*Disclaimer: Pffft. Yeah. I'm JK Rowling, and I'm backing H/Hr, even after all called all the H/Hr shippers "militant". Ha! Jeez, if I was Jo, I'd totally re-write the last 3 books, anyway! So no, not her, not making money of this… nothing, zilch, zero. Happy? Kthnx
*AN: It has been a long time! I will spare all of you the excuses and just get down to posting the chapter! *laughs* Erm, this one isn't all that great… I do apologise, but it's just one of those chapters that kind of set up different storylines and stuff… so I wouldn't be offended if I got bad reviews or anything. It's alright.
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Chapter 6: Living, Breathing, Walking, Talking Complication
'Knock. Knock.'
"Coming!" Hermione called through the flat. The three of them had just been talking in the sitting room. With Ginny's letter to them in her hand, she sighed as she reached the door. Placing her hand on the doorknob she opened it carefully, to see a distraught looking Ginny on the other side, suitcases in both hands.
Hermione said nothing and looked up at her best friend slowly, concern trapped in her eyes. Within seconds, Ginny dropped her suitcases and suddenly began sobbing uncontrollably as she stood in the doorway, not moving a muscle.
Hermione - having picked up Harry's quick reflexes - quickly stepped over the threshold and wrapped her arms tightly around Ginny, as she began to sob into her shoulder.
"It's okay, Gin." She cooed into her raven-coloured hair. "You did the right thing." She added, rubbing her back in circles, soothingly. Neither moved from where they stood in the doorway, as it stayed ajar, the suitcase carelessly plunked on the ground beside them.
"Herm, who's at the -?" Harry called, making his way down the corridor and out into the front hall to see
Hermione and Ginny hugging near the door. His eyes travelled from the heart-wrenching sight to the suitcases on the
floor and mumbled insults at an imaginary Draco.
"What's going on?" Ron called to Harry as he too left the sitting room and came out into the hall to see a teary-eyed Ginny and a concerned looking Hermione. "She came back." He whispered softly to himself, also seeing the suitcases on the floor.
Both Harry and Ron walked toward the two girls. Ron didn't try hugging Ginny, because he didn't know how she would respond. He left Harry to guide Hermione and Ginny to the sitting room.
Wrapping an arm around Ginny's shoulders, Harry exchanged a worried glance with Hermione. Ron shut the door and picked up Ginny's suitcases off of the floor, making his way to the guest bedroom where she had stayed already for the past two weeks.
Once he reached the sitting room, he saw Ginny sitting in between Hermione and Harry on the couch. He came in awkwardly and went over to sit in the armchair beside where they sat. He looked over at his sister, sporting the same concerned glaze in his eyes that his two best friends both seemed to have.
"What happened, Ginny?" Hermione asked, the only one brave enough to speak.
Through sobs, Ginny gave them the whole story. She paused in some parts, almost as if she wasn't able to continue, but then surprised them all by plowing on. Once finished, a new wave of tears hit, betraying her and sliding down her cheeks.
"Do you think I should have left? Do you think I made the right choice?" She asked, giving each of them a worried look. "I mean... he did look sorry. I left when I was angry. Mum always said, you should never make decisions when you're angry." She began to babble restlessly. She always seemed to do this when she was nervous.
Hermione held up her hand to silence her and once she stopped speaking, she nodded her head. "Yes, you did the right thing, Ginny. Right now, what you're feeling is shock and shallow regret. It will wear off. Your heart will catch up with your mind and realise what you did was a good thing. But until then, you're going to feel like you should never have left, it's only natural." She spoke calmly to her, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
Ron sat in the chair, completely frozen. He didn't know what to say, or do and figured he would sit this one out and let Harry and Hermione deal with it. His sister was still mad at him, as far as he knew. He didn't want to test the waters just yet.
Ginny felt his gaze upon her and looked over at her brother sitting on the chair by himself. Without warning, she stood up from where she sat on the couch and crossed the space between them, leaning in and giving Ron a tight hug. His chin grazed her shoulder and he looked over at Harry and Hermione, not knowing exactly what to do.
