Harry Potter and the Year After

Chapter Twenty-One: To Wake Up Next to Him

Chapter 21: To Wake Up Next to Him

When morning came, Hermione woke feeling confused. Why was Ron in her bed?

And then the night before came flooding back. Ron wasn't a virgin anymore.

He smelled good. The heavy drapes didn't let much light in. The light that did find them made Ron's hair seem to glow a little in the dark room.

How many times had she imagined what it'd be like to share a bed with him? To wake up next to him?

And yet she felt so utterly guilty about the whole thing.

She had to talk to Harry.

Quietly, so as to not to disturb Ron's sleep, she slid out of her narrow bed, slipped her pajamas back on and tiptoed to the door. Without a backward glance, she stepped into the hallway and clicked the door shut behind herself.

Should she try Harry's room? Or wait downstairs in the kitchen? Maybe he was already down there? What time was it?

She started down the stairs and was glad she had opted for waiting in the kitchen because even from a floor above, she could already smell toast.

Harry was sitting at the kitchen table with a bunch of papers in front of him. Hermione watched as he took a sip of tea.

"Harry," Hermione said softly from the doorway. He flinched and glanced up. "Sorry," she said.

"'Salright. Sleep well?"

"Mm. Yes. You?"

"Not really. Toast?"

"Oh. Yes, please." Hermione padded over to the kettle and poured herself a cup of tea while Harry magically popped a piece of bread in the toaster behind him. "What are you reading?"

"I've finally started going through these papers. From my parents' vault. I wish someone had told me... I have enough money that I could probably go without working a day in my life. And that real estate agent was right. I own what's left of my parents' house in Godric's Hollow."

"Wow. That's good."

"Mm."

"Are you going to fix it up? The house?"

"I don't know... I want to, but, well, you saw it. It's sort of a monument..."

"Right. But, I think your parents would have liked the idea of you moving in there someday."

"Yeah? You think so?" Harry looked down at the papers. She wondered what he was thinking. He seemed embarrassed, but she wasn't sure why.

"Listen, Harry..." While she was embarrassing Harry, she figured she might as well say what she wanted to say when she woke up. "You know I care for you so much. More than anything. You're like the brother I never had."

He looked up at her with a questioning look. "I hope you wouldn't kiss your brother the way you kissed me." The corner of his mouth quirked up.

"No." Hermione stared at him for a moment. "I... Harry I'm sorry I was so confused. I was just scared of the thought of spending the rest of my life with a guy I've known since I was eleven."

Harry didn't look up from the papers but she could tell he wasn't reading them. "I thought you were twelve when we started first year?"

"Harry--"

He glanced up at her and then to the sink. "You know, if you and I had ended up together, you still would have ended up with a guy who you've known for that long." Harry stood and carried his empty tea cup to the sink as Hermione's toast popped up in the toaster. "Scourgify." Harry stood with his back turned to Hermione as his cup washed itself in the basin. Hermione stared across the room at her toast but didn't move to get it.