Wish I May
Disclaimer: I don't own HP or any of these characters. That belongs to JKR, Scholastic Books, Warner Brothers, etc. This is just something to pass the time while waiting for the next book.

Part IV : A Blissful Day

Harry mulled over yesterday's events while making the morning coffee. It was still unbelievable. Hermione loved him. What more could he ask for?

He knew that Hermione was similarly amazed. Her astonishment was all too visible in her eyes. It was incredible to think that they had loved each other for so long and in the space of a single day, they finally managed to patch things together. The events of yesterday continued to bring a smile to his face—and most likely would for quite some time.

They had spent the entire day indoors yesterday. Harry and Hermione had eventually found the willpower to leave the bed, but neither one of them had wanted to leave the apartment. Both had been content to simply bask in each other's company. Harry had enjoyed just lounging around, taking in fully the fact that she loved him. It had been complete bliss to spend the day alone with her in languid pleasure.

Staying in today, however, was not an option. As the typical bachelor, Harry's stockpile of food was not at all what you would call impressive. It had consisted entirely of leftover Chinese, some bread and a few containers of yogurt. While Hermione had not been able to take issue with it yesterday, as her attention was occupied elsewhere, earlier this morning she had clearly registered her dismay over the contents of his kitchen. Harry had to agree with her assessment—after the way they raided his kitchen yesterday, it was now practically empty. There was nothing to do except go out and shop for more. At first, he had been disappointed at the prospect—he would have loved to have spent another day alone with Hermione by his side. Yet, he soon became accepting of the plan. They would go out, see a Muggle movie and stroll around the river before shopping for food and returning home.

That plan had a charm of its own.

The coffee being finished, Harry returned to the dining room with two full mugs. It was a good thing that both he and Hermione liked their coffee black, considering that there was no milk to be had. As he entered the room, he instinctively looked over at where Hermione was sitting.

She was sitting at his table, reading the morning paper, clad only in one of his shirts. For some reason, she had left the top buttons undone and the swell of her breasts was completely noticeable from where he stood. He suppressed a groan. He had thought about Hermione in that way long before they ever got together, but those thoughts had been relatively easy to repress. However, his lustful thoughts had multiplied, again and again, especially with the memories he now had to fuel them. The sight of her was enough to make him want to forget all their plans in lieu of more immediate physical activity.

That thought did make him groan.

Hermione looked up at that. Seeing him standing still in the doorway, she asked, "Are you going to stand there all day or can I convince you to hand over the caffeine?" Not waiting for a response, she put down her paper and got up. Hermione strolled over to him. With a quick peck on the cheek, she removed the two mugs of coffee from his hands and placed them at the appropriate table settings.

That kiss had spurred Harry to move again. After Hermione had finished putting the coffee down, he audaciously embraced her from behind. Whispering in her ear, he said, "Why don't we forget all about those plans to go out? I've all I want for breakfast right here."

"I doubt that is the truth. Really, Harry, how long has it been since you last bought any groceries?" Hermione was nothing if not stubborn but she couldn't fool him. He could feel her reaction at that statement. She wasn't as opposed to his suggestion as she would have him think.

He brushed her long hair to one side and began laying soft kisses about her neck. "I meant every word I said, love," he mumbled between kisses. He felt her excitement growing and he tightened his hands around her waist.

"I was going to say that I should go back to my place and change into something more appropriate."

"I think what you're wearing is entirely appropriate."

"For indoors, maybe. I don't think you'd say the same if I went outside looking like this." He slipped his hand inside her shirt and slowly began tracing the curves of her right breast.

She gasped at that but persisted. "And we will be going out today, won't we?"

"Later perhaps." He gently ran his hand across the hardening nipple of her breast and slowly ground his hips against hers. She moaned in response. Removing his hand from her waist, he tilted her head so he could look into her eyes. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much," he said before thoroughly exploring the depths of her mouth.

