"Wingardium Leviosa." Harry muttered the spell as he moved his wand, staring intently at the white feather that sat on top of the table he was currently sitting at. A frown appeared after the object didn't move even an inch, and his shoulders slumped defeated.
Ron, sitting next to him, sighed. "Well, that's that. Let's go to lunch."
"We still can't do the spell right, though," Harry said, looking over at the clock hanging in the entrance of the library. "And it's still fifteen minutes to lunch."
"We'll try it later," Ron shrugged, unbothered as he threw his books, feather and wand into his bag and stood up. "Besides, we can beat everyone to the tables if we leave now."
Harry contemplated the option for a moment, not denying that leaving homework for later was a tempting offer…or it would be, if he didn't know that later for them usually meant never.
"You go ahead, I'll catch up after I've practiced this a bit more." He ended up saying, turning his gaze back to the feather.
"Alright, see you in a bit." Ron said, and promptly left the premises of the library in search of the Great Hall.
Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes, frustrated. He'd only been at Hogwarts for a couple of weeks, but he had a real fear of failing his classes and being sent back to his relatives. An unwelcome image of Dudley stepping over and breaking his wand made its way to the front of his mind, and he quickly shook his head and opened his eyes to stare at the feather once more, willing it to move.
"Wingardium Leviosa," He grumbled, but almost immediately groaned out loud when the feather still refused to move.
"Your swish is too long."
The voice startled the black haired boy out of his thoughts, and he swirled around on his seat to find a bushy haired girl standing behind him with a book in hand and a smile on her face. She was familiar to him: older and thus in a year or two above, she was always reading and studying in the library or the Gryffindor Common Room, and he had seen her more than once between classes.
"W—what?" He stuttered, wand in hand, and searched his brain for her name, sure he had heard it before.
"Your swish," She pointed to his wand with her free hand. "It's too long. If you shorten it a bit, you should be able to do the spell without any problem."
Harry suddenly became aware of his gaping mouth and closed it quickly, looking between the feather and the girl and willing his brain to reset itself.
The girl, mistaking his silence as a sign that he didn't quite understand her, closed the distance between herself and the closer chair as she sat down quickly and took out her wand.
"Like this, look closely," She said, and cleared her throat, moving her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa."
The white feather rose into the air, following the motions and directions of the girl's wand. Harry stared at it, eyebrows raise in curiosity as she brought it back into the table and smiled at him.
"See?"
Harry nodded slowly, still stealing glances at the girl, suddenly became aware of the warm feeling that travelled through his neck and up to his cheeks, but became determined to ignore it as he prepared himself to follow her advice.
"Wingardium Leviosa," He mumbled, moving his wand and shortening his swish just as she had done moments before. To his delight, the feather rose and followed his motion. An incredulous smile came over his face as he turned to the girl.
"T—thank you, uh, miss…" He trailed off, mentally kicking himself for not being able to remember the name and feeling his cheeks getting even warmer.
The girl shook her head and grinned, getting up. "Just call me Hermione."
"Thank you, Hermione," Harry said, still smiling. "I'm, uh, I'm Harry."
"I know," She answered. "But still, nice to meet you, and I've got to apologize but I have to go back to my homework now. You'll be fine if you keep practicing for a bit." With that, she waved goodbye and quickly resumed her walk.
Harry stared at her back for a few seconds and said the first thing that came to his mind. "Oh, um, have a nice day!"
Groaning softly in embarrassment, the black haired boy quickly stuffed his belongings into his bag and made his way out of the library, face still red and the encounter with Hermione playing on his mind.
0o0oo00o00o0o
It was quite a normal morning for Harry, thought there was something he knew he had forgotten by the way Ron's eyes moved warily across the Common Room.
"You good?" Harry asked, moving his knight piece across the chess board.
"No," Ron grumbled, and moved his own piece before returning to his vigil. "Fred and George have something planned for today, I know it, and I'll be damned if they target me with their bloody pranks."
Harry frowned slightly as he watched his knight being destroyed. "Why today, though? Do they like Thursdays?"
