A/N: Okay, here's the second-last chapter of "The Gift Of Honesty"!! I hope you like it!! I haven't been able to update yesterday because I had an accident that has slowed down my typing *cough*dog bit hand*cough* but I couldn't stay away too long!! I enjoyed writing this chapter though it brought up some memories that were kind of bad for me, yet this helped me right it better =) Please R/R!!
Disclaimer: not mine … never will be ;)
Harry awoke around noon, with a huge grin plastered all over his face. 'Did last night really happen?' he wondered to himself, and he didn't have to wait long for the confirmation as the funny feeling in his chest started building up again as soon as she thought about that delicious pumpkin pie.
A sudden swift of movement occurred and Harry realized that he wasn't alone, subconsciously turning his head around towards Ron's bed only to find that he had already got up. A burst of sunlight entered the room causing Harry to shut his eyes tightly at the brightness of it all, while in the background he heard the soft giggle of his brown-haired best friend.
"Get up, Harry!" he heard her say, "It's almost 12 o'clock and Mrs. Weasley has been complaining all the day that you hadn't had the chance to have breakfast so she sent me up here to get you."
"'Stoobright," was his reply, only that it came out as something between a mumble and a yawn.
"What?"
"It's too bright," he told her again, only this time slower and with a good articulation of the words.
"Yes well, it's a thing called the 'sun' that comes out in daylight," she teased him, and he immediately caught the hint that she was talking about his last night roam in the house. 'So it really did happen,' he mused to himself, and he couldn't help the smile that was beginning to form on his lips.
"And what exactly are we smiling about, Mr. Potter?" Hermione asked him, as she turned around with mock indignation and arms akimbo. 'Two can play this game, Granger,' he wickedly thought to himself, and a strange glint appeared in his eyes. He sat up on his bed and pretended to sigh out a sigh of frustration, running a hand through his unruly, black hair and was silent for a moment. Finally, he looked up to see two caramel-coloured eyes filled with apprehension, causing him to twinge a little but decided to go through it nevertheless.
"Do you really want to know?" he asked, and once he saw Hermione nod furiously, he waved at her to come closer. She didn't need to be told again, and without a second thought she sat dangerously close to him on the bed. It took Harry a few moments before he could gather up his thoughts, but once he did he acted on them.
He jumped out of the bed as if he was flying on his Firebolt at top speed and at the same time he flung out one of his arms, thus catching Hermione around her middle and throwing her onto the bed. Without giving her any time to react, he began tickling her without showing any mercy while her screams and giggles could be heard all over the Burrow.
It was one of those times that teenagers needed in order to get rid of the stress and worry that seemed to be dominating in their lives. In this small fraction of time, it didn't matter that Harry, Hermione and Ron weren't going to return to Hogwarts because they needed to go in search of the Horcruxes. It didn't matter that there was a Dark Wizard on the loose trying to murder Harry because of some prophecy. It didn't matter that the tension was so thick in the house that it could be cut with a knife, every time a person from the Order made an appearance.
Hermione was desperately trying to escape from Harry's tickles but to no avail as his grip on her was too strong.
"And that's why, Miss. Granger, I was smiling," he informed her with a triumphant look on his face, as if managing to tickle her was a huge success. Tears were streaming down her face from all the laughing that had just occurred, and only managed to nod her head slightly in response to what Harry had just said.
"Please," she started telling him and in between breaths, "let me recompose myself." When he gave her a 'yeah-right' looked she continued pleading, "Come on Harry, what will the Weasleys think if I went downstairs looking like this after I was in your room?" and once she saw his eyebrows getting lost in his hairline, she gave him a trademark look that she reserved only for the occasions that she was right (which was nearly all the time) and when she left other people speechless. It served its purpose and Harry loosened his hold on her but all of a sudden he found that the tables had turned on him.
Hermione acted rather quickly when she felt Harry letting her go from his grip and using that to her advantage she overturned him so that he was lying on the bed.
"Where's that constant vigilance that Mad Eye Moony had taught us?" she asked him, her voice filled with tease, "Pay-back time Harry," she barely finished her sentence when she started tickling him everywhere she knew that he was ticklish. As she couldn't quite reach his neck, she hesitated only for a moment before climbing on him and straddling him, which worked fine as he was less capable of movement. They were both so caught up with each other and so focused in winning the other, that neither of them heard the footsteps that were climbing the stairs towards them. In fact, it was the owner of the footsteps that had interrupted them early in the morning!
"Admit it, I won!" Hermione was trying to get Harry to admit that she was better in tickling him than he could ever be, but it seemed that he wouldn't have any of it.
"Never!" he retorted and continued struggling to get out of Hermione's grip, which proved to be fruitless between their laughing.
