Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Chapter Seven
Meeting Harry
Ron and Hermione had only grown closer after the emotional conversation they had about Ron's past, and he was still amazed how cathartic it was for him to talk about the war with her. It felt like a weight that he hadn't realized he was carrying had been lifted off his shoulder. For Hermione's part, she was touched by how he had opened his heart to her, letting her know all the important things that he had been through. She knew there was still a lot about his world (as she had come to think of it) that he hadn't told her, but she instinctively knew that he told her everything he could.
A few weeks flew by as they got to know each other better, spending every moment they could with one another. On the weekends (starting on Friday nights) was the easiest, they would spend time in one of their flats, until Ron would leave on Sunday afternoon to go to the Burrow for brunch, and she would study for her classes. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Ron would come over to her flat with takeaway and they would enjoy a nice meal before he would go home, seeing as she had classes in the morning.
"I think Harry is starting to get jealous of you," Ron had told her on a Thursday night, they were on the couch and had just enjoyed a particularly nice snog and he was holding her against his chest.
"If you were just thinking about Harry, I think I'm the one that should be jealous," Hermione commented.
"I wasn't thinking about Harry then," Ron rolled his eyes as she giggled. "It's just that … I only get to see Harry two nights a week now, well and on Sunday, but that's not the same, seeing as everyone else is around."
"It's okay if you would rather …" Hermione frowned, she didn't really want to see less of Ron, but if she was taking up too much of his time ….
"No … that's not … I wasn't saying that." Ron said rubbing the back of his head.
"You want me to meet Harry," Hermione gasped figuring it out and she started to feel nervous just at the mention of it. She had really wanted to meet Harry since the moment Ron had brought him up, but she was worried she wouldn't be able to get along with Harry … she didn't have a good track record when it came to others after all.
"Only if you're ready," Ron said softly, noticing how tense she became, he rubbed his hand along her side to calm her down.
"I'm nervous," Hermione admitted what they both already knew. "I know how important he is to you. But I've wanted to meet Harry since you first brought him up."
"Yeah," Ron smiled, and she nodded. "Is this Saturday too soon?"
"No, that's probably best," Hermione said, she didn't want to have to worry about this meeting for too long, but she was glad that she would have tomorrow to get used to the idea.
O
It seemed like no time that Ron was knocking on Harry's door and waiting for it to open. Hermione was starting to feel really nervous, bouncing slightly on her feet so Ron squeezed her hand and gave her an encouraging smile. He was starting to feel nervous himself, he wasn't sure what he would do if Harry and Hermione didn't like each other. He knew they would both smile and try to be friendly to one another, for him, but he would still hate it if they would have to force themselves to be nice.
"You actually got here on time, that's a first," Harry attempted to joke with Ron, a smile was on his face that was genuine, but still a little forced. He then turned to Hermione and held out a hand to her, "I'm Harry Potter by the way."
"Hermione Granger, it's nice to meet you," Hermione gave him a nervous smile as she shook his hand. The first thing she noticed was that his emerald eyes were so piercing, and they show a hint of the sadness that Ron had warned her was always there. The next thing she noticed was he had messy hair that was rather long and covered his forehead (which Ron told her hid the scar he got when his parents died), and his clothes, though obviously nice, where slightly disheveled. She wondered how much effort it had taken him to try to be presentable, having a feeling he didn't usually cared much about what he was wearing. "I have found that Ron is very good at arriving on time," she said awkwardly, not sure what to say as they made their way into the house.
"Really … I seem to remember there was a time that Ron was very late," Harry joked more naturally, and smirked at the now glaring Ron.
"You told him about that!" Hermione blushed, turning on her boyfriend who opened and closed his mouth a few times, not sure what to say.
"I wouldn't say he told me," Harry really laughed this time. "It was more like he blamed me … shouting that it was all my fault."
"Shut up, Harry!" Ron growled, his face was bright red, and it wasn't helped when he heard Hermione laughing too. Shaking his head, though he didn't like being embarrassed, he had to admit that Harry had broken the tension rather nicely, and at least they were both laughing. He sighed before taking Hermione's hand and led her into the living room, noticing her looking around at her surroundings. Though it was a lot better than it was when they first got there in fifth year, Grimmauld Place hadn't lost its gloomy atmosphere in most of the rooms of the house.
