To Each Bed His Own

The front door opened and Hermione walked into the front foyer and shut the door behind her. She dropped her bags from her day of shopping and hung her robes on the hook by the door. She looked at herself in the nearest mirror and ran a few fingers through her windblown hair.

She walked further in the apartment and called out to Harry who didn't respond. She looked in the kitchen where he normally sat everyday after work eating a turkey sandwich and drinking a cold glass of pumpkin juice. He had done that everyday since he had moved in with her. Much to her dismay he wasn't there.

She walked down the hallway and peered into the office that she had set up for him when he had gotten his auror position. Papers were messily arranged on the desk and a grey jacket was hanging over the back of the chair. His briefcase usually sat in his black leather chair, but it wasn't there today.

She walked further down the hallway and opened the door to their bedroom. She wouldhave thought that he had maybe laid down for a nap, but he wasn't there either. Frustrated, she went and sat on the edge of the bed and looked a the pictures of him she had on her nightstand.

There was a picture of the two of them in a frame that he had gotten her for Christmas the previous year. The picture was one of her favorites. They had been at the Burrow and it had been snowing. There had been a snowfight and in the end Harry had grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to the ground with his tumbling after. At that point they had begun to snog like there was no tomorrow, and the moment had been captured on film.

There was a picture of Harry when he had fallen asleep on the couch one afternoon that she liked more than any. It was a picture that brought out the child in him that had been left behind so many years ago.

She looked around the room and then back to where she sat. She looked down at the bed and smiled at the thought of what went on beneath its sheets. She looked at the floor and a laugh escaped her mouth when she thought of the number of times they had been in such a hurry to get to the bedroom and had never made it there. That's why the rug was there.

"There's a hell of a mark on the wall back there," a voice called from the doorway. Hermione looked up and saw Harry standing in the doorway. A smile crept over her face. "Have you seen it?"

Hermione shook her head and then peered back to where he was talking about. There was a large dent in the way just behind a leg of the bed. It looked like someone had rammed the post against the wall.

"How the hell did this get here?" she asked as she ran her finger over it. A devilish smile crept over Harry's face as he advanced towards her. She pushed her back onto the bed and put both of his arms to the side to support his weight.

"You know, sometimes I wonder where your logic is," Harry said softly. "But of course you wouldn't remember how that mark got there, would you? You were, well, in the middle of something."

Pink tinged Hermione's cheeks when she realized that the mark was more than likely from the previous night. They had after all been seperated by Harry's work for two weeks...

"I'm sorry I'm late," Harry said into her ear.

"Well you're here now."

"I guess I am. Now the question is what to do with you."

"I have a -feeling- that I know. Literally."

It was Harry's turn to blush. He laughed a little and stood up, pulling Hermione with him. He picked her up with one arm behind her back and the other behind her knees and gently laid her down on the bed with her head on a pillow.

"You know, you're beautiful like this," Harry said as he laid on the bed next to her.

"Like what?"

"Just like this. With the sunlight shining in on you. It makes you look like an angel. My angel. Always my angel."

"Why are you so good to me?" Hermione asked as she tucked a stray lock of his hair back behind his ear. His hair had gotten long since they had left school.

"I'm good to you because I love you."

"Where would I be without you?"

"I don't think I want to know where I would be without -you-."

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed happily. Sometimes she wondered how she got to be with the most wonderful man in the world. She even got to where she didn't mind the wizard press and how they were always imposing upon their lives. Just because Harry was the most famous wizard in the world they didn't get any privacy. It was moments like these that she cherished.

"Hermione?" Harry asked softly.

"Hmm?"

"You'll love me forever, right?" His question was almost childish.

"Of course I will."

"Will you marry me?"

Hermione opened her eyes to look at Harry. He had a hopeful smile on his face as he awaited her answer. His green yes sparkled with childish wishfulness that they had held so many years before when they were still at Hogwarts.

"Only if you'll be mine forever," was her reply.

"I'm already yours forever."

"Then I guess you have your answer."

"Hermione?"

"Yes?" she asked sleepily.

"I love you."

"I love you too." And then she moved closer to him and they fell asleep in the comfort of each other's presence.