~A/N> Thank you so much for all the great reviews and feedback! I'm glad that most of you are enjoying this
story because I have enjoyed writing it so much. It's going to be much more light-hearted from here on out, not so
much drama and angst. Thanks to Spaz for her beta work, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! The next update will be next
Saturday :)
Harry walked quietly next to Ron, feeling like a complete git. Just seeing Hermione again made his heart beat a little faster, and she looked so beautiful standing there, her skin glowing in the early morning sunlight. The look on Hermione's face though was one of sadness and he thought he saw vulnerability there too; the thought that he brought pain into those beautiful brown eyes of hers was almost unbearable. She'd already been hurt badly by that Mike bloke, and then he had swooped in on her only to leave abruptly when she had told him about the baby. He had never felt so disgusted in himself; he couldn't imagine what she thought of him. Looking over at Ron he shuddered; he could only imagine how disappointed Mrs. Weasley would be with him if she found out. She had already let him know that she disapproved of the many girls he had gone out with, but if she found out he had dropped a girl just because she was pregnant...he would never hear the end of it.
"Harry?" Ron asked, snapping Harry out of his thoughts, "Are you even listening to me?"
"I'm sorry Ron, I've been preoccupied lately," he explained, "What were you saying?"
Ron shook his head with a small smile on his face. He knew exactly who was occupying Harry's thoughts, which meant that there was a good chance for Luna's plan to work. "I'll tell you inside," he said, gesturing towards the door to Neville's Cafe.
"Hello Harry, Ron," Neville greeted, "Fancy seeing you again so soon."
"Hey Neville," Harry replied, "Two bachelors for breakfast please."
Neville laughed and showed them to a table in the front of the empty cafe. After taking their orders and bringing their food out, Neville asked, "Do you mind if I sit and eat with you? I was running a bit behind this morning and didn't have time to grab something before I left my flat."
"Not at all," Ron replied with a mouth full of food. Harry laughed at the disgusted look on their friends face and said, "Don't worry Nev, you'll get used to it."
"I hope not." Neville replied, "That's just disturbing."
Harry laughed again and dug into his food, wondering where he would be without Neville's food. The Leaky Cauldron was okay for dinner or drinks, but their breakfast was horrid. "So," Neville said, interrupting his musings, "Will you be making an appearance at Luna's birthday party?"
"Luna's birthday party?" Harry repeated, looking questioningly at Ron.
"That's what I was telling you about when you zoned out on me," Ron said, "I'm throwing a party for Luna Saturday night and I wanted to know if you could make it."
"Of course I can," Harry said, "Doesn't she leave for Hogwarts soon?"
"In ten days," Ron said sadly, then realizing how sappy he sounded he added, "Which is good because I'll be able to act like a bachelor again."
"Right," said Harry and Neville at the same time with looks on their faces that said they knew he was full of shit.
"So when are you planning on asking her to marry you?" Harry asked with a knowing smirk on his face.
"Saturday night," Ron replied, his face turning a bright red.
"Good for you mate!" said Neville happily. Smiling at his two friends he got up from the table, and after grabbing their empty plates said, "Well, I need to get back to work, I'll see the two of you Saturday night if not sooner."
"See you Neville," replied Harry as he looked back at Ron. Watching him for a moment in disbelief he said, "I never thought you would get married right after school."
"Neither did I," Ron replied with a smirk as they got up and made their way out of the cafe.
~*~
Hermione looked in her mirror after trying on yet another one of her tops from her limited wardrobe; heaving a heavy sigh she said to herself, "It's no wonder you're alone Hermione, you haven't bought any new clothes in two years and what you own now makes you look frumpy."
As she yanked the offending shirt off and tossed it onto the growing pile of discarded clothes on the floor, there was a light rap on her bedroom door and then her Mother walked in without invitation or reply. Taking in her daughter's state of undress and the pile of clothes on the floor she asked, "What are you doing Hermione?"
