Harry had only seen Draco cry once, in the bathroom when he'd nearly killed him. He really hadn't meant to - he'd been desperate. He regretted using that spell when he didn't even know what it did. He should have listened to Hermione. He always should have listened to Hermione, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Now, Draco didn't even seem like he was trying to hide it. He was sobbing as they escorted his mother back out of the courtroom, trying to go after her and being held back by another guard until she was gone, and Harry's jaw fell to the floor when he turned to wrap his arms around… Hermione. What the fuck had happened while he'd been dead?

It didn't seem like she knew what to do, either, though, and it took her a second to hug him back. But when she did, it was as genuine as her hugs with Harry. It was a strange sight, that was for sure. He'd been fine with her testifying in his favor, but this… this looked like she'd just forgiven him for every single time he'd bullied her. How?

"You'll be okay, Draco," she whispered. "We'll figure this out, all right?"

"Come on, you three. Let's get you out of here." The security guard didn't seem like they were all going through emotional distress, and confusion, as so many questions were running through Harry's mind. Draco and Hermione parted and the guard led them out, but they weren't alone. The reporters were there to greet them before they had barely crossed the threshold, and he noticed Draco immediately put on a neutral face for the cameras.

"Mr. Malfoy, what did you think of your mother's sentence?!"

"Are you glad she took your sentencing as her own?"

"Miss Granger, what made you want to testify in favor of Mr. Malfoy?"

"Can you elaborate on what injuries you sustained from Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"Mr. Potter, are you nervous for your own upcoming trial?"

"We saw that hug in the courtroom - is there something going on between the two of you? You refused to specify your relationship!" That of all questions was the one that got Hermione. She stopped walking so suddenly that Harry ran into the back of her.

"What? Just because I'm defending a man's honor means I'm in love with him? You tell your boss at the bloody Prophet that I am not by any means in love with Draco Malfoy and you can tell them all to shove it-"

Harry quickly grabbed Hermione by the arm and put a hand over her mouth as he led her back over towards Ron and Mr. Weasley. Unsurprisingly, Hermione didn't put up a fight with Harry at all, which made even Draco raise his eyebrows.

"Damn, Granger, I didn't think you had it in you," he said once the guards had shooed everyone away.

Harry finally released her, and she wiped her mouth quickly. "I'm just sick of all these reporters thinking they can make a story out of any little thing just to make themselves look good. Just because they're running out of things to write about. If there's something in tomorrow's paper about us, I swear…" She trailed off as Ron and Arthur came back into view, both as confused as ever.

"Malfoy?" Ron questioned immediately.

"Weasley," Draco responded through gritted teeth.

"What happened in there?" Arthur asked. "Did they reach a conclusion already?"

"My mother took my sentence," Draco answered, and Arthur's face fell. "I'm sure it'll be all over the paper tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm so sorry… from what Harry said, she… well… I know nothing I say will make it any better. Do you have… somewhere to go?"

"Dad… you're joking."

Arthur held up a hand towards Ron. "If he has nowhere to go, I'm simply offering that he can come stay with us at the Burrow. Feel free to decline, but the offer stands."

Harry could picture it now: Draco casually sauntering into the Burrow with them and everyone just freezing on the spot. Ginny might start laughing nervously, Mrs. Weasley would keep looking from her husband to Draco, trying to figure out what was going on, George would probably say something akin to "This should be good. Sorry you're missing out, Freddie." Bill and Charlie would have no idea who he was, and Percy might just leave. Probably storm out.

"Hogwarts is probably the safest place for me right now," Draco muttered. "Well… depending on the company, I guess. I just…" his lip started to tremble, but he swallowed it down and hardened his gaze, "I don't want to go home."

"Of course you don't," Arthur replied.

"We were going to go back to Hogwarts right after the hearings anyway," Hermione said. "You can come with us and we'll just get our things and go right back to the castle."

Draco shook his head. "I need to pack if I'm going back to Hogwarts. I'll just meet you back there." He looked up at Arthur with pained eyes. "Th-Thank you for the offer… Mr. Weasley." Harry could tell it felt foreign to him, and seeing Draco put forth any type of effort to be civil to someone who was "inferior" to him made him wonder for a second if he was dreaming again.

"Anytime," Arthur said with a nod.

