Fest Fic: A Bit of Comfort, PG-13
Mar. 25th, 2022 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hp_bito_mod posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
hp_bunintheovenTitle: A Bit of Comfort
Author/Artist:nightfalltwen
Pairing(s): Hermione/Percy
Prompt: # H14
Summary: Hermione is pregnant after a one night stand (though actually in the morning) with Percy and now she has to tell him.
Word Count: 3590
Rating: PG13
Warnings/Contains: none
Notes: Hi Maraudersaffair! Thanks for the prompt. I had fun with it. Sorry it went all sad and morose for most of it, but that's what the story wanted apparently. It also wanted to be way longer but I just ran out of time for that lol.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
━━☆ ⌒*.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
"Thanks for coming, Granger," Oliver Wood said, leaning against the bar. "He wouldn't let me contact any of his family and I have an early training session. I didn't want to leave him."
"It's not a problem, Oliver. Thank you."
Hermione tugged at the belt looped around her waist, tightening the knot. She peered past Oliver to the person hunched over a glass that looked to be one of many helpings of firewhisky judging by the near empty bottle that sat on the bar. She patted Oliver on the arm and slipped past him to sit on the adjacent stool, leaning over to pull the bottle away and hold it out to Hannah. Oliver gave her a nod and headed for the fireplace in the corner, disappearing in a puff of green flame.
"It's time to go, Percy," Hermione said, nudging the arm draped across the width of the bar.
This wasn't the first time that she'd been the one to pick up Percy Weasley at the pub. Four months since the Battle of Hogwarts and his wounds had not yet begun to heal. Not that Hermione blamed him. Losing a sibling like that without having the chance to seek forgiveness for his actions prior to the battle couldn't have been easy and Hermione couldn't begin to understand how he might feel. She'd tried with Ron. She'd tried to understand how he felt about Fred being gone and she supposed that it was her inability to understand that led to the breakdown of whatever had tried to start between them.
"Who did you lose, Hermione?"
"Your parents are still alive!"
Every time it came down to that and it was why their fights had gotten worse before the end. Endless barbs about her living family. Hermione's parents were alive and Fred was not and Hermione would never know the same pain as him or the rest of his family. Nevermind that her parents had turned her away after she'd gone to Australia to fix their memories. Nevermind that it had broken her heart because they didn't seem to realise that she'd done it to keep them safe and she wasn't sure if they were ever going to forgive her. Only lately had Mrs Granger started sending letters. But it was always the same at the end.
We need more time.
But dwelling on all that wasn't what was needed right then. So Hermione gave her head a bit of a shake and then grasped at Percy's freckled wrist, lifting his arm and slinging it across her shoulder. He didn't protest when she hauled him off the stool, dragging him toward the fireplace. It would have been easier to apparate, but she wasn't sure if she trusted his scattered thoughts to keep them from splinching.
In a flash of green and swirl of fireplaces, she stepped out into her flat and helped Percy to the lumpy sofa by the window. He groaned and flopped over on his side, resting his arm across his eyes. Hermione sighed and pointed her wand at the small kitchenette, summoning a glass and the pitcher of cold water from the small fridge under the counter. She poured him a glass and set it down on the table beside the sofa then marched to her bedroom where she kept her stash of potions.
"Here," she said, holding out a small blue bottle, the silvery potion inside.
Percy lifted his arm and peered at her, his curly hair sticking up in a wild tangle. With a groan he turned over and tried to ignore the proffered potion, but Hermione sat down on the edge of the sofa by his hip and put her hand on his shoulder. The sober-up potion would help, for the most part. It didn't take away the intoxication completely, but it would make his head clearer and lessen the hangover that he was sure to feel the next morning if he didn't take it.
Lifting his hand, she pressed the bottle into it and curled his fingers around the neck.
"Do you think he appreciates you punishing yourself like this?" she asked once he finally took the potion. She gave him a look and he sighed, tipping back the bottle and drinking down the contents. Hermione held out her hand for the empty container and stuck the cork back into the top, sending it floating toward her kitchen. Then she handed him a glass of water and waited for him to start drinking before she looked away.
