10. Unexpected Visitor
Harry woke up sweating. Two days had passed since he had gone to see Hermione. He sat up on his bed, brushing away the sweat-wet fangs glued to his forehead. Reaching for a goblet sitting on his night stand, he drank some water.
He threw the covers aside and walked to the window and opened it wide. The cool night breeze helped him to normalize his breathing and slow down his thoughts.
He had been dreaming about Hermione. They had been, just like a few nights ago, in his bed, enveloped in each other's arms, kissing with so much passion that it had felt so real to him. But suddenly, Charles had entered the room. He had just called Hermione's name and she immediately pushed Harry away and ran to him.
Harry had made an effort to call her, but his voice was gone. In seconds, Hermione had disappeared with Charles and Harry had been left behind, alone.
With the images of his dream still in his head, Harry started pacing around. He couldn't understand all the mixed emotions he had been feeling the past few days. Things seemed so confusing.
It upset him to know that Charles still had contact with Hermione. "What is he trying to do? What the bloody hell was in that letter?" he kept asking himself.
She had seemed surprised by the letter, but that didn't mean anything. Would Charles want to see her? "If that's the case," he thought. "She sure is going to be jumping with joy. She's crazy about him. That's why she agreed quietly to his false marriage. Just because he said it and to keep him happy."
Then, he stopped and turned his face to the drawer where he had thrown Hermione's... thing.
"Then, why did she responded to me in that way?" he wondered remembering their night together. "To drive you crazy!" said a sarcastic voice in his head. "Isn't she Sally's cousin after all. They're witches! They know how to drive a man crazy."
Shaking his head to rid it of those thoughts, he walked back to his bed and sat down. "Lupin's right! A woman's mind is hard to understand."
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That Friday, Harry was not being able to concentrate in his work. Victor and him were writing up the report to finally put an end to the Lamarcus situation. Moody was expecting it on his desk in a couple of hours.
But Harry's mind was far away.
Hermione and that dammed letter had been in his mind all day. What upset him the most was not knowing; not knowing what the letter said and not knowing her reaction to it.
He had been so distracted in his thoughts, he had paid little attention to Victor's comments.
"Oh, man!" said Harry's partner. "You sure are in deep shit!"
Surprisingly, Harry had heard Victor's last words and looked questioningly at him. "What do you mean?" Harry hoped he hadn't gotten himself in trouble for not paying attention to the blasted report.
"It's written all over you face, Harry. You're in love!" replied Victor with a big grin in his perfectly-shaved face.
Harry quickly stood up as if Victor's words had pinched him in his bottom. "I'm… I'm not! Where did you get such a stupid idea?" he asked in a defensive tone.
Victor lay back in his chair lazily. "Like I said man, it's written in your face. Besides, only a woman can turn a man into a walking zombie." Once again, that goofy grin appeared on Victor's face. "And you sure have been walking in clouds lately."
Harry decided not to answer him. "Victor has no idea what's going on in my head," Harry thought. He was not going to waste his time arguing with him, when Victor obviously was not going to listen to him.
Finally, he sat back down and brought the conversation back to the report. To his luck, it was finished. All that was needed to complete it was both their signatures. Trying to get it done with and be able to leave, Harry grabbed the parchment from Victor's hands and signed it.
"Hey man, you want to get a couple of drinks tomorrow night?" asked Victor as Harry was signing.
"Yeah, sure," replied Harry, not really paying attention to him, and walking out of the office before Victor would call him back again.
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The following day, Hermione was in a nice café in downtown London waiting for Charles. They had agreed to meet there for lunch. In the letter he had sent her, he asked her to please meet him. He had something very important to talk to her about. Not having any real excuses to say no, Hermione had accepted.
Exactly at noon, Charles arrived. His expression had changed since the last time Hermione had seen him. His arrogant figure did not look as always had. He seemed to have aged a couple of years in just two weeks. His gray eyes were dark and troubled, his tall body hunched.
Quietly he sat down. Hermione greeted him, but seeing his attitude remained quiet after that. They ordered their lunch as the waiter had arrived. Minutes after their drinks were placed on the table, he seemed ready to talk.
"I feel terribly Hermione." She could see that. Not meeting her eyes, he continued. "I've made the two biggest mistakes of my life, and the worst part is that I dragged you in it."
Hermione looked down, but said nothing.
"My life is a nightmare! I'm married to somebody I don't even know." Hermione looked up at him. "Sally," he continued. "She's… so different from what I thought. She's become frivolous, materialistic, selfish… perhaps she had always been that way. I just never really saw it until now."
"Charles…" Hermione tried to interrupt, but he raised his hand to make her stop.
"I've… I've asked her about that note I found the day after our wedding," he said looking into Hermione's eyes, trying to see into her mind. "I've asked her about Harry… and about you. She has not really admitted it, but I know the note was for her. I reckon I always knew it, but I was not ready to believe it."
Hermione knew how it felt to be fooled in that way. She too had thought that Sally was still the sweet, fun person she once knew. Unfortunately, she had been wrong. Her cousin had turned into someone completely different.
"I know that I put you and your friend in a very difficult situation and I know there's nothing I can say to fix it, but…"
Hermione placed her soft hand on top of Charles to comfort him. In this whole situation, he had been perhaps the mostly affected. "It's alright Charles, really. Harry and I have been good friends for years." Though we're not in talking terms, right now - she thought.
"We went along with Sally's lie because we thought it was the best thing to do at that moment." She retrieved her hand as the food arrived. After the waiter left, she continued. "I personally wanted to keep Aunt Betty out of all this mess. You know how sick she's been lately. But I want you to know that I never approved what Sally was doing. I just thought it was not my place to get in the middle of you two."
A sad smile appeared in Charles' face. "You knew sooner or later the real Sally would come out, right?" Hermione looked down.
