A/N: This one is a bit longer than the last but still short I am sorry to say. But here you go. I will be sure to update very soon.
Chapter 5
Harry stood up. He nodded at Ron. "I am going to go see Hermione and talk to her. Do you guys want to come to dinner tonight? I will talk with Hermione and see if she is up to it. If she is I'll floo you." They had all spent a few hours together reminiscing and now Harry had decided that he had put off talking to Hermione long enough.
He gave Luna a hug and kiss on her cheek and shook Ron's hand. He walked out the door and apparated from the doorstep. There of course were apparition wards all over the house. He found himself on his own doorstep and he opened the door and walked up to the guest room he had left Hermione in. He stood there staring at the door still apprehensive about seeing Hermione again. Her leaving had affected him more than he had let on.
During the final battle she had been hurt badly by Dolohov and Bellatrix. He could tell that it hurt her more than she showed. He had felt some sort of twinge. Her pain really affected him; he couldn't stand to see her hurting. Throughout the rest of the fight and the rest of the night when she was getting healed, he had been overwhelmed with thoughts of her. When she finally left he realized it. He loved her. She had always been with him and he always took it for granted, but the thought of her being hurt had started to affect him and after she had left he began to understand it. It was a long hard process when he started to get over her and move on but he finally managed it. Meeting Bridget had helped it along very well and falling in love with her had completed the process. But he knew that finally talking to Hermione again would bring back the feelings. He couldn't let that happen, he had a wife and a child to think about; he couldn't throw all of that away.
He took a deep breath and opened the door to Hermione's room.
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Hermione was having a good time. Her and Bridget were laughing and talking. At the moment she was telling Kate and Bridget about the time that Harry went on a date with Cho. When the door opened it caught her completely off guard and she froze where she was her mouth open but no words coming out.
Looking over at the door she saw Harry walk in and come over to the bed whispering something into Bridget's ear. She gulped and leaned back against her pillows trying not to fight back the dizzy feeling.
Bridget nodded to something that Harry had said and she picked Kate up and walked out of the room. Harry stood for a second, his back towards Hermione and finally he turned around. She looked about the same as earlier though she had a bit more color that was at the moment draining out of her face. He pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down on it.
"Hey."
"Hi."
They sat in silence for a minute and then Harry spoke again. "It's been a while."
Hermione stared at him and finally broke into a sort of uneasy laughter. "That is the understatement of the century."
"Well it has been a while."
"No Harry it has been forever." Saying his name to his face for the first time in 8 years felt odd.
He nodded looking sad. "It has been forever."
"It's all my fault and really I am sorry-"
Harry stopped her. "No not know. We can go over all of that later. Right now let's just catch up. Tell me everything that happened when you were away."
They talked for a little while but they never quite got the old comfort they used to have together back. Hermione told him all about how she traveled around Europe staying for a year in each Ireland, France, Spain, Romania, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Denmark, and most recently Scotland. He in turn told her about how he moved to his flat with Ron and how he met Bridget, about his wedding and Kate's birth and her life so far. But there was something about the conversation that just wasn't right. There was a strained quality hidden somewhere inside there. Like they didn't choose to tell each other about those past eight years it was more or less forced out of them.
Finally Hermione looked up looking for the first time truly interested. "Whatever happened to Ginny? I thought that maybe after the final battle you two would get back together."
"Oh well after everything was back to normal I realized that maybe my feelings for Ginny were not because I loved her exactly but more of because she gave me normalcy. I could look at her and she won't remind me of the war that was looming or she could take my mind off of the weight of the world on my shoulders. Hermione nodded, despite everything she still was the only person who could fully understand Harry.
"So is she married? Any kids?"
Harry laughed. "No nothing of that sort she is still single. She has a boyfriend most of the time but they don't always last too long. She says that the right one is out here somewhere and if you don't look you're never going to find him."
"So you are still in contact with her?"
"Of course. After I told her that I didn't think we had a chance she was a bit upset but then she said that maybe I wasn't the one for her and then she went of on her grand quest that has lasted eight years and is still going strong. She comes over often, Bridget and her are pretty good friends."
"Well that is good. And what about Ron?"
Harry's blood ran cold. What if she still liked Ron? He shook that idea out of his head. She couldn't possibly come back and expect Ron to still be waiting for her.
"Ron? Well actually he is married to Luna."
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