please don't eat me ! *dodges random fruit* i know, this is getting ridiculous. but i'll fix it, i swear.
xo-
michelle
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Day One- continued.
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"Hermione!" Charlotte called, knocking incessantly on her flat door. Once the door was opened, Charlotte immediately stepped inside.
"Where's Harry?" she asked, peering around Hermione.
"He's getting a tour of the building," Hermione answered. "What is it with you and Harry, anyway?"
"You're kidding, right?" Charlotte said, staring at Hermione as if she had grown another head. "He's gorgeous! Are you absolutely positive that he's married?"
"Yes," said Hermione. "Pretty positive."
"Mmm," Charlotte hummed, tilting her head to the side and closing her eyes briefly. "What I wouldn't give to-"
"Char!" Hermione interrupted. "That's enough. Why don't you go do something productive?"
"Harry's productive," Charlotte pointed out, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Ha ha," Hermione said sarcastically. "Very funny. Go." Good naturedly, she pushed Charlotte out the door.
"She's worse than I am," Hermione murmured, smiling. Sighing, she walked over to her bookshelf and grabbed one of her guilty pleasures- a romance novel.
~*~
"Hermione!" Harry called, stepping inside the flat. "I'm back. D'you wanna go out for a bit of lunch?"
Just then he heard her humming- he guessed she was fixing her hair in the bathroom. Walking over to the door, he opened it and was about to speak, but the words caught in his throat.
Holy-
He shut the door to the bathroom quickly, but the door to his thoughts remained wide open.
Holy-oh my-was she really-?
"I walked in on Hermione in the shower," Harry muttered to himself, leaning up against the wall. "Bloody-" he took a deep breath, trying to form coherent thoughts. "This doesn't mean anything," he murmured. "It was an accident- nothing more. Yeah, it's no big deal."
Just then Hermione stepped out of the bathroom, shaking her wet hair with her fingers. Try as he might, Harry couldn't keep his eyes off the towel wrapped loosely around the body he had seen mere minutes ago.
Dammit, he thought. So much for not a big deal.
"Oh!" Hermione said, startled. "Harry, you scared me. I thought you were out getting a tour of the building."
"We finished," Harry said, focusing his eyes on the fogged up mirror, just to the left of Hermione's head. "And I was wondering if you wanted to go out and get some lunch."
"Just give me a few minutes," Hermione said, smiling. "I need to get dressed."
No, you don't, he thought. But what he said was, "Okay." Turning, Harry walked into the living room and sat on the couch.
Looking at the pillow, he noticed something partially sticking out- it appeared to be a book. Picking it up, Harry laughed softly.
"A trashy romance novel," he murmured, more of a statement than a question. "I can't believe Hermione actually has one of these." Flipping it open to the bookmarked page, he read a paragraph or two. He would have read more- his curiosity had surpassed every feeling in his body that told him to put it down- but he heard Hermione's door close just then, her feather light footsteps coming down the hallway. Hurriedly, he pushed the book back underneath the pillow, exactly how he had found it.
"Hey, Harry, I think we should get going or we're gonna-" Hermione said, stopping short when she saw where Harry was sitting. "What are you doing?" she asked, her eyes wide- trying and failing to act nonchalant.
"Sitting here," Harry replied simply, gesturing to the couch and purposely putting his hand a bit too close to the pillow hiding Hermione's secret.
"Well it's time to get up," Hermione said lightly, her eyes feigning carelessness- but Harry could see the anxiety behind them. She quickly took Harry's hand and hauled him off the couch, pulling him in the direction of the door. To Harry's confusion- and delight- she didn't let go of his hand the whole way there.
~*~
"Welcome," the woman behind the counter said, smiling. "What can I get you two today?"
"I'll have a ham and cheese slim," Hermione said. "And Harry, I don't really know what you might want…"
"I'll have a Bootlegger Club," Harry said, smiling at the woman.
"Alright," the woman said, smiling back. After they had paid for their sandwiches, they took a seat at a table close to the windows.
"Bootlegger Club?" Hermione asked, taking a bite of her ham and cheese.
"Roast beef, turkey, lettuce, tomato, mayo," Harry said. "It's nearly the same whenever I go to a sandwich shop."
"I see," said Hermione. The two ate in silence for a while. Harry broke it.
"So, Hermione," he said, putting his elbows on the table so he could lean closer to her. "You do have a job, right? I mean, it'd be totally out of character if you didn't." Hermione laughed softly.
"Yes, I have a job," she answered. "I'm a secretary- I didn't feel the need to push for anything above that. But I'm on my… honeymoon leave. Boss was nice enough to give me three weeks." She paused, not sure how to ask the question forming in her mind.
"How about you?" she asked slowly. "Do you work anywhere?"
"I've been working for the majority of my life," Harry answered, speaking so quietly Hermione had to lean in closer just to hear him. "The defeat of Voldemort and everything, you know? I've decided to take a few years off- have some fun. I figured I deserve that much, at least."
"You do," Hermione reassured him, placing one of her small hands on his larger, calloused one. "Without you, we wouldn't be here."
"Yeah, I guess," Harry said. Suddenly he recoiled, taking both hands off the table. "But without me, all those innocent people would still be alive."
"But more would be dead," said Hermione simply, lacing her fingers together. "They don't call you Savior of the Wizarding World for nothing."
That shut him up. He resigned to crossing his arms across his chest and sighing in slight frustration.
