A Problem Before Breakfast
Disclaimer: As I'm not making any money from this, chances are that I don't own the characters
Hermione woke the next morning, not quite sure where she was. Sunlight was shining straight into her eyes. She knew she couldn't be in her hotel room because the windows were on either side of the bed and she closed the blinds when she went to bed. To top it off, she felt a weight on her side. She glanced down to see a man's arm curled around her waist. She knew it couldn't be Mark's, he would never lie that close to her, he had this thing about space. Besides, she had kicked him out already, she knew that much. She cringed to think that she had gotten so drunk the night before that she had given her virginity to some stranger, then remembered.
She had met Harry Potter after two years out of Hogwarts. They had resumed their friendship over breakfast the previous day, gone sight-seeing and shopping, then he had taken her to dinner and dancing at a club. They had a small argument in an alleyway that had been straightened out in his hotel room an hour or so later, resulting in the both of them being in their now current positions.
"Good morning," Harry said sleepily from behind her. She rolled over and snuggled up to him.
"Good morning, yourself. How did you sleep?"
"Better than I ever have in my life. Mmmm, you have something else in mind other than getting up and going to breakfast?" Hermione's hand had found its way to Harry's groin, and was now stroking his already hard length.
"Don't you?" she asked. He chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose.
"I usually wake up this way, Hermione. All guys do. Why?" Hermione kissed him deeply and rolled over onto her back, pulling him with her.
"Does this answer your question, Harry?" She positioned him between her legs. He grinned down at her and pulled away.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I 'really' have to do something before I can even think of making love to you again." He got up off the bed and headed to the door.
"And what is that, if I may ask?" she said as he left the room. Her answer came a few seconds later when she heard the bathroom door close and the toilet flush not long after that. She chuckled and got out of the bed herself. She started gathering up her clothes, stopping short when she saw a ragged piece of paper sticking out from under the bed. She drew it out and turned it over, gasping when she saw what it was. Her image smiled back at her, then turned to say something to the torn edge and laugh. An arm came over her shoulder and she started making fish faces.
It was the other half of the picture! Harry had kept it all this time? She jumped as he put his arms around her from behind.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Did you change your mind about breakfast?" She nodded silently, too moved to be able to speak. "What's that you have?" he asked looking over her shoulder. "Oh," he added when he saw what it was.
"Harry, you kept this?" she asked, turning in his arms, tears standing in her eyes. Harry backed away, his hands up in defense.
"Don't be mad at me, please. I kept it because I wanted to have one final picture of you from before all the trouble started. I couldn't bear to throw it away when I loved you so much. I thought that I had lost you forever and just wanted a reminder of how beautiful you were... and are." She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. Harry smiled at her response.
"I'm not mad, Harry. I'm touched that you cared that much to want to keep a picture of me even though we had ended our friendship."
"I just wish I knew what happened to the other half," he said, taking the photo from her when she dropped her arms. Hermione grinned and pulled her clothes on hurriedly, running out the door, through the sitting room and out to the hallway before he could ask what she was doing.
He stood there a few minutes in confusion, then dressed and was about to return the picture to his bag and follow her when she returned, her hands behind her back. She smiled sheepishly at him before moving them out to he front, something held in her hands which she turned around as she crossed the room to him. She lined up the edges and Harry saw how the picture's two halves became one. He smiled widely as he now saw his picture joined with hers and laughed at the faces he had been making.
"I saved the other half for the same reason," she whispered. Harry picked up his wand from the bedside table.
"Reparo," he said, and the torn edges of the photograph melted away as if they had never been there at all. He lay the picture down on a chair and turned back to Hermione.
"Thank you. I've been feeling as if a piece of me was missing with the other half of that photo being gone. I didn't think that you would have saved it since I hurt you so badly that day." Hermione held up her hand.
"Starting here and now, neither one of us is ever going to mention that day again. It's in the past and it's going to stay there. Agreed?" She held the hand out to Harry, and he shook it.
