A/N: So sorry for taking so long to update but I had problems with my comp and I have been so busy at school and work that I haven't had much time to write. I hope that you enjoy this chapter because it has a lot more Hermione in it. Please review and let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: See first chapter.
Chapter 5:
Hermione woke up tired yet happy for the events that today might bring. Chloe had been so excited last night that she had told her and Jennifer in detail about the events of the entire night. She seemed generally excited about being able to connect with Harry and went on and on about how great he seemed and the good time that she had that night except for the arguments between Katie and Isabelle. She also causally mentioned how Harry seemed taken by Christine but that was okay because she seemed nice and not all like the fakes that Katie and Isabelle were.
"But I think for some reason that Harry seemed to like Isabelle because of how Katie made her to look all innocent and like the victim." Chloe added.
"You're got to be kidding me. He is such a guy." Jennifer commented.
"So what did you guys talk about?" Hermione inquired.
"He asked us what was the most interesting thing that we did." Chloe answered.
"So what did everyone answer?" Hermione asked curiously.
"It was very interesting that everyone talked about how they were volunteering and helping people. I mean I don't think that everyone was being completely honest about it. I was and I think that Christine might have been too because what she said did make sense." Chloe answered.
"Why do you think that?" Jennifer asked.
"Because it doesn't seem likely that everyone would want to help out of the goodness of their heart. They probably did it once but they weren't really doing it because of the reason that they said. It's kind of like at beauty pageants where you're supposed to say and believe in things like world peace." Chloe explained.
"And it's because they think that it's what Harry wants to hear." Lisa added in a whisper as she walked in.
"How would you know that?" Chloe asked.
"I heard a couple of girls talking about it." Lisa explained.
"Which two?" Hermione asked.
"Actually it was more like complaining. Isabelle was talking about how Katie was just saying stuff like she did because she thought that was what Harry wanted to hear. I think there is another reason too." Lisa added.
"And what would you think that is?" Jennifer asked rolling her eyes.
"Nobody wanted to let Isabelle and Katie win." Lisa explained.
"Who told you that or is that just you?" Chloe asked.
"I overheard Debbie and Carole talking about it and I talked to some other girls." Lisa replied as she headed to the bathroom.
"To be truthful, I kind of thought that too but I think that she is a faker too. She was like tearing up during her answer. It just didn't seem real. And I wouldn't trust her especially when she rats other people out." Chloe whispered.
"I wouldn't either." Hermione agreed but was still curious to see for herself what Lisa was like.
"Hermione was getting pretty excited about the activities that they might do today. She was also excited about being able to hang out with Harry because she missed spending time with him and for some other reasons she didn't want to get into. She knew that she would have a good time even though there would be other girls there. She dressed quickly and headed down the stairs. She was the first one up and when the doorbell rang she opened it and found another letter inside that was addressed to her, Jennifer, Stephanie, , Karen, Sue, Lucy and Allie. She couldn't help but smile at his familiar scrawl. It was a welcoming sight to her. When she walked back into the kitchen she noticed now that all the girls were now awake and sitting down to eat breakfast.
"Look what I found outside?" Hermione asked waving the letter in hand.
"Is it for us?" Jennifer asked.
Hermione nodded and read out the names, "This is for Jennifer, Stephanie, Karen, Sue, Lucy, Allie and me."
The note was as follows:
"Dear ladies,
Good morning to you all and I hope all of you have had a good nights rest. I would like to invite you all to a night of dining and fun in the winter sky. I'm thrilled to be escorting all of you out tonight. See you all soon.
Harry."
Hermione laughed to herself at his failed attempt at rhyming. He had gotten better but it was still kind of funny.
"That sounds kind of like fun." Karen commented.
"Well it must be a winter sport so I guess we should dress warmly." Stephanie pointed out quickly.
"Yes that does take a genius to figure that out." Isabelle responded.
"I wasn't trying to insinuate anything. Besides it's not like you're going tonight." Stephanie added.
Isabelle gave a "hmph…" and headed back upstairs.
"I can't wait until tonight. I always loved the winter." Jennifer answered excitedly.
"You're going to have fun tonight. Just watch out for Stephanie." Chloe told Jennifer and Hermione.
