Disclaimer: JKR owns.
A Late Night Visit
Chapter 13: Coming Clean
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[AN]: Sorry for the long wait! Hope the chapter can make up for it!
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Hermione sighed, her eyes still closed in exhaustion, and buried her head deeper into the warm form that she knew to be Harry's chest. She was completely knackered after last night, but their was some distant echo of a noise that was preventing her from succumbing to the deep sleep she so desperately wanted.
She growled to herself, and turned onto her other side. Maybe it was Harry's heart beat, or something. Whatever it was, the noise was getting clearer.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
"Hermione? Hermione are you in there?"
"Hmm?"
"Hermione?" the voice called again.
Harry let out a groan from behind her and tightened his hold on her. Hermione was willing to forget about the sound, and just focus on the arms embracing her, but when the noise sounded again, she froze.
Her eyes shot open wide. Suddenly, the annoying noise was explained. Her stomach gave a lurch of fear as she jumped up and searched her bedside table for the clock.
"Oh, bloody hell. No!" she whispered frantically, seeing the time.
The pounding happened once more, "Hermione?" She jolted, recognizing her father's voice.
As quickly and quietly as possible, she turned back to Harry and started shaking him, "Harry! Harry wake up!"
"What?" Harry grumbled, still asleep.
Hermione shot an anxious look back to the door, "Come on, you've got to go."
"Just a bit longer…" Harry muttered with his eyes still closed. He made a move to pull her back to him, but she slapped his arms away.
"Harry, no. My dad-"
Harry's eyes shot open, "What?"
Hermione wanted to roll her eyes, "My dad is knocking!"
"Oh, shit."
Neither of them needed further instructions. They both threw the covers off them and hopped out of bed, scrambling around to find every discarded item of clothing.
"Your boxers!" Hermione whispered after Harry had already pulled up his trousers. She scooped them up off the ground and then stuffed them in his pocket, while he grabbed his broom and cloak. Hermione barely had time to throw both of his shoes at him before he threw the cloak over himself and apparated.
She heard her dad call out her name once more, followed by another quick series of knocks. As fast as she could
possibly move, Hermione grabbed her pajama bottoms and pulled them on while heading for the door.
Finally, she opened it, "Dad- what is it?"
Richard didn't meet her eyes, and wasted no time pushing his way into the room, "Why'd it take you so long to answer the door Hermione? I've been knocking for nearly five minutes."
Hermione cleared her throat nervously, "I-I was sleeping."
"But it's 10:30," her father replied, turning to give her an odd look, "You never sleep that late."
"Is there a reason you're interrogating me?" Hermione asked instead, raising an irritated eyebrow. She was trying hard not to glare at her father for his impertinence.
Richard, however, didn't answer her immediately. He turned back to the rest of her room, still a little messy from the scramble a minute ago. Hermione's eyes widened when she saw Harry's glasses on the ground. Luckily, Richard still had his back turned to her, so she walked up and quickly kicked them under her bed.
She cleared her throat again, "Dad?"
The older man sighed, almost disappointed to find no evidence of foul play. Hermione was just about to ask what he was doing, when he turned with a searching look, "Harry's not in the guest house."
"Uh, he-he's not?" she asked, trying to keep her expression free of guilt.
Richard shook his head, "No. His stuff is still all there, just no Harry."
"Oh."
"I suppose you haven't seen him?" he asked once more. This time, he raised an eyebrow at her.
Hermione shook her head, "No. I've been sleeping."
"Hermione-"
"Dad, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this," Hermione cut him off quickly, "I mean, he has to be around here somewhere… or, coming back from wherever he is. How about I get dressed and go looking for him? Would that make you happy?"
Richard gave her a stern look before his eyes caught something at Hermione's feet. She froze, thinking she'd overlooked another something of Harry's.
Her dad nodded at whatever it was, "What's that?"
"What's what?" Hermione asked automatically.
Richard pointed, "That."
Hermione looked down and saw a small white box, a gold ribbon tied around it. She couldn't help but redden, realizing this must've been Harry's real gift. "Oh… just another gift I forgot to open."
"From Harry?"
"Er, yeah."
"When did he give it to you?"
"Um, when I went to give him the owl treats for Harlo. He said he forgot it."
"What is it?"
Hermione rolled her eyes at her father's nosiness, "Dad-"
Richard obviously wasn't listening, though. He bent down and grabbed the small parcel. He handed it to his daughter, "Go on. Open it."
Hermione quickly took it, "I'll do it some other time. I should get dressed-"
"His feelings would be hurt if you don't open it," Richard tried to convince her.
Hermione didn't fall for it, "I will later."
"Aren't you curious to see what it is?"
Hermione sighed. Clearly, this wasn't getting anywhere. Maybe if she did just open it, he'd leave her alone. With a glare towards her dad, she untied the ribbon, and opened the satin box. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes fell upon the silver locket nestled inside. It wasn't big, but it was magnificent looking. A letter H was carved glistening onto the front of it.
"Hmm," sounded Richard, interrupting Hermione's awe. Disappointment was again laced in his tone, "Well, that's nice."
