Happy New Year! Wonderful to see you guys again! I know it has been awhile and I've missed being here so much! Man the holidays were crazy! Mexico was fabulous! I couldn't believe I was lying on the beach in the middle of January! Well, I'm back now and had a chance to write more here and there and finally I am done, but before I let you go to read it I wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone who voted for me on the contest! I was shocked when I found out I got second place and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it! I know I couldn't have gotten it without my readers so thank you a million times times ten! I love you guys and thanks for the support! Now on with the chapter and I hope you guys enjoy it!!
~HM
Chapter 15
5 Months Later
The house was quiet when Harry went around to shut off the lights before heading up to bed. Hermione had went up awhile ago, most likely already asleep, while Harry had been keeping his mind off of what tomorrow brought by watching late night television.
It was now an hour till midnight and Harry had turned off the telly and quickly began to shut everything down. He wanted to be dead asleep when midnight hit, because once it did it would mark the one year anniversary of Ginny and Ron's death.
Neither him or Hermione had spoken about it during the day, both of them had been mostly quiet. It wasn't a day they were looking forward to and Harry wished he could magically make that day disappear and skip onto the next. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough magic out there to do it.
Harry turned off all the lamps in the den before moving to the kitchen. Boo, the tiny kitten Harry rescued, who wasn't so tiny now, followed him around like a puppy, sliding through his legs as he walked. He had always expected to trip over him, but Boo was too fast and slick to let that happen.
After quickly setting the timer on the coffee maker, Harry flicked off the lights as he walked out and made his way up the stairs. Boo streaked past him than sat patiently at the top of the stairs to wait for him. "I'm coming, I'm coming," he said and scooped him up in his arms before swinging him on his shoulder.
The long sleek black cat happily perched himself on Harry's shoulder while he turned the hall light off. "Why don't you snuggle with Mione tonight, Boo," Harry said softly as he opened the door to her bedroom. "I bet she could use a little comfort." Boo leaped from his shoulder and started to make his way into Hermione's room, but looked back at him as if to say, "What about you?"
"Don't worry, I'll be okay…go on now."
Boo obeyed as he trotted up to the bed, making a tiny meow grunt as he jumped up onto it and began to purr loudly while he crawled up to Hermione's head. Harry watched Boo curl himself up by Hermione, smiling softly when she let out a sleepy moan while pulling Boo closer to her.
"That a boy," he murmured before closing the door quietly.
As Harry made his way to his bedroom, going through his usual steps before he went to bed, he couldn't help but think how fast the first year went by. After Christmas came and went it seemed like the months flew by in a blur. The kids were at Hogwarts, only coming back for Easter weekend, so the house was mostly quiet.
Hermione's writing kept her busy the past few months. During the week when she had Nora and Harry had to work she would only write here and there when she could, but during the weekend there were times when she would coop herself in her office and not emerge for hours. Harry would sometime check to see if she needed anything and she would either wave a hand at him or make some sort of sound which meant, "I'm fine, now leave me alone." Needless to say it didn't take Harry long to realize that if she did in fact need something, she would let him know.
As spring came and went with summer fast approaching, Hermione now had almost finished her book. "I just have a few tweaks here and there to clean up then I'm sending it to my editor," she had told him a few weeks ago while they puttered around the kitchen late one night. "I can't believe that I'm almost done, I can't wait to start the next one…"
As for Harry work had pretty much kept him busy. Although he was strictly chained to desk work all day everyday, it was still in fact, work, and there had been a few nights here and there that he didn't come dragging home way past suppertime. Work had been run pretty smoothly, minus a few bumps in a few missions here and there, but there hadn't been any losses or major injuries to any of his Aurors that he was accountable for.
As for his personal life, and Hermione's for that matter, neither of them were ready to date again. Neville and Luna had tried to set them up on a blind date a few times, but they both politely declined. It hadn't even been a year and it didn't seem right. One day he was sure they would be ready to tackle that part of their lives, but it wasn't the right time yet.
Now it was May and as Harry got into bed just shy of midnight he wondered how he and Hermione were going to get through the next twenty-four hours. It would be hard, he knew, but he also knew that they would get through it together just like they always did.
XXX
As dawn approached Harry thought the perfect way to spend this horrible day was lying in bed with the covers over his head. He even let himself drift off and on all morning as the minutes dragged by. It wasn't until he felt the impressions of paw prints walking on his body that he lifted his head from the covers. Boo let out a loud hungry meow and bumped his head against Harry's.