"What is going on here?" a stern voice made both of them look up in surprise, immediately causing their cheeks to flush with red as they realized how their position must look, "Hermione, I sent you up here to wake up Harry and bring him downstairs so that he could eat something before lunch," Mrs. Weasley scolded Hermione, whilst at the same time trying to conceal her smile as the two teenagers tried to scramble out of the bed and as far from each other as they could.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley, but Harry needed to be taught a lesson as he thought he could win me."
"Oh? Is that so?" Mrs. Weasley turned towards Harry and waited for his explanation. Harry and Hermione visibly relaxed when they saw the kind and humourous look that was written on her face.
"Eerr… yeah, don't blame Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, it was my fault."
"I guess that you all need this at such a time. I have eggs and bacon saved for you in the oven Harry. You can eat it once you're ready and have come downstairs," and with that, Mrs. Weasley left the room but kept the door wide open in any case.
"Well," Hermione started, "I'll see you downstairs then Harry."
"Okay," he replied, and as soon as she was out of sight he began to get dressed. 'Now that was embarrassing,' he thought, 'what if she tells Ron? Or worse, Ginny?' his mind began to make up different scenarios of what would be the outcome of such a thing, and he could feel his heart pumping blood at maximum speed. So fast, actually, that he was beginning to feel a bit light-headed. Steadying himself on his cherry-coloured chest of drawers, he mentally chastised himself for going overboard with his imagination. 'Everything will be fine,' he kept repeating to himself.
Once he arrived downstairs, he stopped at the entrance of the kitchen and took in the sight that was before him. Ron and Hermione were sitting together on the couch, talking about something that clearly was meant to be kept between them, while Ginny was shooting strange glances at them in between bites from her plate. As soon as her eye caught Harry, however, she let out a not-so-discreet cough that made Ron and Hermione jump.
"Hi Harry," / "'Morning mate" was the two Weasley's greeting, whereas Hermione gave him a soft smile with her eyes bursting from happiness that could be read a hundred miles away. 'So,' Harry began thinking, 'she was talking to Ron and now she's clearly very happy. I see,' he trailed off, suddenly his hunger forgotten but took out the plate from the over nonetheless, as he didn't want to make Mrs. Weasley worry about him any more than was necessary or was doing at the moment.
As he sat down next to Ginny, her scent made its way up Harry's nostrils, making him remember how good she smelled when they were dating. Entering a dream world, he didn't notice the glare that Hermione sent his way once she saw that he started staring into space right after he sat next to Ginny. Waving a hand in front of him she said,
"Harry? Earth to Harry…"
"Huh? What?" he replied, shaking his head in order for his thought to be cleared, "I'm sorry, did you say something because I wasn't listening," he told her and was glad to see that his stab didn't go unnoticed by Hermione.
She felt warm tears prickling the corner of her eyes and her bottom lip began to tremble, though she couldn't understand why this would happen now of all times.
"I… nothing," she mumbled, and averted her eyes from Harry, taking sudden interest at the white tablecloth in front of her. Harry felt bad at once when he saw what his words had done to her, but couldn't think of a single thing to say to her to make her feel right. The scene that would soon play out in front of him, made him regret saying that to Hermione even more.
"Hermione" Ron started saying, obviously nervous about talking to her, "do you want to go for a walk outside?" he finished, his face as red as his fire-red hair, but clearly pleased with himself for managing not to stutter and just say it.
"Sure," she replied with a defeated voice, though her eyes held a knowing look. Harry eyed them suspiciously, though none of them gave him the satisfaction of looking at him and feeling anxious. Instead, they walked outside together where they stayed until the early afternoon.
Meanwhile, Harry decided that he really needed to be alone, brushing off Ginny when she asked him if he wanted to talk. He went to the very top of the Burrow where the veranda was located, that held the view of the Burrow's forest. It had been a while since he had time for himself without any interruptions. He supposed that he liked it better when he had friends surrounding him, something he had learned the tough way during his life. Being nearly of age, he had gone through things that most people didn't go through in their lifetime, and that made him a bit wiser on subjects like life and friendship and companionship. After Sirius and Dumbledore's death, he came to the conclusion that no matter how hard he tried to push people away from him or closed himself off; people will always care for him. He wouldn't give Voldermort the satisfaction of knowing that he was alone and emotionally weak by being by himself with no-one to confide to or have any emotional support. 'Love,' he thought. If he learned anything from his two best friends was that love was the greatest thing on this earth and the only thing that will help him defeat Voldermort. It was the kind of love that he had for them, where he knew he would gladly sacrifice himself so that they could live on.
