Chapter 14

January 2002

Hermione felt bone-tired as she laid in Harry's arms. Her body was pleasantly lethargic (thanks to Harry's earlier ministrations) and her head was fuzzy from a mixture of exhaustion and elation.

"Now, tell me honestly, what grade did I earn?" Harry asked as he absently ran his fingers along the top of her back.

She smiled against his chest. "You know what grade you earned. No need to be so smug about it."

Harry looked down at her and noticed she was struggling to keep her eyes open. "When's the last time you had a full night's sleep?"

Hermione hummed as she tried to do the maths, then gave it up. Her brain wasn't working well enough for that right now. "Sometime back in Australia," she mumbled. "The day there was coming to an end when I got my Portkey back here and arrived in the morning. I napped a bit before the party and I already said I didn't sleep much last night."

"Damn. I thought I was tired. You can stop struggling to keep your eyes open. Just sleep."

Hermione groaned. "I want to, but I really need to go to the loo. And I should probably get some clothes on and maybe move to my bed."

Harry sat up and pulled her up so she was sitting next to him. "Go to the loo, get clothes on if you must, but come back here. I need a nap too, though not as badly as you."

She yawned, as if on cue, then stumbled to her feet. She picked her shirt up from the ground and pulled it on and was about to pull her knickers on too when she realized she needed a fresh pair. When she reached the hall she turned back to Harry, who was sitting on the edge of the sofa and pulling his boxers back on.

"You're really going to stay?" she asked hopefully, stifling another yawn.

"Of course. It's getting rid of me you're going to have a problem with."

"Good." She smiled and laid her head against the wall as she watched Harry lay back down on the sofa and Summon the blanket with her wand. Usually it took couples ages to get to the point where they were comfortable using each other's wands.

Harry had used it a few times today without even asking and it had worked perfectly for him. She liked how it wasn't this big event but had just happened naturally. Sort of like how they'd become a couple. When he saw her still standing there, he motioned for her to hurry up.

She returned a few moments later with a fresh pair of knickers and a pillow. "Are you sure you don't want to nap in the bed?"

"I'm too comfortable to get up," he mumbled. "Come here."

He shifted to the edge and held the blanket open for her. She replaced the cushion he was lying on with the pillow before climbing next to him and nestling against his chest. Once he pulled the blanket over them, she relished in how pleasantly warm she felt. Harry had one arm draped lazily around her and the heat from his body was all-consuming, but not stifling. It felt so right and familiar and if she didn't know better, she'd guess they'd been dating for years and not less than a day.

Hermione lifted her head and placed a kiss on the underside of Harry's jaw. He smiled and tightened his grip on her. She settled back, burying her head in the crook of his neck and slinking an arm around his middle. She fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

Harry's eyes were drooping as he held Hermione but he tried his best to stay awake. He wanted to savor this moment of absolute contentment. He couldn't remember a time he'd ever felt this way.

He'd convinced himself he'd never be able to find someone like this; a witch who didn't care about the fame; someone who understood him completely and was okay with the fact that he was struggling and slightly broken.

Then, when he'd realized Hermione was that perfect witch, he'd been sure she'd never return his feelings. But here they were and he still couldn't believe his luck and wondered what he had done to deserve this. Even defeating Voldemort didn't seem like enough to earn the love of someone like Hermione.

He took a deep breath of that floral scent of her hair and made a mental note to ask her about it later today as he finally drifted off to sleep.

Hermione and Harry never ended up having a big talk about their relationship or how they'd arrived at the point they were at. Instead, it seeped out in little bits over the course of the day. After their nap, they went for lunch at a deli near Hermione's flat and she asked Harry from across the table, "Did you tell Teddy you loved me?"

"Bloody hell. Did he tell you?"

She nodded. "Yeah, at the Burrow on Christmas Eve."

"That kid would make a terrible secret keeper," he muttered before taking another bite of his sandwich.

