Unofficial Portkey Archive

Ace of Hearts

Chapter 18

They hadn't seen Ron since that night; he had even waited until they were both at work to come by and collect his things. She still remembered the sadness that passed though her when she noticed that his room was empty of everything that was...Ron. Harry had come up behind her and then, without a sound, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and they had both stared at the desolate space for over an hour with not a word exchanged between them.

The next day, Hermione returned home from work feeling weary, it had been an extremely long day and she was still feeling guilty and upset over everything that had occurred. Apparating into the flat, she immediately noticed a low soft glowing light. Looking around the living room, she saw about twenty jars containing bluebell flames. Her eyes scanned the beautifully glowing room, her mouth open in wonder as everything seemed to twinkle around her.

"Hello beautiful," a warm voice whispered from behind her.

Turning, she came in contact with Harry's warm green eyes, a sensual smile graced his face as he reached out a hand to caress her chin.

"What's all this?" she asked, smiling in return.

"All what?" he gave her an innocent look.

She rolled her eyes and gave him a teasing smile.

"Oh, I don't know, Harry…" she looked around the room "something just seems different."

His eyes twinkled with amusement as he shrugged and looked around the room. "I have no idea what you mean."

She laughed.

"Oh, look… where did that come from?" He asked looking past her, a mock surprised expression on his handsome face. Giving a suspicious look, Hermione turned to see that the table that had been bare just moments before was now covered with delicious food. Two china plates sat with garden salads upon them, covered dishes were assembled on the table also, with delicious smells wafting up from them. A soft cream-colored table cloth covered the once bare table-top and candles held by sterling silver holders, added their twinkling light to that of the bluebell flames.

Taking a few steps forward, Hermione stood before the table with an awestruck expression. Turning, she looked a Harry and blinked a few times before a smile pulled at her lips.

"Harry… I…it…" she took a breath, looking around once more "wow…."

He smiled.

"What's this for?" she asked in a breathy tone.

"For you," he replied, stroking her chin.

"But…why?"

"Because… I love you and I wanted to."

"When did…" she motioned to the table "how did..."

He placed a finger softly against her lips, silencing her.

"Don't worry about that, just have a seat and enjoy your favorite meal." Harry said, reaching around her and pulling out the chair.

She hesitantly took a seat, blushing as she noticed a single red next to her plate. Picking it up she put it to her nose inhaling the sweet fragrance, a smile settled on her lips.

"Harry… this is so sweet, I just wish I had done something for you."

"You have done something for me." He responded, taking a seat next to her.

Her brows furrowed. "What did I do?"

He looked at her, a soft smile on his face. "That's easy."

She gave him a curious look and he took her hand before finishing.

"You smiled."

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That night had been wonderfully romantic as Harry bestowed upon her more flowers and special treats and then, after making love, he surprised her with a special bedtime reading of her favorite book. She had blushed profusely when he pulled the book from his top drawer; she hadn't even remembered telling him her favorite book. When she told him so, he laughed and reminded her of a time she had mentioned it in passing during breakfast in the Great Hall sixth year.

Hermione sat at the table holding a steaming cup of tea; she took a sip as she thought over what had happened over the past two and a half weeks. Giving a small smile at that memory before worries once again invaded her mind. Since the breakup, they hadn't really seen anyone. No one had contacted them about going to hang out, though that wasn't particularly unusual. But what she did find surprising is they hadn't heard from even one Weasley. For the first week, she had been expecting every package she got to be some type of trick from the twins, every owl post to deliver a howler from Mrs. Weasley or, at the very least, an intense argument with Ginny, but nothing had happened.

She rubbed her eyes, sighing. Maybe they were just pretending that she and Harry didn't exist anymore... she hoped not. Speaking of Harry, she glanced at the clock and frowned; he should have been home by now.

The last couple of days, the activity had been picking up in the Auror's office and he had been staying out later and later. It did not help Hermione's insecurities to know that when he was working late, it was almost always with Aurora. The beautiful dark haired witch was still a bit of a sore spot with her, she just couldn't help remembering what the woman had, had with Harry. She gave a small smile in remembrance of his response when she voiced her fears to him.

