Author's note: I'm really glad that you guys are liking this one. This has to be the most light-hearted one I've written. I hope you like this chapter…things are slow going, but hopefully our two pumpkins will eventually see the light. A special thanks to Ash for helping me out and letting me bounce ideas off of her for this one. And a special thanks to Heaven as well. It's hard to write without her!
Oh and the song that appears toward end of chapter is by Aretha Franklin-"Baby I Love You".
Please review!
Chapter Three
The River in Eqypt
Harry found himself in The Three Broomsticks Thursday night with Ron and Draco Malfoy. Since Voldemort's downfall, Draco had become a little more bearable. He was still arrogant to a fault, but he had a good heart deep down (way deep down as Ron joked). His standing in Ron and Harry's eyes tripled when Draco became involved with Ginny Weasley. They'd been dating for nearly two years now and just last month Draco had popped the question to Ginny, who'd accepted before he'd even had a chance to finish the question.
The three men were nursing their second tankards of ale. They were just starting a game of darts. The pub wasn't too crowded tonight, to Harry's great relief.
"So how's the old ball and chain, Potter?" Draco asked, laughing.
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked. "I'm not married."
Draco smirked. "Not yet anyway. So when you gonna make an honest woman out of Granger?"
"About the same time you get a medal for sainthood?" Harry guessed.
"Very funny," Draco said, watching as Ron missed the dartboard completely and nearly took another wizard's eye out.
"Sorry!" Ron called out to the man, who didn't respond, but wisely moved from the seat he was in.
"Back me up on this, Weasley," Draco said, calling Ron over to them. "Harry won't give me any details about him and Granger shacking up together."
"We are not shacking up," Harry said crossly. "You know just as well as I do that she just broke up with a boyfriend…a man that she lived with, okay?"
"So, you're saying that you haven't made a move yet because you don't want to be the rebound guy?" Draco asked.
Harry didn't respond and angrily snatched the darts from Ron's hand.
"I haven't done anything!" Ron exclaimed. "You need to be careful with those things!"
"Says the man who nearly blinded someone," Harry retorted.
"And so says the man who's lusting after his best friend," Draco chimed in merrily.
"Will you please leave it?" Harry asked, throwing and hitting the target. "Hermione is just my friend, Malfoy."
"You say that now," Malfoy said smugly, "but just you wait. Before too much longer, she'll be making this temporary move into a permanent one. She'll start making you dinner or doing little favors for you. Before you know it, she's moved in and there's nothing more you can do about it. You're stuck."
"I don't appreciate you talking about her like that," Harry said, putting the darts down and heading back to their table. "Hermione's not like that. She never has been and she never will be."
"Have you ever lived with her?" Malfoy asked, seemingly unable to let this go.
"No," Harry admitted, not seeing where Malfoy was going with this. "Just you wait, my friend. Just you wait."
"Does my sister have any idea that you're like this when you get some drink in you?" Ron asked Malfoy, who just chuckled.
"How do you think I got her to go out with me?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrow.
Ron grimaced. "Stop right there. Don't say anymore. I don't want to think of my sister and you doing anything…"
"But now that you mention it, I had a feeling alcohol might have been involved," Ron continued, causing Harry to guffaw. "Because I don't think anyone with a sound mind---"
Draco frowned. "Enough, enough. We get it. Besides, we weren't talking about you or me for that matter. We were talking about the great Potter-Granger 'Will They or Won't They' debate."
"Will they or won't they what?" Ron asked quizzically.
Draco shook his head in disbelief. "This planet that you live on, Ron? Is it nice?"
"Sod off!" Ron said.
"How about you both sod off," Harry said, reaching into his trousers pocket and pulling out some money. "As much fun as this evening has been, I think it's time for me to get home."
Harry started to walk away when Malfoy called out to him, "Yeah, wouldn't want the wife worrying about you being out all night, right Potter?"
Harry didn't turn around, but did lift his hand and give Malfoy the middle-finger salute before walking out of the pub.
*******************************
The following Friday, Hermione was sitting in her crammed bedroom, surrounded by boxes. She'd been at Harry's for a week now and with work she hadn't had the opportunity to unpack her things properly. Tonight, she planned on remedying that situation.
Harry had given her the okay to store some of her things in an adjacent bedroom and she'd found some great old bookshelves up in the attic that he'd helped her bring down to her room earlier.
Though most people would call her quite mad for enjoying this, she couldn't help it. While the task of lugging boxes from one place to another was a pain in the arse, Hermione actually liked the chance of decorating a room to her own specifications and taste. She knew that with a flick of her wand everything would be taken care of, but she needed to do this the old-fashioned Muggle way. It kept her busy and she wouldn't have to think about Brian.
