Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Never had it. Never will.
A/N: First and foremost, thanks go out to my beta MapleMountain. I SHALL resist the urge to start copying and pasting that in here each time.
Here you all go. I had an idea for how this chapter unfolds. I'm happy with the way it turned out. I hope you like it too. And on that note... Similarities to Book 6 are entirely intentional... AS ARE the differences.
This is yet another one of those chapters that became so long that I had to split it so that I could get something posted. It will end very suddenly, and Chapter 22 will start exactly where this leaves off. I'm sorry for that, but I didn't want to delay this another week or two. But the flip side is that I have a good head start on 22, so it should come out much quicker than 21 did. Yay!
Finally, I keep forgetting to mention this. Here is a picture of the real Broomhill Road and King George's Park, in case you were interested. The address numbers are fake, however... Just for fun. Credit Google Maps.
Chapter 21. Double Trouble: Misters Weasley & The Games Begin.
His eyes were then drawn to her lips. He wanted to kiss her again. He needed to kiss her again. Nothing else mattered. And so, for the second time in two days, Harry Potter went to kiss his best friend.
"Harry!" Ron shouted out behind him innocently after turning the corner.
"Ron!" Harry and Hermione both gasped, snapping out of their respective dazes and releasing each other.
"DAMN IT!" Emma cursed, startling everyone.
The next words out of everyone's mouths were lost as they all turned to look at Emma. The suddenness of Emma's curse caused Harry and Hermione, whose bodies were still facing one another (though they'd let go of each other) to quickly turn their heads toward her. Nine Weasleys, one Potter, and one Granger all stared at Emma in concern. Whatever had caused such an outburst had to've been extremely important.
The other Granger, Dan, turned away from Emma and quickly walked over to the window of Quality Quidditch Supply, which was right behind him, next to the clock repair shop. He put his arms up against the glass, buried his head in them, and began to laugh uncontrollably. Emma, very red-faced and with her hand over her mouth, stood frozen facing Harry and Hermione.
"What's the matter, Mum?" Hermione asked worriedly after casting an odd glance at her father. Emma slowly brought her hand down from her mouth, though it was clear she was still highly embarrassed.
"I... um... I..." Emma finally began to stutter. "I... just remembered... that... that I forgot-to-check-to-see-if-we-put-Crookshanks-out!" she said very quickly and in nearly a shout.
Granted, Harry had really only known Emma for a couple weeks now, but he'd never heard her use such language before. And judging by Dan's reaction, which still seemed odd, he assumed that she didn't all that often.
So, while he could understand why they'd want to put Crookshanks out while they were gone, it didn't make any sense why it would cause her to swear. After all, Crookshanks was in all the time anyway. And besides, there was a litter box in the utility room.
Harry turned his head back to look at Hermione; she appeared quite suspicious of her mother. And Dan, who was still laughing, was no help at all. Trying to gauge Hermione's reaction, since she didn't seem want to question Emma's outburst, Harry didn't either. Besides, Emma's own little colorful metaphor seemed to provide the perfect distraction away from what he'd almost done.
IDIOT! Brainless IDIOT! Harry cursed himself. You almost snogged Hermione! Out in the street! In front of everyone! What were you thinking?!
How beautiful she is, his reasonable voice answered. How perfect her lips are.
That was a rhetorical question!
Hermione turned her head to look back at Harry. She rolled her eyes as if to tell him to not even bother trying to figure out what that was all about.
Harry quickly shrugged his shoulders in agreement and then finally turned and faced the approaching red-headed family; Hermione turned also. Ron and the rest of the Weasleys, who'd evidently accepted Emma's explanation without a second thought, were now coming over to join them.
Ron walked up to them with a grin as if nothing unusual had just occurred with Emma. Though there was one thing he had noticed.
Coming right up to Harry, Ron looked at him curiously. Pointing at Hermione (but still looking at him), he started to open his mouth to ask a question. He stopped himself when he got a good look at Harry's face.
Harry realized that his eyes were still slightly damp from the tears that Hermione had brushed away. With her beautiful, perfect, silken thumb...
"Oh. Never mind..." Ron mumbled awkwardly as he tried to look anywhere but directly at him. Harry quickly reached up to rub his eyes to banish the remaining moisture. He also used it as a moment to try to focus his mind to excise all thoughts of how wonderful it felt to have Hermione's hand on his face.
"It's okay, Ron," Harry said quietly once he felt presentable again. Ron's smile returned. It then faded again when Harry saw his shoulder move slightly. The look on Molly's face suggested that she'd poked him to remind him of something.
"Oh yeah," he said to himself. "I'm sorry for what I said back in Gringotts. I know you didn't ask for all this to happen, so I shouldn't have said you were trapped there."
Ron's apology, which seemed genuine though obviously prompted, had gone part of the way towards the evaporation of Harry's annoyance with his friend... the one he didn't fancy. There was however one detail that still stood in the way. And unfortunately, this part was much bigger than the first, as there was in his opinion, one slight problem with Ron's apology.
"I'm not the person you should be apologizing to, Ron," Harry said as neutrally as he could. He didn't intend it to be rude or cutting, merely informative.
Ron was confused, Molly too. "It wasn't my house that you implied was so bad that I was trapped there," Harry explained, again in his informative voice. Ron thought about it for a couple seconds, then a look of understanding appeared; he nodded hesitantly. Finally, he turned to face Hermione.
"I'm sorry for implying that your house was so bad that Harry was trapped there," Ron apologized to Hermione. Harry could see the tiniest of smiles on her face before she told Ron she accepted his apology. He couldn't ever recall seeing her take pleasure from when Ron apologized. Then again, he couldn't really recall Ron actually apologizing all that often.
When Ron looked back at him, Harry merely nodded his acceptance of Ron's earlier misdirected apology. He accepted it, but he also wanted Hermione to literally have the last word on in, since he felt it was more important Ron apologize to her than to him.
So, with the questions of damnation and forgiveness addressed for the moment, the two entourages came together finally. While Ron was apologizing, a now-recovered Emma had dragged Dan (still teary-eyed from laughter) back to the group.
Already acquainted with the older Weasleys, Dan and Emma took several moments to properly introduce themselves to the remaining family members. Whether by coincidence or design, Ron was last. As he turned to him, Dan momentarily looked over Ron's shoulder at Harry and gave him another one of his "watch this" looks.
"Ah, so this is the infamous Mr. Weasley," Dan said with a calculating voice. Ron seemed to shrink back a bit; Fred and George were smirking. If Dan and Emma already knew so much about Harry before he even arrived, then they must have known as much, if not more, about Ron. Certainly Hermione had to have told them as much about her other friend with whom she'd had such spirited discussions.
Though Dan looked upset, Harry could tell he was rather enjoying this. Emma, however, appeared to be glaring daggers at Ron for some reason. Dan took one step forward; Ron took two steps back.
Ron gulped audibly. "Yes, sir," he replied meekly.
"You are aware that Hermione is my only daughter?" Dan asked. Harry saw the slightest twitch in one of the muscles around his mouth that suggested a much larger struggle to repress a smile. Ron nodded.
"You are aware that I will fiercely protect her from anyone who is unkind to her?" Dan continued. Ron nodded again. Harry turned his head slightly towards Hermione. When he caught her eye, she raised her eyebrows then rolled her eyes as she smiled. She too recognized this.
