Hermione didn’t remember going home last night, but she must have, for she woke up in the comfort of her own bed, in her own house. She remembered almost immediately the events of last night; the party, the conversation with Ron, and lastly, his gift, which lay on her nightstand. She picked it up and admired it for a long time, reading the inscription over and over again. She was deeply in love with a man who was in love with her, but was too hurt to say it.
After she slowly got out of bed, and started to make her breakfast, she kept thinking about the night before. She had mixed emotions. She really loved Ron, and according to the letter, he loved her back. She had always believed everything would end okay with them, but right now, things really weren’t. If there was only a way I could talk to him, to thank him, to let him know how much I really care, she thought, Wait! There is one way. She finished her breakfast quickly and ran to the fireplace.
She cast a handful of floo powder into the fireplace, turning the flames green. She yelled into the tossing flames, “14 Wicker Street, Surrey!”
From inside the fireplace, she could see the living room of Harry’s small flat, with some dusty, antique, mismatched furniture in it. Harry needs a woman’s touch to fix this house up, she thought. Then she thought about how he and Ginny had been in love, and she thought of Harry the night of Ginny’s death. He was deeply hurt. He couldn’t stand to be around anyone, unless he really had to be. He looked as though he had moved on somewhat, but it still seemed as though he, along everyone else, still hadn’t completely forgotten poor Ginny. That moment, in her ward, when she passed on, wasn’t and will never be forgotten.
She called out to Harry. “Harry!” She called, putting those thoughts in the back of her mind, “Harry Potter!”
She composed herself as he came running from a small room on the right. He was still in his pajamas, and he looked as though he had just woken up. “Hermione! What is it? Is everything all right?” He replied looking worried.
She looked at him strangely, then said, “Yes, I-I think so. I need your help with something. Can you meet me in Hogsmeade by, er...” she said the first shop that came to her head, “Zonko’s?”
Harry looked confused then answered, “Sure,” He was about to say, “What for?” but Hermione interrupted and finished the conversation with, “Thanks Harry,” then she disappeared from the fireplace.
As Harry quickly got dressed, he wondered what Hermione was all excited about. Probably another wild idea, He thought, But Hermione hasn’t had one of her “wild ideas” in ages!
Hermione quickly got herself out of the fireplace. She ran to her room and put on some clothes. She twisted her shoulder length bushy brown hair into a knot on the back of her head. She slipped the locket around her neck and admired it in the mirror for a while.
She decided not to Apparate because it was a brilliantly bright day outside. Walking would be much better, she thought. She was walking peacefully along the streets of Hogsmeade, until she got to Zonko’s Joke Shop. Too many memories, she thought. She wished she hadn’t agreed to meet here. But, then again, she said to herself, this whole place was full of memories.
Harry Apparated right in front of Zonko’s Joke Shop to find Hermione pacing back and forth in front of it. “Harry!” She yelled as she was running toward him. She gave him a great big hug.
Harry broke away from the hug and said with a curious tone, “Now what’s this all about Hermione?”
Hermione smiled then voiced, “Well, Harry,” she paused, smiling now at Harry’s curious and confused face, then continued, “I need your advice…”
“You need my advice? I never thought I’d see the day when ‘the smartest witch of her age’ would need advice, and my advice at that. Wow,” Harry said sarcastically.
She punched him hard on the shoulder, then replied, “Harry, when you receive a gift, you thank the person who gave it to you, right?” Harry nodded in agreement. Hermione took a deep breath, and spoke again, “Well, I-I think it’s best if I talk to Ron and maybe thank him for his gift…”
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” Harry answered before Hermione could finish.
Hermione looked hurt and asked, “And just why not?”
“Hermione, I know how you two feel about each other, but I just don’t think it’s a good idea. I mean, he gave you that locket last night, and if you were to just walk into his store and talk to him about it, he might get embarrassed and have another outburst at you. I just don’t want that to happen.”
“I-I think he’ll be fine.”
Still apprehensive about the situation, Harry answered, “All right, do whatever pleases you. Now, why did you need me here?”
“Harry, you’re my backup. I-I would never be able to do this on my own.”
Harry sighed deeply, then answered, “All right then. Let’s go, if we’re going to.”
“Thank you, Harry! A millions times, Thank you! You’re the best friend anyone could have!” Hermione yelled happily. Yet inside, she was utterly and completely terrified about what she was about to do.
They made their way slowly down the streets of Hogsmeade. It was a much prettier day than yesterday, the sun had snuck through the clouds, and it was much warmer.
Hermione got to thinking. What if Ron did explode at me again? I don’t think I could take that. It hurt me so much last night. Maybe Harry and I just shouldn’t go to visit him. I don’t think I could talk to him. I mean, I really want to, but I’m too afraid! Maybe I’ll just stall a while.
Hermione told Harry this. “Hey Harry, there’s no hurry to get to Ron’s shop, so, er, why don’t we have a look around. I haven’t taken a really good look around this place in ages.”
After they had gone to just about every shop, and they were walking toward the Shrieking Shack, Harry asked, “So, when are you planning on going to Ron’s shop then?”
“Er, just as soon as we take a nice look at this here Shrieking Sh--”
“Hermione,” Harry interrupted, “Are you stalling by any chance? It sort of seems like you don’t want to go talk to Ron. You aren’t nervous are you?”
“I-I guess I’m just a bit scared,” she said uneasily, “but I really want to talk to him…”
“Scared of Ron?” Harry asked disbelievingly, “Hermione, please, since when have you been scared of Ron?”
“Since you said he might explode at me again. I don’t think I can take him doing that again,” she voiced as tears were welling up in her eyes.
“Hermione, I’ll be with you. It’ll be all right, I promise,” Harry answered reassuringly.
Hermione nodded. “All right then,” she said as she wiped away her tears and raised her head high. “Let’s do it.”
They made their way to Weasley’s Quidditch Supplies, a much faster pace than they had been going earlier. Harry immediately noticed that Hermione had mixed emotions. He could see it in her face. She was determined, yet hesitant, ready, yet unprepared, confident, yet afraid.
They got to the store entrance, and Hermione paused. She took a deep breath, as though she was going under water, and opened the door. She entered slowly, looking around for Ron, but there was no sign of him. She felt tears once again starting to form in her eyes, when Ron had come up from behind the counter holding a glass statuette of the entire Bulgarian quidditch team. Hermione gasped and Ron dropped the statuette.
A/N: So that was Chapter 3. It may not have seemed very interesting to some, but you learn some information in here that I think is important, and it was a fun chapter to write. I mean, this chapter tells about the relationship that Hermione and Harry have now, after Ginny’s death. The next chapter is a bit dramatic, so be prepared. I don't know how well of a job I did with some of the lines, so bare with me. I'm almost done with my final editing of chapter 4, so it should be up soon. I would like to say thank you to all those who reviewed. You guys have no idea what it means to see that people take the time to review. :)