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The crisp, cold December air welcomed Hermione as she stepped out onto the street. She had half a mind to ignore the buzzing phone in her pocket, but then she didn´t, mainly because she knew her friend wouldn´t stop calling anyway.
“Paisley, I´m on my way to work.”
“I know that Mione, and it´s the reason I`m calling. Secretary to the Minister of Magic. Are you really sure about that? I mean, with your intelligence and brightness you could be anything, and I mean literally anything.”
Paisley was one of the few people from Hogwarts Hermione still kept in contact with. She had loved the Wizarding World and getting to know everything about it, but when she had finished school, she´d gone back to the Muggle World for a while. She´d went to university and had started teaching at a local school eventually, but something was missing from her life, and Hermione had found that it was, indeed, magic. Not just the one she could do, but surrounding herself with people who understood what it felt like to just let objects float, or open doors without any keys.
“I am sure, Paisley.” She replied, taking a right turn as she weaved her way through the crowds of the London streets. “Besides, it´s just a way back in. I´ve been out of it for so long, I need to get a feel for it all, and you know I´ve always been good at organizing things.”
Surely, being a secretary didn´t sound as fancy going in, but she assumed that being the secretary to the newly elected Minister of Magic was going to be quite interesting.
“Tell me if he´s still as handsome as he was when we met him, will you?”
Hermione almost rolled her eyes, but promised it anyway, mainly because this wasn´t a conversation she wanted to have right now. “I´ll call you tonight, alright? I have to go.” Without waiting for a proper answer, Hermione ended the call and let the phone slip back into her pocket.
Her feelings were a mix of nervousness and excitement as she stepped into the phone booth and dialled 62442. She knew that she was good at her job, but being secretary to one of the most famous people in wizarding history, if not the most famous? Well it would have been strange if she wasn´t at least a tiny bit nervous, right?
Everyone in the Wizarding World knew Harry Potter´s name. Of course they did. Most of them had known his name, and the story attached to it, before Harry himself had even known. Hermione had been in her first year when the war had broken out. After the Christmas holidays that year, all muggleborn students had received letters to stay home for their own safety, if possible.
Hermione´s parents´ hadn´t quite understood what was going on, but they had kept her home. For a year she´d gone back to a normal school, until Professor McGonagall and the rest of the professors had finished restoring Hogwarts, maybe not to its former glory, but to a new one nonetheless.
The first year had been…gloomy to say the least. Almost everyone she came across had lost someone in the war, and Hermione wished there was something she could do to help, but she quickly realized that she couldn´t. Things got better after that though, and during their fifth year Harry Potter himself came to Hogwarts to pay them a visit.
Or well, technically his girlfriend Ginny Weasley, who was a professional Quidditch player at the time, came to visit and demonstrate some of her flying skills, while Harry tagged along for some reason.
Hermione had admired the way Ginny was just able to mount a broom, and do countless tricks, without wavering ever so slightly. She seemed fierce and fearless, two things that Hermione absolutely hadn´t been at the time.
The elevator doors slid open then, revealing the Atrium, where people were bustling about, moving from right to left and from left to right. Hermione stepped out, looking around. She´d been here once before, to hand in her resume, and had been surprised when she´d been pretty much hired on the spot. Granted, she did have the credentials for the job, in fact her credentials probably exceeded the qualifications needed, but still.
Hermione weaved her way through the crowd of people once more, trying not to attract too much attention. The Minister´s office was on the first floor, she remembered as much, and it was pretty easy to find, which made sense considering the Minister was probably a wanted man these days.
The door to what would be her own office was wide open, so Hermione stepped inside. It was a small room with a desk and some shelves on the opposite side of the room, along with a cupboard, which was empty now, but she assumed that it was for personal use.
The door that lead from the room into the Minister´s office was closed. Hermione wasn´t sure if anyone was here yet, but she assumed the Minister was supposed to be in by now, especially since it was her first day, and someone would have to let her know what to do.
Leaving her bag on the desk, Hermione went over to the door and knocked. A few seconds passed, before a muffled voice called for her to “Come on in!”
She went and pushed the door open, finding the Minister at his own desk, half hidden behind a few stacks of papers. He looked pretty much like Hermione remembered him from that day at Hogwarts, only slightly older. His hair was shorter, but still the same dark brown, and then there were green eyes, hidden behind glasses.
Hermione hadn´t really kept up with the gossip, but she assumed he was probably still in the papers at least weekly, especially since becoming Minister of Magic. His life had always been followed closely by the public, and the fact that he had been voted Minister, and had taken on the job, had stirred up quite a lot of press again.
Clearing her throat, Hermione eventually spoke up. “Excuse me?”
Glancing up from the paperwork, his face showed confusion, as if he had completely forgotten that he´d asked her to come in just a minute ago.
“Is this a bad time?” Hermione asked, just barely managing not to raise an eyebrow at the chaos she was presented with.
“What? No. Sorry.” Surfacing from behind the desk, he ran a hand through his hair. “Apologies. It´s my second day here and as much as I admire Kingsley, he´s left an utter chaos.” He nodded at the countless stacks of papers and files. “I love tradition as much as the next one, but sometimes I think this place could do with a computer filing system.”
“Well, you´re the Minister. You could just get one installed.” Honestly, Hermione had no idea how expensive it would be to get someone to install an entire computer system down here, apart from the fact that it would probably have to be installed by a Muggle, but it was definitely possible.
“You know, I´ll think about it.” He chuckled, before finally moving around the desk, extending his hand to Hermione. “You must be Miss Granger. I saw your resume. You are almost too qualified for this job. To be honest, I was surprised to see your application. Minerva told me you´re considered the brightest witch of your age.”
“Did she?” Hermione could feel her cheeks heating up slightly at the compliment. Back in school she had often been ridiculed for studying as hard as she did, and for reading so many books, but coming from a Muggle family, she had simply wanted to catch up and be prepared, considering she had known nothing about magic and the Wizarding World.
“She did, and if I´m being honest: Ron and I could have probably used someone like you during our school adventures.”
Hermione smiled. “Well there you have it, I might not have been able to help with…that, but I can help now.” She nodded at the stack of papers. “I´ll get you a filing system that´ll be easy to access. I might even be able to enter them into a basic filing system on a laptop, that wouldn´t work for the entire ministry, but at least for the files that are relevant to you. I´m assuming I´m also supposed to coordinate your appointments and meetings, which I´ll let you know about a day in advance. Letters and notes will be sorted according to importance, and waiting for you on your desk each morning. Oh and before I forget: Tea or coffee?”
