Thanks to Ash and HHrPie from the Harmony Discord for beta-reading this! There are scenes of underage drinking, meant to be played for laughs and not to be taken seriously. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
~0~
On the eve of his 17th birthday, Harry Potter was finally able to leave Privet Drive and the Dursleys to live with his godfather at Grimmauld Place. It was a joyous occasion – Dudley had made his shaky amends with Harry, Sirius had given Uncle Vernon a viciously stern talking-to, and even Hagrid had shown up on the flying motorcycle he'd brought Harry to Privet Drive on many years ago. It was when Sirius had finally shown him his room, freshly renovated and bigger than even Dudley's second bedroom, it had truly hit Harry that this was real.
And to top off the whole night, a letter and a package from his best friend Hermione Granger came with Hedwig as he was about to fall asleep:
Dearest Harry,
A very happy birthday to you! I wish I could be there, but my parents want to make sure and see more of me before I go gallivanting off to the wizarding world again – they figured one large wizard gathering was enough! Speaking of that, when are you going to head to the Burrow for the wedding? I'm headed that way tomorrow, so whenever you get the chance, let me know your ETA.
While we're there, you'll have to tell me more about the work that you and Dumbledore did together! I'm really curious as to what the two of you were up to last year, and needless to say, it caught me by surprise when You-Know-Who ended up flat-out attacking the school at the end of the year. Granted, by being around you, I should be used to danger at the end of a school term, that's par for the course, isn't it? I really hope that he's gone for good this time. I think a normal year of school is just what we need to unwind.
I do hope you'll like the present I sent you… it's a bit more personal to me, which is a change, but I think you'll enjoy it. Think of it as a therapeutic escape that's always there if you need it, as I have thought of it throughout the years. Hope to see you soon!
Love from Hermione
When he opened the package, he found an old, very used copy of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, one that he instantly recognized as Hermione's favorite. It was withered and worn in all the right places and had that nostalgic smell of wood and old book ink, which to Harry was so distinctly Hermione that it almost hurt.
As far as he was concerned, the 'how' part of 'how did I fall for Hermione this hard' wasn't the difficult bit – partially because that sentence also contained the word 'Hermione', and that made everything make sense because of course he fell for Hermione this hard, how could he not? The difficult bit came in two parts: namely, figuring out whether she had feelings for him in return, and figuring out what to say and how to tell her. If only she knew what "love from Hermione" did to him; Harry wasn't at all used to smiling this much, but it was a welcome change.
Needless to say, he had to see her as quickly as possible. And therein lay the problem.
"What?!" Sirius asked incredulously the next morning at breakfast. "Your first day here and you want to go straight to the Burrow?"
"It's… it's complicated," said Harry. Sirius could see the hesitation in his eyes and softened a bit.
"Well, let me hear it, Harry. You can tell me anything."
Harry paused for a second longer, then cleared his throat and said, "It's about Hermione."
"Hermione? She doesn't…" And then Sirius stopped. He considered the situation. Then the moment of clarity made itself apparent on his face with a wide smile. Harry gulped.
"Hermione's going to be there, isn't she?" asked Sirius. Harry nodded. Sirius continued, "And, suffice it to say, there might be… feelings involved?"
Harry nodded again, slower this time, and gritting his teeth.
Sirius let out his bark of a laugh. "Oh, to be young! I remember trying to play matchmaker with James and Lily in our seventh year, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I must say though, you take after your mother, Harry. She was the shy one, the ponderer, the doubter. Your dad was a flirt if I've ever seen one, Lily got caught in his crosshairs and he was off like a shot. Although, it must be said that one of the only times I've ever seen James Potter nervous – scared even – was when he realized just how much he loved Lily Evans. So maybe you do take after your dad. Maybe these feelings are that deep."
Sirius looked into Harry's eyes, then smirked. "I have an educated guess that I'm going to go all-in on. My guess is that maybe, just maybe, some of your old man is in you, after all. So, here's the bit: you can go to the Burrow. Unpack here, take only what you'll really need for the wedding, and if you forget anything, owl me or something and I'll pick it up. But! Here's the catch – you need to flirt with Hermione."
Harry choked on air. "Flirt?" he repeated, his voice jumping an octave mid-word.
"Yes, Harry! Flirt! Do things that make her feel special, insinuate things, be subtle, be romantic. Here's a tip from good old Padfoot, try winking. Winking implies a sort of secret something that you're both in on, and therefore… harmonious connection."