Harry then quickly glanced at the remaining Weasleys off to his side. Since Ron was the last one to officially meet Dan and Emma, everyone else had stepped back after the handshakes and were all therefore behind Ron. They all must have been able to read the looks on Harry and Hermione's faces for none of them seemed perturbed by this "introduction."
"And do you know what my daughter has to say about you?" Dan asked, his voice becoming more weighted. This was almost at an end. Ron opened his mouth as if to answer, however Dan cut him off, deciding to put him out of his misery.
"She told us that you, Mr. Weasley, are one of her closest friends." Dan then grinned broadly and put out his hand to shake. Ron still stood frozen, lacking most color in his face. He blinked several times as the words finally sunk in.
"You... were... you were just putting me on, weren't you?" Ron finally asked as he hesitantly took Dan's hand.
"Yeah," Dan replied simply.
After shaking Dan's hand, Ron heaved a sigh of relief. "Bloody hell, Harry. Did you have to go through that when you got there too?"
No, he just asked me if I'm the boy his daughter kissed at the end of fourth year, Harry thought to himself, amused. He was about to describe the little show Dan and Emma put on for his aunt and uncle when Dan beat him to the punch.
"Oh, please, Mr. Weasley. Harry here was practically in tears when I was finished with him on his first day there." The way Dan said it, everyone began to chuckle slightly, assuming he was just taking the mickey out of Harry. The funny thing was that what Dan said was exactly true; Harry got a kick out of it too.
He caught glance of the knowing smiles on Dan and Emma's faces... and Hermione's too. Emma must have told her what she found so adorable that day.
"So? She told you all about me, huh?" Ron asked Dan, smirking. He turned and looked back at Ron.
"No, not all about you," Dan replied, fully aware that Hermione could hear him. "She does mention you a couple times a year... usually whenever the two of you had a particularly... vigorous discussion, or whenever your wonderful friend Draco Malfoy decided to grace you with his presence.
"But the rest of her letters were her regular fare... what books she was reading, what her homework assignments were, what boys she secretly fancied... you know... the usual," Dan said nonchalantly. Though her back was now currently to him as she faced her mother, Harry could see Hermione shake her head slightly as her shoulders dropped.
Ron began to laugh. "Yeah right. The first two, I believe," he said as he walked back to join his family. The large group then started walking up Diagon Alley toward the stores they needed to visit today.
"Well, Weasleys, where shall we stop first?" Arthur asked as he rubbed his hands together eagerly. "And Harry and Hermione too, of course," he quickly added. Harry looked up the street and saw that Madam Malkin's was only a few doors away.
"Might as well start here and get our robes," Harry said as he pointed at the sign on the shop. As he walked up to the door to the shop, he stopped suddenly with his hand outstretched for the handle.
"Ughh." Harry grimaced as he let out a sigh of disgust. "Let's come back and do this later. Malfoy and his mum are in there right now," he explained as he looked through the window.
"He is?" Ron asked eagerly. "Come on, let's go in and give him a proper greeting, now that we can do magic," he suggested. Ginny, Fred, and George all seemed rather keen on the idea. Arthur, Molly, and Hermione, on the other hand, appeared as though they had other ideas.
Ordinarily, Harry would be the first in line to give Draco Malfoy a "proper greeting." Today was a special day, however.
"Let's not," he counter-suggested. "He and his mum are probably in a right foul mood after what happened at Gringotts this morning. And as much as I don't care how he feels, I am in a surprisingly good mood right now considering from where we've just come. That doesn't mean however that I'm eager to hear him start badmouthing Sirius."
Harry then looked back at Ron. "Besides, 'proper greetings' at school are called pranks. Out here, they're called 'assault.'"
Ron thought about it for a second then nodded in annoyed acceptance. "Damn it," he cursed under his breath.
"Ronald!" Molly admonished.
"What?" he complained. "Hermione's mum gets to swear."
Harry was pretty sure he'd rather face Voldemort again than be on the receiving end of the twin glares that both Molly and Emma shot Ron.
"Right then," Arthur chimed in. "Fred and George's it is," he said as the group resumed walking. Harry and Hermione had been several steps ahead of the group when they walked up to the Madam Malkin's shop door. When the decision was made, everyone else was still in the street. As a result, when Harry and Hermione left the doorway and rejoined them, they were now at the back of the group.
Harry listened as Fred and George described their newest and most proud creation: a product that doubled as both a wicked prank (the 'prank' pieces in the box) and a "dietary supplement" (the 'antidote' pieces, when used without a prank piece). Right as they were about to explain what was so hilarious about the name they chose, Harry felt Hermione latch onto his arm and pull herself quite close to him as they continued to walk. Dangerously, but wonderfully, close.
"Thanks," she said to him quietly.
"For?" Harry asked just as quietly. Hermione appeared to speak softly so as to not draw attention from the Weasleys; Harry did so because he currently lacked the ability to speak loudly. He was too busy reminding himself that this was just a friendly gesture on her part.
"For getting Ron to apologize to me. I don't mean to be rude, but I honestly can't remember the last time he apologized to me. You know, actually said the words." Hermione then let out a little sigh. "We usually just arrive at some mutual ceasefire agreement.
"I know he usually doesn't intend to be mean, but still..." she said, trailing off. "It's just nice to hear it once or twice every five years." Harry glanced over at her and saw the little smirk on her face. The smirk then changed into a warm smile. "Thanks," she repeated then pulled his arm against her side tightly for a moment.
"Yeah, well... I figure you're worth an apology or two," Harry said nonchalantly, then returned the smirk and tightened his arm around hers for a moment as well. A few seconds later, when she didn't let go of his arm as he expected her to, he snuck a quick peek and saw that far away look on her face he recognized from whenever she was thinking about something. About five seconds later, he found out what.
"Or a dozen or so," she added quietly, wearing the same satisfied grin that she usually wore immediately upon completing some bothersome (her word) Arithmancy calculation.
"A dozen what?" Harry asked, confused.
"Oh, I was just thinking... you've apologized to either me or my parents at least a dozen times since you moved in. And that's not including whatever you might've said when I wasn't around."
"You've been counting the times I've apologized?" he asked in surprise.
"What? Oh no. I haven't been counting them. I just remembered them," Hermione explained. "I only now tried to count them. You apologized when I thought you were mad at me for opening the jewelry box. To Mum about the restriction on underage magic..."
"Hey, that shouldn't count!" Harry playfully complained; Hermione just smiled as if to say "Too late!"
"You really remember all that?" he asked in wonder. "Oh, and sorry, no. I wasn't complaining about the counting. Like with the jewelry box, I was just surprised."
Hermione turned her head and looked up the street. Harry did as well and saw what had caught her attention: a large purple poster with flashing yellow letters that was sure to be Fred and George's shop. There was a small crowd of eager kids (and their not so eager parents) waiting outside the shop. He also noticed that the two of them must have slowed while walking.
When they rejoined the entourage back at Madam Malkin's, they were immediately behind them. Now they were a good five or six yards back. With everyone else at their destination beginning to look around to examine the twins' shop (and the crowd), Hermione finally let go of Harry's arm. Before stepping away from him to put some "normal walking distance" between them, she lowered her voice one last time.
"Oh, and Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"That's one more."
Harry let out a laugh.
A few moments later, they too reached number ninety-three, Diagon Alley. Fred and George had already made their way through the throngs of youngsters anxiously waiting to unload the pocket money their parents had given them this morning (yesterday was payday, after all). When the door unlatched, what ensued could best be described as a stampede (though avalanche was also close).
