Disclaimer: I do not own any of the charaters in this story. Jk does.
The smell of chicken engulfs my senses when I enter the kitchen my stomach gave a lurch, as if it knew that smell was bad, but then a new smell surrounds me. I know that smell, it's like home to me.
My eyes close and I let the new smell entrance me. The smell was of a bookstore and melons in the spring, it was my Hermione.
I turn the corner and find her sitting at the dinner table with a book, passively playing with her food, a finger was twirling a curl in her hair; she was biting her lower lip.
This scene was a regular to me but what she was wearing was so different than the pajamas she wore during school. She was in a baby blue tank top and baby blue pajama pants, she looked so beautiful.
The light coming from the fire in the living room was obtruding into the kitchen, lighting the shadows on her face, there was only one thing wrong, there was one unruly curl obscuring her vision every few minutes, try as she might the curl kept falling behind her ear. What I wouldn't do to push that curl behind her ear. I would do this at night at Hogwarts, just sit and watch her read, I am relaxed and content.
I could imagine doing that for the rest of my life, sitting by the fire on a couch, Hermione in my arms and her reading a book, just holding her, that would be my idea of the "good life."
"Are you gonna play with that or you gonna eat it?" I couldn't help but chuckle at her.
She looked up at me and gave me a grin, one I had seen very few times, on occasions like this in fact, but I still don't know what to really make of it.
She takes her feet off a chair and pulls it out for me. "Well you know me, I really don't like to eat by myself." She kept looking at me, her brown eyes just melted me. "Are you ok? You are sweating and pale." She looked so concerned, what was I to say the truth? Hell no but its 'Mione I can't lie to her.
"Not feelin' too well, but once I get some sleep I'll be fine." She stood up to examine me better.
"Sit down. I'll get a cold towel." she sat me on the chair and walked to the sink.
"Really Mione' I'm fine. I promise." She was wringing out the towel, came bustling toward me and gave me that look that makes me melt, and she knew it.
Her puppy eyes get me every time. "Ronald," she whined "Please, remember all those times I would stay up studying and get sick and you would make me go to Madam Pomfrey. I remember the time I the flu and you stayed with me the whole time, putting a cold compress to my forehead. Please let me take care of you. Please." she wiped my face with the towel, put her lips to my forehead to check for fever.
The world slowed, it vanished there were no one else that mattered. The feeling of her lips on my forehead was ecstasy, there was nothing more pure than the love I felt for her.
Her touch was so intense that my eyes watered with the brief contact that I had waited for, for so long, the breath caught in my throat.
"You are running quite hot," she looked so sad.
The chair beside me became hers and she sat there holding the compress to my forehead, no words were said between us for several minutes, we just looked into each others eyes. Without breaking eye contact I reached up and put my hand on hers, telling her it was ok to let go and go back to her book.
She disagreed, she held firm and put my hand back in my lap.
She looked me up and down, "Ronald you are drenched in sweat. You need a cold shower, run up there now. After your shower, put on some decent clothes, shirt and shorts come on. I'll be up there after you get dressed."
All I could do is look at her, she was her normal bossy self, but she never looked this upset before. Usually I would just tell her I was fine and didn't need anything, but that look in her eyes just made me want to satisfy her in any way I could.
I rolled my eyes at her, "Yes ma'am." I stood up, and started to walk as slow as I could, my only way to defy her.
" Go on, get up there." she smacked my butt with the towel playfully, I turned to look at her, and the way she looked when she laughed like that just made me more dizzy.
"Ron, where have you been? I called for you thirty minutes ago." my mother turned in her chair to look at me.
"I have been sitting in the kitchen with Hermione." I took two steps up the stairs before my father stopped me, "Where you going? Hermione is going to tell me a charming tale about micro-whatsits. You would enjoy it too." my father and his muggle fascination.
"I need a shower, and then I'll be right down dad, I promise."
I loved my father. Every night before we all go to bed we sit around the living room doing our own thing.
Hermione had a chair that when she was here, it was hers. The family decided this after her first visit. It's a fluffy armchair next to the fire she sits and reads in, my father and mother on the couch, mother knitting and father reading the "Nightly Prophet." Fred and George usually in the corner inventing new jokes. Ginny usually sits in the chair by the stairs and plays with Crookshanks. When Charlie and Bill visit, Bill and I usually sit in front of the fire to play wizarding chess and Charlie and Harry, when he's here they sit and visit about Romania and quidditch. That was our holiday routine and if it were any other way it just would be bizarre.
