Chapter Seven
The Only One
Strange looks followed the dark haired man as he made his way through the crowd. It wasn't necessarily his bruised face or his split and slightly swollen lip. It wasn't even his strange attire of a pale blue robe emblazoned with a silver arrow, or his footwear with long brown chin pads up to the knee. It was a kind of electricity about him as he strode purposefully through the airport; like he sent out a type of radiance that made people turn and part easily around him as he walked.
He was hurried but appeared single minded, looking up at the signs for the gate numbers and then following them, walking fast. Turning in to a waiting area, he stopped at the doorway, scanning the room, apparently seeking someone.
And then he found her.
Sitting at the end of a row of plastic chairs, her hair almost hid her face as it hung down to the book that she was leaning over. He almost smiled at seeing her like this, her nose in a book, as he'd seen her so many times before. But this time was very different and his fond amusement was overshadowed by nerves as he made his way over to her.
He was one row away before she looked up, sensing something. Their eyes met instantly and he slowed then stopped, looking at her. Her mouth fell slightly open as she took in his appearance, seeming to disbelieve her own eyes. They stayed like that for a moment, long enough for a few of the other passengers sitting near to actually turn to look at them, a few even elbowing their companions to watch.
"Hi" she mouthed, intending to say it but no sound coming out.
He smiled a crooked smile then moved closer, lowering himself slowly into the seat next to Hermione. She was studying his face, as if still not sure he was real and then she gasped and automatically reached her fingers up to his mouth.
"Harry… What…?" she said, softly touching her fingertips to the dried blood on his lip, then gently tracing the bruise forming on his cheekbone.
Harry shook his head slightly but didn't pull away from her touch.
"Ran into Ron."
The colour visibly drained from Hermione's face. "Oh no, Harry - I'm so sorry…"
Shaking his head again he raised his hand to cut her off. "No really, it's okay."
She still looked distraught as she studied his face and then her features turned to annoyance.
"I had no idea he'd do that…" she said, examining his face still. "I can't believe he'd do that." she said bitterly
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing I didn't expect." He paused. "And it wasn't all bad…Ron's the one who told me you'd be here."
That surprised her. "He did?"
"Yeah"
"Oh."
There it was now, the reason he was there. The conversation they had waited so long to have and here they were, on the threshold of it, and neither one seemed to know how to cross it. They sat there, both silent, both looking at Hermione's hands laying on her lap. He spoke first.
"Where are you going?"
She hesitated then said "I thought I'd stay with Mum and Dad for a while."
He nodded, and then there was silence again.
"I really am sorry, Hermione." She looked up at his face to find him staring at her. "I know this is my fault. I just wish I could fix it all for you."
She turned her head to the side, looking at him critically.
"It's like you think I wasn't there that night."
His brow knit in confusion as he studied her face, weighing his response.
She smiled a little. "I know I don't remember it"- Harry grimaced a bit at that- "but, Harry… I knew what I was doing." she finished quietly.
He studied her for a while, letting her words sink in. Then he spoke.
"Can I ask…what made you decide to tell him?"
Hermione looked off into the distance considering before she answered.
"Luna said we shouldn't prioritise Ron's happiness over ours."
Harry grinned fondly. "Yeah she's said that to me before too"
"She's right" said Hermione.
He shrugged his shoulders "She often is."
"And …Luna told me about your Patronus" she said quietly.
He actually laughed a little. "Yeah. That happened just after the wedding. I thought it would come right again but…" He reached up and brushed some of her hair from her forehead, away from her eyes. "Still an otter" he smiled.
Her lips curved self consciously as she looked down into her lap. Harry spoke again softly.
"Didn't that…. Didn't you realise then, how I feel?" he said. She shook her head.
"Harry, you have no idea. I'm just so used to denying any feelings I have about…. me and you. It's been a part of me for so long, it's an automatic response." She looked at him now. "Every time I've felt jealously, or maybe….a moment between us, I've tried….I've just tried to put it out of my head." Tears welled in her eyes again.
"Self preservation…" Harry murmured, almost to himself, remembering Ron's words.
A disembodied voice interrupted from over the loudspeaker. "Flight NZ425 to Sydney is now ready for boarding through Gate 17."
Hermione looked up at him and they searched each other's eyes for an instant and Harry knew this was it - this was the moment that would decide.
She stood up slowly and he followed her, still trying to find the right words. "Hermione…"
She reached down and clasped both his hands in hers. "Maybe I should just go, Harry."
His breath caught for a moment, and he thought of turning and walking away - as was his way, as he always did with her.
But he found himself gripping her hands tightly and speaking instead.
"When I look back on everything... it's always been me and you. At the most crucial moments I can remember…it's always me, and you." He was holding his voice steady but the desperation for her to understand was palpable in his green eyes. He raised his voice a little.
"And I've been everywhere, all over the world, and I can't run away from that feeling. It's like…" he seemed to accept some sort of defeat as he said "It's like …you're the only one that feels like home."
Her eyes widened and she stared up at him, motionless.
He looked down at their joined hands. "It's been over ten years of hiding how I feel, Hermione and now… I just want to be wherever you are."
He pressed his forehead to hers and shut his eyes tightly. "Don't go" he whispered.
Looking up at him, it was like she was seeing him for the first time. Bewildered, she reached up and touched his cheek, and he finally made eye contact with her. Then she frowned, her expression worried.
"I don't know… Harry… How can this all work?" she asked quietly. She shook her head. "No one will understand."