She felt sorry for him. He was a nice man and didn't deserve been treated like that. Seeing how belittled he looked now, Hermione could hardly believe she had placed her eyes on him before. At least, knowing that he was aware of the truth made her feel better. Especially because Hermione didn't have to tell on her cousin.
After that, Charles seemed to relax a little, though his sad expression remained. He was glad to see that Hermione didn't resent him for pushing her into an unwanted marriage.
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Later that day, Victor apparated before Harry's door and knocked. Minutes later, Harry opened the door for him. A look of surprise came to Harry's face after seeing his partner, standing there.
"Please, don't tell me something came up and we have to get going," said Harry quickly.
"You forgot!" said Victor walking around Harry and into the hallway. Harry still waiting for his answer didn't move form the door. "I told you if you wanted to join me for drinks, remember?"
Harry did remember Victor saying something to him as he was leaving, but hadn't really paid attention to him.
"I'm telling you! She's got you in the clouds man," he said with a big smile on his face, as he started walking towards the kitchen. "Just go get ready. I'll just go find something to eat. This elf of yours makes such good pastries…"
Harry sighed. He had no other choice, but to go upstairs and get in the shower. About fifteen minutes later, he turned the water off and walked into his room. He took out a pair of jeans and a shirt from his wardrobe without paying much attention to the items he was taking.
Finally, he walked to the door. As he was about to step into the hallway, he saw Victor sitting in the hallway's floor, his back leaning on the wall, enjoying some of Dobby's pumpkin pastries.
Once Harry opened the door, Victor got up quickly. "Hey man," he said after swallowing the food in his mouth. "A girl came to see you." Victor informed him. "I told her to come in."
One name immediately came to Harry's mind, Hermione, and his face illuminated.
Seeing his happy expression, Victor smiled. "She's waiting downstairs." Then as Harry was walking away from him, he added, "Good thing you showered!"
Hurriedly, Harry went to the stairs without paying attention to Victor. But when he reached the bottom step, he froze on the spot. The woman waiting for him was not Hermione. It was Sally.
"What are you doing here?" he asked in a not so friendly way.
Sally, who had been curiously looking at the decors on the walls, turned to face Harry. She quickly came up to him and threw her arms around his neck. "Harry! It's great to see you."
He pulled her arms off of him and pushed her away. He didn't want to have any physical contact with her at all. Then, a question came to his mind.
"How… how did you know where to find me?" This was the first time Sally was at his house. They had always met at her apartment.
"It's amazing what you can do when you have the resources," she said with a mischievous smile on her face.
He sighed. "Of course…"
Ignoring his cold attitude towards her, she went on talking. "These last days had been terrible! Charles is so boring, you have no idea. If it weren't for those wonderful boutiques they have in Paris…"
"What the hell are you doing here?" he interrupted.
Sally raised a well-defined eyebrow at him. She didn't like being talked to like that, but smiled to him regardless. "Oh, we're still mad now, aren't we?" She talked to him in her sweetest voice and tried to caress his face, but Harry grabbed her wrist and pushed her away.
"C'mon Harry. We both know you missed me." Harry threw her the coldest look. "I sure missed you," she added. "Being Charles' wife has not been as exciting as I thought it would be. Especially since he started with this whole divorce talk, but I've been thinking…"
Sally was not able to complete her sentence. Harry grabbed her by the upper arms. "What divorce?" he asked.
"You're hurting me!" She responded to him with a childish voice
Reluctantly, he loosened his grip on her, but didn't let go. "Talk!" he demanded.
"Alright! Charles wants me to give him a divorce," she informed him. After hearing that, Harry let go of her. He didn't like what he heard. "He's been saying the same thing to me over and over again for the last week. A bit boring to tell you the truth."
"What did you say to him?" he quickly asked.
At first, Sally thought Harry wanted to know if she was going to be free again, but the look on his face told her otherwise. "I have ignored him, as always."
Harry walked a few steps away from her. "So that's why he sent her the letter," he said talking to himself. Sally, however, was still close to him and heard him perfectly.
"Which letter? Who sent who a letter?"
"Charles," said Harry turning back to face her. "Charles sent a letter to Hermione just a few days ago." He turned away and continued talking to himself, out loud. "Obviously, he was letting her know about it! I wonder if he asked her to do the same."
Sally looked questioningly at him.
"So what?" she asked. "Harry, listen," she said changing her voice. "If he's so interested in getting a divorce, I'm sure he's going to be willing to give me anything I ask for. So… in a couple of months, perhaps even less, I'll be free once again. And… I'll have plenty of money, and will need someone to enjoy it with."
Harry had hardly heard her last words, but her attitude spoke for her. Feeling disgusted with her presence, Harry started pushing her to the door. "Good bye Sally."
"Wait! Let's talk," But Harry was not listening. He opened the door and pushed her out. "Harry please, let me just explain to you…"
But Harry didn't hear her anymore. He closed the door at her and walked away.
"So, he's going to be free," he thought. "I'm sure Hermione's going to be dying to get our divorce ready as well." He didn't know why, but it angered him. He couldn't understand why idiots like Charles were so lucky to have women like Hermione love them.
But what angered him the most was that as soon as Charles called her name, Hermione was ready to run to him. Harry could just imagine her coming to talk to him about getting a divorce and that thought alone hurt him.
Why was it that all the women in his life wanted to be with Charles, the gentleman?
But he quickly decided he didn't want to know. He didn't care. If Hermione wanted to ran to that idiot's arms that was her problem. He wasn't going to get in the way, but he wasn't going to give her the pleasure of being the one ending their marriage - even a fake marriage.
No. If they were going to get a divorce, which he now knew was inevitable, he was going to be the one doing it. He'd be the one putting an end to this farce.