When Harry visited Hermione in her new life in America four years earlier she heard his voice in the hall and she instantly recognized it. She flew out into the reception area to meet him and she nearly knocked him over when she flung her arms around him.

As she hugged him she could feel the weariness in him, the strain in the muscles in his back, the weight of the world on his shoulders.

When they had graduated from Hogwart's she could not have imagined how their lives would turn out. At the end of their seventh year she had an amazing life ahead of her. But then Ron broke up with her and it touched everything in her life. She was supposed to be roommates with Ginny. She was going to begin a job at the Ministry with Mr. Weasley. Harry was her best friend but also Ron's.

Ron hadn't just broken her heart he had shattered her world. And so when her parents moved to America to be closer to her mother's sister instead of staying behind like she originally planned she went with them. Because suddenly leaving felt much better then staying.

She and Harry did stay in touch and through him she did what she could to help the effort against the remaining Death Eaters that Harry and the other Aurors fought. Mostly through research but she found the American resources rather limited compared to what she had back home. When Harry showed up it was a surprise but not entirely unexpected. In the year she'd been gone the Death Eaters were falling but they were not going quietly. Harry had been on the trail of Draco Malfoy when they had been ambushed and Tonks had been killed. Like every other death Harry had witnessed he took it like a physical blow. For the first time he understood the need to distance himself and so he went to visit Hermione.

It had been a wonderful, comfortable, uncomplicated week for the both of them. And on the night before Harry was to leave she took him to a wizard pub where they enjoyed more then just butterbeers. They weren't exactly drunk when they got back to her apartment, more like extremely happy. They were both laughing rather loudly when they plopped on her couch after sharing fond memories of Tonks.

"You should have seen Ron's face when she told me I'd look good in pink hair," Hermione laughed.

"I can imagine," Harry replied. It was the first time either of them had mentioned Ron the entire week.

Hermione turned and looked at Harry.

"So, how is he?" She asked.

"Good, " he replied. "He really is a brilliant Auror."

She nodded.

"So is he seeing anyone?" She asked casually.

Harry shook his head and she let out a breath that she didn't realize she'd been holding in.

"Are you?" Harry asked.

At that she laughed.

"No."

Harry shook his head.

"You know you are both pathetic."

"What?" She said, sitting up.

"Both of you are lonely and miserable and only want each other but neither of you will do anything about it."

"Harry, you were there. Nothing I would say made the slightest bit of difference."

"And then you left."

That seemed to deflate her anger. She slid back down on the couch next to him.

"And then I left. Do you think it would have made a difference if I'd stayed?"

Harry shrugged. "Anything has got to be better then the state you're both in now."

Hermione sighed.

"You know I always planned on going back. I just couldn't stay back then. Everything was a reminder of him."

Harry turned and looked at her.

"So come home."

She looked him in the eyes and asked: "Do you think it was cowardly to leave like that, with everything going on with the Death Eaters, simply because my heart was broken?"

"There was nothing simple about it," he replied. "And things happen for a reason. You've been an excellent resource over here, Hermione, you know that."

She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"But not nearly as helpful if I went back."

"Think that highly of yourself do you?"

She punched him playfully and continued.

"I just don't know if I'm ready to go back. I still feel—raw."

He rubbed her arm.

"That seems to be going around."

She sat up and looked at him.

"Oh Harry, I'm a thoughtless git."

He blinked at her in surprise.

"Here I am going on about my petty life while you have seen so much. Lost so much—"

"No," he said quickly. "It's kind of nice, actually. Talking about something other then Death Eaters and curses and the Order. It feels really good to be here."

She looked in his eyes and smiled.

"It feels really good to have you here."

Harry wasn't certain when the atmosphere shifted but it was quite clear to both of them that it had. Suddenly he became acutely aware that half of her body was leaning against him, aware of how close her face was to his, aware that they were drawing even closer and he wasn't sure which of them was actually moving.

Then he felt her lips touch his--light and soft--and he was intensely aware of a warm sensation spilling through his body. Then she pulled away from him.

She was looking at him intently and Harry wanted to say something but he had absolutely no idea what.

"I never realized," Hermione said, "how beautiful your eyes are."

And she put her hands on either side of his face and slipped his glasses off. She put them on the coffee table and then leaned in and kissed him again. This time he felt her tongue lick his lips and he parted his lips and let himself feel the pure bliss.

The oddest thing about their encounter was that it didn't feel odd at all. They chatted all the way to the International floo station, laughing and talking like they had all week. They never mentioned what had happened but they didn't pretend it didn't happen either.

When they reached the fireplace Harry was to leave from, he turned and smiled at her.

"Well this has been a very—unexpected trip. But I think it's exactly what I needed."

"Me too. In fact, I think I'm ready to come home."

"Really?"

She nodded, pleased that he was pleased.

"I have a few things to wrap up here but, yes, I think it's time."

"Brilliant."

They reached over and hugged one another—a long fierce embrace. Harry had come to see her in pain and now he was leaving feeling rejuvenated.

They pulled away from one another and Harry backed toward the fire.

"Ron's a moronic git," he said and she laughed.

"I love you Harry," she said.

"I love you Hermione," he replied as he stepped into the fire and vanished.

Six weeks passed before someone handed him a cell phone. He looked at it strangely because it seemed so out of place. The wizard who handed it to him looked just as perplexed.

"I was hoping you knew what to do with it."

Harry put it tentatively to his ear, expecting one of the Dursleys because he could think of no one else who would contact him that way. He was extremely pleased to hear Hermione's voice instead.

"Harry?"

"Hermione!" He walked over to a nearby bench to sit down. "How are you?"

There was a slight pause and then in a pseudo cheery voice she blurted: "Pregnant, how are you?"

Harry missed the bench completely and landed hard on his backside.