Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or and of its characters. J.K. Rowling does.

A/N: Hey. Thanks to everyone that reviewed. I hope you liked the last chapter. This one is going to be mostly about Harry and Hermione.

Chapter 8: First Dates and First Kisses

Monday had arrived. Which meant it would be Harry and Hermione's first date. All day long Hermione could be heard humming merrily to herself, and Harry was constantly seen with a wide grin on his face.

Ron was going to be going to the burrow that afternoon. Fred and George had offered him a job to work at their joke shop in Diagon Alley. Ron had decided himself that he would get a job to pay for bills and food. Harry and Hermione both wanted to get jobs also, but Ron refused. He said that all of Harry's time needed to be toward the horcruxes, and that he would probably be lost without Hermione's help. So Fred and George decided to offer him a job. He needed to go over so that Fred and George could train him.

Breakfast was rather quiet. They talked about what Ron was going to have to do during his training for about ten minutes and that was it.

"So what are you going to do today Hermione?" asked Ron.

"Oh, well I thought that I'd get the cupboards all filled, same with the fridge. Any request's?" she asked.

"Yeah, um... make sure you buy some mince pies, pancake mix, sausages, um... steak and kidney pie, tricle tart, um... ice cream, steak, pork, hum... and how about some sweets from honeydukes." said Ron.

"All right." said Hermione laughing. "Anything you want Harry?"

"I think Ron covered it." he said smiling.

"Well what are you going to do today?" Ron asked Harry.

"I thought I'd go over to Grimauld Place and bring some books back and see if I can find anything about destroying a horcrux." said Harry.

Ron and Hermione fell silent at this and looked down at their plates. Harry hadn't talked much about the horcruxes and so they didn't know exactly how he was feeling about the matter.

"Oh, well that sounds like a good idea. I was thinking of going to the Burrow early to hang with Ginny. Mum said she's been down in the dumps lately because of the break... ummm... not being able to see her big brother as much lately. But I can come with you and help instead." said Ron.

"No that's alright. I don't need any help. You should be with Ginny if she misses you so much."

"Of course you need help. Do you know how long it could take you to find anything on horcruxes?" asked Ron.

"Yeah, it could take months. But I've been thinking. It's great that you guys want to help me and everything, but I need to do all this on my own. It's far too dangerous for you. I could never forgive myself if something happened to you. I don't need the help and I don't want It." said Harry.

"Harry, you can't do this on your own."

"Yes I can. Everyone that I've loved and anyone that has ever loved me has died. My parents, Sirius, and now Dumbledore. I won't let anything happen to you." he said through clenched teeth.

Hermione slammed her fork down on the table. Harry looked up in surprise.

"Harry James Potter. Don't you dare try to push us away. We are here for you. We've already told you that we know what could happen and we're willing to take the risk. We're going to help you no matter what. And if you don't like it then oh well. You'll just have to hitch a smile on your face and deal with it. I'm not leaving your side." said Hermione angrily.

"Hermione, you don't understand. You and Ron are the family I have never had. Voldemort knows that, and he will try to get to me by using you. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"We're helping you and that's final." and with that Hermione stood up and went to her room slamming the door.

"Listen Ron, I'm sorry." said Harry.

"No problem mate, I can't imagine what you must be feeling. But we're going to help you" said Ron.

"I guess I can't make you change you minds. I'm going to go talk to her." said Harry.

Harry knocked on Hermione's door. "Hermione, can I talk to you for a minute?" asked Harry. Her door opened slowly by itself. Hermione was sitting on her bed with tears rolling down her face. Harry walked over and kneeled beside her. He gently wiped some of the tears away.

"Don't cry love. I'm sorry. I'm just scared about what's going to happen to us all." said Harry.

"I know, and I'm sorry too. But you have no idea what its like to wonder everyday what is going to happen to you. I can't imagine my life without you in it. I'm scared. I'm scared for you, for me. I'm scared of not being with you. I don't want you to die." Hermione started crying even harder now.

"I never knew you felt this way. Hermione please don't cry. Don't worry about me. I don't want you adding all this emotional stress on yourself." Hermione smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you Harry. I love you so much." she said.

"I love you too." said Harry. "Are we still on for our date tonight?"

"Of course." said Hermione.

The rest of the day went by slowly. Ron went to the Burrow for the day after lunch. Hermione went shopping, and Harry was left alone with a pile of books. He had stopped into Grimmauld Place after breakfast. There wasn't anyone there so he grabbed a pile of books and went back to the fireplace. So far he hadn't found anything on them. And soon Hermione would be back and would need help putting things away. He spent another half hour reading until Hermione came home.

Harry walked up and grabbed her waist from behind. "How was the shopping?"

