Yes! I did it! For once, I actually kept my promise to post soon! Hahaha! Interestingly enough, this chapter turned out to be, like, three times longer than I originally planned. It was going to be a mini-chapter—a page, at best. But when I started writing, the story just spilled out and I am left with four pages of a story instead of one.
An unrelated note: I don't understand two things: why my chapters are out of order (the first two. For the record, "At the Flat" is the first chapter and "Unhappy Together" is the second.) The second thing I don't get is the format of the previous chapter—what happened to it? It's all supposed to be single spaced, but it didn't turn out that way.
Ok, moving on: thanks for the reviews, everyone!! I'm glad there are a few people who haven't given up on me or this story. Merci beaucoup to the following: Melissa37, weirder, Hermione 512, Ramy, ears91, The Laguna, KelseyJ, Bachy A and Nadia, who reviewed chapter eight. I love reading your reviews, they are really, really appreciated! So thanks!
Good flash of (hopefully) good news: I'm writing yet another story of this one! Haha! It's getting planned and everything, I feel that it's going to be much better than this and "All I Need Is You." So look for that coming soon.
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I do; however, this is not the case. HP belongs to J.K. Rowling. And I don't own the song "Here's to the Night," which is the title of this chapter, because it is an Eve 6 song, not mine. (Great song, I strongly recommend it!!)
Enough blabbering! Here's the story! Please read, hopefully review, but mostly, enjoy!
~*~
Several hours later, the reception was in full swing. The Weasleys and Johnstons had booked the biggest hall they could at the inn, and it was packed.
Dinner had been served, and the toasts had been given long ago. Now, everybody was focused on celebrating.
The only person who wasn't having fun was Hermione. She hung back from the crowd as she watched Lavender monopolize Harry. They had been all over each other ever since the music had started, and it was making Hermione miserable to watch.
Just go over there, he's your boyfriend. He wants to be with you, not her, she reasoned with herself. But something was stopping her, and she couldn't put her finger on it.
She turned, on the verge of tears, wanting to slip out quietly. But before she could take two steps, someone jumped in front of you.
"Ron!" she exclaimed. She hadn't had the chance to speak to him since the wedding was over. He and the rest of his family had been busy.
"Where are you going? The party's this way," he said, pointing to the scene going on behind her.
"Oh, well, I just going to get some fresh air," she said.
Ron raised his eyebrows. "Nice try, Hermione. But I'm not buying it." He grabbed her by the hand and dragged her on the dance floor.
"Ron. Ron, I don't…. Ron!" she shouted, trying to get his attention. He ignored her.
"I'm not in the mood to dance right now," she said, practically shouting in his ear. He simply shrugged, grinned, and made sure she couldn't escape.
Hermione sighed. Sometimes, there was just no stopping Ron. She gave up and danced with him, glancing around the room.
There was Fred and Angelina, who had alternated between mingling with the crowd and dancing exclusively with each other. Hermione spotted George and Katie dancing together, Mrs. Weasley with Lupin and Professor McGonagall with Mr. Weasley.
"Ron, look!" Hermione said, pointing at the last pair.
Ron laughed. "That's dad for you," he said, shaking his head.
"Have you talked to Professor McGonagall today?" Hermione asked. She hadn't yet, but she was hoping to have the opportunity. Professor McGonagall had been her favourite teacher at Hogwarts.
"Yeah, at the receiving line. She just asked how I was, what I was doing. I talked to Professor Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick, too."
"Oh."
They continued to dance. Ron was a good partner, but Hermione was too distracted by Harry and Lavender to really appreciate him.
Lavender had not taken her hands off Harry since they had arrived at the ceremony. She really wanted to whole world to know that they were together, and Harry was letting her. Right in front of Hermione!
At that moment, Harry and Lavender switched positions, and Harry was now facing Hermione. Their gaze met halfway across the room, and held. He smiled at her in acknowledgement, but made no move to come towards her. She turned away from him.
"He really loves you, you know," Ron said suddenly.
