Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
More than Meets the Eye
Harry was sprawled out comfortably on the sofa, in the living room of Hermione's flat. The girls, that is, Hermione, Ginny and Luna, shared a three bedroom flat together in down town London. Harry and Ron lived at Grimmauld place while Draco inherited Malfoy Manor from his father, though he seemed to prefer spending a lot of time at the girls' apartment. Draco was currently tucked away in Ginny's room doing Merlin knows what with her, while Ron was aggressively snogging Luna on the love seat. All of Harry's attention was on the television in front of him, which he turned up quite loud to drown out any unwanted distractions; Ron was known to get quite carried away.
Every Friday night they made the effort to hang out together and tonight they were all going out to a destination of Hermione's choice. It had been sometime since she chose the destination and she had informed them all to wear muggle clothes and be ready by seven thirty. The ironic thing was that they were all ready early and Hermione had yet to apparate home. Harry was a bit worried about her since Hermione abhorred lateness and she had only five more minutes left before they were supposed to be leaving. She had been working a lot lately and he hadn't spent as much time with her as he would have liked, which caused him to miss her greatly. He felt like there was an empty hole in his life and it only seemed to be filled when she was around.
Green flames erupted from the fire place and Harry got his hopes up but was sorely disappointed when the person that emerged was not Hermione. Instead, Seamus, Lavender, Dean, Parvarti and Neville emerged from the fire place one after the other, though Neville managed to trip and topple forward causing a domino effect, with Seamus landing unceremoniously on the snogging couple. Harry couldn't help but laugh as he had made a mental note long ago to always let Neville floo ahead of you.
"Sorry to interrupt mate," Seamus said as he extricated himself from between Luna and Ron.
"I don't mean to be blunt Seamus but why are you here?"A very irritated Ron asked as he watched his girlfriend put a little more distance between them.
"We're going out tonight." Seamus replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"We already have plans that don't include you." Ron replied rudely.
"Ronald!" Luna exclaimed as she punched him on the arm.
"What Ron meant to say, was that Hermione made specific plans for the six of us." Harry said politely.
"We're included as well," Lavender cheered.
Harry arched an eyebrow at her.
"Harry turn down the TV, it's a bit loud." Parvarti commented as she strained her ears to hear the conversation.
Harry obliged and lowered the volume. There was a sharp crack and Hermione appeared just besides the sofa. "I know I'm late, Dean. Give me five minutes and I'll be ready."
"I don't want to miss the beginning!" Dean called out as she advanced down the corridor towards the bathroom.
"You won't," She answered back at the top of her lungs.
"Beginning of what?" Harry queried as he looked at Dean.
"Oh she hasn't told you?" Neville commented with surprise.
"Told me what?" Harry asked feeling very annoyed that Hermione could leave him out of something.
"It's supposed to be a surprise." Lavender said frowning at Dean.
"You're sure about that?" Seamus asked.
"Yes, I did spend time with her in the line today." Lavender reminded Seamus.
"I thought you said you spent most of your time talking to the two cute guys who were standing behind you." Neville pointed out.
"Well, we did that too." Lavender said with a coy smile.
Harry was completely and utterly lost; what line and when did Hermione and Lavender become so chummy chummy. Dean was obviously very excited about something since he couldn't stay still since he arrived and Harry eyed him suspiciously.
Exactly five minutes after Hermione appeared she ran down the corridor knocking on Ginny's door along the way. She wore tight fitting black jeans, a chain belt that swayed when she moved her hips, a blue tank top and the sleeves of her navy blue cardigan were tied around her shoulders. Harry couldn't help but rake his eyes over her beautiful body, a habit he had picked up lately. His dreams had devoted a lot of time to picturing his best friend in ways that were more than friendly. Draco had advised him to ask her out and it was an idea that Harry had being mulling over. He didn't want to ruin their beautiful friendship but every time he saw her dressed like that, he longed to pull her into his arms and snog her senseless.
He heard Ginny's door open and knew she and Draco were making their way towards them.
"Is this some kind of freaky Gryffindor reunion because if it is, I'm sure Ginny and I could find better things to do?" Draco stated seriously.
"No Draco, you're coming, so don't try to back out. I know you'll enjoy it. We have to leave now because I don't want to miss the beginning either." Hermione said as she opened the door.
"Someone please tell me we don't have to walk there." Seamus complained sourly.
