A/N: There isn't as much dialogue in this chapter, compared to the others, mainly description based to get the story moving along. Another huge thank you to everyone keeping up with the story, thank you for adding me to your favourites, signing up for the story alerts, and especially for taking the time review, your support of the story and of me is greatly appreciated.

and now to the story, Enjoy...

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the plot...

~ Chapter 4: A Rebuilt Friendship can be Confusing ~

Harry's first night with Hermione wasn't as eventful as he had anticipated; he had hoped to have carried on talking, learn more about her new life, her new friends. But she merely made-up the bed for him, went up to (what he presumed to be) her room, and didn't emerge till the next morning. While Hermione had been making her spare room comfortable, Harry had a chance to take in his surroundings; the place was only small, but it was comfortable, books filled every available surface - Harry smiled, only Hermione could have too many books to fill a bookshop. The main living space was open plan; kitchen, dining and living all merged into one and the high ceiling going up to open rafters creating an light and airy atmosphere. To the side of the main living area were two rooms, a snug double room, that would serve as Harry's bedroom for the duration of this space, and a decent sized bathroom for such a small place - a large, free-standing roll-top bath was the centre-piece of the room, he remembered how Hermione used to spend hours bathing after a particularly stressful day of lessons. Above the two rooms was another level, which he assumed to be Hermione's bedroom: it spread the length of flat and had a small balcony running along the side, the stairs coming down by the front door.

Harry spent most of the night thinking of how he could break the ice that had settled between them over the years, he just didn't understand how two people who were once so close, now had barely two words to say to each other – surely they couldn't have turned into complete strangers, no matter how many years had passed, he could never imagine Hermione and himself becoming so far apart that they had nothing to say, it just didn't feel right.

Harry lay there pondering this, trying to come up with something, until he finally drifted off onto a deep sleep, blissfully unaware of the surrounding goings-on, happening in the room above.

Hermione had the worst nights sleep of her life. Firstly, Crookshanks decided that the mirror wasn't nearly cracked enough for his liking, and spent most of night banging things against it: anything he could find, from his toys, to random objects he stole from Hermione's nightstand. He eventually managed to crack the glass from top to bottom, but continued his endeavour, only stopping when he managed to shatter a good sized section from the bottom corner – which only earned himself a pillow, unceremoniously thrown with great force by Hermione, which landed on his head and effectively ended his glorified mood, and willingness to continue.

For those brief half hours of respite that Crookshanks took, Hermione managed to snatch a brief snooze, but it wasn't until Crookshanks called it a night that she managed to fall into a more lasting sleep. But Hermione was not blessed with an easy slumber, instead it was made restless by continuing dreams, revisiting all the painful memories she had long ago shut out, but that had come back to the surface, thanks to Harry's unexpected reappearance in her life.

The next day passed in somewhat of a blur for Hermione; she had left Harry early in the morning, to go open up her store – she presumed he was still sleeping in the spare room, and left him a note telling to make himself at home.

The day passed the same as any other normal day, and while she was fairly busy, as was usual for the holiday season, she was still aware that she hadn't seen Harry once throughout the whole day. When closing time had finally arrived, and the place was cleaned, stocked and ready for the morning, Hermione trudged back up to her apartment, thinking longingly of a hot bubble bath to soak her aching muscles.

When she reached her kitchen she was met with a surprise, welcome or not was yet to be decided.

"Erm, what are you doing?" Hermione didn't mean to snap, but the words came out a little sharper than she intended, causing Harry to jump.

"Don't get mad, but I just wanted to do something as a thank you for letting me stay. So I decided to cook you dinner, I know how rushed you can get, and how exhausted you must be, and I'm guessing the last thing you want to do is cook."

He ended his slightly flustered statement with a small shrug and goofy grin. Hermione smiled back, "Thank you. But I feel like taking a bath first, can you keep mine warm for me, you can go ahead with out me."

Harry smiled, "Dinner won't be ready for another half hour, then it'll stay warm however long you want it to, take all the time you need."

