A/N: Hi all. Thank you once more for the great reviews. I really enjoy reading them and they spur me on to write more as I have said before. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
The day came when Harry and Hermione had to go to Diagon Alley for their school supplies. They had arranged with Ron by owl that they would meet up with him later that afternoon, when he finished his shift at WWW. They decided that they would go a little earlier, just to spend some quality time together. They arrived at the Leaky Cauldron at about ten AM, being dropped off by Hermione's mother, who agreed that she would pick them up at about eight o'clock that night, as Harry and Hermione would have dinner together at a restaurant that Harry had piked and not told Hermione about, although she had tried every method of getting the information out of him.
Harry walked with Hermione through the Leaky Cauldron and knew that most of their fellow students would be in Diagon Alley today and knew that this was the first time that most of them would find out about him and Hermione. He really hoped that nothing unpleasant would happen, but he was prepared just in case. He knew that Slitherins were likely to be there a much as the others were, so before leaving that morning, he had borrowed a roll of tape and wrapped together about a dozen sickles, side by side forming a silver bar about the width of his hand. He knew he couldn't do magic and had learnt this particular art from his cousin, who he had overheard talking to his friends in his room this summer. He knew that if he hit someone with it in his hand, that they would indeed be sorry. However, at the moment he was concentrating on having a good time with his girlfriend. He tapped the third brick on the wall and the gateway formed before them and they walked through.
They saw quickly that they were right. The street was more crowded than usual and they could see familiar faces moving through the crowd that they remembered from Hogwarts. Seeing how thick the crowd was, Harry let go of Hermione's hand and wrapped his arm protectively around her shoulders, drawing her nearer to him as he began to pick his way through the crowd. Hermione looked up at him, grateful for his protection as she was often terrified of being in a large crowd as she often got pushed around and constantly bumped. It seemed though; being with the boy who lived had its advantages in that respect as well, as people seemed to part, letting them through as they saw who it was and the whispers started as they saw who he had his arm around. Hermione again saw the different looks on peoples faces; shock that they were a couple, smugness as if some people knew it would eventually happen, prompting Hermione again to wonder how long her feelings for Harry had been apparent and last of all looks of jealousy, particularly from a lot of girls, as they saw Harry's arm about her shoulder. He gave her shoulder a light squeeze and looking over to him, she saw him grin and whisper "Seems we've attracted a few looks, love."
She giggled and nodded murmuring so that only Harry could hear her "Yeah, I notice a lot of the girls have developed a sudden envy of me."
Harry looked to where she was indicating and smirked at the looks on the girl's faces. He had heard the term 'The Green Eyed Monster' before, but this was his first view of it and he was quite surprised at how many girls were jealous of Hermione. Sensing his consternation at the looks, Hermione lightly dug her elbow in his ribs and said with a smirk "Didn't you know Harry that you were voted last year Hogwart's most eligible bachelor? It was written in every girl's toilet throughout the school. I'm sure that it would have leaked over to the boys."
Harry just shook his head, stunned at the idea that he was on a list in the girl's toilets of all places. He quickly wove his way through the crowd and entered a building that didn't look as if it had been washed in 200 years. He climbed the stairs, his arm now about Hermione's waist, now that they were out of the crowd. They walked through a dimly lit passageway and Harry opened the door at the end for Hermione, ushering her through. Hermione gasped as she saw the room before her. The ceiling of the room had been bewitched much like the ceiling at Hogwarts, displaying the clear blue sky outside. The supports for the ceiling had been transfigured into tropical trees, adorned with ferns and orchids. Brightly coloured parrots nestled amongst the trees, chattering and giving the restaurant a very warm and friendly appeal to it. The ferns and plants were arranged in such a way as to shield each table from the others, allowing complete privacy.
The head waiter came over to them and recognising Harry, bowed and said deferentially "Ah, Mr Potter, it is a pleasure to meet you at last. The preparations have been made as you wished. Please follow me." With these words, he led them through the tables and finally to a corner table surrounded by palms and ferns, candles adorned the walls and table, making the atmosphere very secluded and intimate. Harry pulled out Hermione's chair and she smiled at him, touched by the lengths he had gone to and sat down, giggling slightly when he pushed it in a little for her. He then moved around the table and sat directly opposite to her and smiled his lop-sided grin, the one that made her melt on the spot. After a moment of gazing into his beautiful emerald eyes, she leaned over and asked "So, what's the special occasion?"