The group remained back a couple minutes as the hoard of midgets (as Ron eloquently described them) herded themselves into the store. While they waited, Harry was finally able to read the flashing poster. He began to laugh as he read all about U-No-Poo. Ron soon came over to join him.
"Absolutely brilliant!" Ron exclaimed. "Mum's none too thrilled though. Afraid they'll wake up dead one morning."
"No they won't!" Harry replied, still laughing. "Woe betide anyone who tries to break into their shop."
Once the mob mentality had finally subsided, they all headed into the store. As he walked through the doorway, Harry glanced at the sign on the window of the door.
Weasley Wizard Wheezes will be opening late today, Friday, 1 August. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley shall return: NOW.
"Kinda like our clock," George explained as he saw Harry examining the sign more closely.
"Nice robes," Harry said, smirking, when he got a good look at the magenta robes George was wearing.
"Yeah well, with all the students running around this place, we had to have something that looks cool, and that stands out from everyone else," George explained as he looked around to find his twin brother. He found him trying to shoo away all the boys and girls younger than sixteen, including Ginny, who were inquiring about their Patented Daydream Charms.
"Besides, I rather like they way they complement our hair. What with two handsome wizards like myself and Fred running this place, you have to have something that distracts from our natural beauty," he said with a smirk. "The girls'll all be coming in to ogle us and not our products.
"Speaking of ogling product, where's Ron run off to?" George added to himself under his breath. Harry, Hermione, and George found Ron at the front counter, inspecting with delight the Reusable Hangman. He was prodding with his wand the tiny little wooden man as it ascended the gallows steps.
"Oy! Careful with your wand there, little bro. That does operate on magic, you know. You break it, you bought it!" George warned.
"Oh, and that reminds me," he continued, "you're welcome to take anything you want... as long as you pay for it!"
"What?!" Ron replied in shock, looking rather offended. "I'm family!"
"Yeah, and that's why we aren't charging you double! Besides, I thought you couldn't wait to spend your money fast enough," George retorted, as though he already knew how Ron would reply.
Ron's ears turned slightly pink as he looked around to see where his mother was. He found her trying to block the view as Arthur was carefully examining the U-No-Poo with interest.
"No, I'm going to be well-mannered with my inheritance, and use it sparingly for my education, along with the occasional, responsible indulgence."
George, looking quite satisfied, then turned to Harry. "And while we're on the subject. You, Mr. Potter, have a one thousand Galleon store credit. All of our employees know, so just show them what you're taking, flash 'em your scar, and you're all set."
Harry started to open his mouth to complain about the 'flash 'em your scar' bit. He knew that there was no way Fred and George would allow him to refuse repayment, so he decided there was no reason to argue that point.
Thinking Harry was about to do just that, George cut him off. "And don't you even think about balking at our repayment of your original investment. Without it, this store wouldn't exist. And now that I think about it, I'm going to take a page out of your dear godfather's book. One word of objection to the store credit, and we'll double it to two thousand."
Those two are good, Harry thought to himself in amusement. "Agreed," he said. He then decided he wanted to see if he could turn things around back on them. "Any objections if I allow Hermione and Ron to use that credit too?"
George pretended to consider it for a few moments. "It's your money..." he said in a tone of voice that conveyed the impression that Harry was just wasting it. "But only if you're present at the checkout counter with them.
"I'd hate to think that one of your friends," George said with a weighted voice as he looked directly at Ron, "might try to take advantage of your generosity."
"Ha ha, very funny," Ron defended.
"I thought so," George replied, grinning.
"Mr. Weasley?" a young witch with short blonde hair, also wearing magenta robes, asked. "There's a customer looking for a joke cauldron. Mr. Weasley is still busy at the Daydreams, so he said to come ask you."
"Okay, just a moment, Verity," George replied as the blonde disappeared back behind the curtains she'd just come through.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron all looked at each other with the same smile. "Mr. Weasley?" they all asked in unison.
George turned to Ron first. "Yeah, that's right. That's Mister Weasley to you." He then turned to Harry and Hermione. "Shut it, you two," he told them then headed into the stock room as well.
Hermione wandered off to find her parents and warn them to be careful about what they touched. When Ron quickly bored of the Muggle magic tricks, he pulled back a curtain that separated another room. Since it was not overflowing with energetic ten-year olds, it immediately appealed to Harry.
Of course, there was a reason it was not filled with energetic ten-year olds: there was hardly anything in there. The room had an unused look to it, as if it was there for overstock items, or just waiting for a future store expansion.
"What're you...?" Fred began in nearly a shout, but then his voice dropped. "Oh, it's you two. I don't suppose you noticed this room was off limits-hence the curtain-did you?" Fred asked Ron.
"What are these?" Harry asked, trying to draw Fred's attention, as he pointed to the unmarked hats on the shelf.
"Ah, this is something even you would appreciate, oh magnificent benefactor," Fred said with flourish. Harry just rolled his eyes at him. A smile appeared on Fred's face.
"Told you," Ron said in undertone to his brother. Harry scowled at Ron. "Told you again," Ron added.
When the magnificent benefactor turned his scowl to the grateful benefitter, Fred quickly decided to answer the question.
"These are our latest creation," Fred explained. "Haven't even got packaging designed for them yet."
"Shield Hats!" George finished as he joined his brother. "We originally made them for a laugh, just like those Headless Hats last year. But after Fred and I tried to jinx each other about a dozen times, we decided they might have a more practical use as well. We were thinking about selling them to the Ministry."
Fred and George glanced at each other; dreamy looks then appeared on their faces. "Government contracts," they said in unison.
"Now that we got these down," Fred then resumed, "we can apply the same effect to any other article of clothing... cloaks, gloves, and what have you." He then looked around and lowered his voice. "We were also thinking about a more discreet line... rings, watches, and the like, for Aurors and higher-ups.
"The smaller items, naturally, would take a little more work," George picked up, "so there'd be a slight premium in the price of course," he said with a grin.
Just then, Hermione came marching into the room, dragging Dan behind her by the arm. He was steadfastly looking away, and appeared to be following rather reluctantly.
"Well?" she asked Fred and George in a huff.
"Well what?" Fred replied carefully. It was evident that she was not in a mood with which to be trifled.
"Tell them," she said to her father. Dan finally turned his head; everyone was surprised to see him with an ugly black eye.
"I was looking at this telescope in the other room, and it..." Dan started to explain. While he appeared to be embarrassed more than upset, that was not the case with Hermione.
"Ah," George said with a nervous chuckle. "You'd be surprised how often that happens around here." Hermione did not appear surprised; George hurriedly took a small jar out of his pocket and handed it to Dan
"Just use this, and you'll be as good as new shortly," George explained. When Dan took the jar, Hermione grabbed hold of his arm for a moment to stop him. She fixed both of the twins with a very intent stare.
"It is safe, isn't it?" she asked.
"Course it is," Fred said bracingly as he glanced worriedly at his twin. Just as Dan opened the jar, Fred looked over his shoulder.
"I think I hear Verity. Coming!" he called out as he grabbed George's arm and quickly led him back to the main sales floor. Harry smirked; he was quite certain he did NOT hear Verity.
About half an hour later, Ron and Harry worked their way up to the sales counter, Ron's arms laden with merchandise.
"That'll be three Galleons, nine Sickles, and one Knut please," Verity, now working the counter, said to Ron even though she was clearly staring at Harry.
