CHAPTER 5: Visits and Gifts
Hermione woke with a lazy smile on her face and a peacefully contented mind. Loud, off-key singing and the smell of bacon, sausage and eggs drifted up the stairs and into her room, making her mouth water. She licked her lips and groaned with hunger, throwing the covers off of her. She realized that she was still in the clothes from the day before.
Hermione rushed to take a shower, humming quietly to herself as she did so, and then dressed casually in a pair of red Capri's and a white T-shirt with blue shoes and bandana. She threw her hair into a messy bun, spread some red lip gloss over her lips, and put on some mascara. She smiled at her reflection, satisfied with her appearance, and hurried downstairs, happier than she had been in months.
'Hello, Harry,' she said cheerfully, sitting down at the table and pulling the heavily laden plate toward her. 'How are you feeling today?' she asked conversationally.
Harry shrugged. 'Mm, can't complain. You seem happy today. Any particular reason for this newfound joy?' he asked slyly, sure that he already new the answer.
Hermione shrugged as well, looking unconcerned. 'Oh, I don't know,' she said flippantly. She looked up at Harry innocently and saw him looking let down and hurt. She smiled laughingly up at him, somewhat amused that he was that hurt by her fake rejection.
'Harry, I'm just kidding,' she assured him. 'Last night, that kiss was wonderful and, although I'm still not quite comfortable with it, and might not be for awhile, I am willing to give us a try. You know, as a couple,' she said, smiling shyly up at Harry's now ecstatic face.
'Really?' he asked incredulously? Hermione nodded, delighted that he was so happy with her decision; at least one of them should be. 'Wow, thank you, Hermione! You know, I liked you just as much as Ron did and I was planning on asking you out until Ron said he liked you so much and I decided that he deserved you more than I did and I thought since, no offense to Ron, he didn't really have any girls vying for his attention like I did, that his need for a girlfriend that actually liked him was greater than mine so I let him ask you out since I knew that you liked him, too, although I always slightly wished that you would take me instead, if that doesn't sound too selfish,' he said in a rush.
Hermione just stared at him, mouth agape. 'Harry,' she said slowly, uncertainly. 'I don't know what to say. Wow. I would have said yes,' she added simply. Harry looked at her curiously. 'If you had asked me out, I would have said yes,' she explained. Harry's face broke into the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face.
Harry threw his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. Hermione hugged him back, her heart all aglow with relief and happiness and…love? Was that what that strange warm feeling was? Love? Hermione pushed the thought aside and hugged Harry tighter. Whatever the feeling was, it couldn't be that. She still loved Ron, even though he was gone, and, no matter how shallow it sounded, Harry was just someone to lean on.
Harry kissed her gently and then hugged her again, saying, 'What do you want to do today, Hermione? I think we should go out somewhere.' Hermione nodded and thought for a moment.
'I think we should go over to see Luna and Neville,' Hermione decided. She could tell by the astonished look on Harry's face that that was not what he was expecting her to say. 'Well, we haven't seen them in a while and I want to see how they're doing,' she elaborated. Harry nodded and went to phone their old friends.
'Hermione, Luna and Neville are delighted that you want to visit them and they have something important to tell us when we get over there,' Harry informed her as soon as he got off the phone a few minutes later. Hermione's eyes lit up with curiosity.
'Ooh,' she said, her nosiness showing through. 'What do you think it is?' she asked Harry, who was smiling at her interest.
'I don't know,' Harry said laughingly, sitting beside her and beginning to eat. 'Neville probably got a job at a greenery or Luna finally found one of her wacky little make-believe creatures,' he said, smiling at the images of his friends when they left Hogwarts.
'I wonder how they look now,' Hermione mused, looking thoughtful. 'I bet they've changed a lot. I know we have.' Harry looked carefully at Hermione for probably the first time since Ron had died.
Hermione, in school, had had slightly buckteeth and she had had that air of innocence and brains about her. She hadn't developed then, she had still looked more like a girl all the way up till the end of their sixth year. But now, after so long, she had filled out into a beautiful young woman with curves in all the right places. Her teeth had been shrunk and straightened in their fourth year and her smile was dazzling. She was now absolutely stunning when, in school, she had just been another cute girl.
'We have changed a lot, haven't we?' Harry said dreamily. He realized he had been staring and he turned away, blushing. Hermione saw this and took his embarrassed moment as a chance to study him in return.
Harry certainly had changed as well. He had once been a thin, gangly teen with knobby knees and messy hair, but now he was a tall, chivalrous, toned and muscular man. His eyes were still the same vivid shade of emerald green and his hair was messy as ever but he was more mature, he had filled out a lot, and he was absolutely striking.
