Unofficial Portkey Archive

Author's Note: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes. And I am really sorry for taking so long to update.

Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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Like It Was Meant To Be

"Let's see if Romilda's ready." Hermione said as she and her best friend Luna walked out of her bedroom.

"Romilda, are you ready?" Hermione asked knocking on the door of her cousin's bedroom.

"Almost, just give me two minutes." Romilda said opening the door. She was wearing a simple long sleeve round neck black shirt and dark blue jeans, showing off her slender figure nicely. Her hair were made in a messy bun.

Hermione was shocked for a moment to see Romilda wearing simple attire. She gathered her thoughts and spoke, "We'll be waiting for you downstairs."

Romilda simply nodded and closed the door as Hermione and Luna walked towards the stairs.

"I just don't believe it; we are really going to see it today." Hermione said excitedly, coming down the stairs from her room with her best friend.

"I can't wait to see Ron in his football uniform." Luna said dreamily as they reached to the bottom of the stairs.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Luna, I am talking about Hogwarts." She said exasperatedly as she and Luna made their way towards the living room.

Exhibition match between Hogwarts and Durmstrang was to be played today. Match was scheduled to start at 3 PM and at the moment it was 1:30 PM. Romilda, Hermione and Luna were waiting for Hermione's parents to come back from the dentistry, so that they could go to Hogwarts.

"I know," Luna said as she followed Hermione to the living room, "But, don't tell me you are not excited to see Harry." She finished with a smug smile, a very rare deed on Luna's part.

Hermione blushed a little thinking about the boy with messy hair and emerald green eyes, her boyfriend, Harry Potter, real for this time.

A week had passed since they got together for real. Hermione couldn't believe that she and Harry were together. It had been her wishful thinking to be more than just friends with Harry, and now she was living that wishful thinking of hers for real. She had never felt so happy before. Suddenly life had become like a gentle summer breeze, where you close your eyes to feel the light caresses of air on your face and in your hair, and where you feel sunlight lightly touching your heart and warming your soul with everlasting delight. In simple words, her relationship with Harry was a pure ecstasy.

Even though Hermione had never believed in fate or destiny, sometimes it felt like she and Harry were meant to be together. Since they had gotten together, it was as if things were just falling into right places for them, whether it was regarding their feelings, friends, or families.

Hermione could still remember the night she and Harry got together for real. After sharing few deep and passionate kisses, they had decided to leave the party. However, instead of going back home, they spend an hour just sitting in the car and talking. Even though they knew many things about each other, there was still a long list of things they hadn't shared with each other.

Hermione found out that even though Harry's parents owned a prestigious and well established law firm, he didn't want to work in that line. He wanted to be a football player, which didn't surprise Hermione, as Harry was the captain of his school football team. His favorite football club was the Puddlemere United and his dream was to play for the national team.

In return, when Harry asked her about what she wanted to do, she felt no embarrassment in telling him that she was still undecided. She was absolutely in love with science, especially Astronomy. But she also loved wildlife. So it was difficult for her to decide what she wanted to do.

Amidst sharing more kisses, they had talked about many other things, revealing some of their brightest and mortifying moments of their lives. They shared a good laugh at this. Harry had also promised to show her around in his school on the day of his match.

That night had been one of the best nights of her life. Something significant had happened in her life, that was going to change her life completely, and perhaps for the first time she wasn't afraid of the change.

One more thing she did that night was that she told her mum about what happened between her and Harry.

By the time she reached home, her heart and mind had absorbed one of the most unbelievable happenings of her life; Hermione Granger finally had a boyfriend.

She felt a little upset when Harry had to go. But still she couldn't keep the smile off her face. Twice she had pinched herself to check if she was dreaming. She pressed the doorbell waiting for her parents to open the door.

Her father opened the door.

"Hey dad," Hermione said with a wide smile. She entered into the house, leaving a very confused father behind her.

As she started making her way towards the stairs to go up to her room, she saw her mum coming out of the kitchen.

