Anywhere but in Between

I own nothing except the plot.

Thank you to the reviewers. Your comments were lovely, and very appreciated. I'm having fun writing this story, even though I can't write as often as I want. I hope I don't lose anyone in the process. Thanks especially to Lv3nd3r 13rOwn...your review came on a day that I was feeling especially stressed and frazzled. It brightened my day to hear how much you are appreciating this story. I promise to try and keep the bar set as high as you expect it to be :)

And now, on with the story...

Chapter 6 – Breathing

Hermione hadn't missed Ginny more than she did right now.

She paced in front of her hallway mirror, forcing herself not to look at her reflection for the hundredth time. Terry was coming to pick her up in less than ten minutes, and she was a nervous wreck. She desperately wanted Ginny here to calm her and tell her how foolish she was behaving over something as routine as dating.

Although, to be fair, she had never officially been on a date before. Viktor Krum had taken her to the ball in her fourth year, but she hardly considered that something to put down in the annals of time.

She'd gone to the graduation ball with a group of people, taking the pressure off finding one person to go with, and she'd had a wonderful time. Since then, however, she hadn't even been to dinner with anyone besides her family or one of the Weasleys.

Just as she was about to cave and check her hair in the mirror again, there was a light rapping on the door, and her heart started fluttering crazily.

Get a grip, she warned herself as she took in a deep breath and forced her legs to move. Her hand was shaking as she twisted the knob.

When the door was open, she caught her first glimpse of her date for the evening, and it did nothing to calm her heart rate.

Terry looked fantastic. His dark hair was brushed off his forehead and his eyes sparkled as he held out a small bunch of daisies.

"I didn't know your favorite flowers, but I took a chance," he said, his grin making Hermione's insides twist in girlish pleasure.

"Thank you, they're beautiful," she said, accepting the flowers and stepping aside to let him in. "I'm just going to put these in some water, and then we can go."

She went into the kitchen to find a vase, and realized the only one she owned was left over from the flowers Ron had gotten her when she'd been accepted into the healer's training program at St. Mungo's.

Her thoughts drifted momentarily, and she recalled opening the door to Ron hiding behind a spectacular arrangement of orchids – her favorite flower.

She chided herself mentally. Terry was new to her, and she to him. She shouldn't be comparing him to someone who knew her better than she sometimes thought she knew herself. She and Ron had been friends for ten years.

She reasoned with herself that she'd be angry if he didn't know her favorite flower.

She arranged the flowers and left them on the breakfast counter, than rejoined Terry in the living room. He had been studying the pictures on her mantle, and turned to her with a smile that made her stomach flip again.

"This one is great," he said, gesturing to a picture of her, Ron, Harry and Ginny at the Burrow the summer before their seventh year, Ginny's sixth.

In it, Ron and Harry were standing behind the two girls, making faces at their backs as Hermione and Ginny laughed at the camera.

Hermione smiled, remembering that while George had been taking the picture, Fred had been sneaking up behind him with a large bucket of ice water.

"It seems like so long ago," she said before thinking, and once the words were out of her mouth, she wished she'd never said anything. The familiar tug of pain wrenched at her heart, reminding her that the four of them hadn't been that carefree, or together for that matter, in way too long.

Terry sensed the change in her mood and walked over to her. He extended his arm to her, which she took with a small smile.

"Well, come on then. Let's see if we can get that beautiful smile back on your face for real," he said, his blue eyes locking on to hers.

Hermione found that a real smile was much easier this time. Terry, she had to admit, was infectious in a way. Somehow, around him, she could put some of that stuff behind her, at least for a while. Around him, it didn't quite hurt to breathe.

Harry sipped at his coffee, feeling the warmth of the liquid trail down his throat into his very empty stomach. Funny thing was, though, he didn't feel the slightest bit hungry anymore.

In truth, he didn't know what exactly to feel anymore.

Ginny was sitting across from him, appearing fairly calm despite the shock that they had both gotten from seeing each other again so unexpectedly. She was sipping at her own coffee, and Harry watched the mundane task with mild fascination.

How many coffees had she had since the last time he'd seen her? Did she still like tea better?

Thousands of stupid questions ran through his brain, probably to distract him from the few important questions he wanted to ask, but was doing his best to ignore.

"Can I ask you something?"

