Harry follows the sound of Hermione's hums through the house, needing to talk to her but not wanting to disturb Teddy by calling out. The sound is like musical breadcrumbs, and he follows them to the laundry, where she's in the middle of folding a load of washing. He can't recognise the song, but he suspects it's the singer she and Fred were gushing about the other day. The one with the name he can't even begin to remember.
"Hermione?"
"Harry!" She turns to face him with the grin that has barely left her face since she and Fred got back from their date. "Don't tell Kreacher what I'm doing. He wanted me to leave this for when he gets back, but I don't think he'll notice if I just do some of it."
"I certainly won't tell him."
Her eyebrows draw together in concern. "What's wrong, Harry?"
"Am I that obvious?"
"Yes."
He sighs. There's no delaying the inevitable, he supposes. "I broke up with Caitlin. It wasn't working anymore."
"Oh, Harry." Setting the towel aside, she places her hands on his arms comfortingly. "How are you holding up?"
"It was hard," he admits. "I really like her, but she's too similar to Ginny. It helped at first, but it stopped being enough. The ways she's like Ginny aren't enough because she isn't Ginny. It felt wrong when we did something that Gin and I would've loved to do together but things worked out differently because they're not the same person."
"The similarities made the differences more obvious."
He nods. It's peculiar to hear something that has taken him so long to grasp being distilled so concisely back to him.
"Harry," Hermione says, looking as uncomfortable as he's ever seen her, even as her voice becomes laced with something akin to steel, "did you ever… picture… you know… during…?"
His face burns when he realises her meaning. "No! I would never… It was subconscious. I didn't even realise what I was doing until I went back to Ginny's old room last night."
She looks relieved. "Right. Well, er, good. I think you made the right decision, Harry."
"Changed your mind about the relationship not being wrong?" he asks bitterly.
"No. She knew the situation, and she can make informed decisions just as much as you can. And I think it was good for you to try. But I agree it was holding you back. One day, you'll meet someone who — "
"Can we not do this?" he bites out. At the offended look that shoots across her face, he adds, "Sorry. That was harsh. I know I might meet someone else one day, but I'd rather not talk about that right now, if it's all the same to you."
"That's fine," she hurriedly replies. "Do you want to do something? As a distraction."
"We could take Teddy out for the day."
"That sounds great. A picnic, maybe?"
"I'll go get him ready."