Doubt
Hermione stepped into her flat exhausted. What had started out as a wonderful day had quickly turned into an agonizingly miserable one; her conversation with Ginny had only been the beginning of her woes. Following Ginny's departure Hermione had been called into a strategy session with Percy and Padma that had gone on all afternoon resulting in her missing lunch. Then she had to meet with the IWC to discuss arrangements for the upcoming Magical Beasts and Creatures Summit, which took the remainder of the afternoon and a good portion of the early evening. As a result she had been late for dinner with her parents. As she wasn't much in the mood for questions about her love life Hermione had rang her mum and begged off dinner saying that she had some work to finish and that she would have lunch with both she and Judith later in the week, which meant Hermione now had to accommodate two lunch dates this week in addition to everything else flooding her schedule. Then had come the perfect awful ending to a perfectly awful day. Since she'd needed to phone her parents and stop by the market Hermione had taken the underground instead of apparating home and just as she'd gotten off the mobile with her mum she'd been caught in an icy torrential downpour. Soaked from head to foot Hermione climbed the stairs slowly and trudged into her bedroom she seemed to be getting more drained with each step she took. Stepping into her room she undressed mechanically and tossed her sodden clothes into the bottom of her closet and pulled on her bathrobe, with a wave of her wand she set the water running for a steaming hot bath. She charmed the tub to stop when it was filled and went downstairs to find something to eat; having missed both lunch and dinner she was famished to say the least. Just as she entered the kitchen Socrates fluttered down onto her shoulder and hooted despondently, Crookshanks sidled up to her and rubbed his bushy tail against her legs.
"Oh I take it you two are hungry as well"
Hermione set out a bowl of cream and some leftover kippers for Crookshanks and some owl treats, kippers and water for Socrates. However she found that pickings were much slimmer for herself than for her pets. She had been spending so much time with Harry making sure that his needs were taken care of that she had not taken the time to restock her own cupboards. At the thought of Harry Hermione's mood plummeted from bad to wretched as Ginny's words came flooding back to her. Was it really possible that Harry wasn't really in love with her? Could he truly be mistaken about the true nature of his feelings for her? Was he even aware that his feelings might not be genuine?
"What's got a frown on that beautiful face of yours"
Hermione turned around stunned by Harry's familiar baritone.
"Ha…Harry when did you get here"
Hermione nervously ran a hand through her hair as Harry, ignoring her question, crossed the room and pulled her into his arms kissing her gently on the lips. Hermione immediately slipped from Harry's embrace and turned her attentions back to her empty cupboards. Harry stared at her momentarily confused and asked.
"Is everything all right…you're wet"
Hermione replied tonelessly.
"Everything is fine…I've just had a long day I'm tired and hungry and I got caught in the rain on my way home from work"
Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione's dainty waist and answered.
"Well then why don't you go upstairs and relax a bit while I make dinner…I noticed you were low on food so I stopped by the market on the way over"
Hermione looked around and saw parcels from the market down the street on the floor by the door to the kitchen she mumbled a half-hearted thank you as she disentangled herself from Harry's hold and started back upstairs for her bath.
Harry called after her.
"Any requests"
Hermione ignored his question and ambled off to her much needed bath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry arrived at number 12 Grimmauld Place with a resounding pop. He had planned to spend a quiet uninterrupted evening with Hermione. Harry had found out that the team was about to go off on a two-week road trip playing exhibition matches across Europe. He had wanted to spend time with his girlfriend (he smiled to himself as he recognized that he was using Hermione's new title and place in his life) before not seeing her for a fortnight but fate seemed to have conspired against him. The dinner he made for them, nothing particularly fancy just a Lancashire hot pot, fresh baked bread and a blancmange, one of Hermione's favorite desserts, was a silent affair. It looked as if Hermione had had a dreadful day at work and she was not in the mood for company. Seeing that nothing he attempted seemed to improve her mood Harry left shortly after dinner. Having spent so much time with Hermione of late Harry was not in the mood to spend an evening alone so instead of heading to his own flat he decided to pay the last marauder a visit.
