Author's Note: Thanks for all the great reviews.
Chapter 7 - Hogsmeade
Harry took a shower, got dressed and went down the stairs. Ron, Seamus, Dean, and even Ginny were giving him looks of betrayal. He rolled his eyes and went through the portrait hole to meet Hermione.
He met Draco waiting outside for Blaise. Draco held out his hand and Harry shook it. Ron happened to pass by and stopped dead in his tracks. Draco jerked his head towards him.
"Is there a problem Weasley?" Harry asked coldly. Ron shook his head and mumbled an obscenity at the two of them. Draco was about to go after him but Harry held him back. Ron shook his head and went inside the Great Hall.
"Asshole," Draco muttered. Harry nodded in agreement.
"Potter, I am giving you the honor of sitting with us at the Slytherin table. And if you should refuse, I'm afraid I'm going tell Hermione that you masturbate while watching the Teletubbies." Harry shook his head in amusement. He was beginning to like being friends with Draco Malfoy.
"I can't let Hermione know that, so I accept your invitation," Harry said in good humor.
"Besides, Hermione wants you to meet Kristle and Jacqui." Harry gulped. The Law twins? He'd heard even worse things about those two. They tortured Neville more then Snape did.
Blaise, Hermione, and the Law twins were known as the Untouchable Four. Although he'd never been short on admirers, those four surpassed everyone. The entire male population at Hogwarts wanted to date them, and every girl hated them, though they secretly wanted to be them.
About five minutes later, Hermione and Blaise approached them. Harry looked at Hermione and noticed she had the same look on her face as the night before.
"Hermione, what is the matter?" Harry asked as he went to kiss her, but she moved when he was close and he ended up getting a mouth full of hair.
"Nothing, nothing at all," she said in a snobby tone.
"Hey sis," Draco said.
"Oh, hi Draco," she said and proceeded to talk with Blaise as if Harry wasn't there.
"What the matter with Hermione?" Harry asked Draco.
Draco rolled his eyes and whispered back in his ear, "Sex, or that lack thereof." Harry's eyes widened.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not going to lie Potter. My sister has never had a relationship that didn't involve a tumble in the sheets. She likes sex, so you better stand up, or get ready to be shipped." Harry didn't notice Draco's quiet laughter. He looked at Hermione. Would she really dump him if he didn't sleep with her? Hermione finally turned to him and their gazes locked. Hermione shook her head and smiled a soft smile at him. Harry smiled goofily. He already knew his answer. He went over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist so her back was toward his chest.
"It's okay Harry," she whispered. He nuzzled her neck and sighed in contentment.
"Let's go to breakfast," Harry suggested.
"Yes, lets. I'm starving," Hermione agreed
The couples split up as Draco talked to Harry about Quidditch and Hermione and Blaise talked about Jacqui's fling of the week. As they entered the Great Hall, Hermione turned around gave Harry a kiss.
"See you after breakfast," she said sweetly.
"Sweetie, I'm not going anywhere," he said playfully.
"Aren't you going to sit at the Gryffindor table?" she asked in a confused voice.
"No, Draco invited me to sit with you guys today - if you don't mind of course," he added hesitantly. So far, they've hadn't had any problems by themselves, but with other Slytherins…he wasn't sure she would want him to meet her friends.
Hermione glanced at Draco and gave him a look. He gave her a smirk and she turned to Harry.
"Of course! Why would I mind? After all you are my boyfriend."
Hermione led Harry to the Slytherin table. Every Gryffindor glanced at Harry in shock. He turned to Ron who practically had steam coming out of his ears. Harry gave him a cold look and turned to Hermione who was smiling at all the girls who had given her jealous looks. Hermione sat down first. Harry looked around. Everybody was staring at him. He took his seat and the whole room gasped. He saw Ron jump out of his seat but Dean pulled him back down.
Harry turned around and saw that most of the Slytherin students were whispering about him and giving him dirty looks. He just ignored it turned to Hermione who introduced him to her best friends.
"Harry, this is Kristle and Jacqui Law. Girls, this is Harry." They nodded. The air around them was tense before Kristle decided to break the ice. She held out her hand and Hermione held her breath. Everyone stared at them and waited, for what they didn't know. Even the teachers were looking on with anticipation. The Gryffindors were silently hoping that Harry wouldn't take her hand. But he smiled and took it. The room broke out into chatter and Hermione let it out great sigh of relief.
