The Reason Why (Harmione)

Chapter 18

Hermione waved her wand and all of things flew into her trunk, perfectly folded and organized. She chuckled when she saw Harry scrambling around the room, hurriedly stuffing his things into his trunk. She rolled her eyes. "Stop," she instructed, causing him to stop and stare at her. She waved her wand and all of things flew into his trunk just as hers had done.

Harry smiled at her. "You're my hero, Hermione." She smiled back at him. Then, instead of zipping his trunk like she expected him to, he started shoving textbooks into a small empty space in his trunk.

"Harry!" Hermione scolded. "I told you you should finish your homework before we leave so you don't have to do it over the break!"

"I know," Harry answered, still smiling rather than looking guilty. "But I'm a procrastinator, and we've got weeks of vacation to do it. It's a procrastinator's dream."

Hermione smiled in spite of herself. "Alright, just hurry up. The train leaves in fifteen minutes."

"Almost..." Harry muttered. "Done!" He finished, zipping his trunk. Then he lifted it off of his bed and hurried over to the door. "Come on, Hermione!" He said excitedly, looking over his shoulder at her and grinning.

Hermione chuckled and shook her head, grabbing her trunk and joining Harry at the door. With the look on his face, she knew they were thinking the same thing: This was going to be an awesome Christmas break.

~ooo~

Harry stepped off the Hogwarts Express, followed closely by Hermione. The two of them had spent the train ride in a compartment with Ginny, Luna, and Neville. The five of them had play Wizard's Chess and Exploding Snap.

After scanning the crowd for a moment, Harry spotted Andromeda waiting for him near the wall, Teddy in her arms. The sight of him made Harry smile. He was thicker than when Harry had seen him last, and of course his hair - which was unnaturally yellow today - was much longer.

Even with the distance between them, Harry could hear the child squeal in delight upon noticing him. This made Harry smile and run over to where the two of them were. Andromeda only noticed Harry when he had nearly approached them and Teddy held his arms out for his godfather to take him. "Harry!" The child cried.

"Hey Teddy!" Harry shouted excitedly, taking Teddy from his grandmother's arms. He kissed the child's forehead. "I missed you, buddy!"

Teddy continued to giggle with his arms latched tightly around Harry's neck. Hermione and Andromeda stood behind them watching with smiles on their faces. Hermione decided to take this opportunity to properly meet Andromeda. "Hi," she said, holding out her hand. "I'm Hermione."

Andromeda offered a warm smile as she shook Hermione's hand. "Pleasure, dear." Andromeda really was friendly, but Hermione could see the questioning look in her eye. Rather than ignore it, Hermione whispered,"I know. We'll explain everything later."

Andromeda nodded and they both turned their attention back to Harry, and just in time. The moment they looked at Harry was the moment he finally stopped showering Teddy with kisses and turned to them. He smiled. "Hi, Andromeda. I don't think you've ever properly met Hermione?"

"Not until just now," she told him. Then she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of this train station."

~ooo~

It was about 8:00. Harry had just put Teddy down for bed after finishing dinner. Andromeda had waved her wand, causing the dishes to begin washing themselves, then rejoined Harry and Hermione at the table. "Now, I don't mean to be rude," he said, eyeing Harry and Hermione who fidgeted nervously. "But this doesn't make any sense. Harry, why is Hermione here? Last I knew you were dating Ginny, and Hermione was involved with Ron."