Author's Notes: Well, it's the part I know you've all been waiting for, The Date. Hope you enjoy this as much as I've enjoyed writing it!
And now… onwards!
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Harry was in sheer bliss. Even spending just a day with Hermione and their new found feeling between the two of them was enough to raise Harry's droopy spirits immensely. He found himself practically skipping everywhere, whether or not he had Hermione accompanying him, which was most of the time. Wherever they went, Diagon Alley, Muggle London Cinema's, she was always there with her soft dainty hand in his, and it made him feel on top of the world. Yet, after all the time they had spent talking (amidst other things) about their letters they had sent to each other, the subject of their 'date' had not yet been brought up.
It was Hermione who finally brought up the subject one night when she, Harry and Ron were sitting in the dingy little drawing room of the mouldy old house, playing chess and cuddling up (Ron playing a one-sided game of chess against Harry who, of course, was cuddling with Hermione).
"You know, Harry… we never had our 'date'."
Ron perked his ears up with interest, which earned him a mock dark look from Harry. Ron still seemed to take great amusement in the fact that Harry and Hermione were dating, and they 'loved' each other. Of course this didn't really bother Harry and Hermione one bit, if anything, it encouraged them further to the point that Ron frequently had to leave the room claiming he was; "Grossed out".
"Oh yeah? When was this decided then? During one of your snogging sessions I suppose?"
They all shared a laugh, just like old times. These moments were rare in the times they were heading towards now, what with the looming weight of the war sitting on their young shoulders.
Harry looked towards Ron with a jokingly scathing look.
"Actually, Ronald, it was decided before we actually told each other how we felt. Sort of a 'friendly date' thing. Though can't promise there'll be much that's strictly 'friendly' about it now though…"
Ron suppressed a fake shudder as Harry cheekily pecked Hermione on the lips. She let out a soft giggle, and hugged Harry closer.
"Now now, Harry, I'll have you know I'm not that sort of girl…"
Harry gave her a mock disappointed look, as Ron chuckled and remarked; "Looks like you're shit out of luck, mate."
Hermione giggled further at the look on Harry's face, as she pulled his face closer to her own. Her voice became a husky whisper.
"But I'm sure I can make an exception just for you…"
Harry beamed as Ron tried and failed to suppress a loud laugh that echoed around the small drawing room. As he continued to guffaw noisily, the door opened and a curious-looking Mrs. Weasley opened the white-washed door. She looked confusedly at Ron before she noticed Harry and Hermione, who both blushed a deep shade of crimson. Mrs. Weasley didn't know about them yet, but from the position they were both in, Harry was sure she'd have figured it out by now. Hermione was sitting ominously in Harry's lap, her hands around his neck, cuddling him closer, as Harry laid his hand on her leg, her pretty white skirt riding up just a little. Harry knew that they must look a sight from someone else's point of view.
"Harry… Hermione… Erm… is there anything you would like to tell me?" She inquired with a wide kindly smile. She seemed more interested and happy for them than Harry thought she would be.
"Um… yes… actually, Mrs. Weasley…" Hermione began, and Harry could feel her shaking slightly on top of him. He lifted a hand up gently to wrap his fingers in hers and she smiled at him serenely in gratitude. "Me and Harry… well, we're kind of dating… and uh… we take it quite seriously… if you get what I mean."
She exchanged a kind of women's intuitive look with Mrs. Weasley as they locked eyes. Harry exchanged a bewildered look with Ron, who merely shrugged, They seemed to be having a silent conversation with their eyes, like a whole new language that only women understood. After a tense moment, Mrs. Weasley sighed and beamed a warm smile at the two of them.
"Well, Congratulations, Dears! You two make a brilliant couple! Deary me… You're all growing up so fast… seems only yesterday you were starting Hogwarts… now look at you… all grown up…"She sniffed tearfully, and pulled out a large white handkerchief from inside her robes, which she used to noisily blow her nose on. Harry, Hermione and Ron blushed. "Oh! Which reminds me! You two are going to need a serious talk, you know…"
Harry's insides seemed to fall out. Ron had warned him of this. It seemed Hermione had caught on as well, as she paled and gripped Harry tighter. Ron let out a suppressed manly giggle and looked up at the two of them, battling with his instinct to grin amusedly. However, he was silenced with a warning look from his mother.
"Ron, out."
"What? But, I wanna see--"
"Out!"
He did not go quietly. He seemed to feel that he had missed out of a real treat, as he made his feelings quite clear when he frog-marched out of the room, mumbling curses under his breath about how he 'wanted to see them squirm'. The door slammed and they were left alone.
