~About a year ago~
Grimmwauld's Place had never looked better. Streamers hung from the ceiling, music was blasting and floating champagne was being circulated throughout the room. All in all, Harry was satisfied. He had meant to throw a clean, fun party before the holidays. Every now and then, he got up on the new stage and toasted to certain guests that had just entered. The night was incredible. The volunteer musicians were doing an excellent job of keeping the crowd entertained.
Harry hoped it would please her.
He never really thought of her when he planned the night. He didn't think of her when he was getting dressed. But when he wrote his speech, he thought of her. He cared about what she thought of him. Everyone else? He couldn't care less about what they thought.
She was late. It wasn't really like her to be late. She was usually one of the firsts. But she had already explained to him she'd be late. Ginny was just arriving from Ireland and they would come together. Ginny and Hermione had grown closer over the years, surprisingly. They spent a lot of time together and Harry found himself a bit jealous of how close they were. He thought it was great, though. Ginny and Hermione had a strong friendship that seemed impenetrable.
He felt a tap on his shoulder. After turning around, a smile grew. "Ron, how have you been?" They hugged.
"Not so horrible. Did you see the last game?" Ron sipped from his champagne glass.
"I did. You were quite rough near the end, weren't you?" Harry referred to Ron's violent play and smacking of a bludger towards a Quidditch player of the other team.
"Oh, Ginny's a big girl, she could handle it." Ron smiled.
"She fell off her broom and suffered from a broken rib, Ron."
"Automatic spice-up of family reunions, right?" Ron joked.
Harry couldn't help but laugh. Even after being a worldwide-known Quidditch player and best mates with Viktor Krum and Harry Potter, Ron was still the same old Ron.
"You nervous about your big speech?" Ron asked, nudging Harry in the side.
"A bit," Harry admitted. He would feel better if Hermione was cheering him on. That damn Ginny and her slow legs.
"Yeah, you weren't always the best at big speeches, were you?" Ron laughed, taking another sip, "The famous boy-who-lived. Picture it." He turned to Harry's side and put his hands in the air, forming a picture frame. "He survived an unforgivable curse, he battled a basilisk, a dragon. He battled the fiercest, most dangerous, most powerful wizards and witches of the world." Ron turned back around. "And he gets nervous when he has to make a speech in front of his friends."
Harry rolled his eyes and continued to recite his speech under his breath. Ron drank the last sip of his champagne. "Oy, champy!" he called across the room. A floating champagne glass stilled in mid-air and began to float towards Ron. It arrived after ducking and flying over dancing couples. Ron took it in his hand and let go of his other, which then started to float away. "Anyway," he took a sip, "you shouldn't be nervous."
"Oh yeah, says who?" Harry said distractedly, Hermione and Ginny had just entered the home. He waved them over.
"You know the new Auror, Nicole James?"
Harry turned back to Ron. "How do you kn-"
"Quidditch fan. Anyway, concentrate mate, she's worked with you in a couple of missions, right?"
"Yeah, just one, she was training." Harry responded, smiling as Hermione waved back to him. He then tried to remember Nicole James. "Blonde. Bold. Giggly."
"That's the one," Ron said, "Well, we were just talking about the Rangers and somehow we started talking about you. You know what she said? She said you were one of the bravest most headstrong people she's ever met."
"That's nice," Harry said absent-mindedly. Hermione and Ginny had arrived. He hugged Ginny and kissed her on the forehead. "Welcome back, how's the rib?"
Ginny hugged Ron, almost spilling his champagne. "Oh, it was just swell. Once my teammates got over the 220-40 loss, they started visiting."
Harry and Hermione smiled at one another and hugged.
"Worried about your speech?" Hermione asked.
"Very," Harry groaned.
"Don't worry," she reassured him. "You're going to do great."
In fact, he did do great. Harry's welcome speech turned out to be funny and effective. The night went by slowly. Harry was introduced to many of Hermione's guests and caught up with Viktor Krum. With time, everyone left and Hermione and the Weasleys had agreed to stay the night. The four of them were sitting in the living room, catching up.
"Favorite colour?" Ron asked.
"Mauve."
"Red."
"Orange, Indigo or turquoise." Hermione said after a moment of thought.
They stared at her before breaking into laughter.
"Alright, I suppose I win that one?" Hermione asked, blushing.
