Cappuccino After Eleven
Thank you all for the patience to wait for this chapter. It's finally finished now.
chemrunner57: I have my ways;)
TheaMama: Your words always make me smile so much hahah! I'm so sorry, but I don't accept firstborn sons with tuition expenses. However, a couple hundred coin or maybe a planet would be alright if you were to accept these ways of bribing;)
liak3: It was a bit of a wait, but I hope it's all worth it!
merendinoemiliano: Thank you as always
Kristeen6teen: Hahah! I hope this will bring you a bit more hope for the future of Hermione and Ron!
Nprincess01: I fucking love your comment hahah. How I'm going to fix it? Great question (insert one of those smiling devil emojis here)
rishikadas773: Here's the update, six days later!
Chapter Fourteen
Conquering Insomnia – A Two Man Task
Hermione blinked, and she were suddenly thrown back to the lonely darkness of her bedroom, all memories of the day's fun washed away in an instant.
Her digital nightstand clock blinked red at her side.
She hesitated to check it. Again. But did anyway.
The time shifted from 01:23 to 01:24.
She felt like she already missed hanging out with Ron and Harry together – from their trio dynamic, the easy banter, and the crooked jokes – they were all perfect. She knew she were going to miss it all so bad, keeping her too strung up to sleep, despite feeling weary.
The same day, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had gone to the café on the corner of the street, gotten drinks together at a local bar, and then proceeded with a board game evening at their place when the sun had dimmed.
And now she were utterly alone, and she could finally feel the solid dread rolling in her stomach like a hard rock.
Ron was leaving tomorrow.
So early in the morning, too, that he didn't even have half a day left.
She rolled over in her bed, trying to shut off all her thoughts. It still didn't work.
Half an hour later she tapped her hand against the nightstand clock again and groaned.
"Might as well have a tea if I'm not going to sleep," she muttered to herself and got up from her bed and into the kitchen.
She squinted in the bright light as the water boiled. Then she let a tea bag slip into it with a plop.
The tea reminded her of Ron, of course, and a chaos of feelings came rushing back in. She blushed.
With the steaming beverage dangling from her fingers, she opened the door to the balcony, and scraped a chair against the balcony floor to sit on.
The night was silent and warm. Only a slight breeze reminded her that it was autumn.
She sighed, but the air that rushed into her lungs didn't fulfill her.
Suddenly, she regretted making the tea. All it did was make her feel nauseous.
On the other side of the backyard, Harry and Ron's apartment was dark. She looked around, but then her eyes landed on a familiar spot – Ron's windowsill. There, she spotted a figure, barely visible had it not been for the streetlight snaking around the corner.
Ron let out a breath, and she could see the smoke bellow from his mouth.
"Hey!" she yelled under her breath, trying not to aggravate her roommate Pansy, who was surely waiting for another opportunity to complain about her.
Ron's head snapped up from the windowsill, "Hey!" he mouthed back and waved.
Hermione smiled, unsure of what to say. She was torn between 'I'm going to miss you' and 'Don't smoke, it's bad for your health'.
Almost as if he'd heard her thoughts, he tapped his cigarette against the wall.
It extinguished like a beacon of light, plunging them both into the blackness of the night. The streetlights gave off a yellow colour, mixing with the grey of the buildings into a sickly green.
From afar, she saw him push himself up from the windowsill, and then he shouted on what sounded like the top of his lungs compared to the silence of the neighbourhood, "Do you want to come over? Have a slice of pizza and watch a movie?"
Hermione's face split into a smile.
"Only if you don't smell like smoke!" she yelled back, waiting for Pansy's head to pop out her window to tell her to be quiet.
"I don't," Ron reassured her.
Clearly a lie, but she was going to tolerate it because it was his last night. She grinned.
She spared a glance at the moon, then back at him.
"I'll come in ten!" she shouted, and he nodded excitedly along.
"See you then!" he said.
"See you," she replied, and he snuck back in through the window of his apartment.
Hermione then poured her full cup of tea into a nearby flowerpot, fixed her hair in the mirror, and changed her clothes. Then she put her slippers back on and walked out her bedroom door.
And almost slammed straight into Pansy.
"Hey," Hermione said shakily, expecting her to blow up with curses and complaints like she always did.
Pansy, however, merely smiled.
"Enjoy the night," she said in a soft, velvety voice, "I think, at this point, the whole neighbourhood wants you and him to be with each other already. He's leaving tomorrow, you know,"
Hermione knew perfectly well.
She must have looked shocked because Pansy added, "I'm not going to yell at you. Geez, calm down,"
And then, with a roll of her eyes, she retreated back to her room, leaving Hermione dumbfounded in the middle of their living room.
She felt like all the air had been pushed out of her chest.
"Thanks, Pansy," she said, but the girl had already gone.
Then Hermione pulled on a coat and walked out the door. Her hands were shaking when she locked the front door behind her.
She took the usual route to Ron's – just around the corner, then down the street – where she found him pacing in the hallway, waiting for her.
"Hi," he said when they embraced, "I have made pizza for us,"
She melted a little in his arms.
"Is it any good?" she teased.
"For sure. It's yesterday's leftovers, and you know how they always taste better reheated,"
They both laughed.
Together, they ventured to the flat's grimy microwave, heated the pizza, and then retired to the couch in front of the TV. After a little debate, they began a Muggle movie that Ron had never seen before, much to Hermione's ultimate dismay.
"I still can't believe you've never watched Home Alone before," she exclaimed once again.
He laughed, eyes sparkling.
They watched as the movie progressed and the burglars were taken by the police. Meanwhile, the clock on the wall ticked steadily and surely forward, but Hermione no longer felt the same anxiety as from before.
During the movie, they'd snuggled up closer together on the couch, so that she leaned sideways into his chest, and he rested his head on top of hers. She could feel every deep breath that he took.
"Mhmm," he murmured into her hair, finally, "It was a really good movie, I'd have to give you that, Tea Girl,"
His fingers traced soft circles on her shoulder.
"My recommendations are always good," she murmured in reply, then after a pause, added, "Windowsill Boy,"
His chest moved in one deep, rumbling chuckle.
"Windowsill Boy?" he repeated slowly.
Hermione nodded, not managing the energy to reply properly. Her eyelids were heavy, and she were using the last of her brain to douse out the thought of walking home in the night chill. Her weight was too heavy against Ron's. Very comfortable.
His hand circling her shoulder slowed. The garbled sound of the TV drowned in the background.
The end credits were still rolling when they both fell asleep.
They both jolted awake the next morning by the sound of a camera shutter clicking off, and Harry's evil chuckle following shortly after.
A/N: And that puts an end to chapter fourteen. How about a dime and a dollar for your thoughts?