Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of HP but I do own this little plot.
Author's note: I've realized that I've been misspelling certain words in my fics and I'm so so sorry about that! I realized that its spelt Puddlemore and not Puddlemere, so sorry about that! Anyway thanks so much for all your reviews, they've really encouraged me to go on! Hope you liked this chapter!
Now we come to the really important part of this business of winning her heart: confessing your feelings for her. I'm quite sure that when you read this, you're probably starting to get nervous, aren't you? Well, don't be! If what you are fearing is rejection let me tell you that it is perfectly normal to be rejected.
If you confess your feelings for this witch and she rejects you without second thought, this part will be completely up to you. Does she look like she's absolutely sure that she doesn't want to have you as a boyfriend? If she does, (and usually this isn't the case) just give up on her mate. She'd be blind to have rejected such a wonderful wizard like you if you did follow the last few steps correctly of course.
If you confess your feelings for her and she rejects you hesitantly, there's probably something that's bothering her as to why she can't accept you. It could be an ex-boyfriend, or family problems. So don't give up just like that. Keep at it, and tell her that no matter what you'll be there waiting for her to accept you. In no time at all she'll be swayed by your sincerity and chuck the other boyfriend!
If you confess your feelings for her and she does match your confession, then you my friend have succeeded halfway in charming her to make her yours.
Now, how do we go about in confessing our feelings to that lucky witch? This brings us to our seventh tip which is rather important nonetheless. The perfect, most romantic confession is vital in hoping to capture her heart. So:
7. Take her to places she likes.
Is there a romantic restaurant that she likes nearby with the most wonderful Italian cuisine? Or is there a small park which she often walks to? Whatever it is, take her there and tell her how you feel. Do it in a manner that seems neither unobtrusive nor abrupt, but tell her sincerely how you feel about her and how you would like it if she could become your girlfriend. As I'm emphasized, time and again, mean what you say because this time she can tell.
Good luck in making that confession.
-12 Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches, Chapter 7, Telling Her
Harry sighed as he sat in his new office, staring at the piles of paperwork that were already standing on the edge of his desk. He had just been accepted as a full-time Auror barely a week ago and had been on the requisite one-week break that all Aurors were given after their grueling training. Now he knew why all the Aurors were usually so swamped with work, he thought as he picked up a file and looked at its contents briefly.
But that wasn't exactly the real reason why he was feeling so gloomy.
Ever since the fight, Ron's anger hadn't waned and the redhead hadn't even been coming back to their apartment. Harry guessed that he might have been staying with George who lived quite close to the Puddlemore United home field. All the owls that he had sent to Ron, asking him to come back and give it another go with Hermione had taken hours of painful choosing of words but yet had com back to him unopened, except for one which had the briefest of messages on it, written in Ron's cramped handwriting. Leave me alone.
And Hermione?
She had become more adept at avoiding him, he realized, getting up so early without even telling him, so much so that he'd even tried once just to sit outside her door an hour before she walked to work and wait for her to appear, only to open her bedroom door after an hour of waiting and realize she'd left the house already, probably by Apparation. Merlin, he was really beginning to hate that method of transportation.
Sometimes he would even wait outside her office, hoping to catch her after work, only to see her assistant Maxine look into the office and shake her head with an apologetic smile that indicated that Hermione had gone home, by Apparation again. He would then swear and apparate back to their apartment, only to find a note on the table that said that he would have to find his own dinner, seeing as how she'd had a headache.
He'd become almost like a stalker, just trying to talk to her about what she'd said the other night during the fight. He wanted to tell her, tell her that he wanted to be there for her all the time that he loved her but yet, she kept avoiding him. It was beginning to get frustrating, trying so hard but yet being unable to tell her.
"So early in, Potter?" He looked up to see his new boss, Hestia Jones standing in the doorway with a wry smile on her face.
"Erm… no." Harry stood, an awkward smile crossing his face as he watched her step into the room, unsure as to how to greet her, his new boss. "I just decided to step in and see how much work was waiting for me." He gestured to the piles. "I guess I'll be stuck in my office for the next century."