Harry smiled a wide smile and taking her hand in both of his, he lightly massaged the top of it and said "Well, I don't really need an excuse for taking my beautiful girlfriend out to lunch, but if you need a reason, I guess this is the first time that we have really announced to the whole school that we are a couple. I'm so glad that we are together 'Mione that I feel every day is worth celebrating. I guess you know the depth of my feeling for you; after all I have spent the last four or five weeks showing you through one way or another. I just want you to know that you are the most special person in my life. I never want to be without you, never."
Hermione's eyes filled with tears at the level of feeling that was in those words. She leaned over the table and taking her hand from his, took his face in her hands and kissed him softly and slowly, their tongues meeting briefly before they parted and sat back in their seats. Tears still rolled down Hermione's cheeks as she whispered "I never want to be without you either Harry. I can't imagine my life without you in it. I can barely stand the thought of being alone at night without you while we are in school."
Harry frowned, nodding, as this too had been a concern for him, but brightened, smiling and said "Well, let's enjoy ourselves and live in the moment. We love each other and it's a beautiful day to be in love with a beautiful woman."
He picked up his menu from the table and began to peruse it and said to Hermione, indicating her own menu "Choose anything you like, love. Anything at all."
She smiled and began to peruse through the menu, but eventually decided on a seafood curry, while Harry chose steak and kidney pie and they both ordered iced tea to drink. They ate in companionable silence, often gazing at each other with love in their eyes. When they had finished their meal, the waiter returned to take their plates and Harry ordered a chocolate mousse for dessert, two spoons and a bowl of strawberries. Hermione smiled at this and enjoyed the thought of sharing a dessert with Harry.
When the dessert arrived, Hermione eagerly reached for a spoon, to taste the dark rich mousse, but Harry stopped her hand shaking his head slowly. Hermione frowned, confused. Harry smiled at her and taking the spoon she was reaching for, dipped it into the mousse and slowly extended it towards her a questioning look on his face. Comprehension dawned on Hermione's face and a light blush coloured her cheeks as she nodded in assent to his silent question and opened her mouth. Harry gently passed the spoon between her lips and she closed her mouth, taking the mousse and tasting it, the look of pleasure on her face evident that the mousse was very good. Harry then took a strawberry between his fingers and dipped it into the mousse covering three quarters of it and gently placed it on her tongue. Hermione couldn't help but moan at the feelings that were coursing through her. She felt so alive and so loved by this simple action that Harry was doing, feeding her. She noticed that he had gotten some mousse on his fingers and she reached out and took his wrist in her hand and slowly and deliberately, looking Harry in the eyes, sucked the mousse off of each individual finger, slowly licking her tongue across the pad of each as she was finished. Harry gulped and noticed how warm it was in the restaurant all of a sudden. He moved his chair so that he was closer to her and leaning forward kissed Hermione deeply, tasting the mousse and Hermione's own distinctive taste. Hermione responded kissing him back with passion, her hand lightly resting against his cheek. They broke apart and smiled into each other's eyes. They continued taking turns in feeding each other until the strawberries and mousse was gone. They then made their way out of the restaurant; Harry paying and thanking the head waiter. The waiter bowed and smiled, saying "I am pleased that we met with your satisfaction, Mr Potter. Please come again, anytime." Harry thanked him once more and walked with Hermione, hand in hand, back out to Diagon Alley.
They arrived at WWW just as Ron was coming out. He greeted them both with hugs and all three of them headed off to do their shopping. All three of them needed new robes, so they stopped off at Madame Malkins first, then headed over to the owl emporium to buy Hedwig and Pig more owl treats. Hermione also bought Crookshanks a toy mouse that scuttled around realistically when a cat was near it. Harry thought that Crookshanks would enjoy that toy very much, remembering third year and the way he had pounced after Scabbers, although they had found out later, and the real reason.
