Unofficial Portkey Archive

III.

It was much later that evening that he learned that he was in a small town outside of Melbourne called Williamstown. Hermione's parents ran a dentistry practice and up until two weeks before had no knowledge of having a daughter at all.

Luckily for Hermione, her counter spell worked perfectly with no mental damage at all, but the emotional consequences were almost too much for her to bear. Her parents, understandably, Hermione reminded herself (often), were incredibly upset with her and could barely look at her. The first night after she removed the spell was probably the worst: her parents, normally so contained and rational, were furious, and there was a barrage of yelling and crying and screaming. Amidst all of that emotion, the little family at least got to the root of all of their pain. What it boiled down to was that the Granger's felt betrayed by their only child and once Hermione told them the truth-the real, nitty gritty truth, not the sugar-coated, watered-down version of what had been happening for the past three years of her life-they were livid. If they had known this was what it was really like at that school, they fumed, they wouldn't have let her go back.

And that, Hermione answered, was precisely why she never told them. Leaving Hogwarts-leaving Harry-was unthinkable. Unfathomable.

The Granger's had always known how devoted Hermione was to Harry and Ron-especially Harry-yet they were surprised at the depth of her loyalty and were a bit dismayed at it as well. She had picked a boy over her family and her own safety and in many ways that was unacceptable. Her parents loved each other, but were nevertheless not ones for grand gestures and overwhelming emotion. To see such traits in their daughter was alarming and the way her actions affected them was intolerable. Very bitter words were exchanged that night.

Nearly a month later, things were better. Tense, yes, but better nonetheless. The Wilkins/Grangers were still deciding on whether they would remain in Williamstown or return to England. Which life would they choose? Understandably, they were conflicted, memories of two different identities swirling around in their heads. Hermione thought that perhaps they would understand her plight a bit more because ever since she found out she was a witch, she felt like she had two identities as well, although, unlike her parents, Hermione never doubted which one would win out.

She hesitated on whether she should bring Harry home with her-she sensed that he was a bit of a sore spot with her parents and that they guessed the depth of her feelings for him. Harry, at least, knew part of this, and easily stayed in the hotel nearby. They decided not to tell her parents about Harry's presence until absolutely necessary. During the day when her parents were at their practice, she and Harry met up to explore the little town. Right by the water, they explored the piers and beaches, going to maritime museums, lighthouses, and pavilions.

Harry felt a lightness in him that he hadn't experienced in a long while. Thought it was instinctual and almost compulsive at this point, he didn't have to look over his shoulder constantly, plan what or where he was going to next, worry or fret about the lives of his friends (and of himself) or anything else that had been plaguing him for several years.

Hermione seemed different as well. She was still Hermione-still hell-bent on educating him about Williamstown's history and Australia's culture, still fretting over him constantly-but at the same time there was an air about her that made her smile a little wider, her toffee eyes sparkle a little brighter… and there was something in the way she looked at him. There was a relief there, and a clear stark emotion that he had only seen glimpses of in the past. It was like Hermione felt she could finally show what she had been masking for so long.

Harry and Hermione were alone-not because Ron had left them, or because they couldn't allow anyone else to be with them for safety reasons, or because they were searching for illegal and highly dangerous soul fragments-but because they just enjoyed being together and for a while, they didn't need anything or anyone else. It felt like, in a weird way, as though they were starting over. There was an innocence about them that reminded Harry of their first year. They frolicked on the beach and played like puppies, they laughed about the smallest things, and they couldn't bear to be apart. And yet, it wasn't like it was when they were eleven. There was some tension there, an awareness of the other in a different way. They snuck looks at each other when they thought that the other wasn't looking. She admired the straightness of his shoulders and he thought her freckles were cute. They allowed themselves to see each other in ways that they had denied and repressed for so long.

One day they were walking along Nelson Place when something flitted into the sun. Harry saw its shadow upon the ground and blinked. If he didn't know any better, he'd think it was a snitch-but no, it was a bit too ungraceful for that, swooping and swerving and was it carrying something?

It was a tiny little thing with little tufts of grey hair, and it hooted happily when he saw him him and Hermione.

"Pig!" Hermione said excitedly, extending cupped hands to the little owl, who dropped into them without ceremony. He crooned and preened under her hands and Harry took the large letter from his hands.

As she cooed at the exhausted little owl, Harry opened the letter with Ron's spidery handwriting on it.