Hermione, smiled her thanks and headed to the bathroom, when she opened the door, her eyes widened and she gasped out loud, Harry presumably heard this as his voice travelled form the kitchen "yeah, I thought you might be wanting a bath, I remember you used to always have one after a particularly stressful day of lessons, so I took the liberty of having it ready for when you got home, hope you don't mind?"

"Not at all, thank you" she called back, walking into the candle-lit bathroom, shedding her clothes and stepping into the tub full of bubbles and water at the perfect temperature for her, How did he know, she thought How could he remember after all these years? And why is he trying to suck up? She thought, but Hermione didn't dwell too long on unpleasant suppositions, instead she let the hot water evaporate her stress and anxiety.

Eventually, once all the stress had been washed away, Hermione felt ready to face the evening ahead. After ten years of absence she was unsure of how comfortably they would be able to spend an evening together. The evening wasn't as awkward, or as trying as Hermione had feared: it perhaps started with a tangible degree of awkwardness and reserve, however after a semi-comfortable meal, followed by a bottle of wine, Harry and Hermione were almost able to talk as they once used to. They spent most of night in comfortable conversation; though keeping to general topics and vague reminiscences of early school days, and both consciously avoiding the names of the lost third of their Golden Trio, and other members of the family she was once very much a part of – however much she felt like denying it.

The rest of the week passed in much the same way; as they moved onto the next week their conversation began to flow more easily, and they even began to broach on the subjects they had been strenuously avoiding. Hermione engaged the subject first, quizzing Harry on what he had been doing over the ten years; Harry told how he was now living in Grimmauld Place; with the help of George and Kreacher, the place had become almost unrecognisable to what it used to be, back in the day's of the Order. Upon questioning on the unlikely, and unexpected mention of George's name, Harry proceeded to explain how he and George had become to be each other's shadow. George had remained in his London flat, in Diagon Alley, above the Joke shop, though he spent as much time over at Grimmauld place, as he did there. It seemed that after the war, after the loss of Fred and Ron, they seemed to just naturally fall together: though they could never each replace what the other had lost, they built a solid friendship, and it became increasingly rare to see the one without the other.

Harry soon became a known face in the café, he began to know the locals, and the friends Hermione had made over the years – he became a particular favourite with Betsy within hours. And, at Hermione's request, he helped her keep up her 'Jennifer' façade, without question or complaint – he sometimes accidentally called her Hermione, though he was quite sure his mistakes were never overheard by anyone else but her.

As Harry went into his second week of staying with Hermione, the couple had become as comfortable with each other as they ever were, almost as if they had never spent any time apart. Hermione's thirst for knowledge (as keen as she ever was to know everything she could possibly know) and her want to know all that had happened in her absence, led her to start asking about the other's she used to know so well. They started to discuss Harry and Ginny's relationship, which had rekindled after the final battle, but had started to fall apart not long after Hermione had disappeared. Harry simply blamed the break on a mutual drift; they were high-school sweethearts, and would always be friends, but as the each grew up they grew apart – something so common that Hermione never questioned. What Harry refrained from mentioning was that Hermione's disappearance was the catalyst to the break-up; Harry became obsessed with finding her, and every day that went by without finding her brought him deeper into a despair; Ginny became first angered and jealous that he seemed to care more for Hermione, than for what was right there in front of him, eventually she became resigned to what she felt sure she had always known.

Harry told how the Holyhead Harpies had recruited Ginny not long after the war, and how she was one of their best chasers. How she was now married to another quidditch player, from a rival team, and already had a little toddler with another child on the way.

By the time Harry had been there three weeks, the Hermione he had once known was making her way back through the carefully crafted façade. Her eyes started to sparkle when she laughed, and she laughed more often, her smile almost constantly present; a true happy wide smile now replaced the mask-like serene smile that was more worthy of a Tudor courtier commanded to be happy, than that of a truly care-free young woman.

It was now too easy to fall into the memories of her past, every evening, over dinner a couple of bottles of wine, they would reminisce about their time at Hogwarts, and could even look back at the time they spent on the run with some fond memories…. after all, breaking out of Gringotts on the back of a dragon had been incredibly exhilarating, and rather funny in hindsight, though at the time it was terrifying.