"Elizabeth has been asking about you all day, Ron, you shouldn't keep her waiting any longer," Harry said just as they were about to sit on the couch, causing the couple to turn to him.
"Who's Elizabeth?" Hermione asked curiously, looking at Ron searchingly. Did Harry have a girlfriend that Ron had never mentioned? That didn't seem likely at all, not with everything that Ron had said about him.
"Bess would be so disappointed you never talked about her," Harry said shaking his head, wavering between disappointment that Ron hadn't mentioned her and amusement at the expression on his friend's face.
"Mione, I told you about my niece Bess … I talk about her all the time," Ron said ignoring his friend.
"Oh, you mean Bess," Hermione said nodding her head, and Ron sighed in relief. "Yes, you told me a number of stories about her many adventures, sometimes along with Teddy and Victoire. But you never mentioned that she …."
"Belongs to me," Harry supplied, shooting a look at Ron who shrugged apologetically, "I think I should go get her."
"I'm sorry Mione, I guess I didn't realize I didn't mention it that day," Ron sighed, both of them knowing what day he meant. "After that, it never occurred to me I didn't."
"I'm sorry too, I could have easily asked the first time you brought her up, but I didn't. I should have realized who she was, judging by the number of times you mentioned her." Hermione said, she was feeling a little nervous that she was about to meet a little girl, but there was something else that was bothering her.
"Elizabeth, better known as Bess, is the daughter of Harry and Ginny," Ron said, noticing that she was wondering how to ask him this. "She was born eight months after the final fight."
"Oh dear," Hermione gasped, she knew that Ginny was only seventeen years old when the final fight had happened, and it was hard enough to imagine going through a pregnancy at that age … but knowing that Ginny had been shot and had never recovered from it could only have made that harder.
"Yeah, it had caused a lot of stress in the family when we first found out," Ron sighed, his mind going back to that day. "All my brothers wanted to ring Harry's neck. They wanted to ring my neck too, for letting it happen."
"Why?" Hermione questioned. "What did you do?"
"What did I do!" Ron repeated and then chuckled. "I didn't stop the stupid git from getting at my sister."
"Oh, and you're your sister's keeper now?" Hermione rolled her eyes. "It was their choice …."
"And I was supposed to protect her," Ron shrugged. "Though, in the end it really worked out for the best … you know after all the murderous intent and shock wore off. Though, we were afraid about what would happen to Gin when she had the baby … and we were worried that Bess might be affected by Gin's condition."
"Oh," Hermione sighed, she wasn't sure how getting shot could affect the baby, though truth be told she wasn't sure what kind of damages Ginny had sustained.
"The first week was hell," Ron said, but he was smiling. "Everyone seemed like they wanted to kill Harry, like I said. Even Mum wasn't sure what to do. She loves Harry so much … but this … it was really difficult."
"And then Ron said," Harry interrupted as he entered the room with a little girl in his arms, causing Ron and Hermione to jump in surprise. Harry grinned and the girl giggled as she squirmed in her dad's arms until he let her down. She was adorable, her red hair (that was a shade or two darker than Ron's) flowed behind her as she ran to Ron, who smiled broadly as he leaned down to scoop her up.
Hermione had just a moment to notice that Bess had freckles spattered across her nose before Ron was throwing her in the air and turning her around. She smiled before she turned back to Harry, who was also watching the pair, a true smile on his face.
"Anyways, Ron was all in a huff," Harry said turning to Hermione. "And he said, 'This is Harry we're talking about … Harry and Ginny. I don't know about you, but I've always thought this was going to happen … that they would have this kind of future. I know it's not the way I thought – none of us wanted it this way. But this is family we're talking about … we have to stick together!'"
"You remembered the whole speech, have you?" Ron commented.
"It sort of stuck with me," Harry shrugged, he had never been so grateful to his friend for what he did that day. "It meant the world to me."
"That sounds about right," Hermione smiled at her boyfriend, who was playing with his niece again.
"Harry is my best mate," Ron shrugged. "It seemed like the best move."
"Anyways, after that everything started to get a little better," Harry said walking over to the other two, putting a hand on his daughter's head and she smiled up at him.
"Yeah, we had something to hope for," Ron smiled. "And when little Bess," he poked his niece in the stomach, and she laughed, "came out all bright and perfect. Well, it really helped a lot of us to carry on … mostly Harry and Mum."