Harry--

Hey, mate, haven't heard from you in a bit so I'd thought I'd check in. Hope you've found Hermione by now (if so, and if she's reading over your shoulder-hi, Hermione!)

If so, are you coming back any time soon? The Burrow's driving me nuts, mate. Everyone here belongs in the loony bin, I swear, myself not included for obvious reasons.

Mum and Dad were pretty peeved about your disappearance, but they weren't surprised. It's pretty obvious that you'd be going after Hermione. It's not like you to wait around when that kind of thing happens.

Bill and Fleur pop in often, which is nice, but Fleur is moody as hell since she's so preggers, which, of course, sets Mum off. She's going nutters over her first grandkid. The women here are driving me mad, I swear, especially Ginny. That girl is loonier than Luna Lovegood herself.

Whenever you get back, you're going to have to deal with her, because it's been like living with a Hungarian Horntail around here and it's gotten so bad even she and I have gotten into it. You made my sister mental, Harry: this is all your fault! But I suppose she's always been a little bonkers concerning you, hasn't she? Regardless, the delusional woman still think she has a shot with you, but we both know who you really lo-

"Is that from Ron?" Hermione asked, a wide grin on her face. "What's he got to say?"

"Oh, you know," Harry said airily, trying to fold up the letter in a way he hoped wasn't too suspicious, "just asking after us, checking in, that kind of thing."

Hermione pursed her lips together. "Hmmm," she said, an eyebrow raised.

Harry swore inside his head.

"So," she said, Pig on her shoulder, as they walked back towards Harry's hotel, where Pig was promised water and treats before his long journey home. "How does Ron feel about your adventure, coming to find me? I'm surprised he didn't come with you."

Harry shrugged. "I asked if he wanted to come, but he said that you and he were getting along lately, and he wanted to preserve that bit of peace for a while longer."

Hermione laughed at this.

"Plus," Harry carried on, "he knew that you and I had things to work out and all that, so he lent me his Deluminator and helped me leave."

"So that's how you found me," Hermione said, amused. "I've been meaning to ask you about that."

They had kept it light ever since that first night-Harry knew the kind of emotional strain Hermione was under and didn't feel right in worsening it, but now, suddenly, Harry felt the urge to ask before the moment got away from him. "Err, Hermione," he said, "whatever-why didn't you and Ron-umm."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, luckily still amused as opposed to offended. "Why aren't Ron and I together?" She clarified. "I don't know why I thought it would work, I mean, just because you kiss someone once and argue with them doesn't mean there's repressed-"

"Hang on," Harry interrupted. "When did you two kiss?"

Hermione turned pink. "Um. Well. It was when we were in the Chamber of Secrets during the, um, the final battle. When Ron and I went to get the basilisk fang. I, uh-well. I was just so proud of him for his idea and then he said something rather kind about house elves and-- You know how I get overly excited sometimes?"

"Oh." Harry said. It was a bit disconcerting when it was Hermione who initiated the kiss. He had assumed it was Ron. "So… why didn't it work then?"

"Well," Hermione fidgeted and Pig squawked in protest. "We were-too different. I think we-especially I-thought that our differences would help both of us, that we would complement each other somehow, but those things would only drive us apart. I had a moment where I saw the rest of our lives playing out and I saw arguments and fighting and constantly trying to work towards a middle that no one was willing to give. There would be no compromises, although we would always expect it from the other person. I couldn't-I couldn't live the rest of my life like that."

Harry just looked at her. He had a feeling that that wasn't all.

"And." She flushed even harder than before. "He-he had this idea that I wanted to be with someone else instead of him."

His green stare bore into her but she refused to look at him. "And who is that?" He asked lowly.

Hermione looked towards the sun. "You."

Neither said anything for a moment, and Harry let that sink in for a moment. He knew that, of course, but hearing it come from Hermione meant something different. No one was ignorant here; no one was blind anymore. But what to do with this newfound knowledge? It was disconcerting that he couldn't discuss this with Hermione. How ludicrous was it to discussing wooing a girl with the girl herself?

"That's interesting," Harry finally said lightly as they strolled into Harry's hotel. People glanced at them oddly, Pig still on Hermione's shoulder, but no one said anything, luckily. "That's what Ron said to me before I left."

"But why would he think that?" Hermione furrowed her brow. "Did he think-did he think that something happened?"

