Disclaimer: The characters and the world of Harry Potter cam out of the brilliant mind of JK Rowling. I'm just a humble admirer.
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1. Good Friends
For some reason, Harry had always known that his dear friends will always be a part of his future. He could just not imagine what life would be like without Ron's funny remarks and Hermione's wise advices. He could count on the pair of them any day, anytime, for anything at all. Even, and sometimes Ron had trouble admitting this, to have some fun. Through the years, Harry had found how right he had been about his friend's loyalty. Now seven years after they had graduated form Hogwarts, the ties that had joined them through their years in school were stronger than ever. Defeating the Dark Lord at the end of their seventh year, with the help of Ron and Hermione, besides other equally important people, had showed Harry that he could do anything he wanted as long as he had his friends at his side.
Now their adult lives had originated some inevitable changes. Almost a year ago, Ron had decided to move in with Luna Lovegood. The two of them had been dating for a couple of years and had finally decided to move in together. To even Ron's surprise, they had fallen deeply in love. Ron after working with the twins at the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had been able to save enough gold to open his own little show in Diagon Alley, but instead of competing with his brothers for the joke/sweets market, he had decided to go into the area of quidditch supplies. Now his shop had turned into a successful business. Luna, in the other hand, had inherited her father's magazine "The Quibbler" after his unexpected death, but had turned it into a more serious magazine directed mainly to the female population of the wizarding world. Ginny had started working with her almost as soon as Luna took over the magazine and had turned into a well-known fashion & style reporter. George and Fred usually teased her saying that she should open her own "make-over" business.
A year after Ginny graduated from Hogwarts, she and Hermione decided to become housemates and moved in together into a nice flat in London. That way both of them were able to live closer to their jobs. Hermione was now working in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries in the Research Department where she was the supervisor of the research team. They would come into action whenever the healers were not able to identify what kind of spell had been placed upon someone. They had to come up with a potion or some way to reverse the spell to undo whatever was wrong. It usually had to do with people trying to create new, and almost always illegal, magic but from time to time they would also have to deal with people performing dark magic.
As for Harry, he was an Auror and worked for the Minister of Magic that had now a new Minister, Mr. Arthur Weasley. The arrival of the new Minister had brought many changes into the Ministry, reason for which Harry accepted to work for them. He would've never worked there if Fudge would've still been the Minister. Also, Harry was very grateful with Mr. Weasley because he had made changes to some of the internal policies, which allowed Lupin to also apply to become an Auror. Now, both Lupin and Harry worked in the same team, and usually had to do a mission together. Having a stable job had given Lupin the confidence and resources needed to settle down. He was now married to a nice witch named Annie, had a little boy and were expecting there second baby.
After leaving Hogwarts, Harry had finally been able to leave the Dursleys for good and had permanently moved in to number 12 Grimmauld Place. Being such a big house, Ron, the twins and even Lupin had at some time lived there with him, but eventually they all left. Ron went to live at Luna's house, Lupin got married, and the twins had bought a house of their own. Now, Harry actually enjoyed living alone. Due to his demanding job he felt that there was nothing better to help him regain his strength than the peace and quietude he always found at his home.
Even though his professional life was successful, in the matters of the heart, Harry had not been as lucky as Ron. For some reason, he wasn't able to have a normal, stable relationship. After the Cho fiasco, he had had a very hard time gathering the courage needed to ask a girl out. He had been in a few dates, but for some reason none of those relations had lasted more than a couple of weeks. He just didn't know what was wrong with him that he just couldn't maintain a relationship. Besides, some of the girls he'd gone out with where only interested in dating the famous "boy who lived" but where not really interested in Harry, just Harry. He even wondered if he'd ever be able to find someone he could make a family of his own with, just like Ron and Lupin had found someone.
Another one that also was not lucky in the "dating department" was Hermione. For a while, she had dated a wizard she met at the twins' shop, but after going out for a few months, they both decided to split up since none of them were really in love. Now, for the first time in her life Hermione felt she was really in love. Steven Greengrass worked with Hermione at St. Mungo's. He was a handsome, brown-eyed, tall blonde man that knew perfectly well the effect he had on women. He was one of those people that knew where his strengths resided and was sure to make use of them whenever possible. His muscular, lean, athletic figure as well as his well-practiced seduction techniques were his main weapons. Still, he had one flaw, he had a girlfriend.
