Title: All This Time

Summary: Hermione and Harry share an intimate moment in the tent following Ron's absence. With Ron's return, however, Harry pushes Hermione away in an effort to save her heartbreak and she is forced to return to Ron. In the months following the war and with Harry's life no longer in danger, Harry is not willing to let Hermione slip through his fingers again. The question is: Can he win her back?

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this work.

A/N: Pretty sure this is going to be the last chapter before the epilogue. Enjoy! x

As his eyes drifted open, Harry took a moment to figure out if the sight before him was a dream or if by some mere stroke of luck he had been lucky enough to have the vision before him in his reality. Hermione lay on her side facing him, her lips slightly puckered. Her milky skin was visible in the daylight with his blue sheets wrapped haphazardly around her tiny figure. The only word he could think to describe her hair was: haystack; and yet he found it completely appealing.

They had spent most the night lost in each other and their bodies. The entire night found them joined as one until they were utterly spent and she had fallen asleep in his arms. Now, with her one hand rested on his chest and the other securely tucked underneath the pillow beneath her head, he couldn't help but stare on.

Harry rolled onto his back and caught sight of time and begrudgingly got out of bed. He threw on a pair of boxers and a t-shirt and carefully made his way down the hall. He pushed open the door to find Teddy sitting up in his bed, drinking some of the orange drink Hermione had given him the night before. His lips smacked at the stale liquid as Harry approached and pressed the back of his hand to his forehead.

"Feeling any better?" Harry asked, noticing his fever had gone down.

Teddy nodded. "A little."

"Good," Harry smiled. "I'm going to make some breakfast. What do you say we bring your pillow and blanket downstairs and you can relax on the couch with some TV?"

"Can I?" Teddy asked, a hopeful tone taking over his voice.

Harry nodded as he stood and helped his godson out of bed. "Of course."

When he gathered Teddy's blanket and pillow, the boy followed him downstairs. Harry set him up in the living room and set the TV to his favorite morning cartoon channel. Once he knew he was settled, Harry went about making breakfast complete with waffles, whipped cream and strawberries. He set Hermione's tray with roses he conjured up and made sure it looked beautiful. Then he poured three glasses full of orange juice and placed each on their respective trays.

Placing the waffles on the dish on Teddy's tray, he carried it inside. Teddy was laughing at one of the cartoons and he scooted back when he heard Harry entering. His hands immediately went to his orange juice as he took a sip. "Thank you," he stated as he swallowed his gulp.

"You're welcome." Standing there awkwardly as Teddy turned his attention back to his show, Harry stated, "I'm going to bring some up to Hermione. She spent the night. It was too late for her to head home after we ate dinner and everything."

"Okay!" Teddy said as he went for some waffles. "Later, gator!"

With a happy laugh, Harry returned to the kitchen to pick up Hermione's tray. Carefully, he brought it up the stairs and stepped into the room to a gut wrenching sight. Hermione was sitting up his bed, her knees tucked up close to her body as she cried. Harry took a step forward, causing his foot to creak on a floorboard, and Hermione looked up.

"You're here," she whispered.

"Of course I am."

She wiped underneath her eyelids and laughed sadly at herself. "When I woke up and you were gone…"

Harry lifted the tray in his arms. "I went to make you breakfast in bed and check on Teddy." He walked towards her as she scooted back against his headboard and placed the tray over her lap. His hand lifted up to cup her cheek. "I'm not leaving you again. I want to be with you and not as your friend, and I want it to last for a very, very long time."

She relaxed her face into his hand. "I know. I'm so stupid."

"Don't say that about yourself. You're the brightest person I know. I made a mistake and I know those wounds are still there. Time is all I need to prove that this time is going to be different. That I'm not running scared."

Harry looked deep into her eyes as a smile tugged at her lips. Slowly, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, feeling his body relax as she melted into him. Then she pulled back, smiled, and did a little dance in her seat. "So, what did you make me?"

"Waffles and strawberries," Harry smiled as he watched her face light up with hunger.

Hermione's lip slipped between her teeth as she looked down. "Could I borrow a shirt? Sticky syrup and a naked chest do not mix."

"But your naked chest and whipped cream do," Harry pointed out as his hand drifted towards the dollop of whipped cream on her waffles. He smeared the substance on her mounds and grinned at her mischievously.

