Realization
Hermione arrived shortly after Ginny and Kyle and left to find Harry sitting at the counter chewing on the sauce spoon with a confused look on his face. He hadn't even of seemed to notice her come out of the fire, which he was staring directly into.
"Harry?" She asked slowly.
"Hi Hermione," he replied in a steady monotone.
"Is everything alright?" she stammered, concern plastered all over her face.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied in the same monotone.
"Oh come on Harry. I've know you for fourteen years. I know when something isn't right even when you are trying to hide it. I was going to ask if you needed any help with dinner but that can wait. Tell me what's up Harry James Potter."
"I can't."
"Oh yes you can." She stated, her voice rising. "I am your best friend Harry Potter, there is nothing that you cannot tell me. You tell me this instant or I am going to go get Ron."
"No!" Harry shouted, putting his hands up in surrender. "But first you have to swear, absolutely swear that you will not tell a single soul until this whole situation is sorted out. You can't tell anyone, not even Ron."
"What situation?" she inquired.
"You have to swear." Harry said firmly.
"I swear Harry; now just tell me what is going on."
With Hermione's trust under his belt Harry launched into the lengthy explanation of his and Ginny's nightmares and the reasoning behind their many sleeping partners. He explained why they slept in the same bed and how that led to sleeping with each other. He rattled on about how he would have never gone home with Carly if he had know that Kyle hadn't shown up and he was blaming himself before he even explained about the night before with Evan, and how he had provided Ginny with comfort for the rest of the night like he had on many other occasions.
"But this time it was different, you know? It was like I wasn't just keeping her from emotional pain, but from physical pain as well. And then when Kyle walked in here tonight, I just felt so completely and utterly jealous, and protective, and helpless. I wanted to gauge his eyes out with this spoon!" he said waving it in front of Hermione's face. "And she just went off with him like it was no big thing, like last night didn't even happen." He sighed dejectedly and placed his head in his hands.
Hermione had tears glistening in her eyes by the end of the story, and took a moment to compose herself.
"Harry," she said slowly. "I think Ginny's just trying to trick herself into thinking that she is fine. Obviously she can't be one hundred percent okay. She is a strong woman, but no one is that strong. As for your feelings, I assume they're natural. You just rescued Ginny from what could have been the absolute most terrifying experience of her life. You're bound to have a heightened sense of protection after that."
Harry shook his head slowly. "It's more than that Hermione. I know it is."
Hermione nodded. "I know it is too. I know you love her, Harry."
Harry's head shot up in shock. "What?"
"I've seen you the way you look at her, the way you take care of her. You leave warming charms on her breakfast when she sleeps in. You pack her sandwiches and coffee for at work. You make elaborate dinners which you eat by yourself when she doesn't come home and leave warming charms on the dinners that you wish she could have eaten with you. You make sure she's not late for work or school. You sleep with her. Now you've told me that you hold her through the night just to comfort her. You may not realize it Harry Potter, but you are in love with her, not just in a brotherly or even just in a sexual way. You are in love with her in every way."
Harry once again let his head land in his hands, his shoulder sunk. She was right, she was absolutely right, as she always was. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Hermione. I wouldn't even know myself. What am I going to do?" He asked with a hint of pleading in his quivering voice.
"You're going to wait for her. You're going to wait for her like you have been for the last three years."
Harry nodded. He knew she was right, once again.
"You're just so in love with her that you don't have any other choice but to let her be happy, even if that means that she's not with you."
Merlin, he hated that she was right. "Why do you always have to be right, Hermione? How do you know exactly what everyone is feeling? Don't you dare say that I have the emotional range of a teaspoon because this," he said gesturing around himself and his dejected state, "obviously proves that I I've got way more than a teaspoon."
Hermione had to chuckle, but then spoke carefully. "Because I know you Harry, inside and out. You're my little brother, and I love you for exactly who you are. Hopefully Ginny realizes that she loves you as more than a brother and a roommate or you're going to drive yourself crazy now that you're aware of your feelings."
Harry groaned and plopped his head into his hands once more.
Hermione ignored him. "Is there anything that I can do to help with supper? The Weasley's will be here shortly."
Harry pointed to a pot on the stove. "Soup." He muttered feebly.
Hermione took a sip of the broth. "Harry this soup is delicious. I don't know what you think needs to be done to it but it's perfect."
"Salad" he continued pointing to the bowl in which he had already prepared the salad, and dressing.
"Harry everything here is done. It just has to be put in serving bowls."
