Okay guys and gals! Here's another fic from Harrys Mistress. I came up with this idea while I was sick and it's not going to be TOO long, plus this will be all fluff. I don't think I can take much action anymore. I love writing fluff! Anyway, I hope you like it. I've already written 20 pages of it so the first couple of updates will be long. This first one will be the longest probably, although I'm not posting all of it now. Enjoy and thanks again for everything! You guys are what keeps bringing me back to write more stories. I've got even ANOTHER idea after this one. So I'll be spoiling you for awhile it seems like. Enjoy!
The Little Things
Chapter One
Harry Potter stood in the middle of the living room of the place he called home for the first ten years of his life. His trunk and all his belongings were by his side as he waited for the clock to strike noon, for that was when the Floo Network would be open and he only had a minute to get from here to the Burrow.
His aunt and uncle, along with his cousin sat on the couch as they watched him closely and anxiously. They all knew that this was the last time they would see Harry and he knew they weren't exactly sad about it. They had been wanting Harry out of the house for good and now they were going to get what they wanted.
Harry glanced at the clock to see that he only had a few minutes left. "Er…I guess I should say something. Even though you treated me badly over the years and hated my guts, you still gave me a roof over my head." He gave a little shrug. "I guess I should thank you for that." They didn't say anything and just stared. "Er…right, so thanks and I hope you have a great normal life now that I'm gone." He looked up to see that it was now time. "Okay, well off I go." He grabbed his trunk and empty bird cage, for Hedwig was waiting for him at the Burrow, and dragged them into the fireplace.
"Harry wait," his aunt said suddenly as she stood up from the couch.
He looked up and waited for a few seconds but she was still silent. "What? I don't have a lot of time."
"Your parents," she blurted. "They're buried at the cemetery at Godric's Hollow. I thought you should know in case…well, in case you wanted to see them."
Out of all the years he had been there, that simple statement meant more to him than anything. "Thanks, Aunt Petunia. I appreciate that very much." He then pulled out his floo powder and said his destination and he saw the Dursley's for the last time before he was swept off his feet.
He tumbled into the kitchen of the Burrow, but was able to catch himself before he fell on his face. As soon as he straightened he heard a shriek of excitement and then felt a female form throw herself at him. "Oaf….er…Ginny, hi."
"Oh, Harry it's so good to see you!" she squeezed him hard.
He frowned as he patted her back. Obviously she didn't take his break up seriously, or was she just being overly friendly? "Er…good to see you, too," he said as he took a step back and gave her a small smile.
"Hey mate," Ron said giving him a quick hug. "Good to have you back. Feel good to be free from the Dursleys?"
"It feels wonderful," he said grinning.
"Harry, dear, I'm so glad you could make it for the wedding," Mrs. Weasley said as she took some time away from the stove to give him a proper welcome.
"I wouldn't miss it, Mrs. Weasley," he said returning her hug. He then looked around, expecting to see another welcoming face, but frowned when Hermione was no where in sight. "Where's Hermione?"
"Oh, the poor dear," Mrs. Weasley clucked as she returned to the stove. "She's been awful sick the last few days."
"Sick?" he asked worried as he glanced upstairs. "Is she all right? What's wrong?"
"Oh, just a head cold, has the chills, and a wee bit of fever," Mrs. Weasley said. "The worst of its past and she's on the mend, but still very weak."
"She's been coughing and hacking up crud for days," Ron grimaced. "Rather gross."
"She had high fever last night," Mrs. Weasley said. "But it's gone down a whole lot, she's doing a little better."
Harry stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked up towards the ceiling. "Can I go see her?"
"Oh, Harry, she's resting," Ginny said as she tugged at his arm. "Why don't we go for a walk?"
"Yeah, mate," Ron said with a smile. "Go on, I'm sure Hermione needs her sleep."
"Ginny, Ron, you heard what Hermione said!" Mrs. Weasley snapped as she pointed her wooden spoon at them then turned to Harry. "Harry, dear, Hermione told us to send you up as soon as you got in. She wants to see you."
Harry gave Ginny and Ron a puzzled look, while they guilty avoided eye contact. Why wouldn't they want him to see Hermione? "Yeah, all right. I'll go up and see her. Which room is she staying in?"
"She's staying in Percy's old room since he's obviously not using it. I didn't want her to share with Ginny while she was sick."
