Well... It's been a while... (ducks tomatoes and other rotten fruits/vegetables being thrown at me) Anyway... Again... Mostly filler and just to move the story along... However, I did want each narrative character to have the chance to have a last say. One more left and should be out in no time because it's pretty much written. *crosses fingers* Enjoy!
M.P.
Chapter 20:
Green Eyes
"Honey, you are the rock
Upon which I stand
And I come here to talk
I hope you understand
Green eyes, yeah, the spotlight shines upon you
And how could anybody deny you
I came here with a load
And it feels so much lighter
Now I met you
And, honey, you should know
That I could never go on without you
Green eyes
Honey, you are the sea
Upon which I float
And I came here to talk
I think you should know
Green eyes, you're one that I wanted to find
And anyone who'd try to deny you
Must be out of their mind
'Cause I came here with a load
And it feels so much lighter
Since I met you
And honey, you should know
That I could never go on without you
Green eyes
Honey, you are the rock
Upon which I stand"
'Green Eyes'
-Coldplay
I wake up in the arms of my beloved, feeling lighter than I have in years. It appears that somehow, in the night, our bodies found each other and melded themselves together.
One thought crosses my mind; Ron and I never did this.
With my ear settled against Harry's chest, I can hear his heart beating steadily. His skin is warm against my face and I find myself absentmindedly tracing an intricate scar that runs across his chest, left, I'm sure, by Voldemort or a death eater. My heart aches for him at this moment. His arms are slung loosely around my waist... And I feel so very loved.
Very quietly, so as not to disturb him, I untangle my limbs from his and slip quietly out the door and into the hallway of the Burrow. I make my way into the kitchen and see Ginny sitting at the table, bent over a sketch and eating a danish. "Good morning," she says cheerfully and hands me a cup of coffee.
"What time is it?" I ask sleepily.
"10:30... Ish..." She grins at me in that very Ginny way.
"What?" I ask, sitting across from her.
"I saw you and Harry all cozy and cuddled up this morning... Care to explain that?"
I shrug. "It wasn't done purposely or anything... We were talking and just fell asleep."
"Talking?" she smirks,
"Yes, Gin, talking..."
"Just talking?" she raises an eyebrow at me.
"Well, we might have kissed a little bit too..." I feel my cheeks turn hot as soon as I say this.
"But you did sleep with him last night," she says decisively.
"Sleep being the key word, Gin."
She nods slyly but then furrows her brows together and twirls the pencil around in her fingers. "Erm... Luna came by earlier. She said that Ron drew up the papers last night."
I glance down at my left hand where the absence of my wedding ring becomes suddenly obvious. "Yeah, he did."
"So, I assume you signed them?" she asks tenderly.
I scoff. "You think I'd cuddle up to Harry before I had?"
"That's why I assumed you had," she says quietly.
We sit in uncomfortable silence for awhile until I decide to speak. "I can't believe I slept so late! Why didn't you wake me?"
Ginny shrugs. "You both just looked so peaceful and happy... God knows you've both waited long enough to be happy together... And it was such a long night for the both of you... I just couldn't bring myself to wake you up... But I just really can't believe you didn't sleep with him last night."
I smile. "I did sleep with him last night, Ginny."
She sighs impatiently. "Yeah, but you didn't sleep sleep with him last night."
I shake my head. "No... No, I didn't."
"Why not?"
I sigh and try to plan what I'm going to say. How can I explain this to her? "Gin, has Draco ever been away on business for a while and suddenly you find yourself waiting for him to come back? Not just waiting... Has it ever become an obsession to you? You miss him so badly that all you can think about is him kissing you and touching you and you want to make love to him so badly... Then, he finally comes home and suddenly it doesn't really matter whether or not he kisses you or touches you or if you make love for hours... All that matters is that he holds you and you meld into the most familiar places of his body and you lose yourself in his scent and you feel safer than you have since he left... Haven't you ever felt that?"
Ginny stares at me, open-mouthed. "God, Hermione... You should write novels."
I laugh. "Well, there are great deal of things that I should have done... But I suppose it's too late for any 'should haves'..."
Ginny shakes her head. "It's never been too late for you, Hermione. You'll do great things."
"Thanks," I answer her.
She clears her throat. "We're moving up the wedding."
"Why?"
