Second Chances~ Harry Potter

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

It was the next evening, just before nightfall when Hermione received her return letter. She rose from the chair she sat in, letting Ron's limp arms fall away from her, and went to retrieve the parchment from the owl. After, scanning it, frowning, and reading it again, she sat back down, prodding Ron with her elbow in an attempt to wake the snoring ginger beast.

"Honestly, Ronald!" She scolded after a minute of vain prodding. "Are you deaf?"

"No," he responded groggily. He opened one eye, watching Hermione glare at him. "I'm ignoring you." Ron struggled into a seated position and opened both eyes, rubbing them. "I woke up when you got up a moment ago." He gave her a sheepish smile and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Don't try and charm me." She scolded, though a smile played on her lips.

After receiving the kiss Ron bestowed upon her forehead, she thrust the crinkled parchment at him, instructing him it read. His reaction, ironically, mirrored that of Hermione's. He read it, frowned, then read it again. He finally lifted his gaze to Hermione, who sat leaning against the arm of the couch, her arms crossed, her eyes unfocused, lost in thought. Ron laid the letter in her lap, watching her silently for a moment. Several times, she opened her mouth to speak, yet closed it not a breath later.

"He seems smitten." Ronald joked in an attempt to wipe the worry written clearly on his friend's face.

"Honestly, Ron!" She exclaimed, not for the first time. "Something isn't right and all you're thinking about is that."

"I'm just happy for him is all." Ron responded, holding his hands up in defense. "He's not over there moping about and feeling awful like he was here. There, in some small, middle of nowhere town, he's happy."

"Shut up." Hermione said weakly, smiling sheepishly at Ron and leaning into his chest.

They sat silently, both contemplating the girl thousands of miles away. Hermione had just begun to drift off into a fitful sleep when Ginny bound into the room, startling both of its previous occupants. She smiled at them kindly, then doubled over to retrieve the letter that had fluttered to the ground. Before either could mutter "No!" Ginny had begun reading the letter. As she read through, her frown deepened and her face turned a red that would rival her hair.

"Oh!" Ginny said hatefully, tossing the letter back onto the floor. "Apparently he's enjoying himself." She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. In an instance, she had stormed out of the room. Down the hall, the door slammed, leaving everyone in the house wondering where exactly the haughty girl was heading.

"Well, damn." Ron cursed, rubbing his face tiredly. "Either she's going to go be irrational somewhere or she's going to go skin Harry alive."

Hermione shuddered, shaking her head. "Either way," she remarked. "I would not want to be on the receiving end of that..." She remarked, earning a agreeing nod from Ron.

Hours later and thousands of miles away, it was just past dusk in Henley. On the roof of the porch, under the stars laid Ellie and Harry, their hips touching as they watching the sky. It was cool, but surprisingly neither shivered; their bodies provided enough warmth, especially from where their bodies just grazed one another. As a star shot across the sky overhead, Harry's hand crept to his right, intertwining his fingers with Ellie's.

"Tell me a secret." Ellie's quiet voice broke the warm bubble of silence that surrounded them. Harry sighed softly, contently, but unsure what to tell her. He had secrets galore but only a few he could really tell her.

"Really?" He asked, turning his eyes away from the sky and towards the shadowed, grinning face of the girl beside him. She nodded, smirking and chewing the inside of her cheek. "Like what? " he asked with a chuckle. She shrugged in response. Harry thought for a minute, rubbing the back of her small hand with his thumb gently as he thought. "Alright," Harry said quietly, deciding on his secret. "I'm terrified of snakes." He stated, unaware of the truth until he had said it aloud. "Had a horrid experience with one when I was twelve."

Yeah, he thought with a shudder. A snake the size of a truck nearly ate me in the basement of my school that supposedly didn't exist.

"Snakes are pretty gross." Ellie responded, squeezing his hand gently; a tender grip back was Harry's response.

"Your turn." Harry said after a while, his quiet voice carrying over to her. She glanced at him, arching a suspicious eyebrow.

"I'm not good at secrets." She muttered, turning away from his gaze, fixing her eyes on the twinkling stars above head.

"Oh come on!" Harry protested teasingly. He rolled to his stomach, cocking his head to the side and watching her. "I told you a secret." He attempted to bargain.

"I am not going to haggle with you, Potter." Ellie scowled, her gray eyes watching him, calculated whether or not to share with the group.

"Please?" Harry offered, his voice a husky, low lilt. Ellie glanced at him, loathing the smirk on his face and the brightness of his eyes.

"Stop talking." Ellie muttered, turning away from him and grinning.

"Why?" He responded in the same, low tone, catching on to what he was doing to her

"Damn." She chuckled quietly, keeping her eyes on the sky. "You're killing me." She laughed. "I'll throw myself from the roof if you don't behave."

Harry rolled her eyes, reaching to his side and wrapping his arm over her stomach and around he waist. "Come on," he said, his face close to Ellie's, his breath tickling the skin below her ear.

"Fine." Ellie breathed softly, finally locking eyes with Harry. "But you have to get off of me." She added breathlessly. She was, in fact, breathless; just the thought of him so close to her sent a shiver down her spine.

"Alright." Harry responded, unable to keep the smirk from his lips. "Okay." He said, lifting his body slightly, placing a kiss on her forehead, then moving away completely. Ellie was left breathless, heart pounding, and acutely aware of the sudden coolness were his body had left a trail of warmth down her.

"Go on." Harry said, watching her sit forward and cross her legs, hugging herself.

"It's actually really ignorant." She finally said, after a few minutes of internally waring. Harry rolled his eyes in response, resting his arms on his knees. "I'm afraid I'm just some summer fling." The sentence stung to say. It stung even more for Harry to hear.

"That is completely mad, El." He said, closing the gap between them easily and wrapping his arms around her. "If I was looking for a summer fling, I wouldn't have chosen someone I can't get out of my head." Ellie rolled her eyes, but Harry felt the tension in her shoulders begin to fade. "Honestly, El, I swear." Bright gray eyes looking up at him. He lifted his hand, tucking a stray stand of hair behind her ear. "Besides, I have no desire to even have a summer fling. That's completely barbaric."

Ellie laughed breathlessly, shaking her head, but leaning against him, relishing in his words. They sat silently, the only sound their breathing. Ellie sat, hugging Harry's arm the wrapped around her shoulders.

"You know what?" Ellie said in a whisper, her eyes fixed on something in the distance that either Harry couldn't see or wasn't there to begin with.

"What?" Harry asked, hurrying his face in the crook of her neck, her hair tickling his cheeks.

"Sometimes..." Her voice was barely audible. If Harry wasn't sure she was speaking, it would've been carried off by the wind. "Sometimes looking back and seeing how it all went gives me a bit of hope for the future. It reminds me of all the good things that must be ahead." She muttered, tightening her grip on Harry's arm. "I mean, if you want a rainbow, you have to put up with the rain."

Harry gripped her body close to his, ignoring the sting behind his glasses. He nodded, kissing her neck gently. "Thank God for second chances, El." He whispered, not wanting to remember everything he- and his friends- had been though, all the gore and loss and heartbreak, all of it. "Thank God for second chances." He repeated, holding her warm body against his.