Harry cleared his throat softly. "There are Apparition points outside of Hogwarts grounds, but the easiest one is on the far side of the Quidditch Pitch past the locker rooms. That's probably your best bet. I guess we'll see you there. Don't forget to get your wand."

"Right. I didn't think you'd still have it."

"It was evidence," Harry answered cooly. "Also… I wanted to give it back. Whenever I saw you. And…" he looked over at Hermione, whose eyes were wide. If she could start forgiving him, maybe Harry could too. "Thank you. For… for letting me use it."

Draco nodded again. "See you at the castle." He hung back to get his wand from the guards after everyone else got their things, and it did feel a little strange to leave him alone.

"I can't ever imagine him coming to our house, Dad, honestly. You really think he'd ever set foot there?"

"No," Arthur admitted, "but I wouldn't be a good father if I didn't offer. He just lost both of his parents, and as much as I despised Lucius, I know many of the things Draco has done were due to influence. He saved your life. That's a good enough reason to invite him over as any, and you'd do well to think about that over the course of the next couple of months."

Ron took a deep breath and looked down at his feet the rest of the way back to the Burrow.

Harry wasn't sure how he was supposed to act when they got there; he wasn't excited that there was now less to distract him from his own hearing, but he was glad he could get out of his suit and back to Hogwarts, at least. Though, he also knew he probably needed to go back to Grimmauld Place and figure out things with Gringotts (a task he'd greatly been avoiding) before school started again. Maybe he should take another page out of Hermione's book and make a list.

He'd barely gotten his jacket off before Molly asked how everything went, checking the clock.

"Hermione testified and Draco was cleared," Arthur explained.

"Cleared?!" came from Ginny. "Your argument wasn't that good."

Hermione shot Ginny a playful glare. "It wasn't my argument, though it definitely helped, thank you very much." She sat down on the arm of the couch and started to slide her heels off. "His mum came and took his sentence, so I'm pretty sure I just took a few years off hers. Also, if you get the Prophet tomorrow, please throw it out the window."

George smirked, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter. "Uh oh. What did our Golden Girl do?"

"If I don't talk about it, it won't happen."

"They think she's in love with Malfoy," Ron answered, dodging out of the way instinctively as a shoe was tossed in his direction.

"I'm sorry, what?" Ginny started laughing harder than Harry had seen her in a while.

"I'm glad one of you thinks this is funny."

"Two of us, actually," George chimed in.

"Make that three," Ron snickered, throwing her shoe back at her. "Come off it, Hermione, it's just the Prophet."

"It's… it's not just the Prophet, Ron. It's… we can't do things like this. We have a reputation to uphold and I don't want to get harassed about my relationship with Draco Malfoy every time I go outside."

"Well, just tell them you're with Harry, then, dear…" Molly suggested like it was the simplest thing in the world.

Ron and Ginny suddenly found something very interesting on the ceiling and Hermione took a breath.

"Harry and I aren't together anymore. We're… still friends, obviously, but… I don't want to start that and just pretend when it's… complicated for us at the moment."

Harry realized how close he was standing to Hermione, and debated moving away from her, but figured it might just make things more awkward and if he was being honest, he didn't really want to.

No one seemed to know what to say, and the silence quickly became extremely uncomfortable. Harry cleared his throat. "Okay, well… we're going to get our things and go back to Hogwarts. Ron?"

"Yeah, I'll be right behind you."

Harry instinctively put a comforting hand on Hermione's lower back to lead her upstairs, ignoring the stares he knew he was getting. You shouldn't be touching her like this, he reminded himself, but she was pressing into his hand so subtly if he hadn't been paying attention, he probably wouldn't have noticed, so he kept it. They'd cuddled the previous night, after all - what was a hand on her back?

As soon as they were alone, Hermione turned and pressed her face into his chest, and Harry's hand immediately ventured to cup the back of her neck like he was about to kiss her, and when she looked up at him, it took every bit of self-restraint not to that it physically hurt.

"Harry, I don't… Draco and I, we-"

"What, you think I'm worried?" Harry smirked.

"It just felt weird hugging him like that in front of you and after all the reporters, I just…"

"Hermione," he said warmly, moving his hand to her jaw and swiping his thumb over her cheek. "I'm not jealous of him. How could I be when I get this?"

"We shouldn't be this close."

"This one was your idea," he reminded her in a whisper.

Her gaze made a quick detour to his lips. "I don't love Draco."