"It's nice to meet you Potter," Blaise nudged Kristle's side, "I mean, it's nice to meet you Harry." With that, everyone fell into conversation. Harry didn't know that the Slytherins could be so funny, especially the Untouchable Four. Harry discovered that Kristle and Jacqui were totally different. Jacqui was flirty and playful. Kristle was also like this but it seemed as though she made fun of people more, which Harry thought was hilarious.
Harry liked sitting at the Slytherin table. Sure, some of the prats were slimy gits, but most of them were just like everybody else. A lot of kids went through stuff that no one could even think about. These people knew what its like to live in fear, like Harry. It was a bit different, but he felt as though he could relate. By the end of the week, a lot the Hermione's friends started to accept Harry.
Before anyone knew it, the first Hogsmeade trip had come. Hermione was in her room trying to find the perfect outfit. She owled her mum three weeks earlier and her mother sent her about thirty different outfits. After discarding twenty-seven of them, she found the one that would fit perfectly for her date with Harry. It was a pair of blue designer jeans, a pink and blue striped Rugby shirt and girl Dockers (a typical preppy outfit). She let her hair loose and put on some Muggle perfume. She didn't really care for Muggle things, but it smelled good. She looked at herself in the mirror and said, "Damn Hermione, you look good." She smirked when the mirror agreed with her. She put on designer robes and walked out.
Hermione went to meet Draco, who was wearing a pair of Ralph Lauren jeans, a blue Ralph Lauren polo shirt, and some Timberlands.
"Wow, Hermione you look great. Harry will love you," Draco said.
"You don't have tell me twice," she responded cheekily.
"You conceited snob." He chuckled.
"I will take that as a compliment. You don't look half bad yourself."
"Of course I don't, I'm a Malfoy. We always look good," He said with a smirk on his face.
"That's true," she said and they both laughed.
"Come on sis, we have people waiting for us."
"Just a spoon full of sugar, helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down, medicine go down, just a spoon full of sugar helps medicine down, each every delightful way," Draco sang. Hermione shook her head, hoping that he wouldn't start skipping.
"You really have to stop seeing Mary Poppins, Draco. It's going to ruin our reputation," Hermione said with a giggle.
"Well I shouldn't worry about it because no one is going to find out that it's my favorite movie because you're not going to tell anybody, right?" Draco said, raising an eyebrow.
"Right. Even though I enjoy embarrassing you, I couldn't do that. So don't worry - your secret is safe with me."
"It's better be," Draco grumbled as Hermione stifled a laugh.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry had been waiting outside for about thirty minutes. Blaise came out of the portrait hole wearing a long designer jean shirt, a blue and red rugby shirt, and some black high-heeled sandals. She left her hair down as well.
"Wow! You look great," Harry said and gave her a quick hug.
"Thanks Potter. You look quite handsome yourself," Blaise complimented.
Harry had wanted to wear some of his skater clothes, but decided to wear something more formal. He wore dark blue Calvin Klein jeans, a green polo shirt that brought out his eyes and Timberlands.
Draco and Hermione came out of the portrait hole laughing. They both saw Harry and Blaise talking and Draco quickly commented, "Potter, I hope you weren't putting the moves on my girlfriend."
"Oh no! Blaise they found out about us," Harry said playing along.
"Well, I guess I am going to have to choose between you or Draco," Blaise said putting a finger to her chin, "And I pick Draco. Sorry Harry, but there's just something about bad boys that I find extremely sexy."
"Oh I understand. Besides, I am in love with someone else," Harry said seriously as he walked toward Hermione.
"You love me?" she asked, unsure. No one has ever said that to her before, at least, not when they were standing.
"Yeah I do," Harry said looking in her eyes.
"I love you too Harry," she whispered and lifted her head to kiss him. Their lips met and they both fell into the kiss.
"Ugh, I think I'm gong to be sick. The last thing I want to see is my sister snog with Potter," Draco said with a disgusted look on his face.
"Shut up Malfoy. I'm busy," Harry said as he continued to kiss Hermione. Their tongues met with such urgency that Harry was beginning to question his earlier decision. Draco couldn't take any more of this.
"Alright, Alright, break it up you two," Draco said in a disgust tone.
They broke the kiss and Harry leaned his forehead against hers in an effort to calm his breaths. As Draco looked on, he couldn't help the lump that was slowly rising in his throat. He saw Harry and Hermione look into each other's eyes and smile.
"Well we should be going now," Draco suggested softly, not wanting to interrupt their moment.
