A/N: School is finally over (YAY!) – though now I have to start working again – but I hope that I'll be able to update this story more regularly now. Hope you enjoy this chapter and keep letting me know what you think.
CHAPTER TWO: Muggle Shopping
There was absolute silence when Harry awoke the following morning, making him momentarily forget that he was at The Burrow. At the very least there should have been the sounds of conversation coming from downstairs, or small explosions erupting from the twins' room in the basement where they continued to make joke stuff for their shop in Diagon Alley. Harry also should have heard Ron snoring, but when he sat up he saw Ron's bed was empty. That was strange. Ron almost never got up before him.
Still wondering where Ron was, Harry gathered his clothes and went to use the bathroom to take a quick morning shower. There was still an unusual silence surrounding the house when he emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later. It wasn't until he entered the kitchen to make himself breakfast that he found he was not the only one home.
Ginny Weasley was sitting at the kitchen table, pushing a spoon around a bowl of porridge, intensely absorbed in the piece of parchment in front of her. She didn't look up when Harry walked in. Two years ago he wouldn't have been able to get away with that, but Ginny's crush on him had dissolved enough that they had managed to forge together some sort of a friendship. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but part of the reason he had started talking to her so soon after Ron and Hermione had gotten together was because he had been feeling left out. He figured she would understand, with she herself being the youngest of six siblings. When Ginny's hero worship of him had finally disappeared, they were able to sit down together and have a conversation without either one of them feeling awkward.
This was the first summer he had spent entirely at the Weasley's and he had thought it would eventually get uncomfortable being around her all the time, but thankfully it hadn't. The primary reason he enjoyed her company was she could tell when he wasn't in the mood to talk, and would just sit with him, never demanding he tell her anything unlike so many other people in his life.
Harry joined her at the table, pouring himself a glace of orange juice. "What are you reading?"
She looked up slightly startled, having not heard him sit down, but recovered quickly enough. "Mum's shopping list," she replied. "She won't have time to do it today because she has to pick up the material for Dad's new dress robes for that ministry dinner he has tonight,"
Harry leaned over so he could get a look at what was written there. "It doesn't look that bad," he commented, recognizing just about everything on the piece of parchment. "I didn't know your mum did her shopping at muggle grocery stores,"
"She never used to. But dad got her hooked on it, and she expects me to do her shopping there when I've never even been to one,"
"I could help," Harry offered. "Grocery shopping is probably more exciting then anything else I had planned,"
"Thanks, Harry," she said, breathing a visible sigh of relief. "I would have asked Hermione but she left early this morning,"
"Where'd she go?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "This new book that she's been waiting for came out at Flourish and Blotts today. She dragged my reading-challenged brother with her to get it,"
Harry grinned. He could picture Ron's face as Hermione hauled him out of bed probably around seven o'clock so they could be at the bookshop for when it opened. "Maybe we should go now," he said to her. "If Ron's had to hang around books all morning he won't be in a very good mood when they get back,"
Since neither one of them enjoyed being around Ron when he was grumpy, they finished their breakfast and twenty minutes later were out the door heading for town.
Harry was by no means an expert when it came to shopping for food. The only times Aunt Petunia had dragged him along on one of her daily runs for Dudley was when she hadn't been able to find a babysitter. Even then he had been forced to stand with the cart at all times and Aunt Petunia had sternly lectured him in the car ride over not to touch anything.
It was a fifteen-minute walk to the nearest shopping center, not that it bothered him, and Ginny hadn't seemed to mind either. Harry figured he could use every bit of physical exercise he could get. He had allowed himself to slack off during the summer months and wanted to be back in top form for the upcoming Quidditch season. It wouldn't look very good if the captain couldn't keep up with the drills he was putting the rest of his team through.
Harry grabbed them a cart when they arrived inside the store, silently thinking that maybe they should have waited for Hermione. She was bound to be more knowledgeable then him when it came to muggle grocery stores. He couldn't even remember the last time he had been in one of these places. But as long as they stuck to Mrs. Weasley's list they would probably be all right.
"So what's first on the list?" He asked.