Hermione had tried hard not to fall for him. She knew perfectly well that he was going out with someone, since Rita, the girlfriend, would regularly owl Steven at the office, sometimes even twice a day. She also knew that Steven was a wolf who would throw compliments to a broom as long as it was wearing a skirt. Besides Steven knew very well how to drive a woman crazy. He would casually rub Hermione's arm when walking near her, would hold Hermione's hand a little longer that socially appropriate when greeting her (even when just a simple hello would've been enough), but most of all what made Hermione forget about everything were his eyes. There was something in Steven's brown eyes that slowly began to hypnotize her. Aware of the effect he was having on her, Hermione tried to avoid him for several days, but it was useless. He'd find a way to get close to her and to submerge her into his intoxicating presence. Steven was completely aware of this and was sure he'd be able to find a way to brake Hermione's resistance in the end.
Hermione knew she was in trouble and she was trying very hard to keep her feelings from her friends. She couldn't help feeling guilty. Of course, this feelings would only come to her when she was alone or at night when she tried to go to sleep because whenever Steven was in front of her she could not think at all. Hermione knew that if she were in Rita's shoes, she'd hate to see that someone else was trying to steal her boyfriend away. But she couldn't help it. She had fallen in love and didn't want to think about that.
The only person that suspected that something was going on was Ginny. Being Hermione's housemate, she'd usually got to hear her talking about work and her co-workers. So, after Hermione met Steven all Ginny heard for more than two weeks was how self-absorbed, presumptuous, and arrogant Steven was. To that date Ginny had thought that the only person that could possibly have all those "qualities" was Gilderoy Lockhart, but Steven had proven her wrong. Eventually, Hermione's complains began to stop until her comments changed from "how much I hate this guy" to "Steven is so funny". Ginny suspected what the reason for such a dramatic change was, but had not gotten the courage to talk to Hermione about it.
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To make sure that they wouldn't lose contact, Hermione had proposed that they all, not just the trio but also Ginny, Luna and the twins, would have dinner together every other Friday. They would meet at someone's place and rotate from place to place. That mid March Friday it was the twins turn to host dinner. Over the years, George had developed a liking for cooking and enjoyed preparing new and different meals for his friends to try every time that the dinner was held at their place. But most of all, he liked compliments.
"This time you outdo yourself George!", said Ginny after savoring the Chinese dish George had prepared for that night.
"Are you sure you made this?" asked Ron even when by now he knew perfectly well that George was a great cook, but he just loved to tease him.
"Of course!!" replied George trying to sound offended, though aware of the teasing. "I'm even thinking about opening my own restaurant."
"Are you serious? Would you really leave the joke shop for a restaurant?" asked Luna, who could not imagine George as the owner of a fancy restaurant.
"Of course he's not serious" Fred responded for him. "He has a commitment with our clientele and I need him to help me prepare some of the more difficult sweets." And after throwing an arm over George's shoulder, they were sitting next to each other, added, "besides he'll get bored to death in a place like that"
Since the remains of the dinner still laid in their plates, George began taking away the plates so they could move on to dessert. As always, the chat was animated and all those sitting at the long mahogany table laugh at the twins' jokes and enjoyed very much the night, but on that occasion Hermione had hardly said a word. She had been lost in her thoughts.
She just couldn't stop thinking about what she knew Steven would be doing right at that very same moment. Steven had made sure that everybody at work heard that on that day he and Rita were going to celebrate their second anniversary with a very romantic dinner at a fancy muggle restaurant. It seemed that he wanted to make sure Hermione knew about it.
The news had made Hermione feel a range of various feelings that she did not know how to deal with. She felt sad because he was obviously happy about the whole anniversary thing. She also felt angry at him for making such a big deal about it in front of her. And yes, she also felt a little jealous, okay maybe terribly jealous. Hermione wished so hard she could be the one celebrating with him. The one he had to make feel special and loved. All those thoughts were twirling around in her mind when she was suddenly brought back to reality after hearing that Luna was yelling her name.