Mrs. Weasley calmly sat opposite the two of them , and they felt the need to disentangle themselves from each other at last. It was kind of awkward trying to hug each other with Mrs. Weasley peering at them.
"Now then… I'm sure your parent's must have talked about this with you, Hermione. After, you are a girl, and, well, at your age, I'm sure you're well aware of how it all works."
With a crimson face and a meek smile, she nodded faintly. Harry's insides squirmed. He hadn't had anyone to explain it to him. All he'd had were mutinous threats from the Dursleys that if he ever got a girl pregnant, he'd get no help from them. Harry hadn't even wanted to think about it at the time.
"Now, Harry--"
Harry gulped.
* * * *
They walked out of the drawing room about half an hour later with wide eyes and pale faces. It was worse than anything Harry had ever expected. She has given them the full degree, not easing their relief by leaving any detail out.
Harry shared a dubious look with Hermione, who returned it fully, they both let out a nervous laugh.
"Well, after that, Harry, I'd say we don't have too many secrets from each other now, do we?"
Harry shook his head. From the description he got from Mrs. Weasley, he almost felt sorry for Hermione. However, something about that statement made something click in Harry's head. Then, suddenly it clunked heavily into place.
"Our date."
"What?"
She shot a amused, curious look at him, and he returned it with a cheeky smile.
"You wanna go on our date now?"
"What? Now? But where will we go?"
Harry looked about the musty landing for an idea, anywhere where he could spend some time alone with Hermione for a while. His eyes landed on Buckbeaks room. Perfect. He gently took Hermione's hand and led her towards the door.
"In here."
He led her inside and shut the door, amidst heavy crunching sounds coming from behind him, where Buckbeak lay, munching noisily on a chicken bone. As he turned slowly away from the door, he was suddenly met with Hermione. She unexpectedly crushed him against the door , her lips pressed onto his in a overwhelming kiss. It grew more and more heated as Harry wrapped his arms around her, not really sure of what to do, but his instincts were slowly taking over, and all the blood was rushing away from his brain. His thoughts were wiped as Hermione pressed herself closer to him, and he kissed her back with added fervour.
After a few heated minutes, she quickly pulled away, leaving Harry with a dazed, almost disappointed look on his face. After all, all the blood had vanished from his head, so he was left with a stupid grin. Hermione giggled at his smile.
"Come on, we're here to talk. Come and sit down…"
She took Harry's hand and began to lead a reluctant Harry to a large dusty space on the floor. As they sat down, Harry leaned lazily against the mouldy old wall, leaning his head back on the carpet of dust that covered it like wallpaper. Hermione curled up tightly against him, and lifted a hand up do she could grasp Harry's own strong fingers in her own. It was very cosy sitting there, with Hermione cuddling up against him.
"So, what do you want to talk about first?"
"Hmm… I want to know about your family… I've never really properly met them."
Hermione looked up at him, surprised. He gave her a questioning look.
"Really? They seem to know an awful lot about you for people who've never met you… but then maybe I just went on about you too much…"
She blushed, and the sight was adorable. Harry chuckled softly, and brought her closer still.
"Well, I've said hello, and everything, but I don't really know them like I do Ron's parents…"
Hermione made a noise of agreement, then laid her head further backwards, so it was sitting nicely on Harry's shoulder. He looked down at her with a happy smile.
"Well… where do I begin? They're both dentists… as you know. Very strict on the whole Dentist thing.
'Brush your teeth every night and no sugary snacks, Young lady!'"
Harry laughed, as did Hermione. She let out her soft giggle, which she seemed to reserve only for Harry. He had never heard her use it when they were with Ron.
"Apart from that though, they're lovely. Two of the best you could ask for… and… uh…"
She looked up at Harry, suddenly sheepish, which caused Harry to smile even more at the lovable sight.
"Do you mind talking about this? I mean… I don't mean to make you feel bad or anything…"
Harry let out a small chuckle. He was grateful that Hermione had considered his feelings in all of this, but to be perfectly honest he really wanted to hear it.
"Of course not. I never really had any inkling of what parents might be like when I was growing up, I like to hear about other peoples. I mean, It's nice to hear what having parents should be like. What really bugs me is when people like Dudley shout at their parents all the time, screaming stuff like he hates them and they're horrible parents. Maybe they are, but they're still his parents…"
He broke off, musing angrily. Hermione shot him a sympathetic look. Twisting around in her seat on the hard wooden floor, she turned around to face Harry still sitting on his lap, but almost straddling him. The thoughts that this simple action brought to Harry's mind were about to take over when Hermione brought a hand under his chin and smiled sweetly.
"Tell me."