"Well, I didn't believe him," she admitted. "Ginny was with me at the time and was clearly exasperated by my complete and utter denial of the whole situation. I think that's why she organized the mistle-dove intervention."

"That was her? Damn. I owe her for that one. Perhaps I should send her a new broom," he said thoughtfully.

Hermione smiled back at him. "Yeah, I get you're rich. No need to keep bringing it up."

He nudged her leg under the table. "It's one of the only things I have going for me. I need to work with what I have."

She smirked back at him and shook her head. The funny thing was, they both knew that excluding the Black fortune, which he'd put aside for Teddy, he didn't have that much money. But it was still a running joke between them.

"You're right," she replied. "Putting the money aside, you have very few good qualities."

He shrugged. "And yet you love me anyway. Joke's on you, Crumpet."

She responded with a gorgeous smile.

Later, when they were perusing the stalls at the Farmer's Market, Harry turned to her and asked, "When did you know?"

"Not until the night of the opera."

"Oh. Is that why you were so mean?" he quipped, pulling her against his side and placing a kiss on her temple.

"Yeah," she allowed, blushing slightly as she recalled her appalling behavior that night. "When did you know?"

"Subconsciously, probably the night of the Gala. Consciously, after the Apothecary."

"Oh...that explains why you pulled away from me for a bit."

He turned to her and winced. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I told you I loved you that night, once you were back from St. Mungo's, and you were like, 'Aww...I love you, too…'" he said the last part in a sickeningly sweet, baby voice.

Hermione hit him. "No, I didn't!"

"Oh yes, you did. I felt like I was being stabbed in the heart. That next day was the day I told Teddy about it."

She linked her hands behind his neck and kissed his cheek. "Sorry. I was an idiot."

Before Harry could respond a familiar voice called from behind them, "Oh! Hey guys!"

Harry and Hermione jumped away from each other before turning to face Neville. But there was no way he hadn't seen them embracing.

"Oh, er, Neville?" Harry said in a sort of half-greeting / half-question.

Hermione was playing nervously with the ends of her scarf. "Hey, Neville!" she cried, her voice higher pitched than usual. "Uh, I know this looks like we're um...uh...but it's not what it seems."

Neville gave them a dismissive wave. "You're together. I know that. We all do."

They both looked back at him, shocked, and Neville had to stifle a laugh. "We've known for ages," he added, nudging Hermione's elbow. "So, no need to act embarrassed about it. I think you two are good together."

"What do you mean you've known for ages?" Harry asked. "We only started dating yesterday."

Neville nodded knowingly. "Right. What I meant is we knew you'd get together long before that. I think it was back in September when we all started making bets on how long it would take you two to figure it out."

"You bet on us?!" Hermione asked while Harry asked at the same time, "Who do you mean by 'we?'"

"Oh, yeah, answer his question," Hermione amended. "Who's included in this 'we?'"

"All of us. Hannah, Luna, Rolf, and Ginny. Ginny won the bet, by the way, though Rolf is sure she interfered. Technically, there wasn't a rule against that, though."

"She definitely interfered," Hermione confirmed, giving Harry a small smile. "So, uh, Ron doesn't know?"

Neville shook his head and teased, "He's even thicker about this whole thing than you two."

"Do you mind keeping it from him just for a little while?" Harry asked. "We're going to tell him. We're just waiting for - um - "

"The right time," Hermione finished for him.

"Yeah, sure thing," Neville said absently. He was focused on something behind them now.

"Sorry guys, I have to run. I got word there's a Muggle unwittingly selling magical plants and I think I just saw someone walking by with a pot full of snakeweed."

"Wait, Neville. Should we call the Ministry?" Hermione asked.

"They're around here somewhere," he called over his shoulder as he ran up the path. "They're the ones who called me." He disappeared around the corner and Harry and Hermione exchanged nervous glances.

"Do you think we should help?" Hermione asked.

"I was thinking we should go to that Farmer's Market across town," Harry said sheepishly.

Hermione nodded. "Yes. Your idea is better."

