A/N: I hope you don't judge me too much for the names I've chosen for Hermione's parents. I couldn't stop myself xD
Chapter 4: Announcements and Break-ups
Harry was the first one to wake up that morning. Which was weird because Hermione is a typical early bird. He studied his surroundings for a while, not sparing a single one of his senses. He could smell vanilla and peach with something else that he couldn't quite identify. It's probably her scent, he thought. They woke up exactly the same way as they fell asleep; Hermione's face was buried in Harry's neck and his chin was resting on her head. She had both of her arms around him which would make it impossible to get out of bed without waking her. But come to think of it, Harry found himself reluctant to get out of his comfortable bed, especially in such a comfy and tender embrace.
It was then when Harry realised Hermione was in her Pyjamas, pushed against his chest. She looked so innocent and peaceful. Harry got a chance to see her sleep many times during the Horcrux hunt but he never paid this much attention. Her breathing was soft and slow. Her eyes were relaxed and she looked extremely cute. Control yourself… He muttered in his head. But he couldn't take his eyes off her. Harry always found Hermione very pretty, but looking at her right now, she was beautiful. Her light brown locks were covering Harry's cheek. You would think it's uncomfortable and itchy but it actually felt really pleasing. The tickling was just enough for Harry to enjoy it. It was fun and jolly until other parts of his body started to feel things too.
Harry could feel the outlines of her breasts pressed against his chest. It also reminded him that it was morning which meant that Hermione wouldn't be the only anomaly in his bed right now.
Back off! He told himself. But it didn't seem to work. It also brought a ton of unwanted thoughts into his head.
Think about something gross! He forced himself.
After thinking of ways to slide out of bed, he decided to wait it out and then wake her up, once the 'problem' was gone.
But of course, because it's the life of Harry Potter, the universe decided that now would be the best time for Hermione to wake up.
She opened her eyes. At first, Harry could feel her tense but after a couple of deep breaths, she turned towards him.
"Morning," said Harry quietly.
"Morning," she answered and yawned. She sat up and focused on the room. "What am I doing here?" she turned back to Harry.
Harry didn't really know how to explain himself at first, he simply looked at her, just as surprised as she was.
"…you came here last night… you said you had a bad dream." He answered.
Hermione seemed to be remembering everything as Harry said it. "Oh yeah… right."
"Yeah… it was pretty bad. You were shaking and you looked quite scared. I would have taken you back to your room, but you asked if you could sleep with me. And I decided it was probably for the best that you did… you know in case you had more nightmares." Harry didn't realise he was blushing through the entire explanation.
Hermione smiled, which brought a huge relief to his speeding heart. "Thank you for that."
"It was my pleasure. You're still a really peaceful sleeper." He chuckled.
It was Hermione's turn to blush. She stood up and slowly paced towards the door of Harry's room, "I'm going to go and get dressed."
"Yeah me too, I'll see you in the kitchen." He told her.
Breakfast was also quite awkward; the two were sitting in silence, enjoying the porridge Kreacher made them.
After a couple long minutes, Hermione looked up from her bowl. "I… I'm sorry about the whole nightmare thing… It must've been uncomfortable for you. It won't happen again."
Harry didn't take much time to process what she said before firing back "Hermione, It was absolutely fine. I didn't mind you with me. Besides, after sleeping together in the tent for so long… it actually felt normal to have you next to me." He looked up at Hermione to see her smiling with pink cheeks.
"Anyway… When do you think we should go back to The Burrow? Do you know when Bill and Fleur arrive?"
Hermione had a mouthful of porridge so she simply nodded. Harry waited for her to finish. "They're supposed to arrive just before Dinner. We should probably be there before them."
Harry thought for a while before coming up with a suitable time, "In that case, later today, we can pop out for some lunch. Then we can come back here until afternoon, and we can apparate to The Burrow."
Hermione seemed to like that idea, "Do you think we could stop by the bookstore?"
Harry laughed, "Of course we can, but please… no longer than two hours."
Hermione frowned, "Hey! I do not take that long!"
"Yes, you do! You just don't know it because you lose track of time and I don't!" Harry answered.
"I'll be quick." She assured him.
"I'll hold you to that. And if you take too long you're coming with me to the Quidditch broom store."
The two cleaned up after breakfast and left for Diagon Alley. After spending two hours in the bookstore and stopping by the broom shop, both were satisfied. They were now standing outside Gringotts.
"Harry, you sure you don't want to go in now?" asked Hermione.
Harry looked towards the building and could still see some of the damage being repaired, the dragon took no care when leaving the bank.
"I think it's best we give them a bit more time. At the end of the day… I am responsible for all that happened in there. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't want to let me in anymore."
Hermione turned to him in disbelief, "Harry, you broke in there for a good reason."
