Disclaimer: All characters, events and references drawn from HP belong to J.K. Rowling, etc., respectively, everything else is my own invention.
FULFILLMENT
PART FOUR
Hermione sat pensively on one end of the sofa, her arms crossed, her face etched with a small frown and a slight look of concern in her eyes. He was late. Over an hour and a half late. What could possibly have happened?
For some time now she had begun to really worry over the young man she had such an intense love for. His struggle with his identity and place in the world had seemed to almost bury the freedom and joy he had exhibited so happily in her eyes since Voldemort's demise. And as much as she understood his dilemma, she felt so helpless watching him come under this burden and being unable to do anything about it. She had determined, however, that she would simply be there for him and show him the unqualified love and care she had inside, hoping that one day he would finally discover his new reason for being. But that didn't erase her own pain.
Her heart had bled so much since Harry had begun withdrawing from her that she had almost become used to the change in their manner together. Almost. She knew he wasn't doing it because he had ceased to love her. No, it was probably the exact opposite, though he never admitted it to her directly. She saw the conflict he was in when they were together, especially when she showed her affection towards him. But she wondered, could this situation really break the two of them apart? Would he now, after they had been through so much together, both good and bad, would he get desperate and leave her to run off and go 'find himself'?
Hermione's heart sunk at the thought. No, he loves me too much. He's said time and again that without her there was no Harry Potter. He couldn't do that to the both of them. Especially when they were so close to…
"Hermione, sweetheart, stop worrying. He'll be here. He's obviously had a lot on his mind and whatever he's doing right now must be terribly important," her father spoke to her from across the living room. He didn't even look up from the edition of the Times he was currently engrossed in, but she knew he could sense her concern and distress a mile away. She slumped down further into the cushion at his words and sighed.
"I know, Dad. I just hope he hasn't run into any trouble," she responded, the frown growing slightly larger.
Truth be told, however, she knew that both her father and mother were starting to get a little concerned over Harry's failure to show up on time too, though neither would admit it to her. The two of them held Harry in such high esteem that she knew they would give up their house, car, almost anything for the boy who had saved their little girl from death last year, regardless of how mysterious the event itself had been. That one, selfless act had forever sealed in their minds his worthiness as her friend and even more, IF it went that direction. And the knowledge that he was struggling now, though neither she nor Harry had told them what over, had intensified their efforts to be almost surrogate parents to him and that made Hermione glad. She saw how Harry brightened up at her mother's loving attention towards him and her father's continuing interest in his thoughts over various matters.
She had never really had a boyfriend, per se, and despite some flirting with Krum, Cormac, and Ron at the school, Harry was the first 'real' one she had brought home to her parents. And they couldn't be happier with what had obviously been a relationship long in the making for the both of them. In her parent's eyes, for her to find such a deep love with this wizard with the lighting shaped scar, was like hitting the bullseye on a target one hundred meters away - on the very first shot! And it had become painfully obvious, since their graduation, that her mother was as much interested in the prospect of what might happen between them now as she was. Hermione had to be on guard at all times now when Harry was present to make sure Mum didn't embarrass the two of them with indirect 'hints' about marriage and the like.
Hermione's heart tugged again at the thought and she felt her eyes begin to sting a little. Oh, how she wanted so much to be with him in everything. She wanted to wake up next to him every single day and fall asleep in his arms every night, to experience the rest of her life with him and to share with him every part of her being - forever, if possible. But he had to make that move first. And right now, the whole thing seemed to hang by a dangling, strained thread so long as Harry was facing his dilemma. As painful as it was, her heart would simply have to wait and see.
"Why don't you go in and help your Mother, dear. I believe she's ready to go ahead and set the table," her father now intoned.
She nodded and then forced herself to get up and at the same time fight back the tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks.
As she walked through the doorway into the kitchen, Hermione's mother turned from removing a few dishes from the cabinets and smiled at the teenager. Hermione slouched towards the counter, looking down at the food prepared for Harry's birthday, which, she thought to herself as she became a bit perturbed now, would be his last on earth if he didn't show up soon!