"Hermione! Didn't you hear me?"
"Wh...what? Are you talking to me?" asked Hermione who had just realized that everybody was staring at her.
"Yes. I'm talking to you," responded Luna. "Didn't you hear what I said?"
"Mmmm...no. Sorry Luna, I didn't hear you" said Hermione playing with her silver spoon, trying not to look at anybody in the eye.
"I was just saying that I met this great guy. His name is Patrick and he works for Flourish and Blotts. He's such a handsome, intelligent and interesting guy, and he has a great sense of humor."
Hermione sighed. It was not the first time that Luna had tried to arrange a blind date for her. "Please Luna... tell me you're not trying to set me up with someone, again."
"I know you're going to like him. He's a very nice guy" added Luna, who was not willing to take no for an answer. She was determined to find Mr. Right for Hermione.
"I think you should give him a chance," said Ginny from across the table. "I also know Patrick and he really is a great guy."
"Well... why are you girls so interested in finding a date for Hermione?" asked Fred, who deeply believed that there was nothing better than being single.
"I'm sorry, but I...I can't go on a date" said Hermione who appreciated her friend's attempt, but she had always felt uncomfortable about having someone else pick a guy for her.
"Why can't you go on a date? Are you seeing someone?" asked Ron.
Ron's comment made the girls jump with curiosity and excitement. If they were staring at Hermione before, now they were checking every single expression on her face to try and get the answer Hermione was so strongly trying to keep from them.
"Are you? ...Hermione?" asked both girls.
Hermione just didn't know what to say. She couldn't say yes since that wasn't true, but a part of her was not willing to say no either. Saying no would be like denying that something was going on between Steven and her. Still, she didn't feel like discussing it.
"Well... I, ahh..... I don't know", finally said Hermione.
"What do you mean you don't know?" said Ron. "You either are or you're not, simple as that, isn't it?"
"Maybe...," interrupted George, "...there is someone, but they're not exactly going out... yet. Right?"
"Is that true?" asked Luna who could not hide her excitement. "Is there someone?"
Hermione felt she was being nailed to the wall. She did not know what to say or how to get out of this tight situation. Fortunately for her, Harry came to her rescue.
"Come on guys, give her a break. It's her business whether she's seeing someone or not. When she's ready to tell us, she will."
A sigh of disappointment was heard throughout the table. Hermione gave Harry a thankful look and quickly excused herself from the table and went to find refuge in the loo. Once she was in the privacy of the bathroom, she took a deep breath. She hated keeping things from her friends but just could not tell them she was getting in the middle of a couple's relationship. She felt ashamed of herself.
Trying to release some of the tension she felt, she went to the porcelain sink and wet her face with cold water. Hermione knew she couldn't hide in there all night. She looked at her reflection in the big framed mirror in front of her, made an effort to look as composed as possible, and went to rejoin her friends. She found them in the living room, some sitting comfortably in the comfy couches while other had opted for a spot in the wooden floor by the center table in the middle of the sitting area. They were all enjoying either a cup of coffee or a drink.
Without giving it much thought she took the cup of coffee George was offering her and sat down in the floor. She was grateful to see they had moved to another topic. Luna was telling them about a conference in Paris she and Ginny would be attending the following week. Hermione, however, didn't hear what the conference was about as she wasn't really listening to them. She couldn't feel more relieved about having people's attention in someone else rather than her. The only one who kept looking at her from time to time was Harry.
He was also sitting in the floor across the table, right in front of Hermione. When Hermione realized that he was looking at her with an expression of concern, she tried to look interested in the girls talk avoiding Harry's green eyes. Almost half an hour later, looking for an excuse to get away, Hermione took her cup of coffee, which she hadn't even tasted, and went into the kitchen to put it back. She went to the sink and emptied her cold coffee down the drain and put the cup down. Hermione stood there for a couple of seconds looking at the empty cup. She felt as empty as the cup.
