A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews!
Chapter 14 - It Somehow Gets Worse
It had been a few days since Jade had spoken to her sister and it was absolutely killing her. Never had she gone so long without spending time with her partner in crime. Scorpius (continuing in his vein of uselessness) sided with Raven after learning of the marriage being pushed up, saying that it was a lost cause.
At least she still had Teddy. Fortunately, his father was going to play the part of Harry's best man, so he would be showing up at Potter Manor a day before the wedding. If she had not yet accomplished her goal of breaking up her dad and Hannah, it would be good to have another schemer with her.
She watched from afar on Platform 9 ¾ as her sister reached their dad first, giving him a big hug. Fortunately, it seemed that Hannah wasn't there. Jade rolled her trunk over by her dad and her sister, also giving him her tightest hug. It was so good to see her dad again, especially considering the fact that she had never gone so long without seeing him.
"So, how was your last week of school?" Harry asked, his face in a big smile.
"Alright," the two girls mumbled in unison before huffing and turning away from each other.
Harry's smile faltered. "What's the matter, you two?" he asked.
Jade stayed silent as Raven answered. "Don't want to talk about it," she mumbled.
Harry studied both of them for a moment. "I see," he finally said thoughtfully. "Just promise me you two will work through it by the end of the break, okay? I'd like to see you two happy at least once before you go off again."
"We promise," the two said together again.
"All right," said Harry, holding out a hand to each girl. "Grab your stuff and one of my hands."
The girls complied and Harry turned on the spot, apparating the three of them plus the girls' stuff back home, where Raven and Jade both went to their rooms in silence.
Christmas came a week later and the girls still hadn't spoken to each other, and both of Jade's attempts to break the engaged couple up failed miserably. She definitely wouldn't be able to do this alone.
Hannah was the same as ever with them. When Harry was around, she only glared at them whenever she was absolutely sure Harry couldn't see her. When Harry wasn't around, she spoke nastily to them and addressed them as 'brats'.
Thus, both of them did their best to avoid her.
Christmas was the most fun Jade had had in weeks. Raven was smiling too, though they still didn't speak to each other. Both girls received a new broomstick-the Firebolt 5-along with a few books they had wanted.
And before Jade knew it, it was the day before the wedding and she had accomplished absolutely nothing. Teddy arrived along with his parents at eleven in the morning, grinning at her devilishly before looking suggestively towards Hannah.
Jade nodded firmly, giving Teddy the message that they did indeed need to make some plans. Professor Granger arrived a few hours later to receive the grand tour from her dad. There was definitely tension between them, and Jade could see the longing and love in both of their eyes. They were both idiots. Her dad never looked at Hannah like that.
The wedding rehearsal got underway at around two in the evening, giving Jade and Teddy the necessary space and time to plot. "So, what do you have?" Jade asked Teddy. Both of them were in her room, Jade on her bed and Teddy on her desk chair.
Teddy shook his head sadly. "Nothing. I did have something earlier, but seeing the way everything is going, I don't think it would work."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, both of them thinking hard, when a knock suddenly interrupted their thoughts. "It's open!" called Jade.
The door opened and Raven tentatively stepped inside. "C-can I come in?"
A small smile crept up Jade's lips. She knew the look in her sister's eye. Raven definitely had a plan.
After the rehearsal, Harry was walking through the manor, whistling to himself happily. Everything had gone great. He rounded the corner into a hallway and stopped dead as he caught sight of Jade on the floor, crying and holding her head, from which blood was seeping.
"Jade!" Harry cried, whipping out his wand and dropping to his knees at her side.
Jade suddenly stopped crying, looking up at Harry and grinning. She took her 'bloody' hand away from her head and licked it, showing that it was only ketchup. Harry only had just enough time to get over his shock before his wand was snatched out of his hand and he was shoved into the broom closet, the door being slammed and locked from the other side. He couldn't believe that the girls would do something like this to him, and he decided to apparate out of the closet and have a few words with them.
Only he found that he couldn't apparate. Which was odd, especially considering the fact that he could apparate through Hogwarts's wards. Then he laughed to himself as he realized two things. He couldn't apparate because he had put the strongest ward he could find on his house to prevent the press from showing up the next day, and he had also been thoroughly tricked and outsmarted by his daughters (though he didn't approve of them almost giving him a heart attack).
Jade's crying resumed a few minutes later and he heard Hermione cry her name. There was a second of silence and Harry tensed, ready to jump out of the closet door as soon as it opened. But when it did open, Hermione was shoved right into him, sending them both into a pile on the floor before the door was closed and locked again. "I can't believe they got you, too," Harry said as they both stood up, Harry flicking on the muggle lights he had had installed.
"But for what reason?" Hermione asked, confused.
"I don't know," said Harry. "Just a fun joke?"
"I don't think that's it," said Hermione, comprehension flashing in her eyes for only a millisecond.
Then the awkwardness settled in. Here they were, both madly in love with each other though Harry was to be married to another the next day and Hermione had blown him off for lunch the last time they were supposed to meet.
They both sat down on opposite walls of the closet, which wasn't saying much as their knees were only inches from touching each other. Harry met Hermione's eyes with an intense gaze, which Hermione quickly broke. "Harry, I-I'm sorry I didn't show up for lunch that last week. I was being an idiot."
