Disclaimer: JKR owns.
Lies for Love
Chapter 4: It's The Flu…
[AN] Just a few things I'd like to address;
An anonymous reviewer tried to tell me something that quite pissed me off- no this isn't just some 'Hermione gets pregnant and her and Harry try and work their relationship out'-- there is much, MUCH more to it than that.
And to the other anonymous reviewer who jumped to conclusions by saying that, "Oh, Hermione's in love with Harry but he just it too clueless!"
…no, mate. That's not it at all.
AND- I thought this might be pretty clear to most of you since my name is OLIVER- but I AM a BLOKE with a …
So to the one reviewer who keeps addressing me as "girl" and "girlie"… you're making me severely uncomfortable.
On with the story…..
---
The next day Harry was waiting in a small muggle deli in West London, waiting for Ron to arrive. He impatiently was tapping his fingers against the table, hoping the reason for him being late was because he was eating a pre-lunch snack and not because he was coming from Hermione's. Last night he had gone out with Dean, Seamus, and Neville to a local muggle club just to take his mind of their impending date. He sincerely hoped that everything went well, he just didn't want to sit around his flat all night wondering if Hermione would like Ron's advances or not.
"Oi, Harry!" called Ron's voice from the entrance of the restaurant. Harry looked up and his stomach plummeted when he seen Hermione standing next to his ginger haired best mate. Ron reached down to take Hermione's hand as he walked forward to the table Harry was seated at in the rear end of the deli.
"Hope you don't mind, I told Hermione about lunch and offered her to come," Ron said with a smile, pulling out Hermione's seat and then taking the one right next to her.
"No I don't mind," he said observing her inconspicuously as she sat down and muttered her thanks to Ron, "If I knew you were coming I would have got you a drink." Harry said pointing to the drink he had pre-ordered for Ron.
"Oh, it's fine Harry," she said, not looking at him.
Harry pursed his lips while looking between the two of them. He knew Hermione had a certain aura about her after a night of sex and he was relieved to see she didn't look like that. It seemed that Ron took what Harry had to say to heart.
"Are you ready to order?" asked a kindly woman, waddling up to them.
"I'll have a ham sandwich, and then a roast beef sandwich with two bags of regular crisps," Ron said immediately, without even glancing at the menu.
"And you darling?" she asked Hermione.
"Um, can I just get a water for now?" Hermione responded after staring down at the menu for a few moments.
The woman nodded and then turned to Harry who was staring at Hermione with a confused look, "Oh, I'll have a cup of the chicken soup, please."
The woman collected the three menus and tottled off back in the direction of the kitchen.
"Are you alright Hermione?" Harry asked as soon as the woman had left.
Hermione nodded, "I just don't want to upset my stomach. It's been a little uneasy lately."
Harry continued to stare at her and after a while Hermione looked up into his eyes a little heatedly, "I'm fine Harry, fine."
Harry nodded while Ron started a conversation about the latest quidditch match against Ireland and Ealing. Not before long the plump woman was back with a tray full of plates. She set two of the plates down in front of Ron, along with two bags of crisps and then Harry's bowl of chicken soup and Hermione's glass of water.
Harry gave Hermione another observant look when she put a hand over her mouth as Ron began to eat his roast beef sandwich.
"Yeah so they say Aiden Lynch's arm can't be attached for another two weeks since St. Mungo's is behind- wait a second," he paused swallowing another bite of his sandwich.
"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.
"I can't believe her!" Ron exclaimed throwing the sandwich down.
"What Ron?" Harry asked a bit annoyed.
"This is turkey, not roast beef. I'm going to go tell her," he said temperamentally getting up and taking his plate with a less than half eaten sandwich on it.
"Do you really think that woman's going to care that Ron has a problem with a sandwich he's already mostly taken care of?" Harry asked rhetorically, staring after Ron and swirling his straw around in his drink.
Hermione mumbled something incoherent since she still had her hand clapped over her mouth.
"You're right, he'll probably come back with another one- Hermione?" Harry asked worriedly as he finally glanced over at Hermione who was looking more than a little pale.
He watched her take a deep breath and then pry her hand away, "I'm okay," she squeaked with an embarrassed tone.
"Are you sure?" he asked putting a straw in the water glass she was about to drink from. She accepted it gratefully and answered his question,
"Yes, I'm sure. So what did you do last night?"