"Baking powder," Ginny read off.
That didn't sound too difficult. They found the baking aisle quickly enough, and after a bit of searching came across the baking powder.
They continued on with the shopping finding everything with a minimum of effort. Mrs. Weasley had been specific enough in her descriptions that they had no trouble selecting the right item among all the different choices that were offered.
On their way to the check-out (Mr. Weasley had handed Ginny a handful of muggle bills that morning hoping that it would be enough to cover everything) they passed through what every muggle child came to know as the 'junk food' aisle. Harry had grown so accustomed to living like a wizard that it had been years since he'd eaten any muggle candy. The Dursley's had never bought him any, of course. He had always been forced to eat the sweets that his cousin Dudley didn't like.
He nearly passed through it without stopping, but something about what Sirius had said the other night about having fun forced him to act.
"Ginny, have you ever had muggle sweets?" Harry asked stopping the cart in front of a large display of chocolate bars.
"Once," she answered. "Dad brought a bunch home, thinking it was fascinating how children would eat candy that did nothing. We didn't like it so he never did it again,"
"Maybe your dad didn't get the right kind,"
There was enough space in the cart that Harry started filling it up with sweets that sounded good, even picking up a bag of M&M's because he remembered Hermione mentioning once that she liked them. He avoided anything he had ever actually tried because he had never liked anything Dudley had rejected and then given him.
Ginny regarded him strangely. "Harry, what are you doing?"
"Shopping," he replied happily.
He felt a bit stupid that picking out candy had put him in a good mood, but with a week left of summer he figured he should enjoy what free time he had left. Seventh year was grueling, according to each of the Weasley boys that had already graduated. Even Fred and George had had to serious up a bit to pass all their classes.
They paid for their shopping and began the trek back to The Burrow. The long walk was not nearly as pleasant as it had been in going to town. Harry and Ginny each had their hands full of bags, and Ginny felt sure if they didn't arrive home soon her arms would fall off.
Ron and Hermione were sitting out on the porch when they started walking up the driveway. They dropped whatever conversation they had been having to come down and give them a hand.
"Bloody hell, Ginny," Ron grumbled taking several full bags off her hands. "What did you do, buy the whole store?"
"I only got what was on mum's list," she said, as they walked into the house. "Harry was the one who cleaned out the sweet department,"
"Muggle candy, Harry?" Ron said in disbelief. "Why would you buy that?"
Before he could reply Hermione put the bags she had been carrying on the table and said, "sweets are sweets, Ron,"
"Yeah, right," he said, not believing her for a second. "What does it do anyways?"
"You eat it," Hermione said, smartly.
"Ha, ha, ha, very funny," said Ron, shooting her a look. "What I meant was does it doing anything special? You know, does steam come out your ears or make your hair change colour?"
Harry suppressed the urge to laugh. "No, Ron, it doesn't do anything,"
Ron snorted. "Sounds pretty boring to me then. I don't know why anyone would want to eat it,"
"M&M's?" Hermione cried, taking out a small brown package. She grinned at Harry and then turned to Ron. "You can't say you don't like something if you've never tried it,"
"I have tried it – once, and that was enough. Dad had some crazy idea in his head years ago that it would be fun to try it. While you three enjoy your 'normal' sweets I'll bring the rest of the shopping in,"
"It's actually not bad," Ginny commented after Ron had left.
"I told you," Harry said, grinning.
As they started unpacking the shopping a thought occurred to him. "We're going back to Sirius' tomorrow to help him finish unpacking the last of his stuff," he said to Ginny. "So if you're not busy or anything you could come give us a hand,"
She smiled. "Sure," she said, and opened the cupboard to put away the baking powder they had bought.
When her back was to him, he turned to see Hermione staring at him, fighting to keep a look of amusement off her face. Harry turned away first, thinking he would have to ask her about that later, when it was just the two of them. Harry himself didn't think it was such a big deal. Sure, he had waited until Ron had left before asking, but Hermione should know better then to think there was something going on between him and Ginny.
Ron came back with the rest of the shopping a moment later, and the three of them became too preoccupied with trying to get him to try a chocolate bar, that he completely forgot about the look Hermione had given him minutes earlier.
