Chapter 2 - The Conversation
As Harry sat thinking about the past few years he had with Hermione by the lake, a white owl landed on top of his shoulder, startling him from his daydreaming.
"Hi Hedwig," hooted Harry, looking at her on his right shoulder. Fortunately, he was wearing his special necklace from Sirius, which allowed him to talk to her.
"Hello Harry," she hooted back. "How are you dear boy?"
"I'm fine Hedwig," he replied, picking her up off his shoulder and putting her so she could sit in his lap instead. "Where'd you come from?"
"Just back from my early morning flight," said Hedwig, using her beak to preen herself. "And by the look on your face, you look like you just came back from daydreaming."
"I was not!" Harry lied, giving it away by turning a dark shade of red.
"Sure Harry. You always come to the lake to think. Especially when you need to think about Hermione."
Harry closed his eyes, bowed his head slightly, and laughed through his nose. It was no use denying it anymore and Hedwig was right the first 100 times they had done this.
"Still in love Harry?" she asked.
"More than ever Hedwig," he replied. "It seems the more I see her, the more in love I fall."
"Then why don't you just tell her how you feel then?"
Harry gave a small smile. "Hedwig, we had this conversation yesterday, the day before that, and the day before that. And guess what? My response isn't going to change."
"And what would that response be?" she asked, narrowing her eyes a little.
"That I can't tell her how I feel Hedwig," Harry answered exasperatedly. "You know that already."
"And why not?"
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. This isn't how the conversation usually goes, thought Harry. She usually eggs me on even more to tell her.
"Why… why not?" Harry stuttered, suddenly feeling stuck. Hedwig nodded, knowing that she had caught him and gave him a cute owl smile that Harry could barely make out. It took sometime before Harry spoke.
"You know what Hedwig?"
"What's that Harry?"
"That's… a really good question. Why won't I tell Hermione that I like her?" he replied, sounding as pitiful as the words that came out of his mouth. Hedwig shook her head and shrugged.
"It must be a heck of a reason if you don't even know," she said as-a-matter-of-factly. Harry scratched his head, something that he started to do when he was trying to think but got no answers from his brain.
"Tell you what," he started, looking down at Hedwig, "when I find out, you'll be the first to know." Instead of looking flattered at his offer, Hedwig shot him a look that could've killed.
"The only reason why you're going to tell me first is because you know that I am incapable of telling anybody else!"
"So?" smiled Harry. "That's the best part about having a owl that only its owner can talk to." Hedwig returned his smile, spreading her wings in a way to sort of bow to him.
"I'm sure Hermione would want to hear the reason too," she suggested.
"About why I don't want to tell her I love her? That'll be the day!"
"Speaking of Hermione…" trailed Hedwig, her eyes focused on a point a few yards behind Harry. He turned his head around and saw none other than Ms. Granger making her way toward them.
Same old Hermione, thought Harry. He was right. Out of Ron, Hermione and himself, Hermione went through the least change of the three. She did, however, develop into a stunningly pretty woman over the last few years and her brown hair was just as bushy as ever. You could easily make her out if she was standing in a crowd of girls. This was one of the reasons why Harry liked Hermione so much. She didn't really care about how she looked in front of people. She wore no make-up and at least brushed her hair to make it orderly. Harry fell in love with her natural beauty, the beauty that Hermione doubted time after time that she didn't have.
"Hi Harry!" she yelled as she trotted over to them. "Ron told me I would find you here."
"Hello Hermione," said Harry, making room for her under the tree he and Hedwig were resting under.
"I couldn't help but over-hearing you and Hedwig in one of your cute little conversations again," she smiled, as she sat down next to him.
"That's the smile you love, isn't it Harry?" said Hedwig to him, which sounded nothing more than a methodical hoot to Hermione.
"That's the one," he hooted back to her.
"See? That's it!" exclaimed Hermione, pointing at Harry and Hedwig and smiling. "How she hoots at you and how you hoot back at her! It's so adorable! I swear, it's almost like you two are actually talking sometimes."
Harry couldn't help but grin back at her. It was a nice feeling that Hermione thought it was cute how he and Hedwig engaged in conversation. But it was even more fun talking about how much he liked her, right in front of her face without her knowing.
"So what you up to?" asked Harry, turning his attention toward Hermione.
"Actually," she said, turning a light shade of red, "I need to talk to you Harry."