I turned the water on as cold as I could stand it, shredded my clothes off and looked at myself in the mirror.
How could she ever love someone like me, how could she ever look at me and not be revolted by me.
I know that every time I look at myself I feel sick. I get into the shower, it felt so good. The cold water numbed my aches and pains from my vigorous routine. It cleared my mind.
I leaned down and turned off the water climbed out and dried myself off, then tied the towel around myself. "Shit I forgot my clothes." I whispered.
I looked down at my shimmering scars. My knuckles, chest, arms and legs were covered in scars, purple and red, new and old.
The charm I looked up to conceal them washed off in water. And me being the dumbass I am, my wand was down stairs, in the kitchen.
Mentally beating myself, I walk to the door and creak it open, I peak outside, good no one there. I rub my feet on the rug so when I run I won't slip; I take one last peak in the hall before making my way up the stairs to the attic room.
Here goes nothing. I make my break for it, and run without looking back, one last turn and in my room. I slam the door and lean against it, letting out the breath I held for some reason. I turn around and go to my closet to get a pair of pants and a sweater out.
I get changed and head downstairs. As casual as I could muster, I went into the kitchen. My main focus was getting to my wand and performing the spell. There it is I told myself, now to get back to the bathroom, the only room with a locking door.
"Ron you ready for bed? What are you doing in them clothes? I told you shirt and shorts." Hermione stood between me and the stairs in the living room.
"I forgot something in the bathroom, I'm sorry I'll change in a minute ok?" as I passed by her, her hand grasped at my shoulder to stop me.
"I'll wait for you in your room, ok?" I looked at her quizzingly, but in the past 5 years I learned it to be a bad idea to argue with her, so I nodded my head and went to the bathroom, locked the door and took off my sweater, held my wand to my right arm I said the spell to conceal my self inflicted scars.
Once I did this for my legs and chest I walked out and went to my room. As I walked in I found Hermione at my desk, there were books and potions spread across it.
"Well come on, get out of those hot clothes and into your night things." I went to my dresser and pulled out a chudley cannons t-shirt and shorts went to my bed, Hermione's back to me I stripped off my clothes.
Even with the concealment charm on I still felt scared to do this in front of her.
As soon as I was dressed she came over and handed me a potion, "Sit down, please and drink this." she gently pushed me down, and she bent down and put her lips to my forehead again.
"I was sure that shower would bring it down. It feels as if your fever got worse. Here drink up that should help some." The way she took over was intoxicating; she was at her best when she was trying to solve a problem.
She went back to her book and read a little more. She closed the book and put a stopper in the potion bottle, and then she turned back to me with a triumphant look on her face.
"That should do it for now, now come on, lets go sit with your parents before they go to sleep." she came over to me and held out her hand.
Am I dreaming? I reached for her hand, I grasped it tightly, and my heart skipped a beat.
We walked out the door together walking slowly. Fred and George, Shit they are gonna tear the mickey out of me when they see me and Hermione like this, fuck it I don't care. As they passed they were smiling and laughing but when they saw our hands linked together they stopped mid-step with their mouths agape, a small smirk landed on my lips.
We walked into the living room I thought that Hermione would let go and go to her chair but she led me to the couch and since I was new to her leading me around, like this I let her tell me where to sit.
No heads turned, no eyes blinked in our direction till she sat on the floor leaning against the couch pulling me down next to her.
Slowly my father put his paper down, mum her knitting stopped, Charlie and Ginny stopped their conversation and Bill was brought out of his thoughts.
I looked at the embers in the fire slowly dying, waiting for someone to say something but nothing ever came I could feel the five pairs of eyes leave us as Hermione picked up a book and began reading. I loosened my grip on her hand and she just tightened it more, giving it a gentle squeeze I closed my eyes to the pain it caused to my newly healed knuckles, she gave me a look asking if I was ok and I gave her a smile telling her I was fine.
She pulled her knees up to her chest rested her book on them and then leaned against me her head on my shoulder.
I sighed and closed my eyes I was so tired, I needed to go to bed but I don't dare break the much needed contact with Hermione.
So I just settled down and fell asleep.
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