They turned around and started walking toward the exit. "Should we be upset about this bet?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "They weren't wrong. If anything, I'm upset they didn't clue us in sooner."

Later, they were cooking in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place when Harry turned to Hermione, who was simmering a sauce on the stove, and asked, "Do you wish we'd dated in school?"

Hermione bit the inside of her cheek as she considered the question. Eventually she shook her head. "No. We were both different people back then. Maybe we wouldn't have been good together and would have written off the whole idea of us being together. Then later, when we became the right people for each other, like now, we would have missed the opportunity."

"I like that," Harry nodded. "So, no regrets?"

"Exactly."

Harry wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into his side. "You're sort of great."

"Thanks," she said with a smile, keeping her eyes on the sauce she was stirring.

Harry kissed her cheek, then swore when the kitchen blunder detector closest to him went off.

Harry pulled the pot of rice he'd been cooking off the heat. He opened the lid and peered inside, poking at the rice with a spatula. "It's only burned a little on the bottom. There will be some crispy bits, but the rest is salvageable. Are you good with that?"

"No," Hermione said seriously. "That is absolutely unacceptable. I need my rice to be perfectly fluffy."

"Uh huh...You're going to handle the crispy rice and be fine with it because this was all your fault," Harry retorted.

"Is that why your blunder detector went off?" she challenged, motioning toward the contraption on his side of the counter.

"You distracted me," he said defensively. "You're like a Veela. I completely lose my head when you're around."

Hermione smiled and looked down at her sauce as she continued to whisk it so it wouldn't curdle. The last thing she wanted right now was for her blunder detector to go off too. She felt Harry's eyes on her and nudged him with her hip.

"I could get used to days like today, Poppet," she said with a contented sigh.

"Me too, Love," he replied, leaning in to place a kiss on the side of her mouth.

"The longer we watch this, the less sense it makes," Hermione stated.

It was a few weeks into the new year and she was sitting in between Ron and Harry on the sofa at her flat, watching a Muggle fantasy movie. "And why is it just old men with long beards who are magical? Where are the witches?"

Ron opened his mouth to answer but Harry beat him to it. "They're not completely off-base there," Harry pointed out. "All the wizards in this movie look a bit like Dumbledore. And I think Merlin was meant to look like that too. Skinny, tall, long beard - very stereotypical, but also, for some reason, how the most powerful wizards in our world look. And you have to hand it to them, for giving all the wizards magical staffs. They're sort of like wands, which is more than most movies do."

"Fine, I'll give you that. But isn't it strange that in a world filled with magical creatures only a handful of the humans have powers? Every other species in this fantasy world has magic except the humans. Why is that?"

Ron was about to answer again, but Harry spoke up first. Hermione had turned to face Harry now, effectively cutting Ron out of the conversation. "The movie was created by Muggles. So it sort of makes sense that they'd insert themselves - a whole population of humans without magic - into this make-believe world, doesn't it?"

Hermione nodded. "Solid point, Treacle."

The word was out of her mouth before she realized what she'd said. She cringed and mouthed, "Shit," to Harry before turning back to face the television, hoping Ron hadn't noticed.

He had. "Treacle?" Ron asked once she settled into the sofa.

Hermione wished she could sink into the cushions. At least it was dark, so Ron wouldn't be able to tell how profusely she was blushing. She shrugged and said nonchalantly, "It's a joke."

She motioned back toward the television, but Ron wasn't finished with the conversation. He turned toward Hermione and asked, "What's the joke?"

Hermione's mind went temporarily blank. Luckily, Harry leaned forward and chimed in. "She's been calling me ridiculous pet names since that article came out months ago claiming we were dating. I hate it, which she knows, and is why she hasn't stopped."

Harry nudged Hermione and she forced out a laugh. "Yep. That's about it."

She motioned to the television again, but Ron didn't settle back into his seat. "That's not very funny."

Harry leaned into Hermione. "You hear that? Ron doesn't think it's funny either. So maybe you can stop?"

