The Scariest Halloween Ever;
Summary- Harry's Halloweens have almost always contained some amount of excitement. He's destroyed dark lords, battled mountain trolls, attended deathday parties, encountered a mass murderer, been chosen to represent the school in a dangerous battle, ect, ect. But after Voldemort's long gone, and Harry's left school, he encounters something much more terrifying than anything he's faced before; romance.
THIS IS NOT MEANT TO OFFEND ANYONE, AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED OFFENDING! IF YOU DO TAKE OFFENSE, I APPOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE!
Disclaimer- I don't own it, but if I did, I'd be rich.
He could handle a duel to the death. He didn't mind battling the every-day dark wizard once in a while, and mountain trolls, giants, vampires and mass-murderers had become no problem.
But Harry had no idea how to deal with women.
He'd just proven this earlier, in his latest attempt to date. The evening had started off well enough, and Linda had seemed nice, smart, and sophisticated. She was beautiful, charmed by him, (or at least, the idea of him) and kind.
But the awkward silence that had gone through half of the dinner had been nearly suffocating.
"I just don't get it, Hermione! I mean, these women are beautiful! They're perfect, and I keep brushing them off for no real reason!"
Hermione sighed and set down her glass of pumpkin juice on a coaster, then lifted Harry's glass to put a coaster under his drink as well. The reproachful look he directed at her because of it left her bristling. "Well, I don't want rings on the tables." She muttered, then sunk down on the couch next to him. The trick-or-treaters were done and the candy she had left over sat in the large bowl she'd been handing it out from on the coffee table in front of the couch, and Harry helped himself to a few wrapped chocolates.
"Maybe that's why you don't like them." She said thoughtfully, turning down the candy he offered her.
"What?"
"Well, maybe they're just too perfect, and you don't like that about them." Hermione explained, talking to him like she would a ten year old.
"No, I mean, they're perfect for me. They love quidditch, and Chocolate Frogs, and like to do everything I like to do. Usually, they like the same food as me," Here, he paused and watched as Hermione plucked the wrapper he'd just removed from a candy and set on the coffee table up and handed it to him to throw away, pointing at the trash can. Rolling his eyes, Harry stood and threw the wrapper away before returning to his seat with an annoyed look. "And they aren't neat freaks."
"I am not a neat freak." Hermione replied primly, her shoulders back and her head held high. "I just like things to be organized."
"And I like things to be messy." Harry declared, tossing another candy wrapper on the coffee table. Hermione eyed him, and Harry met her eyes, his own green eyes laughing at her.
"You're pushing it, Potter." Hermione teased, her eyes smiling in reply but her face just as solemn as his. "Pick it up."
"And if I refuse?" Harry asked, knowing that this was a pointless conversation and enjoying it anyway. He liked it when things were comfortable and relaxed like this, and wondered why he couldn't tease the other girls, the ones he actually wanted to date, like he could Hermione. If he could be laid back around others, it would make getting to know someone a lot easier.
But he'd known Hermione for so long that he didn't even think of her as a girl anymore. She was just Hermione, with her long plain brown hair, who bit her lower lip when she was nervous and her upper lip when she was thinking, and constantly had to have everything organized. He knew her as well as he knew Ron, and she knew him inside out. He didn't have to hide anything from her, and because he knew her so well he knew exactly how to act around her.
"Then I might have to tell you to take your female problems to Ron." Hermione replied, making Harry groan. The last time he'd told Ron about his `female problems' Ron had tried to set him up with Lola, a ditzy blond with big boobs but no brain.
"All right, all right, I'll throw the wrapper away." It sometimes grated on Harry's nerves that Hermione was so obsessive about keeping her house clean, but there were times when Harry actually appreciated the effort she put into her organized home. Whenever Hermione came over and cleaned his house, (just because the mess really got to her) he could actually find things right away for a few days before it became messy again.
"Well, are you gay?" Hermione asked logically. Poor Harry, who had just taken a sip of his pumpkin juice, choked for a few moments before gingerly swallowing and shouting,
"OF COURSE NOT!" He was still coughing for a few moments, trying to catch his breath, before he continued. "What in Merlin's name made you ask that?"