Now it was Hermione's turn to be embarrassed this time. She turned away and blushed as well. Harry saw this and laughed at their mutual embarrassment. Hermione joined in and soon they were both laughing but more than they had in quite a long time.
'Okay, then,' Harry said, wiping tears from his eyes from laughing so hard. 'Well, Neville and Luna are expecting us in about a half hour so what do you want to do?' he asked, putting his feet up on the table.
'Harry, that is so unsanitary!' Hermione scowled, pushing his feet off the table. It jolted Harry and made him laugh again. Hermione struggled to contain her laughter and ended up just smiling at him. 'Let's go get them a little something. A present, maybe,' she suggested. Harry nodded and stood up.
'What do you want to get them?' he asked, pulling Hermione to her feet. Hermione stood up and grabbed a red sweater off of the coat rack.
'You know how much Neville likes plants and how…odd Luna is. Let's get them an odd plant! It would fit them both,' Hermione said, hurrying Harry out the door of the flat they shared. Harry laughed at her eagerness, he seemed to be laughing a lot lately, and apperated them to an peculiar little bazaar.
The bazaar consisted of many brightly colored tents and lean-tos set up on blankets and rugs. There were many tables and shelves and cases of food, clothing, trinkets, everything you could thing of. Harry ushered Hermione over to a tent containing many potted plants, several very strange indeed. A strange old man with no teeth, small beady black eyes, and skin so wrinkled he looked like a raisin shuffled over to them, smiling his gummy smile at them.
'What can I do for you lovely young people?' he asked, his voice reedy and scratchy sounding.
'We are looking for an odd plant to give to our friends,' Harry explained. The old man began to flit around the store, pulling out three plants and setting them in front of Harry and Hermione without a word.
'Well?' Hermione inquired. When the man made no move to elaborate on the strange plants she began to get a little annoyed. 'Well? What are these plants and what do they do?'
'This one,' the man said, gesturing to the first plant. 'is called the Lace Whip plant.' Hermione looked closely at the strange plant. She could see why it would be called 'Lace'. The plant was flat and white with radiating gray patterns that very much resembled lace.
'Why is it called the Lace Whip?' Hermione asked apprehensively. The man grinned evilly. He reached out a shriveled old finger and poked the plant sharply then retracted his hand faster than Hermione had thought the frail old man was capable of.
Suddenly, the plant shot out tendrils of thin lacy-looking fibers that whipped around lethally. The plant let out a high pitched keening noise and Hermione clapped her hands over her ears. Quite as suddenly as it had started, the attack stopped. The tendrils retracted into the plant, the keening stopped and the old man chuckled at them in a wheezy tone.
Hermione slowly took her hands away from her ears, saying, 'We want odd, not dangerous.' The old man frowned and put the Lace Whip back on its shelf. 'What about that one?' she asked, pointing warily to the next plant in line. 'It's not dangerous, is it?' The old man shook his head.
It looked like a regular house fern, with long, thin green leaves spreading out in a fan, tapering nearer the tops. The man snapped his fingers and, to Hermione's amazement, the plant started to dance. The leaves waved tantalizingly back and forth. Hermione heard music, beautiful music, and she began to sway along with it. She smiled and closed her eyes, becoming unexpectedly sleepy. She heard a loud snap and broke out of her reverie.
'Like it?' the man asked. 'It's called Waving Dreams. Wonder why?' he asked, grinning at them again. Hermione shook her head and gestured to the last plant but Harry spoke before the man could.
'Hey! I know what that is. Neville would love one of those,' he said. 'That's 'Mimbulus mimbletonia'. Remember, Hermione?' Harry asked. Hermione bent closer to look at it. It didn't look so much like a plant as a giant worm sticking vertically out of the ground. It was wriggling slightly and covered in large shiny pustules.
'Yes, I remember,' Hermione said fondly. 'Neville had one of these in fifth year. He liked it so very much. I think he would like one of them again,' she agreed. Then she turned to the old man. 'How much is it?'
'Seven galleons,' the man said, grinning spitefully. Hermione's jaw dropped. Harry put one hand on her shoulder and ran the other through his unruly hair, moving it out of the way of his scar. The man ogled at him for a moment and then shook his head a bit.
'I am so sorry, Mr. Potter, sir,' he said, his gravelly voice filled with reverence. 'For you, sir, it'll only be three galleons,' he conceded. He didn't care how much money he made. Just a visit from Harry Potter would bring enough business to cover the losses plus some. Harry smiled, nodded, and handed three gold galleons to the man.
'So that's how you get things half priced now?' Hermione asked as they walked away from the tent. Harry nodded before apperating.