"Potter, can you come and check out these files?"
"Potter, I think we have a new lead."
"Potter, can you look at these reports for me?"
"Potter, we will need you on our next brief."
"Potter, why don't you go and have a well-deserved break," muttered Harry Potter through gritted teeth as the constant questions and orders flowed. It was a balmy summer afternoon, and he was sat in the Auror office, his head aching as he poured over a handful of reports. The stream of instructions finally stopped and the empty silence was like heaven to Harry's head and ears. It had been going on all morning. He was weary, not to mention hungry, but his shift would not be over for another half an hour. Sitting back, he dragged his hands across his face, barely stifling a yawn. It had been a particularly long day cooped up in the Ministry. He had stopped for a lunch break, but that had ended up being a five minute gap to quickly bolt down a sandwich before returning to work. He'd had a break earlier as well, only to be swamped by his fellow Aurors all asking something of him. He couldn't wait to return back to Grimmauld Place, and his girlfriend Ginny. With this happy prospect, he took a deep breath and plunged back into the reports.
"I'm home!" Harry called thirty-five minutes later as he closed the door of Number 12 Grimmauld Place behind him and proceeded through the candle-lit corridor. The miserable old dwelling had transformed into a well-cared-for and jolly house for him and Ginny, courtesy of the now cheery house-elf Kreacher. A slender young woman with long red hair and a pretty face flooded down to the corridor to greet him and threw her arms about his neck.
"Good day?" she asked, pulling away to place a kiss to his mouth.
He gave a non-committal shrug. "Not bad," he said, not bringing himself to tell her how terrible it had been.
"Kreacher's made the dinner," Ginny said as she led him through to the stuffy kitchen, "how does steak pie and boiled potatoes sound?"
"Brilliant," smiled Harry, and his stomach gave a grumble of agreement.
"Good evening, Master Harry," chuntered Kreacher merrily, bustling into the kitchen and taking his master's cloak.
"Hey, Kreacher," Harry said, grinning fondly at the house-elf before taking a seat at the kitchen table.
"Dinner will not be a moment," Kreacher said, now pulling out a chair for a beaming Ginny, "if Mistress Ginny will also take a seat, I shall bring it to you..."
The steak pie and potatoes were just as good as anticipated, and Harry knocked the steaming food back with a pint of warming Butterbeer. Feeling a lot better, he helped the house-elf tidy up the dishes before returning to his seat to sip the last dregs of Butterbeer. He felt his girlfriend come up behind him, placing her slim hands on his shoulders and beginning to massage him gently.
"Had lunch with Hermione today?"she asked as she worked.
Harry shook his head, swallowing a mouthful of drink. "Nope. She doesn't work on Tuesdays."
"Of course," said Ginny sweetly, and he thought he heard a smirk in her tone.
Wednesdays were usually good. Harry would get up, have a large fry-up breakfast made by Kreacher, kiss Ginny a goodbye, work the morning, have a leisurely lunch with his best friend, do a two-hour shift in the afternoon, return home to his girlfriend who would greet him with a large mug of aromatic tea, and then... well, you know. But today things were different. Everything was right up until he got to the Ministry. There, he dimly saw Hermione Granger before she had hurled herself at him so hard he nearly toppled right over in the middle of the Atrium.
"Woah," he said, hugging her back a little cluelessly, "what's up?"
"Oh, the sky," beamed Hermione, breaking away and positively shining with apparent glee.
"You're happy," Harry noticed, trying to contain his smile.
She just beamed all the wider, her chocolate eyes glowing. "I have some news."
"Hmm?"
"Well... well," she began, her face lit up so brightly Harry was starting to think he'd need sunglasses, "Oh, okay... well, R-Ron proposed to me! We're getting married."
We're getting married. Shock submerged Harry, such shock he felt he was going to drown in it. Hermione was still beaming up at him, awaiting his enthusiastic reaction. But it wouldn't come. Instead, he felt like he was going to scream. His fists clenched in the folds of his robes and he bit back harsh words as he looked away from his best friend. Every part of his body had suddenly turned numb.
"Harry?" Hermione's voice sounded hazy. He blinked at her, and her radiant face swam back into focus. He felt light-headed.
"That's great," he finally choked out, his voice hoarse. "Really great."
"You don't sound very sure," she mumbled, the delight fading from her face.
It tugged at his heart as he looked into her now thoroughly disappointed expression. He mentally kicked himself. What kind of a best friend was he? "Sorry. I'm just really shocked. But – but that's great!" He paused; Hermione still looked hurt. "I'm really happy for you."
Her upper teeth worried her lower lip as she gazed at him. "You didn't react how I expected."
For some reason, Harry could feel a sob building at the back of his throat. He reached out and gently cupped Hermione's face, sliding his hands absent-mindedly down her neck and onto her shoulders. "I – I really am happy Hermione."
"I kind of expected you to hug me and spin me round but that's okay."
He found his face breaking into a smile and without further ado he wound his arms round her waist and lifted her off her feet, spinning her round until they were both dizzy and laughing.
"That's more like it," Hermione smiled as her feet touched the floor once more. She gave his cheek a quick, friendly peck. "Sorry, I understand it's a bit of a shock. But you are happy, aren't you?"
"Absolutely delighted," Harry said, though he didn't know what he felt. The split second of pure joy he'd felt as he spun Hermione around in his arms had made him slightly dazed. He wasn't sure if it was out of the happiness of holding her or fact he'd made himself completely dizzy.
"Now – back to the Burrow?"