They were so close to each other now that no one could hear them, but some stood watching, mesmerized. He bought a hand up to her face and traced her lips with his thumb.
"I can't care about that anymore. If you love me like I love you…. Then I'm past caring what anyone thinks anymore. All I know is that I just want to be wherever you are" he said again.
Hermione fell into him then and he crushed her against his chest, burying his face in her hair. She pulled back after a while and he held her head lovingly in his hand, resting their foreheads together again. She reached up for his wrist and turned her face to kiss his palm, tasting her own tears. Closing her eyes she shook her head, disbelieving, until he found her lips with his own and kissed her.
The queue moved around the couple, as they stood there wrapped in each other, kissing so tenderly, that some of the onlookers had tears in their eyes. It was that same electricity that had followed the man around all day, and it touched every one of them that saw it. They all filed on to the plane, leaving behind the couple who stayed wrapped in each other till the plane took off, at which they turned and walked with their arms around each other, out of the airport. And no one would ever know this, but all of the people on that plane that witnessed that kiss called the person they loved most in the world as soon as they landed.
EPILOGUE**************************************************************************************************************
19 months later
The four children ran squealing and laughing after the silvery horse, chasing it's wispy tail as their Aunty held her wand out, making it dance all over the yard for their entertainment. The three girls sighed as they ran their hands through it as it passed, marveling at it's beauty, but the boy with the light blue hair studying it with determination, bent on catching it and disrupting it's smoky form. Ginny laughed as she wheeled her Patronus around to face Teddy and he turned away from it as it jumped over him, laughing too and running away.
Hermione laughed at Teddy's efforts as she watched from her seat on the grass, her plate perched on her knees as she ate. She smiled fondly as Molly Weasley called out to Teddy to caution him against running so soon after his meal. The late afternoon sun burned orange as it sank lower towards the sea, the light playing over the huge expanse of calm water.
She pulled her gaze away from the cliff top view of Shell Cottage and inevitably, her eyes sought out her husband.
He was standing with Bill and Charlie Weasley, laughing over some shared joke. He talked animatedly, obviously retelling some story of his and Charlie's adventures, giving Charlie some good natured ribbing. Charlie made some comment back and all three erupted into laughter. Then he caught her eye and held a hand up in a wave, holding her stare and smiling at her now. Teddy came up to him then and he leant down to listen to him, their foreheads close.
She still couldn't believe he was hers, to touch whenever she wanted. She'd watch him often, just enjoying that she could, without restraint. Then she'd always go to him and touch him, press her face into his chest as if to reassure herself that it had really happened - that it had all come true. He'd catch her sometimes, studying him, and he'd smile a smile he used only for her. He knew what she was doing because he did it himself.
They'd been married here, right in front of the pretty whitewashed cottage overlooking the sea. She still remembered the look in his eyes as she walked from the cottage on her father's arm to join him at the cliffs edge. After a few months of them getting together, it had been strange, it seemed like everyone had accepted it like it had always been that way. Ginny and Viktor had fallen pregnant not long after and the slightly cool manner with which Ginny had treated Hermione with at first had totally faded once her son had been born. Ron was another story.
He'd been slightly difficult at first, bitter and hurt. It hadn't helped that Rita Skeeter had had a field day with the story, proudly proclaiming that she had broken the story about Harry and Hermione years ago, and writing long pieces about the heartbroken Undersecretary and his deceiving friends. Still, the furor died down after a while and once it was no longer fresh scandal, Ron's injured pride had a chance to heal. He started seeing a pretty witch named Aquila who worked in his department and their wedding was planned for the next year, after the election that should see Ron become Minister. They were on speaking terms now, and after a few tentative lunches, she started to feel their friendship warming up again.
Harry and Ron had taken a bit longer - until Bill, Charlie and George got them altogether for a night on the Firewhisky, but in the end, it was Percy that had got them talking again. Not in any grand negotiation, just that when he arrived at Charlie's that night, he made for such hilarious entertainment by being unable to handle his Firewhisky and loudly singing Celestina Warbeck songs, that Ron and Harry found common ground again laughing at Percy like they used to. Since then, they'd spent more time together - Ron even taking Aquila to one of Harry's games this last weekend. It wasn't perfect between them, but Harry actually thought it felt more like their real friendship than it had for years.
She broke out of her reverie as she sensed him coming up behind her, smiling at him as he sat himself down on the grass.
"Whatcha thinking about?" he grinned at her, reaching up to pull a stray blade of grass from her hair.
"Nothing" she smiled back. "Just happy."
He let his hand drop to her face then to her neck and under her hair, pulling her to him for a quick but promising kiss, pressing his nose on hers for a moment before letting her go.
"Beyond happy" he said simply, then touching her cheek briefly, he stood up again to go over and join Teddy and his uncles, getting ready to set up a friendly game of Quidditch. A wispy Jack Russell Terrier materialized in the middle of their circle and said in Ron's voice; "Be there in ten minutes - I call for Keeper" to much laughter.
Hermione smiled and stood up, walking over to Ginny and Fleur to coo over the baby. All was well.
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I better declare that the title of this story was inspired by the lyrics of a song; it's a beautiful song by an Australian girl called Missy Higgins. It's called Ten Days, these are the lyrics;
It's been ten days
Without you in my reach
And the only time I touch you
Is in my sleep
But time has changed
Nothing at all
You're still the only one that feels like home
I've tried cutting the ropes
I let you go
But you're still the only one that feels like home.