Harry, Hermione and Ron had disapparated to the park and walked in the pouring rain to the bus stop. Eventually the number 93 picked them and a number of other disgruntled passengers up. Harry and Ron walked to the end of the bus while Hermione paid their fare.
"Harry!" Ron chortled, elbowing him in the ribs slightly "My dad told me about those things muggles use…aren't they for changing the channels on a vellytision?" Harry looked over at a young man lounging on one of the bus seats with an object in his hand.
"Actually Ron," said Harry, hiding his grin "That would be a telly box for the TELEVISION. The bloke over there is holding a mobile phone"
"Wow," said Ron, not noticing Harry's grin but staring at the young man in awe. Naturally the man was rather frightened and edged closer to the window in a vain attempt to get away from the staring Ron. "What's a mobile phone when it's at home them?"
"It's like a telephone, but one you can carry around with you so you never miss a call" explained Harry.
"Brilliant!" said Ron excitedly. The rest of the bus ride was much the same; only Hermione did most of the explaining for which Harry was grateful.
The train ride to Cambridge from London was only an hour and fifteen minutes long. Harry and Hermione had tried to teach Ron several muggle games on the way, but Ron couldn't get the hang of it. Even 'Eye Spy' was disastrous because Ron kept guessing wizarding words, one of which he shouted very loudly in his excitement to win. Naturally the rest of the passengers simply thought he was mental. After a severe scolding from Hermione, Ron decided it might be best to just shut up for the rest of the trip. Harry had a lot on his mind, and was disturbed to find that Hermione occupied a lot of it. She had been acting funny throughout this trip, and kept casting him long and penetrating looks. He reasoned that it was probably because she was worried about him, in which case he wished she'd stop. He wasn't a child, as she had pointed out to him so very recently. He also wasn't accustomed to seeing Hermione in muggle clothes. Whilst Ron thought they were odd and kept pulling at them and taking the Mickey out of her, Harry thought that she looked amazing. He didn't realise what a figure she had underneath those school robes before. He quickly squashed that thought in his head, and realised it was unbelievably indecent to be thinking this way of Hermione. It must be because of all the stress, he thought to himself.
After another bus ride from Cambridge train station, they finally reached the small village of Hadstock. They walked up a long and winding road. After looking carefully through the trees they finally spotted a tiny cottage. It was light yellow with a thatched roof. Yellow, pink and white roses climbed up the walls, and a white picket fence surrounded it. Hermione smiled girlishly at it and walked forward with renewed vigour. Harry and Ron looked at each other, seeming to think the same thing 'Blokes don't live in girly cottages'. They looked around and found that there were only a few cottages in this part of the village. The trees that surrounded it provided plenty of cover, all in all a good place to practice magic discreetly.
"That place looks really titchy," said Ron to Harry "Where are we all supposed to sleep, let alone work?" Harry nodded in agreement, and the thought of Ron and Hermione sharing a room came into his head. He felt sickened and tried to get the images out of his mind. Since when had Ron and Hermione bothered him before? Sure he was worried about how their friendship would change, but he had certainly never thought of anything like this before. He felt like screaming at the top of his lungs in frustration! What was wrong with him? Was he going completely insane?
Harry walked into the cottage and was amazed. The inside was huge and luxurious. The living room had a large fireplace, three gigantic comfy leather couches, and a couple of armchairs thrown in for good measure. The dining room had a very large table with twelve plush chairs surrounding it. The kitchen had everything you could possibly imagine, and was already stocked with food. Harry assumed Lupin must have taken care of this detail. They explored the downstairs a little longer. There was a massive study, lined from floor to ceiling with books. Harry noticed that all of their school items and books had been placed in various areas of the room, as well as the new books Hermione had bought from Knockturn Alley. They then made their way up the winding staircase, and found three big bedrooms. Harry's had a four-poster bed, a study desk and fat cushions on the floor. He grinned as he saw all the things had been put away, and Hedwig sat in the corner on a perch hooting happily at him. After taking a look at all three bathrooms he made his way downstairs. Ron had pulled out his wizard's chess and Hermione had put together a healthy snack for her, and a not so healthy one for them. They spent the night laughing and playing chess. They talked about their fondest memories at Hogwarts, they talked about Hagrid's obsession with crazed beasts, but mostly they talked about all the funny things that had happened with each other, as best friends do.
