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.
Chapter 2
Harry awoke early the next morning and rolled over to find another position he could fall back to sleep in. What he saw was his best girl friend, sleeping peacefully, a slight smile on her lips. She looked almost angelic and Harry fought the urge to touch her face. There had been many mornings when he'd woken to this familiar sight and he never seemed to tire of it. He pressed a light kiss to Hermione's temple and closed his eyes to try to get a few more hours close to the woman he loved.
Three hours later, Hermione opened her brown eyes and blinked the sleep out of them. The first thing she noticed was that she was being waved to by the players in an old poster of the Irish National Quidditch team; the second was that there was an extra arm wrapped around her bare waist. Neither particularly surprised her, as she was subjected to this décor at least three times a week. If she were being honest with herself, she'd admit that she would rather wake up and see those ratty posters than see the pictures of Harry and Ron and the rest of her friends and family. Because that meant she was curled up next to Harry himself, and she'd take that over pictures any day.
She rolled to her back carefully, not wanting to wake Harry, only to find his emerald eyes already on her. "Good morning," he said quietly, nuzzling her cheek with his nose.
"Good morning," Hermione replied, giving him a small smile. "How are you feeling?"
"Never better," Harry answered, kissing Hermione on her cheek, as close to her mouth as he dared. "You?"
"I'm fine," Hermione responded, kissing Harry back on the cheek, in almost the same exact spot. "Then again, I wasn't the one who was drunk last night," she added cheekily.
She rolled off the bed and darted out of the room before Harry had a chance to respond.
He chuckled and went after her, finally catching up in the kitchen. He grabbed her around the middle and tickled her sides. Hermione giggled and tried to squirm her way out of his grip.
Somehow the tangled pair managed to make it to the kitchen table, where Hermione's giggles faded as she read the headline of that morning's Daily Prophet.
"You knew about it," Hermione said quietly, comprehension dawning on her face.
"Knew about what?" Harry asked, confused.
"About Cho getting married," Hermione spat out. "That's why you were drunk."
Harry blushed. "I did find out about it, from someone at work. But, I wasn't… I mean, it was, but not….. bugger!" Harry was obviously flustered. "It's not like that!"
"What is it like then Harry?" Hermione was having a hard time controlling her desire to find Cho and rip her pretty little head off.
Harry gulped, not wanting to spill his secret so soon; but he wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing! "Hermione," Harry explained slowly, "It is why I was drinking. But not for the reason you think" He handed over the newspaper article from The Daily Prophet. "I'm finally rid of her!"
"`Miss Cho Chang, 23, and Mr. Caleb Hart, 28, have announced their intent to wed. The two met one and a half years ago at a Quidditch match.
"We ran into each other and fell in love at the souvenir stand," Chang recalls, glancing lovingly at her fiancé.
They have decided on a short engagement, and are to be married in less than one month, on the 8th of August, at a location not to be divulged, except to attendees.
"There has to be some secrecy," Chang explains.
She laughs, but her eyes are serious. Perhaps she is referring to her ex-fiancé, Mr. Harry Potter, better known as The-Boy-Who-Lived. (See related story, How will Harry deal with heartache, pg. 8)'"
"I mean, that is such bullocks!" Harry exclaimed once Hermione was finished reading. "How will Harry deal with heartache!" he mocked. "We broke up almost two and a half years ago! Not to mention, I never asked her to marry me! I didn't even want to marry her!"
"You didn't?" Hermione asked, hope laced throughout her words.
"No, I didn't," Harry replied softly. "I couldn't. Not when you were right in front of me."
"Really?" Hermione squeaked. "Me?"
"Really. You." He put his arms around Hermione and pulled her body flush to his. "It's always been you, Hermione. Always," he whispered.
His voice, low and husky, directly into her ear, sent goosebumps all down Hermione's spine and made her shiver involuntarily. She subconsciously tried to push her body closer to him, although it was quite impossible; they were already as close as two people could be.
Harry drank in Hermione's face, his emerald eyes intent on seeing all of her and putting it into his memory, never to forget this moment. His gaze shifted to her lips, pink and looking extremely kissable, in his unbiased opinion, of course. He glanced into her eyes, silently asking what he couldn't find the voice to do. She responded by lightly biting her lower lip, a nervous gesture Harry found irresistible. He dipped his head as Hermione rose on her tiptoes and as their lips met, both closed their eyes, wanting just to rely on their senses of taste and touch; to savor this experience.
Later neither quite remembered who actually initiated the first kiss, but both knew it was the best (and would be the last) first kiss either had experienced. Harry's lips were warm on Hermione's soft ones and there was none of the awkwardness usually associated with first kisses. Their lips melted against each other and Hermione felt as though her heart was going to leap out her chest, it was pounding so hard; and it was all Harry's doing. He instinctively knew how to kiss Hermione and make her weak in the knees. He knew if he gently touched the tip of his tongue to Hermione's bottom lip, she would respond in kind; he knew just the right amount of pressure to use and she knew just how he liked his bottom lip to be lightly nibbled.