"Good luck getting near her, mate," Ron said as he held up his hands that were bandaged. "That damn cat of hers is guarding her like she's some precious jewel. He doesn't let me get a foot near her."
"Thanks for the warning, but Crookshanks and I have never had a problem."
Without waiting for a response from Ron he made his way up the rickety stairs and headed straight for Percy's room. He knocked softly before slowly opening the door and peaked his head inside. She seemed to be asleep so he quietly let himself in and made his way to the bed. Crookshanks was curled up against one of her legs and his head lifted up urgently. Harry smiled as he scratched him under his chin. "Watching out for her, are you Crookshanks?"
He purred and rubbed his face against his hand. "Did you keep that evil Ron away, hmm?" He scratched down his spine and Crookshanks purred and stretched as he exposed his fluffy belly. "Yeah, you're some guard cat."
"Harry?"
He turned his head at the weak hoarse voice and saw Hermione looking up at him with a weary smile. "Hey there," he said as he stopped petting Crookshanks and took a step closer to Hermione. He was thankful Crookshanks didn't attack him and curled himself back against Hermione's legs. "Looks like he's giving me permission to come near you."
She smiled. "You're the only one besides Mrs. Weasley. Poor Ron's fingers are scratched."
"I noticed," he said and then sighed. She was so pale. "You look bloody awful."
"Probably because I feel bloody awful," she said as she started to prop herself up.
Harry went to her immediately to help her. "What do you need?"
She licked her dry lips. "Could you pour me a glass of water."
"Sure," he said walking over to the desk where the pitcher was and poured her a full glass. He then walked over and sat next to her on the bed and tilted the glass to her chapped lips. "Try to drink all of it."
Her hand closed over his that held the glass as she gulped down the icy water. She was halfway done by the time she pulled away for a breath. "Go on, finish the rest," he urged as he tilted the glass back up. "I'll go and refill it."
She did as he asked and drank until the last drop was consumed. He refilled her drink and placed it on the nightstand for whenever she needed it. "You look like you broke a lot of fever," Harry said as he pushed back some damp hair. "You're sweating."
"The thermometer is on the nightstand, I should probably check."
Harry took the thermometer that looked like a regular Muggle one, but instead of numbers there were markings like, Dragon's Fire Hot! and Emergency! Get to St. Mungos! He smiled because it was so much like Mrs. Weasley. "Well, let's see, hopefully you're Nice and Cool," he said as he stuck the thermometer in her mouth. "How do I know when to take it out?"
"Ip pings," she muffled not sounding clear with the thermometer making it difficult.
"It dings?" She nodded. "Scary that I understood that."
She couldn't smile but the wrinkles at the corner of her eyes was telling him that she was. "Well, I'm done with the Dursleys," he said as they were waiting. "For good. I never have to go back."
She placed a hand on his and squeezed.
"I thanked them, I know I shouldn't have, but they didn't have to keep me. I might not have had a loving home, but at least I had one. That's something, isn't it?"
Her eyes turned sad as she nodded.
"And Aunt Petunia told me where my parents are buried." Her hands squeezed again and he covered his other one over hers. "They are over at Godric's Hollow. I need to go there first…before we start." She nodded in understanding, but before he could say anything else the thermometer let out a high pitch ding and so Harry pulled it out of her mouth and examined it. "Well, you're at Very Warm. Any improvement?"
"Last night I was at Veela Smoking Hot," she said with a laugh. "Mr. Weasley snuck that one in."
He grinned as he looked back at the thermometer. "Well, you went down three spots, that's pretty good." He put his hand over her forehead and noticed she was still rather warm. "When I was sick, I would put a cold wash cloth over my head."
"My mum use to do that for me," she said with a smile as she watched Harry go to the washroom to get her a cool rag. "She's why I got sick, my dad, too. They both were sick at the beginning of the summer and I took care of them. Now I'm paying the price."
"I'm sorry they aren't here to take care of you," he said as he walked back into the room and sat back down with a cool wash cloth and placed it gently on her forehead.
"I'm getting pretty good treatment here it seems," Hermione said as she sighed and snuggled under the covers. "Is it cold in here?"
"No, you're just sick," he said getting up so he could pull the covers over her.
"Harry?"
"Hmm?"
"The Horcruxes? Have you had any leads?"
"Let's not worry about that right now, I want to focus on you getting better. I can't search for them without you so you better get well."