"Well obviously," Harry smiled, his eyes still looked a little sad, but he was definitely happier than he was earlier. "She's my world now."
"Too true," Ron said and Hermione could tell by the slight frown on his face that it was probably truer than Ron was comfortable with. Judging by the fact that Ron always said that Harry was sad and alone, she could see what he meant.
"Who she?" Bess asked, her brown eyes (that were the same shade as her mother and grandmother's) were curious as she looked at Hermione.
"This is Ron's friend Hermione," Harry answered, seeing that Hermione looked frightened at the prospect of being questioned by his toddler. "Remember I told you she was coming."
"Yes," Bess nodded and then frowned before saying, "'Ermyknee."
"Just call her Mione, Bess," Ron laughed.
"Myknee," Bess said and then she reached her hand out to Hermione.
Hermione had no idea what to do, she had never been around children, and she had not expected to meet a child this night. She was not prepared for this … but maybe that was a good thing, she told herself, I don't have time to over think this. When she looked at Ron, he gave her an encouraging nod, and then she held out her arms and took the toddler.
As soon as she was in Hermione's arms, Bess stared at her curiously and then reach her hand out to play with Hermione's hair.
"Do you like that, Bess?" Ron laughed. "I like it, too."
"Yes … soft," Bess giggled.
"So how old are you?" Hermione asked the girl as she tried not to blush.
"Am three," Bess said proudly. "How old you?"
"Twenty-three," Hermione chuckled. "And you live here with your daddy."
"Yes … I like live here," Bess smiled, and then looked around, "this a dark room … but my room pretty … want see?"
"Sure, where is it?" Hermione asked, putting Bess down, and then took the hand that the little girl had offered. She was rather curious about what the rest of the house was like, so she looked around as the girl led her. The house was pretty big, they had passed a few rooms before they climbed a set of stairs (and she noticed there was at least one more floor above them) when the girl turned into a room. It was very pretty; the walls were purple and there were a lot of drawings hung on it. There was also a nice desk just the right size for the little girl, that had scraps of paper as well as some color pencils. Next to the desk, there was a bookcase that had a fair number of books in it.
"This is very pretty," Hermione smiled, the girl was looking at her expectingly, bouncing on her toes. "Do you like these books?"
"My favorites," Bess said, and Hermione smiled as the girl went to the bookcase and pulled out one of the books and then sat down on the bed. When Bess looked at her expectingly Hermione sat down next to her. Bess then opened the book and started to tell the story. Hermione knew the girl wasn't actually reading, she was just repeating the story that she had heard so many times that she could recite it. Reading over the girl's shoulder, Hermione noticed that the girl was very close to saying the written words, making it obvious that Bess was very bright.
Hermione sighed, she could relate to this little girl, but she was sure that Bess would have a different upbringing than her. She could already tell that Harry was sure to encourage her, but he wouldn't push her too far, he would just let her be happy. As the girl continued to 'read' Hermione looked at the bookcase again, and her eyes immediately found the books she remembered from her childhood and was glad to see a few of her favorites. However, she noticed that there were other stories there too. Ones that she had never read before.
"You want read?" Bess asked and Hermione looked back at Bess, but the girl was getting up and taking a different book off the shelf, this time handing the book to Hermione and sitting back down.
"Sure," Hermione answered, and started reading as the girl snuggled close to her (Bess had her finger in her mouth) and kept her eyes on the pictures in the book. Hermione enjoyed reading the book, finding the new story fascinating, despite the fact that it was a children's book.
O
"So, that went well I think," Ron said as soon as Hermione was out of ear shot.
"Except for the fact that you didn't tell her about Elizabeth," Harry said.
"Why do you always call her Elizabeth when she's not in the room, but you call her Bess when she can hear you?" Ron asked.
"Just do," Harry shrugged and then gave him a pointed look.
"I know, it's just that I told her so much that day … you know when I told her about … our past," Ron said, thinking that was the most neutral way of phrasing that. "I didn't realize that I didn't tell her then. Then I guess I just talked about Bess like I normally do. Seems like they hit it off though, didn't it."
"I'd say, I can tell Bess really likes her," Harry smiled.
"Master Harry, dinner is being ready sir," a bullfrog voice, that came from an odd-looking creature, announced with a bow.
"Kreacher, how many times do I have to tell you not to bow to me," Harry sighed.
"Sorry Master," Kreacher croaked.
"It's okay, and remember you're not to punish yourself," Harry said, recognizing the look in the elf's eyes.
"Yes Master," Kreacher said. "Should Kreacher get little misses and your guest?"
"No Kreacher," Harry said. "Remember we don't want our guest to see anything magical."
"Right," Kreacher nodded uncomfortably.
Harry frowned, Kreacher had changed so completely after Harry had given him Regulas old locket, and they had come to an understanding. Kreacher was no longer the menace that muttered insults (that everyone could hear) as he pretended to clean the house. Now he was a happy elf, that liked to do all kinds of chores and take care of Harry and Bess. Harry couldn't imagine what he would have done without the elf. However, it was times like this that he was reminded that Kreacher's previous masters were the worst kind of purebloods that believed in all kinds of stupid crap and taught that to the elf.
"Are you going to be okay …?" Harry started to ask; he didn't want to make the elf do something that he was against.
"Kreacher is bringing dinner," Kreacher said happily.
"I'll go get them," Ron said after that was settled and then turned to the elf and added, "And you better stay out of the way, or your head will be on one of those creepy plaques of yours."
"If only Kreacher could be that lucky," Kreacher croaked with a smile and then disappeared.
"You know, I really wish you would stop threatening my house elf," Harry sighed.
"Come on Harry, you know the little guy likes it," Ron said, dismissing his friend's concerns. It was a running joke he had with the elf after all. "He knows that I'm not serious."
"No, if he thought you were Sirius, he would never have liked you," Harry said with a sad smile that he always had when he brought up someone that he lost.
Ron smirked back at him, happy that Harry could bring up his godfather (though he could have done without the gloomy look after Harry said the name). Still, he thought it was a good sign. He then climbed the stairs (two at a time) and was soon standing outside the door looking in on Hermione reading to his niece. He paused there a moment; it was such a beautiful image, and he couldn't bring himself to turn away from it. He was completely overwhelmed by the sudden thought that he would like to see this again, like to see Hermione reading in bed with a child looking to her; it just wasn't Bess that he wanted her to be reading too.
"Uncle Won," Bess said when she noticed him standing in the doorway.
"It's time for dinner," Ron smiled, looking only at the little girl, who luckily ran towards him. He couldn't believe what he had just thought of … it was way too early for him to be thinking like that.
"Come on Myknee," Bess shouted after she hugged Ron around the knee, and then she rushed out the door as fast as she could go.
"Well, she's a true Weasley, despite her last name," Ron chuckled at his fleeing niece.
"Meaning she loves to eat more than anything else," Hermione smirked at him.
"Yup," Ron smiled, glad that he was in controlled of himself so that he could look into her eyes. "Sorry about forgetting to tell you about Bess … I'm sure you weren't expecting to have to deal with a toddler today, were you?"
"No, I really wasn't," Hermione sighed, "I was thinking the same thing earlier and I realized that for my nerves, it was better that I didn't know I would be meeting Bess today."
"So you didn't have to stress about that beforehand," Ron gasped his understanding.
"I just hope she likes me, she's quite adorable," Hermione said fretting a little but then she smiled.
"Yes, she is, and don't worry, I'm sure she loves you," Ron smiled. "So, did you enjoy reading?"
"I really did, I've never seen half of these stories," Hermione said excitedly. "I always find it interesting to read something new, but there was something fascinating about these books. The way the magic is describe … it's so different than what I have read before. Where did you … er … Harry get these books?"
"Oh," Ron said trying to control his expression as he thought. It never occurred to him that Bess's books might pose this kind of danger. He contemplated lying to her, but he didn't want to do that. So he went to his new standard, the truth without mentioning magic. "Those are the books Ginny had when she was growing up."
"So, these are the fairytales you grew up hearing," Hermione said even more excited than before, she couldn't wait until she could read them all. "What about the other books then, why are they here too?"
"You mean like Cinderella or little Red Riding Hood," Ron clarified and she nodded. "The first time I heard those was when Harry (or I) read to Bess," admitted with a laugh, he remembered how interesting it was to hear how Muggles had viewed magic. "Anyways, Mum thought it was a good idea for Bess to have both set of books. You know, seeing as Harry was raised with one set and Ginny grew up knowing the other."
"That makes sense," Hermione said agreeing completely with that logic. "Your mum sounds like a smart lady."
"She is," Ron laughed and the two of them left the room and made their way to the kitchen.
"I'd really like to read all of those fairytales," Hermione said as they entered the kitchen.
"Well then you're just going to have to come over and read Bess to sleep," Harry offered in jest.
"Yes please," Bess agreed in complete honesty.
"I guess I don't have a choice then," Hermione smiled at the girl that was now in a chair with a booster seat.
Dinner was a boisterous affair where everyone seemed to be talking about something; Hermione found Harry quite engaging and not at all how Ron had said that his best friend acted. After dinner, or more like after they left the table seeing as they had spent more time there just talking, they put Elizabeth to bed, Hermione happily reading to the girl again and finished two of the stories that she had never heard of before; the little girl falling asleep next to her.
"… think that a children's book would be dangerous," she could hear Ron say as she walked down the stairs. She found it a peculiar thing to hear, and she really wanted to know what they were talking about, but she didn't want to be nosy.
"I think you've got the cutest little girl that I've ever seen," Hermione said as she entered the room, causing the boys to jump, as they hadn't expected her to be there.
"She really is, but if she's anything like her mum you won't be able to call her a little girl for much longer," Ron laughed naturally, beaming at her.
"So, Harry, you have to tell me more about yourself," Hermione said as soon as she made herself comfortable on the couch next to Ron.
"There's not much to tell, really," Harry sighed, he was sitting in the chair across the couple. He seemed to melt into the chair as his eyes dim. "I'm sure Ron told you the basics."
"Hm …" Hermione frowned, knowing that she had made a mistake with that question. After all, why would Harry want to talk about his life. He had a horrible childhood, raised by people who made him feel unwanted and neglected. Then the world had been placed on his shoulder in his adolescence. Then he had to fight in a conflict and, in a very real way, he had lost the love of his life just a few years ago. It was clear that Harry would have been more comfortable talking about his daughter, she could see the prideful smile he had anytime Bess was mentioned, but she wanted to know more about the real Harry. So, if she couldn't ask him about his past, she would just have to talk to him more directly, she just wasn't sure how to go about doing that, so she started with herself. "I'm sure Ron has told you about me too, so you know I've had a rather drab life."
"That's not how I would put it," Ron muttered but Hermione ignored him.
"Yeah, he mentioned that you like going to school, and that you go to the University of London," Harry had answered at the same time as Ron, and then an idea came to him and he started to smirk, "he said that you study all the time … and when you're not doing that you're fussing over your homework … and when you're not doing that you're reading … and ..."
"Oh, shut up!" Hermione blushed, as she could tell he was teasing her. "It's not my fault there wasn't anything more interesting than books."
"You did try going outside, right?" Harry teased further.
"Sure, I did," Hermione answered immediately, "with a book."
"How did I know you were going to say that?" Harry laughed.
Ron laughed too and was pleased to see that his girlfriend was taking Harry's light teasing so well. He was also pleased that Harry felt comfortable talking as he had been this whole night. He had been wary just a few moments ago, when Hermione had asked Harry about himself, but she seemed to diffuse that discomfort remarkably fast.
"Because you seem to be smart or at the very least observant," Hermione smiled but wasn't sure what to say now, so she looked around the room. "Your house is very … er … interesting."
"That's one way of putting it," Harry laughed, forcing himself to stay calm. "I inherited it from by godfather and his family …" he trailed off there making a face and wasn't sure how to explain.
"Were extremist," Hermione supplied for him as she realized by his expression what he was trying to say and was surprised by this piece of information.
"Not quite, but the older Blacks were definitely sympathizers," Ron said quickly, Harry had known that he told her about the war, without mentioning magic, but he didn't know all the terms that Ron had used when talking about it. "And they wanted their sons to join the extremist to be sure."
"But Sirius, my godfather, never believed in all that crap, and left the family when he was sixteen," Harry said, this time period was hard to talk about because he was thinking of his godfather, but he had gotten better of thinking of Sirius after the years of living in Grimmauld Place. "I've been trying to make the place more like a home."
"Yeah, it's simply homey," Ron said sarcastically, and Harry shrugged.
"Wow, I didn't realize that you had a bookcase in here," Hermione said, she was already regretting that she had brought up the subject of his house, so she was searching for a new topic. However, when she looked in the back corner and saw the full bookcase, she wondered how she had missed that before.
"Er … yeah," Harry said, thankful that Hermione didn't seem to notice his trepidation as he looked over at the glaring Ron. His friend had, after all, told him to remove all the books from this room before they came over, knowing that Hermione would be interested in looking at any book she came across. Of course, Ron had forgotten about the books in Bess's room, not expecting that the little girl would want to take Hermione in there. Harry shot Ron a look trying to tell him that he had taken away the books, most of them clearly magical in nature. He just hoped that Kreacher hadn't found them in his room and put them back on the case … but he was pretty sure he had told the elf not to do that.
"Wow …" Hermione gasped as she looked over the books, her eyes going wide as Ron and Harry came over to see what she was looking at. The boys were desperately trying to come up with an explanation for the questions these books would bring. However, when they saw the titles of the books both of their mouths dropped in shock, more surprised than Hermione was by what they were seeing. "I don't believe it … you have History of Law, and Complex Litigation and … wow, it looks like you have the whole library of the law section in here!"
"Er … yeah, I guess," Harry said shakily still trying to recover from his shock.
"Didn't you know?" Hermione turned to look at him skeptically for a second, before she turned back to the books, unable to keep her eyes off them for too long.
"Not really, I don't read about the law too often … or at all," Harry shrugged naturally as he tried to figure out how the hell these books had gotten here knowing the Blacks wouldn't have bought Muggle law books.
"They're in your living room, how could you not know what they are?" Hermione asked sounding scandalized and more than a little suspicious, it seemed like he was trying to keep something from her.
"I usually read in my room if I'm going to read," Harry smiled and that was true enough. "It thought the bookcase and its contents went with the decor of the room so I just left them here. I probably looked over the titles to see if they were okay for Bess, but that was years ago."
"Oh, that makes sense," Hermione said, satisfied with his answer and then turned back to the books even taking one off the shelf and started to read a little. "I'm sorry I was so rude, I'm just a bit obsessed when it comes to books. I couldn't imagine forgetting something like this was in my house."
"I can tell," Harry laughed. "You've barely taken your eyes off of these books since you've saw them."
"Well, it's even harder to restrain myself now more than usual," Hermione said excitedly as she closed the book and put it back in its proper place. "Usually, I have to wait in a long line to get my hands on some of these books … I'm sure any Law student would kill to have this bookcase."
"Really," Ron said as an idea came to him, and he looked at Harry hoping his friend would go along with it.
"Ron, didn't you have to use these books?" Hermione asked.
"No," Ron said confused by the question, but Harry thought he knew were this was going. "Why?"
"I just thought it would have been a good tool for you to use when you were studying to be an inspector," Hermione frowned. "You know, isn't it important for you to have the basic understanding of the laws you have to uphold."
"I was given a spot in the apprentice program after the conflict was over, so I didn't have to study for that," Ron frowned feeling uncomfortable. "They probably would have taken me even if I didn't know a thing," he added bitterly.
"I didn't realize you were offered your job," Hermione said, grabbing Ron's hand noticing how upset he was.
"Seeing as I ditched out on my last year of school …" Ron started and got the startled gasped he was expecting from her. "It's all his fault," he added pointing at Harry.
"Oi!" his friend exclaimed. "I told you; you didn't have to come with me."
"I couldn't tell you the first night after the way you reacted to the twins leaving," Ron explained to Hermione. "And I was so emotional when I told you everything so I … er … sort of breezed over it."
"Breezed over it," Hermione rolled her eyes at that term, she wasn't sure how she felt about the fact that he never finished his education.
"You know I had to take a lot of classes once I was accepted in the program," Ron said, trying to remind her of what he said on their first date.
Hermione nodded her head, she had remembered that and how it was these lessons that had made Ron realized he liked to learn, as long as the subject was interesting to him. "You are good at your job …" she said softly, somehow this information made her worried that he might not be as safe as she thought he was.
"Don't worry love, I am," Ron said wrapping his arms around her, holding her closely as she took comfort in his embrace. "Everything I went through as a kid … everything I learned later … it's all helped a lot."