So, on this Friday night, she was in the middle of her bedroom, unloading books from one of the boxes. She was dressed comfortably in a pair of blue pyjama bottoms and a white camisole top. She'd pulled her hair back into a sloppy ponytail. In the background, music from the CD player filled the air.
Hermione was just finishing unloading yet another box when she heard her mobile phone ringing. She looked around the room to see where she'd placed her phone and to her relief saw that it was on her bedside table. In her haste to get to the phone, she tripped over two boxes and stubbed her toe on the bedpost.
"Bugger!" she said, wincing, as she picked up her phone and pressed the "talk" button.
"Hello," she said crossly.
"Well, were you planning on telling us that you'd moved?" her mother's voice said angrily.
"Hi, Mum," Hermione said, sinking down on the bed.
"Well?" Karen Granger asked.
"Mum, I was going to tell you," Hermione tried to explain.
"Brian said you'd moved out when I rang him earlier," Karen said. "I felt like such a fool not even knowing where my own daughter was. What happened?"
"Mum, I really don't want to rehash this right now," Hermione answered. "Isn't it enough to know that Brian and I didn't work out and I moved out?"
"No," Karen said quickly. "It's not enough. I told you that this wouldn't work out, didn't I? You should never move in with someone like that without knowing what sort of commitment that person has in mind. Hermione, don't you remember how I told you that this was…"
Hermione sighed. "Yes, Mum. I remember all that you said. So, if you called her to say 'I told you so', please go right ahead and get it over with. You've certainly earned it. Make it quick, though, because I have to unpack tonight."
"Unpack?" Karen asked. "Where are you now, love?"
Hermione bit her bottom lip.
"Hermione?" Karen asked again.
"I'm staying with Harry."
"With Harry?" Karen nearly screamed. "So does this mean you're with Harry now?"
"No!" Hermione exclaimed loudly, rolling her eyes. "This doesn't mean I'm with Harry now! I needed a place to stay and he's letting me stay with him until I find my own place."
"Do you have any idea how that's going to look?" Karen asked.
"Mum! Do you have any idea how old-fashioned you sound? Look, it's just one friend staying with another. Nothing more, nothing less. Okay?"
"Sweetheart, don't you think you'd be better off coming back and staying with Dad and me?"
Hermione fell back on her bed thinking that she'd rather eat dung beetles than go back home to live with her folks.
"I appreciate the offer," Hermione said as politely as she could. "I really do, Mum. But, I'm fine where I am."
"Let me talk to Harry then," Karen said.
"Why?"
"To make sure this is okay with him," Karen said simply.
"You've got to be kidding me?" Hermione asked incredulously. "I'm not 10 years old and asking for permission to sleep over at my friend's house. I'm a grown woman, Mum!"
"I know that, sweetie," Karen said.
"Oh, Mum?" Hermione said, rising from her reclining position on the bed. "I have to go. The doorbell just sounded. Probably my pizza. Love you. Call you soon. Promise."
Hermione heard her mother exclaim, "Pizza!", just as Hermione clicked her phone off.
"UGHHHHHHH!!!!!" she said, lying back down on the bed.
There was soft knock on the door and Hermione looked up to see Harry peering inside her room.
"Hey," she said, sitting up.
"Hey," he said looking at her quizzically. "I was just walking past your room when I heard you groaning about something. Just making sure you weren't in here doing Merlin knows what with Merlin knows who."
"Ha-ha!" Hermione said. "I wish I was. No, I was just having the 'I told you so' conversation with my mother."
Harry winced as he came inside the room. "That bad, huh?"
"Worse," Hermione said. "She actually wanted to speak to you and make sure this was okay with her. I half expect her to be by later on to warn you that I wet the bed or some rubbish like that."
Harry laughed. "You don't do that, do you?"
Hermione slapped him hard on the arm. "No, you git."
Harry looked appraisingly around the room. "You have your work cut out for you."
"Yeah," Hermione admitted. "But it's been fun."
"Sure," Harry said unconvinced.
"It would be even better if I had some company," she said.
"No, you don't," he said, shaking his head. "I was lucky enough to get out of helping you pack the stuff up, I'm certainly not going to help you unload it. Besides, I might mess things up for you. I could put the books out of alphabetical order or something like that."
"I don't put them in alphabetical order!" Hermione said defensively. "I mean, I group them by subject, but I don't put them in alphabetical order! I'm not that anal retentive."
"Oh, yes you are," Harry said, winking at her. "But I love you for it."
Hermione got to her feet, giggling. She worked her way to the middle of the room and gave Harry her best puppy dog eyes. "Come on, Harry. This always goes by much quicker with help. And, if you stay, I'll even buy pizza. Come on, Harry. You know you want to."
"Not the puppy dog eyes, Hermione," Harry said, shaking his head. "As appealing as that sounds, I have to decline."
