Chapter 6
Hermione raised her eyebrows, looking amused. "The Luna Lovegood?" she managed to splutter, a tone of incredulity in her voice.
"Well yes…" Harry said nervously.
Hermione looked up at him through her tears of mirth. "Wait, you're not kidding. Oh my god. Wow, well, I don't know what to say…"
"Yeah, well, it was kind of incredible when it first happened but they are really happy, so it really doesn't matter."
"Wow, I never imagined Ron actually settling down with someone, never mind Luna."
"Yeah, exactly that is what everyone else thought."
"Wow, well, I can't wait to see them!"
"Well, about that. If you are up to it I told them that they could come over to dinner."
"Wow, Harry that would be wonderful. Um but I have a question, I don't mean to impose upon your house but…"
"Hermione you know that you are welcome to stay here for as long as you need until you get settled with a job and everything." Harry was surprised at Hermione's lack of emotion after she heard that Ron is married. He had thought that it would really affect her. But the only reaction that came from her was when she was completely and utterly disbelieving. Maybe she really didn't like Ron anymore maybe she…no. He shook his head, he couldn't think like that. He was a married man after all.
"So what happened to everyone after I left?"
"Well as can be expected we found your note when we woke up in the morning. Well actually Neville found it." He smiled wryly. "A great way to be woken up as you can imagine. After that everything just kind of stopped, we went through the day lie robots packing and only eating after Dobby brought food out from the kitchen for us. You can't even know how hard it was for us. You were a vital part of each of the friendship of the three of us." He looked away. "We missed you so much. But as life went on we became resigned to the fact that you were gone. Slowly with the help of everyone else we began to pick up the pieces of our lives but nothing could ever fill that void that you left behind. Sometimes I would find myself wishing I had never met you so that you wouldn't have been so important to me but then I realized that I wouldn't be the man I am today if it wasn't for you."
Hermione had tears in her eyes and she held a shaking hand over her mouth trying to stifle her small sobs. "Oh Harry…"
Harry took no notice of her. "You know it's funny I have never told anyone this before. I always found it easier to not talk about it, though god knows that I thought about it a plenty. It was almost if I didn't say it maybe it wouldn't be true. Maybe it wouldn't be true that I needed you as much as I do. And yes I still do." He stopped and looked at her. "What made you come back now? Why not later or earlier or-or never at all. Maybe it would have been easier if you never came back."
His words hit her like a slap. She gasped and sat back heavily. "You don't mean that," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Maybe I don't, I haven't been one hundred percent sure of anything for quite awhile." And with that he got up and left, lest he break down crying.
Hermione sat in the bed, one single tear rolling down her cheek unchecked. She had no idea how the conversation had taken a turn for the worse. Questions floated around in her head. Was he right? Would it have been better if she hadn't come back at all? Why had she come back? She couldn't answer any of them. She herself didn't know why she had come back. She just woke up one day knowing that she just had to return. In reality during her eight year sabbatical she had found herself being drawn back home. She had started as far as she could possibly be from London but each year she would wake up one day and decide to move on, each place taking her closer to home. She lay back on the pillows and stared up at the ceiling wishing that she could be anywhere but here.
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Kate stood up. She had been watching her mother sort through papers for a half hour now. She wanted to go see Miss Hermione as she now referred to her. She knew that her daddy had left the room and was now heading up to her parents room.
"Honey, where are you going?"
"I want to go to see Miss Hermione."
"Your dad is talking to her at the moment."
"No, but mommy, daddy left and now he is gone up to your room. He is upset, I can tell. Maybe you should go see him."
Bridget stopped dead and turned to her daughter looking into space somewhere over Kate's shoulder. She gasped and shook her head ever so slightly. "Hermione will most likely be upset too. Maybe you should wait sweetheart."
"I know that he his unhappy but I think that I can help and you can help daddy."
Bridget sighed. "Okay you go see Hermione. I'll check on your father."
Kate walked through the hallway that was beginning to get mighty familiar. Before she could get to the door she was stopped by Kya.
"The master said that the little mistress can't go in while he and the miss are talking."
Kate glared at the house elf. "You might not have realized but my daddy isn't in the room at this moment. I believe that if you go back over his orders he said I am not to be allowed admittance until he leaves. He left; I am allowed to go in there."
Kya hated how that little mind worked so fast. Though Kya had no idea how the little mistress knew that her father had left she had no idea. She was sure that he went straight to his quarters. But as thinking tended to make her head hurt, Kya tried the only defense that she had.
"Oh yeah?"
Kate just looked at her and laughed. "Kya, that was weak even for you." And with that she pushed her way past and opened the door.
"Miss Hermione, what's the matter?"
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Bridget walked up to the bedroom that she shared with Harry. She knocked lightly on the door to no answer. She knocked a bit harder. It was obvious Harry was trying to avoid her.