"W-what?" he stammered, blinking rapidly.
She cocked her head to one side, saying her next statement as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Honestly, Harry, I think you overdid the spinning. The party!"
"P-party?"
"Celebratory party!"
"Hermione, it's half nine in the morning and we're at work..."
Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Come on, I don't think work matters right now." And she grabbed his hand and they Disapparated with a loud crack.
The pair were greeted with exuberant cheers as soon as they'd Apparated into the midst of the party and Hermione immediately vanished into the Weasley throng. Harry spotted Ginny talking surprisingly contentedly with Fleur in one corner and began making a beeline for her. For some reason, he wanted to be as far away from both Hermione and Ron as possible. But this plan didn't quite go accordingly, for he had barely started towards his girlfriend when an arm struck his chest and he turned round and found himself face-to-face with Ron. Clutching a Firewhiskey, red in the face and beaming, his friend gave him a one-armed hug.
"Harry, just the man," he said, his words slurring slightly. Honestly, half nine in the morning and drunk already? Can he not even have the decency to be sober while celebrating his engagement to his fiancée? Especially when said fiancée was Hermione.
"Hey, Ron," he said with forced happiness, "great to hear the news, mate."
Ron thumped his back. "Thanks! I proposed yesterday at lunch, took her to that new restaurant in Diagon Alley. We owled Grimmuald Place this morning when we decided to have a party but you'd already left, so I sent Hermione to the Ministry to get you on your arrival. Can't believe it myself. How did I ever get her?"
Believe me, Ron, I have no idea, Harry thought as Ron wandered off to find his bride-to-be.
"Hey, you!" smiled Ginny, coming up behind him and squeezing his shoulder. "Brill news, isn't it?"
"Yeah," sighed Harry, "really brill."
Obviously not catching the dullness in his tone, Ginny stepped back and straightened a crease in her bright green glittering ensemble. "What do you think about this colour?"
"Erm," said Harry, directing his gaze to her outfit for the first time. Truth be told, the vivid green shade made his eyes hurt, but he decided not to mention this. "It's nice. Really nice. You look lovely."
Ginny smiled appreciatively, leaning in to kiss him chastely.
"Oi, not at our engagement party!"
The pair broke apart as Ron appeared next to them, a grinning Hermione on his hand.
"Honestly, Ronald," said Ginny loftily, taking a sip from her Firewhiskey.
Harry looked at Hermione. Her deep chocolate eyes were swimming with joyful tears. She was happy. That was all that mattered, wasn't it?
"Right, now, we've got a cake to cut," Ron said happily.
"Because cake is the most important thing to dear Ronald here," quipped Ginny, rolling her eyes. Harry said nothing, instead staring stonily at the couple.
"Come on, Ron," said Hermione, casting Harry an odd glance as she tugged on her fiancé's arm, "let's go cut it." And she dragged him away.
"Right, where were we?" Ginny said, starting to kiss Harry again, but he pulled away.
"Just, gotta, erm, you know-'' he muttered awkwardly, backing away from her. She just raised her eyebrows and turned coldly away from him; he took his chance and ran for it. As soon as he reached the bathroom he locked the door and grabbed the rim of the basin, ducking his head over it. So many conflicted feelings passed through his head. He didn't know where the sudden surge of – well, there was no other word for it – jealousy had come from. Hermione had always been like his sister, and he played the role of her protective brother. That was how it was. Their relationship had been completely platonic, and he had never doubted that until now. Any deeper feelings he had ever felt had been buried away, never to be looked upon again, but now they were rising back up to the surface. Hermione had grown up into a beautiful, practical, independent young woman who he was proud to call his best friend. But now...
"Will you open this damned door?"
Harry reeled round at the sound of Hermione's voice. She was hammering on the bathroom door and cursing. Sighing, he moved over to it and unlocked it. Hermione burst inside, looking flushed and holding an elegant flute of Firewhiskey. "About time you opened up," she said, shooting him a scathing look.
"What's up with you?" he said, his voice coming out hard and blank.
She let out an angry puff of breath, placing her flute on the top of a cupboard and putting her now free hand on her hip. "What's up with me? For Merlin's sake! What are you playing at, Harry?"
He just stared at her. She glared back at him with a look so fiery he thought he was going to burn. "Erm... I've had a long day," he mumbled pathetically. He hadn't quite realised Hermione had picked up on his stony nature that day, and now felt a bit thrown.
She gave a cackle of derisive laughter. "Harry, it's ten in the bloody morning! And in case you haven't noticed, all you've done today is eat breakfast and come to a party! No, there's something else, I know there is, and you better come out with it!"
"Okay, truth is Hermione, I've started feeling jealous since you announced your engagement to Ron. I'm sorry, the feelings have just sprung up from nowhere and I don't know why." It wasn't an entirely plausible answer and he didn't much feel like admitting he was jealous, so he just wildly invented a story. "Look, I was up most of last night, being sick and such. I'm feeling really ill to be honest, that's why I came to the bathroom. I'm really glad about the engagement, I'm just not feeling too good."
Hermione narrowed her eyes, and he knew she didn't believe a word of it. But before she could press the matter, Ron yelled her name from downstairs. "This isn't the last of it," she said in a deadly voice, and with that she picked up her Firewhiskey and stalked out of the bathroom.
A/N: Hi. So what did you guys think? I know Harry's feelings are a bit sudden and there are tweaks to be made but there we go. I'd like to continue but only if people want that, so please leave a review before you go! (:
