Cappuccino After Eleven
THANK YOU for the amazing response you guys left on the last chapter. You made me so happy for days, you truly are amazing people! Here's a longer chapter as a big thanks! (And of course, my biggest hugs to all of you!)
Chapter Twelve
Movie and Surprises
The days passed so easily that suddenly, it was Tuesday.
Her thoughts had run back to the upcoming movie night too many times already, and every time, her heart had jumped in her chest. During her classes, all she could think about were Ron's freckles, his arms, and that maybe she'd get the opportunity to tangle her fingers together with his.
Her heart had spiked yet again at the thought of the feeling his hand, and she'd instinctively tugged the hairbrush through her curls hard, letting out a breathless "ouuf!" at the sudden pain.
Then, Tuesday evening had finally arrived. She stood in front of Ron and Harry's apartment door with a raised knuckle to the coarse wood.
Knock! Knock!
Through the door, she heard Ron shout to Harry, "yeah, yeah, I'm getting it now. Don't burn the popcorn!"
When the door swept open, Hermione were laughing at them, but the laughter choked up in her throat at the sight of Ron – out of breath, with pink-tinted cheeks and a windswept smile.
"Hi," he breathed in the door frame, looking brilliant as always.
"Hi," Hermione replied in the same manner, butterflies surging in her chest, yet all tension was leaving her stomach.
For a moment, they just stood there, in the doorframe, looking at each other breathlessly. Then, without taking his eyes off her, he gestured to the living room.
A warm smudge spread in her chest, burning until she couldn't help but smile. She felt welcome and accepted with them, and most of all, wanted.
She took the first step in, and he followed her to the couch in the living room. It all looked a little less fancy under the fluorescence lights in the ceiling. The wallpaper was yellowing, and the fabric of the couch worn, but the TV looked new and shiny.
Harry smiled from the kitchen and casually waved to her. He followed her gaze to the ceiling lights and pulled his wand out of his pocket to give it a purposeful flick.
It dimmed pleasantly.
"Hey, Harry!" she exclaimed happily.
"Hey, drunk head," He teased, then nodded to Ron in her direction and grinned playfully, "Have you shown her yet?"
"It was supposed to be a surprise!" he cried back with fake hurt displayed across his features.
Hermione was curious, her heart thumped hard in her chest.
"What are you guys talking about?"
Seemingly from out of thin air, Ron brought out a handful of round metal pieces in his hands, saying a melodic "Tadaaaa!"
His face was lit up, his smile dazzlingly wide, with one corner a little higher than the other. For a moment, Hermione didn't know what was so special about the metal pieces.
But then, she looked.
And with awe, "Oh,"
In hard white on burgundy background, all the metal pieces were marked with the letters; "S", "P", "E", and "W".
And then she really looked.
It was an intricate piece of work. Lavender patterns circled the outer edge, coming together with the white of "S.P.E.W." in the middle. Around the purple, there was the symbol of a fist, in addition to "come together for interspecies justice" and "no more slavery" in between.
Hermione felt like all the air had just been pushed out of her chest. She felt light-headed and grounded at the same time. Pushed out of her body yet sharpened by the pulsating adrenaline beating into her.
"Are. You." Hermione said, awestruck, "For. Real?!"
She pressed herself into Ron, so the metal pins flew from his hands. He didn't hesitate to hug her back, embracing her softly despite the strength of her hug.
"You guys are incredible!" she exclaimed, muffled by Ron's shoulder.
Harry laughed merrily from the couch, "No problem, Hermione darling!"
Ron and Hermione released each other; Ron with his soft wrinkles at the corner of his smile, and Hermione with easy laughter spilling from her lips, as if her body was in no way weighing her down any longer.
She felt light and bubbly, and even strangely nauseous from the explosive feelings spreading in her chest.
"I don't even have any words," she finally said, "You guys have quite possibly given me the best gift I've ever gotten,"
"It was Ron's idea," Harry said, "I just helped with the charms,"
Ron shrugged, but she saw his cheeks redden.
They were both too humble.
"The charms?" she asked.
In response, Ron picked up a piece from the floor and turned it in his hand. For a split moment, it lit up in a swirl of purple and blue, resembling an elf throwing flowers.
Hermione was yet again taken aback by the sheer beauty of it. Not only the charms and design, but also the effort. The thought behind it was the most beautiful thing with it.
She picked up the other pieces from the floor, thankful that none of them were broken. She turned one of the metal S.P.E.W. pins over in her hand, as if to verify that they were, in fact, real.
Embarrassedly, she murmured her sorry to Ron for causing them to spill all over the floor.
"You two are truly amazing," she said once again, then continued in a more jokingly way, "I hope you can forgive me for this terrible act of disappointment, but my gift to you is only potato chips and wine,"
Hermione pulled out a big bag of potato chips and a white wine from her bag, and magnificently watched as their expressions somehow turned even happier than how she'd imagined her own reaction had looked when shown the metal S.P.E.W. chips.
They yelled in unison, "You're the best, Hermione!" and Harry fist bumped her.
"Wow," she said jokingly, "You much really love potato chips,"
Harry snickered mischievously, "Well, you can't eat metal ones,"
He earned a high five from Ron for his bad joke.
From then on, they talked about all and everything. No matter what they talked about, even when the subject touched Quidditch – a sport Hermione had no care for – she could always sense the underlying joy from the gift simmering underneath her.
Even when they had spent an hour just picking the movie, the sense of joy didn't relent. Even though they landed on a horror movie, the furthest from her preference.
Ron had taken a seat beside her in the couch, and Hermione had found herself being the center piece nudged between him and Harry. It did have its advantages though, as the couch squeezed them closer together, thus resulting in Ron's close proximity to her.
Her skin tickled where his arm nestled next to hers. During the entirety of the movie, she felt extremely aware of the places where his skin touched hers.
Even though Hermione herself had never cared to watch horror movies, she considered herself a brave horror watcher when the opportunity arose.
Ron, on the other hand, was clearly not one of those.
She felt her entire arm jostle every time a jump scare popped up on-screen, and Ron himself jumped in his seat.
He swore that it was from the surprise, and not because he was scared. Though, Hermione recognized real horror when she saw it. And felt it, for that matter.
She touched a hand to his shoulder, and he jumped then, too.
Hermione laughed.
"Oh, sorry, did I scare you?" she teased.
Ron chuckled nervously, "No, not at all,"
Harry had roared with laughter on the other side of the couch. A part of her wished he wasn't there, but it was nice having Harry to ground her. He worked excellently as a calming effect, and also as a mediator if things were to become awkward.
At the end of the night, they had gone through her entire bag of potato chips, a bowl of half-burnt popcorn that Harry had taken out of the microwave too late, and a couple glasses of wine each.
The clock turned 1, and Hermione's eyes were yearning for sleep – slow to blink, and burning dry.
She turned one of the S.P.E.W. pins over in her hand, feeling the smooth surface with her thumb.
"There's also a messaging spell on them," Ron explained over her shoulder unexpectedly, and now she jumped too.
Ron chuckled.
"Messaging spell?" she asked.
"Just turn it over," Ron said, carefully turning it in her hand, his fingers gliding pleasantly over hers when he did.
"And then you tap it here," he pointed, "and here. Before you say 'capisci'. Then you can tell the medallion your message, and it will show up on Harry's and mine, and whoever else got one of these,"
"Capisci?" Hermione repeated, eyebrow raised, "As in 'do you understand' in Italian?"
Ron grinned proudly, "Yep!"
"I like it," she said, "You did a really good job on the pins,"
He grinned, "I felt kind of sorry for how we reacted last time, so I wanted to show our support of you. You would have needed to go broader to make a lasting change anyway, and now look at us! You now have an overseas branch too!"
Her cheeks burnt with blood, "It's very sweet of you. I honestly –"
She cut herself off, flustered.
I honestly don't know whether I should hug you or kiss you, was what had almost spilled out of her lips, and she burned with embarrassment, even though she never actually said it out loud. Thinking the thought was enough for her to be feeling shameful.
"Anyway," she said, slapping her eyes down to the ground to avoid embarrassing eye contact, "I'm so incredibly grateful for you two. I can't believe how good of a person you are. Truly."
Something in his eyes broke when she said it, and he replied in a hoarse, low voice, "That's the best thing anybody's said to me before,"
She got a flashback to her conversation with him at the party. How he must have felt pretty overlooked in his huge family, and then afterwards, also overlooked in the company of the famous Harry Potter, his best friend in school, too.
She felt a little sorry for him then.
"Well, somebody needed to tell you the obvious then," she said with a plastered smile. It was the truth, but she had been reminded of darker things for it to be felt giving.
The smile he replied with would be forever etched into her memory.
It was a smile that made her heart jump like no other, and she had to thank herself for daring to look at it long enough to remember.
"Thank you for tonight," she had said later, still entranced in his astounding smile.
"I'm leaving tomorrow," he'd replied begrudgingly.
"But you're also coming back," her hope had swelled in her chest.
"I'm coming back," he had replied, and her hope had diminished in an instant.
His eyes were not looking at her, and his entire persona had darkened. Even his vibrant eyes had dulled. Something was clearly wrong.
Like a deflated balloon, she forced her best smile. "See you then, then,"
His breath hitched before he looked at her.
"But we will write?"
A part of her returned to her body, a part she had not even realized had been pulled out. Warmth bloomed once again between her lungs.
"Yes, definitely," she'd smiled, then walked with weak knees the final steps out the door.
It had closed behind her with a small click!
With her breath hitched in her throat, Hermione didn't know whether to feel crushed, hopeful, or ecstatic about the future. Truth be told, she felt all of them at once.
A/N: If you liked this chapter (or disliked it for that sake), please leave a review and tell me what you think, I appreciate you so much! Thank you for taking the time!