The sound of the creaking swing chains cut through the still air. The ice cream cones were long gone, but the two friends remained in the park, their sanctuary, their special place.
"Mione?"
"Yeah?"
"We should spend the night together."
Hermione nearly choked on her own spit. "Excuse me?"
"You know, you, me, like used to, and all night, and school the next day, but tired, and you know, the silly stuff?"
"What in the bloody hell did you just say?"
"Me," Harry adopted a caveman grunt and pointed at himself. "You. Walk. All night. Work tomorrow. Fun. Understand?"
"Me Jane, you Tarzan?"
Harry sighed. "Yes, Jane. Me Tarzan, you Jane. No, you tart, I meant that we should walk around and hang out all night like we used to do when you were in college. Doing fun and silly things, just the two of us, and still managing to go to school or work the next day. Those were some of the best times in my life."
"I like the way you think, Tarzan." She grinned.
The tall wizard shrugged. "I know, I'm brilliant. That's why I offered to sell my brain to science."
"What, is there a shortage of prats' brains in scientific research?" laughed Hermione.
"Why you little…"
"Oh, go ahead and sell it, it's not as though you're using it or anything."
"I intend to get you for that, Jane."
"I would be disappointed if you didn't."
There was a minute of silent reflection, as the friends just gazed at one another and enjoyed the moment. Hermione felt herself admiring his face for the billionth time. Merlin, he was gorgeous.
"Um, Harry," her voice croaked, "What…uh…what did you want to do tonight?"
"I think, that since I've been taking up all your time planning this wedding, that tonight should be about making all your wishes come true."
Hermione thought that unless Harry planned on simply tying a red bow around himself, that was highly unlikely to happen. However, she simply raised an eyebrow.
"And what, exactly, did you have in mind?"
"You'll see."
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Meanwhile, Ron sat worriedly across from Malfoy in the Hogshead.
Draco looked around disgustedly. "Tell me again, Weaselbee, why it is that you made me Apparate all the way to this pathetic excuse for a pub?"
"I don't want us to be overheard by anyone we know."
"No chance of that here," sneered Malfoy. "We have better chances of picking up some incurable disease."
"Oh give it a rest, FerretFace," frowned Ron. "This is serious."
"Lay it on me."
" I think Hannah is cheating on Harry."
This caught Draco's attention.
"What? The two of them are sickening together. Why would she cheat on him?"
"I dunno," sighed Ron, "But I saw her in the Leaky Cauldron talking to some guy."
"They could just be friends," countered Draco logically.
Ron shook his head. "I don't think so. You should have seen them together."
"Yeah, because you're so well known for your acute powers of observation, Weasley," Draco rolled his eyes.
"No, I mean, they looked really guilty, like they were up to something."
Malfoy stared at him intently. "If you're so concerned, then why are you telling me this instead of Potter?"
Ron sighed. "Because, you great insensitive git, it's going to absolutely kill him…that is, if he believes me, which I'm not so certain he will. Hannah's got him wrapped around her finger. He acts like a bloody dolt around her, and when she's not around, he never stops talking about her…"
"So what, like who better to break the bad news to him than me?" asked Draco dryly.
"…always on and on about how smart she is, and how adorable she is," continued Ron as though he hadn't heard a word. "She's so beautiful when she chews her quill, and I love the way her nose crinkles when she laughs, and she's always teaching me something, her brown hair is so lovely, and she's a goddess and blah, blah, blah. If I have to hear one more word about her I'll go mad."
"Wait just one minute, Weasel." Malfoy appeared very thoughtful."Did you hear what you just said?"
Ron blinked. "What, about Harry? Yeah, mate, haven't you been listening? Damn, I told you this was important and there you go…."
"Hold your tongue, Weasley. Think about what you just said. He was supposed to be talking about Hannah to you and he raved about her gorgeous brown hair." Draco gave the redhead an intense look.
"Huh?"
