[A/N: I'm back! I got COVID-19 at the end of our trip, so I've been a bit under the weather this past week, but I'm starting to feel better now. Thank you to Calamity Owl for beta-reading this chapter! I've also updated the wording of the summary and reorganized the first chapter a bit, but there's no new content so don't feel obligated to re-read it unless the mood strikes you.

Oh, and I'm trying something new now: a custom Discord Channel for my fics. If you got to the Emerald Library Discord ( discord dot gg slash elibrary ), there's now a Scribbling Steve channel in the Harry Potter section. Come and check it out! I'm not exactly the most active chatter, but I'm around and will respond if people post stuff. I also occasionally brainstorm in there for ongoing projects.]


A couple of hours later found Harry lying on his back on the floor beneath the chesterfield with Hermione nestled comfortably on his chest. The only stitch of clothing on either one was Hermione's bathrobe, which was spread over the two of them like a blanket.

"Aren't you uncomfortable on the floor?" she murmured.

"This is perfect," Harry said. "I never want to move again."

"I'm not sure I can move again," Hermione said.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Harry asked.

"Only a bit that first time," Hermione said. "Now I'm just sore. I'm glad I don't have to see anyone tomorrow, because I'm going to be walking funny for a bit." As Harry opened his mouth to apologise, she continued, "And don't you dare apologise! That was amazing."

"OK," Harry said. "So I earned my vote of confidence?"

"More than earned," Hermione said. "Speaking of which…" she leaned up and pulled a piece of blank parchment and a self-inking quill off of the coffee table and scribbled something on it using Harry's chest as a writing desk.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"A note to my parents," Hermione said. "It says 'I got what I wanted for Christmas. Sincerely, The Swot.'"

Harry laughed. "I love it."

"Not as much as I did," Hermione said, blushing. "Dobby?"

The elf popped up next to the coffee table. "Is Mistress done making little witches and wizards?" he asked.

Harry sputtered, but Hermione just laughed. "For now," she said. "Could you put this through my parents' letterbox and make sure nobody sees you?"

"Of course, Mistress!" Dobby took the parchment and popped away again.

"I have," Harry croaked out, "So. Many. Questions."

"Dobby has been messing with me today," Hermione said, "and I am much too content right now to care. If he wants to say that sort of thing, he can go right ahead."

"Alright, but he called you 'Mistress,'" Harry said. "Why is he doing that?"

She shrugged, a movement which knocked the robe off a bit and exposed a creamy white shoulder. "I have no idea. He's been doing that since he picked me up today. Is that weird?"

"Ginny lived with me for three years and he never called her 'mistress,'" Harry said. "It's definitely weird."

"Oh," Hermione said. "Um…do you mind?"

"Of course not!" Harry said. "There's probably an explanation of some sort that makes perfect sense to him and zero sense to everyone else on the planet."

"Oh, good. I didn't want to get him in trouble."

"If I'm not mad at him after everything he did to me in my Second Year," Harry said, "I'm definitely not mad about that."

Hermione shuddered, making Harry's whole body vibrate. "Don't remind me. You poor boy."

"It's OK," Harry said. "At least he wasn't actually trying to kill me. It just felt like it at the time because I wasn't used to people really trying to kill me yet."

Hermione sighed.

"Reference points?" Harry asked.

She nodded.

"That's fair," Harry said. "Anyway, won't your parents be surprised to get that in their letterbox without a stamp?"

"Maybe, but there's nothing magical about the document itself," Hermione said. "I'm amusing myself thinking of how confused they'll be. It's the little things, you know."

Harry shot her a grin. "I like the way you think."

He paused, and when Hermione raised her eyebrows he realised his grin must have faded. "I'm sorry," he said. "I was just thinking about you and your parents."

"You had better not be blaming yourself." Hermione reinforced her firm tone with a glare.