At that, Hermione gave up trying to speak and turned around. She hooked her arms around his neck and eagerly returned his kiss, with her tongue playfully engaging his. He moved his hands down to press her closer to him. She groaned in response. Harry inwardly smiled.

It looked like he would get his choice of breakfast after all.

*****

Hermione sighed as she looked out over the river, gripping Harry's hand tightly in hers as they sat together on a bench. They had never made it to the movie. Not only had they missed the start time, but once they had recovered from their previous activities, Harry had insisted on going out to eat. He was absolutely starving, he had claimed. After waiting quite impatiently for her to change at her place, he had whisked her away to a local restaurant and had begun putting incredible amounts of food away.

That had been embarrassing, not so much from the fact that he was eating so much but from what it implied. Hermione knew that if her strange gait didn't tip off the people around them, then Harry's appetite most definitely did. She wasn't embarrassed at the thought that the world knew that she and Harry was together. If anything, she was more inclined to shout that fact from the rooftops rather than deny it. But it made her blush to think that other people knew that she and Harry had been engaged in some very private activities earlier. She supposed people would have been able to figure it out anyway, but she felt that they were being blatant about it.

Hermione sighed again. Harry's hand left hers and encircled her waist. He brought her up close against his side and she snuggled her head against his shoulder. After a minute or two, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she protested absently.

Harry sighed at that and kissed the top of her head. "I'd rather you tell me what's wrong instead of denying it, love."

She closed her eyes. She knew he was speaking the truth. He wanted to know what was troubling her yet it wasn't anything that was easy to say. It was hard to put her feelings into words and she was scared that he would take it the wrong way. It would be very easy for him to misinterpret her. She took a deep breath. Hermione knew she should tell him. She knew that she should trust him as he had always been willing to listen to what she had to say. If he took things the wrong way, then he should give her enough time to set him straight. At least, that's what she hoped.

Still, it was difficult to find the right words. She decided ultimately to be as blunt about it as she could. "We weren't careful at all."

Those words left him puzzled. Hermione could feel his frown forming, as his muscles tensed up around her. She thought that she would have to spell things out for him even more when he finally understood her meaning.

"You're worried that you might be— "

"Yes," she finished for him as he seemed too flustered to say the actual word.

At that, he tensed up even more. Harry fumbled about for words before finally getting out a half-audible "I'm sorry."

Hermione lifted her head up to place a kiss on his lips. "Don't be. And please don't cry. I didn't mean to— "

"I know you're going to say that you don't blame me. Still I should have known better. I knew the charms to use but I was just too caught up to cast the spell. There's no excuse for that. I should have been more careful."

Hermione did not know what to say. She couldn't lie and say that she was happy at the possibility. She didn't want to have a child yet, even with Harry. She was only twenty. Maybe in a few years, it would be all right but as for right now, there were just too many other things that she wanted to do with her life. She just was not ready for all that yet. However, even though she was hoping with all her might that she wasn't pregnant, she still didn't regret the events of the last couple of days. She and Harry were finally together. That meant so much to her.

Finally, she decided to talk instead of letting silence stew between them. "I don't regret anything we did, Harry. I mean, I now have you. How could I regret that? I don't want to be pregnant but that's out of our hands now. I know that it's unlikely for that to happen right away but I can't help but worry. It's just that the thought of it is sort of overwhelming. I'm not ready for that yet."

"I'm sorry," he said again. Hermione was about to protest his apology but remained silent at his look. "I know you don't want to hear that and you don't want me to feel that, but I am. I am sorry that you have to worry so."

Hermione sighed. She had not wanted to make him feel so guilty. She had only spoken because he had asked her to, but it seemed like she only managed to make him feel bad. There had to be something she could do to make him feel better.