"Agreed. But I have a request to make, too." She raised one eyebrow in question. "Remind me to thank Ron and Luna in setting this up the next time I see them." Hermione's other brow joined the first. "Come on, Hermione. And I thought that 'I' was dense. Just kidding!" he held up his hands in defense as she moved to take a swing at him, then wrapped one arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. "You said Ron and Luna suggested that you come here with Mark, right?" Hermione nodded. "And I told you that they had done the same for me and Susan?" Another nod, and a look of comprehension showed on her face.
"Ohmygod!" Hermione said very quickly. "They were trying to get us together from the start!"
"Well, they succeeded, didn't they? I finally admitted to you that I have loved you for at least the last two and a half years, possibly longer, and you told me you felt the same way." He curled his other arm around her and kissed the tip of her nose. "They knew how we felt about each other and wanted us to have the chance to act on those feelings. I think I'm going to send Ron and Luna a 'huge' thank you gift. Maybe I'll name my first child after one of them," he joked.
Hermione's expression became one of shock, then worry.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"We didn't use anything last night, Harry," she whispered. He released her and sat down heavily on the bed, realizing what this might mean. He looked at the floor for a second, then up at her.
"Do you really think you might be?" Hermione thought for a second, then sat in a chair across from him.
"I don't know. I've been irregular for the last year, and I never know when I'm going to get it, so we'll just have to wait to find out."
"Isn't there a charm or spell that we could do?" Hermione chuckled ruefully.
"If there is, I wouldn't have had reason to know about it until now, and do you really want to go into a bookstore and ask the salesperson about pregnancy detection spells?" Harry's green eyes widened in horror and he whipped his head back and forth in the negative.
"The last thing that either one of us needs is the press that would generate from that bit of information. I can see the headlines on the Prophet now, 'Boy-Who-Lived Knocks Up School Friend'." He dropped his head into his hands, his elbows on his knees. "What are we going to do?" he whispered. To his surprise, Hermione laughed. He raised his eyes to her. "What could possibly be funny about this?"
"Well first of all, we don't know that I 'am' pregnant yet, and second, the headline would have to read, 'Man-Who-Destroyed-The-Dark-Lord Knocks Up Girlfriend', wouldn't it?" Harry sat up straight, now seeing the humorous part. But all too quickly, his expression darkened with worry again.
"Harry," said Hermione, moving to sit next to him, "We don't know anything yet, please don't be so upset." He turned to her, disbelief on his face.
"Don't be upset? Hermione, I may have gotten you pregnant on our first time together. We just found out that we both had the same feelings for each other all this time, and after acting on that, irresponsibly I might add, you may now be carrying my baby! I just finally got away from the media butting into my life, and now there may be a reason for them to 'never' leave me alone again!" He jumped off the bed and stormed out into the other room.
Hermione sat there in shock for a minute before anger seeped in. She followed Harry, finding him pacing the sitting room floor, unintentionally using magic to move objects from one place to another in rapid succession. She put her hands on her hips as she watched him, the rage that she was feeling building.
"You have a lot of nerve, Harry James Potter!" her outburst brought him to a halt. He turned to face her, the items that had been in the process of returning to their original positions dropped to the floor, several of them shattering. Hermione ignored it, but Harry looked around himself, surprised that he seemed to have lost control of his abilities for the first time since he had blown up his aunt just before third year. She crossed the room to him and turned his face back to her, holding his jaw in place to keep his attention. "You're just worried about how a baby would affect 'you'! Don't you care anything of the way 'I' would be dealing with it?"
Harry gently pulled out of her grip. "As a matter of fact, I do. I was just thinking that if you 'are' pregnant, you wouldn't want to marry me as you are strong enough to raise it on your own, and even though I wouldn't let you do that, I know that I'm not worthy of being anyone's father if the first thing I think of is the Prophet turning my becoming a parent into a chaotic mess. One that you don't need, the baby would have to live with for the entirety of its life, and I worked so hard to protect the both of us from in the first place."
Hermione's face softened when she realized that he had her best interests at heart and opened her mouth to answer him, but was cut off by a tapping on the window. The two of them turned toward it, seeing Pigwidgeon, Ron's tiny fluffball of an owl, fluttering madly on the outside sill. Harry hurried to open the window.
