Author's notes: Thanks to my Beta Jess!
Jilted
Chapter 1 - Woe is me
I arrived at London Heathrow airport a bit shaken. Though I would take the Muggle method of airplanes over a broom any day, I still loathed flying. I had just gotten back from a summer holiday with my parents in Australia. It had surprised me at first, that mum and dad would choose to stay there. It had been five years since I originally went back to remove the memory charm and bring my parents back to their home in England. However, Granger's had enjoyed their new life in Australia and wanted to continue living there.
I sighed as I walked toward the baggage claim. It had been a long five years since the war ended. The Golden Trio had been trumpeted as the saviors of the wizarding world and Harry in particular was still hounded by the press at every turn. The press was eventually the death of Ron and my relationship; at least it was partly to blame.
Ron went on to play Quidditch professionally for the Canon's and even lead them to their first victory in years. Between the press from the war and the coverage of his new career, Ron started to get a smidge egotistical. It rubbed the wrong way with me, and after one of our blow out fights, he slept with one of his groupies.
It took a long time before I could forgive him, but deep down we were always friends first, so after a few months of groveling I eventually gave in. It's hard to stay mad at either of my boys, especially living in the same house.
After the war and our N.E.W.T's Harry decided we should all take up residence in Grimmauld Place. We spent an entire summer redoing the large ominous house so that it suited us. We even managed to get the portrait of Mrs. Black off the wall and donated it to the Ministry for posterity, anything to get her out of the house.
I looked up to see a tall lanky red head standing by the baggage claim, clutching the deep red Louis Vuitton luggage I had borrowed from Ginny. I broke into a run and leapt into Ron's awaiting hug. After a few minutes we broke apart and I looked at Ron appraisingly. "I trust you didn't burn down the house while I was away?"
Ron laughed. "Almost. Harry tried to cook dinner once."
Smiling, I asked, "Where is Harry?"
"He wanted to be here, but there was a meltdown with Ginny," he replied.
"I see." I was a little saddened by this, but it should be expected at this point. Harry was always dropping her these days to rush off to Ginny's side. It sounded bitter in my head, and I liked it that way.
The relationship between Harry and Ginny was odd, to say the least. Everyone except them seemed to see that they were all wrong for one another. Everyone but Harry, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, that is. After Fred's death in the war, and Ron and I breaking up, Mrs. Weasley made it her mission to bring Harry into the fold. She was a bit scary sometimes.
"Mione, I swear you look more and more beautiful every time you come back from down under," Ron said, bringing me out of my musings and causing me to blush.
"Ronald! You really ought to behave," I said this knowing full well it was a waste of breath. "Alright, well I guess if you're my only welcome committee, let's get me home."
Ron looked slightly dejected. "Don't sound so pleased, I might get a big head," he replied sarcastically.
I linked my arm through his and gave him my biggest grin. "I'm really happy you're here, Ron."
--
I was unpacking my carefully folded clothes when I heard a knock at my door. Instinctively, I grabbed my wand. Call me paranoid, but
living through a war will do that to you. I opened the door slowly and was greeted with piercing green eyes. I smiled and opened the door the rest of the way, letting Harry into my bedroom.
"Mione, you look stunning," Harry said, pulling me into a tight hug. "I missed you," he whispered into my ear.
"I missed you too," I whispered back. Something was off about him, he looked different, and then it clicked. "Harry, where are your glasses?"
Harry laughed. "Ginny got me these contact lens things. She said it makes me look less nerdy."
I frowned. "Harry, you and I both know you didn't look like a nerd. You looked like… Harry."
He shrugged, smiling. "I still look like Harry don't I?"
I scrunched up my nose. "No not really. You look like a Harry doppelganger now."
Harry laughed and hugged me again. "I really did miss you," he said again in a deep voice that tugged at things low in my body.
Blushing I pulled away. "So, when's dinner?"
"Ron went out for curry a little while ago. He should be back soon."
I nodded and turned back to my packing.
"Mione?" Harry asked. "Can I ask you something?"
I gave him the full weight of my gaze. "Of course you can, Harry. You can ask me anything."
He hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. "Do you think Ginny and I are meant to be together?"
I took a deep breath; I was so not ready for that question. I couldn't lie to him, but I also couldn't be the one who caused the separation of my best friend from his current girlfriend. One of whom I had romantic feelings for, and no, I don't mean Ginny. grin I was a little biased to say the least. So I said what I could. "I think you're supposed to know when it's right. I think only you can say if she's the one for you or if there is… someone else."