Then, she sensed a presence behind her. Before he even spoke, Hermione knew perfectly well that Harry was standing behind her. Hermione could point out his aftershave among a thousand. Trying to focus her senses in that fascinating smell, she closed her eyes but open them quickly when she felt Harry's hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" asked Harry softly. His voice sounded concerned.
"Yeah," responded Hermione just a little too quickly, not sounding too convincing. "I'm fine." she said trying not to look at him. Harry who realized that she was purposely avoiding his eyes pulled her face gently to make her look at him.
"You know that I'm here, right?" said Harry with a very gentle voice. "If you ever need me."
Hermione looked at his eyes and knew how true his words were. She knew she could count on him for anything. But she also knew that the last thing she ever wanted to see in those eyes was disappointment, or even a reproach. She knew that if Harry were to know what was going on he wouldn't approve of it, and she didn't want to face that.
"Thanks," she said truthfully. "I know."
Not wanting to force her to talk about something she obviously wasn't ready for, Harry walked back to the other room. A few seconds later, Hermione followed him. When she got there, Ron and Ginny were getting ready to leave. Hermione didn't let pass the opportunity and said she also had to leave, so they all started to say good bye to each other. Ginny went along with Hermione, and a few minutes later they both apparated in their own living room. Before Ginny could even say a word, Hermione said good night and went into her room.
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Harry did not feel good about seeing Hermione so distracted and distant from all of them on Friday. It was now Monday morning and Harry was in his office trying to finish a report he was supposed to submit later that day, but he just couldn't concentrate. Thoughts about what could possibly have Hermione looking so tense worried him. He knew that the whole "going out" talk had made matters worse because she had gotten even more uneasy. He wondered whether Hermione's state of mind was because of this person, 'cause obviously there was someone no doubt about it, or if there was something else bothering her.
"But she would tell us, right? If she was having some kind of trouble at work she wouldn't be so reluctant to talk about it."
"So, now you talk to yourself?" said Lupin as he entered Harry's office. He went straight to the upholstered chair just in front of Harry's big, walnut desk and sat there with a teasing smile on his face.
"Hey Lupin" greeted Harry.
"Well... what's wrong?" asked Lupin seeing the look of concern in Harry's face.
"Oh, it's just... it's Hermione."
"What's wrong with Hermione?"
"That's the problem," said Harry leaning back into his chair while passing a hand trough his raven hair. "I don't know." After seeing the puzzled look in Lupin's face, Harry proceeded to tell Lupin about their Friday dinner. Lupin listened intently to Harry's words without interrupting. After Harry was finished, Lupin pondered for a while before finally speaking.
"So, you think this guy is the one that has her all stressed out?"
"Could be." Harry tried hard to remember Hermione's expressions hoping to recall something he may have missed. "What I know for sure is that she's hiding something. She wouldn't look me in the eye 'cause she knows that I can tell when she's lying. Then again, Hermione is a woman, and women are hard to understand."
"You're right about that," agreed Lupin. The leaning towards Harry's desk, Lupin added, "but you're also right when you say you know when she's lying. You two are really close. Why don't you just talk to her? Tell her you worry about her. After all, she trusts you."
Harry thought about it for a while. Lupin was right. The easiest thing to do was to ask her. He knew he could find a way to get to her and make her open up to him. It wouldn't be the first time he'd do something like that anyway. So he made up his mind. He was going to talk to her and immediately decided that he wasn't going to wait any longer. Since it was almost lunch time, he decided to show up at Hermione's work and take her to lunch even if he had to drag her out.
About twenty minutes later, Harry was at St. Mungo's fourth floor, Spell Damage (Unliftable jinxes, hexes, and incorrectly applied charms, etc), walking toward Hermione's office. Since the door to her office was open, Harry walked in but stood frozen at the threshold. Hermione was not alone. She was standing in the middle of the room and there was a man with her, a good-looking man, who was standing a few inches away from her holding one of her hands into his while gently caressing it with his other hand. Neither of them seemed to have notice Harry's arrival.
There was something about this man that made Harry feel uneasy. It was one of those times when only by looking at someone you get a gut feeling that tells you to be careful. But what made Harry feel even more uncomfortable was the look in Hermione's face. It was as if she was look at God himself for she had such a look of admiration in her face she could not have been able to hide if she would've tried.
