The Value of Trust--Chapter 6
Harry had spent the first few days after chasing Hermione over all of England in the Leaky Cauldron. With people constantly bothering him with stories about Voldemort and his plans for the future, he knew he had to get away. He considered simply going back to Hogwarts and moving his things to Gryffindor Tower. He considered taking more money and living it up in London. There might be some distractions and advantages to both, but neither would change how he felt. Lonely.
He had learned enough about life to avoid the emotional doldrums that he`d experienced in the past. Yet, it was still hard to be happy. His dreams suggested he should be. Each night he dreamt of Hermione telling him to remember that she loved him. The circumstances were different each time. He dreamed they were in the corridor outside Transfiguration holding hands, the Hospital Wing and in the anteroom the night this all started. The reason he had doubts was simple.
* * *
He just found out that she had flown to Dublin.
He still sat dazed at the bar where the bartender offered his condolences. "I'm sorry, mate. I had no idea it would hit you that hard. What did you find out?"
It had begun with an innocent conversation with the barman Harry had taken a liking to at the club just down the block from The Leaky Cauldron. Until this past weekend, he had never been in a Muggle club where there was food and alcohol before. There were video games, darts, billiards and lots of things to distract the patrons. He just enjoyed watching the television with the other guys at the bar. He knew football even though he preferred Quidditch. Watch football was sort of boring, but it was better than sitting alone in his room or telling stories that reminded him of better days between Ron, Hermione and him.
He and the barman, Roger began talking about nothing in particular. "You know mate, you've only come around for a few days, but it's good to have a young bloke like yourself to talk to."
Harry liked Roger because his attitude was different than most. He was from Australia and lived here now with his wife and kids. It was definitely a different experience. "So, how long have you been here?" asked Harry.
"Twenty-two years, mate. Been married to the wife for twenty. I have a son your age. You're around eighteen, right?" he asked.
Harry let him think he was eighteen for arguments sake. "Yeah, wow. What's that like? I mean having kids grow up like that? I'm an orphan and grew up with my mother's family," he offered.
"Aw, Harry mate, I'm sorry to hear that," said Roger. "It's crazy. I'll bet you had your fair bit of trouble growing up. So has my boy. He's a good kid though, nothing involving the cops. My daughters are twelve and eleven."
Harry nursed a beer only because he felt uncomfortable standing at the bar with a soda. He had one each time he'd been there. "Cool," he said just to acknowledge he had listened.
"Harry, I don't mean to pry but you should be out chasing girls not in a bar with a bloke like me. You're a fairly good-looking kid. Or is that the problem, you're getting on from the last one. I know all about that at your age too," he said. "Matter of fact, my boy is suffering through it for like the third time." He chuckled and uttered the old cliché, "You can't live with `em and you can't live without `em. They won't let you shoot `em either." He laughed and hit Harry on the shoulder.
Harry laughed. "Yeah, it's a worry when you're eighteen and you already have woman problems," he said.
"Well, it don't get easier mate," said Roger. "You know the old joke, right? The barman is the poor man's marriage counselor. That's probably why there's so many bloody divorces." He laughed. "I'm a lucky bloke with Marianne."
Harry thought about it for a second. "What the hell? Just get rid of the magic bits and get things off your chest." He told Roger the story of Ron, Hermione and him over the past week. He told Roger how he was now waiting for her to get back.
"Wow, Harry. That's rough. I don't know if I'd be able to let a girl hold me hostage like that, but it's your life," said Roger.
Harry felt a twinge of anger at himself as he recognized the truth in what Roger said. She was holding him hostage, but he was letting it happen. He tried to get that out of his head.
"Well, you say her parents are well-off, right?" he asked. "What do they do? You said their professionals, right? Dentists or something?"
"Yeah, they're both dentists," said Harry.
"Harry, I know you've been off at boarding school, but you must know that dentists or doctors of any sort don't leave without telling their patients where they went. If they do they at least leave emergency instructions with their answering service," said Roger. "If she went with her parents, you can at least get some idea when they'll be back."
Roger took the telephone and sat it on the bar. "Call the directory service and get the number for their office, mate."
Harry saw the label on the telephone for directory assistance. If he had not, he was not sure what he would have done. "Okay, I'll do it." He felt good about it. It seemed like it might help get rid of a little of the anxiety.
"Yes, I'm not sure what city, but the listing would be under Granger and dentists." He hoped that would be enough. He had never asked Hermione about it. "Okay, repeat that please." Harry waved at Roger for a pen. He wrote down the number. "Oh, sure if it's free. Go ahead and connect me."
