Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter 2

At Hermione's

When Hermione heard the light tapping noise, she all but flew out of bed to the window, throwing it open. Hedwig, slightly shocked, entered her bedroom and sat still, allowing Hermione access to the letter. She ripped the envelope apart, and read the reply quickly, before breaking into a smile and dancing around her room. After a few minutes of this, she finally settled down enough to write back to Harry. After writing the letter, she put it in an envelope, attached it to Hedwig's feet, and set her off on her way. She watched the snowy owl fly farther and farther into the distance unable to wipe the grin off her face.

The next morning at Harry's house

Harry awoke to a ticklish sensation on his face. He opened his eyes to find

Hedwig perched patiently on his chest, wanting him to free her of her burden. "Well, good morning to you too, Hedwig," he said as he reached for the letter. He opened it and read-

Dear Harry,

We can get you at 4 o'clock today. Oh, and I forgot to tell you in my last letter, Ron's coming too! I figured we could just hang out at my house for a week and a half or so and then go to Diagon Alley until school starts. Well, you better get packed!!

With love, Hermione

"Yes! Ron's coming too!" he exclaimed, but then he thought silently,

"Although, it might have been fun to have Hermione all to myself for a

while." He lay there in his bed, thinking about that time last year when

Ron had been mad at him. Hermione had still stuck by him, and he had never forgotten that. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure if he had ever actually thanked her for that. Truth was that was the time when he started to see Hermione in a different light. A smile slowly crept up over his face before he realized what time it was. "Oh man, she's going to be here in 2 hours!! How'd I sleep that late??"

A few hours later

Hermione took a deep breath, and thought, "We're here. Come on! Get a grip on yourself Hermione! It's Harry for crying out loud!" but her brain reminded her, "Exactly…it's Harry." It took another second or so for her to realize she hadn't yet exhaled. Breathing out, she forced herself to get out the car, walk up to the door, and ring the doorbell. She heard some faint mumbling, and a few seconds later the door was opened by Harry's uncle.

Surprised at how composed her voice sounded, she managed to say, "Hello, Mr.

Dursley, I'm here for Harry." Vernon simply glared at her before finally turning around and yelling for Harry to come down, and come down he did. A few seconds and a lot of thumps later, Harry was crumpled on the floor next to his trunk which, thankfully, hadn't broken and the owl cage which contained a very unhappy, but unhurt owl. As his face turned beet red, he managed to get himself up, gather his things and head toward the door.

He looked up at Hermione and his breath was taken away.

Hermione had long since given up trying to make her hair straight, instead opting to tame her bushy hair with curls that framed her face perfectly. Conveniently neglecting to mention this "little" fact to Harry had achieved the reaction she was secretly hoping to get. Trying to keep from laughing out loud, she said, "You alright there, Harry?"

Harry was brought back to earth with the sound of Hermione's voice, "Er…yeah, of course. Come on, let's get out of here." He rushed out the door past Hermione, thinking to himself, "Idiot! `Er…yeah." Oy! That must have sounded so stupid! She was even trying to keep from laughing! Argh, could I BE any more stupid? (A/N: hehe, Chandler, anyone?) And when did Hermione get so damn pretty?!"

A few minutes later, Harry and Hermione were seated comfortably in the backseat of the KIA Sorento and on the way to Hermione's house. The tension in the car probably couldn't even be cut with a knife, but nevertheless Harry took a stab at small talk, (A/N: Knife…stab…get it?)

"So…Hermione, are we going to pick up Ron now?"

"Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you! We're not going to pick him up, he owled and said

that he had some things to do before leaving home and that he would come by Floo

Powder tomorrow." Hermione felt a pang of guilt as she said that, "Come on,

Hermione, you told the truth, just "forgot" to mention that you told Ron not to come until tomorrow because you had to get your fireplace hooked up so that he could travel by way of Floo Powder. But, then again, you knew for a fact that it's already hooked up! *Sigh* Calm down Hermione, you just wanted to spend some time with Harry alone, that's all." Hermione's thoughts slowly stopped as she simply contented herself with watching

Harry struggle to stay awake, but failing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Mrs. Granger looked into the backseat of the car to see Harry and Hermione asleep. Hermione had rested her head upon Harry's shoulder and Harry rested his head upon her head. Smiling to herself, she almost hated to wake them up, they looked so perfect together! But nevertheless, she had to.

"Hermione, dear, wake up." She cooed.

Hermione opened her eyes with a dreamy look on her face. After taking a few seconds to regain her senses, she suddenly realized whose shoulder she was sleeping on. Startled, she abruptly moved her head, unfortunately upward, managing to hit Harry's head quite hard. Harry awoke with a start, grabbing the side of his head in pain.

"Ahh…"

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry!" Hermione apologized profusely.

Harry groaned again and then joked, "If this is how I can expect to wake up around your place, I think I'll go back to the Dursley's. Thank you very much." And then, with the famous Potter charm, he flashed his grin.

"Haha, okay, I'm taking that as a sign that you're fine. Come on, we're here, let's go!" Hermione said eagerly.

