Harry woke up with a slight headache. He reached out to hold onto Hermione, knowing that it would take his mind off it, but he found the spot beside him empty. Opening his eyes, he saw that she'd already gotten out of bed. Harry's sharp eyes picked up the sound of her shower turning off, and a minute later, Hermione walked back into the room clad only in a long, fluffy towel. Rolling onto his back, the young wizard put his hands behind his head and whistled softly.
"Harry!" Hermione jumped slightly, seeing him staring at her with the world's biggest grin on his face.
"Nice outfit, Herm, it becomes you quite well," he laughed, but his eyes began to darken with desire.
Hermione licked her lips and sashayed off to the bed, letting her hips sway wider than normal. She sat down next to him, and Harry sat up to take her in his arms. He caught her mouth with a soft kiss that quickly turned into a raging inferno.
"Hmm, we can't, Harry, it's time to get up," his lover protested.
"But I have a headache, and I need some consoling for the pain," he pouted, giving her his best imitation of puppy dog eyes. Hermione bopped him on the nose and giggled.
"You're insatiable, my love."
"No more than you, sweetheart."
Harry lay back and pulled Hermione on top of him. She didn't resist him as he undid her towel and began to caress the wonders of her body.
"Hermione!" a voice called through her door; the two lovers froze.
'Oh no, it's my mom!' the young woman gulped silently. To Harry's silent protest, she tied the towel back around her body and jumped off the bed to grab her robe on her dresser.
"See you in a few minutes," Harry said with a regretful smile and disapparated right off her bed. She giggled again; magic definitely had its advantages.
Tying her robe in place, Hermione lifted the silencing charm from her room and headed for the door.
"Coming mom," she called a few seconds before she opened the door.
Hermione shut her bedroom door trying to keep from laughing her head off. Her mom had been suspicious that she and Harry might be going at it so she'd come to check on them. If it wasn't for Harry knowing how to disapparate, their situation of her lying on top of him on her bed with a wide open towel would have been quite difficult to explain. Instead, her mom had just come to say good morning and to tell her that her father wasn't feeling too well.
Another knock brought Hermione to the door once again, but she was more than happy to see Harry standing in her doorway.
"Hey Herm, sorry to be a pain, but do you mind if I use your bathroom?"
She just shook her head. He was just here not more than five minutes ago, yet he thought he had to ask to use something inside.
"Of course, you can. Is something wrong with the other one?"
"Your dad's inside, and he doesn't sound too good. I asked your mom, and she said that he might have a bad case of the flu."
"Oh my, I didn't even notice," Hermione sighed and looked down at the floor.
"Sorry sweetheart, I guess I've had all your attention."
"No Harry, it's not your fault."
"Tell you what, after I clean up, how 'bout we hunt for a potion for him. I'm sure some wizard came up with an antidote to a fouled-up stomach."
"That's a great idea. I'll get dressed and start looking."
"Okay, be out in five minutes," and Harry disappeared into her bathroom.
Hermione pulled on pair of shorts and a t-shirt before heading to her bookcase in search of her 'Remedies to all Illnesses' book.
After about an hour of searching, Harry and Hermione couldn't find anything about remedies for the flu.
"I don't get it. There has to be thousands of muggle cures for it; you'd think wizards would come up with some as well," Hermione sighed.
"Some things aren't explainable…" Harry answered as he skimmed over another crinkly page of text. "…hold it…I got it!"
"Where?" He pointed to appointed section.
"I don't believe this," Hermione groaned, "They labeled it as 'gastrointestinal imbalance'! Who in the name of Merlin wrote this book?" She turned the spine over to read 'Author: Miles Lieter - Master of Gigantic Words'.
"What's the ingredients for it?" Harry inquired.
Hermione flipped back to the page and looked over the list of items. They weren't too hard to find, but she wasn't sure where to find two cloves of stinkweed.
"Well…I think we can find most of this stuff here in the house, but I don't where to get stinkweed from."
"Don't worry, I have some," he answered. She looked at him shocked.
"Harry…you have a collection of stinkweed? Since when?"
