Day Thirteen

Harry received an unwanted but not entirely unexpected floo call from Auror dispatch at three in the morning. It wasn't unexpected because there was a big case that most of the department was working on in some capacity. He had known that it would only be a matter of time until there was a separate emergency, or they simply ran out of extra bodies and started to call in people who were off-shift. That didn't mean he was happy to be awoken in the middle of the night. To make it worse, he wasn't just being brought in early to work, but sent out on a surveillance assignment for the next forty-eight hours.

He was always prepared for situations like this so at least all he had to do was get dressed and grab his go-bag. He was just about to floo to the Ministry when he remembered the kitten still curled up somewhere in his unmade bed.

Estelle glared at him when he dug her out from beneath the duvet, then crawled her way up his chest, onto his shoulder, and curled up against his neck. "I'm taking you to stay with Hermione," he told her, "try not to pick up any more of Crookshanks attitude while you're there." She didn't respond.

Harry paused momentarily when they reached Hermione's flat. Even though she'd barged into his bedroom at all hours countless times over the years for reasons varying in degrees of seriousness from simple boredom, all the way up to them being under attack, he'd always hesitated to respond in kind.

Maybe it had been out of some kind of old-fashioned sense of honor that he hadn't even realized he believed in. However, yesterday afternoon he'd basically declared himself to her in front of her parents, so perhaps it was time to let go of that little bit of propriety.

He opened her bedroom door carefully and slunk inside, planning to put himself between her and the wand he knew she kept on her nightstand before he woke her up. But of course, Crookshanks had other plans. He hissed, and with agility Harry didn't know he possessed, he leapt onto the top of headboard to stand guard over his mistress who sat up straight in bed and screamed.

"It's just me!" He held up his hands to show that he was unarmed.

"Harry!? What are you doing here?"

"I have to go away for work, I was hoping you could watch Estelle."

She shook herself slightly. "Oh, right, of course. You could have called."

"I was going to wake you nicely," he defended, eyeing the orange feline who was innocently cleaning his paws.

Hermione followed his line of sight and snorted when she turned and saw her familiar. "That's not even subtle, Crooks."

Harry chuckled to himself as he closed the space between him and her bed, and gingerly sat on the edge of the mattress. She reached out and touched his arm.

"Hey," she said with a soft, sleepy smile.

"Hey," he responded, "I really am sorry to wake you." All he wanted to do was crawl right into that bed with her.

"It's okay, I understand," she frowned, then looked around in confusion. "Where's Estelle? Did you leave her in the living room? I don't think she'll be very happy about that."

Harry shook his head and pulled his cloak aside to reveal the sleeping kitten still tucked against his neck.

Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

"Yeah, she didn't appreciate being taken from her nice warm bed. I'm probably lucky she isn't any bigger or I'd have really paid for it."

She lowered her hand, her eyes sparkled as they flitted between him and Estelle. "The bed she was sharing with you? I don't blame her a bit, or for curling up with you again as soon as she could. I might try that trick myself if you didn't have to leave." She squeezed his arm.

"Don't tempt me Hermione."

"I'm just glad that you're tempted."

"Is that really a surprise?"

"More like it's something that I'm still getting used to."

"Me too," he sighed. "This is terrible timing."

The smile fell off of her face. "Do you know how long you'll be gone?"

"Two days, unless something changes. But it's just surveillance so-"

She smacked a hand over his mouth, she did not bother to be gentle. "Don't jinx it!"

"Sorry," he murmured around her hand, "I was trying to keep you from worrying too much," he continued, but as soon as the words left his mouth he realized that what he was trying to achieve wasn't possible.

She gave him a tight smile and dropped her hand. "Is Ron going with you or have they split you up?"

"No, Ron's going."

Her shoulders slumped, equal parts relief and dismay. Because there was nobody she trusted more than Ron to have his back, but now she would be doubly worried. In her place he'd be ready to tear his hair out. How had he never considered that before? Maybe this assignment was a good opportunity to think about the conversation he'd had with the Grangers about his plans for the future. She would never ask him to quit his job, but the look on her face right now was just about breaking his heart.

"Take care of each other," she ordered, softly but firmly.

"Of course," he promised.

"Have you spoken to Dudley since you left last night?"

That brought him up short. "What? No. Why?"

She shrugged. "Just, if you're going to be out of touch you might want to let him know. Tell him he can contact me if he needs to."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, it's no problem. He has less than two weeks until his wedding, Harry. If he decides to tell her Amelia might not want to wait until you get home, he's cutting it close as it is. And I assume he'll at least want the option of having a magical person available to speak with her, and she might prefer a woman anyway."

"That's a good idea, I'm glad you thought of it. Thank you."