"It's only two blocks away and some physical exercise would be good for you Seamus, you're beginning to get a bit flabby!" Hermione playfully teased before picking up the pace and heading down the corridor to the stairs. Their flat was on the second floor and Hermione often took the stairs instead of the lift to the ground floor.
"I watch Quidditch," Seamus said softly to those remaining in the room.
"Watching Quidditch doesn't count!" Hermione hollered from the stairs.
"How does she do that?" Seamus looked at Harry mystified.
Harry gave him a proud smile that was his Hermione.
"I personally prefer other types of physical exercise." Draco muttered to Ginny who slapped Draco on the arm.
Harry smiled at the happy couple, Draco made Ginny happier than he could ever make her and he eagerly walked to catch up with Hermione. He slide down the railing on the stairs and in no time was on the ground floor. He found Hermione impatiently waiting by the lift as she knew Ron and Draco were too lazy to take the stairs.
"So?" Harry said as he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked towards her.
"So what?" Hermione replied innocently as she looked up at the numbers above the lift. It had just stopped at the second floor.
"Don't you have something to tell me?" Harry asked point blank.
"I do?" Hermione asked feigning confusion.
"Hermione," Harry replied sternly.
"Yes Harry," Hermione said with a happy smile as she looped her hands through his and headed for the door satisfied that the others would be there shortly.
"You're going to make me wait, aren't you." Harry said knowingly as he heard the ping from the lift and a mass of voices emerging from it.
Hermione gave Harry a mysterious smile, "Just follow me," she said as she wrapped her fingers around his and lead him along the pavement. Harry instantly squeezed her hand and enjoyed the feel of her hand in his. They had been walking a lot like this lately; it was something that had just developed naturally over time and Harry never gave it much thought until Draco started encouraging him to ask her out.
Five minutes later they were standing in front of a cinema with a long line at the ticket counter. The billboard in front read "Transformers".
"We're going to see a cartoon?" Harry asked as he turned to face Hermione.
"It's a movie. I remember you said that you used to sneak behind Dudley and watch the cartoon when you were younger. I thought you might want to see the movie. I got tickets for everyone." Hermione said proudly as she waved the tickets through the air.
"Transformers, more than meets the eye," Dean said in a metallic voice as he came up behind them.
Hermione broke into a huge grin that Harry found very endearing. A silent looked passed between Dean and Hermione and Harry wondered what was going on.
"Ok I have everyone's tickets. So follow me." Hermione said as she led them to the ticket collector at the door.
"We're going to see a muggle movie?" Draco asked horrified.
"Yes," Hermione replied enthusiastically.
"Curse me now," Draco said as he looked to the heavens.
"Oh hush Draco," Ginny scolded her boyfriend.
"You think there's any way you include me in your curse?" Ron whispered behind Draco.
"Open mind Ronald." Luna reminded him, it was something she constantly encouraged him to do when dealing with new things.
Hermione presented her eleven tickets to the young boy at the door and they walked through in to a large room with posters of all the upcoming attractions. The snack bar was off to the left and there was a video arcade on the right. The area was very bright with lots of glittery lights and Harry saw lots of couples around as well as parents with kids.
"Hermione, I don't see them." Lavender said as she popped in between Hermione and Harry causing him to give the blonde a very annoyed look.
"They said they would be here." Hermione said as she scanned the crowed.
"Are we expecting more people from Hogwarts?" Harry asked innocently.
"No some guys we meet earlier." Lavender replied while avidly scanning the crowd.
Harry frowned; he didn't like Lavender's tone and what she was implying. Sure Hermione hadn't had a date in six months but he personally preferred that. He did his best to quietly discourage Ginny and Luna from setting her up with anybody but he hadn't counted on Lavender's interference. Hermione's life was great as it was. Why did Lavender have to implant thoughts of other men in her mind?
"Hermione would you like some popcorn?" Harry said as he seized the opportunity to circumvent Lavender and placed his hand on the small of Hermione's back to lead her away from the man crazy blonde.
"Sure." Hermione said as she let Harry guide her away.
"Great," Harry said giving her a huge grin.
He arrived at the counter and ordered the largest bucket of popcorn with lots of butter and two large sodas.
"Harry, I can't eat that." Hermione protested.
"We could share." Harry said with the most adorable grin that would make any girl go weak in the knees.
