Sickness

Harry hadn't foreseen that sitting outside of her flat, waiting for her to come home in the middle of winter would have led to him catching the flu. It had started with a sneeze. A particularly loud sneeze. Hours later, he was still sitting there in the cold. Her building was one of those that had the hallways on the outside of the building rather like a hotel at the beach. When she walked up and saw him there, his nose was red and running and he had a cough forming in the back of his throat. "Harry, what are you doing here?" she asked.

He coughed a harsh, dry cough before saying, "I don't like fighting with you, I didn't know what time you got off because you never answered my owl, I wanted to tell you that I'm a git and I'm sorry, and because I knew that you were still angry and disappointed with me, I came here to wait for you…" He sneezed and sniffled. "I really am sorry…"

Hermione sighed, "How long did you wait?"

He looked at his watch and frowned, "About three and a half hours…"

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. Then she jumped at him and threw her arms around his neck, burrowing her face in the crook of his neck and almost knocking him to the ground. "Of course I forgive you, you silly, stupid, loveable man!" Harry sighed in relief which caused him to cough quite violently into her shoulder. "Oh, let's get you inside! You must be freezing!" she said worriedly, but Harry thought, not anymore.

Melody

Harry grinned at Hermione as she hummed while making coffee. He walked forward and wrapped his arms around his wife's waist from behind. They swayed to the melody.

Star

Hermione was staring up at the stars, one star in particular. The Dog Star: Sirius. She begged him to show her a sign, to show her that she was doing something right, that taking care of Harry was doing something good for the world. The next day a big black, stray dog ran up to her and followed her home, refusing to leave. The next morning, the dog was still there and happier to see her than yesterday, and she thought, 'Maybe I am doing something right…' The dog was gone the next day but there was a scrap of parchment stuck to her door that said: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good… and you better get up to it too, pup. Hermione laughed, and later that day took Harry to the pet store to buy a puppy. He was black and huge and scraggily and, they named him Snuffles.

Home

Buying your first flat is important. According to Hermione. Harry wasn't that convinced. He had Grimmauld Place and that was really all he needed, but when Hermione wanted something she usually got it. So, here he was following her around, getting shown flats, and being miserable. This was the thirteenth flat they'd been to today and he was getting frustrated. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye as they entered and watched her eyes light up. He smiled knowing this would be the one. He watched her as they were shown the bedrooms and the kitchen and hid his smile. Her eyes were getting brighter the more she was shown, and her smile was getting wider with each moment they spent in this place.

"So what do you think?" the realtor asked turning to them.

Harry took one more look at Hermione's face and said, "It's perfect…"

Hermione smiled at him before turning to the other woman. "It really is…"

"We'll take it," Harry said.

Moments later when the papers were signed and the realtor was out of the way, Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and whispered, "You don't really care about the flat do you?"

Harry chuckled and rested his forehead on hers. "Not really, but I saw the way you lit up as soon as we walked in this place," he said. Then he kissed her softly and shrugged, "I could live in a hole in the dirt with you and still be the happiest man on earth."

"Really?" she asked in a whisper leaving him a lingering kiss. "That sounded very romantic…"

He kissed her deeply for a long moment and broke away placing short, sweet kisses on her lips. "I know," he grinned, "I'm still trying to woo you."

"Consider me wooed," she said cheekily burying her face in his neck.

Harry laughed and buried his face in her hair. Suddenly, as if he were surprised by it, he said, "Anywhere you are is my home…" Hermione pulled back, looked at him with teary eyes, sighed, and kissed him lovingly. She's speechless, he thought, because of him…

Hermione was right, of course. Buying their first flat was important. Important to her, at least, and that meant it was important to him.

