Chapter Two - Shakespeare in the Park
A/N - Thanks to everyone for their support for this story, and especially for those who wanted the story to continue. Hopefully the continuation will live up to everyone's expectation. And Ladylaughsalot was correct; there was something very crucial missing from the first chapter. Hopefully this will make amends for that.
The waning moon shown thinly through the lightly misting rain as they made their way towards home. Looking up at Harry's face in the soft glow of the streetlamps scattered around the square, Hermione chuckled at the expression on his face.
"And just what's so funny, Miss Granger?" Smiling, Harry leaned closer to make certain she was covered by the brolly.
Wrapping her arm around his waist to pull them closer together she smiled. "Harry, I think we've both been waiting for tonight for a long time. And I'm still trying to suss out exactly why it took us almost twelve years to get here." Sighing, Hermione leaned her head against him as she cast a subtle banishing charm to remove the damp from both of their coats.
Reaching the steps of Number Twelve, Harry stopped at the bottom of the steps while Hermione stepped up onto the first step leading to the house. While not evening out their relative heights, it did reduce the difference to one where only a slight incline of a head or a slight lifting on the toes would bring them eye-to-eye, or lip-to-lip.
Putting her arms around him, Hermione stared into his green eyes for almost a minute before speaking. "Harry, tonight was wonderful. I know we've been to Greengrass' before, and we've been to the theatre before, things were wonderfully different tonight."
Smiling, Harry nodded. "I can hear a `but' at the end of that sentence. And I know your rule. Everything that precedes `but' can be ignored, the real meat of the thought is what follows."
"Harry, what comes next scares me. It's one thing to go on a `date'…" Whatever her point would have been was cut off when Harry leaned forward and kissed her. Hermione started in surprise, but within a second she was returning his kiss just as passionately as he was kissing her. Sliding his hands down her back, having left the brolly hanging in midair to shelter them from the misting rain, his hands gently caressed her as she pressed herself against him, her tongue began seeking entry into his mouth.
As her tongue slipped into his mouth, her hands moved up and her fingers began to entwine themselves in Harry's hair as his hands…
"Earth to Hermione. London Zoo calling."
Coming out of her reverie, reliving the first kiss that she and Harry had shared last night, Hermione looked up into the face of Chastity Dursley. Looking around for a couple of seconds, Hermione realized that she was sitting on a bench behind the Snowdon Aviary. Shaking her head to clear the memories of what had followed, she realized she was blushing.
"Chastity, I'm sorry. Just woolgathering I suppose." Shaking her head, she stood up and exchanged a hug with the other witch. "I take it you and Dudley picked the same day to take the twins to the zoological gardens that Harry and I brought Teddy."
"We had thought about taking the coach out to Whipsnade, but we decided that the twins were a bit too young to appreciate it, so we brought them here instead." Looking over to where Dudley and Harry were chatting, Chastity smiled as five year old Petunia and Lily were teasing their cousin Teddy. Looking back at Hermione, Chastity studied her friend for a second as she watched her watching Harry. Suddenly, everything clicked into place.
"Merciful Stars!" Shaking her head, Chastity started grinning at Hermione. "When on earth did it happen?"
"I have no earthly idea what you're referring to." Blushing, Hermione tried to compose herself as she reluctantly turned her attention away from Harry. "Harry and I are just here at the zoo with Teddy since he's on hols."
"Hermione that might wash with the witches in your office, but it's not going to fool any of us that know the two of you." Smiling, Chastity nodded as her friend began to blush again. "Harry's looking happier than I've ever seen him and you were sitting on that bench `woolgathering' with a look on your face I used to see as a Prefect when I'd interrupt couples in broomclosets at school."
"I was just thinking about the theatre last night. Harry and I had a date and saw the new revival in the West End."
"A date?" Laughing, Chastity covered her mouth with her hand and tried to control herself. "You and Harry never ever date." Staring at her friend, she eyed her for a couple of seconds and then whipped her head around to catch Harry staring at the pair of them with a curious and worried look on his face. Turning back to Hermione, she smiled wickedly. "Was the wait worth it?"
"Beg pardon?" Staring at her, Hermione shook her head. "And just how did we get from Harry and I going to the theatre to that look you just gave me?"
"Remember, it was a `date' love. And rather than discussing the look I just gave you, let's talk about the look you just gave Harry there." Smiling as Hermione hastily averted her eyes from Harry, Chastity shook her head. "That's not the `my best mate of fifteen years' look. It's not even the `my best mate of fifteen years who could be so much more if I wasn't such a bloody coward' look you usually give him."
Blushing, Hermione looked defiantly at her. "Well, since you think you know so much, exactly what look was I giving him?"
"Oh, I'd say that was the `when can we get out of here so I can drag Harry back to bed' look." Smiling at the shocked look on Hermione's face, Chastity nodded. "I'm so right. When are you two going to start letting people know things have changed?"