Harry looked, mildly spoken, surprised. Hermione wasn´t sure what exactly he had expected, but she had made sure to prepare for the job, wanting to make a good impression on the first day.
“Coffee in the morning, black.” He eventually found his voice again, a smile tugging on the corners of his lips. “Tea in the afternoon, with milk. Though I won´t ask you to make me tea or coffee. I know it´ll be a lot of work to get all of this in order,” He nodded towards the desk, but Hermione, who was already halfway out the door, shook her head.
“Don´t worry, Harry, I`ll be making myself some anyway.” She realized her mistake halfway through the sentence, and barely managed to turn to look at him, her cheeks bright read. “I mean…Sir.” She quickly added, missing the way he smiled as she closed the door on her way out.
-
They fell into a rhythm over the next week and Hermione found that, for someone so famous, Harry Potter was pretty down to earth. He made sure to go around the place, personally introducing himself to everyone he could find. Whenever Hermione came in, he was usually in some other department, making conversation.
People adored him, too. She heard a couple of women in the kitchen gushing about how handsome he was, and how they were surprised he wasn´t married. Hermione, who really hadn´t been into the gossip going around since she´d gone back to the Muggle World, hadn´t known that. She had just assumed Ginny Weasley and him had gotten married at some point. Not that it really mattered or was, in any way, relevant to her work.
She´d just made them two cups of tea, leaving her own on the desk, before picking up a couple of chocolate biscuits and putting them on a plate to take into his office. She knocked, though Hermione had long learned that he wasn´t paying too much attention to that, so she simply pushed the door open and found him at his desk again, buried behind a stack of papers Hermione swore she had sorted for him just yesterday.
“Tea?” She quipped eventually, her voice seeming to get his attention.
“Oh, you´re a lifesaver.” He replied with a sigh, picking up some of the files to push to the side so there would be room for the tea. “And you brought biscuits.”
His eyes seemed to light up at that, and Hermione couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Yes, of course. I even got you the good ones.” She then replied. “I don´t know who else was up for Minster, but I would have given them the boring ones, without the chocolate.”
He laughed at that, picking up a biscuit. “Are you not having any tea?”
Hermione, who´d already half turned, pointed towards the door. “Oh it´s on my desk. I was just going to have a quick cuppa there.”
“Nonsense. Bring it in here. I could use a break from…this.” He nodded towards the chaos on his desk.
“Yeah, I was wondering how that got there again.” Hermione raised an eyebrow, though she could feel a smile tugging on the corners of her lips as she moved to get her cup of tea, settling down into one of the free chairs opposite him eventually.
“I´m sorry,” He picked up another one of the biscuits, shaking his head. “I´m trying to get an overview of what´s going on, and then there´s people handing me more files and inquiries about changes they want to make to their departments, and these just…keep piling up.”
Hermione raised her cup to her lips, taking a careful sip. “It´s alright. The system I´m developing will make it easier to put files back where they belong, and to find them again later on if you need them,”
“So,” He finished the biscuit with a sip of his tea, eyeing Hermione for a moment. “How are you settling in? Everything alright? I hope your boyfriend, or husband, isn´t too annoyed that you´re working so late.”
At the mention of a potential husband, Hermione almost choked on her tea. Carefully placing the cup back onto the desk, she shook her head. “Oh no. No husband. Or boyfriend. I´ve just split up with my boyfriend actually.”
That break up had partly been the reason Hermione had decided to start over back in the Wizarding World. She´d been comfortable in her job and relationship, had even been at the point where she had considered telling him that she was a witch, to take their relationship to the next level.
“Oh, I´m sorry.” He caught her eye for a moment, and Hermione shook her head.
“Don´t be. He was actually quite awful. Told me I was boring.” She hadn’t actually meant to say that out loud, but somehow he was surprisingly easy to talk to.
“I beg your pardon?” This time it was him who almost choked on his tea.
“Yeah…not a nice guy in the end.” Hermione added, trying to shrug the whole thing off. The truth was: She had probably known it all along, her parents had never liked him, but she had stuck by his side. Probably longer than she should have.
“You know…uh…being Minster of Magic, I could just have him murdered.” It seemed his attempt at humour which, surprisingly, worked on her.
“I doubt the headline Minister of Magic has Muggle killed over calling his secretary boring would go over so well. In fact I´d think Rita Skeeter would have a field trip.”
He let out a chuckle, as Hermione gathered the empty cups and plate.
“True, but then again Rita Skeeter is constantly having field trips with any headline she can come up with. I try not to pay too much attention to her, but that woman has the ability to show up at the most awful times,”
Hermione smiled, before heading to the door. “Well…I´ll let you get back to work.” She quickly replied, but not without turning to look at him once more. “Oh and Sir? Thank you for the offer.”
Hermione couldn´t see it, but he was still smiling long after the door had closed.
-
The following week things calmed down a little, which was probably also down to Hermione just not letting anyone into Harry´s office, unless they had an appointment. She brought him lunch, so he didn´t have to go out and risk getting caught up with someone who wanted to just “Have a little chat about the changes in my department!” and he seemed to be more than grateful.
It was a Wednesday morning, when an owl from Minerva McGonagall arrived. It looked more informal than the usual letters he got, and Hermione briefly wondered why she wouldn´t send this letter to his apartment. Then again, he probably spent more time here than he did at home, so it made sense to send the owl to his work place.
Knocking on his door, like she had done ever so often in the past couple of weeks, Hermione pushed the door open to find him by one of the shelves, glancing at her when she entered. His lips curved into a smile then, wandering from her to the letter in her hand.
“An owl from Minerva McGonagall, Sir.” She offered him a smile in return, though his face instantly fell.
“Oh no.” He passed the room to take the letter from her with a sign, ripping it open.
“Everything alright?” For a moment Hermione considered just leaving, because this probably wasn´t her place, but the words were out already, and she couldn´t take them back.
“Yes…I mean…” He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up in the process. “I made Minerva promise to write me how Teddy´s doing. He´s 17 now, so he can take care of himself for the most part, but still. I promised to write him, but with everything going on I simply haven´t had the time to sit down and write a proper letter.”
Hermione remembered Paisley telling her about Teddy Lupin way back in school. It had been around the time Harry and Ginny had come to visit the school, people had been talking about them, and the war, left and right. Hermione remembered that she had found it admirable of them to take in a child to raise when they themselves had barely been 18 at the time, but she had never really followed what had become of him. She had long been gone from Hogwarts when he´d started his first year.
