Chapter Fifteen - Breakfast Meetings
The late night conference with her grandmother had finished up just as the night rounds had occurred. A knowing smirk and a quick pass of her hand was all that signaled a change when the mediwitch entered the room and immediately started fussing at Harry for keeping Hermione awake well past midnight, totally ignoring the elven woman setting on the other side of the bed.
Harry begrudgingly allowed himself to be banished to his usual chair while the mediwitch checked Hermione's vitals and administered two potions. Shaking his head in disbelief, Harry watched as the night mediwitch maneuvered around the smirking Maeve without noticing her presence.
Sleep had come slowly to the two, even after Maeve's exit shortly after the departure of the mediwitch from the room. Hermione had lain there, watching him as he drifted off in the moonlight, wondering exactly what their return to England would bring for both of them. Finally drifting off, her dreams turned to the Chamber of Secrets. This time, instead of being confined to a hospital bed paralyzed by the reflected gaze of a basilisk, the two of them were being chased by some sort of scaled horror as they tried to rescue…someone. Never getting close enough to see the object of their search, the nightmare was finally interrupted by the morning sounds of the hospital waking her from a fitful slumber.
The day of her departure dawned bright and fair. Hermione woke to sunshine and stretched, trying to drive the dreams of the previous night from her mind. Looking around her room, she smiled at the sleeping form of Harry, sprawled almost bonelessly in a chair.
The door to the hall pushed open a bit. Instead of the expected mediwitch on her morning rounds, Terri and Oscar stuck their heads in the room and grinned when they saw Hermione was awake. Putting her finger to her lips, she beckoned the two to come in. Casting a quick muffliato towards Harry so as to not waken him, she nodded to Oscar.
"Morning you two, you're up and about fairly early." Looking at her watch, sitting on the table beside her bed, she saw that it was almost eight. Smiling at Terri, she nodded towards Oscar. "I take it you've decided that hanging around with witches and wizards has its upside." Watching the blush spread across both of their faces, she laughed. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."
"Hermione, I have no idea what you're talking about." Grinning at Oscar, Terri looked over her shoulder as she perched on the edge of the bed. "Shouldn't your boyfriend sleeping in the bed over here, and not that dreadful chair? And just where is your ex?" Arching one eyebrow, Terri looked intently at her.
"Dear, that's none of our business. Besides, you remember Ron saying that he had to head back to England last night at the game." Shaking his head, Oscar smiled indulgently at the mercurial blonde by his side.
Taking Oscar's hand, Hermione smiled warmly at him. "Oscar, after everything that's happened, I wouldn't quibble at a simple question." Glancing over at Harry, she smiled. "Ron had to report back last night, well early this morning in London for a briefing. Harry didn't fancy going back to the Torc last night after the game. Something about some couple making too much noise in the next room for the past couple of days, so he crashed here."
Remembering back to the hunt and their time on the run from the Death Eaters, she smiled sadly. "Trust me; it isn't the worst sleeping accommodations either of us has had. And it's certainly not the first time one of us has spent the night in a hospital chair waiting for the other. I transfigured the chair so it's reasonably comfortable for sleeping, it just looks awkward. So what brings you two out so early?" Looking at the two blushing, Hermione grinned, wondering if they were Harry's erstwhile neighbours at the Torc.
"We thought we'd stop in and catch you before everything started happening with your release today." Terri wrapped an arm around Oscar's waist as she smiled broadly. "And I wanted to thank you for everything." Looking up, she shyly kissed Oscar on the cheek.
"Hey, I had nothing to do with that. You two were drawn together like a cat to cream, but I'm glad things seem to be working out for you so well. Your GM seemed very happy last night at the game, I take it everything is fine with `our' work and the sports exchange program?" Shaking her head, Hermione rolled her eyes at the glances being exchanged between the pair.
Laughing, Oscar nodded. "Mel and MT made a pretty convincing set of replacements for you two until Terri got released three days ago. There's a Memorandum of Understanding you're going to be taking back for the muggle government in London regarding a proposal to exchange cricket and baseball teams on a trial basis. And, thanks to Ron, there are gong to be a series of games next preseason between two of the Ohio quidditch teams and a couple of your English teams."
"Let me guess, he wants the Cannons to come over here for a couple of games."
Laughing, Terri nodded. "He got his sister involved and it'll be Chudley and Holyhead coming over for a series of exhibition matches in Cleveland, Columbus, and Morgantown with the Pataskala Phoenixes and the Venedocia Dragons." Looking at Oscar to see if she had gotten the names of the English teams correct, she smiled brightly when he nodded. "And Oscar and I were thinking that if you could talk Harry and Ron into it, you three could come back. Since Ron's sister is a Harpy, the four of you could spend some time with us and Flori and Irving, without crazed Yankee's fans making life interesting."
Seeing the amused look on Hermione's face, she shrugged. "I know I've got a girlfriend who wouldn't mind going out with your ex and I'm certain Oscar here can find someone willing to go out with our favorite Harpy."