Harry strode into the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table. Remus appeared to be engrossed in the evening edition of The Prophet. Harry was about to alert him to his presence when Remus spoke.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, I would have thought that you would be spending the evening with Hermione considering you'll be leaving for a fortnight tomorrow…care for some tea"
Remus lowered his paper and went to put the kettle on. Harry nodded his head in the affirmative as he retrieved the discarded paper and replied.
"That was the plan but she's not feeling too well this evening…in a right state she is…thought it was best if I gave her some space"
"So I win the pleasure of your company by default"
Harry smiled wryly as he accepted the cup of tea Remus offered him and took a sip.
"Well actually there's more to it than that I've been meaning to stop by for a while but things have been a bit busy"
Remus chimed in.
"Yes I imagine with Quidditch and Hermione on your mind most of your time is occupied not much left for an old friend of your father's eh"
Harry replied.
"Bit catty for a werewolf don't you think"
Remus chuckled good-naturedly.
"Just winding you up…how are things with you and Hermione? I take it you two have gotten past your reservations about pursuing a relationship"
Harry stood up and began clearing the table as he placed the cups and saucers in the sink he answered Lupin's question.
"We cleared up all those reservations two nights ago when I admitted that I'm in love with her"
Remus sat up ramrod straight in his chair.
"You told Hermione that you were in love with her"
Harry nodded.
"Actually she told me that she was in love with me first…slip of the tongue…she hadn't meant to say it of course…but after I got her to say it again I told her that I loved her too…"
Remus interjected.
"Harry are you sure about this…it is rather sudden after all…you two just started seeing each other…"
Remus paused a moment before continuing.
"And there is the matter of you shying away from commitment and the like…you have never actually been in a serious relationship before Harry"
Harry turned and stared at the man who was most like family to him since his parents and Sirius were gone and said.
"Hermione's presence is one of the few things in my life that hasn't ever wavered. She's always been there loving and supporting me…and this…this relationship…she and I together…its what I've always wanted but I was too afraid to hope for. You ask me if I'm sure Remus, I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life"
Remus slid his chair back from the table and walked over to where Harry was standing by the sink and placed his hand firmly on Harry's shoulder and smiled.
"I am happy for you Harry…happy for the both of you.
Harry looked over at Remus and smiling blissfully he replied"
"So am I"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione sat at a booth in the back of The Pitch morosely sipping a butterbeer as she waited for Ginny to arrive for their lunch date. Her day had started out very well she had been awakened by Hedwig and her daily delivery of a single red rose with a note from Harry telling her how much he loved her as well as how much he missed her. This morning's note had also said that he was counting the days until they were together again. Harry had been gone for a week and a half and Hermione missed him terribly, she wished she hadn't been so stupid as to let him leave without so much as a proper goodbye kiss but she had been in a terrible state on the day in question worrying over Ginny's idea that Harry may not be in love with her. With the clarity of day Hermione had realized that Ginny's suspicions were just that…suspicions. It was entirely possible that Harry was confusing his feelings of friendship for her with true love but it was just as likely that he was actually in love with her. Hermione had complete faith that Harry was not intentionally toying with her emotions, and that if he was not really in love with her it was something that he was not completely aware of himself. Once she'd come to that realization Hermione had felt much better about things and she couldn't wait for Harry to get home so she could make up for the horrid way she treated him before he'd left on his trip. That was how she had felt until she'd received the morning Prophet and seen Harry plastered across the front page sharing a steamy kiss with Her Royal Highness Principessa Andrea Antonia D'Onoforio; the very beautiful daughter of Italy's most well-known wizarding family. The D'Onoforios were deposed royalty who had left all traces of the muggle world behind following the discovery of their magical abilities by their loyal subjects. The D'Onoforios had became a family of powerfully wealthy and eccentric wizards who persisted in the use of their former royal titles.
