Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters belong to J.K Rowling.
A/N Thanks heaps reviewers! You rock my world! Chocolat Elf, I tend to end chapters wherever it feels right, and so far each chapter has encapsulated one day. Once they get back to school, who knows how long they'll be! To those who hate Diane, no, I won't kill her off but she won't be appearing in story much after next chapter J
My parents were always stared at when they entered the Leaky Cauldron, the one location where they were out of place. Therefore, for the start of my first year, they dropped Harry and I off nearby and went shopping in London. I was just glad to get out of the car. Harry and I had been sitting as far away as possible on the back seat and my parents had been casting suspicious glances at us what seemed to be every two seconds. When I was out and with pounds in my hand to exchange at Gringotts, I was delighted.
Harry and I had hardly exchanged a glance since the previous afternoon. I had shivered when his foot brushed my thigh, but simply gulped, closed my eyes and tried to relax. That was the point of spa baths, wasn't it? Perhaps not when you're sharing one with a teenage boy. I had opened my eyes to find Harry staring at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing" he muttered, then shifted his leg in the cramped space. The entire length of his leg was pressed against mine. Oh boy. I had stared at him, but he didn't move his leg, so I simply closed my eyes again. I then felt a funny sensation in my foot. My eyes snapped open to reveal Harry tickling my feet.
"Harry!" I squealed. "Don't! I'm dreadfully ticklish!"
He raised his eyebrows at me.
"Really?"
He then dove at me and began brushing his fingers over my bare stomach. In near hysterics, I stood up. I was afraid of where all this foamy water and slippery limbs would leads us. Perhaps the hot water was going to our heads? I had glanced down at Harry, still sitting in the bath, dejected.
"I think we should stop now, before this gets out of hand."
Thus we entered Diagon Alley with Harry thinking I was a cold bitch and me mightily confused. I mean, excuse me for not wanting to screw up our friendship by letting him run away with his hormones! He was probably having a fine old time imagining I was Cho Chang anyway…
But the truth was, I had to set things right again; I didn't want to go back to school with things being awkward between us. I wanted to go back to normal.
"Harry, I have a surprise for you later. But you have to let me shop on my own for a while, okay? It'll only take half an hour after we've finished buying our school stuff."
He looked at me in confusion then flashed me a small smile.
"Okay Hermione"
He's calling me Hermione again…something's still wrong.
We went to Gringotts and I converted my Muggle money, while Harry got a bagful of Galleons from his vault. After we were finished there we went first to Flourish and Blotts to get our books for that year, as well as parchment and quills. We went to the Apothecary and picked up potion ingredients, and I also got a new set of scales because Neville had broken mine last year. Finished with school supplies, I left Harry at Quality Quidditch supplies and went to Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour to buy us ice cream. I returned Harry's to him then waved goodbye. I'm sure he was tempted to follow but I got in front of a man as large as Hagrid so he obscured Harry's view.
The camera I had taken our pictures with on the day we cleaned the house was not a Muggle camera. My parents had ventured into Diagon Alley to buy it for me for Christmas. Of course, that meant the pictures had to be developed with magic, which I couldn't do. So I took the camera to the shop and had a look at the novelty frames while waiting for the film to be developed. I found one that looked like it was made entirely of miniature broomsticks and bought it. When my pictures were done, I asked the witch at the counter if she could perhaps charm the pictures to look as one? (Hey, if they can be digitally manipulated in the Muggle world, why shouldn't there be a magic equivalent?). The witch replied that she certainly could and I left the store with a photograph of Harry and myself, him in the singlet, floral cap and ski boots, me in the '80's bridesmaid dress, gumboots and skiing goggles, poking our tongues out, striking poses and messing about, in the broomstick frame.
When I met up with Harry again outside the Quidditch store, I could've sworn he never left. He was drooling over some broomstick in the window still. I tapped his shoulder and grinned.
"Time for your surprise. Close your eyes"
He smiled and obliged.
"I like the sound of this surprise already"
I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
"Hold out your hands"
He cupped his hands in front of himself and I put the frame in them. His eyes snapped open and examined the photo and then the frame, then bulged out slightly.
"Hermy! This is brilliant! Thank you!" he exclaimed, then pulled me in for a hug. His hands snaked around my lower back. Friendly hug Hermione, thank you hug…He pulled back.
"In anticipation of your surprise, I also got you a surprise, to thank you for your hospitality over the past week" he grinned. I was surprised. But if I though I was surprised then, I was in a state of shock when he uncoiled from his pocket a silver chain with a red crystal on the end and put it in my hand.
"It changes colour each day" he muttered, his face beginning to match the shade of the pendant.
I had heard of necklaces like these. Every 24 hours, the colour of the crystal would change, so one day you might appear to be wearing a ruby necklace, the next an emerald, the next a topaz and so on. It was amazing, not to mention gorgeous. For once in my life, I struggled to find words, so I wrapped him in another hug and whispered "Thank you" in his ear. We stood there for what seemed like an eternity and I felt his hand reach down to my own. What's going on here? But he simply took the necklace out of my hand, circled it round my neck and did the clasp up at the back. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have a friend as good as Harry.
"Well haven't you two got cosy since I saw you last?" I heard a male voice behind me say in a thick Scottish brogue. We quickly parted.
"Oliver!" Harry shouted. "Hermione was just…thanking me for something" Harry said, looking shifty, although not nearly as shifty as Oliver, in a wide-brimmed hat and large sunglasses. Oliver glared at him, grabbed both of our wrists and pulled us into a side alley. When we were out of sight he took off the hat and sunglasses. He grinned.
"Sorry, I tend to get a bit, uh, harassed when I go to wizarding places these days…especially by those teenage witches…" he drifted off, then looked at me civilly.
"Hello, Hermione"
Ooh baby he's still sex on legs, and that accent, swoon! Must. Find. Words…
"Hello Oliver" I said with a smile. My tongue felt like it was made of cotton wool. He looked at me strangely, then at Harry.
"So, are you two dating or something?"
A/N Please review!