Chapter 4.

Harry woke at 9am the next morning and stretched his arms out. Noticing the space beside him was empty, he remembered Hermione had stayed at Lavenders after the hen night. He smiled at the thought of her coming in later with a hangover. Suddenly the memory of the night before crept back into his head. He was plagued with guilt, yet, in all reality, he hadn't done anything wrong...but it still ate away at his conscience. Groaning, he slid out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. He caught sight of his reflection and sighed.

A few minutes later, he came back into the bedroom and got dressed and made the bed. Stretching his arms out again, he yawned into the kitchen and put the kettle on. Just as he was rummaging about for a cup and a teabag, the door opened and a very groggy-looking Hermione shuffled into the room.

"Ohhhh!" She moaned, clutching her head and walking bleary-eyed towards him.

"You're home early!" Harry smiled, hugging her.

"Couldn't get any sleep in that house." She said simply, before making her way to the bedroom and flopping down on the already-made bed.

Harry followed her in, amused, and leant against the door-frame. "Want a cup of tea?" He offered.

"Oh no." She murmured to the pillow. "I just need sleep."

"Okay then. Well I'm going out soon, we're running low on bread and milk and I was going to talk to the guys about stag night arrangements." Harry said, watching the lifeless Hermione on the bed.

"Ok. But...one piece of advice..." She started, "DON'T have alcohol."

Laughing, Harry went back to the kitchen and made his tea, and leaned against the worktop, sipping it. He hated feeling guilty...and had never wished to ever be in this situation. He'd never dream of soberly cheating on Hermione, he loved her more than anything else in the world, and would never wish any harm on her. Shaking his head, he downed the last of his tea and sat the cup in the sink. Slipping on his shoes, he went through to the bedroom to tell Hermione he was leaving.

"Hermione that's me away, I'll be back la...." He started, before realising she was fast asleep, still sprawled on the bed. Smiling, he walked over to her. She was beautiful when she slept...even when she was hungover. As she was lying on top of the duvet, he lay a blanket over her, and kissed her forehead before he left.

He apparated to the supermarket and walked about, searching for either the bread section, or the milk section...whichever he stumbled across first. He still hadn't quite gotten the hang of supermarkets, although he was getting better, thanks to Hermione. Her advice rang in his head 'It's quite easy really...everything similar is grouped together, and the freezers and the deli are up at the back!' He turned a corner into what looked like an aisle of tins. "Tins." He thought. "Well, you get tins of beans...and you sometimes have beans on toast...maybe the bread is down here." He reasoned, as he frantically scanned the shelves. He stopped dead as he saw a figure coming into the aisle from the other end. It was Ginny. She noticed him and smiled, and pushed the trolley over to him.

"Hey!" She smiled.

'Does she not remember?' Harry thought, worried.

"Um...Ginny...hey." He said awkwardly.

"My turn for the shopping this week." She explained, pointing to the trolley.

"Yeah...that's...umm...yeah. Ginny...about last night..." He stammered, extremely unsure at what to say.

"Last night?" She asked.

'Oh god. She doesn't remember.' Harry's stomach was in knots.

"Um...you came over to mine after Lavender's...." He started.

"Yeah, I know, silly!" She winked at him.

'Did she just wink at me?'

"Erm...yeah. Well..."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have done that." She admitted, smile dropping, eyes falling to the floor.

Harry just stared at her, relieved that the conversation the night before had just been alcohol-induced.

Ginny smiled as she pushed the trolley past him, leaving. He felt a small sigh of relief rising in him. It was over! No more worrying, everything could go back to normal. He started slightly as he felt her whisper in his ear as she passed.

"I'm just sorry we had to stop there." She whispered, before walking off and turning the corner, out of sight.

Harry watched the space where she had just been in astonishment. So much for the back-to-normal assumption. What did she mean she was 'sorry it had to stop there'? He was stopped in his train of thought as an old lady was trying to see the shelf he was standing infront of. Apologising, he walked off in the opposite direction to Ginny, head spinning. As he turned the corner, he saw that the next aisle had bread in it, so, suddenly remembering his purpose, he grabbed a loaf and went to the checkout, in a daze, mind whirring like crazy. He paid for the bread and walked out of the shop. He ran to the side of the building, towards the car park, leant against the wall and shut his eyes. What did this mean?

"Hey again!" A soft voice said, making him jump. His eyes opened to reveal Ginny standing infront of him, her arms at either side of his head, pinned to the wall.

"Ginny." He said, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Now, where were we..." She said, leaning in and placing her lips on his.

Harry was too stunned to move at first. There were still too many things in his mind, despite his momentaty paralisation. This time both of them were totally sober, and the longer he was thinking about all this, the longer Ginny was kissing him. He was surprised at how soft her lips were, and found himself kissing her back, guilt rising in his stomach as he did so. He dropped the bag in his hand to the floor and put his arms around Ginny, automatically, as that's what he always did when he kissed Hermione...Hermione. Her name ran through his head, as he imagined her, fast asleep at home, while he was out here, kissing Ginny against the wall of a supermarket. He stopped and sharply pushed her away.

"No, Ginny." He said, avoiding her eyes. He picked up his bag and apparated back home. He stood facing the front door, not wanting to go in at all. Reluctantly, he opened the door and sank into the sofa. This time, he had reason to feel guilty, if before he hadn't. He had kissed her back. 'I kissed her back. I kissed her back.' he repeated in his head. He put his head in his hands and screwed up his eyes. Laying back on the couch, he stared at the ceiling, lost in throught.

"Harry? Oh, I thought I heard something!" She grinned.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, still staring at the ceiling.

"Better...but still...ugh!" She said, sitting on the other couch. "Did you get bread and milk?"

"Um, I got bread. They...they were out of milk." He stammered, pointing to the bag on the floor.

"They were out of milk? At the supermarket? First thing in the morning?" She asked, giggling.

"Um...yea." Harry said, cringing inside.

"Okay then!" She shrugged, and tidied away the bread. Harry sat up on the couch and watched her. 'She's so beautiful...how could I have done this to her?' He questioned, smiling as she sat beside him and lay back, laying her head in his lap. He absent-mindedly played with her hair.

"You okay Harry?" She asked, looking up at him. "Something on your mind?"

How did she always just know these things?

"No, I'm fine." He forced a smile. "I'm fine."