A/N: Hello again everyone! So, hopefully you all know from my last update (the author's notes are very important, people) that I was supposed to be gone for six months on an archaeological dig in Mexico. Well, unfortunately (though fortunately for you, I suppose) I had to return due to some medical issues. This means that I've had the past few weeks –when I'm not at one doctor or another –to continue this story! Isn't that just magnificent? Also, as I don't have a job or any other immediate plans for the summer, the next chapter should be up within the next week or two, also. So, without further ado: Chapter Five. Enjoy!

The following morning, Harry was munching a piece of toast in the kitchen when he received a letter from Hermione that was delivered by the largest owl he'd ever seen. He eagerly took the letter from the large, brown bird and broke the seal.

Harry,

I know you won't receive this until tomorrow morning, but I wanted to let you know that I got settled in for the night just fine. This town is really quite charming. News must travel fast because the innkeeper recognized me; it was very odd. Is this how you've felt all these years, being recognized by people you've never met before?

Anyhow, it's nice here. Warmer than I'm used to, but it's bearable. I miss you. I've grown quite accustomed to your presence this past week, and I'm a bit lonely. I hope to find my parents and return quickly. I'm sorry this is short, but I promise to write as often as I can. There will be about a day delay due to the distance, but I rented this bird and was told he was reliable. Just send your reply with him, please.

Hoping to see you soon,

Mione

Harry smiled to himself upon seeing how she signed her letter; it was the first time he'd heard her refer to herself by the nickname he'd given her. He liked it. She'd never told him to not call him that before, but she didn't seem to particularly like it either as she would sometimes roll her eyes at him when he used it. And he was certainly the only one allowed to call her anything other than Hermione. He gave the owl a piece of his sausage and asked her to stay put before heading to the drawing room to write a reply to her letter.

Mione,

This is the biggest owl I've ever seen! I suppose he's great with the distance. By the way, what is his name?

I'm glad you got settled in well. I miss you, too. Things here just aren't the same without you around. I hope you find your parents soon, and always remember I'm here if you need any help or anything at all. Please be careful.

Love,

Harry

They exchanged letters nearly everyday for two weeks. It was a comforting break from all of the other letters he'd had to respond to. The ministry was contacting him nearly every day, it seemed, wanting him to give this speech or attend this conference. He'd done an interview with both the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler, much to Luna and her father's delight. Mrs. Weasley was very insistent upon him attending their family dinner every few nights. It was a bit awkward at first, what with Fred's absence and the strange tons his and Ginny's relationship had taken. In the week Hermione had been unconscious, they'd had a talk. Harry had explained that after all he'd been through, he was a different person and just didn't think they were going to work. She was upset, but could sense the truth of his words and agreed they should remain friends. So, things between them were a bit awkward but were slowly returning to how they'd been before he and Ginny had dated.

But when he didn't receive a letter from her for a few days, he began to worry but tried to reassure himself that she was fine. She was probably doing heavy research or perhaps she'd even found her parents. Finally, after it had been a week since he'd sent a reply to her last letter, he received a reply.

Harry,

I've found them, my parents! Sorry I haven't written in so long; it's a long story. Anyhow, I'm trying to plan things with them. I'll write as I can and try to keep you updated.

With love,

Mione

Harry smiled at the happy news, and he was sure he hadn't smiled so wide since she'd left. He quickly wrote a reply, not much longer than hers. He simply told her he was glad she'd found them and to be safe. He knew this meant he would be seeing her again soon, and his heart soared.

Harry was woken by Kreacher calling his name quite loudly. "What is it, Kreacher?" he nearly yelled, frustrated at being woken in the middle of the night by the elf.

"Master Potter has a visitor in the sitting room, sir," the elf said, bowing until his nose touched the ground.

"Who the hell did you let in at this hour?" Harry asked, his head still buried in his pillow. When he received no answer, he lifted his head to see that the elf had vanished. Harry looked to his table and saw it was a quarter to two in the morning. Grunting his annoyance, he dragged himself out of bed, put on his glasses, and threw on a shirt; whoever was calling on him at this hour would just have to deal with him wearing pajamas.

He trudged down the narrow stairs, making much more noise than entirely necessary and nearly losing his balance at least twice. By the time he reached the half-shut door to the sitting room he was fully awake and experiencing more emotions than he thought possible at such an early hour. On his way down the stairs, many possibilities as to who the visitor may be had popped into his head and he had gone from annoyed to anxious (what if it was someone coming to tell him there had been another rogue Death Eater attack?) to angry (thinking about the rogue Death Eaters and everyone who had been injured or killed for him) to frightened (it couldn't be someone come to tell him that something terrible had happened to Hermione in her quest, for it had been nearly two weeks since she'd written). And when, on the last few steps before the landing, his emotions tried to take a turn towards hopeful, he stopped them short. There had been too many times since her departure that he'd let himself become so full of hope that his visitor was her that he couldn't take it not being her again.

But all of his fears and anxieties were settled as he pushed open the door to the sitting room to reveal none other than Hermione Jean Granger standing in front of the fire. She hadn't heard the door open, so she continued to stand looking into the fire, her hands fidgeting behind her back. From his position at the door, Harry had a profile view of her. She looked the same as she always had, hair a little unmanageable but pulled back, face set in concentration as she thought deeply about something as she stared into the fire.

He cleared his throat, not able to coax actual words from his mouth. She immediately turned towards the noise, her face glowing with recognition. They stood and stared at one another for a few seconds before Harry, for the first time in their seven years of friendship, nearly ran towards her and engulfed her in his arms. Her arms went around him in turn, and she hugged him back with equal vigor. It had been a month and a half since they had seen each other, a very long month and a half for both of them.