"No sign of him yet?" her mother asked seeing the frustration in Hermione's expression. Hermione just shook her head and began grabbing plates to set on the table.
"He wouldn't tell me where he was going today, Mum," she replied, her face becoming sullen and downcast again. "I just hope he didn't apparate to that island again and get caught this time."
Hermione then moved towards the table and laid out the dishes, glancing at the seat she knew Harry would take. It sat as empty as she felt in her heart.
"Don't worry, dear. I'm sure he'll arrive soon," her mother tried consoling her. "He's never failed to keep his word before, so whatever the delay is, he must have deemed it important enough to take care of before dinner."
'Am I hearing echoes in here?' Hermione thought to herself. Her parent's always had the knack of repeating each other to her annoyance sometimes, but then again she had noticed over the course of time how much she and Harry had begun doing the same.
"Perhaps he went to visit one of your old professors, like you thought. Or perhaps…" her mother now spoke, turning her face towards Hermione with a smile and that look of delight in her eyes, "…Harry is looking for something special to give you?"
Hermione threw a sharp glance at her mother who was now moving food to the table.
"MUM! Please! " she shot out, as though Harry were in the next room listening.
"What? Don't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing," her mother replied still smirking.
"Mum, please don't embarrass us again tonight. I want this night to be very special for Harry," she pleaded with her mother.
"When have I embarrassed the two of you? Or just you, for that matter?" Mrs. Granger asked, acting incredulous at the accusation.
"How about last week? At the restaurant, remember?" Hermione stated, "you practically asked Harry if he had bought a ring for me."
"I did no such thing! I merely asked him if he had visited the new jewelry store on Diagon Alley, that's all," she returned.
"And what exactly would Harry be doing visiting a jewelry store, Mum?" Hermione torted back, almost laughing despite herself.
Her mother laughed a little at seeing her daughter so flustered.
"I think Harry likes being poked at about the subject, actually. It seems to me that it embarrasses you more than him," the tall woman with short brown hair spoke.
"Mum…" Hermione started, suddenly realizing that she had unconsciously rearranged the place setting in front of her several times now.
She had just about turned to walk back to the counter and retrieve more dishes when she was startled by two arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her backwards into the warm embrace she had longed to feel again since this morning.
Harry leaned in, pressing his face against hers and tightening his grip. Hermione finally breathed again after practically jumping out of her skin and giving out a yelp at his unexpected appearance behind her. He relaxed slightly, pulling back, and she spun around, ready to give him a look of supreme anger. But for some reason she couldn't, seeing those green eyes sparkle at her and a huge smile breaking across his face - a smile that had always disarmed her no matter what the situation.
Hermione now had a flurry of mixed emotions, all of which were vying for prominence on her face - anger, worry, and that joy she felt just seeing her heart's love. Harry, noticing the confusing look in her eyes, laughed a little, holding her even closer to him. She simply couldn't refuse a small smile herself despite how upset she was with him. She finally forced the smile down and drew a serious but concerned look right at him.
"Where have you been?" she spoke with intentional sharpness.
"I'm so sorry, Hermione. But it took longer than I had anticipated," he replied vaguely, still smiling at her.
She lightly slapped him on the shoulder, part out of relief that he was okay and part out of frustration at the 'hell' he had put her through over the past hour and a half. Harry let his head drop slightly, acknowledging his worthiness of the stripe, but for some reason was unable to erase that stupid smirk from his face. Did he think that this was amusing, in the slightest? Harry then turned his head to look at her mother.
"Hello, Mrs. Granger, sorry I'm late," he spoke.
Hermione's mother put down the large dish of potatoes in her hand and practically flew over to the dark haired teenager, giving him an enormous hug.
"That's perfectly fine, Harry," she said, shooting a glance and smile at Hermione who obviously disagreed. Her mother leaned back with that look she gave Harry almost all the time now - one of blissful happiness.
"Happy birthday, Harry," she now added, "We're so glad you could come tonight."
"Thank you, so am I," he responded and then turned to look at Hermione once more. Her mother had resumed setting the table with their dinner and Hermione moved towards him again.
