Harry potter and the Powers of Old

A/N: sorry for the wait but its better late than never...right

Anyway, reviews are always appreciated and I'm feeling generous so...I I'm gonna try get the next chapter up by the middle of next week

Chapter 3: Fancy meeting you here

Hours later

"HURRY UP BOY!" Aunt Petunia screeched. "WE NEED TO GET BACK IN TIME TO MAKE DINNER!" she added for good measure. Harry smirked to himself as he pulled on his jacket and smoothed out his fringe as to hide his scar. It was funny how much his aunt's tone had changed from the morning when they were alone and she was begging him to make amends. Now that uncle Vernon was home from work, Harry was again being treated, and spoken to, like filth.

Giving himself a once over in the mirror, Harry headed out of his room and down the stairs to where his aunt was waiting at the door tapping her watch. "Okay, let's hurry before all the clothes shops shut," Aunt Petunia whispered, so that only she and Harry could hear that her tone of voice was bordering on polite. She shouted her goodbyes and ushered Harry into the car.

They were driving for about 20 minutes before they found a parking space on a crowded road in town. After paying the parking meter and mumbling angrily about the unfair rates, Aunt petunia led Harry into a shopping centre with various shops inside. Navigating her way around expertly, Aunt petunia soon had Harry standing outside a promising looking teen clothing store. "We'll have to hurry," she said, "They shut in an hour." With that they walked into the shop, Aunt petunia in the lead, and began searching various racks and shelves for clothes in Harry's size.

After about thirty minutes of Aunt Petunia rapidly handing Harry different clothes to try on, Harry seriously questioned her sanity as bundles of clothes were shoved under the curtain in the changing cubicle. They finally made their way to the check out, Harry wearing a new pair of jeans, a loose black t-shirt and one of his new pairs of trainers that his aunt insisted they buy.

Harry was waiting by the exit while his aunt queued up to buy his clothes when he saw a girl with her back to him a few feet away. She was wearing tight fitting jeans that enhanced her shapely hips, and a tight white top. She had long slightly bushy brown hair and appeared to be talking animatedly on a mobile phone.

Harry didn't know how long he was watching her because before long he noticed her walking in his general direction, probably to check out the clothing rack behind him. 'Wait!' Harry thought the girls face, her sharp but innocent brown eyes, 'I know that face, its...its...' "Her...Hermione!" Harry blurted out. She turned her head sharply to the left to see who had called her. When she saw Harry she smiled widely and jogged the distance between them and engulfed him in a bear hug to rival Mrs. Weasly's.

Harry seemed to have forgotten how to talk, and he was painfully aware of their close proximity as Hermione's chest was pressed against his. He pulled her closer and held her tighter until he felt a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. They released each other from their holds and took a step back. Harry looked down as he felt himself blushing. "Wha...what are you doing here?" he stuttered, trying to regain his composure. "I was visiting my grandmother this morning, my dad's across there, in the electronics shop," she said pointing to a store behind him. "I'm going back to eh...headquarters today though," she added after a moment.

Overcoming his temporary discomfort, Harry proceeded to tell Hermione of his summer and how he came to be in town that evening. 'Where'd she hide all that' Harry thought to himself as he caught himself once again checking out her chest. "Harry?" Hermione said in a questioning tone, snapping his head up and running a hand through his hair nervously he looked up trying to meet her gaze but noticed that Hermione's attention too seemed to be on his body rather than conversation. "Damn...you're not nearly so scrawny anymore," Hermione said in a dreamy voice that reminded Harry of Luna Lovegood.

"What?" Harry exclaimed pretending to be hurt, "I was never scrawny." "Yeahhh, whatever you say," Hermione replied sarcastically. "It doesn't matter, you're looking good now anyway," she said quickly, trying to sound casual. Harry tried to hide a smile. 'She thinks I look good,' he thought. 'Argh! What am I thinking? This is Hermione here.' "Anyway, I've got to go, my dad must be waiting for me," she said, looking at the floor. She made to step past Harry but paused and looked up at Harry in deep thought; she put her arms around his neck and planted a quick kiss on his lips before hurrying out of the shop.

Harry was in shock. He rubbed two fingers over his lips and then looked at them as if they were from another planet. 'Did my best friend jus kiss me?' he thought. Harry turned to see Hermione walking away with another man that he assumed was her father. He watched until he could no longer see her, then he turned back to see his aunt approaching him. "Come on. Let's go now shall we?" she said, leading him out of the shop. Glancing one more time in the direction that Hermione had walked off in, he let his aunt lead him from the centre out to the car.

The ride back to Privet Drive was uneventful. Harry was half-heartedly taking part in a conversation with his aunt, and spent the majority of the time looking out of the window at the various houses and shops that they passed. Upon arriving, Harry went straight up to his room to put away his many purchases. Once they were out of the way, Harry flopped down onto his bed and closed his eyes, trying to collect his thoughts.

