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Chapter 5
As soon as Harry pulled up to Hermione's house, the front door flew open seconds later as her parents ran out. Hermione let out a shriek as she climbed quickly off the bike and rushed to her parents. She threw herself onto her dad and he caught her up against him as he spun in circles. He put her down and her mum swooped in for a hug as she sobbed with joy along with her daughter.
Harry climbed off the bike, but hung back to give them a moment with Hermione. Mr. Granger spotted him first and he walked down the walkway towards him so Harry met him halfway. "Mr. Granger," Harry said holding out his hands. "It's nice to…oof!"
He had taken Harry's hand only to pull him into a hard hug, that made him realize where Hermione got her famous bone crushing hugs. "Thank you," he said holding him in a tight hug as he thumped him on the back. "Thank you for keeping my girl safe."
"Oh," he said embarrassed as he pulled back. "I didn't do much, she mostly took care of me."
"Harry," Mrs. Granger cried as she came up to him and cupped his face with her hands. "You dear boy." Harry blushed while she kissed both his cheeks. "Thank you for everything. For being her friend."
"I was the lucky one," He said sheepishly as he rocked back on his heels. "I wouldn't have lasted my first year without her."
"That's so sweet," she said wiping her tears away as she pulled her daughter to her side. "You must stay and have dinner with us."
"Oh, I don't want to be a bother," he said holding up his hands.
"Nonsense! I insist!"
"Well," he said with a shrug and a smile. "All right then."
"Woah, Harry!" Mr. Granger's eyes lit up as he walked past him towards his bike. "That's yours?"
Harry grinned as he followed him to the bike. "Yep. My godfather left it to me."
"Good lord, they'll be out all night," Mrs. Granger said. "We'll leave you two to drool and make manly noises. Be ready for dinner in an hour."
"Yeah, okay sweetie," he said completely distracted as he ran a hand over the leather seat. "I've never seen so many gadgets before. What's this?"
"That's the flying gear."
He spun his head to Harry. "It…it flies?"
Harry laughed. "Sure does. Wanna give it a try?"
"Me?" He asked pointing to himself. "Oh, I don't know, Harry. My wife would kill me."
"It could be our little secret," he said as he nudged him onto the bike. "It's easy to fly, you will be a natural."
"But…what if someone sees me?" he asked looking around the neighborhood.
"Not a problem. When you are ready to take off just push this silver button and you'll be invisible."
His eyes widened. "Seriously?"
"Seriously," he laughed then gave Mr. Granger a quick lesson on what to do. "It's every easy to handle. Landing will be smooth and easy."
"Do you see my wife looking out the window?" he asked as he turned on the ignition.
"Nope, you're clear," he said stepping back. "If she comes out I'll just tell her you went for a quick ride and I won't mention you are in the air."
He winked. "You catch on fast." He revved the engine as he stared down the road with anticipation. "Here goes nothing."
Harry watched him take off down the street, then shimmer out of sight right before hearing a whoop of excitement. Harry chuckled and turned around but then swallowed his laughter and dropped his smile when he saw Hermione standing there. "Hermione…"
"Did…Did my dad just take off on your bike?"
"Er…yes…Just for a quick spin."
"I see," she said crossing her arms across her chest. "Just on the ground I hope?"
Harry shuffled his feet and avoided eye contact. "Of course! Just on the ground."
Then all of the sudden the sound of the motorcycle hummed just above their heads, causing Harry and Hermione both to duck to the ground.
"Sorry!" Mr. Granger's voice rang out through the sky followed by laughter.
Harry winced. "Okay, so maybe just a few feet off the ground."
"Harry Potter!" she shrieked. "How could you let my dad on that thing?! He'll kill himself!"
"Oh come now, Hermione," Harry said with a roll of his eyes. "He's fine. I told him exactly what to do."
"Well, he better be fine Harry, or I'll…" Hermione was cut off at the sound of the motorcycle and they both turned to see her dad pulling up with a stupid grin on his face. "Dad!"
"Oh, hey sweetie," he said getting off the bike. "Don't tell your mum. Harry, that was bloody fantastic!"
Harry smothered his grin. "Er…Glad you had fun."
"Dad, you could have gotten hurt," Hermione argued.
