Hi, and thanks for clicking on my story J
This is my second entry onto portkey.org, and one of my first short stories. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as people did my last one. Please don't criticise spelling or grammar mistakes. I know they are there, but when I proof read I don't notice them, and my spellchecker doesn't notice either, so unless you actually want to correct it for me, then if you could just bare it thanks.
Harry sat in his apartment in Sydney. It was a sky rise one with the large windows going from floor to ceiling. The view was unrivalled, though he never had anyone to show it to. It was a clean minimalist apartment that would generally belong to a millionaire who only uses it for a few days a year, not to a twenty two year old Harry Potter.
He occasionally saw Ron or another friend from school, but other than that he had no association with magic. It had caused him so much pain, he simply tried to forget it existed. After all it was magic that had killed his parents and magic that had kept him from having a good first ten years of his life. It was magic which had killed so many people around him, and ultimately it was magic which had ended his relationship with Hermione four years ago.
Hermione…his heart still ached when he thought of her, when he thought of what they had, and how they didn't have it any more. He moved here, as far away as possible in the hope that the distance would lessen the pain, it hadn't. Neither had time really, though it didn't feel so bad anymore. This was mostly because he was used to it by now.
He worked from his apartment. He made web pages, which was easy money. He did often think of getting a more challenging job but he wanted to maintain a low profile, for there were still enemies around. He smiled to himself as he thought of a quote from a film he had seen shortly before he left.
"The greatest trick Satan ever pulled was to convince mankind that he didn't even exist" Harry hoped that in some way he could do this.
He wasn't hiding, but by living a low life, and never appearing in the wizarding world he could guarantee that he wouldn't need to look over his shoulder every minute of every day. Also it meant that the ones he cared for wouldn't be put at risk from Voldemort's remaining followers.
He read in the prophet shortly after he moved here, that the Great Harry Potter had gone mad after defeating the dark lord, and had fled to the mountains to live in solitude. It was a load of rubbish, or at least the part about mountains was. The thing was Harry could look at himself and he could see that perhaps he hadn't been entirely rational. He could see something for what it was, and yet his heart couldn't.
That was the reason why he had left. He and Hermione had started going out just after they finished Hogwarts. Harry didn't want to risk loosing touch with her after school, and so he told her how he felt. It was something he was glad he did, for on that day he learnt that she reciprocated his feelings.
They had had a wonderful relationship whilst it lasted, but then something went wrong. After they had defeated Voldemort Hermione had gone off and gotten a job at the ministry working as an Auror. This would have been okay with Harry except that it seemed to take up so much of her time. He was on a Quidditch team at the time and between their jobs they hardly ever seemed to see each other.
Not to mention the Death Eaters. He was always worrying about them, as being in a dangerous job like that she came into contact with them, and made herself a target. Whenever Harry tried to take a precaution she always treated as if he was paranoid.
Did she not care about her safety? Personally he would have been flattered to have someone who cared that much. He felt himself start to anger at the thoughts of it all. He took a few deep breaths as he got up from his chair and paced over to the window. He stared out at the river running by, and the cars driving past.
"Let it go Harry." He said to himself as he had so many times before. "It's in the past."
He thought back to how it had ended, on such a bitter note. Harry had gotten back from Quidditch practice and was cooking dinner at their apartment in Hogsmeade. Hermione was due home in half an hour, and everything was going well. Then however, the phone rang. Harry put down the over glove and walked over to the phone.
"Hey hunny." Hermione said in her sweet voice, which immediately disappointed Harry. These phone calls were so frequent these days. He barely even needed to answer.
"Hey…" Harry responded as he tried to keep his voice cheerful.
"I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to make it home on time. Something has come up and with Darren still sick off work they want me to do another night raid… You didn't have anything special planned did you?"
"No, nothing special." Harry responded as tears formed in the corner of his eyes. He knew Hermione wasn't cheating on him but it still felt in his heart like she was, even if it was only with a job.
"I shouldn't expect you back until early hours then?" He asked as he prepared for another night alone. He had practice early in the morning so he usually went to bed by about ten. "Well I might be able to get back by midnight. I won't wake you up though because I know you need your sleep." She said cheerfully.
"Ok…" He said as he took a deep breath. "Just promise me you will be home on time tomorrow." He said.
"You know I can't promise that. Things come up and its important that I'm here to do them."
"I don't care. Its always work with you. I'm never in your life." He snapped at her. "Have you never considered you have duties to me?"
