Prologue- Halloween: Sunday, October 31, 2004

It was a brisk but beautiful autumn day, some of Hermione's favorite weather. And she was out for the day with her best friend in the world, usually she couldn't have asked for anything better. The only problem was that her best friend was Harry Potter and it was Halloween. So instead of relaxing, her mission for the day was distraction.

Hermione had learned a long time ago that the best thing to do to prevent Harry from slipping into one of his infamous funks, was to annoy him so badly that he didn't have room to feel anything aside from that annoyance. Because in her book annoyed trumped depression by quite a large margin.

Halloween and the Second of May were two days of every year which always called for the deployment of these tactics. Plan Halloween this year involved taking him to a stuffy restaurant for lunch and then shopping for books and clothes.

The plan had been in the making for weeks and the set up included attending three quidditch matches with him without complaint and without a book, as well as helping him with his filing whenever she stopped by to retrieve him and Ron for lunch and it began to look even a little bit piled up. The entire point of which was to make him feel like the least he could do for her in return was to accompany her on a muggle day out- especially considering that none of their other friends could survive in the non-magical world for that long without drawing attention to themselves.

Harry was no fool, she was certain it didn't escape his notice that she claimed that October 31st just so happened to be the only day that she could find available on her schedule to refresh her winter wardrobe. She strongly suspected that he knew that the entire thing was a charade, and one for his benefit, and that he was secretly grateful. He just wouldn't admit it, even to himself. He definitely wouldn't say anything to her to shatter the illusion. So, they both played their parts.

He grumbled at the necessity of wearing a suit while she told him that he looked handsome and that she was so very grateful to him for indulging her. Also, what would she do without him? His answering smile was genuine even as he fidgeted with his tie. But within the next week or so she was certain he'd find some quiet way to demonstrate to her that it was, in fact, he who was grateful to her.

He had his hand on the small of her back, gently guiding her as they followed the maitre'd to their table, when she heard a call of his name. She jumped and had to resist the urge to turn and scowl at the person in question. The entire point of taking him out into the muggle world was supposed to be that he wouldn't be recognized and reminded of what today was.

Instead of reaching for her wand she grasped blindly for Harry's arm, then turned and came face to face with a woman, about their age, who had her hand clapped over her mouth. "I'm sorry!" She said in a loud whisper, apparently embarrassed by the volume of her greeting. "I was just surprised to see you."

Hermione frowned unconsciously, she was certain she'd never seen this woman before, but it was very unusual for Harry to know somebody she didn't. The mystery woman was seated with five other people, two of whom Hermione also didn't recognize, and three of whom were all too familiar despite the fact that she'd only seen them on perhaps a handful of occasions: the Dursleys.

Her hand immediately drifted down Harry's arm and grasped his hand in solidarity, and because the urge to reach for her wand was stronger than ever.

"Hello Amelia," Harry said, and to somebody who didn't know him as well as Hermione did, it probably sounded perfectly pleasant, but to her his discomfort was apparent.

On the bright side, at least hearing the mystery woman's name helped all of the pieces to fall into place because Harry had spoken of her a few times. This was Dudley's fiancée and, presumably, her parents.

"Hermione," he continued, "this is Amelia Bertrand, and her parents John and Anne. And of course you know my Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and Dudley." He glanced briefly at Hermione. "Amelia is Dudley's fiancée," he explained and turned his attention back to the table. "This is Hermione Granger."

Hermione bit back a smile at his manners towards these people who had certainly never bothered to teach him any. "Hello, it's nice to see you all," she said, as pleasantly as she could manage.

Everybody returned her words of greeting, some more genuinely than others, but that wasn't enough for Amelia.

"It's so nice to meet Harry's girlfriend, I didn't know you were seeing anybody!" Amelia answered, her gaze drifting between them with unabashed curiosity.

Normally that would have had Hermione's hackles rising, but knowing this woman was a muggle, she realized that it had nothing to do with their- especially Harry's- fame, and she could only wonder why this stranger seemed so excited to see them.

But then Hermione heard Harry's aunt make a small sound of derision, her face was pinched and she was practically sneering at them and her hackles went right up after all. Harry shifted uncomfortably at her side and a wave of protectiveness rose up inside of her. Instead of denying the assumption about the nature of their relationship she said: "Only since we were eleven."

The other woman's eyes lit up. "Really?!" She practically squealed, "that's so sweet."

Hermione nodded sagely. "First day of boarding school, I was bossy and he was helpless."

"Hey!" Harry objected in what she could only assume was an automatic manner, because otherwise he would not have voluntarily entered this conversation.

She turned to him with a sweet smile. "Where's the lie? Would it help if I also said that you were adorable?"

"Not particularly." His response was dry but his expression screamed: 'what the hell are you doing?!'

"So you'll be at the wedding with Harry then?"

Vernon and Petunia could barely conceal their horror at the idea, while Dudley merely looked uncomfortable. Hermione had rarely been so grateful for her much vaunted brain as it took her only a moment to realize that the reason Amelia was so very interested in her and Harry was because as Dudley's fiancée, she must have been aware that he and Harry had grown up in the same house and his near total absence from the Dursleys life must have seemed strange to her.

Well, Hermione was certain that neither she nor her parents knew the half of it. She wondered what this pretty, normal, and if their tastes in restaurants was anything to go by, well-off muggle family would think if they knew that the Dursleys considered the handsome, accomplished, kind man standing next to her to be their dirty little secret.

Harry had made her promise years ago that she wouldn't hurt the Dursleys physically or with magic, but this seemed like a golden opportunity to make them squirm and get a little revenge for Harry without breaking that promise. It was an opportunity she really couldn't let pass her by.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it," she agreed immediately, before Harry could say anything.

It was only after they were seated at their own table that Hermione began to doubt her rather impulsive decision. Harry's expression was blank and she missed the days before he'd trained as an auror when he'd always been an open book to her.

The air was heavy with tension. She looked away, crossed, uncrossed, and then recrossed her legs as she prepared to defend herself. However, when she felt like she had sufficiently braced herself and met his eyes again, they were sparkling with mischief.

"You know, Sweetheart, " he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, but his expression was saccharine sweet, "it's funny."

"What is?"

"It's just that it feels like it was only minutes ago when we were still just best friends."

She bit her lip to keep from grinning too widely. "Well you know what they say: time flies when you're having fun."

Author's Note: Well, there you have it, my new story. It's been too long since I wrote any Harmony and I've missed them. If there's anybody out there still paying attention to The Other Side, it is definitely not abandoned and will begin updating again soon, it's just taken me awhile to get back into the swing of something that was on pause for so long (and I'm sorry about that!) As for this one it's fun and tropey, and while it definitely has a plot, if you don't like fluff it might not be for you. I'm also doing something a little different as a challenge for myself, and because I think it's fun for the holiday season. Beginning on December First I will begin updating once a day, everyday until it is complete on the Twenty-Fifth. So if you like what you see, look out for that, and thanks for reading!