The morning was nearly over and Harry and Hermione were still surrounded by piles of boxes in Sirius' den waiting to be unpacked.
"Where did Sirius keep all this stuff over the years?" Hermione said, unpacking yet another box. Surprisingly, this one was filled with books. Looking at some of the complicated titles she said, "I didn't know he owned all these,"
"I don't think he's ever read them," Harry told her. "He told me awhile back he used to use them to impress women when they came over,"
She mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "men, honestly," before placing them on an empty shelf.
Harry tugged on an old sofa, bringing it to rest against a nearby wall.
"You and Ginny seem to have gotten closer this summer," Hermione observed.
One of the few things Hermione wasn't good at was subtly. Her statement was what made Harry lookup from the Chair he had started dragging to a corner of the room. "What's your point?"
"I don't have one. I was just making an observation," she said, hauling another set of books onto a shelf.
"Did Ron put you up to this?"
This time she stopped what she was doing to glare at him. "If Ron has something he wants to ask you he can do it himself. You should know that,"
He did know that, but it hadn't stopped him from asking. "We keep each other company – that's all. She doesn't force me to talk about things I don't want to talk about,"
He knew as soon as the last words were out of his mouth that he should not have said them. Now there was no way they would get out of this conversation without it turning into an argument.
"When have we ever forced you to talk to us?" She demanded to know.
He didn't miss how she referred to herself and Ron as 'we', as if they were one person. "All the time I feel pressured to have to tell you two what's going on. I have one bad day and you both think something awful must have happened. I can't tell you and Ron every little thing that happens to me, okay?"
She looked hurt. "Why not? Harry, we're your friends. The only reason we want you to open up to us is because you shouldn't have to deal with it all on your own. You shouldn't feel like you have to keep everything all bottled up inside,"
Some things were better left unsaid, but he didn't say that to her. He was sure she could figure that out on her own, but that didn't stop her from continuing to press the point.
"What's going on with you, Harry? Something's been eating away at you for months now, and it has nothing to do with Voldermort,"
It was times like these he hated her for being able to read him better then most people. "Can we finish up here, please? Sirius is going to wonder what's taking so long,"
But Hermione was not one to let things drop. "You've done everything you can this summer to avoid spending time with Ron and I. The only person you seem to be okay being around is Ginny. I'd like to know what we did to make you so mad at us,"
"The only reason I spent all that time with Ginny was because I needed a break from seeing you and Ron together. It makes me miserable to see the two of you so happy. I know I'm being unfair but that's how I feel,"
Hermione looked like she didn't know how to respond to this revelation. He couldn't tell if she was angry or upset, because she just continued to stand there in silence.
Harry was saved from having to say something to break the silence when a sound out in the hallway caught their attention. A second later, Remus Lupin walked in.
He took in the tense atmosphere and said, "did I interrupt something?"
"No, we're finished," said Hermione, without looking at Harry. "I'm going to see what Sirius wants with the rest of this stuff because it won't fit in here." She crossed the room and left.
Maybe he had read her wrong. He could see the hurt on her face as she passed him. Why had he been such a prat? He felt like taking his Firebolt and smacking himself in the forehead with the handle. He shouldn't have said those things to her, at least not without offering any explanation.
Lupin was watching him closely. Probably trying to decide if he should ask about what he had walked in on. Harry was spared from having to explain when his former professor opted instead to ask if he wanted any lunch.
He didn't have much of an appetite after that, but his mindset was no longer on unpacking more boxes, so he followed Lupin out of the den and into the kitchen.
The afternoon did not go much better. Several times Harry had thought about approaching Hermione, but never actually went through with it because he had no idea what to say to her, and really didn't want the rest of the house listening in.
Ron didn't miss that there was something off with them. But after Hermione told him flatly there was nothing wrong, he didn't bring it up again. He just gave Harry a funny look before returning to what he was doing. Ginny didn't comment on their behaviour, but he expected that from her. She knew that when he was ready he would talk to her – that was how their relationship worked.
