Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

I never wanted to say goodbye
You never wanted to see me cry
Now I'm afraid to open my eyes
Are you gone, gone, gone?

Kina Grannis - Gone

When Hermione opened her eyes, she noticed that the rays of sun were already shinning all over the guest room. She stretched her back, only wearing her underwear. She had obviously taken care of magically locking the door of her room before going to sleep, not wanting to be discovered into such an outfit by Harry in the morning.

Not hearing any sign of life from the other side of the door, she decided to take a good shower before leaving the guest room. Harry and Ginny had thought about everything when they had bought this place: the two guest rooms had their own bathroom. When she finished, she dried her hair with her wand and put her dress on.

Surprisingly enough, when she opened the door, she heard James' laugh coming from the living room. A second later, she saw the most beautiful thing: Harry was playing with his son, making him jump in the air before catching him right away. James was more than happy, and Hermione couldn't help but smile at this sight.

"Good morning, boys," she eventually said, and Harry turned around to look at her.

"Oh, Hermione, hi. Did you sleep well?," he asked, James still into his arms.

"Yes, it was perfect. But I didn't hear you two playing when I was in the guest room, so I overslept..."

"I put a silencing charm on your door," Harry explained with a smile. "I thought that you didn't want to be woken up by this little guy," he continued before putting a kiss on James' forehead.

"Well, it wouldn't have been a problem. Can I...?," she asked, her arms outstretched to take James into her arms.

"Sure."

When Hermione took the little boy into her arms, she looked at him with an undecipherable expression all over her face.

"Hi, Jamie. Do you remember about your aunt Hermione?," she asked while gently caressing his back.

The little boy stared at her, his green eyes focused on Hermione's brown ones. But, soon enough, he started to smile at her, and Hermione smiled back before kissing his right cheek.

"You've changed so much," she sighed. "I remember when you were still a little baby, six months ago. And look at you now, you're the most handsome baby that I've ever seen."

"Not that you've seen a lot of babies in your life," Harry noticed with a laugh while putting James' toys back into a box.

"Don't listen to your father, Jamie, he's a killjoy," she whispered to his ear, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Hermione thought for a second that it was far from the kind of holidays that she had thought about when she had left Hogwarts, two days ago. She had expected to read a lot, to take her time to think about her project to open a bookshop... And here she was, at Harry's house, playing with his son.

"What are you thinking about?," Harry's voice got her out of her torpor.

"Oh, nothing important. Did James already eat?," she asked when she heard his tummy making some funny sounds.

"No... Just wait for me here, I'm going to prepare something for breakfast."

Hermione nodded, and decided to take a sit. She installed James onto her lap, and took what seemed to be his wubby into her hands. It was a soft toy representing a dog, and James didn't take long before taking it in his arms. Five minutes later, Harry found them into this position, and he couldn't help but smile while walking toward them.

"He seems to like you," the green-eyed wizard noticed before giving his feeding-bottle to James.

"Well... Babies love everyone, I guess."

"Don't be so sure about that. James, for example, is not so fond of his uncle Ron."

"Really? I thought that it would be the contrary to be honest. Ron is always the funny one..."

"He doesn't pay too much attention to him when we go to the Burrow," Harry explained. "Ron is... well..."

"Childish?," Hermione tried with a sad smile when she noticed that Harry was looking for the right word.

He looked up at her and slowly nodded.

"In a way," Harry simply said before staring at James once again. He knew that, even after all this time, Hermione was still reluctant to talk about Ron. They had been together right after the War, and after two years together, they had decided to spit, mostly because Hermione wanted to teach at Hogwarts and that Ron didn't want her to leave.

"You don't have to feel embarrassed, Harry," Hermione sighed when she saw that he was avoiding her. "This story is over since a long time. It's been seven years now, and Ron and I are in good terms, don't doubt it. I know that we didn't have the opportunity to spend some time just the three of us, but now that I'm back from Hogwarts, I hope to see you two more often," she concluded with a smile while helping James to drink from his feeding-bottle.

"How did you do it?," Harry continued, relieved to know that his two best friends weren't in bad terms.

"I'm sorry?"

"About Ron, I mean... How did you do to find a way to forgive him?"

Hermione didn't look at him right away, as if she was thinking about what answer she could give him. She understood that Harry was asking her this question because he wanted to find a way to forgive Ginny after her departure. But she also knew that, despite the fact that both of them were Weasleys, the two situations were slightly different.

"Well... It just happened," she eventually answered. "One day, I realised that, maybe, he wasn't the selfish person in our relationship, and that we both made mistakes. I was the one who left him, if you remember."