Harry could tell she was trying to steer the conversation away from her so he complied and shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing really. Went out with the boys to a muggle disco."
Hermione raised her eyebrows at him, "Oh?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah, I didn't like it though. Music was too loud and too many middle aged women wanted to grab the famous Potter tush, so I had to call it a night pretty early."
Hermione smirked, "Whatever Potter, I'm sure you loved hordes of older woman feeling you up."
Harry smiled back at her, "What about you? How was your date with Ron?" He was proud of himself how calmly he asked the question.
Hermione shrugged but wore a small smile none the less, "It went well actually."
Harry nodded and took a quick drink, "So you like him then?"
Hermione looked at him in the eyes, "He's a lot more serious about getting together than I thought he was. And he made it clear that we could take it at my pace."
Harry stopped from taking another drink, "So... so you're together?"
Hermione again looked at him with an intense gaze, "I didn't say that. When he told me we could take it at my pace I told him I wasn't ready for the title or responsibility of a relationship. Not now at least."
"So it's just casual. And he was okay with that?" Harry offered her a bite of his soup but she turned it away.
"He seemed like he was trying to persuade me to change my mind. But, I find it flattering that he really wants to be with me that badly. He even brought me a flower when he picked me up."
"Oh, that's nice," he replied tightly. 'Good to know he's earning points off my advice,' Harry thought bitterly before scolding himself. 'No, your happy that it went well. And if they do get together you will be 100% happy for them...'
"Harry?"
"What?" he asked, looking back at Hermione.
"I said thank you," Hermione said giving him a weird look.
"What for?"
"Because I know Ron went to you and I know you suggested Aurora's and all the other things that he said that were not very Ron-ish comments. So thank you, it means a lot to me that you wanted it to go well."
Harry smiled at her, "Any time." Harry looked at her for a few more seconds, watching her look out the window into the street and take idle sips of her water. He had to know though; "So what'd you do after dinner?"
She looked over to him slowly and blinked a few times. She was about to speak when-
"Finally!" said an exasperated Ron as he sat back down at the table with a plate with a brand new sandwich on top, "I had to almost throttle the wench to get her to make me another one."
"Honestly, Ron," Hermione scoffed good-naturedly while Harry started chuckling.
"What?" he asked taking a mouthful of sandwich.
The smile on Hermione's face dropped instantly and she clapped her hand to her mouth again.
"Hermione?" Harry asked immediately, dropping his spoonful of soup to examine her.
She had turned considerably paler and she held up a shaky hand to Ron's plate, "Roast beef?" she mumbled barely above a whisper.
"Yeah," Ron nodded dumbly, "Want some?" he asked pushing it towards her so it was right under her nose.
Hermione gagged and quickly got up from the table to run to the nearby ladies' loo.
"What I say?" Ron again asked dumbly as he took another bite.
Harry threw his napkin down, sent a nasty glare at Ron, and then took off in the direction of the girls' toilets.
"Hermione?" he asked hesitantly, pushing the door open a bit so he could see inside. He seen a few stalls that looked empty and then one at the end where he could tell someone was kneeling in front of the toilet, vomiting their brains out. Harry sighed and pushed the door open so he could walk in fully.
He heard a feminine howl towards his right, "You're not supposed to be in here!" a horse like woman (similar to Aunt Petunia) yelled, pointing her powder brush at Harry.
"Bugger off," Harry muttered, stalking past her and into the last stall.
"You're fine right?" Harry said sarcastically, helping Hermione pull her hair away from her face.
"Shove off," she gasped between mouthfuls of spit.
"Hermione, honestly what's the matter with you?" Harry asked softly as he began to rub her back.
Hermione choked back a sob and looked up to stare into Harry's eyes. "I-I..."
"You what?" Harry urged, pecking the side of her head.
Hermione looked at him desperately for a few more seconds before shaking her head vigorously, "Its the flu. It has to be the flu..."
"Alright well if you're so positive then we're going to make an appointment to get you some potions at St. Mungo's to help it, okay?" he said soothingly, hugging her to his chest.
Hermione nodded and allowed Harry to pull her up and support her out of the loo. Ron was on the other side of the door waiting.
"Is she okay?" he asked eagerly, bending down to Hermione's eye level.