She shrugs. "I won't be able to hide Draco Junior for very much longer, and I don't want to have a charmed stomach for my wedding. Everything's all set."
I gape at her. "When are you planning on having it then?"
Ginny laughs. "Tonight."
"What?" I lurch forward in my chair. "But your dress isn't finished. My dress isn't finished. There's no food, no tent, there's nothing! We cannot have this wedding tonight!"
She shakes her head. "Yes, we can, and we will. Let me explain. After you and Harry went off to Hogwarts last night after James's party, Draco and I quietly decided that it would be better to just do it and get it over with. Now that you and Ron are divorced... Well, there's going to be enough focus on this family as it is... James has changed completely and... Well, you know that the press is going to be all over it. We keep it private until you make a statement." She sighs. "Anyway, we sent owls to our very close family and friends. I never really wanted a big wedding anyway."
I look her straight in the eye. "Liar."
She laughs. "Okay, you caught me. We'll have another service for the public later. This is a good thing, Hermione."
I shake my head. "I just can't understand how we're going to be able to do all of this in so little time."
She whirls her wand. "You underestimate the power of the wizarding world. Mum spent all last night cooking. Everything is outside just waiting to be zapped with one of her quick heat charms. The tent was set up earlier. The dresses are on their way from Madame Malkin's. Everything's going to be fine."
I sigh. "If you say so."
"G'morning..." Harry yawns as he steps into the kitchen. He kisses my temple and Ginny pours him a cup of coffee. "Thanks, Gin..." He sits between us.
"We're going to a wedding tonight, Harry."
"Really?" He asks. "Whose?"
Ginny smiles. "Mine."
He nods. "That's nice. Bit earlier than you expected, eh, Gin?"
She shrugs. "You know me. I never was predictable!"
"Isn't that the truth?" Harry mutters.
* * *
"James, if you don't try it on, then you can't be in the wedding!" I plead with my son.
"I'm not going to wear that, Mum!" James sits in a chair in the middle of a Madame Malkin dressing room with his arms crossed over his chest. He looks so very much like Harry at this moment.
"James..." I rub my temples. "We haven't time for this. I am going to ask you to try on your clothes one more time and if you still refuse to do so, then I'll just tell Aunt Ginny that you refuse to be her ring bearer."
He grits his teeth and mutters, "It's a skirt, Mum."
"It's a kilt, James, there's a difference!"
He shrugs.
"All right, James," Harry says from the dressing room beside us. "I've put on mine. Would you like to see?"
"I guess."
Harry steps out of the dressing room in the kilt that Draco ordered for the wedding. It's made of green, silver, and black tartan (an attribute to his Slytherin lineage, no doubt) and it makes the green of Harry's eyes stand out. "See, James," he says. "They're actually quite nice. Now, will you try on the kilt?"
James looks up at me and sighs, but I know that he loves and admires Harry too much to tell him no.
I think we both have that problem.
* * *
I sit across from Ron. "I've decided something," I state.
He looks up at me from his kippers. "What?"
I sigh. "I want to take a little piece of the money that Harry left me... Well, left James, and open a bookstore in Diagon Alley."
Ron swallows, and takes a long drink of his pumpkin juice. "Why?"
"I can't stand being here all day long with nothing to do but housework."
"You have your books," he answers.
"Exactly," I stress. "If I could educate the youth of the wizarding world... I want to put a beloved book of my own into the hands of someone who is going to take it and love it and appreciate it as much as I have."
"Well, what about James?"
"I'll take him with me. He's old enough now that I can put his bassinet behind the counter and let him sleep or play or whatever."
Ron sighs. "You really want this, don't you?"
I nod. "Books can't ever leave me."
* * *
"Oh, it's perfect!" I gush as I'm led into the empty shop space in Diagon Alley right across the street from Gringott's. Already I can envision shelves and shelves of books around the walls. I can smell the crisp pages of the new books and the musty smell of the older ones. I wrap my arms around myself and nod.
"Well?" Ron says quietly, stepping behind me. "Will this suffice?"
I smile. "Yeah... This will do just fine."
TEASER (the LAST one)
I offer my arm to Hermione. "A waltz, milady?"
She nods and takes my hand in hers. We dance in silence for a while before she speaks. "I never really thanked you for what you did, Ron..." she mutters against my shoulder.
I shrug. "You never really had to."