According to the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, Which Broomstick and every other wizarding publication in existence, Harry and the erstwhile Princess had been an item a year ago while she was living in England attending the Oxford Academy for Advanced Witchcraft. Reportedly the duo was on the verge of becoming engaged when Antonia; she preferred to be called by her middle name, was abruptly called back to Rome to the bedside of her dying grandmother whose final wish was for her beloved granddaughter to marry some Duke. The bloke's family had been wizards and among the D'Onoforios court when they'd been discovered as wizards and fled with them. According to the papers Antonia was supposedly heartbroken but complied with her grandmother's request and announced her engagement to Duke Christopher Perillo. The wedding, however, never happened, after her grandmother's death Antonia called off the engagement and went on a four month sabbatical to grieve for the lost of both her grandmother and again according to the papers the one true love of her life…Harry. She'd returned to Rome just in time for the exhibition match between the Italian and English National Quidditch teams where she wasted no time picking up where she left off with Harry. Hermione was certain that most of article had been complete and utter rubbish although she did recall Ron going on about the `beautiful Italian bird' Harry was seeing last year and there was no denying the fact that Harry was all over the papers kissing the Italian heiress.
"Please tell me that you're not reading this"
Hermione pulled herself from her musings to see Ginny taking a seat opposite her. She waved Hermione's copy of the Prophet across the table and pushed it out of view.
"Hermione I want you to stop looking at those bloody papers. Staring at them won't change anything"
Hermione spat her words out through gritted teeth.
"I can't believe that he would do something like that…"
Hermione banged her fist down on the table.
"He knows better than anyone what something like this would do to me…especially after what happened with Viktor and I"
Ginny replied sympathetically.
"Hermione don't jump to conclusions…there could be a perfectly logical explanation for these pictures"
Hermione replied scathingly.
"Yes there is…my loving boyfriend of nearly three months is a faithless git"
"Hermione do you really believe that"
Hermione reached across the table and flipped the paper over and pointed to Harry's romantically engaged likeness and answered in a tearful whisper.
"This picture does not exactly leave much to the imagination now does it"
As the words left her mouth the tears began to fall, Hermione grabbed the copy of the Prophet lying on the table and bolted out the door of The Pitch leaving a wide-eyed Ginny staring after her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry burst into Hermione's living room with a deafening bang that was mostly because he had had to knock the door off its hinges; with a wave of his wand he magicked it back into place. Hermione had obviously magically barred him from entering her flat, good thing he was in such good shape physically otherwise he never could have rammed his way through the door. He had been trying to reach her for the past three days, ever since that damn photograph of him and Antonia had appeared in every wizarding paper and magazine in Europe. But Hedwig had come back with all his letters undelivered. His attempts to speak with her by floo had also been thwarted as he was informed that his access to the requested fireplace had been restricted. Harry checked the kitchen and found it empty he then headed in the direction of the study calling Hermione's name as he went. As he walked into the study he saw no signs that anyone was there or had been in there in some time. Turning towards the door Harry started back towards the lounge he surmised that Hermione must not be home. She knew he was coming back into town today and she'd probably gone to her parents or something to avoid seeing him, just as he reached the door of the study he heard a noise coming from the bedroom overhead. Turning again he went up the back stairs of the study that led to the upstairs landing where he stopped and listened again and heard the clear sounds of someone moving about in the bedroom. He strode over to the door and swung it open and called.
"Hermione, I know that I'm probably the last person you want to see right now but you've got to hear me out…I can only imagine what you must be thinking but…that picture…its not what it looks like…well not exactly…it was me in the picture but I wasn't kissing Antonia she was kissing me…she must have brought the photographer with her…I…"
Harry froze mid-sentence as soon as he realized that he wasn't talking to Hermione at all but to her mother.
"Oh…hello Mrs. Granger…I…I…I'm sorry to barge in but I thought you were…ummm er…ummm…Hermione"
Olivia Granger rose from the seat she had taken at Hermione's desk where she'd been writing Hermione a note, and spoke to Harry.