"Yeah, right we should get going," Harry said slipping his arm around her shoulder. Her arm snaked its way around his waist and she leaned against him. The four went in front of the school and got into a carriage.
"Hermione, where are Kristle and Jacqui? I thought you said they were coming." Harry asked, noticing that the twins, who were always with them, were not present. Hermione shrugged.
"Jacqui is with Jimmy and Kristle is having a 'study' date with Jason."
Harry and Draco got involved in a deep conversation about Quidditch and made plans to go to the World Quidditch Cup this coming summer. Hermione and Blaise rolled their eyes and whined about Quidditch. They arrived at Hogsmeade and made their way to Jaxson's, an expensive, laid back restaurant. When they arrived, they found out that even though they made reservations, they'd still have to wait.
"What do you mean we have to wait?" Harry snapped at the waiter.
"Do you know who we are?" Draco asked with superiority.
"I am sorry sir, but we are full this afternoon and you are going to have to wait," the host said, his gaze flicking towards Harry's forehead.
"Why do we have to wait? We made reservation five weeks ago!" Harry said in a snobbish tone.
"You did?" the host asked in a confused voice.
"Yes, we did," Draco said vehemently.
"Well, let me check." The host checked the reservation book and turned a bit pink. "Ah yes, are you under the name Potter and Malfoy?"
"Yes we are!" Harry said.
"Please follow me," the host said.
The host took them to the nicest part of the restaurant. Draco and Harry pulled out their girlfriends' chairs and seated themselves.
"Here are your menus, what would you like to drink?" the host asked.
"I would like tea with a slice of lemon. Make sure the slice is at the left and not the right and a straw too, and make sure the straw bends at the top, with only 2 cubes of ice. Now can you manage that or do I have to write it down?" Hermione said in an arrogant tone.
"No ma'am. And for you ma'am?" the host asked Blaise, getting slightly uncomfortable.
"I will have the same but I will have my lemon to the right and 3 cubes of ice," Blaise said snobbishly.
"For you two gentlemen?" the host asked Draco and Harry.
"I will have a butterbeer," Harry said.
"Make that two."
"Oh yes, and I would like to see you manager," Harry added.
"Why sir?" the host asked, getting afraid that he was about to be fired.
"I would like to tell them that this is the worse service I have ever had." The three nodded their agreement.
"Well… would it help if we gave you your meal for free?"
"Yes, it would," Harry paused, "but I still want to talk to your manager."
"Yes sir, will you excuse me?" the host asked as he scurried away.
"Could you believe the service here? Its like they don't even notice who we are." Draco said angrily.
"Let's just forget about it and try to have a good lunch." Hermione said and put her hand over Harry's.
~*~*~*~*
The four students about everything they could possibly think of. They all enjoyed themselves. They were so stuffed. They had the most delicious food.
A familiar man with red hair came over and asked, "Excuse me sir, you wanted a word with me?"
"Well it about bloody time," Harry said in a condescending tone.
"Sorry sir," the young man said. His voice sounds so familiar… Harry looked up and saw Fred Weasley.
"Fred! What are you doing here?" Harry asked, shocked.
"Well isn't it obvious Harry? Weasleys' finally found out what they're good at," Draco said with grin on his face.
"What's that Draco?" said Blaise asked with a smirk on her face as well.
"Serving people," Draco said and they all started laughing, including Harry.
Fred was so embarrassed because everybody in the restaurant was staring at him. He wanted to punch that smile off Draco face, but something else caught his eye. It was Harry laughing along with Draco, Blaise and Hermione.
"Well Weasley, I was talking to my mom the other day and she was looking for some more help. Should I tell her that you would give her a ring?" Hermione said with a grin and patted him on the arm.
"Harry, why are you laughing? Aren't we mates?" Fred asked puzzled.
"Well ever since your prat of a brother called the love of my life a slut, I have decided I no longer wanted to associate with any Weasley of any kind," Harry said snootily.
"Who is the love of your life? I hope you don't mean that slut over there," Fred said pointing at Hermione. Hermione gave Fred a scowl and was about to insult him, but Draco and Harry beat her to it.
Harry pushed his chair back and punched Fred in the face. Fred fell over, hitting the table that was behind him and laid there in shock. The other host came to check if he was okay.
"If you ever insult my girlfriend again, I'll kill you myself," Harry threatened. He turned to his friends. "Hermione, Draco, Blaise let's get out of here."