Harry's voice cut into the conversation. "Gin's on the Harpies, she's not a Harpy. Big difference, wouldn't you say `Mione?" Stretching, Harry surprised Oscar and Terri by coming up unnoticed. "Really, if you're going to cast that spell, remember it works both ways." Smiling smugly he leaned over and kissed Hermione briefly but passionately before seating himself on her bed. Nodding towards Oscar and Terri, he nodded. "You lot look as if you got everything settled out." Yawning, he looked blearily around the room. "Has anyone seen a pair of glasses?"
"Honestly, Harry. Try to remember you're a wizard. Accio Harry's glasses." Harry's glasses soared into Hermione's outstretched hand from their hiding place under the chair he had been sleeping in. Handing them to him, she shook her head in disbelief. "I still can't believe you haven't talked to a mediwitch about your eyes. Aren't you tired of sorting these things out every morning?"
A faint blush coloured Harry's ears as he mumbled something. Exasperated, Hermione turned back to Terri and Oscar who were smiling at the two of them. "Terri, did you ever figure out where we ended up?"
"I should have figured it out as soon as you mentioned the witch turning into a cat thing." Seeing the puzzled look on Hermione's face, she nodded. "I finally realized where we were by remembering some old ghost stories that I had heard on a tour when I first got to Cleveland. We ended up at the Old Fairport Harbor Lighthouse. There have been stories about the lighthouse being haunted by the ghost of a cat for years. No one knew about that secret subceller, hidden evil lair thing she'd constructed." Looking to Oscar for confirmation, she smiled when he nodded.
"Usually we just call them dungeons dear, but I like `secret subceller, hidden evil lair thing'. It has a nice ring to it." Laughing, Oscar dodged out of the way of a vicious slap that was aimed at him.
"I warned you she was a match for you, with or without a wand." Smiling at the two, she noticed Harry looking at her. "Well Potter? Since you're now in charge of seeing that they treat me well, why isn't my breakfast here?" Mock frowning, she nodded towards the door. "And I want real butter on my toast, none of that fake stuff these Americans seem to be so fond of. "
Laughing, Harry got up, bowed deeply and looked at her with mischief in his eyes. "And I'll tell the mediwitch to check your vision, since you've obviously mistaken me for one of the house-elves that follow you around, oh Queen of the Elves."
Sobering, Hermione looked around. "Careful Harry, that's someone else entirely. And as fond of you as I am, I don't think that would cut you any slack if she thought you were getting cheeky with her." Smiling as he waved and left the room, she sighed and leaned back against her pillows.
"Hermione, can I ask you a question?" Looking unusually thoughtful, Terri was glancing at her, ignoring the shushing motion that Oscar was trying to make where he thought Hermione couldn't see it. "If you don't want to, I'll understand."
"Not at all, spending time together being tortured makes us close enough to ask questions of, though for the life of me, I can't imagine what you'd want to know that requires that sort of look."
"Well two things actually. What did Harry mean when he said his glasses remind him of you?"
"What?" Blinking in surprise, Hermione stared at Terri in surprise.
"When you asked him why he didn't get his eyes fixed, he muttered because they remind him of you." Grinning she shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry, but I've got fairly acute hearing from having trained as a musician when I was in university. Comes in handy deciphering the mumblings of men from time to time." Poking Oscar in the ribs, his answering blush told Hermione that there was more to that particular tale than she was likely to ever hear.
"Haven't the foggiest, unless…." Closing her eyes in concentration, she smiled as she replayed the memory of when she first met Harry and Ron, all those years ago. Ron casting a `spell' and her casually tossing off a `Reparo'.
Opening her eyes, she saw that both Oscar and Terri were staring at her. "When I first met them, Ron was trying some ridiculous spell on his pet rat. It didn't work, but I noticed that Harry's glasses were broken, so I fixed them without even thinking." Smiling wistfully, Hermione thought back to those days before everything had become so complicated. "Curious that Harry would find that memory so compelling. What's your second question?"
"How on earth did you ever not know Harry was the one? " Raising her hand to ward off the look on Hermione's face, she looked over at the door to see if Harry was returning. "No offense, but after spending two weeks with you three, except for you and Ron bickering once or twice, I would have sworn that there wasn't anyone who would have missed the fact Harry was your boyfriend. Or closer." Shrugging her shoulders, she tried to smile apologetically.
Shrugging in return, Hermione frowned a bit. "You're not the first to wonder that. Harry and I have been friends since that day we met back in 1991 and we've been best friends since he and Ron saved my life on Halloween that year. I guess the only thing I can say is that we never felt the need to date; we just did everything together for seven years." Smiling ruefully, Hermione blushed a bit. "I think we just became so comfortable with being best mates, that we missed the signs that our relationship had changed. Merlin knows it's annoyed Ron from time to time before the three of us finally came to our senses."
The conversation was cut short by Harry's return with a large tray heaped with various breakfast treats. "It's not Molly's cooking, but it's not bad." Placing the tray in front of her, he ruffled her hair as she smiled appreciatively up at him. "Now if you clean your plate like a good little witch, I've got it on good authority that you can get ready to go home after a bit."