"If only it were that simple," said Harry, who looked curiously out of breath. "I'm not even sure if she feels the same way about me."
Sirius raised an eyebrow, then patted Harry on the shoulder. "Harry," he said, "If you can't see whether she feels the same way, you need new glasses."
~0~
All teenagers begin to feel the excitement of their age when they realize that bedtimes are merely suggestions, and not inherently punishable laws. Therefore, when Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Luna slowly watched the 'adults' around the Burrow ease off to bed, the anticipatory buzz in the air grew ever more present. When at last they were alone to do as they pleased, they retreated up to Ginny's room, careful to lock the door behind them and eager to have Hermione (the of-age one) cast the necessary Silencing and Notice-Me-Not charms.
"Ginny, I brought the Figroot Juice like you asked..." said Luna, slowly pulling a large, very ornate, dragonesque bottle from her backpack. Hermione's lips tightened, and she widened her eyes at Ginny, who made to quickly grab the bottle from an ever-dreamy Luna.
"Oh, be quiet Hermione, I know you're as excited as the rest of us," Ginny said, a knowing smirk growing on her freckled face. Hermione let out a wavering breath.
"…Anticipatedly curious," she replied.
"Shove off, Hermione! Let's have a bit of teenage fun! Where's the rebellion in you?" interjected Ron from across the room. He and Harry were lounging on the sofa under the window; Ron was especially excited, rubbing his chin and tapping his foot. Harry rolled his eyes at his friend's antics.
Hermione returned to her charm casting. "I don't know, Ron, remember my first year when I lit a teacher on fire?"
"Hermione, relax. Just let yourself be loose for a little bit," said Ginny, who was sitting with her legs crossed in the center of the room. "You're like a tight string, ease up the tightness. You're among friends."
Hermione sighed again before finishing the charms and laying down on her chest on Ginny's four-poster bed. Luna was laying on the floor across from Ginny, who had acquired five wooden shot glasses and was now pouring a taupe-but-transparent liquid from the ornate bottle into them.
"Now, this," spoke Ginny with the elegant bravado of a master showman, "is Figroot Juice. The finest alcoholic drink known to wizard-kind. Its beauty – and its danger – both lie in its ease… You don't feel a thing going down, unlike rum or butterbeer or firewhiskey. This is tasty. And it's deadly as well. This particular brew, which Luna swiped from her dad's cupboard, is fixed with a special spell to where if you drink enough to maybe hurt you, you'll start to throw it all up. A lot of wizard drinks are fixed with that kind of thing, a sort of common safety measure. Some of the spells even end up in Muggle drinks sometimes, so the rumors say. Luckily, though, I think we all know our limits. Me and Luna definitely do, and if Ron's not a prat and was telling the truth, him and Harry do too."
Hermione didn't know who to be more shocked at. "Okay, hold on - Ginny? Luna? How long have you two been getting drunk off of this?" she asked.
"Well, this is a new bottle, but Ginny and I first got drunk in our second year," breathed Luna.
Hermione looked like she was either about to faint or explode. "I'M SORRY?!"
"Oh no, it was terrible," Luna said, as Ginny was trying unsuccessfully to hide her laughter. "Ginny wasn't doing too well with those pesky Dementors, and I had a bad case of Ickyurometums at the time, so I decided, 'why not fix two wings with one bird' and we smuggled a small bottle of Muggle wine into Hogwarts through various connections. We went to Ms. Myrtle's bathroom by ourselves in the dead of night, drank some, started throwing up everywhere, it was fun."
"You were twelve," Hermione sputtered.
"Like she said, though, it was pretty bad," said Ginny. "Neither of us could think right for a week. Of course, with Luna, nobody noticed, but that was a pretty bad week for me. I called Lee Jordan 'Lavender' at one point. I only started actually drinking recently, about in the middle of last year. Those were a lot of good parties…"
"Still, you're only 16 now, that's highly irresponsible!" said Hermione.
"She says I'm funny when I'm drunk," said Luna, ignoring Hermione. Ginny couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into a fit of laughter. "That scares me a great deal actually."
"Luna's so funny when she's drunk," Ginny managed to get out through her laughter.
Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head, before turning and directing a finger at Harry and Ron, who were amused by the events taking place.
"And you two!" she said harshly. Harry and Ron both jumped a bit. "When did you start drinking?"
A pause. Harry and Ron looked at each other before Harry decided to do the honors and explain everything to Hermione.
