Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of HP but I do own this little plot.
Author's note: I loved reading all of your reviews! Thanks so much everybody!
So did you manage to win her over with your most heartfelt confession? If you didn't, just go back to the beginning of the book and try again! Keep trying until she just can't say no! But sadly if she does say no, (which doesn't usually happen in our case) then she's either too blind to not have appreciated such a wonderful wizard like you or she's just not looking for anyone right now.
If you DID manage to win her over, then I offer you my friend, my heartiest congratulations! You are halfway there to charming her and making her yours forever! But oh goodness me, we can't lose sight of that goal now that she's confessed her love for you! Many wizards seem to give up doing wonderful things for the witches they love after their confession of love and then these witches just slip away with a broken heart.
You have to keep at the six first tips I imparted to you. Keep showing her that you're sincere about her, that you want to keep your relationship growing. Then you are well on your way to winning her over forever.
Now, this is my eighth tip for all you wizards out there:
8. Take care of her.
Like many of the other tips I have introduced earlier, this may sound so absurdly simple but trust me, it is very vital. Assuming that you want this relationship to go long-term (which is what we're going for) you have to show that witch that you are the One. Her knight in shining armor, who will always be there to rescue her and protect her from whatever comes her way.
With that she'll be able to find a sense of security from you, and she'll always feel safe around you and know that no matter what it is, you'll always be there to protect her and take care of her, long-term.
Now if you manage to do that, then you've got it made.
-12 Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches, Chapter 8, Protecting Her
Harry frowned once again at the sound of disembodied coughing coming from Hermione's bedroom door and hesitated in the middle of the doorstep. She had been coughing the entire night already, resulting in his spending the entire night by her side, trying to feed her the Pepper-Up Potion which was rather useful in the case of colds. But it seemed as though it hadn't worked, but he remembered that she had promised, she would go to work and get another stronger dosage.
With one more worried glance at her closed bedroom door, he stepped out of the house and into the drafty corridor, before heading down the stairs and into the sunny streets. He was heading to work early such that he could make it in time to Ron's place after work to talk to his best friend.
Merlin, his life felt like a whole mess that needed to be sorted out.
But at least he had sorted things out with Hermione, he thought, a smile brightening his face as the morning sunlight was beginning to cast its rays over the rooftops. He still couldn't believe that after all he had done, she had eventually fallen for him. They'd become closer, he remembered, after that incident on the gorge, he was glad to be able to walk into her office and wait for her to get off work, and then the both of them, holding hands would take a long walk home where they would have a nice dinner together.
He also remembered how she had come to his office once during lunch, smiling shyly as he introduced her to some of the other Aurors as his girlfriend, who had given her warm, welcoming smiles. That had seemed to make everything official, he smiled even wider at the thought that everybody knew that they were going out. Seeing her in his office had made everything so real, and Harry remembered the thrill of happiness that had coursed through his entire being when he had seen her standing in his office.
But yet, he knew that he couldn't just continue to date Hermione blithely and ignore Ron, who was ultimately his best friend. He still felt guilty, and when he talked to Hermione about it, she understood too, because she had been feeling the same way too. So they'd begun to go out of their way to talk to Ron who was still putting up at George's place. Harry often went there after work, banging on the door futilely to get Ron to talk to him. Hermione also went there, however her last visit had culminated her standing there for about an hour, and eventually when she did leave she had been caught in the rain, resulting in her catching a cold.
The weeks of tireless work and little sleep had contributed to this cold becoming worse than it had been initially but Hermione still insisted on going to work, seeing as she wanted to observe the effects of her potion on the people inflicted with that mysterious disease for any side effects, and seeing her so determined to make it to work, Harry had relented, going to her office whenever he could just so to check up on her and walking her to and from work, to make sure that she was alright.
But last night had been the worse and he hadn't wanted to leave her on her own to walk to work. But he knew he had to be in the office early this morning for a meeting and also to get some more paperwork done before he could leave the office early so as to talk to Ron, who was now enjoying a well-deserved rest as the Puddlemore team had just made it to the finals of the Quidditch World Cup, and was enjoying a short break before heading back to practice. And she had urged him to go, saying that she would be fine, that she would go to work and whip up a stronger dosage of Pepper-Up Potion and maybe if she could get off early, meet him at Ron's. And so, he had unwillingly left the apartment for work.
The afternoon whizzed by as Harry struggled through the masses of paperwork, but eventually by 5 in the afternoon he was able to pass the files to his superior, Hestia Jones with a satisfied and tired smile, who barely looked up from her own paperwork to give him a brief nod that he was dismissed.
With that, Harry walked out of the Headquarter and Apparated to George's place which was a small apartment above their first branch of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes which had been rapidly expanding across the wizarding world and even overtaking the old-time favorite Zonko's. He stopped by in the shop, which was extremely packed to say a quick hello to George who gave him a grin and the keys to his apartment so that Harry could let himself in. With that, Harry stepped once more out of the shop and headed towards George's apartment, feeling slightly nervous at what he was going to say to his best friend, whom he hadn't seen in some time.
