Author's note: I am so sorry for making ya'll wait so long for this last chapter. I think a part of me was putting it off because I really didn't want to end it. But here it is…I hope the ending doesn't disappoint. Again, I apologize for making ya'll wait so long for the finale to this story. I have enjoyed writing it and am really glad that ya'll seemed to like it, too. Please let me know what you think! I thrive on reviews.
Chapter Fourteen
Homecoming
Hermione stood just behind Harry as he fumbled in his trousers pocket for the keys to the house. She'd never been happier to see 12 Grimmauld Place than she was at this moment. The train ride back from Brighton had been quite long. She'd slept most of the way home as had Harry. They'd not spoken much since they'd left her aunt and uncle's estate.
After Harry finally found the keys and unlocked the door, he held the door open for Hermione. As she walked past him into the house, she gave him a slight smile.
The house was dark and she blindly searched for the light switch. It was good to be home, she thought. She told herself to remember that this was his home, not hers. She was only a guest living here temporarily until she could find a place of her own.
But, that had been before this weekend. So much had changed in such a small period of time. Her brain went into over-analyzing mode and a barrage of questions invaded her mind. Did he want her to stay…permanently? Sure, they'd confessed their love, but no talk about the future had taken place. Perhaps it was too early to ask him about that. The last thing she wanted to do now that she had him was to scare him away.
And what about tonight, she wondered as she watched him absently go through the post. Would they talk? They were both tired, after all. Would he sleep in his own bed and would she sleep in hers? Would they carry on as they always did? Maybe the weekend in Brighton had been a fluke. She'd been there and he'd decided to settle an old curiosity.
Immediately, she chastised herself for allowing those old insecurities to rear their ugly little heads again. Harry loved her. He'd told her that. She believed him. Yet, she couldn't stop the doubts from clouding her mind again. Not about him, of course, but about what it all meant. They certainly couldn't go back to how they were. Things between them had irrevocably changed.
She looked at him and wondered what he was thinking. Was he wondering what it all meant too?
Deciding they'd just talk about it in the morning, Hermione walked over to her suitcase and picked it up. She hadn't moved three centimeters when she felt Harry's hand on hers.
"What are you doing?" he asked. Dropping the suitcase to the floor, she apprehensively looked up at him. With a nervous laugh, she said, "I was just going to bring my case upstairs. That's all."
"Oh," he said.
Oh? That's all you can say? What are you thinking and why won't you say anything to me?
Searching in his piercing green eyes, she thought she saw a flicker of disappointment.
A moment of uncomfortable silence passed between them and Hermione wondered how this was possible after all that they'd shared over the years and even during this weekend.
"What a weekend, eh?" she asked with a trademark roll of her eyes, in an effort to break the tension and lighten the mood.
"Do you have to say it like that?" he asked with a nervous laugh of his own. "I mean, it was certainly eventful, but not all of it was bad. At least…it wasn't for me."
A smile played at Hermione's lips. She shook her head. "No, you're right. It wasn't all bad. Parts of it were actually quite nice."
Harry put a hand to his heart and look of mock pain came across his handsome features. "Quite nice? You thought parts of your weekend were quite nice? That's how you describe a present your grandmother gave you for your birthday even if you didn't like it, Hermione."
Hermione giggled. "Well, it was quite nice actually. I was debating between using that phrase and the equally polite 'really nice'. "
"Even better," Harry said sarcastically. "Okay, so you---Hermione Jane Granger---who happens to be the most verbose person I know can describe the weekend where you and I---among other things---slept together for the first time and I told you I loved you---as quite nice."
Hermione nodded, enjoying the banter between them. It seemed like old times.
"Okay," Harry said, pacing in front of her. Before Hermione knew what he was doing, he'd walked up to her and thrown her over his shoulder.
"Harry James Potter!" she exclaimed. "What on earth are you doing?"
"I think I've just picked you up, " he said, patting her bottom.
"You know what I mean!" Hermione said, hitting him on the back with her fist. "Put me down this instant!"
"I will, I will," Harry said calmly. "Don't get your knickers in a twist just yet, Hermione. I plan on putting you down on solid ground as soon as I get you upstairs!"
"Harry," Hermione lectured. "This is exactly how the two of us got into trouble last time."
"Trouble?" Harry asked shaking his head as best he could with Hermione hoisted over his shoulder. "Trouble? So now we've gone to quite nice to trouble."
