Charming
Disclaimer: I don't own HP or any of these characters. That belongs to JKR, Scholastic Books, Warner Brothers, etc.

Chapter Thirteen : Gift

Harry sipped some Butterbeer as he watched Hermione start eating her stew. He hadn't ordered anything to eat, not being hungry like Hermione was and so he had settled for drinking while watching her eat. When Harry had offered to take Hermione to the Leaky Cauldron to get something, he had thought that perhaps he could use the time alone with her to ask her to do something with him this weekend. Exactly what, he did not know, but he thought it would be best to ask her before someone else did. However, now that he had his chance, he found himself unable to speak.

That was frustrating, very frustrating. He had always been capable of speech in front of Hermione before. There were times when he didn't tell her things because he didn't want to be nagged by her or because he didn't want to worry her, but he had always had the ability to speak to her. Yet for the last ten minutes, he had sat across from her mutely, not able to contribute a single word to the conversation. Not that there was a conversation. It was kind of hard to have one when you couldn't speak. It didn't help that he thought she looked lovely and her pink lips oh-so-kissable.

"Harry, if you really are that tired, you can go home," said Hermione. "I am perfectly capable of seeing myself back to the flat."

"I'm not tired," he protested.

"Is that why you've been staring at the wall this whole time?"

Harry didn't think it would be a good idea to tell her that he was staring at the wall because he lost all ability to think whenever he looked at her. Or rather, he wasn't able to think of much else aside from kissing her when he watched her. He had been trying to think of what they could do together this weekend that she would enjoy, but he hadn't come up with a single idea. He was beginning to think that he was hopeless.

"No response to that one?" Hermione cocked an eyebrow at him. "Or perhaps you shouldn't go home if you're that sleepy."

"I'm not sleepy," he said. "I was merely thinking."

"Thinking of what?"

"Erm . . ." Okay, saying that I was thinking of kissing her is one way to let her know that I want to spend more time with her, but I don't think I could say that. Besides, I'd like to have more privacy than that . . . who knows who or what is listening here. The sound of Hermione's laughter roused him from his thoughts.

"Really, you are adorable when you're tired and trying to think." She blushed after she said that, and Harry's hopes mounted. "But you didn't have to wait up for me," she said, trying to recover her equilibrium.

"I know. I wanted to. Just to make sure that you're fine, you know."

"I know. Still suspicious of Malfoy, I see."

"It's kind of hard not to. Have you told Ron about . . . ?"

"No, not yet." Hermione put down her spoon and reached for her mug of Butterbeer. After taking a sip from that, she continued, "Something tells me he won't be happy to hear that I've spent any time outside of work with Malfoy. Your reaction was bad enough . . . it makes me worry about his."

"I'm sorry," he said. He wished that he had been more restrained back then, but it had been such a shock.

"You don't have to say that. I can understand why it would be . . . well, I can understand your reaction. And I can understand why Ron would be upset, but . . . sometimes he's not actually listening to the words you are saying when he's mad at you."

"Isn't that the truth?" Harry took a swig from his mug. "You know, why don't we all go out somewhere on Saturday? And maybe you'll find some way to tell him." That wasn't what Harry had hoped to ask her to do, but it was better than nothing. Besides, he was dying to know what Ron thought about this whole Malfoy fiasco, but he didn't think that it was right for him to tell Ron without Hermione's permission. Even worse, he was sure that Hermione would be angry with them both if he did.

"Where to?" she asked.

"I was going to say Hogsmeade . . ."

"No, not Hogsmeade. Too close to Hogwarts and all those memories."

Harry thought about where they could go. Romantic might be a good idea . . . if I can get Ron to leave us alone at times. From some of the things he's said before, I think he might agree to do that. "Paris?" he suggested. "We could spend the weekend there."

"I want to relax on the weekend, Harry, not get a gigantic headache. Paris is too busy for a short trip away. And it stinks like nothing else." She shuddered. "Though the idea is good . . . some place further away that we haven't been before. That would be nice." She tapped her spoon against her bowl, clearly thinking about the matter. "How about Nice? I'd like to visit there again."