Ron said loudly, "It was last year. Seamus started sneaking in this really strong firewhiskey."
Harry, now lost for the words he was going to say, simply looked at Hermione, shrugged, and nodded.
"It's a good time getting pissed with the boys. Seamus and Dean are some of the best drunks I've ever been around, although I suppose that comes with the package with Seamus, being Irish and all. Harry here sort of becomes a philosopher if he's had a good amount. Just kind of sits there thinking. Real interesting stuff, that. Neville gets smarter if he's had too much, and that doesn't fit him all that well, to be honest."
Harry finally spoke up as well. "Ron here is a mixed bag. Sometimes, he's a fun drunk like the rest of us. Sometimes he just gets depressed."
"I don't get depressed all that often!"
"Ron, do you remember that one time you drunkenly said to me, 'Harry, I know You-Know-Who wants to kill you and such, but I have it bad too! The Cannons never win.'"
Ron's face grew a look of forlorn shame. Ginny began to laugh even harder at this, and Hermione and Luna both had to restrain a chuckle as well. Ron tried to cover his face with his hand.
"Just pass out the drinks, Ginny. Please," said Ron.
Ginny obliged and began to pass out the respective shot glasses. Hermione looked at hers with a solemn gaze.
"Oh… that makes total sense actually," said Ron, noticing Hermione's grave expression.
"What exactly makes total sense?" said Hermione back, though her eyes never left her shot glass and her voice didn't sound as biting as it usually did when she was cross with Ron.
"You've never had a drink before," said Harry. Her lips tightened, and she sighed.
"It's okay, Hermione, we're not forcing you into anything," said Luna.
"No, it's okay Luna, I'm..." she began, then thought for a moment. "I need to loosen up, like Ginny said. And never a better time than now, right?"
Hermione looked at Ginny, who gave her a smirk of mischievous confidence and raised her shot glass.
"Cheers, friends!" said Ginny.
A cacophony of cheers and shots were had. Hermione coughed a bit.
~0~
Drunk Harry was an observer, an observer who quickly noticed that Drunk Hermione loved to laugh.
They were on their fifth rounds now, and Hermione and Ginny were already both completely plastered. Harry, of course, was quietly contemplating existence (he could use a bit more, now that he thought about it), and Ron seemed to be in a state of complete relaxation, taking in the friendship and camaraderie that the moment gave him and getting a few good hearty laughs out of it.
Drunk Hermione, he noticed, alternated between three laughs: there was the subtle giggle that came about whenever she looked at somebody she hadn't looked at in the last three minutes; then there was the regular Hermione laugh that he was used to, bright, luminescent, and accompanied by the scrunching up of her nose; but lastly, there was the new one. The Drunk Hermione laugh. The one where her eyes widened, she covered her face, and the laughing came in the form of several sharp intakes of breath followed by a long, loose wheeze. One time she laughed like this too hard and fell off of Ginny's bed, causing her to laugh even more.
This was music, Harry thought.
Of course, the main reason that Hermione and Ginny were laughing so generously was Luna. Ginny was right, Harry thought – Drunk Luna was an experience, and one of the more curious experiences he had ever had.
Drunk Luna spoke normally, seriously even, with no mentions of her usual whacky creatures or whimsical realities, and no hints of her standard dreamlike daze. Now sitting up properly, she spoke of normal things, events, places, and sounded for all the world like an accountant on their last hour of work.
And the best part was, she never once repeated herself.
"You know, drunk me is very interesting because drunk me is like regular me except not interesting."
This had even gotten Ron to fall into a fit of laughter. Both Ginny and Hermione were gasping for breath amidst the chaos of Luna's words.
"Harry - you're quite the philosophical drunk, correct? I feel as if you and I could connect on multiple different fronts here. We connect when we're sober, sure, but now that we're drunk and I'm not interesting anymore, I'm sure you're nice enough of a person to where we'd still connect."
Harry slowly nodded. "I think, yeah."
"Give me a thought that you've been thinking for a while, Harry. Intrigue me with your thought process."
The laughter died down a bit, and everyone looked at Harry. He thought a bit, then slowly said:
"Have you ever thought about... what it would be like... if magic was earned?"
A silence. Then Ron's brain appeared to explode within his skull. Ginny was laughing again.
"Bloody hell..." murmured Ron.
"That would solve the Pureblood problem!" exclaimed Hermione excitedly, smacking her palms against the side of the bed. "All of the more classist Purebloods are useless prats as people so they wouldn't have magic anymore!"
