Unofficial Portkey Archive

Author's Note: These stories are all one-shot, 1000-word responses to the Summer Writing Series Challenge, so each one is not related to the next.

Summer Writing Series Challenge (July 5)
Challenge: Sequel Week: Harry/Hermione feed/eat from the other's plate at a restaurant.
Title: Exploring (Sequel to Escape)
Word Count: 1,036

The world looked quite different from the seat of the flying motorbike, high above the English countryside. The lights in the little houses and shops made everything look so enchanting, like a faerie village, or one of those miniature towns for model trains.

The night air was cool, and at Harry's suggestion Hermione had grabbed a jacket before leaving. Her parents were a little hesitant, but had finally given in and allowed her to be out for an hour. Harry decided they'd ride around for a bit, then land somewhere out of sight and walk around a little town he'd spotted on his way to Hermione's house.

Harry tried to take it easy for Hermione's first ride. When it was only him, he'd been much more daring, pushing the speed and trying out stunts. But remembering her uneasiness during third year, he thought it best to make the ride as smooth as possible. She kept a firm grip on him the entire time, and squeezed him a little apprehensively when he'd take one hand off the handlebar to show her something below.

As they neared the town, their escort pointed out the safest place to stop. Harry felt Hermione's hold on him tighten as the buildings below grew larger and larger. It wasn't exactly a smooth landing, but they didn't crash into anything and managed not to be seen. Harry helped her off the bike and left it in the escorts' charge.

"So, what did you think? Better than riding Buckbeak?" he asked, grinning, as they walked toward the town.

She laughed. "Hmm, well…I suppose I could get used to it."

Harry raised his eyebrows at her questioningly.

"Oh, alright. It wasn't all that bad," she said with a coy smile.

"Not all that bad? I'm glad to hear that. Can't imagine how many ribs you'd break if you didn't like it," he said teasingly and put his hand to his side. She gasped in mock offense and then laughed.

A minute later they emerged from behind a building on the high street and looked around the town. It wasn't a tiny village by any means, larger than Hogsmeade, but nothing like London. Quaint shops and restaurants lined the street, and though many were closed as it was growing late, there were still plenty of people out and about.

"Hungry?" he asked as they walked toward the center of town.

"Maybe a little," she said with a smile.

"Ever been here before?"

"A few times. My mum comes to market here, and she likes some of the antique shops." She pointed to a few of the shops she'd been in as they walked.

"So do you know any good places to eat? What are you in the mood for?"

Hermione stopped and got that look on her face, like she was calculating the best answer to a problem, or trying to solve a mystery. Harry grinned as he realized how much thought she was putting into something so simple. He watched, amused, as the gears in her head churned, and then she smiled.

"This way."

She led him up the street past market, and to a corner where a vendor was selling ice cream.

"Is this alright?" she asked.

"Perfect."

"So what do you get?"

"Well," he said hesitantly, "I don't actually know. Aunt Petunia never really let me get ice cream when we were out, except an occasional lemon ice, and I never really liked those," he grinned. "And I did get Dudley's rejects from time to time, if something wasn't to his liking."

"Harry, that's awful!" Hermione said with surprise.

He shrugged. "I was usually just glad to be away from the house."

Hermione frowned. "Well, you can get anything you like now. They're not here."

He looked at the pictures on the van. "They all look good. What do you suggest?"

Hermione glanced over the menu as well, calculating once again.

"One Flake 99 and one Mint Chocolate Cornetto, please," she said to the man. He handed her the ice creams and Harry paid.

"Right," she said, holding out the two cones, "the best thing about the Flake is the Flake." She nodded toward the vanilla ice cream with a crumbly chocolate bar stuck in it. "And the best thing about the Cornetto is the chocolate inside the cone, especially at the bottom. Which do you want to try first?"

Harry looked at the green and white ice cream with brown speckles, then back to the vanilla with the chocolate bar. "What about you?" he asked. "Aren't you having one?"

She laughed. "Of course I am! We'll share. Here…try the Flake first," she said, handing him the cone.

Hermione carefully explained the best way to eat each of the ice creams, as she'd had the method perfected since age six. They began walking back toward the motorcycle, eating and talking as they looked in shop windows.

"Save me some of that Flake now!" Hermione said with a laugh. Harry leaned the cone toward her and she pulled the chocolate out, making sure to get plenty of ice cream with it, and took a bite off the end. "Mmm…I've always loved those."

Harry grinned. "You going to let me try some of that one then?"

"Oh, I suppose," she teased, and traded cones with him.

Harry couldn't help but smile. It didn't seem that Hermione thought sharing ice creams was a big gesture, but to Harry it was a really great feeling. Someone actually liked him enough to share with him, and didn't think they were above him or that it was gross. It was similar to the feeling he got on his first Hogwarts Express ride, meeting Ron and sharing sweets, but somehow this was different. Eating off the same cones was not the same as eating Bertie Botts' from the same bag.

"Make sure you get the end of that cone…it's the best bit," Hermione said with a smile.

Harry grinned. Not only was she sharing with him, she let him have the best parts. He had the strangest urge to put his arm around her, or take her hand…but this was Hermione. He wasn't supposed to feel like that, was he?

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A/N: Sorry for the cliffie! I already cut over 100 words and just couldn't do anymore. So I'll have to resolve this little trip with a later challenge. And I did my own take on the challenge, so I hope you don't mind. I didn't have time or space to put them in a restaurant, hehe.

If anyone over in the UK wants to Fed-Ex me either of the ice creams mentioned above, you would be my best friend for life! ;) I miss Cornetto's soooooooo much! And there is *nothing* is the US to even begin to compare to a Flake, though I prefer the freshly-prepared version as opposed to the packaged one Cadbury's makes. (BIn my opinion, the best chocolate in the world by the way…Merlin, I miss Cadbury's!) *sigh*

For those of you in the US, click here to see a Mint Chocolate Cornetto (http://www.marktoney.co.uk/Range_Images/2523.jpg) and a Flake 99 (http://www.angloamerican.free-online.co.uk/flake1.JPG).