Percy Weasley had never struck her as a 'lose himself at the bottom of a bottle' type and if she was quite honest, she was tired of being the one who seemed to be picking up his pieces. But as Oliver had also learned, he wouldn't allow his family to see him this way. So somehow it had fallen to her. She was the outsider and for some reason she couldn't say no to the request.
She hadn't told anyone either. Though she suspected the rest of the family knew.
"Just give me an hour," he said, finishing the glass of water and putting it aside. He scrubbed his hands through his hair and then over his face, which looked like it hadn't seen the right side of a razor in a couple of weeks.
"Just so you can leave and go find another pub and another bottle to drain your sorrows? I don't think so." Hermione shook her head and held out her hand. "Come with me."
There must have been something in her tone because instead of arguing with her, he slid his hand into hers and let her lead him. She took him through the bedroom and into the little ensuite that was just next to her wardrobe. The enormous claw foot tub next to the frosted window had been the selling point on this flat and with a few intricate enchantments (mostly to do with keeping water heated and towels warm), it had become quite the sanctuary. She pointed at the tub, full of steaming water and the remains of frothy blue bubbles.
"Sorry?" Percy looked confused.
"You're a mess," she said simply. "I had meant to relax with tea and a good book, but I think you need it more."
"You left your bath plans to come get me?" He gave her a pained and very guilt-ridden look.
"There will be other baths," Hermione said. She pulled down a couple of fluffy towels before turning her back to him.
"You're staying?"
"The water is full of suds and opaque from what was added when I filled the tub and you can use a cloth if you're worried about me seeing things." She nudged at the door, closing it a bit more so that the steam didn't fill her bedroom. "But I'm not leaving you alone."
"Hermione, we're not even... I was terrible... My family..."
"I think I've come to collect you from the pub enough times to be considered a friend at this point, Percy Weasley." She turned and stared pointedly at his shirt before turning her back to him again. "Now strip yourself down before I get my wand and vanish your clothes."
The threat seemed to work and she heard clothing fall to the floor and the water swish as he got into the tub. When the sounds of him moving about disappeared she finally chanced a peek. Just as she'd thought the water was a milky sort of blue and there were enough bubbles to give him a sense of privacy. Of sorts. Hermione perched herself on the toilet beside the tub and rested the towels and her elbows on the edge of it.
"I think it would help if you didn't try to self-medicate your grief with alcohol," she said quietly.
He looked toward the window. He didn't answer her, only gave a small nod and swirled his hands under the water before pulling his knees up. They just barely broke the surface of the water and he hunched over, arms slipping under and his cheek resting against his exposed knees.
"He was such a pain in my arse," Percy said after a long moment of silence and Hermione wasn't quite sure if he was talking to her or if he was talking to himself. She stayed quiet. "Both of them were. Especially in the first few years of Hogwarts before you, Harry, and Ron came along. I think Charlie encouraged it, but I was never sure and they drove me mad." He swiped at his cheek. "But Fred was my brother. I didn't hate him. I didn't want him dead."
Hermione reached out and touched Percy's bare shoulder. "Not a single person in your family thinks you wanted him dead." She urged him to sit back and shifted on the toilet seat, reaching for the bowl she kept beside the tub. Scooping up some water she slowly poured it over his head and when he didn't pull away, she did it again. "I'm sure you've got some good memories. Tell me about what they did that didn't drive you mad." She set down the bowl and reached for one of her shampoos.
And the stories just started to come out. Of course, the twins were terrors and worked in tandem to cause the most amount of trouble in a short period of time, but they were also family. He spoke of biscuits they shared after having raided the upper shelves without Mollie noticing. He spoke of always being invited to play a pick up game of quidditch during the summer even though he was never really all that good at it. She scrubbed his hair and rinsed it slowly, fingers lightly combing through the curls to keep them separate and less likely to frizz while he told her of the antics they got up to in Egypt and even being roped into a few pranks being played on Bill.
He cried.
She cried with him.
