~HM
Chapter 9
"Something smells good."
Claudia looked up from the skillet and smiled. "Good morning, Mr. Potter."
"Morning, Claudia." He shuffled into the kitchen, sniffing the air. "Coffee."
"Yes…would you like a cup?"
"You better believe it. No, don't worry….I can pour me some."
"You pay me to wait on you, Mr. Potter…so I wait. Now, sit."
"Yes, mam." He plopped down at the head of the kitchen table just off to the side of the kitchen. "Do I also smell bacon?"
"Yes," she said placing a cup in front of him. "And pancakes."
"You're a marvel."
She just laughed as she waddled herself back to the stove, but didn't get far into her cooking when she noticed one of the guests lingering at the doorway. "Good morning, Miss Granger."
Hermione smiled as she stepped inside. "Good morning."
"Hey," Harry said with a grin as he quickly gave her a glance over. She was dressed in a pair of green sweatpants and a red shirt and her wild hair was pulled back into a curly ponytail. "Don't you look…Christmasy."
"What?" She blinked, and then looked down. "Oh…I didn't even think about that."
He just smiled and patted the chair to his left. "Sit…Claudia will bring you some coffee."
"That would be lovely." She took the seat next to Harry. "Have you been up long?"
"No, I just walked in here right before you did. Thanks, Claudia," he said as she set his mug in front of him and then Hermione's. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Like a baby," she said as she lifted her mug and took a testing sip. "I forgot where I was. This is good coffee."
"She makes the best," he said before taking his own sip. "Wasn't really a coffee drinker until I tried hers."
"Is everyone else still asleep?"
"I imagine so…I haven't seen anybody."
"Mr. Malfoy came down an hour ago," Claudia said from the kitchen "Went out on the beach…and then Miss Weasley followed not too soon after."
Harry's brows lifted. "Really?" he asked as he shared a surprised look with Hermione. "So, there down there…together?"
"I imagine they will run into each other, yes…is this…a problem?"
"Oh, no," he assured her when he noticed a hint of worry in her eyes. "Not at all."
"Ron's going to freak," Hermione muttered out of the corner of her mouth.
"Maybe…but it's not like they went out there together."
"Ron won't see it that way."
"No…no, he won't. He'll get over it…he has to get over it, or else it will be a long two weeks."
Hermione took another satisfying sip, and then cleared her throat as she set the cup down. "You know, I wouldn't worry about it. I would just stay out of it and let them battle it out."
"Yeah, but-"
"Morning." They both looked up to see Ron walking into the kitchen, stifling a yawn, with Luna following close behind him. "What smells so bloody good?"
"Coffee and bacon," Harry said sharing one more nervous look with Hermione before gesturing them to sit down. "How'd you two sleep?"
"It took awhile for me to fall asleep," Ron admitted he got situated in the chair on the other side of Harry. "But once I did fall asleep, I was out like a rock."
"I slept like a baby," Luna said as sat in the chair next to Ron. "The bed was very comfortable."
"Here we go." Claudia set two steaming mugs down in front of Luna and Ron. "You enjoy and be careful…it's hot."
They both gave a quick nod of understanding and then Claudia hustled back into the kitchen. "So…" Ron blew carefully at his mug. "Are Ginny and Draco still asleep?"
Harry glanced at Hermione who was hiding a smile behind her coffee cup. "Er…" He cleared his throat and looked back at Ron. "Actually…Claudia told us that Draco was up fairly early and…went out to the beach. And, uh…Ginny followed not too soon after."
Ron's mug stilled inches from his lips. "What?" he asked calmly as he slowly set the mug down. "Ginny's out there? With Draco?"
"Ron, she can handle herself," Luna said placing a hand on his arm.
Ron immediately relaxed at her touch and let out a sigh. "I know," he said running a hand through his hair. "I know that and I know he won't hurt her…probably, but…my first reaction is to be worried. It's just going to take awhile to get use to."
Luna smiled softly and rubbed the hand on his arm. "Understandable."
"Wow," Harry said bluntly. "Luna must have talked some sense into you last night. I was expecting you to fly off the handle."
"I probably would have," Ron admitted with a laugh, but sobered and shook his head. "But it doesn't mean I'm completely convinced he's all Mr. Nice Guy now."
"I don't think he'll ever be, Mr. Nice Guy," Hermione said. "He'll always have a little bad boy in him."
"I agree." Luna lifted her cup in a salute. "And what girl can resist a bad boy?"
Harry and Ron both frowned when the girls giggled and clinked their mugs. "Hey…I can be bad."
