Forbidden Love
Chapter 2
Upon reaching the room that would be his, Harry deposited his trunk on the floor and stood taking a moment to look around. It was a very nice room, a full-sized bed rested against the wall, flanked by two small bedside tables holding average sized white lamps with light blue shades. One of the tables also had an alarm clock while the other had fresh cut flowers. The room was painted a sky blue with light cream colored trim that matched the coverings over the window. There was a full sized dresser, a wardrobe and a cushy chair right next to the window.
"So what do you think?" Hermione asked from just behind him.
"It's great," he said giving a broad smile and walking farther into the area, having a seat on the bed he bounced a bit. "It's not a cupboard, there's no lock on the door keeping me in, and I don't have to share. All in all it's the best accommodations I've ever had."
"Oh, just wait, you haven't seen anything yet." She said with an impish smile.
Walking fully into the room she headed over to the large window, pulling back the curtains sunlight flooded the area. Harry was pleasantly surprised to see an assortment of tiny rainbows enter, glittering upon everything in the space. He gave Hermione a questioning look, to which she responded by hitting a small mobile that was hanging in the window. The rainbows danced merrily as the crystals tinkled against each other.
"Mum got it years ago when she went to Milan," she said taking a seat in the comfy chair next to the window and looking reflectively out at the sky.
Harry gave a nod as his gaze slowly went from the mobile to her; he was startled to realize just then how pretty she was. Hermione was leaning back in the plush chair, her eyes closed and her head and titled back allowing the sun hit her face as she soaked up the warmth. Her long graceful neck was exposed as her hair fell away from her face and down over the back of the chair. When she brought her head forward again her eyes fluttered open looking directly at him. As their eyes locked Harry felt his body reacting strangely her gaze.
"Hermione, Harry it's time for lunch!" her dad called from the hallway.
He snapped out of his trance and looked down at his hands for some reason feeling embarrassed and flustered. Not at all understanding where it was coming from, Harry took a moment to compose himself and then he looked back at his friend and gave her a grin.
"I think we should go before your dad comes to check on us," he joked with a playful shudder, trying to ease some of the tension he felt.
'What the hell was that,' he thought standing from the comfy bed and walking to the door.
As he reached the threshold of the room her realized that Hermione wasn't behind him, turning to look for her, Harry saw that she was still by the window, now standing and once again looking up at the blue sky. Before he could call out to her Hermione abruptly turned and gave him a small smile, then dipping her head down, she walked past him out of the room. Harry couldn't be sure because she put her head down so quickly but her face seemed more than a little flushed to him. Shrugging it off as a reaction to the sun's rays he followed her to the kitchen.
Twenty-five minutes later Harry lightly rubbed his stomach knowing that he hadn't been this full since his last meal at Hogwarts the end of last term. Hermione's mum had made a huge plate of turkey and ham sandwiches along with fresh cut chips and finishing it off with all the pop that he could drink. He smiled gratefully at her when she offered him another sandwich and waived her off telling her that he couldn't eat another bite and assuring her that he wasn't being modest, but in fact really had reached his limit.
After getting to know one another for a little while and playing a couple of board games, Harry helped Hermione and her mum with dinner, amazing them with the fact that he actually knew his way around a kitchen. Once he had had his second full meal of the day and a wonderful desert of fresh lemon cake with tea, they were shooed out of the kitchen by her parents so that they could clean up. Unsure of what to do next they wandered into the living room, where he told Hermione about his summer at the Dursley's and she told him what she had done for her break so far. As the conversation waned they settled into a comfortable silence, opting to turn on the tellie and flipping through channels until they were able to find something decent to watch.
Harry sat leaning up against the arm of the plush sofa in the family room with one leg bent resting a sock covered foot on the couch and his hand on his knee, while his other foot was braced on the floor. Looking next to him at his best friend he noticed that she was sitting with her legs tucked under her, holding a pillow against her chest as she watched the program, completely entranced. They were watching a marathon of one of her favorite series on a muggle network called Animal Planet, called Molerat Madness or something.