"I knew I shouldn't have given you that Pop-Off, sneaking up behind me like that," she said with a partial smile, half joking with him but still feeling quite upset at his tardiness.
But Harry just stood there, a brightness on his face that she had not seen in a while, and which now gave her hope that he might have finally have found what he was looking for. This hope in turn bred another just as quickly in her acute mind. Maybe…perhaps… She was now very puzzled at the smile and expression on his face.
"Harry, what is it?" she asked fervently, moving in a little more towards him. But his smile only increased and that look of longing in his eyes seemed to communicate something warming to her soul, but she wasn't sure what it was.
"I'll tell you later," he said quietly and simply.
Hermione's heart raced suddenly and she felt her face become flush with redness. Could he possibly mean… Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried mentally to reach into him and pull out whatever 'secret' he seemed intent on keeping from her at the moment. Her curiosity was now in overdrive.
"Well there you are, Harry. Glad you could make it. Happy birthday!" Mr. Granger broke in on the tension between them.
"Thank you, sir. I apologize for the lateness," Harry responded, letting go of Hermione and turning to shake her father's hand.
"Oh, never mind that. We were just about to start now anyway. Please, take a seat," he returned with a pleasant smile on his face, motioning Harry to his 'regular' chair.
Harry walked around the table and sat down. The continued half-smile on his face even when not looking at her, was absolutely killing Hermione. He's doing this deliberately, I know it. What in the world has happened to cause such a change in him since this morning? Now the meal itself would seem to take an eternity.
She walked around to the other side to sit next to Harry and briefly caught her mother looking at her, eyes wide and another smirk that told her she was in for yet another barrage of embarrassing 'comments' in front of Harry this evening.
The four of them had gotten through most of the meal without too much incident, but the tension between Hermione and Harry was terribly obvious to her parents, even if it was of the good kind. Every so often she would look at Harry who seemed to notice and smile on cue as though he was enjoying the torture he was putting her through, but it was hard not to smile back at him too. She loved him more than anything in this world and hoped that this business of his 'destiny' was finally resolved, at the least so she could see him happy once more.
"So, Harry. Hermione mentioned that you were thinking about selling your Godfather's house at Grimmauld Place," her father asked, ending a rather dull discussion between him and her mother about their dentist practice. Harry nodded in response, waiting to finish a bite of his food before answering.
"Actually, I've already hired an agent to put it up for sale. I had them set it up this afternoon," he now spoke, turning his head slightly to see Hermione's reaction.
Hermione stopped chewing for a moment, turning to glare at him, eyes wide, hearing this for the first time. She knew he had talked about selling the old house but this came as a shock. What else is he planning on doing now? But she quietly resumed eating, still working every possibility out in her head.
"Really. That's interesting. And where are you planning to live after it is sold?" her father continued the conversation.
"I went ahead and put money down on a nice flat in Soho, up above street level, not too far from the Museum," he answered.
Now there was the distinct sound of a fork dropping on a plate as Hermione turned her whole body to face Harry with another curious expression of surprise. Harry turned to look at her and again hit her with that big smile of his.
"Yes, Hermione. The same one," he told her, knowing that Mr. and Mrs. Granger were now looking at each other in puzzlement over the hidden understanding between their daughter and Harry. But they didn't dare interfere in the obvious, unspoken interplay between the teenagers. Hermione once again returned to eating the rest of her food, her mind in a state of concerned anticipation over what further 'surprises' Harry might reveal tonight.
"Well now," Mrs. Granger broke in on the sudden silence, "how was your meal, Harry?"
"Excellent. Thank you. I was really looking forward to this again. You always cook so well, Mrs. Granger" he replied. Hermione snorted, trying not to choke on her meat. Harry now cast a look of incredulity at her.
"Why thank you, Harry. We have a cake for you too, don't we dear," she now said, her head unmoving but her eyes turning towards Hermione very intently. "Hermione baked it herself actually - took her all afternoon," she told Harry with another smirk while getting up to take her dishes to the counter.
Hermione's face turned scarlet while she poked at her food and tried not to grin. Harry nodded his head in amazement at the idea. Hermione then slapped him in the leg with her free hand under the table. No comment from you, smarty! Mr. Granger, finishing the rest of his dinner then sighed.
