JKR owns.
Just Decide
Chapter Six
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[AN] This is the curveball chapter. Unfortunately, things aren't going to be as smooth sailing for them as they might've thought last night. Muah. Muahahaha.
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(Harry's flat; 9:27 a.m.)
Hermione let out a soft yawn as she stretched, arching her back into the hard body behind hers. Her eyes refused to open as she rolled over and buried her face into the shoulder of the warm, hard, now chuckling body.
Harry's arms tightened around her, "Hey."
"Morning," she mumbled back.
"Did you sleep okay?"
Hermione grinned, "You mean with what little sleep we got?"
"I didn't hear you complaining."
"That's because I wasn't."
Harry smiled, and leaned in to kiss her.
"What time is it?"
"Um," Harry turned his head to glance at the digital clock on his nightstand, "Almost 9:30."
"Damn it…" Hermione muttered, turning to lay on her back and putting a hand over her face.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, worried, perhaps, that she was already going back to the method of being ashamed with them. He would literally shake her in frustration if he heard an excuse like that again.
She sighed and sat up so that she could look at him properly, "I have class at ten. All of my books and notes are still at home."
Harry nodded, trying to hide his relief. So she wasn't going back on the conversation they'd had last night, only scared that she'll be late for class. Typical Hermione. "Are you going to go and get them?"
"I don't want to, but I'll have to. We have an exam today."
"What'd you tell your parents last time?" Harry asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
A wry little grin tugged at the corner of Hermione's lips, "That I was doing an all night research binge with one of my friends from class."
Harry laughed, "I bet they easily believed you."
"I don't know, I was pretty frazzled when I got home," Hermione said thoughtfully, remembering the night she had categorized as the best of her life, but then the horrible morning that had followed. After a moment she simply shrugged, "I just don't think they wanted to call me out on their assumptions. They're just grateful that I didn't move out after…"
Harry nodded in understanding, fighting down the hedge of guilt, "Yeah. Well, do you want some breakfast before you go?"
Hermione grinned, not able to deny the hint of excitement in his tone, "Yeah, sure."
Harry returned her smile before jumping out of bed, and pulling her out with him. When they arrived in the kitchen and looked into the refrigerator, Harry realized what meager amounts of food he had been living with. After giving Hermione a sheepish look, she shook her head playfully and grabbed the last of his eggs. Within ten minutes, they had a pretty decent meal going.
"So, what are you going to do today?" Hermione asked, biting into an apple.
Harry shrugged, "I don't know. Probably go buy some groceries and then wait for you to get back from your class."
The smile slowly fell from Hermione's face, "Harry, you know, Ron usually meets me after class…"
"Oh. What do you guys usually do?" he asked, realizing for the first time that he had no idea what their relationship was like. He knew they didn't do much of the physical stuff, fortunately, but what else did they have in common to do? Nothing really…
Hermione shrugged, "We go out to eat sometimes. We've been visiting George in Diagon Alley a lot. If not that, then we're usually just at the Burrow."
"That sounds truly fascinating. How could you ever want to give that up?" Harry asked sarcastically. Hermione gave him a narrowing look and flung some of her scrambled eggs at him.
Harry dodged the flying food and snickered, "So after that, will you come over?"
"I'll probably go home first."
"Later tonight then?" Harry persisted. After all the head way they'd made, he didn't want to go one night without seeing her.
"Definitely."
Harry grinned before leaning in and kissing her. He couldn't describe how great it felt that she wanted it as much as he did.
"I got to go," Hermione mumbled between the kiss.
Harry grabbed her face and pulled her in for one last deep kiss before taking a step back.
"Good luck on your test," he said with a wry smile.
Hermione shook her head slightly and tried to regain her breathing, "Yeah you too."
Harry chortled and Hermione swatted him hard on the shoulder. She kissed him one last time on the cheek, before she disapparated right in front of him.
…
(Hermione's bedroom; 9:51 a.m.)
"Hermione?"
Hermione glanced up to find her mother standing in her open doorway. She sighed, before turning back to the mess of books and papers on the ground. She had hoped to evade her parents this morning, but apparently her mum had heard her standard crack of apparition when she suddenly popped into her bedroom a few minutes ago. Hermione had been searching around for her school texts for the past couple minutes, trying to hurry out of her house as soon as she possibly could.
