The day of Harry's sixteenth birthday arrived and the Weasleys were due at Grimmauld Place for lunch. However, Hermione wanted to give Harry his gift first, away from prying eyes, because she knew that nobody else would understand – and she didn't want to embarrass her best friend.
Therefore, she decided to present him with his gift first thing in the morning. That way he could spend the rest of the day doing whatever he wanted – which was probably catching up on guy talk with Ron, she thought with a sigh. She tried not to be jealous about that since she realized that she would probably do the same thing with Ginny, as well. She just knew that she was going to miss all of the alone time that she had been spending with the Boy Who Lived To Leave His Dirty Socks Laying Around - as she had taken to calling him jokingly due to his habit of kicking off his socks and shoes in order to go barefoot on the thick rugs in their common room. Therefore, she decided to make the most of their morning and walked boldly into Harry's room determined to wake him up mischievously with a light tickling hex. However, she wasn't prepared for the sight of him sound asleep on his back, the bedclothes low over his hips, and his well-defined abs and bare chest (with just a dark smattering of hair across it) all on display before her. When did Harry get so fit? she wondered with a sharp surprised intake of breath which apparently was just loud enough for him to hear. His eyes fluttered and then suddenly her warm brown ones were met with cool green ones.
"Hey…Hermione…" he muttered sleepily. "Is something wrong?" He shook himself to help the wake up process and sat up in bed after putting on his glasses.
"No…nothing," she replied, still a little breathless after her very pleasant visual surprise – something that she was sure that she would see again in her dreams tonight. She pulled herself together, though, in order to continue. "I just wanted to be the first to wish you a Happy Birthday!"
That rare gorgeous smile broke out across his face as he patted the spot next to him – not realizing the effect that he was having on his friend this morning. "Do I get a gift?" he asked cheekily, feeling so much more at ease with this girl than he ever had with anyone else.
That remark broke the spell for her and caused her to laugh – after all, this was the same ol' Harry – nothing had changed just because he had grown up and filled out a bit. Therefore, she plunked down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder for a moment before dropping a book shaped package into his lap. "I know that you just finished the last book in the International Quidditch Mysteries series, therefore, I got you something a little similar."
"Hermione Granger got me a book for my birthday – shocking!" Harry said, as he picked up the package and grinned at her.
"Hush it, you!" she said mock firmness, but she just couldn't hold back her smile. "Just open it up before I take it back!"
Harry then obediently pulled back the wrapping paper and a leather bound book fell out onto his lap. The first thing that he noticed was the moving snitch on the front cover that darted back and forth in a zigzag pattern before hovering briefly and then starting the process all over again. He then picked it up in order to read the title. "The Scarred Seeker and the Secret of the Sorcerer's Snitch by Hermione Granger," he said aloud in an awed voice. He then looked up at his friend quickly with a look of wonder in his eyes. "You wrote me a book?" he asked with amazement. "When did you find time to do that?"
Hermione just shrugged and then admitted hesitantly, "Sometimes I…can't sleep. I think too much…about…everything. Writing seems to help…keep the bad dreams away."
Harry looked up at her sharply and felt quite a bit of guilt that he didn't know that she frequently had nightmares. However, they had been through a lot of scary stuff together over the years. Plus, she had her injuries and the problems with her parents to worry about. Therefore, he wasn't really surprised that she had trouble sleeping. However, he also knew that she didn't really want to talk about it, so he just resolved to keep a better eye on her in the future. He then put an arm around her and pulled her close while he noted how good she smelled and how…soft…parts of her felt pushed up against him. He gulped in embarrassment at this observation and the subsequent reaction that his body was having. He forced his attention back to the matter at hand. "Tell me about the book," he said, trying to distract himself from those kinds of thoughts.
"Well, I have had some fun with writing fanfiction in the last few years. It's a good escape from reality," she admitted, more than happy to change the subject. She pointed to the title of the book again – The Scarred Seeker. "However, this is my first novel length one and I wrote it to represent you and some of the adventures that you have had! I based it on that series that you enjoyed so much – and I ran the quidditch facts past Sirius first to make sure that they were accurate. Therefore, I really hope that you like it!"