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After his third day of coming home around three o'clock in the morning, she finally got sick of not knowing what was going on, building her Gryffindor courage (and womanly anger) Hermione finally decided to confront Harry with what she was feeling.

"Where were you?" she demanded, walking into the living room, her arms crossed over her chest and a disapproving frown on her face.

Harry gave her a confused look. "What do you mean? I was at work."

"With Aurora?"

He rose a brow "Uh... yeah, she works there, too."

She pressed her lips, looking at the wall "You know, if you've changed your mind about us you don't have to pretend or anything... I've… I've lived on my own before and I can do it again."

"What in the world are you talking about?" he asked, his brows furrowing.

"I'm just saying, if you would like to be with Aurora instead of…well… instead...th-then," she took a deep breath, fighting tears "just say so. I'm a big girl, Harry, I can handle it."

He frowned and walked over to her, taking her arms he removed them from across her chest and placed them around his waist.

"I was afraid that this would happen," he said softly. Her eyes shot to his. "I knew if you kept up those hours at the Ministry you would eventually go mental." The corners of his mouth pulled into a smile.

She bit her lip, glaring at him, though relief was apparent in her eyes.

"I don't want Aurora. I only want you, I've only ever wanted you, Hermione," he gave a small smile; cupping her face he lightly caressed her cheek. "I couldn't even be with her because I was too busy thinking about you, trust me, you have nothing to worry about."

Hermione gave him a watery smile, just moments before he leant forward and awarded her with a soft kiss. The feather light touch quickly intensified, getting harder and more passionate, and leading to... other things.

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Hermione, who was sitting at the table still holding her cup with a smile lingering on her face, was broken out of her reverie when she heard a 'pop'. Looking up, she saw Ginny Weasley standing before her a stoic expression on her face.

"Hello, Ginny," she said hesitantly.

"I just came for Ron's wand," she said her expression not changing.

The older woman sighed and ran a hand though her hair.

"Did you want some tea?" she tried again.

"I want the wand," was the clipped response.

"Ginny, please, talk to me."

"We have nothing to talk about, Ms. Granger. Where is my brothers wand?"

Hermione sighed again "I don't have it," the red haired woman gave her a disbelieving look. "Really, I don't have it, Harry has it," she looked at the clock "he should be home soon, if you would like to wait."

Ginny gave her a glare, but sat down on the couch nonetheless. Hermione quietly sipped her tea, occasionally glancing at the other witch. She noticed that the Ginny was looking at the picture of the mantel, the one of the three of them at their Hogwarts graduation.

"Why?" Ginny asked after a moment, turning her heated gaze to Hermione. "Why would you do that to him? How could you do that to him?"

Hermione sat down her tea cup, fingering the handle and gave her a sad smile. "It wasn't something we planned..." she sighed and looked at the picture on the mantel "even then I was in love with him. I loved Ron too, but I was mainly in love with Harry," she looked back at Ginny "but Ron had me and at the time Harry had you, so..." she shrugged "I just figured that it was for the best to put those feelings away. I didn't think that he would feel the same way... I didn't know that he already did." Ginny continued to stare intently at her, raising a brow and silently telling her to finish.

"Well," she sighed again "I was okay to ignore what I felt, and after a while it was so far back in my mind and pushed so deep down in my heart that I was able to convince my self that Ron was the one that I would be with forever." she stood and walked to the fireplace, picking up the picture. "It was great, and besides the occasional niggling in my heart, I was able to completely suppress my feelings for Harry and be pretty happy in the process. But then... she happened..."

"Aurora..." Ginny said softly, Hermione looked at her and nodded, placing the picture back on the mantel when Ginny made a motion with her hand to signal that she should go on.

"Well... she was so beautiful, she was smart, funny, witty, strong..." she sighed "all of the things that I wasn't. She was also an Auror, just like him, and he seemed to be always going out with her and going on about her... not to mention taking her to the get-togethers, which he had never done with any of his girlfriends before." she gave Ginny a mocking look. "I mean, how in the world could I think that I would compare? She had this aura about her, this quality that led men to her as though she were some type of Veela or something. All of the guys, including your brother were constantly talking about how beautiful she was, how sexy... and then, the next thing I knew, I started trying to compete with her. I told myself I was doing it for me, but I knew that it was mainly for Harry's attention."

