Chapter 17
"Yes… I am Bridget Lupin. Well Potter now… I guess if you are into logistics…" She trailed off, really looking at Hannah for the first time. She cocked her head to the side with a questioning look. "And you are…?"
Hannah, not really hearing the question, stood there and breathed Bridget's name once again. "Bridge…"
Luna and Ron had nothing better to do than look on wondering what in Merlin's name was going on.
Bridget's eyes widened. "Hannah…Marlan. Hannah Marlan?"
Hannah winced as she always tended to do when her full name was mentioned. "Yup, that's me."
Bridget sat down heavily in what was once Hannah's chair. "Wow."
"I know," Hannah gushed. Since she was finally able to stand without any support she starting pacing, stopping in front of Ron and Luna. "Sit. You two aren't doing any good for us standing over there like a couple of idiots. God knows the world has plenty already."
They continued to stand there and she waved a hand in front of their faces. "Helloooo. Earth to Ron and Luna, I'm talking to you."
They looked at her with something akin to shock at hearing their names issue from her mouth. They obeyed her command and sat down.
Hannah just laughed. "Yes, I know your names. I know lots of things. Like how your sister-" she pointed to Ron "-Ginny wrote a very controversial article that, evidently, is even bigger than the one about Hermione and yet Bridge here is very angry about it." She turned to Bridget. "Let me see that."
Bridget very quietly handed the newspaper over to her and she scanned the front page. The headline of the paper read: Trouble in Paradise? With pictures of Harry and Bridge and even, surprisingly (or not so surprisingly, depending on how you look at it), Hermione. She raised her eyebrows.
"I see what you mean. I mean it must be hard enough to deal with a marriage slowly falling down the drain but then to have it publicized all over the city. God, I feel for you."
The three of them just stared at her.
She shook her head and muttered to herself, "Running off at the mouth once again. When am I ever going to learn? Explanations will do I guess." She sighed. "So I kind of know all about all of this…well this whole thing."
Ron snorted. "Stalk much?"
She shot him a look. "Not stalking per say but, well, I have been told a lot about the lot of you."
Luna raised an eyebrow. "By whom?"
"Hermione Granger. I am assuming you know her. Well of course you do. We met while she was traveling; I am staying with her now. So now you don't have to worry, I am not a freaky stalker, despite popular belief."
Bridget stared at her. "I think that we have a lot to talk about. Luna, Ron, if Hannah doesn't mind I am going to bring her back to my place so that we can talk. I will see the two of you later, right?"
They nodded and headed off, still puzzled about the events that had just taken place.
Hannah and Bridget took Hannah's car back to the Potter residence and the ride was in complete silence.
When they were settled in the Living room Bridget finally broke the silence. "So you are friends with Hermione?"
Hannah nodded. "For seven years now. She is amazing; you know she might seem a bit uptight and snotty at first glance but…"
"I know. I have been around her enough to know her well enough. After all that has happened you would think that I would hate her but…I just…can't, I guess. So how are you parents?"
"My father is the same as always. My mother, well, she was very distressed about your mom and I am sure she went to visit her at one point. She was very apprehensive to go because she was never really comfortable around Anabella because of the whole Sirius thing. She did love him. You mother is doing well am I right? Well of course, I mean Hermione affirmed that with me though I didn't know at the time you were Bridget. But I should have known. I mean, there were so many coincidences. But…I guess I refused to recognize that."
"My parents are still trying to work things out, it is not easy as you could imagine. But I do think that it brought them together when my dad thought he was going to lose her."
The conversation trickled off and they sat there together in a comfortable silence. Even though they had been away from each other for eight years the familiar friendship still felt right and as comfortable as it had always been.
"Hannah," Bridget started, "we used to be best friends. What happened to us?"
"You moved away with your mother. She was convinced that she had to go back and help out with the war there."
Bridget nodded. "And I couldn't stay behind because I was the only person that she had in this world. We lost touch."
Hannah leaned forward, sitting on the edge of her seat. "But that can change now can't it? We can reconnect and it will be just like it used to be."
"Yes, we can. But you see there is a problem here. I assume that Hermione has no idea that you used to be friends with me."
Hannah sat back. "I forgot about Hermione." She bit her lip and started to say something but she was cut off by a knock at the door. She swore under her breath. "I told her not to come!" She got up to open the door. "Excuse me."