"I saw you just yesterday." Hermione countered hotly.
"And work saw you today. Promise me." He said before hanging up without as much as a goodbye.
Harry sat that night with a candle lit table in front of him for an hour in silence. He knew it was pointless really but there was always a remote possibility Hermione would get out early and he could surprise her then. "Still." He thought to himself as the hour ticked up and the candle burned low. "If she couldn't enjoy his meal why should he?" He picked at a few bits of it before throwing it in the bin and heading off to bed. It wasn't even nine o clock, but he needed to sleep so he could try and forget about the feeling of rejection that was constantly being thrust upon him.
She hadn't made it home on time that night and she hadn't even called. He didn't enquire for a reason. Instead he laid down his hand and walked away. If he was going to keep loosing then he wasn't going to keep playing. He packed his bags and walked out of her life. At least now he didn't have to worry about being disappointed.
He paced backwards and forwards for several moments contemplating what he had just found out. He tried to ignore it, tried to pretend it didn't matter to him any more, that it wasn't his problem. He cursed in anger as he punched the wall, leaving his knuckles grazed. It was his problem. It always was. Hermione Granger was getting married.
Harry had found out on the internet. It had been listed on the Daily Prophet website. Harry checked up on it daily, it was his way of still keeping in touch with his home world. He thought to himself about how everyone else must have known. Ron and Remus and the few others that had visited him. They must all have known about it, for the wedding was to take place in a week's time. It they hadn't told him then it must have been because Hermione had asked them not to. Harry considered her reasoning behind this, and he didn't blame her.
Harry spent the rest of the day packing his bags and at five o'clock that evening he got on a plane to England. It was to far to aparate and he didn't fancy taking a portkey, so instead he sat in the cramped cabin and waited for several long hours watching poor in flight movies and trying to sleep as overly active children made a racket around him.
He touched down in England just gone dinner time. It was cold here, which struck him as odd. Hermione must have changed. He remembered clearly how they had lay in bed one night talking about how they would one day get married. Hermione said she wanted to get married on the beach during the hot summer months with the setting sun over the water. This wasn't like that. Everything back here in London was stone and cold, so different from the warm caring person he had loved so much.
It seemed that at some point after Harry moved out she had moved down here to London, it made commuting to work easier he supposed, but when your taking floo powder it wouldn't make much of a difference. It was probably because her Muggle partner wasn't allowed in Hogsmede. Harry picked up his luggage at the terminal and set out into the streets of London. It was raining lightly, though by the time he walked into a McDonalds for something to eat he was soaked through.
He hung his coat on the back of the chair leaving a pool of water forming as he ate. He considered what to do next. He hadn't set foot inside the country in four years, and he suspected that should he go near any wizarding establishment there would be a bit of commotion before to long. Harry finished his food and made his way over to a payphone. The first one was broken so he waited a few minutes for a woman to finish with the one next to it. Once she was done Harry shoved a few twenty pence pieces and made a phone call to his best friend Ron.
The Weasley's had a telephone installed now. Arthur originally installed it for fun, but had since discovered the practical use of long distance communication without the use of floo powder. On the third ring a woman picked up. It was a voice Harry knew very well though he hadn't spoken to her in over a year.
"Hello, Weasley Residence." Molly said into the receiver. Harry hesitated for a moment before asking.
"Is Ron there?" There was a brief pause on the other end of the phone as misses Weasley racked her mind.
"Is that you Harry?" She asked. "I haven't seen you in goodness know's how long. I don't suppose you will be visiting us at any point will you?" She asked, unaware that he was just over an hours drive away from them.
"Maybe tomorrow." Harry sighed as he watched the money on the phone count down. If you don't mind I'm using a pay phone…" He said as he faded off. He head the receiver being placed down on a surface before he heard misses Weasley call loudly
"Ron! Phone for you."
There was a fifteen second pause before the phone was picked up again.
"Hello?" He asked as he caught his breath.
"It's Harry. Meet me at the Milton Arms in half an hour." He said as he hung up the phone. He slumped against the wall. There was no turning back now. He had to go through with this, had to be there when Hermione got married, if only so that he could finally put his past behind him, and stop thinking of what could have been.
The Milton Arms was a small Muggle pub they used to meet at every Saturday night after they finished school. It wasn't fantastically popular, which was nice as sometimes it was nice to be able to simply sit around and have a few drinks and hold a conversation. Harry hoped it was still open. He walked back over to his chair and grabbed his coat before pulling it on and setting off once again into the light rain outside.
