Here's an update! Kind of a filler, but not a bad one either. Sorry it took so long to update, but this weekend was busy! Yesterday my friend and I went to our old high school football game. It was the Texas State semifinals game and it was SO close! We won by three and I was shaking like crazy! Our quarterback is the #1 recruiting quarterback in the nation so he's awesome! We're going to State next weekend so wish us luck! I will be there cheering them on! Anyway, hope you enjoy the update!
Chapter 4
Hermione woke up very slowly. Her whole body felt like dead weight and she could detect a hint of drool seeping from the corner of her mouth. She stirred and yawned as she snuggled against something warm and hard, before finally opening her eyes. She saw a pair of legs stretched out beside her and then heard someone murmur her name as her "pillow" moved.
She gasped as she lifted her head up to see Harry sleeping soundly next to her. She winced when she noticed the small wet drop of drool on his shoulder and quickly performed a drying spell before he could notice. How embarrassing would it be if Harry found out she had actually drooled on him? Horrifying!
She had to admit though, she felt marvelous and completely well rested. She smiled down at Harry, remembering how sweet and caring he was last night. He was worried about her. She reached down and pushed back his bangs from his forehead, then lightly traveled a finger over his scar.
He moved his head suddenly, causing her hand to fling back. "Hermione," he murmured as he started to shake his head back and forth. "Hermione…no."
Her eyes widened as she placed a hand over her mouth. He was having a nightmare…about her. "Harry," she said softly as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Wake up, Harry."
He was sweating now, as he continued to toss and turn. "Hermione…"
"I'm right here, Harry," she said softly cupping her hand on his cheek. "Wake up." She gave him a shake with her hand on his shoulder. "Wake up, Harry."
Harry jerked as his eyes flew open. "Hermione?"
"It was just a dream. I'm okay. You're okay."
Harry let out a shaky breath as he closed his eyes. "Just a dream."
"Are you all right?" she asked concerned as she placed a hand on his chest.
Harry placed a hand over hers and squeezed it. "I am now." He sat up and rested his elbows on his knees. "I was back at the final battle. Voldemort got you instead of Ron."
"Oh, Harry," she said placing her arm around his back and resting her cheek on his shoulder.
He shook his head. "But you were dead." His voice cracked with emotion. "It was the killing curse. I couldn't stop it."
"It's over, Harry." She placed her lips on his shoulder and rubbed his back. "You defeated him. It's over."
"I know," he said with a nod and turned his head to give her a small smile. "C'mere."
Hermione smiled as she let him pull her into a hug, knowing that he needed it to reassure him she was there and very much alive. She held on tightly to him as the warmth and the familiar scent of him swept over her. He always smelled the same. Ever since third year when she pushed him into the broom closet, he had loomed over her from behind and the scent of pumpkin spice tickled her nose. She had assumed at the time he had ate pumpkin pie earlier that day, but to this day, no matter where they were or what they were doing he always smelled like pumpkin pie. She had one time even asked Ginny if she noticed Harry's very vague scent and she had looked at her like she was crazy.
"He smells like Quidditch," she had answered back with a smile. Hermione was very confused with that answer. Just what did Quidditch smell like?
Hermione took a deep breath and sighed softly. Yep. Still smells like spicy pumpkin pie.
"Hermione," Harry said as he pulled away. "Why don't we go and take the next hour or so to pack up? We can go to Hogsmead and then apparrate home. Sound good?"
"Sounds perfect," she said giving him a smile. "Maybe we can stop at Three Broomsticks for old time sakes and have a butterbeer."
"Good idea," he said standing up then helping her up on her feet. "I'll meet you back down here."
XXXX
"I'm going to miss this place," Harry said as they both hunkered into a booth at the pub. "I remember when I first came here. Sipping butterbeer under my cloak."
"Ah, yes," she laughed shaking her head. "How could I forget? You were under the table while we
eavesdropped on McGonagall and the rest of the staff."
"Good times, huh?" Harry asked lifting up his drink.
"Good times," she said clinking her glass with his then taking a sip. "Remember the time when you came here with me in fourth year? You were once again wearing that stupid cloak and I looked like an idiot. Tell me Harry, did you ever come her without the cloak?"
"Of course," he said grinning at her. "How could you forget? After my disastrous date with Cho, I met you here for the interview."
"Oh yes, I remember," she said chuckling. "You did look a little put out when I saw you."
"I was frustrated with the female race," he grumbled as he took a long gulp. "Then I had to go sit at a table with three more females, one being someone I despised beyond all reason."