"That night at the party, the red dress..." Ginny looked thoughtful "that was to compete with Aurora?"

Hermione nodded, "And the game of chicken at the lake. I wanted to show myself that she wasn't better than me, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't want to show Harry, too."

"How long were you shagging each other behind Ron's back," the other woman asked bluntly.

Hermione looked her in the eyes, "We weren't constantly shagging one another, but I know what you mean," she looked at the wall then back at Ginny. "The first night we kissed was that night at the party," she looked at her hands "we both felt horribly guilty and tried to put it behind us... pretend it never happened, you know?" she gave Ginny a look. "Do what we had always done, and ignore our feelings for one another. But it became so much harder for me to do after realizing that my feelings for Harry weren't one-sided. I mean, it became harder to deny when I realized that I wasn't the only one denying myself. I became more aware of him, everything about him, his smile, his smell, his moods, everything stuck out like a sore thumb."

She took a deep breath, leaning back against the side of the fireplace "Then, the Tuesday night that Ron was gone to training camp, Harry came back from his latest mission. He was tired and sore, his back hurt horribly from a fight that he had had with a brutal vampire. As I watched him struggle to massage his own back... all I wanted to do was help," Hermione gave shaky sigh, fidgeting with her sleeve. "I should have known that touching him without feeling anything was not something I was capable of... not anymore. But I did it anyway..." she turned looking into the fire "then... then it happened, it was incredible... I don't regret it," she gave Ginny a defiant look "I won't regret it, not anymore. Though, after it happened I told Harry that we couldn't be together, we had a huge fight and he left." She ran a hand through her hair "I couldn't stop crying, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I couldn't think about anything except him. Where he was, who he was with, if he was okay, I felt guilty when Ron returned and tried to make me feel better, I felt like troll scum for how I was making him feel." She ignored Ginny's scoff and walked back over to the table, picking up her tea cup, and then sitting it back down without taking a sip.

"We stayed away from one another until that night. After arguing with Aurora, I had locked myself in my room when I heard her and Harry fighting. I opened my door just in time to hear her say something like 'you deserve better than her, Harry,' just before leaving, and when I came out of the room, he looked so lost, just like that little boy first year," she fingered the rim of her cup staring blankly at its contents. "I tried to comfort him, but we fought instead, the situation got out of hand and he stormed away. I grabbed him and pushed him against the wall, demanding he tell me where he had been when he was gone, because it had been eating me alive, when out of nowhere he calmed down." she gave a small smile "I guess I was crying again; anyway, he finally told me he had been at Neville's and I was so happy I kissed him and we just didn't stop. Not too long after that, Ron came home... and you know the rest, I'm sure."

Ginny sat quietly for a while, processing the information.

"So, that's how you justify stabbing my brother in the back after over a decade of loyal friendship... you were jealous of Aurora?" she asked, once again glaring.

"No, that's not it. I..." Hermione started at Ginny for a second, with a helpless look in her eyes "I love Harry, Ginny... we didn't just decide to hurt Ron, we didn't mean for it to happen." she sighed before giving the other woman a pleading look "Please Ginny -just... don't be mad at Harry, I'll take all the blame, all the fault. He -he needs you guys, you're his only family. He hasn't said anything to me but I can tell that he's hurting and he just doesn't want to say anything because he thinks it'll hurt me."

"Look, Hermione, Harry did this to himself when he betrayed Ron." she said in a cold voice, standing.

"No! I betrayed Ron! Me!" she hit her hand against her chest to emphasize her point and took a few steps forward so that she was almost directly in front of the other witch. "Please, Ginny; he's lost so much in his life. It would break him if he lost you all too... I mean your mum and dad are the closest things to parents he's ever had and you and your brothers are like his siblings. I don't want to have to sit across from him this holiday at an empty table trying to ignore the haunted look in his eyes that I know will be there. I don't even have to come, just invite Harry I'll make up an excuse, I'll -I'll tell him I have to work, something, anything..."