"She doesn't seem that bad." Hermione replied.
"Compared to Isabelle and Katie, maybe not but you never know." Chloe answered.
"Do any of you know Allie?" Jennifer asked.
"I haven't really had a chance to talk to her yet." Hermione answered.
"I'm pretty sure that a lot of the guys are watching her because she got the first rose." Chloe replied.
"Well I wouldn't mind talking to her since we are all going out together tonight." Hermione answered.
"Well then go on." Jennifer said giving her a nudge.
Hermione walked on over and took a deep breath, "Can I sit down?"
"Sure." Allie responded with a smile pushing her black curls behind her head.
"So are you excited about tonight?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Yeah, I'm very excited but also really nervous. I feel like I have to somehow wow him because I got the first rose." Allie explained.
"The way I see it is that Harry has already seemed to like you so you don't really have to worry about everyone else." Hermione responded.
"I know that but still its pretty nerve wracking because I don't really know anything about him and there are all these other girls around at the same time. I worry that maybe he won't even notice me." Allie responded
"That part is scary but we just have to be ourselves and hopefully he'll like us because of it. Think of it this way we don't have to worry about Isabelle tonight." Hermione responded.
"That is good news." Allie replied with a laugh.
"So Allie what do you like in a guy? What's important to you?" Hermione inquired.
"For me honesty is very important to me. It would be nice to have a connection as well and they have to trustworthy. They also should be kind hearted as well and they have to be taller than me. I can't date guys who are shorter than me." Allie responded after some thought.
"Honesty is important to me too because I think it can break or make a relationship." Hermione answered with a smile.
"In my last relationship, there were just so many lies and things happening between us that I didn't even know what the truth was anymore. So I vowed that I would never date any guy who wasn't honest." Allie told her after a few minutes.
"What if they had a good reason for lying?" Hermione asked after a while thinking towards the fact that Harry was a wizard and because she just got a vibe from her that felt wrong.
"Well I would have to guess it would depend on what they are lying about. But why are you asking?" Allie asked suspiciously.
"Just curious that's all." Hermione answered nonchalantly.
"What about you Hermione?" Allie asked.
"Me? Um… Like I said honesty, trust and someone who would respect you as a person and what you do. So do you think that Harry is right for you? " Hermione asked quickly trying to change the subject.
"Oh definitely, he seems really nice and charming and not to mention really cute. I'm glad we had a chance to talk. It'll be nice to be able to chat with someone tonight. I've got to go." Allie commented as she went out the door.
Hermione headed back to where Chloe and Jennifer were seated and they asked, "So what is she like?"
"She was nice and down-to-earth but there was something about her that seemed a little bit strange." Hermione replied.
"What?" Chloe asked curiously.
"I don't know." Hermione replied.
*~*~*~*~
Harry was just inside his room waiting to pick up the rest of the ladies for tonight's "date". He was really excited about being able to get to know all of these ladies especially Allie and of course spending some time with Hermione. He smiled as he thought about what he thought her reaction would be to the note he had wrote. 'She must find what I wrote hilarious' he thought to himself. It brought back old fond memories.
When he reached the mansion he knocked on the door and when it opened his eyes met with a beautiful sight and smiling eyes. It was Hermione and she was wearing a long fitted grey jacket with her hair up in a elegant style as well as some make-up that high lighted her cheekbones and made her cheeks much more rosy and full of life. She was also wearing boots that were unlike what he normally seen her wear.
"Hermione, you look amazing." Harry whispered huskily in her ear and gave her an impulsive hug.
Hermione pulled away a little bit flushed and responded, "It's you know just all this makeup and how they did my hair."
"No, You've always been beautiful you know that right?" Harry asked.
"You're just saying that but I know that you mean it." Hermione answered.
"I remember having this conversation with you before." Harry reminded her.
"Well I guess that I look good." Hermione answered finally.
"Good." Harry responded with a smile.
"So where are we going tonight?" Hermione asked eagerly.
"Tell you now and spoil the surprise? Besides it wouldn't be fair to anyone else." Harry answered with a mock grin.
"Now here I am doing you this huge favor by even agreeing to be here and you can't even do me this tiny miniscule favor? Hermione asked pouting a little.
