A/N: Thank you to everyone that reviewed. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Hermione glanced around the room. Her arrival the night before had been impromptu to say the least, and hurried. Lily had asked almost no questions. Hermione was both satisfied with this action and unnerved. Wouldn't the woman care about her reason for arriving here?
Hermione sat up, still in the clothes from the previous day. She adjusted the strap on her tank top and turned on the bedside lamp. The room flooded with light and her eyes were hit with the vibrant yellow.
Yellow like the sun.
The room wasn't hideous, it was tastefully decorated, but she could not imagine being in it. It was against everything she stood for, and furthermore the memories haunted her. If her thoughts stood correct the last time she had enter said room would have been the eve of her wedding. This had been when her nerves began kicking in.
Where she had begun second guessing every waking moment she had spent with Harry Potter.
Her eyes traveled the room taking it in and then surveying her own appearance. The room perhaps sent a message that she did not belong here, and yet this is where she ended up each and every time.
The smell of breakfast permeated the room. It hadn't been too long, but she could still remember Lily's amazing coking. The woman's skill in the kitchen had rightfully been passed down to her husband. And as Hermione considered that thought she understood how Harry had kept so well.
Harry Potter, too could be independent.
Hermione tossed her bag from the carpeted floor onto the fluffy cover. She wasted no time grabbing a change of clothes with the intention of washing up.
And perhaps that time in the shower could convince her to walk downstairs, swallow her pride and have a decent conversation with her mother-in-law.
Hermione pulled herself from the bed and walked across the hallway to where the bathroom was. Hermione had barely steped inside before she stripped herself of her clothing and hopped in the shower. The water ran over her in waves.
Hermione had begun to take her usual quick shower before she realized that hse had plenty of time to kill. Despite the afternoon she planned with Mrs. Richardson her day was free. And there were no training sessions that she needed to oversee.
Harry was in his office simply rearranging the paperwork on his desk. He had finished his neglected paperwork from previous missions, and now was left unoccupied. He could feel thoughts of her slowly creeping back into his head.
She looked absolutely amazing. That much he was positive of.
"Did you forget about lunch?" asked Ron.
Harry looked up to see his long time frield Ronald Weasley on the other side of the door. Beside him was GIny, his younger sister. She sent a small grin and wave in his direction. A frown formed on his face. He wondered if it was simply Ginny's presence or the fact that he had forgotten.
"You forgot," admonished Ginny.
"Yes, I did," sighed Harry.
He decided that it was the fact that she was here. And perhaps a touch of it was the fact that he was aware that Hermione was back in town. Ever since Hermione left, Ginny hinted at a relationship.
"Alright," she sighed slowly. "You're forgiven, but we have to leave for lunch right now. I need to be back in my office in an hour. Important meeting."
"Well, I have a meeting in a half hour. I need to be there and mum wants to discuss something important."
Ron's eyebrows furrowed in questioning. He turned to his sister and asked her lif she would go and scrounge up lunch herself. He emptied his pockets of a few coins and passed them to her. She quietly agreed promising that she would soon return.
Ron waited until Ginny left before he walked across the room.
Harry wondered how his best friend would take the news. He could guess that he would not take the news well, but he could contain it. Best friends kept secrets.
"Hermione showed up at my door last night. She tried to explain to me that things had changed and she wanted to come back. She claims that she's learned from her mistakes and wishes to make amends."
"And I thought this would be about the felony you committed in her honor. Instead she's back to commit her own set of crimes. She's only going to drag you down, Harry. Drag you down until you have nothing left. Career wise and emotionally."
Harry groaned. Ron obviously wasn't handling this well. And the red haired man didn't stop there. He chose to continue his rant.
"The papers are right when they say you've lost your mind. People are still talking around the office about how you're married to the leader of the Ambrosia clan. They're just waiting for you to prove that you're working on the other side."