Harry chuckled to himself, thinking that Hermione could never be an idiot even if she tried. And now that it had been a few weeks, he found it easy to accept her apology. "It's alright. I'm sure you had a good reason."
"You could say that," said Hermione.
The awkwardness settled back over them, and Harry fished for something to say. But Hermione found something to say before he did. "So, you really love Hannah, don't you?" she asked curiously.
"Of course," said Harry without hesitation. "Why wouldn't I?"
Hermione studied him for a moment before saying, "And she really loves you?"
"What do you mean by that?" asked Harry, the beginnings of a cold edge to his voice.
"Nothing," said Hermione quickly. "Just curious."
Harry sighed, knowing what he wanted to ask next but not knowing if he should. It could potentially damage their relationship. But Harry figured it would be better to live his life without any regrets, and so decided to ask, "What made you choose Ron over me?"
Hermione looked down at her hands, which were clasped in her lap. She decided that now was finally the right time to tell him how she felt, especially considering the fact that he was going to be wed the following day. Late was always better than never. "I never wanted Ron over you," she finally admitted quietly.
"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Harry. "You choosing Ron resulted in us not speaking for three years, in case you don't remember."
"I may have chosen Ron over you, but I never wanted anyone as much as I wanted you," Hermione said as tears gathered in her eyes. "I loved you, Harry, more than you'll ever know."
Harry felt his own eyes start to moisten. "Then why?" he asked, knowing that she would know what he was asking.
"Because I was being a fool," admitted Hermione, wiping her face. "I realized the day after you left that I had made a mistake, but I was too late to rectify it."
Harry lowered his head into his hands, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "All this time, all this time I've lived in pain and all because you were too afraid to follow your heart?"
Hermione looked down at her lap, her tears falling off her cheeks. "Yes," she admitted. "But I'm not afraid anymore. I have nothing to lose. I still love you, Harry. I'm still in love with you."
Harry sat in a shocked silence for a second, making sure he heard her correctly. "H-Harry?" Hermione asked. "Please say something."
Harry kept staring at Hermione, then couldn't help himself as a laugh bubbled up his chest and escaped his mouth. He started laughing, a bit of a mad edge tingeing it, and said, "Let me get this straight. You loved me all along, you still love me, and you've waited until the day before my wedding to tell me so?"
Hermione looked down, abashed, and weakly nodded her head. "You've got to be kidding me," said Harry. "Well, sorry Hermione, but I got over you quite a while ago," he lied. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut, cringing at the pain in her heart. "I love Hannah now, so you can just sit back and see how it feels to be the brokenhearted one this time," Harry said, trying to sound mean but only sounding pained. He just couldn't be mean to her no matter how hard her tried, and he instantly regretted the words that had come out of his mouth.
But Hermione didn't care how he sounded. She only cared about what he had just said. "Too bad she doesn't love you back," Hermione said quietly and a bit smugly. "You know she's only in it for the money, right?"
"I didn't really expect you to be the mean jealous type," said Harry scathingly, this time finding it a little less hard to be mean. "And I never thought you'd be one to actually believe Rita Skeeter."
Hermione stood up and Harry followed suit, both of them getting in each other's faces. "I'm not being mean," said Hermione. "I'm just telling the truth. I love you, Harry, and I know Hannah doesn't. And do you want to know how I know that?"
"How?" asked Harry sarcastically.
Hermione took in a deep breath and said, "Because I know your favorite color is brown, and I know you prefer coffee over tea, and I know you fly with your left hand in front of your right even though most righties fly opposite, and I know your favorite book as a kid was 'The Hobbit', and I know you hate peanuts, and I know you like watching football…I know everything about you Harry, and I could see myself spending the rest of my life with you…that's how I know I love you. Does Hannah know any of those things?" she asked, looking up into his eyes vulnerably.
Harry gazed into Hermione's eyes, seeing the truth in her words. And oh, how he desperately wanted to embrace her and tell her loved her back. All of the things she had just said she knew about him he had only told her once, and he had never even told her that he flew with his left hand in front. She loved him, she really did. And Harry realized that Hannah definitely did not know him anywhere near as well as Hermione did.
But they were getting married tomorrow, and he loved Hannah too, though not as much as Hermione. And ditching her for another woman the day before their wedding wouldn't be fair to her. So he stubbornly said, "Just because she doesn't know all of those things doesn't mean she doesn't love me. It just means that I haven't spent as much time with her as I have with you. Just face it, Hermione," he said, willing his voice not to break, "you're too late."
Hermione looked back down, and when she looked back up her face was devoid of emotion. "I hope your wedding goes well and you have a great life," she said monotonously before her face flickered into a grimace and the door burst open, her bottled magic spilling out past the barriers she had thrown up. "And when you pull your head out of your arse and realize that Hannah doesn't love you, don't worry, I won't be waiting," she said, her voice trembling.
Harry looked down to his left and Hermione let out one last, choked sob before running out of the room.
Before running out of Harry's life.
A/N: Okay, so that didn't exactly go as planned, but try as I might I couldn't get it exactly the way I wanted it.
I hope you still enjoyed it though, and I hope you leave me a good review!