It wasn't until her vacation in Norway with her parents the summer after her fourth year that an opportunity presented itself.
It was natural for her to want to frequent book shops even during a vacation and her parents indulged her. So during their time in Oslo, Hermione roamed most of the bookstores in the city and quickly decided that her favorite was Gulliver Bookstore and Cafe.
A few days of the week when she didn't have plans of sightseeing with her parents she would leave their hostel and walk to Gulliver's. She usually picked out the books that she would like to read during her visit after ordering a beverage. She had a designated seat, or rather the seat in the corner that she decided that she liked the best.
Only today, there was a boy sitting in her seat. His head was looking down on a book, so Hermione could only see the crown on his head and the long black hair that obscured his face. As Hermione moved closer she saw that the book he leaned over was a journal of some sort as he wrote frantically in it.
Of course, she could have sat somewhere else but Hermione by extension felt that if she could ask the boy to move then she simply would not have to.
"Excuse, would you mind- " Hermione started in the Norwegian that she practiced before the trip and has been trying to perfect before she had to leave.
"Yes, I would." The boy interrupted before even taking the time to look up at her.
Hermione was initially taken aback by the stranger's rudeness, but instead of letting that deter her she intentionally slammed her books down on the table along with her beverage.
"Look-" She started again, but again he interrupted with an audible sigh, stopped scribbling in his notebook, and looked up at her. Hermione could now see his dark green eyes, behind his round specs.
"I sit here every day." Hermione continued. It was partially a lie, the truth was she sat there probably three days out of the week.
"So?" He refuted, as if he could not understand her line of argument.
She rolled her eyes. Despite her initial intent of preparing for a probable compromise, his rudeness was quickly making her rethink her decision.
He started at her in silence and she glared back. "You know what never mind." She splat. "Have a nice day." Her tone opposed those words clearly.
She cursed him in her head as she returned the books to the shelves. She was upset and did not like reading when she was upset. It did something to the tone of whatever she was reading.
She decided to take the day to do something else and exited the book store.
The next time she went to Gulliver's, her seat was empty. She rushed towards it and sat, sighing in comfort and relief. She took the first book from her sizable stack of books and began to engross herself in the story.
Sometime after, someone sank in the chair across from her. She looked from her book to see the boy, not looking at her but instead preparing to write in the black book of his.
Hermione cleared her throat and asked, "What are you doing?"
"What you should have done on the first day." He replied coolly.
"I don't like company while I am reading." She shot back.
"That makes the two of us." He replied, still not looking up to her. "I'm glad we have a mutual agreement."
Hermione scoffed but returned to her reading. She tried to forget that he was sitting across from her, but the sound of his pen was audible as he wrote.
Her eyes peered over her book to look over at him. He was leaned slightly over his book. His hand laid across one of the corners, seemingly holding the page down. That was when she saw the ring on his hand. The ring that she often saw on many of her housemates. It was a status ring. A ring that embedded the family crest of a pureblood family.
She tried to get a closer look at the ring without making it obvious that she had borne a newfound interest in him. She sat up in her chair and slid to the edge. She tried to stretch her neck slightly to see the crest in the ring, but could not.
As she tried to stretch more, her plan failed, and the boy looked up, looking at her suspiciously.
Hermione quickly settled into her seat.
The boy closed his book, seemingly preparing to leave or at least change seats.
She finally asked. "That's a nice ring."
He didn't even acknowledge her.
She was becoming annoyed. Maybe blatantly asking him was not the best idea.
Hermione turned her attention to his face, trying to recognize any resemblance to anyone. He had unruly dark hair and handsome features, but it wasn't until he ran his hand through his hair that Hermione realized who he was. The scar on his forehead gave it away.
Decorum gone, she leaned forward "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?"