Okay, wow this has been a crazy couple of weeks! I finally had time to write, but it's not that long. Work has been CRAZY, family stuff going on, plus my Mavs are in the finals! We're two games away from being World Champs! Anyway, here's a little taste of the story and hopefully it will get you through a little longer. I wrote a little at work today because I was by myself and it wasn't very busy at times. I thought about waiting and updating till I have more, but I feel bad taking as long as I did. So for now enjoy the next chapter and I'll do the best I can to post the next one up. Thanks for your loyalty and patience!
~HM
Chapter 23
"Why do girls take so bloody long?" Ron said as he paced impatiently in the den while Harry sat calmly on the couch watching him. "I mean what do they do exactly?"
"Spend time getting beautiful so men like us can stare at them all night," Harry said with a laugh. "Why else?"
"Yeah." Ron grinned as he stopped pacing and fiddled with his dress robes. "Good thing I don't have to worry about that with Hermione."
Harry's smile dropped. "What do you mean by that?"
Ron shrugged. "Well, it's only Hermione, Harry. We've known her since she was eleven."
Harry let out a harsh laugh. "She's not eleven anymore, Ron."
Ron rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."
"No, I don't," Harry said forcefully as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Tell me something, Ron, are you even attracted to Hermione?"
Ron's jaw dropped. "I…Of course I am, Harry, what kind of question is that?"
"A decent one it seems." Harry stood up and went over to him. "When you are around her, how do you feel?"
Ron sighed. "Come on, Harry, you know I don't like to talk about this kind of stuff. It makes me uncomfortable."
"Just answer the question, Ron," Harry snapped. "Grow up, you're older than me for Merlin's sake."
Ron blew out a breath of frustration. "All right, fine. Geez, you've gotten mean."
"No," he said shaking his head. "I just did a lot of growing up after the war." Harry put a hand on his shoulder. "Seriously Ron, what do you feel when you are around her?"
"Happy, I guess. I'm always happy to see her."
"Ron, I'm happy when I see you, but that doesn't make me want to snog you."
Ron winced. "Point taken. Okay, so I don't know. I feel comfortable around her, I always have that's why I've liked her for so long."
"Is that what you want? A relationship that's comfortable?"
Ron frowned. "Well…yeah, shouldn't I?" Ron asked looking a little unsure.
"Comfortable is safe, Ron," Harry said.
"Isn't safe good?"
Harry sighed. "Okay, remember back in fourth year, when you had that huge crush on Feur?"
Ron winced. "She's my sister-in law-now, Harry."
"I know, I know," Harry said waving it off. "But try to remember what it was like before that, when you looked at her how did you feel?"
"It was bloody awful," Ron groaned. "I always felt like I was about to hurl, I couldn't talk properly and I started to sweat."
Harry grinned. "And do you ever feel that way when you see Hermione?"
Ron laughed. "Don't be ridiculous, Harry, of course not."
"Well, there you go then," Harry said giving him a little shove. "Maybe you don't feel that way about Hermione. I know you always thought you did, but maybe you aren't attracted to her like that."
"I think Hermione's very pretty," Ron said getting defensive.
"That's not good enough," Harry said shaking his head. "You can think a person is pretty, but it doesn't mean you will automatically have chemistry with them."
Ron let out a frustrating sigh. "This is all so confusing."
"Look, Ron," Harry said placing a hand on his shoulders. "Just take tonight to figure things out. I mean, really try to see yourself with Hermione and see how you feel. It's unfair to both of you if you keep this up."
Ron's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I know."
Harry gave him a friendly pat. "Don't worry, it will all work out."
"I hope so. I can't bloody take much more of this."
Harry laughed. "Listen, I'm going to go track down Daisy and make sure she goes out before we leave."
"Okay. I guess I'll just wait here."
Harry nodded and then headed upstairs to find Daisy while Ron sat down on the couch to continue waiting. Crookshanks jumped up onto the couch next to him and Ron raised an eyebrow. "What's this?" Ron asked as he patted his head. "Are you actually being friendly with me?"
Crookshanks rolled onto his back and purred when he scratched his tummy. "I have to say this is a first. You're probably just in need of some scratches and I'm the only option."
After a few minutes of belly scratching, Crookshanks obviously had enough and jumped off the couch. Ron was just about to go upstairs to check on Harry and Hermione when someone rang the doorbell. Ron walked over to the door and when he opened it that familiar feeling he had just explained to Harry hit him like a ton of bricks.
Luna Lovegood was standing in front of him, looking absolutely beautiful in her royal blue robes that matched the color of her eyes. His palms started to sweat and when he caught the subtle scent of vanilla his stomach dropped to his knees. "L-Luna," he finally said as he hid his sweaty hands in his pockets. "W-what are you doing here? I thought Harry was picking you up."