"What?" Ron turned to his best friend, eyebrow raised in confusion. "No, mate! Today is Valentine's Day. Can you imagine what kind of humiliation awaits the poor bloke that gets caught in their mischief?"
"It's today?" Harry asked, baffled.
He shouldn't care much, not really. That day was for people who had families and loved ones to celebrate, and he had neither, though he supposed he could've done a card or two for Ron as a token of their friendship. Maybe give Hedwig extra owl treats as a thank you.
Hermione's face suddenly found itself in the front of his mind, and Harry had the distinct idea of making a card for her as a proper thank you.
"Yeah," Ron's voice brought him back to reality. "That's why I'm looking out for Fred and George. They once made a Ravenclaw sing a poem to their crush on the Great Hall as a prank. No way I'm going to get caught like that."
With one final move, Ron's king completely destroyed the remaining soldiers that Harry had, and the black haired boy sighed before tidying up the pieces and putting them back inside the board.
"You don't want another try?"
Harry shook his head, still thinking over his idea before shrugging and deciding that it wouldn't look too out of place; they had had some small talk after that encounter in the library, usually a few minutes long and not too deep. Harry could confidently call her an acquaintance, perhaps a casual friend.
After saying a brief goodbye to his redhead friend, Harry climbed the stairs to the Boy's Dorm and sat up on his bed, rummaging through his trunk for a piece of parchment and his quill. Staring at the pale color of the parchment, Harry sighed and went back down to the Common Room in search of an older student.
Finding Percy sitting at a table alone and reading, the black haired boy plucked up some courage and approached the older readhead.
"Excuse me?" Harry said. "Percy?"
The redhead's gaze turned from his text to Harry, narrowing slightly. "Yes?"
The black haired boy cleared his throat and looked around before deciding they had enough privacy. "I—I was wondering if you could help me turn this parchment red. There must be some spell for it but I, uh, don't know it."
Percy's eyebrows rose slightly as he gazed at the parchment on the boy's hand. "A card, right?"
"Huh?"
The redhead took out his wand from his robes and gestured to the parchment, grabbing it when it was offered. "It's for a card, isn't it? Valentine's Day?"
"Oh! Y—yes." Harry answered, flushing slightly.
Without an answer, and muttering words that Harry couldn't quite understand, Percy turned the pale color into a beautiful shade of red with gold highlights. The black haired boy gasped softly as he watched the magic transform his parchment into a proper card.
"Here," Percy gave the parchment back. "It's charmed to turn any letters you write there into gold ink."
"Wow," Harry answered. "Thank you, really, this is better than I expected!"
Percy smirked. "Of course it is. Now, if you excuse me…"
Harry nodded and promptly left the older student alone, climbing the stairs back into his Dorm Room and sitting once more on his bed, grabbing his quill and inking it into the small pot in the small, bedside table.
Freezing his movements for a moment, Harry thought for a moment about his words before bringing the quill down to the parchment and scratching his message into it, being done in a minute and leaving the card to dry. He cleaned his quill and put it back into his trunk, grabbing the now dried card and folding it in half.
It mustn't have taken him more than five minutes because when he came back down, everything was the same. Harry blew out a breath, and walked towards the portrait hole and into the halls.
There was one place Hermione Granger could be found at in free periods: the library.
Arriving at the entrance, Harry walked in slowly while his eyes searched for the girl his card was dedicated to, and his heart stuttered in nervousness when he spied her sitting at a table in the far back, thankfully alone.
Gathering as much courage as he could, Harry strode quickly through the library's floor to make it to Hermione's table before he could somehow chicken out of his mission.
"Hermione, hey." He greeted.
Hermione rose her head to see him standing there, a faint blush on his cheeks and a red card on his hands. "Hello, Harry, how are you?"
"I'm, uh, good, yeah," He answered, fumbling with the piece of paper on his hands as he thrusted it forward to her. "I…I made this for you. As a proper thank you."