Hestia Jones gave a ghost of a smile as she picked up one of the files on his desk and flipped through it absently, "So I won't deny, it's a hard job." She put the file back onto the stack that was balancing precariously on the edge of his desk, "Most Aurors find it the hardest to actually balance both their family and work because they work such long hours." She turned to him then, without a trace of emotion in her amber eyes and asked, "Just off the record Potter, do you happen to have anyone special? A girlfriend perhaps?"
Harry was taken aback at her sudden question, not understanding why she was asking such a question. His mind immediately turned once again to thoughts of Hermione and he could not restrain the frustration that he knew had flitted across his face in that split second but luckily for him, Hestia Jones didn't seem to notice anything.
"Well, yeah."
The answer popped out of his mouth faster than he could have imagined. He wasn't even sure why he had said so, seeing as how Hermione would probably be avoiding him until the day he died, but all of a sudden he knew how much he wanted to see her and tell her that he wanted her to be his girlfriend. He could feel it, a mixture of frustration and keen anticipation coursing through his veins and it was all he could have done to remain where he was, listening to his boss.
"Well then, she should know that your life would probably be consumed by work, shouldn't she?" Hestia Jones turned, probably leaving the office but she paused mid-way to give him one last look. "She'll be able to understand, would she?"
For what had seemed like the first smile in so many days, he felt a small one curve at the corner of his lips. "Trust me. My girlfriend's life is consumed by her own work. She'll definitely understand what it's all about."
Hestia Jones nodded, before giving him one last brief look and left the office. "Good day, Potter. Don't forget you start work next week."
And after a few more minutes of anxious waiting for her to have disappeared down the hallway, Harry sprinted out of his office and out of the Headquarters, heading straight for St. Mungos'. He had to talk to her and he was going to make sure that she did listen to him this time. She was not going to get away any longer.
When he did reach St. Mungos' however, something like adrenaline pumping through his veins and breathing heavily, her assistant could only offer him another apologetic smile, saying that Mss Granger was in a meeting with the other Head Healer, Joanna Hyatt to discuss the possible options to put into the potion that was to be used for the cure for that elusive illness. Harry groaned, slumping slightly against her assistant's desk, but had ascertained that he would wait until the end of her meeting, emphasizing that it was extremely important he see her now.
Just then, a tall, willowy figure walked up to the assistant's table. She had long, dark straight hair which fanned out when she walked, and her eyes were of the clearest almond, set against the paleness of her complexion. Harry watched her, out of the interest that had nothing to do with her looks but simply because he had nothing else to do until Hermione had to come out of her meeting.
"Morning Maxine," The woman spoke softly but clearly. "I need to speak to Hermione about the other options to put into the potion we're using for the cure. Is she available right now?"
Those words seemed to be very familiar, Harry thought as he straightened to turn suspicious eyes on Maxine, whose eyes were widening too, almost in fear. Just then the woman seemed to notice his presence and she turned, such that she was now facing him.
"You must be Harry Potter." The woman smiled, her eyes gazing down at him as she reached out her hand to shake his. "I'm Joanna Hyatt, Head Healer of St. Mungos', delighted to make your acquaintance." Harry looked at the badge that was pinned on her uniform and read the words embossed in the shiny brass. Joanna Hyatt. The woman Hermione was supposed to be in a meeting with.
He shook her hand, offering her a small smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Then he turned to Maxine, who by now, was cowering in the suspicion of his gaze which confirmed what he had been thinking. Hermione had obviously instructed her assistant to lie that she was in a meeting such that she wouldn't have to see him. But what she hadn't counted on, was the person she was supposedly in a meeting with to appear before him.
"So," He emphasized every word which seemed to be dripping acid. "She's in a meeting is she?" He paused, "Well, I don't think she'll mind if I barge in this once. So, if you'll excuse me…"
With that, Harry strode past Hermione's assistant who was now wringing her hands after calling out after him almost futilely and pushed open the doors to her office, ignoring anything else, as something like anger that she had resorted to such means just to avoid him thumping in his heart.
"Maxine, I thought I told you that I was…" Hermione looked up, a look of annoyance on her face which quickly faded in shock and something like fear. "Harry!"
He did not reply, but simply walked over to her desk, grabbed her by the wrist, yanked her out of her chair and dragged her out of her office behind him, ignoring her protests and her struggles to pull her wrist out of his grasp.
