Disclaimer: None of this is mine, except how the words are arranged. Characters: not mine. Plot: totally mine.

Hermione woke up feeling happier than she had in years. At first she wondered why, but then she felt Harry snoring next to her, and she giggled. Wait until Ginny heard about this! She slowly edged out from under his arm and off the bed. She put on her bathrobe and strolled into the kitchen to make breakfast. She waved her wand, and instantly pancakes, cereal, syrup, milk, orange juice, toast, butter, jam, and other breakfast essentials for an adult male appeared on the table.

The adult male stepped into the kitchen, yawning and stretching. "Wow," Harry said. "This looks good!" Hermione laughed.

"Dig in!" Harry piled mounds of sausages on his plate and ate. Hermione chose some toast and orange juice. She loved the way Harry and Ron always ate so much, yet were always hungry. It fascinated her, plus the fact that they never seemed to gain a pound. "So, our first stop is Ron's place. Then, the shops. Then…?" Harry shrugged.

"I guess after that I don't really care," he said.

"Okay…"

"How about we go see Ron and then decide what to do? Or we could go look at the place where you work—by the way, where are you working now? I heard you quit working at the Ministry."

"Yeah, I did. Now I work at Angress's Magical Supplies. Oh, shoot, I need to take the day off. Sorry, we have to go there first so I can tell my boss."

"No, you don't have to take a day off of work because of me. I'll just hang out today." Hermione looked at him suspiciously.

"Are you sure?" Harry nodded. "Okay, then, I'll go to work, and you can just hang out. Here's a spare key if you want to get outside a bit. Just lock up, okay?" Harry nodded again.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. See you after work!" Hermione hugged him tightly. He hugged her tightly back, and she could feel the muscles in his back and arms. He kissed the top of her head. "See you later, Mione." Hermione frowned.

"Only you can call me that, okay?"

"Yes, boss." Hermione grinned.

"Fine, I'll go get dressed and then go to work." She left the kitchen and went into her room, locking the door again. She picked out silky blue robes and admired her reflection in the mirror.

"I'd say you look good, but it may be a bit much for a day of work," Harry said from behind her.

"Harry!! What are you doing in here?!?" Harry looked embarrassed.

"Well, I just wanted to give you something before you left, and the door was unlocked."

"No it wasn't!" Hermione said. She went to the door to inspect the lock. "Darn. Lock's broken." She muttered. "Well, now that Your Fashion Highness is here, what do you propose I wear?" Harry pointed to black robes, and then pulled out a silver locket from his pocket.

"I got this for you in one of the places I went to. I hope you like it." He said nervously. Hermione grinned.

"I love it! You're the best!" She looked inside and saw Harry and Ron smiling up at her. "Thank you so much!"

"Here, let me help," Harry said, reaching for the necklace. He pulled it around her neck and fastened the clip. Her skin tingled at his touch. Suddenly he pulled the black robes out of the closet. "I won't look," he said with that famous grin of his. She rolled her eyes at him but inside she was smiling. After making sure he had turned away, she slipped off her blue robes and pulled on her black ones.

"Okay," she announced. "I'm ready." Harry turned and smiled.

"Simple yet beautiful. Perfect." Hermione pretended to look shocked.

"Since when have you been a beauty expert?"

"Since now."

"Oh. Well, Mr. Beauty Expert, I am going to be late for work if I don't hurry up. I'll see you around four, okay?" Harry nodded. She left the room and went to the door, since she had to Disapparate outside. As she put her coat on, Harry stood next to her.

"See ya, Mione. Be careful," he said as he pulled her into a tight hug. "You never know what could happen."

"You know I'll be careful."

"Yeah, but I still worry about my Mione." He kissed the top of her head and she hugged him.

"Bye, Harry."

Outside, she quickly Apparated to work and strode in. Mrs. Angress greeted her at the door. "Ms. Granger, it's getting close to the start of school, so be on your toes. It will get busy." And with that she left Hermione to do her job. Hermione sighed. What wouldn't she do to have a boss who cared….

Hermione hung her coat up routinely, as she did every day, but today was different. Today, Harry Potter came back into her life, as quickly as he had left, she mused as she opened the first box to unpack. It contained a fresh batch of quills. She lifted the box with a levitation charm and set it down near the place on the racks of quills. She waved her wand, muttering again, and the quills flew precisely to their spots.

"Erm—Excuse me?" a customer asked. "My son needs robes in a size 3 for Hogwarts, but there isn't one on the racks."

"Okay, let's see…I'll check out back, but maybe you want to try on sizes 2 or 4 to see if 3 is the right size." She hurried off to the back of the store, where she knew there were no size 3 Hogwarts robes. She sighed, waited a moment, and then strode out to where the customer was waiting with her son. "I'm sorry, there's no size 3 Hogwarts robes in back. Did you try on size 4?" she asked. After looking at the child, it was obvious he was a size 4 or 5 at least. Why did parents always want robes sizes too small? Maybe it was like the women who came in and were 5 sizes bigger than they requested. Who knows, she told herself. When his mom shook her head, Hermione pulled out some robes sizes 4-6. "Here," she said, "try these on." She was amused by the horrified look on the mother's face of her son wearing a size 5. She was tempted to laugh but she held it back.

After she assured the mother her son was the normal size for his age, Hermione rang them out (7 Sickles) and went back to sorting quills. The box was empty. Jan, who worked with Hermione, had obviously put all the quills away for her. She marveled at the acts of kindness Jan Genras showed. Jan was the most giving person in the world, yet she did not care about herself. Hermione sighed. She knew she could never give that much. She threw the box into the backroom and pulled out one with inkwells in it. She opened it and saw an ink bottle had smashed.

"Uh-oh," she said to herself. "Not good. I just hope Mrs. Angress doesn't find out." She reached in and got her hand covered with ink. Another bottle broke. "Darn it! What is going on?!?" she asked angrily.

"Yes—what is going on?" a low voice asked from behind her. Hermione spun around to find Mrs. Angress there.

"I-I don't know, Ma'am. I just opened the box and two inkwells were smashed," she said nervously. Mrs. Angress swelled up. Hermione expected her to blow with angry words any second. "I can pay for the broken bottles…or reorder them..." she said weakly.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK, YOU CAN JUST BREAK A FEW INKWELLS AND REPAY ME?!?! BUSINESS IS RUINED! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TROUBLE YOU HAVE JUST CAUSED! EVEN THOUGH YOU GRADUATED, YOU ARE STUPID, I GUESS! You-are-STUPID, little girl!!!" Mrs. Angress erupted. "You know what? You're fired! And you just wait! I'll keep you from getting any other job in the business! Out of my shop, now! Out-out-OUT!!" Hermione gasped and felt her face was wet. She stumbled toward the coat rack, sobbing. She grabbed her coat, and without bothering to put it on, left the shop.

AN: Yeah, I'm sorry it took so long . . . anyway, I hope you like it :-) TGIF!
Yeah . . . there is a reason Mrs. Angress is so wound up . . . you'll just have to keep reading to find out why :-) .

-insanehpluver-