"Since I got a gift bag from Fred and George Weasley. It was the grand opening at their joke shop, and they sent me all these weird things to play pranks on people - from stinkweed to trick fireworks to exploding gumballs. Trust me, if it's weird, they can get it for you." Hermione started laughing.
"That's true. Well then, let's get cracking…" An eerie groan emanated from down the hallway, "…before my dad loses whatever stomach he has left."
Harry followed her downstairs, and the two headed for the kitchen.
"Mom, how's dad?" Hermione asked. Her mother gave her a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"I called the doctor this morning since he's been sick the last few days. Your father has a bad stomach virus, but unfortunately, there isn't a real cure for it. The body just has to purge it on its own. Until then, we just have to try to keep him comfortable."
"Maybe we can help," Harry piped up.
"Yeah mom, that's why we came down here. Do you know if we have these things?" and Hermione handed her mother the list of ingredients from her book.
"Hmm…I think so…I should have most of these, but I'm not so sure about the rosemary, lizard scales, and stinkweed." Her face contorted as she read the last two.
"I might have them in my collection," Hermione stated.
"Your collection?" Harry asked and looked at her quizzically.
"Come on, I'll show you."
He followed her into the pantry adjacent to the kitchen, and Hermione opened a cabinet in the back of the room.
"Wow!" Harry gasped as he saw the various items she kept inside. There was just about ever ingredient from their Potions class stored inside. She even had a Mandrake in a pot.
"Jeez Herm, this reminds me of Herbology class."
"Very funny, I keep this here in case I need it over the summer."
"Need it for what?" She glared at him.
"Contrary to other people, I don't just lie around all summer; I practice quite a bit so I don't forget everything."
Harry tried hard to keep a straight face, but he just couldn't help it and started laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Hermione said angrily.
"I'm sorry, it's just that…I should have guessed you'd have something like this." His girlfriend crossed her arms over her chest.
"Yeah well…I guess…when we're together, I don't need to use my brains very much unless we're studying for a test or class."
Hermione turned away from him and silently began looking for what she needed. Harry could sense her uneasiness and walked up behind her.
"Sweetheart…" he sighed and wrapped her in his arms, "…I'm not ashamed that my girlfriend is so much smarter than myself or anyone else; in fact, I kind of like it. I love you for your beauty and your brains - neither one matters more to me."
Hermione turned her head around with a big smile on her lips. She'd really needed to hear that.
"Thanks Harry, I needed to hear that from you. I know it doesn't matter, but sometimes, it's nice to be reminded."
"How's this…" and he gave her a long, sweet kiss.
"More than adequate."
"Good, now, let's find that stuff."
Mrs. Granger was nervous about Hermione brewing a potion in her kitchen, but her daughter assured her that nothing would go wrong.
"Okay…let's see…we added the cloves and the rosemary. What's left?" Hermione asked. Harry looked at the large book open on the counter.
"Uh…just add the stinkweed, and it should be done."
The moment that Hermione dropped in the small greenish-gray plant, the potion exploded upwards, and a puff of smoke erupted out of the pot. She was thrown backwards, but Harry's quick reflexes caught her before she hit the ground.
"What was that?" Hermione gasped as Harry helped her to her feet. She checked the ingredients again and groaned.
"Harry, you didn't read this correctly."
"What do you mean?" he asked and came up behind her.
"There's a warning at the bottom that says the potion is quite volatile and may explode upon completion. That's how you know it's done."
"So, we did it right didn't we?" Hermione glared at him slightly.
"You could've warned me the pot would blow up in my face."
"I'm sorry, but at least now, we can help your dad."
"Don't change the subject, next time you can have the potion blow up in your face!"
Harry wrapped his arms around her and hugged her gently. Hermione felt her anger draining away at the regretful look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Herm, I really am. I promise that I'll double-check the ingredients if we ever do this again."
"All right, I'll forgive you," and she gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"What was that noise?" Melinda Granger asked as she raced into the kitchen.
"We're finished mom," Hermione stated and handed her mother a glass with a purplish-looking fluid in it.
"Here, have dad drink this, and he should feel better in about an hour."
The older woman took the glass, and her face scrunched up at the foul smell.
"If it smells this bad, it had better work."