Before Ginny could respond, they heard a 'pop', and Harry appeared; looking disheveled and weary he ran a hand though his tousled hair. Then, looking up he froze and blinked a few times before a wide grin took over his features.

"Ginny!" he exclaimed, rushing forward and grabbing the younger woman in a huge bear hug, whirling her around. "How are you? -How's Ron -is everything okay, how are your parents, Fred, George, Bill, Charley, Fleur... heck, how's Percy?"

He pulled back, rambling off questions without giving her time to answer, looking as excited as he did in school whenever someone said the word Quidditch. Ginny looked back at Hermione with a bewildered expression and the older woman sighed for the hundredth time that night.

"Harry," she said softly; emerald orbs locked on her "Ginny's only here to get Ron's wand."

He stared at her for a second before his face fell; abruptly releasing the red haired woman and taking a step back he looked at the floor. They watched Harry silently to see what he would do next and after a minute he looked back up, though he focused on the wall instead of on either of them.

"Oh," he said quietly "well, here, then," he reached in his robes and took out Ron's wand, handing it to Ginny, but still not looking at her. "Well, I guess you're off then..."

"Yeah..." Ginny responded quietly, looking sadly at Harry.

"Okay, well I... tell your family I said hi and that I..." he trailed off his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

Without saying another, word he walked stiffly past both of them to the kitchen, silent tears streaming down his face. Ginny looked at Hermione with watery eyes, clutching Ron's wand tightly in her hand, she opened her mouth to say something but then, closing it again, she disapparated.

Fighting to control her own swirling emotions, Hermione walked into the kitchen where Harry, with shaky hands, was attempting to pour himself some tea. Walking up behind him, she carefully took the tea pot from him and poured him a cup, discreetly watching him as she did so. The tears from earlier were gone from his face, though the sad expression remained; catching her staring he gave a hollow smile, his eyes completely lacking emotion. Then, taking his tea cup from her, he turned and returned to the living room, removing his robe; he sat heavily upon the couch.

"It was what I expected," Harry said quietly, a moment after she sat down next to him. Hermione reached out and took his hand. "It was stupid of me, to think that I would matter, even if Ron and I weren't friends anymore." He gave a mocking laugh, looking at the fire. "That they would still care..."

"I care, Harry, and I'm sure they do, too… just give it time, everything's still fresh and new, the situation, the pain, everything -it'll all work out, you'll see." She said, squeezing his hand and laying her head on his shoulder.

Harry took his hand from hers and readjusted their positions. Settling his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close and they held one another. Staring sadly into the fire, they each became lost in thought. Just as Hermione was about to doze off, she heard a throat clear. Opening her eyes, she was surprised to see the floating head of Molly Weasley in the fire.

"Well... hello, there," Mrs. Weasley said with a somewhat uncomfortable look.

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry said quietly, sitting up on the couch, once Hermione removed her head from his chest.

"I was just... well, I just was checking in on you kids..." she trailed off, ending with a soft smile.

"We-we're okay... how are you? How is everyone?" Harry asked, practically sitting on the edge of the couch.

"Well... Bill and Fleur are doing well; Abigail is taking quickly to her studies and making us all proud. Bill often jokes with her that she's going to give her aunt Hermione a run for her money in her N.E.W.T. scores." Mrs. Weasley said, giving Hermione a small smile. "The twins are up to mischief as usual, but their stores are doing great, they finally opened one in Hogsmeade next to Honeydukes, it's working out pretty well, the two shops promote one another. Honeydukes has the treats, while Weasley Wizard Wheezes has the tricks," she gave a chuckle. "Charlie's still happy in Romania and he's met a nice girl... her name's Sherry, Mary, Carry or something like that. Who knows? Ron..." Harry sat a bit straighter "well he's doing...alright, he did very well at his last game for the Cannons; they even did a replay of a great save he made. As for us, Mr. Weasley and I are doing well, things are a bit hectic with our anniversary in just over week..." she trailed off, licking her lips before continuing. "I know that you kids aren't getting along right now... but, don't think that it gets you out of showing up for our anniversary dinner. I expect you to be there just like the rest of my children. Do I make myself clear?" she asked with a stern expression.