"But you've been there before," Harry pointed out. "I thought you said you'd like to go somewhere that none of us have been."

"Well, for a weekend away, I suppose that's a bit unrealistic. As my parents always did like to travel during the summer holidays. Besides, I've only spent a day there as we were just passing through. That hardly counts."

"That sounds good to me," said Harry. Inwardly, he exulted. No matter how many times Hermione insisted she only went with the ferret to be polite, he thought that Malfoy might have an agenda all of his own. Why Malfoy would be suddenly interested in Hermione, Harry didn't know. What he did know was that he had taken her for granted before and he was not ever going to make that mistake again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There were times when Hermione felt like she was leading two lives. One life when she was with Harry and another when she was without.

Over the past few weeks, Harry had clung to her side, as much as possible. He was always asking her to do something with him, and she was never able to refuse him. Hermione didn't know why she couldn't turn him down on her own. Maybe it was those times she had caught him staring at her that inspired some sort of hope within her. Or perhaps it was the fact that it was very hard for her to let go of what she felt for him, no matter how many times she reprimanded herself or told herself that it was an impossible dream.

Hermione found herself accepting invitations from Malfoy not because she really wanted to spend time with him, but rather so she would have a legitimate excuse for turning Harry down. It was sad. It was pathetic the way she needed an excuse to refuse Harry. Yet, Hermione knew that without one, he would be able to chip away at her resolve such that she would wind up going with him any way. And more time with Harry was not good for her health.

However, she had to give him credit. It had helped, during that trip to France, to have him with her when she casually mentioned to Ron that she had went out to dinner with Malfoy. Ron had completely lost it, stridently demanding about whether she had lost her mind and snarling whenever he mentioned Malfoy, although that was never by name. Harry had watched Ron's explosion, and when he had thought it had gone far enough, he had pulled Ron aside to talk to him. Hermione didn't know what Harry had said, but it had worked. Ron had come back and apologized, before changing the subject. Hermione had been all too willing to let him bring up another topic. She had thought herself that she wouldn't go anywhere else with Malfoy, given how uncomfortable that night had been for her. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out that way.

What made the situation worse was that although Hermione did not have any romantic thoughts towards Malfoy, she couldn't say the same of him. There was a certain softness to him when they were alone, a certain way he would look at her and say her name. It was very uncomfortable. Hermione felt that she should say something to him about it, but she didn't know how to. She had never been in this situation before. She had never suspected someone fancying her when she was not the slightest bit interested in that person. Frankly, Hermione did not know what Malfoy was thinking – they were too different to ever get along like that. She felt guilty for always saying yes to him, as that only encouraged him, but she needed him if only for the excuses he gave her.

Of course, there was a certain satisfaction to telling Harry no and having a prior engagement to back her up. It made her grin to think of his shock that first time. Hermione sometimes wondered if that was where she had went wrong for all those years. Her time was precious, but she always made room for him even though he didn't do the same. Maybe she had allowed him to take her for granted for so long that he assumed she would always be there for him. Maybe if she hadn't let that go on like she did, he would have woken up to the facts and realized that he loved her and couldn't live without her.

But she doubted that. It was a nice thought to think there might be something in her that could attract him, but . . . well, it was only a thought. She thought it more likely that he wouldn't have ever noticed that she was gone and her heart would have been broken anyway. So she settled for watching the light in his eyes dim each time she told him that she had other plans, for asserting her independence with refusal, and for trying to gather the remains of her heart so that one day it might be whole again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ron winced as the Bludger almost hit Harry, then shouted at the lazy Beaters who would do a better job if they weren't on the field because then at least Harry wouldn't expect any sort of protection. Fred and George were beside him, being more descriptive in what they thought of those Beaters' ability.