Hopefully her mum would notice the frenzy she was in. "I can't talk mum, I'm almost late for physiology!"
Tabitha Granger nodded absently before placing her daughter with a peculiar look, "Where were you last night?"
"I was studying with my lab partners again. Where the hell is my bag?" Hermione muttered, turning away from her mother and quickly looking under her bed for her book bag. She knew it wouldn't be under there, but she really needed to hide her face from her mum, especially after the lie she just gave her. Hermione's mother was probably the most observant woman in all of England. She could spot a lie from a mile away.
She knew Tabitha was still staring at her as she straightened from beneath her bed and looked over by her closet. She noticed her bag hanging on her closet doorknob, and with a sigh of relief- mixed with apprehension- she got up to go retrieve it. Sure enough, inside were her physiology books, along with the other binders she'd need for class.
Now that her books were secured, all she had to worry about was getting past her relentless mother.
"Why didn't you keep your books with you?"
"Because, I didn't need my physiology books for biology, mum."
"Wait a second," Tabitha said, placing her arm across the door frame as Hermione tried to walk past her, "Hermione, what's going on with you?"
"What?" Hermione asked, hoping to throw her mother off, "Nothing…"
"You haven't been yourself lately," Tabitha argued, "And this is twice that you haven't come home from being out-"
"Mum, it was for school."
Tabitha gave her an unconvinced look before continuing, "Your father and I didn't think you and Ron were serious-"
Hermione nearly choked on her own breath, "Mum, I wasn't with Ron!"
"Are things getting serious between you two?" Tabitha asked, as if she hadn't even heard Hermione's vehement protest.
"No," Hermione said, fixing her mum with a stubborn glare. Honestly, this was the last thing she bloody needed. She was fighting off guilt and confusion at all angles- she didn't need her mum to butt in and cause more strife in her life.
"Hermione, all I ask is that you be honest with me. If it's that you're not ready to tell your father, I-"
"Mum, I'm not doing anything like that with Ron. I promise you, I was studying with Angela and Rachel."
Tabitha sighed. The two Granger women were in a stalemate, and when that happened, you couldn't expect for the argument to get settled any time soon.
"I'm late," Hermione said, hoping that that would do the trick and get her mum to move. Tabitha, however, sucked in a deep breath, and gave her a wide-eyed look.
"For school!" Hermione quickly corrected. Her mother placed a hand over her heart and let out the breath she had been holding. By now, Hermione was frustrated beyond belief. Tabitha was already starting to make her feel the guilt that she had hoped to keep locked away for a bit longer.
Another minute ticked off on her watch. Hermione spared Tabitha another glance before she disapparated on the spot.
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(University of Westminster; 1:17 p.m.)
Hermione trotted down the steps of her physiology class room. Luckily, she was able to concentrate on the exam within the first few questions. She was sure she had lived up to her normal standards, and now her stress at the conversation with her mother and getting to school on time was relocated towards seeing Ron.
How the hell was she going to be able to look him in the eye? With Harry, it was easy to forget about all of her problems. She couldn't really focus on anyone but him when he was that close. But now that they were temporarily separated, Hermione was left to fend for herself.
And the predator was closing in on her, wearing a big grin and holding a brown paper bag, soaked with grease spots.
"Hey babe!" Ron greeted her suddenly, leaving her no time to divert his kiss. His lips were sticky against hers, and they pulled away with a loud smack.
"How was it?"
Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly, and pretended to scratch an itch on her nose so that she didn't have to look him in the eyes. She took the opportunity to wipe the grease from her lips, "Um, good. I think I did fairly well on the exam-"
"You're feeling better, right?" Ron asked, as if he hadn't even heard her.
"Er, I guess. Why?"
"Because we're going out tonight! We have to celebrate!"
Hermione frowned. Was he drunk or something? Since when did he find her good grades a reason to celebrate? "Ron, it's fine."
"What? No," his confused question was replaced by his previous excited demeanor, "Guess what Charlie told me today?"
"Oh. What is it?"
"Some people from the Russian Ministry of Magic got in touch with Mr. Inkwell. They wanted his services to provide a few dragons for their royal, magical, ballet thingy. Mr. Inkwell said yes and is putting Charlie and someone else in charge of the dragons. Guess who's going to Russia!"
Hermione raised her eyebrows, neither skeptically or in awe. It was more shocked, "You?"