Their last stop was Flourish and Blotts, as they figured it would have the heaviest items that they were to buy. They purchased their books for sixth year and Harry also purchased an extra few books on arithmency and defence against the dark arts, to do a bit of back up learning. Ron jokingly commented that hanging around with Hermione must have rubbed off on Harry and received a punch in the arm for his trouble, Hermione glaring at him in mock hurt. They were coming out of the shop when a familiar cold, drawling voice said "So is it true Potter? Have you finally stooped lower than I thought you could and taken up with a mud blood?"
Harry whirled around and came face to face with Drako Malfoy. He looked a little more dishevelled than usual, Harry noticed, his hair not as clean as usual an faint stains on his robes, where before they were immaculate.
"Malfoy," Harry said, his teeth gritted and his eyes slitted, "Had a fun summer? Visited your dad much? Do they allow visits to Azkabaan? Or perhaps you can't go there and get a kiss from daddy; perhaps the Dementors can give him one for you though?"
He turned back around and set of with Ron and Hermione, surreptitiously moving all of his bags into one hand and sticking his other into his pocket, gripping the roll of coins. Sure enough, he had only gone a couple of paces, when he felt Malfoy's hand on his shoulder and a cold voice in his ear, saying "He'll get out soon though, Potter, him and the others. They'll come after you and your mud blood girlfriend and finish you both off just like your mother and father." Harry didn't wait to hear whether Drako had anymore to say, he whirled around, his fist coming out of his pocket and swinging where he heard Malfoy's voice coming from. There was a sickening crunch as his fist met with Drako's jaw and a howl of pain from Drako, He saw Drako's eyes roll up into the back of his head and he smiled to himself, pocketing the sickles once more and taking Hermione's hand in his, led his quite stunned girlfriend and equally stunned best mate to the Leaky Cauldron.
Tom led them back to the same room they had occupied the week before and they sat down around the table, depositing their bags in extra chairs. Ron gave a hoot of laughter, finally coming out of his shock and clapped Harry on the back, saying "Harry that was bloody brilliant! He never knew what hit him! I never knew you had such a punch on you mate, I never want to get you angry!"
Hermione joined in the laughter as well, still concerned about the scene Harry had made, but reasoned that it had all happened so fast, that no one probably saw what had happened except her and Ron. She then noticed Harry wincing slightly and quickly looked at his hand, seeing it was bruised and lacerated. She cried out in panic and took his hand in hers and quickly said to Ron to get Tom, the innkeeper. Ron ran off and was back in a moment. Looking at Harry's hand, he quickly summoned a bowl full of green liquid that Harry recognised as essence of Murtlap tentacle from last year. Tom took his had and gently dipped his hand into the liquid, saying "This solution also has a healing potion in it. Rest your hand in it for twenty minutes, Mr Potter and it should be fine, although I can't say much for Mr Malfoy's jaw."
All three of them gaped at Tom who chuckled and said "Don't worry Mr Potter, there were quite a lot of people who heard what Malfoy said to you and your friends. No action will be taken against you, but Mr Malfoy has been told that his jaw is broken and for punishment for saying such things, he was given a healing spell that will take two days to repair his jaw, so he'll be in quite a lot of pain for a bit yet!"
All three relaxed at once, hearing this news and grinned at the thought of Malfoy in more pain. After taking their orders for dinner, Ron asked Harry how he had managed to hit Malfoy so hard. Harry explained about the roll of sickles he had made and pulled them out, showing Ron. Hermione shook her head and said to Harry "Didn't you know that that would hurt you as well, Harry? Your fingers were in between the coins and Malfoy's jaw!"
Harry lowered his head and murmured something about not thinking about that. Hermione grinned despite herself and said, lifting Harry's chin "Well, I guess in the end it was worth it. Next time, ask me before planning something like that, ok?" He nodded his head and Hermione kissed him softly. Ron made gagging sounds and they broke apart quickly, laughing at Ron. Tom soon arrived back with their food and they ate, while talking about school, their subjects and life at Hogwarts now that the High Inquisitor was no longer there.