Harry sighed as he dropped his head back into the pillow. "I know you're hungry, Boo," he muttered and then chuckled when Boo started to paw at the covers, trying hard to get his attention. "All right…okay, I'm up," he said as he got up and looked at the clock to see that it was almost about noon. "Halfway done," he said standing up and stretching his long tired body.
It was fifteen after when Harry finished feeding Boo and poured himself a cup of coffee. Harry looked up at the ceiling, hoping he would hear Hermione walking around but all he heard was silence. She obviously liked the idea of burying her head under the covers as well.
Struck with an idea on how they could spend their day, Harry quickly poured Hermione a cup of coffee and headed up to her room. Just as he expected, Harry found Hermione obscured in her comforter with the lights off and the shades of her window drawn down.
Harry walked over and set her coffee on the bedside table. "Hermione," he said softly. "You awake?"
She didn't answer or move under the covers so he decided to throw the covers back and slip inside with her. "Hermione, I know you're awake," he said after he pulled the comforter over his head as well. Her back was too him and he waited patiently for her to turn around. "I know you want to spend the day hidden under these very warm and secure sheets, because that's exactly what I wanted to do."
"Then why aren't you doing it," her voice muffled with a hint of sorrow in her voice.
"Because I know that's not what Ginny would want me to do." Harry reached up to touch her shoulder.
"Do you think Ron would want you to spend the day like this?"
Hermione was quiet for a moment before she finally rolled over to face him, causing her to be only inches away from him. "No," she admitted softly. "But I don't know what else to do, Harry."
"I think I might have an idea," he said as he rubbed her upper arm in comfort. "Would you like to hear it?"
"Do I have a choice?"
Harry grinned. "No. I think…in honor of both Ron and Ginny…we should get up…get dressed…and go out and finish the day that was so abruptly taken from us."
"You mean…having a Muggle Day?" she asked with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
"Exactly…let's finish the day…go to lunch at the little café we were suppose to eat at…maybe catch a muggle
movie? You know how Ron got a kick out of those…maybe even see a double feature. A movie with a lot of explosions for
Ron and…"
"A romantic comedy for Ginny?" she finished with a smile.
Harry returned the smile as he touched her hair gently. "Exactly…then we could grab a bite for dinner…or I could cook here, whichever you want, but…we're not allowed to go to bed till after midnight." Harry watched Hermione bite her lip as she thought about it. "So?" he asked when she hesitated. "What do you think? You up for it?"
Hermione's lip biting turned into a slow grin. "I'm up for it…let's do it."
So they did. An hour later they found themselves in their favorite booth of the café lifting their glasses to Ron and Ginny. Harry tried his best to put on a brave face for Hermione, keeping her mind preoccupied with funny stories about Ron or Ginny. Hermione shared a few as well and they both got a chuckle when they reminisced about the night that Ron got so sloshed he ended up streaking down a very popular and very crowded Muggle street.
"The bloody git got himself arrested," Harry said with tears in his eyes from laughing so hard.
"Well, running through the street with just your socks and trainers on is a good way to get arrested," Hermione said with a shake his head. "It took me hours to clean up that mess…I can't tell you how many charms I had to use on the Muggle police just to get him out!"
"You were so mad," Harry chuckled. "I was snickering behind your back, but I made sure you didn't hear me. You were not amused."
"At the time…no, but…now…looking back on it…it's pretty damn funny."
"Ginny didn't find it so amusing either, I guess watching your brother streak isn't a fun activity."
"No…she told me she'd be scarred for life," Hermione remembered with a giggle. "Oh, Molly was so embarrassed when she found out."
"Not one of Ron's proudest moments," Harry said with a snicker as he shook his head. "Well…as fun as this is…we better go if we are going to make the show…it starts in fifteen minutes."
"Which one are we seeing first?" Hermione asked as they both slid out of the booth. "Explosions or Romance?"
"Explosions…then some romantic comedy is starting ten minutes after the first one ends….we'll be out just in time for dinner," he said as they stepped out into the street. They probably could take a cab, but since neither of them didn't have the courage they silently agreed to walk six blocks to the theater.
The double feature took out a huge chunk of the day and the sun had already set when they stepped outside. They both decided they were too tired to cook anything so they slipped into a muggle restaurant for dinner. They slurped up spaghetti and shared a bottle of wine and both of them felt giddy and light headed as they left with just under two hours to go in the day.
They strolled together in a nearby park so the night air could clear their fuzzy minds. Their hands were locked…they hadn't often been apart during the day…even during the movie their hands always seemed to find each other in the dark theater.