"Yes, she's a horrible woman, but it was worth it." She sighed as she looked around the pub, which was full of lively and happy people. "Look around you, Harry. All these people owe everything to you. A month ago this place would have been deserted and now thanks to you it's full of life." She grinned at him from ear to ear. "Doesn't it make you feel good?"
Harry smiled softly as he looked around the pub. People were laughing and talking among friends and family. No one was eyeing the door nervously, waiting for another attack. Everything was back to normal, just like he always wanted it to be. "I never really thought about it like that." He turned back to her. "But yeah, now that you mention it…I guess it feels pretty good."
"Oi! Harry! Hermione!"
They both turned around to see Lupin walking towards them with a smile on his face, followed by a very pleased looking Tonks. "We hoped to find you here," Lupin said walked over to the table.
"Minerva said you two might be here," Tonks said who's bubble pink hair was windblown and her cheeks were rosy red.
"What have you two been doing?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"We flew straight here," Remus said with a grin.
"Flew?" Hermione asked.
"Yep. Harry, come outside, I've got a surprise for you."
After exchanging a confused look with Hermione, they both finished off their drinks and Harry threw money on the table. "Do you have any idea what this is about?" Hermione asked him as they followed Tonks and Remus out of the pub.
Harry shook his head. "I have no…" Harry stopped suddenly and stared at the motorcycle perched on the cobble street in front of them. "Is that…what I think it is?"
"You bet," Lupin said as he patted the seat. "Sirius wanted you to have it."
Harry's jaw dropped as he walked to the motorcycle that long ago carried him and Hagrid to his aunt and uncle. "I can't believe it." He looked at Remus. "Why now?"
"Sirius told me during fifth year that if he didn't make it and once the war was over, that he'd like you to have his motorcycle." He smiled fondly at the bike as he let out a chuckle. "He always did enjoy it during his youth. Great way to pick up chicks. Ow!" He rubbed his arm where Tonks had hit him. "So he says anyway."
Tonks gave him a quick kiss then turned to Harry. "We thought you'd might like to ride it back home. Er…wherever that is anyway."
"Brilliant," Harry said as he flung a leg over to sit astride and held the handles. "Is it easy to ride?"
"Piece of cake," Lupin said as he went over to him to teach him all the gadgets.
"Men," Tonks muttered to Hermione. "Muggle or wizard, they just drool over things like these, am I right?"
Hermione chuckled. "You're right. My dad has an old car in the garage he likes to tinker with. It's his baby. He hasn't gotten it started in five years, but there's always hope."
"Hermione, you've got to come see this," Harry said with excitement.
Hermione rolled her eyes at Tonks, before walking over to stand behind Harry while he explained to her how everything work. He lost her during some point during the explanation on how the invisibility booster worked, but pretended to listen anyway. "It's really great, Harry. You look good on it."
"Yeah?" he asked pleased to hear it. "Hey get on the back, why apparrate when I can fly this baby back to your house."
"Oh, I don't know Harry," she said shaking her head. "You know flying was never my idea of fun."
"Oh, come on!" Harry exclaimed. "It'll be fun. You can hold onto me the whole way, I wont' let you fall."
Hermione sighed as she felt herself already giving up. How could she say no to Harry when he was this happy? "Oh all right," she said with a sigh
Harry grinned as she climbed behind him. "This is going to be great."
"You kids have fun," Remus said as he held Tonks hand. "We have to get going now. Keep in touch and let us know about Ron."
They both nodded in understanding. "We will. Don't worry."
Once they were gone Harry turned on the ignition and the bike roared with life. Harry grinned at Hermione over his shoulder. "You ready?"
She held on tightly to him. "Ready as I'll ever be."
XXX
"How are you doing back there, Hermione?" Harry asked as he leveled the bike just above the clouds.
"Oh, don't worry about me," she said as she held on tightly with her face buried against his back. The wind was blowing in her hair and her eyes had been shut since the moment the bike had left the ground. "Perfectly all right."
"Are you opening your eyes?" Harry asked.
"What do you think?"
Harry laughed and then turned completely around, but Hermione shrieked and shoved him back. "Are you insane! Don't take your eyes off the sky!"
"Hermione relax," he laughed turning himself back around. "The bike is on autopilot."
Hermione blinked at him as he turned his body towards his so they were now facing each other. The bike stayed it's course and they weren't plummeting to the ground so she figured they were okay. "Are you sure it's safe?" Hermione asked as she started to look down.