"He did at one point," Harry said as they got into the elevator and pushed the button to his floor. "When he came back-when we were in the Forest of Dean. The locket made him see things that weren't really there."

"Like what?" Hermione wanted to know. "Did you see them?"

"Yes," Harry hesitated. He and Ron never told her what exactly happened with the Locket. "Tom spoke through the Locket, telling Ron all of his deepest insecurities and fears-about how Mrs. Weasley always wanted a girl and not another boy and how-how you always preferred me over him. Then a version of you and me appeared-we looked um, pretty sinister and wicked-and that locket version of you told him that nobody would look at him when I was around." He paused, cleared his throat. "And then we kissed."

Hermione looked at him closely. "It wasn't just a kiss," she deduced.

"No," Harry looked away this time, fumbled with the key in the lock. The door opened after three tries and they went in. "It wasn't."

Hermione considered this for a moment. "Show me."

Harry sputtered and raised an eyebrow as he set out snacks and water for Pig, who made a little bed in one of Harry's shirts on his nightstand. "Show you? How am I supposed to do that?"

"Think of the memory," Hermione said, "and maybe I can use legilimency on you? And just see that memory, I promise!"

"Snape told me legilimency was more complex than just simple mind reading," Harry frowned.

"And it is!" Hermione insisted. "But if you bring this memory to the forefront it's almost like seeing it out of a pensieve."

Harry remained unconvinced. "Have you ever tried this before?"

"In theory," Hermione squeaked. "Harry, I promise I won't go digging around in your mind! I just want to see."

Harry looked at her darkly. "All right," he said, but he was still doubtful. He couldn't deny Hermione anything these days. "Do it."

Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at him. "Legilimens."

Harry recalled the memory for her to easily find, trying desperately to separate his own feelings for it and give it to her as objectively as he could remember it. So instead, he focused on her face as she saw the memory.

She cringed slightly when Riddle spoke to Ron, saw into the dark part of Ron's heart, and her eyes grew wide when she saw that beautiful, untamed, evil version of herself echoing those sentiments, and then her pupils dilated and her cheeks flushed when she saw them wrapped around each other until the Locket was destroyed.

Hermione gasped and both lost focus. She left his mind as abruptly as she came and his mind felt empty.

They looked at each other for a moment. "Ohh," Hermione breathed. "Ron and I-it was doomed from the start, wasn't it?"

"With that visual running around in his head?" Harry quipped, feeling flustered. "Yeah, probably."

They laughed as the tension broke, but Harry could still feel it lingering a bit when he hugged her good bye. Things were a bit different now with that image floating around in both of their heads. He wondered if she would think about it as often as he had, as of late.

Once Hermione left, Harry took out Ron's letter again. There he read on. Ron, it seemed, had come to a revelation of his own. He realized that being an Auror wasn't what he wanted to do with his life-he had had enough deadly adventure for a lifetime. Instead, he would devote his creativity and energy to helping George run the joke shop. He had spent more and more time there as the summer went on and he found that he worked well with George-perhaps they would never be as in sync as he and Fred were, but for both, it was enough.

Harry was happy for Ron, truly. He only wished that he could find some sort of certainty as well. Looking out at the window at Hermione's retreating figure, he thought that perhaps he had.

0 0 0

"I forgot," Harry said to her suddenly. The next day the two decided that they had seen their fill of Williamstown and had taken the train and ventured into Melbourne, leaving the recuperating Pig in the hotel room with the window open. It was late afternoon and they were currently walking through the famous Royal Arcade. He slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew a slightly crumpled folded piece of paper. "This is from Ron to you. He wanted me to give this to you when I found you."

Hermione smiled in surprise and took the paper. She unfolded it and her smile grew. She read it once more and then re-folded it and put it in her purse. Harry was now incredibly curious as to what Ron had written, but figured if Hermione wasn't going to share it he wasn't going to pry.

They continued on to the National Gallery of Victoria and then ended up along the waterfront again. As they ambled on, their hands kept brushing, both incredibly aware of the contact and yet unable to stop. Hermione flushed a bit but moved a little closer anyway.

Harry wasn't quite sure what they were doing. Did she want more? Did he? He wondered suddenly what would happen if he and Hermione didn't ever try to move beyond friendship and married other people. Would he look back upon this time with no regrets? Or would he always wonder…?