Bridget sat there, bewildered as Hannah the newcomer with a loud "Hello, Hermione!" and walked her into the living room. "Well look who is here to join the party." Her voice had a decidedly wry tone.
Hermione just stood there looking very haughty. "Hannah, you told me that you didn't know Bridget."
"Oh, but my dear how was I supposed to know who exactly this Bridget was? You hardly gave me any of her background to work with. Surely I would have affirmed it if you told me she was Bridget Lupin. I never lie and you know that. And didn't I tell you not to come and talk to Bridge?"
Hermione sighed and looked over at Bridget. "I saw the newspaper article. I just wanted to tell her that it is sort of my fault."
Bridget looked up. "What do you mean?"
"Kate came to me this morning. I had been talking to Ginny outside of the Ministry and she sort of came up to me with Kya and she started telling me all about what happened. She was upset and I let her cry and yell at me but Ginny ended up hearing it all hence the story. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, and I was horrified then but I only learned later that you two were getting divorced and then I felt even worse." She sucked in a deep breath and stopped before she started babbling and ranting.
"Oh don't be sorry. Technically it would have been Kate's fault. Hermione, I think we need to talk so that we can be on the same page." She turned to Hannah. "I am sorry to cut our talk short but we will have plenty of time later."
Hannah shook her head and gave them both an incredulous look. "Are you kidding? I am not leaving. This is getting way to interesting. Don't make me plead. Either way I will win. Trust me; you won't even notice that I am here."
They nodded, not wanting to fight, and Bridget told Hermione to sit. "Now before you start preaching to me about how you didn't mean for all of this to happen and how I shouldn't get divorced I need to straighten a few things out with you. For one thing please don't blame yourself. While most of what has happened is sort of because of you it is not your personal fault. After all you aren't a manipulative home wrecker who had all of this planned all along."
Hermione cocked her head to the side. "How is it possible that it could not be my fault while I am still mostly the reason?"
"Simple. It is because I knew all along while entering this marriage that there was another woman, there was always another woman."
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There was silence for a moment and then Hermione raised her eyebrow. "How is that even possible?" A second later it dawned on her, "Oh, because you are a seer, right?"
"And a pretty horrible one at that," Bridget commented but shook her head. "When I met Harry he was still a bit depressed over losing you. We started dating a year after it was all over and you disappeared. During that time we would share little anecdotes from our lives. Mostly all of his had you in them. Every time he mentioned you he would get this funny look on his face like he was somewhere else, sitting with someone else and reminiscing about years past." She sighed and closed her eyes briefly, letting them flutter open at the sound of movement from the corner of the room.
Hannah raised her hand, looking sheepish though it was obviously an act.
"Yes, Hannah, what do you want?" Hermione rolled her eyes.
Hannah got up, ignoring Hermione and walking slowly from her seat into the middle of the room, stopping finally in front of Bridget. "I don't understand why you are so calm about all of this…I mean after what happened."
Hermione turned to her, her eyes flashing. "Don't you mean what I did? God, you do have some nerve. I thought that you were my friend."
"I am and I have been for seven years but I have been best friends with Bridge for my whole life. Things don't just change like that."
"Well apparently seven years isn't long enough for things not to be able to change because of a small infraction."
"Well I know well enough to know that you don't even want me here and all I wanted was to help," Hannah said hotly.
Hermione stepped forward, anger evident in her face. When she spoke her voice was low and full of fury. "How would you even dare think that I wouldn't enjoy your presence here? Maybe I do need a friend to help even though I seem to have a bit too much pride to admit it, maybe you know what I need better than I do. But then I find that from one second to the next I lost this friend who came for a specific reason: to help me. Or maybe you didn't come to help me but that was just your cover. Maybe you came to see if Bridget was really your Bridget so then you could just turn on me. Is that it?"
Hannah didn't say a word. She lifted her hand as if to slap Hermione but was cut off by Bridget's clear, cool voice that had a tone of impatience. "Stop it you two." She stood and put herself between the two of them, gently leaning back against the armchair as if it was too hard to stand on her own. "Okay, now first of all this isn't about taking sides, there are no sides and there will never be any sides. And Hannah I know I should be more upset but I have been through things much worse in my whole life without as much as a tear." She held herself strong and she willed herself not to let them know of the tears that were building up and ready to burst forth. The two of them didn't know of the tearful conversation that she had had with her mother about this very same thing.
