I need to be bold,
need to jump in the cold water,
need to grow older with a girl like you.
I finally see you were naturally the one to make it easy when you showed me the truth.
Yeah, I'd rather be with you.
Say you want the same thing too.
--I'd Rather Be With You by Joshua Radin
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
A/N: I've gotten a lot of people mentioning the fact that I changed David's name from Aaron to David. Just so you all know, I did it because I thought that David was a more appropriate name for her father than Aaron was. And I'm too lazy to go back and read through previous chapters and change it to David. Call it creative license.
They were snuggled up on the couch together watching television. Harry couldn't remember what Hermione said they were watching. It was book-turned-movie from one of the Austen books. He didn't really care to be honest. He had been at Hermione's house for two days and he hadn't really gotten to be near his girlfriend. So, while Hermione was content to watch some six hour movie, he was content to hold her to him and take a light nap. Elizabeth had somehow convinced David to leave the house, consequently leaving the two teenagers home alone.
Harry's nap was severely interrupted when he heard David's voice above him. He was startled so bad he found himself on the floor instead of the couch, with his girlfriend looking down at him with concern.
"Harry, are you okay?" she asked.
"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Harry said, rubbing the back of his head where it had connected with the wooden floor. He looked from his girlfriend, to David, who was glaring at Harry, to Elizabeth, who was standing next to her husband with an amused look on her face. He untangled himself from the blankets that had been covering him and Hermione and stood with as much grace as he had left.
"And what were you two doing?" David asked. He raised one eyebrow at Harry, who visibly swallowed and looked at his girlfriend. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"We were watching Pride and Prejudice, dad," she answered. "Well, I was watching it. Harry was asleep." Before her husband could further question the two teens, she interrupted.
"Well, as amusing as that was, we brought back some take-out for supper for the two of you. We ate while we were out," Elizabeth said. Hermione slowly stood from the couch and made her way into the kitchen while Harry practically darted past David and Elizabeth.
As the two teenagers readied their food, Hermione's parents sat at the kitchen table and waited.
"So what did you two do while we were away?" Elizabeth asked. Hermione shrugged while Harry looked nervously at her father. He was not answering that question. Because if he answered that question, he would tell what all they had done. And he would most definitely not be alive to see Christmas if he said what all had happened.
"I read for a little while and Harry watched Gattica. And then we laid down to watch Pride and Prejudice," Hermione said. "Not a whole lot really." She avoided looking at her mother when she said this and instead busied herself with stirring up her food. If she looked at her mother then she wouldn't be able to still omit her activities where she and Harry may have snogged for the first hour that Pride and Prejudice had been on. And if she told that, then the two of them would never be left alone together again. Her father would make sure of that.
"Sounds like fun," Elizabeth said. Both teenagers nodded and continued to eat. Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she looked at her daughter and Harry. Neither of them had met her eyes, or David's, and she knew they didn't just watch movies and read. But it was okay. If she had to be honest, that was the entire point of her impromptu shopping trip with David. She knew the kids were getting irritated about not being able to be around each other like they wanted. She really needed to talk with David about that.
But as she looked at her daughter, who had been looking at Harry, maybe she would let her husband go about it a little longer. That look on Hermione's face made her stomach drop.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
"All I hear is blah, blah, blah, I'm a dirty whore," Hermione muttered underneath her breath. She was at her grandparent's house for her Christmas with her father's side of the family. Unfortunately, her cousin Jessica was present. Why she had to be present this year was beyond her. It wasn't as if she had made an effort to show up before. Instead, she would choose to go off gallivanting with her friends around Europe and to the States. Not that Hermione cared what she did instead. She was quite content when Jessica wasn't around. If she had to be honest, she knew the only reason why Jess had shown up was because the news Hermione was bringing home a boyfriend had spread throughout the entire family. Curse her mother's big mouth.
And poor Harry. He had been overwhelmed by the amount of people on her father's side of the family but he had been able to take it in stride and find common ground with all of them. All of them, that is, except Jessica. As it were, Harry was sitting on the other side of the table with Jessica to his right yapping in his ear. He looked like he would rather go a round with Aragog than he would to be around Jess. Hermione didn't blame him. Her cousin was….pretentious to say the least.
"So how long have you and Harry been together, dear?" her nana asked. Hermione was grateful for the distraction, and she could tell Harry was too.
"It will be two months on the first of the year," Hermione replied.
"Well that's nice dear," Nana replied. "I'm so glad to see you as happy as you are. And Harry, you're a wonderful young man." Harry blushed and ducked his head while muttering a thank you.