"I know you don't."

Back up to his eyes. "I still love you, Harry."

Her words hit him like a punch to the gut, falling 100 feet off a broom, breaking an arm, a hippogriff kick to the balls. Even Hermione flinched at the words she never should have said. It was stupid to be so affected; they'd only been broken up for five days. Of course she still loved him, as much as he was still in love with her. His body seemed to go into fight or flight mode: elevated heart rate, his hands were starting to sweat, blood was rushing through his body, ready to supply whatever needed it the most. Without breaking eye contact, which was doing a number to him in itself, he reached up to release the bun on the back of her head, letting her hair fall down and inhaling a fragrance that seemed vaguely familiar. She'd put perfume in her hair? For who?

For you. He swore he could hear her voice answer in his mind. He ran his fingers through her hair, trying to shake it out and let it hang loose down her back while taking in as much of that delicious perfume as he could handle. It was like their first kiss all over again, in the tent, with the same eye contact, the same trust (maybe more) and the same tension, the same question between them. She closed her eyes, letting out a soft noise somewhere between a hum and a moan, and when she opened them, that damn replica of Hermione's voice in the back of his head reared itself up again so convincingly that if he hadn't been looking at her still lips, he would have thought she'd spoken aloud: Kiss me.

So he did.

Gently.

Briefly.

Everything he hadn't expected this kiss to be. She breathed in his sigh, clutched his arms, and he felt every muscle in her body turn to jelly. For the first time, the desperation he usually had when he kissed her didn't even seem necessary. Before he could spend any time thinking about the reasoning, he had already pulled away. Slowly, but he felt infinitely better already. Less tense. Less stressed. He ran his hand down Hermione's arm and took her hand as his other hand moved to sit on her hip. He rested his forehead against hers, and they spent a few seconds just breathing each other in.

"That was… different," she whispered.

"Okay, I'm going to say this once and that's it, all right?"

Hermione let out a quiet laugh. "What's that?"

"I think maybe you were right. My plan was rubbish. We can't avoid each other. I don't… want to avoid each other."

"But we can't keep doing this-"

"Why not?"

"You know why not."

"That was the last time, then."

"We said that last time."

"Maybe we should stop calling it."

"Maybe… I thought I could kiss you and be okay, but…"

"I know," Harry replied, pulling back to kiss her forehead. "It's okay. Like you said, this is new. We'll figure it out." Something else he'd have to endure. He'd had a hard enough time dealing with not being with her, but now they were kissing and they still couldn't be together? Thinking about it too much made his heart ache.

Hermione took a deep breath and nodded. "We need to pack. No chance of you coming back to the dorms, then?"

He laughed a little, looking her up and down as he headed back into Ron's room to get his things. "Not a chance. New plan, though."

Hermione quickly grabbed her bag and began rifling through it to make sure everything was accounted for. "Okay, what's that?"

"No avoiding each other. Just… no alone time."

She looked around the room once and nodded. "Yeah, that's… that's probably for the best. Fair. Every time we're alone together..."

"Right," Harry finished. "So let's start there."

Something had definitely shifted between them. Mrs. Weasley had kept true to her promise about escorting them to Diagon Alley to get Hermione a new wand, which he could tell she'd been itching for. Luckily, there weren't many people shopping this early in the day, which provided them some freedom. As soon as they arrived, Hermione went straight for the wand shop - someone new had taken over in Ollivander's stead, it seemed, as the face in the window was unfamiliar. Harry watched her for a second before figuring it wouldn't hurt to take a walk around - he should probably stop by Gringotts. From the outside, it looked… surprisingly normal. But if they fixed the whole castle in a few days, Gringotts shouldn't have been a problem, especially with so many goblins. He knew all of them were incredibly powerful, and he wasn't even entirely sure if he should be stepping foot into the bank.

His suspicions were confirmed once blaring alarms and lights started going off before he even made it into the main lobby, and he immediately had a guard on each of his arms. Of course, he complied. Struggling wasn't going to do him any good. "I'm not going anywhere, I swear. You can let go of me." But the guards didn't budge.

A painstakingly slow pair of shoes clicked down the main walkway to where Harry was, and the head goblin that he had just seen not a week ago stopped in front of him, looking up with a scowl. "Harry Potter."

"Yes, sir."

