A/N: Sorry I've been gone for so long. I've actually had the next couple of chapters written for ages but my muse left me, along with most of my sanity and a fair bit of my cogent thought.
My thoughts about what may or may not happen (have happened, in this case) in DH were completely off. Completely. I was glad to see, however, that there were some things that I got right and I hope that those things shine through. Pumpkin Pie forever!
Enough of my bitching. We're almost back to real time here, just one more chapter of my insane jumping around. Just so everyone's clear we're back to the point near the end of the second chapter.
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Harry fell backwards and landed on his arse. He reached up to feel his nose and his hand came back bloody. He reached for his wand and muttered a healing charm, though it only stopped the bleeding. He could feel his face swelling.
"Bludy fantashtic, asshole" he said, getting to his feet. Ron was standing at the bar, pouring himself a double. He tossed it back and gritted his teeth. It normally didn't burn this much, but he shot it hard and without the normal chaser. He turned to face Harry.
"Fuck do you want?" he said harshly after turning back and pouring another.
"Put the bottle down, Ron" Harry said. Ron set the bottle down hard and faced Harry, though he wasn't facing him for long. Levicorpus Harry thought, pointing his just summoned wand at Ron and giving it a slight flip upwards. Ron flipped heels over and hung in the air, thrashing wildly. Harry directed him towards the couch where he fell with a soft thud.
"The hell was that about!" Ron shouted. Harry pointed his wand at Ron again and thought Silencio and, though his lips were moving, he wasn't making a sound. He realized this and sat back, fuming more deeply red than Harry had ever seen him. He made to get up but a quiet, controlled, threatening wand point from Harry was all it took to keep his now righted arse firmly planted.
"Ron, I'm sorry" Harry said, looking at his friend imploringly. "I want to say what I have to say and then you can go." Ron sat still which Harry took to mean to go on.
Harry lowered his wand and sat down in the comfortably worn armchair in the corner. He buried his face in his hands and sighed deeply. "Ron, I didn't do this to hurt you. I didn't mean to do it in the first place. I've been in love with Hermione for a long, long time. You beat me to her, though. I was so happy for you." Ron gave him an incredulous look but Harry trudged on. "I really was. I had wondered how long it would take you to get on to the fact that you two liked, if not loved, each other.
"When it finally happened I was relieved. I knew Hermione was getting impatient waiting for you. She had been going on about you for weeks after the last battle. She'd watched you closely the whole time, growing more and more fond of you. She'd asked me for advice but I told her I couldn't. While I didn't mind the thought of you two getting together I wasn't going to help. I had only just dismissed my feelings for her as a crush and that was too recently to push either of you forward.
"That night at the pub was all for you. She'd gotten with Ginny and asked her for advice. Ginny knew that the only reason you hadn't done anything to get Hermione was because of her brains. She knew that you were intimidated." Ron started to retort but quickly remembered he couldn't, so he kicked the table instead. "She knew that you had to see Hermione was more normal than you gave her credit for. Ginny had told me what she was planning, though nothing she could say would have prepared me for what happened.
"When I saw the look on your face I knew she was right. I noticed too, but I put it to the back of my mind. She'd done it for you, and I didn't want to... dissuade her in any way. Merlin, mate, she was so on to you."
Harry stood up and walked to the bar. He looked back at Ron. "Want another?" An angry puff of air told Harry yes so he brought over two glasses, both two fingers deep with Ogden's.
"When I saw you kiss her… I wasn't ecstatic, but I was happy. Then I knew Hermione was right. And so was Ginny." Harry took a slow, deep pull on his glass. He rolled the glass in his hands, minutely examining the coat of alcohol on the side, while choosing his next words. "Ron, I'm truly sorry." He pointed his wand at Ron and released the spell. "But you have no room to talk. She's not your girl anymore."
Ron looked astonished and angered at the same time. He stared at Harry hard for a minute, and then turned his attention, downcast, to the floor. "So, she told you."
"Yeah" Harry said sullenly. "Sorry. I shouldn't have done anything so fast, but I'm not sorry I did it. I'm just sorry that it hurt you."
"'preciate the sentiment but it doesn't help a damned thing. I need to go. I need to... think." He made for the door. Just as he was reaching for the handle-
"Ronald Weasley, think?! Before he acts! Now that's new" Ron turned from the door and cocked his fist, ready to lash out physically and verbally. "Ok, mate! Sorry, guess it's not a good time for humor" Harry stated abashedly. Ron turned back to the door, turned the handle and pulled it open.
"Well do me a favor before you go, would you? First, mind fixing my face?" Ron looked at Harry and grimaced. His face was turning an ugly shade of purple. Ron pulled his wand and healed Harry's nose as best as he could, which at the moment entailed nothing more than a spot of wordless and a hasty slash of his wand.
"Best I can do right now. You should see Poppy `bout it, though."