She pouted and he handed her the large bucket while he collected the two sodas from the cashier. When he turned around he noticed Lavender talking to two men and pointing over towards Hermione. He realized that he needed to move her quickly so he indicated to her that they should grab a seat quickly since it was quite crowded and she agreed. Harry eagerly steered her towards the doors that lead to the seats and the large screen. He briefly scanned the room to make sure everyone else was fine before going inside.
Ron and Draco seemed to be following his lead and heading in, while Dean, Seamus, Parvarti and Neville were still trying to get popcorn from the counter. Lavender seemed to have spotted him with Hermione and she was heading towards them as well. They pushed through the doors and found inside quite dark and crowded. Harry quickly spotted two seats at the back and pointed it out to her.
"But what about the others?" Hermione asked concerned.
"There aren't eleven seats anywhere here. We're going to have to split up and quite honestly I don't really want to sit next to Ron and Luna." Harry said seriously.
"Good point." Hermione said as she made her way towards the seats.
Harry sat down and happily watched as Ginny pulled a reluctant Draco with her and Luna push a stubborn Ron from behind. There was a row with four seats open and the four sat together with the two guys in the middle. Harry chuckled to himself as both Ginny and Luna sat guarded waiting for one of them to try something. Harry also saw Lavender and the two guys arrive. He was grateful that it was dark and there were no seats available near Hermione. He watched as they found three seats near the front and Lavender sat in between the two men.
"Lavender is something else." Hermione commented with the shake of her head.
"How so?" Harry said pretending that he hadn't noticed her by looking randomly through the cinema for her.
"Oh it's starting!" Hermione exclaimed as she bounced up and down in her seat excitedly.
Harry couldn't help but share in her excitement. He had enjoyed watching the cartoon when he was younger though he was limited to whatever Dudley wanted to watch. He saw her shiver a bit from the cold and he pulled her closer to him. She glanced down and noticed that the usual arm rest for the seat had disappeared and there was absolutely nothing separating her from Harry.
"No magic." Hermione reprimanded as she cuddled up next to his warm frame.
"Would you prefer to freeze instead?" Harry asked as he placed his arm around her back to hold her close.
Hermione remained silent and he enjoyed having her so near but unfortunately for Harry she didn't stay there long because as soon as the helicopter transformed, she was fidgeting with excitement again. He could see the awe in her eyes as she watched the action scene unfold. He himself was quite impressed and he glanced down at Draco and Ron and found that there attention was glued to the screen.
"It's amazing what they can do these days with computers!" Hermione whispered to him.
Harry nodded as he subtly tried to get her to settle back down against him because she was also keeping him warm and he enjoyed their closeness. The movie was progressing at a good pace and Harry was hoping it would be a very long movie. The popcorn was slowly disappearing and he had already finished his drink where as Hermione was slowly sipping on hers.
"Bumblebee!!!!" Hermione said excitedly.
Harry looked at her amazed, "were you a Transformers fan when you were young?"
Even though it was dark, he could tell she blushed, "Sort of, I wasn't one to play with dolls and I read through books faster than my parents could buy, so when I was bored I looked at cartoons. I never really liked the girly ones but Transformers was interesting. I adored Bumblebee."
"I was an Optimus Prime fan." Harry revealed to her.
"Well, here he comes!" Hermione said as they watched Optimus transform on the screen.
"Wow," Harry said in awe. Muggle special effects had improved greatly since he last watched a movie and he was thoroughly enjoying this experience.
The movie progressed at a steady pace and once Hermione grew accustomed to the transformations she snuggled up against Harry much to his pleasure.
"Hermione are there any other good movies coming up?" Harry asked her when the credits had started rolling.
"Yes a few." Hermione responded as she turned to look at him.
"Can we do this again?" Harry asked as he stood up from his seat taking her with him. He felt the film had some how bolstered his confidence and he was feeling rather daring.
"Of course Harry," Hermione replied as she looked into his piercing green eyes.
"Can I also do this?" Harry asked as he gathered his courage and bent down to capture her lips with his own.
Harry wrapped his hands around Hermione's waist and pulled her against him. She placed her hands around his neck and traced her tongue across his bottom lip. Just as Harry was about to try and catch her mischievous tongue, a gruff voice behind him told them to move along as they were holding up the other people in the row that wanted to get out. They reluctantly broke apart and he linked his hand through Hermione's as they exited the cinema. Everyone was waiting for them in the lobby.