After the bath, she'd transfigured his clothes into a set of warm pyjamas and they sat on her bed, sometimes talking and sometimes laughing and sometimes in complete and utter silence. It was strange and she knew that Percy was going to need more than a single conversation to feel better because all those dark thoughts would eventually come back. That was the thing with grief sometimes. It could disappear for a little while and all come crashing back.
"I should go," Percy said, looking past her to the window where the dark of the night had started to shift into the soft grey of the rainy English morning.
"I'll put on the kettle. You should have some tea before you go," Hermione climbed off the bed and stood up, wobbling slightly on a leg that had fallen asleep and was full of prickles. She felt Percy put a hand to her waist to stop her from tumbling over. She looked over at him.
"You don't have to, I'll be alright." He got to his feet and tucked the tail ends of his transfigured pyjama top into his bottoms.
"Are you certain?" Hermione asked.
He let out a dry laugh and shook his head. "Not particularly, but I'll be alright for today at least."
Leaning down, Percy pressed a kiss to her cheek. Hermione blinked and looked at him with wide eyes. In retrospect she would blame her next move on the lack of sleep and not the way her heart thumped at the way his gaze searched hers or the way his fingers came to her cheek. Much later she would scold herself because this was Ron's brother. He was grieving. They were all grieving and all her thoughts focusing on the way his thumb brushed her jawline and the softness of his breath so very close to her skin.
Lifting her hands, Hermione turned his face towards her and met his lips with hers.
It was just a little joy. They both needed a little joy in their lives and she'd only meant for it to just be a kiss, but something shifted. Whether it was on her part or his, Hermione didn't know. All she knew was that suddenly he was kissing her desperately and hungrily and she was very much enjoying it. Her hands tugged the newly tucked pyjama top from its bottom and slid across the bare skin of his back, flexing gently to press into the dips of his spine and ribcage.
And when he climbed back onto her bed, their kiss continuing, she didn't even think to stop.
Maybe he needed this. Maybe she needed it too.
One time wouldn't hurt.
━━☆ ⌒*.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Hermione perched on the uncomfortable chair in the Portkey Office, watching the display of numbers change above the desks at the far end of the room. It reminded her of when she went to get a passport to travel to France with her parents, the long line at the office and the ticket that they'd taken to secure their spot in line.
"What number are you?" said the older woman sitting next to her. She clutched a ticket in one hand and a tea towel with a sly looking cat embroidered on the one end.
"Oh I'm not here for a portkey," Hermione said, folding her arms over the bag she had resting on her lap. "I'm waiting for a friend to finish his shift."
"A friend, you say?" The woman gave Hermione a look that said she suspected it was more than just that and Hermione shifted uncomfortably. She was about to protest when the woman shook her tea towel and smiled. "I'm going to visit my son and my new grandbaby in Benidorm."
Hermione swallowed and glanced at the clock, rather than the shifting numbers of the queue. "Is Spain nice this time of year?"
"In January? Oh my, no," the older woman pulled a face before chuckling. "Though I suppose it's a bit better than here. We've had nothing but sleet and sideways rain out in the West Country for weeks."
Someone called out from one of the desks before Hermione could respond and the woman lurched from her chair, waving both her ticket and towel at the same time. Hermione wished it was that easy. She wished that she could just pop off to another country and spend her time wandering a new city without any cares or responsibilities. But she knew that it wasn't as easy as all that. She'd been avoiding this for weeks, declining Christmas invitations and parties all throughout the winter season.
But she was running out of time.
"Hey."
Hermione looked up at the voice and felt her stomach dip.
One hundred and seven days. It had been one hundred and seven days since she'd seen him last. Part of her was proud of this fact because in that one hundred and seven days she'd not had a late night patronus from anyone. At first she'd wondered if perhaps this was because she'd become one of those people that Percy had told Oliver never to contact. But when she'd sent a message to Oliver, he'd confirmed that Percy had started taking better care of himself.
And it was true. The Percy that stood in front of her was definitely different from the Percy that she'd had in her flat all those months ago. Gone was the haunted look and the sallow skin. His cheeks had filled out and it looked good with the beard he had chosen to keep. He looked both older and younger at the same time, as if all the self care had turned back the clock and she wanted to hug him close and tell him how proud she was.