"Hello Harry…as you can see Hermione is not here"
Harry nodded woodenly in response to Olivia's words.
"I thought she was going to join her father and I for dinner but she never arrived. We assumed something came up and that's why she never made it or rang to tell us anything; we know her mobile does not work in thoroughly magic places. So when Thaddeus went to check in at the office I decided to come by and check to see that everything was alright"
Olivia turned and fully faced Harry and continued talking.
"I was just leaving a letter for Hermione to let her know I had been by"
Olivia's words hung in the air. She clearly had no idea where Hermione was or what was going on between the two of them, at least she hadn't until he'd opened his fat mouth. Harry frantically searched his brain for a suitable explaination as to why he would be at Hermione's flat at this time of the evening attempting to explain away his kissing some other woman when Olivia spoke again.
"So you are the young man Hermione's been seeing"
Realizing the futility of denying it and ruling out oblivarating Hermione's mother's memory Harry slowly nodded his head in reply. Olivia stared into Harry's eyes and said.
"Well I must say that I was immensely surprised to find that my daughter was involved in a relationship and had not told her father and I anything about it at all but I am even more shocked to find out that the person she has been surreptitiously seeing is you"
Harry raked his hand through his hair and sighed. Why did everyone find it so hard to believe that he could commit to someone? Before he had a chance to voice his thoughts Olivia Granger spoke again and her words seemed to be reading his thoughts.
"Not to say that there is anything wrong with the two of you seeing one another…I think you are a truly charming young man…but you two have been such close friends for so long it just never occurred to me that either of you would feel anything more for the other"
Harry gnawed his bottom lip anxiously.
"Well it came as a bit of a shock to the both of us as well"
Olivia furrowed her brows and cast Harry a glance that was eerily reminiscent of the looks Hermione often gave him.
"A bit of a shock you say…exactly how then did it come to pass that you and my daughter became involved. I do not mean to interfere but Hermione has not been very forthcoming about this new relationship and it has not been that long since she ended things with Viktor and I worry that she may be moving to fast"
Harry walked over to where Olivia Granger was standing and gently guided her to sit on the chaise in the corner of Hermione's bedroom. After he had her seated comfortably Harry took a seat directly across from her at Hermione's desk. Hermione arrived at the door to her bedroom just as Harry started to speak, his voice a soft whisper.
"Mrs. Granger I recognize how strange all of this must feel to you…one moment Hermione is getting over her breakup with a man everyone thought she was going to marry and then you find out she's seeing me her best friend of twelve years and hasn't bothered to tell you a thing about it. I suppose you can't help but wonder about things…especially considering the fact that I don't really seem to be relationship material…on more than one occasion I've been reminded of my less than stellar reputation in the relationship department…"
Olivia raised an alarmed gaze to Harry as he continued.
"But this time is different…I've never felt this way about anyone before. I can barely put into words how much Hermione means to me. She's my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night…bloody hell I even dream about her. I'm amazed that for twelve years she's been right there in front of my very own eyes and I was too daft to notice. I honestly can't imagine my life without her…Mrs. Granger…Hermione means the absolute world to me and all I want is her happiness"
Olivia Granger fixed Harry with a stern glare and asked.
"And what is this about you kissing someone else"
Hermione listened attentively as Harry answered her mother's query.
"Oh…yes…that…well…you see Antonia and I…we went out a couple of times last year before she went back home to Italy. While we were there playing Quidditch the team was invited to her family's home for dinner…they are important wizards and it would have seemed impolite to refuse them…later that night she showed up at the inn where we were staying. I got up to answer my door and she just kissed me…I didn't even kiss her back…it caught me completely off guard…Mrs. Granger you have to believe that I would never do anything to hurt Hermione. Least of all with Antonia she has her own personal photographer who follows her around taking bloody pictures every time she so much as sneezes…considering that I like to keep my personal affairs…ummm…private it would be a bit thick of me to go off with the one person in the world with whom that would be impossible"
Olivia smiled despite the seriousness of the moment.
