Chapter Two
Bad News

Author’s Note: Thanks for the reviews! I love ‘em. Here’s chapter two, hope you like it!

I brush through my hair one more time and check the mirror. Okay so maybe I was trying to look especially pretty with my tight, dark blue jeans, white cashmere turtleneck, and particularly tamed ringlets, but I mean come on, I don’t wanna look like total crap after not seeing the guy for nine years.

The doorbell rings and at first I freeze, Crookshanks rubs against my leg and I realize I have to go and answer the door.

So I get up, taking another deep breath, and I leave my room, walking through the living room and I answer the door, my breath gets caught instantly in my throat.

He’s wearing light blue jeans, a striped button up shirt, and a tan jacket, I’ve never seen his hair messier than now, he’s wearing the same glasses he’s worn forever, and he’s leaning in the door frame, grinning stupidly at me. And suddenly it’s like we were never apart.

“Miss Granger,” he says casually, lazily standing up straight. “Looking quite pretty, time has not done you in yet.”

I smile, “Like wise.”

“Thank you very much,” he bows his head jokingly. “Ready to go?” he asks.

“Of course,” I respond, grabbing a jacket, locking the door, and closing it behind me.

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Now we’re walking through a random park in London where there’s a small performance going on on a small stage. As we walk passed I watch idly and smile at the beautiful music reverberating from the stage.

As the performance disappears behind us we find ourselves walking along a pathway lined with old, fading lamps.

In the silence a question pops into my mind and I bring up the courage to say it out loud.

“Harry,” I pause. “Why did you come back?”

Before he answers he has an expression on his face of confusion or fear, I can’t tell.

“I have something to tell you,” he says and stops walking to look at me.

My heart starts beating rapidly and my breath is issuing from my mouth in little puffs of steam.

“What is it?” I ask.

He stares at me for a few minutes, his hands digging into his pockets, a smile spreads over his lips and he says three words that cause my heart to skip a beat.

“I’m getting married.”

As the words claw at my ears I feel myself going numb, my hearts beating faster than ever, I can almost feel it going through my ribcage, and at the same time the blood’s throbbing in my ear. I have to remind myself to breath as I stare at his gorgeous face.

Finally I speak, a smile plastered to my lips, “I’m sorry, what?”

He laughs, “I’m engaged!”

Before I can stop myself I say, “Since when?”

He laughs again, finding my current state some form of amusement, “Since last week.”

I shake my head, my legs are growing weak and I know my buckled knees are about to give way. Suddenly I can’t feel the ground below me, to prevent myself from falling farther, “I need to sit down,” I say suddenly and amble over to a cold metal bench, plopping down on it.

“Are you all right?” he asks.

I nod numbly and look around, the lamp lights are growing blurry as I try to focus on them, there’s a cold, foreboding feeling that’s creeping up my back, and I feel like there’s some itch growing under my skin that I can’t shake.

“Hermione?” Harry questions, looking worriedly at me.

I shake myself into autopilot and flash him a bright smile, “Sorry, you just gave me a shock,” I laugh. “So who is it?” I ask and he sits down beside me.

He smiles again, “Oh Herms, she’s great, you’ll love her!”

I feign a smile again, “Right.”

“Her name’s Natalie and she’s a witch, works as a secretary under the Minister of Magic,” he boasts and I feel myself resisting the urge to gag.

“Oh, wow, that’s . . . .” I restrain from saying ‘not that great’ and replace it with, “Amazing, really remarkable,” I nod.

“I thought you’d say that,” he laughs.

I nod again, laughing miserably.

After a few minutes of this insane, pointless gaffing, Harry asks, “Don’t you want to know when you can meet her?” he asks.

“What?” I falter. “Oh! Er, right! When can I meet her?” I say brightly.

He answers quickly, “You can meet us for lunch tomorrow if you want?”

“Uh - Okay, sure!”

“Twelve o’clock at Bel Giardino?” he offers.

“Great!” I say falsely.

He nods with a smile, “It’s a date.”

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I pound on the door again and finally it swings open, revealing a very disgruntled looking Robbie.

“He’s getting married!” I shout.

His eyelids are half-opened and his mouth is hanging open, “The koo-koo clocks say ‘No!’”

I stare at him and start snapping my fingers in his face, “WAKE UP! WE HAVE A SITUATION!” and I plow passed him and into his flat.

He closes the door and shakes his head, “Okay I’m awake, I’m good, what’s the deal?”

“Harry called me and he convinced me to go out and catch up and I did. And when we were walking in the park there was the Phantom, and the -” and I begin singing. “With the street lamps and the ‘Why’d you come back?’ and he’s like ‘I have something to tell you’ and I like freak out and I’m like ‘What is it?!’ and he’s all ‘I’m getting married!’ and I’m all ‘Oh my freaking Lord!’ except I didn’t say that, just thought it. Then the dizziness, and itching, and the secretary of Minister. . . . Please help me, Robbie.”

He blinks a couple of times.

“Robbie?” I say as he stares at me unsurely.

“The scariest part of that whole episode just now was I understood every word,” he tells me and I sigh.

“Thank God.”

I slump onto his couch, a sick, panicky feeling creeping over my again.

“What am I supposed to do Rob?” I ask, looking up at him hopelessly.

He squats in from of my, placing two comforting hands on my knees, “What do you want to do, cookie?” he questions.

I look at him, feeling totally spineless and pathetic, I slouch even more and answer defeatedly, “I don’t know.”

“Well what do you want?” he asks again, giving my knee a soft, encouraging squeeze.

“I just want to be with Harry,” I reply, now realizing how lame and impossible that sounds.

He smiles an understanding grin, “Then go get him.”

“How?!” I cry out in frustration.

“That’s your problem,” he slaps my knee.

I look at him in despair, “Robbie!”

“Okay, fine!” he puts his hands up in defense before placing them on my knees again. “We’ll do this the logical way. Why do you think he shouldn’t be with this woman? Besides the fact that you want to be with the man in question.”

I sigh, shaking my head, “He told me he met her like two weeks ago, I think he’s rushing into it, I’d be okay with it if he knew her a little more, if he had thought about it-”

“Would you?”

“What?” I ask confusedly.

“Would you be okay with it if he knew her more?”

I pause, thinking about this, “No, I guess not.”

He stares at me in silence, waiting for me to figure this out myself, but still being here for me if I need him.

I sigh again, “I don’t know, I guess I’ll just go to lunch with them tomorrow and see how it all works out.”

He nods, “Sounds like a plan.”