Hermione stifled a laugh. "Sure you could, Harry," she said mockingly as she patted his hand.
"Yeah, laugh it up, Granger," he said with narrowed eyes. "One day I just might surprise you."
"I doubt it. I'm sorry, Harry," she laughed when she noticed the scowl on his face. "But I just can't see it. Don't worry, though, plenty of girls are suckers for the good guys. I'm one of them."
"Gee, that's reassuring," he said dryly. "Thanks."
"You're welcome."
"What's so special about a bad boy anyway?" Ron asked. "It's like that saying, `Nice guys finish last.' I never liked that phrase."
"Bad boys are mysterious and sexy."
All four of them blinked up at Claudia who had just set down the syrup and butter on the table. "What? Just because I am older I cannot enjoy a bad boy?"
Hermione and Luna laughed, while the boys just continued to sulk. "Well said, Claudia!" Hermione said holding up her hand.
Claudia chuckled and gave her a little high five before hurrying back in the kitchen. "Breakfast is almost ready."
"I can't wait to dive into that bacon." Ron licked his chops. "My mouth is practically watering."
"Just make sure you leave some for the rest of us, Ronald."
Ron smirked at Hermione. "Ha, ha."
The back door of the kitchen suddenly swung open and Ginny poured into the kitchen with Draco close behind. "Hey, morning guys!" She sniffed the air. "Wow, Claudia…it smells wonderful."
"You are just in time," she said with a pleasing smile. "Breakfast is ready. You two take your seat."
"You wouldn't happen to have anything I can put these shells in do you?" she asked her as she set Draco's shirt on the counter and let the shells spill out.
"How pretty," Claudia commented and then went to a drawer and pulled out a plastic zip-lock bag. "Here."
"Perfect, thanks." She then tossed the shirt back to Draco. "Heads up."
He caught it before it hit his face and then tugged it over his head. "Claudia, I could use more of that coffee."
"Coming right up. Sit."
"I can pour it my-"
"Sit," she repeated, more forcefully as she snapped and pointed to the empty chair.
He flinched slightly, then thought it best not to argue and took a seat next to Hermione and across from Luna. "She's kind of scary," he murmured softly, getting a chuckle out of both girls.
Ginny plopped down at the chair at the other end of the table and proudly held up her bag. "The first of my shell collection. Aren't they pretty?"
"I love this one," Luna said leaning over to brush a thumb through the plastic over a pearlized, shell that twisted like a corkscrew.
"That's one of my favorites, too," Ginny said with a grin and then gently set the bag down.
"You know what you need to try to find, is a sand dollar." Harry lifted his coffee and finished it off. "Those are really rare."
"What do they look like?"
"Starch white, round and flat…fairly smooth. I found one during my first stay out on the sand bar…I'll show it to you later."
Claudia leaned over and placed a round plate in the center of the table. Nearly two-dozen strips of bacon outlined a round stack of overly large, steaming, pancakes. Everyone murmured quick thanks as they snagged a handful of bacon or forked up a fluffy pancake.
"What's a sand bar?" Ron asked as he drenched his plate with syrup.
"It's a shallow area a few yards out." Harry paused to lick a dollop of syrup from his thumb. "It's fun to swim out there when the waves aren't too rough."
Hermione took a quick nibble of her bacon. "So, what's the plan today?"
"No plan really," Harry said with a mouthful of pancakes, and then took a moment to wash it down with the coffee Claudia had just refilled. "We can hang out by the pool, the beach…if we want to take a break from the sun we can go down to the basement where the game room is."
"You have a game room?" Draco asked as he forked up his third pancake.
"Yeah, it came with the house. It's loaded with muggle games."
"I couldn't possibly eat another bite," Ginny said pushing her plate away before collapsing back in her chair. She smiled up at Claudia as she took her plate away. "It was fabulous, Claudia."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Miss Weasley."
"If I'm not careful I'm going to gain a few pounds after these two weeks."
"I hear you, Ginny," Hermione said as she reluctantly pushed her plate away, even though she was dying for just one more strip of bacon. "The thought of squeezing into a swimsuit right now is depressing."
Harry thought of the sorry excuse she called a swimsuit and swallowed a groan with a huge mouthful of coffee. "Did you want to go to the beach?"
"Maybe," she said with a shrug. "I was thinking of trying out the pool first, definitely take a ride down the waterslide."
"Waterslide?" Ron asked with raised brows. "I didn't see one."
"It's built into the rocks next to the water fall."
"Brilliant."