"Hey," she said, forcing a smile.
Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "I know I promised tea, but Effie called off sick and we're short staffed, so I'm staying later. I've got about fifteen minutes now, though." He nodded his head back to the office that he'd just left.
The smile fell from her face. Fifteen minutes. That wasn't nearly enough time. Slowly she got to her feet and almost left, but the flutter under her ribs reminded her that she couldn't leave it for much longer. So she followed him into the office and when he closed the door, she pulled out her wand and pointed it at all the blinds, shifting them so that the windows were blocked.
"How have you been?" he asked.
"Pregnant," Hermione said, dropping down into a chair.
Percy looked at her, his eyes wide, saying nothing. He reached for a pitcher on the shelf behind his desk and filled a glass with water, but instead of handing it to her, he drank the contents down, not pausing for a breath until it was finished. He then filled it again and drank the second glass as quickly as the first before finally setting down the glass and sucking in a deep breath. He looked at her and then down to the spot where she hugged her purse against her body before back to her face.
When he didn't immediately respond, Hermione bit on the side of her lip and wrung her hands. "I know it isn't ideal. I didn't even realise until just before the holidays. Everything was just so busy and I've been so stressed with the modified Hogwarts classes so that I could sit my NEWTs early that I thought all the strange feelings were due to that. And I didn't want to make things worse with all that your family has been trying to recover from and heaven only knows what Ron would think of me. We already have such a hard time being friends these days. I didn't want to make it worse. Especially with his relationship with you" A drop hit her hand and she realised that she was crying, ugly tears now dripping off her chin. She blinked and wiped at her cheek with a hand. "But you need to know and I needed to tell you because I couldn't just run off and have this be a secret."
She dropped the satchel and swept back her robe. There was a small swell to her stomach and she had managed to use her robes to hide it so far, but that would only last for so long. People would begin to ask questions and there was only so much avoiding she could do.
Hermione sniffled, but before she could say another word, Percy had come around his desk to where she stood. His arms folded around her, holding her close. She buried her face against his chest and this time it was his hands that ran down her back in a comforting caress.
"Do you want to run off?" he asked.
"No!" she protested. "Of course not. That isn't fair to you."
He pulled back slightly, hands on her shoulders. "I didn't say to run off without me..." A small smile appeared. "But I do have an office of Portkey destinations to choose from. So... pick one."
"Right now?" Hermione asked. When he nodded she looked over her shoulder at the closed door. "But you're short staffed... you only had fifteen minutes." Her attention went back to him. "You're not panicking. Why aren't you panicking? I'm panicking."
Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't actually know," he said with a bit of a laugh. "I suppose that I'm just... I just really want to figure this all out. With you." He touched her cheek. "I spent the last few months struggling to figure out myself without you... I don't think I want to do that again."
He pointed to the wall of odds and ends that were used to turn into portkeys.
"I didn't come here with a thought to leaving with a portkey," Hermione said. "I'm not packed for travel."
"Neither am I." He shrugged and plucked a glove from the wall. "Thoughts on destination? Morocco? Egypt? Sicily?"
"Just like that?"
He smiled. "I don't often get to behave recklessly very often." A wistful expression appeared on his face. "I think Fred would be proud of me for doing so."
Hermione hesitated for a moment before reaching out to clasp her hand over the glove. She rose up on her toes and leaned close to his ear, whispering a destination with a smile. He looked at her, eyebrows raised in surprise before waving his wand over the glove and letting the travelling spells set in. He left her for a moment and stepped out into the main office and she could hear him speaking to the other witches and wizards in the department. She didn't know what excuse he was giving and she didn't exactly care. They didn't need to know beyond the fact that he was needed elsewhere.
When Percy returned, Hermione grabbed up her satchel and clutched the glove in her hand.
Percy wrapped his arm around her and counted down.
They would have their conversations and make a plan for the future. They would come home to tell their families. They would explain how this all came about. Maybe this wouldn't be how their relationship would stay. Maybe they would be better as friends. Maybe romance was in the cards. It was unconventional and it was new.
