A/N: Thanks a bunch to my reviewers! Keep reviewing! Well, I found time after watching the best reality show there is (Extreme Make-over, Home Edition) and writing a fun essay (not) to start writing the next chapter. I've thought about it a lot, and I find myself liking this story. So please read and review, and ENJOY!
Chapter 2
Getting Adjusted
They both pulled out of the hug quickly and looked at anyone but each other. You can't just hug someone who used to be your best friend and yet you haven't seen them in ten years and have everything go back to normal. Harry had not registered the small boy yet, but did when said boy pulled on his mother's shirt and said,
"Mommy? Who's that?" She kneeled down beside him and smiled, saying,
"That's Harry Potter. He's picking us up from here." The boy nodded and smiled slightly with an uneasy look towards the tall messy-haired man. Hermione ruffled Aidan's hair and stood up again, taking his hand.
"Harry, this is my son, Aidan Brightman." The surprised look on Harry's face as he registered what she had said disappeared as soon as it had come, and he kneeled down and stuck out his hand towards the boy.
"Harry Potter. Nice to meet you." The boy nodded slightly and didn't take Harry's hand. The man stood up and brushed off his pants with a lopsided smile. Hermione bit her lip, embarrassed, and said,
"Sorry, he's a bit shy around strangers. We better get our bags."
Soon they were all walking out of the airport and towards Harry's car as he said,
"Where to, then?" Hermione pursed her lips and thought, before saying, "Well, since we're not moving into the new place until a little before September, I suppose we'll stay at the Leaky Cauldron." Harry raised an eyebrow at that and said,
"The Leaky Cauldron? Nonsense, you'll have to stay with us." Hermione's raised her eyebrows at the `us', but thought `You've been gone for ten years, Hermione! He probably IS married by now, or at least has a girlfriend!' She shook her head as they got into the small car, before saying,
"We couldn't just force ourselves upon you, Harry! We'll stay at the Leaky Cauldron, and that's…that." She closed her eyes and breathed in a deep breath as they backed out of the parking lot. It seemed quite awkward; the way things were going between the two of them. Aidan had been quiet through all of this, afraid to say things in front of this stranger, but now, sitting next to his mother, he whispered in her ear `I wanna stay with Harry.' Hermione looked at her son in confusion. Always shy and afraid of strangers, and yet he wanted to stay with this one? He looked at her with pleading eyes and, as Harry was looking at them through the rearview mirror with a questioning expression, shrugged, saying,
"Well, um…I suppose we could stay with you Harry. If its not too much trouble." He smiled at her, almost smirking, and replied with "No trouble at all."
*************
They arrived at his house soon after, and Hermione was surprised that it was a house. As they walked towards the front all with bags or suitcases in their hands, Harry looked at Hermione, amused.
"Thought I would still have the apartment?" She shrugged with a `guilty as charged' expression and mumbled,
"You loved that place." He laughed slightly, before seeing the hurt expression on her face and saying earnestly,
"Aye, I did. It was too crowded for us, though." Again, with the `us' reference. The suspense was killing her! Harry quickly opened the door and held it open for Hermione and Aidan as a big Labrador bounded forward and jumped onto the woman. She jumped in surprise before setting down her bags and kneeling to pet the large black dog while getting licked like crazy.
"Oh, you're a sweet puppy, yes you are." She said to the dog in baby talk as Aidan knelt down to pet it too. Harry smiled at them before saying,
"Yep, the apartment was way too crowded for the likes of Miss Amy here. Also, they didn't allow pets." Harry smiled as Hermione looked up, bewildered.
"This was the `us' you were talking about?" She asked as she continued petting the dog.
"What else would I be talking about?" Harry asked, confused. She just shook her head and smiled quickly before picking up the suitcase and bag she was carrying and saying, "So, where can we stay without being too much trouble?"
Harry shook his head and sighed, "I already told you. It's no trouble at all." He started walking and the party followed him as he continued. "That's the good thing about a big house with one person. A lot of room." They reached a children's bedroom complete with bunk beds and fun kid stuff. "Aidan can stay in here, it's where the um…the children that visit here…stay. Ron's kids and…stuff." Hermione nodded and pursed her lips before whispering to him,
"It's been ten years Harry. I can talk about it without crying, you know." He shrugged and forced a small smile as Aidan ran into the room and sat at one of the tables to read. "Will you be all right in here, Aid?" Hermione asked as he nodded and waved a hand, as if to say `shoo'. She shook her head and laughingly said, "Five years old, and as avid a reader as I am." Harry smiled at her and led her a little ways down the hall to a big empty room with blank white walls and a concrete floor. The man smiled at her and gestured into the room.
"This is my favorite guest room. It's where you'll be staying." Hermione looked at him, puzzled, and said,
"Is this some sort of a joke, Harry? You never had much of a sense of humor, ya know." He laughed slightly and said,
"I get that response from most people that stay in this room. I took a lot of time casting spells in this place. Now, you simply imagine what you want it to look like, and it appears. For instance:" He screwed up his face in concentration and a big mahogany bookcase filled a whole wall. It was filled with all the books he knew Hermione loved, and the ones she might love, too. She smiled and walked over to it, running her fingers over the book covers and looking at him with glee.
"I'm going to have fun with this room. Thanks so much for letting us stay here. I swear, if it gets to be too much of a hassle, just tell me, and our bags will be packed." She said in earnest. He shook his head and started to walk out, leaving Hermione to her amusements. The woman rubbed her hands together in excitement, before concentrating as a plush red carpet appeared on the floor.
