"What do you miss the most from your childhood?" Hermione asked. They were sitting in front of the warm fire in the Heads Common Room. Harry sighed. Truthfully, there wasn't much that he missed.
"The innocence," Harry said. "When I didn't know what sort of people were in the real world. When I thought the only thing that mattered was my dreams." Hermione was quiet.
"What do you miss the most?" Harry asked. Hermione smiled slightly.
"The swings," she said. "I remember waking up in the morning and running down the stairs to see if my parents would take me to the park."
"Did you ever imagine you'd be doing this?" Harry asked.
"Doing what?" Hermione replied.
"Fighting in a war," he said. Hermione shook her head.
"No. I always thought I'd grow up to be a dancer and then become a doctor," Hermione said. "I never imagined any of this."
"I always thought someone from my family would come and take me away from the Dursleys and I'd be happy," Harry said. Hermione leaned over and ran her hand through his hair gently.
"Are you happy? Now, I mean," she asked. He turned and looked at her, his eyes sparkling.
"Yeah, I'm happy," he said. He smiled slightly at her and leaned in. His lips touched hers softly. This was still new to them. Their relationship had only taken a turn two days ago, and they had yet to have their first date.
"Hem hem," said a voice. Harry and Hermione shot apart and spun around. Their fears were calmed when they saw it wasn't Umbridge. But their embarrassment stayed put when they saw it was McGonagall.
"Evening Professor," Harry said. He kept his sight on anything but her. Hermione's cheeks were burning.
"Good evening," she said, almost smirking. "If you two could follow me to my office, there is a meeting I'm sure you would like to attend." They stood up and on his way out of the portrait, Harry grabbed a sweatshirt for Hermione. It was chilly in the corridors at night.
"Here," he whispered to her as they made their way down the corridor. She whispered her thanks and pulled the sweatshirt on.
"Well don't you two look cozy," Tonks said, grinning at the pair as they entered the office.
"It's half past ten," Hermione said. "You didn't expect us to still have on our uniforms?" Harry leaned against the wall with Hermione beside him. He didn't resist the urge to press a soft kiss to her temple. Tonks' grin stayed in place.
"Now that we're all here, Kingsley?" McGonagall said. Kingsley stood up with a piece of parchment in his hand.
"We have the full report from the battle a week ago. All Death Eaters were caught, but at a heavy price. Our casualties amounted to one hundred and fifty with several others injured," Kingsley said.
"I thought you said we only lost around seventy five," Hermione said.
"That was the count at the time. More have been found since then," Kingsley replied. "Out of the four hundred and some Death Eaters, only fifty were killed and half that number were injured. The rest of them are being held in the dungeons below the Ministry. We have surveillance around Azkaban. We think there might be an attempt to breach the wards."
"When are the services?" Harry asked.
"We aren't sure yet. Some bodies are still being identified by their families and others aren't quite ready to deal with the loss," he said. Harry nodded, completely understanding the feeling.
"We didn't lose anyone from the DA," Harry said. "I counted." Kingsley nodded.
"Good, I was going to ask about that," said the Auror. "You've gathered quite the group there Potter. I saw the way they fought. Good work." Harry's lips quirked up into a barely noticeable smile.
"Thank you, sir," he said.
The meeting continued for another half hour before Harry and Hermione were able to leave for their dorm again. There wasn't much to learn, but they had discussed what their game plan would be for the next while. Voldemort was liable to be dreadfully angry after a large defeat such as this.
"Good night," Harry said, standing in front of Hermione's bedroom door. "Sleep tight." She smiled and leaned up to kiss him.
"You too," she said. She retreated into her room with one last smile. With one last glance at her now closed door, he too headed into his room.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
It was Thursday. He had been dating Hermione for four days. And those four days were probably the happiest he had been able to have in a long while. It felt great to be able to have someone to share his life with. Yes, he had shared a lot with her when they were only friends, but now it meant a little more.
He had two days to plan their first date and he hadn't a clue what to do. He knew taking her to Hogsmead and going to Madame Puttifoot's was totally cliché and he knew taking her to The Three Broomsticks wasn't nearly enough. Hermione wasn't a girl that needed fancy things to make her happy. She liked to keep it simple. She wasn't too frou-frou, but he did know she liked to enjoy some girly stuff.
And then it hit him. He had the perfect first date for them. He only hoped she enjoyed it.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Hermione woke up to what she thought was fairly late for a Saturday morning. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up in bed. The shades were open and the sunlight fell through the window, lighting the room dramatically. She yawned and flipped the covers away from her and stood, stretching. That was when she noticed them.
On her bedside table was a vase full of her favorite flowers, daisies. Beside the flowers, there was a letter with her name on it. Smiling, she picked it up.
Hermione-
Today is Saturday. Do you know what that means? It means our first date is today.
Meet me under the oak tree at two this afternoon. And just for safe measure, dress in something warm.
Yours,
Harry
She smiled slightly as she read the letter. She had been looking forward to this day since he asked her. Stretching once more, Hermione made her way out of her room and down the stairs.
"Good morning gorgeous," Harry said. He was leaning against the back of the couch with his arms across his chest. He was dressed in a pair of nice jeans and an equally nice navy sweater. His hair was positively chaotic, but it made him even cuter. The small grin he reserved for her only was stretched across his face and his eyes were dancing with happiness.
"Good morning," she said softly, smiling at him. She made her way over to him and buried her face into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.
"You smell good," she mumbled. Harry chuckled slightly and leaned back from her, causing her to look up at him.
"Thank you," he said simply. He looked at her for a second more before leaning down and kissing her softly.
Hermione didn't open her eyes for a few seconds after the kiss had ended. When she did, she found Harry's bright green eyes staring at her.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked her.
"You," she replied. "Us." Harry smiled.
"What about us?" he asked her.
"It's amazing," Hermione replied. "And I'm really happy. You make me really happy."
"I'm glad. Because you make me happy too," he said. He gave her nose a quick peck and she smiled. He was absolutely adorable.
It was early afternoon when Hermione looked at the clock. Harry had disappeared a little bit after he had greeted her that morning and she had no idea where he had gone.
The warm water cascaded down her back and she felt herself relax. After washing her hair and soaping herself, she got out of the shower.
At five till two, Hermione was under the oak tree. Harry was leaning against the trunk waiting for her.
"Hi," he said, smiling at her.
"Hi," she replied. He kissed her quickly.
"So what are we doing?" Hermione asked. Harry smiled and took her hand in his, leading her down a pathway.
"You'll see," he said. The two of them walked in a comfortable silence until they reached a spot on the other side of the lake away from the school. Hermione couldn't help but smile.
"Do you like it?" Harry asked. Hermione looked up and him and smiled.
"I love it," she said. Leave it to Harry to be the sweetest man possible. A wooden swing set was sitting by the shore of the lake.
She loved what he did to her. He was like her drug, her addiction. And the best part of all? She was head over heels in love with him.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Yes, it's a short chapter. And yes, I fully realize I suck. I've told myself that time and time again, but if you think you need to reiterate that fact, I suppose I deserve it.
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