Moving forward, Hermione wrapped her arms around her mother, sighing happily.

Jane was a little taken aback, but then wrapped her arms around her daughter.

Hermione could feel the presence of her father behind her, as she pulled back from her mother.

"Hermione, are you all right?" Robert asked skeptically as he came around and stood next to his wife, both of them looking at the radiant face of their daughter.

However, Hermione couldn't find words to express her contentment. Even if she had words to express, she couldn't do it in front of her father.

Hermione took a moment to answer her father's question.

"Yes dad, I am all right." She said in a normal voice, finally succeeding in bringing her euphoric mood in control.

"Then why are you so happy?" Robert asked looking a little doubtful.

Hermione simply shrugged her shoulders. "I had a great time at the party." She replied nonchalantly, looking at her father.

It looked like her mother wasn't convinced with her explanation, not that Hermione was concerned.

Her father opened his mouth to say something when his cell phone started ringing. A conflicted look crossed over his face for a moment, before he took out his cell phone from his pocket and walked towards the kitchen.

Jane and Hermione both watched as Robert walked away.

Jane turned back towards her daughter with raised eyebrows.

"So what happened?" Jane asked her eyes bright with anticipation.

"Mum, Harry asked me out, for real." Hermione said excitedly, but in a low voice in case her father was listening.

"Really," Jane said feeling pleased, looking at her cheerful daughter.

Before answering, Hermione looked back towards the kitchen and then taking her mum's hand, she walked towards the living room. Jane sat down on the couch and Hermione dropped next to her. She kicked her shoes off and rested her head on her mother's lap, extending her legs on the other end of the couch.

"Yes mum. He said he really likes me." Hermione said in a soft voice.

"How are you feeling right now?" Jane asked running her fingers through Hermione's tied hair.

Hermione looked at her mother.

"Extremely happy, but I still find it difficult to believe that Harry likes me." She replied looking thoughtful.

"I am so happy for you Hermione." Jane said. She leaned down and kissed her daughter's forehead.

Hermione smiled at her mother. Suddenly she remembered the most important thing that she forgot to tell her mother.

"Oh mum, I forgot to tell you something very important." Hermione said softly with a hint of smile on her face.

"What is it?" Jane asked.

"You won't believe it mum, but Harry had already called the bet off at the beginning of this month." Hermione started. From thereon she started telling her mum about conversation she had with Harry that night.

Hermione was brought out of her musings when phone started ringing. She picked up the receiver.

"Hello," She said.

"Hermione, are you, Romilda, and Luna ready?' Robert Granger asked from other side.

"Yeah dad, we're ready." Hermione replied.

"Ok then, we're on our way home. We will be there in 5 minutes. Just lock the house and come out." Robert said.

"Ok dad," Hermione said and put the receiver down.

She turned to look at Luna. "Mum and dad are about to arrive here in five minutes. We should move outside." Hermione said. Luna simply nodded.

As they both walked out of the living room, they saw Romilda coming down the stairs, holding a jacket in her hand. Hermione told Romilda about her parents coming to pick them up.

Before getting out of the house, Hermione checked the house one last time. Locking the front door, Hermione, Romilda, and Luna walked a little forward towards the road, waiting for Robert and Jane.

They didn't have to wait long for them as Hermione saw them coming in their car. Car stopped in front of them.

Luna was first to get inside the car, next was Hermione and then, Romilda. Luna greeted Hermione's parents as she got into the backseat of the car.

"Hello Luna," Jane replied and Robert simply nodded in greeting.

Robert started the car as Romilda got into the car and closed the door.

They didn't talk much throughout the way. They just talked a little about Hogwarts. Hermione told them few things about the school that she had read in Hogwarts- A History, a book that she had borrowed from Harry (which she owned now).

None of them had been to Hogwarts ever before. However, Robert had already taken the directions from James, Harry's father, to reach Hogwarts.

It took them close to an hour to reach Hogwarts. They all had the same reaction on their faces, amazement.