“But he´s seventeen, right? I mean, he´s probably not sitting around waiting for a letter from his godfather.” His eyes moved from left to right, reading the words written on the paper he was holding.
“I don´t think I know anyone involved in this situation enough to comment on it properly,” Hermione eventually spoke, “But…if you promised to write, then maybe you should? Even if it´s just a few lines. He´d probably be happy about that.” She offered a smile then, before returning back to her desk, leaving him to finish reading the letter.
-
Two days later Hermione, who made sure to send off all of the important letters, knew that he hadn´t written to Teddy yet. She didn´t blame him, things were still busy, but she couldn´t quite get the image of Teddy, sitting in the Great Hall waiting for a letter, out of her head.
So during her break, Hermione took a stroll through Diagon Alley, buying a box of chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, before returning to the office. She only hesitated for a moment, before pulling out a paper and a pen, beginning to write.
Dear Teddy,
I hope it´s alright to call you that! I´m writing on behalf of your Godfather. My name is Hermione, and I recently took on the job as his secretary here at the Ministry. He´s been telling me about you, all good things of course, and I wanted to drop you a small note, telling you that he has every intention of writing to you very soon!
Things have been a little hectic at the office, but I made sure to put the letter to you on top of his to do list this week. I hope you´re enjoying winter at Hogwarts, it was always my favourite time of the year!
Kind regards,
Hermione Granger
Once the letter was done, she added it to the package with the sweets, before eventually sending it off. She hoped that he´d enjoy the treats, and maybe forgive his godfather for not having written to him yet. She didn´t know Teddy, of course, but if he was anything like the man who had raised him, she assumed that he´d be happy about the note.
It was later that afternoon when Harry poked his head out of his office, catching Hermione´s attention by clearing his throat. She´d been entering some of the files into the laptop she had brought along, because they´d be easier to access for him, and just because the Wizarding World was set on tradition, didn´t mean they had to stick to all of it.
She had spent too long in the Muggle World to go back completely.
“Are you busy?”
Glancing up from the screen, Hermione shook her head, offering a smile. “Not terribly. Anything I can do for you, Sir?”
“Well, for starters you could stop calling me Sir, it makes me feel incredibly old.” Harry laughed, leaning against the doorframe. “But no, really. I was wondering if you were up for a Christmas drink tomorrow. My best friend says I have to get out of the office on the weekends, but I figured it would be nice to invite you along, since you´ve been helping me so much,”
It certainly wasn´t something Hermione had expected, and she had half a mind to say no, because going out with her boss? That sounded like a bad idea. They were supposed to be colleagues, not friends, but then again a normal secretary probably didn´t put in all the extra work she did, simply because she thought her boss was nice. A normal secretary also didn´t send care packages to their boss´ godson without being asked to, and a normal secretary probably also didn´t get a tiny bit weak in the knees whenever her boss smiled.
“Sure, that sounds lovely.” She eventually found herself replying, which drew that exact smile from Harry, and Hermione inwardly cursed herself.
“Great! I don´t quite know when he wants to meet up, but I`ll send you an owl tomorrow to let you know!”
“Or you could just call me, you know?” Hermione teased with a slight chuckle, watching as Harry´s smile became a little brighter.
“I´d love to, but I´d need a phone for that.” He´d absolutely kept up with Muggle technology over the years, especially since Arthur was still very much interested in everything Muggle related, but there was simply no need for a phone these days.
Smiling still, Hermione nodded. “An owl it is then,”
-
The owl arrived shortly after ten the next day. Harry´s handwriting was a little messy, but Hermione had learned to read it pretty well over the last couple of weeks. He asked if meeting up at the Leaky Cauldron was something she was alright with, apparently a former classmate of his had been landlady of the pub for a while, but they hadn´t been there ever since she had sold it again.
Hermione wrote a quick reply, telling him that she´d be there at 6:30, before heading to the office. She knew that she had no real obligation to be here on the weekends, but she wanted to return some files she had taken home last night to enter into the new filing system.
She spotted the letter on her desk the moment she stepped into the office. Mainly because she rarely ever got any letters here, there were a couple of friends from Hogwarts who still wrote letters to her from time to time, but they usually sent them to her home address. In fact, most of them probably didn´t even know that she had started a job at the Ministry yet.
Glancing at the return address, Hermione couldn´t help but smile a little. The letter had been sent by none other than Teddy Lupin. Curiously, she sat down to open the envelope, before pulling out the paper. She honestly hadn´t expected a reply, but that made the whole thing even sweeter.
Dear Hermione,
I hope it´s cool I call you that? Thanks for the package. I know Dad´s busy, so tell him not to worry!
Thanks for the sweets though, not many 7th Years still get them sent from their parents, we usually have to buy them ourselves, which means I now have some extra money to buy a Christmas gift for Vic!
Which is also partly the reason I´m writing to you. You´re a woman, right? I mean of course you are, but you know what I mean. You know what girls like, right? Vic isn´t my first girlfriend, but the first one with whom things are getting more serious. Plus we´ll have to spend Christmas together at Molly and Arthur´s house, so I don´t want to mess this up.
I would have asked Dad, but his track record with relationships isn´t exactly the best, and I figured you´d know what I could get Vic? I´d be happy about any recommendations!
Hope to hear from you soon!
Teddy
Smiling still as she finished reading the letter, Hermione let the paper sink onto the table. She hadn´t expected an answer, but Harry seemed to have raised the boy politely, and he wasn´t afraid to ask for help. He could have, of course, written to Ginny, who had partially raised him too, but Hermione understood the sentiment here. Sometimes it was easier to talk to an almost stranger about your problems, rather than asking someone close to you for advice.
Pulling out another piece of paper, she began writing a reply promptly.
Dear Teddy,
Hermione is just fine!
I´m glad you enjoyed the sweets, I figured you can never go wrong with them, especially around Christmas. As for you question: It really depends on the person, in your case Vic, and what she likes. Most girls enjoy jewellery, of course, but if that´s moving too fast, it´s understandable.
Something thoughtful should be the way to go, something that shows her you´ve thought about her when getting it. Something that maybe came up in conversation once? Or maybe a nice scarf? There´s some beautiful designs out there. It´s pretty, but at the same time it shows that you think about her, and don´t want her to be cold when going outside. It does get freezing cold at Hogwarts during December! Maybe accompany the gift with a nice dinner in Hogsmeade!
