So you want H/H? This should make your day blissful. It's been written for about a week, but wanted to make sure it felt right. So far, no one has jumped off the screen and tried to choke me. Must be OK with them. Hope you have as much fun as I did.
~ Love to all from Circe~
Summer Part 25
When they arrived at the Grangers' again, everyone hurried upstairs to put away their purchases. After the door had closed, Fred turned to Ron and Harry. " OK , boys, ready to put this plan into action?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other and grinned, then Ron said" Yeah, I hope you've got some good- or bad stuff in mind."
" We've been looking for an excuse to try some of this out," said George. " Seems kind of bad to do this to a Quidditch star, but then, he's no part of any team I'm for! Maybe we can even keep him out of the next World Cup."
Harry had a slightly uneasy feeling.' Karma' he thought. This had better not backfire on him! But then a picture of Hermione in those peach coloured robes, with her hair on her bare shoulders came back to him. And he realized it had been a long time since he'd seen any signs of the old bushy hair Hermione had always complained about. He thought he could spend some time with his hands in that silky hair she had now. But what was Ron saying?
" I don't feel anything but glad about playing some tricks on " Vicky" and his family. He's got his own school in Bulgaria, why can't he stick with his friends over there. Hermione's our, um, friend."
Fred and George hooted at this, and George said, " Ooh, has Ickle Ronnie -kins got a runaway friend? Hermione's changed, guys. You might as well face facts. One of those is that if there were a year less in the age difference, I might be asking her out. Wanna fight about it?"
At least now Ron could be furious with George, instead of him, thought Harry, as he watched Ron's face turn maroon.He'd better step in before there was a fight,and George and Fred refused to help them at all. " C'mon, Ron," he said. "Let's see whether the girls, or your mom and Ivy need any help."
Ron scowled at George, but nodded, and folllowed Harry from the room, leaving Gred and Forge bent over a canvas bag. " Don't let 'em get to you, Ron, they're just trying to make you mad. Are you REALLY that interested in Hermoine as a girlfriend? All the two of you do is fight."
Ron shook his head. "I dunno, Harry. She's the only girl I've ever really spent a lot of time with. Sure we fight, but at least we talk. I haven't had the best experiences with girls, you know. The Yule Ball was a disaster,and I made a total fool of myself with Fleur Delacourt. You've got to admit, Hermoine IS looking pretty good these days, even if you are still thinking about Cho. She doesn't seem quite as bossy as she was, but maybe that's just being away from school."
Harry wasn't sure how much of this he could listen to.He thought back to the days when he and Ron weren't speaking in their fourth year. It had been one of the worst times in his life, that he did have to admit. Still, he and Ron were best friends..... how could he keep, well, not lying, but being less than truthful. It was no fun being with Ron and having to consider every word he said, Things were becoming strained.
" Fred and George were right though , Ron. Hermione isn't really the same. And I, erm, haven't been thinking about Cho for quite a while. It's been the first summer I've ever had any fun, and Ron, Hermione's mostly the reason for it." Well, he'd said it, thought Harry. He guessed he'd see pretty quickly how things would be with he and Ron.
With a confused look on his face, Ron asked " You mean, you're thinking about Hermione as a GIRLFRIEND? After all the trouble you two had last year with Rita Skeeter? And you never acted like you cared about her that way."
Harry took a deep breath and replied, "So, things have happened. It's just been different, Ron. I don't know what else to say. I mean, we both knew last year Hermione was tired of us treating her like another guy."
Ron nodded reluctantly at this, and Harry continued, " At first I was just relieved to be away from the Dursleys some of the time. And Ivy's made me feel safer than I have anyplace away from Hogwarts. But Ron, I..I think there's been more between Hermione and me than I ever wanted to admit. I'm not saying she's my girlfriend, and no one wants things not to change between the three of us more than me. I. just want to be straight with you.I don't know how things will go, that's all."
Ron looked at Harry silently for a moment , then said in the most serious and sober voice Harry had ever heard him use, "You're right, this is no time for secrets, and no time for jealousy. I may not like it, but I'm not going off half -cocked again, if you and Hermione want to be together." Then he brightened slightly."Say, remember what Fleur Delacourt said before we left. She's going to try to come back. Maybe if I stop spending so much time fighting with Hermione, she'll help me know what I should say to a girl without sounding like an idiot."
Harry laughed, and said " Maybe so. Hermione knows a lot more about being a girl than I'd have expected a few weks ago. I also never expected to have so much fun finding out one of my best friends loves music and has hair than smells like a summer breeze, all flowery and fruity."
'Now why had he said that? ' Hary asked himself, feeeling his face flame. But strangely, Ron was looking at him with something like...understanding? sympathy?
" 's OK Harry, I got you. Let's leave it at this, but I will say, I think you may be right about you and Hermione. Can't honestly say I ever paid much attention to what her hair smells like. All I was noticing was that she wasn't paying attention to me."
They both laughed with a kind of relief, and went downstairs, where there was no end of confusion. Hermione was attempting to coach her dad on some last minute Quidditch talk, but Harry knew she was having trouble when he heard her mention the "wonky faint", and he saw Ron flinch. "Erm, Dr. Granger, maybe we could chat a bit about Quidditch," said Ron, quickly striding over to where Hermione sat on the arm of her dad's chair.
Hermione had a look of relief on her face, but all she said was " Thanks, Ron." giving him a grateful look. Harry was amused to see Ron take a deep sniff as he walked over to sit in a chair near Chris.and Hermione. Even more amusing was the look of puzzlement he gave Harry as he shrugged his shoulders. Apparently Ron had been right, Hermione was just a best friend he felt comfortable with.
She came across the room to where he was standing and laid her hand on his arm. " Come help me a moment?" she asked in a low voice. Harry nodded and followed her into the dining room,where she went to her parents sideboard, taking out cutlery and napkins.
" A bit heavy for you to carry alone? " Harry asked her, in what he hoped was a light, teasing voice
.She continued to count spoons and napkins for a moment, then turned to him. "I .. just don't know about all this, Harry. I'm hoping we will have fun, but I just don't know. I mean Dumbledore DID say it's more important now than ever for us to- what was it, show the bonds of friendship and understanding? But it seems to only be making things strange between you, me and Ron. How can we be strong if we aren't together the way we've always been? "
Harry was alarmed to hear a slight quiver in Hermione's voice. Was she going to burst into tears? Hastily he turned her to look at him, and said, "It's OK, Hermione. Ron and I talked, and he's OK. I, um, I kind of told him things were a bit different between us, but that I never wanted the three of us to have secrets, or be separated."
Hermione's look of tension seemed to evaporate.To his amazement she reached up and took his face between her hands , and kissed him on both cheeks, then tenderly on his lips, Resting her head against his chest, she said softly "Then everything is right. I can face anything if we're all on the same side. And I know I can count on you to help me out with the Krums. I mean, Viktor at Hogwarts was one thing,But I'm not at all sure how any of us will like each other in a regular, so recently all- muggle household. It might be a long couple of days."
As Harry stood there inhaling the wonderful smell that was Hermione, and trying to will his knees to regrow their bones, he muttered, as much to himself as to Hermione,"Maybe not as long as you think."
To Be Continued........