When Hermione turned to him his eyes were sparkling with mirth. He was enjoying this too much. She wished she could hex him.

"You know what? Maybe I will! Now can we all shut up and keep watching this movie?"

She crossed her arms and turned back but still, Ron was facing them. "I have a question," he said.

Hermione braced herself. Damn. Here it was. She'd been hoping for longer than two weeks of bliss with Harry before the bomb exploded. "Yeah?" she asked as casually as possible.

"Remember how you told me a few months ago that you were thinking about dating again?"

Hermione shrugged. "Is that the question?"

"No."

"Fine. I remember. What did you want to ask?"

"I guess my question is, are you serious about that? Because what you seem to actually want to do is hang out with Harry all the time and pretend to be dating him."

Hermione's stomach dropped, as did Harry's. Words failed Harry while Hermione turned defensive. "I missed the part where you got a say in my personal life, Ron. I was nothing but supportive of you and Lucy and you should be similarly supportive of whatever I want to do, whether it's dating, hanging out with my best-friend, or even going out for an occasional meal with a gay Slytherin."

"I didn't mean-" Ron started, but Hermione cut him off.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. Let's watch this."

Ron could tell by the look in her eyes that she was finished with this conversation. "Fine," he sighed before turning back to the movie.

Harry reached under the blanket and took Hermione's hand. She laced her fingers with his and squeezed it tightly. Harry leaned in and whispered almost inaudibly, "Sorry. Are you okay?"

She nodded slowly and tightened her grip on his hand. She didn't know how long they were going to be able to keep up this charade, but she wasn't ready to let Ron in on this yet.

Later when the movie was over, Ron said he wanted to talk to Hermione alone. Harry and Hermione had a silent conversation comprised of facial expressions, knowing looks, and mouthed words that went a little like this:

"Do you want me to insist on staying?"

"No."

"Okay, come to my place as soon as he's gone. Good luck."

"Thanks. Love you."

"Love you too. Oh – and you're beautiful."

"I wasn't trying to be unsupportive," Ron said as soon as Harry closed the front door.

Hermione let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry, Ron. I shouldn't have lashed out like that. It's just a sensitive subject for me."

"Why?"

She shrugged, then lied, "I'm not sure. But it's fine, Ron. We're good."

Ron shook his head and leaned against the counter. She thought she saw him check for his wand and knew that she wasn't going to like what he said next. "Do you know that no one asks you out because they think you belong to Harry?"

"That's not true," she said quickly. "Two wizards have asked me out in the past few months. I just said no because I wasn't attracted to them. But I think I see what you're saying, Ron. Yes, my two best friends are intimidating Aurors and yes, I know that's going to be hard for some. I myself can be a bit intimidating so it's just something any new boyfriend of mine will have to get used to. But I'm young and have plenty of time to sort it out. I appreciate your concern though."

Ron bit his lip and looked behind her to the sofa where they'd passed the evening. "Is this what you and Harry do all the time? Watch movies and call each other pet names?"

We also spend a lot of time tip-toeing the line between heavy snogging and light shagging.

"Yeah, that's about it. You can add in cooking, shopping for things to cook, and playing with Teddy. Why does it bother you so much, Ron? You're welcome to join us any time."

Ron shook his head and sighed. "I don't know. I just feel like the odd one out, I guess."

Well, that made sense. Since he was.

Hermione shrugged. They looked at each other for several more uncomfortable seconds, then Ron straightened and announced, "Okay, I should go. I'll see you at work tomorrow."

"Yeah. Bye, Ron."

Hermione took a deep breath and as soon as she heard the sound of Ron's Disapparation, she donned her robes and went to Grimmauld Place. Harry was leaning against the wall just inside the door. He gathered her in his arms as soon as he saw her.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"He just pointed out that no one is asking me out since they think I'm with you. And then admitted that he felt like the odd one out with the two of us."

Harry frowned. "Should we tell him? Is it time for that?"

"Probably." Hermione ran her fingers through his hair, trying in vain to tidy it. "But I'm enjoying this too much. Can we wait?"

