*** A/N: You guys have no idea how much I appreciate all these words of encouragement for the fic! This is so exciting!! *does little dance around the room* Sorry though about a delay in updating, I am trying to balance work and stuff, so it's kinda drained me of my want to write. I think its back so here goes!***
** Disclaimer: I own nothing, just the plot and my characters. Don't sue, for your own sake. You won't get anything but five cents and some pocket lint.**
*A Lucky Save*
"Uhh, hello?? Kathy, is there really someone on the other end or are you pulling that 'COME QUICK! BRAD PITT IS ON THE PHONE!' joke on me again?" Hermione said a bit annoyed at the pause.
"SAY SOMETHING!" the voice in Harry's mind was screaming. "Huh. Uh. HI! Yeah, I'm here. Sorry though, it's not Brad Pitt." Harry said, hoping that he sounded smooth.
"Phew, I'm glad you're there. I would have looked pretty stupid falling for that joke again. What can do for ya?" Hermione asked, slightly amused that the anonymous guy on the other end was playing along. For some reason, she knew the voice though; it was as anonymous as she had originally thought.
"Um, yeah. I am the guy you picked u… I mean, helped last night. I was just wondering if you'd have any free time that I could take you out for dinner as a thank you anytime soon." Harry said, spitting out the words with hopeful precision.
Hermione motioned to her secretary Kathy to give her the date book that sat on her desk. Leafing through the pages, she saw that she was booked all week. "Ahh, what day would be good for you?"
"Any day after noon. I have practice in the mornings." Harry said confidently, though secretly knowing that practices never ended before noon and hoped that she would say something later on.
" Oh goodness, I don't know. You pick the date and I'll be ready." Hermione said flustered. She had never been good at taking the charge when it came to planning anything.
"Ok, Friday night at 7, ok? I am thinking about this little Italian place. Its not dressy, but I wouldn't dress in ripped jeans and stuff." Harry told her, his mind was still reeling.
"That's great. I'll be ready." Hermione said, erasing a follow-up appointment that was set for that time. It would have been the last one of the day, but she could reschedule it in sometime next week.
"I'll meet you at your office at 7 then. See you then!" Harry said quickly, trying to get off the phone as soon as he could.
"Alrighty. See you then! Thanks for calling!" Hermione said, glad that a possibly ugly day was averted. She made a face at the very interested Kathy straining to hear as she hung up the phone. She rolled her eyes and told Kathy what happened.
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"HOLY SHIT!!!" Harry said loudly scaring Mike out of his kitchen table dreaming. "Jesus, that was Hermione. I knew I knew that voice. Oh damn, she is gonna flip. Shit shit shit shit SHIT!!!" His mind was racing at what was going to happen. He kicked himself for not realizing it last night. Realizing that he was going go insane over something that hadn't happened yet, Harry walked out the door. He needed coffee or heroine or something to make this idea of impeding doom disappear from his mind.
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Hermione couldn't get her mind off what went on that morning. It wasn't the dinner, but the voice. She knew it. It was setting off fireworks in her head, but she couldn't tell why they were there. It wasn't until she sat down to type some of her notes on her last patient that it hit her. There it was. Sitting in a picture frame next to her pen cup, a picture of the Weasleys and Harry. Her eyes narrowed on Harry's goofy smile staring back at her. "Stupid, that was Harry on the phone. Why didn't you know that? Call him back and tell him that he has a better chance of seeing the Easter bunny than you on Friday," her mind was telling her. "NO!" Hermione said out loud, startling Kathy out of her hourly "meditation" moment. "I am gonna do it. I am gonna be there on Friday. God help me, or him rather, because I will be there." Hermione vowed to herself and got on with the rest of her day.
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As if in some sadistic mood, time seemed to rush from Wednesday to Friday in about twenty minutes. Harry had been completely distracted from practice and had forfeited his spot in this Sunday's game to Adam McGill because of it. He and Adam were the one and two best seekers in the league, however, Harry had been playing like he was still a rookie.
Hermione was so busy that she didn't notice it was Friday until Kathryn told her she would be at her boyfriend Todd's all weekend. When she realized it was Friday, she panicked. "Awww fuck. I am so screwed. Fuck Fuck Fuck!" Hermione said, fumbling through her laundry to find something that remotely matched. Finally deciding on a striped skirt and a tee, she made her way to the shower. However, despite her unabashed hatred of Harry, she was feeling excitement rising in her. "No! You cannot feel excited. You're angry, remember?" that annoying voice in her head sounded like a broken record. "Shut up." Hermione said out loud and proceeded to wash her hair.
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"Typical Harry," Hermione thought "its 5 minutes to 7 and he still isn't here." She then caught site of a man walking towards her building. "Ok, Hermione. Keep it together. He was your best friend once. BE CIVIL." She said giving herself a pep talk.
"There she is. Wow, she is gorgeous. Damn, I wish she didn't hate me, or maybe she doesn't anymore. Whatever, we'll find out." Harry told himself, making his way into the lobby of the building.
"Hi," Harry said, out stretching his hand, "I'm…."
"I know who you are, Harry." Hermione said, interrupting.
The next action surprised them both. Hermione ignored his hand, but hugged him instead. He caught the whiff of her shampoo, the same one that she used in their days back at Hogwarts.
"How'd you know it was me?" they both said in unison, breaking the awkward silence.
"Your voice." Harry answered.
"Same here. I forgot for a moment, but remembered once I sat down and looked at that picture of us at graduation with the Weasleys." Hermione told him truthfully.
They walked out of the lobby chatting randomly. When they made it outside, Hermione was perplexed to see no car anywhere in sight.
"Where's your car?" she asked imploringly confused.
"Being fixed. Someone sideswiped it sometime this morning." Harry answered, wincing at the thought of the bill that would be coming from the auto body. "I thought it would be ok to walk considering how nice it is out. The restaurant's only a little ways down the street.
"Ok. That sounds fine to me." Hermione said contently. This was going better than she had hoped.
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Dinner had come and gone without anything eventful. Only playful banter, laughter and wonderful food erupted instead of tempers. They both realized that the evening was going better than they had hoped.
"Mione? What's with the name change? Didja witness a brutal slaying or something and need a new identity? Harry asked, half joking, half concerned.
Hermione's head drooped slightly. " No. I was married."
" You were what? When did this happen?" Harry was dumfounded. Hermione was so young; getting married young like that wasn't her usual self.
" It was three years ago. Well, five actually. We were married for just two years when…." Hermione's voice trembled and broke.
"What? If he hurt you, I'll hunt him down." Harry told him, puffing out his chest a bit.
"No, no. No need for that. He was killed in a car accident three years ago when we still lived in Edinburgh (*A/N: The pronunciation of this city is EDIN-BRA. I had to clear that up. Thanks). His last name was MacMillan. I never felt the need to change it back. I started to use my middle name to escape sympathy comments and because none of the kids could pronounce Dr. Hermione." Hermione explained, in a careful, soft tone. She was trying to hide the tears that came with the memory.
"Oh. I am so sorry, Mione." Harry told her. "And not just for your husband's death, but for everything. I really am sorry."
"Harry, its ok. I have moved on. I know that we both didn't mean what was said." Hermione confided to him.
They stopped for ice cream and ended up eating it while watching Casablanca in the park. They walked back to her apartment. She was about to invite him up for a while when he told her that he needed to get back so he could crash before practice the next day and turned to walk the other way.
"Harry!" Hermione called.
Harry wheeled around to see her approaching him. She looked up at him, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.