"Hug her back!" Hermione mouthed with exaggeration, gesturing for him to go on.
Ron slowly, but surely wrapped his arms around his sister, a slight smile stretching across his face as he relaxed into the hug.
"I'm so sorry, Ron." Ginny mumbled into his ear, hugging onto him tighter. A lone tear streaked down her cheek once more, although she had calmed down long before and didn't feel like crying.
"Don't be. I made a complete idiot out of myself." He mumbled back, into her hair. He patted her back just before she let go and he smiled up at her as she straightened out. "You were right to say what you did, Gin. You've always been right." He spoke softly, never breaking eye contact.
The two siblings both broke out into identical grins. Even as 'down-in-the-dumps' as they both felt, they still had each other and their friends and that's all that seemed to matter to them, now. They found strength and comfort in each other. Ron promised himself that he would never let anything come to harm Ginny and he meant it.
No more time for playing games, no more time for screw-ups. Ron and Ginny both knew deep down, things were serious.
-------
"What can we possibly do, Harry?" Hermione looked at him, placing her hand on her hips in a menacing sort of way. She was worried and annoyed at the same time. Not a great combination of emotions, in Harry's opinion.
"I don't know, Herm..." But then, he paused. A wild grin suddenly spread across his face as an idea popped into his head, "We have to get drink in them!" He said suddenly, his voice getting louder and more excited with the discovery of his genius plan.
"We're going to fix Ron's family mess... with alcohol?" She looked at him sternly, her hand still firmly intact on her hip, as she watched him rush around the Weasley's kitchen in an attempt to find liquor.
"Yes! I mean, granted, I haven't had much of a family to test this on... but all people respond well to alcohol! It makes them happy, Hermione. And we need to make them happy! Half of them are still angry that they've been tricked into coming here!" He looked back up at her, speaking frantically from his place on the floor. He propped himself on his knees, digging through a bottom cupboard.
Mission : Must. Find. Alcohol!
"Harry. You don't mix angry people with alcohol! You just don't! People could get rowdy, we don't want that!" She argued with him, throwing her hands up in frustration.
Just then, Harry completely stopped the wild movement of his arms in the cupboard, yanked them out and turned himself to face Hermione. "Oh? And do you have a better idea?" He looked up at her, arching his eyebrow in suspicion.
"Well... no. But, but! Alcohol, plus angry people, equals chaos!" She formulated a word equation, trying to make Harry understand. But it was no use, he had already rolled his eyes and went back to rummaging for some fire whiskey.
Both Harry and Hermione heard a yell, making them jump and looking questioningly at the kitchen door. Suddenly, Ron came bursting through the door, red-faced and out of breath. "They're like animals in there! Ginny and I are the only sane ones!"
He came clambering over and found Harry kneeling on the floor, while Hermione towered over him, glaring in annoyance.
"What are you doing, mate?" He turned to Harry, thinking it best to start interrogating him first. Merlin knows he didn't want to mess with Hermione while she had that angry sort of glint in her eye.
"Looking for drink." He said simply, when he finally placed his hand on a bottle of whiskey. "Aha! Found some!" He pulled it out carefully and showed it to Ron, grinning. "This will solve all of their problems."
Ron winced when he saw the bottle. He had already been off of alcohol for a month at this point, but looking at it was still hard to endure, without wanting to drink some. Even then, he knew, one sip led to the whole bottle.
"Harry, you know that I can think of about a hundred-and-fifty-six ways to destroy that bottle with not only my wand, but my bare hands, right?" She said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, I know. But you won't, because even as against this as you are, you know it'll work." He grinned up at her cheekily, placing the bottle on the floor and standing up, only to pick the bottle up once more.
She rounded on Ron, making him jump. "Tell me I'm right, Ron! You've had bad past experiences with alcohol! You know where I'm coming from when I say that alcohol won't fix things!" She said frantically, giving him a pleading look.
