"Hermione," Harry called, "you might be interested in this!"

Surprisingly, Hermione didn't even hesitate, she immediately put away the book she had been reading and headed over to Harry. "What is it, Harry?" She asked her boyfriend.

He wordlessly handed the books to her. Her eyes widened as she read the titles of the books. She didn't even notice Harry put the rings in his pocket. Despite the simple titles, these were books were exceedingly rare. She was especially surprised with the last one. She hadn't even known there was a book on wandless magic!

"Harry, this is great!" She said excitedly. "This is everything we need!"

"I know," he said. He sounded a lot less excited than Hermione was; in fact, he sounded sad. Hermione set her curiosity aside, concerned, about Harry.

"What's wrong, Harry?" She asked, and was slightly disappointed when she realized she didn't have a nickname for Harry like he did for her. She would have to think of one.

"This is everything we need," he said. "That means we don't have to go shopping. I know it sounds stupid, but I was really hoping to go shopping with you. Not because I like shopping, but simply to do something an ordinary boy would do with his girlfriend."

She silently cursed Fate-and the Dursleys-that he wasn't an ordinary boy to do ordinary things. Kneeling beside him, she said, "Harry, it doesn't sound stupid. And we can still go shopping. We can even visit Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and see how the twins are doing. Plus," she added with a smile, "You know I still want to make sure we don't need other books." Harry smiled at that, knowing it was true. She hugged him, whispering, "I'm sorry you don't get the chance to be normal."

Harry nodded, grateful for the comfort. He still felt compelled to say, "You know it's not your fault, love."

Hermione smiled sadly and nodded. "It doesn't stop me from being sad for you, though."

How did I get so lucky? Harry thought to himself.

I'm the lucky one, Harry, Hermione responded in his head; apparently she heard him. Harry just chuckled and shook his head, knowing she was wrong, and knowing better than to argue. Hermione just hugged him tighter, glad she had gotten a laugh out of him.

Abruptly, he swung her around into his arms, and said, "Let's see if there are any other books that could be useful to us. We should also take a look at the muggle weapons, just to have another surprise against the Dark Bastard." Normally, Hermione would have scolded him for swearing, but considering that Voldemort had gone after her boyfriend personally five times already, she agreed with his assessment. So she just nodded, thinking she could get used to Harry carrying her around; as long as his arms were around her, she didn't care!

After about six hours, they had gone through the rest of the books-Harry looked for promising titles, and Hermione made sure it was what they were looking for. In the end, they only found three more books to add to the pile-The Complete Book of Wards and Protective Charms, Mind Magic, and Magical Bonds. They young couple didn't know why, but this last one seemed to draw them in. They decided that they would have to explore this mystery later, as they hadn't yet eaten, and it was approaching six.

After the return trip that left Hermione and Harry both flushed, Harry thanked Griphook again with a tip, they headed to the Leaky Cauldron for some food, and Fortescue's for dessert. They stopped by Weasley's Wizard's Wheezes, but it was already closed for the day. They then went to Madame Malkin's to get new clothes for Harry; apparently, she supplied muggle clothes as well.

After that-despite Hermione's previous assertion of wanting to go to the bookstore-they simply walked around Diagon Alley hand-in-hand. The books were in a small bag that was magically enlarged on the inside and had a featherweight charm on it. Although they knew it had to end some time, they were both grateful that they could act like a normal couple for a little while.

Unfortunately, it all came crashing down when they stepped off the Knight Bus at number 4 Privet Drive. Hermione gasped in horror, and clutched at Harry, hiding her face in his shirt. Harry could just stare in shock. Apparently, though, no one on the Knight Bus saw anything, because it simply disappeared with its usual bang!

In front of Harry and Hermione was a pile of rubble where 4 Privet Drive. Overhead-the Dark Mark floated.

"No," Harry whispered. He took a step towards what had been his house. Hermione was too shocked to follow him. It didn't matter that the people he shared it with had hated him-it had been his house. By this time, the magic was roiling off of him; Hermione was sure even a muggle would have been able to feel it.

"NO!" Harry screamed. Every window shattered as the street shook. Somehow, the muggles in their homes seemed to notice nothing.

Harry sank to his knees, sobbing his loss; in spite of all they had done to him, the Dursleys were family. Hedwig had been in there, as well.

Hermione slowly approached him. She knled next to him, putting his arms around him. He turned into her arms, sobbing, as she comforted him with tears running down her face. "I'm still here, Harry. I won't leave you. We can get through this." She kept murmuring reassurances to him, until, finally, his tears and magic had spent themselves, leaving the young man exhausted.

Hermione's heart broke for her boyfriend in her arms. He had lost his parents, been sent to live with relatives that abused him but he somehow managed to love anyway, found out he could escape with his godfather, almost lost said godfather to dementors, lost his friend Cedric at the end of the fourth year, and lost Sirius less than a month ago. Now this? How much more could he lose before it was too much?

She suddenly started as she realized it had already been too much. He had been torturing himself-literally-because he felt guilty about Sirius. She could lose him over this if she wasn't paying attention for an instant. "I will not lose you, Harry," she whispered fiercely. She had found her Gryffindor courage and finally kissed him after two years of crushing on him. There was no way in hell she was giving him up without a fight.

She stayed awake holding her crushed boyfriend all night. As the sun began to rise, Hermione noticed something in the sky coming towards