Just Below the Nose (Part II)
A/N: This was written for the Fanfict00bs Birthday Challenge on the fanfict00bs community on livejournal. For the challenge requirements, see the previous chapter.
Just to clear up any misconceptions you readers may have about this story…this will not be one of those plot-filled fics in which the Trio goes searching merrily for the horcruxes. Sure, horcruxes will be mentioned…but plot? Aren't we all getting a little sick of plot anyway? :P
~
The letters from Hogwarts arrived July 30th while Harry and Hermione were eating breakfast (and while Ron was still fast asleep).
Harry and Hermione untied their letters, and then Harry freed Ron's. Hermione began to open hers as the owls flew out the window, and they had their answer before even reading their letters when Hermione pulled out a badge - the Head Girl badge.
"Looks like it's reopening," Hermione said, and Harry could tell that, even though she would have gladly left school to help him, she was happy to be going back. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing, finishing out school - if it made Hermione's eyes light up like that, it couldn't be a bad choice.
The letters went on to explain that the school would remain open with extra security measures for any students whose parents consented to their return. Hermione thought it a sensible move, considering Hogwarts was still probably the safest place in the wizarding world, Dumbledore or not. "It would almost be worse to close Hogwarts and prevent the students from living under its protection," she'd said.
"Well," Hermione continued, folding up her letter, "I suppose we'll need to go buy supplies. We could do it tomorrow and perhaps celebrate your birthday while we're there."
"Er, well, as nice as that sounds, Hermione, I don't think there are a lot of places to do any celebrating in Diagon Alley anymore."
Hermione considered the matter for several seconds. "There's always Fred and George."
Harry didn't voice the thought that he wasn't sure he wanted to do any celebrating with Fred and George's help.
~
School shopping was a lot quicker these days, and not necessarily by choice. Many of the shops they usually frequented were closed - the Quidditch supply store (Ron still hadn't recovered from the shock) had gone out of business, the owner of Hermione's favorite used bookstore had fled the country, and the main candy shop (again, Ron still hadn't recovered) had been replaced with a very unusual new shop - Gred and Forge's Tattoo Parlor.
If Mrs. Weasley ever saw it, she would never recover from the shock.
Needless to stay, once they'd stumbled upon the shop, they couldn't resist going in and finding out whose brilliant idea it had been and why on earth they'd chosen such an odd name for it.
The inside was darkly lit with an interesting choice of black walls and red carpet. They were in a waiting room, Harry supposed, considering there was black leather furniture scattered about with books of artwork open on tables here and there.
"It's like they copied the perfect Muggle tattoo parlor stereotype," Hermione muttered in Harry's ear. He tried valiantly to keep his face from flushing as he reacted automatically to the feel of her breath playing across his skin.
"Hello, and welcome, valuable cust - oh, it's just you lot," said one of the twins, coming out of a door across the room with a half-eaten banana in hand.
"Gee, thanks, Fred," Ron said. "So…why a tattoo parlor?"
"Because we developed an ink that's temporary," Fred replied through a mouthful of banana. "Seemed a waste to only use it in our joke products."
"But that's nothing new," Hermione said. "Temporary tattoos have been around for ages."
"What, those Muggle stick-on things? Nah, that's not what we've got. Our ink doesn't just wear off - it's timed to vanish after an exact amount of time. So you could have your tattoo for a day, a month, a year, five years - whatever you wanted. That's been great for business - mums mind tattoos a lot less when they'll disappear eventually."
"…That's actually quite impressive," Hermione said, as though reluctant to give the twins too much credit. "A variation on the vanishing charm?"
"Something like that," Fred replied, popping the last bit of banana into his mouth. "Dead useful stuff, besides the tattoos - we've been using it in all sorts of products." He transfigured the peel into a bright yellow sock and tucked it into his pocket. Nobody felt comfortable questioning his behavior.
"So, how about it? Anyone want a tattoo? We can do almost anything."
"Er…Mum'd kill me, no matter how temporary it was," Ron said, eyeing Fred warily.
"Yeah, she would," Fred replied. "And speaking of Mum, she's out of her wits with worry - would you go across the street to the shop and floo her? She's worried you're starving to death or something - and she won't stop harping at us to check in on you."
Ron sighed. "Yeah, all right."
"And maybe pad your shirt so she thinks you've been overeating," Fred called after Ron as he left the parlor.
"So?" he said, turning back to Harry and Hermione. "How 'bout it?"
"We should do it," Harry said with a grin at Hermione.
"Er…Harry, I'm not sure…"
"Oh, c'mon, it doesn't have to last long," Harry said, enjoying Hermione's uncomfortable expression. "Let's just for once do something random that doesn't involve a near-death experience."
"All right," Hermione said, a slow mischievous grin spreading across her face that Harry knew he couldn't trust one bit. "I'll do it…if I get to pick what - and where - yours is."
"Only if I get to do the same to you," Harry said warily.
Hermione considered that for a moment. "Deal."
"Marvelous!" said Fred. "You choose and I'll go get the ink ready."
Harry frowned, unsure of what to choose for Hermione. If she gave him something terribly embarrassing, he might have her put Viktor Krum's name on her bum. But that thought made him distinctly uncomfortable, and not just because it led to thoughts of her bum. Hermione wasn't still with Krum, was she? Did she still fancy him? Goodness, what did she see in that walking unibrow anyway?
Harry glanced over at Hermione. She was still smirking, and Harry had a feeling she already knew exactly what to choose.
Harry let out a resigned sigh. "Well, what is it, then?"
"What?" Hermione offered him a vaguely confused expression.
"I know you're just bursting to tell me what my tattoo's going to be. Go on."