I hope that helps!
Kind regards,
Hermione
She wrote the address down on the envelope and sent it off again with an owl, before heading back out. She had about two hours to go before she´d have to leave her apartment again to meet up with Harry and his best friend. Trying to avoid any sort of conversation with people who were asking if Harry was in, and if he had a moment to talk, Hermione made her way towards the elevator and then home.
Luckily her apartment was located in Covent Garden, only a short distance walk from the Leaky Cauldron, which gave her enough time to get ready. Not that she was planning on doing anything spectacular, this was just a gathering of friends. Or well. A gathering of her boss, who was trying to be her friend, and his best friend.
Pushing the thought of the awkwardness that could ensue aside, Hermione opted for a black jumpsuit with a red belt around her waist. Letting her curls run free, she decided against the red lipstick she had already put on, wiping it off again. She didn´t want to look overdressed after all.
Instead she simply slipped on her red coat, grabbed her bag and headed for the door.
It was cold outside, still, and glancing up at the sky Hermione thought that it could begin to snow any given minute.
The Leaky Cauldron looked different than she remembered it. When heading through the back door to Diagon Alley, Hermione had always felt uncomfortable. The war hadn´t broken out yet, but the whole place was dark, with very few people sitting in the corners, whispering whenever someone passed through.
None of that had remained, however. The place was bright and open, the walls having been painted in a warm yellow, with people bustling all over the place.
Stepping inside, Hermione had been greeted with a warmth that caused her to take her coat off, as she looked around for a familiar face. She found Harry in one of the booths eventually, sitting next to a red haired man. She recognized him immediately, because while Hermione wasn´t exactly into gossip, pretty much everyone in the Wizarding World knew about how Harry Potter and his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom, had defeated Voldemort. They were mentioned in pretty much every book that dealt with the war, and Hermione had read them all.
Approaching them with a smile, she tried to ignore the nervous flutter in her stomach. This was going to be fine, it was just a Christmas drink with a colleague, right?
“Hermione!” Harry had spotted her too, his lips curving into a smile of his own. He moved from the table, and for a moment neither of them seemed to be sure how to approach the greeting. A hug? Too much, maybe. A handshake? A little too formal. Eventually Hermione settled on a small wave, while Harry busied himself by taking her coat.
Was she overdressed?
“Glad you made it. This is Ron, my best friend.” Harry eventually spoke, and Hermione was glad to have something to do as she leaned over the table to shake the man´s hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Ron is the co-owner of Weasleys´ Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley. He runs it with his brother.” Harry explained, as Hermione settled down. She remembered passing the shop every now and then, and how it had remained closed for a few years after the war had ended.
“That´s amazing. I always admire people who can keep a business running. Especially when the market is ever so changing.”
“Yeah well,” Ron shrugged his shoulders. “George does most of the business stuff. I´m behind the counter, it works well though.”
Wrapping her hands around the butterbeer that had been placed in front of her, Hermione nodded. “Of course. People who work in sales are just as important. You need to know how to be friendly, and charm people into maybe buying a little more than they originally intended to.”
“Yeah, true!” Ron agreed, and Hermione felt as if he sat up just a tiny bit straighter. “So…secretary, huh? Do you need to like…study for that?”
Using the break to take a sip of her drink, Hermione shook her head. “Well there´s Communication Management, which will absolutely help you on the job, but technically you don´t need a university degree to be a secretary. If you´re an organized person, and good at dealing with people in a friendly manner, then you´ll be just fine.”
The conversation went on after that, going from one topic to another. Ron was asking Harry when he´d arrive for Christmas, because he wasn´t in the mood to be alone with his mother for too long. Apparently she was waiting for Ron to settle down and get her some grandkids.
Ron didn´t seem to be all too interested in that though.
Hermione also found out that the Vic Teddy had been talking to her about, was in fact Ron´s niece. She was the daughter of his older brother Bill and his wife Fleur, and would also attend the family Christmas.
“Apparently a seventeen year old has more game than me,” Ron complained, and Hermione had to hide her smile behind her glass.
“Maybe he just knows where to ask for help,” She then suggested, and when Harry´s eyes met hers they seemed to ask Hm? Hermione shrugged her shoulders, still smiling as she emptied the glass.
Another hour passed and Ron had eventually switched to Fire Whiskey. Hermione checked her watch, deciding that it was time to leave. It was well past ten, and she had promised Paisley to meet her for breakfast in the morning.
“I can walk you home if you like?” Harry offered, but one look at Ron had told her that he wasn´t quite finished here yet. Still, the offer made her stomach swoop ever so slightly.
“It´s fine, really. It´s just a ten minute walk from here.” She replied with a smile, again not quite sure how to say goodbye. Shaking his hand seemed too formal, even if he was her boss, but a hug might have been too much.
“At least take my scarf? It´s cold outside.” Hermione couldn´t even protest before Harry had picked it up and wrapped it around her neck. For a moment their eyes met, and she could feel her heart missing a beat.
Dangerous, she thought for a moment, though that word was quickly replayed with caring.
“Thank you,” She smiled again, before eventually turning away and stepping out into the cold night.
Her cheeks were burning bright red.
-
When Monday came around, Christmas Eve was only three days away. Hermione had almost finished digitalizing all the files in their office, and she was confident she´d be done before the 24th. Harry had asked her to arrange for someone to pick Teddy up from the train station on Wednesday, but she had told him that it wouldn´t be a problem if he went himself.
“Teddy would be happy to see you pick him up, I´m sure. Besides: there´s only one more appointment this week, which is with Mr. Maisley, from the Department of Magical Transportation. I tried to schedule him for next year, like all the others, but he´s very…persistent.”
Harry chuckled at that.
“So I figured we´d get it over with, so you don’t have to worry about him. “
“Sounds like a solid plan. In fact, everything you do is pretty solid.” His lips curved into a smile. “I´d be lost without you. So…thank you,”
Hermione could feel the corners of her own mouth turning upwards as she shrugged her shoulders. “It´s my job, Sir.” She chuckled. “I mean…Harry.”
Finishing off his tea, he nodded for Hermione to sit down. “So…what are you doing for Christmas? Since there´s no boyfriend or husband, I´d assume you´re seeing family?”
Admittedly, he had no idea where Hermione´s family lived, and if they were coming into town if London wasn´t their permanent residence.
“Oh no. My parents go to France every year, but they already left last week. So it´s just me this Christmas.” Honestly, Hermione didn´t mind being alone all that much. Her parents had offered for her to come once she was done working, but despite having digitalized nearly all the files, there was still a lot to do, and she wanted to get it done before the New Year.