"I'll just let you know that you'll love it." Harry answered.
"That's that that big of a hint. Give me something more concrete." Hermione pleaded.
"Nope, my lips are sealed." Harry answered with a sly grin.
"Well then forgive me if some of your little secrets come out." Hermione answered with a grin and started to pull away from Harry.
"Nice try. You couldn't do that because you're not supposed to know me." Harry answered back while pulling her back to him.
"What do you take me for? I can be subtle." Hermione replied sweetly.
"You wouldn't dare." Harry replied with a glare.
"Just watch me." Hermione said she was trying to walk away.
Harry pulled her back in an instant and said, "Fine, you win…."
Hermione grinned happily and whispered, "I knew you would see things my way."
Harry felt a tingle through his body as he felt her voice pass through his body but shook it off and said, "Okay we're heading to the.."
But they were interrupted by the laughter of two of the women arriving
Sue came down with her blond hair straight down wearing a blue ski jacket and a hat as well as light blue pants. Harry thought she looked lovely.
Lucy had come down wearing a brown overcoat with her hair up in a neat bun and wearing a gray fur jacket and black fleece pants and she looked quite stylish and fresh.
Karen had started to come down in a red button-down jacket, red scarf tying her hair in a pony tail and tan pants as well as shiny boots. Harry thought that she looked beautiful in a professional way.
Jennifer looked very model-like in her powder pink ski suit matching ski cap.
Allie came down next and she looking as lovely as ever in her light blue ski jacket with her black curls flowing softly and light gray pants.
Stephanie came down last looking stunning in her tan cashmere jacket with a matching scarf around her neck black fleece pants.
Once all the ladies had arrived he led them over to the limousine that was going to pick them up to take them to their destination.
"So where are we going tonight?" Stephanie asked quickly.
Harry smiled and his eyes surveyed on the ladies until they landed on Hermione's. His grin widened as he met her eyes and answered, "We're stopping by for dinner at this restaurant and then we're heading out on the ice for some skating."
He smiled as he watched Hermione's face brighten and widen into a smile. 'I love the way her face brightens when she's excited about something.'
Most of the girls chatted excitedly throughout the ride.
"Is it very far?" Allie asked.
"Nope, we're be there in a few minutes. So do you like ice skating?" Harry asked.
"I used to when I was younger. I don't do it much anymore. I hope I still remember how to skate." Allie admitted.
"I'm sure you'll pick it back up quickly. Don't worry I haven't skated much recently either." Harry reassured her.
Allie smiled and said, "Thanks."
A few moments later they arrived.
The hotel was beautiful. There were candles everywhere and it had a beautiful chandelier hanging in the middle of the room and they shone light on the paintings that were hanging on the wall.
Hermione was admiring all the paintings and heard Jennifer whisper to her, "Beautiful isn't it?"
"Definitely. I have never been in a place like this before." Hermione whispered back.
"Most people can't afford to stay in a place like this." Allie commented.
"I eat dinner at places like these when I'm writing a story." Stephanie added.
Jennifer whispered to Hermione, "Yeah only when she doesn't have to pay the bill."
Hermione just shook her head and they were quickly seated at their table and ordered quickly.
"So do you ladies like it here?" Harry asked.
"It's beautiful. Thanks for bringing us here." Sue answered.
"It's my pleasure. So how about we all get to know each other a little better." Harry asked.
"Sure. What do you want to know?" Stephanie asked.
"Why don't each of you tell me your most embarrassing moment?" He suggested.
"Why don't I start? I guess my most embarrassing moment was once when I was doing an interview and I mistakenly thought that they did something terrible and I was lecturing him. And he was looking at me with an amused smile on his face and then he told me I was mistaken." Stephanie replied.
"That must have been horrible." Allie commented.
"It was but luckily they had a good sense of humor so they didn't take it personally." Stephanie answered.
"So I guess that now you are more careful about what you say?" Harry asked.
"Definitely." Stephanie replied.
"I had something similar happen to me before. So what about you Allie?" Harry replied with a smile.
"The most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me happened to me a few years ago. I was having a party for some of friends and this guy I had liked. I was baking cookies and it was just the kind that you cut and put in the oven right? And I happened to burn them." Allie confessed. A few of the girls laughed good-naturedly.