If Ron wasn't so worried, he'd stop to take notes. Surely those insults would come in handy once Hermione came to her senses and told Malfoy to take a walk. Ron was gleefully awaiting that day. Though as of the moment, he would settle for Hermione's arrival. He frowned. He did not know what was wrong with that girl. She had promised Harry again and again that she would be here, but she wasn't. Harry had looked so disappointed when he had come out and didn't see her in the seat that he had got for her. Ron simply hoped that it was because Hermione was working late and not due to anything else. Though it wouldn't be like Hermione to forget about the match – she never had done something like that before. He crossed his fingers, willing Hermione to come soon. There had already been quite a battle over that empty seat earlier and as the match wore on, only more people would try to take it over.

A flash of bushy brown hair caught his eye, and he peered down the stands. He thought there might be a witch that looked like Hermione trying to make her way up. He squinted, not wanting to leave his seat if it was a false alarm but wanting to help Hermione if she was having problems pushing her way through this mad throng.

"Fred! George! Save my seat, will you?" Ron decided to take a chance that it was Hermione. Seeing George nod his agreement, Ron walked down the stands, taking the steps two at a time. About halfway down, he saw that the witch was Hermione, and he quickened his pace. Reaching her side, he said, "Having trouble finding the place, Hermione?"

She rolled her eyes. "I had to work late. Then the idiots at the front gate gave me a hard time when I tried to get in. I've spent the last thirty minutes arguing that the ticket was real and not some fake that I've made just to get in here. Honestly! They didn't even check to see that it had the right verification charms on it!"

Ron grinned. He felt better knowing that Hermione had done her best to get here on time, and that it wasn't entirely her fault that she was late. "Did you happen to get the names of those guards?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm planning to complain about them later."

"Don't bother. It'd be simpler and easier to let Harry go at them for keeping you away from the match like that." He took Hermione's hand and began to press his way back to their seats.

"Oh, I don't think that Harry would want to make such a spectacle of himself."

"I doubt that. Besides, even if Harry doesn't, his teammates will. They wouldn't want it to be one of the friends next time that gets hassled like that. Oh hell," Ron cursed as he saw the twins valiantly defending their empty seats. "We better hurry." Hermione nodded, and they rushed back up the stairs, not caring whose foot they happened to step on in their hurry. Once at their row, they sat down in the seats, with Ron turning around to sneer at those who would have taken them.

"You took your time," Fred said.

"Could've hurried a bit more and saved your chatter for later," George added.

"Sorry, sorry," said Ron. "I forgot how mad some Quidditch fans can get over empty seats."

"You say that as if you're not the same," Hermione remarked. She leaned forward in her seat, clutching the railing, trying to discern where Harry was. "Harry! Watch out!" she cried as she spotted him in the path of a Bludger. His head whipped around, as if he had heard her. From the corner of his eye, Ron could see George putting away his wand, after casting Sonorus on Hermione so that she could be heard by Harry over the din. Hermione buried her face in her hands, too scared to watch as Harry darted away from the Bludger.

The match was over in under ten minutes.

The four of them made their way downstairs to wait outside the locker room for Harry to come out. Ron spotted one guard looking sheepishly away from them and wondered if he had been one of those that had kept Hermione away. He wondered if the guard had noticed how quickly Harry had caught the Snitch after Hermione had been let through. If he had and if rumors spread about that . . . Ron suspected that Hermione would not need to show a pass to another game ever again.

As soon as Harry appeared, Hermione leapt up to hug him "You were wonderful!" she said. "And I'm sorry for being late . . . I was running late from work to begin with, and then some idiot guards who had nothing better to do insisted that my ticket was a fake . . ."

"Who?" asked Harry, as he ducked out of her embrace to take her hand. The two of them walked towards Ron and his brother, and Ron could feel a smile tugging at his lips. His friends looked good together.

"Does it matter? I'll put in a complaint about them later. Don't you want to celebrate right now?"

"Actually, going home and taking a long soak sounds splendid."

"Not surprising, that," put in Fred.