"Oh, I must have done it after Kyle and Ginny left. Funny, I don't remember…" he trailed off.
"Oh come on Harry! Snap out of it! Ginny loves you too; she just hasn't realized it yet! She's as daft as you are! So, buck up and stop acting like this. Ginny still loves you as her roommate and someday it will be something more, but that day is not today! I'm sorry to be harsh now but this isn't you! You can't sulk around waiting for her or she'll never come. You have to be that Harry that she already knows and loves, not this mess." She said gesturing up and down his body.
Harry stood. "I guess for now that's just going to have to be good enough, eh? Hey, it's not like I haven't been through worse things in my life than unrequited love." He said with a soft chuckle.
"That's the spirit Harry!" Hermione said trying to be encouraging, even if she didn't think that Harry's mind set was of the best attitude. "Now go shower and get dressed while I plate everything, and set the table. You've got sauce all over yourself."
"Ginny loved that sauce." Harry said dreamily. "Maybe if I leave it on my she'll lick if off later." He said, his usual seductive laugh returning to his voice.
Hermione glared at him. "Shower, now!" She yelled, pointing a threatening finger down the hall.
By the time Harry returned from the shower, Ron had arrived and was helping Hermione put the finishing touches on setting the table. Which he heard Hermione yelling at Ron was all he was good for when it came to helping in the kitchen.
Ron quickly pointed the finger of blame at Harry. "You're supposed to be doing this! This is your party and your off taking showers that you should have taken ages ago! Now I'm taking all her abuse."
"Oh Ronald, come off it. When I got here Harry had sauce all over himself and the kitchen. He may be a wonderful cook, but he's a terrible mess."
Ron laughed. "Yeah mate, you do usually look like you've got splattergoit when you're done cooking don't you?"
"Ronald." Hermione scolded.
"It's okay, Hermione. If Ron wasn't taking the mickey out of me, then I would think something was wrong. Just because he can't even lift a soup ladle without setting the kitchen on fire doesn't mean he has to be jealous of what a wonderful cook I am."
Hermione hit them both over the back of the head.
"Bloody hell!" They yelled simultaneously.
"Don't curse!" Molly Weasley chided as she stepped out of the fire.
"You'd think she could hear us in mid-floo, eh?" he asked quietly nudging Harry.
"I wouldn't put it past her." Harry replied with a smirk.
Their bad behavior was soon forgotten as the boys were enveloped in hugs and Harry asked the Weasley's to be his surrogate parents for the interview over the delicious dinner. Molly burst out into tears and quickly began dabbing her eyes with her napkin. Arthur's face glowed with pride as he nodded his approval.
"Oh Harry dear, you know we've always, always thought of you as our seventh boy! We would be honored, just honored!" She exclaimed leaping off her chair and scampering over to Harry and wrapping him in a bone crushing hug. Harry was so relieved that he was positively beaming.
"Do you want to meet me here a little early? I'd like to make you breakfast as a thank you."
"You don't have to thank us Harry! This dinner is already too much!"
"No, the dinner was to ask you. I want to make you breakfast as a thank-you. Besides, I wanted to invite Teddy to come with as well. He would love to meet the team. Plus, I wanted to take him to the first official practice on Monday, but you need security clearance to sit in on them and I thought with you already being there tomorrow, you could sit with him for the first half of the practice, then we can get lunch and I'll take him home." Harry said all this in one breath hoping that she would go along with the plan.
"That sounds wonderful dear. You're such a good godfather." She replied patting him gently on the cheek. "You could do to take a leaf out of Harry's book, Ronald."
"What?" Ron started, his mouth absolutely bulging with lasagna. "I haven't got a god son have I?"
Mrs. Weasley just tutted and shook her head.
The rest of the dinner went off without a hitch. Hermione had just given one last flick of her want so that the plates straightened themselves out in the cupboard.
"There we go." She said with a sharp nod of her head. "Off to the Blue Plug then I guess." She said almost apprehensively.
The trio was soon standing outside of a building with a giant neon blue electrical plug adorning the side of the building. A long line stretched down the block, but Harry saw a man standing with a clipboard and made his way over to him. He gave their names to the man and he crossed them off as he opened to door for them. About five women tried to cram though the door with them, but the large man was having none of it. Harry heard many groans issue as the door closed behind them and they were trapped in what seemed like the inside of a boom box.
There were people dancing everywhere. The music was so loud Harry could barely hear himself think. The bass was pounding in his ears like a bad headache that accompanies a nasty hangover. Harry caught a glimpse of Ginny on one of the balconies and tried to push his way through the dancing mob to get to her.