"How did that happen?" Stephanie asked.
"I actually don't know. I thought I followed the directions." Allie replied with a shrug.
"Don't worry about it. It has happened to some other people that I know." Harry replied locking eyes with Hermione.
Hermione just smiled back.
"I'm a much better cook now." Allie answered.
"We all learn from our mistakes." Hermione added.
"So what about you Hermione?" Harry asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"Me? Well that would have to be when I was helping out one of my best friends with something. He happened to somehow make a hole in his pants so I had to distract these workers at the pharmacy by asking them all these questions about problems that I didn't have." Hermione answered giving Harry a sweet smile.
"What kind of problems?" Harry asked back with a sly grin.
"Let's just say they were not problems that you would want anyone to know about." Hermione responded back.
"Come on, you can tell us." Stephanie added.
"Yeah Hermione we're all being honest here." Karen added.
"She entitled to not tell if she doesn't want to." Jennifer butted in.
Hermione gave Harry a pleading look that caused Harry to smile and said, "It's okay. You don't have to say a word."
Hermione mouthed a word of thanks.
Jennifer spoke up after a moment, "My most embarrassing moment would have to be when I slipped on the floor as I was coming down the stairs. Now the guy I happened to have a crush on at the time just happened to see me at that moment and I was wearing this short skirt and he saw my underwear."
"That must have been embarrassing. But something happened to me that was just as embarrassing." Sue remarked.
"What happened?" Lucy asked.
"I was talking with some of my friends about this guy that I had just talked to. They were asking me all these questions about him and I told them that I thought that he was really cute and as I was telling that he was right behind me and heard to whole thing." Sue replied.
"I would have just died." Karen remarked.
"I wanted to but I put on this smile as if I didn't care if he knew." Sue answered.
"That came close to happening to me too but he only heard half of it." Allie added.
"My most embarrassing moment was when I was working and my sweater got caught in this girls earrings and by the time we unraveled I had a huge hole in my sweater. I had to go home to change." Lucy confessed.
"Something like that happened to me during work as well." Hermione replied grimacing at the memory.
"That must have been weird." Harry added shooting Hermione a knowing glance.
"Once I locked myself into this room because I forget that it was self-locking door and I had forgotten my keys. I had to wait all morning until someone came back in to work to get out. My co-workers teased me for weeks." Karen said.
"I forget my keys sometimes too. It's an easy thing to forget." Harry responded with a grin.
Just then the food arrived and the quickly ate and shared polite conversations until it was time to head out to the ice rink.
Once they arrived there the girls divided themselves into groups and they skated together. Harry went around from girl to girl to check to make sure that everyone was okay.
Harry first went to see how Sue, Lucy and Karen were doing. He noticed the laughter and smiles between them.
"How are you guys doing?" Harry asked.
"Good. I love skating." Sue eyes shone with excitement as she spun around.
Harry admired her enthusiasm and technique.
"Sue teaching us a few tricks." Lucy added.
"What is it?" He inquired.
"They wanted to learn how to do a figure eight." Sue explained.
"Can I watch?" Harry asked.
"Absolutely." Sue responded with a smile as she showed very carefully and slowly how to do the figure eight.
Lucy tried to do it first but fell on the ice but laughed it off good-naturedly.
Harry helped her up and suggested, "Good try. Why don't you try bending your legs more?"
"You know how to do this?" Sue asked curiously.
"My best friend taught me how to do it awhile back." Harry answered.
"That's great. Could we see you do it?" Karen asked.
Harry demonstrated the technique for them.
"You have a great form." Sue commented with a smile.
"I had a good teacher." Harry smiled back and turned towards his friend as he watched her skate gracefully across the ice.
"She's really good." Sue replied with admiration.
"You think so?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, she has great technique and she's just seems really graceful out there." Sue answered.
Just then Harry saw that Hermione had walked off by herself.
"Excuse me." Harry told them and skated off into Hermione's direction.
Hermione was taking a breather when she heard a gruff voice say, "Where do you think you're going?"
Hermione whirled around ready to fight back but was surprised to find Harry staring back at her.
"Did I scare you?" Harry asked.