"Oh!" She said softly, and took the folded card. The words 'Thank you for being so kind. Hope you have a good Valentine's Day. Harry Potter.' Were written in gold ink contrasting the deep red background, and Hermione smiled. "Thank you, this is very sweet of you!"
Harry grinned, but before he could say goodbye the girl reached into her bag and grabbed a Chocolate Frog, giving it to him. "There, now we both have Valentine's Day presents."
"You don't have to," Harry said, trying to give back the present.
"I want to, though. Please, keep it. I shouldn't eat that much sugar anyway." Hermione grinned, insistent.
Harry nodded, and after some quick goodbyes he left the library, red flush still tainting his cheeks and a goofy smile on his face.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
The next time Harry made a Valentine's Day present for Hermione, he was better prepared. He had managed to nick a few pounds from the pot on the kitchen at the Dursleys, enough to buy some proper card material instead of using parchment again, and a small, plastic rose. He wouldn't be able to buy a fresh one, since it would die and dry before even making it to Hogwarts.
Ron found out about his plans the day before February 14th, when the black haired boy checked for the last time his trunk to make sure he had everything.
"If that's some kind of candy and you don't share, I'll be very disappointed." Ron pointed at the red card, smiling in teasing.
"No," Harry shook his head, smiling. "It's Hermione's card."
"I didn't know she gave you cards."
"She doesn't…or, well, hasn't. It's from me to her."
Harry should've known that the following silence spelled trouble for him.
"Oh?" Ron's tone had the decency of appearing nonchalant, but when Harry turned to look at him he found the redhead's expression mischievous. "I see."
"What?"
"Nothing," Ron shrugged. "Just wondering why I didn't realize you decided to pursue her. Ginny will be disappointed."
Harry flushed deeply. "Shut up. She's just nice and I like giving her cards because of that. She helped you with your exams last year!"
"I never said she wasn't nice!" Ron exclaimed, grinning. "Besides, I have to see what kind of heartfelt and corny message you wrote her."
"No!" Harry shouted and grabbed the card out of his trunk and put some distance between his best friend and himself. "It's—Nothing, it's nothing, just a joke."
"Right…" Ron trailed off in suspicion but decided that it wasn't worth the effort. "Guess I can ask her tomorrow after you deliver it."
Harry huffed but otherwise didn't answer, putting the card back into his trunk when he spied the redhead laying down underneath his pillows and wishing him good night. The black haired boy gazed once more at the deep red card and shook his head, willing the blush to go away and being partly successful.
With no other thing to do but to go to sleep, Harry got under the covers of his bed and wished a mental good night to Hedwig as sleep consumed him.
0o0o0oo0o0o
He found Hermione at the library just like last year, but unfortunately for him she was not alone. Two girls from her year, Lavender and Parvati, were sitting across from her and engaging the bushy haired girl in what seemed as an interesting conversation, judging by the way Hermione giggled form time to time.
Gipping the card, Harry briefly wondered what would it take to ask a House Elf to deliver his card for him, but quickly disregarded the option. This was not the time to chicken out; he had no reason to chicken out, it was just a friendly Valentine's card!
Harry walked with a confidence he didn't feel he should have towards the table, stopping just to the right of where Hermione was sitting.
"Hermione! Hey," He greeted. "Morning." He nodded towards the other two girls, getting greetings in return.
"Harry!" Hermione beamed at him. "Good morning. I'm glad you're here, I have something for you!"
"Oh?" Harry wondered.
Hermione had reached into her bag, pulling out a rectangular piece of paper with a red bow.
"Here," She said, passing the card to him.
Harry grabbed it with his free hand, staring at it in curiosity when the words tap wand appeared on the white surface. With an incredulous look towards his bushy haired best friend—for which he received a smile—he shrugged and left it on the table while his hand reached for his wand.
The action of tapping his wand to the paper released the surprise of the card: suddenly, the bow unfurled itself and the card unfolded, and a red and miniature dragon made out of paper flew out of it. It flapped his wings three times, flying in circles, before flying back into the card, making it fold itself once more.
"Woah," Harry whispered, and smiled. "How…?"