"We better get her home," Harry said in a controlled voice.
"Yeah alright," Ron agreed, seeing her in this state made him a bit queasy and frantic, "I noticed an alley next to this place that we can apparate in-"
"No," Hermione spoke determinedly.
"No?"
"What do you mean no, Hermione?" Harry asked her with his arms still wrapped around her.
"Apparating makes it worse," she struggled to say before taking another gasp and choking back another wave of nausea.
"Well how will we get you home then?" Ron asked daftly.
"We'll catch a cab. Is that okay, Hermione?" Harry asked her rubbing her back,
Hermione nodded and Harry turned to Ron, "Will you pay Ron?" Harry asked handing him his wallet, "Give the lady one of the notes in there," he finished, taking Hermione outside with him and quickly hailing a taxi.
Harry told the driver the address while he situated Hermione in the car and made sure she was comfortable. A few seconds later Ron came out and handed Harry his wallet, still munching on his bag of crisps.
Harry snatched the crisps out of Ron's hands and threw them in a nearby rubbish bin.
"Oi!"
"She gets sick when you eat that shite in front of her!" he said with irritation, climbing into the car after Hermione and then being followed by Ron.
They arrived to Hermione's flat without incident. Harry wasted no time carrying Hermione to her bedroom and placing her in bed, laying the familiar comforter over her gently. Ron came in a few seconds later with a damp cloth and bowl in case she had another wave of nausea.
"Thank you," she rasped as he lay the towel on her forehead.
"Can we get you anything else?"
"No, I'm fine. I'm sorry about ruining," she took a deep breath, "lunch."
"Don't worry about it Hermione we can do it again some other time," Harry commented, lazily stroking her arm. She opened an eye to look at him and he took it as a gesture to stop.
"Yeah, I'll stop by tonight to check up on you and then if you're feeling better I can run out and get some food and we can just eat in," Ron said with a triumphant smile, seemingly knowing how nice of an offer that was. Harry however turned his eyes up in annoyance since he was about to offer the same thing.
Hermione nodded solemnly and then rolled over so she was facing away from the boys.
"I think I'll take a kip," she said dismissively with a small wave of her hand.
"Alright, feel better," Harry said, patting her arm.
Harry got off the bed and headed out towards the door. He noticed Ron wasn't following him when he was in the hallway so he turned around and could see Ron on the bed, kissing Hermione's cheek and saying something to her. He seen her nod, he kissed her again and then walked out.
"Are you going to come back to the Burrow with me?" Ron asked eagerly.
"What for?"
"So we can finish lunch," he said dubiously. Harry stared at his best mate in disbelief for a few seconds before shaking his head.
"No, Ron. I think I'll just go home."
"Alright, suit yourself mate." Ron was the first to apparate as soon as they were outside of Hermione's door, leaving Harry to turn around and stare at the closed door. Arguing with himself whether he should go back in or not, he quickly shook his head again and apparated the kilometre away from his flat.
---
Harry apparated outside of Hermione's flat, hands laden with various potion vials and a bag with chicken noodle soup inside. It had been almost a week since Ron and him had dropped a sick Hermione off at her flat from a disastrous lunch outing. He felt a bit ashamed that he hadn't kept in contact with her to see how she was doing. As he readjusted the things in his hands so he could knock on the door, he felt reassured, knowing Hermione would understand since he had just started Auror training. They were very strenuous days, and Harry pretty much woke up and went to work and then when he came home at night fell asleep immediately.
However, he put a grin on his face as he heard footsteps coming to answer the door.
Harry's smile dropped as the door swung open.
"Oh, hiya mate! What'd you bring me?" Ron asked merrily, reaching for the brown paper bag. Harry moved away from him quickly and frowned at him.
"What are you doing here, Ron?" he asked in a rude tone, not dismissing the fact that Ron was only wearing a pair of black track pants and nothing else.
Ron was about to answer when another voice beat him to it, "Harry? Is that you?"
Harry ignored Ron and stalked past him, approaching the sofa that Hermione was stationed at.
Hermione smiled when he came into view, "Is that all for me?" she asked in a hopeful tone, eyeing up the vials fervently.
"Yes," Harry said monotonously, sitting down in front of her on the coffee table. He could tell she was wearing an overly large white shirt (the kind that Ron often wore) and a small pair of shorts under the blanket that was wrapped around her.