She smiled as she snuggled under the covers. "I will."
"Is there anything else I can do for you? I hate seeing you like this."
"Not unless you can bring the outdoors in here," she said sleepily as she closed her eyes. "I'm so bored staring at Percy's damn awards and trophies on the walls."
He smiled as he stroked her hair. "I'll see what I can do. You get some sleep."
She sighed as she nuzzled her cheek against his hand. "Thanks Harry."
"It's the least I can do," he murmured as she was already drifting off to sleep. "You've always been there for me…even for the little things." Harry's heart swelled with admiration as he watched her sleep. He was very lucky to have her by his side and he was just realizing that maybe sometimes he took her for granted. Not any more, he promised himself and then gave Crookshanks another quick scratch before heading out.
When he returned to the kitchen Ginny and Ron were at the table waiting for him and Mrs. Weasley was still at the stove. The wedding was keeping her busy. "How is she doing?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she turned away and wiped her hands on her apron.
"Better," he said with a smile. "I gave her some more water and took her temp. Her fever has gone down, although a lot of it might have been the water that cooled it down. Hopefully the wash cloth will help."
"Wash cloth?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, when I was sick and had fever I would always put a cool wash cloth on my forehead, she said her mum did the same for her. So I went to the washroom and placed a cool cloth on her forehead. It will help."
"So Crookshanks let you touch her?" Ron asked.
"I told you he doesn't have a problem with me," he said in a firm tone. "He's just watching out for her."
"What does he expect I would do? I'm her bloody friend, too, you know."
Harry shrugged. "Well, maybe it's because you insult her all the time. I bet Crookshanks doesn't like it."
Ron's jaw dropped. "He's a cat."
"He's a very smart cat," he corrected. "If I were you I'd start trying to get on his good side. Excuse me, I'm going for a walk."
Harry exited through the back door, not paying attention to the commotion of people scattering around the garden obviously getting ready for the wedding. He didn't want to run into anyone he knew so he kept his head down and walked right out of the garden and through the field. He kept on walking through the green grass and paused when he found himself in the middle of swarm of wildflowers.
They were bright colors of flowers off all kinds brushing around his ankles and beyond. He smiled when he thought of what Hermione said about wanting the outside in her room. Well, he may not be able to bring the sun or the breeze, but maybe a vase full of flowers would help. He bent down and picked a blue flower and the color reminded him of the dress she wore at the ball on their fourth year. He didn't know what kind of flowers these were, but they were pretty and didn't girls like flowers? So he picked more as he casually walked through the sea of colorful blooms, careful not to step on any as he picked the ones he thought Hermione would like.
"What are you doing?"
Harry turned around to see Ginny standing a few feet away from him, staring at the bundle of flowers in his hand. "Er…picking flowers."
She smiled softly. "Oh Harry, that's so sweet. For me?"
Damn it, how was he going to get out of this? "Er…actually, I was picking them for Hermione."
She had started to make her way towards him but stopped abruptly. "Hermione?"
"Yeah, she's sick after all," he said and since he didn't want to look into her eyes he continued his task. "She told me she wished I could bring the outdoors in her room. This is the only way I can think of to do it."
"Oh," she said in a deaf tone. "That's nice. Why do you have so many blue flowers?"
"Huh?" he asked as he looked up at her.
"The bouquet in your hand. You're picking a lot of blue."
Harry looked down to see that she was right, the blue flowers over powered the yellow, pink and green ones. "Oh…I guess because it's her favorite color."
"You know her favorite color?"
He let out a laugh as he kept on picking flowers. "Ginny, she's been my best friend since first year. I'd be a pretty crappy friend if I didn't at least know her favorite color."
"Does Ron know her favorite color?" Ginny asked.
Harry let out an impatient breath. Why in the world did it matter? "How should I know, ask Ron."
"As me what?" Ron said as he walked up behind Ginny.
"Do you know Hermione's favorite color?" Ginny asked as Harry ignored them and kept on picking.
"How should I know, she's never told me," he said with a shrug. "Why, what's going on?"
"Harry knows her favorite color," Ginny pointed out.
Ron narrowed his eyes. "You do? When did she tell you?"
Harry huffed as he turned towards them. "Look, she never told me all right, I'm just more observant I guess. I've noticed little things that make me believe her favorite color is blue."
"Blue?" Ron asked confused. "Why would you think blue? Don't girls like pink?"
