Captivate and Mesmerize

Captivate; Part 1.8

She was bored out of her mind. She had forced Harry to go to work since she was fine, really. He left with promises to return during lunch to keep her company. Ginny dropped by shortly after he left to check up on her and she was rewarded with the latest gossip (Ginny worked for the Daily Prophet). Ginny filled Hermione in on the full story with Macnair and Harry's wrath towards the dark wizard. Ron and Megan, his wife of two years, visited too before they reported to work and Hermione was told that the couple was expecting their first child. She laughed and cried some more and accepted their offer to be their future baby's godmother. But now that her friends were away to their jobs, Hermione was utterly bored.

It was about 11:30am when she heard the door to her private wing open. She thought it was Harry who had decided to break for lunch early, but one look towards the door showed that it was her ex, Lukas. She hadn't seen him since the day he broke up with her nearly four months ago now. She watched him walk towards her silently with confusion in her eyes.

His handsome face lifted into a gentle smile and his grey eyes held hers. "How are you doing, Minny?" He asked, using his old nickname for her.

Hermione felt a smile forming in her lips at the familiar term of endearment. "I've been better. How have you been, Luke?"

Lukas leaned back on the chair and looked at her with a grin. "Doing better. I've met a girl, you know."

Hermione couldn't help the gasp of surprise from leaving her lips. "Oh! That's wonderful. What's her name?"

"Her name is Adelaide, and she had just started in my department two months ago. I know, I know, I shouldn't dabble in office romance especially since she and I will be working closely, but I can't help it. She's brilliant, and beautiful, and I think I'm done for." Lukas said, his face turning wistful. "She had actually already met my parents. It was accidental, mind you. We were headed to my place after a night out for, you know, and my parents were there! They surprised me with their visit. One hell of a surprise that was. But it turned out for the better since they really like each other."

Hermione laughed. "Oh Luke, I'm so happy for you!" She said. And she meant it. This surprised her, because even as he spoke about this new girl who came after her, she felt no twinge of heartache or sadness. Shouldn't she feel something negative about this? Shouldn't that how exes feel? Their breakup was far from amicable too. In fact, it had actually blindsided her. But all the hurt she should have felt was clouded with confusion and... relief. Which, of course, led to more confusion. But she pushed it aside because she was far too busy with the rest of her life.

He grasped her hand. "I came by because I wanted to see how you were doing and... and to say sorry for ending things so abruptly with us," he said. His eyes turned downcast as he replayed how he broke up with her. "It was wrong of me to be so angry with you and to end things that way. I shouldn't have ambushed you in your flat. I'm sorry."

"Oh Luke," Hermione sighed and squeezed his hand. "It's not your fault at all. I was at fault for letting work always come between us. I shouldn't have cancelled on meeting your parents, it was rude and just not right. I should have tried to make more time for you. I'm really sorry for that. I realized after that... that maybe I should have prioritized you more."

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "It's all in the past. We're both sorry and that is what matters. But I gotta ask... did you ever figure it out?"

"Figure what out?" Hermione asked, her voice laced with confusion.

A sly smile lit up his face as if he was keeping a secret from her. "What you really want?"

Her brows furrowed. "I don't understand... I have everything I could ever want right now, Lukas. I have my family, a great career, even better friends..."