The sun was setting, slipping behind the water. "Time to go?" Harry said lightly.

Hermione nodded. "It's going to take forever to get back to Williamstown," she sighed. "People are probably heading home and clogging up the trains."

"We are magical, you know," Harry teased. "We can just apparate back to my hotel room."

Hermione laughed. "Sometimes I do forget," she said. "Especially around my parents. I don't do magic around them. They cringe when they see my wand." She deflated a bit.

Harry grabbed her hand gently. "You can always be yourself around me," he told her simply. She smiled brightly at him, pleased and surprised, and they apparated away.

They found themselves back in Harry's hotel room and it was hard for him to let go of her hand. To his surprise, she seemed reluctant to do the same, and the result was that though their palms were separated, their fingers were still lightly intertwined. Harry felt as though a potion was racing through his veins and his fingers tingled. They had held hands many times before, but this felt new entirely. The connection between them felt electric, though they were joined only by the tips of their fingers. They stayed connected even as she led him from next to his bed until they reached the doorway.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" She cleared her throat.

"Of course," he grinned, enjoying the sight of her flustered. It meant that she wasn't the only one feeling this way. "You know I'm only here for you."

She flushed deeply as she stood in the doorway and Harry decided to do something he had never done before. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, once, softly.

Hermione stared at him with wide brown eyes, reminding him of a doe.

"Good night, Hermione," he said quietly. I love you, he said in his mind, and the shock of thinking that thought alone made his own eyes grow large.

Their fingers dropped. "Good night, Harry."

0 0 0

Harry woke with a start and tried not to snap his head up. It was 2:06 AM and there was someone else in his hotel room. As his hand started to inch slowly towards the wand on his nightstand, the other person said his name.

"Harry." He snapped up. It was Hermione.

Lumos, he muttered in his mind and the lights came on. Pig hooted in protest. Hermione was standing at the foot of his bed and even with the bad light and his bad sight he could tell there was something terribly wrong.

Fumbling for his glasses, he set them on and saw her face was tear stained. "Hermione?" He threw off his covers and ran around the bed to get to her. She sat down and looked at him miserably. "What's wrong?"

"My parents saw us together the other day," she said, a bit shrilly. "And they confronted me about it tonight! They were terribly upset about it and they don't want me to see you anymore. They told me they wanted to stay here in Australia and that they wanted me to live here with them. Anything less would be seen as me picking magic-and you-over them. Again."

Harry stared at her. "What?" he breathed. "Are they serious?"

Hermione nodded, stricken. "Yes," she said. "I don't know what to do, Harry. I can't-I can't-" She started to breathe heavily and Harry pulled her into a hug before she completely lost it.

"It'll be all right," he told her. The idea of losing each other when they were just starting to come together seemed unthinkable. He couldn't completely fault Hermione's parents for trying to keep their daughter close-hell, that was why he came for her, wasn't it? Because losing her wasn't an option. But her parents didn't have any idea how he felt about Hermione-how much he cared about her. To them, it seemed like he was just using Hermione, but then again, wasn't that how Hermione herself felt, to a certain extent, a short time ago? Harry hoped she didn't still feel like that now. How could he prove to Hermione-and her parents-that things were different? That his feelings were different?

"Tell them I'd like to talk to them," he told her, tipping her face up.

"Are you crazy?" She leapt out of his arms and started pacing the room. "Do you like the prospect of getting killed? Because you know, Voldemort may have wanted to kill you, but my parents are dentists and they have the scary tools to do some damage, you know!"

Harry didn't know whether to laugh or be terrified. "Hermione, you know this needs to be done. We can't-the alternative isn't an option."

She still looked a bit alarmed. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Harry nodded, trying to look resolute. "This is a good plan."

Hermione looked unsure for another moment, but then she relaxed minutely and her expression changed. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Harry, when have any of our plans actually worked? We plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose!"

Well, that sounded familiar…. Harry's eyes narrowed. "Cute, Granger."

Hermione just smiled.

0 0 0

Notes: Another update! You all have given such lovely reviews I felt that you needed to be rewarded for it. I'm a little surprised at how many of you are out for Ginny's blood (not that I blame you a bit!) The meat of this story, however, is Harry and Hermione's relationship. It's fun to write tentativeness, and I'm reluctant to have them get together because the build-up is so much fun.

Thank you once again for your lovely, honest reviews. I appreciate them so much!

M. Elena

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