"Harry Potter!" she playfully yelled.

"What?" Harry laughed. His eyes were trained at the spot on her breasts where the whipped cream had landed. Without hesitating, Hermione pushed her tray aside and pulled Harry closer by his shirt. His mouth immediately placed open mouthed kisses down the length of her neck and collarbone, before he swirled his tongue around her peaks, causing Hermione's back to arch. Then his tongue slowly licked away the whipped cream from her skin as breathy moans escaped her parted mouth. "Mmm… I'm quite liking this whole breakfast in bed thing."

"Oh, yes," Hermione breathed.

Harry kissed his way back up to Hermione's lips and slipped his tongue between her lips. "As much as I'd love to continue this—and I do—we have a sick kid downstairs."

"Right. Teddy." Shock and embarrassment filled her features as she asked, "He knows I slept over?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. I told him you were too tired to go home."

"Oh. Alright," she answered. Harry got up and walked to his dresser and threw a shirt her way. Hermione took it and put it on before she grabbed her food, taking a bite of her waffle. "I can meet you downstairs if you want."

Shaking his head, Harry muttered an incantation and his breakfast appeared before him. "Breakfast in bed," he smiled.

Harry was cuddled up with Teddy on the couch as he waited for Hermione to finish showering and getting dressed. They had finished breakfast rather quickly and she had sent Harry off with the dirty dishes so she could 'make herself decent.' Thankfully, with his godson at his side his eyes didn't drift too often to the clock.

During a commercial break, he heard footsteps descending the stairs. He turned his head in time to see Hermione walking into the living room dressed in jeans and a zip up hoodie. Her hair was braided to the side with tiny tendrils framing her face. She smiled as she entered taking in the scene of Harry with his arm around Teddy and sat down on the nearby recliner.

"Hi, Teddy," she smiled. "Feeling any better?"

Enthusiastically, he nodded. "Yes! No more sniffles for me."

"Brilliant!" she responded full of enthusiasm and Harry's heart swelled with happiness. Seeing the two of them interact was just about all he could hope for. A part of him knew that if Hermione and Teddy didn't get a long, their reconnection would never work. Teddy always had to be put first in his life. This has been his responsibility. When he had been approached by Kingsley about Lupin and Tonks wishes regarding Teddy he had been taken aback. He was only eighteen at the time and had just finished fighting a war; he wasn't sure he could handle a baby. Andromeda had offered to take Teddy in with sole custody but he couldn't do it. In the year the Ministry gave him to prove he could be a decent father to Teddy, he had far exceeded any of their expectations. That was why as he watched Teddy summarize his favorite cartoon to Hermione's listening ears, he couldn't help but smile.

"It's my favorite!" Teddy squealed.

"I can see why," Hermione noted as Teddy's eyes drifted back to the television. She stood up and gestured her thumb over her shoulder. "I better head home. You boys will probably want to hang out just the two of you."

She had begun to turn around when Harry exchanged a look with Teddy. With the boys nod, he jumped out of his seat and grabbed her arm. Hermione turned to look at him with questioning eyes before he spoke. "Spend the day with us."

"I don't want to intrude."

"You aren't," he answered quickly before turning to Teddy. "Right?"

Teddy shook his head, his turquoise hair fanning about his face. "Nuh-uh."

"See," Harry replied, turning towards her.

Hermione tucked a tendril behind her ear as she shyly answered, "Okay."

"I won! I won! I won!" Teddy sang as he danced on the couch.

Hermione and Harry were seated on the floor laughing as the little boy continued his victory dance. Candyland was on the table in front of them and random pieces were scattered about the house after Teddy's impromptu dance.

"Bet this wasn't what you had in mind for our final date," Harry joked.

Hermione took a moment to look about the scene before her. There was so much joy and happiness in this tiny room that she couldn't help but smile and whisper, "It's perfect."

With an exuberant smile on his face, he stood up and grabbed his godson and tackled him to the couch. Light laughter filled the room as he began to tickle his sides. Teddy's feet were flailing around as he tried to worm his way out of Harry's grasp. Then Harry felt fingers at his sides as Hermione tickled his waist, causing him to roll of the couch.

"Let's get him!" Hermione screamed.

