The French Lesson

A/N: Thank you so much for reviewing. Unfortunately, I will be unable to update for a couple of weeks for I will be off to Bulgaria on Friday. Dependent upon the number of reviews, I might put up one more chapter before I leave (hint hint). I promised you guys a H/HR scene and here it is. Hope you enjoy.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The next evening, Harry made his way to the library. He was now more determined then ever to win Cho and he knew that he needed more than charms and good looks. Harry was surprised to see just how many volumes of books there were in the Hogwarts library. It was not going to be as easy as he thought.

It was almost closing time, and there's hardly a student in sight. He had been looking around the shelves aimlessly when he heard his name being called from behind.

"Why Mr. Potter, what on earth are you doing here?"

Harry turned around to find a girl with cinnamon brown hair gathering up the remaining books that had been left on the tables by students.

He walked over to her, "Why? Can't anyone come in here?" he asked, looking a little confused.

"Why yes," she replied, stacking the books one on top of each other, "but I naturally thought you made some mistake." She smiled, "This is scarcely the favorite hangout for the Quidditch team."

"Well, I don't know what you mean," Harry said casually, leaning back on the bookshelf, "I've often been in here doing research you know."

"Not in the past three years you haven't," she told him, easily calling him out.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

Hermione picked up the pile of books from the table and started making her way towards Madam Pince's desk, "I work here Mr. Potter. I'm the assistant librarian."

Harry held up his hand as if swearing an oath, "Then in that case, I'll never lie to you again." He followed her and nonchalantly sat on the edge of the desk, "But how come you look so familiar?" he placed his elbows on top of the stack of books, preventing Hermione from picking them up, "Where have I see you before?" His green piercing eyes gazed into her deep brown ones.

Hermione looked away. She sat down on the chair and started filling in the stack of library cards on the desk, "Oh, you've seen me 100 times in the past years. In fact, you stood next to me at the punch bowl last night." She gave him an amusing look, "My name's Hermione Granger."

"Ginny's roommate!" He recognized quickly, "For crying out loud, you're a student!"

"Yes."

"Oh well, why do you want to work here for?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh it helps pay for my tuition," Hermione reached under the desk to retrieve a stack of folders and proceed to file the stack of parchments on the desk. "It's something call working your way through school."

"Oh," he forced out a slight chuckle, "I see."

She glanced over at him and saw how uncomfortable he was. She smiled at him reassuringly, "At your service."

"Where's the French dictionary?" he inquired, "I want to look up a word."

"Well, I'm pretty fluent in French," Hermione offered, "What do you want to know?"

"You ever heard of a French word, Incorrageeble?" Harry asked.

"Oh you must mean, incorrigible," she said.

"That's the one," he told her, "what does it mean?"

Replacing the files back under the desk, she resumed her work on the library cards, "Same thing it means in English – impossible…incorrigible…past reforming."

Harry lowered his head, "That's what I thought."

She pushed back her chair and stood up, "And Miss Chang spoke the word beautifully," she said to him, "I heard it all the way in the kitchen."

Hermione grabbed a portion of the books from the desk and moved to one of the nearby shelves.

"Oh yeah?" he called out to her defensively, "We'll I'm going to give her that parlez-vous right back again. Is Hogwarts still offering those language classes?"

"Yes," she answered, as she placed one of the books back on the shelf, "Professor Vector is teaching the French section this year."

"I'll sign up for a course with her then," said Harry decidedly.

"Don't get carried away," Hermione warned, "Vector is a tough bird, and she hates Quidditch players."

"Well, I haven't flunked a subject yet," he said confidently "I'll bet it's easy. Hermione walked back to the desk to retrieve another set of books. "Come on, show me a few words," he implored her.

"Don't be silly," she responded, "It's closing time."

"Oh, come on," he pleaded with his puppy face.

Hermione sighed, "Well, all right."

(A/N: This is where the musical number begins and for the purpose of this story, it shall be delivered in script form. You may scroll down if you wish. The song basically shows how Harry realized how easily he was able to pick up French.)

She picked up and pointed to each object in correspondence to the word.

Hermione: The book, le livre.

Harry: Le livre, the book.

Hermione: The pen, la plume

Harry: La plume, the pen.

Hermione: La chaise.

Harry: La chaise

Hermione: Le crayon

Harry: Le crayon.

Hermione: Le cahier

Harry: Le cahier.

Hermione: Le papier.

Harry: Le papier.

Hermione: Noir, rouge, blanc, are black, red, white.

Harry: Rouge, blanc, nior

Hermione: You're fairly bright! Now please go back.

Harry: I bet I get them right! Rouge, blanc, noir, le papier, le cahier. Le crayon, la chaise, la plume, le livre.. Le livre est rouge! La chaise est nior.

Hermione: That's wonderful!

Harry: You call this work? It's more like play! In no time flat, je parle francais!

Hermione: Had enough?

Harry: No, I'm just starting!

(Harry picked up the remaining books on the desk and started helping Hermione replace them on the shelves)

Hermione: All right, you asked for it. The door, la porte.

Harry: La porte, the door.

Hermione: Of wood, du bois

Harry: Du bois, of wood.

Hermione: To open, ouvrir.

Harry: Ouvrir, to open.

Hermione: To shut, fermer.

