Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters belong to J.K Rowling. The rest is all mine.
It felt strange to wake up in warmth. Warm bed, shortie pyjamas. Very unlike Bulgaria. But it was a little too warm, which meant…it was late in the morning. Even in summer, early morning was cold.
Oh no! Harry! I'm a terrible hostess!
I jumped out of bed and ran down the hall to his room. My parent's would've already left for work. He's probably bored out of his brains. The room was empty. Great, I've lost a guest.
I sprinted down the staircase at a dangerous speed (bad habit of mine). I found Harry in the living room, watching re-runs of Eastenders on T.V. I crossed my arms over my chest, and I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"If you could learn how to use the thing, how come you couldn't at least choose something decent to watch?"
He turned, surprised, and gave me the once-over.
"Well, you couldn't choose 'decent' apparel, and you know all the clothes you own" he said with a smirk. It was true; my pyjama shorts were verging on indecent.
"Sorry I slept in. My body must still be adjusting. Have you eaten?" I asked. He may have been entertained, but I hoped he wasn't starving.
"No," he replied, "but I haven't been up long. And I knew how to use the television because Mr Weasley demanded I share his discovery of them while I was staying. I've yet to master reading the programme though" he said with a laugh.
"Right. Well, I'm going to go have a shower and then I'll make us breakfast. What time is it by the way?"
"Midday"
"Make that lunch" I stated and left the room, laughing. Harry had started playing with the buttons on the remote.
After I'd had a shower, I got dressed into something 'decent' (well, a tank top and shorts) and tamed my hair, which had, unbeknownst to me, been sticking up on one side of my head life a deformed bonsai throughout the scene downstairs.
I made Harry and myself some eggs and toast, which he gobbled up hungrily, so he made some seconds (with some difficulty). We were munching away happily at the kitchen table when he popped the question.
"So, Hermy, what are we doing today?"
I paused. I had considered proposing this, and then decided not to, then decided to again.
"Well, uh, I was thinking, it'd be good to do something nice for my parents while I was here. How do you feel about cleaning the house?"
He laughed and shook his head, while muttering "Only you…."
"Only me what?" I demanded. I didn't think it was such a bad suggestion.
"Only you, Hermy, would consider cleaning your whole house during your own holidays, and while you have company too!" he was still laughing.
"It's not the whole house, pretty much only the messy parts you can see. And you never know what you'll find in a house like this!" I added. He smiled.
"Alright, you've won me over. But I should have a shower first" It was my turn to laugh.
"I wouldn't bother, you'd need another one by the time we've finished" I grinned. He scowled.
"But you got one!"
"That's because it's my house!" I poked my tongue out at him in a most immature way.
We started where we were, the kitchen. We scrubbed and scoured, and the place came up looking sparkling clean. We were wet and sweaty already. The living room consisted mainly of moving and throwing put old magazines and newspapers, and vacuuming.
Things got silly when we got to the hall closet. A proposal of "Harry, I dare you to try this on" continued to see me wearing a 1980's bridesmaid's dress, gumboots and skiing goggles. Harry was wearing one of my old floral caps on his head, one of my dad's old, stretched singlets and the skiing boots that went with my goggles. I insisted on taking his picture, but, unfortunately, he also managed to get a snap of me.
After we had finished messing about, I sent Harry to do the bathroom while I vacuumed my own and my parent's room, and tidied the hallway, as I knew the shoes, books and boxed lying in it were a threat to my personal safety, the way I went running around the place. When I finished, I went to check on Harry in the bathroom. Just as my hand reached the knob, I heard water running. Pulling back, I called "Harry?" into the door.
"Hermione! Don't come in! I'm taking a shower!"
Trying to push away the accompanying mental image, I called out "Okay", went to bedroom, and flipped through some magazines. After about ten minutes, Harry walked past my open door, wearing naught but a towel. He's your best friend, stop checking out those Quidditch-toned muscles…Argh! He smiled.
"I thought we'd finished, so I decided to use that much-anticipated shower. You could probably use one yourself Hermy".
I poked my tongue out (twice in one day, what was I, a nine-year-old?!) before he smirked and padded off towards his room.
We were settled in front of Top of the Pops fifteen minutes before Mum and Dad came home. They were, not surprisingly, delighted. At the dinner table, Mum beamed across at us.
"Did I say thankyou yet?"
We both laughed.
"Yes Mum" I said.
"Well, I'd like to repay you both, especially you Harry. How about I give you both some money, and you can go into the city tomorrow? You must've been pretty bored today, if you resorted to cleaning" she added with a winking.
I love my Mum.
"Thanks Mum" I grinned. Harry joined me.
"Thankyou very much Mrs Granger"
"Ah, what manners! You certainly are a very special young man" Mum said, her vice spilling with pride.
A/N Hope you liked it! It might seem a little slow-moving but I'm trying not to rush Hermione and Harry's developing relationship/friendship/whatever it ends up to be ;)