Draco sighed and gave Ron a hard slap across the cheek. "Pay attention, Weaselbrain! Potter was supposedly talking about Hannah, but he made a Freudian slip. He said brown hair. Hannah's a blonde."
"So bloody what? I don't care anymore about that trollop's hair then when Harry was talking about it. Why do you want to talk about it? I swear, Malfoy, you're taking the mickey, and I'm not sure….."
"WEASLEY!" yelled Draco. "Brown hair. Lots of brown hair."
"What, are you going to dye yours?"
Malfoy picked up his tankard and dumped its contents over Ron's head.
"Wake up! Who do we know with lots of bushy brown hair?"
"Bloody hell! He was talking about Hermione and didn't know it! Wait. Harry loves Hermione? HARRY LOVES HERMIONE!" Ron whooped, butterbeer dripping down his face.
"Yes. It's about time you caught on. Potter loves Hermione. And she loves him." For the first time, sadness registered on Draco's face.
"Hey, wait a minute. You're in love with her, mate," said Ron softly. "Isn't this killing you?"
"No," said Draco crisply, his shaky voice betraying his true emotion, "Because I do love her, and she deserves to be happy. And if Potter makes her happy, then damn it, he's going to be with her, even if I have to club him and drag him to the altar."
"At this rate, that's a distinct possibility."
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"Harry!" laughed Hermione, tugging at the handkerchief around her eyes. "Where are you taking me?"
"You'll see," whispered Harry mysteriously.
Hermione felt the warm pressure of Harry's hand in her own, and had to suppress a shudder. Why did it have to be this way? Was she going to stay in love with him forever? It was killing her to be around him, and yet…and yet…it was the best feeling in the entire world.
Suddenly, they stopped and Hermione felt the blind fold being removed form her head.
"Ta-da!"
"Har-ry!" gasped Hermione. "You remembered."
"I called in a favor," he shrugged and tried not to look too pleased with himself.
When they used to take their late-night adventures, one of their favorite haunts was the ice-skating rink. It was a wonderful place with lights and music and a happy atmosphere. Hermione had always spoke of a wish that they could have it all to themselves sometime, but from October until February every year, it was absolutely packed with other people.
Tonight, however, it was empty. Harry had made her wish come true.
Hermione had her skates laced up and was on the ice before Harry even had time to remove one shoe.
She flowed about and spun, and Harry noticed, once again, how graceful she was. He paused and stared at her.
The lights were reflecting upon her hair, making it glow with each turn of her head. Her arms were outstretched, her face uplifted, and she looked…angelic. Angelic was the only word to describe it.
"I could watch her forever," thought Harry ruefully, "Forever and ever, and still wish I had more time to simply admire her for who she is."
It was this reflection that caused Harry to remember something Ron had asked him over a week ago during their tuxedo fittings.
"Harry...can you...can you honestly see yourself with Hannah forever? I mean, you have to remember this is forever. Permanent. Irreversible."
Only now did he realize he hadn't exactly answered the question. And, watching Hermione, he realized why he hadn't answered it. Because until now, he had never understood how any person could truly see themselves with someone else forever. Until now, he had never realized how there just wasn't enough time in the universe to spend with someone.
Until now, he had thought he was over Hermione.
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As Ron paid the bill, Draco paced nervously around the lobby of the pub.
He was, at the moment, having an attack of conscious, something that had never happened to him before.
On the one hand, the right thing to do was to inform Potter if anyone even had any suspicions that Habba-Dabba or whatever- her-name -is was cheating on him. On the other hand if they did tell Potter, then that left him free and clear for Hermione, something Draco was none too pleased about.
He sighed. They had to tell Harry, and he knew it. And, if truth be told, somewhere deep in his heart he knew that Harry and Hermione belonged together.
As Ron came into the lobby, Malfoy gave him a hard look.
"Ronald," he said solemnly.
"Uh, Draconis," replied Ron bewilderedly. "What are you on about?"
"I have come to the conclusion that Potter and Granger are destined to be together, if only they'd stop mucking it all up."
Ron snorted. "Talk about being slow on the uptake. The rest of us have known that for years."