"I'm not, but I'm worried you will blame yourself," Harry said. "You did the right thing, but so did Sirius when he left his family and I think it still hurts him sometimes."

Hermione lowered her head and curled into Harry's shoulder. "Oh, God, you're right," she mumbled into his chest. "I was so focused on storming out and seducing you that I hadn't thought ahead yet. I can't go back there without crawling, can I?"

"No, and you shouldn't have to," Harry said. "For the record, you're welcome to stay with me, but if you ever change your mind about our relationship, I'll find you another place to stay until you get on your feet in the Wizarding World. I won't see you forced to go back to them."

She was silent for a moment before saying, in a small voice, "Thank you. Is it weird that, when you said that, I found myself more scared of losing you than I was of losing my home?"

Harry hugged her tighter. "I don't think so," he said. "If you find someone important to you, that's far more important than anything else. I didn't meet Sirius until I was thirteen and he quickly became more important to me than anything. That summer, not long after he was declared innocent, I walked into the drawing room to find him crying on the couch. He was still feeling the aftereffects of all of that Dementor exposure and was afraid he was going to be locked up without a trial again and lose everything. I gave him a huge hug and told him we could go on the run together, just him and me, and I'd rather have a Godfather than all of my money, friends, and schooling."

"Good God, Harry!" Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him even more tightly back.

"Oh," Harry said sheepishly while fighting for air. "Reference points?"

She nodded vigorously. "No one should have to consider having to do that, especially a child."

"I didn't have much of a choice," Harry said. "I'd like to get more involved in the Wizengamot and make sure no other children have that happen to them, but I'm pants at keeping track of the details of legislation and making sure I'm not voting for something stupid. Nev says I underestimate his ability to keep me out of trouble, but I saw his grades in school and while he did better than I did, that's not saying much. He really just wants me in there because I have a lot of public clout for a variety of reasons ranging from good to stupid."

Hermione picked up her head and stared at Harry as a smile spread across her face.

Harry raised his eyebrows.

"My parents wanted me to drop out of school and read the law," Hermione said. "I refused, but one thing they weren't wrong about is that my skills could make me an excellent solicitor. Are there magical lawyers?"

"Yes," Harry said. "Andi's husband is one."

"Perfect," Hermione said. "Once I finish my schooling, I think I will read the law after all, only it'll be to help you protect magical children, house elves, and anyone else who can't protect themselves."

"You don't need to change your career plans on my account," Harry said.

She fixed him with a glare. "I'm going to change the world, Harry. Do you want to help?"

"Always," he said, and kissed her thoroughly enough to make her toes curl. Literally. He'd always thought that was just an expression, but he felt them curl as she lay on top of him. It was surprisingly validating.


An unfamiliar ringing awoke Hermione the next morning, so she sleepily attempted to hide from the noise by burrowing into her body pillow.

"I'm sorry," her pillow said, "but I promised I'd do a day shift today so Savage could stay home on Boxing Day with his family."

She froze.

"Hermione?" Harry's voice was slightly muffled because she had one ear pressed against his arm. "Is everything alright?"

"Yesterday afternoon wasn't a dream?" she asked.

"No, it wasn't," Harry said. "Neither was yesterday evening or last night."

She felt a blush rising. "I…had fun."

Harry shot her a lopsided grin that did funny things to her insides. "Same here. Seeing you first thing in the morning is nice, too."

Hermione's left arm was thoroughly trapped beneath her, but her right shot up to her hair. "God, I must look a fright!"

"You look lovely." Harry chuckled and kissed her forehead. "I told you, I like you just as you are, but I admit I especially enjoy this dishevelled look when I know I'm the one who caused it."

She was pretty sure her cheeks were hot enough to boil water by that point. "You don't have to sound so self-satisfied about it."

"But Hermione," he leaned down and kissed her, slipping his tongue into her mouth just for a few seconds before pulling away, leaving her lips almost aching for more, "I am satisfied."