She nodded, still staring at it, "Yeah."
A sigh ripped out of Richard, "I'll let you get dressed then. Your mum's waiting on him to serve breakfast…"
Hermione shrugged, still gazing, "Tell her to go ahead."
Richard stared hard at his daughter for a moment. She was still looking adoringly at the little necklace. A bit begrudgingly, he sighed again, "Alright then."
As Richard walked away, Hermione raised the locket up to her ear. He was confused by what she was doing, but he knew that if he intruded any longer, Hermione might give him a right telling.
When he got back to the kitchen a few moments later to beg Beth to let him eat, he was surprised to see Harry already sitting at the breakfast table.
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, while Beth's face lit up at his presence.
"Found him!" she announced happily, "Turns out he just popped over to the Weasley's to let them know where he'd be staying for the remainder of the holiday."
Richard frowned, coming to sit across from Harry at the table. He grabbed the paper in front of him, with no intention to read it, "Why is it you're not staying with them, Harry?"
"Richard…" Beth muttered warningly, but Richard only stared expectantly at Harry.
Harry swallowed, "Er, well one of their sons died in the war. I thought they'd like the holiday for just their family…"
Beth smiled and placed a cup of orange juice in front of him, "Of course. Forgive my husband, Harry; he gets a bit testy when he has to wait for his breakfast."
Richard grumbled something under his breath, but it went unaware to Harry and Beth as Hermione came into the kitchen, "Morning everyone," she said, forcing the cheerfulness into her tone. She tried not to let herself linger on Harry, and instead turned to her father, "Dad, I thought you said Harry was missing?"
Richard grumbled some more, "I thought he was…"
Harry lifted his glass of juice to his lips to hide his smile. Hermione had the locket he wanted to give her last night hanging around her neck. He took a brief sip before turning to look at Richard. "Sorry to worry you, Mr. Granger," he said politely.
Richard sighed, folding the paper and setting it next to him. He had been so sure that something was going on that morning, but he couldn't continue to act accusingly if he hadn't found anything concrete to accuse. He looked up to Hermione, who had just sat down next to Harry, and gave her a sheepish look. He hoped she'd recognize his apology.
"It's fine. Let's eat."
…
The awkward wake up call had passed on unceremoniously. Hermione, Harry, and Beth all made sure of that, keeping the conversation at breakfast light and chipper. Richard was called in to the office after Harry and Hermione had finished cleaning the breakfast dishes. The couple wasn't exactly sad to see him go, because he had remained seated in the kitchen, staring on in observation as Harry and Hermione did their chore.
Once he was gone, they went back and forth from Hermione's room, to Harry's, laughing and joking about nothing in particular. Luckily, Beth wasn't nearly as nosy as Richard was. She remained peacefully in her office, quietly keeping busy with her computer.
It was already around three in the afternoon when Harry and Hermione came to her with the news that they were heading out for lunch.
Hermione was up in her bathroom, finishing washing her face when there was a light knock on the door.
"Yes?"
Her bedroom door opened, and Beth stepped in.
"Hey sweetheart," her mum greeted with a smile.
"Hey," Hermione replied, rinsing out her wash cloth and coming back into the room.
Beth looked on as she headed for her closet, "So do you know exactly where you're eating?"
Hermione shook her head as she pulled open her dresser, "No. I think I'll take him over to the village square. We can find something nice over there."
"Yeah…" Beth agreed absently.
Hermione turned and looked at her mum properly, "Was there something you needed?"
Beth shook her head, but Hermione noticed the small smile over her lips. Suddenly, she nodded at her, "Did Harry give you that necklace?"
She blushed, looking down to her present, "Um, yeah."
"It's lovely," Beth complimented.
"Thanks. He's got good taste for a bloke."
"I think he just knows you too well."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Too well?"
"So well," Beth corrected.
Hermione wasn't falling for it. She knew when her mum was fishing for information. "What are you getting at?"
Beth shrugged lightly, before smiling. "Anything I should know about you and Harry?"
Hermione's stomach jolted. "What are you talking about?" she asked quickly, almost defensively.
"I don't want to pry, but I'd appreciate it if you were honest with me, Hermione Jane."
Hermione's fingers gripped tightly over the shirt she was holding. Despite her nervousness, she forced herself to stay cool, "Mum, if there's something you want to say, then say it. I hate beating around the bush."
"Are you aware that Harry is in love with you?" Beth asked without hesitation.
Hermione sighed unevenly through her nose. She hadn't expected her mother to actually be so blunt. Her automatic reaction was to avoid the topic, but she knew that would only make things worse. Anxiously, she turned to look at her mum. She knew that she needed to be honest. After all, wasn't that what she had told Harry to do with Ron? Even though she was scared, now seemed to be the time to come clean.
She took another deep breath, "Yes."
"Are his feelings returned?" Beth asked, not sounding surprised.
"Yes…"
Her mum nodded. She seemed to be handling it extremely well, and Hermione wondered what the catch was. It couldn't have been this easy…
A few moments later, Hermione's thoughts were confirmed. Of course it wasn't going to be as simple as that.
