Sorry this chapter took so long…I've been pretty busy!
Happy Summer '06!
Chapter 5-
Hermione sighed as Apparated into her room. She was exhausted. The meeting had run longer than she had expected. She was meeting with Neville, who was offering to donate money to S.P.E.W, but some of his associates at the Ministry of Magic were not so willing to give up their money. Hermione had to explain what the society was five times before they understood. The meeting ended with the clients needing some 'time' to think about it. Hermione didn't know when they would get back to her.
Her house was dead silent. She expected that everyone had fallen asleep already. Her eyes flickered towards the clock. It read 2:03.
"Finally
you're back!"
"Oh my!" Hermione jumped and placed a hand
to her heart. Sitting on her bed was Harry, with a grin spread across
his face. There wasn't the slightest hint of him being tired.
"You scared me!" Hermione admitted, "What're you doing awake so late?"
"Waiting for you," Harry said, taking his feet off the bed and making room for Hermione to sit. "Ginny fell asleep ages ago."
"Of course," Hermione said, sitting next to him, "Ginny is an early sleeper."
"Hmm," Harry said, "That's funny…usually the only time she wrote letters to me was in the night."
"So," Hermione said quickly, changing the topic, "What did you and Ginny do today?"
"Not much," Harry admitted, "We saved all the fun for you."
Hermione yawned. "Can it wait till tomorrow morning?" she asked, "I'm exhausted."
Harry shrugged. "Why not? I've waited ten years; I guess I can wait one more night."
"Thanks," Hermione said, yawning again.
Harry stood up to leave but Hermione stopped him. "Where are you going?"
"I thought you were going to sleep."
Hermione sighed. "I guess not, you kind of woke me up."
Harry smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."
Hermione sighed and leaned against the headboard of her bed.
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but then his eyes flickered towards Hermione's bookshelf and his eyes widened.
"Merlin!" he exclaimed, rushing over and pulling out a large book, "This is the book!"
"The book?" Hermione looked at the cover. It read; The true story of Hogwarts. Hermione smiled inwardly, it was a book that she had written about to him, around two years ago. It was exactly like Hogwarts; A History, but a little more in depth. It was Hermione's favorite book.
"This is the book Ginny wrote to me about!" Harry exclaimed. "You have it too?"
"Shocking, isn't it?" Hermione said, taking the book from Harry. "I read this last night, actually."
"Me too!" Harry exclaimed, "It's the only book I like, believe it or not 'Mione."
"I'm glad you've started reading," Hermione said, "At least I've converted one of you-"she stopped. Now was not the time to begin thinking of Ron.
"Yeah," Harry said a smile on the corners of his lips, "Ron would've never done it, no matter how many times you tried."
"And trust me," Hermione continued, "I tried."
Harry grinned. "Ahh…Ron," he said, sighing, "I miss him."
"I miss him too," Hermione admitted.
Harry turned to look at her. "Hermione," he said softly, "Can I ask you something?"
"About Ron?" she asked, in a softer tone. Harry nodded.
"Did you ever…like him?" he asked.
"Of course," Hermione said, "He was my best-"
"No," Harry cut her off, "Did you ever like him…as more than a friend?"
Hermione was taken aback. "I…I-Well…"
"You know he did," Harry whispered, the smile now gone from his face.
"What?" Hermione whispered. "H-He did?"
"In fact," Harry continued, "I think he liked you even more than that. I had to keep trying to get him to tell you…but he never would. Until one day I convinced him. It was that day…the day before we left Hogwarts."
Hermione's eyes widened. She knew that day…it was the same day she told Ron that she loved Harry.
"Oh my," Hermione whispered, clapping a hand to her mouth. She felt tears prickling the corners of her eye.
"But he never told me how it went," Harry was looking at her oddly. "Hermione," his tone was soft, "How did it go?"
"Oh Merlin," Hermione whispered again, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head. "I had no idea."
"What happened Hermione?" Harry asked, laying a hand on her shoulder.
Hermione felt her vision blurring from the tears in her eyes and she whispered, "Not so well."
"Ron didn't tell you?" Harry asked, looking confused. "He said he would."
Hermione shook her head, letting a tear escape. "I think he tried to," she whispered, "But that day…"
"What?" Harry urged, "What happened?"
Hermione looked at Harry with teary eyes. "I liked someone else," she whispered, "And that was the day I told him."
Harry looked stunned.
"I-I didn't k-know," Hermione said, letting a small sob escape, "H-He never sh-showed any signs! I d-didn't mean to hurt him!" She put her head in her hands.
