Title: Hermione's Stalker
Author: LilPrincess48
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not own Daniel Radcliffe. I do not own Draco Malfoy. I do not own Tom Felton. I do not own the Weasley twins, either. Must you constantly remind me of my inner turmoil???
Author's Note: Hi! I was dead, but now I'm not.
Date Begun: June 17, 2004
Date Posted: June 17, 2004
Chapter 2: Getting Into The Act
Harry came down from breakfast the next morning with his hair messier than usual, his glasses slanted on his face, and with the distinct feeling that somebody'd been in his bedroom while he was asleep. The fact that the window was open was clue number one. Clue number two was the chalk message on the wall that said 'Hermione Granger is MINE, Potter. This is war.'
Harry's only thought had been 'Great, another war' before he used a simple Scourgify spell to remove the chalk.
Harry sat down in between Hermione and Mrs. Granger at the table and began eating his eggs and bacon, enjoying every bit of it. How often had he gotten real food back at the Dursleys'? Hermione watched him in mild amusement.
"The way you eat, you'd think you've never had food before, Harry." She said with a grin. He grinned back at her after swallowing his bacon.
"Hermione, I've been at the Dursleys' for the beginning part of the summer. How much do you think I ate?" She laughed.
"Good point. Eat up then." Mr. Granger, a tall man with light brown hair and soft blue eyes, took a seat next to his wife.
"All right, Harry?" He asked, digging into his own breakfast in a very Hermione-like way: Slow, deliberate, chewing every bit individually. Harry was relieved to see that Hermione's mom's eating habits matched his own.
"Yes, Mr. Granger. Thanks for letting me stay the rest of the summer." The man laughed, a deep appreciative laugh, Harry noticed. Hermione must have gotten her laugh from her mother. He vaguely wondered why he was picking up on this, but pushed the thought to the back of his mind.
"Oh, it's no problem Harry. I was going to let you and Hermione share a room... Well, until I heard that you were dating--" Harry and Hermione, who had both been drinking their orange juice, spat it out across the table. Mrs. Granger, to Harry's surprise, only laughed as she wiped the juice from her face. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
Harry gave Hermione a 'Should I tell him' glance. Hermione put down her glass and fiddled with her napkin. "Dad, Harry and I aren't really... Together. We only said we were because... Because Damien--"
"Is that the kid with the pair of your knickers?" Hermione flushed bright red as Harry snickered again, but nodded.
"Yes, Dad. Damien was asking me out again and I was looking for a reason to say no and Harry was nice enough to step in and claim to be my boyfriend to get Damien off my back and--"
"Harry," Mr. Granger cut her off, giving Harry a curious look. "Do you want to be Hermione's boyfriend?"
Both Harry and Hermione flushed bright red. Harry suddenly found his empty plate very interesting while Hermione's gaze rested on the wall.
"Er… Er… Uh…" Was all Harry could get out. Mr. Granger stood.
"Right then. Harry, come with me." Harry had no choice but to follow. Hermione wouldn't meet his eyes and he was almost perfectly sure that Mrs. Granger was laughing at him behind the upside down copy of Reader's Digest.
Mr. Granger led Harry outside to the front hall and stared down at the boy who was studying his shoes as if there was a very important test of shoe appearance the next day.
"Harry, you and Hermione have been friends a long time, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"And during that time, you've had no romantic feelings for her whatsoever, right?"
Harry hesitated on his yes. He had a feeling he'd be decapitated if he lied. "Er… For most of it, sir."
"Mmhmm. So, answer the question. Do you want to be Hermione's boyfriend?"
"Er… Uh… Er…" Mr. Granger ran a hand through his hair. This was going to be harder than he thought.
*
Later, Harry and Hermione left the house to head into town to return a few (Twenty-five, Harry counted) books of Hermione's back to the library.
"What was Dad talking to you about, Harry?" Hermione asked as Harry, seeing how she was struggling with the books, took the majority of them for him to carry. He flushed bright red.
"Er… He was… He gave me the… The boyfriend talk." AT this Hermione broke out laugh, nearly dropping the four books she was left carrying.
"The boyfriend talk? But we-"
"Yeah, I know, but he figured he may as well anyway." Harry refrained from telling her that this was after he confided in Mr. Granger that he did indeed plan to ask Hermione to be his girlfriend before they returned to Hogwarts at the end of the summer.