Harry waited as the phone rang. He heard the click and thought it had been disconnected until he heard the woman's voice. "Hello, Granger Dental. Is this an emergency?"
"Well, no, not really," said Harry.
"In that case I can tell you that they are scheduled to be back from Ireland on Wednesday. First available opening is Friday," said the woman.
Harry's heart sank. He hadn't even asked. Of all the places she could have gone, Ireland was the worst for obvious reasons. He could only guess at what it meant. "No, that's okay," said Harry and he hung up.
It took a moment to regroup. "Hey, I asked for it I guess. They went to Ireland," said Harry. He could only laugh painfully. "They went to bloody Ireland."
"Harry, you sure you don't want to down that mug and get another. I know it doesn't solve the problem but it deadens the pain," said Roger with a grin. "See, I'm a bloody doctor that prescribes alcohol."
Harry let out a sigh and broke into a weak smile for Roger`s benefit. "Nah, that would be a bad idea for someone like me. I'm a lightweight," said Harry. He knew a drunk wizard was sometimes unpredictable. He had no idea what would happen if he suddenly were filled with emotion while he was drunk. "I should just walk it off, you know." He waved at Roger and turned to leave.
"Hey, chin up mate," said Roger. "Come back again, things`ll work out."
His mind reeled with the possibilities. Did she know before she left? Or, was it just what he had thought up to now--a holiday that happened to be in the same place her boyfriend was visiting? His upbeat attitude was being challenged. He decided to go back to the room at The Leaky Cauldron and call it a day.
Harry brooded all night that night about Hermione being in Dublin. His mind raced to try to imagine every possible scenario. It finally wore him down to the point that he had to go to sleep. In spite of it all, Harry woke up Tuesday resolved to just let things go. He reminded himself that he had been ready for Hermione to be with Ron anyway. He sighed. Any remorse he felt was a waist of time. If he loved her and believed what she said as she left, he had to trust her.
Harry lay awake trying to decide what to do to keep his mind off things. Harry heard the shuffling outside the door. "Yes, that's it," said old Tom the innkeeper.
There was a knock on the door. Harry took a deep breath. He wanted to stay in bed but he presumed it was the housekeeper so he simply said, "I'll be out in a minute."
Harry never thought twice about the silence that followed. The housekeeper rarely spoke. He splashed some water on his face and dressed quickly. "Just a minute, I'm almost out."
Harry opened the door and stood face-to-face with Hermione. She smiled. "Surprise!"
Harry took a step back and smiled widely. He hugged her and felt her clinging to him too. He could not think of anything to say.
"Are you trying to make up for lost time, Harry?" she asked with a giggle. She pushed him away and kissed him. "I found out that you left Hogwarts. I've had a devil of a time finding you. After threatening the house sitter, I heard the awful news that this cute black-haired boy with glasses showed up on my doorstep last week. She couldn't remember what night it was until I started getting a little upset with her. Finally, her memory got better. My parents told her to tell them when anything unusual happened. She did not say a word. I was so pissed." Hermione was talking so fast that finally, when she realized it and how Harry just looked at her and smiled. She stopped and said, "I guess I'm apologizing."
It was one of the sweetest moments Harry could ever remember, but questions still remained. "Are you going to come in?" he asked.
"Harry, I'm not sure it's a good idea under the circumstances," she said softly. "Let's go for a walk."
He closed the door and followed her down the stairs. She held his hand but did not look back. Once they were in the alley, she let go of his hand and tapped the bricks to get into Diagon Alley. By this time, Harry was confused. He wanted make her say whatever it was she was going to say. It felt like he was being led to the slaughter. His stomach was flip-flopping. He had to say something. He could not take it anymore. "Hermione, you're killing me. You have no idea what this is like to see you out of the blue like this."
She took his hand and led him to a bench just to the right of the magical entrance in the wall and sat down. She smiled. "Harry, kiss me."
He wasn't sure what he was hearing, but he was no fool. He kissed her. He felt every bit of the anxiety melt away with each passing second. Her hand rested on his shoulder as his lips softly teased hers. She did not move away when his had found her waist and stood her up to pull her closer. The connection between them extended the length of their bodies. He had no idea what was happening and didn't care. Finally, when they could not breathe without taking a break, he heard her giggle. "If we had done this in your room at the Leaky Cauldron, I know what would have happened. You know it too." She smiled.