Hermione and Harry looked at one another and grinned before Harry nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Oh, one moment," at that she disappeared from the fire, returning a second later. "Here, Harry, dear, you look as thin as an Inferi," her hands then came out of the fire and placed a pot on the floor. "A nice hearty stew should put some meat on your bones."

Harry's grin got impossibly larger as he went around the table and took a seat in front of the fire placing a hand on the still warm pot.

"Oops, almost forgot," she disappeared again for a second before returning, this time handing a bread basket to Harry.

He caught her hand before it could disappear back into the fire, her startled gaze swung to his face.

"You don't know how much this means to me... mum," he said softly, tears shimmering in his eyes.

"Oh, stop now or you'll have me blubbering, too," Molly said good-naturedly, her voice cracking.

A moment later her whole torso came through the flames and she enveloped Harry in a warm hug. They held each other for over a minute before she pulled back.

"Whatever happens between you and Ron, I promised myself a long time ago when I found out who you were and remembered seeing you look for that platform alone on your first day of school," she trailed off for a moment a small smile of remembrance on her face. "I promised myself that I would do my best to take care of you the way that I'm sure Lily would have taken care of my children. Wither you like it or not, you're stuck with us Harry Potter-Weasley so you might as well get used to it."

With that said, she returned to the flames wiping her tears.

"Well, I guess I'll be off. See you both next Thursday, right." she said more as an order than a question.

"Right," Harry and Hermione replied in unison.

As she disappeared into the flames, Hermione came up behind her boyfriend, enveloping him in a hug. He sighed and leant back against her, a small smile lingering on his face.

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Hermione looked at her watch for the fourth time that night.

'Seven-fifteen,' she said to herself 'where in the world is Harry?'

It was Thursday night and they were supposed to be having dinner with the Weasleys to celebrate Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's thirtieth wedding anniversary. But just as they were getting dressed for dinner, Harry received an urgent Floo from an Auror named Devon. Changing into his uniform, giving her an apologetic look and a quick kiss on the lips he promised that he would be over to the Burrow as soon as he was done, then apparated to the Ministry. Hermione had finished dressing and waited an extra ten minutes before relenting and apparating to the yard outside the Burrow alone. Lifting one shaky hand to knock, she sorely wished that she had Harry standing next to her. George opened the door a moment later, a surprised expression crossing his face; he hesitated for an instant, opening and closing his mouth, before stepping aside to let her enter.

Once she walked into the brightly lit home, the warm atmosphere quickly took a chilly turn as the conversations halted and everyone just stared at her. She was just about to turn and walk right back out of the house when Mrs. Weasley bustled over to her and pulled her into a warm hug; she was followed closely by Ginny and Luna.

"Why, there you are dear! I was just starting to worry," she looked behind Hermione "where's Harry at?"

"He got called to work, Auror business..." she trailed off, giving Molly a grateful smile.

"Oh, yes sticky business that," Lupin said, joining the conversation "they called Nymphadora in too, it must be big." After saying that, he came forward and also gave her a hug, "Well, I'm glad you can make it and hopefully Harry and Tonks will join us soon," he gave a gentle smile and ushered her farther into the room.

Over the next twenty minutes, the atmosphere warmed considerably as almost everyone did their best to include her in the conversation. The only people still not talking to her were; of course Ron; and Fred who had decided to show brotherly support by sticking with Ron, or so George said.

"Okay, everyone! Take your seats, dinner is served!" Mrs. Weasley called out while placing a beautiful and impossibly large turkey on the already overflowing table.

Looking out the window and then at her watch one last time, Hermione took the seat offered to her by Luna. As she distractedly put potatoes onto her plate at Mrs. Weasley's insistence, she found herself once again wondering where in the world Harry was.

AN: Well that's it for Chapter 18, I realize that it was completely from Hermione's P.O.V. as 19 will be almost completely Harry's. I realize that the chapter was a bit long, I hope that you don't mind…Stay tuned and PLEASE REVIEW!!

Ja ne!

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