The goblin took off his glasses, cleaned them gently on his robes, and put them back on. "You destroyed my bank."

Technically, it was your own dragon. "I… I know. And I'm sorry. We didn't mean-"

"I don't care what you meant to do, Harry Potter. I care what you did do. You and your friends. If you think we were going to just let you off the hook, you were very, very wrong."

"I never thought that. None of us. I… I know Ron doesn't have a lot to begin with-"

"No, the Weasley family vault is useless. Miss Granger's doesn't keep a lot in it. She usually brings Muggle money from her parents and gets it converted."

"What do you do with the Muggle money?"

"You're stalling, Potter. That just leaves…"

"My gold?"

"You catch on quick. Smarter than I thought."

Harry sighed. "How much do I owe you? I don't even know how much I have."

"Then you should have no problem with us taking what we need, right?" They stared each other down for a few seconds, Harry's eyes flicking between the goblin's. "You trust us, don't you?" He gave Harry a smirk that turned his stomach in knots.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not if you'd like a bank, Potter."

"Fine."

"You're lucky."

"Am I?"

"If you weren't the Chosen One, you'd have no chance in ever banking with Gringotts again."

"What happened to Griphook?"

The goblin's eyes narrowed. "Dead, no thanks to you."

"Me?!"

"If you hadn't come here to break into the Lestrange vault, He Who Must Not Be Named would have never known that we had failed to protect the artifact!" he scowled, pointing a long, bony finger into Harry's stomach. "A lot of us died because of you, Harry Potter. We will not forget that. I don't care what the reason was. Now." He straightened, gained his composure, smoothed out his robes, and took a deep breath. "What was your intention for coming here today?"

"I… I wanted to take out some gold."

"Very well." He nodded to the guards, who released Harry's arms, and grinned. "If you have any left. I will send an updated statement via owl."

"Great. Can I get my gold now?" He started to follow the goblin into the bank, but he held up a hand.

"How much do you want?"

"I can't get it myself?!"

"We'd rather you not."

"I was hunting a horcrux! It's not my fault that your-"

"How much gold would you like, Potter?" the goblin interrupted, completely unfazed by his argument. He could feel himself getting agitated and ran his fingers over his forehead, wishing he had Hermione's calming energy again. She'd find this hilarious, wouldn't she?

Harry sighed, clenching his jaw. "I dunno… 50 galleons?" That should be enough to get whatever he wanted from Diagon Alley.

"Very well. Please wait here."

He plopped down on a bench, bouncing his leg up and down. He had no idea why all this was bothering him so much; he'd expected some kind of repercussion for the damage, but to not even know what they were taking out made him incredibly nervous. Maybe they'd go easy on him. He didn't want to play the famous card, but if it came down to his ability to pay for anything…

"Here you go, Mr. Potter. 50 galleons." The goblin handed over a small bag with the coins in it, which clunked heavily into Harry's palm.

"Thank you." He made a beeline back out into the street as quickly as possible. Looking around, he still couldn't find Hermione and figured she might be stuck getting her wand. That was fine with him, as he had a couple shops he'd planned to visit.

He tried not to spend too much time in front of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but he did quickly peer into one of the windows to make sure nothing seemed amiss. Without the lights on, nothing was vibrant and even the products he could see on the shelves looked like they missed their owners somehow. He wondered how long it would be closed. If it would ever even be open again.

Harry wrenched his face away from the window and headed for Eeylops. He hadn't really given much thought to getting a new owl since losing Hedwig, but not having one would eventually be detrimental, especially when he wouldn't be at Hogwarts. Hedwig had been his first pet, and for lack of a better word, his first friend. He'd lost her so suddenly that he hadn't really had time to grieve, but he did miss her. A lot.

He hadn't been into Eeylops in a couple years, but once his eyes adjusted to the dim light in the store, nothing had changed, even with the devastation that had come through Diagon Alley. Along the wall sat rows and rows of owls all twittering and chatting between each other, cleaning themselves, and sometimes flying around throughout the store to empty perches to investigate who was coming in.

Luckily, he was the only patron in the store, and the girl who had been restocking treats on one of the shelves looked over at him as the bell on the door chimed softly. "Harry Potter..." Something about this felt like he was eleven years old all over again, recognized on the streets for a giant confrontation with Voldemort that had ended with the latter's demise. "What brings you here today?"