Harry's focus snapped back onto her, and he was only mildly surprised by her question. He should have known better. Ginny had always had an uncanny gift of being able to read his thoughts and know what was going on in his head without him saying a word.

"Sure," he said, not knowing if he was ready to answer questions about why he had left, and why he hadn't returned home yet.

Ginny set her mug down and straightened her shoulders. "What are you doing with yourself here? I mean, do you work, or are you just, well, hanging out?"

Harry burst out laughing. He couldn't help it. Of all the things he had expected her to ask, this was probably the least of them.

Ginny looked at him in surprise. No doubt she thought he'd gone nutters in the time they'd been apart, and the thought made Harry laugh even harder. For some reason, he couldn't seem to stop himself.

The look of surprise on her face gave way to a smile, then a grin, then she was laughing right along with him.

"I'm sorry. I guess after two years, that was a pretty silly thing to ask," she said, once she'd composed herself again.

"Please, don't apologize. I haven't laughed in –"  He trailed off, knowing full well that she could probably guess the last time he'd laughed.

Her face grew thoughtful again, and Harry decided that no matter how simple the question, it deserved an answer.

"I've been working at a Quidditch supply store over in Fernighan," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Not exactly the fast track or anything, but it's steady, quiet, and I get to talk Quidditch all day."

Ginny nodded as if this made complete sense, and she tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

Harry watched the familiar gesture and his brows furrowed. He had seen her do that so many times as a young girl that he'd lost count, but she was no longer the young girl he remembered. It was all so confusing, yet oddly comforting at the same time.

"What?" she asked, searching his face.

"What?"

"You keep looking at me with your face all scrunched up," she said, mimicking what he assumed she thought his face looked like at the moment. "You've been almost glowering at me ever since you saw me on the trolley."

"I have? I don't mean to," he said, letting his gaze slip to the mug in front of him. "It's just so strange to see you here, after all this time."

She didn't respond right away, but when she did, her voice was lower, softer.

"Why have you stayed away so long?"

There it was. The question he wasn't sure he could answer even if he wanted to. Why had he stayed away from home and everyone who cared about him for so long?

Harry found his gaze being drawn up to hers against his will, and when their eyes met, he could see an understanding in them that he hadn't seen in anyone's eyes since he'd moved to Bulgaria.

Ginny knew him. She understood him, and she cared about him. Answering her question suddenly seemed like the easiest thing in the world.

"I was so – I don't know, confused and turned around after the war. I didn't want everyone to have to go through all that stuff and worry about me at the same time. It seemed like it would be easier for everyone if I just hopped a train and disappeared for a while. Then, once I was here, no one bothered me about who I was, what I had done, and no one had been hurt by any of my actions. I wasn't a reminder to anyone, and then after a while, it just became too hard to go back," he explained, shrugging as if to emphasize his point.

She considered his words for a moment. Harry braced himself for her reproachful lecture about how family was family and you don't run away from your problems.

"I guess that makes sense in its own way," she said quietly. She stirred her coffee absently, not really focusing on anything in particular.

"It does?" he asked, his brow furrowing again.

This time, Ginny was the one to laugh out loud, and the sound went straight through his brain to a part that remembered everything about the life he'd left behind. Suddenly, memory after memory washed over him of the times he'd had with his friends, and his whole body reacted to it.

"You sound shocked," she explained through her laughter, and she tucked her hair behind her ear again.

Harry suddenly felt as if his skin were too small to hold his body. Sitting here, listening to her soft laughter, watching her eyes crinkle in the way that they always had when something truly amused her, made Harry feel closer to home than he'd felt in way too long.

"Shocked is putting it mildly," he said, his voice low.

Her laughter faded away, and their eyes met and held.

"You were the last person I expected to see today, but here you are," he said simply.

"Here I am," she replied, smiling at him.

Just this morning, Harry had felt as if the world were pressing on his shoulders, and that he would never find the peace that he needed to be able to return to his friends as a whole, undamaged person.

Now, sitting here with Ginny, the weight was starting to lessen, and he found that he could breathe again for the first time in a long time.

He returned her smile, and reached for his mug.

"So, what exactly are you doing here anyway?"

Please review if you feel the need, and have the time. I would appreciate any feedback. In the next chapter, Hermione has some explaining to do, Ron starts to realize he has to do something with his life, and Harry and Ginny spend some more time together.