"I know… I just think we should wait until the bank is fully repaired. I'll feel less awkward when I come in" He finished.
Hermione gave him the 'suit-yourself' nod and started heading towards the leaky cauldron.
"So, do you reckon it's time for lunch?" Harry asked.
Hermione looked at him, hopefully. "Could I choose where we eat?"
"Sure" Harry answered on reflex. The truth was that he didn't really know any good places to eat; the Dursleys made sure to never take him anywhere nice.
"There is a really nice restaurant I go to with mum and dad. We always go there during holidays" she smiled. Harry could see the sadness behind it.
He stopped Hermione and looked her in the eyes, "I'm ready to leave for Australia whenever you like." He told her. Her smile became a lot more genuine and she hugged him.
"It's not that I miss them… I mean, of course, I miss them a lot. It's just…" she looked down.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"What if I can't restore their memories? What if they will never remember their daughter?" Harry could hear her voice breaking. He took hold of her again.
"Hermione, you are the smartest witch that I know. If there is a way to bring their memories back… I'm more than certain that you can do it" He tried to give her the most hopeful smile he could manage. It was true after all.
After he could see her worry fade, he took hold of her hand, "I'm starving, this restaurant better be good, Hermione" he teased her.
She laughed, "Oh you're gonna love it. I promise you that."
They appeared in a small alley from which Harry could see many people pass in the high street.
Hermione didn't let go of his hand as she pulled him forwards, "This way" she told him.
They walked out into the crowded high street and Harry was amazed at the amount of flickering lights, signs and windows he saw. The entire street consisted of nothing but shops and bars.
"Woah" Harry mumbled, as he heard Hermione giggle in front of him.
Before he could get a good look at everything, Hermione led them in front of a small grey building which had a ton of interesting patterns and a huge sign saying "dine o'clock"
They stepped through the doors and Harry was almost thrown back by the wave of smells which hit his nostrils. He could smell fresh bread and cooked meat. It made his mouth water.
"Where do you want to sit?" Hermione asked, looking up at him.
"Wherever you want" He answered.
Hermione led them down to a small table which had three seats. Harry figured this was where she sat with her parents. Harry didn't know it was possible, but he missed Hermione's parents just by looking at her. She seemed to be lost and confused, sitting and looking around like something was clearly missing. It made Harry feel terrible. She would be eating this lunch with her parents right now if she never went with Harry last year.
An older lady approached them and smiled, "Hermione! Been such a long time since you came… where's Dan and Emma?" she asked.
Harry figured those must be the names of Hermione's parents.
"They couldn't make it today" she explained.
"But they'll be here next time she comes," Harry added, glancing at Hermione.
She smiled at him and looked back to the older lady who placed the menus in front of them.
"Hermione, I must say… you have a good taste in boys. Good choice. He looks like a keeper?" she asked.
Suddenly, the only thing that climbed through Harry's head was the question of how fast it would take him to run out of the restaurant? 6 seconds? 4 seconds?
Both of them turned red in the face as Hermione explained to the older lady that they were just friends.
"Well… if you ask me, I wouldn't waste time on friendship with a fella like that." She laughed and left them alone at the table.
"I'm sorry about her… she's basically a family friend and I've known her since I was a little girl."
Harry couldn't help but smile at the thought of Hermione as a little child. She probably outsmarted the kindergarten teachers, "It's fine, really." Though the lady's words seemed to be roaming inside his head.
Harry never considered himself a 'good-looking' guy. He still didn't. He knew his hair was a mess, he was nowhere near as tall as Ron, and he had a big scar on his forehead. The only thing he was proud of when it came to looks were his emerald eyes which he got from his mother.
They both studied the menu for a while after which Harry settled on a 'Monte-Cristo Sandwich' whereas Hermione chose a chicken salad.
They ate their lunch and talked about staying in Australia. Hermione decided it would be best to stay in a hotel, Harry insisted they rent a small cabin near the beach. It would be more expensive, but now that Harry owns the vaults of three adult wizards and witch, he didn't mind spending some extra money on a vacation. Hermione insisted she would pay for the whole trip, but Harry wouldn't hear any of it.
"It's as much of a vacation for me as it is for you." He argued.
Hermione didn't like it but knew that there was no way she could turn down Harry's offer; He wouldn't go with her otherwise.
After finally settling down on a date and time, they decided it would be best to leave tomorrow. They will stay in Australia for two weeks; the first day would be finding a place to stay, the second day reversing Hermione's spell on her parents and explaining the whole situation, with the remainder of the vacation being purely focused on enjoying themselves in Australia. The only problem was Ron.
Hermione already told Ron about her visit, which Ron was completely fine with, but she never mentioned Harry. They decided to add that part of the visit during dinner at the Burrow.
