Chasing Memories
by cinderalex
Chapter Two: Awaiting
Disclaimer: Anything or anyone you recognize does not belong to me.
Hunger churned in Harry's belly and he was glad to be finally making his own food. By this time in the afternoon, the lunch rush had usually died down so he and Paulina could take a break. As a short order cook, he didn't really get much of a chance to experiment with the food and so, with his own meals, he was creative. Today, he thought he'd make an omelette with cheese and fried chicken.
He really didn't mind working in the run down restaurant, especially as it was the only decent job he could get when he was lacking a degree and worthwhile skills. Paulina, the usual waitress, was entertaining enough with her endless stories of her hapless husband Pedro. At the moment, she was sitting at the bar munching on toast and reading this week's copy of Hola!.
Harry hated tabloids. For some reason they gave him a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, almost as if he was afraid his life story would be splayed across the pages. Which was stupid, really, because nobody knew who he was, or his life story. Hell, he didn't even know his own past, aside from the information on his battered UK passport. That reminded him of something.
"Paulina, guess what today is?"
She glanced up from her magazine. "The last Sunday in July, verdad? I suppose it's the one month anniversary of the day Pedro broke his toe in the elevator. How he did it, don't ask me." She shook her head in disbelief. "The elevator!"
Harry laughed and began to pull apart chicken strips into bite size pieces for his omelette. "Yes, that, and my birthday."
"Bueno! Happy birthday! How young are you this year?" Paulina was always complaining about her old age, though Harry didn't think she was a day over forty, and, if she was, she didn't look it. With waist-length, dark hair and bright black eyes, Paulina stood only five feet and two inches tall. The customers loved her, as she had generous curves and laughed a lot.
"Twenty-four."
"Mmmm... Are you celebrating?" He could tell Paulina was looking for a party.
"Oh, of course." He said sarcastically, reaching for the egg mix. "Hundreds of my rich and powerful friends are throwing me a birthday gala down in Time Square."
Paulina's shouts of laughter blended with the tinkling of a bell as a customer entered the shop. Harry set the egg mix back down. His omelette would have to wait. Paulina dashed behind the counter wolfing down the remainder of her toast.
"Hello Paulina." A slender blond woman with luminous silvery eyes, and a notebook sat down in the seat Paulina had vacated. "I'll have a water, with onion, please."
"As you wish, Señorita. Anything else?"
"Not for now."
Harry went to grab an onion. When he handed it to Paulina, she rolled her eyes at him as if to say Crazy, that one. This was the third visit she had made to the diner in a week, and every time she had asked for the same unusual drink. He went back to making his omelette aware that Paulina and the customer were chatting in a friendly sort of way.
She was very familiar, this eccentric customer. Perhaps he had known her before the plane... She did have a distinctly British accent, which was pretty rare in New York.
"Harry!" shouted Paulina loudly, and he knew this probably wasn't the first time she'd called him. "You didn't tell me you knew Luna!"
"Oh I doubt very much he remembers me." Luna murmured dreamily. "I doubt he remembers anyone at all."
Suddenly very curious, Harry tossed his omelette onto a plate and went to stand behind the bar across from Luna. "You know who I am?"
She fingered one of her dangling radish earrings lovingly and nodded.
"Tell me, then." Harry demanded.
"You're a wizard. A very brave and powerful wizard." She very serious when she said this, her dreaminess gone. The highlights in her dark blond hair caught the light making her head shimmer.
He paused, uncertain wether she playing with him or whether she actually believed what she was saying.
"You're Harry Potter, defeater of Lord Voldemort. I can tell because of this." And she reached forward and traced the lightening shaped scar on his forehead. Though her touch was light and friendly, the caress was more intimate than a kiss.
However, not only was he certain wizards did not exist, but he was also certain he had never defeated anything or anyone in his whole life. Maybe she thought he was involved in some sort of internet role playing game. He was caught between the urge to laugh and the urge to groan with disappointment. Deciding that his manager probably wouldn't appreciate him making fun of customers, he said simply, "You must have me confused with someone else. I'm Harry Cotter, omelette flipper at Marge's Diner."
At his statement, she looked as disappointed as he felt. She then turned to look out the window behind her, pulling her onion out of her drink and sucking on it. "Your friends miss you. They wish you hadn't gone."
He wondered what she was looking at and he didn't know what to say. Fortunately, Paulina was still listening. "Shit! I don't believe that for a second. Why aren't they here to wish him a happy birthday?"She turned to Harry. "You ought to get yourself some better friends... Sending a messenger to tell you they miss you!"
"I think I'll go." The woman called Luna, got up from her seat and walked out of the diner still sucking on the onion without even a goodbye.
Paulina laughed. "She should get her head looked at, ella es loca."
Harry forced a chuckle, but he could only pretend he wasn't disturbed because when the woman had traced his scar, something had resonated inside him. And when she had mentioned his friends a face had flashed across his mind, a face framed in thick red hair.
"I think she was trying to hit on you. And who can blame her, eh? A handsome man like you? With a good set of shoulders and beautiful eyes? I'm surprised someone hasn't tried to snatch you up before this."
Hermione Apparated into the kitchen of her flat, still in high spirits from the chocolate she'd shared with Ginny. However, she was still hungry, and so she made herself a small salami sandwich. Chewing slowly, she realized how tired she was. The clock on the wall told her it wasn't midnight yet, but she'd had a long day.
A loud snore caught her attention. Finishing her sandwich, she walked into the living room. Ron, clad only in a pair of boxers, slept sitting in a chair facing the front door. She walked over to him and pressed her lips to his forehead.
"'Mione?" He questioned sleepily, blinking awake. She slid onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I'm home," she murmured as her lips found his cheek, his neck, his jaw, his lips. They kissed deeply for several minutes, Hermione turning herself in the chair until she was facing him while Ron's hands moved in steady circles over her back.
"You taste like salami," said Ron, pulling back. His hands continued to massage her, moving up to her shoulders.
"I made myself a sandwich when I got home," Hermione told him before leaning in for another kiss. Her hands moved down, playing with the elastic on his boxers. He groaned and began to undo the front her robe.
"W-was Ginny... alright?" he asked unsteadily, clearly beginning to have trouble forming a coherent thought.
Hermione laughed huskily into his ear, her breath tickling his neck. "She was fine, still pining over Harry a bit, but I think this'll be the last time. Oh dear." Ron had undone her robe and his hands had found their way into the shirt she was wearing.
"Actually," Ron said, pressing a wet kiss onto her collarbone, "can we talk later? I've been waiting for you all night."
Author's Note: Next chapter... cue the intrigue, I promise. Also, the hopeless romantic I am, I will try to insert a bit of sensual fluff into each chapter! (Didya like the Hermione/Ron goodness?) Also, I'm in desperate need of Ginny/Harry flashback ideas, so suggestions are welcome. Please review.
To my reviewers: A couple of notes, especially for you. tucan- thanks much! Zubieda- I appreciate the encouragement, and you really don't have to deny the cheesiness, I mean, I'm not. Luna Lovegood8- Yay fluff! FreeWinky- Now that we both know where Harry is... will you be my friend? Evilator- So umm, he's not dead. Whether he comes back... we'll see. And I love happy endings, so I promise one, but not for a while yet.