Anywhere but in Between
I only own the plot.
I am SO sorry that this is so long in coming. (Really, and truly)
I sincerely hope that there are still some of you that are looking for this. The only thing I can tell you is that I have been severely out of commission for a while. Anyway, enough of my excuses. I just want to apologize to you all, and thank you in advance if you're still willing to come back and read what I've got. I also have another story going on in my head, so keep an eye out!
Chapter 19 – After the Beginning
In all of Ginny's storybooks she'd read when she was a little girl, the story always ended with the prince kissing the princess, declaring his undying love, and the two of them living happily ever after.
No longer a little girl, she knew now that those endings were only the beginnings, and what came after was the stuff that real life was made of.
That was how, a few weeks after Bill and Fleur's wedding, she came to be sitting across a table from Harry Potter, sharing dinner and many, many kisses in between.
She had never been so happy in all her life. She was positive now that she was in love with him, and although neither of them had said the words, she could feel how much he cared about her in the hundreds of little things he did to make her happy in the time they'd been together.
Even now, sitting across the table from him in his flat, she found it hard to believe that he'd cooked her dinner and presented her with a dozen roses when she'd arrived from school an hour ago. Never, in a million years, would she have taken Harry for a romantic.
Not that she was complaining.
All together too late, she realized he had been saying something; something that required some sort of response on her part. Too bad she had been lost in the haze that had seemed to cover the majority of her thoughts for the past two weeks.
"Sorry?" she said, giving him a sheepish grin. She couldn't very well tell him that she was considering his romanticism and her own feelings of overwhelming love. She did have some pride, after all.
He tutted at her, shaking his head in mock disappointment. His beautiful eyes glinted teasingly at her as he sat back from the table deep into his chair.
"Here I was, slaving over a hot stove all day for you, and you can't even have the decency to pretend to be interested in what I'm saying," he chided, shaking his head again.
She raised an eyebrow at him, leaning well over the table to get closer to him. "You're right, and I'm very, very sorry. I don't know why you put up with me."
He narrowed his eyes at her playfully, then in the next instant, he leaned closer to her, pushing aside the vase that held her flowers so he could have a clear path to her.
"I do," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively, and she couldn't help but laugh. She hadn't realized how long she'd gone without laughing until he'd come back into her life, and now she couldn't seem to stop smiling and feeling good about everything. If that wasn't love, then she didn't know what was.
"I haven't thanked you properly for the dinner, or the flowers, have I?" she asked in a light voice, preferring to forget about the half-hour she'd kissed him senseless after he'd presented her with the flowers.
"Why, Ms. Weasley, I don't believe you have," he said, some of the playfulness going out of his voice as his eyes flickered. She was getting used to his little quirks and mannerisms, and when his eyes took on that look, she knew she would soon be floating in that smoky haze he seemed to have her trapped in.
Her body tingled in anticipation as he leaned across the table to touch his lips to hers. She shuddered inwardly, still thrilling at the smallest contact with him. The table, however, held too big an obstacle between them for her liking, so she pulled back and rose out of her seat, coming around the table to where he sat.
He looked up at her, holding her gaze steadily with his, as she lowered herself onto his lap so their faces were inches from each other.
"All kidding aside, I loved the flowers, and I loved the dinner. In fact," she paused, almost blurting out that she loved him as well, but knowing instinctively that it wasn't the right time, "I've loved everything about the past two weeks. Thank you for that, Harry."
His arms went around her and held her tightly against him. "You're welcome for the dinner, and the flowers, but as for the rest of it," he said, kissing her lightly on the tip of her nose, "that was all you."
They regarded each other for a quiet moment, before their lips came together in a gentle, sweet kiss.
After a while, they broke apart, and Ginny leaned her forehead against his. "Now, what exactly were you saying before that I didn't quite hear?"
Harry laughed quietly, his hands moving across her back. "I'll be damned if I know," he admitted, nuzzling her jawline with his nose.
It was only later, as they were cleaning up the dishes from the table that Harry remembered what he'd been saying. Ron had written to him, letting him know that he'd finished his courses ahead of schedule and would be taking up post as a junior profiler by the end of the month.
Ginny beamed with pride at the news, wondering just how his brother could handle it all. She knew that his and Hermione's relationship was going better than anyone could have imagined, and he was spending every waking moment he wasn't at work or school with her. How he could juggle all of that, and manage to finish early, was beyond her.
"You're done in about a month, too, aren't you?" Harry asked, emptying his arms of the dishes he'd carried to the sink.
"About that, yes," she said, mentally adding up the time left in her program. After that, she'd have a job waiting for her back at home in the Ministry, and it was something she'd thought about, but hadn't brought up with Harry because she didn't quite know what to say.
Would he move back home? Would he stay here? Would they carry on a relationship with each other between countries? How does one bring up something like that after only two weeks?
Her head began to pound with all the unanswered questions, but luckily, she didn't have to say more, because Harry looked as if he were carefully considering something.
"What?" she asked, bringing the last of the dishes to the sink and waving her wand at the lot to start cleaning them.
"Well, you'll be taking a position with the Ministry, right?" he asked. "Moving back home?"
"I suppose I will be," she said, wondering gloriously if he'd bring it all up and save her the emotional decision.