Ron looked like he was fighting off the urge to jump up and down and clap, "Yeah! I'm being put in charge of three full grown dragons!"
Hermione frowned. What was this Mr. Inkwell playing at? Ron had only helped Charlie and his team get the one dragon back in Gringotts. Did he really find Ron qualified of being partnered with Charlie and being put in charge of three dragons? Ron was bound to get injured!
And then she thought of something else that gave her all the more reasons to feel like shit. He was going to Russia. So much for working on making him see that they're not right for each other…
"So how long will you be gone for?" she asked, considerably less excited than she knew she should've appeared to be.
"Two weeks. Maybe more, maybe less."
Hermione stopped walking. She'd expected a few days, but weeks?! He was going to be gone for more or less two bloody weeks? Anguish crashed down upon her. Harry was going to want to kill her…
"That- that's…"
"It's great, right?!" Ron exclaimed, unaware of her gloom, "This gets me out of shuffling muggle documents with Dad. I think this is my big break!"
"But Ron, before this you never really expressed feelings for wanting to work with dragons. What about training for quidditch?"
Ron shrugged, "Quidditch trials aren't for another few months. This is happening now, and it's probably the coolest thing ever! You're happy for me right?"
Hermione sighed. She wasn't happy, but he couldn't know that, "Yeah. I mean, I'm sad you're leaving but… if this is what you want."
"It is. And I know two weeks seems like a lot of time, but we can't spend every waking moment together, right?" he finished with a laugh. She couldn't help but raise her eyebrow, and tried to keep from snorting. That was true, more than he knew…
Hermione didn't realize that Ron was wrapping his arms around her waist until he tugged her forward suddenly. He tried to sound teasing, "When I get back, you can show me how much you really missed me."
Hermione looked away from him. He was going to make her mission bloody impossible if he kept acting like this, "We'll see, Ron."
Ron surprised her yet again when he suddenly tilted his head forward and kissed her. Hermione struggled to kiss him back, even though it was as uncomfortable as all hell. You are technically still his girl, she guiltily thought.
"So do you want to come back to the Burrow with me and help me pack?"
"Sure," Hermione agreed blankly. He smiled at her, not detecting the signs of misery and guilt spreading over her face. Hermione knew that she wouldn't get to escape the distressing emotions until later that night. At least, hopefully she would.
…
The hours spent packing with Ron at the Burrow had gone by dismally slow. Hermione couldn't stop thinking about Harry, and how he was going to react when he found out that Ron was going away for a few weeks.
After begging off Mrs. Weasley's home cooked dinner, she immediately took off to Harry's flat. She refused to admit her weakness with the fear that'd she be classified as having the same lovesick characteristics as Ginny, but honestly, she had missed him terribly today.
She disapparated to the foyer of Harry's flat. Instantly she heard footsteps coming to greet her.
"There you are… I almost thought you'd changed your mind- what's wrong?" he asked as he met her in the hallway. He gave her a quizzical look to counter her tense one, fearing that he had said the 'almost' part too soon.
Hermione started ringing her hands together. She figured the sooner she got this over with, the better, "Um, I have good news and bad news."
Harry blinked, "What is it?"
"Well, the bad news is… Ron's going out of town for a few weeks." She went deafly silent as soon as she finished, waiting for his impending reaction.
Harry narrowed his eyes, "That's bad news?"
Given his tone, he had misunderstood what she was trying to say. Hermione quickly shook her head, "No- it's just that now I won't be able to try and convince him that… you know…"
Harry shrugged, "He's coming back in a few weeks. Can't you just start trying then?"
Hermione stared at him for a second, before kicking back into gear, "Of course! I was just worried that you'd be upset… I mean this pushes everything back, and I initially said I'd only need a few weeks."
Harry nodded quietly in understanding. Obviously that was annoying, but he'd deal with it since he had to. He gave her a hesitant look, "What's the good news?"
"Well, Ron's going to be out of town for a few weeks…" Hermione muttered, biting her lip. She wasn't trying to sound sexy or anything, but she couldn't deny her own excitement at that prospect.
A smile spread over Harry's face as he took a few steps closer to her, "So this doesn't change your mind?"
"No. I still want to be with you."
"That's all that matters then," Harry whispered, before pulling her into the kiss he'd been waiting for all bloody day long.
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