"I'm buying it," Harry said. "Supposedly I have some store credit."
"Yes, of course, Mr. Potter," Verity said with the slightest hint of a giggle; a faint pink tint was beginning to appear on her cheeks. "You have nine hundred ninety-six Galleons, seven Sickles, and twenty-eight Knuts remaining." He watched as she pulled out a sheet of parchment from beneath the counter and began to write on it.
Harry Potter, 1/8/96, 3G 9S 1K
"Please sign here," she said, pointing at the bottom of the parchment. After Harry signed it, she immediately tore the sheet in half. When she put the half with his signature into her pocket, he looked at her questioningly.
"This is for Misters Weasley, for their records," Verity explained, holding up the half with the amount of Ron's purchase. "The other half... is your autograph... for me," she said as her giggle finally escaped. She then turned and retreated behind the curtains that lead to the stock room.
"Another empty-headed Harry Potter Fan Club member, no doubt," Harry heard Hermione's annoyed voice behind him. He turned around to find her standing between him and Ron, but a step or two behind them.
"I wouldn't say that," Harry said, slightly impressed. Maybe it was because he was in such a good mood considering how well the reading of the will had gone, but Harry was rather amused at what Verity had done, the audacity of it. Or maybe it was because something about her reminded him of something else... something he just couldn't quite put his finger on.
"Oh, come on, Harry," Ron said exasperatedly. If anything, he actually seemed a little jealous. Maybe something about Verity reminded Ron of something (or someone) too... though he was pretty sure he and Ron weren't thinking about the same thing.
"What? Just because she's blonde, it doesn't mean she's empty-headed," Harry said. Now he knew what about her caught his attention. "Didn't you see how quickly she added up your purchases and calculated my balance?"
At that moment, Harry was struck by what he thought to be a bit of brilliant inspiration.
"Besides," he said, choosing his next words very carefully as he looked back to the curtain through which Verity had disappeared, "I think I rather like smart girls. It's too bad for her," he said as he turned around to face Hermione, "that I've never really had a thing for blondes." He then intentionally looked at her hair for a split second before turning back to Ron.
He'd said that intentionally, hoping she was paying attention. He was nowhere near ready to actually tell her how he felt. He was hoping though that this "innocent" comment might catch her notice. If Hermione thought he liked smart girls (which he did... one especially...), maybe she'd somehow make some sort of association between him and her.
If she did, then maybe, just maybe she might at least give a first thought to the idea of him being more than just a friend. None of that would ever happen, he knew, if she never thought about him in that way. Sure, the whole idea of it all was a little mental, and a lot desperate. But wasn't that the definition of "teenage male who fancies his best friend?"
For all of his mental desperations, he never saw the result of his effort for he knew he could not look at her just yet. It had to seem like something he'd just said "in passing." She couldn't know that he already fancied her.
Oh yeah, that makes a WHOLE lot of sense! his instinctual side observed sardonically. You want her to fancy you, but you're afraid that she won't... if she knows that you already fancy her?
It makes perfect sense, his reasonable side defended. You just have to think about it for a bit.
Though there was no response, Harry could feel the doubt begin to creep in.
It DOES make sense, he tried to tell himself.
"Harry..." Ron said awkwardly, still trying to hold onto everything he bought. "Do you... are there any bags around that I can put all this in?"
"Eyes bigger than your pockets?" Harry teased. He looked to the end of the counter and saw a stack of magenta-colored paper bags. Grabbing one, he opened it and set it on the counter in front of Ron. "There you go."
Though the bag was clearly not big enough (on the outside) to hold even half of the items Ron bought, it readily continued to take them as he piled them in, with no signs of filling up. With only two items remaining, the bag suddenly started spitting items back out each time he tried to put either of them in, regardless of which one.
After his fifth unsuccessful attempt, Ron let out a growl of frustration. Just then, Verity returned to the sales counter.
"Difficulties?" she asked, casting a dubious look at Ron.
"Stupid... bloody... bag... won't... take..." he complained, trying to stuff items into the bag between words. When he held one of the larger items in the bag with his hand, one of the smaller items that had previously remained in the bag now jumped out. Harry and Hermione were now watching with a fair amount of amusement.
"You have to pack the bag properly," Verity informed him. "It won't let you put items in there such that the ones on top might damage the ones beneath. You'll need to repack it. Do you require... assistance?"
Ron stared at Verity open-jawed. He let his grip on the larger item slip; it jumped back out and the smaller item jumped back in. Harry put his hand over his mouth to suppress a laugh.
"No," Ron gritted out. "I'm sure I can manage," he said as he began taking everything out of the bag and setting it back on the counter.
"Of all the mental things to..." Ron began to mutter under his breath.
"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley felt it very important that customers' purchases did not damage themselves during their trip home, whether by Floo Powder, Portkey, broom, or even Muggle Underground. We can't have your trick wand turning into a chicken before you get it home, now can we? They also felt however that they could not be held responsible if you dropped the bag or accidentally sat on it," Verity explained seriously.
In other words, if YOU break it, you have to come back and buy a new one, Harry thought to himself with a grin.
The shopping bag now empty, Ron looked back up. "Well, why didn't they just put a cushioning charm on the bag, or something?"
Verity quickly glanced at Harry and Hermione, who were still watching Ron with amusement. A tiny smile appeared on her face before she turned back to him.
"But then where would be the fun in that?" she asked before quickly disappearing behind the curtains again. Ron spluttered in frustration.
Not wanting to add to his consternation, Harry and Hermione decided to wander around the store a little more while Ron continued to struggle with the bag.
* * *
The wheels in back of Hermione's mind were still spinning. They'd been that way since she read the letter Sirius wrote to her. But that, and the promise she'd made, had to be set aside for a moment due to bigger issues.
She did it again: she got carried away. But this time, there was no birthday-snog tradition to cover it up. Ever since that completely brainless moment when she almost kissed Harry, she'd been replaying it, trying to figure out what happened.
What really scared her more than anything else was the fact that her mind now seemed to be playing tricks on her. For the briefest of moments, she actually thought that Harry was going to kiss her too. And then her mother... well, that was another story all together.
At first, Hermione was afraid that something really was the matter. However, as soon as her mother had come up with that completely lame excuse about Crookshanks, she pieced it all together.
Her mother knew how she felt about Harry. They'd had two heart-to-heart talks about it. From the direction the talks had taken, it certainly seemed that she was amenable to the idea of the two of them getting together. And her mother also knew that she wasn't going to push it until she felt Harry was ready to deal with girls chasing after him again.
And so there the two of them were in the middle of the street, obviously caught up in some moment. She'd asked him if he was all right, and he said yes. She could see a tear fall. She knew he never wanted her to see him cry. Without even thinking, she reached up and brushed it away. She hoped that once it was gone, somehow it would be as if it was never there in the first place.
But then for some reason, she left her hand there on his face. She felt him lean into it; she knew she didn't imagine that. She was sure she was imagining it when she thought Harry was going to kiss her, but she hadn't imagined that. And then right as she was about to cross the line, Ron showed up and interrupted, and her mother cursed.
Why else would she have cursed so loudly at the exact moment when Ron walked up? And more importantly, why else was she looking directly at them when it happened? Hermione remembered seeing both of her parents looking at the clocks only a minute earlier. There was no way her mother could have moved that quickly. Hermione's head had snapped to her mother within a split second of the outburst. She had to have been watching them.