"Dad, are you sure we're at the right place?" Hermione asked apprehensively as their car passed through huge gates, "It definitely doesn't look like a school."

Robert laughed at his daughter's reaction. "Yes Hermione, we're at the right place." He said as they entered the large entrance gates.

Although Hermione had read about Hogwarts and had seen the pictures as well, she found it difficult to accept that the huge structure standing in front of her eyes was a school. It was not a regular school building structure; instead, it was a large castle. The entrance gates were made of magnificent shaped iron and were flanked by two pillars topped with statues of wingspread owls. Just a few yards from the gates, was a small guardhouse with a tall chimney.

"It's beautiful." Jane said, looking amazed.

"Yeah," Luna said agreeing with Hermione's mother. Romilda nodded in agreement, as she too looked at the castle with admiration.

Robert drove the car further, following other cars on the path leading to the parking place.

After parking the car, five of them got out of the car.

"Should we follow others?" Jane said gesturing towards where other people were going.

"No, James told me to wait here for him." Robert replied. He took out his cell phone from his pocket to call James, when Hermione saw him coming towards them.

"Dad," Hermione said pointing behind him. Robert turned around as others looked towards the same direction.

After exchanging quick hellos with everyone, James led them to the football stadium. Walking towards the stadium Hermione noticed that Hogwarts had a fairly large lake and extensive grounds with sloping lawns.

After passing through the entry gate of the stadium, James led them towards the front row seats. Stadium had concrete seating instead of aluminum benches similar to what she had sometimes seen on television. Hermione looked around the stadium while following others. It was the first time she had been to a football stadium. She could see various people making way towards the seats holding eatables and drinks in their hands. She also saw Cho Chang there with her family.

As they reached to the front row, Hermione saw Lily Potter sitting there with two men and two women. One of the two men was tall, well-built, and looked quite handsome. He had lustrous wavy black hair and striking grey eyes full of laughter. Other man had thick light brown hair, green eyes, and thin moustache. He looked more matured as compared to James and other black haired man.

"Robert, Jane," Lily said with a wide smile, as she noticed new arrivals. Getting up, she shared a hug with Jane.

"Hey Lily," Robert said with a smile.

"Robert, Jane, I'd like to introduce you to my best friends, Sirius Black," James said pointing towards black haired man, "and Remus Lupin." He finished gesturing towards other man. Sirius and Remus shook hands with Robert and Jane.

"And their wives," James continued, "Christina Black and Nymphadora Tonks Lupin," He said with a mischievous glint in his eyes as he introduced Remus's wife.

Nymphadora Tonks glared at James. "Don't you dare again calling me Nymphadora, James. It's Tonks." She said.

James, Sirius, and Remus simply laughed at her reaction. "Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be called as Tonks only," Remus announced with a sly smile. Tonks hit him playfully, but then just laughed with others.

Hermione watched as her parents exchanged quick greetings with Sirius, Remus and their wives.

Christina was a petite blonde with shoulder length curly hair and warm brown eyes, and Nymphadora (an odd name, Hermione thought) had heart shaped face, black eyes and short spiky black hair. Looking at Lupin's wife Hermione felt some similarities between her and Sirius Black.

"Are you two related?" Hermione blurted out looking at Sirius and Tonks. She blushed profusely as everyone looked at her.

"Yeah, she's my cousin." Sirius replied with a smile. Hermione simply nodded.

"Oh sorry, I forgot to," James started, but was interrupted when presenter announced that match was about to start. After having quick brief introductions (where Hermione received knowing glances from Sirius Black, making her blush), they all sat down to watch the match.

Hermione almost forgot all her embarrassment as she looked towards the ground. Standing in the front row, she had a clear view of the field. And there he was, walking out with his team, looking quite handsome in his football uniform and without his round spectacles.