As the Taxi drew up outside the old pub with the peeling paint sign Harry felt a pang of nostalgia. It was like he had walked back into his old life, one he had tried so hard to move away from. He paid the taxi driver, before heading into the pub. It was just gone eight o clock, and Ron was expected within the next five minutes. Harry didn't fancy waiting outside so instead he walked in and sat down at a large oak table far away from the bar. This was the table they had usually got. He looked along the edge and could see where Ron had scratched his name one evening. It was strange how he remembered the small details. He wondered if He remembered Hermione as well.
"Bloody Hell it really is you." Ron said as he slung his waterproof to one side and slid into one the chairs next to Harry. "I thought you were either winding me up or it was someone else pretending to be you…" Although Harry hadn't been in England since he left that night four years ago, he had seen Ron just over two months ago, back in Sydney.
"Why didn't you tell me Ron?" Harry asked as he took a sip of his drink.
"Tell you what?" Ron asked innocently.
Harry gave a sigh. He calmed his nerves once again. It didn't matter that he wasn't told. It wouldn't have made a difference. He was here now anyway…
"Why didn't you tell me Hermione was getting married?" He asked as he tried to keep his voice level. He didn't entirely succeed. Ron didn't respond right away, and Harry could feel the tension in the room increase. Ron knew Harry would be angry when he found out, he was just hoping that wasn't until after the wedding.
"Does it matter?" Ron asked eventually. "You chose not to be a part of her life so why do you change your mind now?" Harry tried to contain his rage but failed.
"You're wrong!" He yelled as he slammed his fist down on the table, causing some of his drink to splash over the edge. A few people turned round to watch them momentarily, before looking back to the football game on TV. "She chose not to be a part of my life. That's why I left." Harry continued through gritted teeth.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry asked again. "Were you afraid I would storm in and try to stop it?" Ron peered at him for a moment.
"You're not going to?" He asked unsurely.
"No I'm not!" Harry snapped. He hated being angry. Back in Sydney he never got worked up. Everything was always calm and predictable, so much better than here.
"Then why are you here?" Ron asked as he patted his friend on the back.
"Because I promised I would be." Harry said as he allowed a smile to play across his face.
It was a joke really, and certainly the promise was going to be kept in a different way from how it was originally meant. It was the same night that they had lay in bed and Hermione had told him about how she would like to get married on a beach.
"And we would be the only ones there, besides the vicar." She said with a smile as she ran her hands across his chest.
"But what if I was late, what if there was traffic and I couldn't make it?" He joked. She punched him playfully.
"If you know what's good for you, you will be there." She laughed. "I'll make you promise." She had said with a kiss.
"I promise." He replied softly as he ran his hands over her body.
"It wasn't Hermione's choice that you shouldn't be invited." Ron said, causing Harry to snap out of his reverie. "She didn't invite you because she didn't think you would turn up. She didn't say she didn't want you not to know though. I decided it was probably for the best though so we agreed not to tell you…." He continued guiltily.
Harry finished his drink and placed the empty glass back down on the table.
"Well I don't care to go into detail about why I wasn't invited. The fact is I'm here now and I'm attending the wedding. Do you know where Hermione is?"
ron was taken back by this question, and he hesitated for several moments before telling. Harry merely nodded after hearing this, and without speaking another word, he got up and walked out of the pub. He looked down each end of the street, the lights stretching far into the distance where everything was a rainy blur.
It was getting late, but Hermione never went to bed early. She usually liked to read in bed, even after making love, something Harry wasn't particularly fond of. He always found himself rolling over in his sleep to find the corner of a book digging into his eye where Hermione had let it fall once she had finally succumbed to sleep.
She was at her house apparently, which Harry had never seen before. It was in outer London so once again Harry hailed down a taxi. Apparently her fiancé, whatever his name was, was out of town on a business meeting. That was probably for the best, as they generally didn't appreciate it when ex lovers turned up on the doorstep.
As the taxi made its slow journey through late night traffic the rain abated a little and Harry found himself glancing out of windows looking at houses and wondering if Hermione was inside, and what she might be doing. What sort of life had she made for herself. Although he had loved her, and probably still did, he couldn't help but hope her life wasn't wonderful. If she was living in a great big mansion it would be like rubbing his face in the fact that she did fine without him.