Harry was still in silent shock. "Poor Ron," he whispered, "That's why he never said anything."
Hermione looked at Harry with a tear-stricken face. "I m-must have broken his heart," she whispered, "A-And I know how horrible that feels."
"What?" Harry exclaimed, "You what? You had a broken heart? And I didn't know!"
"I told Ron," Hermione said, "That day…I told him who I loved. A-And since that day until the day he d-died…he would always try to help me get c-closer to that person."
"And I kept pestering him to ask," Harry mumbled, tearing up himself.
"I c-can't believe myself," Hermione said, putting her head in her hands. "How could I have b-been so stupid?"
Harry moved closer to Hermione and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "It's not your fault," he said softly, "If you didn't like Ron."
"But it is!" Hermione exclaimed, pushing away from Harry, "It is! I always complained to Ron about my love life issues. I didn't even l-listen to his." Hermione sniffed loudly as she wiped away a tear. "I'm such a horrible friend," she moaned.
Harry was quiet. After a brief moment he asked, "Who did you like Hermione?"
Hermione didn't say anything. She wiped away a tear and stared at the ground. Harry continued to wait.
"I li-loved someone," Hermione said softly, "Who would never love me back."
"What?" Harry asked, turning his neck quickly to look at her, "Why?"
"B-Because," Hermione said slowly, "He loved someone else. And he had already given his whole heart to that other person." She was tearing up again, and she could tell Harry noticed.
"Aww 'Mione," Harry said softly, wrapping her into a hug. "Don't worry about that person, he's an idiot if he doesn't realize how good he's got it right here."
Hermione didn't say anything, but just slowly shook her head, her face buried in Harry's chest. She let a few more tears escape, and let out a small sob. This was what she loved about Harry, he never demanded answers from her-but always helped her solve her problems.
"Harry," Hermione whispered, moving her face from his chest so she could talk, "I really miss Ron."
"I miss him too," Harry whispered, looking down at the ground. "If only I hadn't-"
"Harry," Hermione said harshly, "Now is not the time to blame Ron's death on yourself."
"But Hermione," Harry persisted, "Don't you see? If I hadn't had brought along the Weasley's and you-"
"Then more than three-fourths of the Wizarding World would have been dead by today," Hermione cut him off.
This time, it was Harry's turn to be silent as he stared down at the ground.
"Hermione," he said after a second, "How come I never knew about who you liked? How come…you just told Ron?"
Hermione looked at Harry. "It wasn't because…Well I just…You were too worried about Voldemort," she said quickly, "I didn't want to bother you with anything."
"Hermione," Harry said, "Nothing is more important to me than my friends."
"Yes," Hermione said, "B-But you had also just gotten together with Ginny at that time."
"Hermione," Harry said, "No matter how many girlfriends I have, I'll still always be here. I'm still Harry."
Hermione nodded as she sniffed, and wiped away a tear on her cheek.
"Well," Harry said, with a bit of a lighter air, "That wasn't exactly how I had planned on spending my first day back with you."
Hermione smiled, "Same here."
"But," Harry said, "I'm glad I did. I haven't got to talk to you in a long time 'Mione."
"And I haven't heard you call me 'Mione in a long time," Hermione said.
Harry smiled. "Hermione?" he asked gently.
"Hmm?" she asked.
"Why didn't you ever write to me?" Harry asked.
Hermione was silent, as she pushed the sleeve to her robe lower to cover up the bangles, which had surprisingly been silent this whole time.
"Y-You never asked me to," she stuttered.
Harry sighed and looked over at Hermione. "Is this something that I have to ask?" he said, "I thought you would write no matter what!"
Hermione was quiet. "I-I thought you didn't want me to w-write," she said softly, "I thought you just wanted Ginny."
"Hermione,"
Harry said, "How could you even think that? Of course I wanted you
to write! Of course, I didn't know Ginny was such a wonderful
writer-otherwise I would've probably preferred your
letters!"
Hermione was quiet. She could've written all those
letters under her name, and Harry wouldn't have cared. She could've
avoided this whole mess.
Harry then yawned loudly, snapping Hermione out of her thoughts.
"Well," he said, stretching his arms and standing up, "I guess I better get to bed. I'll see you in the morning 'Mione."
"G'nite Harry," Hermione said, right before Harry closed her door.
With a flick of her wand, Hermione shut the lights and climbed into her bed, thoughts running through her mind.
Somehow she knew, no matter how tired she was, she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.