"Wonderful. I got a bunch of food, and found some amazing books on living on your own for the first time. They have all these wonderful household chore spells. And some great recipes." she said.

"Well I'm glad you had fun." Harry help Hermione put the groceries away. At three o'clock Hermione excused herself to go get ready for their dinner.

"We're not leaving until six o'clock though." said Harry.

"I know." is all Hermione said. She grinned and went to the bathroom.

An hour later Harry saw her emerge in a robe with wet hair, but disappeared inside her room immediately. At five o'clock Harry decided that he should start getting ready. He took a quick show then got dressed in a pair of light tan slacks, and a dark green dress shirt. He tried to tame his hair but of course it didn't work. He decided to give it a trim. It had gotten long like if was in his fourth year. He cut it back to its normal short length. By the time he was finished getting ready it was almost six o'clock. I should be getting outside. Hermione will be ready soon. He thought. He grabbed a thing of flowers he bought earlier and walk out of the room. He walked out of the house and stood at the door. He closed it and rang the door bell. He thought it would be nice to arrive like a normal date would. He could hear Hermione inside yelling to him to answer it. After a minute she came to the door. She gasped when she saw it was him.

"How did you get out here? I thought you were in your room?" she asked.

Harry just grinned and handed her the flowers. "For you miss. Pink roses, your favorite."

"How did you know that? I've never told you that." she said sounding surprised.

"I have my sources." he said mysteriously. He took a long look at her. She was wearing a black spagetti strapped dress that went just above the knees. Her hair was tamed into a type of messy but nice looking up do. And she was wearing a little makeup. She's beautiful, he thought.

"You look beautiful." said Harry.

"You clean up quite nicely yourself Mr. Potter." she replied.

"Why thank you. Shall we be going?" he asked.

"Harry, I can't believe you got us the whole restaurant to ourselves." said Hermione.

"Well there are some advantages to being Harry Potter. Plus I got a good deal on it." Harry said.

Harry and Hermione had been having a wonderful time so far. They had taken a walk around a small park then Harry surprised Hermione with having the entire leaky cauldron to themselves for a couple of hours. They were almost done dessert, and Harry had another surprise for her. He was going to take her by broomstick for a ride above the village under the stars. Then he was going to take them to a small lake to sit in the moonlight and do some star gazing.

"Harry this has been wonderful. It couldn't get any better." Hermione said.

"Awe, just you wait and see." he said. "Come follow me."

Harry led them outside to where his broom was waiting.

"I thought we could take a ride over the village. Then I have this place I want to take you to." he said climbing on the broom.

Hermione smiled and climbed on behind him and hugged his waist.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yep."

They took a nice little ride over Goderic's Hollow, then Harry went north for a little while. Finally they came to a small lake that was surrounded by trees. With only the moon and the stars as their light. Harry hopped off the firebolt, and with a wave of his wand a blanket appeared on the ground.

"Wow Harry, this is really nice." said Hermione.

"I thought we could do some star gazing." Harry said.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." she said. They both laid on the blanket and Harry wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulders. She snuggled up close to his side. After a while of star gazing Hermione laid her head on Harry's chest and he wrapped his arms around her protectivly.

"Would you like to dance Hermione?" Harry asked.

"There's no music." she said smiling.

"We can make our own." he said. He got up and offered her his hand. She gently took it and wrapped her arms around his neck. He put his hands on her hips. They gently swayed to the music that was in their heads. Harry waved his wand and a slow tune quietly played.

"I love you Hermione. So much. More than you could ever know." he said.

"I love you too Harry."

And with that Harry slowly moved his head down to hers. Hermione slowly got on the tips of her toes, inching up towards him. Their lips met half way. The moment their lips met Harry had felt something he had never felt for anyone else before. Not Cho, or Ginny. He felt a warm, tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach. It felt right, and he wondered why he hadn't seen Hermione before now. He deepened the kiss. It wasn't a full out snog, but it was sweet and romantic.

They finally pulled apart. Harry looked down at Hermione lovingly and smiled. Her eyes were still closed. She slowly opened them and when she saw Harry looking at her she could see the love in his eyes. She threw her arms around him and they just stood their holding each other. Wanting that perfect moment to last forever. Harry decided at that moment that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this girl. And when the war was finally over and if he succeeded in winning, he was going to do just that. He never wanted to leave her arms, and he never wanted to be without her.

A/N: Well here's the 8th chapter. I hope you all liked it. Probably in the next chapter or the one after that Ron is going to find out about Harry and Hermione. It's probably going to be a week or two before I update though. School starts again tomorrow, and Saturday I have the winter formal to go to at my school. Then next week I have different little things to do. So I promise I will update as soon as I can. Please read and review. I really like hearing your thoughts on the story so far.