Her mother WANTED her to kiss Harry. It was the only possible explanation.
Hermione would definitely have to have a little chat with her mother when they got home.
But then, just a few moments ago, everything... all that she'd been worrying about, it all went out the window. Because for the first time that she could ever recall, she actually saw the slightest glimmer of hope that she might actually, some day, get together with Harry.
When Verity had conned Harry out of his autograph, he seemed impressed. And then he said it. It sounded like it just slipped out. It was entirely possible, in fact, that he hadn't even realized what he was saying... but he said it nonetheless. He said that he "rather liked smart girls."
Oh, how Hermione's heart jumped up into her throat. She had no reason to doubt it. Cho Chang was a Ravenclaw, after all. As blind as Hermione felt that girl was about some things, she had to be smart. That was a given.
And then, after making some off-handed comment about not being particularly interested in blondes, she was absolutely certain he actually looked at her hair. It was only for a second.. but still... she was sure of it.
It was exactly the sort of thing she'd been looking for all these years. A crack in the door... something she could stick her foot in... something to get his attention. She wasn't sure he'd realized he'd opened the door, but she was going to go for it.
He said he liked smart girls, and didn't really have a thing for blondes.
She was a smart girl who wasn't a blonde.
Yes, yes. She knew that he already knew she was a smart girl. But now, she had something to work with. Now, it was simply a matter of getting him to associate the "non-blonde smart girls" he said he liked with the non-blonde smart girl who was standing right next to him.
She saw an opening, and she was going to do whatever it took to get him to notice her... under the terms he'd just set out. Let the games begin, Hermione thought to herself.
* * *
Looking at all of the items displayed in the front window, something outside caught Harry's attention. Draco Malfoy was walking up the street. Harry felt as though his wand was burning a hole in his pocket. He really would have loved to give Malfoy a "proper greeting" for barging his way into Gringotts this morning. But then he suddenly realized that something was missing... or more accurately, someone.
"Wonder where his mummy is?" Harry asked himself quietly, amused.
"Who?" Hermione asked behind him. Harry turned his head towards her.
"Malfoy. He's heading up that way," he said as he watched through the window. When the Slytherin moved out of the field of view of the window, Harry then walked over and stuck his head out the doorway. He watched as Draco walked up the street, nodding politely to a very nicely dressed couple, and ignoring everyone else, including several other very nicely dressed shoppers.
Hermione came up behind Harry; she put her hand on his back as she stood directly behind him (Harry felt a shiver run down his spine). She watched the despised blonde over Harry's shoulder. Draco finally stopped a few moments later. Trying to appear casual, he looked around for a few moments. When none of the shoppers on the street were looking in his direction, he turned left and disappeared down the side street that wasn't on the normal Diagon Alley tour.
"Big surprise," Harry said to Hermione. "Knockturn Alley."
"What do you think he's doing?" she asked as she stepped away and removed her hand from his back.
"Knowing Malfoy, probably nothing good." Harry turned around and looked at Hermione. "Either that or he's looking for some non-pureblood repellant," he said grinning.
"Hmm... I didn't know they made eau de Malfoy," Hermione said with a smirk. "Think we should see what he's up to?"
Harry looked back to the site of Draco's detour. Oh, how he'd love to catch him buying something illegal. Both Malfoys in Azkaban? But, as much as he hated him, he knew his school nemesis was too slick to get caught that easily. Besides...
"I doubt we could go meandering through all those Dark Arts stores asking, 'Did you see a greasy git come through here?'" Harry said with a smile. "I mean, maybe if by some incredibly fortuitous happenstance I just happened to have my Invisibility Cloak with me, maybe a pair of Extendable Ears, then we could see what the ferret was doing. But, as it is..." he trailed off, shrugging his shoulders.
"Besides," Harry continued, looking back into the store at the front counter where Ron was still struggling with the shopping bag, "I really don't think we should leave Ron unattended, do you?" He then nodded his head in Ron's direction. When she saw Ron, she shook her head in agreement. She then turned back to Harry.
"A fortuitous happenstance?" she asked with a smile. "Those are mighty big words there, Harry."
He chuckled slightly. "Yeah, Ron said I was spending too much time with you, that you were rubbing off on me."
"Yeah, well, that's what you get when you hang around smart girls. Besides, is that a bad thing?" she asked with a mock pout.
Harry grinned; she was paying attention. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell if she meant anything by it or not. It could have been a perfectly innocent thing to say. But at least now he knew that if he tried something similar again, she'd notice it.
"What? Hanging around smart girls, or hanging around you?" Harry asked teasingly. He laughed when she intentionally didn't answer, which he knew she meant "same thing."
"I don't know. I'll let you know once I see my homework assignments," he answered.
"Prat," she teased, then gave him a shove as she led him back into the store. Harry and Hermione walked up to Ron, still at the sales counter. All of his items were now spread out over the table.
"I know there's got to be a way to do this," Ron said annoyed. "I've seen other customers walking out of here with their purchases in these bags."
Harry's mind wandered back to the grocery store in Wandsworth. "You know, Ron. Muggles our age usually get paid doing this," he noted.
"I just know there's got to be some trick to doing it!" Ron sighed in frustration. His particular choice of words, combined with what Verity had asked about where was the fun in it suddenly gave Harry an idea. They were in a joke shop, after all. If you couldn't figure the bag out, then why try?
"Did you watch how the other sales people packed the bags?" Harry asked.
Ron shook his head. "It's so busy in here, I can't see or hear across to the other side of the room."
"Do you mind if I give it a try?" Harry asked.
"Knock yourself out," Ron said eagerly, giving up. Harry gathered everything up into one big pile and set it next to the bag. He then looked at the magenta bag and thought for a moment. What was so blindingly obvious that you couldn't see it if you weren't looking for it?
"Pack!" he commanded the bag. All of the items then jumped into the bag in the proper order. Once the bag sealed itself, blinking words appeared on the bag.
You No 2?
Buy U-No-Poo
Harry grinned as he picked up the bag (which was now light as a feather) and handed it to Ron.
"There you go. All done!" Harry said, trying not to start laughing. He was certain, however, that he heard a cough-covered laugh behind him. Ron just stared at the magenta bag in his hands. He then looked up at Harry with a large question plastered across his face.
"We are in a joke shop, Ron," Harry pointed out.
"I'll kill Fred and George," Ron muttered.
"Ready to go?" Harry asked his red-headed friend.
"Yeah, I think I've had enough of this place for one day," Ron agreed. "Let's go find everyone and we can head to our next stop." Harry waited outside while Ron and Hermione retrieved their families.
About five minutes later, the group had reassembled outside of Weasley Wizard Wheezes, minus Fred and George, of course. While he was not surprised to see Ron and Mr. Weasley coming out of the store with magenta bags, he was surprised to see Hermione with one. He was also glad to see that Ginny did not have one.
While he had been wandering around the store earlier, he came across Hermione and Ginny in front of a display of WonderWitch products. He'd become somewhat concerned when he heard Ginny asking Hermione whether or not she thought the love potions really worked.
Fortunately, he already knew how Hermione felt about love potions, so he was certain she'd be able to dissuade Ginny from the idea... if she ever had one (he hoped she didn't). Either way, he was glad she was there to talk Ginny out of it, just in case.
Their next stop was Flourish and Blotts (Madam Malkin's was in the opposite direction). As they walked there, Harry's curiosity began to get the better of him.