Swallowing, she silently bid Hannah to sit so that she could finish talking. "Truthfully, the one at blame here would have to be Harry." She put up a hand at the impending protests issuing from both of her companions. "Please, let me explain. From what I have heard Hermione had left before all of this happened. They had a fight and she told Harry that she was not going to be the one to break up a marriage no matter how much she might have loved him. She went away after that, it could have been the end of the story and we probably wouldn't be sitting here today having this charming little tête-à-tête. But then you see Harry decided to disregard all of that. When Hermione came back to get her stuff so that she could officially move on…that is when all of that happened and here we are. Now, Hannah, if you don't believe me I think that Hermione could testify all of this and more."
Hermione just stared at her. "How do you know all of this?"
A flicker of a smile seemed to play across Bridget's lips. "Well I would love to say that my wonderful seer abilities decided to assist me in my time of need but I have been talking with Harry a lot over these past few days. I tell them that he has nothing more to lose and there are no reasons for him to keep anything from me. So…" she trailed off, looking weary.
Hermione nodded and hazarded a glance at Hannah who had retaken her seat in the corner and was taking all of this in with a stony, clenched teeth silence. "That makes sense."
Bridget started talking again but this time there was something different about it. She had a faraway look on her face as if the two of them were no longer there. Her eyes seemed to shimmer in the sunlight but noticing that there was no sunlight coming in through the inside Hermione realized that they were tears. "I don't regret it. You know that? How can I? I voluntarily married him even though I knew that he was in love with someone else. And while many people could argue that there shouldn't have been someone else I know that the heart feels things that you can't explain. It happened with my dad, didn't it? People say that history tends to repeat itself, except I am not sure that Tonks knew about my mother. While I could have kept myself from heartbreak by making the better decision for me."
She threw herself into the armchair she had been leaning against. "But I love him. Either way I would have broken my heart. So why not prolong it?" She shook her head her and her voice was watery, tears on the brink of falling. "These past 7 years where the best in my whole life; I wouldn't trade them in for the life of me. I would have done anything for another moment with him to show him that I love him and that I don't blame him for anything. If only it could just be as simple as another year, a month, week, day or even just a minute to change his mind and make him pick me I swear I would jump at it in an instant. But what is the point of living life like that? I can't go on wondering when the time will come that it would all be over."
Swiping the back of her hand angrily across her eyes she got up and went to stand in front of Hermione. "Just promise me one thing."
Hermione nodded and looked up at Bridget who stood above her. "What is that?"
"Don't make this heartbreak be all for naught."
Hermione nodded for what seemed the hundredth time that day. Bridget looked slightly relieved and returned back to her seat. Pushing her tears away she gave a weak smile and kept on as if nothing had happened. Hannah just sat back, still shocked at being told what to do and trying to take in Bridget's little speech if you could call it little.
"Hermione, do you have any idea where Kate might have gone after she talked to you?"
Hermione looked slightly taken aback by the abrupt change of subject and took a minute to gather her bearings before answering. "Well…she sort of just ran off." She blinked and her expression suddenly changed to worry. "Where do you think she went? Does she usually travel across London alone? Oh my god, I've lost your daughter!"
Hannah gave a little snort and Bridget put up a hand. "Kya is most likely with her. She is mostly trustworthy. Han, you'll have to meet her one day. She'll love you."
"Do you really want me around your child?"
Bridget laughed. "God forbid." Silence fell between them for a minute. "But really. You are staying with Hermione, right?" She swiftly ignored the fact that they carefully avoided looking at each other. "The two of you will have to come over for dinner one night with Luna and Ron."
Hermione spoke the sentence that seemed to be hovering between them. "Won't it be a bit uncomfortable?"
"As you can imagine but we will just have to get used to it. I am not letting it get even remotely hostile between all of us."
"For Kate?"
"Oh, of course, but also because I do like you Hermione and I don't think the relationship I have with Harry will be able to dematerialize just like that." She snapped for effect. "You know, Kate really does like you. She may even love you for all I know. Only time will tell. She was just a bit upset with the world this morning. Five year olds do get that way sometimes."
"Kate is wonderful. You are lucky to have her."
Bridget nodded, the smile slowly fading from her face and the tears seemed to build up again. "I have some more things to do before the say comes to an end. I will see you two later; please don't let this all get between you guys. I would hate to see another relationship diminish because of everything."