I wonder what else could render him speechless… the single-minded imp in the back of Hermione's head had returned.
"Mione?" Harry asked, looking at her with a curious expression on his face. Hermione shook her head and blinked her eyes a couple of times.
"Hmm?" she said, tilting her head to the side. "Sorry, spaced out for a moment there. What were you saying?"
"Why don't we head home?" Harry suggested for the second time. "This place is getting kind of crowded."
"Okay," Hermione said, standing up. Harry followed suit, and the two walked home- remaining within three feet of each other, but not touching.
~*~
"I like this couch," Harry stated, sitting down on the couch he had gotten off of just an hour ago.
"Yeah…" Hermione agreed, and Harry could see the cogs working like mad inside her head- trying to formulate a plan so Harry wouldn't see what was hidden underneath the pillow. She walked away from the living room, towards the refrigerator.
"Harry!" Hermione said from the kitchen area- she had noticed Harry getting a bit too close to that pillow. "Why don't you come in here and help me?"
Harry walked slowly into the kitchen to see Hermione leaning against the counter opposite of the sink- the dishes were washing themselves. He contemplated the situation for a moment, and then stood right in front of her, forcing her to look him in the eye.
"Are you sure you need my help?" Harry asked quietly. "Or do you just not want me to find that book?"
Hermione stared at him, her eyes full of confusion. She let out a silent breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"What book?" she asked softly.
"Well, I didn't quite catch the title," Harry said, placing a hand on the cupboard just above her head- leaning a bit closer to her. "But it had to do with a Mitch, and he was in a very… interesting situation with a young woman." Harry couldn't help smiling at the blush on her cheeks that grew darker with every word he spoke.
"Well go ahead," Hermione said, almost silently. "Laugh at me."
"Why would I?" Harry asked, using a hand to tilt her chin up so he could look her directly in the eye. "I don't feel the need to. It's just a novel."
Hermione gave him one of her half-smiles. He grinned in response. Just then Hermione hit her tolerance point- she couldn't be held responsible for her actions if he stayed that close to her. Ducking underneath his arm, she opened the freezer.
"How bout some dessert?" she asked, pulling out a tub of ice cream as she did so.
Sure, I want some dessert, Harry thought. But not the ice cream.
"Sure," Harry said, taking one of the spoons from her and getting a spoonful of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. He ate it slowly, then turned his attention to Hermione.
"Mione?" he asked.
"Hmm?" Hermione's spoon was upside down, covering her tongue, so she was prohibited from speaking actual words.
"Why did you leave?" Harry tried to remain aloof, but failed miserably. Hermione sighed.
"Iotureouantoow," Hermione said. Then she remembered the spoon in her mouth, and took it out. She bit her lip, then tried again.
"I'm not sure you want to know," she said quietly.
"I do want to know," Harry said, leaning on the counter with one arm, and twirling the spoon between his fingers with his free hand. "Tell me, please." Hermione sighed again.
"Maybe another time," she said, dismissing the subject. "When you're ready to know."
"Okay," Harry said, admitting defeat. "But I'll hold you to that."
You don't need a reason to hold me, Hermione thought wistfully, taking another heaping spoonful of ice cream.
~*~
Dinner was relatively quiet- the two of them stayed on light topics when they did speak. Neither of them were very hungry, however; odd, because they started dinner a lot later than usual. Unintentionally, they had finished the ice cream tub earlier. They were too busy looking into each others eyes, then eating more ice cream so they wouldn't say anything stupid, or revealing.
We're acting like a couple of teenagers, Hermione thought briefly as she cleared the table- Harry had taken most of them, so she didn't have much to do. When she walked into the kitchen, he was there; dutifully placing each plate and item of silverware into the soapy water. Hermione smiled, and walked up behind him. For reasons unknown to even her, she went up on her tiptoes so she could whisper in her ear.
"Why don't you just wash them by magic?" Hermione swore he jumped, or shivered slightly. "It'd be a lot easier." Harry laughed softly.
"Somehow I think I should be saying that to you," he said. "I just wanted to wash them the Muggle way tonight."
"Let me help," Hermione said, nudging him with her hip so he'd move to the left slightly. They washed the dishes in silence. When they were done, and squeaky clean, Hermione yawned, stretching her arms above her head.
"You should go to sleep," Harry said, a concerned expression on his face.
"I probably should," she agreed. "Do you need my help with setting up the couch…?"
"I'll be fine," Harry said, tentatively stepping closer. "Go. Sleep."
"Okay," Hermione said. She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. His snaked around her waist, holding her tightly to him.
I could get used to this, Hermione thought sleepily.
"Good night, Harry," she whispered, her head resting in the crook of his neck.
"'Night, Hermione," he said, just as quietly. She took her head off his shoulder. They stood there for a moment, in each others arms, looking at each other. Not moving, not making any attempts to.
It'd be so easy to kiss her, Harry thought, losing himself in her eyes. As if reading her thoughts, or if it was due to her tiredness, she tilted her head just slightly and leaned her head a bit closer. Harry, subconsciously, did the same. Their lips were about to touch when Hermione seemed to pull out of her stupor.
She untangled herself from Harry's embrace and took a few steps back. Hermione was about halfway between her bedroom and Harry when she stopped.
"Sweet dreams," she murmured, then smiled and slowly walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
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musical inspiration-
why don't you kiss her, performed by Jesse McCartney