"Some charms I learned last year." Hermione answered.
Harry nodded, impressed, but cleared his throat. "I, uh, have something for you too!" He thrusted the card and the rose forward, nervously.
High pitch giggling caught his attention, and his eyes moved towards where Hermione's two friends were sitting: they were covering their mouths slightly, and giggled more when his gaze met theirs. All of this made heat rush to the boy's face in a quick second.
"Thank you." Hermione smiled at him, and Harry felt a little calmer when her eyes turned to Lavender and Parvati with a glare, making them stop.
The card was red and very standard; the kind of card that you would buy in a store. It had a weird looking Cupid in the right upper corner that Harry had tried to fix by cutting a shirt and pants out of colored paper. Inside it was decorated with stars and little cards that left enough space to write a note, but instead had the red plastic rose taped into it with a red bow.
"Thank you!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes still on the rose but flickering to the Cupid, smiling.
"You're, uh, welcome," Harry stuttered, since the giggling had returned with force at the sight of his gift. "I'm—I have to go. Breakfast." He rushed out.
"Of course!" Hermione answered. "Have a great day, Harry. And keep working on your essays. Don't think I've forgotten about last year."
Harry chuckled, and walked away after one last wave, cheeks still red.
0o0o0o0o0o
The thing about the third Valentine's Day Harry spent on Hogwarts was that he received help from an unlikely source.
Sirius Black was an Auror, the best friend of his father, James, and held the title of his godfather. The reason why he had only presented himself to Harry until now apparently would remain secret because of the sensitive nature of his…mission, as he put it.
Harry's anger and befuddlement at that dissipated slightly when he realized that Sirius, while being away from him all these years, had taken the time to buy and send things through Dumbledore for Harry, which the boy had received every Christmas and birthday. It wasn't perfect, by any means, but at least Harry felt better about the man that had done what he could for his godson while out of the country, and felt grateful that he had somebody that loved him unconditionally. It also didn't hurt that his godfather had taken him to live with him the moment he could.
Of course, at this moment, there's nothing he'd rather do than sew Sirius' mouth shut as his godfather's laughter pierced every corner of Grimmauld Place.
"Are you done?" Harry grumbled.
Sirius wheezed, before coughing and looking to his godson one more time. "I'm sorry—I'm fine now, I promise. But you have to ask me again."
Harry sighed, knowing all too well he was setting himself up for more laughter but decided to deal with it. "Will you help me deliver Hermione's card this year—"
Sirius laughed once more, even more freely now. Harry crossed his arms and leaned back into the couch, waiting for the older man to finish.
"No, no," Sirius chuckled. "Y—you have to ask completely, like before."
"I'm not going to do that because you'll laugh again." Harry frowned.
The question, for context, had been: Will you help me deliver Hermione's card this year, as Padfoot?
Sirius consequent questions had been: What card? Who's Hermione? Why Padfoot?
And Harry's answers, which had started this whole mess, had been: Valentine's Day card. Hermione is my friend, we give each other cards every year and she gave me an awesome one last year, so I want to do something cool this time. I thought Padfoot delivering it to her would be fun.
Sirius' interesting tone when he stated 'A friend that you deliver Valentine's card every year? I thought I met all your friends last summer' was reminiscent of Ron's teasing the year before, and yet Harry didn't see the upcoming laughter when he shrugged and answered his godfather truthfully.
'She's not with me; Hermione is two years above. She's in Fifth Year.' He had answered, and Sirius suddenly had become so interested in the conversation Harry wondered if asking for his help had been the right decision.
He was starting to realize it maybe wasn't; Sirius had only asked two more question before he broke down and teased him about 'being just like your father! Good old Prongs was already chasing after your mum at your age, though I guess you'll have more luck than him!'
When he had denied having any kind of feeling for Hermione and stated that he was simply keeping up with their friendship, Sirius unashamedly laughed as loud as he could, with Harry's red face and spluttering as his entertainment.
"Alright, alright," Sirius sighed contently. "There. I'm good now."
Harry glared at him. "So?"
"So what?"