"This is the street." Said the taxi driver as he broke the silence off the car which was enhanced by the soft dripping of the rain upon the windows and the hum of the engine. Harry stared down the street. It was quiet upmarket, though the houses weren't mansions. They were well kept and quiet modern. They probably cost a lot of money given there location. Probably even more than Harry's flat.
He handed over a twenty pound note and stepped out into the rain. It was only light and so he didn't get to wet as he began walking down the path, looking at the house numbers. Hermione lived at number seventy four, and He had just gone past twelve. He walked on for two more minutes before finally drawing up to a house with a brass seventy four on the front. It might just have been his imagination but this one seemed even smarter than the rest. It seemed like someone had practically gone out and cut the grass with scissors.
There was a white car in the drive way with mud splatters up the side. Harry walked past this and up to the front door where he hesitated. If he rung the bell there would be no turning back. For four years he had tried to forget about his old life, tried to forget about what he once had. Four long years it had been, alone. Was it really worth him ringing the bell, for what? A promise?
He pushed his thoughts aside. He didn't get on a plane and travel to the far side of the world just to get scared and run away. He had more balls than that. He rang the bell. His heart started racing as he suddenly worried about his appearance. He felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he quickly ran his hands through his hair trying to neaten it up. He saw movement through the distorted glass pain and so he stopped fidgeting as the figure inside made there way to the door.
The door opened and Harry was greeted with a sight that briefly stunned him before causing him to laugh. Hermione had answered the door with a sandwich in her mouth, and she was wearing her wedding dress. Her fucking wedding dress! She seemed just as surprised as he did. Her facial expression was worth the travel alone. She mumbled something as she hastily chewed the sandwich in her mouth.
"Either you're eager or I'm late." Harry said as he raised an eyebrow with a bemused smile.
"Come out of the rain." Hermione said to him once she had cleared her mouth. Harry took of his coat and stepped into the warmth as Hermione gathered up her dress and walked into the living room. Harry followed her expectantly. He expected a little more than that, maybe even a hug, though then again he hadn't expected her to be wearing a wedding dress had he?
"I'm just sorting out some arrangements." She said as Harry stepped into the living room to find a short dark hared woman with several sheets of paper laid out in front of her. Harry took a well worn seat in the corner of the room. It was a seat that they had back when they lived together and therefore Harry felt more comfortable in it.
Hermione didn't say anything more to Harry for the next fifteen minutes, whilst she sat on the floor with her dress puffing around her, talking to the wedding planner. Finally Hermione bid the woman goodnight, and escorted her to the door. She then made her way back to the living room where she plopped down onto one of the sofas opposite Harry. She let out a sigh as her read fell back against the top of the chair so she was looking at the ceiling.
"I have had a long day." She said exhaustedly.
"Aren't all your days long?" He asked as he thought about when she worked as an Auror.
"Yes, but this day is longer than most." She said as she pulled out a cushion to hug. Despite the open fireplace in the room it was still a little on the cool side. It needed stoking but unless she got changed or someone else did it there was no chance of that happening.
"It's about to get longer you know."
"I know, that's why I'm getting comfortable." Hermione said with a grin as she settled down in the chair.
"You don't seem surprised to see me." Harry commented a few minutes later after Hermione had made them both a cup of tea.
"Mmm well Harry just because you don't use magic any more doesn't mean the rest of us don't either. Ron sent me a message telling me you were back in the country. I guessed you might stop by. Still it did still surprise me to see you there and then. I thought you might wait a few days first."
"No time like the present is there?" He said as he stifled a yawn. "Forgive me if I seem a little slow. Jet lag and everything, I have been awake for about thirty hours now. Where's your man then?" He continued, though he already knew the answer.
"He isn't here at the moment." Hermione said slightly hesitantly. "He's on a business meeting. He's a company director. He should be back in about four or five days though."
The fire crackled in its grate as the wind in the chimney blew lightly on the flames. The rain pummelled rhythmically on the windows as they sat in the living room. A silence fell between them.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to touch you." Harry said with a small smile. He knew Hermione well enough that she would be worrying that. After all he had never been able to hide his feelings from her before, why would it be any different now. She could probably see he loved her.
"That's good to know." She replied as she finished her tea and put the cup down on the coffee table. She drew her legs up to her chest for warmth. Even though it wasn't that cold in the house the dark sky outside made it feel as though it were. "We left on such odd terms Harry. One day you were there, the next you were gone…I thought you might come back, so I waited for a while in case you did. If that's why your back now Harry I'm afraid your to late. He didn't answer this, as his return was still something of a mystery to himself. He wasn't going to ask her not to marry this other guy, so why was he here?