He pulled her down to his lap on the bench. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. "I love you, Hermione. That's why I chased you. I had to tell you. I even went to an airport to try to catch you before you left."
"Was it Gatwick?" she asked as her faced changed when Harry`s words registered. She kissed him which neither of them minded in the least.
Finally Harry answered.
"No, it was Heathrow," he said with a relieved sigh. "So you didn't ignore the page." He told her the story of his attempt to find her in the airport. She laughed.
"I wouldn't have come, Harry," said Hermione. "I hate to break that to you. I had too many things to do and not all of them had to do with you and Ron. I`m not going to explain it all now, but so you know, I broke things off with Ron yesterday and came back to find you."
If Ron had been anything but his best mate, he would have never given it. He started to ask how he took it and then caught himself. He didn't care. "And now that you found me, what's the plan, Hermione? No one changes completely overnight."
"They change a little though, don't they? You said I love you and I don't care if it meant for just today or forever," she said. "I wasn't as happy playing it safe as I thought and I was scared to take a risk. It took getting away to see it for sure."
"Excuse me?" asked Harry.
"What does it matter, Harry. I want to be with you. We have fun and we laugh. We have fun snogging too, apparently. That's a nice change," she said shyly. "It's such a long story and all I want is to be happy right now."
They got up and walked to the middle of Diagon Alley and looked around. "Do you really want to be here?"
Hermione looked around. "If you mean in Diagon Alley, not really? What do you have in mind?"
He looked at his watch. It was just about lunch time. "What do you know about London?" he asked.
"Probably more than you, but not a lot," she said with a smile. "Let`s go?"
Harry and Hermione walked out of Diagon Alley through The Leaky Cauldron and out into the street and across to the other side. They looked at each other shrugged. "I forget which way," said Hermione. "Do you care if we get lost?"
Harry smiled. "Hermione, I really don't care. I'm just happy to know you're back. Lead the way. I have a fair bit of money for food and stuff," he said.
Hermione smiled. "Harry, how much do you have? I have a bit too," said Hermione.
"Sixty quid, give or take a little," said Harry.
"Between us we can have a nice day," said Hermione. "I have a credit card back home too. Daddy makes sure I have money if I need it. We could use that for a nice dinner."
"I can get more money from Gringott's before we go," said Harry.
"Harry, one thing that has never bothered me was doing things on the cheap. It drives my parents insane, but I don't mind. You could use some new clothes though. So, if you want to get maybe fifty more, we should be fine," she said.
They agreed that a short shopping trip for Harry was in order. It took a couple minutes to get back to Gringott's. Harry got his money without the long lines that came with the late afternoon rush. They were excited to be finished and on their way out.
They left Diagon Alley and found their way out into one of the many shopping districts. They filled their afternoon with laughter, shopping and a movie. Harry enjoyed being with her, sitting close to her with the arm of the theater seat between them raised. They snuggled and laughed.
"I don't know if I like not being able to talk to you, Harry. I love movies but it's weird sitting with someone holding you without talking," she said after the movie let out.
"It was nice, Hermione, but I know what you mean," he said not wanting to tell her that it was relaxing not to have to talk about their relationship like they had all afternoon.
"I'll bet you liked not talking for a while," said Hermione out of the blue.
Harry must have given away his surprise. "What makes you say that?" he said trying to deflect the comment.
"I think I noticed it in the way you relaxed after the movie started. While we talked you seemed stiff, but once it started the tension started to go away. Am I making you crazy?"
"A little," he admitted. "I know you have a lot to tell me that you were afraid to say before, but I don't need to know everything. I love you, but I'm not big on talking about stuff like that."
"I'm sorry, Harry. I guess, I'm getting a little carried away," she said as they crossed the street toward the taxi queue.
"Don't worry, we're just getting used to each other. I love being with you though," he said kissing her on the forehead as they walked.
"Harry, tell me if I get going on and on," she said. "I need to know now so I can try to change."
"Hey, don't change, Hermione. Not consciously anyway. I would think you were mad at me if you stopped talking. Let's just go with it. If I have to, I'll just kiss you to shut you up," he said with smile.
"Hmm, maybe I should start babbling away. That kissing solution sounds fun," she said giggling.
Harry wrapped his arms around her holding the bags and kissed her. He had always been able to tune her out before because she was Ron's girlfriend. It was different now and it would be a challenge, but he loved her. Their place in the taxi queue was up and the taxi was waiting. "Where are we going, Hermione?"
