Hi everyone!

So, this chapter we're going to meet the family once again and Harry is dead-set on getting revenge on Philip. Is he going to succeed?

Thanks again for tuning in! I have received more than 50.000 views by now, across both platforms where I post this story, and that is completely crazy. Thanks to all of you for giving my story a chance and sticking around for the next chapter. I appreciate it so much!

As the world is currently even more crazy than it usually is, I feel the need to wish you all the best. Please stay safe, stay kind, stand for what is right, and not for what is easy. I hope you are all doing well and feel free to use this story as a distraction in a time where nothing is really certain.

Love, Flora.

Chapter 17: How Hermione loved a scheming Harry.

Harry had been late.

He had been late before, and now especially with the whole Lackey-debacle, she shouldn't have thought twice about it. It was just that conversation that they had that morning. When they woke up on January 1st and Harry had still been awkwardly positioned against her crotch, they laughed about it, then panicked because they realized they were both very late for work, and jumped into the shower together. As Hermione was massaging shampoo in Harry's hair, something Harry enjoyed letting her do, Harry had inquired about Philip again. She didn't think he would, but he was apparently still angry about what he had said to her a while back.

'How did the rest react, when he said those things to you?' he wanted to know, squinting his out to keep the soap out.

'Don't worry, Harry, it's no big thing. I'm used to people being awful. Philip wasn't the first and he certainly won't be the last, you know that.'

'It's just so... vile. And wrong, obviously. I know I'm not far from blind right now, and I have my eyes closed, but I know for a fact that I am standing in the shower with quite possibly the most beautiful witch that the Wizarding World-...'

'Stop,' Hermione laughed, rubbing a bit harder on his skull. 'Makes me see why Ginny things we're clingy.'

'Pff, Ginny had her face attached to Jaana for half the night,' Harry remarked. 'She doesn't have the right to complain. But, anyway, back to that awful cousin of yours...'

'Don't,' Hermione said, rubbing the residue of the shampoo in the little chest hair that adorned the upper part of Harry's torso. 'He's not worth the air he breathes, let alone our time. You can rinse your hair by the way.'

She quickly rubbed some soap on her skin as Harry made very cute sounds while getting the shampoo out of his black locks. He got out from under the shower, shaking his head like a dog and Hermione shrieked.

'Hey, Sirius Black! Will you stop it? You're soaking my bathroom!'

Harry chuckled and began to towel dry his hair.

'Does that cousin of you have any insecurities? You know... Pressure points?'

'His doctorate,' Hermione said, flushing the soap from her skin and turning the tabs off. 'He keeps telling he will graduate soon, but it has been delayed a couple of times. I like to remind him of that when he's being particularly asshole-ish.'

'Hmm,' Harry pondered, putting his towel around his waist and putting his glasses on. They immediately fogged up and he groaned irritated. Hermione laughed sweetly at how normal their routine seemed, having dated for just a week, and she leaned against him to place a kiss on his cheeks.

'I love you,' she said, without giving it too much of a thought.

'I love you too. A lot. But, back to that cousin of yours-...'

'Please don't tell me you've got something planned,' Hermione said. 'I want to have a quaint dinner for once. You know, without weird fake proposals, without my uncles watching us snog each other under a mistletoe, just normalcy.'

She untied her hair and let the dampened curls fall freely on her naked back. She began to rub her arms dry, ever so softly, and it took her a few moments to realize that Harry was staring at her with a look that could only mean pure adoration. It made her blush.

'What?'

He stepped closer to her, taking the towel from her, and start rubbing her back, while closing the space between their lips. He was soft, he was gentle, and he applied just the right amount of pressure to catch her breath in her throat.

'I really appreciated you telling me that the Dursleys were wrong, my entire childhood,' he said quietly. 'It made me come to terms with some of the feelings I've been having my entire life and... I've noticed it, the last couple of days. I'm more confident, it's been easier for me to keep the bad thoughts at bay, as it were. And... I know you must have those thoughts too, Hermione. In a different way, obviously, but you have also been told a lot of untrue things your entire life. That you are only as good as the research you do, as the results you show. That you're not pretty or desirable.'

Harry's words hit her hard. She suddenly felt vulnerable around him, and she swallowed.

'It's fine,' she said, hating the fact that her voice cracked, and she took the towel back from Harry.

'It's not fine,' Harry replied, not backing away. 'You are amazing, also when you don't have your nose stuck in a book. You know I admire how smart you are, and I really do think that's one of the reasons why I love you so much, but it's not everything you are, Hermione. You are kind and caring. You are the most caring person I know. I don't want anyone to tell you any different and most importantly, I don't want you to tell that to yourself. The fact that Philip said that-...'

'Harry, really, it's Philip-...'