Harry quickly pulled out the chicken soup and handed it to her with the plastic spoon he had been given at the restaurant.
"Thank you, Harry," she said in an appreciative tone, taking the soup in her mouth greedily as soon as the lid was off.
"Mmm, Aurora's soup is the best. I haven't really been able to eat anything else lately besides soup," she commented, continuing to eat.
"Solid foods seem to make her sick at the sight of them, so we've been living off the deli's soup down the street," Ron added coming to sit next to her.
Harry didn't even spare a glance at him and chose to ignore the part where he basically told him that he'd been spending the night with her. "You sound better," Harry said tightly, forcing himself to keep cool.
Hermione nodded enthusiastically, "I've just been locked up in the house but I guess it's been good for me. I haven't been sick in two days," she said with a triumphant smile.
Harry returned the smile, "I'm sorry I wasn't by sooner, I started auror training though and the first few days make it seem like I'll never have a single moment to myself ever again."
Hermione smiled good-naturedly, "I figured that would be the reason. Kingsley must run a tight ship, eh?" Harry nodded at this and she continued, "And don't beat yourself up about not contacting me sooner, Ron's been taking care of me pretty well," she finished patting Ron's knee with a smile.
Harry took his eyes away from their contact and looked back to the phials, "Well I was on an errand at St. Mungo's and I managed to get away to get you a few potions," Harry held up the first one which was bright yellow, "Here's a flu-be-gone potion and the others are a nausea remedy and pepper-up potion."
"Thank you so much Harry. Maybe now I'll be able to get out of the flat," she said with a hopeful raise of her eyebrows as she took another spoonful from her soup. "And you can go home," she added with a wistful grin at Ron, "Your mother's probably livid at me for keeping you away from her for this long.
Ron smiled, "No worries Hermione, I'm sure she'd understand. Plus George told me I could take as much time off as I needed to get you back on your feet. I'm yours as long as you want me," he finished with a cheeky grin making Harry secretly roll his eyes. 'Well look who grew up and turned into bloody Prince Charming...'
Hermione looked at him with soft eyes. Harry couldn't take this anymore. He stood up and cleared his throat, "Well I have to go. I snuck out so I could get this to you-"
"Oh, Harry, you shouldn't of done that! I won't forgive you if you get in trouble your first week of training just for me."
"It'll be fine, 'Mione," he said using the nick name he used for her when they were alone to tell her that he didn't much fancy sitting there with her and a half naked Ron right now.
Hermione nodded her head and looked back down into her half eaten bowl, "Well thank you for the soup, Harry."
He nodded and bent to kiss her forehead, "Make sure you drink those potions up. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"
"Alright," Hermione nodded, setting the bowl on the table.
"Bye Ron," he said stiffly, not wanting to be blatantly rude, but still a little mean to him. He knew that he would be happy if his best friend's got together... he had to be... 'I guess I'm just a little pissed that he didn't tell me he'd be staying here...'
"Oh wait," Harry said turning back to Hermione and Ron. "I forgot about this," he pulled out a small bag which enlarged itself as soon as it was fully taken out of his jacket.
Harry handed her the floo powder, "Picked this up a few days ago."
Hermione smiled gratefully at him, "Thank you, Harry."
Harry nodded tersely before turning on his heel and taking off for the door. When he opened the door he could hear Ron asking Hermione why he didn't tell him about the floo powder and that he would have got her some for free. Harry smiled smugly, albeit unwillingly, and disapparated back to headquarters.
---
Next chapter on Lies for Love:
Harry was fuming. His cheeks were red, his hands were fisting his ebony locks, and he had stubborn tears rolling down his cheeks.
He slammed against the back wall of the office and let himself slide to the ground. 'How the hell could this be happening to him?!' Harry thought angrily.
…
Thanks for the phenomenal reviews! You guys are so generous I've decided to update regularly on Tuesday's and Saturday's. I might even start up on Thursday's as well… I know you'll all agree to that :] I'm just as excited to post chapters as you are to read them!!
Maybe I'll do it as a special treat or something… maybe there's a birthday coming up?…
Also, if you have some disturbing thoughts about some off the details in this chapter, I am happy to tell you that it will all be cleared up for the next chapter!