"I, uh… I'd like to get an owl." The words felt strange, and he suddenly had to swallow down the urge to cry. Thankfully, he didn't see any that looked like Hedwig.

"Oh! Of course!" She grinned, wiping her hands on her apron. She didn't seem to be much older than he was, and she looked sort of familiar. Maybe she'd gone to Hogwarts when he was there. Her blonde hair was coming out of the messy bun on top of her head, and she brushed it behind her ears with the back of her hand, but something told Harry that she didn't really care if she got treat dust all over her face, which was endearing. "Did you have anyone in mind?"

Harry looked around at all the birds staring back at him. It was kind of unnerving. "Um… not quite yet. I… my first owl was a gift, so I'm… not sure what to look for."

"Well, no worries!" The girl grinned. "I'm Lia, by the way."

"Harry."

Lia laughed. "Yes, I know."

"Oh. Right." He cleared his throat softly.

"So, we've got mostly barn owls, tawny owls, and screech owls currently. A little limited since we're just getting really back up and running, but we should have more later in the month if you're not looking for any of those. We're also starting to accept adoptable rescues and rehabilitated birds. They're all muddled together, so if it matters whether or not an owl's from the hatchery or a rescue and you're interested in one, just ask!"

Harry nodded absentmindedly - Lia's speech had been a little long-winded, like Hermione got when she got excited or worked up, and he could tell this girl was very passionate about these birds.

"Was there a lot of damage?"

Lia seemed a little surprised that Harry cared, but shook her head. "Not a ton, thankfully, but we lost a lot of owls. They got out," she clarified at the look of horror that came over Harry's face. "Little known fact - we have magic tracking on all our animals because… well…" She gestured towards the door. "They get out more often than we'd like. Kind of like a magical microchip. It just took a while to round them all up. Some were injured, so they're being healed and rehabilitated, then they'll come back."

"Huh." He reached out for one of the tiny owls a little above his head, cautiously petting its chest. The owl looked down at him and cocked its head. It reminded him a little of Pig; it could nearly fit in his hand. Terrible for anything useful, but cute nonetheless. Plus, Crookshanks constantly chased Pig around, swiping at him and jumping onto furniture. No, he needed to get something a little bigger.

"I think you'd like a brown owl," Lia said after a moment of watching him. "They're super fast and agile."

"Yeah?" He never thought about getting any type of owl for any purpose, but just thinking of the comparison between Hedwig and Pig and Errol, he could definitely see what she meant.

"Well, you're a Seeker, right? Were? Are? Either way, I haven't seen you fly in a few years, but I think you'd have fun with a brown," she grinned, ushering him towards another one of the rooms.

"So you did go to Hogwarts. I knew you looked familiar."

"I was in fourth year when you started. Hufflepuff," Lia explained. "But even seeing you in that first game… you were amazing. Better than I'd ever seen an eleven-year-old play."

Harry found himself blushing at the complement. "Yeah, well… McGonagall put me on the team for a reason. It's been a while since I've flown, though, now that I think about it."

"I can imagine…" He could tell there was another question at the tip of her tongue, but she decided against it. "Well, whenever you get back on a broom, I think it would be fun to have a companion."

Harry smiled. He used to love flying with Hedwig, but she couldn't keep up with sharp turns, and he didn't get to fly with her much, so she hadn't had the best endurance, but with a new owl… he could do better. He'd take better care of it. He wouldn't have to keep it locked up in a cage the entire summer and only let it out at certain times. He quickly wiped his eyes before he thought too much about how he could have done better with Hedwig. As long as he did better with this one.

"It's okay to miss your pets, Harry. I remember your old owl… a snowy, right?"

Harry nodded. "How'd you know?"

"There aren't many snowies that come through the Great Hall, are there? The white belly is easy to spot."

"Hedwig. Her name was Hedwig," he whispered. "She… she was killed protecting me from Death Eaters last year."

Lia looked like she was about to cry herself. "Oh, Harry, that's awful. I'm so sorry… I can't even imagine…"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. She probably saved my life, honestly. I just haven't really had the chance to even think about getting another one, you know…"

"Of course. Hey, even if you're not ready, there's no rush. Plenty of people don't have owls, so you don't need one unless you want one."

"I think I am. I think I'm ready. It'd be nice to have an animal to take care of."

