Chapter Five: Housewarming

Hermione was sitting in her windowseat in the living room, tears spilling down her creamy cheeks. All of a sudden, the door banged open, with the sound of Harry's laughter and Ennee's playful barking.

Hermione hurriedly swiped the tears off her cheeks and rubbed her face with the palms of her hands, trying to make it look like she hadn't been crying. She could hear Harry moving in the living room, so she called out, "How was your walk?"

Harry called back happily, "Hey, Hermione! It was nice getting a little fresh air and relaxing... Who knew moving was so hard?" he joked.

"Yeah... who knew." she muttered quietly. Then, she once again began the emotional process of packing up her things. She piled her books carefully into large crates with the help of her wand, but took the pictures off of the walls by herself. Hermione smiled half-heartedly when she saw that the wall behind where the pictures had been was a more faded pink than the rest of her room.

Hermione was startled, jumping a little when Harry walked through the door, pausing to knock lightly before entering completely. "Everything ok, Mione?", eyes dark worry and concern etched in his face.

Hermione stared at him for a second, then dropped back on her bed. "Harry, you know I want this to happen, to move, but I can't help but feel like I'm leaving a part of myself behind. I found this place distgusting and dirty, with the walls falling down, and holes in the walls, but I fixed it up the muggle way to look like this. I spent so much time making this place look pretty, and reflect my personality, that it feels like I am leaving a bit of my heart here."

Harry had listened quietly while she was speaking, but he now took her hand and squeezed it. "Hermione, we really don't have to move if you don't want to, you know. We could always just use the cottage as a summer house, or for weekends," he said gently, eyes looking directly into hers.

"I know," Hermione said. "But I want to. The cottage is so beautiful, and so... homey that it deserves to have someone living in it. Marge and Todd were just going to leave it if they hadn't found someone who wanted it like we did. It's just like... you know how you felt when we graduated from school?"

Harry chuckled. "Yeah. Hogwarts was my home. But Mione, look how happy I am now! A home isn't a place where you live, it's where you feel happy, and... complete. I thought I left my home when we left Hogwarts, but I realized that as long as you're surrounded by people who love and care for you, you can always make someplace home."

While he had been talking, tears were filling Hermione's honey-brown eyes. She hugged Harry tightly, whispering in his ear, "Thanks Harry. This would be so much harder if you weren't here right now."

"Well, I'm going to be with you all the time from now on, you know. Lucky you, getting to spend the rest of your life with the incredibly amazing sexy Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived!" Harry teased, eyes mischievouly dancing.

"Oh yes... lucky me!" Hermione grinned. When she said this, though, she wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not.

"Owww," Harry moaned as he nursed his throbbing foot, leaning against the doorframe of his new house.

"Well, Harry, I must say that if you had just used the Wingardium Leviosa charm, instead of trying to be all macho, you wouldn't have dropped my books on your toe!" Hermione retorted.

"But Mione... who knew books were so heavy?" Harry whined, reaching out to tickle Hermione in the sides. Hermione squealed and twisted away, going down the hall as she did so.

"C'mon, Harry, it's time to paint... so, Pink for the bedroom?" she called from down the hall. Harry's eyes widened in terror. "Um, Hermione!" he yelled, sprinting down the hall, forgetting his so-called injured foot.

Nine hours later, and the house was completely decorated to it's new owner's liking. All of the floors were new hardwood. The cozy master bedroom, (which Harry and Hermione would be sharing) sported scarlet walls and a king sized canopy bed with absolutely beautiful golden bedspread and drapes. The fireplace was pretty, with comfy armchairs and a doggiebed for the puppy surrounding it.

The master bathroom, however, was their favorite part of the house. It was a very large bathroom, painted sage green with bright white trim. There was a stall shower, an antique claw-foot tub, and an incredible marble fireplace. The countertops were also marble, and the mirror above the sink area was lighted from behind. A window took up one entire side of the batroom, from almost floor-to ceiling. Harry had almost had a fit about it until Hermione rolled her eyes and explained that it was the kind where they could see out, but nobody could see in.

The hallways in the house were painted with a sunny yellow, and white trim. The living room was a soft pink color, with beautiful lace curtains, and pretty leather couches. The kitchen was amazing. It was at least three-times the size of Hermione's old one. It was painted red, with gold accents all over. The appliances were stainless steel, and brand-new, thanks to Todd and Marge.

The rest of the cottage was equally pretty, with almost all of the rooms painted a light yellow or some other similar color with white accents. There were four bedrooms, including the one that Harry and Hermione shared.

Hermione and Harry were now laying flat on their backs on the living room floor, feeling like all of the magic had drained out of them from using it so extensivley during the day.

"Ugh." Harry said.

"Hmmn." Hermione replied. "We should probably get up. Cook dinner."

"Ugh." Harry said once again. "Pizza?"

"Hmm. Accio phone!" The cordless flew into Hermione's hand. She dialed the pizza place and ordered a large pie, plain cheese and extra sauce. Now, you might ask how Hermione had known the number for the local pizza parlor, but the truth was that they had ordered pizza for lunch, and now for dinner, also.

"Ten minutes." she grumbled.

"Umm." Harry replied. They laid there, eyes closed, and tired all over until the doorbell rang.

"Pizza," muttered Harry.

"Yeah," replied Hermione.

"COME IN!" they yelled at the same time.

The pizza deliverer left the pizza and collected the money, all while casting Harry and Hermione very strange looks. It was really quite obvious that he thought a couple of lunatics had just moved in. They ate, never moving from their spots on the floor. Finally, they felt themselves dropping off to sleep, so Harry had Ennee get them a blanket and two pillows from the couch. (This was, after all, helping to train Ennee).

Ennee curled up by the door, Hermione resting her head on Harry's shoulder, and Harry's arm draped across his tired best friend. If anyone had bothered to look into the cottage's windows of Number Eight, Willow Lane, that person would have seen what looked like a very happy, in love couple. Who knows? Maybe they did.

Hey! It's Beth, and I finally finished! What did you think? Good, bad, terrible? Please tell me, it means a lot when the readers tell me what they like or don't like, so that I can improve.

You reviewers are great! The feedback is fantastic. Thanks so much, all of you!

Lady B.

Here's the thing: We are going to post a trivia question at the end of each chapter, and the people that answer it correctly get the next chapter dedicated to them! So here it is.

WHERE AND WHEN WAS BRITIAN'S FIRST ESCALATOR INSTALLED?

XOXOXO,

Beth and Jessie

PS. My computer was finally ridded of the virus, and I now have the link for the engagement ring! By the way- this, hopefully, will be my future engagement ring! Ahem... note, the FUTURE.

Here it is: Hopefully, just copy-paste! If there's a problem, email me. My email's in my bio!

http/ http/