"You must be bruised all over. I tell you, there were times when we wished we'd brought our brooms so we could show your Beaters how the job's done," said George.

"That would have been lovely," Harry said. "I can't tell you how many times I wished you two were our Beaters instead."

"If it was that bad, then I'm almost glad that I was late."

"Why almost?" Harry asked her.

"I did promise you I'll be there. And if I make a promise, I want to keep it . . . no matter how painful it might be to watch."

"If you think it's painful to watch, you should try it on Harry's end," Fred said.

Hermione winced. "I know, I know. Shall we all go back home?" she asked. "You can have your soak while the rest of us figure out what to order out."

"Order out?" Harry pretended to be affronted. "You mean you're not going to cook to celebrate our victory."

"Do any of you want me to?"

"No," they all chorused, having all been subjected to Hermione's cooking at one time or another.

"I thought so," she said smugly. She poked Harry sharply, causing him to grimace. "And stop teasing me! I'll let it go next time, but I won't promise to restrain myself the next."

"Me? Tease—" Harry was stopped mid-sentence by Hermione elbowing his stomach. "Ouch. Did I mention I was bruised?"

"Yes. Why do you think I—"

"You can be extraordinarily cruel when it suits you, Hermione," he accused her.

"You can be extraordinarily stubborn when it suits you," she replied. "Now come on. Enough teasing. The sooner we get home, the sooner you can rest and . . ."

"Enough said. I'm convinced," said Harry. "Are the rest of you coming as well?"

"Of course!"

"We can't let your victory go without it being celebrated!"

"Which means that if you're not going to drink anything," said Ron, "then the twins will be more than happy to make up your share for you."

"You got that right," Fred declared.

"It would be our solemn duty," George added.

"Then stop talking and start walking," Hermione said. "We're never going to get anywhere if you keep standing still."

"I think she has a point." Still holding on to Hermione's hand, Harry walked forward, leading them all out of the stadium.

Author's notes: Chapter fourteen will be up next Friday. I hope you enjoyed this one and I'd be grateful if you could leave me a review. Thanks!

Also, thanks to all those who left reviews for chapter twelve. As promised here are my responses.

Izabel: Yeah, they do both have their points, don't they? Good thing that they were both willing to hear the other side, or I might have wound up dragging this out for a few more chapters. ^_^
vanessa: I thought updating once a week was pretty fast. It's much better than my old rate, which was once a month if I was lucky. Hope you like this chapter.
avada kedavra: Thanks for understanding. I know slow-burning romance can be frustrating at time, but I think that's how it goes when one side doesn't want to admit their feelings to the other.
rokjai: Thanks! I'm glad you like the flow of the fic.
Carl: If you want'em, email me. And you'd better do it before the world ends. :P
Korine: See above.
alatoic01: Their relationship has already advanced by Harry coming to his senses. Thanks for the review.
athipsou: Glad to hear you think it's realistic. ^_^
Disco Duck: I can't promise soon, but I hope you liked this chapter.
2green2Bseen: I think I've already written that fic. And I'm still trying to live it down.
Seakays: Thanks for the compliments!
megan: There actually isn't that many chapters left to this fic. I don't see myself writing beyond twenty chapters at the very most.

I know there's more, but I'm emailing everyone else so this doesn't get too long. Thanks to Fatima, Emma-Lee14, LeslieGlady, Shawn Pickett, Animagus-Steph, sinta1, Pinku-koneko, ears91, kyc639, LilyEvansPotter3, TheSilverLady, sally, ILUVRONWEASLEY, Leah6, tOmLoVeR17, Natalie314159, insanehpluver, ravenclaw's heir, Blood57, malu, Nev/Wormtail, xxbabysparklesxx, sweetheart87, melissa, TheWraith1, Harpee-Lady, foxxglove, Wytil, EuphoniumGurl0, Megan, Ramy, pangs1, Millie*A, and hpfanmelissa for their reviews. You should be getting an email from me shortly.