~A/N> Another week, another update :) Happy Fourth of July weekend to everyone in the US, and to everyone else,
happy weekend! Ready for some fluffy, sweet H/Hr goodness? Cause this chapter is full of it. Of course you may curse me
at the end because I left a little cliffy, but you'll only have to wait until next Saturday, I swear. I hope
everyone has a safe, fun weekend, and if you get a chance, check out the LIVE 8 2005 concert. It's
on MTV all day and it's for a very important cause. Not to mention they've had some kick-ass performances
already and soon Pink Floyd will be playing together for the first time in many years :) It's going to rock!!
Thanks to Spaz for her beta work on this chapter and to Poppywillow for her help and support!
Harry watched the passing scenery outside the taxi's window as they drove towards Hermione's house, thinking about what a strange night it had been. He had planned to leave her alone, to not get involved with her...she was going to be a Mother soon...what did he know about babies or families? This was supposed to be the time in his life when he finally got to live his life without looking over his shoulder in fear of another attack by Voldemort. He had planned to see the world, to enjoy a life without responsibility...and then he had spotted her in the Leaky Cauldron and somehow all of those plans had been put aside.
He looked down to where her head lay on his shoulder and studied her face as she slept. She was a natural beauty, she didn't wear a lot of makeup and she seemed to prefer comfort over fashion trends when it came to her clothes. From what little he knew about her, she seemed to be the most down-to-Earth girl he'd ever met, and he found himself wanting to know everything about her.
As he watched her sleep, his gaze wandered to her stomach, to where her child was growing. He marveled at the fact that she was carrying a baby inside of her, nurturing it as it grew until it was time for him or her to come into the world; he had never been around a pregnant woman before and he wondered what it felt like to have a life growing inside of you. Was she afraid of the changes she would be going through in the coming months, or was she so happy about becoming a Mother that she was willing to take the good with the bad? Unable to stop himself, Harry slowly reached out and lightly placed his hand on her stomach, where he thought the baby might be. Looking at her face once again, hoping that he hadn't awakened her, he was shocked to realize that a part of him wished that it was his baby that she carried instead of that wanker ex-boyfriend of hers. Trying to come to terms with that thought, he pulled his hand away quickly, as if it had been burned by fire.
"Here we are," said the taxi driver, pulling Harry from his thoughts. Harry handed him some money and then turning his attention back to Hermione said, "Hermione, wake up, we're at your house."
"Wha?" she mumbled sleepily. As she slowly sat up and looked around she realized that she was still in the taxi with Harry and that they were parked outside of her house. "Home...right," she said as she dug in her purse for the money to pay the driver.
"I've already taken care of that," Harry said. Hermione watched as he slid over and opened his door, got out and then reached back into the cab towards her. She slid toward the open door and took his offered hand, allowing him to help her out of the taxi. Once the taxi drove away, Hermione held the money out to Harry and said, "Here you go."
Harry looked down at her hand, and seeing what she was holding he said, "That's not necessary."
"I'd like to pay you back," she stated, gesturing for him to take the money.
"Hermione, it's really no big deal," he replied, "I offered to escort you home, I rode in the taxi with you, so it's only fair that I pay."
"Just please take it," she said, grabbing his hand and placing the bills in his palm, she closed his fingers around it.
Deciding not to give him the chance to give it back, she started walking up towards the front door of the house. He caught up to her just as she was about to put the key into the lock and said, "Why couldn't you just let me do this for you?"
"I appreciate the offer Harry, but I don't like other people paying for me. When we went for tea, you asked me out, so that was different; I was going to take a taxi home tonight anyway, so I can pay for myself." She looked him right in the eyes as she said this, and he could see how important it was to her to be self-sufficient.
"Okay," he said, noting the surprised look that quickly passed across her face before she restored the defiant look that had been there before, "Next time is my treat."
She couldn't stop the smile that appeared on her face at his words; he hadn't argued with her, but instead had alluded to the fact that there would be a next time. Her heart sped up a little at the thought that he might want to see her again, but then sensible Hermione surfaced and she squelched the hopeful feeling, unable to deal with possibly another rejection by him.
