Back with Chapter 3, hope you enjoy it.

Sirius xoxo

Maid of Honour

Chapter 3

I jumped and screamed and spun around all at once to come face to face with Harry. He was standing much closer than I expected and I was completely lost for words. I remembered the initials that I wrote on the cake and quickly turned around to delete the entry. My face was red and my heart was beating so fast that I was sure I was going to faint. I deleted the cake but I didn't turn around, basically because I had no idea what to say to him. I was sprung so badly that I felt like my knees were going to give out on me and then Cristina came back. I could still feel Harry standing so close, the heat that was coming off his body was penetrating through to me.

"Hello Mr Potter, glad to see you could make it to choose your OWN cake." Cristina glared at me.

Such a sarcastic bitch, I wouldn't order my dream cake from you just for the sake of it.

"Oh Madame Cristina, I trust Hermione implicitly, there is no-one who knows me better than her." He placed his hand around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. I could just die now.

We walked towards the room where the cake tasting was so Harry could choose the flavour.

"The cake was beautiful Hermione." He didn't look at me, and I was pleased for this. I kept my eyes trained in front of me and told him that it wasn't the cake that I chose for him and Ginny. He glanced at me but I didn't look at him.

We walked into the room and sat at a small table and a lady came out with a plate of small squares of different flavoured cakes. She also gave us a hot drink and some cold water. I sat back in the seat and let Harry start tasting the cakes, after he tried the first three he looked at me and asked why I wasn't eating. I told him I had done heaps today and it was about time he did something but he didn't take that for an answer. He pierced a small cake on his fork and leant over the table and put it in front of my mouth. I was extremely shocked and then massively embarrassed.

I tried to take the fork but he pulled his hand back and came forward again. I opened my mouth and ate the cake then I stood and took my bag, I looked at Harry and told him I couldn't do this and I left.

He didn't come after me.

**********

Ginny came back a week later and she didn't even call me to ask how everything went.

That annoyed me.

I was flat out at work and it was a good excuse to ignore the phone calls from Harry. He only called twice over the following two weeks but that was two times too many. I managed to get out of seeing them both on my Sunday off as I organised to work for one lady on one Sunday and I went to mum and dad's the following Sunday. I just needed to come up with an excuse for this weekend and I would be fine.

Saturday was hectic at work as we had an inspection from the main benefactors and since they are the men with the money, we were all walking on eggshells. I dragged myself out of there at 7pm after a thirteen hour day and was extremely exhausted. All I wanted was to climb into my bed and sleep all day tomorrow.

I got home and threw my bag down and kicked my shoes off. I staggered into the bathroom and had a nice hot bath. I put on my comfortable pyjamas and climbed into bed. It was the most wonderful feeling and I relished it.

I was fast asleep when I was woken by voices. I was half awake and half asleep but my eyelids wouldn't obey me. I hoped the voices would go away but then I was struck with a strong ray of light. I tried to shield my eyes but it was too late. I was awake and heaven help the person who woke me up. I threw my covers down and stood up to come face to face with Ginny.

"What in the name of everything good are you doing here?" I stumbled back to my bed.

"Oh Hermione, get up, you're too young to be asleep at 10.30pm on Saturday night. Hurry up and move yourself, you don't want Harry to see you dressed like that?" My stomach turned quickly, you know that horrible adrenaline rush you get that hits your stomach, well I was getting it now. I had managed to elude them or especially him, for the past three weeks and now he was standing in my lounge room.

"Ginny, get out, go home or go wherever, I am tired I am going back to bed." I turned around and tried to make it to my bed but she wouldn't have it. She started on me and I couldn't get away. I quickly threw a dressing gown over my self and I walked out to see what they wanted.

There he was.

He was standing over by the fire place with that gorgeous glow about him from my fire, just like at Hogwarts. He was wearing black dress pants and a black shirt with fine emerald green pinstripe lines. His top buttons were undone and his hair was messy. His eyes were glowing, or at least it looked like it, they were beautiful. He looked beautiful and I was mesmerised. I snapped out of it and looked to Ginny expecting to be caught but she was going through her diary which meant only one thing to me. She was going away again and she wanted me to do something for this horrific wedding of hers.

"Ginny, if you don't mind I am really tired and I need sleep, what do you want?" Ginny waved me off like one of her other friends and it annoyed me.

"Hermione you really are too old you know, your only one year older than me and you look fifty, tell her Harry, tell her she looks terrible." Ginny continued to look through her diary and I refused to look at Harry, flat out refused.

"Hermione next weekend I have an appointment with the dress maker and the suits, please go with Harry to check out his suit and make sure it is suitable and then go with him to do the final alterations on my dress. It won't matter if he sees it on you, he just can't see it on me."