"Hmmmm" Hermione sighed after one such hour of reliving some happy memories of Hogwarts; wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, where she lay the full length of the couch, "I miss those days. Miss them more than anything." She sighed again, bringing a hand to rest behind her head, as she gazed up at the ceiling, before giggling again at the remembrance of her misdemeanours.

Harry was watching here from where he was lounging on the plush rug, by the fireside, stroking the orange fur-ball that was Crookshanks; he took a breath, before asking what he'd been longing to ask again, since the day he had arrived in this tiny little village:

"Hermione, if you miss it so much why don't you come back?" he said desperately, Hermione turned onto her side, propping her elbow on the cushion she had been using for a pillow, resting her head on her had. She looked at him and saw the pain in his eyes, pain he wasn't even trying to disguise, and she realised then that her leaving had affected him more than she had anticipated; this realisation brought a lump to her throat.

"I'm sorry, Harry." She whispered, before swallowing, trying not to let the tears come to hear eyes, "So sorry, but I just needed to get away." Even to her, this excuse sounded pathetic, she pushed on, trying to explain what had been going through here head at the time, desperately wanting him to understand. "It wasn't easy, leaving everyone. But I just didn't feel strong enough to cope, especially surrounded by constant reminders. I needed a clean break. It was hard, possibly the hardest thing I've ever had to do. But I had to do it, for me, to build myself back up again." A few seconds of silence ensued, as Harry took in what she had said, Hermione started to feel the return of discomfort, and immediately became slightly defensive, fearful he was going to ask her to return with him, "And you said you weren't going to try and persuade me-" she started, wanting to remind him of his promise,

"I'm sorry." He interrupted her, "It's just…" Harry tailed off, and sighed, not really knowing what he was trying to say, or how to say it – Crookshanks looked up as Harry unconsciously desisted in his petting, Crookshanks in his turn stretched, and sulked off to find something else to do, completely unnoticed by the pair.

"What Harry?" Hermione asked, the hurt still hadn't gone from his eyes, and she wanted to know what he was thinking, how he truly thought of her, and her rash decision all those years ago.

He sighed again, and continued defeated, "It took me so long to find you, and I don't want to lose you again" he said, without looking up. He didn't dare look at her now; he knew if he did he might say something he wasn't quite ready to say just yet, and god knows, he thought she'd probably run a mile if I did.

Hermione sighed, "You won't lose me again. I promise." She said, without thinking of the consequences of her actions, what had she agreed to? All she wanted was to try and undo some of the pain she had unconsciously caused him in her most selfish action. Harry gave a small smile at her response, still without looking up,

"Besides," Hermione continued, trying to inject some light-heartedness into a conversation that was become too deep and emotional, "you know where I live now" she stated, throwing a cushion at him to get his attention back, in the hope if dispelling his new found melancholy that seemed to be taking over, adding as an afterthought, "and I really don't think I could start a new life all over again, do you have any idea who complicated and exhausting it is?" Harry looked up to see her smirk, followed quickly by a laugh, causing him to laugh in turn.

Harry had barely started to laugh when a huge crash sounded form Hermione's bedroom; the pair turned towards the noise, Harry concerned, but Hermione's face betrayed a hint of annoyance, as she spoke through gritted teeth "I will kill that cat soon." She hissed as she raised herself from the sofa, followed by a curious Harry, and went to her room. Crookshanks was laid at the foot of the bed, a look of triumph in his face, glass littering the floor under the mirror,

Hermione stood in the doorway, taking in the scene of destruction, Harry looking over her shoulder, "Crookshanks!" Hermione yelled, "Half the mirror is gone!" Crookshanks merely looked at her as if to say "point being?" earning a strange growl from Hermione, who seemed about ready to throttle her beloved pet. Harry meanwhile had been taking in the dimensions of the room, "Hermione?" he questioned, "What's behind there?" he asked, signalling the mirror.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the latest update, and the story so far. Thank you for reading, the next few chapters need a lot of editing to make them fit for posting, so it may be a couple of days before the next set of updates, but I will get them ready asap :)

Thank's for reading, and please review :) I've loved every review I've gotten so far (and I will respond to them all before my next update), and I can't wait to hear what you think of this one :)

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