"Wha'd'you buy?" he asked Hermione, pointing at the bag she was carrying.
"Nothing, actually," she answered, causing Harry to stop walking for a moment. When he caught up with her, she looked to make sure her parents were still busy talking to Arthur and Molly.
"When I went to get them to leave, I found Mum and Dad rather excited, looking at a display near the counter. When I saw the picture on the box, I was pretty sure I didn't want to know why they were interested in them," Hermione explained with a hint of annoyance.
"When they asked me if the Patented Daydream Charms were any good, I read the label. I made some off-handed comment about it being extraordinary magic. Fred overheard me and said I could have one for free. I figured it'd be rude to turn him down, so I took one," Hermione admitted.
"You needed a magic bag just for that?" Harry teased.
Hermione smirked. "No, so I could get out the door. Remember when George yelled at that kid about pocketing anything?" Harry nodded. "Well, in this case, he also meant it literally. Let's just say that if you try to take anything out the door, not in one of their bags, you'll get introduced to some of their other creations... creations they don't bestow upon paying customers."
"He told you that?"
"Well, he had to seeing as how I complained that taking a bag for such a small item was rather wasteful," Hermione explained. "So he told me just to give the empty bag to Ron or Ginny and they could reuse it later."
A few minutes later, they arrived at Flourish and Blotts. While Harry, the Grangers, and Ron and Ginny went inside, the remaining five Weasleys decided to browse the other stores. Once in the store, Ron and Ginny went off to one part of the store while Harry followed the Grangers.
He knew that Ron and Ginny would want to be in and out as quickly as possible. Hermione, Dan, and Emma, on the other hand, would most likely want to... explore. He pulled out his booklist. N.E.W.T. classes: all new books this year.
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six by Miranda Goshawk.
Numerology and Grammatica by Hike Seshat
Confronting the Faceless by Remus Algeron
Plants You Didn't Want to Know About by Flora Mahonia
Flesh-Eating Trees of the World by Abnoba Silva
Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage
Guide to Advanced Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
As he looked at his booklist, Harry suddenly realized something. "Hey, Hermione," he called quietly. It wasn't Madam Pince's library, but still, it felt... unnatural to be loud in a book store.
He pointed at his booklist when she came over. "Do you think this means they've found a new Defense teacher this year already?"
"Possibly. Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Binns are about the only three, I think, who always use the same..." Hermione's voice trailed off as her eyes drifted one line up from where he was pointing.
"Harry?" she asked tentatively. "Why is Numerology and Grammatica on your booklist?"
"Oh!" he replied surprised. He never did mention that to her, did he? "Yeah... well I... erm... had three openings in my timetable, and I didn't think Professor McGonagall would let me get away with that, so... erm... what-with-the-prophecy-and-all," he said very quickly, and trying to cover it up with a good throat-clearing, "I... erm... decided to... give Arithmancy a shot."
Harry hadn't really given much thought to exactly how Hermione would react when she found out he was taking Arithmancy, but if he'd been forced to make a prediction, stunned silence probably wouldn't have been his first guess.
"The prophecy? I thought it was destroyed. What does that have to do with anything?" she asked quickly when she regained her voice a few moments later.
Damn, Harry thought to himself. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her about the prophecy. But at least he had an excuse not to... this instant. The middle of Flourish and Blotts was not the place to do it, if he ever did. Evade... for the moment, he told himself.
"Well... prophecies are real, after all," he replied carefully. "You said that part of Numerology dealt with making predictions based on studying numbers, right? I just figured that maybe I ought to give it another shot... especially now that I know that it's for real. It's gotta be better than trying to see through my Inner Eye, right?" he quipped.
Hermione let out a snort of laughter. "Yeah, or gazing into a crystal ball."
"Besides," he admitted, "if it doesn't work out, I can always drop it. It isn't like I NEED to take it to be an Auror. I'm just trying something new. It's about trying new things, right?"
Hermione's glowing smile dimmed slightly when he mentioned dropping Arithmancy, though it did not fade entirely. "Don't worry, Harry," she told him. "I'm sure you'll like it. It's my favorite subject. And yes you're right: it is about trying new things. Just give it a chance," she exhorted.
"As for your book, you needn't worry about that. You can have mine," Hermione offered. "Plus, I still have all my notes from third, fourth, and fifth years. I have to buy a new book for the N.E.W.T. class anyway. Here, help me find it, would you? It's called Spell By Number, by Raziel Metron."
Five minutes later, Harry found Spell By Number (Hermione's search had been distracted by her discovery of Magic, Stoichiomologically Speaking, Of Course). His gentle calling of her name going unnoticed, on a whim, he opened her N.E.W.T. Arithmancy book at random and looked at what was on the pages he saw.
What he found was an immensely complicated number chart on the left page with a truly evil-looking mathematical formula on the right page. It was evil looking because it was filled with ancient runes.
He'd done addition and subtraction and a little multiplication at his other school before Hogwarts. But this kind of math, if it could be called that, was way beyond that. It had ancient runes in it, after all! Immediately his eyes began to glaze over. He scanned the entire page, desperately looking for anything he might recognize.
He chuckled slightly in defeat when he realized that the only things he recognized were the actual numerals themselves, along with the word "Protego" above both the number chart and the formula.
"Oh, Merlin," he moaned to himself in a whisper. "What exactly have I gotten myself into?" Suddenly, Hermione's hand reached over and closed the book and took it out of his hands.
"Don't look at that Harry. It'll just scare you. You won't be doing anything like this," she assured him. "Remember, Nastily Exhausting level," she said with a smile.
"Can you understand that?" he asked with both fear and wonder in his voice as he pointed at the book. Since it was a brand new book and had only ever been opened to that one place, when Hermione held it by the spine and let the front and back covers fall on their own, it opened right back to the same page Harry had found originally. Hermione studied the charts and formulas for a few moments.
"I'll admit I don't understand this entire formula, YET," she added heavily with a sparkle in her eye. "But, basically, it's an analysis of exactly how the Protego spell works," she explained.
Harry let out a laugh. "Well, of course I knew it involved Pr... Wait. What? What do you mean 'exactly how Protego works?'" he asked, his curiosity piqued.
Hermione's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise that he seemed interested. She thought for a few moments on how to best put it into terms he'd understand.
"Well, you know how Protego can block some spells but not others?" she asked; Harry nodded. "And you know how one person's shield can be stronger than other another's?" Another nod. "Well, basically, this calculation shows exactly why that is.
"In this case, Protego, if you can convert the attacker's spell into a number, and the defender's shield into a number, then all you have to do is compare the two numbers. Whichever number is bigger, wins. If my jinx is stronger than your shield, I win. If your shield is stronger than my spell, you win."
"Until you jinx me again," Harry added with a grin.
"True," Hermione smirked. "But, here's the interesting part. How strong is your shield compared to my spell? If your shield is only marginally stronger, it will merely dissipate my spell and then collapse. But, if it's significantly stronger, it can reflect my spell back to me. Then, I have to defend against my own spell."
"Really?" Harry asked in amazement; Hermione nodded. "Do you think it would be helpful to know these kinds of things for the D.A.?" Hermione's earlier glowing smile returned to full brightness.
"Definitely," she readily agreed, then paused for a moment. "Kind of," she added. Seeing the "please continue" look on Harry's face, she did. "It would probably only be useful for you. Remember, this is all theoretical. It's all numerical... all analysis. It just helps you understand how the spells actually function, how they interact with other spells.