"No!" both Ginny and Harry looked at me,

"What?"

"I said No. Harry is quite capable of dressing himself and to be quite honest I am over this, Ginny try on your own wedding dress and get out of my lounge room. GOOD NIGHT!" I stomped off and slammed my door shut. I knew this wasn't the end of it, nobody told off Ginny Weasley and got away with it. Nobody at all.

I waited for her to come in and after a few minutes she was there.

"Alright spill it, I sent Harry home so now we can talk, what is your problem?" Ginny was standing with her hands on her hip, an action that I have seen all to often. She was waiting for a fight, her temper was escalating and she needed to be calmed or I would get no where.

"Ginny, do you love Harry?" Her arms dropped, her face shocked and she went white.

"What, how could you ask me that? I am getting married to him after all." She didn't answer me at all.

"Ginny, I mean that all consuming love, a love that touches your soul. The kind of love you see in movies or read about in books. Do you love Harry like that?" She walked over to the mirror on my dressing table and started fixing her hair. She touched up her eye make up and I felt the tears well up in my eyes because I knew the answer all ready.

"You don't do you Ginny?" the tears escaped down my face without my permission.

"Hermione Granger, there is NO SUCH THING AS TRUE LOVE! Get that through your thick head. I love Harry enough to marry him and that should be enough for you. It is absolutely none of your concern..."
"You're hurting him Ginny, he is a good man with a good heart and you're using him to climb up the social ladder, you are nothing but a parasite." My tears were streaming down my face and I turned away from the woman I thought I knew. She said nothing in her defence and that just confirmed my thoughts.

"Are you seeing other men Ginny? Because if you are, he already knows." I watched her walk out and close the bedroom door. I fell back onto my bed and cried. How could someone who has been my best friend since I was a child turn out to be so horrible. I felt so badly for Harry, he was hurting inside and he didn't deserve it. All I could hope for was that Ginny would see the error of her ways and not go through with the wedding. I would have to wait and see.

Sleep did not come easily for me that night.

The next week progressed slowly. There wasn't much happening in the hospital and I seriously wished there was. I needed to keep myself busy so my mind wouldn't think. It was only Wednesday and I decided to have an early lunch. I walked out of the hospital and while I was looking for my sunglasses, someone ran into me. I looked up as two strong arms held onto me. I knew his scent and the feel of his body before I looked at him.

"Harry."

"Sorry Mione, I thought you might get some lunch with me?"

I looked away wondering how on earth I was going to get out of this one.

"Please Mione?" I nodded and he followed me out down the street to a small cafe. Harry held out my chair and I sat down. I looked at him and he looked tired, somewhat worn out.

"So Harry, what's happening? Why are you here today?" I waited for an answer.

"You didn't return my calls from a couple of weeks ago, I was worried."

"Harry what exactly do you want from me?" He looked at me and his face showed a million emotions, I wanted to touch his face and reassure him that it will be ok but I dared not.

Our lunch arrived and we ate in silence. After we had a coffee, Harry spoke again.

"What time do I pick you up on Sunday?" My face crunched up in a questioning look.

"Why?"

"The final dress fittings and my suit fitting, Ginny told you about it last weekend."
"Harry I am perfectly sure that Ginny knows where I stand with this whole wedding drama, I won't be going with you this weekend or any weekend for that matter." I picked up my bag and walked over to the counter and paid for our lunches. I looked back and Harry was still sitting in his chair. I called out goodbye and then I left the cafe.

I walked towards work and tried to fight the feelings inside of me so they wouldn't let me totally lose it.

"I need you Mione, please, I can't do this without you!" I stopped in my tracks and closed my eyes. This was worse than anything I have ever done before to myself, I was committing a permanently serious injury to my heart, I was sure of it.

"10am." I didn't look at him, I just kept on walking back to work and hoped the afternoon would be better.

It wasn't.

The afternoon was crappy and so was the Thursday and Friday. I managed to get Saturday off since I worked for my friend a couple of weeks back. I slept until 11am which was a major feat for me. I got up and spent the rest of the morning thinking about all the various excuses that I could use to get out of tomorrow. I need you Mione, I need you Mione... Those four words kept playing around in my head. I will not give it another thought because hopefully Ginny will find a shred of decency in her heart and fix this mess with Harry. Either way the wedding was only 7 weeks away and now was not the time for me to be causing more problems.

Sleep did not come to me that night, I just kept replaying all the different touches, and spoken words that have been keeping my heart a flutter. I couldn't let this consume me, it was a big enough mess as it was. I had to believe one day I would meet MY Harry, the one who was meant for me. I dreamt about Harry and my wedding, it was beautiful and my cake was sitting there at the reception taking pride of place. I awoke to someone knocking at my door, I stumbled out of bed and tried to focus on the bed side clock, it read 9.57am.