Harry walked with her to the circular fountain, smiling when she jumped up on the wide stone rim of it. He held on to her hand when she started to walk along the fountain, then quickly grabbed her when she stumbled a bit. She was laughing as he steadied her back o her feet. "Easy there….you were about to go in."
"Don't be silly…you would never have allowed it."
"Knew I would catch you, did you?"
"You always do, Harry," she said wrapping her arms around his waist and hugged him. "Why would tonight be any different?"
Absurdly touched, Harry smiled softly as he ran a hand gently down her hair…which was not only soft as silk, but smelled incredibly good. He could never quite pinpoint what it actually smelled like…it had the same scent since they were kids. All he could say was…she smiled like his Hermione…unbearably sweet.
"We should probably head back," he said huskily as he made himself ease back. "Check on Molly and see how Nora's doing."
"Okay," she said dreamily. "Should we just Apparrate? No one is around."
"Yes but…why don't you just hold on to me and I'll take care of it. You had a few more glasses of wine than me."
"I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself," she said even as she circled her arms back around his waist. "But since I adore hugging you, I won't argue."
Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Well, that's a relief….hold on tight."
She did as she was told and in an instant the sound of the trickling fountain faded and the distant sound of waves crashing on the rocky shore below now echoed in her ears.
"Here we are," Harry said pulling away and looked up at the house he grew to love. "Home sweet home."
Hermione turned to the sea, taking a deep breath before letting out a dreamy sigh. "It's such a beautiful night. I don't want to go in just yet."
Harry smiled. "You stay right there…I'm going to Floo Molly…see if Nora's okay…then you and I will go down to the beach…play in the surf while we wait for midnight. Sound good?"
"Sounds wonderful."
"Okay…stay put." Harry rushed inside and headed straight for the Floo. He stuck his head in the flame and saw Molly sitting at the kitchen table knitting. "Molly…is Nora down?"
"Yes…she's out like a light."
"Would you mind keeping her overnight? We'll get her in the morning."
"Of course, Harry…don't you worry. Are you two enjoying yourselves then?"
"Yes…we've had a good day considering…we're going to take a walk on the beach before we call it a night, but I wanted to check on Nora first."
"She's just fine…come by whenever tomorrow…we'll be here."
"Thanks Molly…er…how were you? Today?"
Molly sighed. "Sad…Incredibly sad, but…that sweet girl upstairs helped me through it."
Harry smiled softly. "I'm glad…see you in the morning, Molly."
"Good night, Harry."
Harry slipped out of the fire and headed back outside to find Hermione lying on the soft grass looking up at the stars. "Well, just look at you," he said standing over her. "You're quite cashed, aren't you darling?"
She giggled up at him. "Maybe a little…help me up."
Harry obliged and helped her on her feet, steadying her when she wobbled. "I forgot how too much wine can make you loopy."
"I forgot how much I love wine…come on…let's go down."
She started to take off but Harry slowed her down. "Hold on, Sparky…these stairs are tricky."
He kept her hand firmly in his while they made their way down the wooden stairs that zigzagged down to the beach. Once at the bottom they had to cross over more rocks to get to the shore and Harry did his best to keep her on her feet. He even carried her at one point. When they finally made it Hermione kicked off her flats and with a gleeful laugh ran into the surf, only to shriek as the cold water hit her bare legs.
"Cold?" Harry laughed as he tugged of his shoes and rolled up his trousers to his knees.
"It's perfect…get in her, Potter."
With a bright smile plastered on his face he trotted into the surf, hissing out a curse when the cold water struck him. "It's freezing!"
"Oh don't be such a pussy," Hermione laughed kicking water at him.
Harry flinched at the water splattering him, then gaped at her. "I can't believe that my sweet Mione called me a pussy…you'll have to pay for that."
She let out a laughing shriek as she tried to run through the water away from Harry, but didn't get far when Harry grabbed her from behind. "Harry!" she shrieked when he tugged her back against his chest lifted her off her feet.
"Hope you got nose plugs, Mione," he warned huskily in her ear.
She shivered at the feel of his warm breath brushing against her cold wet skin, so it distracted her at first and didn't realize that Harry was moving deeper into the water. She snapped out of it when a wave hit them at the waist. "Harry, no!" she yelped as she flared her legs, but Harry didn't listen to her pleas and tackled them both under the chilly surface.
She came up sputtering curses while he came up laughing. "Now who's the pussy?" Harry asked with a grin as they sat in the surf.