Hermione gave the driver instructions to the taxi queue near The Leaky Cauldron. Harry was confused as the taxi wound it's way back toward the river and Charing Cross Road. "Hermione?"
"Just wait, I'm thinking," she said.
For the first time all day, Hermione seemed to be in serious thought. The taxi arrived at the queue across from The Leaky Cauldron. When the taxi stopped, she smiled at Harry and got out. "Come on, Harry. Make sure you tip him," she said.
He looked at her fondly as she ran across Charing Cross Road with a bag in her hand. He paid the driver and grabbed the rest of the bags.
"Come on, Harry," she called impatiently. "We'll take all of this up to your room and you can change. Then we'll go to my house and I'll get dressed." She looked a little flustered.
"Is everything, okay?" asked Harry.
"Sure. You were right about things not changing completely overnight," said Hermione. "We have a lot to learn about each other, I guess," She teased him with a kiss. Now get up there.
"You're not coming?" asked Harry.
"Nope, too many temptations for us right now," she said. "Besides, we should hurry so we don't get to my house at an odd hour."
"Odd hour?" asked Harry looking at his watch. He had no idea it was as late as it was. "Oh, got it."
He put everything in the room, showered, and got dressed. He put on the light blue shirt and black pants that Hermione thought looked good on him in the store and grabbed his sweater.
He came down the stairs to find her sitting in a chair. "Oh, that does look nice," she said. "I'm glad you knew better than to wear the runners."
"Okay, now off to my house. No more taxis. Take my arm. My parents hate when I do this, but I've been pissing them off for three days, so why stop now? Just be really quiet, okay. It's one thing that they hear me come home with the annoying sound of Apparition, it's another for them to find me in my room with a boy." She smiled.
"Ah, yeah," said Harry seeing her point. "Why wouldn't you come to my room and yet you'll take me to your bedroom?"
"I know you, Harry. If I were up there I would talk nervously and it would take forever. At my house, we have to run in and run out," she explained. "Besides, my Dad would kill you if he caught us making noise so I think I'm safe." She winked.
A moment later, he found himself in a room filled with stuffed animals, pink curtains, and every other feminine thing he would have imagined in a little girl's room. It just seemed a little younger than it should have for an eighteen year old. It reminded him how little time she had spent with her family over the past couple of years.
Hermione had her own bathroom and it came in handy just then.
"Hermione Jane Granger, you scared us half to death," said a woman's voice from the hallway. "You know how we hate it when you do that." She mouthed the word `Mom'.
"Sorry, Mom. I'm in a hurry. I'll be out in a minute," she said. She pointed to her bathroom. Harry went in and she shut the door.
Harry heard trembling voices. "Hermione, we came home early when we realized you left. Honey, don't think we meant to be controlling we were just doing what we thought was best for you," said her Mother.
"You're my little girl, Hermione. I hate to see you rebel against us like this," said her father.
"Mom, Dad. I love you, but I have to go. I think you know who I'm going to see and it's not as much about rebelling as it is about being happy. I can't talk. You'll get me crying again," said Hermione. "Just let me go and I'll talk to you later. Maybe not tonight though but don't worry. I'm not going to do anything stupid."
Harry listened. He understood family crisis when he heard it, even if it had never happened like that for him.
The door to the bedroom shut and he heard a sniffle as he emerged from his temporary hiding place. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'll explain later," she whispered.
He got out of her way as she took a skirt and blouse out of the closet. She opened her dresser and began to pull out underclothes. He knew he was gawking when she blushed. "This is a bit awkward, isn't it?" he whispered.
She gained her composure. "Sit here," she whispered. She put the small chair in the corner and handed him the blindfold she used to keep the sun out of her eyes when she slept. "I could do it by magic, but this tests your trustworthiness." She smiled.
He heard the bathroom door open and the water running in the sink. He hoped she knew that he was going to cheat if he thought he could get by with it. He smiled to himself at the thought. "I see you, Harry. If you peek, you`ll be sorry." She looked away and saw he was still smiling. "I'm not kidding." She giggled. "Okay, I'm kidding, but please don't."
He teased her a few times but had no intention of peeking after her warning and pleading.
"Okay, all clear," she said ten minutes later. "Mom's going to be pissed if I do this again, but oh well." She held out her arm and Harry took it. They DisApparated and appeared a second later in a small clump of trees near a busy intersection.
"I figured that anyone who could see us would be moving too fast to know what they saw," she said as she looked around carefully before stepping out. She had added a soft blue sweater to the blouse and skirt he saw before she blindfolded him.