"Apparently, as soon as we walk into any room together, if you're to be believed." Shaking her head, Hermione blushed again as she lowered her voice. "Is it really that obvious?"
"That you've finally admitted to yourself that you're totally in love with Harry?" Seeing the look on Hermione's face, she smiled. "Sorry to disappoint you, but any witch paying attention is going to notice that when they see the two of you together." Shaking her head, Chastity chuckled. "You two weren't actually thinking you could keep something like this a secret, did you?"
"Well, the thought was since people see us together all of the time, there wouldn't be anything to announce right at the moment." Blushing, Hermione bit her lower lip and looked around. "You know how we both are uncomfortable that every little thing we do seems to be fodder for the press. I've lost track of how many stories they've published over the years about either us being in some sort of torrid, secret romance or cheating on each other with others in some sort of torrid secret love triangle."
"Let me get this straight. You plan on dodging the bludger of the Prophet's quarterly expose about the secret romance between you and Harry by carrying on a secret romance?" Laughing, Chastity shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"It doesn't sound quite as well thought out when you put it that way, I'll admit." Shaking her head, Hermione sighed. "Bother. He's going to hate this."
"Does he love you?' Refusing to flinch from the glare that Hermione gave her, Chastity nodded. "I'm serious. Does he love you?"
"Of course he does!" Blushing and lowering her voice, Hermione nodded reassuringly to Harry before turning back to her friend. "Neither of us are the type to do something like this unless we were certain."
"Are you ready to quit playing house and actually marry the boy and make an honest wizard out of him?"
"Honestly, you sound like my mother. She's been making snide insinuations about the two of us for years." Shaking her head, Hermione paled. "I can't believe I have to tell my mother she's been right since we got back from Australia."
"Let's leave your issues with Helen out of this. Harry's got her charmed well enough that she won't twit you about it for more than a year or so." Seeing the look on Hermione's face, Chastity smiled. "Honestly, your issues with your mum can wait. If you want to get ahead of the issue of people knowing, you need to talk to Luna."
"Luna?" Shaking her head, Hermione sighed. "I so don't need a lecture about nargles and Snorkacks right now."
"Love, I don't know how she does it, but Luna is very rarely surprised by anything, so telling her will be more you accepting the fact she's going to give you a `I knew that' look. And she really cares about both of you. The fact that Luna is the one that pulls the strings at the Quibbler is the fact you need to remember."
"No, I'm not going to announce to the world my relationship with Harry in the Quibbler." Shaking her head, Hermione rolled her eyes. "I can just see it; we'll be sharing the front page with news about Stubby Boardman's latest comeback tour."
"Hermione, this is Luna. She'll keep her father under control." Shaking her head, she smiled. "Exactly when was the last time you read a copy?"
"Other than looking at the interviews we gave eight years ago, I've never read a copy, thank you very much." Glaring at Chastity, Hermione faltered when she saw the look in the other witch's eyes. "What?"
"It's been a much different paper since they went weekly at the end of the summer after the war. From what Luna tells me, the investor who put up the money stipulated she had final say on the balance of articles in the paper, and it's been a smash." Smiling, she sighed. "You mum and dad subscribe, for Merlin's sake."
"And I've never understood that." Shaking her head, Hermione closed her eyes. "I always assumed it was because they both like Luna."
"Your mum is fond of her, but you don't see her wearing radish earrings, do you?" Seeing the begrudging look on Hermione's face, Chastity smiled. "For Merlin's sake, they did do the interviews with you lot after Harry defeated Voldemort and you had no complaints about that." Seeing Hermione's slow nod, Chastity continued on.
"The eighth anniversary is coming up, you could sit down and do an interview about how things have changed in the past eight years and work that in as part of the story." Seeing Hermione bite her lower lip as she thought, Chastity nodded. "You need not go into any sort of detail, just mention the fact that the two of you are together and you're planning on taking raising your son to the next level."
"Have you considered a career as a press agent?" Looking over at Harry, Hermione nodded in response to the annoyed look he was giving her.
"Would you two give that a rest? It's downright annoying how you two do that. Dudley and I have been married for six years now and we still can't figure it out."
"What?" Hermione absentmindedly responded as she nodded to Harry and smiled. "He's not too chuffed that we're going to have to do this, but he'd rather it be Luna than anyone at the Prophet or Witch Weekly." Shaking her head, Hermione tilted her head a bit and looked at Chastity. "I'm not certain what you mean. After fifteen years people get used to each other, they tend to know what the other is going to say or do."
"Hermione, if you'd stop and think about it, you'd realize what a load of tripe that was." Shaking her head, Chastity giggled at the offended look on Hermione's face. "Honestly, the two of you have always had a connection that was just short of scary, and whatever it was you two did last night took it over the edge to absolutely bloody scary."
Seeing the blush on her friend's face as she mentioned the previous evening, Chastity smirked. "I'm beginning to believe that the two of you went a bit further than `first kiss' last night."
"I'm so not going to have this conversation standing in the middle of the London Zoo." Blushing, Hermione shook her head. "Or anywhere else, for that matter."
"Doesn't matter, the look on your face tells the tale. Good thing I'm a happily married witch. If I was single and on the `Potter Prowl', I'd be tempted to obliviate you and try my luck with him." Chastity started giggling at the look on Hermione's face when she mentioned that infamously tacky column from Witch Weekly devoted to speculations about dating Harry Potter.
As the two witches wandered over to where Dudley and Harry were standing while the children played, Hermione scowled. "Hopefully once we talk to Luna, that will be the end of that little bit of journalistic voyeurism." Shaking her head, Hermione sighed. "Honestly, I could never see why witches would queue up to embarrass themselves like that on the very very off chance that Harry might be held against his will and forced to read that column."
"That's because, for the past dozen years or so, he's been yours. You just never got around to putting a tag on him so the rest of those poor witches thought there might be the slightest bit of a chance." Smirking at the blush on Hermione's face, Chastity stepped over and gave Harry a hug. "Wotcher Harry. And congratulations."
"Thanks Chastity." Returning the hug, Harry rolled his eyes as Hermione glared at him." What? We said we were going to tell family first and if anyone figured it out, we wouldn't lie about it."
"Did it ever occur to you that she might have been bluffing to see if she could get you to confess to something?"
"Hermione Jane. Being in love with you isn't some dark, dank, secret that I'd feel compelled to `confess' to. Besides, since Dudley already figured it out, I assumed his wife would be at least as quick on the uptake." Shaking his head, Harry nodded to his cousin. "No offense, Duds."
"None taken. My wife is the brains of the outfit, so if I can see that Harry's changed and can't keep his eyes of you, you had a snowball's chance of fooling Chastity, Hermione." Shaking his head, Dudley chuckled. "Do you two want to go around the rest of the zoo with us, or would you rather be alone?"
"I think we should make this a family day at the zoo, it might well be the last bit of normal we see for a while once we talk to Luna, later today." Shaking her head, Hermione put her arm through Harry's as she glanced over at the children. "Lily, put that squirrel down. He's not a pet."
Placing the annoyed rodent back on the ground, Lily Dursley shook her head at her cousin. "Teddy, you're so full of it. Aunt Hermione hasn't changed one bit, I don't care how much she's been snogging Uncle Harry."
"Lily Rowena Dursley. You shouldn't use words you don't understand." Glaring at her daughter, Chastity bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing at the mortified look on Hermione's face. Turning to her other daughter, she nodded. "And that goes for you, Petunia Athena."
"Mum, of course we know what it means." Smiling innocently, Petunia scuffed the toe of her trainer in the dirt and nodded seriously to the assembled adults. "It's what Aunt Luna and Uncle Ron do anytime they think no one's looking at them." Ignoring her cousin who was laughing so hard his hair was turning blue; she smiled and looked at her sister. "What was it Aunt Luna said, Lils?"
"She said that if Aunt Hermione and Uncle Harry ever figure things out, they'll be like Snorkacks in April."
"Snorkacks in April?" Looking warily at the very serious five year old in front of her, Hermione shook her head. "I'm very certain I don't want to know."
"And they say she's the smartest witch of her age." Petunia began.
"When everyone knows that April," Lily continued.
"Is Snorkack mating season." Petunia chimed in, as Hermione's eyes got big.
"Which is why you have baby Snorkacks in January." Lily added, turning towards Teddy.
"Is that when you're going to have a baby brother or sister?" Petunia concluded, nodded to Teddy.
"Ladies, that will be just about enough of that." Shaking his head, Dudley grinned apologetically at Hermione. "I'm sorry Hermione, they spent a couple of days with Ron and Luna last week, and they've been quite eager to share their insights with everyone."
"Dudley, it's not a problem. I'm certain that's not going to be the last time we're going to have the children question posed to us." Smiling, Harry wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and gestured towards that path that was marked leading towards the owl exhibit. "Shall we go see what the zoo has in the way of owls?"
"Have you thought about how you're going to tell Mum?" Dudley chuckled at the thoughtful look on Harry's face as he considered the question. "You know it's going to be bragging rights between her and Helen as to which one gets informed first."
"And then there's Molly. If she gets left out of the loop, we'll never hear the end of it." Shaking her head, Hermione sighed as the twins and Teddy raced ahead to the owl exhibit.
"Dinner party tonight at Grimmauld Place." Harry and Hermione chorused as Dudley and Chastity shook their heads and laughed.
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