But they would approach it together.
Families start in strange ways sometimes.
Author/Artist:
nightfalltwenPairing(s): Hermione/Percy
Prompt: # H14
Summary: Hermione is pregnant after a one night stand (though actually in the morning) with Percy and now she has to tell him.
Word Count: 3590
Rating: PG13
Warnings/Contains: none
Notes: Hi Maraudersaffair! Thanks for the prompt. I had fun with it. Sorry it went all sad and morose for most of it, but that's what the story wanted apparently. It also wanted to be way longer but I just ran out of time for that lol.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
"Thanks for coming, Granger," Oliver Wood said, leaning against the bar. "He wouldn't let me contact any of his family and I have an early training session. I didn't want to leave him."
"It's not a problem, Oliver. Thank you."
Hermione tugged at the belt looped around her waist, tightening the knot. She peered past Oliver to the person hunched over a glass that looked to be one of many helpings of firewhisky judging by the near empty bottle that sat on the bar. She patted Oliver on the arm and slipped past him to sit on the adjacent stool, leaning over to pull the bottle away and hold it out to Hannah. Oliver gave her a nod and headed for the fireplace in the corner, disappearing in a puff of green flame.
"It's time to go, Percy," Hermione said, nudging the arm draped across the width of the bar.
This wasn't the first time that she'd been the one to pick up Percy Weasley at the pub. Four months since the Battle of Hogwarts and his wounds had not yet begun to heal. Not that Hermione blamed him. Losing a sibling like that without having the chance to seek forgiveness for his actions prior to the battle couldn't have been easy and Hermione couldn't begin to understand how he might feel. She'd tried with Ron. She'd tried to understand how he felt about Fred being gone and she supposed that it was her inability to understand that led to the breakdown of whatever had tried to start between them.
"Who did you lose, Hermione?"
"Your parents are still alive!"
Every time it came down to that and it was why their fights had gotten worse before the end. Endless barbs about her living family. Hermione's parents were alive and Fred was not and Hermione would never know the same pain as him or the rest of his family. Nevermind that her parents had turned her away after she'd gone to Australia to fix their memories. Nevermind that it had broken her heart because they didn't seem to realise that she'd done it to keep them safe and she wasn't sure if they were ever going to forgive her. Only lately had Mrs Granger started sending letters. But it was always the same at the end.
We need more time.
But dwelling on all that wasn't what was needed right then. So Hermione gave her head a bit of a shake and then grasped at Percy's freckled wrist, lifting his arm and slinging it across her shoulder. He didn't protest when she hauled him off the stool, dragging him toward the fireplace. It would have been easier to apparate, but she wasn't sure if she trusted his scattered thoughts to keep them from splinching.
In a flash of green and swirl of fireplaces, she stepped out into her flat and helped Percy to the lumpy sofa by the window. He groaned and flopped over on his side, resting his arm across his eyes. Hermione sighed and pointed her wand at the small kitchenette, summoning a glass and the pitcher of cold water from the small fridge under the counter. She poured him a glass and set it down on the table beside the sofa then marched to her bedroom where she kept her stash of potions.
"Here," she said, holding out a small blue bottle, the silvery potion inside.
Percy lifted his arm and peered at her, his curly hair sticking up in a wild tangle. With a groan he turned over and tried to ignore the proffered potion, but Hermione sat down on the edge of the sofa by his hip and put her hand on his shoulder. The sober-up potion would help, for the most part. It didn't take away the intoxication completely, but it would make his head clearer and lessen the hangover that he was sure to feel the next morning if he didn't take it.
Lifting his hand, she pressed the bottle into it and curled his fingers around the neck.
"Do you think he appreciates you punishing yourself like this?" she asked once he finally took the potion. She gave him a look and he sighed, tipping back the bottle and drinking down the contents. Hermione held out her hand for the empty container and stuck the cork back into the top, sending it floating toward her kitchen. Then she handed him a glass of water and waited for him to start drinking before she looked away.