"And so modest too," nana chuckled. She patted her granddaughter's hand. "You've found a keeper dear. I can't wait until the wedding." If she had something in her mouth, she surely would have choked. Harry, had set a new record for how many shades of red a person could turn in under a minute.
"Uh..," Harry muttered.
"Um...Nana?" Hermione began. "It's…it's really early to be uttering that word. Super early, actually." Christ, she hadn't even said the eight letters that made up those three words.
"Nonsense dear. I know a good match when I see one," Nana replied. Almost in unison, the two teens in discussion slid down in their chairs a little more, pointedly not looking at each other. Harry fixed his stare on his dinner plate. He couldn't look up, because then he'd see Hermione and he was way too embarrassed. He couldn't look right, because he knew David was glowering at him and he was way too scared of him. And he couldn't look left because there was Jessica and she was just creepy.
In effort to save her daughter from any more embarrassment, Elizabeth stood. "Well, I think it's time for clean-up and dessert. Who else agrees?" Still chuckling from the previous conversation, many of the family members agreed and the table began to be cleared.
Being put on dish duty, Hermione stood at the sink rinsing off the plates and silverware while Harry dried and it all away. There was a slightly awkward feeling between the two of them that normally wasn't there.
"Um...sorry about earlier. She gets ahead of herself sometimes," Hermione muttered while keeping her focus on the soapy water in front of her.
"Don't worry about it. It's…it's fine," Harry said. He leaned down and kissed his girlfriend's cheek and a smile finally crossed her face for the first time that night. They pointedly ignored the several coos that sounded behind them.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Their time with David's side of the family ended sooner than Hermione had anticipated. Then again, time flies when you're having fun…and dodging questions about what colors the bridesmaid's dresses would be.
Harry was the last one to get in the car and once he did, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His head fell back against the head rest of the seat. Elizabeth snickered from the front seat.
"You okay, dear?" she asked.
"That was…that's a lot of people," Harry said. There was no denial over what he said. It had been a lot of people. David and Elizabeth, Harry and Hermione, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Uncle Steve and Aunt Jen with their two kids Annabelle and Mike, Uncle Harrison and Aunt Tanya with Jessica, and then finally Uncle Nick and Aunt Debora with their kids Scott, Ryan, Brittany, and Elise.
"Well, it will be much less crowded at my mother's house," Elizabeth reassured Harry. She glanced back at him. He looked like he had been through the ringer. And in a way, he had. Dodging Jessica like she had the plague, answering questions about his relationship with Hermione, and adjusting to the sheer size of one family get-together had taken a lot out of him. It had been almost twenty years of marriage to David and Elizabeth still got overwhelmed sometimes.
"You did great," Hermione whispered to her boyfriend once her parents were distracted with a conversation of their own. She leaned over and kissed him softly. She pulled away and gave a small smile while biting her bottom lip.
"I missed that," she said. If Harry hadn't been so close to her, he wouldn't have been able to hear it.
"I did too," he whispered back. And, for a second, worrying about her father catching him was out of his mind and he leaned in again and kissed her.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
"Harry, this is my grandma. Grandma, this is Harry, my boyfriend," Hermione said, introducing him.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Harry said with a charming smile. He held out his hand but it was ignored as he was brought into a hug.
"Hello dear, it's nice to meet you too," Grandma Aggie said. Harry hugged her back gently. She pulled away and smiled.
"I'm Agatha but you can call me Aggie," she said. Harry nodded and returned her smile. Stepping back to look at them both, she sighed and smiled. Then, she ushered them away from the entryway of the house.
"Go and put your things upstairs and then come into the kitchen. I was just about to bake gingerbread cookies," Aggie said. Excitedly, Hermione dragged Harry upstairs and showed him his room before putting her stuff in her room, which was conveniently right across the hall from his.
"You haven't had gingerbread cookies until you've tasted Grandma's, Harry," Hermione said, smiling as she re-entered her boyfriend's room. He turned around and she noticed the slight shine in his eyes. She frowned and softly padded over to him.
"What's the matter?" she asked softly. Harry smiled gently and shook his head before he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Nothing is the matter, per se," he said. "I was just thinking about family is all." Hermione tilted her head so she could look at him.
"It was good thoughts, I swear," he said. "Meeting everyone in your family just reminded me what the holidays were all about."
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he said, smiling as he nipped her bottom lip. "I promise." Hermione nodded before she leaned up and captured his lips with hers. Smiling into their kiss, Hermione increased the pressure and felt him respond. She never tired of kissing Harry. The way his lips pressed against hers, the way his hands rested on her hips, and the way she knew he put everything he had in himself into the kiss made her feel…amazing, wanted.