“Christmas alone? That sounds awful.” Harry exclaimed, louder than he had probably intended. Hermione wanted to protest, because she spent a lot of time on her own, and just because it was going to be Christmas didn´t make any difference, but Harry was quicker again.
“Why don´t you come with me?”
“I´m sorry?”
“I mean.” The full extent of his words seemed to manifest in his mind there and then, and he ran a hand through his hair, messing it up just a tiny bit.
“I mean…I´m seeing the Weasleys for Christmas. They invite Teddy and me every year. They´ve been my family for a long time, even after Ginny and I broke up, and with everyone there it´s always busy, especially during the Holidays. One more person won´t hurt them. In fact I`m sure Molly´s going to love you, especially with how much you´ve been helping me.”
It was an offer Hermione hadn´t expected.
“Please don’t think I`m a creep?” Harry added with a laugh. “I just…thought it was a good idea, because you´ve been so amazing here, and with the Weasleys it´s always a big Christmas, family and friends. In fact Molly always says ´The more the merrier´, which couldn´t be more true.”
Harry enjoyed Christmas at the Weasleys. He had always enjoyed spending time there, but during the holidays everyone returned home, brothers and sisters, boyfriends and girlfriends, husbands and wives and kids. For Harry, who spent most of his time alone, a big gathering like that was always the highlight of his year.
“Think of it as my gift to you?”
Hermione, who couldn’t help the way her stomach swooped again at his offer, smiled. “Does that mean I have to get you a gift, too? Because that doesn´t give me a lot of time to come up with one.” She then asked, and Harry ran a hand through his hair again, messing it up completely this time.
“You don´t have to. I mean you´ll still be getting your Christmas bonus, and my invitation still stands. No need for you to get me anything, unless you want to, of course.”
Hermione let out a chuckle. “Fine. I´ll come along.” She wasn’t even sure why she had agreed, because looking at it from the outside, this seemed like a pretty bad idea. Who went on a Christmas holiday with their boss?
Apparently one Hermione Jean Granger.
“Really?” Harry´s eyes seemed to light up at her words, and Hermione had to remind herself not to get too excited. He was probably just being nice, and the fact that she was going to meet the people he considered family, was just a coincidence. “I´ll fill you in on the details later. We´re going on the 24th, probably around noon. Apparating probably works best. I do have a car, but the location isn´t exactly where you´d get with a car. Not without having to wash it about ten times afterwards anyways.” He chuckled, while Hermione was still trying to process the whole thing.
Had she really just agreed to spend Christmas with him? According to the smile on his face, the answer was yes. Shaking off the voice in her head, which was telling her this was a bad idea, Hermione nodded. It was going to be just fine, there was no reason to be nervous. She picked up the empty tea cup from his desk and wandered over to the door then, giving him a smile over her shoulder.
“We´ll talk about the details then. Oh and just so you know: I already bought your gift.”
-
“Don´t tell me you’re working on Christmas?!”
“Sort of.”
Paisley was on the other end of the line, probably shaking her head at Hermione. She had offered to take her out for dinner on Christmas Eve so she wasn´t all by herself, but since it turned out that she wouldn´t be, Hermione had cancelled on her.
“You need to relax at some point, Mione. I know your boss is famous and good looking, but that doesn´t mean you´ll have to overwork yourself. He´ll be fine without you for a couple of days.”
If you only knew… Hermione thought to herself, shaking her head as she looked around her bedroom, trying to decide what kind of clothing was appropriate for Christmas with your boss and his family.
“I won´t overwork myself, and I`m taking some days off. Besides, we can see each other on New Year’s.” She attempted to calm her friend down, because Hermione was sure Paisley would show up at her door at some point, demanding to be let in, which wouldn´t work if Hermione wasn´t there.
The last thing she needed was for her friend to track her down at the house of her boss´ best friend, celebrating Christmas with his family.
The whole thing was surreal enough to begin with, she wasn´t exactly in the mood to explain it to someone.
“Promise?” Paisley asked from the other end of the line, just as Hermione picked up a dress to put into her bag.
“Promise.”
-
Tuesday and Wednesday rolled around, and London seemed to have completely fallen into the Christmas cheer. Even the offices at the ministry had been decorated accordingly. Most people had their last full day of work today, going off to celebrate the holidays with their families, before returning on the 26th.
There were people on call, of course, in case something happened, and those people included Harry. He seemed to be in good spirits, however, when he packed his things around lunch time.
“I´m picking Teddy up from the platform,” He announced with a smile as he passed her desk, pausing at the door to look back for a moment. “We´ll be at your place at 12:30 tomorrow, if that works? Most people won´t be coming in before the afternoon. Well, except for Percy maybe. So that way you´ll have time to meet Molly and Arthur before everyone else arrives.”
Hermione still remembered the first time she had met her last boyfriend´s parents. They had been kind and friendly, not at all like their son really, and she had eventually figured that it had been less of a waste of time to meet them than him.
Not that this was even remotely similar. Surely, she still wanted to make a good impression, but Harry was her boss, not her boyfriend. Pushing that thought far away she offered him a smile, nodding.
“Sounds like a plan, oh and…” reaching for her bag, Hermione eventually pulled out the scarf he´d given to her last weekend. She´d been meaning to give it back earlier, but things had been…busy.
“I´ll see you tomorrow,” She added, trying to ignore the way her skin broke into goose bumps as their fingers brushed against each other.
“Until tomorrow,” Harry replied, and if Hermione didn´t know any better she´d swear he was holding on just a tiny bit longer than necessary.
-
Hermione was all packed and ready by nine in the morning, which absolutely wasn´t because she was nervous. Not at all. Part of her wondered why she had agreed to this, because this clearly wasn´t something she´d usually be doing, but then again she had found out that it was somehow hard to say no to Harry.
She had eventually taken to cleaning the apartment to distract herself. A couple of Christmas decorations and lights had been put up earlier this week, just because Hermione had felt like it. She hadn´t expected to not be home on Christmas after all, but plans had changed.
She kept the set up anyway, making sure the lights on the windows went on every night at 6, and turned themselves off again around midnight.
Her parents had called to ask if she was doing alright, and Hermione had told them she was fine. She hadn´t exactly lied when she had told them that she would be with friends on Christmas Eve, because at this point Harry and her could be considered friends, right?