"Will you help?" Harry gritted out.
The older man's grin got big. "Of course I'll help! I'm the best wing man ever, I promise! Leave the delivering to me."
As much as Harry tried to go back on his request, Sirius wouldn't let him.
Sitting on the Great Hall on Valentine's day of his Third Year, Harry felt equal dread and excitement cursing through his veins. Last year, at the end of the last term, he had learned that Hermione's favorite candy were sugar quills, and this year he had managed to make a quick trip to Hogsmeade and buy a big box of them to go with her usual card. Adding to that, this time he had made the card himself instead of buying; it had been worth all of Sirius and Ron's teasing, since he thought it looked pretty nice for a first attempt.
All around him, people were receiving and giving gifts. Harry himself had gotten a few, from unknown witches and some candy from Ron and Neville, and a joke card from Sirius in the form of a paw print.
Ron's voice brought him back out of his thoughts. "Is that Sirius?"
Harry's head turned and stared at the entrance, where a shaggy black dog stood. He had a red bow along his neck, a red-wrapped package hanging from said bow and he was showered in heart confetti with a goofy look on his face, but the boy recognized the mischievous glint on his eyes. "Uh, yeah. I asked him for help with…something."
Wishing that this wouldn't be a public display was futile as he watched Padfoot trot past him and into the part of the Gryffindor table where Hermione was sitting, with the other Fifth Years.
Padfoot's tongue was out as he smiled at all of the young students, walking towards the bushy haired girl that matched the photo that Harry had shown him, the one in his albums with the two of them side by side, taken the year before. The dog whined and sat down, just behind her.
Hermione, apparently now noticing the way her friends had fallen silent and were looking behind her, turned on her sit to find a big, shaggy black dog sitting on his heels and looking at her with anticipation. Not quite knowing what to do, she reached out a hand and petted him on the head softly.
Padfoot barked happily, and guided her hand with his snout to the package that hang from the red bow. Hermione raised her eyebrow in curiosity but ultimately reached over and unwrapped the package from the canine's neck. Padfoot, to Harry's embarrassment, felt bold as he reached over and gave Hermione a doggy kiss on the cheek.
The girl chuckled and petted the dog one more time as Padfoot barked and shook himself, spraying everyone close enough with valentine confetti. He snorted through his nose and quickly trotted out of the Great Hall, not before throwing a glance at Harry that made him shudder.
Hermione had smiled and turned back to the package on her hands, finding a little note on the corner that read 'from: Harry (including the kiss)'. She snorted softly before ripping the package open. The box of Sugar Quills was rectangular, big and too fancy looking for a candy but it made Hermione smile. Her friends immediately bombarded her with questions, but she just waved her hand offhandedly. When they weren't looking, she sent a smile and a nod at the black haired boy sitting just a few meters away.
Harry returned her smile and waved, and didn't even hit Ron when the redhead's elbow met his ribcage in an attempt to tease him. When he got up to leave after breakfast, he found a package under his place on the bench. Recognizing the handwriting, he ripped the wrapping paper and found a small, red lion with fiery yellow and orange mane. He chuckled, and promptly left the plushie right on top of his bed, ignoring once again the teasing of his dormmates.
0o0o0o0o0o0o
The next Valentine's Day was an interesting one, and it all came down to one fact and one fact only:
Harry Potter fancied Hermione Granger, and he was now aware of that.
Over the last few years and the subsequent summers they had traded letters, and even met up while buying their school supplies for this year, and had grown closer than before; so much that Harry would now constantly greet her whenever they crossed paths in the halls, sat with her for working on the library from time to time, and even hugged her when they both went home for the winter holidays.
He had planned his Valentine's Day card carefully this year; while he was adamant that he wouldn't jeopardize his friendship with her with a too over the top romantic card, he wanted to put some thought into it and maybe, as Sirius so gracefully put it when he spoke with him about this, give some hints about his feelings for her. He had gotten her a rare version of her favorite book, Hogwarts: A History, from Sirius' own library; from what his godfather had told him, he had exactly 17 copies of that rare version of said book that were only gathering dust, and that would be better appreciated by Hermione.