"I'll head to Hogwarts and talk to her soon. But that's not the favor, Ron. I don't want you to get mad at Hermione. I was the one who started it. She just... reacted."
Ron sighed heavily. "Well, she wouldn't have if she didn't feel something. Been with her for long enough to know that. See ya, Harry."
Harry walked over to his friend and patted his back. "See ya, Ron." Ron walked out the door. Harry shut the door and waited in place for a minute before hearing a pop letting him know Ron had gotten outside the charms that protected the house.
Harry grabbed the bottle from the bar and sat at his chair. He conjured some ice fore his glass, topped it off and stared at the fire, sipping slowly on the amber colored liquid.
~
He wasn't sure how long he'd sat there but the stars were out and the golden hue gone from the western sky. There was a soft knock at the door and it opened, letting in a Jasmine and Lilac breeze that brought all of his senses to life. Harry turned his head and saw Hermione standing there. "Hullo" he said.
"Hi" she answered back. "How are you?" she questioned, moving closer to him.
"Well enough I s'pose. Ron left a while ago."
Hermione got close enough to him to see why his face looked so dark. "Oh Merlin, what happened!" she exclaimed and she rushed to his side. "Your nose looks broken!"
She turned is face back and forth in her hand, then reached for her wand. "I told Ron to hit me, so he hit me. I guess I had it coming." Hermione gave him a sorrowful look and waved her wand in front of his face before touching it to the bridge of his nose. He felt his sinuses clear slowly and the pain subsided some. "He was pissed, Hermione. Really pissed off. I deserve much worse."
"No you don't!" she screamed at him, drawing herself up in front of him. "You didn't do anything wrong. He and I aren't involved anymore so you weren't out of line" she said angrily.
"I was wrong. I should've at least waited a while. I stepped on his toes. It would have been just as bad had you been together."
"It's been two weeks for chrissakes! He's got no business being that angry at either of us!"
"Hermione, it's his right. As far as he's concerned I took you from him. And he's right." Harry stood up and took her in to his arms. She was shaking, though from anger or sadness he couldn't tell. "I'm sorry I put you through this. You should go."
She pulled back from him quickly. "You can't do this to me, Harry! I can't lose all of my friends in one month." Tears were welling up in her eyes.
"What do you mean `all of your friends'? You have a lot of friends Hermione."
"Not anymore I don't. I haven't seen Neville since he and Ginny broke up. And I won't be seeing her again for a while either." She started to cry. "I went to see Ginny to talk about Ron and me and let slip that I'd kissed you -"
"You mean that I'd kissed you."
She stared coldly at him. "and she started screaming at me to get out. I don't know that I can go see her again, at least not for a long time." She collapsed on to the couch and was crying uncontrollably.
"It'll be alright, 'Mione. They'll understand or they won't, but it'll be okay. I promise."
"You do realize you're the only one who gets away with that, don't you? Calling me 'Mione?"
"I would've thought you'd let Ron away with it too. Least you never said anything when he said it."
"Oh yes I did. That's one of the things that we always argued about. Even when we were arguing about something else that was always brought up, usually by him calling me that. You're the only one Mr. Potter."
"Ugh. Have I mentioned how much that bothers me?" Harry asked in a slightly playful tone.
"I think you may have, just once..." That comment earned her a slight poke to the ribs which she squeaked at.
"Oh my! The mighty and ever controlled Hermione Granger can squeak!"
"And don't you go spreading it Harry or I'll have your guts for garters!"
"Oh, I think I'd like to keep that one to myself thank you very much" he replied and tickled her again. "I like the sound far too much to let anyone else hear it."
She looked him straight in the face, slightly taken aback by the candor in his words. "So you're going to keep my locked like a bird in your cage?" she said, blushing only slightly and breathing suddenly heavy.
"Only if you'll let me" he said as he leaned close to her. "Only if you'll let me" he whispered, close enough to her ear for her to feel the heat from his breath.
She sighed, somewhere between completely smitten and breathless. She ran her hands up his arms and around his shoulders to let her fingers play at the bottom of his hair, knotting themselves in the unruly curls. "Whatever you like Harry" she said slowly, breathily, in to his neck, all the while pushing him back on the couch. She lied down on top of him, letting his body take her full weight, as she entwined her legs with his. She was propped up on her elbows and looking intently at his eyes, so much so it appeared she was trying to see through them to his mind like they were windows.
He ran his hands up her spine, making her shiver slightly as he slowly slid the hem of her shirt up with the action. He tilted his head up and kissed her softly, his tongue gaining purchase with hers as her lips parted instinctively.
They broke their embrace long enough for Hermione to find a more comfortable position. She slid down his length slightly, taking notice of his reaction, and lay her head on his chest. She stared in to the fire that was now smoldering, it being sometime early in the morning. "Harry?"
"Hmm."
"Why didn't you ever do this before?"
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