Beth gave her daughter a firm look, "We allowed him to stay here under your pretences that he was only a friend. You lied."
"No I didn't!" Hermione said, quickly shaking her head, "Harry is my friend. My best friend."
"What about our conversation last night?"
"You never asked me directly if we were together or anything."
Beth was quiet again for a moment. "So you are together? This is a relationship?"
"Yes," Hermione mumbled, feeling her face get redder and redder.
"How long?"
"Since Halloween."
"How come you never told us? I can understand you not telling your father about this, but you usually tell me things."
Hermione looked up into her mum's eyes, and it was then that she realized she was more hurt than disappointed. She tried to shrug, hoping her mum would see how honest she was being with her now, "I don't know why Mum. We haven't told anyone really…"
"It's a secret?" Beth asked, this time with a quirked eyebrow.
"Well… just, with everything happening with Ginny and Ron… we didn't want to hurt them. And if we told one person, then the next day the whole school would've known, and then the papers would've gotten hold of it, and it would've turned into some huge mess. At the beginning, I didn't think I was ready for that."
"And now?"
"Well, Ginny sort of found out," Hermione muttered, in an awkward tone. She didn't want her mum to know how her friend had found out. "When she said she was fine with it, that made me start to think that it'd be okay if other people knew."
A frown took over Beth's mouth, "Did Harry not share that feeling?"
"Not exactly," Hermione shrugged. "But, I think it had to do with the fact that he didn't want the wrong people to find out, more than he didn't want our friends and family to know."
"I'm guessing something made him change his mind?"
"Yeah… it was stupid now that I think about it. I was getting frustrated because I thought he was ashamed of wanting to be with me. So I told him that we'd take the holiday to figure out whether we wanted to be a couple or go back to being friends. Basically, I made him choose between me or his friendship with Ron."
"Hermione," Beth chided.
She sighed, "I know, but I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to know that he really wanted to be with me. And the first step to that was telling Ron. I didn't want him to choose between us. Just to tell him."
"So Harry told him everything?" Beth ventured.
"Yeah. That's why he needed a place to stay. Ron kicked him out of the Burrow."
A few moments of silence passed between the two women. Hermione was hoping that her mum wasn't thinking the worst of her. This was the first talk they'd had about boys since… well, since forever. She'd avoided telling her parents about her and Ron's attempt at a relationship, finding it much too embarrassing.
They were both quiet in thought for a few more seconds. Finally, Beth spoke, "Well, at least you got what you wanted."
Hermione shook her head, "If it weren't for me being selfish, Ron and Harry's friendship wouldn't be ruined."
Beth came forward and squeezed her daughter's shoulder in comfort, "Do you honestly think Ronald would have reacted differently if you told him under different circumstances? You'd be a hard loss to any boy, Hermione. Ronald's reacting just like any other bloke would."
"He thinks we've betrayed him, Mum," Hermione mumbled, letting the guilt she'd tried to ignore wash over her.
"Just give it time, sweetheart," the older woman advised. "After a while, I'm sure he'll see how happy you two are together. He'll realize that that is the most important thing. And this way, he can move on now too."
Hermione nodded, "Hope so."
Beth smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind Hermione's ear, "Don't be too hard on yourself. I'm positive that if Harry were in the situation again, he'd make the same decision."
Hermione couldn't help but smile too, "Thanks Mum."
"Thank you for telling me the truth."
"I'm sorry I didn't come clean sooner. We were going to tell you, but we just didn't know when the right time would be."
"Maybe after you two secretly got engaged?" Beth joked, with another quirked eyebrow. She knew this topic would make her daughter uncomfortable to no end.
Much to her expectations, Hermione blushed. "Mum! I'm only nineteen…"
"Still. I have a feeling that day will come eventually."
"Honestly, Mum…" Hermione muttered, turning back to her dresser.
"What? If you love him like you say you do, then you won't pass up the chance to be with him forever. And if Harry has any brains at all, then he won't let you go."
The corner of Hermione's mouth twitched upwards, "Thanks."
Beth pulled her in and kissed her forehead, "I love you Hermione Jane."
Hermione smiled genuinely this time, "I love you too. I don't know why I was so nervous about telling you before…"
Hermione was surprised to hear her mum let out a laugh. "If I were you," Beth started, amusement alight on her face, "I'd reign those nerves back in. Your dad will be home around six, and I won't be the one to tell him that the boy in our guest house is actually your boyfriend."
"Mum-"
"Have a lovely lunch darling. Give Harry my best."
Hermione stared after her mother in horror as she practically pranced out of her room. She knew telling her father would be ten times worse then telling her. Especially after this morning… Did her mum actually expect her to sit her dad down, with Harry in plain sight, and profess her love for him? At least if they told her parents both at the same time, her mum would've been able to calm him down. But now…
Hermione sighed, telling herself to focus. It had to happen sooner or later. This is what they both wanted. Her father knowing was part of the 'real relationship' package. And Harry would be able to defend himself, should anything happen. Hopefully.
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Please review for Harry's safety. Another update should be coming really soon.
;]