Harry stood watching Hermione as she seemed to be lost in thought. Before he could overthink it, he bent down and placed a light kiss on her lips. When she looked at him, surprised by his actions, he said, "Would it be possible for me to take you out again sometime soon?"
Hermione stood staring at him, warring within herself; half of her wanted to say yes and half of her wanted to say no. She was afraid to spend too much time with him, she might develop even stronger feelings for him than she felt already...but the other half of her wanted to tell him she would absolutely love to go out with him again and then go into the house to do a happy dance. Unfortunately her heart once again answered for her before her brain could even take a moment to think of what she was going to say.
"Harry, I don't think..." she started, before being interrupted by him.
Harry reached out and took her hand in his while looking into her warm cinnamon eyes. "Hermione, I know I pulled a disappearing act last time, but to tell the truth I wasn't sure what I wanted at the time. Now I know that I just want to spend more time with you so that I can get to know you better; we can decide where this goes later."
Hermione stood there silently watching his face as he spoke; his face showed no emotion at all, but his eyes betrayed him because she could see the trepidation and fear that he was experiencing in them. Smiling slightly she said, "I'd like that."
"Great! How about Friday night? I'll pick you up around seven?" he asked.
"That sounds fine," she replied, "I get off work at five that night."
"It's a date then," Harry said smiling, "I'll come pick you up here." She watched as he closed the distance between them once more and placed another light kiss on her lips, lingering just a bit longer this time.
Resisting the urge to place her hand where his lips had been, she quietly said, "Good night Harry."
"Good night," he said and with a soft 'pop', he was gone and she finally let the goofy smile she had been fighting break out on her face.
~*~
When she got to work the next day, Hermione immediately told Edna what had happened the night before. Edna stood watching the emotions play across her face as she related the details of Luna's party and her conversation with Harry afterward. When she was done Edna smiled at her and said, "You're absolutely radiant!"
"What?" Hermione asked, confused by the statement.
"You're whole face just lit up as you told me about your evening," Edna replied happily, "I don't remember ever seeing you this happy before."
"I don't remember the last time I felt this happy," she replied still smiling, "I'm just trying to ignore the little part of me that keeps screaming that I shouldn't have given him a second chance."
"You just concentrate on the positive," Edna said, "I could tell that Harry was smitten with you when he came here to find you that first night. He just needed some time to realise that you were too wonderful to let get away."
They stood talking at the front counter, going from Luna's party to the order that needed to be placed the next day. As the door chimes sounded Hermione looked up to see Luna running towards them, a huge smile lighting up her entire face. "Hermione, Edna...guess what?!"
"What Dear?" Edna asked the obviously jubilant Luna.
"Ron proposed to me last night!" Luna practically squealed as she thrust her left hand out towards them; there on her ring finger sparkled a half-carat marquise cut yellow diamond sitting atop a thin band of gold.
"It's beautiful!" Hermione exclaimed as she walked around the counter to hug her friend, "Congratulations!"
"Thank you," Luna replied before Edna hugged her too.
"When's the happy day Luv?" Edna asked happily.
"We're planning on July of next year, that way I have some time after I finish school to make sure all the plans are set," Luna answered. Looking from Hermione to Edna she asked, "Would you two be my bridesmaids?"
"Of course!" Hermione answered immediately.
"Oh, I'm honored you asked me, but don't you want one of your other friends to stand up with you?" Edna asked.
"Absolutely not!" Luna replied adamantly, "You are the friend I want to stand up with me...you've been there for me whenever I needed someone to talk to...you're like a second Mother to me Edna, you've helped me when my Dad couldn't and I can't imagine getting married without you there."
Edna sniffled and wiped a tear off her cheek as she wrapped her arms around Luna and hugged her tightly. "I would love to be one of your bridesmaids Luv, I've always thought of you like a daughter."
Hermione watched the two with tears in her eyes, wishing that things could be like that between her and her Mum, when the chimes over the door sounded again. As she was wiping her eyes someone walked up behind her and asked, "Is everything okay?"
She turned quickly at the sound of Harry's voice to see him standing there, watching them with a concerned look on his face. "Everything's fine," she replied, "Luna was just telling us that she and Ron got engaged last night."