"For goodness sakes, Harry, let me in."
"Go away, Bridget."
"Excuse me for asking but is that how a grown man treats his wife? I am coming in whether you like it or not." With that she turned the handle sharply and heard the lock break. When she walked in the room she had her side of the handle in her hand. "You know dear we should really get a better lock." She dropped the handle and it fell to the floor with a dull thud. "What's the matter, dear?" she asked walking over to his side.
He buried his head deeper into the comforter.
"Harry, you are acting like a child. I already have one child to look after I don't need anymore. Right now you are acting even worse than Kate has ever been! Just tell me already."
"Shouldn't you know, I mean you are the seer in the family."
"Harry," she moaned. "You know as well as anybody that seers don't know everything. Think about Trelawney."
Harry picked his head up and looked at her. "Trelawney was a fraud."
"No, Harry she was still a seer. Think about it she made two prophesies. That has to count for something. And besides I have only met one person who could sense feelings and know exactly what is happening to a person at one time, only one person who was powerful enough. And that person was my mother. And, yes, Harry even though she was powerful doesn't mean I am. That power skipped my generation. Though I think that I would have gone mad, there was many a time when I would find her in her room crying. It's intense; you need to have absolute control. And now enough about me, let's get back to you. Please tell me what the matter is."
"Bridge, why do I always say things that I now I am going to regret later?"
"Because you are a man and men always do stupid things despite their instincts, if they have any at all. What did you say to Hermione?"
"I told her that I might have been better if she hadn't come back at all. That it would have been easier and then I just left her.
Bridget had a hand over her mouth as she tried to stifle her laughter.
Harry looked hurt. "Bridge, it's not funny," he whined.
Bridget took her hand away from her mouth and put it on his cheek, softly caressing. She pushed back the hair from his face and kissed his temple. She drew away slightly and whispered into his ear. "I'm sorry, my dear, I know it is not funny. But you and Hermione have both been through a lot and if you thought for one second that when she returned everything would be put back to normal then you are wrong. It isn't going to be normal for a while but you two need to work together to make things right."
Harry looked a bit ashamed. "I'm sorry. Thanks."
"It's okay Harry. But since you told me that we are to have some guests for dinner I think that I should make sure that all the preparations are made."
Harry stared after her as she swept out of the room. That woman never ceased to amaze him. She would work so hard all day, could give him advice, try to mend all of his problems and still have the time to be a good hostess to the people who come over to their house constantly. He shook his head and sat back in the bed thinking about the whole situation.
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Hermione sat on the bed with a book open. She hadn't turned a page in ten minutes. All of a sudden she heard a muffled thud and angry voices outside her door. She looked up and snapped the book shut. Hermione recognized the voices to be Kate's and the house elf Kya's. A second later the door burst open and a slightly flustered looking five year old walked in. Under her breath Kate mumbled something about rotten house elves.
"Miss Hermione, what's the matter?"
Hermione could tell that Kate hadn't just thought there was something the matter the second she had walked in. She had known for a time before.
Hermione smiled weakly. "Oh some of us just said things that we shouldn't of. It's just hurt feelings. Maybe I expected everything to go back to the way it was before I left but I was gone for eight years. You can't just fill that gap in time without having to acknowledge it."
"Did Harry ever talk about me?"
"To me? No not too often. Uncle Ron would veer away from the subject most of the times. I could get more out of Aunt Luna no offence but it didn't seem to affect her as much. Daddy would get quiet when your name was mentioned. There would be a strange look in his eyes that I couldn't figure out for my life. But then again I never heard much of you until I was four and that was last year. All I know was that they really missed you. I figured Daddy talked more about you to Mom, they would talk about everything.
Hermione looked at the little girl. A bit surprised at her long and most likely thought out answer. It was hard to remember that this girl was only five. She seemed much more mature than that. She was a very intelligent without a doubt. She had a strange aura around her and Hermione couldn't quite detect what it was exactly. She was probably destined to be a powerful witch when she grew older. Both Harry and her mother were terrifically powerful. She shook her head. Kate certainly was the most intriguing girl she ever met. She decided to ask the question that was hovering on the edge of her mind. It couldn't hurt and if Kate did have an answer it would be worth hearing.
"Do you think that is would have been better if I didn't come back at all?"
Kate looked into Hermione's eyes. "No. if you didn't come I am afraid that Daddy would never be happy." She said this with such seriousness that Hermione didn't doubt it for a second though it did startle her. Kate opened her mouth again to say something but she was stopped by the door opening.
Kya stepped into the room. "Dinner will be ready soon. The guests will be here in a minute." A second later Kya was gone.
Kate sighed and stood up. She walked over to the door and stopped. Hermione got up and followed her downstairs and to the living room. Before they walked in Kate stopped and looked back up at Hermione.
"If you didn't come I would have never met you."
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