He started to climb the stairs.
"You're only digging yourself in deeper, Hermione. I swear if I didn't love you so much, I might get offended."
Hermione laughed and hit Harry on the back with her fist. "Would you please put me down? This isn't funny. If you drop me…"
"Oh ye of little faith," Harry said, walking up the stairs as if he wasn't carrying anything heavier than a feather.
"This is totally barbaric!" Hermione protested, trying not to look down as he carried her higher up the stairs.
"If it makes you feel any better, next time we do this, you can carry me over your shoulders," Harry said impishly.
"S-sure," Hermione said hiccupping. "Not without a levitation spell."
Harry laughed as he finally made it to the second floor and stood at the foot of the stairs. Hermione lifted her head off of his back. "Why are you stopping, Harry?"
"Your room or mine?" he asked simply.
"Your room or mine for….?" she asked before hiccupping yet again.
"Oh, now you're going to be like that?" he asked laughing. "You know exactly what I mean! Okay, I guess that means…my bedroom."
Quickening his pace, he walked down the hall toward his room and swung the door open. He didn't turn on the lights as he finally set Hermione down. The only light in the room came from the moonlight shining in from the window.
Hermione shivered as he looked down at her.
"Are you cold?" he asked her, running his hands up and down her arms.
"A little," she admitted.
He smiled as he pulled her to him and softly kissed her. Whereas she'd been thinking and analyzing before, she felt all rational thought slowly leaving her. She didn't want to think. There'd be time for that later as there always was. Right now, at this moment, all she wanted to do was touch, feel and taste. Without breaking their kiss, she slowly began to undo the buttons of his shirt. He deepened the kiss as she pushed his shirt off his shoulders and it fell to the floor.
Breathlessly, they broke apart. Harry lifted her tee shirt over her head and it joined his shirt on the floor. Their lips crashed together again and Hermione didn't know how, but they were suddenly on the bed. All thoughts of Rachel, the wedding and anything but him faded away.
***** ****** ************
***** ****** ************
The next morning, Harry awoke to the sound of the doorbell chiming insistently. Hermione mumbled something, but she fell back asleep. He hoped whoever was at his door at the crack of dawn would get the hint and go away. Unfortunately, the ringing became more persistent.
Grumbling to himself, Harry pulled the covers back and slipped his boxer shorts back on. Putting his glasses on, he then grabbed a t-shirt and headed out of the bedroom. He'd just put the shirt on when he opened the door to find Ron standing there with a goofy grin on his face.
"There he is," Ron said, smiling. "So you're back then?"
"No," Harry said grumpily. "I'm a figment of your imagination."
"Good morning, sunshine to you, too," Ron said, breezing past Harry and into the house. "I just wanted to return the spare set of keys to you. I couldn't get by yesterday to get the post, but I think you'll find that I did an okay job of keeping an eye on things."
Ron pressed the keys into Harry's hand. "Hey, do you have anything to eat?"
"Ron," Harry said, trying to keep his patience. "It's early. Thanks for bringing my keys back and thanks for checking on things while I was gone, but I really…"
"Nonsense," Ron said. "I was happy to do it. And why are you saying its early? It's nearly noon, Harry. Don't tell me you've been in bed since you got home."
Harry nodded, reluctantly following his friend into the kitchen.
"Pretending to be Hermione's boyfriend tire you out?" Ron asked jokingly as he opened the ice box and helped himself to some juice---drinking it straight from the carton.
"Hey!" Harry said, angrily taking the carton. "Other people have to drink out of that you know."
"Only you," Ron said nonplussed.
"Look, Ron, again…I appreciate you coming by…"
Ron slowly began to realize what must be going on here. Harry obviously didn't want him to stay. He wanted to get back upstairs. And if Harry had finally hooked up with Hermione he certainly would have told him straightaway. Instead, he'd obviously found some floozy at the wedding and brought her back here to have his way with her.
Ron felt anger rising in him. Where was Hermione? Probably crying in her pillow over Harry being his usual clueless self, he thought to himself.
Visions of having to split his time between his two best friends entered into his head. They'd both expect him to take sides. He couldn't take that. And he wouldn't allow Harry to do like he always did; at least not with Hermione. Ron had warned him after all. If Harry broke Hermione's heart, he'd cripple him.
"Ron?" Harry asked, breaking Ron out of his own thoughts. "Hello…?"