Something in his kiss and his tone made her practically melt into the bed, but before she could respond, he gently slipped his right arm out from underneath her and sat up. "Sadly, I'm also due at work, so we should probably get moving."

Hermione pouted. She actually pouted. What was the man doing to her? She looked up at him to respond and straight into his emerald green eyes and the words vanished on her lips.

Oh, right, those eyes. That's what he was doing to her. She could accept that.

He smirked. "We can discuss more mutual satisfaction again this evening. Right now, I'm going to hit the shower. Why don't you move some of your stuff up here so you can shower in the master bathroom after I finish? I'll whip up some breakfast while you shower."

She tried to nod, but froze stiff.

Harry's smirk disappeared. "Is anything wrong?" he asked her.

"It just…when you asked me to move my toiletries, it just hit me that this is real. You don't just want me for…activities. You want me to sleep here every day," she said.

"Of course I do!" Harry said. "Why wouldn't I?"

Hermione had a million answers to that question in her head. As she lunged at him and hugged him tightly, though, all that mattered to her was that he genuinely seemed to have none at all.


They were just finishing up breakfast when the floo roared to life upstairs and Sue's voice echoed throughout the house. "Harry! Get your arse in here now!"

Harry took the stairs two at a time and Hermione pounded up behind him as fast as she could. "What's wrong?" he shouted as soon as he reached the top of the stairs.

"There's been a massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean," Sue shouted back. When Harry finally made it into the floo room, he could see in her floo representation that her hair was simply twisted up and clipped back instead of the braid crown she usually wore at work.

"How bad?" Harry asked.

"We're not sure yet," Sue said. "Wizarding communities all around the Indian Ocean are reporting serious damage and several aren't reporting at all. Auntie is already in the office coordinating our response with the ICW. Can you pack for a trip? We're sending a team to help ensure none of the muggle search and rescue teams find any wizarding villages that have had wardstones washed away."

Harry shot Hermione a plaintive glance before turning back to Sue. "OK," he said. "I'll start packing."

Sue sighed. "Damnit, Harry, you two finally seem to have figured it out and then this happens? I'm really sorry, Hermione, but needs must."

"Wait, figured out what?" Harry asked.

"Well, the look on your face when I asked you to pack made me feel like I'd just kicked a puppy, and Hermione over there is walking a bit bow-legged this morning. I'd say you two finally got your heads out of your arses and got about putting other things in places, instead," Sue said, smirking.

Hermione blushed bright red.

"You've been monitoring my sex life?" Harry asked.

"Of course I have!" Sue said. "Again, I feel awful, Hermione. I hate to break up what I've been rooting for, but this is an international emergency."

"You've been rooting for my sex life?" Harry asked, more loudly this time.

"I understand," Hermione said, the ladies by mutual unspoken agreement ignoring his outburst. "Harry, be safe and come back soon. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too." He wrapped Hermione in a hug. "Sue, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Thank you," she said. "I'm getting portkeys now." The floo blanked out, but Harry didn't move for a solid minute.

"I'm so sorry," he finally said. "I don't want to leave you."

"I know," Hermione said. "I don't want you to leave, either, but this sounds terrible."

Harry sighed. "When Ginny and I were together, one or both of us would often be travelling for Quidditch games, and it felt normal. This…doesn't feel right. If you need anything, Sirius or Remus will be able to help you by the day after tomorrow."

"I'll be OK, really," Hermione said. "Just be careful. I'm going to be worried sick about you while you're gone."

"I will, I promise," Harry said.

Hermione looked him in the eyes. "I…believe you. For once, I actually believe you when you say that. Why do I believe you now?"

"Because of something Professor McGonagall told me that I think I finally understand." Harry gave her a quick kiss. "I need to go pack."

Long after Harry left about a dozen minutes later, Hermione sat on the sofa in front of the floo, pondering what he'd meant by that and clinging to the ghost of the sensation of his lips on hers.