A Darkness Returns - a Harmione story

3 - A Detailed Discussion

A/N: Hello there, person who is kind enough to read my book! Just thought to let you know that J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me (yet) XD

Harry awoke to Ron's snoring and the sounds of pots clanging and dishes moving around in the kitchen.  He yawned, outstretching his arm as he adjusted himself into a more comfortable position.  He had slept soundly in utter bliss, with not a single nightmare whatsoever for the first time in what felt like ages.  Finally, he opened his eyes, still adjusting to his surroundings, a bit groggy from just waking up. 

He was a bit embarrassed to find his arm around Hermione, his head on her shoulder, her hair in his face, Ron's arm outstretched around them both.  If anyone happened across them, it would appear as though the three of them had fallen asleep cuddling with each other.  If he was to be honest with himself, it actually felt quite nice. 

Then, he gathered his senses and was reminded of all the troubles in the world, and everything that was going on at work. He sat there glumly surrounded by his thoughts, but he was still extremely reluctant to get up.

Grabbing his wand from behind the cushion, he whispered, "Tempus," to discover that it was already 12:04 in the afternoon.  "Holy cricket," he thought while he gently moved Hermione, "I haven't slept that late since Christmas back in first year," shrugging Ron's arm off him as he shot upright to walk into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Harry!" greeted Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen sink as she washed her hands.  "I was just about to send Ginny to wake you three.  Are Ron and Hermione up yet?" she asked while gesturing to Harry to eat a large-sized plate with an extremely generous portion of bacon, eggs, and toast.

As Mrs. Weasley set the plate on the table, Harry walked over there to sit next to Ginny, rubbing his eyes as he responded, "Morning, Mrs. Weasley. Thanks," he said, motioning towards the breakfast before saying, "No, they're not up yet.  I thought I'd let them sleep a bit longer.  Hey, Gin."

Mrs. Weasley pinched his and Ginny's cheeks, each in an affectionate, motherly manner as she said, "That sounds fine.  Would you be a dear and wake them after you're done with breakfast?" as she set two plates identical to Harry's on the table. "I'm flooing over to Andromeda's to pick up Teddy. She's meeting Narcissa for a cup of tea in the afternoon, so Teddy needs a baby-sitter," she chuckled.

"Sounds great Mrs. Weasley. See you soon," Harry called as Mrs. Weasley walked through the fireplace.

"Bye Mum," Ginny waved.

Harry couldn't help but notice the slightest change in Ginny's complexion, for her cheeks had flushed into a very faint shade of pink at the very mention of Narcissa. He wondered what had been on her mind, before concluding that it was probably nothing.

His thoughts were interrupted when Ginny smirked before saying, "So, Harry. I take it you slept well?"

Harry coughed on his toast before blurting out the first words that came to mind, "Um...yeah...sure...wait, what exactly are you talking about?"

Ginny looked in the direction of the living room, leaning closer to him to whisper, "My, my, stuttering I see?  Tad nervous aren't we?  I think you know what I mean, Harry Potter.  You looked a bit too comfortable with Hermione over there..." she teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

Harry rolled his eyes and confidently muttered, "I refuse to dignify that with an answer," as he crunched into his toast.

Ginny raised her eyebrows as she forked the last of her eggs into her mouth, before pointedly saying, "You didn't deny it!" with a bit more spring in her voice than one would expect, especially considering that they had been dating each other just a while ago.  Standing up to take her plate to wash it in the sink, she cheerily proclaimed, "Anyway, I don't think their relationship is going to last much longer in all honesty.  They're both too busy to do any of that happy couple stuff, and I happened to overhear my brother talking to someone else in a little bit more than a friendly manner, if ya know what I mean, on that telly-fone the other day."  It was as if she was purposefully washing her dishes slowly and by hand (when she could have just scourgified them) in order to prolong the conversation. "By the way, cheers to you and Hermione for setting one of those up here, because, believe me when I say it has come in handy for me too. Dad tried a few years ago, but all he managed to do was tangle the wires and set the chicken pen on fire," she rambled.

Harry sighed. He shuffled awkwardly. "I know what you're trying to do. Gin, I love you, ya know? But like... in a sister-type way..."

Ginny finished drying the dishes and returned to her seat next to him.  "Yes, I know Harry.  You know you can tell me anything?  You can trust me."

Harry asked in an almost-whisper, "So you've moved on then?"

"Yes, I have."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it."

"So... what is this with Hermione?"

"Honestly, you know how it goes. My entire life she's been by my side.  I never had any siblings.  I know I love her. Same with you.  I was so used to being around her all the time until she got that promotion.  I'm really happy for her, but you know how busy she is now. I think that's what made me start thinking more about it.  I missed not spending as much time with her, but I don't know if I love her like she's my sister, or if it's something more than that. I have no idea. We've been best friends for nearly ten years. You know how terrible I am with feelings. And for the record, she had nothing to do with our break-up," he chuckled. "It's just so hard for me to grasp that in a few months, she's probably gonna get married to my other best friend," Harry groaned, with his head facing down.

"Well, I see how we may have a dilemma," Ginny stated solemnly, although she couldn't contain the smile on her face. The two proceeded to finish their breakfast as Harry changed the subject in a meager attempt to divert the conversation to how the weather had been so nice recently.

A/N: Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, or if I made a mistake XD, or if you have a question, or if you want to say hi, or if you want to complain about what a complete run-on sentence this is, go ahead and leave a comment!  ♡ :D