Summer Love

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own only the plot. The rest belongs to the exceedingly lucky Ms. Rowling.

True to her word, Hermione waited for Harry in the morning…for about ten minutes. After waiting for those ten minutes, she went to listen at his door. Determining that he was still asleep, she ran into his room and jumped onto Harry's bed. She continued to bounce on his bed, but, seeing that this was having little effect, nudged him with her feet. At this, he opened his eyes slowly.

"Whaz a matta?" he asked groggily, not quite awake.

"Get up! Get up!" she called, venturing into his closet to pick out his clothes. She emerged a few minutes later with a red t-shirt and blue jeans. She laid them on the other side of the bed and began combing his hair while he was still struggling with the sheets.

He finally stumbled out of bed, mercifully in pajamas, which was something Hermione hadn't even thought about until he got out of bed. She handed him the clothes she had gotten out of his closet. He went in the bathroom that joined both of their bedrooms to shower and change.

Meanwhile, she went downstairs to get him a cup of coffee to help him wake up fully. Her parents had left for work already. Hermione read through their note quickly and headed back upstairs to give Harry the coffee before he began to think that she had abandoned him with no way to get down to breakfast.

Harry stepped out of the bathroom, glancing around for Hermione. He was dressed, but where was she? She had probably decided he was taking too long and went down to breakfast without him. Hermione chose that moment to appear in the doorway, a steaming mug of coffee in her hands.

"I suppose that's for you," Harry sighed, gesturing at the mug.

"No, it's for you. I have no need for coffee, I'm a morning person," replied Hermione, slipping the warm mug into his hands.

"Thanks, Mione," said Harry, trying out his nickname for her. "You didn't have to."

"I know I didn't," she said flirtatiously, making Harry laugh. "Now, go and brush your teeth. You males would be completely and utterly clueless without us females to guide you."

"Hey!" he shouted teasingly from the bathroom.

Finally, they were on their way to breakfast. Teasing and swatting at each other, they made their way down the stairs. While going down the slippery marble staircase, Hermione spun to hit Harry on the top of his head and began to fall, dragging Harry down with her. They landed in the entryway in a tangled heap. Stunned silence filled the room. Hermione began to laugh and cry at the same time.

"Oww… that hurt!" she sobbed, still laughing. "But it was a hell of a lot of fun!"

"Anything in particular hurt?" Harry asked, concerned that she had injured herself on those hard marble stairs or when he accidentally fell on top of her (he didn't have much control over how he landed when he was falling down the stairs).

"Just my back," she said. The laughing had subsided, but so had the tears. "Get off me, you big oaf!" she exclaimed, getting back her teasing tones.

Harry, with some difficulty, got up and pulled her to her feet. "That was a fascinating lesson that, it seems to me, should have been learned when you were six years old, not sixteen. Don't play on the stairs," he chuckled, relieved that she was all right.

"Yes, you're probably right, but who says I didn't learn it and decide to be rebellious and play on the stairs anyway?" she retorted, laughing again.

"I do. You are the least likely to be rebellious out of everyone I know and I like that about you," Harry said in earnest.

They headed toward the kitchen and had a nice breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast.

"Wow, Hermione, I didn't know you were such a chef! This tastes great," remarked Harry.

"Don't forget that we're going shopping today," Hermione reminded him.

Over breakfast, they wondered how Ron was and how Romania was at this time of year, or any time of year. Then Harry got up and said they had better get going.

Hermione jumped up and ran to fetch the keys to the red convertible Mustang her parents had bought for her when she turned sixteen. (AN: Again, I know that in Britain they can't legally drive when they're sixteen, but for the sake of my plot, they can!)

They drove to the nearest mall while Hermione sang along with the radio to the song, "Miss Independent" by Kelly Clarkson.

"Aaargh!" Harry screeched in mock horror, covering his ears.

"Am I really that bad?" asked Hermione, playing along.

Harry grinned wickedly. "I'd have to say you are, Miss Granger!" he responded jokingly.

Hermione smacked the side of his head playfully as they reached the mall, which caused Harry to pout and refuse to exit the car for five minutes. At last, Hermione got back in the car, holding her arms out wide and said, "Come here, you big baby."

Harry crept into her embrace like a scared child and looked up at her with his best pouting face and said, "Kiss it better, Mione!"

At this, Hermione looked at him with a wicked grin of her own and leaped out of the car, running toward the mall. Laughter in her eyes, she called over her shoulder to a rather bewildered Harry, "Want that kiss? You're going to have to catch me first!"

