Disclaimer: See Chapter One
A/N: Emma Lee, thank you so much for the wonderful review! It made my day! I hope that you and everybody else enjoy this story as much as I am enjoying writing it!
Chapter Two—Breakfast, Floo Powder, and Interruptions
Hermione was awakened the next morning as the sun peaked through the bedroom curtains, and she laid there in her bed for ten minutes before deciding that she wanted to go back to sleep. She pulled the sheet and quilt over her head in attempt to block out the sun but to no avail. After half an hour of struggling to get back to sleep, she finally decided to get up and get dressed; she picked out a V-neck Old Navy shirt and a pair of bootleg jeans and put them on in the bathroom before going to the kitchen to fix herself a bowl of cereal. As she poured the milk into her bowl, she began to think out loud about the things that she was supposed to do that day.
"Hmmm... what to do today. I need to go by Madam Malkin's and get some new robes for my job, after first stopping at Gringotts to exchange muggle money for wizard's money. Then, I think that I will go by the bookstore and see if there are any interesting new releases. Then... I will meet Harry..."
The rest of her thoughts drifted away from her mind as she began to think of what she was going to say to him. She couldn't just come right out and say that she loved him, could she? No, she had to think of something to say that would lead into that. If only she could think of what that would be...
Meanwhile, Harry was awakening to the sound of an owl tapping at his window, the scroll and pouch hanging from his leg. He scurried out of bed and opened the window, and the owl flew in and perched on the post at the foot of Harry's bed. The owl extended his leg with an air of importance and dignity and allowed him to remove the parcel and letter. After Harry had done so, he took a moment to admire the beautiful bird; the owl was brown all over except for three white feathers on his back and his stunning amber eyes. Harry stroked the owl as it hooted its thanks and flew away.
When Harry could no longer recognize the owl as more than a dot in the distance, he turned back to the letter sitting at the end of his bed. He picked the scroll up and unrolled it to see the short note in Hermione's neat handwriting. After reading her letter, he wondered to himself how he was going to get there.
"How in the bloody hell does she think that I'm going to get to London when I..." He let his sentence trail off as he remembered the pouch that she had also sent to him, and he picked it up off of the bed. When he opened the bag, he recognized the contents of it almost immediately, and as it was already eleven o' clock, he got dressed and went to the kitchen to get something to eat. He put a pop tart in the toaster and walked into the living room to turn on the television.
He looked around the room and took in his untidy surroundings. He had just moved into an apartment across town from the Dursleys, the poor excuse for guardians with whom he had lived for seventeen years. He made sure when he was looking for a new home that he still live in the same town but as far away from his so-called family as possible. He had to admit, he was quite satisfied with his choice.
He walked back into the kitchen just as his breakfast popped out of the toaster, and he ate quickly so that he could do a quick clean up before he left for Diagon Alley. When he finished, he threw his paper towel away, and he went to the living room to pick up the mess that had compiled over the last three weeks. That alone took him half an hour, so when he was finished, he went quickly to his bedroom and made his bed with a wave of his wand. He muttered a spell that made his shoes navigate themselves from the floor to the shelter of his closet, closed his curtains, and grabbed the pouch of Floo Powder.
Once back inside the living room, he started a fire in his small fireplace, took a pinch of the white powder, and threw it into the flames, yelling clearly, "DIAGON ALLEY!" All of a sudden, he felt himself being jolted forward, a surge of whiplash coursing throughout his entire body. He tucked his elbows into his sides, careful not to bang them into his brick surrounding. Just when he thought that he was going to be sick, he felt himself being thrown out of a fireplace. He stood up and brushed the soot off of his clothes. He left the shop into which he had landed and pushed his way through throngs of people down the alleyway. When he came to Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, he stopped, remembering back before his third year of school when he came to the parlor for help on his homework. He sat trying to remember exactly how many free sundaes he had been given that summer when somebody came up behind him. Harry snapped out of his thought when he felt the back of his neck prickle and was suddenly filled with a happiness like no other. He turned around to take a look at what was behind him, and he looked up at the wonder of Hermione's face. The way her curly brown hair framed her face was enough to take his breath away. Add one of her heart-stopping smiles to that, and you had Harry almost in a trance.