'Leave it to Hermione to even have her favorite television show be educational,' he thought smiling and shaking his head, before turning his attention back to the program.
A couple of hours later the marathon of the series, which Harry had quickly learned from a slightly perturbed Hermione, was Meerkat Manor and not Molerat Madness, finally concluded for the day. Hermione let out a stretch, rolling her neck from side to side a few times to relieve the stiffness.
"Wow, I've never sat and watched that much television," she said looking at him. She then covered her mouth to stifle a yawn before continuing. "Well, what do you want to do now?"
He shrugged, taking a long stretch himself. "I don't have a preference, whatever you want to do."
She looked thoughtful for a second before her face lit up. "Oh! I haven't shown you my new books! I recently purchased the most interesting set of texts on defense against dark arts, they're in my room!"
She jumped up and grabbed his hand pulling him off of the couch. He suppressed a laugh as she enthusiastically dragged him out of the family room towards the hallway. As they passed the door by the kitchen Harry saw Mr. Granger catch sight of them, leaning back in his chair he watched them pass a disapproving frown marring his features. Quickly pulling his hand from her grasp and coming to a halt in the middle of the foyer Harry regarded Hermione warily.
"Uh, Hermione… do you think it's a good idea for me to go to your room?"
She gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?"
"Well, uh, it's just that your dad doesn't…wouldn't, you know, he seems like he may not want me to go into that, er, particular area of the house."
She rolled her eyes, "Don't worry about daddy, mum will talk to him." When he continued to hesitate she grabbed his hand once more and resumed pulling him down the hall. "Come off it Harry, it's not like anything's ever going to happen between us." She said in an annoyed tone, giving him a quick glance over her shoulder.
A moment later they reached her room, upon entering it Harry noticed that it smelled like books, parchment and a faint hint of lilac. Which coincidentally was what he saw when he looked around. The room was painted a soft lilac color; there was a four-poster bed with a soft white mesh canapé over it that had been gathered at and tied to each post with a loose knot. The bed was flanked by two nightstands holding black lamps with white shades and a large wardrobe rested with a large window to it's left. Next to the door was a huge bookcase that seemed to be straining under the weight of the various texts and old school books that she had piled upon it.
There was a large dresser against the wall opposite the bed that had a mirror on it, but instead of being covered in makeup, accessories or other girly items that he had seen in both his aunt's room and Ginny's last summer. There were more books, quills, inkwells, parchment and several other small education related knickknacks. On the wall next to the right of the wardrobe there were several pictures of her friends from Hogwarts; two of her, Ron and Harry, laughing and kidding around, one of her, Ginny and Luna smiling and waving and one group of her, Ron, Harry, Ginny, Luna, and Neville also smiling and waving happily. On her walls hanging just above each of the lamps, there were white scrolls with black Chinese calligraphy on them.
"They say Love and Honor," Hermione commented following his gaze. "We got them on a trip to Beijing the year before I started at Hogwarts."
She walked passed him taking a seat on her bed, after adjusting herself to a comfortable position she patted the area next to her for him to have a seat. Harry noticed that she was holding a rather slim text in her hands, which was odd for her she was usually more partial to the heavy volumes. Looking warily at the spot on the bed, then nervously at the door he took a single step then stopped.
"Hermione, I don't think I should-"
"Oh, Harry really," she responded rolling her eyes. Reaching out she grabbed his hand and dragged him the rest of the way to the bed pulling him down so that he was sitting next to her. "Don't be silly, it's not like we're doing anything wrong and besides the door is wide open."
He sighed and shifted a bit trying to adjust to the weird feeling of sitting on Hermione's bed. Looking around nervously Harry noticed another picture on her nightstand. This one had Ron by himself laughing, smiling and winking. Fighting the small smile that wanted to form on his lips Harry pretended that he hadn't seen the photo and turned his attention to Hermione.
Casting him one last annoyed look, Hermione opened the book on her lap, which was called 'The Dark Arts Outsmarted'. Harry immediately recognized it as one of the same books that they had found in the Room of Requirement during their D.A. meetings fourth year.
"Where did you get this?" He asked, taking the small volume from her grasp and flipping through it.