Ron froze for a moment, Hermione and now Harry both giving him looks, as if they were silently vying for his vote of approval. They always did this when they disagreed. Although, to be honest, they rarely disagreed. It was usually Harry getting these looks of desperation from himself and Hermione.
"Uhh..." Ron began to crack under the pressure. "Well - I don't know. Harry has a point."
Harry punched the air in triumph and Hermione groaned in annoyance and frustration.
"Oh! Take his side!" She cut an evil glance at Harry doing a victory dance behind her. Folding her
arms over her chest stubbornly, she looked at the both of them in turn warningly, "When the whole family is
fighting drunkenly, I'm not helping you get out of it. You're on your own. You make the mess, you clean it
up." She finished firmly.
"Come on Hermione. We're not going to give them enough to get drunk! Just enough to... loosen them all up a bit. We need to get them all to start talking to one another. Perhaps, try to get them to forgive and forget, you know?" He said, using a very persuasive tone of voice.
Hermione sighed. She looked between both Ron and Harry and rolled her eyes. "I think your stupidness is wearing off on me."
"Why do you say that?" Harry asked, with curiosity evident in his voice.
"Because even though I know this is a blatant recipe for disaster, it's starting to make more and more sense." Hermione furrowed her brow slightly, speaking slowly as if she only seemed to just process this fact in her head.
"Ah, that's the beauty of us stupid people." Ron said grinningly, as he led the way into the dining room full of the Weasley family - more like 'the arena of lions' - pushing the door open for the other two. "We leech smartness off of brainy people."
Hermione gave him the death glare as the kitchen door closed behind her.
Dammit. If she doesn't stop that, one day, she really will kill me! And then what will she do?! Ah, crap. I bet she'll probably donate my organs to mountain trolls and they'll probably eat them for dinner...ugh. Ron kidney soup. Blehk! -- Wow... I have wayyyy too much time on my hands...
-------
"I can't believe it." Hermione said to Harry, awestruck as the whole Weasley family (well, minus Percy), Harry and herself sat at the table, everything calm. People were having polite conversation. No one was yelling, no one was picking things up in an angry manor, ready to chuck them across the room. Everything was peaceful.
Well, for now, anyway. She still wasn't completely convinced. There was still the rest of dinner and dessert to get through.
"I know, it worked better than I thought it would!" He grinned, spearing his fork into a piece of beef.
"Please pass the pepper, Bill." Charlie asked politely, seeing as the pepper was clearly beside Bill.
"Eating." He said simply, not making any movement towards the pepper. He continued to shovel his mother's wonderful cooking into his mouth, concentrating on his plate and not at all on Charlie who was now becoming very impatient.
"Can you please just pass it?" Charlie said, in an annoyed tone. He sighed heavily, he really didn't want to do this with him, now.
"Ugh. Here, I'll give it to you!" Ginny said, even more annoyed than Charlie seemed. She picked the pepper up and almost slammed it down right next to him. "Happy?" She said with mock sweetness.
Ron looked over at Ginny and mouthed, "You're supposed to be helping!"
"They're annoying me!" She mouthed back, throwing up her hands in slight frustration.
"No need to slam it down in front of me." Charlie mumbled under his breath, picking up the pepper shaker and sprinkling some onto his food.
"Well, you wanted the pepper, didn't you?!" Bill said testily, his eyes flaring. "I mean, you kept nagging me to give it to you, didn't you?" It seemed almost as if he wanted to start a fight with his brother, for no reason at all but to push his buttons.
"Well maybe if you had passed it to me when I asked you, I wouldn't have nagged about it!" Charlie retorted, his voice raising an octave.
"Well maybe if you weren't such a prat, you'd get it yourself!" Bill threw back at him coldly, his voice raising to match his brother's.
"That's bad table manors. I would've been reaching over food. It's impolite!" He shot at him angrily, "But you wouldn't know a thing about what's polite and impolite, would you?" Charlie said bitterly, letting go of his spoon as his fists clenched in rage. The spoon clattered against the plate and everyone went silent.
