Seen and Unforeseen
Chapter 28
Seen and Unforeseen
The next few weeks were the busiest Harry had known in years. He was in his office at Ministry Headquarters from daybreak until long after dark. Hermione was working just as much. He hadn't seen her awake in days and he was getting concerned. He stayed home later one morning just to reestablish contact with her.
"Good morning," he said softly as she turned off her alarm.
"Harry! What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I live here, remember?" he teased.
"Don't you have a meeting this morning or something?"
"I rescheduled a few things so I could see your beautiful brown eyes for once. I've been sleeping when you've been awake and vice versa for too long. I missed you."
"I've missed you, too, but you'll have to look quickly. I need to be at St Mungo's in a half hour," she said as she raced to get ready for work.
Harry climbed into the shower behind her with his brackles on and placed wet kisses on her neck.
"Harry!" she shrieked. "I don't have time for this right now and you shouldn't be getting those wet. They may rust."
"Screw the rust…" he said as he continued to fondle her.
"Harry, as much as I'm enjoying this and as much as I want it, I just can't right now. I'm late as it is."
"I'll help you," he offered.
"I know how you help. Just please, leave me be and let me get ready." she begged.
Harry left the shower and began to get ready for work himself. He'd known she was in a hurry, but that didn't lessen the feeling of rejection. He apparated to his office in a foul mood.
Ron arrived shortly after and brought tea and muffins in to Harry. Harry declined the muffins, unable to forget what they reminded him of.
"Have you heard if I passed yet?" Ron asked gobbling a muffin in one bite.
"No," replied Harry. "We should hear anytime now. Don't worry, mate. I almost failed the protocol test myself. They'll let you take it over if you don't pass."
"Luna will kill me if I flunked it," Ron explained. "We spent hours going over it. I'd bloody well better have passed. I resigned from the team yesterday."
Harry raised his eyebrows at Ron. "That sure, are you?"
"A reserve keeper doesn't pay very much. I want the best of everything for Luna and the baby. This is the best way I know to provide that."
Word soon came down that Ron had passed all of his exams and tests. Harry broke out a bottle of firewhiskey to celebrate. Tonks and Lupin joined the impromptu party. Many details regarding the office were ironed out among the four. Many more were tabled as the influence of alcohol rendered the solutions rather silly.
Lupin and Tonks went to grab a bite as Ron and Harry remained behind. Harry decided to take the opportunity to question Ron regarding Hermione.
"Have you talked to Hermione lately?" he asked in a mock casual voice.
"Yeah, we had lunch the other day. They sure are working her hard. She hasn't had a day off in more than ten days, but of course, you know that better than I." Ron replied.
"Do I?" Harry snorted. She'd been too busy to have lunch with him. When he'd finally gotten her to agree, she'd owled him at the restaurant and cancelled. She didn't cancel with Ron, he noticed. He wondered when she'd stop sleeping with him. Her parents' house was closer to St Mungo's. He knew that was next.
He and Ron discussed plans for the department and the revisions needed to Harry's furniture to make him able to use his desk while standing. They'd tried to levitate it; however it was too unstable to write on. Running out of options, they lengthened the legs of the desk to a comfortable height. It looked ridiculous, in Harry's opinion. He knew it could be temporary, depending on his leg strength, but he didn't like it. He'd have to tolerate it for now.
Many people stopped by throughout the day; though not the person he was desperate to see. He'd sent Hedwig with a note to see if she was free for lunch. She wasn't. He'd asked her to meet him for dinner. She couldn't. He felt as if she were avoiding him. He tried to keep his insecurities at bay and was finding it to be difficult.
He'd asked Lupin, who was at the house, to owl him if she returned. He'd received nothing yet. He attempted to look through the tall stack of C.V's and decided it could wait until the next day. He arrived to home to find Lupin had turned in for the night. Harry couldn't bring himself to wake him although he craved the man's insight. It was past midnight when Harry went to bed.
He awoke early a few days later to see that Hermione had never joined him in bed. As he tried to ward off the depression that followed that discovery; a knock sounded at the door.
"Yes?" answered Harry.
"Just seeing if you required my assistance this morning." replied Lupin.
"Yes, please come in." Harry returned.
While was being helped by Lupin, he couldn't restrain himself from inquiring, "Did you see Hermione last night? She didn't stay over."
"She stopped by at about 7:30 for a bit. She was gathering some of her things to stay at the hospital. There was a brawl after a quidditch match and she was on duty to help patch everyone up. She said she was just going to stay there since she had to work this morning again."