"It will never take the place of actually going out and practicing the spells. You won't have the luxury of asking a Death Eater to allow you to probe him with analysis spell, or get him to test fire his Cruciatus into a measuring crystal.
"The calculations can help you better understand how the magic actually works, and can even possibly help you devise a defense. But... in the end, it really just boils down to drawing your wand and putting your heart into whatever spell you're casting. They're just numbers, Harry. They don't DO anything. They merely... measure what you are doing. Does that make sense?"
Harry seemed overwhelmed by the information, but in a good way. "I think so," he said finally. "But that's just the spell analysis part. There's also the Numerology too, right?"
"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "They're simply different branches of Arithmancy... just like in math how you have different disciplines like algebra and geometry and calculus. At the O.W.L. level, you get a little bit of everything. N.E.W.T. level is primarily the spell analysis.
"I heard from last year's Head Girl," she continued, her excitement approaching flood stage, "that for the last part of seventh year, starting right after Easter midterm examinations, they even get into basic spell creation. Not enough to actually create your own spells, mind you," she said, her disappointment evident, "but a basic overview of the theories and processes."
"Somehow I doubt you'd let a little thing like that stop you from trying to learn how to make one," Harry observed with a grin. A few moments later, he let out a small groan.
"I forgot about those... midterm examinations," he said; Hermione just looked at him. "Yes, I know: N.E.W.T. years." He then let out a laugh. "A basic overview... for two, two and a half months? To me, a basic overview is one lesson... maybe one whole week."
Hermione just looked at him again. "Yes, I know: N.E.W.T. years," Harry repeated.
"But, like I said, you won't be doing that," she reminded him. "At the O.W.L.-"
"Hermione?" Ginny interrupted as she came around a row of books. "Oh, sorry," she apologized when she realized she'd just cut her off mid-sentence. "Got everything?"
Hermione turned around to face her friend as Ron came up too. "Huh? Oh yeah... I mean, no. So far we've only found my Arithmancy book. We got distracted. I was just explaining to Harry about N.E.W.T. Arithmancy."
At the word "explaining," Harry could see Ron's brain disengage. The broom was flying, but there was no one holding the handle.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Harry," Ginny teased Hermione. "Hurry up and get everything else, and then we can go find Mum and Dad, and then we start heading back towards Madam Malkin's. I imagine Malfoy's outta there by now."
"He is," Harry added absently, before he realized that they hadn't shared that with anyone else. "I saw him walk by Fred and George's while we were in there."
"Good!" Ginny proclaimed. "I need to get some new dress robes this year, and I don't need him there, hovering around, making smart-ass comments while we're taking our clothes off. Then afterwards, I imagine these two..." she said as she looked at Ron. She swatted his arm when she too recognized the vacant look on his face. "I imagine these two will want to stop at Quality Quidditch Supply."
"Hey!" Ron complained as he rubbed his arm. "And besides, who was it who kept borrowing my Quidditch Illustrated, reading the broom reviews? Hmm?"
Ginny ignored her brother. "Go help Harry find his books," she ordered. Ron looked highly annoyed, but complied anyway as he did his best to ignore her. "Grab Hermione's books too while you're at it. I'll help her with her other books. Then we can find her parents and get out of here."
"Same as Harry's," Harry heard Hermione tell Ron.
Ron looked down at his own books in his hands. "Just go set them down on the counter," Ginny said exasperatedly.
"So, mate. What books do you need?" Ron asked as he and Harry headed towards a different section of the bookstore.
"Charms, Defense, Herbology, Potions, and Transfiguration," Harry replied.
"Brilliant!" Ron exclaimed. "Same as me. It's gonna be so nice this year. We'll have three free periods. One first thing in the morning, one after morning break, and one after lunch. Can't believe McGonagall let me get away with that. 'Course, she did try to get me to take Muggle Studies! Can you believe that?!
"I told her what's the point when I have you and Hermione around, right?" Ron said with a grin. "She gave up pretty quickly after that. But, she did make me promise that I use one of those free periods for captain stuff... planning tryouts, game plans... you know... important things like that.
"She said she wasn't ready to hand the Quidditch Cup back over to Snape again. Speaking of the greasy git," Ron suddenly added as he pulled their new Potions book off the shelf.
One book, Harry noted. Without even looking back, Ron then headed in another direction. Harry grabbed a second copy.
Ron certainly seemed eager to leave the bookstore. He darted around the store, grabbing Harry's books quickly as he went, since he'd just done this for himself a few minutes earlier. In a rush and never looking back, he never noticed Harry following behind him, picking up a second copy of each book.
About five minutes later, Ron had accumulated all of Harry's new books and started looking for his sister and Hermione. He found them in the aisle between two fields of shelves. Since Harry was behind Ron and still between two rows of shelves, no one could see him when they were all in the aisle. Where Ron was standing, he was blocking Harry from moving out into the aisle.
"Great," Ginny said. "Those Hermione's?" she asked.
"Hermione's?" Ron asked, confused. "No, these are Harry's."
"Ron!" Ginny complained. "I told you to get Hermione's too. We were looking for her other books... you know, for her other classes... the ones you don't take? And we were looking for her parents too!"
"But, you said..." Ron spluttered.
"Where's Harry?" Ginny asked impatiently.
"Right here, behind Ron, between the shelves," Harry replied. When he turned around to look at Harry, Ron finally moved enough so that he was no longer blocking the way; Harry slipped through to join everyone in the aisle.
Before anyone could say anything, Harry handed Hermione the stack he'd been collecting. She added her Arithmancy and Ancient Runes books to them. Now in the aisle, he could see that Dan had rejoined them. He also noted that Dan's black eye was almost completely healed.
"Mum's in the back looking at Muggle Mathematics Through the Eyes of Wizards," Hermione explained when she saw Harry looking around.
"Thank you, Harry," Ginny said emphatically. "Nice to see one of you can follow instructions."
"Well, let's get these paid for so we can be on our way," Harry said, hoping to interrupt whatever might come next. Ron and Ginny then headed for the sales counter to pick up their books, with Harry and Hermione right behind them.
"Thanks," Hermione whispered to Harry as they followed the two youngest Weasleys.
"You're welcome," he whispered back with a wink.
Everyone had to wait in line for a few minutes to purchase their books. Dan moved to near the front door to look at a couple other books that caught his eye. Evidently Hogwarts letters had come out already for there were other students in the store buying their books as well. They must have come out very recently, however, since there were only a few students in so far.
While still in line, Harry's heart fell to his stomach when he heard a familiar voice drawl behind him.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the trash of wizarding world: Scarhead, the mudblood, and the weasels," Draco said, his voice filled with loathing, though he clearly seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Bet you enjoyed that today, Potter," Draco vented, "stealing my mother's rightful inheritance."
"The only thing I enjoyed about that," Harry retorted, "was watching you be escorted from the building." He watched for a moment as Draco stewed for a second or two. "You know, the thing I am most surprised about is the fact that I haven't once heard you threaten anyone with your usual 'Just wait until my father hears about this!'
"Tell me," Harry goaded him, "where is dear old Dad? Oh, that's right, he's in Azkaban. Funny how those things work out like that." Harry heard a couple snickers that he was sure came from Ron and Ginny. Draco's attention then turned to Harry's two red-headed friends.