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Harry felt a little nervous as he walked out with his team. This match may prove to be a very significant step on his way into international football. Other reason for him to be nervous was that he was playing in front of Hermione for the first time. He knew she wasn't an ardent fan of football, but still she was coming just to see him play (and to see Hogwarts and he'd have to show her around), she had told him as much.

He was surprised with his apprehension. He had never felt nervous around Hermione before. But, this time he was going to share something with her, that he loved passionately. He didn't want her to think that he was a fool to waste his time on football. He loved football and he wanted her to understand why he felt so.

"Mate, its time," Ron said bringing Harry out of his thoughts. Harry looked around the room to see his team ready to take on Durmstrang.

"Let's go and kick some butt." Harry said in a loud and an encouraging voice.

"YES!" Rest of the team shouted in unison.

"Durmstrang stands no chance." Cedric said passionately.

Harry looked at Ron and grinned at him.

Ron grinned back. "It's time Malfoy knows who's the best." Ron whispered to his best friend. Harry nodded as he heard commentator announcing the arrival of their team.

Harry looked around the stadium as he walked out in the field with his team. It was fully crowded. To check his vision he searched for his family in the crowd. They were sitting in the front row cheering with rest of the crowd. Since it was difficult to play with spectacles, Harry usually wore contact lens while playing the match. He smiled, as he looked at his family and friends, a certain bushy haired head visible among them. Harry's heart soared with happiness looking at his girlfriend sitting with others and cheering for him and his team.

As Durmstrang players walked in the field, Harry saw Draco Malfoy, captain of the team, walking in front, with an ever-present smirk on his face. He sneered at Harry as both the captains shook hands. Crowd was roaring with delight as coin was tossed in the air and game started.

Harry had never felt so proud of his team ever before as he felt now. As the game progressed further, Hogwarts team's game improved as well. Ron was showing brilliant keeping skills. All the hard work and numerous practices were finally showing their result.

By the time first half was over, score was in favor of Hogwarts with 2-1. Although Durmstrang had showed some fight against Hogwarts in first half, in second half Hogwarts raised their game to a new level and dominated the match completely. Durmstrangs were even struggling to have the possession of the ball. It was clear how frustrated they were when they hit the ball in their own goalpost. Draco had started shouting at his teammates and for that, he was shown the yellow card.

As expected, Hogwarts won the match. At the end of the match score was 6-1 in favor of Hogwarts, and Harry was awarded with `Player of the match' for scoring three goals for his team.

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Hermione didn't understand about what was happening in the match. Only thing she could concentrate on was her messy haired boyfriend, who was running around the field with such a passion that she shivered looking at his intensity. He looked incredibly handsome and never before in her life had she found him so attractive. She could see how much he enjoyed playing the game and how skilled he was. Even though she could never fully understand, why he loved playing football so much, she had decided that she loved watching him play. He was so fully concentrated on the game that Hermione was sure if he had put same efforts with his studies he would have been at the top of his class.

Just then, she saw that players were hugging each other with their faces alight with delight.

"Is it over?" She asked confusedly to Remus Lupin who was sitting next to her.

"Yes, it's over." Remus said with a light chuckle.

"Oh," Hermione said feeling disappointed. Even though she won't admit, she was enjoying a little too much watching a sweaty (and sexy of course) Harry running around the field, and she didn't want it to be over so soon. Then she smiled inwardly, realizing that she would meet Harry soon.

She sat there lost in her thoughts as Harry and his team received the trophy, thinking about how easily things had worked out for her and Harry.

A couple of days after they got together, Harry and Hermione had decided to tell their parents (only Robert in Hermione's case) about the bet. They were a little scared if anyone else found out about the bet and told their parents. It was better to let them know beforehand.

Hermione talked to her mother about it, who in return had assured her to talk to her father, without putting Harry's existence in danger, in case her father decided to manhandle Harry for putting a bet upon her daughter.

