A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed the first chapter; I was very nervous posting this because you never think your own work is very good. I am glad you like it! I will try to respond to any thoughts/questions/comments asked about this story! I have about 40 chapters of this…it took awhile to get approved with the contest and all, so I should update almost every day! Also, this chapter was written before HBP told us about the Apparation tests, so any reference I make to how they do it or test for their license, is made up---as you can tell if you read HBP!
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Hermione meets Dudley
Harry was showered but still so hot, (He could not wait until he could cast a cooling charm!) so he sat in bed eating a snack in just his shorts. With his free hand he scribbled a note back to Hermione. She had come up with the brilliant idea of end of the year gifts, which probably just an excuse to get Ron ANOTHER homework planner since his had mysteriously burst into flames.
Hermione,
I love the shirt and figured that it changed according to who saw it…I will wear it today! And, feel free to pop in anytime. I was so bored today I actually went into a bookstore, which reminded me of you…saw a box of magic tricks there, which made me think of Ron. My birthday can't come soon enough then I can apparate myself just about anywhere! See you soon???
Love, Harry
Harry chuckled to himself at the look of surprise she would have about him anywhere near books, voluntarily. And, if he knew Hermione, she would be over in a few hours. He felt oddly pleased that she would probably visit. Harry gave Hedwig a treat and while she nibbled at it, tied the note to her leg.
He peered out the window and waited until his neighbor's car had backed out and gone up the street before he told Hedwig to go to Hermione. He turned back to his desk and popped in a CD…this was his favorite Muggle invention and he found that music soothed him whenever he felt stressed or just needed to relax and clear his mind. He stretched out on the bed, took off his glasses and set them on the shelf next to his wand. It was so warm and the air was so still…a nap would feel great he thought to himself. The house was quiet and Harry figured that the Dursleys had probably gone to one or two movies, just to sit in the A/C.
Out of habit, Harry tried clearing his mind and his jumbled thoughts of Voldemort, Ron's first horribly gone bad apparition at school last year, Hermione…finally with the thoughts of Hermione leaning into him, he slept.
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Harry was so sound asleep he didn't hear the distinctive pop of someone apparating into his room. His CD player was still going, which helped mask the noise.
Hermione did a mental pat on the back for her first successful out-of-Hogwarts Apparation. She did it…her ears were in the right place (unlike Ron's had been his first time!) she was still wearing clothes (unlike Seamus' first time; she never saw anyone duck behind a door faster!) and she was in the right place. It was late afternoon and the sun had begun setting behind the house, but she could still see Harry asleep on the bed.
Her heart jumped in her chest. They had never really mentioned what had happened in the Astronomy Tower again, and she marveled a little in the fact that she and Harry had a secret. He said he hadn't told Ron anything, just that she had needed to talk about the up and coming fight of the century.
She walked over to the bed and gazed down at her friend. He was sleeping on his back, one arm thrown above his head, not far from the shelf where he kept his wand. She let her gaze travel from his relaxed face down his chest, thinking about how much he had grown the past year. Playing Quidditch had toned him up…or maybe he was always so muscular? She never saw him without his Hogwarts uniform or casual clothes. She felt her face begin to flush as she realized she was staring at his stomach.
How could she wake him without him jumping up and reaching for his wand and muttering the first spell that hit his blank mind? Slowly would be the best bet. The loud POP of her apparating into his room hadn't seemed to do it. So, Hermione sat down on the edge of his narrow bed and reached out to touch his arm. She lightly traced his shoulder then gave him a soft jab.
"Harry", she whispered.
Nothing.
She laid her hand on his shoulder, feeling the muscle twitch underneath and gave him a little shake.
Suddenly his left arm flew down and caught her hand. Just like catching the snitch, she thought, as his hand closed around hers. For a minute he just lay there and as he began to notice another person in the room he opened his eyes to someone setting his glasses on his face.
"Can you let go of my hand? You're hurting me," Hermione smiled at him and he released it. He had the confusion of someone who had just taken a power nap. He propped himself up on his elbows as his brain started to think again.
He pushed his glasses up his nose and gave her a lazy smile, "Hey stranger, you didn't encounter any problems on the way over?" He scooted up so he was sitting with his back against the wall. Hermione shook her head.
"My ears are fine, I am dressed," she gestured down to her white sundress, "and I have all my hair." Harry laughed at the memory of Draco apparating into an abandoned store at Hogsmeade, totally bald. How glad Harry had been that he didn't have to do the test that day. It sure was fun watching and now he knew what not do! He was waiting until he was 17 to take his test then get his license, since he was one of the younger students and didn't turn 17 during the last year.