Hermione shook her head. "Fathers."
Harry grinned even though he really wouldn't know. Hermione must have read this on his face because she gasped. "Oh, Harry! I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"
"Its okay, Mione." When she continued to apologize he held up a hand. "Really. I know you didn't mean it."
"It was a horrible thing to say, though." She said, looking down. Harry sighed and put the books he was holding in a neat stack on the floor and hugged her tightly, brushing his fingers through her hair as she rested her head on his chest.
"Mione, don't worry about it. It's okay." She mumbled something that made Harry laugh. "You are not as bad as Malfoy. For one, he says things like that daily. For another, he's not as cute as you are."
She laughed, even as her cheeks turned a nice red color. "Good point."
"Now, stop worrying and let's get these books back. Merlin, imagine if they were overdue-"He laughed as Hermione gasped and started walking quickly and he followed her down the sidewalks and onto a bus.
They took a seat in the back, the books taking the empty seats on either side of them. Harry took the small moment to study Hermione. She had her hair up in a messy bun and was wearing a sleeveless light blue top and snug cargo jeans. It was in Harry's opinion that she looked beautiful, but then again, he'd seen her covered in grime, mud, and dirt, and even then he still believed her to be beautiful, so maybe he was biased.
"Hermione. Potter." Harry looked up at the venomous way his name was spat out and was none-too-pleased to see Damien walking towards them. The boy took the seat right in front of them and the way he was looking at Hermione made Harry wrap an arm around her and hold her close.
"Good morning Damien." Hermione said pleasantly, moving closer to Harry.
"When did you get here?" Harry asked in an irritated way, liking this boy less and less the more time they spent with him.
"I was walking behind you two actually. You were too wrapped up in yourselves to notice." Damien's voice was frosty. "So, you don't have a father, Potter?"
Harry tensed and felt Hermione tense next to him as well. Damien, seeing that he had hit a nerve, pressed on. "Did he croak or did he just get sick of you and take off?"
Harry growled, two seconds away from pulling out his wand and hexing the boy into the next century. Hermione put a hand on his arm and looked at Damien, her glare radiating with anger.
"I know you don't like Harry, Damien, but leave his parents out of this or God help me I will-"
"Oh so he's an orphan, is he? It figures. If I were his parents, I'd kill myself, too."
"Shut up." Harry ground out through clenched teeth, his grip on Hermione becoming almost painful. Hermione took his hand and he felt a small semblance of calm. A very small semblance.
"Damien, I said-"
"But, of course, I would have killed him first. I wonder, Potter, if your parents were as big a**holes as you are?" It happened in a flash. The usually reserved Hermione was up, her wand out, her mouth open in the middle of a full body petrify spell, but Harry was up in a flash, his fist connecting with Damien's jaw, then again with his nose. The boy was left wondering why Hermione was pointing a stick at him before he sank into unconsciousness and Harry was left shaking with rage over him.
Hermione put away her wand and took Harry's hand again. "Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry. I didn't think he'd-"
"It's not your fault, Hermione." Harry took deep breaths to calm himself, holding tighter to Hermione's hand. When that didn't work, he drew her into another hug and inhaled her scent. She always smelled of apples and jasmine and Harry had grown to love it. He immediately felt a wave of calm pass over him as she hugged him back.
"I know, but still-"
"Are you guys going to get off my bus?" Asked a very amused bus driver. Hermione flushed and let go of an equally red Harry who had released her just as quickly. They walked to the front and Hermione paid for the trip while the bus driver had a hearty laugh and took great joy in asking them if they were close relatives of the tomato or just trying to win some kind of blushing prize.
The two got off the bus, Hermione remembering too late that they'd left Damien on the bus, and Harry really not caring. At all. Hermione led the way to the rather huge library that rivaled the one at Hogwarts. While Hermione returned the books, Harry wondered idly if they had any magical books here, then laughed at himself.
"What's so funny?" Hermione asked coming up next to him. Harry noticed that she was carrying ten new books and held out his hand to take some, which Hermione gladly handed him.
"Oh nothing. Just me being silly."
"As always." Hermione smirked. Harry grinned and didn't deny it. "Should we go straight home or do you want to go somewhere else?"
Knowing that Mr. Granger would probably think they were out finding a motel or something if they returned late, Harry said, "Let's go back."
He took Hermione's free hand with his free hand and together they left the library.