"You have some nerve, Potter!" Ron said, rounding on his best friend. "Are you bloody blind? Hermione's not just some girl you can mess about, Harry. She's our friend…our best friend. And if you think you can just play with her feelings…"
"What on earth are you talking about?" Harry asked, truly confused.
"I thought you were going to use this weekend to tell her how you felt," Ron continued. "Said that you loved her and wanted to finally make things happen with her. Well, I guess your usual lines didn't work on her, did they? And do you want to know why, Harry? Because Hermione is much too smart to fall for your crap…"
"Ron," Harry tried to interrupt.
"No," Ron said, shaking his head. "The truth hurts, doesn't it?"
"Ron…"
"No, Harry," Ron interjected. "I warned you…I don't know much about fighting like a Muggle, of course, but I reckon I'll do alright."
He clenched his fists and Harry suppressed the urge to laugh.
"RON!"
The both turned to see Hermione standing in the doorway of the kitchen, wearing only one of Harry's buttoned down shirts.
"Hermione?" Ron asked, staring at her.
Hermione realized that she wasn't wearing very much, so she grabbed a tea towel and placed it over her legs, but it didn't cover much.
"W-what are you doing here?" Ron asked her, looking from Hermione back to Harry.
"I live here," Hermione answered hotly. "And I was asleep until I heard you yelling at the top of your lungs. What are you carrying on about?"
Ron looked at her as if the answer should have been obvious. "I was defending your honour!"
"I didn't know it was in peril," Hermione said, looking at Harry for some sort of explanation. He didn't know what was going on anymore than she did, though.
Ron again looked between Harry and Hermione.
"Okay, someone needs to tell me what is going on," Ron said, folding his arms.
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked as Harry walked over to her and put his arm around her. She relaxed into him embrace and they both looked at a very confused Ron.
"So does this mean that you're…I mean that you're with her…and he's with you…?" Ron managed to choke out.
"Merlin, I sure hope so," Hermione said with a laugh. "Are you okay with that?"
"Am I okay with that?" Ron repeated her question. He looked thoughtfully at his two best friends and the serious expression on his face was transformed into a bright, wide smile.
"I only have one thing to say to the two of you," Ron said, grinning at them. "It's about bloody time!"
He weaseled his way in between them and put an arm around each of them.
"This is fantastic," Ron said enthusiastically. "I always knew it would happen for the two of you. See, the two of you never listen to me. If you had, you would have been together ages ago."
"Ron's right," Hermione said, stepping out of Ron's hold on her. She loved her friend and she was very happy that he accepted their relationship, but at the moment, she just wanted to be alone with Harry. She gave her boyfriend a look and hoped he caught on to her meaning. With a slight nod, he too stepped away from Ron and pulled Hermione to him.
"So, Ron," Harry said, looking at Hermione. "You wouldn't have any objection to us kissing…"
The smile on Ron's face faded. "No," he said weakly. He was all for their relationship, but he didn't want to see it up close and personal like this.
Harry kissed Hermione and she snaked her arms around his neck.
Ron averted his eyes. "This is a kitchen, you do realize that, don't you?" he asked uncomfortably.
Harry and Hermione didn't pay him any mind as they continued to kiss, enjoying both the act itself and making their best friend squirm.
"Okay, okay," Ron said. "If you wanted me to leave, all you had to do was ask…"
"Bye Ron," Harry said, nuzzling Hermione's neck.
"Don't forget the two of you are coming by for dinner tonight," Ron said, not bothering to turn around as he walked toward the front door.
"Poor Ron," Hermione said when they pulled away from each other when they heard the front door shut behind him.
"Hey," Harry said, reaching for her arm.
"Harry," Hermione said trying to be firm. "We've slept in nearly the entire day and I need to go by my parents' house and see how the wedding went and apologize."
"Okay," Harry said reluctantly. "You want me to come with?"
Hermione shook her head. "I'll be alright on my own. I know you need to check back in at headquarters."
"Yeah," Harry said, resting his forehead on hers. "But that's not for at least another hour or so…"
"And my parents might not even be up yet," Hermione said with a teasing smile. "So, we could always do something else until it was time to leave…"
"What did you have in mind?" Harry asked, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"I'll race you upstairs," she said mischievously. Taking his hand, she said, "On the count of three….one, two…"
She took off before Harry knew what was happening and he stared after her retreating figure with his mouth agape.