"Just because I look like I don't have any manors, doesn't mean I actually don't!" Bill sported black clothes, adorned with rock music symbols and his long black hair, which just seemed to add to his appearance of a 'rule-breaker'.
"You look like a rubbish bag." Charlie piped up, eyeing him up and down.
Bill grunted in anger and opened his mouth to raise his voice, "How dare you! You're always insulting my appearance, or my intelligence! I'm sick of it! You think you're better than me, Charlie. Well, you're not." He yelled, his voice booming through the room.
And without another word, he stood up and looked over, giving his father a nod of acknowledgement. Passing his mother, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, gave her a kiss on the cheek and quietly thanked her for the lovely meal. With a swish of his black cloak and the sound of his thick black boots thudding against the wooden floor, he was gone.
Ron sighed, letting his head fall on the empty place on the table. He began to mumble unintelligible words, in a frustrated and defeated whisper, everyone still silent. Upon hearing his mother address him, he lifted his head up from the table and turned to her.
"Yes, Mum?"
"Dear, what's wrong?" She asked, her brow furrowed with worry.
"What's... what's wrong?! You've got to be kidding me, Mum!" Standing up, he turned around to look at the whole table. "I'm sick and tired of all of this! I'm tired of the petty fights! I mean, look at the two of them!" He pointed directly at his brother Charlie and the space where Bill used to be.
"This whole thing started over pepper! It's not like Weasley's to fight over something as stupid as that! We always used to be strong and stick together. Even if we fought, we always made up, because we loved each other. There's no love in this house anymore."
A pause and a sigh, as he swallowed hard. His voice went oddly quiet as he spoke again, "And I have to say, I'm ashamed... and disappointed. No one seems to value their place in this family anymore." He finished quietly. With that, he too left the room. His footsteps could be heard through the back hall and then the sound of the door followed, as it creaked open and then snapped shut behind him.
Everyone sat in silence for a few more moments and it was enough to make Ginny's head spin with annoyance.
"So that's it? You're all going to sit there and watch the family be torn apart?" Ginny said, standing up from her seat, her voice loud and defiant. She was staring at her parents.
"Alcohol really works, hmm?" Hermione whispered to Harry, nudging him in the ribs slightly and giving him a disapproving eye.
"Hey, don't blame me." Harry whispered in reply, backing away slightly, as if trying to ease her out of glaring.
"What do you suggest we do, Ginny? You're all old enough to make your own decisions now. It wasn't like it
used to be. We can't force you all to make up with each other. You have to sort out your own problems. I will say
one thing, though. I hate to see the family like this." Mr. Weasley finished, a note of sadness in his voice as he
spoke.
His eyes bore into Ginny's and she sighed, her anger declining.
"I'm going to go check on Ron." She mumbled, following her brother's footsteps and closing the back door behind her as she left the house.
-------
Ron stood among the long grass that was hardly ever cut. It billowed in the wind, swirling and dancing around his ankles as he stood, looking up at the evening sky. He watched as the sun was making its familiar journey downward, the sky was changing colour with its absence.
"Hey." Ginny spoke softly, standing somewhere close behind him.
"Hey." Ron replied through a heavy sigh, recognising the kind voice. "What makes them want to fight, anyway?" He asked quietly, as he felt Ginny's presence now beside him.
"I don't know." She spoke, somewhere off to his left.
She too began to watch the beautiful sunset, plunging her hands into the pockets of her favourite jeans, as reds, pinks and oranges smeared themselves across the sky, like paints desperate to leave their mark. "I honestly don't know." Her voice was just above a whisper, now. So quiet, it almost blew away with the light wind.
"Life's just so complicated now." Ron moaned in frustration, turning to his sister. "How did you do it?"
Ginny looked slightly taken aback at his sudden question, "Do, what?"
"Deal with life? How did you manage to survive with Draco for that long? I know it must've been hard once he..." Ron hesitated slightly, not knowing whether she wanted to stay on this subject. He breathed out the last word of the sentence with baited breath, "...changed."