"Harry, I don't think I've ever mentioned this to you before," said Luna, cupping her chin with her hand, "but you're incredibly attractive."
The room went dead, except for Ginny who was nodding enthusiastically as she continued to snicker.
"Thanks Luna, that means a lot," said Ron. He crossed his arms and slumped further into his seat, his expression that of a bemused five-year-old.
"I'm so sorry that you're not Harry, Ron, get over it," said Ginny.
"It's not that you aren't positively delightful, Ron, it's just that Harry has facial structures that act peculiarly similar to magnets. I'm trying to figure it out," said Luna, raising her hand to her chin and contemplating Harry's face as Ron scoffed and continued his bemusement. Then, suddenly, Luna turned to Hermione and said, "Hermione, do you think Harry's fit?"
Four sets of eyes came inbound to Hermione's field of vision, and she felt her face heat up extraordinarily quickly. Harry watched as she covered her face with both hands, then planted said face and hands into Ginny's bed.
All watched as a single hand emerged from the endless tangles of Hermione's hair, raised itself above her head, then stuck out her thumb and index finger to the side.
A little bit.
Then her second hand emerged, lining up with her thumb and then widening the distance between her two hands as far as she feasibly could before both hands again retreated to try to push her head further into the bed.
A lot.
Harry let out a small giggle. Everyone turned to look at him now, and he felt their knowing gazes pierce his soul. It seemed all of them had an eyebrow raised at him. He took a deep breath, held it, then said, "I'd like some more, Ginny."
Ginny started snickering uncontrollably again, then Accio'd Harry's shot glass out of his hand. She didn't catch it, and it hit Luna in the cheek. Luna looked appalled, slowly reaching a hand to her cheek ("Was that me?" she asked to no one in particular). Ginny had reached the point where her snickers became cackles, and even Ron began to laugh uncontrollably with her. Harry, delighting in the moment with a bright, dazed smile, looked over to Hermione as she remained in her position on the bed.
"Hermione! You missed it!" said Ginny, as Luna began to rub her cheek in a circular motion. "This feels nice," Luna said.
Harry saw Hermione's head lean up, and a single eye appeared from under her hair. He giggled at her and winked.
He had never done that before, thought Hermione, as her vicious blush returned, and her face again sought retreat within the blankets of the bed.
~0~
Alas, all good things must come to an end. Although Harry, Hermione, and Luna were smart enough to realize that enough Figroot Juice was enough, neither of the Weasleys wanted to back down from the other's competition, and soon enough, both needed to find a restroom so that they could properly regret doing so.
Harry was either intelligent enough or snarky enough to call dibs on the Invisibility Cloak, so Hermione guiding Ginny to a bathroom would require a bit more tactical finesse – which would have been a walk in the park if Hermione were not still very out of focus.
"Keep it down a bit," whispered Hermione as she stood over Ginny, holding Ginny's hair back as she knelt over the toilet.
"Why… why did you not put on another Silencing Charm?" asked Ginny before the resurfacing alcohol interrupted her.
"I'm too drunk, I-I might accidentally do something that's counter-counterintuitive, I think?"
Ginny spit a couple more times, then looked up as best she could at Hermione. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed, Her-my-own-knee… You gushing over Harry tonight was so adorable!"
"D-Don't bring that up, please?" asked Hermione as her face began to redden again.
"Why not? I used to – " (there was a brief intermission as Ginny again emptied her stomach) " –I used to be the same way around Harry, you know, shy and embarrassed. There's a key difference here, though."
"The difference here being that Harry obviously fancies me? Sure, Ginny, continue seeing more than there is in our friendship, h-he doesn't feel that way towards me."
"Do you feel that way towards him?"
"Are you finished vomiting?"
"Probably not. Hey, you should enjoy this more, we all know how big you were on S.P.E.W. back in the day." Ginny laughed, then the aforementioned vomit made way again.
"Ha, very funny. But…" Her glazed eyes found a corner of the room to stare at as she lost her train of thought. Then she shook her head. "It's just, just impossible."
Ginny rose and sat on her legs, looking back up at Hermione as she wiped her mouth with a towel.
"You have to stop thinking that Harry is unobtainable! I had problems with that too, you know?" Ginny said, holding out the last 'o', and her voice rising a tad too much for Hermione's liking. Hermione waved her hands in front of her frantically.