She was just done rearranging her closet, when the doorbell rang. Hermione ignored her heart missing a beat and opened the door to find Harry there, accompanied by Teddy, a tall boy with warm, brown eyes and bright purple hair.
She barely managed to say hello, before she was wrapped up in a hug and almost lifted off her feet. He seemed to be a kind, open minded boy, something he had, as Hermione would later learn, inherited from his mother.
“So you´re Hermione. That´s still cool if I call you that, right? Thanks for your advice, it worked perfectly!” He was grinning as he stepped into the apartment, and Harry raised an eyebrow at her as he followed.
I´ll tell you later, her eyes seemed to say, followed by a smile.
The apparition went by without a hitch. Hermione once again ignored the way Harry´s touch sent a shiver down her spine, because she´d been doing just fine that way thank you very much, and before they could even blink all of them stood in the garden of what Hermione would come to know as The Burrow. The whole house was big, with all kinds of nooks and crannies, crooked windows and Christmas decorations all over the place.
“It´s snowing.” Hermione noted as she turned to look at Harry for a moment, who was smiling. He suddenly seemed…calmer. Certainly calmer than she had ever seen him before, and it was then that she realized he considered this place his home.
London was where he lived, sure, but this place, where he´d spent year after year surrounded by people who really cared about him, had become his home. Hermione could feel a warmth spreading from her chest through her entire body, and for a moment she almost lost herself in Harry´s smile.
It seemed like there was something he wanted to say, but before he could even so much as form a thought about it, the door to the kitchen flew open, and a woman stepped out. She was in her sixties maybe, short and her red hair was streaked with grey.
“Harry, Teddy!” She exclaimed with a smile, embracing the purple haired boy tightly, before moving on to Harry. “And you must be Hermione, Harry´s told me all about you!” The woman, who introduced herself as Molly, wrapped Hermione into a hug as well, and she immediately understood why Harry felt at home here.
“All good, I hope.” She couldn´t help but laugh as they pulled apart, and Molly´s lips curved into a smile. “And thank you for having me,”
“Well he told me he´d be lost without you, so inviting you for Christmas, especially when you would have been all alone, is the least we can do.” Her smile seemed to brighten even more at that. “Harry´s a good man,” She then added with a nod, squeezing Hermione´s arm lightly before stepping away.
“Are you talking about me?” Harry chimed in with a chuckle, as he passed them by to follow Teddy into the kitchen.
“Maybe.” Hermione replied with a grin, putting down the redness on her cheeks to the cold winter air, instead of a blush.
-
Harry had been right, Percy was already there. He was curled up in one of the arm chairs, a book on his lap. Thinking about it now, Hermione had seen him around the Ministry before. She had seen him talking to Harry on her first day there, but she hadn´t made the connection then.
His wife Audrey was in the kitchen, making some tea, while their daughters Lucy and Molly sat on the floor, engrossed in books, much like their father.
Hermione was shown to her room, which she was sharing with Ginny apparently. She would have honestly been fine sleeping on the couch, or on a mattress on the floor somewhere, but to get an actual bed, when she knew there wasn´t too much space, was actually quite a nice gesture.
Part of her wished she could have talked to Harry a little more though, but he seemed to always be engaged in a conversation with someone else.
Still the popular one, she thought to herself, lips curving into a slight smile.
The rest of the family arrived within a few hours of them. There were so many of them, extended family included, that Hermione had the urge to make a binder just to know who she was talking to, and how they were related to everyone.
She really should have been the odd one out, but for some reason she wasn´t. People seemed to be happy to see her around even, with Audrey offering her some tea, while George´s daughter Roxanne begged Hermione to read her some stories.
She helped pass around sandwiches for Molly, because there were just too many kids running around for one woman to find and feed. It was…nice. Hermione loved her parents, but other than a grandmother on her maternal, and an aunt on her paternal side, there weren´t really any people she could call family. Having so many people around for the holiday wasn´t something she was used to, but it turned out to be quite lovely actually.
At some point during the day Bill Weasley, which Hermione had learned was the oldest of the Weasley children, arrived alongside his family. His eldest daughter looked just like her mother, tall and slim, with long blonde hair and rosy cheeks. When her eyes fell on Hermione, she smiled, and before Hermione could even introduce herself, arms were wrapped around her in a tight hug.
“You must be Hermione,” She whispered with a nod. “Thank you for giving Teddy such great advice,”
Pulling back, Hermione´s lips mirrored the other´s smile. “So you´re Vic.” She then chuckled, “And you´re welcome. He just needed a nudge in the right direction.”
“I´m glad Uncle Harry found someone as great as you,” Vic added, and before Hermione could protest, the girl had already pulled away and disappeared into the next room to greet her cousins, aunts and uncles.
-
Ron was the one to arrive last. He mumbled something about traffic, which made absolutely no sense, but nobody seemed to question it. Maybe they knew it wasn´t worth the discussion.
Molly, who had insisted she wouldn´t be needing any help in the kitchen, was preparing dinner while her husband Arthur, who seemed to be very interested in Hermione´s Muggle heritage, was handing out Christmas drinks to everyone. He prided himself on knowing quite a lot about the Muggle World, and even told Hermione the story of how Ron and Harry had once stolen the flying car he had built, and taken it to Hogwarts.
It was a story that was told by students at Hogwarts, she had definitely heard it before, but nobody knew whether or not it was actually true. Whenever someone had asked Professor McGonagall about it, she had just given them a raised eyebrow, and a rather judgemental stare.
Dinner almost passed in a blur then, because there were so many people gathered around the huge table, talking and trying to tell stories about what had happened since they´d last seen each other. Hermione got talking with George, who she remembered ran Weasley Wizard Wheezes with Ron. She had never been one for pranks of any sort, but at the end of dinner she had promised him to come by and take a look around.
Everything about this family seemed a little too loud and chaotic, but Hermione still found that she wouldn´t want to be anywhere else.
“Everything okay?” Harry eventually caught her in the midst of trying to carry some of the plates towards the sink, and Hermione almost dropped the entire stack. “I´m sorry I didn´t get to be around much, but it seems like everyone wants to know about the new job, which I should have predicted, but you know…”
“Would you like me to schedule appointments for you? We could do 5 within the hour, which gives you about a ten minute break in between.” Hermione joked as a response, and the way Harry laughed made her heart miss a beat.
“It would probably help, but I invited you here as a friend, and not as my secretary.” He eventually spoke again, “So thank you, but no. I want you to feel like you´re at home, not at work.”