"Let's go get our suits on," Ginny said standing up.
"Sounds good," Luna said as she took one quick nibble of bacon and pushed back from the table. "Thanks for breakfast, Claudia."
"You're quite welcome, Miss Lovegood."
"Hey, don't forget your precious shells," Draco said holding up her bag she had left behind.
"Oh! Thanks." She snagged it from his hand. "You coming up Hermione?"
"I'll meet you out there later." After they walked out, she looked over at Ron, who was still devouring his food. "I was hoping maybe you'd like to go somewhere and talk, Ronald. That is, if you can manage to pull away from your breakfast."
"Oh." Ron lifted his head up and swallowed his food. "Sure…I mean, if you want…I can do that."
"Can we use to parlor room, Harry?"
"Sure," he said with a small smile. "Anywhere is fine."
"Thanks." She smiled and then got up from her seat. "Are you ready, Ron?"
"Yeah," he muffled as he shoveled in one last bite of gooey pancakes as he got up from his seat, and then quickly washed it down with coffee. "Ready."
"You might want to wipe your mouth," Harry said as he tossed his napkin at him. "You've got syrup dribbling down your chin."
"Oh…oops." He gave it a dab and then tossed the napkin down. "Thanks, Claudia! It was great!"
"Yes, thank you, Claudia," Hermione said.
"My pleasure. I hope you saved some room for lunch, Mr. Weasley."
He grinned. "Don't worry, I'll be hungry again in a few hours."
Claudia let out a joyous laugh as she carried plates back to the kitchen. "Would you like some more coffee?" she asked Harry and Draco after they left.
"No, thank you, Claudia."
"None for me, either," Draco answered and then looked over at Harry. "Something troubling you, Potter?"
Harry blinked up at him. "What? No…why?"
"I don't know." He lifted a shoulder. "You just looked like something was bothering you."
"No. No, it's not that." Harry looked over at the direction Hermione and Ron took off. "Just worried I guess…I want them to work things out."
"Do you?"
"Well, yeah," he said a bit puzzled by his tone. "Why wouldn't I? The last thing I want is to see my two best friends upset or miserable with each other."
"Okay." Draco leaned forward in his chair towards Harry and folded his arms on the table. "Can I be honest with you?"
"When have you not?"
"Good point. Back at school…although I gave Ron a lot of crap about having a thing for Hermione and all that, because let's face it…Ron's a bit easier to rile up than you....but…I always assumed she'd end up with you." Draco grinned when all he did was stare with his mouth gaped open. "I can see that I've shocked you."
Harry closed his eyes and shook his head clear. "Wait…what? How? I mean…why on earth did you….what?"
"Look, all I'm saying is that from even an outsiders point of view, it was obvious that the two of you had the stronger connection. I can't tell you how many times I've seen you two in an intense conversation while Ron just stood there…looking clueless."
"That's not fair."
Draco held up his hands. "I'm not saying that he was…I'm sure he contributed plenty, but…I'm just
telling you how I saw it."
"Okay, I'll agree with you on a few things," Harry admitted as he sat up in his chair as well. "Hermione and I…we were always on the same page it seemed like, no matter what it was we were talking about. It's always been that way…we just…clicked. I can't tell you how many times we've finished each other's sentences. But that doesn't mean we're…right for each other. She's just my best friend…no, not just, because she's more that that, but…we aren't…I mean, we've never even went down that road before."
"Have you ever thought about it?"
"No," he blurted quickly. "Of course not, I mean…no."
"Really?"
"Definitely."
"Why not?"
"Because I knew Ron liked her."
Draco lifted a brow. "Interesting."
Harry frowned slightly. "But that's not the only reason."
"Okay, what other reason is there?"
"Because she…because I…" His brows furrowed as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say. "Look…it just was never something either of us thought about. That's all."
"How do you know she's never thought about it?"
"Because she's never told me."
Draco laughed. "Do you honestly think she would?"
"Why wouldn't she?"
"Geez, Potter…are you that clueless when it comes to women?"
Harry sighed. "Unfortunately. Can we stop talking about Hermione and I as a hypothetical couple?"
He nodded. "Sure…if it bothers you that much."
"It doesn't bother me," he added quickly. "Just makes me…a bit uncomfortable."
He shrugged. "Okay."
"I'm going up to change into my swim trunks. I'll see you later."
Draco nodded and watched him walk off with a soft smirk on his face. Interesting, he thought as he slowly leaned back in his chair. Very interesting. Maybe the next two weeks weren't going to be so bad after all.
-->