"I've heard that helps… with… um… healing and stuff," she whispered. It was clear that she genuinely cared about his well-being, which was weird for him coming from a complete stranger. He appreciated it all the same, though.

"Yeah, I… Hermione's cat's already been all over me."

Lia laughed a little. "Well, I'm sure he knows just what you need. And a brown will definitely give a cat a run for its money, too."

"Oh, even better, then." The room they were in was a little larger than the main entrance area, and he'd never been in there before, but besides a few rows of cubbies, it was also full of owls of all sizes. As his eyes scanned over the birds, he noticed that one particular pair of vibrant orange eyes was staring at him curiously, holding eye contact, and something in Harry's heart ached, but in a good way. "What about that one?"

Lia followed his gaze and smirked. "Oh, he's a handful, Harry." Nevertheless, she went over to release the owl from his perch. He noticed that a few others had their legs secured to their cubbies, too.

"Why's he tied up?"

"We rotate them so they're not all flying around at once. Can you imagine the chaos? They run into each other enough as it is." As soon as he was released, the owl launched out of his cubby and did a couple laps around the room. His wingspan was incredible, probably a meter and a half, and the black tufts of feathers coming from his head seemed to disappear as he flew. Mottled brown feathers covered his body except for a small curtain of pure white on his chest. He stretched his wings a couple times, but barely did more than glide before landing on a shelf near Harry's head. "Look at that, he likes you."

"I've never seen an owl like that before. He's massive." He reached up for the owl to pet, and it promptly ducked down to nip at his finger. For some reason, Harry smiled.

"Told you he's a handful. He's a rescue. A Eurasian Eagle Owl, nearly a year old. They've only been bred in the UK for a couple of years, so not a lot of breeders can handle them just yet. He was surrendered to us a couple months ago for, uh… erratic behavior."

"Can't imagine why. Does he have a name?"

"Artemis."

"It suits him."

"You want him? I think you might enjoy the challenge." Lia nudged Harry's shoulder, and he grinned, reaching out for Artemis again. The bird narrowed his eyes, and so did Harry. After a few seconds, Artemis relaxed, sinking down onto the shelf.

"Yeah, I think I'll take him. How much?"

"Five galleons."

Harry looked at Lia with wide eyes. "Five galleons?! Owls are usually ten or fifteen, aren't they?"

"They are," she sighed, walking with Harry back up to the front room. Shockingly, Artemis followed, landing on the desk with a breeze that made Harry have to fix his hair. "But we've been trying to get him out of here, so… we reduced his price in hopes that it would make him more enticing."

"More enticing? He's massive. He's brilliant."

"He's a pain in the arse," Lia laughed. "Watch those talons, too. He'll get you good if you're not paying attention. Firm grip, that one."

Harry quickly pulled thirty galleons out of his bag and placed them on the counter before Lia was done ringing him up. "Here."

Her eyes widened. "Harry, no…"

"You're taking in rescues. Think of it as a donation, okay? Five for him, twenty five for supplies or whatever you need to fix everything up. Don't worry about it."

Lia sighed, printing out the receipt and handing it to him with a shake of her head. "You're too much, Harry. Really. You wanna go ahead and take him out?"

"I've got a couple stops to make before we go back - hang onto him for me?"

"I'll do my best," she smirked.

Harry pointed at the owl. "I'll come back for you, don't worry. Hope you like cats." Artemis let out a screech, which Harry took as an affirmative.

"Bye, Harry!"

He felt excited as he left the emporium as only the feeling of something new could make him. A life change. Something he hadn't had since he and Hermione had been together. Something that was his and only his. He needed something like that.

His second stop was a store that catered to things men thought to get women as gifts: jewelry, perfume, makeup, lingerie. Definitely not touching that section, no matter how much he wanted to. Nope, he wouldn't even think about it. He'd realized on the way to Diagon Alley that the perfume Hermione had been wearing was one he'd smelled on Ginny before. It made sense, of course, but he refused to think about Ginny every time he smelled Hermione. How many times will you be doing that?

Shut up.

And now he was talking to himself. Lovely.

"Looking for anything special, Mr. Potter?"

The man's voice took him by surprise, pulling him from his thoughts - probably for the better. "Oh, um, I think I'm just looking around. Not sure exactly what I'm even doing here."

"Ah, well that happens more often than you'd think. You're not the first one. Take your time."

Harry nodded, tearing his eyes away from something black and lacy that he knew would look amazing on Hermione.