He was reluctant to tell her, he didn't want her pity. He didn't want her to think lowly of him, but like they had shared in their letters, things shouldn't be kept in like that. He knew that keeping in the things that the Dursleys once did to him, on top of all the other problems he now had, would not do him any good in the long run. So, with a reluctant grimace, he turned sombrely to Hermione.
He told her how they treated him, how he was made to live in a dank, small cupboard under the stairs until he was 11, and any clothes he owned had previously belonged to Dudley, who, being at least five times bigger than Harry, and Harry always being small for his age, the clothes felt more like circus tents. His meals were always smaller than everyone else's, his Aunt always thought that Dudley should have more to eat than Harry. At school, he was laughed at for having baggy, hand-me-down clothes and large glasses that took up most of his face, and he had no real friends, Dudley had seen to that. Every time someone got close to Harry, Dudley would come sauntering along, with his large, scary group of friends, and drive them away. Aunt Petunia encouraged it. She said she 'didn't want Harry to tell any tales on them'. Harry almost lived in fear of Dudley, for he was always bullying, always threatening to 'do Harry in' every time Harry did something to annoy him, which was surprisingly often.
Hermione listened in shock to Harry's stories, her face almost unbearable to Harry's eyes. She seemed to genuinely really pity him, and he hated pity. He wouldn't blame her for it though, he knew his childhood wasn't exactly ideal. He had to grow up too quickly, he learnt to cook, clean and do all the jobs an adult should do at the age of seven. From the age of eight, he knew how to do everything Aunt Petunia did.
As he finished his tale, he chanced a small, tentative glance at Hermione. Her deep chocolate brown eyes were filling with glistening tears, and she looked at him with utmost sympathy. Lifting a soft hand gently to his face, she took his cheek in her hand, and stroked it gently, her eyes boring directly into his.
"I'm so sorry, Harry… I never knew…"
Harry attempted a reassuring smile. His rotten memories had cast a downer on the whole 'date'. He was looking forward to this date as soon as they'd arranged it, but now, he'd single-handedly managed o ruin it for the both of them.
"Please don't worry about it… it's done. There's nothing I could have done about it. I'm… uh.. I'm sorry I ruined our date…"
She smiled, lifting her hand ever so slightly to rest among Harry's jet-black locks, and began to softly twist the strands between her dainty fingers.
"You didn't. This was what this date was meant for… to get to know each other. I don't want secrets… I want us to know each other… completely."
With that, she sealed the matter with a slow, sensual, earth shattering kiss, cupping Harry's face to hers gently. She raked her fingers gently through Harry's hair as he brought his arms around her and hugged her tightly, his hand coming up to hold her soft brown hair. It snaked through his fingers like water as they continued their embrace, completely oblivious to the sounds coming from the munching Hippogriff next to them.
With a small creak, they were interrupted, and they pulled away from each other slowly, wide, contented smiles on their flushed faces. At the door was a bewildered looking Ginny, her blue eyes wide and her jaw subconsciously dropping to the ground.
"Wha-What the hell? When.. What? How?"
Harry and Hermione laughed, the sight of Ginny so flustered was hard to come by nowadays, now that she had come out of her shell in her fourth year, and let loose the witty, spunky girl inside. Usually, in situations like this, she would make some sort of funny or sensible comment, similar to what Fred or George would have done. Now however, she looked quite different.
"When did this happen?"
"A couple of days ago, Gin."
Harry beamed at her as he held Hermione closer, who giggled and hugged him back.
Ginny stared at them with utter disbelief. Her flaming red hair drooped around her shoulders as she stared at the two of them, her eyes wide and her jaw still dropped.
"Why wasn't I informed of this? OH, I am going to KILL Ronald!"
With that, she stomped out of the room, only looking back around the corner of the door frame to say a hurried; "OH, by the way, Congrat's guys."
They laughed heartily as they heard her thumping down the hallway shouting.
"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY! I want a word with you!"
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Authors Notes: Well, that's it, I'm afraid. I've sooo enjoyed writing this, it's been a load of fun. I'm actually thinking of doing a one-shot sequel, called Woes of a Weasley, which is going to be all about Ron's take on the situation. Look out for it!
Disclaimer: Since I forgot to put this at the beginning like I was meant to, I'll put it here. The characters/Locations/anything Harry Potter related in this story do not belong to me, they belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling, who I think should buy a monkey who can write fast for her, so she can hurry up with the next book! I'm dying for it! Ahem… anyway. This story is written purely for enjoyment and I get nothing from it, except the satisfaction of loads and loads of reviews (thankies, guys ^_^). Harry Potter is copyright of J.K. Rowling (thank you J ) and (unfortunately L ) Warner Bros. Inc. Though the plot is mine! I can actually claim that! I came up with the plot. Wooo, I own something! © Epona.