Percy Weasley had never struck her as a 'lose himself at the bottom of a bottle' type and if she was quite honest, she was tired of being the one who seemed to be picking up his pieces. But as Oliver had also learned, he wouldn't allow his family to see him this way. So somehow it had fallen to her. She was the outsider and for some reason she couldn't say no to the request.
She hadn't told anyone either. Though she suspected the rest of the family knew.
"Just give me an hour," he said, finishing the glass of water and putting it aside. He scrubbed his hands through his hair and then over his face, which looked like it hadn't seen the right side of a razor in a couple of weeks.
"Just so you can leave and go find another pub and another bottle to drain your sorrows? I don't think so." Hermione shook her head and held out her hand. "Come with me."
There must have been something in her tone because instead of arguing with her, he slid his hand into hers and let her lead him. She took him through the bedroom and into the little ensuite that was just next to her wardrobe. The enormous claw foot tub next to the frosted window had been the selling point on this flat and with a few intricate enchantments (mostly to do with keeping water heated and towels warm), it had become quite the sanctuary. She pointed at the tub, full of steaming water and the remains of frothy blue bubbles.
"Sorry?" Percy looked confused.
"You're a mess," she said simply. "I had meant to relax with tea and a good book, but I think you need it more."
"You left your bath plans to come get me?" He gave her a pained and very guilt-ridden look.
"There will be other baths," Hermione said. She pulled down a couple of fluffy towels before turning her back to him.
"You're staying?"
"The water is full of suds and opaque from what was added when I filled the tub and you can use a cloth if you're worried about me seeing things." She nudged at the door, closing it a bit more so that the steam didn't fill her bedroom. "But I'm not leaving you alone."
"Hermione, we're not even... I was terrible... My family..."
"I think I've come to collect you from the pub enough times to be considered a friend at this point, Percy Weasley." She turned and stared pointedly at his shirt before turning her back to him again. "Now strip yourself down before I get my wand and vanish your clothes."
The threat seemed to work and she heard clothing fall to the floor and the water swish as he got into the tub. When the sounds of him moving about disappeared she finally chanced a peek. Just as she'd thought the water was a milky sort of blue and there were enough bubbles to give him a sense of privacy. Of sorts. Hermione perched herself on the toilet beside the tub and rested the towels and her elbows on the edge of it.
"I think it would help if you didn't try to self-medicate your grief with alcohol," she said quietly.
He looked toward the window. He didn't answer her, only gave a small nod and swirled his hands under the water before pulling his knees up. They just barely broke the surface of the water and he hunched over, arms slipping under and his cheek resting against his exposed knees.
"He was such a pain in my arse," Percy said after a long moment of silence and Hermione wasn't quite sure if he was talking to her or if he was talking to himself. She stayed quiet. "Both of them were. Especially in the first few years of Hogwarts before you, Harry, and Ron came along. I think Charlie encouraged it, but I was never sure and they drove me mad." He swiped at his cheek. "But Fred was my brother. I didn't hate him. I didn't want him dead."
Hermione reached out and touched Percy's bare shoulder. "Not a single person in your family thinks you wanted him dead." She urged him to sit back and shifted on the toilet seat, reaching for the bowl she kept beside the tub. Scooping up some water she slowly poured it over his head and when he didn't pull away, she did it again. "I'm sure you've got some good memories. Tell me about what they did that didn't drive you mad." She set down the bowl and reached for one of her shampoos.
And the stories just started to come out. Of course, the twins were terrors and worked in tandem to cause the most amount of trouble in a short period of time, but they were also family. He spoke of biscuits they shared after having raided the upper shelves without Mollie noticing. He spoke of always being invited to play a pick up game of quidditch during the summer even though he was never really all that good at it. She scrubbed his hair and rinsed it slowly, fingers lightly combing through the curls to keep them separate and less likely to frizz while he told her of the antics they got up to in Egypt and even being roped into a few pranks being played on Bill.
He cried.
She cried with him.
After the bath, she'd transfigured his clothes into a set of warm pyjamas and they sat on her bed, sometimes talking and sometimes laughing and sometimes in complete and utter silence. It was strange and she knew that Percy was going to need more than a single conversation to feel better because all those dark thoughts would eventually come back. That was the thing with grief sometimes. It could disappear for a little while and all come crashing back.