"Why?" Hermione asked. "You have a hot date or something?"
Harry chuckled. "As a matter of fact, I do."
"Who is it this time?" Hermione asked, trying to hide her disappointment. "Bambi? Candy? Lola?"
"Okay," Harry said. "I know I date a lot, but I have never in my life dated anyone by the names of Bambi, Candy, or Lola. I do have some standards, Hermione."
"Well, they might as well have names like that with how they behave," Hermione said without thinking. "I mean, come on, Harry. Some of those girls couldn't even spell etiquette let alone know how to use it. You could do so much better than that."
Harry scowled at her. "I'm not looking to marry these girls, Hermione."
"Which is precisely my point," Hermione continued. "You know that most of these girls just want to tell their best mates that they slept with 'The Boy Who Lived'. "
"As long as I get some enjoyment out of it, too, they can tell whomever they want," he said with a laugh. When he saw that Hermione wasn't laughing, his smile faded.
"Why are we talking about this anyway?" he asked.
Hermione grabbed a handful of books and carried them over to the bookshelf. "I don't know. I just think you should stop acting like you do. Find someone with more than a few brain cells upstairs."
"Why do you care all of a sudden?" he asked. "I've been doing this for years now. You've never said anything before. Why are you upset about it now?"
Hermione sighed. "Just because I've never said anything doesn't mean that I don't have an opinion on it. I just don't see how the sweet guy who's my best friend can act like this."
"I'm still the same sweet guy that I always am," he said, trying to lighten the atmosphere between them. "I just need to go out every once in awhile and blow off some steam."
Hermione huffed. Harry chose to ignore that.
"I-I need to go and get ready," he said, looking absently at his watch. Hermione's back was still to him. "Have fun tonight."
"You, too," she said curtly, as she continued to place books on the shelf. She still didn't turn around to face him. With one last glance at her, he walked out of the room and closed the door firmly behind him. He had one hand on the doorknob and was seriously contemplating going back into the room and having a chat with Hermione. Her words had stung him more than she could ever know. He wasn't used to looking bad in her eyes and he had to say that he didn't like it. Recognizing that this was a lost cause, at least at the moment, he walked toward his own bedroom.
**************************
The club that Harry met Sabrina at was already packed by the time he'd arrived. He'd had trouble finding her in the crowd of faces, but he'd found her waiting for him at the bar. She looked quite stunning. Her black hair was piled on top of her head with wisps and tendrils framing her face. She wore a low cut and short red dress.
They'd both ordered drinks and were sitting at a table having a quick chat. Well, at least Sabrina was chatting. Harry was politely nodding, but couldn't help feeling bored out of his mind. Yes, Sabrina was very pretty and had a great body, but she wasn't…he couldn't quite think of the word to describe her. They'd met on the street a few days ago and Harry had asked for her number and she'd given it eagerly to him. He hadn't even thought about calling her until that stupid talk he'd had with Lupin about Hermione. He'd called Sabrina straight after that and they'd sorted out meeting tonight.
As if that wasn't enough, Hermione's words kept echoing in his head. He found his mind wandering to what she was doing. He couldn't deny how adorable and cute she'd looked earlier than evening with her comfortable pyjama bottoms and top.
Okay, stop thinking about Hermione looking cute and adorable. Concentrate on the beautiful, attractive girl in front of you right now.
"So, I decided to get that jumper in both red and yellow," he heard her saying. "Because I just couldn't decide which one I liked best."
She looked up from her glass of wine and saw that Harry wasn't listening to a word she was saying.
"Harry?"
"Hmmm?" he asked absently.
"Where are you tonight?" she asked with a laugh.
"With you," he said, mustering a smile and trying to focus his attention back on Sabrina.
"Good," she said, relaxing. "So, how about we get out of here and go back to yours?"
Harry was surprised that she was so blunt and upfront about that. But, maybe, this was just what he needed to get his mind off of Hermione. Just as soon as that thought came into his head, however, Hermione's voice echoed in his ears.
"I mean, come on, Harry. Some of those girls couldn't even spell etiquette let alone know how to use it. You could do so much better than that."
"You know that most of these girls just want to tell their best mates that they slept with 'The Boy Who Lived'."
"I just think you should stop acting like you do. Find someone with more than a few brain cells upstairs."
He focused his attention back to Sabrina and saw that she was putting her coat on and was about to stand up from her chair.
"Actually," he said quickly. "Do you mind if I take a rain check on tonight?"
Sabrina's face fell. "Oh."
"I just have an early start tomorrow and I need to check on a friend that I've been worried about. I hope you understand."
"Yes," she said quickly, mustering a smile. "Of course."
What the hell is happening to me?