Harry nodded and turned to leave my room. "Thanks, Mione. I'm glad you're back"
"Me too," I said as I watched him close the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
--
I looked in the full-length mirror on my wardrobe door, dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a plumb colored knit top that complimented my new hair color. I didn't get it salon colored, but it seemed that every time I visited my parents, my hair was a little bit more sun bleached. I was still English though, so the sun did nothing for my fair complexion, but my hair was now a dark honey blonde. A smidge of make-up and I was ready to face the crowd downstairs.
As I walked down to the landing, I could already hear the low rumble of voices in the kitchen. As I rounded the corner, I was greeted instantly with hugs and shrieks and welcome homes. Everyone was accounted for; Luna, Neville, all the Weasley's and, of course, Ron and Harry.
Ginny came over last and gave me a tight squeeze. "Good to have you home, sis." We weren't actual sisters, obviously, but she had taken to referring to me as such for the last few years. It always made me wince.
Ginny had recently scored a position at Witch Weekly as a gossip columnist. It was her dream job, and she got it from riding Harry's coattails. What, me bitter? Never. I got my job based on hard work. I was the Ministries Magical Creature Liaison. It was a position they created just for me, because of my work with trying to create equality between all magical species. I am the youngest department
head in the Ministry, and I like it that way.
Ginny pulled me over to my chair, which was to Harry's left, with herself being on his right. Harry stood then, and tapped his glass with his wand. "Attention everyone." He cleared his throat as people stated to settle and look his way. "I just wanted to say how nice it is to have everyone together today, and how grateful I am Hermione is back home." Everyone smiled and chuckled. "I have an announcement to make though, and I… we had been waiting for everyone to be present..." Ginny was standing now, holding Harry's free hand.
Oh no. No no no no no. He can't be doing this. Not now.
Harry smiled, but I could swear his eyes flickered with doubt. "Gin and I are getting married." The crowd exploded into noise once again and I could feel Harry's eyes boring into me, but I just couldn't look up at him. I just couldn't meet those bright green eyes.
--
When did I realize I was in love with Harry Potter? Who knows? Maybe it was being alone together during the Horcrux search, or maybe it was when I thought he had died during the battle, or maybe Rita Skeeter had been right all along and he was always the love of my life. All I know is that the first summer that I returned from Australia something clicked inside me when I saw him.
That summer I had been away for three months. We had been permitted to take our final exams at Hogwarts before they closed down for rebuilding, and I left immediately afterward to get my parents. It took almost a month just for me to reverse the memory charm I had placed on them. Sometimes I'm too clever for even my own good.
That fall, when I returned, Harry was at the airport to pick me up, sans Ron. One look at him and I knew he was different. He had already begun Auror training, and had gained several inches in a summer growth spurt, and the effects made him look extremely grown up. And by grown up, I mean sexy as hell. He was trim but muscled, and his typically messy black hair looked perfect in its shaggy haircut. His face was still soft and gentle looking, but it had a shadowed look from his facial stubble. It would have been easy to mistake him for someone else, had it not been for the scar and those trademark round spectacles.
I must have been staring because he laughed and blushed and swooped me up into his arms in a crushing hug. I relished in his touch and told him how much I had missed him. I was so close to just telling him right then and there how much I cared for him, when I spotted Ginny standing behind him. My heart sank and my stomach felt quaky as I looked at her.
She had transformed from the saucy little tomboy I had always been friends with in school, to this lithe beauty in designer duds. It was slightly eerie. She stood a little taller than me in her red leather pumps and her hair was cut into dark scarlet layers that framed her face. She had on more make-up than I had ever seen on her, and wore a short black mini dress with expensive looking jewelry.
She slinked around Harry and threw her arms around me and whispered close in my ear, "Don't ever look at my boyfriend like that again," before pulling back and replacing her glare with a pert little smile and sparkling eyes. "Hermione," she added in a mockingly sweet tone, "It's so good to see you again!"
It was that afternoon that I realized that Ginny and I were no longer friends, and I wanted more than friendship from my best friend Harry.
When I arrived at number twelve that night, Harry asked me to move in, which upset the red headed princess beyond words, but she kept her feelings on the matter hidden from Harry. It was soon obvious that she had her claws deep into Harry, and that he was completely oblivious to her duplicity, so I moved on. With Ron. Big mistake I know, but hindsight is twenty-twenty.
After that relationship ended, Ginny was always trying to fix me up with random guys so that I wouldn't be single and available to Harry, I suppose. Most of them I politely turned down, but every once in awhile I would go out, eat, dance, maybe take in a movie, and it would temporarily relieve me of my loneliness.
So that's the cliff notes version of how I ended up living in a house with my two best friends, one of which I am in love with, who is now engaged to be married to the bane of my existence. Woe is me.
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