Authors Notes: Well, I bet you all had given up and you thought I would never get around to updating this fic again! Well I'm finally here!
So why the incredibly long delay? Well, since I last updated this fic I have lived about ten lives- changing jobs twice and starting to commute 80 kilometers a day was just the start of it! So there has been so little time for fics! Not to mention that I also lost the most recent version of the story- I had about 3 on the go at once and one of them, I used to work on at the job I was at when I last updated. But in the rush when I left that job (I was leaving 2 days before going overseas and starting the new job as soon as I got back!) I didn't know which of my 7 email addresses I had sent it too! And the inboxes of all 7 fill with so much crap so easily and it has only been now that I have finally had time to be able to sit down, find it and organise uploading the last chapters.
But if you're still reading it, I really and truly hope you enjoy it and I'm going to do my best to get the story finished by the end of the year!
TWENTY FOUR
'Are you sure everything will be right here?' Hermione asked Kevin nervously from her office. Kevin smiled at her.
'Mrs Weas- Hermione,' he corrected on her glare. 'Everything will be fine. You'll only be gone for one night, two days. The engagements that were scheduled have been rearranged and there's nothing that we can't do without you.'
'I don't know what I'd do without you Kevin.'
'You'd probably be curled up in the corner, shaking,' he said and they both laughed.
The silver ball on the desk glowed slightly and Hermione placed her pinkie finger on it and felt herself being dragged forwards.
When she opened her eyes, she was standing in a familiar lane.
'Don't cry,' she told herself firmly, placing the ball into her pocket. She looked around and noticed the ground just ahead. It was scuffed, as if someone had been there and gone into the bushes in a hurry.
Her mind kicked in straight away and she clutched her wand tightly inside the sleeve of the thin cardigan she was wearing.
'Reveal yourself!' she called, turning to face the bushes.
'Hold your spell!" a voice replied. She pulled her wand out pointed it at the bush.
The bush started to quiver and she saw someone start to emerge.
'Hermione?' they said and she laughed.
'Harry, what are you doing here?'
The relief of seeing that it was only Harry soared through her and without thinking she flung herself at him and hugged him tightly.
'I had to come,' he said, holding her as tightly as she was holding him.
'Same.'
They hugged for a long time, before breaking apart and walking down the lane together, hand in hand. As they walked, he could see the house they had stayed in a year ago.
The sight made him squeeze Hermione's hand. She squeezed back.
~*~
'Dad'll be in Spain by now,' Lily said, sitting down on a lounge in the common room beside James.
'Good for him,' he said, not looking up from the book of poker hints Harry had given him over the summer.
'Please don't revert back to how you were,' Lily begged him. 'You've been so much better since your accident. We can all stand to be around you.'
'He shouldn't go back there.'
'He wants to pay his respects for mum,' she said sadly. 'If we didn't have school, I would've gone with him.'
'You don't see Aunt Hermione going.'
'That's because she's in Australia, across the other side of the world. I'm sure if she was closer, she'd go too.'
~*~
The site that had been the markets once upon a time had been cleared and barricaded. At the point that had been the entrance, a temporary memorial had been erected. Wreaths of flowers with names lay here, along with photos and mementos of those who had been lost.
Groups of people stood around, spread out from the other groups, but each group huddled in close. Harry gripped Hermione's hand tighter and reached into his jacket pocket.
Inside was one of the very few muggle photographs of the four of them. He smiled as he looked at it.
Ginny looked so happy here. Her long red hair was sparkling in the sunlight and she was smiling so widely.
Ron looked happy too, but he wasn't looking at the camera. He was looking at Hermione beside him, smiling at her. It was clear from his expression that the only thing he was thinking about was her.
He showed the photo to Hermione and she nodded, knowing what he wanted to do. They both crouched in front of the barricade and, slyly using his wand, attached the photo to the growing number of them on the barricade.
They stepped back and looked at it for a moment.
'I love you, Ginny,' Harry said softly.
'I miss you, Ron,' Hermione said at the same time. 'And I love you.'
They stood there for a few moments and then Hermione looked up at him.
'Want to go back to that pub?'
They walked up to the pub they had last eaten in as a foursome. They sat at the same table and ordered the same food.
And for the first time in year, they talked about Ron and Ginny. Not about missing them, but told stories and laughed. They didn't even realise that it was getting dark, until Hermione looked up and stared at the stars.
'This has been nice,' she told him with a smile. 'I'm glad I came.'
'I'm glad you did too,' Harry said. 'Just wish you'd told me you were coming.'
'You should have told me,' she said and they both laughed.
Harry paid their tab at the bar and they headed out and down to the beach. They walked until they couldn't see the pub no more and Hermione sat down on the sand and kicked off her shoes. Harry did the same and they sat there together in quiet.
After a while, they laid down as they talked and Hermione rolled onto her side and looked Harry in the face.
'I wish I didn't have to go back to Sydney,' she said sadly.
'So do I.'
He rolled onto his side and met her gaze.
'I'm counting down until you come home,' Harry said slowly.
'So am I,' she whispered.
Harry bent his head and touched his forehead to hers. Hermione's heart started to beat faster and she took hold of the hand she could reach and held it tight. His green eyes looked deep into hers and her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest. She felt frozen in place- she knew she should move, but she didn't want too.
'I think we should go,' he said suddenly, sitting up, shaking Hermione into action.
'Yes. Good idea.'
~*~
They walked back to the village holding hands and Hermione's motel was the first stop. They stood outside the door to her room, before Harry kissed her on the cheek and headed to his own motel.
Once inside the room, Hermione lent against the door and slid down to the floor.
It was strange. She was here to pay tribute to her husband, but what exactly had happened back on the beach? She and Harry had been writing to each other every other day since she had gone to Australia, and she had never really read too much into them.
And why was Harry counting down until she came home? And why was she so eager to go back?
Her head felt heavy as she picked herself up and laid down on the hard bed and stared at the ceiling.
It's only been a year.
Ron would want you to be happy.
It's only been a year.
It's not like Harry is a stranger.
It's only been a year.
Ginny would be happy as well.
It's only been a year.
The children would be happy.
It's only been a year.
These thought carried her off to sleep and when the bright sunlight awoke her in the morning, she was just as confused.
Several blocks away, Harry hadn't slept at all. He knew what he had been about to do on the beach and he was glad he had stopped it. Hermione was his best friends wife.
And he didn't know what had made him want to do what he wanted to do. After everything that they had gone through in the last year, and the separation of the last few months
'Maybe it's just being here,' he reasoned with himself as he headed into the bathroom and washed his face.