The two of them nodded meekly, more in Hermione's part because Hannah seemed to be a bit of an act. The actress in her seemed to come out in that moment. Bridget stood and hugged Hannah, telling her again that it was so nice to see her once again.
When the door closed behind her Bridget sank back into her chair and tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, cutting off her air. In the end she just gave up and let the tears come. Maybe that way it would be easier.
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Hermione and Hannah stepped out of the Potter Manor. The silence was thick between them. Hermione stepped forward and sat down on the steps leading up to the door. Hannah stopped behind her, tapping her foot in impatience.
"How long do you plan on sitting there?"
Hermione turned her head slightly. "Hannah, what do you want?"
"I would like for you to move."
"Go around me."
For some reason, whether from stubbornness or the fact that maybe she had one shred of confidence, she couldn't make herself go around her. She sat down beside Hermione, staring moodily into the street.
"Hannah," Hermione started a bit angrily, "what do you want from me? Please, just tell me so that we can get past this."
Hannah remained silent, her eyes never leaving the trio of older woman who were walking down the street, laughing loudly. When she spoke it was not in response to what Hermione had asked. "When I went to school Bridge and I were the best of friends. With our other friend Lyn we were something akin to what you, Harry. And Ron were. We had been friends since we were kids, our mothers were the best of friends. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could break us apart. At least that is what we thought." She broke off, swiping her hand across her eyes.
She was silent for a moment and when she spoke again her voice was bitter. "Lyn went with Bridge to fight in the war and she died. Either because of that or in spite of it, Bridge and I lost connection. I seriously never thought that I would see her again. I guess that is one thing I can accredit you with."
"Accredit me with?" Hermione asked incredulously. "Have all these years of friendship meant nothing to you?"
At Hannah's stony silence she shook her head. "I can't believe this. I should have known that this would happen. I never really had any friends. Harry and Ron became friends with me by default and I don't know how I got you but now we aren't really friends any longer so I guess I have no one." Getting up, she stepped down from the stairs and went to stand in front of Hannah. "Just tell me one thing. What did I do to deserve this? All the while you didn't seem to think that anything I did was wrong. I am not saying I really did anything. No one is saying that but now you seem to think that. Have you been lying the whole time or is this just a new change of heart?"
Again met with no response, Hermione shook her head. "I will just leave your bags outside the door. I am sure you will be able to find some place to stay. Well, Ms. Marlan, have a nice life."
Hannah didn't make a move to stop her as she whipped around and walked off. As Hermione disappeared from sight Hannah swore silently to herself. Getting up, she started walking in the other direction.
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Harry sat at his desk, his head in his hands. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the pile of papers that he should be sorting through. Dean stood by the door, watching him. He couldn't stand to see how this was eating Harry up. Bridget had come in earlier, before lunchtime, to sign the divorce papers. It was now official and Harry didn't seem to know what to do with himself.
"Minister?"
Dean turned to Harry's secretary, Karen. "Yes?"
"There is a woman in the lobby. She calls herself Hannah Marlan. She wants to see-"
"Hermione," Dean said at the same time Karen said Harry.
"Harry?"
"Yes, sir. Anyway Hermione left again and hasn't come back yet. She wants to see Harry."
Dean shot a look at the miserable man in the office and nodded. "I don't think it could hurt. A little amusement never hurt anyone."
She smiled at him and muttered something into the phone, affirming that Hannah could come up to see Harry. No more than a minute later Hannah came storming into the auror offices and came to a screeching stop in front of Dean.
She was breathing hard and she had a very determined look on her face. "Dean." For a second she studied him. "Yes, I do believe that you and Bridget would be a good match. You should tell her or at least try to make it work. She needs someone at a time like this."
"Wait. How…?"
She gave him a wry smile and passed him to make her way into Harry's office. He was more than a little surprised when she slammed her hand down on his desk, demanded that he stop muttering to himself and look at her.
He obeyed instantly, his head snapping up and staring up at her warily.
"Don't look at me like that. And don't be an idiot. Look at you, you just broke your wife's heart and you are doing nothing to mend another woman's. Hermione thinks that she has no one in this world and it is your job to do something about it."
"Who are you?"