"You made it!" she squealed at the sight of them, even though Harry could barely make out what she was saying. "Isn't this great?" she inquired with excitement as she gestured out over the club.
"Err, yeah." Harry replied with trepidation.
"What the hell is this place?" Ron yelled, deciding to be a little more blunt with his feelings.
"It's a dance club, you prat!" she yelled back at him.
"Well, I don't like it!" he screamed back over a new louder song.
"What about you lot?" she asked Harry and Hermione.
Harry shook his head slowly. This was definitely not his type of club. He checked to make sure that Hermione shared his opinion before he shook his head with more vigor.
"Oh well," Ginny yelled, Harry caught a hint of disappointment in her voice but he couldn't tell over the fact that she was yelling. "Once I got here, I knew it would be a slim chance that you lot would stay. Go on, get out of here. Me and Kyle are fine here, I'm loving it!" she said giving a little shimmy.
"We're going to Merlin's Hat if you ditch him and want to join us." Ron shouted at her, jerking his head in Kyle's direction where he stood at the bar. "Come on," he yelled to Harry and Hermione. "Let's get the hell out of here."
Harry felt much more comfortable as he left the confines of the club and stepped out onto the street. He could hear three women arguing with the door man, and their voices seemed unusually loud, as if he had just woken up with a hangover. Perhaps, he wondered, they should change the name of the club to Hangover.
"They can have our spots," Harry said wearily to the man of enormous proportions. "We're not coming back." The girls squealed in delight as they flooded into the club.
"Ahhh." Ron let out a sigh as he set down his pint of butter beer. "Now this is more like it, the good ol' Hat."
Harry and Hermione nodded in agreement. The three were sitting around the bar looking out onto the dance floor where couple were spinning about to a Weird Sister's song. Harry thought he spied Parvati and Lavender in the crowd and smiled. As long as Parvati didn't have a date she would go home with him.
He and Parvati had a special relationship. She didn't know the entire story, but he had confessed to her that he didn't like to sleep alone after the war. She also knew that he was not interested in a relationship, and was not always interested in sex. She was a great friend when he needed her to be, and he was there for her when she needed him. He could recall many a time when she had latched onto his arm at a club to make an ex-boyfriend jealous. Sometimes they would just spend the whole night talking.
Soon enough, Parvati came striding through the crowd and wrapped her arms around him like an old friend that he hadn't seen in years. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and hugged her back.
"Who's our target?" he whispered in her ear.
She giggled guiltily. "That sandy haired fellow, just there at the end of the bar, the one in the emerald green shirt."
Harry spied the man, and nodded into her neck, making it look as though he was nuzzling her affectionately. Harry spent the night dancing with Parvati and Lavender and making the sandy haired boy jealous as he snuck Parvati kisses in his obvious direction. George and Bill even showed up for a few drinks later on in the night.
"Fleur's mum is at the house." Bill admitted the reason as to why he left his wife when she was just days away from giving birth to their fourth child. "She's driving me mad. She practically shooed me out of the house, she kept saying that I was getting in the way. In the way of what? Fleur's having the baby at St. Mugo's like she has for the past three. Victore, Molly, and Lucy are so excited that she's there though. She's doing all the stuff with them that Fleur can't at the moment. Merlin's beard I hope this one's a boy." Bill was babbling as he threw back another shot of fire whiskey.
Ron, Bill, and George were all deep in a drunken discussion as to why Harry didn't just stick with Parvati when the pair left for Harry's flat.
"Tea?" Harry asked as they stepped out of the grate. He was already flicking his wand twice. He could hear music playing softly in Ginny's room.
He and Parvati sat at the island counter eating left over soup and sipping decaffeinated tea, while catching up. They had not seen each other in almost two weeks.
"We've been going to muggle clubs, you see. It's Ginny's new thing. It's easy to ditch someone that isn't going to stay with you when they find out what you are anyway. This new one though, Kyle." He jerked his head towards the hall. "She seems to really like him. They've been dating for about a week."
Parvati nodded in understanding. "There is always the mysterious factor when one dates a muggle. I suppose that's what she's after." Harry looked confused. "Don't worry Harry. You'll never understand, it's a girl thing."
Harry seemed content with this explanation because Parvati elaborated no farther but instead launched into the story of the sandy haired boy who Harry found out was named Derek.
They were soon retiring to bed, and Parvati asked nothing more of him than a couple of kisses. She rolled over, dressed in one of his t-shirts, and pressed her back into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly through the night, until he heard a scream.