Looking at the glances that Oscar and Terri were exchanging, Harry shrugged his shoulders at the two. Hermione caught his reaction and looked up sharply. "You two behave yourselves, I told you the truth." Her eyes twinkling mischievously, she turned back to Harry. "Harry did you or did you not have to cross the Atlantic and find me confined to a hospital bed before we ever talked about us? And we had to have Ron rub our noses in it to boot.
"Well, as long as you discount the fact that we spent more time `not on dates' with each other than we spent on dates with the people were supposedly dating, that's about correct. Why?" Grinning at Oscar and Terri, he winked before he kissed Hermione on the lips.
Raising her hands in mock surrender, Terri laughed. "Ok, I get the point. I can't believe in almost a decade it never occurred to either of you. And I certainly want to meet this Ginny, the fact that she's happy for the two of you isn't really proper.
"While we never fought like Hermione and Ron did, our relationship sort of drifted back to a holding level that got blown apart when I forgot it was Valentine's Day and went off to Hermione's flat to help her paint instead of going out to dinner with Gin." Grinning at Hermione's scowl, he shrugged. "What can I say; I think she finally figured out that if painting someone's flat was more appealing to me than Valentine's Day dinner with her, we were seeing the wrong people." Feeling Hermione's annoyance with him fade, Harry sat beside her and accioded a banger from her tray.
"What's next for you two?" Oscar asked, grinning at Harry's familiarity.
Scowling at Harry, Hermione put a possessive hand over the rest of her breakfast. "Harry, that's just rude." Turning back to Oscar and Terri, she laughed. "After I'm released, we're returning by transatlantic portkey to Dunvegan Castle in Scotland. My boss is going to meet us there and we'll return the banner and the glass to its rightful owner. After that, I suppose we start looking for this mysterious witch that set this thing in motion."
Looking back, just in time to catch Harry sneaking another bit of sausage from her tray, she scowled, "and Mr. Auror here doesn't want to believe it could be our old school chum Pansy Parkinson."
"Hermione, we've discussed this. We have a perfectly valid clue as to whom the catlady was working for. Between the Americans and our own Ministry, we should have some sort of lead on old Viola in short order. However, I do agree, after what we talked about last night, that we need to keep a closer eye on Pansy."
Grinning he grabbed a fork and offered Hermione the last piece of her sausage. "Her involvement with Lucius is too compelling, I'll ask Smithers to open another casefile on her and we'll have her put under surveillance for a while to see what we can find." Shaking his head, he grinned at her. "You really need to get over her offering to turn me over to Voldemort that night. She probably didn't really mean it."
"I meant, what's next for you two?" Shaking his head at the two of them, Oscar smiled.
Blushing a bit, Hermione smiled at Harry, as she looked thoughtful for several seconds before turning back to Oscar and Terri. "Well, I think I'm going to be talking to my landlord about subletting my flat, since I really don't see it getting much use anytime in the near future since I'm moving back home. As for anything else," pausing as she looked at Harry out of the corner of her eye, she continued, "I think we're going to be taking things a bit slowly. There are some people back home that will need time to adjust to the changes in our relationship, ourselves included."
"Hermione means that Ron and Ginny's mother will need some time to get over the fact that we're not with her youngest and that's not going to change." Harry rolled his eyes at the scowl on the Hermione's face at the mention of the Weasley matriarch. "As for the two of us, the biggest thing that will change is that we'll actually be able to admit to ourselves that we've been acting like a couple for the past eight years or so." Winking at Terri, he smiled. "Of course, there's this."
Leaning over, Harry slid his hand behind Hermione's head, and moved until their lips were just inches apart. Waiting a second for her barely perceptible nod, Harry kissed her tenderly. As her arms came up and wrapped themselves around him, the tray floated away and placed itself on the stand beside the bed as Harry lowered himself to sit on the bed.
Shaking her head, Terri looked up at Oscar. "Well, I can see that this is going to take a while." Her eyes twinkling, she looked at him speculatively. "Think you can do that mojo thing of yours and find us a quiet place to wait for these two to come up for air?"
Smiling in return, Oscar shook his head as he slid his arm around her shoulders. "You could have a parade in here and not disturb the two of them." Looking around at the chair Harry had been sleeping in, he smiled. "What say we see if that thing's as comfortable as Hermione said it was, and we'll just find some way to entertain ourselves while we wait for them to return to the real world?"
Smiling broadly, Teri winked. "Mr. Wizard, I do like how you think. It's either that or back to your room at the Torc, and apparently you need a refresher course on that silent room spell of yours."
Sitting in the chair and drawing Terri onto his lap, Oscar nodded. "Well, as they say, `practice makes perfect'. Shall we?"
Wrapping her arms around him, Terri gave him an affirmation that was unmistakable. Both couples were completely oblivious until a mediwitch dropped a tray of potions an hour later when she came in to begin Hermione's final examination.
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