"You're face when you saw those spiders Ron!" said Harry laughing heartily. Ron looked a little pale as he thought about the huge spiders that had once tried to attack them.
"Oh yeah? Well what about YOUR face when you first had to use floo powder, eh?" said Ron, finding this most amusing.
"What's this about then Harry?" Hermione asked in a teasing voice "Something you forgot to mention to me?" Harry looked slightly abashed at this, and then jumped to defend himself.
"In all fairness," he said "I had no idea I was even a wizard until I was eleven, so the idea of a using a wand was mental, let alone anything else. Then this bloody family tells me to step into a fireplace and throw down some powder. As if that thought isn't insane enough, I then have to have green fire…FIRE, on me. But it's ok because it will get me to wherever I ask! You call muggles nutters Ron…" Hermione found this particularly amusing, and Harry had to throw a cushion at her so that the laughter would finally stop.
Eventually Ron decided that he was tired after all the food he had eaten. He stood up, yawned rather dramatically and lumbered up to bed. Harry was lying on one of the couches, and felt completely relaxed. Hermione was on the other one and was talking about some kind of spell that she had been reading about in… Well, some book that she had mentioned, but he just happened to notice the way the firelight made her skin look glowing, and now that name seemed to have vanished from his mind. He noticed that the room was suddenly quiet and he realised that she had just asked him a question
"Uh, sorry I didn't quite catch that one Hermione," said Harry looking a little sheepish. Hermione rolled her eyes and repeated her question
"So what do you want to start with tomorrow? I have a ton of books we can look through…"
"Well…" said Harry; suddenly worried that she might think his idea stupid "I was thinking maybe we could research the four founders of Hogwarts first. Maybe we can find an item of Ravenclaw or Gryffindor's. I think we should start with Ravenclaw first because we don't know of any objects from there. Well, uh, it's a start…what do you think?" Harry asked, feeling nervous.
"I think that's a great idea," said Hermione beaming at him. "Why would you think it wasn't?" Harry looked at her and opened his mouth to speak. He then realised that he had no idea why he thought she might think it was a stupid idea, so he closed it again. The result was a goldfish looking expression, which made Hermione laugh.
"Oh Harry, maybe we ought to go to bed. It's been a long day, we can both probably think more clearly once we've had some sleep," She got up from the couch and stretched dramatically much like Ron. Harry realised that she was making fun of Ron, but at that moment all he could think about was how she looked. Her skin was golden, and her lips pink and pouty. When she stretched, her vest top came up slightly to reveal her stomach and her breasts thrust out a little. Harry's breath caught in his throat. He wondered what it would be like to kiss her, and the thought made him catch his breath quickly. She turned around as if sensing his eyes on her and their eyes locked. The tension hung in the air and their eye contact continued for a long moment. Hermione finally looked away.
"You're tired Harry," she said, her voice husky "I'll see you in the morning" She gave him a slight smile and walked up the stairs. Harry was left feeling confused and extremely embarrassed. What was he doing looking at Hermione like that? What must she think of him? 'What if she tells Ron I looked at her like that? What kind of a friend am I?' He thought worriedly to himself until he could bare it no more. He walked to the study and searched for a book. He finally found what he was looking for. 'The duellers guide to jinxes and hexes' by Aurora Belling. He went up to his bedroom and resolved to act as if he had not looked at Hermione that way. He also thought it might be best if they weren't left alone. He cast a silencing charm around the room and began reading and practicing various spells from the book. Once he mastered the spell with his wand, he tried doing it non-verbally. He thought about what Snape had said to him on the night of Dumbledore's death.
"Blocked again and again until you learn to keep you mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!"
Well he was certainly progressing in his non-verbal spells. Now he just had to practice closing his mind, and maybe, just maybe, he would have a chance of defeating Voldemort. He worked long into the night, determined to prove Snape wrong and to force the image of Hermione from his mind. Maybe he could try and forget what a terrible friend he was.
Hermione was lying in her bed with a small smile on her face. She had caught Harry looking at her, actually looking at her! She felt butterflies in her stomach and had to try and stifle a giggle. She turned over and buried her head under the pillow. 'This is a very immature way to be acting Hermione' she thought to herself 'don't get ahead of yourself. You can't expect him not to look when you dress like that.' She closed her eyes to go to sleep but allowed the bud of hope in her chest to open a little more. She still had a slight smile on her face as she fell asleep.
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