A/N: Thank you guys soooo much for your support! It's so nice to come home from a long day of classes and see such positive comments. I hope you guys like this chapter! They finally meet! Enjoy, R+R!

Muggle Livin', Muggle Lovin'

Ch. 2: The Awakening

She stood back and looked at her handiwork. Well, she hadn't done much actually. She never could really change her parents' house even after their deaths. She didn't shed a tear for them, she hardly had time. Instead, she mourned painfully and intensely within herself. That part of her that had compassion for house-elves and belief in goodness was slowly eaten away by this void.

She shook her head and left the guest room. All she'd done was transfigure a door between her own bedroom and this room, in case he needed her for some reason. After questioning what exactly made her agree to this, she returned to the hospital to pick up her new roommate.

When she reappeared in the waiting room, she saw that everyone had already gathered in the patient's room. With a deep breath, she entered.

She stood in the doorway and watched the small crowd at the corner of the room. Mrs. Diggory, still in tears, kept herself busy, fluffing pillows and smoothing blankets around her son. Amos had his hand on his shoulder, and a warm gaze on him as he spoke and laughed with Harry and the twins as if nothing had ever happened.

Just by looking at him, she thought, you'd think he wasn't in a coma for the past seven years. His cheeks held the same rosy hue along with the boyish grin that made her classmates swoon. His hair, nicely kept by his mother, retained its shine as he sat in the way of the streaming sunlight that reflected in his gentle gray eyes.

"Ah, the lady of the day!" Amos cheered when she stepped closer to the group. A slight blush graced her cheeks as she gave a wary glance in his direction. As second nature, she leaned into Harry as he placed an arm around her shoulder. Mrs. Diggory offered a cold handshake and a slight look of disdain. Of course, Hermione could understand. She embodied the culture that her son had been forced into with the loss of his magic. To break the tension, the twins stepped forward, each grabbing one of her hands, and shook so vigorously that her very bones seemed to clatter.

"Yes, nice to meet you, lady of the day," the two said in union.

"-the week"

"-the month"

"-the year."

Then, simultaneously, the two pulled her in their direction causing her to lose her footing and fall into their crushing embrace. Everyone laughed as she tried to recover dazily from the twin's rough housing until Harry steadied her with his hands, still trembling from laughter, on her shoulders. The joyous atmosphere shattered with a cough from Mrs. Diggory before she threw down her wash cloth and left the room. With an apologetic look towards Hermione, her husband followed suit.

"Well, let's give the odd couple a bit of privacy," Harry suggested, pushing the twins toward the door. "We don't need any more entertainment."

With an indignant look, the identical faces at the doorway turned back to the patient. "Is that all we are to you?"

"-Entertainment?"

"-I thought we meant something to you!"

"-That's what you said last night!"

"-Oh, Cedry-poo, you slay me!" Harry encouraged their exit with a shove. "Oh, heartless rogue! My bleeding heart!" A washcloth thrown in Fred's face from the very man he was professing his love to ended the charade.

"All right! All right! We'll leave! But remember-"

"-Hermione is innocent-"

"-unlike us-"

"-and don't know about your lecherous nature and untamable masculine lust-"

"-which, keep in mind, we have no problem with-"

"-but be gentle with her!"

"Frederick Weasley! Be appropriate or I'll tell your mother how you snuck Angelina into your room when you were staying at the Burrow." Hermione's threat caused the two to stick their tongues out at her before turning and elaving the room.

Just as she breathed out deeply, the identical ginger menaces reappeared in the doorway. "Don't do anything we wouldn't do!" A pillow thrown square in their faces and a gaggling sound from Harry pulling the two by their collars forced them to leave the two alone with an awkward silence.

"Don't do anything we wouldn't do," Hermione mimicked. "Well that covers just about nothing."

Cedric chuckled slightly and kept his gaze on his blanket covered knees. Another awkward pause. "Listen, I'm sorry about mother. She doesn't mean-"

"I know," she said, mustering the gentlest smile she could. It's times like these she wished she had some sort of maternal instinct. She was happy when she saw her smile returned. With the ice broken, she said jokingly. "Seven years later and you still have some swing and aim in that arm."

"Aw, stop, you're making me blush," he replied as he reached to scratch the back of his neck. "Actually, the healers did a hell of a job. I'm still a bit stiff, but I can walk and move around fine."

"Oh." She hated these silences, but what is there to say? She hardly knew him. She'll be the first to admit that yes, she does judge people the way they judge her as a bookworm. Oliver was a Quidditch fanatic, the twins were pranksters, Cedric Diggory was just a pretty boy who happened to be every girl's dream guy. As she got older, though, she made more of an effort to get to know people. She found out that Oliver is a loving and passionate man (even if they didn't work out as a couple) and that Fred is an excellent father to his newborn son. Cedric, however, she never got to know. To her, he was as two-dimensional as he always was.

"You know, I-uh-" he broke the silence hesitantly. "I really appreciate your help. I told dad that I'll be fine but- Anyway, thanks." She shook her head in a modest manner. "No, really. Look, I know that this isn't what you want to do. There's a whole lot of good out there for you to achieve and instead you're stuck with me. I-uh-I'm sorry."

At this, Hermione felt a slight pang, especially with his defeated tone. The whole time she'd been complaining about her losses, but how difficult this must be for him! Seven years of his life gone, the golden boy whom everyone looked up to reduced to a muggle dependent on a younger girl, his dreams...

"Listen, it's really no trouble at all. I mean, it's like a vacation from all that paperwork your father piles on me all the time. Believe me, it won't be that bad, you'll be fine all by yourself in no time," she said, placing a hand over his large one. The warmth of his smile and the heat radiating off his body made her feel warm all over, but not uncomfortably so. She fought the urge to frown at her confusion.

"This makes me wish I had taken Muggle Studies in Hogwarts," he said wistfully.

"I doubt you missed much." The two exchanged a smile and she gasped when his hand turned to clasp hers. The overwhelming heat from his palm left her feeling light-headed while the strength in his grip steadied her. What was this hold he had on her? She'd wanted to storm in here, angry and bitter, but his simple, pleasant nature moved her. His grip on her, as if he desperately needed her, awakened some flame in her heart that she could not smother. "Let's go home," she whispered and pressed a kiss to his forehead.