"Nonsense," he said waving his hand as he came up to him and put his arm around her and when he passed Harry he did the same to him as they walked up to the house together. "After dinner Harry, I can show you my baby."
"Oh dad, not that stupid car again."
"Stupid car?" he asked with a laugh. "You bite your tongue little lady, that car is a 1964 Rolls Royce. It's a work of art."
"Mr. Granger…"
"Please, Harry," he said stopping at the front porch. "Call me Jim."
"Er…Jim. You do realize Hermione or I could have it running with a flick of our wand, don't you?"
"Of course I do," he said patting him on the back. "But where's the fun in that?"
XXX
"You are absolutely filthy," Hermione said as she led Harry through the door to her room.
He grinned as he pulled up his shirt to wipe the grime off his face. "That car leaked on me every five seconds. He's got a long way to go until that thing starts up."
Hermione sighed and then couldn't help but smile. "It was nice of you to indulge him by spending a hour on your back underneath an old car."
He shrugged. "I didn't mind at all. It…It was kind of fun. You're dad is great, Hermione. Your mum, too, she's a great cook, but please don't tell Mrs. Weasley I said that."
Hermione laughed. "I won't. Why don't you get in the shower and wash up before bed? Your room is the one adjoining the bathroom."
"It was nice of your parents to offer a chance to stay the night," he said walking into the medium sized
bathroom. "I didn't realize how late it got."
"I'm glad you're staying," she said as she pulled out some fresh towels for him. "I was afraid you might fall asleep on your way to your aunt and uncles. "Here are the towels. Er…I don't know if you have any shampoo, you can just use mine."
Harry winced as he pulled out his trunk from his pocket. "It's not anything fruity and girly is it?"
"No, it's fine," she said shaking his head. "You might want to take a little bit of a longer shower. You are filthy and you stink."
"Aw, you don't mean that," he said as he stopped going through his trunk and held out his arms. "Give us a hug, Hermione."
"Don't you dare touch me," she shrieked as she backed out and closed the door in his face.
Harry snickered before going back to his trunk and pulling out his pajama pants and a shirt, along with a pair fresh boxers. Harry took Hermione's advice and took a long hot shower, making sure he got all the grease and grime off him. It was a little weird when he thought about the fact he was using the shower Hermione used in growing up. So he tried not to think about it.
He picked up her shampoo and gave it a whiff. "Not bad," he said after a shrug. It wasn't fruity or flowery but had a hint of an Irish spring scent. It suited her perfectly.
The water started to turn cold so he finally turned off the shower and stepped out, grabbing one of the towels Hermione had gave him. He quickly dried off and put his sleeping clothes on, then gave his teeth a quick brush before walking to the door leading to Hermione's. He gave it a knock and then walked in. "Hermione I'm done, did you want to…"
Harry stopped when he noticed Hermione sitting on the bed with her back to him. She had her head bent down and her shoulders were shaking as soft sobs escaped her. Harry frowned as he walked around the bed and sat down next to her placing a hand on her back. "Hermione?"
She leaned into him as she held up a framed picture as if it explained what she didn't want to say. Harry took the frame and studied the faces of himself and his best friends when they were only at the mere age of twelve. He remembered when the picture was taken at the end of their second year before they got on the train. Collin was the photographer and Hermione had put her arms around both Ron and himself beaming, while he and Ron smiled sheepishly.
"I…I always keep it by my bedside," she sniffed keeping her head on his shoulder as they both looked at it. "It was always there to remind me that I had friends and I wasn't dreaming. I had two boys that cared about me and actually liked me for who I was."
Harry sighed as he rested his cheek on top of her head. "You didn't need a picture to remind you of that."
"I know," she said sniffing back her tears as she ran her fingers gently over the picture. "That was my first reason for keeping it, then it was to keep me going in the summers I was away from you two. I always missed you guys…so much."
"We missed you too," he said kissing her hair. "Me especially, my company wasn't always that great. At least Ron had his family. I missed you two like crazy."
"Now we don't have to ever be apart," she said sighing dreamily. "Ron needs to wake up and then it will be perfect."
"Perfect," he agreed and set the picture back on her bedside table. "It's getting late. We should get to sleep."
"You're right," she said getting up off the bed. "G'night, Harry."
Harry hugged her tight. "Night, Mione." He held her face in his hands and kissed the top of her head. "See you in the morning."