Harry couldn't believe his eyes. His new neighbour was Hermione! He immediately thought that his summer would get infinitely better and would be more fun with a friend around. Then he remembered what Uncle Vernon had said to him: he was to have no contact with her family whatsoever, and he agreed to it!

He groaned in exasperation; at himself, his uncle, his cousin, his aunt, and the fact that he couldn't talk to Hermione all summer!

"Arrgh!" He groaned. He was tempted to kick his suitcase, but thought better of it. He considered writing her a letter, but thought it seemed stupid when she was right next door. He laughed when he started thinking about sneaking over the hedge to talk to her. That one, he was sure, would never happen. It was unthinkable, and he didn't need Uncle Vernon angry at him this early in the summer holidays.

He sighed. How was he ever going to wait till September first to tell her that he'd been her new neighbour for two months? He supposed that he could owl Ron to tell her, but once again, that was a stupid idea. He was thinking about Ron's reaction to what he would say if he did follow through when he heard his aunt's voice below.

"Welcome to our home! Please, won't you follow me to the living room?" He decided to take the opportunity, no matter how much trouble he got into. He opened his door and exited his room, walking down the stairs. He made sure he didn't walk too heavily on them; he didn't want his aunt or uncle knowing he was coming just yet.

When he got down the flight, Petunia gave a slight gasp, looking at him. He knew, though, that they weren't going to force him back upstairs. Not in the presence of company they wanted to impress. So Harry walked right by his aunt without either of them saying a word, and they both entered the living room.

Vernon stood, seeing Harry, and growled under his breath. But he couldn't do anything now; Hermione's parents had seen him. He nodded to them, and looked at her. She'd beaten him to it; she was staring inconspicuously at him, her jaw dropped a little. She quickly regained her composure and said "Hello" to him, her voice betraying a hint of her surprise at finding him here.

He grinned so quickly she would have missed it if she blinked, and turned to her parents. "Hello," he said. "I'm Harry, their nephew. Welcome to Little Whinging." He was impressed that he could be so calm when he was so excited at having a friend live by him for the first time in his life.

He went to sit by Hermione, her eyes subtly gleaming with enthusiasm. Harry could feel Uncle Vernon's eyes on him, but he couldn't care less. He turned and said "Nice to meet you. I'm Harry" to her, turning fully away from his adoptive family to hide his full-blown grin. Hermione played along.

"Likewise. My name is Hermione. Would you mind showing me around your gorgeous yard?"

"No, not at all. Follow me." He answered, anticipating their time to talk. He led her out of the room, and out the door.

Petunia whispered to Vernon, "It's useless to call them back in now. He's just being friendly; there's no way he could possibly know her. She's not one of his kind, it's very clear of that." Vernon nodded and said loudly to the Grangers, "Allow me to take you for a tour around the house."

Harry and Hermione got into the humid outdoors and immediately Hermione said "Harry! It's wonderful to see you; it hasn't been that long at all! I can't believe you of all people are our neighbour! This is going to be a great summer!"

Harry grinned back at her, and said, "It's going to be such a relief having a friend around here, you have no idea. But I'm not allowed to talk to you; my uncle forbade me from speaking to any of our neighbours years ago. He made me promise not to talk to you, either. I think he wants Dudley to ask you on a date or something. As if that'll happen. You're brilliant and Dudley is stupider than a flea."

Harry stopped to take a breath, and Hermione chose that moment to interrupt. "But if you're not allowed to have contact with the neighbours, how are we going to be able to talk before going to school, or I guess to Ron's house before the Quidditch World Cup?"

Harry shrugged. "I considered writing you a letter when I found out, but I thought that seemed silly. I really had no idea, but then I realized your family was downstairs and I took the chance. I'll probably be in a lot of trouble with my uncle, but it was worth it." Hermione looked amazed.

"You never do seem to care about breaking rules, Harry. And when did you find out? I mean, we just saw each other a few hours ago, getting off the train."

"I saw your parents out the window when I went to my room to put my trunk away, and then I saw you. I didn't notice it was you until you turned around. You have no idea how shocked I was."

She smiled and said, "I think I do, actually." Harry grinned back at her. "I guess you do. So, how do you like it here so far?"

Hermione's turn to shrug. "I've only been here for about an hour, but it's nice … elegant, I guess. You can't really tell a lot about a place you've only been at for an hour. But it looks like a well-mannered little place. Of course, the name isn't the nicest. Little Whinging. That drew me away from it at first."

Harry laughed. He agreed with her about the name. The people here were nosy, and he hated the times they saw him and started whispering about 'the Potter boy'. "They hate me around here. Uncle Vernon told everyone the fake story; how I go to St. Brutus' Secure Centre or something like that, how I'm a criminal and have to be locked up in a school far away. It's disgusting what the people here will believe. I don't want to turn you away this early, but everyone here is nosy and inquisitive. It's awful, and I'm desperately waiting for Ron's owl to come, telling me I can get away."

While he was saying this, Hermione found herself admiring his emerald eyes. She'd read all about him in the books about Voldemort, but she'd never seen his eyes up close until the very beginning of first year. She loved their colour; Harry sometimes said he agreed with what Ginny's Valentine in second year had said, that his eyes were the colour of a fresh pickled toad. Hermione always privately disagreed. Emerald had been her very favourite gemstone for years.

And she always took his side in things, mostly because they'd never had a fight; well, unless you counted when they weren't speaking during the past year. That had been torture for her. She had developed a little – okay, big - crush on him during the last two years, and she was desperately trying to hide it.

So far, it looked like she was succeeding. She knew Ginny really liked him, and other girls found him positively endearing, being the Boy Who Lived. But that wasn't why she liked him. She was shaken from her thoughts.

"Hey, Hermione, are you listening? Or are you thinking about school? I swear, you are the only person who would think about homework on the first day of summer holidays." She smiled faintly.

"Sorry, Harry, just thinking." How she loved when he said her name! "I'm actually ready to go back inside. I'm getting chilly, and I think mum and dad might be ready to go home soon." He nodded and got up. She followed him in, thinking about what might happen during the next few weeks; away from school, no one they knew but each other … and then again at the World Cup … Her mind was working intensely.