Robert had reacted as expected. He was ready to throttle Harry, but he quickly deflated when his wife pointed out that his daughter was as much responsible for being a part of bet and also that Harry didn't lie to Hermione. Hermione had to bear a long lecture from her father about what she did was wrong. In return, Hermione promised that she would never lie to her parents ever again. She also had to put many efforts in convincing her father that she and Harry were dating for real this time. She was hoping that her mother would help her, but Jane said nothing (even though she kept smiling amusedly at father-daughter interaction) while Robert kept interrogating Hermione about the current status of her relationship with Harry.

For Harry it was not that easy. Taking first step, he thought of talking to his father first. He knew his father would not be happy with the bet, but Harry was expecting him to be a little sympathetic. When Harry told him about the bet, James scolded him a little, but then he also appreciated his son for not playing with Hermione's emotions. Harry was hoping that his dad would help him talking to his mother. But, James was even more terrified of his wife, than Harry was.

Finally, Harry with the help of his father and his father's best friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, gathered some of his courage and managed to walk into the home office where his mum had been working that day, followed by James, Sirius, and Remus. Next thing that happened to Harry, was as expected, he was tongue-tied. After minutes of mindless rambling (mostly on the part of James, Sirius, and Harry), Harry managed to blurt out the actual thing he wanted to say.

Now that Harry had admitted his fault, he had to face the consequences as well. Lily was angry with her son, but she was upset as well. However, after hearing the whole story she had cooled down a bit. Lily told him that he would remain grounded for a week. But when Harry mentioned about the match and his upcoming exams, Lily decided that Harry would be grounded as punishment during first month of his school vacations. Harry protested a bit, but looking at the stern look his mother was giving him, he accepted it. Surprisingly this piece of news brought no change in Lily's attitude towards Hermione. She was still warm and friendly towards her. A very unfair treatment, according to what Harry said to Hermione, who had just laughed it off, telling him to be careful about getting into a bet in future.

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Hermione jerked out of her thoughts as Luna called her.

"Hermione, are you all right?" She asked looking puzzled.

"Yeah," Hermione nodded looking back towards an empty field.

Soon people started to leave the stadium as a presenter announced that everybody should move towards the school building where the foods and drinks were being served.

Hermione was awestruck the moment she entered through the huge oak front doors of the castle, leading to the huge hall made of stonewalls. It had a wide marble staircase opposite to the oak doors, probably leading to upper floors of the school.

Hermione noticed that everyone was walking through the double doors at the right side of the hall. She hardly listened as James told her parents about the school, that she had already read from Hogwarts-A History. Entering through the double doors she found out that it was a huge hall with a very high ceiling and was decorated exquisitely.

Hermione saw two long tables on either side of the hall filled with different kind of foods. At front of the hall was a long platform with another long table for the staff on it, as Hermione had read in the book. There was a throne like chair in the centre of the table for the Headmaster or Headmistress of the school. On either side of the staff table, there were doors from where servers were bringing more food and drinks to avoid any kind of shortages.

There were large windows on the left side stonewall of the hall, covering the whole wall, evening light filtering through the windows, giving a magnificent look to the hall. A musical band, standing before the staff table, was playing soft music to entertain the crowd.

"This is amazing. Isn't it?" Luna said to Hermione. Hermione looked startled for a moment. She had almost forgotten that she was not alone. She looked at others who were busy talking among themselves and Romilda was looking around the hall, her eyes searching for someone.

"Yeah, make me wish…" Hermione started. However, Luna never found out what Hermione wished as just that moment Harry and Ron arrived.

James was simply ecstatic looking at his son. It was evident how proud he was feeling at that moment as he pulled his son into a fatherly hug.

"You played brilliantly today, Harry." Sirius said patting his godson on the back and Remus nodded in agreement, "Congratulations Harry," He said.

"Thanks," Harry said, grinning, his happiness apparent in his shining eyes. Then he hugged his mother who congratulated him for winning the match. Other women congratulated him as well.

"Your keeping skills were top notch today, Ron." Sirius said with a grin, looking at the redhead boy who until now was silently watching the exchange between Harry and his father.

