CHAPTER SIXTEEN: I TOLD YOU SO

Two weeks later (July 2008)

Hermione had been spending long days in London, visiting with old friends and trying her best to avoid Harry. He hadn't approached her since the morning he had met Brad. They were polite when they were around each other and made light conversation, but otherwise, there was a wall that Hermione had built between them that Harry didn't feel like scaling.

Hermione returned to her home with Brad to find it empty with a note on the kitchen counter. It was unusual for nobody to be home, considering they employed a cook, a maid, and a butler. Hermione walked over to the note, and collapsed in grief at what it said.

Hermione/Sandy (or whoever you are today)

You're not who I thought you were. I want to separate. I've already told the help that I haven't seen you for days, and am about to report you missing. I never want to see you again. Ever. Just go back to London. You have no business near me anymore. You're non-existent in my world now. Good-bye, and don't try hunting me down. You're not going to find me. -Brad

Hermione burst through the door in her dad's kitchen and ran straight in to Remus Lupin, who caught her, noticed the tears, sat her down, and held her while she sobbed into his shoulder. Molly was next to them almost in the twinkling of an eye, consoling Hermione to the best of her ability. It took the better part of a half-hour for Hermione to be able to overcome the tears and tell Remus and Molly what had happened. She told them about the note, how Brad had said that she no longer existed to him, how she couldn't go back, and how she should have known this was coming. They had been fighting nightly about where she had been going, and how she seemed to be getting attached to England, and her ex-husband. Try as she might, Hermione had not been able to repair the damage, and now it had come to this. Falling into Remus's arms in renewed tears was the last thing she remembered.

Later that night...

Hermione woke up in what she assumed was Remus's bedroom. She was still dressed in what she had been wearing when she had come to Grimmauld, and when she looked outside, she discovered it was nighttime.

She got up, ventured downstairs, and found Remus sleeping on the couch with Tonks not far away. At least the entire world hasn't fallen apart. She thought as she smiled on the pair. I wonder if they know they're in love yet or not.

She maneuvered herself for the refrigerator, grabbed the milk, the chocolate, and a glass and set to make herself hot chocolate.

As she sat with the lights off at the old wooden table, she remembered how often she and Brad had done the same thing together so many nights. The memory of all the sweet things that had gone on between the two of them had Hermione shedding more tears. She pushed her cocoa aside, put her head in her arms on the table, and cried.

That's how Harry found her. Sitting, whimpering softly to herself. Remus had told him what had happened over dinner. At first, Harry had felt a surge of triumph, knowing he had been right about the slime ball in the first place, but now, watching the love of his life cry over the loss, he felt her pain, and he was sorry. He crept over to her as silently as he could and pulled the chair nearest to her out to allow him to sit there. He took her hand in his and stroked it, letting her cry as he tried to calm her.

She let him caress her hand for a while before she looked up at him. When she did, she couldn't help herself. She took his hand, stood, and let him embrace her. He kissed her hair, massaged her back, rested his brow against hers. He kissed the tip of her nose, and gently worked his way down, leaving a trail of kisses from her nose to her collarbone and all the way around.

Their lips met again as Harry reached up to run his fingers through Hermione's silky brunette hair. In a moment of ecstasy, Hermione forgot where she was. All she knew was the masculine scent that surrounded her, the warmth of his body against hers, the taste of his lips. His hands were free to roam over her, to explore, to plunder her ruthlessly. But, they stopped.

"No." he said as he pulled her away. "No."

Hermione was totally confused. Two seconds ago, they were all over each other, and then, the same man who said that he would have her with him again had pushed her away.

"We're not going to do this now. You're on the rebound. When we make love, it won't be on the kitchen floor of your father's house, in the middle of the night, when you aren't truly there with me. It won't be me you'll be loving, and I won't waste my energy on something like that. We can't do this. I want to, but we can't. You need to work things out with Brad, make sure he was serious about what he said, before you go with me."

Hermione's eyes had started to tear up at the fresh rejection. "Damn it, woman, don't start crying."

"You started it." she shot back before shoving past him and out of the room.