"Keep quiet! Please!" she whispered heatedly. "And – it's different for me! For you he was unobtainable because he was the magical 'Boy-Who-Lived' or whatever. To me, he's my best friend! I know that sounds like a s-sad sop of a cliched book, but I didn't think it'd be this real and this hard in the actual waking life!"
"So, you do?" Ginny said. Her victorious, spittled smirk conjured images in Hermione's head of a temptatious demon. With a sigh and a nod, Hermione admitted defeat. Ginny began to shed tears and waddled over on her knees to hug Hermione.
"The prophecy has come true!" she sang, and Hermione fell into her embrace, tired and past the point of caring.
~0~
The group was in various states of consciousness the next morning. Ron and Ginny were still both fast asleep at noon. Luna, now sober and delightfully quirky again, had put up, at the very least, a respectable front that immediately gave an excuse for anything out-of-the-ordinary she did that morning. Harry, though noticeably tired, was still awake and fully functioning, albeit susceptible to lazy stares at nothing in particular.
Hermione, however, was as paranoid as she had ever been in her life. What if someone caught on? Sure, she had gone toe-to-toe with various rules and monsters for both her and Harry's sake, but those were school rules, or morally objectionable monsters. This was a rule of life! There had definitely been a few charms that she (the only one of age) hadn't cast last night, what if the Ministry found out? If someone were to tell her parents or Mrs. Weasley, what would happen to her? What sort of trouble would she get into?
This paranoia of hers was compounded by the arrival of the twins just after lunch. After a quick, loud, and synchronized salutation, Fred and George entered the kitchen and looked around to see that the only people present were a very sleepy-looking Harry and a very on-edge Hermione sitting at opposite ends of the dining table.
"Fred, what do we have here?" asked George, raising an eyebrow.
"What I think we have here, dear brother, is a case of a late night last night," replied Fred. Hermione seized up, and the two predators locked in on their prey.
"Seems my hunch rang a bell."
Fred and George smirked at each other, then centered down on Hermione. "What did you two do last night?" they asked in unison.
Hermione made a small squeaking sound, then her forehead hit the table with a soft bonk that made her silverware clatter. Harry was roused from his thousand-yard stare and waved at Fred and George.
"Hey Fred. George. How're you?"
"Splendid, Harry, now that you make me think on it. Where's everyone else?" asked Fred, walking over to Harry accompanied by George.
"In the back, getting more wedding stuff readied up," replied Harry, rubbing one of his eyes intensely.
"Marvelous," said George. "And, between us, would you mind enlightening us on the events of the previous night? It appears Miss Granger has made herself unavailable for comment."
"Oh, er – we all got drunk. Ron and Ginny especially, they're still asleep."
"Excellent," the twins said. They looked about the house, heads turning in opposite directions like the heads of a Hydra.
"We'll be in the backyard then, making our welcomes welcome," said George, straightening his dapper dragon-scale suit.
"You two have fun here, we'll be back in a mo," said Fred, again wiggling his eyebrows at the two of them.
And they were off to help set up the wedding tent. Harry turned to see Hermione looking incredulously at him. He gave her a soft, knowing smile before she quickly got up, paced over to him, and sat at the chair directly to his side.
"You told them like it was nothing," she said, pointing a finger at his cheek.
He shrugged. "It was just a fun night, Hermione. Nothing to be too ashamed of. It's a bit of teenage fun, something to smile on with friends when we're older and we realize how stupid we were."
He began to rub his eye again, and Hermione looked down at the table. Then she froze again.
"Harry… how much do you remember of last night?"
He looked at her again – and winked. Again.
Hermione felt her face begin to glow red once more. There had to be some sort of anti-blushing charm or potion she could find; she'd have to read up on that later.
~0~
The day, once everybody was at least awake in a physical sense, turned out to be restless. It was a day of organizing, it was a day of creation, a day of cooking, cleaning, and preparing for the new lives that await just beyond the visage of tomorrow.
And in Harry and Hermione's case, it was a day of stolen glances. A day of secret smiles. A day of subtle action, bumping into one another, winking and blushing, and witty banter that held a type of special meaning. It was even a day of kicking each other's feet underneath the table at supper ("Hermione, why are you so red? The curry isn't that spicy," said Mrs. Weasley, which only made Hermione even redder).
Sirius had arrived about an hour after the twins had to help Mrs. Weasley start cooking; he had often claimed that 'no one had ever understood him in the kitchen quite like Molly', and when the two were preparing a meal together, it was very rare that anything could distract either of them.