"I hung onto the fact that life would always throw you curve balls, you just have to find a new way to catch them each time. Stand in a new position, look at problems from a new angle, you know?" She said simply, shrugging.
He nodded, going back to looking at the darkening sky.
"I really did miss you, you know." She added, not looking at him. She too watched the sky darken into a soft pinkish-red, the sun almost gone and the orange completely faded from the canvas that was the sky. "I.. I kept telling myself that I would see you again, someday." Her voice cracked slightly, under the pressure of tears threatening to break the boundaries of her eye.
She remembered all the times she would lie awake in the bed her and Draco shared. All the times, she would stare at the moonstruck ceiling and wait for daylight to come. She would wish and pray that someone would wake her up, even though she knew she hadn't slept in days.
Ron was her rock. He was the one person she always trusted and always relied on. He was the closest family member to her, the one she had the strongest bond with. It always seemed like he was able to understand her the best, seeing as he was only a year older than her and still knew what it was like to go through what she had been currently going through at the time.
He turned to her for the second time in the space of fifteen minutes. "What?" He asked politely, not knowing if he quite heard her right.
Ginny sighed in slight annoyance, still fired up from the events during dinner.
"I said I MISSED you, Ron!" She snapped, sighing heavily as her voice broke even further and the first of many tears to come, betrayed her and slid down her cheek. It glistened a rosy pink, as the twilight shone on her face and her lip trembled as she could feel more tears on the way.
Without a word, without so much as a warning, or a hint, or even a look, Ron walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Once she could feel herself enclosed in his grasp, she suddenly began to sob noiselessly. Her cries were muffled by his shirt and her arms slowly, but surely encircled him.
"I..." A sniffle, "I.. really..." More tears slid down her cheeks, "I really loved him, Ron." She finally whispered, her grip tightening on him. "I loved him with all of my..." A deep breath, as another tear joined the many she had cried at the bottom of her chin, "...heart."
"Don't cry, he's not worth your tears, Gin." He said softly, pulling away from her ever-so-slightly as his hand reached up and wiped some of the tears from her cheek.
She clinged back onto him and mumbled into his chest, "Then why do I feel like I should?"
Her question went un-answered, as Ron began to coo into her hair. He told her everything would be alright, that she was strong enough to get through this and that she did the right thing. And as the sun began to disappear behind the rolling hills and the crickets began to sing, he did what every big brother did. He picked his little sister up when she fell down.
It had been so long, that Ginny had forgotten how nice that felt.
-------
"What am I supposed to do anyway, Nev?" Ginny spoke over her shoulder, as the two of them waited in line in Gringotts. Neville was getting his wages today.
He promised to take Ginny out somewhere nice and treat her to lunch and of course, she gladly obliged. She could do with a bit of cheering up.
"I don't know. You have to find a way to make them realise how stupid they're all acting. They are your family after all." He said simply, shrugging, a look of slight amusement evident in his crisp blue eyes. The beginnings of a smirk traced over his lips and he blinked, trying to hold back.
He couldn't help it, she was so cute when she was deep in thought.
Ginny turned around and saw him watching her, that look of pure amusement on his face. She had to smirk along with him, he always seemed to do this to her. She hit him on the forearm playfully, mumbling her warnings, "If you don't stop, I'll make you stop!" She said, through soft giggles.
"Next." The Gringotts goblin said coldly.
Neville and Ginny made their way up to the counter and Neville handed the Goblin the payslip. "Neville Joshua Longbottom. I'd like to make a withdrawal." He said smartly, his head held high, confidence reigning in his voice.
She smiled as she watched him. He was very different from the boy she became friends with in fourth year. He wasn't the same, he had changed. No longer was he the clumsy, unfortunate looking boy. He even put some of the good-looking wizards to shame.
His hair was a dark brown and slightly wavy. It was short, but not too short and fit nicely with his strong facial features. His eyes were a deep, crisp blue; nothing like Ginny's. They had a sort of joy and amusement behind them most of the time, that always matched his slight smirk.