"Hermione likes pink all right, but she seems to like blue the best." Harry said picking up his last flower and looked at the bouquet and was satisfied. He looked over at Ginny and Ron who were still looking at him dumbly. "Okay, I've just noticed that she wears a lot of blue when she doesn't have to wear her uniform. When we go to stores and she has an option of colors, she usually chooses blue." He let out another exasperated sigh. "I have no idea why we're having this conversation, I'm going in to give these to Hermione."
Ron stopped him by grabbing his arm. "Hermione? Those are for Hermione?"
"Yes, Hermione," he said as he shrugged off his arm. "Our friend…Hermione, who's sick as a dog upstairs. I'm hoping these will make her feel better, is that a problem, Ron?"
"No, I guess not," he said looking rather suspicious, but then smiled. "Hey, could you tell them they're from me, too?"
"No, pick your own flowers," he said roughly. He didn't know why that bothered him, but for some reason he wanted Hermione to know that it was his idea and his idea alone.
"But you already done it, it will seem like a copied you."
"Well, think of something else," he said and then stalked off.
"I don't know why you're being so bloody selfish!" Ron called out.
Harry just turned around and gave him a hopeless shrug as if to say, I don't know either, then turned and continued walking. He walked into the kitchen to find Mrs. Weasley alone bustling around the kitchen. "Mrs. Weasley, do you have a vase I could use?"
"Hmm? Oh, how lovely," she said as she spotted the flowers. "Those are for Hermione?"
Pleased that she understood, he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I hope it might cheer her up."
"That's so sweet," she said as she opened a cupboard and pulled out a copper tin vase that was old and rusted. "It's not much, but this might work."
"It's perfect, Mrs. Weasley," he said as he took it to the sink and started to fill it with water. He carefully slid the bouquet into the vase and didn't object when Mrs. Weasley helped arranging the flowers.
"That looks beautiful," she sighed dreamily. "Look at all those blue flowers."
"It's her favorite color."
"Oh." Her eyes filled with tears as she sniffled. "That's so sweet."
Always uncomfortable around women's tears, Harry shuffled his feet. "Er…it's nothing really."
"Oh, go on upstairs and give it to her," she said wiping her nose. "Before I fall apart."
Happy to oblige, he picked up the vase and started to walk out, but Mrs. Weasley stopped him. "Harry? Since I'm going to be a bit busy with the wedding, do you think you can watch over Hermione for me? I tried to get Ron to take care of her, but well…Crookshanks wouldn't allow it. But he seems to let you and it would help me a lot."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of her," he said with a smile.
"I know you will," she beamed and he could have sworn she winked at him. "You always do."
When Harry made it back up to the room, she was still fast asleep. He made sure to shut the door slowly, wincing a bit when it made a loud click. He looked around to see where the flowers should go, he wanted them to be the first thing she saw when she woke up. There was a shelf right across from her with some of Percy's awards, so he went up and moved the awards aside and placed the vase right in the middle. The huge bouquet of flowers practically drowned out the trophies and awards she was so sick of seeing, so he thought it was perfect.
"Harry?"
He spun around to see her staring at him. "Hermione, I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
"No, I…are those flowers?"
"What?" He turned around and glanced at the flowers. "Oh, yeah." Suddenly embarrassed he shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "I thought I'd bring a little of the indoors in here with you."
When he turned towards her he was horrified to see that tears were filling up in her brown eyes. "Hermione, don't cry," he said as he went to her and sat by her hip. "I'm sorry, I'll take them away, I only thought…I didn't mean to make you cry."
"No, it's…it's…" He reached for the tissue that was on the table and handed it to her. She blew her nose loudly and wiped her eyes with her fingers. "They're beautiful, Harry."
"Please don't cry, I hate it when girls cry. I get all out of sorts." He pulled out another tissue and dabbed the tears away himself. "You okay?"
"I'm sorry, I was just so touched," she sighed as she smiled up at him. "It's the sweetest thing you've ever done for me."
"Really?" he asked intrigued. "What about the times I saved your life?"
"That was noble and brave…not sweet." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "What I mean is, it was thoughtful. You've always been nice to me, Harry, but this is the first time you did something for me that…oh, I'm going to start crying again!"
"Don't! Please….um…think of something horrible I did to you or something."
She let out a laugh. "That's going to take awhile for me to think."