"Hermione!" he called after her. "That's not fair!"
With a mischievous grin of his own, he took off after her. He could certainly get quite used to this relationship stuff.
********* ****** ********
******* ************ *********
Later that afternoon, Hermione arrived at her parents' house. Her mother answered the door.
"Sweetheart," Karen said, giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek and a hug.
"Hi, Mum," Hermione said with a smile. "I really am sorry about walking out of the wedding like
that."
Karen laughed. "Don't lie to your mother, Hermione Jane. I know when you're lying. You're not sorry that you left the wedding."
Hermione gave a slight smile. "No, I needed to go, but I am sorry for letting you and Dad down, not to mention Aunt Catherine and Uncle Malcolm."
Karen nodded. "Don't worry about it another second, dear. They certainly understood…after…"
Hermione pulled a confused face at her mother. "After what?"
Karen ushered her daughter inside. A few minutes later, she and Hermione were sitting in the kitchen over two cups of tea. Karen explained that Robert was out playing golf.
"Okay, Mum," Hermione said, cupping her hands around her teacup. "I'm dying of suspense here. What happened after Harry and I left?"
Karen shook her head. "It was the most bizarre thing, Hermione. The wedding was delayed for about 15 minutes after I went back and told Catherine that you'd left. Well, Rachel was going on and on about how hideous you were to her and how she couldn't believe her own cousin would desert her on her wedding day."
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"But, I wouldn't hear of it," Karen said proudly. "I stuck up for you, Hermione. I told Rachel that obviously something happened that made you need to leave and I supported you no matter what it was."
"I imagine that went over really well," Hermione said.
Karen shuddered. "Worse, actually. I heard for another five minutes about how I wasn't being supportive of my niece. If it wasn't for Catherine and Malcolm, I would have followed you and Harry home myself."
Hermione couldn't believe it. Her mother finally saw what a complete and utter cow Rachel was.
"Anyway, once the drama from your exit subsided, we were ready to begin the ceremony," Karen continued. "It really was a beautiful ceremony until…"
Hermione fidgeted in her seat. "Mum! Out with it already!"
"Well, Rachel walked down the aisle and Malcolm finished giving her away and she and Theo were standing in front of the vicar when this man busts into the chapel…"
"Who was it?" Hermione asked intrigued.
"The gardener apparently," Karen answered. "I guess for sometime Rachel has been carrying on with this
man. He comes screaming into the chapel that he can't allow this sham of a ceremony to take place when it was
obvious that Rachel didn't love Theo. Well, as you can imagine, Rachel tried to play it off at first and say that
she had no idea what he was talking about."
"Oh my God," Hermione whispered, leaning back in her chair.
Karen nodded. "It gets better…or worse…depending on your perspective. Theo and this man had this terrible row. It escalated quickly and before anyone knew what was going on, they were fighting each other like mad. The vicar tried to hold back Theo, but the gardener ended up hitting the vicar by mistake. Needless to say, there was no marriage. Theo left the chapel with one of the bridesmaids and Rachel was left screaming her head off about how her wedding was ruined."
Hermione couldn't believe all that had happened after she'd left. A part of her wishes she had stayed behind to have witnessed it all. But then again, if she had, she and Harry wouldn't have had that fantastic night last night. As she visually pictured the events her mother described, Hermione started to laugh. Karen joined in and it wasn't too long before they were both in tears from laughing so hard.
"I am sorry for not taking your side more when it came to Rachel," Karen said apologetically when their laughter had died down. "Rachel sure had us all fooled."
"It doesn't matter now," Hermione said, a smile coming over her face.
"I know that look," Karen said. "You're in love, aren't you?"
Hermione blushed. "Very much so."
"I knew it was only a matter of time," Karen said. "I knew sooner or later one of you would wise up…"
"Everyone seems to have known before we did," Hermione interjected. "Ron, you and Daddy, even when we were in school….people just knew…I've asked myself why we didn't."
"And what do you tell yourself?" Karen asked.
Hermione looked thoughtful. "I think we were both afraid. Not just of what being in a relationship would do to our friendship, but because of what it would really mean. We've both fought it for so long and been so stupid. But, I don't honestly believe we were ready until now."
"I agree," Karen said, patting her daughter's hand. "Your father and I have always liked Harry. We consider him a part of our family. I hope he knows that."
