Disclaimer: All characters except Diane belong to J.K Rowling.
The next morning I used a 'Do Not Disturb' sign I had made. I did not have to shower in fear. I had made the sign the afternoon before at Diane's suggestion. After we had established that we were not dating to Diane, Harry and I spent the afternoon with her, and had relayed the shower story. She found it hysterical, but also recognized the need for an early warning system, and had recommended the sign. I had to admit, she was a bit dim at times, but came up with some ingenious ideas. My parents had wondered at the need for it bit neither Harry nor I were about to explain with examples.
When I was finished in the shower, I walked to my room. Harry was sitting on my bed. I was only wearing a towel.
"Harry?" I asked.
He walked towards me in the doorway.
"Hurry up and get dressed. Hedwig's come back. I'm not opening the letter without you" he said with a massive grin, and squeezed past me. I'm lucky he didn't dislodge my towel (oh, wait, that didn't really matter, because he'd already seen me naked!)
When I was dressed, I rushed into Harry's room, bursting in on a frightening sight. Harry, wearing only black silk boxers. About to head downwards. Harry looked up quickly. Oh God, oh crap, oh no.
"Hermy, you can pick your jaw up off the ground and close the door now" he laughed. I was tempted to stay in the room and shut it behind me, but I snapped out of it.
"Sorry!" I yelped and backed out quickly. Eep. Well, I suppose that's revenge for yesterday morning. But I almost saw him naked! I didn't see his…no, best not to go there.
Visibly flustered, Harry opened the door, and motioned for me to come inside. Bright red, I complied.
"Sorry" I said.
"Perhaps your parents should consider locks?" he said with a laugh.
"They've never really needed them, with only three of us" I explained.
"Yes well, perhaps we should try to avoid all unintentional glimpses of each other in various states of undress until we leave".
I raised an eyebrow.
"Unintentional?" I asked with a smirk. He thrust the letter at me.
"You open it", he said. I glanced at him. Surely he wanted to do it himself? He only shook his head, so I ripped through the seal. I read through it, then out loud to Harry.
"Dear Harry
Sorry I can't say much in this letter. I am at a certain werewolf's house. We had trouble with A.F; we suspect they may be a traitor, which is hard for us. Expect to see a big, black dog around school when you return. Hedwig has been well-fed."
The relief washed over Harry's face. He then snatched it back to read over himself. Then he started frowning.
"A.F? Who could A.F be?" he asked. We both thought about it very hard.
"Arabella Figg!" I shouted. "Do you remember Dumbledore's instruction's to Sirius? 'You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher – the old crowd'". I smiled triumphantly. Harry looked at me, amazed.
"Hermy, your memory deserves to be worshipped at an altar"
I blushed.
"Thank you. So, a traitor huh? For once I can't wait to go back to school"
"Are we going to Diagon Alley tomorrow?" Harry asked.
"Yep. So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"
"Actually, I've quite started to like that show Eastenders…"
We whiled away the next few hours in front of the television (not watching Eastenders mind you). My parents had given me the movie 10 Things I Hate About You for Christmas, so we watched that, although Harry moaned loudly about it being a 'chick flick'. When it was finished, we were sitting on the same couch, throwing M&Ms into each other's mouths. At this close proximity, I became fixated with how vividly green his eyes were. I didn't realize he'd thrown a candy, and it missed, rolling down my top. Harry leaned over.
"Here, let me get that" he said with a wink.
"Harry!" I shrieked, clutching my chest. There was a loud knock. I ran to answer the door, revealing Diane on the other side. She looked concerned.
"Is everything alright? I heard squealing", she asked. I let her in.
"No, everything's alright, Harry's just making vain attempts to grope me" I replied, rolling my eyes at Harry, who had been laughing since my outburst. He made room for Diane next to him on the couch and I sat on the other.
"So, how are you?" he asked her.
"Okay. Bored out of my brains. Do you two want to go see a film tomorrow?"
Harry and I looked at each other awkwardly.
"Uh, we cant", I started, "we have to go into the city and pick up school supplies". It wasn't a lie!
"Can't you do that in town?"
"No, we have to go to a, uh, specialist store" Harry added.
"Oh". She looked disappointed. Then she perked up immediately.
"So, how's life around the Granger household? Since yesterday, I mean". I snorted. She looked at me questioningly so I explained the morning's event of walking in on Harry, leaving out, of course, the details about the owl and Sirius. When I was finished, Harry was beet red and Diane was looking at me with a serious expression.
"Hermione, you should've closed that door with you inside. He still owes you for the shower" she said, and then burst into laughter. I blushed, recalling how her words closely mirrored my own thoughts that morning.
Diane had brought her swimmers, so we jumped into the pool for a while before accepting the reality that it was too cold to swim (yes, even in summer. Damn England). Diane looked at me.
"Too bad you don't have a hot tub"
"They have a spa bath" Harry said with a laugh. Diane eyed me with a mischievous looks.
"No Diane. We won't fit in it! It's only made for two people!" I stated firmly. She grinned.
"Bye. You two have fun" she said with a wink, then walked out the side gate. I looked back at Harry.
"Well, that was abrupt" I said.
"So, how about it Hermy?" he suggested, his emerald peepers flashing. I frowned. Oh come on, where's your spontaneity?
"Okay" I said, and led him to the bathroom. I started the water and we dropped our towels (still wearing our swimmers!). As we settled in, I felt his foot brush my thigh.
Note to self: next time, ignore inner voice. Seems to lead me into sticky situations.
A/N I thought it was time to heat things up a bit. Too bad they have to go back to school, huh? Please review!