Malfoy gave an evil grin, one that meant he was up to something. Ron shuddered. He hadn't seen that grin for years. But he knew exactly what it meant, and when Draco looked like that, whoever he was after had better watch out.
"The difference is, Weasley, that you didn't have me then."
And, for whatever the reason, Ron had a strong suspicion he was right.
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Harry and Hermione sat breathlessly on a bench removing their skates.
"Oh, thank you, Harry, thank you ever so much."
Harry grinned. "It was my pleasure, doll."
As they gathered their things and made their way outside, Hermione gave a small shiver.
"Godric's Hollow, it's cold for October," she marveled.
Harry slid an arm around her. "Better?"
She gazed up at him, his breath warm on her face. "Yeah," she breathed dreamily, "Yeah, that's perfect."
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"So tell me again why we are here?" asked Ron incredulously as he stood under an Invisibility Cloak with Malfoy outside Hannah's apartment.
"Because, Weasley, I did the locate spell and this is where she is. If she's cheating on Harry, we need proof, which means we've got to follow her around."
"Bloody hell, does that mean I've got to be crammed under an Invisibility Cloak with you until we get something?"
"You've got it."
"I hope you showered."
"I hope you ate a breath mint after those onion rings."
"Yeah, well, I'd still smell than you if I didn't."
"Not if you're still using that sludge you call shampoo."
"Hey! I like my shampoo! It's Chudley Cannons!"
"Which explains why it smells like a locker room."
"It does not! It smells like…like….fresh air and a Quidditch Pitch!!"
"It smells like ass."
"Shhh…here she comes…and see! There's that guy I told you about!"
"Ron, you dolt, that's Ernie Macmillan!"
"Ernie? I thought he lived in the States? Doesn't he write for that cheesy tabloid Rita SKeeter runs?" asked Ron confusedly.
"Yes…o Melrin, no…please don't let that mean that Hannah…"
"Writes for it!" gasped Ron. "Oh, no. He's not her lover…"
"He's her boss."
"Shit."
"Couldn't have said it better myself, Weasley."
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"Where to now, Tarzan?"
"I've got some ideas left up my sleeve, Jane."
As they continued walking down the avenue, Harry stopped outside a drugstore. "Hold on. Don't move a muscle."
Hermione waited as Harry ran inside and came back with a small bag.
"What's in there?"
"I'll show you later." Harry stuffed the parcel in his pocket.
The two friends strolled about laughing and talking for another hour, before they came to a movie theatre.
"Mione, look! They're playing The Shop Around the Corner!"
"That old Jimmy Stewart movie? I love that movie!"
"I know, let's go."
And in they went, Harry buying their tickets and then leading the way to the concession stand. He ordered Snowcaps and popcorn, then proceeded to dump the chocolate right into the popcorn bucket.
"Harry! What are you doing?"
"You've got to get that perfect blend of salt and sweetness. It's terrific."
Hermione wrinkled her nose.
"C'mon, try it. Trust me."
Hermione sighed and grabbed a handful, chewing thoughtfully.
"Well?"
"That's absolutely disgusting…I love it."
Harry beamed.
Later, after the movie, Harry sat down at a bench outside and pulled out the bag he'd bought earlier.
"Temporary tattooes. I know you've always wanted one…this is as close as I could get."
"Oh, Harry."
"Where do you want it?"
Hermione slid down her shirt, and gestured toward her shoulder. "Right there."
"I think the butterfly."
"Okay." He wet it carefully and then blew on Mione's back to dry it.
"Perfect," he whispered, locking eyes with Hermione.
"Yes, perfect," whispered Hermione back.
"Alright there, Mione?" gasped Harry as he felt his face leaning towards hers of its own accord.
"Never better, " she managed just before his lips engulfed hers and she forgot everything, including her own name.
At that moment, they both saw a flash, and heard a yell, and moments later, Hannah, Ernie, Draco, and Ron came tumbling out of the bushes in a fighting, dueling heap.
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