a smile but his insides turned outward at being able to take a proper vacation for the first time in two years.
"I'll be looking forward to it, John," Ron responded.
"Alright then. Well look at the time," he paused, looking at the clock on the wall in front of him. "I've got a meeting with the international Quidditch board.
Ron jumped out of his seat. "I better get to the agency and get everything squared away for this vacation."
John looked at him as he walked with Ron to the door. "You're sure your friends are dragging you along? Or was this your idea," he said slyly.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Like I would plan this," he said with a fake tone.
"Right, well I'll see you at practice on Tuesday then," John responded, brushing off Ron's comment because he knew better.
The day disappeared quickly into night with all the preparations being made to be able to leave town and country for two whole weeks. Hermione plopped herself down on her sofa in her living room, and Harry followed soon after; both very wrecked from a full day of rearranging furniture and sorting through Hermione's stuff for anything Peter had given to her. The part that messed them over was the emotional strain the sorting caused. The furniture was moved by magic, as expected. Of course, they tossed those things of Peter's in a box to be forgotten. Harry didn't know, but Hermione actually got rid of the said box of disaster by throwing it out her window and into the pond below.
Harry looked at an exhausted Hermione leaning against the arm of the sofa. She slowly turned her head to look at him.
"Harry, do you think Ron's really serious about going on this trip,? She questioned, gently pulling her feet up on the sofa to be more comfortable.
Harry rested both his arms out on the back of the sofa and stared at the floor to think. "You know, I don't think he's ever suggested anything freely unless he was really interested in it," he finished, turning his head back to look at her. She smiled. "I don't think we have to worry. We all need this vacation more than anyone will know."
Hermione bit her bottom lip. "Harry, I have a question."
He looked at her for a moment. "Sure."
"Was Peter really that bad? I mean you two could never get along."
Harry tipped his head back and sighed. "We got along for the same reasons you and Cho get along."
Hermione wrinkled her forehead. "But, Harry, we never got along."
Harry brought his head back up. "Exactly."
Hermione nodded slowly as she began to understand what had been going on between her boyfriend and Harry.
"He was jealous of our friendship. Same with Cho," Harry responded, finishing Hermione's thoughts out loud. She looked at him and smiled.
"Funny isn't it?"
Harry shook his head in slight confusion. "I'm sorry, what is?" he asked, genuinely lost.
Hermione almost laughed but just smiled instead. "I think we're going to live the rest of our lives with that jealousy from whomever we date or marry."
Harry went silent for a moment. "Yeah," he said, halfway out of this world. Hermione waved a hand in front of his face and when she got his attention she moved into him slowly, giving him a gentle hug. Harry was a little surprised and gradually wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Thanks Harry, you were a big help today." She whispered in his ear. Harry felt chills run over his skin.
He pulled her away and brushed a section of hair away from her forehead. "Any time," he responded, pulling her back into a hug. "So what should we do tomorrow?" he asked.
Hermione jumped back a little and stared at him. "Harry!" she giggled. "Don't you have better things to do than spend all your time with me?" she asked teasingly. Harry looked up at the ceiling and thought about it for a moment as he bit his bottom lip.
"Well I guess you're right," he said half seriously. Finally he brought his eyes back to hers and started laughing. "I honestly can't think of a better way to spend my weekend. We should go shopping for our trip tomorrow."
Hermione smiled sweetly at him and hugged him again.