Harry nodded as if digesting it all, and he leaned back against the kitchen counter almost casually. "Ron mentioned something about getting a flat together, and I was just thinking that it might be time to move home permanently." He paused, pinning her with his gaze. "What do you think?"
She couldn't keep the smile off her face, not for all the galleons in the world. "I think it's a brilliant idea," she said softly, moving slowly toward him.
"Good," he said, pushing away from the counter and closing the distance between them. His eyes held that now familiar spark in them again, and she began to tingle all over again. "I think it's pretty brilliant myself."
This time, there was nothing sweet about their kiss.
Ron whistled to himself as he made his way to the restaurant to meet Hermione. She had insisted on taking him to dinner when he'd owled her with his news early this morning about finishing the program early. Just thinking about the words of encouragement and pride she'd pored into her return letter made his feet quicken their pace, almost bouncing him along to where she was waiting for him.
He knew he looked like a lovesick sop, but he didn't care. He had waited years to be with Hermione, and now that he could be, he didn't care if everyone around him thought he was a raving lunatic. He had everything he had ever wanted in his life, and then some, and it felt good to feel this…well, good.
He saw her immediately as he pushed open the door to Regalle, one of her favorite spots in downtown London, a few blocks from her flat. She was sitting with her back to the door, poring over the menu that he knew she had memorized by heart by now.
Almost as if she sensed he had arrived, she turned in her chair, and upon seeing him, her face lit up beautifully. His heart swelled to know that he was the cause of that look, and, for about the millionth time, wondered how he had been so lucky to have her actually love him in return.
She got out of her chair, her eyes shining with pride. He reached her quickly, and she moved into his arms immediately.
"I love you," she whispered, pulling back to kiss him squarely on the lips in front of the other patrons. "You have no idea how proud I am of you."
If he thought he'd felt good before, it was nothing to how he felt right now, holding her in his arms and hearing her say what he'd always wanted to hear from her. He couldn't even count how many times they'd told each other they loved each other in the past few weeks, but every time he heard her say it, he could swear that it was the first time.
"Why on earth did you pick a restaurant?" he asked her, holding her as close to him as he could in public without being obscene. "Do you realize you have a perfectly good kitchen in your flat? Your very private flat?" he said, his voice dipping low so no one could overhear him.
Hermione blushed, pulling away from him gently. "Exactly. At least this way, we'll finally get to share a meal, and get all the way through it. This is a celebration, after all."
Ron pulled out her chair, then took the seat across from her. "You're right. Actually eating dinner while it's still hot would be a novelty."
"Besides," she said coyly, lacing her fingers through his on the table, "the restaurant doesn't stay open all night. Eventually we'll have to go home."
Ron's fingers tightened around hers, his body reacting to her voice almost instantaneously. "Have I told you yet today how much I absolutely love you?" he said, lifting her hand up to his lips and trailing little kisses along her wrist.
"Yes, but you can say it again," she said softly, her eyes sparkling into his.
"I love you."
She smiled so serenely that it chased away his breath for a short moment. Just then, the waiter came to take their drink orders, and Hermione ordered the most expensive bottle of champagne on the menu.
"What are you doing?" he chided, as the waiter bowed away. "You don't have to do that. It's just a job," he began, but she waved off his comment.
"It's not just a job. You went after this with more intensity than I've ever seen anyone go after something, and you worked day and night to make this happen. This is a new beginning for you, and I want to celebrate properly," she said emphatically, effectively closing the subject.
"In more ways than one," he said, watching as the waiter returned and began pouring them each a long stemmed glass. When he was finished and had retreated to another table, Ron picked up his glass, Hermione following suit.
"To new beginnings," he said quietly.
"To new beginnings," she responded, equally as quiet.
After dinner was over, Ron told her about writing to Harry, and his idea of sharing a flat with him.
"I hope he takes me up on it. I'm ready to move out of the Burrow, and I think with Ginny coming back before the holidays, he would consider coming home for good," he said.
Hermione smiled again, and Ron had a feeling that Ginny was telling Hermione more about her and Harry's relationship than he would ever get out of Harry. Which, he reminded himself, was a good thing. It was one thing to be happy for his sister and his best mate, it was another one entirely to hear all the sordid details.
He gave an involuntary shudder, and Hermione laughed. "I think Ginny can persuade him if he has any reservations," she said, making him shudder again. This only made her laugh even harder.
"As long as she's not coming over all the time and snogging him right in front of me on the living room sofa, things'll be just fine," he said, trying to keep the mental picture from forming in his mind.
Hermione reached across for his hand, and clasped it between her own. "Well, if that happens, I guess you'll just have to spend even more time at my place, with me, on my living room sofa."
Now that was one mental picture he was more than okay with.
He signaled to the waiter. "Check, please."
As they made their way back to Hermione's flat, arms securely around each other, Ron couldn't imagine life getting any better than it was right now.
Dun Dun Dun…I hope you can all hear the ominous music that I have playing in my own head…Of course they're not going to just go off happy and that be that. I have one or two little wrenches that I have to throw out there yet before they can all ride off into the sunset.
I'm thinking about five more chapters, maybe less if I can write more often and longer. I just wanted to get this out there because it's been TOO long, and I needed to start somewhere.
It is SO SO SO hard to write the day after the happily ever after moment. I don't know if I was successful, but I had to start up again. Hope you enjoyed. MORE TO COME!