'The fact that Philip said that,' Harry repeated, louder now, 'is a big thing. It's huge. It's insane and wrong and hurtful and he should apologize. So yes, I am planning something for dinner, if you don't mind. I'm planning for that git to eat his words. And you won't stop me.'

He placed his right hand on her cheek and kissed her, fiery and sweetly at the same time. Hermione felt conflicted - she couldn't express how grateful she felt for Harry saying those words, understanding that she had desperately needed to hear them, but on the other hand, she couldn't let Harry's words reach into who she was just yet. She knew Harry loved her, it was obvious he said those things, he was her boyfriend, and her best friend. If he didn't think she was smart, amazing and beautiful, who would?

'That's really sweet, Harry.'

'You don't believe me, huh?'

She smiled faintly.

'I really, really appreciate you being so sweet to me, Harry. And it's making me feel really good, sometimes I just need to hear someone say those words. But you're right: it's going to take some time. As it will for you, won't it?'

Harry smiled, but bitterly.

'We're both a work in progress, I guess.'

'That's why we fit so well together,' Hermione noted. 'Both misfits. And, both incredibly late for work. Greengrass is going to chew me out if I don't appear into my office in twelve minutes.'

'Shit,' Harry grumbled. 'Okay, you get dressed, I'll get some of the left-over pastries Nicky brought from her bakery out of the fridge. How does that sound?'

That was this morning - about ten hours ago, and she had not seen him since then. The gathering had started at 5 PM and it was now quarter past 6 - a lot family members had made inquiries about Harry. She told them that work had been crazy for the past couple of days, with new leads that Harry had to follow, which wasn't untrue. It didn't stop Philip and one of her cousins from snickering though, and she could clearly hear his sister Paula hiss "Oh my God, he dumped her on the first day of the year!' under her breath when she walked past.

'Harry knew the time, didn't he?' Jerome asked, worriedly, and Hermione nodded. She began to feel a knot in her stomach as well, remembering the slash that was cut into Harry's face just a few days ago.

When it turned 6.30, the staff informed them they were ready to be seated. There were about 30 guests, including Aunty Penelope, Uncle Monty, all of her grandma's children and a few grandchildren. It seemed that Philip and his soon-to-be-wife Lydia, Paula and her husband Thierry and the triplets of her aunt Catherine with their partners were the only ones invited. Harry's seat was very visibly empty next to her. She fidgeted nervously in her own chair, and just as she seriously contemplated on going outside and sending a messaged Patronus to check in on him, she heard a loud *PLOP* outside, that meant someone had Apparated on the premise. Thank Merlin, Hermione thought, relieved, and she nodded to her parents, who looked at her quizzically.

It didn't take long for the decorated doors to be opened by two waiters. Harry strode into the room, bowing his head to grandma as he stood behind his seat, giving a new meaning to the word fashionably late. His jacket, swung casually on his shoulder, dressed in the blouse that Hermione recognized from the tux he had bought, late Uncle Geoffrey's cufflinks glistening at the starched cuffs of his sleeves, he made an absolutely dazzling impression. His striking green eyes contrasted so handsomely with his raven hair, and as Hermione saw the fabric of his blouse cling to his very athletic body, she couldn't help but gloat. He was hers. And, she quickly realized, if this was the opening move to his grand scheme to annoy Philip, she had no idea what he'd planned next.

Harry apologized publicly for being late, attaining the perfect mix between boyish charm and handsome grace, and he bowed down to Hermione to place a sweet but slightly lingering kiss on her lips. She involuntarily pouted at the loss of his mouth on hers and he grinned as he took place beside her, weaving his fingers with hers possessively.

'You look absolutely stunning, as always, love,' he commented a bit louder than he usually would, and Hermione couldn't help but glare at him. Ugh, Harry.

'Yes, well, I didn't want to pale in comparison to my divine looking fiance,' she reciprocated, causing Harry to almost break his act by crying out in laughter. He didn't though, moving his lips in a smug grin, and winked at her. She saw Philip's jaw-muscle tense and that made her feel even better.

'My goodness me, Harry, what have you done?' she then heard, the words spoken by a very shocked looking uncle Leonard.

'Hmm?' Harry said, tearing his eyes from Hermione, but the sound in his voice was a bit too nonchalant. Oh boy.

'You've got a cut, on your temple! It's bleeding a bit!'

Harry sighed, seemingly embarrassed.

'Oh dear, the nurse assured me that it had stopped, I'm so sorry-...'

'You're bleeding again?' Hermione heard herself react, without being able to stop herself. 'What happened now?'

