Disclaimer: Any and all references to `Harry Potter' and related paraphernalia belong to the one and only J.K. Rowling. If there is something that catches your eye and doesn't ring a bell, well, that belongs to me. Oh yeah…the title comes from the Garth Brooks song of the same name.
Friends in Low Places
Prologue
Hermione Granger ran a few fingers through her silky brown hair and sighed exasperatedly. She looked at the newspaper in front of her and shook her head. Once more, she checked the clock located in the corner, and, once again, his hand still indicated missing. "Harry Potter, where in blazes are you?" she grumbled to herself.
The clock Hermione kept watching wasn't an ordinary clock. Instead of a minute and a second hand, it had 5 hands, each engraved with the name of someone in emerald script; where the numbers should have been situated were various places the person might be: home, visiting, work, missing, shopping, etc. Not so practical for telling time, but extremely handy when trying to locate someone. But it wasn't proving to be very helpful right now, when Hermione needed to find Harry.
Harry and Hermione were housemates, and had been for a few years. More importantly, though, they were best friends and had been for more than half their lives. They met when they were eleven years old and attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, along with Ron Weasley, their red-headed, freckle-faced, friend; the third member of their trio.
The three had moved into the house in Kent a little more than two years ago. Prior to then, Hermione lived in a small flat in Oxford, Ron was still living with his parents and Harry had been staying in London with his girlfriend of two years, Cho Chang. The three made sure to keep in contact, exchanging frequent letters and regular visits, but it wasn't the same as being a dorm or bunk away and they missed each other.
Then, out of the clear blue sky, Cho left Harry. He had returned from a road trip to find her gone. No letter or explanation, she just upped and vanished. He wanted to get on with his life, but felt he couldn't do so while living in the place they had shared. So he sold the small house and purchased a home in Kent. He sent his owl Hedwig with a letter to Hermione, asking if she wanted to move in. Instead of sending a reply, she'd given notice and arrived two days later with her belongings. Ron appeared a week after that and the trio was reunited.
Currently, it was just Harry and Hermione in the house. Ron had married Luna Lovegood, a fellow Hogwarts alumnus, a year ago. At first Ron and Luna planned on staying in the house, but soon concluded they needed their own space. Harry and Hermione were sad to see them go - until they found out the newlyweds had purchased a house one street over, directly behind them.
After looking at the clock again and glancing at her watch the check the time, `One in the morning! Where is he?' she thought, Hermione shot up from her seat and picked up the extension to call Ron and find out where Harry was. It wasn't like him to be this late coming home without letting her know and Hermione was getting a wee bit worried something had happened after practice and no one had informed her.
Hermione found herself consistently worried about Harry and his well-being. Though she never admitted it to anyone, she'd acquired a slight crush on her raven-haired, emerald-eyed best friend at some point in their school days, but never acted on it; Harry was with Cho. When Cho disappeared from the picture, she was relieved but wasn't completely sure why; she just assumed it was because the girl had broken her best friend's heart. But, being Hermione, she began analyzing herself, trying to figure out why was reacting the way she was. The reluctant conclusion she'd reached was that somewhere along the line, her `slight crush', had taken on a life of its own, by-passed `seriously in like' and was now bordering `utterly in love'.
Little did Hermione know, Harry felt the same way about her; and like Hermione, he wasn't going to admit it to anyone. He also didn't tell Hermione the entire truth about his break-up with Cho. He left out the part where he was planning on breaking it off and moving out when he came back from his four-game road trip; she'd just beaten him to it. He loved Cho, yes, but he wasn't in love with her, a big distinction. For some reason, one he refused to acknowledge until recently, he couldn't bring himself to tell her that part. He knew Hermione inside and out, figuratively of course, and wasn't prepared to answer the inevitable questions she would have regarding the circumstances behind the break-up.
Just as Hermione finished dialing the number, the unmistakable sound of someone Apparating met her ears and she chanced a quick peek at the clock. Harry's hand now rested on home and Ron's pointed to visiting. She breathed a sigh of relief then stormed out, fully intending to give them an earful.
She stopped in her tracks when she spotted them. Harry was obviously intoxicated and Ron was the only reason he was still semi-upright.
"Look who I found!" Ron called out cheerfully.
Hermione walked over to help him set Harry on the couch, but Harry wasn't cooperating.
"Herminonny!" he slurred as she reached them. He drunkenly threw his arms around her, knocking over a vase of flowers in the process. "I've been looking all over for you! Yull never guess what I saw today!"
"Besides the bottom of quite a few bottles of ale?" Hermione muttered, grunted under Harry's added weight.
"Ah, ha ha! You're so funny, Hermininny!" Harry continued. "Isn't she funny?" he asked Ron.
"She's a regular riot," Ron retorted.
Hermione shot him a glare and he winced. "I think I'm just going to go home now. You seem to have it all under control." He Apparated without waiting for an answer and Hermione seethed.
"You wait until I get my hands on you, Ronald Weasley," she muttered angrily.
"You don't like him very much, do you?" Harry said in a loud stage whisper. "Don't worry, I won't tell him. I like you best anyway. You're Herminny and I love you!"
"Yeah, I love you, too, Harry," Hermione responded. "Now let's see if we can get you to bed."
"Not til you believe me," Harry stated. He tried to stand on his own, with little success. He fell against Hermione and grinned lazily. "Cause I really love you!"
"Right, and I really love you, too!" Hermione replied distractedly, struggling to walk Harry to his room.
"No!" Harry declared. "I mean I really, really, really love you!!" he insisted. "For real. I don't even care that whuz-`er-face is getting married." He was flapping his arms around and Hermione ducked in time to avoid being hit. "I'm tired. I want to sleep," he groaned. He began undressing, leaving a trail of clothes in the hall, and collapsed on his bed.
Hermione managed to get him all tucked in, when he suddenly grabbed her arm. "You have to sleep with me tonight cause I love you and you love me," he said matter-of-factly. "Please?" he pleaded.
Hermione took one look into his bloodshot green eyes and sighed in defeat. "Ok. I'll go change and come back."
"Promise?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Promise," Hermione answered quietly.
"Ok. Hurry," Harry replied sleepily, and promptly passed out.
Hermione entered the room next door and changed into a pair of Harry's boxers and an old t-shirt. She briefly flirted with the idea of not going back, but she did promise.
She went back into Harry's room, softly shutting the door behind her. She walked around to the free side of the bed and climbed in, careful not to disturb him; she'd pulled the covers up when Harry suddenly turned toward her, eyes wide open.
"I really do love you," Harry said softly, sounding remarkably sober, before closing his eyes again.
"And I really do love you, too," Hermione whispered in return, failing to see the small smile the made it's way to Harry's lips.
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