Suddenly, Steven realized there was someone at the door staring at them. Feeling annoyed by the interruption, Steven looked at Harry trying to tell him with his eyes to go away.
"Can I help you?" asked Steven with a very rude tone that really meant don't bother me, go away. When Steven spoke, Hermione looked at the door. As soon as she saw Harry, she jumped a few inches back , retrieved quickly her hand from Steven's, and flushed so profusely that she could feel the heat coming out of her face.
"Harry!" said Hermione in a surprised voice that resembled a kid being caught with his hand in the cookie jar after being told not to do it. Then looking at Steven, she tried to make her voice sound as normal as possible. "Yeah, do that! And then, let me know how it goes."
Without saying a word Steven walked out of the office not before giving Harry a nasty look. Hermione made a motion with her hand showing Harry a seat and then went around her black desk and sat down. Harry could see that her hands were shaking as she tried to keep them busy with the rolls of parchment she had spread all over her desk. For a couple of minute, they didn't say a word. Finally, Hermione seemed to have regained herself and broke the silence.
"What a nice surprise, Harry. It's been so long since you came to visit me at work."
"Well, I was close by... and... decided to come and invite you for lunch."
"Lunch?"
"Yes... you do eat lunch, don't you?" said Harry teasingly.
Hermione smiled.
"Okay... just give me five minutes." Hermione started putting away the rolls of parchment she had in her desk while Harry stood up and walked towards the window. He could see the streets of London brightly illuminated by the sun in its highest point. He looked at the people walking in the streets for a couple of minutes and before he knew it Hermione was ready to go.
They went to a muggle restaurant a few blocks away from St. Mungo's. They had been in this place before and liked it because it was a quiet, nice place where you could have a nice conversation without having to yell so the other person could hear you. After taking a table by the window, Harry sat in front of Hermione. The table was very small with a single rose in a small glass vase. He could've easily taken her hands in his if he wanted to.
For a while, all Harry did was study Hermione's appearance. He was relieved to see that she looked much better than last Friday, unless the look of distress was gone from her face. She was wearing a nice blue trouser suit and a light blue blouse, her hair tied in a bun in the back of her head.
After Hermione removed her waistcoat jacket and placed it in the back of her chair, she started telling Harry about how things were at work. She was complaining about the problems they were having to find an antidote for a spell placed upon a man that made his head keep changing form, from the tiny head of a bird to the sharped-teeth head of a shark to the hairy head of a bear, making a loud sound every time.
Harry was listening to her feeling good about seeing that she was her usual talkative self. He knew that her attitude would change as soon as he'd asked her what he wanted to know, but he was there already and there was no reason for him to back away. Trying to sound as casual as possible, Harry finally spoke.
"So... who's this guy that was in your office?"
Hermione's fork fell from her hands after hearing Harry's question. "Here it goes", Harry thought. "She's nervous."
"Ahh... he's, ah... Steven," said Hermione trying hard not to make it sound as if it mattered. "He works with me."
"Is he... the one?"
Feeling again that her face was turning the brightest shade of red there is, Hermione replied.
"Wh...what do you mean, The One?"
"You know... the one you didn't want to talk about Friday night", said Harry while searching her face for an answer.
Hermione knew Harry had caught her. There was no reason to deny it. She couldn't believe how easily he had guessed. Had she been that obvious?
"Yeah, he's the one." Hermione looked intently to her napkin and began rolling it and unrolling it with her fingers. She needed to do something with her hands in order to somehow calm herself.
Harry wasn't sure how much Hermione was willing to tell him. He knew she was anxious about it, but didn't want to press her. Still there was something he needed to know.
"Tell me, is he a good guy?"
"Look who's here!" said a friendly voice.
"Annie!" said Hermione feeling very happy to see Annie, Lupin's wife, not only because she was a nice person but also because she had interrupted in the best moment.
Hermione stood up and gave Annie a soft kiss in the cheek. Harry smiled, knowing perfectly well that Hermione was trying to avoid Harry's question. So, he decided to drop the subject and come back to it another day.