"I left because I was afraid of being hurt again. It hurt me a lot you know."
"No it didn't." Hermione said softly. "The only one hurting you was yourself. I know that you left because we didn't see each other as much as you liked, but I think that perhaps you were making a problem out of nothing. I saw you most days." Harry didn't respond to this. He didn't feel he could without raising his voice to her. It was because of her he left. Always because of her.
"Well, whatever our situation had been, I never seemed to be hurting myself on my own."
"What's Sydney like them?" Hermione asked as she watched Harry curiously. For some reason he didn't meet her eyes. She could only guess this was because he didn't want her feeling sorry for him. After defeating Voldemort something in Harry changed. He always seemed so desperately alone, and she could tell when looking in his eyes. Perhaps Harry had never considered that Voldemort gave Harry a purpose. With his purpose now gone he was left to drift. Hermione had tried to be Harry's purpose, but it seemed to have failed.
"It's nice and peaceful." He replied after some thinking. "How come you never came to visit?" He asked, surprising her briefly.
"Did you really want me to visit? After all Harry you were the one who left… I thought you left because you didn't want to be with me anymore, if I had visited you surely I would be taking away what you had wanted, which was to not be with me or see me."
"It was the opposite actually, but essentially the same. I left because I wanted to be with you, but I couldn't, so I decided that if I left, then I could stop loving you. I left because I wanted to be with you."
"I guess I can understand that." Hermione said sympathetically. Harry was rather special. He needed a lot of love, probably to make up for all that he had missed out on when he was younger.
"I must admit though that even though I didn't want you visiting, I was surprised you didn't. But anyway that's in the past, I try not to look at the past." He said bitterly. The past was always Something Harry was running from. Never did he look back on the past and wish he could be living it again.
It had hurt when Hermione didn't knock on his door. She had known where he was, and if she had really loved him, as much as he had loved her, then she would have come for him. She would have professed her love and begged him to return, so they could continue their life together. She never did this, and so Harry eventually came to the sad conclusion that she obviously didn't love him enough. After all that was why he had left wasn't it, because she loved her work more than him? Harry couldn't take being second in someone's life
"Well you already know a bit about my life I assume." Hermione said as she held up her fingers and began to tick off points. "I'm getting married in six days." Other than that you I transferred departments at the ministry." This was something Harry didn't know. "I stopped working as an Auror after one of my friends died. I now work in muggle relations. The pay isn't as good, but then there are more important things in the world."
"Me and Adam, that's my fiancé, got this house about six months ago. We have been together just over a year." Harry didn't respond to any of this, as it wasn't something he was happy about. He could feel the coppery taste of jealousy edging its way into his mind already.
"I hear from Ronald that you design web pages. Apparently you make a lot of money form that." She said interestedly. Harry could see there was a pc in far corner of the living room, but the fact it's operating system was windows 98 told Harry that she didn't use it much.
"It pays the bills." Harry muttered nonchalantly.
"Is there anyone special in your life?" Hermione asked, for she knew she needed to, even though she was already fairly sure of the answer.
"No, not at the moment." He replied with a glare. Harry's relationships had always been a rather sad matter. For the first year he had refused to go into a relationship, he didn't want to scare off Hermione in case she might be interested in getting back together with him. After the year passed however he tried to get on with life and put his past behind him.
The relationships however didn't last long, especially because of the nightmares. After he had left Hermione his nightmares returned, ones so vivid that they he would awake screaming in a cold sweat and not be able to sleep for the rest of the night. After living through what Harry had, nightmares were to be expected. After being left for the fifth time and having someone recommend he should see a psychologist, he decided to call it quits. For the last two years he had remained alone, on his own, and expected to forever more.
"Well that's a shame." Hermione said a minute later, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. Perhaps she felt it was uncomfortable. "I'm going to make another cup of tea, would you like one?" she asked as she got up from her chair.
"Please." He said as he passed her his mug, and watched her disappear into the kitchen, her wedding dress flowing behind her.
Hermione paused in the kitchen as she waited for the kettle to come to the boil. Why had Harry turned up now? She wouldn't ask him tonight. She could but she wouldn't get the truth. Whatever reason he was for though, it wasn't a good thing that he had turned up. He would no doubt disrupt her life, which had been running smoothly like sand in an hour glass. Once the tea was done she walked back into the living room, only to find Harry asleep in his chair.