"I believe you Harry"
"You do"
"Yes I do. But Harry dear, I know my daughter and she will be more difficult to convince. She can be stubborn when she takes a mind to.
Harry nodded despondently. Olivia saw the agonized expression covering Harry face and smiling encouragingly asked.
"You truly are in love with her aren't you"
Harry dug his hands into his pockets as he responded.
"Truly…madly…in love with her"
Olivia's smile brightened as she stood.
"My daughter is very lucky to have you in her life…and I can only hope that you are able to convince her of your innocence and of how lucky she is to have someone who cares for her so deeply"
"I know Mum…I already know"
Olivia and Harry turned to see Hermione standing in the doorway tears streaming down her cheeks. Harry stood up and began making his way across the room to her.
"How long have you been standing there"
Harry quizzed her.
Hermione replied.
"Long enough to realize I've been a horribly daft twit…can you ever forgive me"
As Harry reached Hermione he wrapped his arms around her and asked.
"Forgive you for what"
"For doubting you"
"You had every reason to doubt me"
Hermione shook her head in disbelief as she snuggled closer to Harry.
"I doubted whether or not you really loved me…I…I…I thought you were mistaking your love for me as a friend for something more…how could I have been so abysmally stupid"
Harry lifted Hermione's chin ever so slightly so that she was staring into his eyes and answered.
"You are not now nor have you ever been abysmally stupid. Its human nature to second guess things especially things as important as love. And as I told your mum I don't have the greatest track record in this particular area and it only stands to reason that you'd wonder if I had the faintest idea as to what real love is considering the fact that I had the great misfortune of being raised by the Dursleys. And its true there is a lot I don't understand about relationships but I do understand love. I know what it is to love someone more than your own life…I'm a living example of that kind of love. And every time I look at you I understand why my Mum did what she did that night to save me…that all consuming need to protect someone you care for more than anything else in the world…I understand that kind of love Hermione…because that's how I feel about you"
"Oh Harry I love you so much"
Hermione looped her arms about Harry's neck and pulled his lips down to hers. They lost themselves in each other completely unaware that they had an audience. Olivia Granger tiptoed from the room and gently shut the door behind her. A dazzlingly joyous smile covering her face as she hurried down the stairs and out the recently repaired front door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Draco rolled over and found the space next to him empty. Pushing himself up onto the pillows he cast a bleary eyed glance around the room, his eyes came to rest on Ginny's beautiful naked form silhouetted by the moonlight. Quietly he slipped from bed and padded across the room and began trailing kisses across her bare shoulders and down her delicate spine. Ginny moaned appreciatively and turned around and kissed Draco full on the mouth. After several minutes of heavy kissing and caressing the two lovers broke apart. Draco spoke first.
"I woke up and you were gone…everything all right"
Ginny smiled regretfully.
"I was just thinking about Hermione"
"Granger still upset with Potter over his little tryst with Antonia…I'll never understand what women find so charming about him…I imagine she hexed him well enough"
Draco chuckled out loud at the thought of the famous Harry Potter being hit with an array of hexes by the most competent witch of the century. Ginny frowned.
"It's not funny…being in love with someone who could care less about you…it's not funny one little bit…how would you feel having given your heart to someone only to have them chuck it out like common rubbish"
Draco stopped laughing at the agonizied tone of Ginny's voice.
"Ginny calm down…its rough what Granger's going through but you mustn't take it so personally"
Ginny turned away from Draco and stared out of the window.
"Hermione's my friend and I feel what she feels"
Sensing that the wrong words on his part could set off Ginny's volatile temper Draco cautiously wrapped his arms around Ginny's waist and began kissing her neck.
"Let me give you something else to feel"
Draco lifted Ginny into his arms and carried her back to the bed. He kissed his way down her slender frame reveling in the feel of her squirming beneath his touch. Draco kissed his way back up her body and as he slipped inside her he whispered how good she made him feel. Ginny closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Draco tightly, fervently wishing to feel what he felt.
-->