The doorbell rang, and Harry reluctantly pulled his lips from Hermione's, although he didn't let go of her.
"No one ever rings that bell," Harry remarked dryly. "So it's obviously someone we don't want here."
"You're most likely right, but just in case, we should probably get it. We don't want to be rude," Hermione stated halfheartedly.
Still holding hands, they walked to the front door, which Hermione opened.
"Cho?" she gasped out.
"Is Harry here?" Cho asked impatiently.
"Cho?" Harry asked, clearly surprised.
"Oh, Harry!" Cho cried out, pushing Hermione out of the way and throwing her arms around him. "I've missed you so much!"
Harry looked at Hermione uneasily and pried Cho's hands off his body. "How did you find out where I live?" he asked, cautiously.
"I remembered the night we talked about wanting to raise a family here, so I took a chance and here you are!" Cho gushed, sickly sweet, putting her arms around him again.
Hermione could only watch the exchange in silence, her heart having made its way down to her toes. "I'll, um, just leave you two be then," she stammered.
Harry opened his mouth to object, but Cho beat him to it. "There's a good girl," she cooed condescendingly.
Hermione went into the kitchen to Apparate to Ron and Luna's, but thought better of it. Although she couldn't see what was going on, she could hear everything perfectly clear, and that's what mattered.
"What are you doing here, Cho?" Harry asked angrily. "We never talked about having a family, much less moving here. How did you find me?"
"Oh, that," Cho relied airily. "Michaelson told me where you lived. All that other stuff was just for show."
"Why are you here?" Harry reiterated.
"You act like you're not happy to see me," Cho flirted, putting her hand on Harry's arm.
"Imagine that," Harry retorted, shrugging her off. "Why are you here?"
"Aren't we still single-minded," Cho giggled. "Although I liked it better when all you thought about was something else," she added seductively.
Harry stiffened and Hermione froze in her hiding place. "That was a long time ago," he forced out.
"Don't you miss me?" Cho pouted.
"Not especially," Harry spat back
"So you're over me; over this."
Hermione didn't hear any words, but she couldn't mistake the noise of kissing and her heart, if possible, sank even lower.
Harry roughly pushed Cho away. "What are you trying to pull?" he asked suspiciously.
Cho laughed flirtatiously. "Can you honestly say you don't miss that?"
"Yes, I can," Harry stated simply.
"You're just kidding yourself. Hermione isn't here. You can do whatever you want," Cho added suggestively. "Or whomever you want. Not that it stopped you before."
"That was then. This is now," Harry said firmly.
"Oh don't tell me you two are together," Cho sneered
"Then I won't," Harry replied. "But that doesn't make it any less true."
"Please," Cho scoffed. "You'd want Know-It-All-Granger over me?"
"Right in one," Harry answered.
"Well that's too bad, because I want you back," Cho declared. "And I always get what I want, when I want it."
"Not from me," Harry said firmly.
"You don't think so?" Cho challenged. She closed the gap and kissed him roughly. He pulled back and glared at her.
"Hermione!" Cho said, faking surprise.
Harry paled and whirled around to see his new girlfriend standing behind them. "I can explain," he tried to choke out.
"There's no need," Hermione stated calmly, walking towards them. Cho was grinning triumphantly, but stopped as Hermione shifted her gaze.
"I told him to stop, but he said he didn't want me to marry Caleb, that he wanted me all to himself. Then he kissed me," Cho broke out into false tears and Harry had never detested anyone so much in his life at that moment.
"Really?" Hermione asked. "Is that so?"
Harry looked at her questioningly. She didn't sound angry at all, just highly amused.
"Because that's not what it sounded like from the kitchen," she added casually.
"Kitchen? What are you talking about?" Cho choked out, suddenly nervous.
"Kitchen," Hermione repeated. "You know, the place where you, well, your slave, cook food," she explained slowly. "Ours happens to be right through that doorway."
A smile appeared on Harry's face at the same rate as the one on Cho's faded. "You heard everything?" Cho faltered. "See! She doesn't even respect your privacy!" She made a move to reach for Harry, only to find he had moved behind Hermione and put his arms around her middle.
"Harry," Cho whined.
"What?" he asked harshly.
"Don't you want what we had before?" she asked coyly.
"Why would I want that when I've got something so much better than that now?" Harry replied evenly. "Now please leave my -our- house."
"You really want me to leave?" Cho feigned hurt.
"Very much so," Harry retorted. "I think you know the way out."
Cho narrowed her eyes at the dismissal. "This isn't over. Mark my words, we will be back together."
"There's a good girl," Hermione shot back. "Bye now!" she added sweetly.
Cho threw one last glare at the pair and left the house in a huff.
"I guess you were wrong about her not wanting anything to do with you anymore," Hermione joked weakly.
Harry groaned. "And this is just going to get worse. There has to be a way to put an end to it, once and for all."
Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment, as she mulled the situation over. She was interrupted however when she noticed the look in Harry's eye. Then all she could think of (besides how much she wanted to snog him again) was that Cho Chang was in trouble; trouble of the Maraudering nature.
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