He could still feel the tingling feeling on his lips from where Hermione's had briefly touched. He desperately needed to talk to her, but he did not want to put theirs and Ron's relationship in jeopardy. About an hour later he had made a decision: He would owl Hermione and ask her if she would like to try taking their relationship further than just friends. Harry smiled at the thought of it. He would propose they keep it secret until they were completely sure, as not to hurt Ron, whom Harry suspected also had feelings for Hermione.

Sitting up, Harry made his way over to his desk to begin writing. With a quill in hand, Harry absentmindedly drummed his fingers on his desk while trying to think of the best way to word his letter.

About ten minutes and five crumpled up sheets of parchment later, Harry was at a loss for what to write. Running his fingers through his hair, which had become a habit lately, Harry dipped his quill in his ink bottle for another attempt. Before he could begin writing however, Hedwig begun to shrill. "What is it...what's wrong" Harry said trying to calm down his owl before his uncle came upstairs.

Hedwig finally calmed down enough for Harry to decipher what was wrong. There, sitting at Harry's open window, was another owl. The owl had the same snowy white feathers and piercing yellow eyes as Hedwig. It was roughly the same size but was however, very noticeably, much more feminine. Snapping out of his shock, Harry noticed that the unknown owl had a letter tied to its leg. "STAY there," Harry said to the owl, suspicion increasing. He edged over to the window and quickly untied the letter and jumped back, ready for an attack.

When no such attack came, Harry glanced at the owl, which seemed to be amused at Harry's discomfort. Relaxing, Harry let his curiosity take over, and sat down to open his letter. His heart leapt as he recognized the handwriting as Hermione's. 'Looks like she got there first,' Harry thought, before he began to read.

Hey Harry,

It's Hermione. I'm using Tonks' owl (December) to send you this because Ron is being insufferable and is not letting me use Pig. How's the present I got you? Do you like it? I never got the chance to ask you earlier; I think we both had, err...other thing on our minds.

Anyway, while we're on the subject, what did happen this afternoon? I could tell you were "checking me out," as Parvati would say; don't worry though, I'm not upset. Actually I'm not sure if you noticed, but I was kinda looking at you too.

I wanted to know if it was just because I was wearing, um...not Hogwarts robes, or did you feel anything more? What I'm trying to say Harry, is that we are best friends, and I wouldn't want to do anything that would ruin that, but at the same time I want to be more than just your friend. I have for, a while now. I noticed just before the Umbridge episode.

I realize that you may have a lot to think about now, and I respect that. In fact I would of waited until you came here to speak to you in person, but I thought that you would like to know how I felt before hand. I don't want you to feel like we have to give it a go, if you don't then just ignore this letter up till now.

By the way, there's one more thing I thought you would like to know. I saw Professor Dumbledore today, and I can't believe the present he got you!!! I'm not sure if it's completely legal!! Anyway, he came to let us know that you are coming back today, after an Order meeting and just before dinner.

Get ready to leave quickly because I'm not sure how you're getting here.

That's all for now Harry. No need to write back.

With love from your best friend (maybe more),

Hermione.

Harry was grinning excitedly after reading Hermione's letter. He felt like he could scream with delight; Hermione basically said she wanted to be his girlfriend (Harry's smile grew wider at the thought) and to top it off, he was returning to Grimmauld place... today! Harry looked across the room at his alarm clock, seeing that it read 6:30. Dinner was in half an hour. He would be leaving very soon.

Harry pulled his trunk out from under his bed and began some extremely hurried packing. After ten minutes of frantic running around, locating various books, and making sure to pack his new clothes, Harry was finally finished. His room looked bare, with only his bed, dresser and wardrobe. His trunk was on top of his bed alongside Hedwig's cage (Harry had sent Hedwig to wait at Grimmauld).

Harry stopped what he was doing and fell silent as he heard the floorboards creak outside of his door. "Who's there?" he asked as he expertly flicked his wrist, allowing his wand to fall from its inconspicuous hiding place. After a brief pause, his door swung open and his aunt strolled in slowly, shutting the door behind her.

"Um...dinner's going to be ready in a bit Harry. Do you want to come down or should I send it up?" Aunt petunia asked timidly. The look on her face made Harry realize with a pang how much effort she was making.

"I um... I won't be able to make it to dinner," Harry said, meeting his aunt's gaze. Seeing the questioning look on his aunt's face, he continued. "I just got a letter," he said. "My err...friends are picking me up, and I'm staying the rest of the summer with them," he finished, trying gauge his aunt's reaction.

"Oh..." she said lamely. "Well...I'll see you next summer then I suppose," she added, although she looked as if she had wanted to say more. As if on cue, there was a very audible pop, followed by a shriek from Dudley. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE!" Harry heard his uncle roar.

Harry turned back to aunt Petunia, "I'd better be going," he said, picking up his trunk and Hedwig's cage (which he had placed a feather light charm on). As he reached the door, his aunt placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll miss you...Harry," she said, close to tears, and gave him a brief hug before exiting the room past him. Harry stood stunned for a moment while his aunt made her way down the stairs. "Wow." Harry said to himself, "Today's been full of surprises." With that, he began to make his own way downstairs, so that he could once again be taken home.