"Sure." Harry leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on her lips. He pulled her down the hall as they continued kissing. When they reached the bottom of the stairs he leaned back.

"Let me guess. No playing on the stairs?" Hermione asked with a smile, recalling one of the few rules Harry had for Teddy when he stayed here.

"Exactly. All these rules are for your own safety." She laughed since she'd heard him say these exact words to Teddy before. Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs and as soon as they reached the hall at the top, continued kissing her.

They stumbled down the hall to his bedroom and once they were inside, Harry slammed the door behind them. He winced. "Oops, sorry. I didn't mean for that to sound so aggressive."

Hermione gave him a playful smirk. "I didn't mind it."

"Oh, in that case." Harry picked her up and threw her onto the bed. She let out a squeal, then began laughing.

Harry started unbuttoning his shirt and said menacingly, "Okay, Love. Brace yourself."

Hermione raised up on her elbows and cocked an eyebrow at him. "For what?"

"For the past few hours, all I've been thinking about was what I was going to do when I finally got you alone." He tossed his shirt to the side and pulled off his undershirt in one motion. "I didn't imagine I'd have to wait this long. Why did Ron insist we watch the whole movie? I didn't even think he liked it."

Harry had crawled onto the bed and pulled her up to a sitting position. Hermione shrugged. "Maybe on some level he knew what he was preventing," she guessed.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Do we like him?"

She let out a laugh. "I think so, but I can't remember why. But enough about Ron. Tell me, what did you come up with?"

Harry helped her out of her robes, shirt, then jeans until all she had on was her bra and knickers. "I have an idea but I'm not sure if it's going to be too close to shagging for you. Don't hesitate to tell me if it's too much. Okay?"

She gulped and tried to keep her nerves from showing on her face. What could he possibly be talking about? Her heart was beating hard and she swallowed again. This was Harry, she reminded herself, and he wouldn't push her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with. And if she was being honest, she was eager to see what he had in mind.

"What is it?" she whispered.

He pushed her down onto the pillows and started kissing her neck. He moved down to the top of her breasts, then her stomach and when he reached her knickers, she knew what he intended. Her whole body tensed.

"Is this okay?"

Ron had tried this a few times and Hermione had found it very uncomfortable. She hated being so on display. And she had been so focused on whether it was too gross or weird for him that she couldn't relax and enjoy herself. This was, in a lot of ways, more intimate than just normal shagging, but Harry made her feel safer and more beautiful than Ron ever had. And she thought it was worth giving it another try.

She reached forward and took his glasses off as she nodded. "Now it's okay."

Harry laughed and shook his head, then looped his fingers under the elastic of her knickers and slowly started dragging them off.

He didn't tease her before starting, since he could tell she was incredibly nervous and didn't want to add any needless anticipation. He pressed his tongue flat against her clit and she tensed. He grabbed her hips and told her to relax before licking her again.

Hermione tried her best to listen to Harry. She laid her head back on the pillow and focused on the odd but divine sensation. Then, he shifted slightly and surprised her by plunging his tongue into her, causing her to arch her back and swear loudly.

"Fuck!"

Harry stopped and she looked down and found him cocking an eyebrow at her. "That's the first time I've heard you swear."

"I can assure you," she said breathlessly, "if you keep doing that, it won't be the last."

He smirked and kissed the inside of her thigh. "Noted."

She was about to make a quip about his giant ego but completely lost her train of thought the next second. This felt incredible, there was no denying that, but she wished he wasn't so far away. And anytime she looked down, she felt weird watching him.

Harry could tell she was tensing up again. He stopped and looked up at her. When she met his eyes, he could tell she was embarrassed but had no idea why. "What's wrong? Do you want me to stop?"

She bit her lip and looked back up at the ceiling before saying, "Can you - uh - hold my hand?"

He smiled and reached for her hand. "You are the cutest," he said as he linked his fingers with hers.

"Thanks. Now, continue please."

"You're also very polite, though a bit bossy," he added.