"Well, you aren't attracted to girls that should be perfect for you, so I thought that maybe the reason you were so uncomfortable around them was because really you're attracted to guys." Hermione replied casually, as though Harry's sexuality was a topic discussed between the two of them every day.
"Hermione, I am not, I repeat, NOT gay!" Harry said, shocked that she could even think that way. Hermione looked scandalized.
"Well, all right, Harry, you don't need to make such a big fuss over it. That's insulting to the gay community at large! There's nothing wrong with being homosexual, it just means you're attracted to members of the same sex."
Harry vehemently shook his head. "Believe me, I'm not."
Hermione studied his face for a moment before nodding in acceptance. "Okay. Well, maybe it's that you feel like these people are too much like you."
"Too much like me?" Harry asked. "Don't I want them to be like me? I mean, that way I can understand them, and I can do things that both of us will enjoy, and we'll agree on a lot of different things."
"I don't know. But they say opposites attract." Hermione replied, shrugging.
Harry thought about that for a moment. Hermione was his opposite in every way, but he wasn't attracted to her. At least, he didn't think he was attracted to her.
But the more he thought about it, the more Harry realized that maybe he was a little attracted to the way she kept things neat. And he really kind of liked that she could look at things logically even when it seemed like logic didn't make any sense. And there was no denying that their comfortable, light hearted bantering had been mistaken for flirting before…it was just bantering, right? Or was it flirting?
"Harry? Are you okay?" Harry looked down at Hermione, saw the concern on her face, and felt himself turn bright red. His heart began to beat twice as fast, and his palms began to sweat. This was just Hermione! He'd never had this reaction around her before, only around girls.
But for what was actually the first time in a long time, Harry was noticing that Hermione was in fact a woman, and a reasonably pretty one at that.
Unsure of what he was feeling, Harry abruptly stood, simply saying, "I've got to go."
"Harry! You're really worrying me. Are you all right?" He didn't want to leave her worrying about him, but he was sure that if he turned to face her, she'd recognize the look on his face. She always laughed at him for the nervous, intimidated expression he got just before a date.
Still, she didn't leave him very much of a choice. He felt her hand on his arm over his jacket, and hesitantly turned to face her. Right away, she noticed the expression. Her features softened from concern to an emotion he couldn't identify.
"Harry, what're you looking at me like that for?"
"Like what?" He managed to choke out, his tongue tied in knots.
"Like…" She just gestured to his face, unable to actually finish the sentence.
Harry shrugged uncomfortably, his hands in his pockets and his eyes averted. He looked every bit the nervous little kid who was too shy to talk to his crush.
Hermione knew that look though. She knew that despite everything he could understand, Harry couldn't understand girls. He wasn't the most emotionally aware man she'd ever met, but clearly he'd just figured out what she'd figured out a long time ago; people didn't just comment on what a cute couple they made because they spent so much time together. There really was something more than friendship between them, and Hermione couldn't wait to see how it turned out now that he knew it as well.
But she wasn't going to push him into anything. Instead, she fell back into the comfortable routine they were both familiar with. "So, dinner on Friday?"
Harry grinned, glad to be back in familiar territory. "Yeah. Like always. I'll cook, you just burn everything when you try." Hermione made to object to his last comment, and Harry just grinned wider and said, "And take out doesn't count." Hermione scowled and nodded. "Will you let Ron know that it's at my house?"
Like always when she was nervous, Hermione bit her lower lip. "Actually, he mentioned to be a few days ago that he wouldn't be able to make it this Friday, so I guess it'll be just us." She studied Harry's face for any signs of emotion, but found only some slight pleasure.
"I'll be sure to make it a dinner for two then." He replied, slipping on his shoes. "Maybe we can go out and see a movie afterwards. It's never the same with Ron there." It was true, Ron was always asking questions during the movies, but Hermione was thrilled with the invitation all the same.
"Sure! That'd be great. I'll see you on Friday then?"
"See you on Friday." Harry replied easily, and let himself out. Hermione waited until she heard the quiet crack that signified Harry apperating away before she squealed and skipped over to the floo.
Now, she just needed to talk to Ron about skipping dinner this Friday.
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