"I wasn't planning on getting cold, sandy and soaked to the bone…but since it turned out that way…so be it."
She then pounced so quickly Harry stumbled back as he straddled him. He almost went under but with a laugh he was able to grapple with her hands and push himself back up. "Good try, Sparky," he said as he quickly pulled her hands behind her, pinning them behind her back, causing their chests to be plastered together. "Not good enough I'm afraid."
Hermione squirmed against his firm hold on her knowing it wouldn't do any good. "Let go of me…and what's with the whole Sparky thing?"
He shrugged. "I don't know…you're just so full of spunk tonight…seemed to fit you."
"Will you please let go of my arms?" she asked in a exasperated voice.
"Am I hurting you?" he asked as he loosened his grip but didn't let go.
Her eyes softened a bit. "No."
He immediately tightened back his hold. "Then no."
Hermione eyes narrowed. "That was sneaky, Potter."
He grinned. "I thought so….stop squirming, will you?"
"Why should I?"
"Has it been so long that you forgot what it can do to a man?"
She froze immediately and even though it was dark the slight moonlight shining down made Harry see her face flush beat red in embarrassment. She opened her mouth to say something but before she could stammer out a remark a wave struck them both, causing them to fall over on their sides.
They came up sputtering trying to get to their feet. Harry got to his first and pulled Hermione up and couldn't help but laugh at the sight of them. "Just look at the pair of us? Cold, wet…a little drunk…maybe we should head in."
Hermione shivered as she sent him a shaky smile. "S-sounds good…hot coffee…warm clothes…hot shower."
"Okay…although you might want to reverse the order and have the hot shower first, than put on the warm clothes or you'll be exactly where you are now."
She gave him a friendly punch. "Shut up, Potter."
"Okay…c'mere…I'll Apparrate us up…I don't think either of us could survive the hike back up."
She sighed. "I agree."
Half an hour later Hermione was curled up on the sofa, freshly showered and dressed in her flannel pajamas. Boo was stretched out beside her enjoying a tummy rub from Hermione when Harry came in with two steaming cups of coffee. "De-caf," he said handing her one. "I didn't think we wanted to be up all night."
"Hmm…good thinking," she said taking her first hesitant sip while Harry took Boo by the waist and slid him over to the other end of the couch so he could sit next to Hermione. Boo didn't even bat an eye and kept on dozing.
"Well, we made it," Harry said stretching out, propping his bare feet on the coffee table.
Hermione slapped his legs in annoyance. "Made what?"
Harry rolled his eyes and plopped his feet back on the floor. "The day's over…I looked at the clock in the kitchen and it was ten after midnight. We got through it."
"We got…" Hermione let out a deep breath. "Oh…right. It's over."
Harry studied over the rim of his cup with a frown. "Everything okay?" he asked once he swallowed the warm soothing liquid.
"Hmm? Oh." Her shoulders dropped. "No. Yes." She huffed out a breath. "I don't know what I'm feeling."
"Talk to me, Mione," he said setting his cup on the table and shifted towards her. "What's wrong?"
She lifted a shoulder. "It's just…I've been dreading this day for so long and…thought I would be miserable and it was…at first, but…"
"But you're feeling guilty because it turned out to be a pretty good day?" he asked finishing it for her.
She gave him a sad look. "That about sums it up. I know it's silly."
"No, not silly, Mione," he said with a smile as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I was thinking the same thing while I was in the shower. Grinning from ear to ear as I thought how much fun I had with you than all of the sudden I remembered what today was and felt horrible."
"But we shouldn't," Hermione said shaking her head. "I don't want our day to be ruined by guilt."
Harry reached over and took her hand bringing it to his lips. "Then we won't." He put her hand down bet kept a hold of it. "It was a good day, Hermione. We spent it honoring them…laughing about them…remembering the good times. It wasn't a day to be sad."
Hermione agreed with a wobbly smile. "I think they would have liked what we did, don't you?"
"Yeah…I do. Maybe we should do this every year, what do you say?"
"I say that's a great idea." She lifted her cup and Harry grabbed his to clink with hers. "To Ron and Ginny."
"Ron and Ginny."
"Refill?" Harry asked.
"No, I think I'm okay," she said putting her half empty cup back on the table. "Harry?" she asked after a moment of silence.
"Yeah?" he asked setting his cup aside as well then settled back into the cushions. Neither of them realized their hands were still joined.