"Thanks Sirius," Ron said, grinning back.

They talked some more about the match, while Lily and other women turned back to whatever they were talking about earlier. It looked like Lily, Tonks and Christina were telling Jane about the school. That left Romilda, Hermione, and Luna on their own.

"This school looks like a medieval age castle." Romilda commented looking around the hall.

"Just imagine the kind of creatures this school would be hiding. I wish I'd have a chance to look for them." Luna said wistfully.

Hermione simply shook her head and chuckled lightly.

"What? Don't you believe me?" Luna asked, nonplussed.

However, before Hermione could reply, Ron joined them.

"Hey," He said, standing a little close to Luna, though not touching her, being quite aware of the adults standing with them.

"Hi," Luna replied smiling sweetly. Ron simply squeezed her hand in return. Hermione and Romilda nodded in acknowledgement.

"Did you see the game?" Ron asked them.

"Oh yes, you were looking as handsome as ever." Luna said dreamily.

"But I already know that." Ron said disappointedly, though his eyes were alive with amusement.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but looking at Luna's adoring gaze on Ron, she stopped herself from saying anything that might ruin her best friend's happy moment. She felt someone tapping her on the shoulder. Turing around her eyes met a pair of beautiful emerald green eyes.

"Hi," He whispered, his eyes twinkling. Instead of replying immediately, Hermione looked behind Harry, towards where her parents were standing talking with Harry's parents and their friends. Her father was busy talking with James and his friends. When Hermione's eyes shifted towards her mother, she was startled to see that Jane was looking back at her. Jane simply nodded towards Harry and smiled with approval.

Hermione didn't know why but she felt relieved by her father's inattention and her mother's approval. Standing there and talking to Harry (who was also her boyfriend now) in front of her parents, especially her father, was a terrifying thought for her.

"Hi," Hermione replied with a smile. She felt as though if she couldn't breathe properly. He was wearing a simply white shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and blue jeans. His hairs were still damp from the shower and his round spectacles were back.

"Hi Luna, Romilda," Harry said as he looked at other girls, his hand lightly brushing against Hermione's in a soft caress.

Hermione had to look down for a moment to hide her smile as Romilda and Luna greeted Harry.

"So what do you think of Hogwarts?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Well, I haven't seen it completely yet." Hermione replied teasingly, "And if I remember correctly, you promised to show me around." She reminded him.

"I'd like to see it as well." Luna joined in their conversation.

"Me too," Romilda chipped in.

"We'll show you around, but I am feeling very hungry right now." Ron declared rubbing his stomach.

"Ron and his stomach should always be our first priority." Harry said jokingly.

"Right," Ron said getting along with the joke.

Everyone laughed at this. Informing adults that they were going to get something to eat, five of them walked towards the table filled with food and drinks.

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Hermione was just so excited that she could hardly eat anything. Once they finished eating, she just couldn't wait anymore.

"Shall we move now?" Hermione said looking excited. Harry just laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Yeah, but first we should tell your parents about it, in case your father think I have abducted you." He replied, laughing, as he took hold of her hand.

"In that case I'll have to be very careful around you. What if all of a sudden you decide to kiss me?" Hermione teased. Harry opened his mouth to retort, but Ron interrupted him.

"Harry you better stop talking to Hermione. Her father is glaring at you." Ron said in a serious voice. As a result, Harry and Hermione immediately sprung apart. Harry threw a quick glance towards where his and Hermione's parents, along with their friends were standing. Hermione's parents were busy talking with Remus and Tonks.

Harry heard Ron sniggering behind him. He glared at his best friend and looked at Hermione, who was looking towards her parents, unmistakable relief on her face.

"You should have seen your face. I wish I had a camera with me right now." Ron said laughing.

Hermione was shocked for a moment, and then she started laughing.

"I didn't know you were so scared of my dad." She said playfully.

Harry scowled at her. "I was not the only one who pulled away." He said.