"Yeah, yeah, enough of the commentary. Back to what you were doing before."

Harry smiled. Good, so she was enjoying this. She just had that insane insecurity she needed to get past. But he'd get her there. He gave her hand a comforting squeeze before delving his tongue back into her. He wanted to see how many times he could make her swear tonight.

A few weeks later, Hermione and Harry were at the Indian restaurant, eating lunch. When Hermione took a bite of the Murgh Makhani, she nearly spit it out.

"Oh my God," she mumbled through her bite. She grabbed her glass of water and drained it.

"What?" asked Harry.

"That is insanely spicy."

"How bad could it be?" Harry reached across and put some of the food on his fork, then had almost an identical reaction to Hermione when he ate it.

"Bloody hell," he said, coughing.

"Yeah. They must have got the order wrong. I like spice and all, but this is too much."

"Send it back." Harry waved toward the kitchen. "They'll make you a new one."

"You send it back," she argued. "Half of this is yours."

Harry shook his head. "No. I don't send food back. It's so...obnoxious. It's something Draco Malfoy would do."

"Well, neither do I. But I can't eat this. I feel like I might burst into flames."

"Is there a spell you can cast to lower the spice level?"

She thought about it. "No. I've never encountered a spell like that."

"Just tell Ankit, he'll be fine. Here, I'll get him for you," Harry waved over their waiter from the other side of the room.

"Harry!" she hissed, but Ankit had already seen him and was heading over.

"What can I help you with?" he asked when he reached their table.

Hermione glowered at Harry and pursed her lips shut. He cocked his head toward her plate, but also refused to speak. Hermione nudged his leg under the table and Harry caught it and twisted his leg around hers to keep her from kicking him.

"Uhh...what is going on here? Or…" Ankit registered their entwined legs and the smoldering looks they were giving each other, then broke into a grin. "Are you finally ready to admit to your-" leaned in close and whispered, "-love affair?"

"What?!" If Hermione had had anything in her mouth, she would have spit it out.

"I saw you playing footsie under the table...and that passionate look in your eye. You can tell me. We're like family by now."

Harry dropped his head to keep from bursting into laughter while Hermione scoffed. Harry was absolutely no help. Why did she like him again? "I - uh - fine," she said. "Yes, Harry and I are dating."

Ankit looked to Harry for confirmation and Harry nodded. "Yeah, she's right. We are."

"Since when? I only ask because we had a pool going and-"

"You were betting on us?!" Hermione cried.

"All in good fun, Hermione," Ankit reassured. "All in good fun."

"Since when?" Harry asked.

"About two years ago. So, tell me, when did it happen?"

"This past New Year's Eve," Harry responded.

"Damn." Ankit was shaking his head.

"You didn't win?" Hermione asked, obviously irritated.

"My father did," Ankit motioned to the owner of the restaurant, an older man leaning against the far wall.

"Well, Ankit, sorry you lost. Also, this is way too spicy, I can't eat it. Can you have them remake it at a medium spice level?"

Harry guessed that Hermione's irritation and desperation to change the subject had overcome any qualms she had about sending food back.

"Oh, of course," Ankit bent over to pick up the plate. "I'll fix that right up. And congrats, you two," he added with a wink.

Harry started laughing as soon as Ankit left and Hermione kicked him with her other leg. "I thought you were meant to be brave," she grumbled. "You called him over here, then completely clammed up."

"I only have a limited supply of bravery," he quipped. "I need to save it for life and death situations and can't be wasting it working up the nerve to send back food."

She crossed her arms and huffed.

Harry leaned forward and said seriously, "Are you angry that everyone bet on us? I really don't think they meant any harm by it."

"No, that's not why I'm upset."

"Oh. Then why?"

Hermione sighed and went to take a sip of her water, then realized it was empty. She leaned forward and grabbed Harry's glass instead. "I heard back from the Elders this morning and they're rejecting my law."

"What? Shit. After all those hoops they made you fly through?"

"Yeah. I know."