"Cancel all of Miss Granger's meetings for today," he tossed over his shoulder at her assistant, disregarding the Head Healer who was watching this entire scene with a sort of bewildered and bemused look on her face as he continued to pull Hermione down the hallway behind him. "She'll have them tomorrow instead."
He did not stop to listen to her protests nor did the curious looks of the patients and the other Healers interest him. As soon as they had reached the entrance of St Mungos' and exited the hospital, he Apparated with her to somewhere he had in mind where he would be able to talk to her without being interrupted for a change.
The place was a small gorge just on the outskirts of London, a place where the three of them had come across while on a hiking trip sometime last year. It was a beautiful place to be especially at a time like this as all that could be seen were tall grasses fluttering in the summer breeze as well as meadows of flowers that flourished, their colors forming a gay picture across the sea of green, everything bathed in the dappled afternoon sunshine.
After that hiking trip, the three of them often came back, sometimes together, sometimes alone, liking to just enjoy the scenery while thinking about their own problems. But out of the three of them, Harry had known that Hermione had come here the most to think, knowing that it calmed her, and hoping that it would work its same magic on her again.
He released her wrist only then as she massaged it gently, wincing slightly and he felt a rush of shame at having hurt her even if he had just been in a haste to talk to her. But she looked up, her dark eyes already shooting sparks at him. "What did you drag me out here for?" Her voice was cold and hard, and he flinched slightly at her words. But somewhere deep inside him, he could feel anger too, at her trying to avoid him for so long.
"Sit down."
"I won't until you tell me what is going on." He had almost forgotten how stubborn she could be.
"I said, sit down." The two of them locked their eyes in a silent facedown, until he saw the anger in her eyes melt away, and she sat heavily, avoiding his eyes. He then sat too, at a respectable distance from her, knowing that she would, if he sat too close to her, move away. They looked out at the gorge for a while in all in spring finery, not saying anything.
"Listen," Harry began, the anger in his voice vanishing as he spoke. "About what happened with Ron…"
"I don't want to talk about it." Hermione interrupted him almost abruptly. "Its over," Her eyes met his for the first time in so long. "We're over."
"Yeah well, I want to talk about it1" Harry turned to her, his emerald eyes flashing angrily. "I've been trying to talk to you for so long, but you've kept avoiding me! I wanted to ask you if you really meant what you said that night but I can't do that if you keep avoiding me, Hermione!"
She was silent at his words, lowering her head slightly and Harry realized how cold his words must have sounded and another rush of shame swept over him, diminishing his anger at her. "I just want to know if you meant what you said that day." It was more of a plea than a statement and he waited for her to speak.
She laughed then, shakily, a breathy sound choke with imminent tears that made him feel even worse. "You want to know? Alright then, let me tell you. Yes, I meant everything I said that day. Only you made me feel that way, only you made me feel like I was special, like I was something to be cherished." She paused and Harry didn't speak, still listening intently. When she spoke again, her voice had gentled considerably. "You made me feel loved. And… and I liked that."
Harry's breath caught in his throat.
"But then again, who am I kidding?" Her voice had gone back to its breathy state and he knew by the tears shimmering on her face that she was trying to keep that breezy tone. "You're Harry. You've always been this kind and considerate. It was all just me." Her sobs caught in her throat. "Me who was so stupid to believe that you actually meant for me to feel this way."
"What if I did?"
His question caught her off-balance, he could tell as her head jerked up at his words, her eyes still filmed in tears. Slowly, he reached over to wipe away her tears gently, drawing closer to her as he spoke.
"I wanted you to see that I could make you feel that way." He pulled back his hand from her face, but kept his eyes interlocked with hers. "I wanted you to see that Ron couldn't do that, that I could." He paused, studying her eyes which held a brief spark of hope. "I wanted you to see that I loved you."
Hermione's eyes widened at the words as realization shone in her eyes, behind the tears. But slowly that realization faded into happiness, something that Harry hadn't seen in a long time, something that made him smile too, knowing that he had be the only one to make her smile, to make her happy like this.
Because she loved him too.
With that insatiable happiness filling his entire being, he shifted himself such that he was sitting much closer to her, and gently, he tipped her face up to lower his lips to hers in the most tender and gentle kiss he could have given anyone, sealing his promise to her that he would be there for her forever and her for him.
Awwww. There you guys go! After those two chapters, I guess this one should be more welcome so I hope you guys liked it! Review please!