"I see," said Harry. "Did she mention leaving me a note or something?"
"Ah…" said Lupin in understanding, "I don't believe there was time for much of anything when she was here. Like I said, she just grabbed a few personal items and apparated back to the hospital. Don't worry, son, it won't last forever. Her schedule will return to normal before you know it. So will yours."
"I wish she'd just talk to me. She had lunch with Ron twice that I know of. She said 'Hello' to you. I stayed home a day or two ago to see her and she'd have none of it…" Harry relayed.
"Did you try to talk to her then?" Lupin asked.
"I tried, but there was no time. She jumped out of bed and into the shower. I followed her, but she chucked me out," confessed Harry. "Maybe she's had second thoughts and is afraid I'll go nutters if she breaks it off."
"You don't really think that, do you?"
"No….yes….I just don't know." Harry shrugged.
"She loves you just as she has done for the last decade. You both just have extremely busy schedules right now. It'll sort itself out. Trust me." consoled Lupin. Harry didn't look convinced. "Did I tell you about the time when your mum was pregnant with you and your dad was frequently gone on missions for the Order?"
Harry shook his head. He felt his spirits lift at the thought that his parents had gone through the same thing as he was experiencing now.
"When your father finally returned home, Lily chucked him right back out. She swore he was seeing another witch since she was 'as big as a dragon' she'd said. He stayed a few days with Sirius, hoping she would calm down and listen to him. It took a visit from Dumbledore before she would hear him out. Sirius just kept him plied with firewhiskey, which I'm not sure helped matters at all. Her nerves were just all out of whack because of her pregnancy. He told her what he'd been up to and she felt horrible for treating him the way she did. The moral is that all couples go through this. Even though you feel alone right now, she's here…" Lupin placed a finger to Harry's heart. "…and she's here…" he next touched Harry's head. "…Don't throw everything away just because for right now she's not here." Lupin indicated Harry's hand. "I'll be gone for the next few days for full moon. Don't do anything rash without talking to me, alright?"
Harry agreed and finished getting himself ready. He enjoyed hearing stories of the parents he didn't remember. It made them seem more real to him and made him feel more normal. While he was embarrassed to admit to Lupin that he was questioning himself and his relationship with Hermione, he was glad they'd talked as he felt much better.
Harry decided to give her the time she needed to adjust to her new position. He found that while it was easy to say, it was harder to put into action. He was sure that once she finished her internship, her schedule would become more normal. He knew she'd still have long hours, but he would as well.
The week passed quickly. Harry had received a note from Hermione that said that she missed him; however he still hadn't seen her. She'd started sleeping at her parents' house to save time. She could pay attention to and feed Crookshanks before she left for work, saving a trip home to do so.
He'd had a bad night last night and had many cuts and bruises on his face, not to mention over his entire body, other than his weak legs. He'd left his brackles on to provide extra protection so that he didn't relapse into complete bed rest again just as his department was coming together. It had slipped his mind to use the straightjacket charm he'd used in the past. It was as if part of him wanted Hermione to come and save him from himself. He laughed at the notion. He'd always dealt with things himself and felt weak for needing to rely on someone else. Lupin had found him in his hideaway the next morning and was annoyed to know that Harry had put up a silencing spell in order to not bother anyone. Harry didn't want anyone other than Hermione to assist him in dealing with the nightmares. She would run her fingers through his hair and remind him of the future, their future together. It seemed after one of Harry's bad nights was the time they got the most of their wedding preparations done. They had two plans, one if Harry was required to have a public circus-like service for the Ministry and foreign dignitaries and another plan in case they could have a small ceremony in the garden.
Harry had sent flowers to her office the day before and not received a word in response. He'd asked her to lunch on countless occasions only to be turned down. He realized her schedule was as full as was his. What he couldn't understand was why he seemed to be her lowest priority. He had an appointment with Healer Strankford the following day and promised himself that he'd at least say hello to her while he was there.
Harry arrived early for his afternoon appointment. Not wanting to wait any longer to see the woman he loved, he gingerly opened her office door. He saw her instantly. What he hadn't expected to see was his fiancée wrapped in the arms of another man. Harry looked on in shock at the couple. They weren't kissing, he noted, however she was in his arms. He recognized the Healer's robes, but didn't know the wizard wearing them.
"Have I come at a bad time?" Harry asked bitterly. He then disapperated as quickly as he possibly could, forgetting all about his appointment and left the two to stare after him in shock.