They nodded. Harry smiled at her pink face.
"Favorite animal?" She asked.
"Wolf."
"Fox."
"Hippogriff." Harry winked at her.
She smiled. "You win."
Harry sighed, thinking for a while. "Favorite sport?"
"Quidditch."
"Quidditch."
"Basketball."
Ginny groaned. "Please don't tell me Basketball is a muggle sport."
Harry and Hermione laughed.
"This isn't going to work very well if the winners keep going between you two," Ron said, uncaring of who was winning the rounds, really. "Alright, alright. Best date since last Christmas?" Ron asked.
Hermione thought for a while. "Steve."
"Who was Steve?" Ron asked.
Hermione thought back to the date. "Steve was a very quiet man who-"
"Treated her like a princess. The kiss at the end of the date was perfect. Unfortunately, Stevie wasn't her type." Harry interrupted, unwilling to hear her praise Steve.
"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said, annoyance in her voice. "What was your best date?"
"I didn't have any good ones." Harry stated.
The other three snorted.
"There must have been someone special who caught your attention, Harry." Ginny said.
"If anything, you and Nicole must have had a moment," Ron said.
Hermione's eyes opened slightly. "Who's Nicole?"
"No one," Harry said quickly, "Just a girl who works at the Ministry."
"She's got her eyes set on Harry," Ron said, wagging his eyebrows. Ginny laughed and Harry rolled his eyes.
"Oh," Hermione said simply, finding a dirty spot on the floor.
Harry saw the sadness in her face. He took a deep breath. "I've got my eyes set on someone else."
The after-party suddenly livened up. Ron sat up straight, Ginny readjusted her sitting position and Hermione's head snapped up.
"Who is this girl?" Ginny asked, suddenly ten-years-old.
"This woman," Harry corrected with a stern look, "is the most incredible person I've ever met."
"Blimey, Harry, she only joined a couple of months ago." Ron said, scratching his head.
"It's not Nicole," Harry said, glaring at him.
"Who is it?" Hermione asked softly.
Harry looked up into her eyes. Her beautiful eyes. They had the most beautiful colour. "Chocolate," he said absent-mindedly.
The other three stared at him. "What?"
"Chocolate," Harry repeated, still staring at Hermione. "Her eyes are some sort of chocolate colour."
Ron and Ginny exchanged looks. They turned to see Hermione's reaction. And in that instant, they knew.
"She's got these eyes that can express any sort of emotion. She looks at me and it seems as though she
understands everything I'm going through. And sometimes she does. And when she doesn't, her eyes tell me
she's trying to."
Hermione's mouth had opened slightly. She couldn't tear away from his. "I'm sure she cares about you."
"Oh, I know she does," Harry reassured her. Ron and Ginny had sunk back into their seats, suppressing giggles as they watched the two. "I don't think I've ever felt anything for anyone what I feel for her."
Hermione's breath had shortened and grown louder. "You're so young, Harry."
"She's the one." Harry stated. Ginny gasped and swooned slightly. Ron would have rolled his eyes but he couldn't.
"I'm sure she feels the same way," Hermione breathed.
"Does she?" Harry asked. "I don't know. We've never spoken about it."
"Maybe she thought it didn't need to be said." Hermione said. "I'm sure she feels the same way. I bet she thinks about you."
"I think about her."
She bit her lower lip. "Maybe you two should talk about this."
"We're good friends."
"I bet you are."
"It's getting late," Ron said louder than needed.
Ginny nodded her head violently. "I'm going to go to bed." She sprung up from her couch and nearly ran up the stairs.
"D-don't use my toothpaste!" Ron managed to sputter out before running after her.
Harry and Hermione stared at one another from across the coffee table where four empty glasses still stood. He jumped for her lips so quickly; she only had enough time to close her eyes.
~About a year later~
Dr. Knight nodded. "Did you two get together that night?"
Harry waited for a second, still reliving their first kiss. "Yes," he finally said, after snapping back to reality. "The whole relationship started that night."
"It's a good story."
"Thanks," Harry said sarcastically, raising his eyebrow.
"What happened after that?"
Harry rubbed his eyes. "It started to fall apart."
Dr. Knight put down his pad. "When?"
Harry sighed, letting his voice drop. "A couple of weeks after it started."
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to *someone special* out there. Before I met you I never knew what it was like to look as someone and smile for no reason.
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