"We share a brain when embroiled in the culinary arts," Sirius said to Harry as the two helped Mrs. Weasley prepare the next day's food after their gargantuan (and kick-involved) supper. "Still, we do have some pressing matters at hand here."
Harry tensed up just obviously enough for Sirius to smirk wickedly at him.
"He has!" said Luna, who was playing with a string while sitting upside down in a chair across the kitchen. "I saw him do it to Hermione at least thrice last night, it was quite charming!"
"See? Told you it'd work, pup. Molly! Thyme?"
"About half-past five," Molly replied.
"No, I meant the seasoning, thyme."
"Oh, of course you did, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, walking over to Sirius with a shaker. "And what's this I hear about winking? Not anything too scandalous, I hope."
"Harry's about to embark on his greatest adventure yet, Molly. That of love. True love, I believe," said Sirius. Harry's face went red.
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, Harry!" said Luna. "True love is amazing! There's happiness, and understanding, and all of the things that make life infinitely interesting! At least that's what my dad says before he gets all sad…"
"She's right, Harry dear," said Mrs. Weasley, beginning to stir her sizzling dish. "And the thing is, true love most of the time isn't a plot with drama. It just is and will be. That's the beauty, and the spice of it."
"To find my beloved soon is the hope that drives me," said Sirius. "Some wizard poet said that, I think. And speaking of soon, I might do my best to track down Amelia Bones if she's at this wedding. She was after my head for three years, that's quite the spice, isn't it?" He smirked at Harry, who started to laugh.
"Now, Sirius, be proper about this! He's a young man in love, don't make him feel as if it's something trivial," said Mrs. Weasley, walking over to Harry. "Now, Harry – this feeling in your heart now, that is important, you understand? What you do with what's in here will be one of your life's great decisions. So, go on, don't be scared, and be true to your feeling." Mrs. Weasley gave him a reassuring smile.
"Harry, if you need my help to arrange a convenient accident, I'm free until roughly eight o'clock tomorrow!" said Luna.
Sirius laughed. "Ditto here," he said, earning him a whack from Mrs. Weasley.
~0~
Hagrid arrived later that night as the sun was beginning to set, both on Bill's invitation and to help with some of the heavy lifting. Having never truly interacted with Luna before, Hagrid spent most of the evening enthralled with some of her imaginative 'animal ideas', as he called them once out of Luna's earshot. Soon, it was dark and many of the adults retreated into the house, save for Bill, Fleur, Hagrid, and the twins. The grounds of the Burrow were bathed in a soft yellow light courtesy of enchantments cast by Fleur, illuminating the yard as if by candlelight, while leaving the many stars in the night sky above exposed to gaze at. Fred and George seized the moment and gathered everyone's attention.
"The passing of time is a fickle thing," began Fred, putting on the guise of a great thinker.
"It marches ever on like a drum, taking away the moments we hold close to us and committing them to our finicky memories. Such is the way of things," continued George.
"A lot of the time, we don't even realize the moment we're in."
"And these moments pass, like a raven in the night sky. And suddenly the good old days are gone. Lost."
"Fortunately, we're very smart."
"Smart enough between the two of us to know that this –"
"– right now –"
"These are the good old days," they finished in unison. There was minor applause all around, with enormous claps from a teary-eyed Hagrid. The twins bowed, then snapped up to attention.
"Right then – so we've got something new for you all," said George.
Hermione covered her face with her hands. "What is it?" she asked, as if asking a child where they got that cookie.
"It's a little game we invented, Granger," said Fred.
"It's called –"
"Tag," they finished.
Hermione looked up at this, perplexed. She shared an equally confused glance with Harry, before Ron answered, "Tag? How does it work?"
"Basically, it works like this," said George, before pointing his wand at Fred and saying, "You're it!"
Instantaneously, Fred erupted in a bright golden glow that surrounded his body like a magic shield.
"So, he's 'it'," said George, who held out his arm. "If he touches me…" Fred lightly tapped George's arm, and the golden glow quickly wormed its way over to surround George instead.
"…then he's it," said Fred. "Plus, if he snaps, he can do this!"
George ran a small distance away and snapped his fingers, and the golden glow surrounding him shot out from his fingertips like a beam and landed directly on Fred, who himself was then luminously gold again.
"And that can happen!" they spoke as George returned.