Mrs. Granger headed into the living room where her husband was lying down on the couch. She handed him the potion, and his face nearly turned green at the horrid smell.
"Please John, Hermione said this would help you."
"All right, it can't get much worse anyway."
He held his nose and downed the concoction in one gulp.
"Uh…that tasted worse than sewer water."
Despite the disgusting taste, the potion did its job, and an hour later, Mr. Granger was back on his feet.
"How are you feeling, dad?" Hermione asked that night after dinner.
"Much better, sweetie, thank you. I'm not sure what you and Harry cooked up, but it worked like a charm."
"That reminds me, Hermione, this came in the mail today," her mother stated and handed her daughter a colorful flyer.
"Oh my goodness!"
"What's all the excitement about?" Harry asked as he walked in from the kitchen.
"Look!" Hermione gasped and nearly shoved the flyer into his face.
It read…
BRISTOL CIRCUS AND CARNIVAL COMING TO TOWN NEXT MONTH!
"See Harry, every two years, the carnival in Bristol comes to our town for a week or so, depending on how popular it is."
"And I take it, you love it," he said with a wide grin, noting his girlfriend's smiling face.
"Of course, I love it; it's a lot of fun."
"Hermione's loved the carnival ever since she was a small child," John Granger said with a warm smile, "In fact, I remember one time where she even got doused by an elephant because she didn't give him any peanuts."
Harry couldn't help and started laughing while Hermione blushed slightly.
"Dad, stop it, you're embarrassing me."
"Sweetie, we'd love to take you, but your father and I have to work this weekend," Melinda said with a regretful sigh.
Her daughter's face fell. They lived about seven or eight miles outside the main part of town where the carnival was going to take place. She thought about flying there, but she wasn't the most accomplished witch on a broomstick.
"We can still go, Herm," Harry interrupted.
"Harry, it's over five miles to town; I'm not walking there and back."
"Who said anything about walking?" he asked with a wide grin.
"Oh, no you don't," Hermione stated firmly, "I'm not flying there."
"We don't have to fly; we can apparate."
"But I don't know how?"
"You don't have to; you just have to hang onto me."
"But won't people see you when you just appear out of nowhere?" Mrs. Granger asked worriedly. Harry's grin only widened.
"No ma'am, that can be taken care of quite easily. Right, Hermione?" he said, hoping she would understand.
"Of course! Why didn't I think of it before? Your invisibility cloak!"
"Exactly. We can put it on before we leave, and nobody will notice us when we show up at the carnival."
Hermione lunged out of her chair and jumped into Harry's lap.
"Thank you, love, this means a lot to me."
"I don't mind, Herm, besides, I've never been to carnival before anyway. So, if your parents don't mind, it's a date."
"Please mom?" Hermione sighed like a little child. Melinda smiled at her daughter.
"Well, if Harry can do what he says he can do, then I don't see why not. Just bring me back a souvenir."
"Thanks mom. This is gonna be so great!"
Harry was trying hard not to laugh; he'd never seen Hermione so giddy. He swore that if he hadn't been holding onto her, she'd be bouncing off the walls. He could just imagine the bundle of energy she'd be at the carnival, but it was worth it to make her so happy. After the hell they'd gone through the past year, they both deserved some serious R&R.
Hermione snuggled close to her lover's heart. She should've known Harry would make everything better; he always did. Now, the carnival would be twice as wonderful because she would be sharing it would the man she loved.
"This is interesting," her father cut in, "It looks like they added something new this year."
"What do you mean, John?" his wife asked. He handed her the flyer.
"Look at the bottom of the add."
At the bottom of the colorful flyer, it read:
NEW ADDITION THIS YEAR - MEDIEVAL TOURNAMENT
COME SEE OUR KNIGHTS BATTLE IT OUT TO THE END
"Wow, that should be something to watch," Harry gasped.
"Yeah, I can just see a bunch of guys wearing tin cans and charging at each other with lances," Hermione laughed. Harry decided to get into the act.
"Milady, would you care to accompany me to this prestigious tournament?" he asked, smiling at his lover. She tried hard not to giggle.
"It would be a pleasure, kind sir." They both started laughing, and Mr. and Mrs. Granger soon joined them.