"Harry, will you still be teaching the DA this year?" Ron asked.
"Well, I hadn't thought about it much." Harry admitted. But then said "I think though that it would still be good to keep up with, since we don't know the calibre of the new defence against the dark arts professor. Besides all students should be prepared if Voldemort attacks them and we know that the younger years don't nearly know enough defensive magic."
Ron nodded, as did Hermione and they continued their meal, talking about the progress of the class last ear, before they were compromised. Harry secretly hoped that Marietta Edgecombe still had those boils on her face. He briefly thought of Cho Chang and hoped she quit the DA. He had no desire to have anything to do with her. He decided during the summer, that she had just been using him to pump him about details of Cedric when he died. In a way, he thought to himself, she was worse than Skeeter, using his feelings towards her for her own means. He felt a gentle hand on his and looked up startled, to see Hermione looking at him sympathetically. He felt a rush of love towards her and wished that he had realised his feelings last year, instead of now. He smiled back at her and kissed the back of her hand. Hermione smiled and turned back to Ron, who was talking to them both about the hopes he had for the Chudleigh Cannons this year.
At eight o'clock, they made their way out of the Leaky Cauldron and said goodbye to Ron at the door who would be Fluing home. Ellen was waiting there and they loaded their shopping into the boot and sat in the back seat, holding hands and telling Ellen about their day, omitting the Drako Malfoy incident. Ellen smiled, looking at the two in the backseat, gazing into each other's eyes. This was a magic she had known of before her daughter received her Hogwarts letter. They looked at each other the way she and Jim always had and still did.
When they got home, Harry and Hermione lugged their shopping upstairs and went into their respective rooms, unpacking their goods and packing them inside their trunks. Harry kept out his books on arithmency and his extra books on defence against the dark arts he had bought, figuring he needed to be ahead of the others to be able to teach them effectively. Hermione came into his room and wrapping her arms around his neck, kissed him soundly and deeply. After a few minutes, Harry broke away, gasping and saying with a laugh "What was that for, 'Mione?"
She smiled dreamily up at him and responded, her arms still wrapped about his neck "That is for the best day I have ever had. That restaurant was so thoughtful and romantic." She laid her head against his chest and he wrapped his arms about her, hugging her close.
They both decided they had better make an appearance downstairs and so, hand in hand, they walked into the living room and taking his usual seat, Harry was surprised when Hermione sat in his lap, laying her head against his shoulder. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Jim and Ellen broke them out of their trance, asking how things had gone today and they repeated what they had told Ellen. Hermione then told them about what Harry had done to Drako Malfoy. Harry wasn't sure how Hermione's parents would react, but was surprised when Jim laughed out loud and Ellen couldn't smother the giggles that were coming out of her. They then explained to Harry that Hermione told them all about the Malfoy's and told them about all the names that he called Hermione during the year and how he was always trying to get Harry.
"Got what he deserved, finally." Jim commented, and the rest couldn't help but agree. After half an hour, both Harry and Hermione were yawning, so they rose, saying their goodnights and went up to bed.
Hermione lay snuggled in Harry's arms as they lay in his bed, wishing they could stay like this, even at school. She resigned herself to the fact though that as soon as they were back at Hogwarts, they would be forced to be apart.
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Harry lay there, thinking much the same as Hermione did, but was thinking of ways of getting around it. His mind whirled with ideas and he knew he would have to plan with Hermione what to do. He turned to Hermione, who was half asleep and voiced his thoughts.
"Hon, we need to find a way to be together at school. I don't care what it takes."
Hermione nodded, agreeing. Harry thought for a moment and said thoughtfully "Well I could lend you my cloak and you could sneak into the boy's dormitory at night. All we need to do then is to put a silencing and sealing spell on my curtains so no one can hear us. Or I could teach you the disillusionment charm. Either way, I think we can work something out."
They both felt a lot happier now, knowing that no matter what, they would be together. Harry was also sure they could find places where they could do some extra curricular activities; he would just have to ask Dobby. With broad smiles on their faces, they drifted off.