"Your guardian angel. Now I know how it feels to lose someone that you love. I mean, of course, not in the romantic way because for me it was in a purely friendship way but…that isn't even the point." She closed her eyes. "I know I have made mistakes, more than my share over the course of my life. I have been a complete b*tch to who has been my best friend for 7 years among many, many other things. But when you get the chance to make up for them you need to jump at that. Don't sit here being lame while you can be doing someone useful with your time."
He opened his mouth but no words came out. He sat there, gaping up at her and she laughed. "God, go to Hermione. It is what she wants, it is what Bridge wants, and I know it is what you want. Even I want this if only it could make up for all of the things that I have done. Now I am probably never going to change my attitude about anything ever but I believe that you can make this better. Well, as good as it could possibly get unless you feel like turning back time. Either way, you have to do something."
"Okay, okay I will do it. I will go to her."
Hannah grinned and extended her hand. "Hannah Marlan. I believe this is a start of a very complicated relationship."
He took her hand. "Harry Potter."
She rolled her eyes. "If I didn't know that then I doubt that I would be here today."
"Am I really that bad of a person?"
She shrugged. "I have only heard of you through the papers and Hermione. Depending on her mood Hermione is either very complimentary and or, let's face it, ranting. But I have to say that there was more of the former. But you are the one person who seems to be in the root of this issue. There is Bridget hoping that all of this could be over and then Hermione just wishing that she could have listened to me and stayed in France. I tried to keep Lyn in France so she wouldn't go and kill herself, I tried to keep Bridge here so maybe we wouldn't lose touch and we could stay friends, and I tried to make up for those two mistakes and tried to make Hermione stay so that nothing else could happen. I should have stayed in France. Things would have stayed the way they were and we wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe there is a lesson there: never leave France because disaster just might be waiting there on the other end."
She knew that she was ranting but she couldn't stop. Harry was getting the brunt of all of her pent up emotions.
Hannah turned her head as she started the next chapter of her tirade when she caught sight of her reflection in a small mirror that was hanging up through the glass windows, in the other room. "My god," she said with a short laugh, "anger really doesn't become me. I have no idea what I am still doing here. You said yes, so I might as well leave. No idea where to go really. I believe Hermione kicked me out…" she was still muttering to herself as she wandered out, her voice no longer carrying back to where Harry still sat.
Harry got up, suddenly determined. If that woman, Hannah, demanded he go to Hermione he was not going to refuse. He certainly didn't feel like being on her bad side for much longer. Stepping out of his office he nodded slightly to Karen and Dean who stood talking at her desk.
As he walked through the halls of the ministry many people tried to talk to him but he didn't stop for anyone; he was on a mission.
Hannah, who had waited outside the door of his office, followed him to the Granger household. As Hermione had promised her bags were outside the door but Harry just ignored them, stepping up to the door and knocked softly.
The door creaked open a crack and Hermione peeked through.
"Harry?"
Hannah smirked and turned on her heel, walking with no idea as to where she was going. All she knew that for now everything was well and the rest could fall into place.
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Hearing a knock at the door, Hermione hurried to answer it. Maybe it would be Hannah trying to make amends, but even that wasn't plausible enough. It could be one of her parents' friends but nothing could prepare her for who she found there.
Opening the door a crack, she sagged against it when she peeked out. "Harry?"
He nodded but her eyes were drawn for a second to a figure at the end of the street, turning on her heel and walking away. Blinking, she looked again and had to wonder if it hadn't been a trick of the eye when she saw that no one was there.
She turned back to Harry who stood there, staring at her with a weary expression. "Can I come in?"
"Oh, of course. God, where is my head?" She stepped back and pulled the door open wider. "Come in."
He walked in and stood, looking rather uncomfortable, in the foyer. For a while they stood there, looking at each other but careful not to meet each other's eyes. He nodded at her.
"You look nice."
She looked steadily at him, not responding. "What are you doing here?"
He shifted uneasily and looked down. "Someone made it a point to me that I was doing nothing useful just sitting in my office and moping around. But as it is…If you don't want me here just tell me and I will just disappear."
She bit her lip thoughtfully but didn't say a word.
He shook his head. "Maybe this was a mistake. I will just go, I mean if you would like me too…"
She closed her eyes. "No, Harry, please, don't leave. Come sit down." She led him into a little room with a couch and armchair. She sat herself in the armchair and Harry had no choice but to sit on the couch. Hermione picked up the book that she had been reading before the knock at the door. Holding it in her hands, she slowly flipped aimlessly through the pages.