There was one thing he wasn't expecting about this February 14th though, and it was the way some Ravenclaw bloke interrupted his walk to the library to make a very specific demand out of him.
"I'm sorry," Harry said, frowning. "What exactly are you asking me for?"
Anthony Goldstein sniffed. "I'm asking you to stop giving Miss Granger love letters. It wouldn't do any good for her to receive them in front of her boyfriend, would it?"
Ignoring the slight sting at the word boyfriend, Harry huffed. "Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot give to her?"
"I'm the boyfriend, nitwit," Anthony scoffed. "And I don't think it's appropriate for you to keep sending her love letter when she's in a relationship with me."
"That's for her to decided, isn't it?" Harry stated before going around the bigger bloke and resuming his walk towards the library, clutching the wrapped book with a little card taped into it, all the while wondering how Hermione was going out with such a git.
Suddenly, the book split into two right on his hands, and Harry was left spluttering as he watched the pages travel down to the ground, torn. Anthony walked past him, wand in hand, and smiled mockingly at him.
"I'm doing you a favor here, Potter," He stated. "She's way out of your league. Stay in your lane."
With those parting words, the Ravenclaw spun on his heels and walked briskly in the same direction the black haired teen had intended to follow.
Cursing softly, Harry bent down to pick up the pieces of the book with care, finding his homemade note almost intact, except for a cut corner. Being almost done with the gathering of the broken book, he startled when he heard his name being called.
"Harry?" Lavender said, walking towards him and eyeing the lose pages on the ground. "Are you okay?"
"Hey, Lavender," Harry sighed. "Yeah. Just an…interesting encounter with a git."
The blonde girl lifted her eyebrows but bent down and helped him gather the last few pieces of the book. Reading quickly through some of the words, she tilted her head.
"This seems familiar."
Harry shrugged. "I think you'd know it better than most. It's a rare version of Hogwarts: A History."
"Is it?" Lavender asked. "You should show Hermione—she's a fan!"
Harry nodded. "Yeah. It was her gift today, but…"
The girl looked confused for a second before sighing and giving his a sad smile. "Goldstein, right?"
"Yeah," Harry nodded, frowning. "I don't know how Hermione can have a boyfriend that's so…like that."
Lavender chuckled. "He's not her boyfriend, Harry. He's some bloke that asked her out at the beginning of the year and thought that that was it and she'd fall in love with him. She didn't want anything to do with him after that. He's still fooling himself."
Harry huffed. "So he came and destroyed the book because he's delusional? That's—That's fucked."
"I can help you though," Lavender gestured to the broken book. "We've just learned a more powerful reparo last week, I'd love to fix this for you. Merlin knows Hermione deserves a nice gift after whatever idiotic card Goldstein has prepared for her."
Harry shook his head sadly. "It can't be fixed by magic, since it's so ancient and rare it has protections…But I have more copies of it. It'll just take me more time to get them."
"I'll tell her about this incident," Lavender promised, smirking. "It'd be fun to watch her rip Goldstein a new one."
She had kept her promise; Hermione had strolled into the Common Room that night with fire in her eyes. Harry was by the fire place, just having received another copy of the book thanks to a Floo call to Grimmauld Place.
"I am so sorry," Hermione stated, coming to sit by him on the floor. Before Harry could utter a word, she continued speaking. "Anthony might be a Ravenclaw but he's such an idiot when it comes to relationships—he had no right do what he did! I'm sorry you had to deal with that, and the way he destroyed you gift!"
"It's okay now, Hermione," Harry interjected. "I got you another copy, and my note wasn't too ripped."
"Another copy? Harry, this is supposed to be really rare!" Hermione exclaimed.
The black haired teen shrugged. "Sirius has fifteen more copies of it and has never read them. Believe me, he wasn't concerned about losing one."
The way her eyes lit up and her smile seemed to consume her face made Harry flush slightly, grinning at her with childlike enthusiasm.
"Here," Hermione put a wrapped gift in front of him, giving him an expectant gaze.