"I got it form a bookstore in Diagon Alley. I had gone to grab some light things to read this summer and found it behind a stack of old self help spell books." She said with a shrug, removing the text from his grasp and opening it up to a particular page.
"This is what I wanted to show you -it's a series of reflective charms that are good for combating some pretty powerful hexes," she said pointing to some incantations and directions in the book.
Harry looked over her shoulder at the spells to see what she was talking about, lightly resting his chin on her shoulder. The two of them sat on the bed chatting about the spells for the next couple of hours discussing the proper pronunciation and wand usage techniques. However they made sure to keep it at only discussing since they knew that it was unsafe to practice the actual spells they would be deflecting. They had readjusted their positions over time, Harry was now leaning back against the headboard, his legs crossed at the ankles his white socked feet gently rocking back and forth as he talked and listened. Hermione had curled up against him pointing to the interesting things that they could add to the D.A. this year, her shoulder in the crook of his arm and her head resting against his broad chest.
Both failed to notice Hermione's mum and dad peek into the room though the open door. So therefore they didn't notice it when Mrs. Granger slapped her hand over Mr. Granger's mouth and physically pulled him away form the door, telling him not to get so worked up because they were only studying. They also failed to hear him respond tartly that "Studying did not require touching". Since they failed to notice and didn't hear any of this, they never realized how much they looked like a couple instead of just friends.
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Hermione was sitting across from Harry five days later at breakfast buttering her toast and trying to think of something that they could do for the day. Just as she took a nice sized bite of her food, her mum decided to use that moment to ask her just what their plans were.
"So, what are you kids doing today? I hope it's something fun, you know you don't have enough of that dear," she finished casting her daughter a sideways glance; Hermione rolled her eyes.
'Here she goes again,' she thought turning her head slightly and glaring at Harry, who sitting across from her and trying (though not very hard) to suppress a laugh.
"After all, you guys really haven't done anything for the last couple of days but sit around the house. Why don't you try something different today, actually get out and about?" She inquired, taking a sip of her coffee and giving her daughter a pointed look.
Hermione stifled a groan, "Mum, we've done plenty. We went to the mall, to see several films, to the large arcade on Main Street, a few different restaurants and to the library."
"Riiight," she gave Harry a sympathetic look "the library…"
"I happen to like the library," Hermione huffed, her spoon halted half-way to her mouth. "It's a treasure trove of information. One needs only to open a book and they're transported to a new and exciting place."
Mrs. Granger shared a look with Harry before turning back to her daughter.
"That's nice dear," she said with a placating smile, "but why don't you take Harry somewhere where he can physically do something today instead of just imagining that he's doing it, eh?"
She gave Hermione a small pat on the hand her smile fixed firmly in place, before retuning to her eggs. Inside Hermione was seething at what she felt was her mums condescending behavior; however, she knew that there was nothing that she could do about it so on the outside she just gave a strained smile.
"Of course mum," she replied through gritted teeth "do you have any ideas?"
Mrs. Granger, who had been waiting for that exact question, leant back in her seat a wide grin taking over her features as she laced her fingers together. Looking very enthusiastic she turned to Harry before responding.
"Well, I have a couple -I was thinking that you could go to the skating rink today. Harry have you ever been skating?" She continued after he shook his head no. "Well, a lot of the kids go there for fun. Hermione has always wanted to go, but she never had any friends to go with." She gave her daughter a quick look before looking back at Harry her eyes twinkling. "I guess that's why she spends so much time being transported around in books."
Hermione flushed a deep red at her mom's comments, how could she have told him that? She kept her gaze averted not wanted to see the look of pity that she knew had probably crossed Harry's face.
"That sounds fun," she heard him say "I've heard a lot about the skating rink but never been myself. I didn't have anyone to go with either. I guess Hermione and I were just waiting for the chance to try it with each other, after all there's no one I'd rather go with."
Her head popped up at this statement and she saw Harry looking at her, a pleasant smile on his face. He gave her a wink before tucking back into his eggs as she suppressed the grin that wanted to come to her lips.