"Is there anything else you can do?"

"There's one more thing I can try, but it's a long shot. If I can get the head Elder to agree, I can try to appeal, then they'll have to review it one more time. But I don't know...They'll probably just reject it again."

"Who's the head of the Elders?" Harry wondered if this was something he should already know.

"Albert Burke," she replied.

"Wait. I know him. That's Dawlish's father- in- law. We helped him a year ago with some strange portraits and didn't press any charges, though we could have. I can talk to him and see-"

"No. Don't do that," she interrupted.

"Why not? It's not like it could hurt anything. Maybe he'll agree and-"

"I said no. I already have a hard enough time getting out from under your shadow at work and then if you did this on my very first law, no one would think I could do things on my own. How am I supposed to garner respect if I run to my famous boyfriend to fix my problems?"

"I thought you were doing this to help the creatures. If it were really about them, you'd do what it takes to get the law passed. But it seems like you're really just worried about making a name for yourself."

Harry knew immediately he'd gone too far. He'd temporarily forgotten one of the key pieces of advice from that relationship book Ron had given him a few years ago: Don't be the person who would rather lose the relationship than the argument.

"Hermione. I didn't-"

She'd already pushed her chair back and thrown her napkin on the table. "I'm going to go. Enjoy the rest of your lunch." She was gone before he could get another word in.

"Dammit," he swore, dropping his head into his hand.

Just then, Ankit arrived with a new plate of Murgh Makhani. "Where's Hermione?" he asked. "Did I scare her off?"

"No," Harry shook his head. "I did."

Harry asked Ankit to pack up their food, then realized he didn't have any Muggle money on him, so he had to Apparate home to get some and Apparate back to the restaurant to pay before returning to the Ministry to try to patch things over with Hermione. She was bent over her desk scribbling violently on a parchment when he arrived in her office.

"Not now, Harry," she said without looking up.

Harry sighed and closed the door to her office behind him.

Her eyes snapped up to meet his and were so fierce, he nearly took a step back. "I don't want to talk about this anymore, Harry." She motioned down to the papers on her desk. "I'm too busy making a name for myself."

Harry winced. He knew the safest thing here was to leave, but he also knew that Hermione needed to hear what he had to say and he didn't think anyone else would have the guts to tell her.

He took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk. "Don't talk, but listen, please. I just need to tell you something, then I'll leave you alone."

She glared back at him. Well, at least he had her attention.

"You're incredibly idealistic and believe deeply in justice and in everyone playing by the rules," he started. "But you work in politics and the reality is, it just doesn't work like that. If you really want to get your laws passed you need to use all the tools at your disposal, even famous boyfriends. I know it feels gross and you hate it, but I think you need to play the game to ultimately do some good in this world and the earlier in your career you realize that, the better."

She stayed quiet and pouted as she stared down at her parchment.

Harry sighed and placed a hand on her desk. "I am sorry about your law and I just want to help. I shouldn't have said what I did at lunch. I'm - er - rubbish at this relationship stuff."

She stayed quiet.

"Okay - uh - see you later. I hope." Harry opened the door slowly and lingered in the doorway for longer than normal, hoping she'd call him back, but she just continued to glare down at her desk. He let out one final sigh before leaving her alone.

Later that evening, Hermione stopped by Grimmauld Place after work. Once she let herself inside, she jumped when a jet of silver sparks appeared in the hall right in front of her. "Did I get him?" she heard Harry say.

"Yeah, I think so," Teddy replied in a very loud whisper.

Hermione shook her head and smiled inwardly. She peered into the Sitting Room and saw Harry and Teddy crouched behind a chair. They were facing the window and didn't see her in the doorway. She saw that Harry was still wearing his Auror robes and he'd transfigured Teddy's clothes to look like Auror robes too.

If she hadn't already decided to forgive Harry before heading over, she would have now, since this was without question the cutest thing she'd ever seen.

"Did we get them all?" Harry leaned in and asked Teddy.