The package contained what seemed to be a charmed, chocolate Snitch that could actually fly, and only would let itself be eaten after being caught. The sight of it made him chuckle and he smiled contently at his friend and crush.
"I have to chase this on the pitch to eat it, then?"
Hermione shrugged, smiling. "If you want to eat it, then yes." With that, she stood up and grabbed her gift, pausing slightly before getting close and placing a swift kiss on Harry cheeks. Even after she disappeared up the stairs, the boy was still frozen on the spot.
All in all, ignoring the encounter with a Ravenclaw, it had been a pretty good day.
The fifth Valentine's Day that Harry lived on his Hogwarts life was perhaps the one that made him the most nervous—at the time. He had come to terms with the fact that he fancied his bushy haired friend over the past year, and had spent the summer going back and forth on the pros and cons of asking her out and maybe, if she said yes, of dating her.
The cons side of the list boiled down to one thing: he didn't want to make anything weird between them both, as it usually happened as far as he was concerned. He liked Hermione too much, cherished their friendship to the point he was hesitant to try and make the next step. It also didn't help that this was Hermione's last year at Hogwarts, a fact that served to sour Harry's mood every time he saw her studying for her N.E.W.T.s and remembered exactly why.
Still…if he could pluck up some courage and ask her out, receiving a positive response, he would be just months away from learning Apparition and he was sure Sirius wouldn't mind too much if he used Grimmauld Place's Floo constantly.
Merlin, he really was smitten.
A few well-placed remarks from Sirius and Ron gave him the courage he so desperately needed, and for this Valentine's Day he had made two cards, and had bought five red roses, and a medium-sized plushie that looked, with some modification, like Crookshanks, Hermione's half-Kneazle cat.
The reason for having two gifts was simple: while Harry was willing to give it a go and ask her out, he really didn't want her to be without a present if she said no, therefore he bought the plushie to go with his usual Valentine's card, the one where he would thank her for everything and for which he wasn't expecting anything more than a thank you; on the other hand, the roses would go with a note that would invite her to Hogsmeade with him, on a date.
The 14th of February dawned on him quicker than he anticipated, and it was with a mixture of reluctance and excitement that Harry searched the Common Room in the early hours of the morning for Hermione. Unfortunately for him, given the fact that he had woken up and gotten ready later than he usually would, he found no trace of the older Gryffindor and thus resigned himself to search for her during lunch.
Having so many Valentine's Days under his belt, Harry was always a bit more sensitive this time of year. Having people close to him had been a shock the first time he realized it, back in First Year, and while some would think giving presents one specific day of the year dedicated to close relationships falls in the territory of 'corny', Harry himself didn't mind; he actually looked forward to it, searching the stores for the most silly and prank-looking card he could get his hands on for Sirius, buying an assortment of candies for Ron and Neville that would usually be accompanied with a written pun, and planning and giving Hermione gifts that would hopefully make his intentions known without being overbearing or creepy.
He also received a lot of presents from his two best friends, his godfather, and other acquaintances, making Valentine's Day an enjoyable one—except perhaps for the over-the-top pink decorations that Filch would put up along the halls every year.
Walking through the halls and avoiding the odd mistletoes that followed a student every once in a while, Harry quickly searched the Great Hall for Hermione but frowned when he couldn't find her either. A quick inquiry to Lavender later he was walking out of the Hall again, his cheeks still red from the small teasing smile he had received from the blonde.
Just before entering the Library, Harry patted his right robe pocket, releasing a relieved sigh after he felt the shrunk box that contained his two gifts. He walked in with a fast stride, going immediately to the table closest to the biggest window: her favorite spot, of course.
She was there, sitting down and comparing notes on three different books while a plate with half a sandwich on it sat on her right side.
"I thought library rules stated that eating food was forbidden," Harry said, smirking and pulling the only other available chair so that he could sit.
Hermione didn't pull her eyes from the notes but she still smiled and answered him. "I never make a mess, do I? Besides…nobody has to know."