"But he said things that he shouldn't have said," Harry added, frowning.

"I know," Hermione sighed, thinking about this day, seven years ago, when Ron had asked her to leave their flat. "But we were young, and... our friendship was more important than our love for each other, I guess. I thought about this during years, Harry, and I realised that you can't stay mad at someone for so long when you went through so much together. We are not best friends or lovers like we used to be, sure, but we still care for each other, and that's the most important thing here."

"I don't know if I can be as wise as you are when it comes to Ginny," Harry admitted while running a hand into his short hair.

"She's your wife," Hermione reminded him. "She's James' mother. I know that it's hard for now, Harry, but I'm sure that you'll find a way to pick up the pieces."

"But how?," he insisted.

"I don't know," Hermione conceded, knowing that it would be hard for Harry to find a way to forgive his wife. "But James needs a family..."

"Yes, James needs a family, and yet, she decided to leave. To be honest, I don't even think that we can save this family any more."

Hermione shook her head and put James' empty feeding-bottle back onto the coffee table. "You are saying this because you're angry, and I can understand it, Harry. But I know that you're not this kind of person; I know that you'll do anything in your power to give James the family that he needs more than anything else. Until then, you can count on me, whenever you need my help."

XxX

They decided not to talk about it the rest of the day. They prepared breakfast for two together, and Hermione gave some of her favourite recipes to Harry. James was more than happy to have someone new to play with, and around 4 o'clock, Hermione decided that it was time for her to leave.

"I think that you two have things to do," she said before kissing James' forehead. "But I'll be glad to come back this weekend, if you don't have anything scheduled."

"You're more than welcome here, Hermione. I think that James and I are going to go to the Burrow in a few minutes," Harry said while looking at the clock. "I have some things to talk about to Molly, actually..."

"Don't be too hard on her, especially in front of James...," she warned him before kissing him on the cheek. "It wasn't her decision in the first place."

"I know... But I guess that she's the only one who can talk to me about Ginny's motives. Moreover, I need to ask her if she can take care of James for a few hours tomorrow. She's still his grandmother after all."

"Alright. Well, if you need anything, you've got my number," she said for the umpteenth time before opening the entrance door.

"I know," Harry repeated with a smile. "Goodbye, Hermione."

With a last smile, she Disappeared, leaving Harry and James on the doorstep.

XxX

The Burrow was calm at this time of the day. Molly had just prepared her favourite tea, and she served herself a cup before heading to the living room. The house was silent, and she shook her head out of despair. She remembered these years when this house was full of laugh, full of children cries... These days were gone forever now, and she was most of the time alone with Arthur, when he wasn't working, of course. Oh, she had the opportunity to see her grandchildren from time to time, but it wasn't the same. They were, for most of them, living abroad, and despite the fact that they had installed an International Floo in the living room few years ago, they had their lives to live and she could just see them once or twice a month.

James was the only exception, she thought with a sad smile while sitting into her favourite armchair, taking care not to split her beverage onto her knees. James was her last grandchild, and she loved him very much. He was a funny little boy, always happy and ready to play. He had a good temper, and was always more than pleased to visit his grandparents. Molly's expression darkened when she thought about what would happen now that Ginny was gone. She had thought that Harry would have came at the Burrow the previous day right after Ginny's letter, but he hadn't, to her great despair. She had so much things to say to him, and she wondered if it would be a good idea to write him a letter herself.

Just when this idea came into her mind, she heard a knock at the door. Frowning, she put her cup of tea back onto the table and hurried to the entrance door. Arthur wasn't supposed to be here at this time of the day, and, moreover, his golden hand on the clock was still on "work".

The door made its characteristic sound when she opened it, and she didn't move immediately when she met Harry's green eyes.

"Harry, my boy...," she whispered, her eyes going to James who was into his father's arms, his head rested on his shoulder. "Please, come in."

Her son-in-law entered into the house without a word, and Molly took a deep breath. Harry had every right to be angry, she knew it. But she just wanted to have the opportunity to explain herself about her daughter's departure.

"Is James hungry?," she asked, not waiting for his answer to go into the kitchen.

"No, it's fine Molly, otherwise he will not eat tonight."

The old woman nodded and followed them into the living room. Harry put James into the playpen that Arthur had made for him months ago, and accepted the cup of tea that Molly was handing him.

"Is Ginny here?," Harry asked even if he knew perfectly well that she had left the previous day.