"So, are all these books really that hard to get," Harry said several minutes later, he was starting to get uncomfortable standing there. He would have just left them alone, but there was something he wanted to do first.
"Er …" Hermione said, a little embarrassed that she had forgotten Harry was in the room, and then she looked back at the bookcase. "Most of them are common law books and I can find them in the library any time I need them. But wow … some of these are really hard for me to get my hands on!"
"Then feel free to come over here whenever you need them," Harry offered and Ron beamed at him, it looks like Harry had the same idea as him.
"Really!" Hermione exclaimed, turning to him with the biggest smile causing both Harry and Ron to laugh.
"Wow Harry, I don't think I've ever seen her this happy," Ron said as he laughed.
"Then you're obviously not a very good boyfriend, you should work on that," Harry teased.
"Oi!" Ron said punching Harry in the arm. "I'm an excellent boyfriend, right Mione?"
"You're adequate, but maybe Harry would be better," Hermione joined in on the teasing.
"Fine then, if that's what you want," Ron sighed overdramatically, dropping his head for extra effect. "I won't get in your way."
Hermione laughed at first but noticed that despite the fact that he was clearly joking, what she had said had bothered him. "I wasn't serious …."
"I know that," Ron smiled at her, he had thought he had gotten over this, but he couldn't deny the shot of … Fear? Panic? Anxiety? … that he felt when she had said that Harry would be better. "You won't want Harry anyways, he's still completely in love with my sister it's pathetic really, not to mention he's an emotionless git."
"Hey!" Harry protested and muttered 'there was no need to take a dig out of me'.
"It's true mate," Ron smirked and then turn back to Hermione. "There was a time, not too long ago that I would be worried about that. Harry's a great guy that no one can compare to …"
"You can easily," Hermione interrupted him, looking him straight into his eyes. "You have to remember that you're a great guy too!"
"Thanks," Ron smiled, he couldn't tell her how good those words made him feel.
"Aw, isn't that cute," Harry teased causing his friend to turn red (and make a rude hand gesture at him).
After that they had all decided to go back to their seats near the fireplace and soon engaged in a new conversation and in general enjoyed each other's company. After a few hours, Harry had excused himself, saying that he was going to go check on Bess, but really, he wanted to give the couple some time alone together. As Harry climbed the stairs, he had to smile to himself, he was having more fun than he remembered having in a long time … more fun than he ever thought possible after what happened to Ginny. He found it strange that just sitting around talking to the two of them could have this effect on him, but it did.
Of course, Harry had noticed a change in his friend ever since he had met this girl a month ago, but it was completely different when Hermione was actually with Ron. It was like he had finally gotten his friend back, Ron hadn't been like this much since the end of the war. Ron was back to being lighthearted, carefree, genuinely happy and telling jokes at inappropriate times (but made all the funnier for that fact). Ron's good mood had always been contagious for Harry, and right now he was feeling better than he had in what seemed like forever.
However, that wasn't the only thing that was causing Harry to be in such a good mood. No, Harry found that he really liked this girl, Hermione. She was kind, thoughtful, curious (which might be dangerous for them since she definitely has enough brains to figure out about wizards) and very very intelligent. She also got along well with Bess, which isn't that difficult to do, but his daughter seemed to be particularly fond of her.
However, the thing that really got to him was that he felt he could completely be himself with her. He didn't feel awkward trying to talk to her, having to force himself to come up with a pleasant conversation. He felt that he could be his moping self around her too, that he could act like he has since after the war and she would accept him, though she would probably try to help him if he was moping about too much. He was a little unnerved by this, having only felt this way about one other person, instantly liking the person after the first meeting. All he knew was that if he was going to be as close to this girl as he was to Ron, then this was the best thing that could happen to him.
It wasn't long after he came back that Ron and Hermione left promising that she would come back in a couple days on Monday and look through Harry's book collection.
"I think that went rather well," Hermione beamed when they got to Ron's flat (it was closer to Harry's place after all).
"Are you kidding me, that went bloody brilliantly," Ron said ecstatically, he hadn't seen his friend that happy in a long time and he could tell that Hermione had also enjoyed her time with them.
"Good," Hermione said kissing him and then they made their way to his bedroom.