Oh Merlin I slept in.

I ran to the front door and swung it open. Harry was standing there in his dark pants and a light yellow shirt, he looked gorgeous of course.

"Harry I'm sorry, I slept in, please forgive me?" I opened the door and he stepped in. I quickly closed the door and turned to run into the shower. Harry was standing there looking at me and smiling.

"What?" I asked self consciously.

"Nothing Mione, you just look......" Harry fumbled for a word, I decided to help him.

"hideous, disgusting, etc???" I smiled but then he said "Nah, beautiful, you look beautiful." He brushed my hair off my face and I smiled. I put my head down and walked away, quickly, to the bathroom.

This was not helping me in my predicament. I was falling deeper and deeper for Harry only to have to watch him marry someone else, who I believed didn't deserve him.

We arrived at the men's suit place first and Harry went in to try on his suit. He looked stunning and I was speechless. The young attendant smiled and spoke to Harry.

"I think your fiancé approves Sir, she has that look in her eyes."

"What look?" Harry looked over at me and I was certainly a bright shade of red.

"Love Sir, she has the look of love!" Harry smiled and I blushed and looked away.

I stood up and walked over to the other suits, trying to kill time. Harry called me and asked my opinion and I gave it to him as best I could without being too obvious.

We walked out of the store and Harry started laughing. I looked at him and questioned his behaviour.

"Oh nothing Hermione, it's just that wasn't the suit Ginny picked out for me. Her one had ruffles and tails and I looked ridiculous, so I am laughing at the face she is going to pull when she sees I changed it." I laughed with him.

"Harry, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Do you love Ginny?" Harry kept walking like he knew what I was about to ask. He waited for a few minutes and then stopped and sat down on a park bench. I sat next to him and waited.

"I loved the way she smiled, I used to wait for it with baited breath. She had such a beautiful personality, her skin was pale and as fresh as snow. Her red hair was like silk through my fingers..."

I looked at him and wished someone, preferably him, would love me like that. He was just perfect.

"Have you ever loved someone like that Hermione, a love that consumes your soul, a love that keeps you alive?" he looked at me waiting for my answer.

"Yeah Harry, I have." and still do! My heart was beating up in my throat, I felt like I could die right now.

"Yes, it's wonderful isn't it..." My heart deflated and my stomach dropped and I was sure I was going to be sick.

"...but something went wrong somewhere Hermione, I stopped looking at her beautiful face and saw the scowl that replaced the smile. I tried to feel her silken hair but I got yelled out for messing it up. I tried to make her laugh again and all I did was annoy her. All I ever wanted was the love that you read about or see from your own parents. That deep consuming love that engulfs your whole soul and makes you smile for no reason and makes you get out of bed with a leap because your heart is happy. That's all I wanted Mione. But then she started travelling overseas and everything changed. You know we don't live together or even sleep together anymore and I know she is with another man. I have heard her phone calls when she thought I was out of earshot." Harry was silent and I reached over and held his hand. He grabbed hold of mine tightly.

"Why are you still getting married to her Harry, why would you do that to yourself? You deserve better than that?" He looked at me and then turned back.

"Hermione I don't deserve better than her, she is too good for me anyway, I will just do what she wants so I don't loose the family because otherwise I would be alone. Very alone." My tears escaped and I didn't even know until he wiped them away.

"You're such a good friend Hermione, I meant it when I said I needed you."

All of a sudden I felt stupid, all the actions that I took as advances were nothing but friendship. I felt like a complete and utter idiot. All he could see in me was friendship, that was all, friends.

"We had better get going Harry, we need to do Ginny's dress and then I need to get home."

Harry's eyebrows knitted together in confusion but he stood to follow me anyway.

I tried on her stupid dress and the lady adjusted the hem. I made Harry stay outside claiming that he couldn't see the wedding dress but really I needed some space from him. I sat down and waited for the seamstress to finish the alterations so I could take it with me. Harry walked in and sat down next to me. I wanted to look cheery and happy but my face wouldn't listen to me.

"How did it go?"

"yeah fine..."

"...Harry, why would you do this? It's stupid, I just can't fathom how anyone could live their life in misery. It's just dumb Harry." I stood up to walk away but he grabbed my hand.

"It's not that bad Hermione, I do still feel and I can love her, just not like I had hoped I would."

"I can't talk to you about this anymore, you're being a bloody moron, I am going home, just wait for your fiancé's dress Harry, bye."

I apparated out and sat down on my bed and screamed in frustration.