"Come on, I'm not perfect," he said with a grin.
"No, I know you're not, but you always…" She paused and let out a breath.
"Always what?"
"You just…you never tried to change me."
He frowned. "Why would I do that?"
She smiled brightly. "See? That response right there was perfect."
"I don't see what…"
"You never said anything about what I believed in. S.P.E.W for example…you never told me it was hopeless, you never told me it was stupid."
He shook his head. "You're my friend, Hermione. I might not have believed it would go far and yes…I was a little embarrassed about the buttons you made for us, but I would have worn them. It was important to you."
"Ron made fun of me constantly," she said as she looked into her lap. "He also ragged on my hats I made for the elves."
He didn't know exactly what to say here, he knew something was going on between them. "Ron just…has this problem of not knowing what to keep to himself."
Hermione chuckled. "You got that right."
Harry smiled and removed the cloth that was still on her forehead. "How do you feel? Did the cloth help?"
"I feel a lot better," she said sitting up more against the pillows. "You could do me a favor and make Crookshanks go and eat, he's been up here too long."
At the sound of his name, he lifted his head and squinted up at them. "Go on, Crookshanks," Harry said. "I'll stay with her until you get back." He looked hesitant as he stared back and forth between him and Hermione. "Go on outside and hunt something plump and delicious. A mouse maybe?"
Crookshanks licked his chops before he stood up, arched his back with a long stretch, and jumped off the bed before sauntering towards the door. Harry was about to get up and open the door for him, but to his surprise, Crookshanks leaned up and fiddled with the knob with both paws until it clicked open.
"Wow," Harry said as he watched him walk out. "I'm impressed."
"He likes to open doors himself," Hermione laughed. "He's very independent."
"So I see."
"I do love the flowers, Harry. You have a lot of blue, that's perfect. It's my favorite color."
Harry grinned. "I know."
"Really?" she asked puzzled. "Funny, I don't remember telling you that."
"You didn't," he said with a smile. "I picked up on little things over the years. You seem to like blue a lot."
She blushed softly. "I didn't realize you were so observant."
"I don't mean to be," he said with a shrug. "Just pick up on things." Wanting to change the subject he stood up and looked around. "I'm in charge of taking care of you now, so what do you need? Water? Soup? You hungry?"
"You're taking care of me?" Hermione asked. "Oh, Harry, you don't have to.."
"I know I don't, but Mrs. Weasley is busy with the wedding and she asked me to. I'm happy to do it, Hermione."
"But what if I get you sick?"
"Don't worry I'll wash my hands every five seconds," he said with a grin.
"Well I've touched you so you can go wash them now," she said pointing to the washroom.
"Very well," he said going to the washroom. "So are you hungry?"
"Some soup sounds good I guess," she said as he washed his hands. "I should probably take my potion again, it helps with my congestion and coughing."
"Where is it?" he asked as he came out drying his hands.
"The vial is over by the desk. It's the green one, I only take the purple one once a day."
He went over to where the vials were displayed and saw that there were five left of the green and three left of the purple. "Are you suppose to take these until they run out."
"Yes, Madam Pomfrey was nice enough to check on me and give me the potions." She took the vial from Harry's hand and then knocked it back in her mouth. She grimaced as she handed it back. "Not the best tasting potion either."
"Here, have some water," he said handing her the glass. She took it gratefully and greedily sucked the water down. "With the amount of water you've been drinking I'm surprised you don't have to go to the bathroom."
"I do," she said putting the glass down and pulling back her sheets.
"Oh." He watched her walk out of bed with a pair of pajama shorts on that matched her blue top. "Er…do you want me to help you?" He blushed when she lifted her brows. "I mean get to the washroom, not…er…you know what I mean."
"Thanks Harry, but I think I can handle it."
"All right, um…I'm going to go and fix your soup."
"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley made me a huge batch, she'll show you were it is."
"Oh, all right. Although I DO know how to make a good soup, I didn't spend all my life cooking for the Dursley's without learning a little something."
"Maybe you can bring me breakfast in bed tomorrow?" she suggested as she stood at the doorway of the washroom.
"Hey, I just might surprise you" Harry grinned and left the room, closing the door behind him so no one would disturb her. He turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized Ginny was standing behind him. "Ginny, what are you…"
Whatever he was going to say, she didn't let him finish. She jumped into his arms and kissed him as he staggered back completely surprised.