*************
A few hours later, Harry walked into Hermione's new room in amazement. She had kept the bookcase and now had a room with plush red carpet and dark wooden paneled walls. Her bed was a four poster mahogany with patterned dark warm colors on the comforter and many fluffy pillows around it. There was now a dresser with a large mirror, also mahogany, and lots of comfortable looking furniture. Harry found Hermione on the window seat she had created to look out on the scene she chose, reading a book from his bookcase, Pride and Prejudice, and eating a piece of pizza.
She marked her spot with a bookmark, and looked up at Harry.
"Pizza's on the dresser if you want some. It's crazy, I found myself craving pizza, and all of a sudden, there was a box. This room is spoiling me." Harry smiled slightly and said,
"You can reverse some of the spells if you need, so if you find yourself wanting to go swimming, a whole beach doesn't appear." He walked over to her and looked out at the view of clear blue water and a sandy beach. "Where is this?" Hermione looked out with a slightly wistful smile.
"It's the view of our backyard, in Georgia." Harry looked at her sad and wistful expression and whispered,
"Why'd you come back?" She shrugged and smiled slightly at him.
"I felt it was time." She turned back towards the view. "I loved this backyard. I remember, growing up, we had a tiny backyard, fenced in, it almost felt like a prison. With this yard, it's never-ending, it gives you a feeling of…freedom, I suppose. It was beautiful." Harry nodded slightly, wondering so many things and yet not being able to ask, for fear of the answer. He only smiled, and whispered,
"It's beautiful."
*************
A few hours later, and after eating pizza and drinking pumpkin juice, Hermione was found in Aidan's room.
"What do you want to hear tonight, Aid?" She asked as she tucked the boy into bed. He thought for a moment, before saying,
"Shostakovich, Prelude." Hermione smiled as she kissed him on the head and whispered `I love you', turning off the lights and walking into the living room. Harry was on the couch, drinking some tea. She turned to him awkwardly and asked,
"Do you have a piano?"
Harry smiled and gestured towards a corner of the room. Hermione walked over to it while whispering, "Aidan likes to fall asleep to piano music." She took the sheet off the big black instrument and tried a chord. She turned to Harry with a grimace and cast a spell, trying another chord.
"Don't you ever play it? It's terribly tuned."
"Well, I don't exactly know how. It's just there because it was my Mom's." Hermione nodded and sat down, starting the slow minor music of the song.
"I didn't know you could play." Harry said softly, turning his body to watch Hermione's nimble fingers move about the keys.
"Started about nine years ago. Played ever since." Harry listened quietly as she continued with the song, and smiling as she finished.
"He's a unique boy." Harry noticed. Hermione smiled and nodded.
"Does he know, about…the world you came from?"
"He knows…that I'm different than most people. I've explained some things to him, and he understands." Hermione walked over to a chair in front of the fireplace and sat down, sighing slightly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Harry asked quietly from the couch. Hermione turned her head to face him and whispered,
"About what, Harry?"
He shrugged.
"Everything, I guess. Why you left, why you've been gone so long. Everything."
Hermione nodded slowly and said,
"Well, I suppose we'll get into it sooner or later. Go ahead, ask me any question, and I'll answer best as I can." She turned her body to face him and looked into his emerald eyes that she had been avoiding for the whole day. He slowly contemplated her face before quietly saying,
"Why'd you go?"
The woman slowly breathed in and out and smiled wryly.
"You know part of that, Harry. I first considered going after Ginny's death. I just couldn't handle the pain. I got mad at everyone, at Dumbledore, Ron. I got mad at you because you couldn't save her." She said the next part in a quiet, almost whisper voice. "I got mad at myself because I couldn't save her." She looked down at her hands before looking up again. "That was part of why I had to go. The other part was…I was just, sick of it, of everything. My parents marriage was failing, I could feel you and Ron slipping away from me.
And I hated myself for being sick of it. Here you were, and you couldn't leave it all. And all I wanted to do was what you couldn't. I couldn't bear it any longer, I just had to get away." A silent tear slipped down Hermione's cheek and she wiped it off as quickly as it came. "God, and here I thought I was completely over it."
"Hermione, you don't have to continue if you-"
"I have to get this all out eventually, Harry. I suppose you want to know why I was gone so long?" He nodded slowly, slightly afraid of the answer.
"Well, at first, I suppose I always thought I'd come back eventually. Maybe be gone a year or so and then come back. I went all over the world, the rest of Europe, Australia, Asia, and South America. I finally went to America, traveled the states. In Georgia, I met Henry." She smiled slowly and got a far away look on her face, before shaking her head slightly and continuing. "He was…funny, sweet, devoted. We weren't soul mates, or meant to be together. But I was comfortable with him, and I grew to love him.
We got married about 6 years ago and had Aidan. He was a marine biologist, a muggle. He knew about my past and who I was, I couldn't keep anything from him. He died a couple years after Aid was born." She said the last part of this in a small voice and got a pained look in her wide cinnamon eyes. In a strangled voice, she said, "Um…could I tell you more of what you want to know t-tomorrow?" He nodded and Hermione stood up shakily, as if about to faint.
Harry quickly jumped up and steadied her.
"You okay?"
She tried a slight smile and a hand fluttered to her forehead.
"I'm fine, just…stood up a little too fast."
He looked at her and nodded.
"I…never really talked about it to anyone. It's hard."
Harry nodded again and wrapped her up in an embrace.
"I missed you." He whispered quietly as Hermione buried her head in his chest. She pulled away slowly and smiled quickly.
"I missed you too. I should get to bed. Night Harry."
"Goodnight Hermione. Sweet dreams." She walked out of the room quickly and Harry collapsed onto the couch as Hermione fell into her bed, tears streaming silently down her face.
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