"I'm trying to find something to wear to the party tonight Mum," Hermione replied tersely, hoping to avoid another confrontation with her. They had been arguing about it for two days now and Hermione was at her wit's end; her Mother seemed to think that, because she was pregnant, Hermione shouldn't be going out. Supposedly it was unfair of her to put herself out there as being available to any bloke that wanted her when she was carrying another's child. Merlin forbid she actually go out and be with witches and wizards her own age...she may even establish a social life for herself which would leave her Mother home alone most of the time.
"You're going to go?" her Mum asked angrily.
"Yes, I'm going to go," Hermione replied, "And I would appreciate it if we could not argue about it again. I'm not looking for a quick shag, Mum. I'm going out to meet some people my own age and possibly make some new friends. I refuse to stay cooped up inside this house like you just because of what people might say about me...especially when I'm not even showing yet and no one knows."
"But Hermione..." her Mother said, trying to convince her not to go, when Hermione interrupted her.
"No more 'but's Mum, I'm out of school, I'm of age, and I am going to Luna's party," she stated quietly while staring into her Mother's eyes, trying to convey that her decision was final.
After a moment of complete silence her Mother's eyes narrowed angrily as she glared at her only daughter and said, "Fine then, go and party like some irresponsible little slag, spread your legs for another worthless bloke who will only break your heart again. Just don't expect me to be here to piece you back together again afterwards."
Struck by her Mother's harsh words, Hermione just stood there with her mouth open, unable to respond. After she watched her stalk out of the room Hermione regained her senses and hurriedly grabbed at the last shirt left hanging in her wardrobe. She yanked it over her head and after giving herself a quick once-over in the mirror she decided that she looked good enough; she snatched her handbag from her dresser and walked quickly out of the house, not even bothering to say good-bye to her Mother.
Hermione had planned to floo over to Luna's house, but her Dad had their fireplace cut off from the floo network because of some strange conspiracy theory he had (Hermione had listened to the first five minutes of the story and then had tuned it out after "snorkaks" had been mentioned) and her Mediwizard had said no apparating; since Luna and her Father lived in a muggle neighborhood, she hailed a taxi. After giving the driver directions, Hermione sat back and took a deep breath. She felt some of the tension seep out of her and tried to put into context the argument she had just had. She didn't think she was being unreasonable by wanting a life of her own; did her Mum expect her to stay there for the rest of her life instead of finding a place of her own? If that were the case then her Mum was going to be shocked; Hermione had been saving up her earnings and Edna had already promised her the apartment that was over Flourish and Blotts. It was time for her to go out on her own; she knew her Mum would second guess everything she did with the baby and that would just cause a bigger strain on their relationship. She and the baby could start a life on their own, one without her Mother around trying to tell her what to do.
~*~
Harry checked his appearance in his mirror once more and liked what he saw. Picking up his robe from his bed he headed out to the sitting room and made sure to grab Luna's present off the table. Ron had been so nervous about proposing in front of everyone that night that he went over a couple hours before the party started to see if Luna needed any help. Harry was glad that he left early; Ron had been wearing a path in the carpet from his frantic pacing and silent conversations with himself.
Focusing on what Luna's sitting room looked like, Harry closed his eyes and a few ticks later was standing in the quaint room. By following Ron's voice he found everyone in the kitchen, standing around and catching up on each other's life. For the most part it was Ron's family; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and Neville were all talking amongst themselves when Ginny looked up and noticed him standing there.
"Harry!" she exclaimed as she rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
After happily returning her hug he held her out at arms length and said, "You look more beautiful every time I see you Ginny."
"Thank you Harry," Ginny replied, blushing.
Neville walked up next to her and with a serious look on his face asked, "You're not hitting on my date, are you Harry?"
"Your date?" Harry asked, pleasantly surprised. He had known that Neville had feelings for Ginny while they were in school, but Neville was always too shy to act on his feelings for the youngest Weasley. It seemed he finally bolstered up enough confidence to ask her out which was great considering that he and Ron had been worried for a while that she was interested in Draco Malfoy.
"I finally got some free time the other day so I went to Neville's cafe and he was sweet enough to ask to be my escort to Luna's party," Ginny answered, smiling up at Neville, causing his cheeks to become slightly pink.
