Late Nights

Part 2

6:44 p.m: Harry is wrapping up his report for his last case. He should be finished soon so he can go home to Draco like he said he would. It had been a long time since they had a quiet night to themselves.

7:03 p.m: He finished the last sentence of the report. Slowly, he stood and cracked his back. A lot of hours were spent at his desk today. He was thankful that the end was near and soon he'd be in the arms of Draco.

7:10 p.m: As he walked down the hallway so he can turn the report in, he sees Hermione.

7:12 p.m: When he approached her, he saw that she was a wreck. There was tear tracks down her cheeks and her whole body was shaking. When he asked her what was wrong, she tried to speak but couldn't. Instead she shook her head and a sob escaped her. Harry moved in to hug her and she cried into his shoulder.

7:45 p.m: They were both sitting in his office. The couch they were sitting on was meant to comfort victims and their families. But for now, it helped to comfort the broken girl beside him. She still hadn't explained what had happened. All she could do was cry and stare blankly at the wall. Harry was there for her. He tried to avoid looking at the clock. He knew he had to get home, but he could't leave Hermione. Not like that.

8:37 p.m: Hermione started to explain what happened. Harry finds out that her and Ron are getting a divorce. Apparently, Hermione had started to have a "little stupid useless crush" on someone else and Ron threw it out of proportion. He had called her some nasty words that Hermione didn't feel like repeating.

9:10 p.m: Harry tried to comfort Hermione. She doesn't know what she's supposed to do now. There's no where for her to stay. Harry says he'll talk to Draco about letting her stay with them for a while.Draco...

10:21 p.m: As she's talking, Hermione yawned. He suggested that she needs to stay with someone for tonight, but she doesn't know who. He firecalled Seamus and Dean. When they came into the living room to answer in just their pajama pants, Harry hoped he didn't interrupt anything. When he asked if Hermione could stay with them, they were more than willing to help out.

10:32 p.m: After final goodbyes and thank-yous, Hermione flooed to their flat. Quickly, Harry checked the time and moved to floo. Before he could leave, however, a knock sounded at his office door. Checking the time, Harry knew it could only be one person. Sure enough, when he opened the door, a familiar red head was standing there.

10:43 p.m: After greetings, Ron started to talk. At first, it was about work and friends. But soon, the conversation shifted to Hermione. Harry could tell there was a lot of anger behind his words. After a quick sniff, it was easy to know that Ron was about one beer away from being completely pissed.

11:02 p.m: Harry checked the clock on his wall and anxiously suggested that Ron should get home. When Ron said he'd apparate, Harry argued against it. He offered to help Ron floo home. Ron agreed.

11:11 p.m: Usually people make wishes at this time, but not Harry. No, he was dragging a drunk Ron out of the floo and onto the couch of his and Hermione's flat. I guess it's not Ron and Hermione's flat anymore, Harry thought to himself.

11:38 p.m: Ron truly was helpless when drunk. Harry somehow got him into bed. Making sure there was a glass of water and hangover potion on the night stand, he turned to leave. Before he could, Ron called after him. He asked Harry if he thought Hermione would ever cheat on him. Harry told him that Hermione was a better person than that. Ron finally fell asleep.

11:42 p.m: Just as Harry grabbed floo powder from the jar on the mantle, he heard a scream coming from Ron's bedroom. With one wistful look at the clock, he quickly made his way back to Ron's side.

12:06 a.m: Harry finally got Ron to calm down and go back to bed. Since the war, all of them have had nightmares. Ron's had calmed down, but whenever he drank or was really upset, they made a reappearance. Tonight he was both of those things.

12:11 a.m: Harry was finally back at the fireplace. He rubbed his hand over his face and then moved it to his pocket. His pocket was empty. After a brief moment of panic, he remembered he left it at the office. After a deep sigh of agitation, he grabbed some floo powder and went back to the office once again.

12:29 a.m: After arriving and rummaging through some drawers, he finally found what he was looking for. With relief, he returned it to his pocket. Now, he could go home. Thinking of Draco brought a smile to his face. Today was one of those days where he really just needed to hold him in his arms.

12:31 a.m: As he held his arm over the fireplace to drop the powder in, he heard a tap of a beak on his door. He clenched his jaw and moved to open the door for the owl. It was a letter from Pansy, surprisingly enough. They talked, but only because her and Draco were close. Since they all joined the same circle of friends, she was closer to Hermione and Neville (especially considering that he was dating Blaise) than him. She had never written a letter to him, let alone this late at night.

12:43 a.m: He fed the owl a treat from a jar on his desk. After telling it he would send a response later, it flew out of his office. He considered reading and writing a response now, but he needed to get home to Draco. If he didn't he might just explode.

12:47 a.m: He was about to step into green flames when another tapping came from behind him. This time when he turned, he recognized Seamus' owl. After he took the letter from its beak, it flew away, not expecting a response. He tore into the envelope and read it swiftly. In Dean's neat handwriting, it told him that Hermione was okay and she was asleep. A wave of relief washed over him. Hopefully, everything would be alright soon.

12:58 a.m: Finally, with no interruptions, Harry was able to floo home. As he stepped out, the familiar scent of his home and the thought of Draco made a smile grow on his face. Now, he all he needed to do was find Draco.