Hermione smiled, the stack of plates in her hands almost forgotten. “I do feel at home.” She then admitted. “Everyone is so nice and welcoming. I´ve never had a big family like this. It´s wonderful.”
It wasn´t like this was how it would be every year, of course. Harry had been kind enough to invite her this time, but once everything had settled down at work, she would be able to go to France with her parents again. The thought of that, however, made her chest tighten a little though, and she immediately felt bad. She loved her parents, and spending time with them, of course she did, but why was the thought of spending time with a family as big as the Weasley´s so appealing to her then?
Because it´s the thought of spending Christmas with him, a voice in the back of her mind reminded her, but Hermione pushed it as far away as possible.
“Alright well. I promised Charlie to listen to his proposal as to how the ministry can fund his research, but I`ll be back. We can talk later?” Harry suggested, and when their eyes met Hermione almost lost herself in the green of his for a moment.
“I´d like that.” She eventually managed, and was greeted with another smile.
-
Things settled down after dinner, with the children being sent to bed early, and the teenagers hiding in their rooms, probably having had enough of conversations about how school was going for one day.
Harry was still off somewhere, talking to Charlie, and Hermione found herself by the fireplace with Ron. He´d handed her a warm butterbeer, which she had gladly accepted. Everything about this house was warm and welcoming, and the butterbeer made her feel just as warm on the inside.
It was her third drink of the night, however, and while Hermione wasn´t a lightweight, she felt the slightest bit dizzy already. Ron was talking about how business had been booming so close to Christmas, and Hermione was doing her best to follow his words.
Something about Fanged Frisbees, Puking Pastilles and her smelling nice.
“What?” She asked, her voice slightly irritated.
“You´re very pretty. Too pretty to be stuck as a secretary.”
“That makes no sense.”
He was close, too close for comfort really, and Hermione could smell the alcohol on his breath. He must have had more drinks than her, because personal space seemed to be non-existent at this point. His arm wrapped around her waist and Hermione barely managed to put her glass down on the mantelpiece, so it wouldn´t spill.
It seemed like he was done talking, and was going to let his actions speak louder than words. Hermione, however, was trying to get over the initial shock, attempting to take a step backwards, before his lips could touch hers. The creaking of the floorboards was what pulled her from her trance eventually and she stepped back, catching sight of Harry by the door. The expression on his face was a mix between shocked and painful.
Hermione instantly felt her heart sink.
“Harry, it´s not…” But he had turned around and stepped out of the room, before she could even finish her sentence. Without a second though to Ron, Hermione left him at the fireplace, heading after Harry. She caught him in the corridor, a hand on his arm to stop him from leaving.
“That wasn´t what it looked like.” It sounded awful, even though it was true.
“Listen. That´s really none of my business. You´re single. You can do whatever you want.” The words stung a little coming from his mouth, but technically he was right. Still, she didn´t want him to think she was just going around, trying to kiss his best friend, when he had been so kind to invite her here.
“You work for me. You´re just my secretary, so it´s probably best if things just…stay that way.”
Hermione could feel her chest tightening to a point where it was becoming hard to breathe. It had been a stupid idea to come along. She barely really knew anyone in this house, and Harry had just made it very clear that she did, in fact, not belong here.
Her stomach turned at the very thought of staying, of smiling all through Christmas morning when all she wanted to do was disappear. Hermione could feel tears prickling in the corners of her eyes, but she refused to give in to them. She wasn´t going to let him see her cry.
“Well. Maybe you shouldn´t have asked your secretary to come along to Family Christmas then.” Her voice was colder than she had anticipated, and less shaky too. Part of her wished to explain herself, to tell him that he was jumping to conclusions, but he had clearly already made up his mind, so Hermione simply pushed past him, holding the tears back just long enough until she had disappeared around the next corner.
-
Harry didn´t sleep much that night. He tossed and turned and, at one point, even tried to wake Ron to ask him what had actually happened. Ron, however, had immediately passed out when coming to their room and hadn´t stirred ever since.
The sun had barely began to rise, when Harry eventually padded down into the kitchen. He half expected to see Hermione there, but was instead greeted by Ginny, who was standing by the window, a steaming cup of tea in her hand.
“You wanna tell me what you did now?” She asked, turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow. Harry had half a mind to protest, but he was well aware that he had acted like an idiot. No, an asshole really, but he was here to apologize.
“Ron was being a dick. We both know that happens, but to put the blame on her? Oh Harry,” She sighed, shaking her head. “I really thought you knew better.”
“Okay, but in my defence: It really looked like she was ready to kiss him.” Alright, he needed to stop trying to put the blame on her, because it wasn´t getting him anywhere. “Sorry.” He retreated, watching as Ginny nodded towards the table. It was mostly empty, except for a neatly wrapped present, topped with a Christmas card.
“What´s that?” He asked, stepping into the kitchen. He knew that Molly had collected all presents people had brought, and was going to neatly drape them around the tree in a little while.
“She gave it to me to hand to you.”
“Who?”
“Hermione, of course.” Ginny sighed again, before taking another sip of her tea. “She left, Harry.”
It hit him harder than he had expected. Surely, he´d been acting like a total idiot, but Harry had somehow hoped he´d be able to fix it by talking to her. Where had she gone? Home? He knew her parents were in France, but going there and having to explain why her Christmas plans had changed so suddenly? No. That, however, meant that she was probably going to spend Christmas alone, and it was his fault entirely.
“Read the card.” Ginny´s voice pulled him from his thoughts and Harry reached for it, reading over the familiar handwriting.
Dear Sir…
Dear Harry,
I shouldn´t have accepted your invitation to come along, it wasn´t my place and for that I apologize.
I still left your present for you, I hope you enjoy it.
Just to clear things up though, I´d like you to know that I wasn´t trying to kiss Ron. He had a few drinks, there was a fire…I still feel like a bit of an idiot though. Particularly because ( If you can´t say it at Christmas when you can you, hm? ) – I`m actually yours,
With love,
Hermione
Letting the card sink, Harry felt his chest tighten. She wasn´t the idiot here, it was clearly him. He´d been jealous when there had been no reason to be, and had royally screwed things up. Picking up the present, he unwrapped it and almost let out a laugh.
It was a phone.
Or you could just call me, you know?
Hermione´s voice echoed in his head, and he wished for things to be that easy. He didn´t have her number though, the phone was new, so he didn´t assume that she had put her number in just yet.
“What am I going to do now?” He sighed, sinking down into one of the kitchen chairs.