"He has got a point." Luna said. Harry smiled triumphantly, as Hermione scowled at her best friend who just shrugged in return.

"But why are you scared? It's not that uncle Robert doesn't know that you both are dating." Romilda said looking at Harry and Hermione.

"Well you know how dad is." Hermione said laughing nervously. She had almost forgotten that Romilda was standing with them. Romilda had not been speaking much, most of the time she was simply watching her and Harry.

`Definitely to find a loophole in my relationship with Harry.' Hermione thought.

"Let's go." Hermione said and everyone nodded.

"Dad," Hermione said interrupting her father's conversation with Remus.

"Yeah," Robert said looking down at his daughter.

Hermione felt a little nervous, but took some strength from her mother's presence.

"Harry and Ron are going to show me, Luna, and Romilda around the school. We'll be back in a couple of hours." She said.

Hermione watched her father; he looked conflicted. She saw him giving a doubtful glance towards Harry. It looked like he didn't want his daughter to go with Harry. Hermione could not imagine what kind of thoughts would be passing through her father's mind. Definitely, allowing his daughter to go alone (okay, not alone, but still) with her boyfriend was not sitting right with him.

"Dad," Hermione tried to get his attention.

Jane nudged her husband on the side bringing him out of his reverie. Robert shared a look with his wife and turned back towards his daughter.

"Sure," Robert replied, trying to act casual.

Harry too informed his parents and then they left the hall.

"So what would you like to see first?" Harry asked girls, once they were in the Entrance hall, away from the prying eyes of Hermione's father and amused eyes of his father and his friends.

"Hermione's the only one who has read about Hogwarts." Romilda said.

Harry looked towards Hermione. "What would you suggest?" Hermione asked.

Harry thought for a moment. He leaned towards Hermione and whispered in her ear, "I would suggest a broom closet, but I think that can wait."

Hermione's eyes widened with surprise. "Git," She said hitting Harry playfully on his arm.

Harry just laughed and wrapped his arm around her.

"We can start with Hagrid. What do you say?" Harry asked Ron.

"Perfect. It's a good thing we are already full." Ron said with a chuckle.

Harry laughed; however, his other three companions were confused.

"Who's Hagrid?" Luna asked.

"His full name is Rubeus Hgarid. He's the gamekeeper of this school and he's also a friend of ours." Ron answered.

"He's a great man, except when it comes to his cooking. Eating his rock cakes is like you are eating a real rock." Harry said.

As they walked out of the castle and towards the lake where Hagrid's hut was situated, Hermione asked Ron about his family. Ron told her that his parents and his brother Percy had gone to Romania to visit his second eldest brother Charlie Weasley. Charlie had gotten a new job in Romania a few months back. His eldest brother Bill Weasley was also out of the city due to some work-related matters.

"Fred and George are with their girlfriends and Ginny is with her friends." Ron finished.

"Here we are." Harry said gesturing towards a small wooden cottage.

Harry moved forward to knock the door and few seconds later, door opened. For a moment, Hermione was startled by Hagrid's appearance. He was huge and burly. He must have been seven foot tall. He had long locks of shaggy black hair and a beard that covered more than half of his face. His looked a little pale and his eyes were dark black. He was wearing an unusually large overcoat with several pockets.

"Harry," Hagrid said with a wide smile, coming out of his house. He pulled Harry in a bone-crushing hug.

"Hel…Hello Hagrid," Harry said, panting due to Hagrid's hug.

"Oh Sorry, Harry," Hagrid said pulling back immediately.

When they were done with the introductions, Hagrid led them into his cottage. It was quite cosy and warm, Hermione noticed. There was only one room inside, with a massive bed in the corner, a fireplace and a small wooden cabinet. Hagrid also had a pet dog, called as Fang.

As Harry had said, Hagrid was a great man. Despite his scary appearance, Hagrid was a very pleasant company. He was a genuine and a caring person. They all enjoyed his company and listened intently as he told some of the old legends about the Hogwarts castle and its founders.