"I told him I was running late," she said with a bright smile. "He said just to come over here when I was ready."
"Oh."
Luna watched him continue to stare at her dumbly. "Can I come in?"
"What? Oh! Sorry, er…yeah of course." Ron stepped back to open the door. "Er…Hermione's not ready yet and Harry's off looking for Daisy to let her out."
"Okay," she said as she grazed against him as she walked by, not missing him flinch at the contact. "I don't mind waiting."
Ron closed the door behind him and took a deep breath as he followed her back to the den. "Er…would you like to sit down?"
"Thanks, Ronald, I'd love to."
She seemed to glide as she walked over to the couch and she sat down so smoothly it looked elegant. "Won't you sit down with me, Ronald?"
Bad idea! Say no! Think of an excuse! "Sure." Bloody idiot!
Ron sat down stiffly next to Luna as her scent swept over him again. The scent was oddly familiar and he then remembered it was one of the first things he smelled before he even woke up. He smelled flowers mixed with vanilla and at the time he didn't think anything of it. Now he realized that it was that scent that helped him wake up had come from Luna.
Ron stole a glance over at Luna, who turned and smiled back, causing his stomach to flutter. Being with Luna was anything but comfortable. He then looked down at her legs when she crossed them causing her slit to expose her soft skin and he nearly groaned in agony. She definitely wasn't safe either.
XXXX
Harry ran up the stairs to find Daisy, calling her name as he took the steps two at a time. He went to his room and wasn't surprised to find her fast asleep under the covers of his unmade bed. "Comfortable are we?"
Daisy lifted her head off the pillow but didn't move.
"I know you heard me." Harry clapped his hands. "Come on, up you go."
Daisy groaned as she rolled her head back down on the pillow.
"Daisy Granger Potter, don't make me sick your mum on you."
Daisy grunted as she quickly got up on all four legs and gave herself a good shake before jumping off the bed.
Harry smiled as she walked passed him. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Works like a charm."
Daisy paused at the top of the stairs and looked back at him.
"Go on, you know how to get outside," Harry urged her as he closed the door behind him. Hermione was smart enough to think of a charm that when Daisy touched the door with her paw it magically opened for her. She could go outside by herself whenever she wanted, but they still had to encourage her at times when she was being lazy.
Daisy sighed in defeat as she made her way down the stairs and Harry smiled as he started to follow, but the door opening down the hall stopped him. He turned to see Hermione walking towards him and her presence nearly took his breath away. She was always beautiful to him, but tonight she looked gorgeous; perfectly so that he was almost afraid she wasn't real.
"Wow," he finally managed to say as she stopped in front of him. "You look…wow."
Hermione blushed as she smiled shyly. "My dress is pink."
Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, it is."
"Maggie made me get it."
"I see."
"I never wear pink," she said as she squirmed in her robes.
"It's nice," Harry said as he admired the soft pink satin material that hugged her upper body like a glove, then flowed freely around her legs. "At least it's not neon pink."
Hermione let out a laugh and he couldn't help but smile. He always did love it when she laughed, even back when they were only kids. Laughing was something she hardly ever did, but when she did laugh it always pleasantly surprised him. He especially loved it when he was the one that made her laugh. With the war being over they were all finding more opportunities to laugh.
They stood there for a moment, just looking at each other, both smiling nervously as they thought of what to say. The sound of the doorbell finally shook them out of their daze, causing Hermione to jump at the unexpected sound. "Who could that be?"
"Probably Luna," Harry said as he took a step back. "She was running late so I told her to come over here when she was ready."
"Oh," she said as her shoulders dropped an inch. "That's right, you're going with Luna."
"And you're going with Ron," he reminded her. "He's downstairs waiting for you, so we better go."
Hermione only nodded and followed him towards the stairs. She gathered up her robes so she wouldn't trip going down the stairs, walking in her high heels was hard enough.
"Do you need any help?" Harry asked as he took an arm. "I remember you're not very good on those things."
"Ha ha," she said dryly with a roll of her eyes. "These aren't as bad as the ones I wore at the club that night."
Harry only nodded as he walked down the stairs at her pace, making sure he'd be there if she tripped. They made it downstairs and went over to the den to find Luna and Ron on the couch together. "Hey you two."
Ron bolted from his seat. "Hey….Hermione…wow, you look really nice." Ron gave her a small smile and waited for some kind of reaction towards her. A spark. A small flutter. Anything that could help him figure things out but he got nothing. Absolutely nothing. Maybe Harry was right, maybe he wasn't meant to be with Hermione. "Er…are we ready to go?"
Hermione watched Harry walk over to Luna and helped her to her feet, silently longing that she was the one he was kissing on the cheek and not Luna. She cleared her throat and forced a smile to her date for the evening. "Sure. Let's go."