'Confidential, my love,' Harry said, with a conspiring look. Hermione scowled and moved her fingers to his chin to turn his face towards her. She indeed saw a cut, not that deep as the one he had gotten a few days earlier, but with the markings of the same spell. Had Harry been reckless to put on this show tonight, or were the raids really getting more violent and risky? The concerned look on her face was not played and Harry assured her by squeezing her hand softly. She looked at the cut again and now she recognized the signs of a healing spell that a nurse must have cast, not that long ago. She also noticed how deliberate scratch marks appeared on the corner of the cut, and she gave Harry a stern look, before playing along.

'Yes, well, I agree that you shouldn't blurt it out over the table, as the information is very delicate,' she nodded, looking to her grandmother, 'but at least let me assist you to a nearby chamber so I can help stop the bleeding. I need to take care of my soon-to-be-husband if he's hurt.'

'Nonsense,' Harry said boldly, doing a very good impression of how Horace Slughorn would talk to his Sluggers. 'It's not that bad and I don't want to miss one more minute of this delicious dinner. Nothing a little band-aid can't fix. Right, love?'

A server near Harry bowed and quickly left the room.

'Was it who I think it was?' Hermione asked dramatically, seeing from the corner of her eye how Philip got more agitated by the minute. She picked up a napkin and dabbed his face tenderly, loving how their family members drunk in every bit of the performance they were giving in. They loved it. And, she realized, so did she. It was hilarious.

'Indeed,' Harry nodded bravely. 'But we've almost got him. It won't take much longer to lock him up, I can assure you.'

She did a good impression of a very non-Hermione-like girly sigh and she saw a few of her aunts join in. She couldn't disagree with them, Harry looked absolutely ravishing with the cut on his face, in his figure hugging blouse, with two open buttons giving them a nice but still decent view of Harry's chest. She always knew Harry was competitive, but she had kind of forgotten he could get this swept away by all of it. She liked it, though. She really, really liked it.

The server came back and Hermione assisted with applying the bandaid to his face, earning a few "ahw!"s from family members. By this time, Philip had almost bitten his tongue in half, and Lydia was stroking his arm with a worried look on his face.

The first course arrived. While they ate, Harry entertained her family with a Mugglified story of one of Harry's first raids. He had been send out to Greece, to track down a smuggling ring, an the story contained a lot of great chases and plot twists. The leader of the ring, a grizzly man named Nikos Demopoulos, was finally found out by Harry to use Muggle children as slave-laborers one of his factories, and he had received another Order of Merlin for liberating the children and returning them safely to their parents. Hermione had known of his mission and had even assisted him on a couple of leads, corresponding about clues and whatnot via owl, and she remembered Harry had been very modest about his success when he returned home. He didn't want to hear the slightest of praise, saying it was "just his job", and that what he did was nothing special because he couldn't have let those kids stay in a horrible condition like that. Now, all that humbleness was thrown right out of the window, as Harry spoke about it in exciting detail, earning great reactions from his appreciative crowd. When he mentioned how he found the children, and described the looks on their faces, she even saw her grandma sob into a serviette.

'Your great work keeps our country safe,' Grandma Eugenia wailed. 'If only we had more courageous men like you, Harry.'

'Oh, bit you do,' Harry said, with a grin that couldn't have been wider. 'I mean, look at your amazing grandson, Philip! How's that doctorate coming along, cousin?'

Hermione did her best to conceal her amusement in her salad. Philip's face was priceless - he looked like he tried his best to incinerate her boyfriend with just his death glare, but Harry's sweet and mockingly supportive look didn't give him a chance to snap back with the viciousness that he wanted to.

'It's... It's fine,' he mumbled under his breath. Harry pursed his lips and squeezed Hermione's hand. She couldn't possibly love him more.

'Oh Philip, you should be so glad that Hermione decided to introduce Harry to our family,' Eugenia continued on. 'You always say that influential men are vital to your social circles, isn't that right? Why don't you invite Harry along for your stag party? He is almost family, after all. I'm sure he'd be delighted to join you! Won't you, Harry?'

Whack. It was like she and Harry were both slapped square across the face, as their jaws both dropped and they were speechless for a moment.

'Sorry?' Harry said, his big words all gone.

'His stag party! All the important men of British society will be there. I'm sure Philip would be delighted to welcome you to his social circle, wouldn't you be?'

'I-... I guess I-...'

'Well, that's settled then,' her grandmother decided, as if she had any say in who was or was not to attend on her grandson's celebration of his single life.

Harry and Hermione were silent for a moment, and then Harry began eating his salad with a very serious look on his face.

'It's next Saturday,' Philip said, with a slim voice. 'Lydia is having hers at the same day. You could join her as well... Hermione.'

Hermione was speechless again. Philip had never, not since the moment they knew each other, called her by her real name. She looked at him, not sure if he meant this invitation as a kind gesture or a jab, but Hermione couldn't turn down his suggestion. There was no way.

So she nodded, and they both thanked Philip and Lydia for their graciousness with clenched teeth.