Confusion

He really didn't know quite how he got in this situation. One second he was lying on the couch and the next Hermione's straddling him kissing him quite forcefully. To tell you the truth, he wasn't really resisting. He was kissing her back, which made this all the more confusing. He was enjoying it too, which just piled more on top of the dung heap. Not that Hermione was a dung heap. She smelled quite nice, actually… like flowers, vanilla, and the ground after it rains. What she was doing with her tongue wasn't that bad either. In fact, I felt great. Somehow, Hermione ends up under him moaning in his ear as he nips and sucks at her neck. The confusion's still there… in the back of his mind. The very, very, very back of his mind waiting to be addressed. Which is fine with him because he's rather busy snogging Hermione. As he leaves her neck to kiss her on the lips again, he catches an emotion in her eyes. He doesn't know what it is, but he knows she'll tell him because he really is terribly confused.

Fear

Hermione had never truly recognized fear, true, heart-clenching, horrible fear. As she watched him fall from height that would probably kill him no matter what was done, she felt that fear grip her for the first time in her life. The dementors surrounding the stadium were lost on her; her only thoughts were on Harry. She ran to the Hospital Wing, trembling and crying and cursing that stupid game for doing this to him. She had arrived first and sat by his bed, tears streaming down her face. She had to touch him, make sure he was all right, so she grabbed his hand and held on tight. It wasn't helping, but it was something. She hadn't realized she was still trembling until Harry had woken up and told her in a weak voice that she was.

Lightning/thunder

Harry liked to watch storms. Ron said he was mental, but he didn't care. When he was back in his cupboard at Privet Drive, he would think that the storm could take him away from there. It was hard to explain. One night during a storm, he walked down to the Common room and saw Hermione in his spot by the window. Suddenly, he liked them a lot more.

Bonds

He didn't know why, but he was always drawn to her. He would find himself shifting closer to her than necessary; he'd grab her hand when they were in danger, things like that. Then one day, he just kissed her and light exploded around them in an array of colors. They didn't see it; they were too busy enjoying the feel of their lips on the other's.

Market

During the school year, Hogsmede was busy around Christmas. Carolers and wreaths were outside every door and the students of Hogwarts were milling around buying presents for their friends. Harry in particular was searching for a special present for Hermione. He was having a bit of trouble and he only had another hour to find something for her. Sighing to himself, he entered yet another bookstore and looked around. He was browsing around when he saw it: The perfect present. He found himself smiling at the thought of the look on her face when she saw it on Christmas morning. He called the clerk over and it was packaged and wrapped for him.

"Are you sure, Kid?" The clerk asked. "This person must be important if you're spending this much on them."

Harry smiled kindly, "I'm sure."

Christmas day came with little incident. Harry had insisted that they, the trio, open their presents in the Common Room just so he could see Hermione's reaction. They all took turns opening their presents, but saved the ones for each other for last. Ron had received and broom servicing kit from Harry and a book about the Chudley Cannons from Hermione. Harry had received assorted candies from Honeydukes from Ron and a watch from Hermione that was inscribed with the phrase, "You will always be my first best friend…"

Harry watched Hermione open her last presents. From Ron, she received her usual bottle of perfume and thanked him politely. Harry held his breath as he watched her peel the paper off of his. Her eye lit up in surprise and then she froze in shock. She looked up at Harry and suddenly tackled him in the strongest hug of his life. He felt droplets of water on his neck and knew she was crying, although, he didn't know why. "Er… Hermione, You alright?" he asked unsure.

"Harry, where did you get these?" She asked as she pulled back wiping her eyes. "These aren't found easily and- Merlin, they must've cost a fortune! Harry I can't-"

Harry smiled softly at her, "Hermione, you deserve them. It doesn't matter how much they cost because they're for you." She nodded. "Besides, you love Jane Austen, so I knew these would mean a lot to you…"

"But, first additions, Harry!" she exclaimed.

"I know."

She sighed, giving up. Then she smiled and ran her hands down the spines of each book in wonder. She leaned up and gave him a tender, lingering kiss on the cheek while he was talking to Ron about the Cannons. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered and then went to put her new books in a safe place. Harry was still blushing when she came back down ten minutes later.