"No, she's already gone," Molly answered in a sigh. "Harry, you have to know that I knew nothing about my daughter's plans until last week when she came at the Burrow to warn me about her plans, otherwise I would have tried to reason with her."

Harry looked straight at her, as if he was trying to understand if she was saying the truth or not. Molly went on.

"I swear to you... You know that I'm close to my family, Harry, and I am so proud to know that you're a part of it. I tried to make her understand how lucky she was to have you two in her life, but... she didn't want to listen to me. I don't want you to think that I push her into this direction, I've never–"

"I know," Harry interrupted her. "But what did she say to you? Why did... I don't get it, Molly, everything seems to be so crazy, so sudden..."

"She said that she wanted to achieve her dream," Molly muttered. "She was happy with both of you, I'm sure of it, but, inwardly, I guess that she wanted something different. Quidditch has always been her passion, Harry."

"Quidditch, or just being a celebrity?," Harry asked with irony. "All that I wanted was to have the opportunity to talk to her, Molly, that's all. She took this decision alone, and that's something that I can't accept so easily. She left her son for a year, for heaven's sake."

"She didn't know it in the first place," Molly tried to calm him down. "She thought that she could come home every weekend, but then the manager told her that it wouldn't be possible, given the fact that it's an intensive training because of her age."

"She knew it, we all know it," Harry cut her off. "She's fond of Quidditch since she's a kid, she can't say that she didn't know about it."

"Please, Harry... I realise that it's hard for you, but don't blame her too much... She's young, and she did a mistake, but..."

"We've got a kid together, Molly. I can't act like nothing happened. I'm not saying that I'm going to be angry at her for weeks, but for now, I can't forgive her, no matter how hard I try."

"And I totally understand... I'm glad that you came here with James, it means everything to me."

Harry nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on his son.

"I don't plan to forbid you to see him, don't be afraid about it. You're the only grandmother that James has left, after all."

Molly smiled, visibly relieved by Harry's decision.

"I'll do my best to help you during this year, Harry. You are like a son to me, don't ever doubt that. If you need anything, I'm here."

"Actually, I was wondering if you could keep an eye on him tomorrow afternoon. I need to work and..."

"No problem at all, my dear," Molly said swiftly. I'll be more than happy to spend the afternoon with this little boy," she ran her hand into James' hair.

"Thank you. I'll be here around two o'clock if you don't mind."

"It's perfect. You can even leave him with me for lunch if it's better for you."

Harry seemed to think about it, and eventually, he nodded.

"Perfect then. I'll drop him by around midday."

When Harry left the Burrow that day, he hurried to his house to give a bath to his son. After an hour spent in the warm water playing with a bunch of toys, the Auror prepared their dinner, and, truth to be told, he liked to spend moments like these ones with James. James was always cheerful, and they were doing a good team together.

But when he put James into his crib and closed the door behind him, Harry couldn't help but feel terribly alone. The living room seemed to be enormous with no one to share it, and he had the impression to see Ginny everywhere: in the kitchen, on the sofa next to him...

He had spent years in this house with the woman that he thought was meant for him. Ginny had always been here for him, and, above all, she had given him an amazing son. But the more he thought about it, the harder it was to understand her reasons to leave without talking about it with him first. Of course, he had been abroad during two months, but two months were definitely not enough to conclude a Quidditch contract, especially given the fact that Ginny was not a professionnal player yet. She had obviously thought about it during a long time in Harry's back.

But Harry needed to focus on his son, on James. Did he really need to quit his job, like Hermione had told him the day prior? It was a possibility. Truth to be told, it was even the best solution right now. He knew that he couldn't be really focused on his job while knowing that James wasn't with at least one of his parents. Harry sighed while running his hand in his brown hair. He would talk about it with Kingsley during his meeting tomorrow.

Harry didn't even realise that he had taken the phone into his right hand and that he had dial a number without even noticing it. When he heard a feminine voice on the phone, he just smiled.

"Hermione? I'm sorry to disturb you at this time of the evening, but are you available tomorrow for lunch?"

To make things clear here: Harry didn't call Hermione because he wanted to replace Ginny. It's just that he's alone and Hermione is the only person he can talk right now, all of his other relatives being Weasleys, mostly. I hope that the lack of romance at the beginning of this story is not a problem for you, but I want to take things slow.

Thank you for following this story, you are all amazing! I'm leaving for a long weekend tomorrow morning, so I don't have time to answer to your reviews for last chapter tonight, but I'll do it in the train tomorrow morning.

Until then, have a nice day, and let me know what you think. :)