A few minutes, and several bags of luggage later, everyone was gathered in the main entryway of Hermione's house. Her family wasn't rich, but they had money to spend. Their house, however, was a different story. It was, for lack of a better word, HUGE! You see, Hermione's grandfather was a very rich and powerful guy, although no one is really sure what exactly it was that he did for a living. All they knew was that it paid well, very well. Well, anyway, to make a long story short, after his death, Hermione's father inherited the house and guest houses (The money was divided between his

3 other brothers!)

"Well, Hermione, why don't you show Harry where you two and Ron will be staying?" advised Mr. Granger.

"Oh, good idea dad! Come on, Harry. Don't worry about your stuff, our butler will take care of it for you," said Hermione, taking Harry's hand.

"You have a butler?" asked Harry incredulously.

"Oh yeah, his name's Bill. Been with the family for as long as I can remember. In fact, we pretty much consider him a member these days."

"Wow…"

A few minutes later, Hermione was showing Harry every nook and cranny of the guest house which included a kitchen, a living room, and three separate bedrooms each with their own bathroom. After Hermione gave Harry the grand tour, they ended up in the living room.

"Wow, Herm, this place is…great. I still can't believe I get my own bedroom that isn't used for Dud's old stuff."

"Yeah…" Hermione smiled. And then suddenly hugged Harry for all she was worth, "Oh, Harry!! I've missed you so much!"

Harry and Hermione stood in the living room, simply holding on to each other. Harry was holding on out of shock, he just couldn't believe the fact that the girl he liked was hugging him. And Hermione, who had initiated the hug, was allowing herself to get lost in the feel of Harry's arms wrapped around her, the warmth of his body, but most of all…the feeling she got being in his arms. It was, for lack of a better word, right. As if she was never meant to hold another person in the same way that she was holding Harry because it just wouldn't be the same, it just wouldn't be right.

After the shock had somewhat subsided, Harry found himself noticing that Hermione fit perfectly into his arms, and he wished that this moment would never end. But, as the old proverb states, "All good things must come to an end," it did.

A voice rose from seemingly nowhere, "Ahem."

Harry and Hermione broke apart rather reluctantly, and faced the handsome, though balding man to hear what he had to say. "Dinner will be served in 15 minutes," and then with a smirk he added, "Thought you ought to know."

Hermione smiled at the sight of her longtime friend and honorary family member, "Thank you, Bill. Oh, this is my friend Harry Potter. Harry, this is our family member and butler William Buck, but we always call him Bill."

"It's so nice to meet you…Bill," Harry said as he smiled warmly at the middle-aged man.

"Likewise, young sir," said Bill, "and, if it's alright with you, may I speak to Miss Granger for a minute?"

"You don't need my permission for that!" laughed Harry, "If you'll excuse me, I'll take my luggage to my room and get comfortable." With that, he grabbed his luggage, and Hedwig, and headed to his room.

"If you don't mind my saying so mademoiselle, he's a keeper; don't let go of him."

"I wasn't planning to…and how did you know?"

"Have you forgotten already what it was you two were doing when I walked in? My dear, that was no ordinary hug. I have known you since you were born, watched you grow up, and know you like the back of my hand. I should certainly hope that I know you well enough to recognize when you have fallen head over heels. And then there's the fact that I, myself, have had my share of relationships, and know love when I see it. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go serve dinner, before either of you come up with another clever idea to detain me and get me killed, or worse, fired!" And with that, the amiable butler smiled, turned, and walked out the guesthouse to go serve dinner, leaving Hermione with her mouth half open and an amused look on her face reacting to what he just said.

After a few moments by herself, thinking, Hermione went to Harry's room. When she got to her door way, she heard…music. When she looked inside, she had to try so hard to restrain herself from laughing. Harry was dancing and singing along to the music, "'Cause, baby, there ain't no mountain high enough. Ain't no valley low enough. Ain't no river wide enough, to keep, keep me from YOU!!" With that last word, Harry turned toward the doorway and saw Hermione leaning against the frame with an amused look upon her face, trying not to laugh, and he blushed furiously.

"Um…I like this music?"

"Well, it is good… if I were you, I wouldn't do that where someone could walk in on you. You are so bad at dancing!"

"Hey! Well…it's not like anybody's ever taught me before…"

Hermione's face softened, "Oh, yeah…" and then brightened, "Well, I guess that's something we need to take care of," she said as she walked toward the radio to change stations and find the right song. Just as she was about to give up, she heard it.

"Ok, this is it."

Ohh ohh...

She walked over to Harry, put his arms around her waist and said, "It's best to start with slow songs. They're easier."

When the visions around you,
Bring tears to your eyes
And all that surround you,
Are secrets and lies
I'll be your strength,
I'll give you hope,
Keeping your faith when it's gone
The one you should call,
Was standing here all along..

Every word I say is true
This I promise you
Ooh, I promise you...

At some point in the song, Hermione had moved closer to Harry, and rested her head on his shoulder, savoring this moment together. And Harry, who was terrified that he'd be terrible, picked up the rhythm quickly. The two of them slowly rocked together enjoying the warmth and comfort of the other's arms, never wanting to let go. When the song ended, they looked deeply into each other's eyes as their faces moved towards the other as if drawn by a cosmic force. Just as their lips were about to touch…the dinner bell rang.