The little bird zoomed around his head for a few seconds, making Hermione laugh at the sight, before Harry reached up and caught it as he would a Snitch. He pulled the notes that were around the owl's leg off and released it to zoom around the ceiling, hooting ecstatically about having completed his delivery. Hermione watched Pig's path, stopping only when Harry cleared his throat. She looked at him, and took the letter he'd been holding out to her.
"And I don't know if you are ready to have anyone's baby yet, much less mine," he added as he opened the note addressed to him, "So unless you tell me, I can only guess." He read what Ron had written quickly, and smiled to himself. Ron already seemed to know that Harry had met up with Hermione as he mentioned her quite a bit in his note. An idea popped into his head and he hurried to the desk across the room, rifling through the drawer for a quill and ink to write a return letter. He found them and scribbled his note, rolled it up and sealed it, then without looking up, he snatched Pig out of the air less than two feet away from him. He tied the note to the owl's leg and let it go. Pig sank slightly from the weight, but shot out the window like a bullet, hooting shrilly in happiness of having another job to do.
"What was that about?" Hermione asked. Harry smiled reasuringly at her before answering.
"I asked Ron and Luna if they know any pregnancy detection spells, and I swore them to secrecy under penalty of death if they spill the beans," he said. "Don't worry, Hermione. They won't tell anyone." Hermione nodded uncertainly. Harry headed back over to the window to close it, stepping on broken glass the whole way. "In the meantime, I should fix this before housekeeping comes in and reports it to the front desk." He pulled his wand from the back of his shorts and waved it, casting 'Reparo' upon everything that he had broken. Hermione sat down to read her own letter, dodging a vase as it flew by her head.
She glanced at Harry when she had finished, he was standing by the radio, tuning in one of the Muggle stations that the island was capable of picking up. It dawned on her at that moment that she had missed her favorite show the night before and she blushed, remembering what the reason for that had been. He chose a station and turning around, noticed the tinge of pink in her cheeks. She ducked her head bashfully, smiling a little.
"What?" Harry asked. Hermione shook her head, afraid that if she spoke, she'd start giggling about it, and she didn't think that losing her virginity to the man she loved was the least bit funny. He stared at her, wondering why she wouldn't tell him, then it came to him. She had said that she never missed something the night before. Harry grinned widely and headed over to squat in front of her. She met his eyes, and saw his self satisfied smile. "You missed your program." She blushed again and nodded, dropping her chin to her chest, covering her face in embarrassment. Harry lifted her chin with one finger.
"Why does that embarrass you, Love?" Her eyes widened in astonishment, she pulled back from him. "You don't like me calling you that?" he asked, not sure whether to be offended, or to just find another endearment to describe her. She mouthed the word 'no', unable to find her voice due to the tears that were choking her. She sniffled and cleared her throat as the first slipped past her lashes and down her cheeks.
"Mark never called me anything like that. I'm thrilled that you would think of me that way."
"I'm in love with you, 'Mione," he said, rising to his feet and retrieving a tissue from the coffee table for her. "To me, it's the most natural thing to call you." She stared at him.
"I like that," she said simply, leaving him wondering if she was talking about him being in love with her or him calling her 'Love'. She took the tissue he offered her and clarified, "I like you calling me 'Mione. It sounds beautiful." There was another tap on the window, Harry turned to it, his mouth falling open in disbelief. Hermione followed his gaze, blinking rapidly to be sure of what she was seeing. There was Pig, another note tied to his little leg. She jumped up to let the owl into the room.
"It's not possible. That owl could 'not' have flown to the Burrow, waited for a response, and then come back in under a half hour." Nevertheless, here was Pig, and it certainly was a response that Hermione pulled off him. She read through the letter, turning red as she did.