"Are you awake?" She asked him, as he often liked to joke, or at least he used to. There was no response, only the slow steady breathing as he lay slumped in the chair. Hermione wondered briefly for a moment whether to wake him or not, but then she could guess well enough that he planned to stay anyway. She pondered for a moment. This was Harry, and he wasn't about to do anything stupid. He could be trusted, and it was just for one night. She pulled out a blanket which she laid over him, before turning out the lights and heading up to bed.
Harry awoke the next morning, knowing something was wrong. The sun was playing across his eyes, which told him immediately he couldn't possibly be in his apartment. As it didn't have an eastern window. He clenched his eyes as he tried to recall where he was, and after a minute in which his brain finally began ticking at a normal pace he remembered the events that had transpired.
But why was he here? Shouldn't he be in a hotel? No, he had fallen asleep. He opened his eyes and looked around him. There was a blanket on him, that must have been Hermione. She always liked to tuck him in. The fact she apparently did still made him smile. He saw that the room was empty, though down the hallway he could hear movement, so Hermione was already awake. She usually did get up early, even when neither of them had a reason to. Harry Climbed up off the chair, letting the blanket to fall on the floor.
He walked down to the kitchen, where he was met by the sight of Hermione making some breakfast. It consisted of coffee, toast, eggs, or cereal. He had been hoping to catch her in her pyjamas, to see if she still wore his old Chudley Cannons t-shirt. She had loved that, even if she didn't like the team. He had no such luck today. She was already dressed, this time in normal clothes.
"Hey Harry." She said as she spotted him out of the corner of her eye. She had a towel wrapped around her still wet hair. "Sleep well?"
"I didn't sleep enough." He said as he pulled out one of the kitchen stools and sat down. He tried to push to the back of his mind how familiar it all felt. Every morning how he would wake up and Hermione would be there, with breakfast, how every morning she would say the same things. She hadn't changed one bit. She was still the same goddamn Hermione, which meant he would have to be that much more careful not to be the same Harry, and to have the same love.
"I'm not a morning person." He yawned, as she placed down some toast and coffee in front of him.
"Of course you're not." Hermione said as she poured herself a bowl of Special K. "There is no such thing as a morning boy. Anyway what are your plans for today? I have to leave for work in about half an hour I'm afraid. Will you be alright leaving on your own? I'm afraid if the neighbours see you here on your own they might get silly ideas. Feel free to stop by later though."
"Oh so you want more of me do you?" Harry joked as he stuck out his chest and gave her a boyish wink. She scoffed at this.
"You wish. But no seriously Harry I know there is a lot of history between us, but you and I are still friends I thought. Just because there was once some love, doesn't mean we can't be friends now. If Adam asks I can just say we were catching up on old times. He won't mind, and I would certainly enjoy doing just that, as long as that is all you had in mind." She said tensely as she caught the distant look in Harry's eye.
"Oh yeah. I don't want to go there again. I left for a reason, and after the wedding I will leave again. For now however I guess we can catch up. I will probably go and see the Weasley's later. I told Molly I would probably stop by. I need to pick up some new clothes though. I didn't really pack much when I left."
"Mmm well Ron hasn't got work today." She said disapprovingly as she though of Ron's one day a week job. His job was as a Keeper substitute. He could easily have made it onto a proper Keeper position on any other team, but he earned enough money to satisfy his life style, and it seemed he preferred the free time than the fame, though she wouldn't have thought it at first.
"Oh well maybe he would like to come shopping with me. I should have asked him last night but I didn't see him for long." After he had finished eating breakfast Hermione disappeared upstairs to finish getting ready. She gave him a front door key so he could lock up after he left for the day.
"What time do you finish work?" He asked her. There was a small amount of satisfaction as Hermione had to hesitate to answer this. He would in some way be glad if she was late. It would make his last four years seem that much better.
"I will be home at about six. I'm not cooking for you so don't get any funny ideas Harry. You're sorting out food, since otherwise my fridge will be empty within a couple of days. "Don't drop in before five thirty though, because I don't want the neighbours knowing your home alone. They might think you're my bit on the side." She said with a laugh as she strode over to the fire place with some Floo powder. She threw it into the flames causing them to burst into life.
"You're beautiful today Mione." Harry said as he poured himself some more coffee. Hermione gave him a sad look, and replied.
"Don't Harry…Please." Before disappearing into the flames.