They all got up and Hermione grabbed her drink and threw it in Fred's face.
"Don't you ever insult me again!" she exclaimed and gave him a revolting look.
As they left the restaurant, Harry could hear Fred yelling at him.
"Harry Potter, you're a traitor!"
~*~*~*~*~*
After that event Harry, Hermione, Draco, Blaise walked around the town.
"Blaise, look! It's that dress I was telling you about! Hey Harry, can you buy me that dress?" Hermione asked batting her eyelashes.
"Sure, here you can you my magic card (A/N: a credit card in the wizarding world). Buy whatever you want." Harry he handed her his card. She grabbed it but he wouldn't let go.
"Harry let go of it," Hermione said playfully.
"What will you give me for it?" Harry asked with a smirk on his face.
"Oh, well I can't give it to you here," she said and whispered in his ear. Harry went red from her comment.
"Here Blaise, you could use mine," Draco said and handed her his card.
"Thank you sweetie," Blaise said and gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Oh okay," Harry finally gave in, "can I have a kiss for right now?" Hermione leaned in and gave him a soft sweet kiss. He released the card and the girls ran into the store.
"What did you tell Harry?" Blaise asked.
"That's for me to know and him to find out," she said with a smirk on her face and both of them began to giggle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hey Harry, do you think that we should give girls their gifts right now?" Draco suggested.
"Um…no," Harry said very unsure.
"No? Why not? Its the perfect time," Draco said in a confused voice.
"I want to give it to her, but not at Hogsmeade. In the carriage."
"Maybe you're right. It does seem a little more romantic," Draco agreed.
"You know Draco, if I would have known you were really like this, I would have been friends with you instead of that Weasley."
"Hey, I offered you my friendship," Draco said. Harry nodded and Draco pat his back to show that there were no bad feelings.
~*~*~*~*~*
"Great gods Hermione, you look great," Blaise said, as she looked at Hermione.
"I know. I look really good in this dress," Hermione said as she looked at herself in the mirror in admiration. She snapped her fingers and the saleswoman came.
"I will take this one as well," Hermione said.
"I will also take this outfit," Blaise said.
"Um, where is your sleeping wear?" Blaise asked as she winked at Hermione.
"We don't have sleepwear in stock. If you go to the store next door, you will find what you need," the saleswomen said.
"Great. Hermione are you done here?" Blaise asked.
"Yeah, can you also take this outfit as well?"
"I'll ring it up," the saleswomen said as she took the pile of clothes to the register. "The total comes out to 300 galleons," the saleswomen announced
"Here you go." Hermione said as she handed the woman Harry's magic card.
"Thank you for shopping Fashion Bug," the saleswomen said as she handed Hermione her bags. "Next."
Blaise laid her pile of clothes on the counter. "That will 260 galleons, please." Blaise handed the saleswoman Draco's card and they left the store with seven bags full of clothes - each. They went to the Sleepy Wear store. Blaise got what she needed. She bought a green silk nightgown that went only to her knees. Hermione also bought a present for Harry - a black silk nightgown.
Harry and Draco came out of Honeydukes with bags as well. Draco and Harry were amazed at the amount of bags the girls had in their hands. Harry turned to Draco and said, "Isn't it amazing how much women can buy in an hour?"
"Oh you haven't seen anything yet. I grew up with two women and they bought over 1000 galleons worth of clothes in under an hour, at one store!" Draco said laughing.
"Hello love," Harry said and gave her a little peck on her cheek.
"Hello."
"Let help you with those," Harry said and grabbed the bags out her hands.
"Hello sweetheart," Draco said as he kissed Blaise.
"Hi, baby."
"Here, let a gentleman carry those for you," Draco said and took the bags out of her hands.
"Damn Hermione, you said you were going to buy a dress not the entire store," Draco said when he glanced at Harry's arm.
"No, it okay really. If it makes Hermione happy then I have no problem with that. All I want is to see Hermione happy even if I have to carry a million bags." Harry smiled at her.
"See Draco, and you thought he wouldn't be good for me," Hermione said as she clung on to Harry's arm.
"I was wrong," Draco said
"Stop the presses. For the first time ever, Draco Malfoy told someone he was wrong!" Hermione clamped a hand over her heart.
"And it will be the last time," Draco said and gave her the signature Malfoy grin.
They boarded the carriage and headed back to Hogwarts. Draco smirked at Harry and he automatically knew it was "the signal."
They were going to give the girls their gifts.