***********
Hermione was nearly finished with unpacking. All in all the night had been quite productive. She'd managed to put her own bed linens on the four poster bed and she'd even stored all her books on the shelves. All that remained now was putting the rest of her clothes in the closet and hanging up some artwork.
She was still upset about her talk with Harry earlier. They rarely fought and when they did, she always felt terrible afterwards. She honestly didn't understand why he did the things he did sometimes. He was better than some love them and leave them Casanova. Yes, he was right when he said that she'd known all along that he was like this, but it still didn't make her hate it any less. He deserved better than that. She wanted better for him than that.
In an effort to get her mind off of Harry, she walked over to the CD player and turned the volume up higher. The song was by Aretha Franklin and she couldn't help but sing along to the music. She didn't think as anyone would mind the volume as she was the only one home at the moment.
She started to sing along, "If you want my lovin….If you really do…don't be afraid, baby…just ask me…You know I'm going to give it to you…"
Harry had just stepped into the foyer of 12 Grimmauld Place. He was carrying a small brown paper bag. He heard the sound of music coming from upstairs. Pulling a confused face, he took his coat off and placed it on the table by the door. Before heading upstairs, he quickly walked to the kitchen to pick something up before he finally made his way upstairs to check on Hermione.
As he got closer, he heard…what sounded like Hermione singing. He couldn't be sure because he couldn't remember ever hearing her sing. Of course, he'd heard her sing the school song once or twice, but that had always been in a group, never alone.
She was by no means a great singer, but she didn't sound off-key. He knocked softly on the door, but with the music being as loud as it was, he knew she couldn't hear. He tried calling out her name, but got no response.
He tried the doorknob and was relieved to see it was unlocked. When he opened the door slowly, he was amazed by what he saw. There was Hermione Granger, singing and dancing around the room.
"Oh and I do declare, I want to see you with it….Stretch out your arms little boy, you're gonna get it. Cause I love you…ain't no doubt about it…Baby I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, baby I love you!"
Harry tried not to laugh as he saw her spin around the room, lost in the music.
"If you feel you want to kiss me…go right ahead, I don't mind…All you got to do is, snap your fingers and I'll come running…"
She turned again and gave a seductive smile into the mirror. As she did so, she saw in the reflection that Harry was standing right behind her.
"HARRY!"
She turned around and stared at him for a moment before quickly walking over to the CD player and turning it off. She nearly couldn't look at him.
She gave him a sheepish smile. "Um, h-how long were you standing there?"
"Long enough," he said with a grin. "Do you take requests?"
"That was my one and only performance, I'm afraid," she said nervously. "I-I didn't think you'd be home so soon."
"I'm just full of surprises tonight," he said, coming into the room properly. He looked around the room and gave an appreciate sigh.
"Great job, Hermione!"
"You think so?" she asked proudly. "I had such a great time doing it, too."
"You should have seen me when I moved in here right after school ended," he said with a laugh. "Oh, wait a minute! That's right you were here."
"Yeah," she said. "I still remember my aching back from that move. I think that's one of the reasons we have friends. They're like personal valets when you move or need help picking something up."
"That must be why you keep me around then?" he asked teasingly.
"It helps," she said with a wry grin.
There was a small silence as they sat side by side.
"So, your evening with Lola didn't turn out as you planned?"
"Sabrina," Harry corrected. "My evening with Sabrina didn't turn out as I planned."
"Oh," Hermione said, secretly pleased. Okay, where did that come from?
Hermione turned to face Harry at the same time he turned to face her and they both said in unison, "I'm sorry."
They laughed.
"I-it wasn't my place to say anything," she said softly. "You're a grown man. You can do what you like."
"Can I?" Harry asked, glad that she wasn't angry at him and happy that things weren't awkward between them.
"Yes," she said with a nod.
"Well, how about a little peace offering then?" he asked, handing her the bag.
"What's this?" she asked.
"Open it."
With her eyes twinkling, she opened the brown bag to see a small container of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.
"You're a saint," she said, kissing him on the cheek.
"Thanks," he said smiling at her. He handed her a spoon. "So, while you finish that off, how about I finish up the room for you?"
"If you hang those two pictures there, I'll be in your debt forever, Harry."
"That I can do," he said, rolling up his sleeves.
About an hour later, they'd both finished the ice cream and Harry had hung the two pictures where Hermione wanted them. They were both a little tired as they sat down on the bed and admired their combined handiwork.
"I don't think I could move if I tried," Hermione said, yawning.
"Me, too," Harry echoed, yawning himself.
"I'm just going to rest my eyes," she said, leaning back on the pillow.
"Me too," Harry said. "I'll get up in just a second."
"Okay," Hermione said sleepily. "Just don't hog the bed."
"I'm too tired to argue," Harry said wearily, closing his eyes.
Within minutes, they were both fast asleep.