Harry just looked into her eyes again, completely overwhelmed at the amount of time and effort that she had put into his birthday gift. Once again he was aware of just how little he deserved her wonderful friendship – much less anything more - especially since he vaguely recalled that he and Ron had only got her some new quills and ink for her last birthday. That would change this year! he vowed to himself. He then thought about how much fun they had experienced over the summer so far. Then he thought about how caring she was, how pretty she was, and about how near her face was – and he realized with a bit of shock that he really really really liked Hermione. Then he stopped thinking altogether as he leaned towards her. After five years of being best friends and after six weeks of being housemates, Harry and Hermione finally shared their first kiss.
That first kiss turned into another one and then another. In fact, it was quite some time later before the two of them showed up to breakfast, still a bit disheveled, However, they were holding hands and smiling shyly at each other, both excited about this new aspect of their already close relationship. They flushed with embarrassment at Sirius's knowing look – especially when he laughed aloud and said, "Well, I can see that it has already been a Happy Birthday for you, Pup!" Then he hugged them both, pleased that his matchmaking had worked out so well!
When the Weasleys arrived a short time later, everyone was amazed at the difference in Grimmauld Place. Before it had been a den of decay and despair, but now it was obviously a happy home. Molly was especially impressed since she had loudly expressed her doubts about Sirius's intentions when she first heard about Hermione's adoption from Ron and Ginny. In fact, she had been so concerned that she had actually owled Professor McGonagall about it immediately. However, after learning about the poor girl's circumstances from Minerva, talking it over first with Arthur and then with Tonks (who had already visited them all at Grimmauld Place, but for a completely different reason), and now seeing for herself how happy and healthy everyone looked – she soon realized what a great opportunity it had been for all four of the residents of Grimmauld Place.
Her mother's eagle eyes (sharpened by years of dealing with Fred and George) also caught sight of Harry and Hermione holding hands under the table at lunch. She sighed while thinking about her two youngest children and what they might think about this development, but she knew that it could have been much worse! At this thought, her eyes flicked over at Bill and his…fiancée. At any rate, she knew that Ginny was currently hung up on this Dean boy, who had visited them a couple times this summer at the Burrow. He wasn't Harry, but he seemed like a nice young man and he got along well with the rest of the family. Then, Molly ran her eyes over her youngest son. Ron was currently engaged in eating as much of Winky's cooking as possible while also carrying on a mostly one-sided conversation about the Chudley Cannons' new Keeper. Molly then shook her head as she realized that as much as she loved him, she didn't blame Hermione for her choice – not one bit.
Ginny, who had also inherited her mother's keen eyesight when it came to things that were being hidden, pulled Hermione away from the group as soon as possible. Hermione's worry about Ginny's response to this new development was completely dissolved, however, when the younger girl squealed and gleefully demanded to know just how long she had been snogging Harry.
Ron caught on a lot slower than the women did. Therefore, at Sirius's suggestion, Harry took Ron out to the garden to fly while the girls were chatting. After a few passes and stunts, Ron seemed mellow enough to handle the news – so Harry told him. Even though he had no real interest in Hermione himself, he didn't really want her to be with Harry, either. Therefore, he ranted and raved for a little while until Harry told him that he completely understood if he didn't want to stay with them for the rest of the summer. However, Ron had been looking forward to getting out from under his mother's thumb at the Burrow, plus he had seen the comfortable room that he was going to have all to himself (since Fred and George were staying in their own flat above their shop), and he had already tasted Winky's cooking. Therefore, he knew that he wasn't going anywhere. In fact, he decided that the situation really wasn't that bad, after all. Maybe Harry could even distract Hermione from getting on their case so much about their schoolwork.
He put on a show of reluctance, though, before saying, "Alright, but no snogging in front of me!" It was his best mate's birthday, after all. Ron cheered up as he realized that this acceptance could be Harry's gift! As for Harry, even though this wasn't exactly the response that he had been hoping for, he thought back to how Ron had responded to the idea of Hermione and Viktor - and he realized that it could have gone a lot worse indeed.
Molly, Arthur, Bill, and Fleur only stayed one night. It was just long enough for Molly to reassure herself that the household (under Winky's iron thumb) was running well and that nobody was going to starve to death if she went back home. Feeling secure in the knowledge that they would be safe and well taken care of in the Order headquarters, she left her two youngest children with their friends.