Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

"And I know my life is better

Because you're a part of it

I know without you by my side

That I would be different

Thank you for all of your trust

Thank you for not giving up

Thank you for holding my hand

I've always known where you stand"

Jason Mraz - Best Friend

A kiss behind her ear; another one on her neck. Two kisses were enough to wake Hermione up that day. With a smile, she stretched lazily, her eyes still close and her right hand clenched around the sheet to cover her breast.

"I don't want to leave the bed...," she mumbled before burying her head in the pillow.

Actually, it wasn't the fact to leave the bed that disturbed her: it was the fact to open her eyes to see that everything that had happened the previous night was real. She was disturbed, but it wasn't the kind of embarrassment that she had thought she would feel a few weeks ago: she was just overwhelmed by too much happiness, too many good feelings that it was even hard to deal with all of them at the same time.

"You have too," Harry muttered against her skin after having bitten her soft skin. "Trust me, if I had to decide, we would stay here for a lifetime..."

"You can decide," Hermione retorted, opening her eyes at the same time. She encountered Harry's green gaze and realised that yes, it had happened, and no, none of them were wracked by remorse, or worse, unhappy by what they had shared the previous night.

After their passionate lovemaking in the entrance corridor, they had moved to her bedroom, both of them desperately wanting to make the other one feel how important he was, how necessary he was.

Hermione felt sore now that everything was over, but she didn't mind. It was a wonderful, an incredible feeling, and she wanted to enjoy every part of it.

"I want to decide, but you know that I cannot. It's Sunday...," Harry trailed off, and Hermione eventually came down to Earth.

"Oh," she breathed out, realising that James was supposed to come back home today.

"She said that she would come around six in the afternoon, just before leaving for her training," Harry explained, gazing deeply at the woman into his arms as if he wanted to read into her mind.

Hermione nodded, and her hair brushed against Harry's chest.

"Alright," she simply said back, noticing that Harry didn't use the name of his wife.

Wife. She shivered at the thought, and swallowed hard to make her lump in her throat disappear. Ginny was still Harry's wife – technically, she was, there was no need to deny it. Hermione was old enough to say it without feeling too sad about it; both of them had lived their lives before being in the same bed, and, to be honest, she had even been happy when Harry had married Ginny back then. She remembered the smile that she had had during all the wedding, and even afterward when she had visited them from time to time. They had seemed to be happy, really happy together, and even after James' birth, no matter what Harry had said about Ginny's feelings at the birth of her first son.

When Hermione had spent Christmas with them, she had seen a perfect family, a man always looking after his wife and his son, and she had prayed to have the same one day. Yes, one day, she had said to herself, she would have a man like Harry to take care of her, someone to come home to, and they would have a child – maybe a girl? – together.

Had she thought about having a step son instead of her own offspring one day? Not in the slightest. Even if she knew that it was premature to think about such a thing, she also knew that it was a possibility; a small one, but still a possibility.

Feeling Harry's insistent gaze upon her, Hermione looked up and smiled.

"What are you thinking about?," he suddenly asked, caressing her arm without even realising it.

"Nothing in particular," she began, her voice low and lazy. "But, among other things, I realise how happy I am right now with you by my side."

"I've always been by your side," Harry corrected.

"It wasn't the same back then," Hermione shook her head at the same time. "We were friends, and this...," she explained, pressing the last word before taking a little break, "this is different. I've never thought that something like this would happen, not for a second, so you can understand my surprise when it happened."

"When it happened? What are you talking about precisely?" Harry asked, his voice becoming more and more sensual with time passing by. "When I made love to you right next to your entrance door, giving your neighbours the opportunity to hear your screams of pleasure? Or when I followed you in your bedroom and pined you agai–"

"Damn, stop it," Hermione muttered, her cheeks red with embarrassment, eliciting a laugh from her lover.

"Why would I stop? I am perfectly fine with what happened between us, Hermione, and I want you to understand that. I don't want you to think that I am ashamed or guilty; I'm not. I'm just amazed to be here with you, and it's the most important think that you have to know right now."

Hermione's mouth aimed for his, and when her lips entered in contact with his own, she closed her eyes, not wanting to lose every part of their kiss.

"I thought that the most important thing that I needed to know was that I was supposed to wake up," she whispered against his lips, a little smile taking possession of her face.

"Alright; it was the second most important thing then," Harry muttered before pinning her once again against the bed, determined to give her the pleasure that she deserved.

XxX

"You should go back home, don't you think?" Hermione asked when they finished their cups of tea. It was already five in the afternoon, and apart from making love in the bed, in the shower, and even on the couch, they hadn't done a lot of things during the day.

Harry nodded, but looked defeated. Hermione bent over to kiss him, hoping that it would be enough to give him the strength that he needed so bad currently.

"I don't even know what I'm going to say to her," he sighed, and Hermione raised a surprise eyebrow.

"About...?" she asked, visibly concerned by his last sentence.

"Not about us, obviously," Harry rolled his eyes. "What I'm going to say to her, period. Except for "hello, thanks for taking James home", I don't have anything left to say to her..."

"It's a start," Hermione nervously said. "Listen, trust me or not, the last thing that I want is to know that you're on bad terms with Ginny," she dared to say her name. "James needs her, you saw how affected he was by her departure..."

"And you saw how she reacted when I talked to her two days ago. Well, technically, you didn't see it, but I guess that it still proves my point."

"You said that you wanted to divorce that day," Hermione reminded him in a soft voice, her right hand over his knee. "I don't believe that it's something that someone is supposed to take lightly."

Harry remained quiet, but eventually he nodded. "I don't think so either," he sighed, searching for her eyes. "But it doesn't change anything about what I think about her," he added, doing his best to make her realise that his marriage was definitely over to his eyes.

"I know," Hermione couldn't help but chuckled. "Harry, we are not twelve anymore, we are adults. You don't have to prove anything to me; your acts are enough, and we'll see how things will turn out between us. I have hope, and, as far as I'm concerned, it's really important to have hope. I trust us enough to know that it will work if we want it to work."

"Always wise, Miss Granger," Harry retorted before kissing her. "Thank you," he breathed against her lips before letting go of her.

"You're more than welcome, Mr. Potter," Hermione whispered before giving him a last and quick kiss. "You really should go..."

"I'm out," Harry said while raising from the couch. "And, Hermione?" he asked before disappearing in the corner of the entrance corridor.

"Yes?"

"I have hope too," he concluded with a smile before leaving her alone, her head full of pleasant memories.

A short chapter, I know... I had the most crazy weekend, and it was hard for me to put my head back into the fanfiction world. But I'm back, and be sure that I'll try to post another chapter before Saturday (because this weekend promises to be as crazy as last one...).

I'm glad to know that even if it felt a little rushed, the last chapter wasn't too much in your opinion. I hope that you liked "aftermath" chapter as well. More soon, I promise.

See you soon.