Hermione stood up and they walked out the door. Hermione slipped her hand into Harry's. He turned to her and smiled, and they walked down the stairs together, hand in hand.

When they reached the kitchen, it appeared as if Mrs. Weasley had gone back to bed; the kitchen was empty.

'What do you want?' Harry asked Hermione, looking around in the cupboards.

'Uh…just toast, please,' replied Hermione with a smile.

Harry got the toast out of the cupboard and popped it in the toaster. 'It's lucky this is a muggle house, or we wouldn't be able to cook the food,' said Harry.

Hermione giggled. Harry took the toast out of the toaster and quickly buttered it. He put it on two plates and took them over to the table, setting one down in front of Hermione and sitting down across the table from her.

'Sit here, Harry,' she said, patting the chair next to her. Harry stood up and carried his plate around the table, sitting down next to her. 'Molly said we're going to go to Diagon Alley this afternoon. She's got the booklists early from Dumbledore because Mad-eye says he won't let us go when the place is "swarming with people, it's much too dangerous," his words, not mine,' she said, rolling her eyes.

'That's Mad-eye for you,' Harry replied with a laugh.

After breakfast they went into the lounge, which was now sparkling clean and Dark-artifact free, thanks to Mrs. Skower's all purpose magical mess remover, which, with a lot of scrubbing, managed to remove the permanent sticking charm which held objects to cupboards, shelves, and walls.

Hermione sat down on the couch and closed her eyes. Harry sat down beside her and she slid closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and closed his eyes as well.

"Mione'?," Harry whispered.

"Mm?" she asked, eyes still closed.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

She opened her eyes and looked deeply into his. "Of course I will." She said. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes.

Molly walked down the stairs and went into the kitchen. She quickly swept the crumbs off the counter into the bin and closed the open cupboard door. Looking around, she decided the kitchen was tidy and moved on into the lounge. As she walked through the lounge doorway she saw Harry and Hermione asleep on the couch. She quickly turned around and walked out again. Then she came back to the doorway and knocked on the wall beside the door. Harry jumped up and Hermione opened her eyes. 'I'll…er…be back in a minute, Mione,' he said quickly and ran out of the room through the door, and up the stairs.

He found Ron awake and sitting up in bed. 'Hiya Harry,' he said. Then noticing Harry's concerned expression, he asked; 'What's wrong, Harry?'

'Er- your Mum just walked in on me and Hermione-' but Ron cut him off.

'Snogging?' he asked excitedly.

'No, Ron. We were sleeping,' he said exasperatedly.

Ron's jaw dropped. 'You slept together?' he asked.

Harry rolled his eyes. 'No, Ron. Sleeping…as in lying down…with your eyes closed?'

'Oh. Well, why would you be worried about that? What's wrong with sleeping?'

'Well she was… oh bloody hell. Never mind,' Harry said angrily. He grabbed his jeans and cloak and stalked off to change in the bathroom.

Harry was just brushing his teeth when he heard someone outside the door rattling the knob. 'Occupied,' he called through his toothpaste.

'Harry?' asked Hermione through the door. Harry dropped his toothbrush and wiped the toothpaste off his face before opening the door.

'Hey 'Mione,' he said happily. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She kissed him on the cheek, and they walked downstairs for an early lunch.

Later that afternoon everyone went to Diagon Alley to get their new school supplies. Harry got new dress robes, as his were now too short and came only half way between his knees and his ankles.