"I should go," Percy said, looking past her to the window where the dark of the night had started to shift into the soft grey of the rainy English morning.
"I'll put on the kettle. You should have some tea before you go," Hermione climbed off the bed and stood up, wobbling slightly on a leg that had fallen asleep and was full of prickles. She felt Percy put a hand to her waist to stop her from tumbling over. She looked over at him.
"You don't have to, I'll be alright." He got to his feet and tucked the tail ends of his transfigured pyjama top into his bottoms.
"Are you certain?" Hermione asked.
He let out a dry laugh and shook his head. "Not particularly, but I'll be alright for today at least."
Leaning down, Percy pressed a kiss to her cheek. Hermione blinked and looked at him with wide eyes. In retrospect she would blame her next move on the lack of sleep and not the way her heart thumped at the way his gaze searched hers or the way his fingers came to her cheek. Much later she would scold herself because this was Ron's brother. He was grieving. They were all grieving and all her thoughts focusing on the way his thumb brushed her jawline and the softness of his breath so very close to her skin.
Lifting her hands, Hermione turned his face towards her and met his lips with hers.
It was just a little joy. They both needed a little joy in their lives and she'd only meant for it to just be a kiss, but something shifted. Whether it was on her part or his, Hermione didn't know. All she knew was that suddenly he was kissing her desperately and hungrily and she was very much enjoying it. Her hands tugged the newly tucked pyjama top from its bottom and slid across the bare skin of his back, flexing gently to press into the dips of his spine and ribcage.
And when he climbed back onto her bed, their kiss continuing, she didn't even think to stop.
Maybe he needed this. Maybe she needed it too.
One time wouldn't hurt.
Hermione perched on the uncomfortable chair in the Portkey Office, watching the display of numbers change above the desks at the far end of the room. It reminded her of when she went to get a passport to travel to France with her parents, the long line at the office and the ticket that they'd taken to secure their spot in line.
"What number are you?" said the older woman sitting next to her. She clutched a ticket in one hand and a tea towel with a sly looking cat embroidered on the one end.
"Oh I'm not here for a portkey," Hermione said, folding her arms over the bag she had resting on her lap. "I'm waiting for a friend to finish his shift."
"A friend, you say?" The woman gave Hermione a look that said she suspected it was more than just that and Hermione shifted uncomfortably. She was about to protest when the woman shook her tea towel and smiled. "I'm going to visit my son and my new grandbaby in Benidorm."
Hermione swallowed and glanced at the clock, rather than the shifting numbers of the queue. "Is Spain nice this time of year?"
"In January? Oh my, no," the older woman pulled a face before chuckling. "Though I suppose it's a bit better than here. We've had nothing but sleet and sideways rain out in the West Country for weeks."
Someone called out from one of the desks before Hermione could respond and the woman lurched from her chair, waving both her ticket and towel at the same time. Hermione wished it was that easy. She wished that she could just pop off to another country and spend her time wandering a new city without any cares or responsibilities. But she knew that it wasn't as easy as all that. She'd been avoiding this for weeks, declining Christmas invitations and parties all throughout the winter season.
But she was running out of time.
"Hey."
Hermione looked up at the voice and felt her stomach dip.
One hundred and seven days. It had been one hundred and seven days since she'd seen him last. Part of her was proud of this fact because in that one hundred and seven days she'd not had a late night patronus from anyone. At first she'd wondered if perhaps this was because she'd become one of those people that Percy had told Oliver never to contact. But when she'd sent a message to Oliver, he'd confirmed that Percy had started taking better care of himself.
And it was true. The Percy that stood in front of her was definitely different from the Percy that she'd had in her flat all those months ago. Gone was the haunted look and the sallow skin. His cheeks had filled out and it looked good with the beard he had chosen to keep. He looked both older and younger at the same time, as if all the self care had turned back the clock and she wanted to hug him close and tell him how proud she was.