He was taken out of his train of thoughts when he saw two figures - one with flaming red hair and the other's was colour auburn - in the distance returning from their walk. It seemed that Ron was walking ahead of Hermione and in a hurry as well. All of a sudden Harry began to feel dizzy, and immediately realized that Hermione was going through an emotional turmoil at this very moment. He didn't know how he knew this, but he felt weird, as if he was going through the same thing that Hermione was going through yet it felt like he was having an out-of-body experience. Carefully getting up so as not to cause himself a head rush, he walked as fast as he could back downstairs and out into the garden before giving Hermione the chance to enter the Burrow. As Ron passed in front of him, he paused for only a second, but it was enough to see the look on his face which was dipped in comprehension and peacefulness.
Closing the door behind him, he took Hermione by the hand and led her to a few chairs that had been left after the wedding. They both sat down without any questions, yet neither of them dared to break the silence that had engulfed them. It was clearer to Harry now that she was in touching distance, that something was very wrong with her, as his feelings grew only stronger. Kneeling in front of her, he put one hand on her shoulder; an action that surprised her and allowed her to have eye contact with him.
"I'm sorry about before," he told her honestly, feeling compelled that he should apologise first before getting into another conversation.
"Then why did you say it?" she asked, her eyes filled with pain, making Harry slap him mentally once again at the idiotic thing he had said.
"I don't know Hermione, I really don't."
"Well that's not good enough now is it?"
Harry got up and started pacing in front of her, "look, I really don't know what got into me, but I'm trying to apologise to you. At least accept it; please don't stay mad at me. I don't know if I can stand it," he finished and took in a huge amount of air as he had said that sentence with one breath.
"I won't hide the fact that what you said hurt but I accept your apology Harry," she told him, and was happy to see the smile forming on his lips. Not being to contain herself, she opened her arms and he was gladly gathered up in them, both of them content just to be in that hug that seemed to last for a while. Burrowing his head in her stomach - she was still sitting on the chair while Harry had knelt, once again, in front of her - he took in her scent that seemed to be consisting of vanilla and summer. This seemed to create a realization for Harry that dawned on him like a ton of bricks. Tightening his arms around her waist, he once again mumbled an apology that only resulted in Hermione stroking his hair and trying to tell him that it didn't matter anymore.
After a while, the two of them parted and Harry brought up a chair so that he could sit next to her, while silence hung in the air. However, it wasn't an uncomfortable one, as they were simply enjoying the small joys of life as was this one; sitting with your best friend outside in the garden and watching nature take its course. Harry took a chance and glanced sideways at Hermione who seemed to be lost in her thoughts and so he took the chance to ask a question that had been etching away at him for the better part of his stay at the Burrow.
"Is something the matter?" he simply blurted out, causing Hermione to wince visibly at the question that he had just posed. She didn't answer instantly, but merely stared up at the sky-blue that held the royal sun in its sea. If Harry hadn't seen her react to his question, he would start doubting that she had even heard him, but he didn't say anything. Patience was one more thing that he learned and so he decided to wait her out, rewarded when she appeared about to answer him.
"Do you ever think about the future, Harry?" whatever he was expecting for an answer, it surely wasn't that and so he was obviously flabbergasted. It was his turn to be silent for a few moments until he assembled his train of thought concerning this subject.
"I do," he answered her truthfully, "I don't want to because I don't know if I ever get the chance to have a future, but sometimes I can't help myself," he turned himself on the chair so that he was sitting sideways on it yet facing Hermione and continued, "Yesterday at the wedding, I caught myself wondering if I will ever have a wedding, or if I'll ever have the joy of having children." Hermione was listening to him intently but made no action of interrupting him, encouraging Harry to continue, "I always pictured myself having an outdoor wedding on an evergreen hill with everyone that I know being present. It would be a small ceremony and the press wouldn't know about it because I don't want a big fuss, but I do everyone that I know to be there and be happy for us." He paused a bit and looked at the horizon, as if his dream was hidden somewhere in there. He turned and saw Hermione's eyes covered with a thin sheet of tears, and he was surprised when he found that he wasn't embarrassed opening his heart to her, and so he went on with his story - his dream, "I also want to live in a cottage and have 3 children with a dog and cat," he chuckled a bit before going on, "I always like the name 'Jack' for a dog, even though it's common, and 'Amy' for a cat. The dog will preferably be a Golden Retriever and it will always be happy and playing with my children, yet when it needs to protect us it will do so."
"What about your children? How will they be?" Hermione asked gingerly, not wanting to intrude on his dream but also eager to find out his deeper thoughts.
"Well, I always imagined having a girl as a first-born and then a boy. And as for the third child, I always liked the idea of adopting a child that isn't as fortunate."