"Well, we sure are going to miss having Hermione around here when school starts again, aren't we dear?" he asked the woman at the kitchen counter who was cutting Harry's cake.
"Oh yes, terribly. She's been such a sweetheart, with all her help around the house," her mother replied, almost sounding sarcastic with the last words of her comment, and the same fork again dropped onto the emptied plate. Hermione was really trying not to look embarrassed now.
"Yes, you'll be off studying hard again, honey, I daresay, but I'm sure you'll do just as good as you always do," Mr. Granger said smiling with pride at his daughter. She glanced up at him and returned his smile.
"Probably even better, since she won't have me to distract her anymore," Harry put in. Hermione once again paused, curious at his statement.
"And exactly what are you implying, Mr. Potter?" she quizzed him pointedly, wondering if there was some hidden meaning behind his words.
"Just that we barely passed our exams last term…because you couldn't keep your hands off of me," he chided her jokingly.
A big smirk crossed her face now as she nodded back at him.
"I couldn't keep my hands off of you? Who was it that grabbed me and dragged me behind those shelves in the library so fast, sending all those books down on top of our heads, making Madam Pince furious and subsequently getting us into detention," she torted back. Harry almost spit his tea all over the table trying not to laugh.
Mr. and Mrs. Granger too tried holding back a laugh behind their amused faces at the exchange between the two of them, her mother then deliberately cleared her throat in some vague communication of her thoughts to her daughter. Hermione just shook her head. What is this, Pick-On-Hermione-Night?
Her mother now brought the cake to the table and handed a piece out to each of them. Hermione waited breathlessly for Harry to finish his first bite, unable to look at him directly and expecting the big 'slam' any moment. Instead, she felt his hand grasp hers under the table and gently squeeze it. She knew instantly what he was saying to her and her cheeks flushed beet red.
Maybe it was that strange connection between them again, but his unspoken 'thanks, this is really good' came through loud and clear somehow. Hermione's heart leapt at the thought of the silent compliment he had paid her. He didn't know how much it meant to her that he praised her efforts to make him feel so special today. She tightened her grip on his hand in return and both of them simply finished their cake in total silence.
Harry started to get up and take some of the dishes with him to the counter, something he did partly to be considerate towards his hosts and partly out of habit from so many years of doing the same at the Dursleys.
"Oh, no, Harry! Leave that be! John and I will clean all this up. You two probably want to be alone. I'm sure you have something important to discuss," Mrs. Granger spoke, again smiling, taking the plates out of Harry's hands.
"MOTHER!" came the intentionally suppressed exclamation from a wide eyed and again red faced Hermione. Harry simply looked at Mr. Granger and they tried their best to bury their own grins.
Finally the two eighteen year olds left the table and walked out through the French doors leading to the backyard. The sun was lower, but was nowhere near setting yet, on this British midsummer's day. Harry and Hermione both walked towards the fence at the back of the lawn, each of them silent and just taking in the beauty of the surroundings. After almost reaching the fence, they stopped and just stood still for several moments. Hermione, who had been glancing at Harry every few seconds since leaving the house, began to get a little restless.
She had been waiting anxiously since before dinner for Harry to tell her what he was going to say and she thought she would burst if he didn't spill it soon. But He had become very solemn after they left the dinner table and it was clear to her that he was in deep thought over something. But what? What is it, Harry?!? Her face was contorted in puzzlement, watching him look off into seeming nothingness, a little anxiety in his expression.
But she was afraid to say anything lest it be that particular THING and she didn't want to ruin the moment. On the other hand, she struggled to keep herself from grabbing him and turning him towards her to draw out a confession just to satisfy the fiery curiosity that was turning her inside out right now. He turned to look at her and she felt butterflies in her stomach suddenly, her heart racing at the anticipation of the next words out of his mouth. But he remained quiet and deep in thought, looking right into her eyes. She took his hand with both of hers and began caressing it lovingly…waiting.
"Harry, what? What is it?" the words came so intently, Hermione being unable to hold back any longer.
He smiled at her and began to speak…