Harry hopped out of the car and tore off after her, chasing her out of the parking lot. He finally caught her at the mall's entrance, enfolding her in his arms and shouting triumphantly, "I've got you!"

Looking up at him, she said, "Now bend down so I can kiss your boo-boo. I should have known smacking you would come with consequences."

"Well, geez, Hermione, I should have remembered you smack hard before I commented on your singing," he responded, adding, "I reckon I've got a bump forming up there where you hit me." He bent down.

Hermione reached up, finding a bump where she'd hit him. She thought, 'I'm so close to him… And now I'm going to kiss him? This can't be a good idea, but it's only because I hit him that I've got to do this, so it's my fault.'

She bent down and her lips brushed the poor boy's forehead. Just a quick peck. "All better?" she asked. "Harry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you that hard," she apologized.

"Hermione! It's nothing to get worked up about! I was only teasing… I think. But, hell, that really hurt. I'm okay now," he said, wiping away a tear that had leaked out of her eyes.

"Okay," she sighed and then smiled, "On to the shopping!"

"Okay," he agreed, happy that she was no longer crying.

They went to several department stores and ended up at Hecht's where Hermione picked out a large selection of clothes for Harry to try on. Finally, she said, "Here's what we're going to do. I'll buy you one casual outfit and one formal outfit. Now we just have to decide," she grinned, ushering him into the dressing room to try on everything again.

In the end they decided on a moss green t-shirt and a pair of cargo pants for the casual outfit and a silky, red, button-down shirt and a pair of black pants for the formal outfit.

Harry dragged a protesting Hermione over to the women's section to get her two outfits as well. Harry picked out fewer things for her to try on, but she had a good selection all the same.

Eventually, they decided on a white silk halter top embellished with many small white beads. To go with this extravagant top, they picked a simple, black skirt that just brushed Hermione's knees.

"My God, Hermione, you're so beautiful!" breathed Harry.

"Do you really think so?" asked Hermione, uncertain.

"Yes," Harry said simply, struck almost speechless.

Hermione waved a hand in front of Harry's eyes and he seemed to wake up. He smiled and said, "I'm paying! It's only fair!"

Hermione entered her dressing room and examined herself in the mirror. Nothing special and certainly nothing different, but Harry had a way of making her feel like she was a goddess. "I love him," she whispered to herself, realizing that it was more than as a friend or as a brother. She really loved him.

Outside, Harry pondered the odd feelings he'd been having about Hermione lately. "I think I love her," he said in hushed tones, surprised by the cause of his emotions.

Hermione emerged moments later, clutching her two outfits, the formal one and a more casual outfit comprised of a denim pleated skirt and a red t-shirt that said in red, white, and blue rhinestones "Flirt." Harry bought both of them for her, ignoring her protests.

They spent the rest of the day in much the same way, browsing the mall, making purchases. They returned to the house in late afternoon and Hermione insisted on getting in the pool because they had both bought new bathing suits. Harry didn't put up a fight. He raced up the stairs and quickly changed into his new black bathing suit, which had bolts of electric blue running up the sides. He raced down to the pool, careful to be quiet. The pool was large and its glittering waters were tempting him to jump right into the refreshing cold. He waded in and ducked below the water's surface so as not to be seen by Hermione as she slowly strolled to the pool's edge, shy in her new baby blue-and-white polka-dot bikini.

Not seeing Harry, she surmised that she was the first one to the pool. She jumped in, splashing a bit of water out. Harry quickly swam through the water to her and, still underwater, grabbed her ankle.

Amused, he watched her whip fearfully around. Laughing, he surfaced, taking her ankle with him.

"Harry!" she shouted as she dipped lower and lower toward the water. "You had better not dunk me or there will be terrible consequences!"

"Oh, really?" he said playfully as he scooped her up and dropped her into the pool.

"Harry James Potter!" she sputtered. "You are going to pay for that."

Jumping up she managed to get her arms on his shoulders and pushed him forcefully toward the water until he was just underwater. He, in turn, dunked her playfully. They spent nearly an hour like this before Mr. and Mrs. Granger returned home.

AN:This chapter was longer. I hope you like it! Sorry it took me so long to update. The next chapter could be up as soon as tomorrow, but if you don't review I might not get it up until Monday or Tuesday. I thrive off of reviews, so review, review, review! Any comments? Questions? Suggestions? REVIEW:-)