Harry looked around a bit. He recognized the road and the sign for her gated community, but that was all. Hermione pointed across the street and Harry's eyes followed her finger. Very near, there was a cozy pizza restaurant. "Pizza, Harry?"
"You came all the way home to get dressed for a pizza place?" asked Harry.
"No, I came home to look nice for you, silly. You'll see. There is a reason for the madness, I don't want you staring at the waitresses," she said with a grin.
It was nice to walk with her arm in arm. He took a deep breath as he opened the door for her and saw the sparkle in her eye. "Thank you, Harry." She was gorgeous.
It was a very informal place, but most of the patrons were dressed similarly. "Are we close to the University?" he asked when he recognized that most of the people in the restaurant were just a few years older than them.
"Yes, it's very preppy place, Harry," said Hermione. "I love this place. They have fantastic pizza and the music is good. This is where I like going for my birthday, hint hint."
Harry listened to the music. It was a combination of Top 40 and classic rock. "Your parents like it too, don't they?" he asked.
"Yeah, the music is nice for them too. And they reminisce about their school days. It was here when they went to Oxford. That's how I know about it," she said. "I'm sorry about that little scene at the house. I'll explain as the night goes on," said Hermione.
They spent a few minutes talking about the décor and just chit-chatted. "Okay, Harry. Here's a little about why I had to go."
"I'm listening," he said. It occurred to him that Hermione was not kidding about the waitresses, but she had failed to mention that the bartender and waiters were not slouches. He looked away for a second and then back into her eyes.
"I was going to go home regardless of what happened that morning," she said. "I had to come home for some very personal reasons. When I saw how I was going to spend the next two days trying to balance things between you two, I did not want to wait until Friday. Telling you two I wasn`t coming to the Burrow after that little scene would have been murder. I tried to sleep, but I just made up my mind to go and left."
"Did Ron know you were going home instead of the Burrow?" asked Harry.
"No, my parents knew I was going to join them in Dublin on Friday or Saturday. I would have waited to go until Friday, but when I found their new receptionist with her boyfriend at our house, I had to go. I still don't know why my parents had someone watching the house. But I had the ticket and it was full fare so I knew I could exchange it and get there that night. I guess that's when me missed each other. It turned out well that we missed each other, because it meant I never had to be rude to you to get away. I had to go and I could not let anything get in the way."
"You know I came to check the addresses on those bags," said Harry. "I chased the Hogwarts Express right to the entrance to King's Cross Station, got on and checked them. I was a mad man."
"I'm sorry. I was pretty stupid too. I wanted you to find me and then I didn't. I guess I wanted to be sure, but by the end of the weekend I understood that I can never really be sure of anything," she said. " Now that I know you snuck on the train, it explains the bags being moved."
"Hi, how are you tonight?" asked the waiter. He could only smile as Hermione winked at him.
"Great," said Hermione. "Harry, I like red wine and veggie pizza."
Harry had no problem with veggie pizza. "That's what we'll have then," he said.
Hermione finished the order by making it a medium, hand-tossed with a pitcher of water and the wine.
"So, you were saying?" asked Harry.
Hermione explained why she was going home. Harry had never had any idea what it was like for her growing up. He had always been so focused on his own peculiar problems. He knew she could not have had an unhappy childhood, she did not describe that kind of life. She explained how the example of her parents relationship impacted her. Her parents were childhood sweethearts that started in their middle teens just like she and Ron had. It was a romantic friendship that just never ended.
"See Harry, the same thing was happening to me. I went home every summer and saw an older version of the way Ron and I are. Every year, it just confirmed how good Ron would be for me. My Mom is the dominant one who makes the plans, while my Dad puts up with her domineering ways. The thing of it is, they have lived that way 28 years and it worked for them. That's a pretty successful relationship if you're a kid looking at it," said Hermione.
"Wow, that long?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, my Mom and Dad had me after college and midway through dental school, they had already known each other for ten years. Once my Mom finished dental school after she had me, they stuck to their careers. So I have no brothers or sisters," said Hermione.
"That's a fascinating story, Hermione. I wish I had a better idea about my parents," said Harry. "Does Ron know all this?"
"Of course, he does Harry. He just didn't get the condensed, half-hour at the pizza place version," she said with a smile.