"Hmm?"
"Harry. He loves you."
"I know," she said. But it just doesn't feel like it at the moment.
~*~
"Lav, I really need to take a break, okay?" Harry asked a while later.
"So soon?" Lavender replied.
"Yeah. I'm going to get a drink, I'll see you in a bit."
"I'll be here!" Lavender told him, before turning to dance with Angelina's cousin, who had had his eye on her.
Harry waved good-bye, then set off to find Hermione. She had looked so upset whenever he looked over, and he had a good idea of what was bothering her.
He made his way carefully to the refreshment table, where he would get Hermione her favourite drink, in hopes that she wouldn't be too mad with him with the night's events.
Just as he approached the table, someone called out his name from behind.
"Harry."
The voice was familiar to Harry, even though he hadn't heard it in a few years. It was soft and gentle, yet still audible above the crowd.
Slowly Harry turned around. "Professor Dumbledore!" he exclaimed.
Dumbledore looked the same as the last time Harry had seen him, though slightly older. His beard and hair were still long, still silver, and there was still that twinkle in his eyes that Harry had seen on many occasions.
"It's wonderful to see you again, Harry," Dumbledore said.
"You, too, Professor."
Dumbledore raised a hand. "Please, Harry. As I am no longer the Headmaster, and you are no longer a student, there is no need to call me 'Professor' anymore. You may address me by my first name."
"Okay, A-Albus," Harry got out. It sounded too weird, even to his own ears.
"I hope you are well?"
"I'm very well, sir." "Sir" sounded much better than "Albus".
Dumbledore smiled, obviously understanding Harry's choice of words. "Mr. Weasley told me that he, you and Miss Granger share a flat not too far from here."
"Er, yes. That's right." Harry wanted to ask Dumbledore a question, but he couldn't think of anything intelligent to say.
"Tell me," Dumbledore said, the spark in his eye flashing a little more than usual. "Are you keeping yourself out of trouble, now that you are out of school?"
Harry had to laugh at that. He had caused a lot of trouble during his time at Hogwarts, though most of it was unintentional, and Dumbledore had almost always gotten him out of it. "Yes, sir, I'm keeping out of trouble. Most of the time," he added for good measure.
Dumbledore smiled. "It was wonderful talking to you again, Harry. I do hope you'll come visit me sometime, now that I am in retirement."
"Definitely," Harry promised eagerly. They shook hands, and with a strange feeling, he watched Dumbledore wander off into the crowd.
Harry got drinks for himself and Hermione, and scanned the room for a sign of her. Finally he saw her, sitting by herself at a table at the edge of the room. Harry made his way to her as quickly as possible without spilling the drinks.
"Here. I thought you might want this," he greeted, placing the glad down in front of her. He sat down, sipping his own drink.
"That's the most you've said to me all night," she said tartly.
"I know, Hermione. But Lavender—"
"I don't want to hear this, Harry," she cut him off. "You keep promising me you'll break things off with her, but you never do. And it looks as though you don't want to anymore."
Harry felt as though she had slapped him. How could she say that? She knew he was going to break up with Lavender the very next day. She even gave him her blessing to do wait until after the wedding! "You know I'm going to do it," he managed to say. "Tomorrow morning, first thing."
Hermione checked her watch. "And is that tomorrow as in later on in the day, or tomorrow as in the day after today? It's past midnight."
"As in later on in the day. Today." Leave it to her to be so technical about this.
Hermione looked skeptical. "I don't know if I can believe you, but okay. If you say so." Her tone implied just the very opposite.
A rush of anger ran through Harry's body, but he kept it to himself. If he blew up at her, it would only make matters worse.
"I know you're mad at me," he began carefully, "I can understand why, and I'm sorry that I haven't been spending time with you tonight. But you have to trust me that it'll happen soon. Okay?"
"Okay," Hermione agreed reluctantly.