Her mom watched the small interaction between the two before continuing.
"Well, I was also thinking that you two could go to the water park, but it's a bit of a ways away. I would drive you but I wouldn't be able to pick you up, I promised your dad I'd come into the dentistry today at noon to help out with the lunch time rush."
"That's okay mum, we'll go another time." Hermione said now in a better mood.
"Well, I'll make sure to get you there before you have to leave for school," Mrs. Granger said standing. "I'm going to go catch my soap before I have to get ready to go into work, do you have money?" after receiving nods from both she continued. "Okay good, be sure to rinse your dishes when you're done, and be careful on the trolley."
Harry and Hermione promised her that they would do as she asked, and after rinsing her own small plate and coffee mug, she retreated to her room. Hermione stood and turned to Harry with a small smile, picking his empty plate up from in front of him she walked to the sink.
"Thanks," she said placing the dishes in the sink and starting the water.
"For what?" He asked coming up behind her with the soap.
He handed the lemon scented cleaner to her and she mumbled another small 'thanks' as he grabbed a dish towel off of he counter.
"You know for what," was her response.
"No, I don't," he retorted giving an innocent look when she turned her head towards him. "You wash, I'll dry," he added taking the newly rinsed glass from her hand.
"Harry," she stated in an exasperated tone.
"Hermione," he replied in the same tone, giving a small smile when she threw him an annoyed look. "Hey, what I said was true, there is no one I'd rather go with and I didn't have anyone to go with before."
"Sure," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes as she handed him a newly cleaned plate to dry. "You didn't have anyone to go with because you never got a chance to make friends. I didn't have anyone to go with because no one wanted to be my friend," she gave a self decrypting smile "-and with good reason."
Harry grabbed her wrist as she passed him a bowl; her startled gaze went to his as he stared at her, his eyes burning intensely. Slowly taking the bowl from her fingers with his other hand he sat it on the counter and turned her towards him.
"Listen to me Hermione Granger, no one wanted to be my friend either. I spent the first eleven years of my life as an outcast. The only time anyone ever talked to me was when they were calling me names, and the only time anyone ever sought me out was when they needed someone to pound on. I had plenty of time to make friends, there just wasn't anyone willing." He loosened the grip on her wrist, his expression softening. "Look, there isn't any good reason for someone not to want to be your friend. I mean sure you can be a bit...er, pushy at times, but you always have the best intentions. I'd be dead a hundred times over if it weren't for you and I wouldn't trade our friendship for anything." His lips quirked into a smile "As a matter of fact I was just thinking that I should find that troll and send him a thank you card. After all if it weren't for him I may never have found out what a great person you were and what an incredible friend."
Hermione looked at him glassy eyed and gave a watery smile. Turning back to the dishes in the sink she took a moment and a deep breath to compose herself.
"I mean honestly Harry, a thank you card?" she looked back at him with a smirk, handing him a plate before breaking into a smile. "A fruit basket is much better."
They both laughed heartily and began making up different gifts that would be appropriate for a huge mountain troll as they finished with the dishes. When the last dish was washed, dried and put away Hermione suggested that he go hop in the shower first, while she got the trolley information from her mum. Harry nodded in agreement and tossing the last spoon in the drawer he turned and walked out of the kitchen. Just as he made it past the threshold he heard Hermione call out to him.
"You know Harry, if I had had the opportunity to meet you during the first eleven years of your life we could have been outcasts together! And that way anyone who wanted to pound you would have had to go through me first!"
Harry let out a soft chuckle at her statement. He could just see the younger Hermione bravely scolding Dudley and his gang for picking on him, her eyes burning in anger.
Still smiling he turned to look at her and she gave him a wink before turning around to wipe the table. Harry shook his head and went to his room to get some clothes to change into. For some reason, even though it wasn't over he suddenly felt like this was the happiest summer he had ever had.
A.N. Real quick I know Meerkat Manor wasn't around in this time frame but I didn't feel like trying to find a show that was. So there you have it, call it a bit of creative license. Well, that's it for Chapter two -see you next time! Please Review the story and let me know what you think so far.
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