"That's wonderful!" Harry said, giving Luna a quick hug after Edna released her, "But why are the three of you crying?"
"It's a woman thing Harry, you wouldn't understand," teased Edna as she wiped her eyes.
"Oh, okay then," Harry replied, wanting to avoid an awkward moment; Merlin knew he knew next to nothing about witches, and he doubted he'd ever understand why they cried when they were happy.
"What brings you here lad?" Edna asked, "Or perhaps I should ask who brings you here?"
Hermione shot her boss a look that conveyed a warning for Edna to be quiet; the last thing she needed right now was for Harry to think she was going around gossiping about him. Interrupting her thoughts Harry replied, "I'm actually here to see Hermione."
Surprised, Hermione asked, "What for?" before realizing how rude her question was. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just blurt that out like that."
"It's alright, I like a witch who speaks her mind," Harry answered laughing.
"Since when?" Luna asked cheekily, watching as Harry's cheeks took on a pink tinge.
Choosing not to reply to Luna's baiting, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Holding it in his hand he pulled his wand from his other pocket and tapped the box while quietly uttering the spell to return it to it's normal size. Hermione's eyes were wide as Harry held the present out to her and said, "I wanted to give this to you."
Taking the present, she quickly tore the wrapping off and when she opened the box a balloon in the shape of a star floated out. Hermione watched as it hovered in front of her for a moment and then jumped when the balloon popped, sending streamers flying through the air. When the streamers were gone there was a big stuffed owl, flapping it's wings and floating where the balloon had been; the owl was holding in it's beak a white baby sized t-shirt that read, "If You Think I'm Cute You Should See My Mommy". Hermione, who was trying to stop the tears from forming in her eyes again, looked at Harry with a smile on her face and asked, "Harry, what...I mean why..."
"Um, well..." Harry started, looking a bit embarrassed as the three witches stood watching him with sappy smiles on their faces, "I was doing some shopping this morning and I saw the shirt...I just thought it was something you might like to have for the baby, along with the owl."
Hermione grabbed the owl from where it hovered in front of her and closed the distance between her and Harry; walking up to him she hugged him and said, "Thank you so much Harry, I love the shirt and the owl, and I know the baby will too."
"You're such a sweetheart," Luna said as she walked up to him and hugged him too; Edna did the same and said, "That was a very sweet, thoughtful thing for you to do Harry."
Looking really embarrassed now, Harry cleared his throat, looked at Hermione and said, "I'm glad you like it, I wasn't sure what color to get and the saleswitch suggested white since a boy or girl can wear it."
Hermione smiled at him, her heart bursting with adoration for the humble wizard that was standing before her. "Do you know," she said happily, "that these are the first items I've gotten for the baby? You bought him or her their first stuffed animal and clothing...thanks again Harry."
"You're welcome," he replied, smiling back at her and loving how her face lit up with happiness. "Well I, uh, I need to get going. I'm supposed to meet Neville this morning at his cafe, I promised I'd join him for breakfast."
Hermione hugged him once more before he left and kissed him quickly on the cheek, her cheeks turning pink as Luna and Edna watched with knowing looks on their faces. As the three of them watched Harry walk out the door and wave before he disappeared from sight, Hermione turned to her two friends and said, "I think I am in big trouble...I thought I might have strong feelings for him before, but after this...I'm certain of it."
~*~
Harry walked happily down the street toward Neville's cafe, the image of Hermione's joyous, surprised face etched into his memory as he thought about how wonderful it had felt to give her the present. He really hadn't gone shopping with the intent to buy Hermione anything, but when he had come across the owl that looked just like his pet owl Hedwig, he couldn't resist...and the moment he saw the tiny t-shirt he knew that in Hermione's case it was true; she was going to make a wonderful Mum, with her loving nature and caring heart. He wished he could have stayed there with her a little longer, but it was embarrassing to have Edna and Luna making a big deal over the gifts. Besides, he would get to spend time with her Friday night, and nothing said he couldn't see her again between now and then.
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't see the person walking towards him and bumped into them. Harry stopped and turned to apologize for his rudeness and froze.
"Well, if it isn't Harry Potter," Lavender Brown said seductively, "I've been hoping I'd see you again lover..."