A week later, Harry was back in London. This time, he met with all of his friends in Diagon Alley, and they spent the day carousing through their favorite shops as if they were still students and back at Hogsmeade. Harry was surprised to learn that all of his friends had found niches of their own since the last time they'd written.
To no one's shock, Neville had begun work in his aunt's greenhouses, being groomed to take over the Wizarding nursery when the old witch would retire. Seamus had decided to pursue Muggle education, under his father's insistence, and would start at University in the fall. Dean and Ginny were both working on Diagon Alley, Ginny with her brothers and Dean in Flourish and Blott's. Hermione had been invited to pursue a paid internship directly under Madame Bones at the Ministry.
As the afternoon sun shifted towards evening, the friends parted ways, leaving Harry to wander down the Alley with Hermione on his arm. It had been a fun reunion, but it had also been an exhausting one. They were both tired and talk of their summer work had worn thin. When the topic of dinner plans came up, Harry immediately asked Hermione back to Grimmauld, where he could cook something more substantial than anything they could get at The Leaky Cauldron.
"Actually, why don't you come 'round mine?" Hermione suggested, brightening remarkably. "Mum and Dad would love to have you over! They've been asking about you practically every day."
Harry grinned. "That sounds great. If you really don't think they'd mind, of course."
"Oh, Harry, of course they wouldn't," Hermione assured him. "They adore you. Come on, we can get a cab since I've no idea how to side-along Apparate, and you don't exactly know the coordinates. It'll be just like last summer."
Harry grimaced as he recalled his summer with the Grangers. The Muggle couple had been amazing hosts, and he missed the days of homework and relaxation, but it was the mornings at the park that pervaded his thoughts now. Specifically, he remembered mornings spent companionably over coffee with the last man in the world he'd ever expected kindness from. He let himself be led back towards The Leaky Cauldron and the Muggle world beyond, no longer as eager as he had been about dinner with Hermione's parents.
-Break-
After dinner, which Harry found he enjoyed immensely, the Wizarding Savior left the Granger household. He'd planned to Apparate straight to Grimmauld. He had no plan to walk the two miles to the park, and definitely had no plans to sit on the bench he'd shared with Severus every morning for the better part of the summer. He had no plans to relive those warm mornings that he was now beginning to understand. His feet, apparently, needed no plan.
Before he knew what he was doing, Harry had walked from the Grangers to the park, and was nearing the unremarkable wooden bench. He stopped himself just short of sitting down, and looked around the picturesque scene. The sun was already almost set, and the park was lit mostly by electric lights that imitated old gas lamps. Activity was at a lull. With a sigh, Harry sat on the bench. What was the harm?