Harry and Hermione (We had a 'feeling' you would find each other. Ha Ha),
Blimey, you two don't waste any time, do you? As you've probably guessed, we set you guys up. We got tired of hearing that neither one of you wanted to hear about how the other was doing, and seeing the pain and longing on your faces at the very mention of the other's name. Come on, the both of you! 'We' knew, personally from you that you guys were in love, we just don't know why you couldn't admit it to yourselves until it was too late, so we helped. You could do much better than Susan, Harry,... and Hermione, Mark didn't deserve you, either. (Maybe we should do a bit of matchmaking for 'them'?) But, getting to the subject that you asked about, Harry. Yes, there are spells that can detect pregnancies, almost as soon as they start, to tell the truth. I'm guessing that you guys have something to worry about right now if you are asking. (wink, wink) Anyway, Luna's thumping me on the shoulder for that bit there, so I'll just get on with it. The incantation is 'Detegere Gravidus'. There isn't much wand movement, just a tap on your stomach, Hermione. If a bright red glow appears at the end of your wand after about a minute, you 'are' pregnant, and of course if nothing happens, then you're not. Hope you get the answer that you want. Let us know at dinner tonight. Oh, yeah, by the way, we decided to take a little holiday for the weekend and guess what? We're on the same island as the two of you. Bet you were wondering how Pig got back so quick, weren't you? Well, we'll let you go so that you can do the spell, just remember that if it's negative and that's what you want it to be, next time use a contraceptive charm or potion, for Merlin's sake!
Love,
Ron and Luna
By the time she got to the end of the letter, Hermione was so red that Harry was starting to think that she had been getting a sunburn right before his eyes. She looked up, and handed the parchment over to him. He scanned it, blushing just as much as her, and heaved a sigh of relief when he found how simple and quick the spell would be.
"We were right," Hermione said from across the room. Harry turned to see her by the radio, switching the station.
"We were right about what?"
"They set us up. It even says so at the start." She was extremely nervous. She was very close to finding out if she was going to have Harry Potter's baby and she didn't know how she should feel. Harry sensed this and moved to her side.
"Don't worry until there's something to worry about, Love. Come on, sit down before you fall down."
He steered her to the nearest chair, which she sank into gratefully. He knelt before her and pulled his wand from his waistband. She stiffened now that they were about to find out if there 'was' something to worry about, but leaned back so he could do the spell. He said the incantation and tapped her stomach lightly, then they waited. Hermione closed her eyes. She felt that time was passing more and more slowly, and she started when Harry let out a deep breath. She looked down at his wand, noting there was nothing to see. She glanced at him. He was shaking and sweating heavily.
"Harry?"
"I don't know whether to be happy or disappointed," he said, not looking at her. He stood up and moved to the desk to write a short reply to Ron and Luna and sent it with Pig at the window a minute later. He stood there, his back to her, staring after the owl until it could no longer be seen. He turned back to her, and she searched his face. He seemed to actually be torn between his feelings. She stood up and moved over to him.
"Harry, do you want to talk about it?" He nodded, sitting on the sofa. She lowered herself next to him as he began to tell her what he was feeling.
"I know that my parents loved me, but as I can hardly remember them, I've never really known what it's like for someone to love me unconditionally. Except for Sirius, that is, and he's gone. While we were waiting for the results, I found myself thinking that maybe this would be my chance to find out how that feels. I know, after all the noise I made about the press finding out and my family not having any privacy until the day I die, how could I be upset about you 'not' being pregnant? To tell the truth, I don't know, myself."
"Harry, I understand, believe it or not. I want the same thing in my life. Someone to love me unconditionally and for me to love the same way. But, Harry, right now isn't the best time. Do you really want to get together with me and be forced to marry me right off because of a baby? There are things that we don't know about each other now. We've been apart for two years and have to get to know each other all over again." Harry smirked. "All right, I know that we skipped a little ahead last night, but I'd wanted that to happen since I realized I loved you," Hermione went on.
"You mean to tell me that you 'would' have married me?" He smiled as she huffed at him. "I get what you mean, and you're right. I'm only twenty years old. I have plenty of time to start a family. Right now, I want to get started on getting to know my girlfriend again." He kissed the tip of her nose and helped her to her feet.
"Over lunch as it's going on noon." Hermione laughed.
"Deal. And let's invite Ron and Luna as well."
"Already done. That was what I sent off with Pig." She stood on her toes and kissed him deeply.
"Then we'd better get going if we want to get to the restaurant before they do."