"That's great you two," Harry said and noticing that Ron was trying to catch his attention said, "Will you excuse me? It seems my flatmate has something he wants to discuss with me."
As Harry made his way over to Ron he noticed that his best mate didn't look so good; he seemed more pale than usual, which caused his freckles and hair to stand out more, and there seemed to be a thin sheen of sweat across his brow. "You alright mate?" Harry asked concerned.
"I will be once I get this over with," Ron replied, "I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to do this tonight, with all of our family and friends around."
"You were thinking how Luna would love for her Father and close friends to be there when she got engaged," Harry replied, clapping his hand down on Ron's shoulder. "It's a good idea, you just need to steel your nerves and do it as soon as possible."
"Right, right..." Ron said while seeming to stare at nothing, "Soon as possible..."
"You can do it, and it's not like she's going to turn you down," Harry said, trying to be reassuring.
"She might say no?" Ron asked, looking stricken.
"No, no, that's not what I said. You know she's going to say yes Ron, so stop worrying about it," Harry replied, and before he said the wrong thing again said, "I'm going to go say hello to your Mum and Dad, I'll see you in a bit."
"Yeah," Ron said, not really paying attention to what his friend was saying. Harry knew he was probably visualizing all the ways Luna could say no to his proposal and tried not to feel bad about the fact he'd given Ron more cause to worry.
Harry made his way to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to say hello and catch up with them. It had been a while since he'd been to the Burrow, and he knew that Mrs. Weasley was a little put out with him for not visiting more often. As they caught up on each other's lives Harry heard Luna greeting various guests as they arrived, but didn't really pay any attention to who they were. Suddenly a pair of hands covered his eyes from behind and a soft, seductive voice asked, "Did you miss me lover boy?"
"L-Lisa?" Harry asked in disbelief. When she took her hands away and spun him around he saw that his fears were confirmed. Lisa Simmons, a one-time shag he'd indulged in right after Lavender broke up with him, stood there smiling at him. Before he could say anything she stepped forward and pressed her lips to his; when she tried to get him to open his mouth for her Harry pulled back, breaking the kiss, and asked, "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm saying hello to my favorite lover," she replied, causing Harry to cringe in embarrassment as he felt Mrs. Weasley's eyes boring holes into the back of his head. "It was rude of you not to owl me after the night we shared Luv," she said, running her hand lightly down his arm.
"I-I left you a note," Harry stammered, trying to avoid her piercing blue eyes; the witch had a stare that would make Voldemort squirm.
"I think I deserved more than a note," she said quietly. Harry heard the undertone of anger and started to mentally kick himself in the arse. Why did he have to let his hormones run rampant all the time, and why did he always seem to pick the mental birds?
"Yes you did, I'm sorry," he replied, trying to soothe her hurt pride, "What I did was wrong...I should have owled you afterwards and told you I didn't want to see you anymore instead of ignoring you the way I did."
"That's alright, you can make it up to me," Lisa purred seductively as her hand glided down his chest, "the shag we had that night was the best I ever had."
"Erm..." Harry said, looking around frantically for someone to help him out of this, "T-That sounds like fun, but..."
As Luna opened the door to let in another guest Harry looked up; he spotted her walking through the door and a brilliant idea came to mind. He knew she was going to be very angry with him and that she would demand an explanation, but if she would just go along with him on this...
"Hermione!" he called, nearly dragging Lisa along with him as he quickly made his way towards Hermione. "I'm so glad you're finally here," he said, praying she would see the desperation in his eyes. Before either witch could say anything he said, "Hermione, this is Lisa, an old friend of mine." Trying to ignore the daggers that Lisa was glaring at him Harry turned towards her and said, "Lisa, this is my girlfriend, Hermione Granger."
Lisa looked at Hermione angrily and then turning quickly back to Harry, she slapped him across the face. "You great prat!" she shouted and then stomped away from him.
As Harry stood there rubbing his smarting cheek he dared to look at Hermione and saw her glaring at him. "Harry Potter, do you mind telling me what the bloody hell that was all about?"
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