Hermione hesitated, either to decide whether to tell him or to create dramatic effect. "A hippogriff."
"A hippogriff?"
"On your chest."
"Hermione! …Well, it is an interesting proposition."
"Yes, it is," Hermione said. "And it's not like anyone will ever see it. Besides, I think hippogriffs are much preferable to Hungarian Horntails."
Harry mentally compared his own experiences with the two.
"Definitely," he agreed firmly.
Hermione grinned. "So what embarrassing thing am I going to have on my body?"
Harry reconsidered his earlier notion. Marking her as Viktor Krum's? No, that wouldn't do at all. Maybe Hermione would never be his - it wasn't likely, all things considered. But this tattoo was temporary…
"A lightning bolt."
"A lightning bolt?"
"Yes. On your forehead."
"…Harry!"
"All right, not on your forehead. You can choose where it's at."
"Fine. A lightning bolt."
Fred emerged a moment later. "Well? All decided? Who's first?"
"I'll go first," Hermione said. "But I have a question."
"Yes, it's all perfectly hygienic, Hermione."
"That wasn't the question."
"Oh. Go on."
"Do we have to choose an exact date for the tattoos to disappear? Can we keep them indefinitely, and have them removed whenever we want?"
Fred crossed his arms and seemed to consider it carefully. "Yeah, we can do that."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. Come on back, everything's ready."
~
Some time later, Harry and Hermione stepped out of the tattoo parlor.
"Why did you not want to set a time on the tattoos?" Harry asked her as they crossed the street to rescue Ron from whatever Molly was probably putting him through over there now.
"Because I didn't want them to disappear until we'd finished this - our mission. I want them to be there to remind us of what we're doing it for."
"Tattoos?" Harry said bemusedly.
"No, not tattoos - for days like this. For being able to be normal teenagers and get ridiculous tattoos without being murdered."
Harry smiled. "We already can't do that."
"Exactly," she said. "We should be able to. And that's worth fighting for."
"A reminder…that's a good idea."
~
That evening, Ron was forced to attend a family dinner at the Burrow, and though Harry and Hermione had both been invited, Hermione declined for them both. Harry would have liked to go for the birthday cake that Mrs. Weasley would have undoubtedly created for him, but he was happy to have evaded confronting Ginny. When he'd still wanted to be with Ginny and known Ginny still wanted to be with him, it had been clear where he stood with her. Now…well, Ginny's furtive glances would only make him uncomfortable.
Yes, it was much better that he stay home with Hermione, who had bought him a cake while they were out shopping that day.
"I hope you don't mind this," Hermione said as Harry prepared dinner (it was best not to let Hermione near anything one wanted edible). "I know you probably would have had more fun over at the Burrow, but…I was really hoping we could spend some time together - you know, just us."
"Of course I don't mind," Harry replied as the hopes and speculations began to bounce around in his mind. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?"
"Oh - well, not exactly. There were a few things, but mostly…I just missed talking to you."
"…We talk every day, Hermione."
"I mean just you and me. Without Ron around to pounce on my every word," Hermione said, rearranging the table settings in a rather compulsive manner. "This may sound horrible, but when Ron and I weren't speaking for so long last year, there was a part of me that didn't mind so much, because for once, I didn't feel…secondary. It was like for the first time, I was your friend, and Ron was your friend, and I didn't necessarily have to be friends with Ron to be friends with you."
Harry began to place dinner on the table, a knot of guilt working its way up his throat.
"You thought you had to be friends with Ron to be friends with me?"
"Well, that's how it started out, isn't it? We weren't friends until the troll fiasco settled things with Ron and I."
"Yeah, but you'd also been thwarting all my attempts to get expelled up until then," Harry said, hoping humor would lighten up the conversation a bit.
Hermione smiled. "Yes, I can see how that would be irksome. But it doesn't really matter why it turned out that way - it just was. I was the second friend…Ron had seniority over me." Hermione shrugged slightly. "It just seemed that way to me for a really long time. I'm glad it's changed now."
"I'm sorry," Harry said, feeling a sudden flood of regret for never having appreciated Hermione more - for not having noticed just what a rare creature she was years before. "If I'd known - "
"You'd have had absolutely no idea what to do about it," Hermione concluded, grinning. "Don't worry about it, Harry. It wasn't ever anything you did - it was just the way we were back then. Things change. And speaking of things changing, I wanted to talk to you about Ginny."
"Ginny?" Somewhere inside his body, a panic alarm was going off. "What about Ginny?"
"Well, I was wondering how you were going to handle that situation."
"It needs handling?"
"Of course it does, Harry! Now that we're going back to Hogwarts, she's probably thinking the two of you will pick up right where you left off."
"What? Why?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, the two of you were going along just fine until you decided to go after the horcruxes - not that she knows that's the reason, but she's not stupid. She knows you didn't have any intention of going back before. Now that we've decided we will…she's probably thinking you'll start dating again. …I mean, if you want to get back together, then there's no problem. But if you don't…"
"What should I say to her, then?"
"I don't know exactly. Just be tactful, whatever you do. Explain as much as you can to her, and even if she doesn't understand, leave her in no uncertain terms of what your intentions are. She'll understand - she'll have to."
Harry nodded, not looking forward to trying to face an angry Ginny Weasley one bit. She was almost as scary as Hermione…
"I know it's not going to be pleasant," Hermione said, "but you won't have to worry about it for a month. Right now, you have more important things to think about. Like making a dent in this cake." With a flick of her wand, Hermione moved the cake from the counter to the center of the table.
"It's not sugar-free, is it?" Harry asked, only half-joking.
Hermione laughed. "No, but don't worry. I'll make sure you brush your teeth tonight."
To Be Continued