~A/N> Here's chapter 1, just as I promised :) Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, I'm glad you're
enjoying the story so far. Thanks to my beta Spaz for all her hard work, and chapter 2 will be posted next
Saturday.
"Hello? Excuse me, Miss?" Harry called out to the mystery girl, hoping to get her attention so she would stop walking.
As he ran along the sidewalk he noticed all the heads that were turning his way and even heard a few female voices call out, "Hi Harry!" Any other day he would have stopped to see if there were any possibilities in the crowd, but today he only had one girl in mind, one that seemed to be ignoring him at the moment.
He watched as she suddenly stopped and turned to face him. He was running so fast that he went by her at first and had to stop and backtrack to where she was. "Hi," he panted as he bent over, put his hands on his knees and tried to steady his breath. Damn, he was getting out of shape.
"Do I know you?" the mystery girl asked, making him stand straight up immediately.
"You don't recognize me?" he asked, knowing full well that he was sounding like a cocky bastard; it was hard for him to believe that she didn't know who he was and he fought to hold back a grin.
She stood staring at him for a few moments and he knew precisely when she realized who he was because her beautiful eyes widened a little. "So you're Harry Potter," she stated, a mask of annoyance on her face, "That doesn't explain why you were chasing after me."
Harry had to stop himself from making a smart-arsed remark at her condescending tone. "I spotted you in the Leaky Cauldron and I so was overcome by your beauty that I just had to chase after you and find out your name," he replied, flashing her the fabulous smile that graced all the magazine covers and drove all the witches wild.
The smile quickly slid off his face when she started laughing and said, "That has got to be the cheesiest line I have ever heard a bloke use."
Harry could feel his cheeks getting warm with embarrassment and said, "I realize that you must get hit on by a lot of blokes, but that doesn't mean you have to get all stroppy with me."
She ceased laughing to glare at him, indignation written all over her face. "I wouldn't be stroppy if you weren't being such a pompous arse. Just because you're the famous Harry Potter doesn't mean that every witch gets her knickers in a twist over you."
Harry watched with amazement as she brushed by him and continued walking down the street. Recovering from her verbal tongue-lashing, he made his way after her, catching up to her quickly thanks to his longer legs. "You still haven't told me your name," he said.
"Do you mind? I'm on my lunch break and you're making me late" she said, throwing another nasty glare his way.
"I don't mind at all, I'll just walk back with you and keep you company at your job until you give in and tell me," he replied cockily, flashing her another smile.
Sighing in resignation she stopped; turned towards him and said, "My name is Hermione Granger. Now will you please leave me alone?"
"Nice to meet you Hermione Granger," he said sweetly, "And yes, I will leave you alone...for now."
As he turned and started making his way back to the Leaky Cauldron he could hear her growl in anger and he tried not to laugh out loud. Stopping at the corner he turned to watch which shop she went into and wasn't surprised when she walked into Flourish and Blotts. He made a mental note to go into the shop that night to talk to Edna, the owner, to see what hours Hermione worked. Whistling happily as he walked down the street, Harry started thinking about what his next move would be; their little chat had proven that the feisty Hermione Granger was one witch that he definitely wanted to get to know better. Besides, he never was one to back down from a challenge, and this one looked to be very promising.
~*~
Hermione quickly walked into the store and made her way to the back to put her things away. She couldn't believe the nerve of him, chasing after her that way just to find out her name. She was also angry with herself for letting him affect her like this; she had never gotten flustered over a guy before and it worried her. She had more important things to worry about, like how she was going to take care of herself and her unborn baby. It was bad enough that her Mum kept hounding her to abort the baby or give it up for adoption, she really didn't have time to waste on a horny guy that thought he had the right to chase after any girl he deemed pretty enough to sleep with.
As she walked back out to the counter to take over for another girl, Edna, her boss, walked up to her and asked, "Is everything okay Hermione? You're looking a little flushed, you're not getting sick are you?"
Hermione smiled at her, thankful that she had found such a sweet, caring employer. Edna was more than an employer, she was like a grandmother to Hermione. Edna had lost her husband due to an illness a long time ago and with her children now grown she decided to immerse herself in her work. She bought Flourish and Blotts when the shop came up for sale using the nest egg she and her husband had built. It had been a risk, however, she spent at least six hours a day in her store, interacting with the customers and helping out if an employee was out sick. She was enjoying this phase of her life and the risk was more that worth it
Hermione had confessed to Edna regarding her pregnancy. She just smiled, grabbed Hermione's hand and said, "Don't you worry about a thing, and I'll help you as much as I can." Hermione had been so relieved that she cried and was surprised when Edna hugged her; when they pulled apart Edna said, "You know, I found myself in the same situation a long time ago. I was fortunate enough to have the love of the baby's Father too. It's terrible that yours has failed to take responsibility, but I'll take care of you, don't you worry." Hermione had found her guardian angel in Edna and she worked as hard as she could to show her appreciation.
Shaking herself from her memories, Hermione explained, "I had to rush to get back here before my lunch hour was up."
Edna stared at her and said, "Okay, what is it that you're not telling me."
Without meeting her employer's eyes Hermione said, "There was this tosser that kept bothering me. He even followed me from the Leaky Cauldron and wouldn't leave me alone until I told him my name."
"Oh my," Edna said, "Do you think he could be dangerous?"
"I doubt it," Hermione replied, trying not to laugh, "I realized who he was after I got a better look at him."
"And? Who was he?" Edna asked impatiently.