Harry flashed her his famous smile, taking her hand under the table. She was fighting back a smile of her own, and he knew that he had been forgiven. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, but he knew what would happen if he did. "Just think, this time tomorrow, we'll be together for real."
Hermione was smiling now. "Yeah, I know. Finally."
"Finally," Harry echoed, his focus turning to her lips. They looked so soft, so full, so inviting…
"Hey," he began slowly. "Here's an idea." He paused and looked over at the dance floor. Lavender was too busy with Angelina's cousin to be paying attention to anyone else. "Why don't we sneak out of here?"
"Where do you want to go?"
"Your room."
Hermione looked back at the dance floor too. After a few moments of watching Lavender, she turned back to Harry. "All right. Let's go."
~*~
It was much easier than expected the sneak away unnoticed. No one had even looked up when they opened the door. They weren't going to be missed at all.
Holding hands the whole way, Harry and Hermione went upstairs to their rooms. They went into Harry's room first, where he grabbed a bottle of champagne and two glasses that he had bought earlier.
They entered Hermione's room through the connecting doors. Here, they would be alone, and no one—namely Lavender—would find them.
"Just us," Harry said, opening the champagne bottle. He poured two glasses carefully, then handed one to Hermione. They sat down next to each other on the bed. "Here's to us," he said, raising his glass.
"And here's to the night," Hermione added softly, clinking her glass against his.
"Hermione, I love you," Harry said quietly.
He hadn't expected to say this, but he didn't regret his words. Judging by the look on her face, Hermione wasn't expecting it either, but also like Harry, she didn't resent him having said that.
"I love you," she whispered.
Harry kissed her. And she kissed him back. Without really thinking of it, they put their glasses down onto the bedside table.
It was unlike anything else: Harry was in love, she loved him back, they were together, and they were happy. For once, Harry was happy without effort. Simple as that.
~*~
Lavender searched the hall high and low, but there was absolutely no sign of Harry anywhere. Or Hermione, for that matter.
As hard as she tried not to, she put two and two together. What if they're together somewhere? she wondered nervously. A mixture of anger and worry flooded her mind. She didn't like the thought of that—not at all.
Lavender grabbed her purse off the table and made her way to Harry's room. At first she hoped that maybe he decided to go to bed, but would he really go with telling her?
"Harry?" she called out as she knocked lightly on the door. "Harry?"
After a minute it was pretty clear that no one was about to answer the door. Even so, she couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that something was going on behind her back.
She fished around her purse until she found it: the extra copy of Harry's room key that she had taken when he wasn't looking.
She unlocked the door and pushed it open silently. "Harry?" she whispered into the darkness.
No one else was in there.
Feeling slightly relieved, Lavender was about to turn and leave, but something caught her attention.
The adjoining door to Hermione's door was wide open, coming from Harry's side, and at first Lavender had thought that Hermione's was shut. But now she realized that there was a slight sliver of a dull light. Clearly, the door to Hermione's room was open—and someone was in there.
Curiosity got the better of Lavender. She crept up to investigate who was in the room.
There were two people in the room, Lavender noticed. It was hard to tell who it was, though, since the only source of light was the lamp on the bedside table—and Lavender didn't have the greatest view to begin with.
She assumed it was Hermione—it was her room, after all—but Lavender couldn't quite make out who the other person was. And it was killing her.
Just as she was dying to know who the other person was, he spoke. The words were muffled, but the voice—it was a voice Lavender recognized all too well.
Fuming, Lavender pushed open the door to Hermione's room. Harry and Hermione were kissing on Hermione's bed, Harry on top of her, shirtless.
"What's going on in here?" Lavender demanded.
~*~
Haha, a cliffie! I just love them, they are a lot of fun. You know what else was fun? Writing this chapter. It came very easily to me, that's probably why I've posted when I said I would.
So that's the chapter!! The next one will be coming soonly (like my word??), but probably not until after this week. Still, I hope you continue to read the story, and I really hope you enjoy it. And if it's not too much trouble, it would be cool if you could review it. It would be much appreciated, really. Thanks!!