"That's very kind of you Harry, but I guess that's just who you are," Hermione told him, and as soon as he heard those words, he felt elated at the fact that she was being honest with him, praising him and not laughing at his fantasy, "Have you given any thought about what job you want to take?"
"Well, I guess everyone is expecting me to become an Auror but I just don't know. Sure, I feel like I'm going to be doing something worthwhile if I become an Auror, but I've had enough with fighting the bad guys. I always toyed with the idea of becoming a Professor at Hogwarts after everything is over. I mean, I know that there's a chance of Hogwarts not reopening this year, but I'll make sure it will open after Voldermort is defeated, there's no-way that I'm going to allow it to remain closed."
"Defence against the Dark Arts?" Hermione asked, although it seemed that she already knew the answer to that.
"Yeah, it just seems - " he was cut of by Hermione finishing off his thoughts,
"Appropriate that you would want to share you thoughts and knowledge with children so that they are aware of what they might encounter in their lives."
"Exactly," he told her, a look of awe in his eyes at how much she seemed to know him, "How-"
"Did I know that?" she smiled, "Being best friends for 6 years with you, I'd like to believe that I know you really well. I'm sure you feel the same way Harry," she finished, looking a bit flushed but contented that she said it.
"I do feel the same way Hermione," he told her, "I'm really lucky to have friends like you and Ron, I can't think of anything that could top having such great friends," he finished seriously, and Hermione bit back a sob. Neither knew what to say anymore, so they sat back in their chairs and just gazed at the horizon silently, lost in their thoughts. The silence was broken when Hermione came to the decision to ask Harry something that she couldn't quite understand about him, even though she did have an opinion about it. It seemed that her internal battle whether or not to ask him showed on her face because Harry told her, "Just let it out," and Hermione, with a genuine smile, felt optimistic.
"I don't want you taking this the wrong way, but… sometimes I can't understand you," when she saw the bemused look on his face she tried to explain it better, "You see, sometimes you're hot and then the next second you're cold. Like today, when I came into the room you were more than happy to see me and we were getting along just fine, when all of a sudden in the kitchen you do a 180 turn and say harsh things. I just don't understand it," she concluded, giving Harry all the time he needed to find a decent answer.
"It looked as if you and Ron were cozy at that time," he spat out, not intending it to sound as an innuendo but miserably failed.
"So we return to this?" she asked spitefully, "Couldn't just trust me when I explained it to you last night, just had to take one more jab at it, didn't you?" and with that, she got up from the chair and started walking back to the house, determined not to let Harry see how much she was affecting her. Determined not to let him see her cry after everything that she had gone through this past year; trying to forget about him although she hadn't succeeded.
Harry was torn between running after her or letting her vent off, though he decided the former one was the best course of action. Getting up from the chair, he took four large strides and reached up to her, catching her arm and making spin round as she let out a gasp of surprise. He wasn't taken aback when he saw the tears trickling down her face in a sad and slow river, and so he was able to get a firm grip on her, not allowing to go anywhere else until she heard him out.
"Yes Hermione," he began, "we have returned to this because you didn't trust me enough to tell me what's going on between the two of you," he put up a hand so that she couldn't interrupt, "I'm not talking about last night, I'm talking about what I walked in this morning when I came into the kitchen. I saw you two talking in low whispers and when Ginny let out that cough you immediately stopped. Do you know how it feels to have your two best friends talking behind your back? I thought that you were talking about me and it hurt, I admit it, though what hurt most was the fact that you didn't tell me about it." He finished and when he looked up at see Hermione, he was surprised to find anger hiding behind those caramel pools. It was so radiant that he could actually feel the anger radiating off her.
"You are a bastard Harry," and Harry saw her free hand coming towards his cheek a second too late. Hermione tried to get free but Harry didn't let her, if anything that slap made his resolve even stronger so he just held on tighter, despite the fact that his cheek was stinging as hell. 'Could it be that only this morning we were carefree and not angry at each other?' he couldn't help but wonder. "How dare you say that I don't trust you enough?" Hermione said, "How dare you say that when last night I told you things that I haven't told anyone? How insensitive are you?"
These words seemed to shock Harry so much that he let go, giving Hermione the chance that she needed to break free. Taking one step back, she looked at him sadly and shook her head, whilst murmuring ever-so-quietly, "Maybe taking the easy way out is better…" trailing off as she began walking back to the Burrow. When those words registered in Harry's mind, he made the connection and anger boiled up inside of him, making him shout out,
"Maybe you're right!" Hermione was stopped in mid-track, turning around and pointing a finger at Harry.
"Don't pretend that you know what I'm talking about because you have no clue!" she practically yelled at him, but Harry wasn't fazed. Instead, he shouted right back at her,
"Then enlighten me Hermione! What is so hard about it?"
"Loving you so much is so bloody hard!"