He had a feeling Lupin had caught the end of their argument, but didn't want them to think he had been eavesdropping so had neglected to speak to either one of them on the matter. That lasted until everyone had gone back to the Burrow except for Harry. He had decided to stay behind to spend some time with Sirius, which got him out of the awkwardness that would have followed if he had gone back to the Weasley's. But Sirius had been called away on urgent business at the ministry shortly after, leaving Harry to sit in the den listening to a Quidditch match on the wireless.
He was alone for maybe twenty minutes when Lupin joined him.
"If I were you I would have jumped at the chance to go back to the Burrow. Sirius doesn't have much in the way of food around here," he said to Harry.
"I'm sure the Weasley's could use a break from me. I've been there nearly two month straight,"
"Are you sure it's not the other way around?" Lupin asked with a raised eyebrow, taking a seat on an old cushioned chair across from him.
"Ron's family is great. I love them like they were my own family. But that's the problem, they're not,"
Lupin gave a small smile. "I think they would disagree with you on that,"
Harry made no reply. He went back to listening to the game until Remus said, "she heard you today,"
Harry turned the volume down slightly. "Who?"
"Ginny,"
He turned the game off completely this time. "Hermione and I were having an argument. I didn't mean for what I said to come out like that,"
"Even if it's the truth?"
"But it's not!" Harry insisted. "Maybe in the beginning it was, but not now." He sighed. "What am I going to say to her?"
"Why don't you tell her what you just told me?" Lupin suggested.
Harry wanted to tell him it wasn't that simple. He wasn't sure why, but he knew he wasn't going to get off with a simple apology to Ginny.
Thankful when Lupin did not prod him further, Harry decided to take his chances and head back to The Burrow. He couldn't avoid it forever; all his stuff was there. But he would have gladly given it all up if he didn't have to face either Hermione or Ginny when he got back.
After playing an endless game of one on one Quidditch with Ron in the huge field behind the Weasley house – where they had both stayed out well past the point where they could no longer see properly – Harry had decided to call it a night. He let Ron use the shower first; it was his house after all.
He was in the kitchen getting himself a glass of water when he could see outside the window that the porch light was on and Hermione sitting out there alone reading a book.
Gulping down the rest of his water, he made the decision to go out there. It was childish to avoid her after everything they had been through together.
She looked up when she heard the door open. "How was Quidditch?"
"It was all right. You could have come watched,"
She rolled her eyes. "No thanks, I'm going to be surrounded by Quidditch soon enough when we get back to school,"
He read off the title of the book in her lap. "Hogwarts, A Hisotry: Completely Revised and Expended 200th Anniversary Edition. Ron must have loved coming with you at the crack of dawn to get it,"
"He wasn't too pleased, but I told him I'd make it up to him,"
Harry didn't know what to say next. He was avoiding bringing up that morning, and she knew it. "I'm sorry about earlier," he apologized. "I was being unfair,"
"Is that how you really feel?" She searched his eyes for answers when he did not respond. "I know a lot has changed between the three of us over the last couple of years, but I thought we were okay,"
"We are okay," he said.
Hermione disagreed. "Obviously we aren't if you're feeling like this. You should have said something sooner,"
"Did you say anything to Ron?"
"Did you want me to?" She asked him back.
"No," he answered after having thought it over. He already felt stupid for having slipped up and telling her.
"That's why I didn't tell him. But maybe I should have. We should sit down and talk, the three of us,"
"Hermione I didn't say what I said because I'm angry at you or Ron. I'm really happy for the both of you, honestly. It's just…."
"You're lonely," she finished after he trailed off.
He barely nodded his head, dropping his gaze to the ground so he wouldn't have to look at her.
"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I should have realized. I should have –"
"Don't apologize," he said, lifting his head back up. "It's my life and I made it that way. I shouldn't be taking out my choices on either one of you,"
A silence fell over them and Harry decided it was time to head back inside.
"Harry," Hermione's voice stopped him in the doorway. "You might be lonely but you're not alone. We'll always be here when you need us,"
He acknowledged her words with a nod before letting the screen door shut behind him.