"No, not scared just surprised." Hermione covered quickly.
"Whatever you say. So what do you think of this?" He asked quietly.
"You know that I love being on the ice." Hermione responded.
"Yeah I did so I guess you're enjoying yourself." He replied.
"I'm having fun but it looked like you were having fun over there too." She answered back.
"I was." He admitted.
"So why are you here talking to me?" She asked.
"I just wanted to spend some alone time with you." He answered.
"I do too." Hermione answered and then jabbed him in the ribs.
"What was that for?" Harry protested.
"That was for what you did to me during dinner." Hermione replied.
"I didn't do anything. I stopped it didn't I?" He asked.
"Yeah but you started it." She answered matter-of-factly.
"But that was only because you mentioned me in the embarrassing moment." He shot back.
"But they don't know it was you." She replied.
"Fine but you wanted to didn't you?" Harry replied.
"It doesn't really matter does it because they don't know." She responded.
"Hey how about we race down the end of the rink and back?" Harry suggested.
"That would be fun. What do I get if I win?" Hermione asked.
"During the next time we're alone we'll do whatever you want." Harry replied.
"Whatever I want?" Hermione asked.
"Whatever. But if I win what do I get? " Harry replied.
"You get to spend a lovely evening with your best friend." She answered.
"Okay but you're so not going to win." He replied.
"In your dreams. I'm a much better skater than you." Hermione replied.
Harry smiled as he remembered the last time they raced and how much Hermione had protested about it being unfair because he was taller and bigger than she was.
"Ready?" Harry asked.
"Wait, let's find someone else to start us off." She replied and got up to talk to Jennifer.
"Okay, on three, one, two three." Jennifer said and off they went. Harry was off to an early lead but Hermione was determined and got a bright idea.
"Harry look out." Hermione called.
Harry looked around and in a little bit of time Hermione was ahead of him.
"Why you little…" Harry muttered to himself and quickly sped up but couldn't catch her in time.
"I win." Hermione squealed in delight.
"Only because you were cheating." Harry replied.
"No I wasn't. I honestly thought I saw that there was something in the way. I was just warning you." Hermione replied sweetly.
Harry gave her a glare and started to chase after her.
Hermione giggled and started to skate away from him but Harry caught up with her quickly and grabbed on to her and started tickling her.
"Stop it." Hermione protested in between gasps. Then she tried to tickle Harry back.
Soon Hermione lost her balance and fell to the ground with Harry falling soon next to her.
"Need some help?" Stephanie asked.
"No, we're fine." Hermione responded as she got back up and dusted off her clothes.
"How about we play some games?" Stephanie suggested.
"Okay." The rest of the girls nodded.
"Looks like the two of you were getting along." Jennifer commented to Hermione.
"Yeah we do." Hermione replied with a smile.
"So are you having fun?" Harry asked Jennifer.
"Yeah, it reminds me of when I was younger and I was skating with my cousins." Jennifer answered.
The group had decided on playing a game of ice tag and split into two teams. The game was successful and fun.
When they were ready to leave and Harry was skating faster to meet up with Hermione, he heard a voice crying for help.
Harry turned and skated quickly over to catch Allie before she fell.
"Thanks. I'm not normally this clumsy." Allie said awkwardly.
"It's okay. It happens to all of us." Harry responded with a grin.
"She was so faking that." Jennifer whispered to Hermione.
Hermione watched as Harry helped Allie back on her feet and skated with her to the end of the rink.
He drove the women back to the mansion and kissed each of the women on the cheek. When he got to Hermione pulled her back to say, "It was fun wasn't it?"
"Yeah it was great." Hermione said with a smile but her smile faded as she saw him talking to Allie.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah I'm fine. Really it was just a clumsy moment." Allie assured him.
"That's good. I had a good time tonight." Harry told her.
"Me too." Allie answered with a slight smile.
Harry watched as they went inside and smiled to himself as he walked off.
Hermione had a good time tonight but she had this queasy feeling in her stomach as she thought to herslef, 'I'm not jealous of Allie, I'm just worried that Harry might be falling for her when I feel like there's something strange about her.'
So please REVIEW and let me know who you want out now besides Isabelle please.