Teddy shook his head. "No. There's another one next to the fireplace."

"Okay. Let me know when to shoot. Also, what color this time?"

Teddy considered seriously before answering, "Purple."

"Okay, purple it is."

The next moment, Teddy cried, "He's coming, he's coming!"

Harry shot a jet of purple sparks toward the fireplace. Just then, Hermione shot gold sparks into the room.

Harry jumped to his feet, pulling Teddy hard against his chest as he cast a Shield Charm around them. "Bloody hell! Damn - er - don't repeat any of that, Teddy," Harry muttered as he looked around wildly, trying to track down the source of the gold sparks.

Hermione walked into the room, laughing, and Harry dropped the Shield Charm, then placed Teddy on the ground.

"Herminey!" Teddy cried. "Did the dark wizard get you?" he asked seriously.

Hermione shook her head. "I'm good, thanks for checking. And you're getting much better at saying my name."

"We've been practicing a lot," Harry supplied, giving her a tentative smile from behind Teddy. He crouched down next to Teddy. "Why don't you go get yourself a snack? There are apples in the fridge. I need to talk to Hermione and plan out our next course of attack."

"Okay. I need substenance to beat the bad guys."

"Yeah, exactly, go get your substenance." Harry patted Teddy on the shoulder and watched him disappear into the hall.

He clutched his chest when he turned back to Hermione. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. The fake bad guys rarely fight back."

She nodded.

He leaned against the back of the sofa. "Um - hi."

"Hi," she smiled.

They were quiet for a while until Hermione finally spoke up. "I'm sorry about earlier. You were right, I did need to hear that."

"I'm sorry the world is sort of corrupt."

"Yeah, me too," she sighed.

"We can talk about it later, if you like," Harry said hopefully. "After I've removed the threat on my godson's life."

"Of course, that needs to be the priority."

Harry stepped toward her and moved a curl out of her face. "And I shouldn't have said what I did about you caring more for yourself than the creatures. Really. That was stupid. I'm pretty bad at this relationship thing."

She shook her head. "You're better than you think. And I - uh, do want you to talk to Burke, but we can sort out the details of that later."

Harry nodded and moved his hands up and down her arms. "Will you stay for dinner? I have loads of leftover Indian food."

She let out a laugh. "Sure."

He kissed her cheek. "Are we finished fighting?"

"Yeah. I believe we just survived our first fight."

He let out a sigh. "Thank Merlin. That's like a milestone, right?"

"Yeah. January 31st, first fight. Easy to remember, just one month after we got together."

Harry gave her a deep kiss, then moved to her neck, nibbling her earlobe before whispering, "One more anniversary left."

Hermione's heart fluttered. She wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and kissed his cheek. At this point, she wasn't sure why they were still waiting to have sex. It was clear this was serious and now that they'd survived this first fight with very little fanfare, there were no more excuses. She was about to lean in and tell him so when Teddy appeared in the doorway.

"I'm finished eating and ready to fight more dark wizards!"

"Already? You must have devoured that apple."

"Yep!" Teddy said proudly.

Harry lowered his voice. "So these dark wizards - they're back? I thought they were all dead."

Teddy nodded seriously. "They're undead. I just saw one in the kitchen."

Harry's eyes widened. "Why don't you go trap him under the table and I'll be right there."

"Okay! Green sparks this time!" Teddy yelled over his shoulder.

"Got it," Harry called after him. He turned to Hermione and smiled. "Would you like to fight some imaginary bad guys?"

"Of course."

"I should let you know that I originally thought they were just a group of dark wizards, but I've recently been informed that they are also zombies, with the previously- thought- impossible ability to return from the dead."

"Well, then you obviously need my help."

"Harry!" Teddy cried with the passion of someone who's life was actually in danger.

Harry winked at Hermione before disappearing into the hall.

"Change your clothes, Pumpkin!" he called from the kitchen. "You can't fight dark wizard zombies wearing that."

Hermione let out a long sigh before starting to Transfigure her clothes. Damn, did she love this man.