Dean, Seamus, Draco and Ron were avidly discussing the movie when they joined them. Lavender was still with her two new companions and Harry wrapped his hand possessively around Hermione.
Lavender looked straight at them, "So it worked?"
"Yes," Hermione said proudly with a smile tugging at her lips.
Harry, for the second time that night, felt Hermione had left him out of yet another thing.
"Do I even want to know?" He whispered in her ear.
"It'll be a great story for the grandkids!" Hermione joked.
Harry arched an eyebrow at her.
"We're going to head out to the pub for a pint or two." Seamus said.
"We're heading back to the flat, we'll catch up with you later." Hermione stated and Lavender winked at her.
"We'll see you guys later then." Parvarti said as she slid up next to one of Lavender's companions and linked hands with him.
A little while later they were walking in silence back to the flat. Harry was examining the sudden change in their relationship and Hermione's strange behavior. He had kissed her, he had finally kissed her and it was the most glorious experience of his life so far; He knew he would die if he never got to experience that again. He was elated that she had kissed him back; it proved to him that she wanted this change as well. In no time they were in her warm flat and seated on the sofa looking expectantly at each other. Harry knew that they needed to discuss what had happened and he was searching for something to say.
"I'm confused Hermione. What was Lavender referring to?" Harry asked. He could have kicked himself as he had wanted to discuss the kiss but his Auror senses took over and his mouth moved of its own accord.
"She was helping me with something." Hermione stated coyly as she fidgeted with her hands on her lap.
"Something?" Harry said arching an eyebrow at her.
"Yes." She replied simply.
"You need to be a bit more specific Hermione; did this have anything to do with the two guys she was with?" Harry asked seriously as he reached out to steady her hands with his.
"Yes, I met her and Dean in the line to get tickets for the movie. Dean was getting tickets for Seamus, Neville and himself while Lavender was getting tickets for her, Parvarti and their boyfriends." Hermione started explaining and she started brushing her thumb over the back of Harry's large hand.
"So the two guys were Lavender's and Parvarti's boyfriends?" Harry asked feeling relieved that he wouldn't have to worry about Lavender continually trying to interfere with Hermione's love life.
"Yes, we were talking and decided it would be cool if we all went to the same show, sort of like an old reunion. The topic then drifted to Lavender's boyfriend and she asked if we were together yet and I didn't really know how to say no since I had been wanting you to ask me for a while and you know I'm a terrible liar, so she suggested that I make you jealous." Hermione confessed as she turned her face away and looked at the ground.
Harry released her hands and reached up to gently turn her face towards him.
"Why?" Harry asked as soon as he could make eye contact with her.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. The answer should have been obvious from what she said before but she didn't mind explaining further to him. "I got fed up of waiting for you to ask me out so Lavender encouraged me to take the initiative, so I did."
Harry smiled at his Hermione and closed the distance between them. He captured her lips with his and relished the feel of her soft lips against his. She teased him with her tongue again and this time Harry didn't have any one to interrupt him in his attempt to catch her tongue. They reluctantly broke apart as the need for air became apparent. Harry gently pushed her back on the sofa and attacked her neck. Hermione purred in his ear and Harry thought the angels were singing to him. Hermione kicked off her shoes and one landed on the coffee table with a loud clunk.
"What was that?" Harry said sitting up immediately.
"Just my shoe," Hermione said with a cute laugh as she pointed to the shoe coffee table.
"Oh, I thought it was Ginny or Luna." Harry said as he looked at her below him.
Hermione blushed as he mentioned Ginny or Luna.
"What have you done with Ginny and Luna?" Harry asked sensing Hermione had planned something else.
"I asked Luna to go to Grimmauld with Ron, Ginny's supposed to take Draco to the Manor so we're alone for the night."Hermione revealed, slightly embarrassed that she had to admit to Harry how much she hoped would happen tonight.
"My little Minx," Harry said with a mischievous glint in his eyes as he reclaimed her lips.
They kissed passionately for a while before Harry decided to slide his hand under her tank top. Hermione moaned approvingly and he dared to do what he had only done in his dreams before. He smiled as he realized that tonight he would be able to check the accuracy of his dreams and he hoped that he would be able to enjoy her like this, every night for the rest of his life.
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