He breathed in her scent: orange and vanilla with a hint of something new, it was what Harry imagined the Sun smelled like. No matter what it was, he liked it. They stayed in each other's arms for what seemed like forever and not long enough, but finally parted. Harry noticed that she looked a bit more tan than he remembered, her hair just a touch lighter. She was wearing striped shorts and a t-shirt, and she was looking back at him with an expression that he assumed mirrored his own. He reached forward and pushed a strand of her slightly lighter hair behind her ear. Then she smiled at him; it was a sight he'd sorely missed, and he could barely remember a time she'd smiled so widely at him. It made his own face split in the almost unfamiliar expression; he'd smiled so little while she was gone, he now realized. And then they were back in one another's arms again.

"Oh, Harry. I've missed you so much," Hermione breathed, her warm breath tickling his neck.

He tried to suppress a shiver as he replied, "You've no idea."

She let out a watery laugh and sniffled. "I think I might. But no matter," she said, pulling away again but keeping him at arms length. "I'm sorry for coming so late, or rather early. I was just so excited to get back that I didn't even consider the time change; as soon as I was ready I came straight here."

"Don't be silly, I'm glad you came straight here. I've been driving everyone mad while you've been gone, especially since I hadn't really heard from you the last two weeks," he said, wiping the tear tracks from her face.

"Oh, I know, and I'm so sorry, Harry! These last few weeks just got so crazy trying to figure out everything with my parents and plan coming home. I felt so bad about not keeping you updated." She was clearly distressed.

"Hey. Hey, it's ok. I know it must've been hard finding them and explaining everything. Look, why don't we get some tea and you can tell me all about it, ok?"

She nodded mutely, a small smile on her lips. Harry called Kreacher and asked for tea to be made, and he and Hermione sat on the couch in front of the fireplace. Harry started a fire even though it wasn't really cold, and Kreacher returned with a tray of tea and biscuits.

"So," Harry said once they'd gotten comfortable, "start from the beginning."

"Well," she started, sucking in a large breath, "as you know I arrived in the wizard town of Henderton near Sydney. I used the money you insisted I take to get a room at the local pub. After I'd gotten all of my things settled, I set out for Sydney and the library." At this, Harry rolled his eyes in a very loving "of course" manner. "Well, I didn't find any record of them in Sydney. When I asked the librarian, she said I'd need to go to the library in Canberra, the capital, for full records of everyone. So, even though Canberra isn't all that far from Sydney, I decided to wait until the next day to go because I'd have to travel the muggle way since I didn't know my way around."

She paused to take a sip of her tea before continuing, "The next day, I found them listed as living in Albury, which is pretty near to Canberra. Well, after spending nearly a week in Albury searching high and low for them, I found out that they hadn't lived in Albury at all. There was an error in the registry; they actually live in Albany, which is clear across the country. It took me two days to get there since the only way was by car. It's absolutely beautiful, driving through areas where there's nothing at all but open plain and troops of kangaroo and other animals. Oh, and the sunset's the most gorgeous thing you could ever see. And…"

As she went off on a tangent, Harry mostly –though inadvertently –tuned out what she was saying. Instead, he sat admiring her: her soft, slightly lighter curls, her smooth skin, the way her little pink lips moved over her straight and perfectly normal-sized teeth. Every once and a while he would catch a word or two: "freshest air" and "lovely people." But Harry's attention was immediately refocused on her when he heard her say, "And we just have to go."

"What?" he asked, hoping she didn't notice he hadn't been listening very well.

"Oh, I just… I only meant that I think you'd really like it there and that, since I've been, we could go together and I could show you around. But-"

"Hermione," he cut her off before she began ranting again, "That sounds wonderful."

She smiled and let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Seeing the intensity of his eyes on hers, she turned and looked out the window, her cheeks tinged pink. "Oh my goodness, Harry. It's morning already!"

Harry followed her gaze out the window and saw the sun creeping in through the curtains. "Well, it is," he said, returning his eyes to her. She yawned, trying to hide the action behind her hand. "Come on," he laughed, "let's get you to bed; you can finish your story in the morning. When was the last time you slept, anyway?"

"Oh, about-" another yawn, "twenty-four hours ago. I stayed up all night getting ready for today."

"Well, I think we could both use some sleep, then," he said, helping her to her feet while fighting a yawn himself. She nodded in agreement and followed him up the stairs. He led them into his bedroom, and she followed without protest. They sat on either side of the bed and kicked their shoes off before falling back onto the pillows. She scooted closer to him, turning onto her side and curling into him. He wrapped an arm around her and sighed in contentment. They both felt as though something had clicked into place, like they had been off-kilter for the past few weeks. It was a relief to be right once again.

Harry turned his head to tell Hermione good night and perhaps kiss her forehead. Fortunately, he did this at the exact moment Hermione moved to kiss his cheek good night. These actions occurring simultaneously resulted in Hermione planting her lips directly onto Harry's. It took them both a moment to realize what was happening in their sleepy stupor, and they both pulled away, shocked yet reluctant. Too tired to process what had happened and unwilling to break the spell that seemed to have settled over them, Hermione mumbled "good night" before laying her head on his shoulder and promptly falling asleep. Harry followed her into slumber a moment later.

P.S.

It would be wonderful for my health if you all could let me know what you think of this story's progression. Any and all comments are helpful/welcome. ;)