Perfume. He was here for perfume.

Was perfume too personal? Would he have to get one he didn't like so he wouldn't be tempted to enjoy it too much?

This had been a bad idea. He knew that, yet he found himself drawn to the dozens of bottles and boxes on the shelves towards the middle of the store. It kind of reminded him of the potions puzzle, but a lot more comprehensive. He picked up a pretty pink bottle and sniffed the dispenser. Not quite something he'd picture for her, but it wasn't bad. Another one reminded him of her old perfume, the vanilla, and he knew after the comment that Snatcher made, she'd never be able to wear vanilla again. Nearly everything he smelled made him second guess even getting something else for her in the first place. Shouldn't she pick this out? Ron had gotten her perfume and he didn't have feelings for her, so what was the difference? What was the big deal?

He quickly blocked out the voice in his head again that was trying to explain to him what the difference was and picked up a bottle that looked like frosted purple glass. As he turned the bottle, he gasped as a silvery butterfly seemed to flutter through the middle of it. "Woah," he whispered. Every time he moved it, he'd see the butterfly again - it would appear towards the side, fly through the liquid, and disappear into glitter as it reached the other side.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" the man said softly from the desk. He'd been watching Harry. "Not everyone can see it."

"You can? What does that mean?"

"You know, I'm not sure," he laughed. "I've tried to ask those who can about their lives and none of them have a lot in common."

"Probably have to be in love or something." He knew how a lot of things like this had been working for him lately.

"Well, if that's the case, there are a lot of people who think they're in love when they're not, Mr. Potter."

Harry sprayed a little of the perfume on a sample card, and when he smelled it, he frowned and immediately turned to the man. "Does this… have Amortentia in it?" He caught undertones of the ink on parchment and chocolate pancakes he was familiar with, but no longer vanilla. There was something else warm, but he couldn't quite describe it. All he knew was that he could drown himself in it, and he wondered how it would smell on Hermione. How it would smell when he pressed kisses down her neck, onto her shoulder. How it would smell when he woke up in the morning with his face buried into her hair. It felt like a hug. One of Hermione's hugs. The kind that made him feel utterly and completely loved, like that first kiss that spread tingles all the way down to his toes.

The man smirked. "Something like that. Not exactly, but… I can't reveal the secret. You recognize the scent?" Harry nodded. "That's the person you're buying it for?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Yes."

"Then it's the right choice. That's all I can tell you."

He didn't spend too much time thinking about the implication of what that meant or what he wanted it to mean, but he brought it to the man and set it carefully on the counter.

"Eight galleons."

Harry handed over the money as the man gingerly wrapped up the perfume bottle in paper. "Would you like this in a bag or a box?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Does it matter?"

The man shrugged. "Up you you. Bags are more casual, while boxes can mean more. You have to be a little more careful with a box," he clarified. You have to be a little more careful…

"A box," he decided. "It's a gift for someone… very special to me in a lot of ways."

"I can tell." He quickly packed it away into a sleek and discreet black box and handed it over to Harry. "Enjoy."

"Thank you, sir," Harry replied, trying to tap down the nerves that suddenly began to stir in his stomach.

"Oh, and Harry?" Harry turned back to him. "Thank you. For what you did. It's nice to see the underdog do something special every once in a while. And I'm glad you stopped by."

"Me too, sir. I appreciate all your help," he responded with a grin. This was a nice contrast from the first time he'd been to Diagon Alley after the battle, where everyone was swarming him and could barely contain their enthusiasm. Now, though, they were settling back to normal, relieved that everything was over and they could have their lives back. Even the goblins seemed internally grateful that they didn't have to worry about Voldemort anymore. He'd been responsible for getting the Wizarding World back in order again, and he found himself genuinely enjoying the praise, if not quite the attention just yet. He wasn't sure if he'd ever enjoy the attention, but he knew it came with the title.

He nearly ran into Hermione as he headed back out into the street.

"Oh, Harry, there you are!" She looked at the store he'd just come from, and Harry felt himself blushing as he thought about that lacy black thing again. "What were you doing in there?" She noticed the box in his hands before he could tuck it away somewhere. "What is that?"

"This? Oh it's… uh… nothing." Hermione raised an eyebrow, and Harry cleared his throat. "Did you get a new wand?"