"Where is everyone?" Hermione asked, shifting slightly on the bed so she was facing him. She saw his eye flicker down her dress to her sandaled feet then back up to her eyes. Typical Harry, taking everything in, or was he actually impressed she was in a dress?
"I have no idea where they are…cinema probably." He let his gaze rest on her shoulders for a minute, not quite believing that she was here, looking like a girl! He nudged her with his elbow and they both stood up. He grabbed the Quidditch shirt she had given him that was laid across the back of his chair. As he turned to face her, he heard the front door open and close. Hermione looked up at him.
"I guess I get to meet your aunt and uncle formally now?" she asked him, tucking a piece of her brown hair behind her ear. Harry nodded, silently cursing the timing. He didn't really want to face them with Hermione.
"Dudley will probably be rude and make some type of crude comment so brace yourself," Harry warned her, grabbing his wallet. He opened the door to his room for her and started to walk down the hall to the stairway.
"BOY!" Uncle Vernon yelled for him, and the three of them nearly collided as Harry and Hermione came down the stairs. Uncle Vernon's eyes bulged out of his head.
"W--What? A girl? You had a girl in your room when we were gone?" he roared and Aunt Petunia, who was in the living room put her hand to her mouth.
"She just arrived and we are going out."
Harry made sure Hermione stood behind him but he could feel her stiffening and trying hard not to say anything.
"Harry has a girrrllllfriend," Dudley sneered in a singsong voice. He liked to think that he was God's gift to women. He had slimmed down and was very well built as he was boxing still but his attitude had a lot to be desired.
"Does she have a name?" Dudley asked in a syrupy voice as they came down the stairs.
Uncle Vernon spluttered some nonsense and went to stand next to Petunia, hoping she would back him up on the charge they, Boy and Girl, had been in the house ALONE.
"My name is Hermione Granger and I go to Hogwarts also. I know who you are," she said coolly as she stepped out from behind Harry. Dudley looked her up and down. Uncle Vernon had made a grunting noise as the word "Hogwarts" came out of her mouth.
"They let in girls as pretty as you?" his eyes rested on her slim legs. Harry noticed it and resisted the urge to shield her from Dudley's disgusting gaze.
Hermione smiled her sweetest smile at him and took one step towards him. Dudley's eyes widened a bit and he looked at her.
"Hogwarts only lets in the best WITCHES," enjoying how he flinched, "and Wizards and trains them to be even better, so yes I 'got in,'" Hermione told him, enjoying how he took a step back (when he got over his hormones and his brain realized that this wasn't a Muggle girl…this was a witch). Dudley stared at her, lost for words. Then he frowned at the thought that Harry had something that he didn't even have, a pretty girl standing next to him.
"What are you doing in our house?" Uncle Vernon demanded. "No, don't tell me. Both of you go…GO!…and don't come back here with…," Uncle Vernon was hopping mad and his face was getting redder as he pointed a shaking finger at Hermione, "that girl!"
Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her out of the house. Hermione turned around and gave a little wave to Dudley who was staring openly at her. Not sure what to think. Harry? A girlfriend? And a pretty one at that? Not possible.
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Harry and Hermione laughed as they walked down Privet Drive.
"Oh my gosh, that was so classic, Hermione," Harry let go of her hand and turned to walk backwards towards Mrs. Figg's house.
"That look on Dudley's face was worth every galleon I have!"
"Thanks! I have been waiting to say that to him from the first year we were at Hogwarts! What a git." She laughed.
"Your Aunt and Uncle are something else." She gave a little hop around a dog's deposit on the sidewalk. "Your uncle sure doesn't want you to be happy does he?"
"No, he tries to make it miserable for me. But, all I need to do is remind him that in about three weeks I can do magic and not get expelled for it, that usually shuts him up." Harry replied. "It's Aunt Petunia I am wondering about. She has been very quiet. There are occasional chores she wants me to do, but other than that….nothing." Harry stopped in front of Mrs. Figg's house.
"But, let's not talk about them. You are here, it's summer so let's go out and do something!"
"Ok, what do you want to do?" Hermione looked up at him. He was smiling, his green eyes shining behind his glasses. She hadn't seen him this happy in a long time. She felt such happiness that Voldemort was gone and Harry had finally defeated him. She tried not to let herself think of those last terrifying moments when Harry had faced him, head on with the whole school watching (from the safety of the school of course). She shook her head a bit to remove that image; Harry, all scratched and bruised and Voldemort laughing his mirthless laugh.
"Dinner?" he said, realizing he was pretty hungry.
"Ok…my treat!" Hermione said forcefully. He knew better than to argue with her so he agreed, hoping he could at least pay for half when the bill arrived.