Together they tackled him and kept him on the ground, their fingers tickling every ticklish spot their minds could think of it. It was such an easy moment between the three of them. The moment was natural and unforced. Harry secretly wished between his laughter that there would've been an onlooker to capture the moment on camera. As it were, he took a mental picture enabling him to hold on to the memory forever.

"Uncle! Uncle!" Harry screamed through his fits of laughter.

They both released him and as they did Teddy fell back into Hermione's arms. She hugged him close and ruffled his hair as the two tried to quell their laughter. Harry simple sat up on his elbows and looked on, his own laughter dying down.

"Good to see someone is feeling a lot better," Harry noted.

Teddy nodded as his chest heaved from his effort to simmer down. The laughter dissipated as the doorbell rang. With a confused look on his face, Harry stood up and made his way to the door. When he opened it he was taken aback by who stood in front of him: Ron.

"Hiya, Harry," Ron stated awkwardly as his hand drifted to his hair.

"Hi, Ron," Harry replied still gawking. Finally, he shook his head to clear his thought. "Do you want to come inside?"

"Uh—"

But before he could speak, a light voice came from down the hall. Hermione's voice drifted to their ears. "Harry? Who is it?" And then she appeared before them, disheveled from their fun. Strands of hair had fallen out of her braid and the one sleeve of her hoodie had slipped off her shoulder, revealing the think strap of her white tank top beneath. "Oh, Ron."

Harry turned back to Ron, who stood there staring at her as he white knuckled his fists. Then he dropped his eyes and took a calming breath before speaking. "I thought I was ready for this but… I can't." He looked up at Harry. "I'm sorry."

"Ron, there's nothing to be sorry about."

Hermione walked towards them, fixing her hoodie. Her arms crossed over her chest as she neared them. "Ron, please. We couldn't help what happened. And deep down you know we were never the right match. There's a girl out there who is going to love you with her whole heart… but she isn't me." Then without hesitating, she grabbed Harry's hand and laced her fingers through his. "I love him. With my whole heart. Always have."

Ron's eyes saddened until they drifted over to a photo nailed to the wall. It was a photo of the three of them from first year. They were all in full dress robe and laughing about something in the distance. Hagrid had captured the shot from his stoop on the last day of school. They looked so carefree on that day, unaware of the dangers they were about to confront. The children in those photos never could've predicted that one of those dangers was a love triangle threating their friendship.

"I've always known," Ron whispered his voice barely audible. It seemed more like he was speaking more to himself then to the couple standing in the hallway with him. "Even if I didn't, the war proved it to me. You were both different when I returned. You still saved each other and worked together but something was… off. Then after Hermione and I kissed, a few minutes later she was pleading to sacrifice herself so you wouldn't have to go alone. It would've seemed innocent enough had I not seen her face."

Hermione's voice was almost broken when she spoke, "Ron…."

Instead of letting her continue, he held his hand up, stopping her. "You were right, Hermione. It's the two of you who belong together." He turned to Harry, his eyes spilling with truth. "If it had to be anyone… I'm glad it's you."

And with a sad smile, he turned away and disappeared.

… a few weeks later.

Harry and Hermione stood on the bridge overlooking the lake. Harry was standing around her with his arms wrapped around her waist, his chin on her shoulder. It was peaceful out here with the lilly pads floating along and the sounds of birds chirping nearby. Even with all the peace, Harry could tell Hermione's thoughts were still on Ron. He had tried his best to work himself back into their lives; to them becoming the trio again.

"Stop," Harry breathed as he nuzzled his nose into her neck.

Hermione sighed. "Stop what?"

"I know when that mind of yours is overanalyzing. He's trying to make things normal again don't ruin it by worrying about him."

"I know. It's just hard."

Harry nodded in agreement. He, too, worried about his best friend and how seeing them together might have killed him. Harry had been there himself not too long ago. And that was how he knew it would be okay. Once Ron let love back into his life, the wounds would begin to heal on their own. "He gave us his blessing."

Though he couldn't see her face, he knew she was smiling. "I want to spend forever with you, Harry. I'm not letting anything stand in the way of us now."

"Me neither."

Hermione turned her head and allowed Harry to press his lips against hers. The tension in her body relaxed as their lips met and she sighed into the kiss, causing Harry to smile. When they both pulled away, they looked back over the lake and to the future they would have together.