Once they finished their lunch, Harry and Hermione started to leave when the older lady's voice came from the kitchen, "Grab him while you can, Hermione!"
Harry seemed to have sped up to the door as he opened it for blushing Hermione. They made their way back to the alley and apparated back to Grimmauld Place.
They were in the living room and Hermione was telling Harry more about her parents. From what she said, the Grangers seemed like really nice people. Harry never had a very good experience with muggles; the closest ones seemed to not like him very much. He really hoped that this wouldn't be the case with Hermione's parents.
As they talked, time seemed to fly and before Harry knew, they were on their way to the Burrow.
On arrival, they were greeted by Mrs Weasley who was setting up the table outside for dinner. The weather was nice and warm which meant they didn't have to cram together inside the house.
Harry and Hermione both received hugs and went inside to meet with Ginny and Ron who were sitting in the kitchen.
"Harry!" called Ginny and rose from the table to give him a hug, Harry knew she was aiming for a kiss on Harry's lips but only managed to peck him on the cheek. She pulled away and muttered a brief "hey" to Hermione which seemed very strange. Herry looked over and saw the same surprised expression on Hermione's face. Neither of them pressed the subject.
"Hey, Ron," said Harry, as he shook his hand and patted him on the shoulder.
"You made it just in time, Bill and Fleur should be here soon," Ron told him, he didn't make any eye contact with Hermione yet, which didn't bid anything good.
"Hi, Ron." Said Hermione, giving a weak smile.
"Hi." He answered, still not meeting eye-to-eye.
Harry decided to break the silence, "Ron, I heard you started working with George. How's it going?" Harry tried his best to not mention the words 'Joke' and 'shop'.
Ron's face seemed to light up a bit, "It's great so far; more customers seem to be pouring in every day. The pay is good too."
"That's good to hear, mate."
Ron turned towards Harry, apparently enjoying the conversation, "What about you? Have any plans once the summer ends?"
Harry almost smiled at the question. It was time to punish Ron for being rude to Hermione about it. Harry knew Ron would never do the same when it came to him. "To be honest… I was thinking of going back to Hogwarts."
Before Harry could get a reaction from Ron, Ginny jumped up from the table and hugged him again.
"Really? Are you? Yes! I'm so excited now!" She muffled into his shoulder.
Harry looked over at Hermione who was also positively surprised, everyone seemed to be happy but Ron who looked pretty confused and even angry.
"Seriously? I never expected that from you…" Ron muttered.
Harry didn't know whether he should take that offensively, so he just gave a kind answer.
"I think I haven't had the chance to say goodbye to Hogwarts yet… it was my home after all. I figured coming back for one last year would do me good. I can finish my NEWTs and I'll have Hermione for help." He smiled over at Hermione who was now beaming back at him.
"Yeah… I guess that makes sense." Ron answered.
As he said this, Harry heard a small pop outside the Burrow to which Mrs Weasley's greetings followed,
"Looks like Bill and Fleur have arrived." Said, Harry.
Before Harry knew, he was at the table, sitting between Hermione and Ron, eating dinner. It was always a pleasant time to eat at the Weasley's; it was very much 'family'; Percy was speaking with Mr Weasley about work, Bill arguing with Mrs Weasley and Fleur about his hair, Ron was chatting away with George about the shop. This left Ginny, Harry and Hermione being the only quiet ones.
"So, when are you going to Australia?" Ginny asked Hermione.
"We are planning on leaving tomorrow in the evening." Answered Hermione.
"We?" asked Ginny.
Harry decided to join in, "I'm coming along with Hermione." He told her.
Their side of the table went completely silent. Harry could feel Ron's eyes on the back of his head.
"Oh… okay." Ginny answered with a blank expression.
"Hermione didn't want to go alone, and since I've never really been anywhere, I figured I might tag along for a little vacation. I also wanted to meet her parents." He explained.
Ginny didn't answer anything to that which didn't help.
"You're going with Harry?" Ron asked, stretching across to Hermione.
"Oh, so I exist now?" Hermione snapped.
Harry could sense the inevitable argument, when Bill stood up, "Me and Fleur have a little announcement to make…" this seemed to have caught everyone's attention.
"You've been hyping us up for a whole week about it. This better be good news." George chuckled
"I am pregnant" Fleur smiled at them.
The table erupted into cheers and laughs, Mrs Weasley was holding Fleur in her arms in a matter of seconds. Everyone stood up and took their turns to congratulate the couple.
After shaking Bill's hand and hugging Fleur, Harry decided to leave the crowd to catch his breath and go for a walk around the Burrow. He was only a couple feet away when Ginny appeared next to him.
"Pretty crazy, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm happy for them," Harry answered.
"So, Australia… what's that about?" she asked.
Harry waited for her to add to the question, but that seemed to be it. "Yeah… I figured I'd like to go."