They walked towards the bus stop as he went through a list of restaurants he knew of in the next town. Eventually they agreed on one, and that is when it hit Harry so hard, he almost walked off the sidewalk
Was this a date? He had never really gone out to a meal with a girl before. Well, there was tea with Cho, but that went horribly wrong. Then, last year, Lavender tried to ask him out but he was so afraid of everything going horribly wrong, he kept saying no, he was busy with practice, or school work, or just about anything else he could think of.
Now here he was with "just Hermione"… and she was in a dress! But it was still Hermione…with her hair pulled back into a clip. Good lord, why was he nervous? Something happened up on that tower with that kiss and he couldn't accept the fact that right now, he could be falling for her.
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They made some small talk on the bus. Watching her talk and tell of her vacation with her parents, he wondered how much of that emotional Hermione was left. She hadn't mentioned their kiss at all. She hadn't said anything about Voldemort or their up and coming NEWTs the following year. It was just the two of them now. There was no Ron to ease the tension with a joke. There wasn't any class they could talk about or anybody around, except the Dursley's to complain about. He was going to have to make ACTUAL conversation!
The bus let them off a few blocks from the restaurant. As it was a Saturday night, the place was busy and Harry was told it would be about a 15 minute wait. They both sat down on a bench squeezed between the wall and a rather large pregnant woman.
Harry could feel Hermione's leg pressed against his bare ones and wondered why he noticed all of a sudden. Was he falling for her? The need to protect her was still there after everything that had happened at school. He still remembered the kiss they shared, but never got the chance to talk about and his brain realized it hadn't felt this way in a long time, but these feelings were for someone he thought was "untouchable". He could feel his brain pushing the feelings back, but could feel the rest of him falling for her!
"Is this weird?" Hermione asked softly, turning slightly so she was angled in the corner. Now their knees were touching.
"Us…without anyone from school?" she looked at him and he looked down at her in surprise, half relieved she brought it up first. Both of them had their hands on their own knees. He noticed that their pinkies were touching and just that small touch was comforting and strange at the same time.
"Yeah, to say the least," he agreed.
"Why?" she asked and Harry just shrugged.
"Because Ron isn't here?" she pushed a little harder. She always had to have an answer and Harry was stalling, trying to think of one that wouldn't upset her.
"Partly, and because we are out in public," he said, emphasizing public so she would get the hint, and being Hermione she did.
"And partly because we are out of school. There is no one here that we know," Hermione continued his thoughts for him.
"Yeah, we could be anything from brother to sister to boyfriend/girlfriend as far as the public here is concerned," Harry answered and he saw her nod in agreement. He decided to go a little further. He leaned down and whispered in her ear.
"And, please don't take this the wrong way, but it's weird to see guys looking at you in that way."
"What? Come on…!" Hermione turned to him, whispering back.
"Really. At school, everyone views you as the smart one, the book-up-to-her-nose-all-the-time-girl, the one who hangs out with Harry and Ron. Here, I see guys looking at you in a totally different way, and well, it's…strange…for me to see… that…here…," he finished lamely moving his eyes away from hers.
"They are not 'checking me out' Harry. But, don't think I haven't noticed the way girls are looking at you. That one with the long blond hair, the one at the hostess stand wanted to jump you the minute she saw you!" Hermione hissed at him. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Come on. No one knows me. I have never been here. You are just trying to embarrass me aren't you? But," he grinned at her and winked. "If it did happen, did that bother you?" Harry asked trying to lighten the mood, but instead saw her blush and look away.
"No, just strange. I just never expected to see a Muggle girl look at you in that way I guess," she murmured. Harry looked at her in surprise. What did she mean by that? He would never figure out girls, especially Hermione.
They both jumped when they heard "Potter" being announced from the hostess stand. Harry followed the hostess and Hermione to a table in the back, near a window overlooking the lake that was behind the restaurant.
"I guess you know now what Ron and I felt like, especially Ron, when we saw you with Viktor at the Yule ball two years ago," Harry opened his menu and pretended to study the listings of food in front of him.
"I thought Ron was going to kill me. 'Fraternizing with the enemy' indeed." Hermione sniffed. "We are just friends. Can't a girl and guy be just friends?" she asked, not daring to look up from her menu.
Harry paused in his answer. Up until now, he thought the answer was 'sure, why not?' But when you spent every day, ten months out of a year with a girl and saved her life a few times, had your life saved a few times…and then shared a nice snog under the stars, hormones in overdrive on both sides, there was bound to be some type of relationship that was a step above 'just friends' wasn't there?
"Maybe," was all Harry could say and he knew Hermione agreed because for once, she didn't press him for a more detailed answer.
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