"Hi Harry," she said calmly as she brushed her hair away from her face. Harry just sat, knowing that the love of his life was standing in front of him and knowing that she had just greeted him, but he was too weak to respond right away. She sat down her shopping bags on Harry's right side and sat down on his left.
"Hello? Are you there? Earth to Harry!" Hermione tried to snap him out of his stupor, but discovered that he was too far from Earth to hear correctly. "Snap out of it!" she said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. He blinked and then looked at her.
Harry stammered, "Sorry about that... I just... I mean I was trying to... you see, what I'm trying to say is that..." 'Come on man, snap out of it,' he thought to himself. He took a breath, and began again. "So you got my letter?" Hermione smiled again and said, "Of course I did. Why else would we be sitting here? I wanted to talk to you face to face. We haven't seen each other for several months!"
"Yeah, I know. I have really missed you," Harry said, smiling sweetly. His emerald eyes sparkled, Hermione noticed, and she stopped breathing for a moment.
"So... what did you want to talk about?" Harry asked, hopeful that she would respond the way that he had dreamed that she would.
Hermione composed herself and gathered her thoughts. Upon seeing him again, she had lost almost everything that she was going to say. "Harry, I had everything that I was going to say planned out before I got here, but I..." She sighed in frustration with herself, and thought, 'Oh, how am I going to say what I have to say without making myself sound stupid?'
"Oy, mates! Fancy seeing you here!" Harry and Hermione looked up at whoever had spoken to them, and to their surprise, they saw Ron Weasley standing before them. Harry sighed in irritation that Ron had decided to show up at that moment, while Hermione stood to greet him.
"Hey Ron! Oh it's so great to see you!" Hermione said, and she wrapped him in a tight hug.
Ron looked to the side at Harry. The look on his face was one that Ron recognized to be of annoyance, and then he realized. "Mates, have I just interrupted something?"
Harry and Hermione glanced at each other, and Hermione replied, "No, I suppose that it could wait until later." She looked back at Harry, who seemed to be deeply irritated and then looked back at Ron. "So... how's it been going Ron? Anything interesting happen lately?"
A/N: Emma Lee, thank you so much for the wonderful review! It made my day! I hope that you and everybody else enjoy this story as much as I am enjoying writing it!
Chapter Two—Breakfast, Floo Powder, and Interruptions
Hermione was awakened the next morning as the sun peaked through the bedroom curtains, and she laid there in her bed for ten minutes before deciding that she wanted to go back to sleep. She pulled the sheet and quilt over her head in attempt to block out the sun but to no avail. After half an hour of struggling to get back to sleep, she finally decided to get up and get dressed; she picked out a V-neck Old Navy shirt and a pair of bootleg jeans and put them on in the bathroom before going to the kitchen to fix herself a bowl of cereal. As she poured the milk into her bowl, she began to think out loud about the things that she was supposed to do that day.
"Hmmm... what to do today. I need to go by Madam Malkin's and get some new robes for my job, after first stopping at Gringotts to exchange muggle money for wizard's money. Then, I think that I will go by the bookstore and see if there are any interesting new releases. Then... I will meet Harry..."
The rest of her thoughts drifted away from her mind as she began to think of what she was going to say to him. She couldn't just come right out and say that she loved him, could she? No, she had to think of something to say that would lead into that. If only she could think of what that would be...
Meanwhile, Harry was awakening to the sound of an owl tapping at his window, the scroll and pouch hanging from his leg. He scurried out of bed and opened the window, and the owl flew in and perched on the post at the foot of Harry's bed. The owl extended his leg with an air of importance and dignity and allowed him to remove the parcel and letter. After Harry had done so, he took a moment to admire the beautiful bird; the owl was brown all over except for three white feathers on his back and his stunning amber eyes. Harry stroked the owl as it hooted its thanks and flew away.
When Harry could no longer recognize the owl as more than a dot in the distance, he turned back to the letter sitting at the end of his bed. He picked the scroll up and unrolled it to see the short note in Hermione's neat handwriting. After reading her letter, he wondered to himself how he was going to get there.