He had grown to be quite tall and Ginny had to look up to him to make eye contact. His arms were strong, his body was thinner and healthy-looking. No longer was he the pudgey looking thing he used to be. Ginny even noticed that she seemed to get glares from witches in Diagon Alley and other public places, simply because she was so close to him and they were not.
Once Neville was given his money and made to leave, Ginny snapped out of her trance and followed him quickly.
"So, where are we headed?" She said with a grin, looking up at him as they walked down Diagon Alley.
"Well, Miss 'Rememberall'. I figured we would first go to the money exchange over there and then we would head to a muggle restaurant." He returned her grin, the two of them making their way to a newly opened building with 'Money Exchange' written across its sign. Ever since the war ended, muggle-borns were more welcomed by all in the wizarding community and things were made just that much easier for them to live between the two worlds.
Ginny blushed slightly. A few years ago, they had made up a small private joke between the two of them. Neville had said that she was so close to him, that she was the red smoke in the rememberall he always kept in his pocket.
"Okay." She said cheerfully. Even after all she'd been through, she could never forget how to smile around him.
Neville had helped her through most of her rough times over the last year or so with Draco. She was too ashamed to go back to her family, so she went to him. That was a real turning point in their friendship and they had been inseparable ever since.
Neville, who saw the trio regularly, managed to keep his silence concerning her whereabouts. Ginny still couldn't believe he managed to pull off this feat for the better part of a year and a half.
"Anyway, so it's all said and done?" He asked, in a relieved manor, as both him and Ginny were headed in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron, to enter back out into the muggle world. "You've really left him?" He added, his voice picking up slightly in eagerness.
"Well, I caught Draco with another woman, Neville. I mean, I know I've taken a lot of crap from him, but that's just the last straw. I don't even know how he could do something like that to me. After all we've been through." She said bitterly, as the pair halted in front of the infamous alley wall, acting as an inconspicuous gateway to the muggle world.
She pulled her wand out automatically and tapped a certain pattern of bricks in the correct order, standing back as the wall parted and folded back to build an archway, which led them through to the back of the Leaky Cauldron.
"Besides, he's a scumbag, I should've listened to you back in seventh year when you told me so. Remember, in the Great Hall?" She looked up at him, a small smirk dancing across her lips, as the two of them walking side by side now down a crowded London street.
"How could I forget?" He returned the smirk, as the two of them crossed the busy road. Neville's hand just held the lower part of her arm, as he looked around him carefully to make sure she was safe. He then guided her across the road. It was a very small gesture, that was almost a frequent occurrence. Neville was brought up with manors and common courtesy.
This frequent occurrence went by un-noticed, almost every time; but not today.
Ginny smiled as she stepped up onto the curb and his hands immediately let go of their gentle grip of her lower arm. The two of them continued to walk down the street, this time on the opposite side.
Neville continued to speak as if he hadn't been interrupted by the rushing sounds of traffic, or the annoying bleeps of the crosswalk signs.
"We were in the middle of the Great Hall and I screamed out that Draco was a bad seed. The only problem was, the whole Slytherin population was sitting on the other side of the room, along with Malfoy himself. How could I forget?" Neville chuckled softly. Reminiscing was always one of his favourite past times.
"Yeah, but you took them down, didn't you Nev?" Ginny grinned up at him slyly, "You showed them all who's boss and ended up hexing the life out of him! He was in the Hospital Wing for a week afterwards! I don't think anyone doubted your abilities again." She added, her grin widening.
"Once I had taken Malfoy down, it was as if three thirds of the school finally welcomed me with open arms, after about 6 years of ridicule. I was a pudgy little swot back then, wasn't I?" Neville scrunched his nose up slightly, in disgust, as he shuddered at the image of his former self flashing in his mind's eye.
Never, never again...