"Of course, if you miss, it'll just come right back to you," said Fred, who then snapped the beam out into the field behind him; like he said, it whipped back around to surround him again. "And if you're it, you can't just tag whoever tagged you right back, you have to wait ten seconds."
"So, the objective of the game…" started George.
"…is to not be it!" finished Fred.
"And you're claiming you two invented tag?" asked Hermione.
"Brilliant, huh?" said George. "One of our better ideas."
Hermione rolled her eyes as Harry tried not to grin too hard at her. Ron, meanwhile, was nodding enthusiastically.
"Alright, sounds fun! When do we start?" he asked.
The twins exchanged eye contact, then Fred wordlessly snapped the beam at Ron. And chaos erupted.
~0~
Hagrid was ecstatic to be 'it' and have the excuse to shoot a magic beam from his hands by snapping, although his large frame made it quite easy to hide from him. Naturally, that's what the game had evolved to – a giant game of hide-and-seek on the nearly-dark Burrow grounds. Someone had eventually made the moral choice to tag Hagrid, which resulted in the entire company finding a good hiding place before he was able to tag anybody.
"You lot can' stay hidden fer ever!" he shouted out, but the joy in his voice could be discerned quite easily. He laughed to himself as his running footsteps boomed across the grounds.
Hermione was currently hidden behind a tree, sitting down by its stump, her head resting on her knees. She felt a bit bad for hiding from Hagrid, but still didn't want to concede to him too easily. So here she sat until further notice.
Someone orange landed on the ground in front of her, and Hermione let out a small squeak before realizing who it was.
"Ginny!" she reprimanded in a hushed voice. "Now is not the time!"
"Isn't tonight romantic?" she asked, in a totally normal voice.
"Romantic…? What's romantic about tag?"
"Surely you can see it, Hermione! What with all the romance novels I know you've read. It doesn't have to be specifically a romantic setting for something romantic to happen. As a matter of fact, sometimes moments like these can specifically be more romantic just because it isn't."
"If you're trying to get me to do something with Harry –"
"You caught on quick, Hermione! I'm so proud of you –"
"What would be so romantic about tag though?! Us hiding together?"
"Exactly! Or you maybe chasing him, or maybe being creative about how you tag him?" Ginny wiggled her eyebrows at Hermione again. "Be bold, Hermione. I've seen the two of you all day, sneaking glances, trying to be secretive. Well, you are at least, he's been winking at you. He's being bold, don't you agree?"
Hermione sort of receded into herself at this. "I would assume… that he's just trying to make me laugh," she slowly stammered out.
"And I wonder why he's doing that? Why exactly was he trying to make you laugh?"
Hermione looked back up at Ginny, the vulnerability in her eyes palpable.
"If you keep saying these things, Ginny, I might start believing them," Hermione said.
But Ginny was gone, dashed off in the other direction; and in her moment of confusion, Hermione was unaware of the large, glowing half-giant hand before it found its way to her hair and ruffled it up even more; and suddenly she was glowing a bright gold color.
"Found yeh," said Hagrid, running back across the grounds with great, booming footsteps before Hermione could react.
~0~
Harry, on the other hand, was hiding in a bush on the other side of the yard. He watched as Ginny sped past him, and Hagrid thumping along after her not too long later – and then there was Hermione, now 'it', walking forward as if in a daze. He chuckled under his breath. Again, the 'how' of 'how did I fall for Hermione this hard' didn't have a shadow of doubt in his mind.
It appeared that Hermione had heard him because her eyes snapped over to the bush he was hiding in. Letting out a sigh, Harry stood up and shrugged at her. She slowly walked over to him, the glow of the spell reflecting off of his glasses.
"You're just offering yourself up on a platter to me?" she asked him, her voice soft.
He nodded at her. "I felt it was only right."
She gave him a curious look. "You're faster than I am, Harry."
"And?"
"Logically speaking, you can keep up with me as I run away, so the ten second break won't be that much of an issue. You'll just tag me right back."
Harry smirked. "That was the plan, yeah. Make it more like tag instead of hide-and-seek. Hopefully some of the others join."
"I have a vague feeling they won't."
"Why not?" he said, lowering his voice.
She looked at him, trying to deduce his meaning. Then her eyes widened, and her mouth tightened up, and she turned away from him, covering her face.
"What are you thinking?" asked Harry. She turned back around to face him, standing up straight and looking at him with a professional demeanor.
"I have conceived an idea to keep you from chasing after me," Hermione said.