"Me?" he said, feeling a bit surprised at her request.
"Yes Harry. You," she responded, making it seem like she was saying "well whom else then?" instead, then turning toward Hedwig.
"Do you mind if I speak with Harry alone for a while Hedwig?" she said in a pet-talk sort of way as she smiled and stroked her wing gently. "It's rather personal." Hedwig nibbled her finger in an affectionate way, spread out her wings in a bowing manner, hooted a "good luck" to Harry, and flew off. Hermione was the first to speak.
"So what are you doing out here?" she asked, making herself a little more comfortable under the shade of the tree.
Thinking, thought Harry. The same thing I do every time I come out here. "Nothing," he replied.
"You're a bad liar Potter," Hermione teased, "I notice that you come out here every time you need to think."
"I'm impressed Granger," he replied with a smile, "I'm beginning to think that you can somehow read my mind." Hermione giggled.
"So what were you thinking about Harry?" she asked, looking excited as to what his response might be.
The same thing I think about every time I'm out here Hermione, he thought. You. "Nothing in particular," said Harry, half-blushing, "I just needed time to myself, that's all."
"Oh," replied Hermione, a bit disappointed about getting an answer that wasn't exciting at all.
"So what were you going to talk to me about?" asked Harry, feeling a little flustered that he was alone in the shade with Hermione. "Must be really important if you had to send Hedwig away." For the first time in the conversation, it was Hermione's turn to turn a shade of scarlet.
"Well… I," she stammered and then paused. Harry just stared at her. He had never seen her look so uncomfortable. Hermione took a deep breath before speaking again.
"Well since you're Head Boy, it… is your duty to help others when they are in need of advice right?" she said nervously.
"How about you?" added Harry. "You are Head Girl. And A LOT smarter than I am. What advice could I give you?" This made Hermione turn a little redder.
"Well… um… promise not to laugh?" she said in a soft voice.
"Of course," said Harry in his most comforting voice. "I would never laugh at you." Hermione smiled back at him. The same smile that Harry grew to love. Don't smile at me like that, he thought . Or I may just kiss you right now.
"Harry… how… do you know… when you're… in love?" asked Hermione, not making eye contact with him at all. Harry's eyes widened at her question. Out of everyone in Hogwarts, why on earth would she specifically ask him… that?
"Well…" started Harry, he himself beginning to fell very awkward. "How do you know when you're in love? Um…"
"It's ok if you don't know Harry. I just…"
"No no, Hermione it's not that," he interrupted. "It's just…"
"Just what?" she asked, looking back at him.
"Nothing," replied Harry, as he paused to look right back into the eyes of Hermione. He himself couldn't explain it, but there were something about them that drove him insane. "But about your question…"
"Yes?"
"Well it's kind of hard to explain really," said Harry, scratching his head, "But there are some vital signs, like thinking about the person excessively and finding yourself daydreaming more often. Having the need and desire to see the person everyday and when you do, you find yourself stealing glances. But to sum it all up, it's really when you're around the person; when you can't speak, you can't breathe, you can't think. When you get this feeling inside when stand next to this special person and nothing else matters. You just feel it in your heart…" Harry found himself stopping dead in his speech. Without knowing it, he had told Hermione how he felt when he figured out he was in love with her.
"Well I must say Harry, that I am impressed," admitted Hermione. "I'm impressed that you could break it down like that. I'll keep your advice in mind." Suddenly, Harry had the urge to ask her why she asked him that question in the first place, but that moment soon passed because Harry wanted to ask another question.
"What are you doing this late afternoon?"
"Um… I think that I have noth…yes, I'm free. Why Harry?"
"Do you mind if I take you out then?" asked Harry. After asking her countless times before, it got much easier for him to do with confidence. Hermione's eyes lit up, making him shift in his sitting position.
"Of course Harry!" she exclaimed. "This'll be so exciting! Where are we going to go?"
"We'll considering that we do have limits and school rules to follow," replied Harry matter-of-factly and trying to sound intelligent too, "we don't really have a choice do we Hermione?"
"Hogsmeade?" she said with a grin on her face.
"Yep," nodded Harry. "I…" but he couldn't finish his sentence because Hermione had flung her arms around him. "I'm so excited!" she said into his ear before withdrawing from him. "It's been a while since we've been out."
Tell me about it, thought Harry. Maybe you'll realize what I've been trying to tell you for so long…