"You're deflecting, so don't expect me to stop asking about what you've got in that box until you tell me. But yes, I did. The man who's running it is Bancroft now," Hermione explained, grabbing his arm and leading him down the sidewalk. "Apparently he trained with Ollivander a few years ago and he's going to take over at some point. He's got a wife and triplets, can you believe that? They're all starting at Hogwarts in a couple years. I only know all of this because he wouldn't stop talking. And-"

"That's saying something, coming from you." Harry teased.

"That's precisely what I was going to say… Anyway, he kept asking me questions about my life and why I needed a new wand. I told him to just let me try a few, like Ollivander had us do before, but apparently he's trying out a new system to move things along faster since it's been taking some kids hours to find the right one. They were very personal questions, too! About family life and my background and my relationships."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't know! But I answered all his questions and apparently I have a holly wand now."

Harry stopped walking. "That's the same as mine."

"Yes, I'm aware… but loads of people have holly wands, Harry, it's nothing new."

"Oh, I know. It's just-"

"Weird. I know. I didn't think it would change. But Molly and I are ready to go back. Are you all done?"

"I have to stop by Eeylops before we go," Harry said softly.

"Oh, you're getting an owl?!"

"I already got one, actually. Just have to pick him up. Also, Gringotts is taking money for the damage out of my account, so you two are still fine to use it."

"What?! No, Harry, you're not completely responsible for that!"

"Neither of you had much money to contribute. It's fine, really. I worked out a deal with them. Don't worry about it. Come meet my new owl."

Hermione sighed. "Why did I not like the way you said that…?" It was her turn to be led down the street.

"I've been told he can give Crookshanks a run for his money."

"Just what we need," Hermione muttered.

Artemis seemed genuinely excited to see Harry when he walked back through the door, as much as he could when he looked like he was scowling all the time. He'd been loose in the store, and when he almost swooped down onto Harry's face and landed back on the front desk, Hermione screamed.

"Harry, that thing's gigantic… are you sure it's just an owl?!"

Artemis screeched, and Hermione's eyes widened more. "You're scared of him?" Harry asked softly. He couldn't have an animal she was scared of.

"No… no, I've just never seen an owl that big before."

"He's a new breed," Lia quickly explained. "Well, relatively. A rescue."

That seemed to tug at Hermione's heartstrings a little, and she extended her hand towards the owl's head.

"Oh, I wouldn't-" Harry started, but before he could finish, Artemis was closing his eyes, leaning into Hermione's touch. Lia was looking between Harry and Hermione excitedly.

"So it's just me he bites, then," he laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Brilliant."

"At least he likes one of us," Hermione grinned, a little more relaxed at the change in Artemis's demeanor.

"I'll see if we have a cage for you to carry him out in." Lia headed to the back, and Hermione took a deep breath, swallowing thickly and focusing all her attention on the owl. Her jaw was tight and Harry could feel something he didn't enjoy radiating off of her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Hermione."

"What? I'm fine."

"I know you're not. If you don't tell me what's wrong, I won't tell you what's in my box."

Hermione sighed, looking around the store before dropping her voice to a whisper. "She likes you."

"Who?"

"What do you mean who? That girl."

"What are you talking about, Hermione?"

He wasn't sure if Hermione was going to answer or not.

"All right, let's see if this one will work." Lia set what was probably the largest cage they had on the desk next to Artemis. "Okay, big guy, get on in." Hermione's eyes widened again as, when the owl didn't budge, Lia removed a dead mouse from her apron and tossed it into the cage. Artemis squawked and immediately stuffed himself into the cage to eat it. There was a little bit of room for him to move around, but not much. "Huh… yeah, you'll want to get a bigger one for long-term travel, but… this should be fine to go home in."

"Great, thank you," Hermione said in a rush. As Lia was paying attention to Artemis (and then Hermione, once she spoke) he scanned her for any indication that Hermione was right and that she was indeed interested in him, but nothing jumped out at him. But just the thought of Hermione being jealous of someone liking him thudded his heart a little harder.

"Harry, you ready?"

"Yeah." He grabbed Artemis's cage and marveled at the weight of the bird - he must have weighed over 2 kilograms. "Thanks, Lia."

Lia just beamed. "Thank you! Bye, Harry. Don't be a stranger, okay?"

Harry could feel Hermione rolling her eyes as she pried the door open and led them back onto the street.