"Really? You can try it, but remember that I –"
He didn't get to finish before Hermione kissed him on the cheek and ran off. He stood in place, not completely sure if what had just happened was or was not a dream. Of course, she had done it before, but that was before there were connotations involved. Before there were hidden meanings.
Sadly, by the time he realized he was literally glowing as well as figuratively glowing, Hermione had disappeared.
~0~
Later, when the game of tag had worn everybody out, the twins put on an impromptu firework show to add to the night. Granted, it was also partially done to advertise some of their new 'explosive' products, but no one could deny the joy of the moment as Fred and George made a show of getting as close to the firework as possible to light it, then running away with war calls of "Fire!" and "Everyone get down!"
Yet despite all of the fervor driving the festivities, Harry Potter sat inside from the window of his dimly-lit guest room, watching everyone enjoy themselves. It wasn't as if he didn't want to enjoy himself with the others – he had ended up being 'it' for far longer than he had anticipated and had gotten tired.
"Tired?" Ron had said. "Don't tell me you're getting old, Harry!"
Harry had simply shrugged, told everyone good night, and walked back into the house. He noticed that Hermione didn't follow him, and he couldn't blame her. She deserved to have some fun too, didn't she? Now watching the fireworks show from his window, he also had a view of where she was sitting, minuscule to him from across the yard. Apart from covering her head when an explosion was too loud, she appeared to be very lost in thought. She was staring out into the distance, as if pondering some great truth of the universe.
After a while, Harry watched her slowly stand, say something to everyone else (he vaguely heard Ron complaining), then begin to walk back inside, her arms crossed.
Harry knew where she was headed. And after a while, there came a soft knock at his door.
He turned to look as it opened; he could barely see Hermione's face in the dim yellow light that eased through the window and cast shadows across the room, but her hair was unmistakable. A firework outside went off, and for a brief moment, the room glowed a deep red before fading back into normalcy.
"Hello," said Harry, his voice soft.
"Hello yourself," Hermione replied as she pulled up a chair next to Harry. Putting her hands in her lap, she seemed nervous, like she was always on the verge of saying something but was always stopping herself.
"What is it?" he asked. He noticed his breath growing shorter, and his heartbeat quickening.
She let out a trembling breath before taking a massive gulp and sputtering out, "I'm really sorry that I decided to be so bold and kiss you on the cheek, it must have been really embarrassing and I –"
"Hermione!" he grinned, then opened his arms to her. With a blush visible even in the dark, she fell into his arms and he wrapped her in a tight embrace.
"There's nothing to be sorry for," he said. "Nothing at all."
They breathed gently and in unison, and stayed together that way for a long while, listening to the echoes of the fireworks in the skies above, and watching the room be painted all sorts of rich colors. Purple. White. Blue.
"Harry?"
Hermione's voice came as barely more than a whisper. He turned his head to her, and emerald met chocolate. She took a deep breath –
"I have feelings for you, Harry."
Another firework went off, bathing the room with a bright grey light. And then Harry tilted his head down and kissed her.
The kiss surprised Hermione in how it sort of went against her preconceived notions of 'true love's kiss' – it lasted all of four seconds rather than a blissful eternity, it was more of a soft peck than a deep, passionate bearing of the soul, and rather than her heart stopping, it continued to pound away inside her chest even after the kiss ended.
But neither of them could control the smiles that grew on their faces.
"I have feelings for you too, Hermione," he whispered.
Harry closed his eyes and felt her arms reach around him, hugging him as tightly as she could. She buried her face in his chest.
"Don't mind me," she said, muffled by his shirt. "I'm trying very hard not to wake up."
~0~
Ron was confused. Harry had mysteriously gone up to his room because he was 'tired', and then not too long afterward, Hermione had said she 'needed to think' and also left. He was a bit worried that something had happened with the two of them and was on his way inside to go up to Harry's room when his sister ran up behind him and grabbed him by the back of the shirt.
"Ginny! Now's not the time, I need to make sure Harry and Hermione are okay, they were both acting really weird tonight," he said. But for some reason, Ginny began to pull him away from the house.
"They're fine, Ronald. Now let's go watch more fireworks."
"How do you know they're fine? I'm their friend, I've got to make sure they're okay in times like these..."
"I just know, Ron! Trust me!"
"Okay, now you're acting weird too –" he began, then he stopped. He scoffed, then rolled his eyes again as he began to follow Ginny back into the yard.
"Of course," he said. "I'm a bloody idiot."
~0~