"When will you be back?"
"About two weeks…"
"And you're going with Hermione?" she asked.
Harry turned to look at her, "Yeah… the whole point of going there is to get her parents." He explained.
Ginny looked at him for a while, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't really have a chance to do it before now. Hermione asked me to go with her the night before I left for Grimmauld Place. Besides, I figure it's not really that big of a deal." He started walking forwards again.
"Not that big of a deal? Harry, you're going to the other side of the world with Hermione for two weeks on a 'vacation'… do I need to explain to you what this looks like?" she asked, frowning at him.
"Ginny… Hermione is my best friend and I just wanted to help her. Like you said, it's on the other side of the world. I don't want her to go alone."
"Why didn't she ask Ron?"
Harry didn't know. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
"Hermione and Ron have been having issues lately, and I think one of the reasons why Hermione is leaving for two weeks is to have a break from him too," Harry confessed.
Ginny stopped him, "And what about you? You need a break from me?"
Harry chuckled, "I think the Horcrux hunt was a good enough break"
"And you're okay with leaving me for another two weeks?"
Harry was stunned. He didn't expect this… but somewhere, deep down inside him, there was a fire which started to rise
"I don't understand, Ginny. What does that mean?"
"You don't treat me like a boyfriend. You don't treat me like you did back at Hogwarts." She said.
"I don't remember getting back together" the sentence escaped his mouth before he was able to think. He didn't intend to say it like that."
Ginny looked at him, stunned. Harry could sense her anger, "I guess so, but I thought we did come back together… was I wrong."
Harry decided to start walking before he fires another unexpected answer.
Harry walked a short distance when he realised Ginny wasn't following him anymore. She was standing and looking into the fields. Harry paced back towards her, "Ginny?"
"You don't want to be together, do you?" Ginny asked. This was the first time Harry saw her upset since the battle.
Harry's throat seemed to have stopped functioning as he couldn't form a single word.
"Harry?"
Say something! His mind screamed.
"I… I…" That's it? That's all you can manage?
"You don't love me anymore…" Said Ginny, as a tear rolled down her cheek.
It was torture. Harry wanted to say something. He wanted to comfort her. But he didn't know how. He thought about lying, telling her that he did. But that wouldn't make anything better. The truth was that Harry hasn't felt about Ginny the same ever since. Harry gathered all the courage he had…
"I…I'm Sorry, Ginny." He muttered, trying to reach for her shoulder, she stepped away from him.
"Don't… just don't." She said and left towards the house.
Hermione was in the kitchen, trying to chunk down everything that happened. She had already predicted the baby, but it still surprised her. It's always great to hear about a new family member coming; It brings so much happiness and joy to everyone. She was about to head back outside when Ron came in the kitchen. He still didn't look at her.
"When were you going to tell me?" He asked.
"Tell you what?"
"About you and Harry?" Ron asked, anger clear in his voice.
Hermione's stomach seemed to have tied into a knot. "What are you talking about?"
Ron sighed, "Could you please, not play dumb with me? When were you going to tell me about your little trip to Australia with Harry?"
Hermione was about to explain how she wanted to tell him but then they got into an argument. But that seemed to have drifted away as anger started to rise inside her.
"I told you, I was going to Australia. I asked if you wanted to go and you said no. So what's your problem, Ronald?"
"You never said anything about Harry." He barked.
"Why does that matter? You didn't want to go, so I asked Harry; he's my best friend. It was obvious I was going to ask him. Oh and guess, what? He said he would love to meet my parents." She snapped back.
"I never said I didn't want to meet them…"
"No, you just said that it would be weird because they're muggles. Do you know how mucked-up that sounds?"
Ron looked lost for words for a while. He gathered his thoughts, "How long will you be gone?"
"Two weeks"
Ron's eyes widened, "You're going to Australia for two weeks with Harry?"
"First of all, yes Ron. You are a genius; we now know that you can be given basic information. Second of all, No. It won't be just Harry. You might have forgotten but the whole reason why I'm leaving is to get my parents!" She shouted.
Ron was about to shout back when Ginny stormed in through the kitchen and ran upstairs.
Hermione looked through the window and saw Harry standing in the distance, his hands covering his face.
"Oh, no" she muttered and turned towards the stairs.
"So, you're just going to leave?" Ron glowered.
"I don't have anything else to say to you." She answered as she made her way up to Ginny's room. She knocked on the door and got no answer. She turned the doorknob but the door was locked shut.
"Ginny, what happened?" she asked. Still no answer.
Hermione knew that there was no point trying to get anything out of Ginny. She made her way back downstairs and walked past Ron and outside towards Harry.
He was staring into the distance, his face completely expressionless.
"What happened?" Hermione asked.
Harry turned to her, "I think... we…" his voice was lost.