Ginny, who had leaned against the counter, still sipping her tea, raised an eyebrow at him. “What are you? Fifteen?” She then asked with a shake of her head. “Remember why we broke up?”
Glancing up at her, Harry wondered what exactly that had to do with his current situation. He went along with it nonetheless, maybe because he really hadn´t slept right.
“You packed your bags and went off to some trip to Ireland. Told me you needed some time.” Things hadn´t been the same with them for a while, but Harry had thought that maybe, with some time to themselves, they´d be alright.
They obviously hadn´t been. Ginny had returned from Ireland, and they had ended things the same day. Right now she was looking at him like she was waiting for the penny to drop, however.
And then it did.
“You wanted me to go after you, didn´t you?” Once again Harry felt like an idiot. Not because he missed something that might have saved his relationship, but because it had taken him about ten years to realize.
“I´m saving you the sentimental walk down memory lane, and some time, too. This is the part where you go after her. I haven’t seen you this worked up about someone in a long time, Harry.” Her expression softened a little as she walked towards him, pressing her lips to the top of his head for a moment. “And before you doubt yourself: The way that woman looks at you? That´s the look I see when Fleur looks at Bill, or Angelia looks at George. The way Mum still looks at Dad.” Pulling back, Ginny shoved at his shoulder affectionately.
“Now go, or I`m personally chasing you across the fields and to London.” She then added with a chuckle, before wandering out of the kitchen.
When Molly entered just fifteen minutes later, Harry was long gone.
-
It had begun to snow in London by the time Harry arrived. He could have apparated straight into his apartment, but he wasn´t quite sure where to look for Hermione, or what to actually say. Apologize, of course, but how? He´d never actually been good at that, and he didn´t want to mess things up even more. So he had taken the train.
It was late in the afternoon, and the roofs in the city were covered in white, when he found himself in front of her apartment. He´d used Alohomora to get into the building, but he didn´t want to risk actually breaking into her apartment with it.
Instead he stood there, knocking like the idiot he was. Mainly because she wasn´t opening the door. There was, of course, the chance that Hermione wasn´t even home. Maybe he´d been wrong and she had gone to France to see her parents.
How was he supposed to find her there?
Sighing, he tried another knock, but nothing came of it, so instead Harry turned to attempt something else. He raised his hand to knock at the door that came next down the corridor. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, but then footsteps could be heard.
The door swung open, and Harry was greeted by two little girls, who were looking up at him expectedly.
“Are you a carol singer?” The seemingly younger one asked, and Harry had a feeling he wasn´t going get far with these two. He ended up singing Jingle Bells for them anyway.
The door that lead to the apartment opposite of Hermione´s belonged to an old lady, who had no idea where the lovely girl had gone, but she´d be happy to invite Harry in for some tea and biscuits.
He politely declined.
There was one apartment left, and at the door Harry was greeted by a Brunette, wearing nothing but a bred, silky nightgown.
“Hermione? I saw her just this morning. She went out. Can´t tell you where she went though. I could take a message if you like?”
Harry shook his head with a sigh, and with a shrug the woman closed the door, leaving him to his thoughts. What if she wasn´t coming back home for Christmas? He should have asked the Brunette if she had seen Hermione leaving with any sort of luggage, but he didn´t want to knock again. So instead he ended up sitting on the steps that lead up to the building, debating on what to do next.
He could just return to the Burrow, wait for things to blow over, and see her after Christmas once they returned to work. Would she even return, though? Or would she hand in a notice and quit her job? He couldn´t really make that out from the note she had left him.
Harry wasn´t sure how long he´d been sitting on the steps, but at some point the snow had begun to pick up again. The sun was slowly sinking, having disappeared almost completely behind the buildings on the street.
“Harry?”
It was her voice that pulled him from his thoughts, and for a moment he thought that he was imagining her. He blinked a couple of times, but no, she was really here. Hermione stood just a couple of feet away, glancing back at him, looking half surprised and half curious. She was carrying a bag of groceries, and a bunch of snowflakes had been caught in her hair at this point.
“What are you doing here?”
There are a lot of answers to that question, Harry thought as he lept from the stairs, brushing the snow from his coat and trousers, but only one that mattered.
“I got your present. And your card.” He eventually managed.
“And…you wanted to say thank you?” Hermione tried then, attempting to ignore the way her heart had picked up its pace. He´d come after her. That had to mean something, right? But then again, she had allowed herself to read more into their relationship before, and it had landed them here instead of at the Burrow, where they were supposed to be.
“Yes. I mean, no. Yes. I wanted to apologize. You weren´t home though.”
Holding up the bag of groceries, Hermione shrugged her shoulders. “I went to the office to finish up some things, and then I figured it would be pathetic to actually order food on Christmas Day, instead of attempting to cook a decent meal. So I got these.”
This was not the conversation either of them had planned on having, really, so Harry just nodded. Despite all the time he´s had to prepare, he wasn´t really sure what to say. He wasn´t exactly someone who had learned to talk about his feelings, even though he had seen first had what keeping them in could do to people.
“I…look. I´m sorry about what I said. It was…dumb and I was trying to hurt you, because I was jealous. What I meant was that you can do whatever you want though. Even if you chose to date Ron then I´d have to live with that. You´re not just my secretary though, you basically saved my life. Without you I wouldn´t have known how to deal with all those people, and those huge amounts of files. Seriously, why so many of them?” He shook his head. “No, but…what I`m trying to say is that I need you, and I`m not ready to lose you, even if that means keeping you as a friend only.”
“Oh Harry,”
Before he could even begin to think about whether or not those had been the right words to say, the bag of groceries was dropped to the floor, and then Hermione was kissing him.
It took Harry a moment to catch up, but then his heart missed a beat, and his arms wrapped around her to keep her close. There was Christmas music coming from an open window somewhere, and they must have really painted a strange picture.
Two people wrapped up in each other, kissing on the pavement, with a bag of vegetables and other groceries at their feet, snow falling around them.
It might have been strange, sure, but neither Harry nor Hermione wished to be anywhere in that moment.
“We should probably go inside,” Hermione eventually spoke as they pulled apart, her lips curved into a smile.
“Yeah…I think people are watching,” Harry responded with a grin, glancing up at the windows above them. There was the old lady he´d talked to earlier, and some other people hiding behind glass and curtains.
“You think we should wave?” Hermione asked with a chuckle, and so they did, their lips still curved into smiles, and just for good measure, Harry kissed her again.