"How in the bloody hell does she think that I'm going to get to London when I..." He let his sentence trail off as he remembered the pouch that she had also sent to him, and he picked it up off of the bed. When he opened the bag, he recognized the contents of it almost immediately, and as it was already eleven o' clock, he got dressed and went to the kitchen to get something to eat. He put a pop tart in the toaster and walked into the living room to turn on the television.
He looked around the room and took in his untidy surroundings. He had just moved into an apartment across town from the Dursleys, the poor excuse for guardians with whom he had lived for seventeen years. He made sure when he was looking for a new home that he still live in the same town but as far away from his so-called family as possible. He had to admit, he was quite satisfied with his choice.
He walked back into the kitchen just as his breakfast popped out of the toaster, and he ate quickly so that he could do a quick clean up before he left for Diagon Alley. When he finished, he threw his paper towel away, and he went to the living room to pick up the mess that had compiled over the last three weeks. That alone took him half an hour, so when he was finished, he went quickly to his bedroom and made his bed with a wave of his wand. He muttered a spell that made his shoes navigate themselves from the floor to the shelter of his closet, closed his curtains, and grabbed the pouch of Floo Powder.
Once back inside the living room, he started a fire in his small fireplace, took a pinch of the white powder, and threw it into the flames, yelling clearly, "DIAGON ALLEY!" All of a sudden, he felt himself being jolted forward, a surge of whiplash coursing throughout his entire body. He tucked his elbows into his sides, careful not to bang them into his brick surrounding. Just when he thought that he was going to be sick, he felt himself being thrown out of a fireplace. He stood up and brushed the soot off of his clothes. He left the shop into which he had landed and pushed his way through throngs of people down the alleyway. When he came to Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, he stopped, remembering back before his third year of school when he came to the parlor for help on his homework. He sat trying to remember exactly how many free sundaes he had been given that summer when somebody came up behind him. Harry snapped out of his thought when he felt the back of his neck prickle and was suddenly filled with a happiness like no other. He turned around to take a look at what was behind him, and he looked up at the wonder of Hermione's face. The way her curly brown hair framed her face was enough to take his breath away. Add one of her heart-stopping smiles to that, and you had Harry almost in a trance.
"Hi Harry," she said calmly as she brushed her hair away from her face. Harry just sat, knowing that the love of his life was standing in front of him and knowing that she had just greeted him, but he was too weak to respond right away. She sat down her shopping bags on Harry's right side and sat down on his left.
"Hello? Are you there? Earth to Harry!" Hermione tried to snap him out of his stupor, but discovered that he was too far from Earth to hear correctly. "Snap out of it!" she said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. He blinked and then looked at her.
Harry stammered, "Sorry about that... I just... I mean I was trying to... you see, what I'm trying to say is that..." 'Come on man, snap out of it,' he thought to himself. He took a breath, and began again. "So you got my letter?" Hermione smiled again and said, "Of course I did. Why else would we be sitting here? I wanted to talk to you face to face. We haven't seen each other for several months!"
"Yeah, I know. I have really missed you," Harry said, smiling sweetly. His emerald eyes sparkled, Hermione noticed, and she stopped breathing for a moment.
"So... what did you want to talk about?" Harry asked, hopeful that she would respond the way that he had dreamed that she would.
Hermione composed herself and gathered her thoughts. Upon seeing him again, she had lost almost everything that she was going to say. "Harry, I had everything that I was going to say planned out before I got here, but I..." She sighed in frustration with herself, and thought, 'Oh, how am I going to say what I have to say without making myself sound stupid?'
"Oy, mates! Fancy seeing you here!" Harry and Hermione looked up at whoever had spoken to them, and to their surprise, they saw Ron Weasley standing before them. Harry sighed in irritation that Ron had decided to show up at that moment, while Hermione stood to greet him.
"Hey Ron! Oh it's so great to see you!" Hermione said, and she wrapped him in a tight hug.
Ron looked to the side at Harry. The look on his face was one that Ron recognized to be of annoyance, and then he realized. "Mates, have I just interrupted something?"
Harry and Hermione glanced at each other, and Hermione replied, "No, I suppose that it could wait until later." She looked back at Harry, who seemed to be deeply irritated and then looked back at Ron. "So... how's it been going Ron? Anything interesting happen lately?"