He let himself into the apartment which was cozily furnished, but rather untidy. Side-stepping the piles of clothes that lay on the floor askew, he wondered if he should call for Ron or he should go looking for him. But just then, the redhead emerged from a door nearby, looking mildly surprised at what he thought was George coming back from work, his look of surprise becoming a sullen expression, his blue eyes becoming like ice in the afternoon sun, seeing as it was Harry.
"What are you doing here?" Ron stuffed his hands into his pockets, not looking at Harry as he spoke to the carpet. "I thought you and Hermione were too happy without me now that you two are together and I'm not in the apartment."
The barb stung but Harry felt a flame of anger come to life in him at his best friend, whose anger hadn't seemed to have waned over these weeks. "That's not true and you know it."
Ron gave a derisive snort, looking at Harry for the first time in their exchange. "Well, you two are together now aren't you?" He glared at Harry. "All my life I've always been overshadowed by you, and I've always had to be the second-best." His words now held bitterness. "Finally I had something you didn't; Hermione and you had to take her away too!" Harry couldn't believe what Ron was saying but yet could hear the restrained fury and jealousy that leaked out into his statement.
"Don't speak of Hermione as if she's something to possess." Harry grounded out his words, steel threading his words as he spoke. "I may have taken her away Ron but I didn't do it just so to spite you. I didn't mean to fall for your girlfriend but I did. Just as how she did, with me." He narrowed his eyes at the redhead. "We can't pick the people we fall for, Ron."
There was silence at his statement as the two stood rigid, their gazes unyielding to one another's. But then the thickening silence was broken abruptly by a sharp rapping at the dirty window, where Harry could see an owl waiting on the ledge.
Harry looked away from Ron and went to the window to retrieve the owl, which perched on his shoulder, holding out the envelope, which was an official one from St. Mungos' addressed to "Mr. Harry Potter/ Mr. Ronald Weasley". As soon as Harry had untied the envelope from the tawny owl, the bird soared through the air and out of the apartment as Harry looked at the envelope worriedly and tore it open.
Ron watched, feigning indifference as his best friend read the parchment anxiously, his emerald eyes darkening with every sweep of the parchment, scanning over the words, the crease forming between his eyebrows indicating that something had gone wrong. Harry looked up from the parchment, worry clouding his next words.
"Hermione's collapsed at work." He looked down at the parchment once more, as if willing the news not to be true. "I told her not to go to work today but no, she just didn't want to listen, did she?" Harry seemed to talking more to himself than to Ron, and Ron could see the deep caring in his best friend's eyes for Hermione, reflected as worry and anxiety and felt a rush of mingled jealousy and realization. Harry started towards the door but paused in mid-way, turning back to look at his best friend who was still standing there. "Didn't you hear me? Hermione fainted at work! We have to get there and see if she's alright." Ron could clearly hear the worry that underlined his every word.
"You go." was all that he could offer, still looking down at the carpet, the anger leaving his voice. "After all, you're all she needs right now." And as he said that, he knew just how true that was. It wasn't meant as a barb but rather it was more like a realization. But Harry's emerald eyes, if possible, narrowed even further in momentary anger.
"Merlin, Ron! Would you just stop saying that?" Harry shouted, his voice bouncing off the walls as he crumpled the parchment into a ball in his fist. "Hermione needs you too! You're her best friend too, just in case you've forgotten!" Harry looked away then, shaking his head before throwing the parchment at Ron. "You know what? If you want to come and see her, do that. If you don't, I don't even see why she can call you her best friend anymore." And with that, Ron watched as his best friend left the apartment in hurry and the disembodied crack he heard after that showed that his best friend had probably Apparated to St. Mungos' already.
Ron stood there for the longest time, not moving, but thinking. Thinking about the worry that Harry had shown when he realized that Hermione had collapsed at work. Thinking about how Harry's eyes had reflected his love for Hermione even when he had been speaking to Ron. And he knew, what was to be done as he bent down slowly to pick up the crumpled ball of parchment on the floor.
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He watched them through the crack in the door which had been left ajar, not wanting to go in just yet.
He saw his best friend, sitting by her side and smoothing back her hair tenderly and saying something that made her smile wryly. He saw how his best friend had slumped slightly when relating something to her, and how she had sagged slightly too, but later how she had tried to smile, tried to comfort him too and how she had gently smoothed his hair back as well, telling him something that he couldn't really hear.
He could see how much they loved each other and how they were happy, at least until he would give them his blessing.
And with that, he quietly pushed open the door to Hermione's ward, giving them a small smile. "Hey."
Hermione began to push herself up, her eyes widening in mingled surprise and happiness, Ron noticed with a jolt, a smile taking over her face. "Ron!"
Harry helped her up, gently propping her up with a few pillows, and walked over to his best friend, a big grin on his face as he asked, "What took you so long?"
And Ron could only grin back and shrug his shoulders and say, "Well I'm here now, aren't I?"
And he knew that things were back to the way they were meant to be.
Aaaah. Things are going to go back to fluffy now I promise! Review please!