"Don't you think I know that? I want her to stay as far away from me as possible, but it gets harder by the second. She wants to give this another try, and I can't help but think that perhaps she means it this time."
"It's none of my business."
Harry had been waiting for that affirmation during this conversation. It now had a purpose and they could attempt to go somewhere with those words.
"Hermione was our best friend at Hogwarts. What is it that has changed so much?
"Back then I didn't know who she was. And if I had known back then what I know now, I wouldn't have gone near her. And perhaps you can't help but love her Harry. But you have to admit that there is so much that is unknown to us on the topic of Ambrosia. And for someone of her intellect to be mixed up in something so destructive is not a good thing."
Harry had to admit that it was a problem. Hermione had a horrible temper that you did not want to cross. Things had to be done her way. But she also had another side. A side that he absolutely loved.
It captivated him. And to this day he simply couldn't let go.
Ginny thankfully reappeared levitating three brown bags. Harry knew the largest one was his. Enough for lunch, dinner, and breakfast the following morning. Harry smiled accepting the bag before he cleared his desk. The three of them sat around the table talking.
Then a question popped into his head:
Where had she gone?
Hermione was alone at Godric's Hollow as Lily had left for work approximately two hours ago. Instead of eating breakfast as she had planned Hermione simpy sat on the bed staring at the wal. Hunger had not seemed to faze her until she snuck a glance at her watch.
She was indeed late for the event she had scheduled with her neighbor. Hermione looked through her bag and realized that she had nothing to wear. She stood and tried to appparate to Grimmauld, but soon realized that Harry had not been joking about his disapproval of her.
Hermione looked at the pair of trainers on the floor. They rubber was chaffed around the sides, and threatening to pull itelf apart. They looked battered and beaten. Her wand hand itched to be used and so did her wand, but she knew that she couldn't.
There was no doubt that they would be tracking Lily's house for signs of Hermione's magic.
"I'll have to cancel," she sighed.
Not because she wanted to, but for safety precautions. Racking her brain for a few moments she remembered the woman's number. And soon afterwards navigated around the cottage until she located a muggle phone. Dialing the number, Hermione soon after cancelled the engagement promising that it would be rescheduled at her earliest convenience.
In her heart Hermione knew that she didn't want to speak to her. She wasn't ready to face the questions nor did she want to stuff her mouth with cookies. That would imply some female bonding that she didn't want to partake in. It would also be against her fitness regimen which she was strict on.
Hermione dropped the phone that she had been cradling in her hands. It fell behind the bedskirt. She reached a hand out to retrieve it. Her hands felt the phone, but also a piece of paper. Hermione sat up curious to examine her find.
She turned it over instantly noticing the handwriting.
It was Harry's.
Hermione's heart leapt into her throat. She could remember the nights before the wedding. Hermione could even remember the wedding day. But everything after that she desperately wanted to forget.
Without even reading the first word of his slated handwriting she wante a do over. She wanted a chance, perhaps a time turner, in which she could talk herself into staying. Prevent the horrible, horrible realization that she was having.
The gravity of what she had done was sinking in.
Hermione,
I can't wait to see you today. I have gone twenty four hours without seeing you before, but these twenty four are the hardest I have ever endured. The next time we see one another we will be husband and wife. I love you for the things that you make me feel, not for the things that everyone has claimed against you. I can't wait for us to be build a life together.
A family together.
Harry was never the most poetic person, nor the freest with affection. So this message coming from him then had meant the world to her. In fact it still did. And it made her look forward to their wedding night even more.
But the hours between the reading of the note and their departure to the hotel proved to be to many.
By the time the wedding was long over, and the reception ended, Hermione had talked herself out of it. She wasn't ready for a family, she wasn't ready for the final step in making their commitment official, and she was not ready to put it all to rest.
And now surprisingly she wanted him back. But Hermione was yet to be decided on the rest of those subjects. Perhaps they would remain unanswered.
A/N: Please review.
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