"No, don't do that," Harry said lifting her chin back up. "It will only freak you out more. Just look straight ahead into my eyes."
Hermione looked around but made sure she kept her eyes leveled. "It is pretty up here. What if someone sees us?"
"We're invisible right now," he said watching her with amusement. "I entered your address on the tracking device. The bike will let me know when we need to start descending."
"The bike has a lot of gadgets." The bike all of the sudden turned slightly and Hermione shrieked as she grabbed his arms in fear. "What was that?"
"We're just changing course," he assured her. "Relax, Hermione. I told you, I won't let you fall."
"I know, it's just…I feel a bit more vulnerable when you are facing me. I can't hold on to you like I can when your back is facing me."
Harry watched her bite her lip as she held tightly onto his arms. "Want me to turn around?"
"No, it's okay…"
"Well here," he said as he reached down and gripped his hands under both of her knees and pulled her close until her legs were overlapping his. "That better?"
"Much," she said letting out a sigh. "Thanks."
Harry rested his hands on her hips and gave her a reassuring smile. "No problem. Least I can do since you agreed to come along. Apparating would have taken just a lot bit faster, but I really wanted to do this."
"I know, Harry. You're the only person I would have done this for."
"Not even Ron?" he asked grinning.
"Oh no," she said shaking her head. "Ron would be the kind of person who would deliberately fly crazy just to make me mad. He would think it was funny."
Harry chuckled. "You know who Ron reminds me of? All those boys in my grade school when I was little, who always picked on the girl they liked. You know, pull their hair, tease them and call them names. You knew that they were only doing it so they could get their attention. Through the years when I've noticed Ron sort of acting that way towards you, it made me think of the boys in my class who did all that stuff."
"You know something, you're right," Hermione laughed. "There were a couple of boys like that when I was in grade school. And did you ever pull on some girl's hair, Harry?"
"Me?" He laughed and shook his head. "No, I was the quiet one, I never did that. There was this one girl in our class. I was about seven I think and she was the prettiest girl in the class. Blonde hair, blue eyes…cute little freckles on her nose. All the boys in the class liked her, including me, so most of them picked on her a lot."
"But not you," she said fondly with a soft smile.
"No, not me," he said shaking his head. "I was too shy."
"No, you were too sweet," she corrected as her heart melted for the small innocent boy of seven. "What was this girl's name?"
"Ashley Baker," he said right off the bat and then shrugged when Hermione arched a brow. "Hey, you never forget your first crush. Anyway, my shyness paid off eventually. The first day back after Christmas break, our teacher told us we were having new assigned seats. She had desks made for two so everyone was in pairs. Odd number in our class, I was always in the back by myself."
"Oh Harry, you're going to make me cry," she said as she sniffed back her tears.
"Don't cry, please…I didn't mind." He rubbed a hand up and down her side to sooth her. "Anyway, the boys were suppose to pick a table first, there couldn't be two boys at one table, the teacher said it must be boy/girl. So I picked my same table in the back, thinking that I would be by myself again. Especially when the teacher told the girls to go pick a desk one by one. Ashley Baker was first and could you imagine my surprise when she went right up the row, passing all the other boys and stopped right in front of mine. My eyes were as wide as dinner plates I'm sure, I was so shocked. She asked if I could sit next to me and I…I think I must have nodded or said some kind of 'yes' because she smiled then sat down next to me."
Hermione smiled through her tears. "I like this Ashley."
"She was always nice to me," he said remembering with a smile. "We weren't friends or anything, but she never went out of her way to be cruel like most of the kids. I remember one time asking her why she picked me and she told me in these exact words, 'Harry, the reason I picked you is because you never once called me names or pulled my hair. That's why I picked you.' Dudley was furious when she walked up to my desk, he always had a big crush on her. Plus, to my great pleasure, none of the girls picked Dudley so he was stuck by himself." He gave Hermione a sappy grin. "See? There were some good memories in my childhood."
"I'm glad," she said beaming. "And I'm very thankful to Ashley."
"Me too," he said with a chuckle. "Wonder where Ashley is now? She's probably still in Little Whining." The motorcycle then let out a high pitch ding causing Harry to turn around. "That's our cue, we are coming up on your house." Harry shifted Hermione's legs off him and spun around smiling softly when Hermione immediately scooted up behind him and held on tightly. "Hang on, Hermione."
Hermione turned her head and rested her cheek against his back. "I wouldn't dream of letting go."