Authors Note: so new chapter! I hope you guys like this one, it's kind of a filler chapter, our heroine and her prince are getting to know each other better!

So I've been thinking of this being a two part story. I don't want to give away the whole plot, mostly because I don't know what's next myself, but I'm thinking of writing a sequel. The sequel will be much darker! Of that I'm sure, and it's not so much of a spoiler. So tell me what you guys think of a sequel!

Read/Review?

So now I think that I could
Love you back
And I hope it's not too late cause you're so attractive
And the way you move
I won't close my eyes
It takes a man to live
It takes a woman to make him compromise

The Lumineers - Flowers In Your Hair

Chapter 5: Flowers In Your Hair

Hermione woke the next day feeling refreshed and anxious. She knew it wouldn't take Harry long to come up with something for them to do. She quickly got dressed, wearing a soft flowing dress in lavender. She braided her long curly hair and added some flower into the braid. She had barely slipped on her shoes when she heard the doors open and the guard announce Harry.

She turned and smiled him, "Good morning," she says simply, a smile on her lips.

Harry smiles brightly in return, "Are you ready? We have a long day ahead of us!"

He holds his arm for her to hold and lead her towards the upper floors of the castle. She looks questionably at him, "You'll see!" He says mysteriously.

He pulls to a stop in front of a door partially hidden by a large tapestry. He looks around and pulls it aside and ushers her quickly inside. She looks around surprised, "I remember this room..." She says quietly.

Harry chuckles, "Yes, you should, you followed me to this room once before. I've decided to share it with you! He watches as she walks around the room, vaguely running her hands over the rough wood of the furniture. "I built those..." He says softly.

She looks at him, surprise and pride in her eyes, "They're beautiful, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you've been training to be a wood carver instead of King!" She says teasingly.

He laughs gaily, "I'll have you know there are many aspects to being a prince, soon to be king, and one of those is learning many things! And one of those was my wish to learn how to carve wood. Weird and possibly the most boring thing you probably ever heard, but it's true. I like to make beautiful and practical things. I'll build you a whole new bedroom for after we're married if you so wish!"

She shakes her head softly, "Nonsense, just don't stand me up at the altar and we'll be fine!" She says jokingly, although there was a fear in her that Harry would stand her up.

Harry grabs her hand, "I would never do that. I want this to work just as much as you, trust me, remember?" He tells her softly.

She shakes her head softly, "Okay, is this all you had planned for today? Because if it is, I'm not having much fun being a child!" She says, trying to change the mood of the room.

He grins, "Well, no, this isn't all we'll be doing...When I was younger, I would come in here to pretend I had a different life. Have you ever played pretend?" He asks her.

She looks at him quizzically, "Well, sometimes the other girls at the convent pretended to be princesses, they never let me play with them. Does that count?" She asks hesitantly, her fingers fidgeting with the fabric of her skirts.

Harry sighs inaudibly, "Yes, just like that...did they really not want you to play?" She nods slowly, "That's just rude! I would imagine they'd want to get on the good side of the queen!" He mutters angrily.

"Well, not everybody thinks the monarchy is all that great...I think, that they thought, that if they ever crossed me, that I'd have them beheaded. But there hasn't been a beheading in my kingdom for a long time, way before I was born, the crime rate has just dropped. I hoped that everything my advisors and I've done has influenced people to live peacefully. And the rate of crimes has dropped, it's why I was confused about not making friends with the girls at the convent. It wasn't because I was queen, it was because I'm a bossy know-it-all." She says, shrugging slightly, smiling sadly.

"Well, you've grown out of it. That shouldn't of deterred anybody from being your friend Hermione. We're kind of friends right?" He asks suddenly.

She looks up startled, "I had hoped." She looks out the stained glass window, "I've never had friends that didn't work for me before..." She says quietly.

He looks at her with twinkling eyes, "Well, it's a good thing I don't work for you. You know, neither have I. My friend Ron? He works for me, he's head guard, he works for me. I think sometimes, that he only tolerates me because I pay him to..." He says quietly. The suddenly he looks up at her, "We're different Hermione. When all is said and done, we're going to be part of each other's future, I want to be friends Hermione. I don't think we can get through our betrothal not being anything to each other. So we are friends, the best of friends. Because the only thing we're going to have at the end of each day, is each other. I want you to rely on me like I'll rely on you. I need you to trust that I'll do everything I can to make you happy!" He says passionately.

She smiles softly to herself, looking down at her skirts before facing him, "I'd like that. And you can trust me too." She holds her hand out to him, he grasps her hand tightly, "We're in this together." She says with finality.

"Together." He repeats strongly.

They stay quiet for a few minutes then Harry looks at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "I think I promised you a fun filled day!"

She smiles brightly at him, "Well, let's get to it!"

He leads her to the floor, and hands her a small wooden knight, "This," he holds a knight similar to the one he handed her, "Is a knight. You probably played with dolls when you were little. But the true fun, is playing duels, see, a knight can duel other knights for honor. Understand so far?"