"If I had to chose to do it over again, I would. Because I love you. Because knowing that you love me is worth taking that risk. Because I had hoped someday anyway to start a family with you and even though it's too early, I think it's better early than never. I love you and I will love you no matter what happens." With those words, she kissed him, willing him to feel her love and her joy at simply being with him. By some miracle, he felt it. She could tell by his response. She couldn't make everything better. She couldn't make her worried disappear with a wave of her wand. However, she could at least let him know how much she loved him.

Harry was smiling once again when the kissed ended. He cupped her face in his hands and bent down so his forehead was touching hers. "I love you. You don't know how much I love you. While I hope someday we will have children together, I hope and pray that it won't be until you're ready. Until we're both ready for that. But if we don't have a choice, I want you to know that I'll be with you every step of the way. I'll never leave you, unless you want me to. And I'm sorry for not being more careful before—there's nothing I can do now, except promise that I will be careful in the future. And that's a promise that I will keep."

Hermione felt tears forming in her eyes at his words. She loved him so much. It was absolute ecstasy to know that he loved her as well. She did not know what was in store for them in the future but she did know that they could make it so long as they were together.

Harry wiped away the tears tracking down her cheeks. "Don't do that," he said. "I don't want to see you cry ever."

She quickly embraced him roughly, with her head burrowed against his chest. "I love you," she whispered.

Without even pausing to think, he returned her embrace. "I love you," he said. "Always and forever, I'll love you."

The couple stayed liked that for some time, content to take comfort in the presence of each other's love.






Author's note—Oh dear, that was a fluffy chapter. Can anyone tell that I'm stressed over finals? *sigh* Hopefully, I'll be able to make up for that in the next chapter. I would really love to know what you think of this story, good or bad, so please leave a review. Thank you.

And just a couple comments on previous reviews:
Imran (aka the fanfic writer formerly known as Nappa)—I don't know how you manage to be the first review all these times. But thanks for your compliments, even though I sometimes wonder if you're going over the top a tad too much. It's nice to know that someone likes this piece.
Leeva—Thank you so much for leaving a review. While long reviews are nice, I'd much rather have a short review than none at all. Doumo arigatou!
Amy—Err, you do realize that Hermione being pregnant would cause a lot of angst, right? I mean, most girls don't dream of being pregnant at 20 and Hermione's definitely one of them. Thanks so much for the comment.
ChrisMiss—Yup, they were definitely playing the role of fools in love in the last chapter. I'm glad to know that you liked it.
Heaven—It's good to know that someone was fooled by the first half of the chapter. Honestly, I thought I was being terribly obvious, considering that I've never kept my shipping preferences secret. Thanks you so much for letting me know what you thought.
Lady Wolfsbane—You definitely get the prize for the most creative review. Unfortunately, I'm a poor student so all the prize is only a great big Thank You!
Ryoko Blue—Thanks so much for the compliments. I'm happy to know that you're enjoying this fic.
May—Quite honestly, I can understand where someone would be coming from by making them not talk for a while. However, I like to think that after ten years or so of the closest of friendships, that there's enough trust between Harry and Hermione for them to get everything out. I don't know how likely that is, but that's the way I like to see it.
Sage—Yes, they did get together a little fast. I put it up to both of them waiting for so long without saying a thing—finally when everything was out between them, they didn't want to wait any longer. However, the speed will cause them problems with the future.
Seiryuu—Yes, I know. It's the whole "the eyes are the windows to the soul" cliché (although I almost typed that the wrong way). *sigh* I will never, ever attempt to count up the number of clichés used in this fic as I suspect that would only depress me. This fic is strictly for fun, not for form.

Also thanks to: The Magician, lilhu, PureBloodGryffindor, VenusDeMilo, leogrl, Shits and Giggles, aaliyah-potter, GeminiGirlz, Eric, Em, Voldemort jr., apostrophe, hazeleyez, Vixen, Evil*Fairy, Noodlejelly, Emili Potter and Masqu erade for their reviews. I'm sorry for not responding personally—I'm running out of things to say without being repetitive. But I want to let you know that I do appreciate you taking the time to leave a review. Thank you so much!