After saying goodbye to Hagrid, their next stop was Hermione's favourite, Hogwarts library. But Romilda excused herself saying that she was tired and wanted to go back to the Great Hall. She assured them that she would find her way back and quickly left. Hermione was sure that Romilda had gone to meet Cho to give her report.

On their way to the library, they also met Neville, his parents and his grandmother. Neville congratulated Harry and Ron for the match and then left with his family.

Library was situated on the third floor of the school. It contained thousands and thousands of books on hundreds of shelves. Hermione was speechless, never before she had seen such a big library. If she had been a student of Hogwarts, this place would have become her personal heaven.

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Harry was enjoying showing Hermione around his school. Her curiosity was endless. However, her glowing face and wide smile were worth all the effort he was putting in showing her around. Hermione was the only one who was asking the questions. Hermione hadn't realized that she had been holding Harry's hand throughout the visit, as her mind was completely occupied with the Hogwarts.

However, the only thing that Harry was aware of was Hermione's warm presence and feel of her soft hand. She looked beautiful with her bright eyes and flushed face. Instead of showing her around, Harry just wanted to pull her into a broom closet or an empty classroom to kiss her senselessly. But he would have to wait. He had a perfect place for it and he was sure Hermione would love it. Now he just had to find a way to spend some time alone with Hermione.

He was thinking about it when Ron gave him the opportunity. They were on the seventh floor that contained a tapestry corridor. Its walls were covered in tapestries, and portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses were hanging over it. They had already seen other places along with the trophy room and the armoury, a corridor where a collection of suits of armour were kept for display.

"Luna, would you like to go for a walk?" Ron asked his girlfriend.

Luna, who was busy looking at the portraits, turned and looked at Ron.

"I'd love to." Luna replied taking his hand.

Ron looked at Harry and Hermione.

"Would you guys like to join us?" He asked, though he looked a little reluctant.

"Is there anything else left to see?" Hermione asked Harry, trying to remember everything she had read in the book, unaware that Ron wanted some time alone with Luna.

"We'll meet you guys outside the Great Hall in an hour." Harry said to Ron. Ron nodded and left, pulling Luna along with him who was once again looking at the portraits.

Hermione frowned as Harry ignored her.

"Why did you do that?" She asked.

However, instead of answering her, Harry pulled her in his arms and holding her against him.

"Because I want to spend some time alone with my girlfriend. Do you have any problem with that?" He said in a husky voice.

"No," Hermione whispered, "She'd very much like to be with you as well."

"Good," Harry said. Pulling back from Hermione, he grabbed her hand and eagerly started leading her towards the staircase.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked, laughing at Harry's enthusiasm.

"You'll see." Harry replied shortly.

Harry led her to the tallest tower of the castle.

"Wow!" Hermione said looking astonished, as Harry opened the door of the rooftop.

"It's incredible." She said as they walked further on the roof. She looked down from the tower. It was slowly getting dark and she could see ground and the lake bathing in the fading sunlight of the evening as sky started turning a light shade of red.

"This is Astronomy tower. This is used to see planets and stars during midnight, but it also serves another purpose." Harry said wrapping his arms around Hermione's waist from behind and resting his chin on her right shoulder.

Hermione turned around in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

"Really, what purpose?" She asked.

"This," Harry said kissing Hermione fully on the lips. It was gentle and soft at first and Hermione responded enthusiastically, letting herself fall into his embrace completely.

Without breaking the kiss, Harry slowly walked them towards the wall. He pressed Hermione's back against the wall and started kissing her more deeply and passionately. Hermione whimpered with pleasure when she felt Harry's body pressing against hers fully. And she felt like she belonged here with Harry, in his strong and safe arms, and everything was right in the world as long as he was there with her.

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Author's Note: - All the descriptions about Hogwarts, I took them from different websites and made some very slight changes.

So what do you think of this chapter? Did you enjoy it? Please tell me though your reviews.

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