She nods, "I think so, for example, it's like watching the knights during the tournaments the kingdom holds. Like that right?" She asks hesitantly, not wanting him to think she wasn't as sheltered as he thought. Although, she would never admit it, she had never seen such tournaments. She had read about them in a tome in the library a few weeks earlier.

He smiles and nods at her, "Exactly, okay, well my knight will be fighting for the honor of the princess who is being kept hidden in the tower in the castle of a baron who intends to keep her against her will!" He says breathlessly.

She giggles softly, "So I'm the baron right?"

"Well, if you want to," he says with a shrug. "Do you want a different scenario?"

"No, it might be fun, being the bad guy for once!" She adds with a smile. She looks around the room, "It's kind of fun, breaking the rules. This goes against all that I've been taught!" She says thinking if McGonagall saw her on the dusty floor with the prince without a chaperone, playing a game thought for boys. She would have a heart attack, she would've banned Hermione from ever leaving her room until the wedding!

Harry laughs, "We're not doing anything wrong, we're just having fun! Besides, nothing untoward will happen until the wedding night, Princes honor!" He says with a serious face, but she can see the humor in his eyes.

She smiles indulgently at him, "And I can tell you, if a Queen wants to do untoward things, she will do as she pleases," she says, trying to be coquettish.

Harry gulps nervously, "Okay," he squeaks, he coughs, "Okay," he says in a deeper voice.

She laughs loudly, "Oh Harry, you're too easy to fool."

He reddens, "Oh," he says quietly. He clears his throat, "Well, how about that game?" He says quietly. His jaw clenches, he starts to set up the stage that he was gifted as a child.

Hermione watches silently, noticing his clipped tone and clenched jaw. She lays a hand over his, stilling his movements, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tease you. It was uncalled for. But I did mean it..." She adds in a whisper.

She fiddles with the end of her braid, playing with the soft purple flowers, "A Queen, Harry, will do as she well pleases. No matter what she is taught, she will do what she thinks is right. And if I think that what we will want to do when an urge hits us, we will do it because we want to. Because I want to. Understand?" She adds forcefully, making him look at her.

"Understood clearly." He says with a knowing lopsided grin. He holds up a knight, "Ready?"

She nods, a grin on her face. "Well, what do we have here? A knight coming to take away what is rightfully mine?" She says in a mock imitation of a deep commanding voice.

Harry holds his knight close to hers, "Yes, a knight, a knight that is here to rescue what was taken against her will!" And with that he attacks Hermione's knight and makes clanking noises for sword noises.

And they continue to play in the dusty room until they notice the light has started to dim. Hermione looks at Harry and smiles softly at him. "I think it's time we end the fight Harry. We're going to be missed at supper..."

He looks up startled, he hesitates and then starts putting away all the knights and stages they had played with all afternoon.

Once everything was put away, Harry helped her stand and held her closely to his side, "Let's head to your rooms. I'm sure your ladies are waiting." She nods resolutely at him.

They start walking to her rooms and talk softly to each other about their childhood. "What are we doing tomorrow?" Hermione asks him, stopping their conversation about their childhoods.

Harry grimaces, "I have princely duties, mainly, I'll be out by the stables teaching the knights how to fight and whatnot. No fun, especially when they're all afraid that they'll injure me. The only one who doesn't hold back is Ronald. And he only does it because I had to attack him forcefully one night. It was horrendous, I almost killed him and he still wouldn't fight me, I had to impale him in the arm for him to agree to fight me!" He says incredulously.

She looks at him astonished, "Well, I see the point you tried to make. If they're afraid to hurt you instead of pushing themselves to learn how to fight, then it's their problem. They should know that as their prince, it's their job to be the best fighters to protect you, to be the best fighters they have to learn to not be afraid to hurt you." She stops him from going further, "Tomorrow, show them the best you got. And don't be afraid to hurt them, if hurting them is going to show them that you're not a fragile little flower, maybe they'll know to fight back. So, show them that their prince is going to be king, that he knows how to fight, that he is willing to die at their sides and die like a common knight. Show them, that you know what you're doing." She says passionately.

Harry looks at her with awe in his eyes, "You my queen, will be the death of me." He says with am impish grin, he kisses her knuckles, "But you're right. They must learn, I'll leave you at your doors, and I'll see you in time to escort you to supper!" He kisses her knuckles one last time before loping off to his chambers.

She smiles to herself, she knew he needed that boost of confidence. She will be that voice to urge him on when he thinks all is lost. She will make sure of it.

Authors Note: a playlist I'm recommending to help inspire the mood of this story, is Young and Whimsical by on 8tracks. It's really good. I'll be recommending different playlists for this story. It doesn't mean that you have to listen to them, it's just a suggestion, to help you get in the mood for the story! :)

/a-reverie/young-and-whimsical