"Harry Potter," Hermione replied, sounding star-struck even to her own ears. Angry that she had let him get to her like that, needing a distraction Hermione turned to the register and rang up the purchase for one the waiting customers. She silently hoped that Edna would drop the subject.
Unfortunately, Edna's curiosity was peaked and she walked up next to Hermione and asked, "You're telling me that Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, saw you in the Leaky Cauldron and proceeded to follow you back to work just so he could find out your name?"
"That's what he said," Hermione replied.
"It sounds like he's got it bad," Edna said, smiling.
"Right..." Hermione scoffed, "What it sounds like to me is that he's more interested in getting into my knickers than anything romantic. Besides, I have more important things to worry about than some famous bloke looking to add another notch to his bedpost."
Edna was called away to help a distressed customer and left Hermione to tend to the register.
"Excuse me dear," said the next customer in line, "I don't mean to pry, but the fellow you're describing doesn't sound like the Harry Potter I know."
"Oh, do you know him well?" Hermione asked warily. She suspected that there were several crackpots around nowadays claiming to know the Harry Potter personally.
"I do," the woman said, smiling kindly, "He's practically one of the family. He is best mate to our Ron. Harry's such a sweet, quiet boy. He's had a hard life he has. He really is a dear."
Hermione took in the woman's red hair and thought back to the other blokes sitting with Harry. "I believe I saw your son Ron, I noticed him sitting with Harry while I was having lunch."
"They've been best mates since their first year at Hogwarts," she explained. "Where are my manners? I'm sorry, I'm Molly Weasley."
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Weasley. I'm Hermione Granger."
"I can't place you, did you go to Hogwarts dear?" Molly asked, staring at Hermione trying to place her at her son's school.
"No Mrs. Weasley, I attended Beauxbatons," Hermione replied, finishing up the sale and hoping that was the end of the questioning.
"Oh, okay, well it was nice to meet you," Mrs. Weasley said as she took her change from Hermione, "And remember dear, Harry may come on a bit strong but inside he's just a lonely little boy."
Trying not to laugh, Hermione said, "I'll keep that in mind, thank you," and watched her walk out of the store.
'What have I gotten myself into now?' she thought. Hermione caught site of Edna laughing at her little exchange with Mrs. Weasley, she made a point of ignoring her.
Later that night, about an hour before closing, Edna took over the register so Hermione could inventory the books and
see if there were any they needed to re-order. Hermione was going through the Hogwarts texts to make sure they had
enough in stock when she was distracted by the sound of the door chime. Curious as to who would come in this late since
the shop was usually empty of customers by now, Hermione peeked around the corner of the bookshelf and couldn't
believe it when she saw the familiar head of black, messy hair.
'What is he doing here?' she wondered, watching as he approached Edna at the counter.
"Hi Edna," Harry said pleasantly, "How have you been?"
"I've been good Harry," her boss answered. She was on a first name basis with him? "Is there something I can help you with?"
"I'm actually here to ask you about one of the witches working for you," he replied, and Hermione's heartbeat kicked into high gear. Surely he wouldn't come here just to find out about her, would he?
"And who would that be?" Edna asked and Hermione could hear the laughter in her voice.
"She said her name is Hermione Granger, but she was pretty angry with me at the time, so I don't know if that is her real name or if she just decided to give me a false name so I would leave her alone," Harry replied, chuckling as he said it.
'Please don't tell him. Please don't tell him...' Hermione thought, willing Edna to hear her thoughts.
"Yes, she works here," replied Edna, obviously not gifted with the `sight', "She's actually working right now."
What the...? What did Edna think she was doing? Hermione quickly got to work as she heard the two of them approaching the area she was in. She looked up, trying to seem surprised, as they walked around the bookcase into her view. "Hermione, you have a visitor," Edna said with a Cheshire grin on her face.
"Thanks Edna," Hermione said through gritted teeth. She noticed Edna mouth the words 'Be Nice' before she returned to the front of the store, leaving the two of them alone. Ignoring Edna's advice Hermione turned to Harry and asked, "What do you want now?"
"Hello to you too," he replied with that damn smile again. One of these times he was going to flash that smile at her and she would jump him on the spot. "I wanted to see if maybe you'd like to get a cup of coffee or tea with me after you get off work?"
'I really don't need this right now', she thought, trying not to think about how gorgeous he was. Concentrating on his cocky attitude she said, "I can't tonight, I have to get home my Mum is expecting me."
"O-kay, well would you mind if I stayed and kept you company?" he asked, watching her closely.
She noticed that the cocky smile was gone and in it's place was a look of uncertainty in his eyes; she knew he wasn't used to being shot down by a girl and dealing with her was an all new experience. "I guess it would be okay, but I can't just sit here chatting with you, I do have work I need to get done," she replied, a little nicer than before.
Nodding his head in understanding Harry asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Sure, you can carry that stack of books over here," she replied, pointing to a tall stack of books near the front of the store.
Harry gave a short salute and got to work, carrying about twenty-five Hogwarts Defence Against The Dark Arts books over to her. As he set them down she placed them on the shelves, and soon the job was finished, much faster than she could have done by herself. "Anything else I can do?" he asked.
"No, I just have to write down the names of the books we need to order," she replied.
As she stood in front of the shelves, writing down the information she needed, Harry walked up behind her and leaned back against the bookshelf behind her.
"Are you sure I can't convince you to have some tea with me?" he asked quietly, and when she turned to answer him she noticed that he was staring at her.
Thrown off guard as she noticed hints of curiosity and desire in his eyes she stammered a bit and said, "Al-all right, just let me ring my Mum and tell her I'll be home a bit later."
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