"Hey," she said, forcing a smile.
Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "I know I promised tea, but Effie called off sick and we're short staffed, so I'm staying later. I've got about fifteen minutes now, though." He nodded his head back to the office that he'd just left.
The smile fell from her face. Fifteen minutes. That wasn't nearly enough time. Slowly she got to her feet and almost left, but the flutter under her ribs reminded her that she couldn't leave it for much longer. So she followed him into the office and when he closed the door, she pulled out her wand and pointed it at all the blinds, shifting them so that the windows were blocked.
"How have you been?" he asked.
"Pregnant," Hermione said, dropping down into a chair.
Percy looked at her, his eyes wide, saying nothing. He reached for a pitcher on the shelf behind his desk and filled a glass with water, but instead of handing it to her, he drank the contents down, not pausing for a breath until it was finished. He then filled it again and drank the second glass as quickly as the first before finally setting down the glass and sucking in a deep breath. He looked at her and then down to the spot where she hugged her purse against her body before back to her face.
When he didn't immediately respond, Hermione bit on the side of her lip and wrung her hands. "I know it isn't ideal. I didn't even realise until just before the holidays. Everything was just so busy and I've been so stressed with the modified Hogwarts classes so that I could sit my NEWTs early that I thought all the strange feelings were due to that. And I didn't want to make things worse with all that your family has been trying to recover from and heaven only knows what Ron would think of me. We already have such a hard time being friends these days. I didn't want to make it worse. Especially with his relationship with you" A drop hit her hand and she realised that she was crying, ugly tears now dripping off her chin. She blinked and wiped at her cheek with a hand. "But you need to know and I needed to tell you because I couldn't just run off and have this be a secret."
She dropped the satchel and swept back her robe. There was a small swell to her stomach and she had managed to use her robes to hide it so far, but that would only last for so long. People would begin to ask questions and there was only so much avoiding she could do.
Hermione sniffled, but before she could say another word, Percy had come around his desk to where she stood. His arms folded around her, holding her close. She buried her face against his chest and this time it was his hands that ran down her back in a comforting caress.
"Do you want to run off?" he asked.
"No!" she protested. "Of course not. That isn't fair to you."
He pulled back slightly, hands on her shoulders. "I didn't say to run off without me..." A small smile appeared. "But I do have an office of Portkey destinations to choose from. So... pick one."
"Right now?" Hermione asked. When he nodded she looked over her shoulder at the closed door. "But you're short staffed... you only had fifteen minutes." Her attention went back to him. "You're not panicking. Why aren't you panicking? I'm panicking."
Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't actually know," he said with a bit of a laugh. "I suppose that I'm just... I just really want to figure this all out. With you." He touched her cheek. "I spent the last few months struggling to figure out myself without you... I don't think I want to do that again."
He pointed to the wall of odds and ends that were used to turn into portkeys.
"I didn't come here with a thought to leaving with a portkey," Hermione said. "I'm not packed for travel."
"Neither am I." He shrugged and plucked a glove from the wall. "Thoughts on destination? Morocco? Egypt? Sicily?"
"Just like that?"
He smiled. "I don't often get to behave recklessly very often." A wistful expression appeared on his face. "I think Fred would be proud of me for doing so."
Hermione hesitated for a moment before reaching out to clasp her hand over the glove. She rose up on her toes and leaned close to his ear, whispering a destination with a smile. He looked at her, eyebrows raised in surprise before waving his wand over the glove and letting the travelling spells set in. He left her for a moment and stepped out into the main office and she could hear him speaking to the other witches and wizards in the department. She didn't know what excuse he was giving and she didn't exactly care. They didn't need to know beyond the fact that he was needed elsewhere.
When Percy returned, Hermione grabbed up her satchel and clutched the glove in her hand.
Percy wrapped his arm around her and counted down.
They would have their conversations and make a plan for the future. They would come home to tell their families. They would explain how this all came about. Maybe this wouldn't be how their relationship would stay. Maybe they would be better as friends. Maybe romance was in the cards. It was unconventional and it was new.
But they would approach it together.
Families start in strange ways sometimes.