Maybe Harry was right and this had been a mistake. Maybe it would be better if he had just stayed away and let everything heal with time.
"So, Harry. How are you doing?"
"As good as you could possibly be when you just got divorced and this woman came to your office and basically insulted you and ordered you around."
"Who came to you?"
"A woman named Hannah Marlan."
Hermione groaned. "Good god." And then she smiled. Hannah had done something for her, she wouldn't have done it herself and based on how Harry was looking he wasn't going to make the first move. "That's my girl," she whispered to herself.
"You know her?"
She nodded. "I did."
"Oh?"
"Things have been a little rough over the last few"-she paused-"hours. It makes me realize now how silly all of this has been. I mean the stuff with her at least. And you know, Harry, I was never planning to go to see you again. I think it is pretty ridiculous that the one thing that she…" she trailed off.
"That she what?"
She shook her head as Bridget's words came into her head once again.
"Don't make this heartbreak be all for naught," she mouthed the words as she thought. How could she go back on the one thing that Bridget asked? After everything that is all that she really wanted. She could have asked for Hermione to find a way to turn back time so that everything could go back to normal and if that was what she wanted Hermione would have jumped at it. This is her wish and she had to keep that one promise, if nothing else, sacred.
"Oh, it is nothing really."
"Do you really think that we can make this work?"
She looked away. "I do hope that we can. I mean, what would be the whole point of this all if not for that?"
"Living in a loveless marriage?"
"No. You can't tell me that you don't still love her. I doubt you would have been moping around if you don't. This all would be much easier, don't you think?"
"True. I do love her. I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want to get divorced. I didn't want any of this to happen."
"And the lies just keep on coming." She sighed. "Harry, if you didn't want any of this to happen you would have let me leave after we had our fight, you could have let me go and it would have never happened. I am not saying that you wanted this to happen but I have to say that you should have had some inkling that these events would have fallen into place and you would have done something about it before it happened. But we can't keep dwelling on the past no matter the fact that it is hardly that long ago. Let's just be in the here and now and try to figure out what we are going to do."
Harry stood, stepping forward once and then, reconsidering, stepped backward until he reached the couch and sat back down heavily. "You are right. Like always, you are right."
She smiled but didn't dismiss it. "Look, I love you, I really do. You know that, right?"
He nodded. "And I…I love you, too," he admitted.
Now we are getting somewhere, Hermione thought to herself. She hadn't quite expected him to admit it that quickly, after all he had just gotten divorced. Before she could say anything more he went on.
"But, Hermione, we already know that. We don't need to go through all of that again." He shook his head slowly. "Can we really make this work?"
"It has to work."
He heard some urgency in her voice when she said it, the has stressed the most. He did understand a little bit. Before Bridget had left his office after signing the papers she had asked him something, well, more of demanded it. She told him that now that it was all over he had to do something with it. `Do something with what?' had been his first question but now he understood what Hermione seemed to know. It meant that Bridget was accepting it and after all of this was over and done with that he deserved to move as much as she did.
He laughed softly to himself. "My daughter is going to hate me."
"Only time will tell."
There was a note of confidence in her voice that Harry couldn't help but recognize. He looked up at her and their eyes met for the first time during the visit. He saw that her eyes were filled with so much emotion and he had to wonder if his own mirrored hers.
"But," he started, "maybe it would be better if I did leave. I can talk to Kate and we can take it slowly."
She bit her lip and looked away. She did not expect that, she didn't think he would leave.
Not hearing a word from her, Harry turned and prepared to leave. He expected her to call out, to tell him not to leave but still she didn't say a thing. With a sigh he reached for the handle and pulled the door open. Before he could slip out he heard a sound behind him. He turned to find Hermione standing behind him.
"Please, don't leave." Reaching behind him, she pushed the door closed.
Their faces where just inches from each other and he could feel her warm breath on his face, "Why?"
"Because I can't sit and watch the only person that I truly love walk away from me."
He stepped forward once to bridge the gap between them, catching her chin in his hand. He pulled her head to his and kissed her soft and slow. She raised her eyebrows and smirked, deepening the kiss and pushing him back against the door.
He broke away and rested his forehead against hers. "I do love you."
"I know." She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. "This can work, it really can."
He took her hand and led her back into the living room where they sat on the couch and he held her in his arms and kissed her again.
All the while Hermione kept reminding herself that it could work, that will work and everything, from here on in, will be fine.
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