By the time Hermione returned to her flat that evening she was exhausted but incredibly happy. She had now mastered basic apparition, though Harry had suggested she should just side apparate to Hogwarts in the morning, as it was such a long way, and she didn't yet have any memories of Hogsmeade to focus on in her mind during apparition. It was frustrating knowing that she should be able to do so much, with everyone telling her she was such a talented witch, yet being forced to learn every single spell over again. Realising that the flat's air conditioning must have broken down again, she smiled as she cast a cooling charm over herself before climbing into bed. She could definitely get used to this magic thing…
"How did today go?" Remus asked Harry that evening.
Harry shook his head in amazement.
"You wouldn't believe her - by lunchtime she'd perfected years 1 to 3 of the Hogwarts curriculum, and this afternoon she apparated across the garden…I'd forgotten just how scarily brilliant she can be." He grinned.
"That girl never ceases to amaze me - she really is the most intelligent witch of your generation, of several generations to be honest."
Harry nodded.
"I said I'd take her to Hogwarts tomorrow - let her loose in the library and she'll probably have invented some new spells by tomorrow night, or at least taught me some that I haven't come across before." He smiled, and Remus grinned at him, standing and ruffling his hair before going to leave the room.
"Have fun tomorrow Harry - good night."
"Night Remus", Harry smiled and looked down at his hands as Remus left the room.
Hermione's eyes were sparkling with excitement as with a loud pop they disappeared from Grimmauld Place, and appeared on the top of a small hill overlooking the village of Hogsmeade, the Hogwarts castle, lake, and forbidden forest. Harry smiled to watch her take it in.
"It's more beautiful than it seems in the photographs." She said happily. Harry reluctantly removed his arms from around her waist, and his brain mockingly reminded him that he hadn't really needed to hug her quite so tight to side-apparate. He studiously ignored the voices in his head, smiled to himself, and held out his hand for hers.
Hermione placed her hand trustingly in Harry's, her skin tingling as they made contact. She knew she couldn't kid herself that it was simply due to the aura of magic around Harry anymore, nor due to the large amounts of residual magic in Hogsmeade village, it was just him. She smiled at him before returning her gaze to the higgledy-piggledy streets of Hogsmeade, the enchantingly wonky buildings, she chuckled to herself as she realised that they obviously were enchanted, muggle buildings would have collapsed at such angles. Her gaze frequently returned to the majestic castle in the near distance, the castle that had been her home, her school, and the cause of her meeting Harry, and all the wonderful people she had recently been reintroduced to.
They strolled down the main street of Hogsmeade, popping into the Hogsmeade branch of WWW to visit Ginny, where they stayed chatting for half an hour, before strolling towards the cemetery positioned on the outskirts of the village, and currently covered in beautiful summer flowers, neither noticed that at some point they had taken each others hands. Harry looked up at the sunshine and smiled happily, for once not tuned into his defensive training instincts he didn't hear the distinctive click of a camera in WWW, nor as they strolled hand in hand through the streets of Hogsmeade, laughing as Hermione wrinkled her nose in horror at the idea of Cockroach Clusters, or when he tickled her face with a sugar quill.
Harry had no idea what Hermione and Minerva talked about for the hours that they were shut away in the office that he'd always think of as Dumbledore's. But he knew that when her familiar, beautiful face peeked around the doorway of his office that it had answered some of her questions and done her good. He stood to greet her with a smile.
"Ready to explore some more of the castle then?" He asked her.
Hermione nodded happily and held her hand out for his as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and his fingers wove their way through hers he remembered that it was the most natural thing in the world. He and Hermione together made more sense to him than everything else in the Wizard and Muggle worlds combined.
"Did Minerva show you down to my office?" Harry suddenly asked as they strolled towards the seventh floor.
"No." Hermione said with a proud smile. Harry stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her.
"You remembered?" He asked excitedly. She nodded happily and Harry couldn't stop himself from throwing his arms around her before picking her up and twirling her around. She laughed and his grin widened at the sound of her laughter.
"Did you remember anything else?" He asked after he put her down.
"Well, somehow I don't think my brain ever forgot the way to the library…" She said with a cheeky grin. Harry laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they continued walking to their destination. Hermione wrapped an arm around his waist in reply, as her brain whirled trying to take everything in as it wrapped itself up in excitement at being let loose on the famed Hogwarts library as if for the first time. She didn't even try to blame her heart hammering in her chest on this excitement, she was quite happy to admit to herself that that particular excitement was all down to one messy haired wizard not too far away.
Harry had to convince himself that he hadn't accidentally got hold of a time turner several times during their afternoon in the library as he watched Hermione flit between aisles of the great library, hefting enormous dusty tomes around (probably for `light' reading), before sitting at her old table scribbling away to herself, a quill behind her ear, her teeth nibbling on her lower lip as she concentrated.
It was only when the sun dipped below the top of forbidden forest that Harry braved suggesting a break.
Hermione looked up at the sound of his voice and blinked as if suddenly remembering where she was, and when she was. As she's looked up to see those green eyes looking into hers another tiny fragment of memory had weaved its way into her mind, and she savoured it for a moment, storing it for later.
Harry watched her in amusement; the look of confusion as she stared at him, then glanced at the window to see the grounds descending into night.
"Times flies when you're having fun?" He teased her and she grinned sheepishly.
"Now that you mention it, I am starving" She said with a smile before beginning to pack up her notes and pile up the books neatly to be returned to in the morning - happy in the knowledge that she wouldn't have to find them all again as no one else would be using the library before she returned in the morning other than a few members of staff.
-->