"Oh shush!" She replied carefully, slapping him softly on the arm. "No putting yourself down! Don't make me call you 'Treville' again!" She giggled uncontrollably. She too, had made up a private joke between the two of them, about Neville and his pet toad, Trevor.
The poor toad had actually leaped onto her face one day. Ginny was absolutely mortified and Neville laughed extremely hard. For this, Ginny giggled and threatened playfully, to turn him into a toad and call him 'Treville'. Needless to say, the name stuck ever since.
"Should I be worried that you actually know how to perform a transfiguration charm with those exact effects?" Neville said through chuckles.
"Yes! You should be!" Ginny stuck her tongue out at him and giggled some more. "Anyway, so, what restaurant are we going to?" She asked excitedly, looking up at him with a certain gleam of enjoyment in her eyes. She always loved spending time with him.
Finding good friends was considered to be 'gold' and she could honestly say, she felt like the richest person in the world.
-------
"I love this movie." Hermione smiled, as both her and Harry were cuddled up to each other on the couch.
Harry sighed in content. He was paying more attention to Hermione, than the movie itself. The rise and fall of her chest as she took in a breath and let it back out again, the small curve of a smile that was forming on her lips, the warmth of her body next to his; he was cherishing every moment with her in his arms.
He smiled, "Yeah, it's a good movie." He replied, slightly dazed. He finally stole a moment away from looking at Hermione to gaze at the TV. It really was one of his favourite movies, but he didn't seem extremely interested in it, now that he had something beautiful to watch.
'Buuuuzzzzz!'
Harry and Hermione both sighed in annoyance.
Hermione looked at him, giving him pleading eyes, as if not to answer the intercom. She was comfortable.
"I'll only be a moment." He whispered softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead, as he gently moved her off of him and got up. Walking over to the intercom, he simply pressed 'unlock', not even bothering to check who it was. He figured it was Ron, coming back from his travels.
He'll let himself in...
He walked back over to the couch and sat back down, Hermione moving over to lean against him and his arm wrapping back around her waist. They continued watching the movie, huddled together until...
'Knock, knock!'
"Argh." He mumbled into her hair. Sighing heavily in annoyance once again, he stood up from his place on the couch and began to walk toward the door. "You could've let yourself in Ron." He called to it, knowing his voice could be heard through the wood. He halted and put his hand on the doorknob, "You have the..."
His face was etched with a look of complete shock as he threw the door back and revealed the person behind it. He stood there, frozen, a lack of intelligent things to say reaching his brain. "...key." He finished his sentence softly.
"Hi Harry." Cho Chang mumbled shyly at him. She waved slightly, giving him a small, awkward smile.
"What are you doing here?" Harry said, the shock causing his tone of voice to be extremely rude and blunt. "I thought you lived in Canada, now?" He rubbed his eyes behind his glasses and took another look at her. No, he wasn't dreaming.
"Oh, I was only there on a training course. I want to become a healer in St. Mungo's, so I had to do some work in a foreign country. Some new programme they've set up." Cho shrugged.
"Right... but how did you find out where I live?" He asked, scratching the back of his head slightly, in confusion.
"Harry, who's at the door?" Hermione called from the sitting room.
He didn't answer. He couldn't answer, for he didn't know how to make this sound any less far-fetched than it already was.
"I talked to a few of your team mates on the English team. I'm friends with Jake O'Riely!" She said cheerfully, as Harry heard movement from inside the flat. Hermione's feet against the wooden floor of the corridor, to be exact.
Uh-oh. Hermione's coming. Mental note: KILL Jake tomorrow at practice! Well, if I'm not killed in the middle of a cat fight, first...
"Um, that's nice, but I really have to go now... bye!" He said quickly, getting ready to close the door. He managed it, but not in time. When he turned around, his back to the door, Hermione was standing beside him.
She smiled slightly, "Why didn't you answer me?" She asked playfully, looking up at him. "Who was at the door?" Her voice had a light touch of curiosity.
"No one." Harry said, trying to sound casual, but he went up an octave in the process. "Um... it was a pizza man. Went to the wrong door."
