Captivate and Mesmerize

Captivate; Part 1.2

Next came the stag, and the moon, and the star. She was away to France for a business trip as was typical of her role as the head of Magical Research at the Ministry. She came back to London not at all happy since the talks on continued cooperation between her department and that of the French fell through. Les imbéciles had such ridiculous terms for the agreement and wouldn't settle on a compromise! She hated politics.

She also had a fight with her boyfriend, Lukas Simon, minutes before she took the international portkey back to London. He had been wanting her to meet his parents since they have been dating for the past six months but she had to cancel on him. Granted, this was her second time cancelling dinner with the Simons at their estate in Cambridge, but work rang. Since this deal with the French equivalent of her department fell through, her workload almost doubled. He wasn't impressed and vocalized that when she called him on a two-way mirror but what could she do? Her work was important to her and she had a lot of damage control to see through! Besides, it's not like his parents knew they were supposed to be meeting her for the weekend since Lukas insisted on surprising them. So really, no harm done and she could go meet them later.

Since she wasn't in any mood to face her boyfriend who was probably waiting for her in her flat, she went to the only place where she could get away from it all. After arriving at the Ministry and checking her mail, she apparated straight to Godric's Hollow.

It was uncharacteristically hot in Britain that day so cooling charms were on full blast throughout the house. She was thankful for this and it was the assurance she needed that the homeowner was indeed home. She ditched her cloak and shoes and walked through the halls in search of her best friend. She so badly wanted to hop into the shower and change into more comfortable clothes than the dress suit she was wearing but she wanted to see Harry first. After going through the usual suspects of rooms he could be in and not finding him in them, Hermione decided to check the backyard.

The backyard stretched to a forest which was a godsend for the Quidditch-loving Auror. He had Quidditch hoops built at the far end of the yard nearest to the trees. A quick glance upwards and Hermione spied a figure on a broom flying high above the ground. She couldn't see very well since the sun was shining into her eyes, so she called Harry down and saw the broom start its descent towards her. She stepped foot onto the grass from the glass door separating the inside from the outside and waited for her best friend to arrive.

Harry Potter gracefully touched down on the grass and her mouth went dry at the state of him. He was wearing denim trousers and... well, that was it. The heat of the April sun encouraged the Auror to remain shirtless as he was flying on his broom. Sweat glistened at the top of his brows, his temples, at the column of his throat, and down to his bare chest and abs and underneath those trousers too. He gave her a huge grin before he slung the broom onto his shoulder and started his walk towards her.

"Hermione!" He said in greeting, and dropped the broom to the ground when he was in front of her. "I'd hug you right now but I don't think you want to get all sweaty. How was your trip to France?" He asked with a grin, and his right arm instinctively moved on its own to run his hand through damp hair.

That was when Hermione saw it. It was quite a large mark on his right deltoid and her eyebrows squinted as she tried to make sense of the shape. "It was actually terrible and... Harry, what is that?" She asked.

He looked at her confusedly before noticing her unwavering and piercing gaze on his right arm. He gave her a grin before touching his right hand to his left shoulder and turning his torso slightly to give her a full view of the new ink on his muscled arm. "I got a new tattoo," he said.

Yes, he did indeed. Hermione gulped as she looked at the ink. It was a larger tattoo than the lily on his forearm and so, so intricate. A stag's head was at the forefront and its antlers were long and winding as a clear depiction of its age. Its eyes were bright and wise and peeked through the meticulously drawn fur all over its face and ears. Cradled between the buck's antlers was a full moon shaded darkly except for a silhouette of a lone star shining brightly in the night.

It was an homage to the true Marauders. It was Prongs, Mooney, and Padfoot. It was the father figures Harry had in his life whom he had lost along the way. The image was utterly captivating. As Hermione looked, her mind immediately spun a tale about a stag walking through a forest in the dark with only the moon and star guiding him on his way. Hermione felt like she could get lost in the illustration.

Hermione's hand itched to touch it. She so badly wanted to trace the ink with her finger, to know everything about the depiction of the stag, moon, and star. She wanted to know every dip of the muscles underneath that picture too, and... Stop it Hermione, she chastised herself quietly. Ogling her best friend's tattoo especially while he was shirtless was quite inappropriate. She drew her hands to a fist and forced herself to look away from the ink.

"It's absolutely beautiful, Harry," she whispered. "Marauders?"

He smiled, nodded, and relaxed his stance. He grabbed his shirt which was discarded on a chair in the backyard and put it on. Hermione was almost sad that the shirt covered his new tattoo. He approached her and gave her a one-armed hug and he steered her back inside his home.

He settled her into a couch in the living room and Acciod a cold drink for the two of them. She tucked her legs underneath her bum and settled herself in Harry's arm as was natural for the two of them. "You were saying that your visit to France was actually terrible? Do I need to hex someone, Hermione?" He asked with a grin.

It was the invitation she needed to launch into a tirade about the French head of Magical Research. Harry nodded and supported her ramblings with "Uhuh"s and "How dare they"s as she told him the headaches and pain points of her trip. After about an hour of much-needed ranting, Hermione finally was able to breathe easily and settled her head on Harry's shoulder. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered.

He squeezed her tightly and kissed the side of her head. "No problem at all, Hermione. What are best friends for?"

Hermione didn't know why that comment made her so uneasy.

She apparated home later that evening after dinner with Harry to see her boyfriend waiting silently on her couch. She was startled to see him there and vocalized that but he only stared at her with stern eyes.

"Where were you?" He asked her silently.

Hermione's eyes narrowed at his demeanor and harsh tone. "Well, good evening to you too Lukas. And I was at Godric's Hollow."

Lukas Simon let out a bitter laugh which stunned Hermione. "Of course you were at Harry's. When were you ever going to put me ahead of him, Hermione? Am I not as important?"

Hermione looked at him incredulously. "Just what are you on about? He's my -"

"Best friend," Lukas bellowed, raising from the couch. "Yes, I know as I've heard that a million times before! But I am your boyfriend." Hermione gasped. This was the angriest she had ever seen him.

"Lukas, calm down. What are you so angry about?" Hermione asked. She took a step towards him but he raised a hand in front of him.

"I can't, Hermione. I can't do this anymore. I can't be second best. I can't be second string. I know where your priorities lie and it's not on me or on us," he said harshly, running a frustrated hand through his blonde hair.

At his words Hermione felt tears of confusion building in her eyes. "Lukas, what are you going on about? Let's just... let's just be calm and talk this through," she said.

He shook his head fiercely. "No, I'm sorry. I'm done. I can't wait for you to realize what you really want," he said. "Goodbye, Hermione." And with that, he apparated from her flat.

Hermione's head reeled as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. She looked awestruck at the now empty place by the couch. Numbly she walked to her bedroom and changed into her night clothes before securely wrapping herself in her blanket. She didn't know what to think and her confusion overclouded the hurt she felt by being dumped by her boyfriend. Just what did Lukas mean? Harry was her best friend. They've been through hell together. Of course Harry was important to her. But that doesn't mean Lukas was unimportant to her. Maybe... maybe he just wasn't as important to her. But she wanted him! Of course she wanted him otherwise she wouldn't have agreed to date him. So what did he mean by her not realizing what she really wanted?

Hermione drifted off to sleep that night with dreams of secure arms wrapped around her marked with a stag, a moon, and a star.