Harry. Fermer, to shut.

Hermione: The pronouns that you need, are je and vous.

Harry: Je means me, and vous means you!

Hermione: Now, do them all.

Harry: Just watch me plow right through! Je and vous, to shut, fermer, to open ouvrir, la porte, rouge, blanc et noir. La papier, le cahier, le crayon, la chaise, la plume, le livre;. J'ouvre la porte. Je ferme la porte

Hermione: That's marvelous!

Harry: My thirst to learn you can't quench. Come fill me up to here with French!

Hermione: More?

Harry: More!

Hermione: You'll explode!

Harry: Who cares?

Hermione: The hand, la main.

Harry: La main, the hand.

Hermione: The mouth, la bouche.

Harry: La bouche, the mouth.

Hermione: Les yeux sont brun

Harry: (Looking intensely at her eyes) They sure are brown.

Hermione: Les cheveux

Harry: The hair, les cheveux.

Hermione: The words for boy and girl. Garcon et fille.

Harry: Garcon et fille, are he and she.

Hermione: Now from the top!

Harry: I'll get my French degree. Garcon et fille, les cheveux, the hair, les yeux sont brun, la bouche, la main, je et vous, fermer, ouvrir, la porte, rouge, blanc, noir, papier, cahier, le crayon, la chaise, la plume, le livre. Mesdames! Messieurs! Les yeux son brun!

Harry bowed his head triumphantly, with a big grin on his face.

"You're crazy," Hermione laughed.

"Merlin, this is fun!" he exclaimed enthusiastically.

She smiled at him, "Yes I know."

Harry followed her as they made their way back to the desk, "I didn't know that learning anything could be this much fun!" He waved about the room, "Just look at all these books waiting to be read!"

"Oh anybody can come in and read them," said Hermione.

"Yeah, no cover charge," he teased as they walked side by side. "You know, when I was a little kid, I loved to read." Harry remembered, "My mother's a muggleborn and she kept a large collection of muggle classics in her library. I wanted to find out about everything."

"I thought I was the only kid who felt that way," she replied.

"You too?" he asked.

Hermione nodded as she took one last look around. Satisfied, the two of them left the library and headed their way back to the dorms.

"I wanted to find out about everybody in the whole world," Harry continued reminiscing, "You know, there was a little creek back home near Godric's Hollow. I used to take a canoe and make believed I was going to all the countries I'd read about. I was Huck Finn on the Mississippi, the Volga, the Nile, the Seine…all of them." He recalled happily, "Sometimes at night, I'd sit there in my canoe and look up at the stars.

"I used to look up at the stars from our rooftop in London," she told him, going down memory lane herself, "and think of all the people all over the world looking up at the same stars. Thinking about them in different languages."

"Now the whole world just seems to be Hogwarts," Harry heaved a sigh, "I never think about anything else but being a big Quidditch star. But that'll be over in a few months and then what?"

"As long as you don't forget about that little boy in the canoe, you'll be fine." Hermione flashed him comforting smile, "I think he has a great future."

Harry beamed back, "You're quite a girl"

The two continued carrying on their conversation and in no time, they had reached the front steps of the girls Gryffindor house. Harry sat down on one of the benches by the front porch and gestured Hermione to do the same.

"You know when I walked into the library just moments ago, I was feeling kind of sorry for you," he admitted.

Hermione tilted her head curiously, "Why?"

"Oh, I don't know," he answered, "Having to work your way through school and missing a lot of good times. Not having the best things in life."

"The best things in life?" she repeated, "But I've got them. Everybody has."

(A/N: Sounds like a cue for another musical number!)

Hermione: There are so many kinds of riches. And only one of them is gold. The wealth you miss, remember this: Worthwhile things cannot be bought or sold.

The moon belongs to everyone.

The best things in life are free.

The stars belong to everyone.

They gleam there for you and me.

The flowers in spring,

The robins that sing,

The sunbeams that shine

They're yours

They're mine.

And love can come to everyone.

The best things in life are free.

Harry leaned in closer to her as he listened. He brushed his face against her hair, sending chills up to Hermione's spine. Her heart was pounding and she felt her cheeks turn red. Finally she managed to compose herself and stood up.

"Gee, I've learned a lot of things today," he said getting up from his seat. He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him. "La main," he grazed her hair, "les yeux" he whispered, fixing his eyes on her, "la bouche," Harry took his hand and placed it under her chin. He leaned in closer and closer until their lips met for the first time.

"What does that mean in French?" he asked quietly.

Hermione felt immobilized from the kiss. "Embrasser," she heard herself say.

"Embrasser." he repeated, leaning in again. This kiss lingered slightly longer than the first. "It's just as nice in both languages, isn't it?"

She smiled and nodded. But just as quickly as the moment came, it was gone.

"What a vocabulary I've got!" Harry exclaimed, "Wait'll I spring this on Cho. That'll put a dent in her!"

Hermione's smile quickly disappeared. Seething rage took its place instead. The spell was broken and the moment was most definitely gone. She angrily threw his hand off of her's. "Why don't you just hit her over the head with a beater bat!" she yelled before storming into the house and slamming the door behind her.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thanks for reading. You didn't think I would make it THAT easy for these two to get together would you? (muhahaha). Don't forget to review!