The food arrived. They chatted about which of the waiters and waitresses were cutest after Harry got caught staring too long. Hermione started the conversation by smiling at a waiter and driving Harry crazy. They laughed about it and listened to the music while drinking the wine. Harry was still a little confused as to why the sudden disappearance and secrecy.
"Okay, what happened this past weekend then? What was that all about?" asked Harry.
"It was supposed to be about comparing Ron and I to my parents' relationship. I started to realize that I had just accepted things blindly. Also, I planned to just look around Dublin because I truly did care about where Ron would be living. It wasn`t about seeing to decide," said Hermione. "I also had to make sure they knew Ron and I were having trouble. They seemed to ignore what I wrote in letters."
"You told them that?" said Harry.
"I never came out and said I didn't want to be with Ron at first. That's what caused the trouble for me too. I was stuck in this place where I felt like I was giving up this great guy for another great guy that just made me laugh and feel good about myself. When I found out that Ron was going there over Break, it made me nervous. It became clear that I might have to confront him," said Hermione. "I never imagined how things would turn out once you were up and about again. It was just weird. It all happened so fast."
"I didn't mean to cause trouble between you. I was pretty out of line in that night. I was just overwhelmed when you asked me about my feelings for you," said Harry. "Some of the stuff you said about Ron and you made me feel like I had to do something before you got away, but I couldn`t quite say it."
"Harry, once I saw how I felt with you and how it wasn't the same with Ron. It got even more difficult. I had to really stand up for myself. I was pretty outspoken with my parents when I decided. That's what you heard tonight. They had never heard me talk like that about things. They had ignored the things I said in my letters. They pretended as if they were just the jitters of a nervous bride after Ron proposed the first time. It's hard to explain to you about not disappointing your parents, but that was part of it. They kept telling me Ron was good for me all the way up until I came back to their room and told them I had broken up with him. The problem is that love is real. It's not just an emotion you turn on and off. So I still couldn't see how to tell Ron in a loving way how great he was," said Hermione.
"I don't know how you could deal with all that," said Harry listening carefully. This was one of those times where Hermione was not on her soap box and didn't pretend to have all the answers. He felt sad for what she must have gone through, so he just listened.
"Then there was you. I loved you too, but it was like this forbidden thing. Good girls didn't spend seven years with one guy as friends or whatever and then start having erotic fantasies about another," she blushed a bit and looked at the table instead of into Harry's eyes as she had up to that point. "I had to tell someone I loved that I didn't love them. You can't turn off how you feel, Harry. You just have to act like you don't love them anymore. If I didn't know you loved me, I would never have been able to do it. I had to believe in you and I did. So, I acted like a heartless bitch and told him I wanted to do something different with my life and he wouldn't be part of it. I would have never done what I had to do, if I tried to let him down easy." Her emotional side leaked through, but Harry could see she wasn't going to let it go in public.
"I think I know how you felt. I never loved Ginny like you loved Ron or I love you. I don't know if I even loved her at all, but I had to do the same thing. I had to be harsh for it to truly be over. It's not an easy thing," said Harry. He paused to see her reaction then added, "Let's leave all that alone for now and just have fun."
"I just want to make sure you know I love you, Harry," said Hermione.
"I do, but over the past few days I learned that saying how you feel is important, but showing it makes that real. You came back to me even though I know you still feel pretty bad about how it ended with Ron. It says a lot. Now, you know I would do anything to find you to tell you how I felt. So, let's just be happy and stop tearing ourselves up talking about it," said Harry.
Hermione looked at him and touched his hand. "Okay, it's a deal." She took a napkin and dried her eyes.
The check was on the table. Harry put some cash inside the leather check holder and stood up. "Ready to move on?" He kissed her softly and fleetingly. She smiled. He was glad she and Ron had never been together. He wanted her badly.
They returned to the little clump of trees. "Okay, my turn to take you someplace." He took them to his room at The Leaky Cauldron. "Don't worry, this is just the place we could Apparate."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief that Harry understood. He resisted the temptation and led her out.
He was not sure if Roger was working the night shift or not. Most times he worked lunch and then late nights. He was both a bartender and bouncer. Harry thought he might be a tough guy, if he wanted to be. He hoped he was there, but if not, the club would be loads of fun.
Harry got the chills as he walked in and saw Roger nod his approval. He knew his pride showed. He was proud to be with Hermione and she looked great. He didn't know if tonight would be the night they were together for the first time or not, but he was sure that rushing things was not worth the risk of losing this wonderful girl. He kissed her. "Let's have fun." She smiled and walked with him to meet his new friend.
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