With Draco's attention now on Ron and Ginny, Harry noticed that the wizard that Draco had to've walked by to get to them was in fact Dan. Since Dan was wearing wizards' robes and had been looking at a book, Draco must have paid no attention to him when he walked by him and not realized who it was. In fact, he doubted Draco even recognized Hermione's father in the first place.
"It's such a waste," Draco sneered as Dan approached him quietly from behind, listening, "that such a large pureblood family with such potential would stoop to levels like this," he said as he waved his hand towards Harry and Hermione. He then took a half step forward and made a show of smelling the air.
"For the love of Merlin, you even reek of your friends, Potter!" Draco said with a look of revolt. "Just some pampered half-blood prince with his pet mudblood and trained rodents.
"What're you smirking at?" Draco spat at Hermione. With Dan now directly behind Draco, Hermione made no attempt to reply. "I asked you a question, mudblood! Maybe you need some obedience training." He then quickly pulled his wand and pointed it at Hermione.
Before anyone could react, Dan immediately put his hand on Draco's shoulder; his face immediately screwed up in extreme pain. Draco's grip on his wand immediately loosened and his arm dropped slightly. Harry couldn't really see what Dan was doing, but if anything, it looked like he was pressing his fingers into Draco's shoulder.
"Listen carefully, you twitchy little ferret," Dan breathed dangerously. "I may just be a Muggle, but I will defend my daughter with every ounce of strength in my being." Draco winced again. "If I ever hear you insult her again, or any of her friends, I will show you exactly what us Muggles are capable of, even without magic."
Harry saw Dan's fingers move slightly. An even greater stab of pain appeared on Draco's face as his arm fell and he dropped his wand.
"Do I make myself clear?" Dan asked. Though Draco refused to speak, he did at least nod. "Harry, please hand this young man back his wand. I do think he's ready to leave."
"Accio wand," Harry called as he pointed his wand at Draco's, instead of kneeling down to pick it up. Though Dan's hand was still firmly attached to Draco's shoulder, Harry didn't trust himenough to put his head within reach of Draco's foot.
He was also pleased to see a flicker of surprise appear on the young Slytherin's face at his use of magic away from school. For all of Draco's blustering, Harry would have been truly surprised if he'd actually attempted to do anything that would've violated the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, especially with the recent change in administration.
Harry turned his head slightly towards Hermione. She, Ron, and Ginny all drew their wands, but kept them lowered at the ready. Truth be told, Harry was pretty certain that holding a stack of books under their other arms would not enhance their abilities to cast spells.
He hoped however that Draco was in too much pain and too scared of the Muggle causing said pain to think that far ahead. His hopes were confirmed when Draco glanced anxiously at Ginny's wand. Harry really wished he could've been there when she hexed him the previous school year.
Draco's wand in hand, Harry looked back at Dan, who nodded. Harry returned Draco's wand to him, business end first (so that if he wanted to try something, he'd need an extra second to turn it around and grab the handle).
"Good day, Mr. Malfoy," Dan said sweetly and then released the Slytherin. Draco immediately spun on his heel and made a beeline for the door in as most a dignified manner as he could (but also as quickly as he could without actually running).
Right before heading out the door, Draco turned around for a moment to try to get a look at Dan's face, but unfortunately Dan's back was to him. Draco then cast them all the most deadly glare he could manage (which no one really found particularly threatening at the moment) before finally leaving and sulking back towards The Leaky Cauldron.
The half-dozen or so other Hogwarts students in the store (none Slytherin, obviously) let out a small cheer once Draco was gone and then turned back to their own business. After the three of them re-pocketed their wands, Ron turned to look at Harry incredulously.
"Do mine ears deceive me?" he asked.
"Doth mine," Hermione corrected. "Doth mine."
"What?" Ron asked.
"Never mind," she replied with a sigh.
"Can you believe it? Malfoy actually called us your friends. Didn't think the git knew what the word meant," Ron said in amazement.
Harry suddenly recalled what the label of his cologne said. Something about how people who disliked him being angered by it since it reminded them of what he had but they didn't.
"Maybe he doesn't," Harry mused aloud, getting all of their attentions. "It's the cologne Ginny gave me for my birthday," he tried to explain.
"You gave him cologne?" Ron asked Ginny, shocked.
"Well... yeah..." Ginny replied, slightly embarrassed.
"So that's what I've been smelling," Ron said suddenly, forgetting about Ginny as he put the two together. "That's so cool, Harry! I didn't know they made Quidditch cologne. I can't explain it, but you smell like Quidditch. Wicked!"
A look of recognition then appeared on Hermione's face. "So that's what we smelled when we got in the car this morning. I could smell the field. I just figured it was the cool morning air carrying the smell of the lawns over from King George's Park."
"Actually, now that I think about it, it smelled more like a broom and a polishing kit," Ron replied, slightly confused.
"Erm... no actually... it wasn't a Quidditch cologne," Harry said sheepishly, afraid to tell Ron what it really was. After explaining all about Exactly YOU Cologne, Ron and Hermione both looked terrified, Ginny appeared quite pleased (since he'd actually used her gift), and Dan just looked plain confused.
"It's just inspired by a love potion, Ron," Harry tried to explain. "It makes you smell whatever you associate with me... it doesn't make you fancy me." He quickly glanced at Hermione then looked back to Ron; she still looked slightly uneasy about it.
"Trust me, if someone did give me a love potion, I certainly wouldn't use it on you, Ron," he said with smirk. Ron looked relieved. Harry then looked back to Hermione and saw her worried look disappear as she recalled Harry's suspicions about Fred and George's testing procedures.
"So then you think Malfoy smelled the cologne..." she started.
"... and then thought of my friends... you guys. Maybe it made him mad because he doesn't know what friendship means," Harry finished. "I mean, honestly. Do you really think Crabbe and Goyle are his friends? Or do you think they just hang around him because they're afraid of him, because he's Lucius's son?"
Hermione began to laugh. "Oh, Harry. I knew exactly what you meant, but the words just don't make any sense at all do they? They hang around him because they're afraid of him."
"Yes, yes. Make fun of my grammar why don't you?" Harry retorted.
As they all thought about it, Ginny turned to Dan. "What did you do to him anyway, Mr. Granger?" she asked.
A slight smile appeared on Dan's face. "You kids know what pressure points are?" he asked. Harry, Ron, and Ginny shook their heads. "Well, now you do. A little Muggle self defense technique," he explained.
Once they'd all reassembled, the small expedition began to head down Diagon Alley, back towards Madam Malkin's. Along the way, Harry remembered something.
"Hermione?" he asked. "Why were you smirking when Malfoy was talking?"
"Oh, yeah. That. Well, he called you a prince. When he did... I... uh..." she stuttered, sounding as though she was embarrassed, "it, uh, made me think about my, ahem, about that T-shirt. My Prince Harry T-shirt," she clarified, then quickly sped up to walk next to her mother. When he realized he'd stopped walking, Harry had to jog for a moment to catch up to everyone else.
A/N: Saving the BEST for last, AGAIN. Here is are several more photo-manips made by Evernight. If you visit the galleries often, then you've probably already seen them. But if not, here they are. Please, leave a kind word if you like them.
I love them all, but these two by far are my favorites. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, I know for a fact that isn't enough because these two are certainly worth the over 18,000 words combined from these chapters.
Scene from Chapter 6. (I know I shouldn't play favorites, but, hey, I got to pick the font!)