"He does," Hermione said beaming at her mother.
"Good," Karen said. "Bring him by the house more then. I need to get to know my future son-in-law better after all."
Hermione froze. "Son-in-law? We just started dating, Mum. Don't tell me you're already planning the ceremony and picking out china patterns…"
Karen grinned. "Hermione, trust me on this one. Your mother knows what she's talking about. "
********** ********* **********
Katie Weasley sat on a blanket in the middle of the sitting room looking at her father as if he'd just lost his mind.
"Say 'dada', Katie," Ron said, pulling a funny face at his daughter. "You can do it…dada."
From her perch on the sofa, Luna couldn't help but laugh. Ron was determined to get his daughter to say "Daddy" or some version of it or die trying. Luna had told him, of course, that he was being a little too dramatic, but he'd been resolute in his statement. His daughter's first word was going to be "Daddy".
Katie clapped her hands together and giggled, but didn't say anything.
"Ron…" Luna began, hoping to say something to comfort her husband, but he waved his hand at her.
"You get to be with her all day and are probably saying 'Mama' to her a thousand times a day because you want that to be her first word," Ron said. "I don't want much in this world but to have my little girl say my name. Is that so wrong?"
"No," Luna answered. "But what would be so bad about her saying 'Mama' first? I mean, to be completely fair, I was the one who gave birth to her. I was the one in pain for 36 hours. I think to be completely fair she should say my name first."
Ron snorted. "You know you seem to tack on an extra hour to that labour every single time you tell people about it."
He bent down and kissed his daughter on the forehead. "Don't listen to mummy, Katie. She doesn't know what
she's talking about. Say 'Dada'."
Katie looked up from her blocks and mumbled something.
"There!" Ron said excitedly. "She said it!"
Luna rolled her eyes. "She did not! She said 'durfflurf'."
"It starts with a 'D'," Ron said defensively. "It's close enough!"
"Yeah, alright…durfflurf," Luna said with a sly smile. "How you managed to get 'dada' out of that, I'll never know."
"Well, it might not be it exactly, but she's getting there," Ron said making a funny face at his daughter, who again clapped her hands excitedly.
"Uh-huh," Luna said, returning to her book.
"She is," Ron said as the doorbell chimed. "You're as bad as Fred and George sometimes, Luna."
This time it was Luna who chortled as her husband got to his feet. "Yeah, well let's not even talk about the words they were trying to teach her."
"Point taken," Ron said, walking toward the front door.
Ron opened the door and saw Harry standing on the doorstep with a bottle of wine in his hand.
"Where's your girlfriend?" Ron asked, in a sing-song voice.
"She'll be here shortly," Harry said, smirking at his friend. "She went to her parents' house and said she'd meet me here."
"Come on in, Romeo," Ron said ushering his friend inside.
Fifteen minutes later, the three of them plus Katie were sitting in the kitchen, waiting for Hermione to arrive. Luna was getting the details of their weekend.
"This Rachel person sounds dreadful," Luna said. "Reminds me of a group of girls from Hogwarts who used to tease me all the time."
"Trust me, Luna," Harry said, taking Katie from Ron. "I'm not doing her justice."
"I'm glad Hermione told her off," Luna said, grinning as Katie smiled at Harry.
"Don't tell her I told you about that," Harry said seriously. "She wanted to tell you that detail herself. She's quite proud of it actually."
The doorbell chimed and Harry grinned.
"The love of your life has arrived," Ron teased. "Don't get up. I'll go and let her in."
Luna winked at Harry as Ron left the room.
"We're both really happy for you," Luna said to Harry in a soft voice. "We always knew this would happen, you know."
"Everyone keeps telling us that," Harry said, laughing as Katie tugged at his collar with her small hands.
Hermione followed Ron into the kitchen and she stopped in the doorway at the sight of her boyfriend holding Katie. The picture of it was so adorable it nearly took her breath away. This could be the two of them someday. Yes, it was still early days yet, but she could definitely picture herself and Harry with their own little family. Without a doubt, she knew for certain that he was it for her. She couldn't foresee herself loving someone else after knowing what it felt like to love him and be loved by him.
"Hermione…" Harry said, coming over to her and kissing her on the forehead. "Everything alright?"
She nodded happily. "I'm sorry I was a little late..."
"It's okay," he said smiling down at her. "I've been waiting for you."