'Knock, knock!'
Harry's back tensed, as he heard the knock on the door from behind him. He looked at Hermione, his eyes slightly wide.
"Harry, answer the door. Someone's knocking." She said simply, chuckling softly, as she walked toward the door. She pushed him out of the way slightly and grasped the doorknob, pulling it open.
"Harry, I -" Cho started her sentence and saw Hermione standing at the other end of the door this time.
Hermione's face twisted in rage. "YOU!" She screamed suddenly. With another quick movement, she grabbed the edge of the door and slammed it into Cho's face, screaming in frustration and stomping back into the sitting room.
"Hermione!" Harry called after her, jogging and halting in front of the doorway of the sitting room.
She was sitting on the couch, her legs and arms crossed as she scowled at the TV, not really seeming to take any of what she was watching in.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Harry asked softly, coming in and sitting beside her. He tried to put his arm on her shoulder and she roughly shrugged it off. "Hermione, please say something." He continued in his calm voice, not wanting to escalate the situation.
"She... how could you? Where did she -?" A million thoughts and questions were running through her head at once, as she looked over at Harry, hurt in her eyes.
He was stung by her gaze, but pulled himself together to answer her questions. "Hermione, I had no idea she was coming. She found out where I lived off of a friend of mine on the quidditch team. Quite frankly, I'm just as shocked as you are." He said simply.
"Then why did you lie to me, when I asked who was at the door?" She shot the question at him coldly, not bothering to even look at him.
"Because I know how you always get at even the mention of Cho. I didn't want to see you all angry like this. I was telling her to leave when you came out of the sitting room." He said, his eyes blazing with honesty. "Look, let's just forget about her, okay? She's not important to me, you are." He smiled slightly, "You always have been more important to me, even if I was too caught up in something, or someone else to see it."
Hermione's face softened and her lips turned into a reluctant smile. She looked at Harry, with a gleam in her eyes, even if she was still trying to look grumpy.
"You can't just explain this all away, Harry! You lied to m-!" Quickly, Harry pressed a kiss to her lips, cutting her off. Within seconds, she relaxed into the kiss, simply melting.
"I love you and I'm sorry." He whispered into her hair, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"You better be." She whispered back playfully, hitting him lightly on the chest as she raised an eyebrow in his direction.
~*~*~*~
So, Granger is his girlfriend now, huh? I'll quickly change that. Took me ages just to contact the bloody bugger!
Cho walked down the dark, busy road in search of a way home. She sighed in slight annoyance, the traffic lights would just not change and she needed to get across the street.
Cursing softly, she pulled her wand out and flicked the traffic lights so they would change from green to red. Many cars screeched to a halt, some crashing into each other. Grinning gleefully at the destruction she had just caused with a flick of her wand, she walked carefully across the street in front of a heap of cars.
She thinks she's so great, slamming the door in my face!
Her temper rose slightly, as she looked over to her left, seeing a taxi and waving to it to get it's attention. It stopped and she quickly got into the back of it.
She told the driver her address and smiled politely.
The driver nodded in understanding and drove off, down the quiet street, just west of the centre of London. She took one last bitter look at the block of flats, as the tiny black car she was in slowly passed them by.
Ha. Granger doesn't know who she's dealing with...
She continued to grin, as they left the building behind.
It never occurred to Cho that life was complicated. It was simply never a concept she had to face. She was the one who always seemed to make life complicated for other people. She found this skill quite useful through the years and finally, she was going to get to test it out one last time.
And once I have him... maybe if I get bored, I'll give him back. Merlin knows she'd take my leftovers...
After all, she was a living, breathing, walking, talking complication. Some would call her a 'home-wrecker' of sorts. She felt no guilt, no remorse, no sympathy.
She was good at what she did and she loved every minute of it.
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*AN: See? Not the greatest chapter. Ah well, the next one's better *laughs* There's more excitement in it, if you know what I mean! *winks*
Anyway, read and reply! =D