Harry chuckled. Seeing as the bushy haired girl was still staring at her notes, he quickly retrieved his wand from his robes, grabbed the shrunken box and laid it out on the table, casting the counter spell and allowing the box to return to its normal state.
Hermione was now curious, he could see; she had stopped reading and her eyes seemed to follow his movements, while her eyebrows rose slightly to her hairline as she watched the box grow in a second. Harry cleared his throat, and prepared himself for the hardest Valentine's Day he'd ever had.
"I, uh, have your gift here," He said, gesturing softly to the box, opening it. "I hope you like it—I'll understand if you don't, though! Of course I will, but if you don't I have another one with me."
"You have two gifts?" Hermione frowned. "I wasn't aware we had upped our normal fee, Harry."
"We haven't," He answered, flushing. "I just—I did it because you might reject the first one and I didn't want you to not have any gift just because you said no."
Hermione's face was becoming more and more confused and so Harry decided to just bite the bullet—he took out the Hogsmeade card and five fresh roses, put them on the table and slide them over carefully.
Hermione frowned in puzzlement, and the black haired teen just made a vague gesture towards his gift. The girl looked at him once more, shrugged, and opened the card after depositing the five roses to the side.
Happy Valentine's Day, Hermione!
Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me this following week? As a date?
"Oh," Hermione breathed, surprised.
Harry, of course, took it as a bad sign, and immediately grabbed the second card and the Crookshanks look-a-like and slid them over to her, leaving the card open for her to read without moving.
Hermione did so; she read both cards again and even grabbed the Crookshanks plushie, smiling at it. Harry shuffled his feet slightly, an uncomfortable feeling pressing down his throat but he was determined to see this through.
"I'd love to," Hermione said, shooting him a smile.
"Really?" Harry blurted out, before coughing. "I mean—Brilliant! We can meet up at the front doors, say, about ten?"
Hermione nodded. "Ten it is. I still get to keep this Crookshanks even if I didn't reject you, right?"
"Yeah, of course!"
She nodded before slipping her hand into her book bag and grabbed a rectangular package wrapped in red foiling paper. She slid the present towards Harry, looking at him and smiling.
Harry let out a nervous breath, but his mouth was grinning as he grabbed the package and ripped the paper off of it. The rectangular box was nothing especial; cardboard and brown, taped together. The black haired teen searched for an opening and pulled the top off the box.
Inside, nestled in red paper, was a set of red and gold, knitted gloves, scarf and beanie.
"I made them myself," Hermione said, laughing nervously. "I know you have to get up early for Quidditch and whatnot, and winter here is hell. I hope they fit you…If you don't like them—"
"No!" Harry interject. "I—They're lovely, Hermione, really. Thank you."
He smiled at her, and got a smile in return.
When they met up for a date on the weekend, Harry wore the knitted set that she had given him and Hermione beamed, happy that her gift had been well received.
They date on Hogsmeade wasn't as odd as Harry thought it would be; it seemed that, when they crossed the line to more than friends, their dynamic didn't really shift too much. They held hands, a lot more than before, and the shy kisses that they traded during their alone time made Harry's head spun and his chest stutter in the best of ways, but their banter and closeness was still the same as it had always been. Comfortable, warm, safe.
When the sun set on the horizon and they were inside the carriage that would take them back, Harry squeezed his girlfriend's—girlfriend! He asked and she said yes!—hand tightly, turning his head towards her.
"I had a great time."
Hermione smiled softly. "Me too."
Harry grinned, but it fell slightly when his mind reminded him that this would be the last year they would be together on Hogwarts grounds, and suddenly he imagined all the worst possible scenarios that could become true: Hermione breaking up with him, not wanting to go for a long distance relationship; her finding some other bloke that was older and smarter than he was; growing up and distancing themselves from each other—
He shook his head slightly, conscious that his anxiety was starting to show on his face. Taking a deep breath, he spoke again, his voice a whisper.
"We'll be okay, though, right?"
She understood. Of course she did. "Yes, Harry. We'll be okay, you'll see. We'll make it."
They did.