Their lips finally separated and instead of letting her go, Harry kept a hold of her and brought her against him in a hug. She rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso instead of his neck. She felt her eyes close as he inhaled the clean, fresh scent that was undeniably Harry. Harry pressed a kiss to the top of her head before letting his head rest on top of hers.
A knock on the door brought them out of their relaxed embrace. Elizabeth was standing at the door, looking at them.
"Are you two coming? We're about to make the cookies," she said. She watched as Hermione slowly separated from Harry, though she intertwined her fingers with his.
"Yeah, mum," she said. "We're right behind you." Elizabeth turned quickly without answering. As she walked down the hall, she surreptitiously wiped away the tear that had made its way down her cheek.
The night of the twenty-seventh came quickly and soon the adults had retired to their rooms, leaving Harry and Hermione alone in the fire-lit living room.
"Happy Christmas," Harry said softly to his girlfriend. He handed her the neatly wrapped present. They had agreed to do their gift exchanges in private so it meant more and this was the first chance they had gotten to be alone together to do so. Hermione opened the wrapping and took out a black, hardcover book. Opening it, the first thing she saw was a picture of herself and Harry sometime during their first year at Hogwarts. Turning the pages, she let the images of their past flow over her.
"That's very sweet of you, Harry," she said. "I love it." She wiped away the few tears that had dropped and leaned over to kiss him. A small piece of parchment fell out of the back of the book as she moved it to give Harry his present.
I love you
Hermione looked up at Harry. He was staring intently at her and it looked as if he was trying to find something to say. She opened her mouth but he started to talk and she stopped.
"I can't find the words to describe you. Beautiful doesn't define it; sexy fails in comparison to you. And even though both are true, they don't do you justice. They don't describe the way that, sometimes, when you're in the sunlight, you have this golden sparkle to your hair. It makes you look like an angel. And I know how cliché that sounds and you deserve more than all the clichés in the world, but that's all I have to give you. And there's this thing that you do when you're nervous and excited, where you smile and bite your bottom lip, that's just indescribable. It makes me want to be near you all the time. And I always wish I could kiss you, but at the same time I'd never be able to see you and I think I could live my entire life just watching you. I love the way, when you're unable to contain your excitement, you start acting like you're five all over again. When you smile, there's this light in your eyes and everyone instantly wants to be near you. I'd plan my whole life around you if I could.
"And you care; you care so much…it's unbelievable. You put your heart and soul into everything you do and there's this fire within you that's impossible to resist. And, again with the clichés, but you make me wish I was a better person. A much, much better person. Because as much as I try to be as good as you, I'm not even close. And you deserve so much better, but here you are, standing with me…and I wish I could tell you exactly why I love you, but I can't come even close. I am at a loss in comparison to you. Because you know who I am and that scares me sometimes because I'm not even close to perfect, and yet you're always there-and I know who you are, and it only makes me love you more."
Hermione was frozen. It was only a few seconds later when she let out a sob and flung her arms around Harry.
"I love you too," she said, though it was muffled because she had her head in his shoulder. She leaned back and again, wiped her tears away. "I love you too." And the smile she got in return was the single most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. She looked down at the wrapped present she had in her lap.
"Um…it pretty much sucks compared to what you just did for me, but Happy Christmas," she said. She handed Harry the present and watched him unwrap it.
"Hermione, it's amazing," he uttered. The small golden snitch fluttered in his hand as he held it. But it was the engraving that had captured his attention the most.
Harry. I love you with all my heart and that will never change. Love, Hermione.
He looked up from his gift and pulled her into a hug. He had never felt this way before in his entire life. And he hoped the feeling would never fade away.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
An amazing Christmas? Check.
An amazing girlfriend? Check.
More people to add to one's family? Check.
Falling in love? Check plus.
Harry smiled as he climbed into bed. His Christmas break was something he would never forget. There hadn't been any crises. No one got killed. He told Hermione he had fallen in love with her, and she returned his feelings.
It was by far the best Christmas of his entire life.
(TBC)
What is this? An update? :)
So, my entire inspiration for this chapter came from Dave Matthews Band playing on a continuous loop. *sigh* I love Dave Matthews.
And Harry's speech? I'm sorry to say, I did not come up with it. I can't remember where I got it from but I know it was a Gossip Girl fic about Blair and Serena. So, kudos to the amazing writer who came up with it. It's beautiful.
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