She just reached up and cupped his face, he leaned into her hand.

"I'll stop by my house after I leave, it's too early to call but I'll send him a text."

She pulled away, ever so slightly, her eyes lit with mischief. "Harry, what if you took your mobile with you? Could you do it safely?"

His lips twitched as he caught her drift. "Well it's not a magical device, so it's not against the rules. Are you going to miss me that much Miss Granger, you can't go a couple of days without talking to me?"

Her expression grew coy. "I wouldn't be opposed to being able to check in on you, to be able to know that you're safe. And I'm sure you wouldn't mind hearing how your girl is doing," she nodded in Estelle's direction.

He caught her eyes and didn't look away when he said: "No I wouldn't."

She did her best to look stern but failed spectacularly, her face split into a grin. "I'm not a possession, Harry Potter," she said, still trying to recover.

"No, but you're mine, aren't you?"

"Yeah," she looked away, blushing but giving up on trying not to smile. "So, any instructions for Estelle?"

He laughed. "You know better what you're doing than I do. I left her stuff by the floo."

"Okay."

He checked his watch but before he could say anything she just nodded.

"I'm sure you have to go, I'll walk you out."

"You don't need to get out of bed."

"I want to, I want to open my calendar before you leave."

"Okay," he said, realizing their voices had dropped to whispers. He stood up and offered her a hand. She took it, struggling to emerge from the mountain of blankets she liked to sleep under in the winter. He was unsurprised to see that she was wearing only a thin top and shorts, he'd known for a long time that she preferred to wear little to bed, hence the pile of covers. So many little, intimate details he already knew and treasured about her. So many privileges he was just beginning to appreciate.

She intertwined their fingers and huddled against him, pushing him towards the door and then into her living room. He allowed her slight weight to guide him even though it was unnecessary, but she liked to be in charge, and he knew that right now it would soothe her anxiety over his departure. She stopped in front of the table where the calendar sat. He looked at it and was somewhat surprised to see that they had passed the half-way mark yesterday.

Today was day thirteen. It felt like they'd come a lot further than that.

She bounced a bit in excitement, and probably in an attempt to warm herself up, as she opened the door and then removed the little treasure from within. It was a small snow globe: London at Christmas, just as she wished for it to be. She shook it and held it up to her face, grinning. "Oh this is going straight to my office this morning! This will drive everybody crazy! Can't you just hear them?" She looked up at him. "'But what's the point, Hermione? It doesn't even do anything!'" She snickered.

"I thought you would enjoy that," he agreed, "if you can't beat fair and compassionate creature regulation into the minds of the wizarding public, drive them crazy with muggle kitsch instead."

Her smile took on a slightly maniacal quality. "Ronald still thinks the Rubik's cube is a conspiracy against him. He hasn't come right out and said it, but I know he thinks I keep color charming it so that it'll never match up."

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Well, to be fair, that wouldn't be anywhere near the most devious thing you've ever done. It wouldn't even be the most devious thing you'd done just to drive him crazy."

"It's much more satisfying to watch him try and fail all on his own," she said unapologetically. Then she suddenly sobered, set the snow globe aside, and stepped closer to him. "I know that I tease you a lot about how you go looking for danger, but I'm serious now Harry. I really need for you to be careful."

"I will."

She placed her hands on his chest. "Promise me."

He looked into her eyes, "I promise," his eyes fell to her lips, his heart began to pound, and then for the second time that night she suddenly clapped a hand over his mouth. He jumped in surprise.

"No!" She practically yelled. "If you want to kiss me, Harry Potter, you have to come home to collect."

Harry couldn't have put a name to what he was feeling if his life depended on it. Amusement? Disappointment? Frustration? Maybe even a little anger? "That seems like extortion." His voice was muffled by her hand.

She cocked an eyebrow and then she actually smirked. "I prefer the term incentive," she took another step closer, "I promise I'll make it worth it." She leaned into his body, arched against him, but she kept the barrier of her hand between their mouths.

And damn it, now he was aroused.

"Not nice, Hermione," for some reason he was surprised to hear the words come out almost as a growl.

She just shrugged, finally dropped her damn hand, plucked Estelle off of his shoulder and took a step back. "You have to go, I believe?" She asked, completely nonchalant.

He shook himself and pointed at her. "Don't start something you can't finish."

"Let me worry about that. You just stay safe and come home soon."

He nodded and closed the distance between them again, he bent to place a kiss to the top of Estelle's fuzzy head. "Be good for Hermione, and remember what I said about the old man. We've only got room for so much of that attitude around here."

He heard Hermione laugh lightly and stood up again to face her, taking her face in his hands. "See you soon?"

She clasped one of his wrists with her free hand. "See you soon."