"Do you think…we'll ever be ready? To date other people?" Hermione took them time to shift her body so she was facing him. She curled her legs under her while he had one knee cocked towards her while the other was still on the floor. "I mean…will we ever feel comfortable to be with someone else? To kiss someone else?"
Harry sighed shaking his head. "I don't know, Mione. I think it's one of those things that will happen if it's meant to happen. One day when we least expect it someone will come across our path and I guess…stir something in us that has been dead for the past year." He gave a little shrug. "I don't know, I guess that's stupid but I don't know how else to describe it."
"No, it's not stupid. I think you're exactly right." She let out a dreamy sigh as she rested her cheek against the back cushion. "I miss snogging. It seems like it's been so long since the last time someone has kissed me."
Harry lifted a brow. "I kissed you."
Hermione blushed. "Yeah, but only because Nora told you to and you know that's not what I meant…although it was nice."
He grinned. "Was it?"
Hermione tried not to be amused and gave him an annoyed look. "Harry, you're not going to start being all cocky are you?"
Harry gave her a innocent look. "Who? Me?"
Hermione rolled her eyes with a laugh. "You're horrible."
"Okay, okay…sorry. All joking aside, I know what you mean. It's been a long time for me, too, and I miss it…a lot," he added with a groan. "But I have to be a typical male and say I miss sex more."
Hermione slapped his arm with the hand he wasn't holding. "Harry!"
"What?" he asked with a laugh.
"What's wrong with just a bit of snogging?"
"Nothing at all…I happened to love snogging…"
Hermione eyed him carefully. "All right then."
"Usually leads to sex so what's not to like…..ooowww!" he chuckled rubbing his arm she now punched with her fist. "Hermione, stop with the abuse. You going to sit there and say you don't miss sex?"
"Of course I miss sex…I'm a woman with needs, but…there's nothing like a good snog in the middle of the day…or late at night on the couch while the kids are sleeping upstairs….Ron and I use to do that but…we sort of stopped doing that when we got older and….our physical part of our relationship seemed more like a duty, you know? Oh, we haven't had sex in awhile, I guess we better have it tonight." She sighed as she gave an awkward shrug. "The excitement and the romance of it started to fade a little, you know?"
"Unfortunately, yes…I do know. At the beginning of our marriage Ginny and I couldn't keep our hands off each other…that's why we had James so quickly after we were married. He was sort of…well, a wonderful surprise we'll say. We weren't expecting to have kids so early, but…we did and James was part of our lives. Even after James, Ginny and I still had a healthy sex life but…once Lily came into the word it was a lot of work with three kids and we found having less time to be with each other. I thought that once Lily went to Hogwarts and we'd be alone again it would go back to what it use to be, but it didn't…oh we had sex every so often, but it was so much different. We didn't tear each other clothes off like before, but calmly undressed ourselves before turning to each other. We never had sex in the middle of the day for no reason like we use to, it was always at night and…" He trailed off and realized he had been talking for quite some time and suddenly became uncomfortable. "Er…sorry…I was rambling."
"No, don't be," she said placing her hand on his leg. "It's good to talk about this kind of stuff…and it doesn't mean we didn't love them, it just sometimes happens with couples who've been married as long as we had."
"Yeah. You're right." He shook his head clear of it and sat up. "It's getting late and we've had a long day. You ready for bed?"
"Yeah, I guess," she said sitting up as well giving him a smile. "Can you believe the kids will be home in a few weeks?"
They both stood up and headed upstairs…their hands still locked. "The house is going to be chaotic for the next few months…I can't wait."
Hermione laughed stopping at her door. "I miss them, too." She then turned to him, circling her arms around his waist. "Thanks for today, Harry. I know I've told you thousands of time over the years, but I love you."
His heart gave a quick violent tug as he held her tight. "I didn't mind hearing it those thousands of times." He kissed the top of her head. "I love you, too….Sparky."
Hermione laughed tilting her head back to look up at him. "I think I'm going to like that nickname."
He smiled. "Good." He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. "I'm going to enjoy using it." He put his brow against hers and gave her a little squeeze. "Now go to bed…I'll see you in the morning."
"Okay," she said giving him a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth while stepping away. "Good night."
"Good night. Sleep well."
"You, too." Hermione nodded giving him a smile before closing the door behind her.
Alone in the hallway, Harry let out a deep breath before making his way to his room. He was worried. Really worried because…that stir he had told Hermione about. The stir that had been dead inside him for a year…had suddenly awakened. And it was Hermione who had awoken it.
He just didn't know what the bloody hell to do about it.