Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Author's note: two updates in less than 24 hours, kudos to me!

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

"And it feels like I am just too close to love you
There is nothing I can really say
I can't lie no more, I can't hide no more
Got to be true to myself"

Alex Clare - Too Close

Hermione did her best during her day at work to refrain from smiling. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't forget about the owl that she had received before leaving her flat, early in the morning.

"Hermione,

Let us meet tonight, in order to celebrate your birthday. Even if I know that you are eager to see James, I prefer to keep you for myself tonight. I'll be at your flat around eight o'clock. Be ready.

Harry"

There was no obvious sign of love or anything close to this in his letter, but it was enough for her. Knowing that she would spend the evening with Harry was definitely enough.

"Are you alright?"

Hermione swiftly turned around to meet Daniel's eyes.

"Oh, yes, sure. I was just lost in my thoughts."

"I can see that," he retorted with a grin, before gazing back at the book register in front of him and writing a few things on it. "Happy birthday by the way."

"Thank you. It seems that you forgot my present," she teased him.

"Are you sure?," Daniel asked.

"Well, so far, you didn't offer me anything, so... But I was kidding, I don't expect anything from you," Hermione chuckled before turning around to check the things that she needed to do the next day.

"Hold on," Daniel muttered in her back before disappearing in the reserve, making her frown. What was he thinking about?

Less than a minute later, he was in front of her, a little box in his hands, waiting for her to take it from him.

"Is it...?"

"For you, yes. Open it."

Hermione stayed still a moment or two, but eventually, she took it from Daniel's hands, mouthing a silent "thank you" at the same time. She then slowly opened the velvet box to see a pair of earrings resting on a little cushion. They were beautiful, and Hermione was almost sure that they were made of diamond, given their brightness and their small size. They were like two little droplets, hard to notice, but at the same time shinny enough for the world to see them: a paradox that fit her well.

"I don't know what to say, Daniel... It's too much, and at the same time, it's perfect," she admitted with a smile. "Thank you."

"It's the only thing that I expected you to say, don't worry," he grinned. "Do you me to hold the box while you put them on?"

"Yes, please."

Hermione kept her eyes down during all the process, and pushed her hair back to show her new earrings to Daniel.

"They are perfect on you. I hope that it's not the first gift that you received today."

"Actually it is," Hermione sighed. "I didn't have the opportunity to see my parents today, and, I'm sure that you know that I don't have a lot of friends here."

"Just a bunch of admirers the last time I checked. Me included."

"Don't be stupid," she laughed. "Anyway, this is the first gift of the day, and it's a really nice one, thank you."

"But I bet that it'll not be the last one. What about this guy that we talked about last time?"

Hermione blushed, inwardly relieved to notice that Daniel hadn't pronounce Harry's name out loud. They had avoided the subject the other day, and to be honest, she was happy not to talk about it with Daniel. Not that he wasn't a reliable person, but she was just uncomfortable with the whole situation: Harry was still married as far as she knew, and even if she was doing her best to forget about the fact that she was friend with Ginny when she was with him, it was harder to do it when he wasn't around, curiously enough.

"Daniel..."

"Don't Daniel me. Even if you were planning to lie to me, your cheeks' colour says otherwise."

"Damn it, you don't need Veritaserum to make someone confess his crimes, do you?"

"I've never had to use this," he admitted with a smile. "Come on, you know that your secrets are safe with me."

Hermione looked around to see if no one was there, and eventually, she nodded.

"Alright. We are going to dine together tonight. Happy now?"

"Happy for you, I am. But I thought that he was..."

"He was...?," Hermione urged him to complete his sentence, even if she knew perfectly well what he was about to say.

"Married?" Daniel concluded in an interrogative voice, his lips pursed.

"He is," Hermione admitted before looking down at the logbook, absently reading the things that she had to do before the closing of Flourish and Blotts. "But I've never said that there's anything between us, we are just going to eat outside, that's all."

"Sure, you are. Just the both of you, and I guess that Ginny Potter is going to stay at home to look after their little James."

Daniel's voice was provocative, and Hermione swiftly looked up at him, frowning. Awkwardly enough, no one knew that Ginny was gone for her training: it was something characteristic of the Holyheads Harpies, though; no one was supposed to know about their recruits before the end of their training.

"What are you implying?"

"Nothing," he said with his hands up. "It's just weird to hear about something like that, that's all."

"Ginny is not even in London at the moment anyway, so your remark is quite inappropriate."

"Just like your dinner with a married man, don't you think?" Daniel retorted, not impressed by her attitude.

It was the first time since she slept with Harry for the first time that Hermione felt something like this: shame. She was used to be uncomfortable with the whole situation, but she hadn't been ashamed about her relationship with Harry since they realised their true feelings for each other. She was suddenly ashamed by what she was doing, and this feeling, this hideous feeling was hard to control. She was overwhelmed by a wave of shame, and her face reddened in no time.

"Listen," Daniel continued after a moment of silence, burying his hand into his short hair, "I don't want to judge you, Hermione. I just want the best for you, and I just think that you are the one who are going to lose everything in the end if he decided to stay with her. The man, your friendship with his wife, your reputation... I just want you to think about it," he concluded in a whisper, his large hand over her right forearm.

"Things are not as easy as you think they are," Hermione whispered back, before taking a few deep breaths to calm her down.

Of course, things weren't as easy as Daniel thought they were, were they? Ginny wasn't here any longer, and Harry... Well, Harry knew perfectly well who he wanted to be with, didn't he? He had even said it to her the previous week. He had hope, hope that, soon, they would be together, soon, he would divorce from Ginny and begin anew with her.

"I know that you just want to protect me, but, please, Daniel, don't interfere in my life anymore. I like you but... I'm sorry to say it like that, but you don't know me at all. What you read in the newspapers about me, about Harry or Ginny, all of this is far from the truth. So please, let's not talk about this anymore."

Daniel stared at her during long seconds, and eventually, he nodded.

"Alright. But just take care of you, Hermione. I know that I don't know you personally, but I care for you. I would hate to see you hurt by anybody."

"It won't happen," Hermione sighed. "I won't let it happen."

XxX

An hour after her arrival at her flat, Hermione was ready for the evening to come. She had put on a long Empire style ruby dress, with a pair of high black heels. Even with them, she was sure that Harry was still taller than she was, despite the fact that he wasn't here yet.

At the same moment, someone knocked at the door.

"Speaking of the devil," she mumbled before heading toward the entrance door.

When she opened the door, Harry took a step toward her and kissed her gently on the lips, his hands on her waist.

"Happy birthday," he muttered against her lips before kissing them once again.

"Thank you," Hermione whispered back, still surprised to be kissed by her friend. She knew that it would be a part of her life from now on, but it was still a shock to have Harry's lips on hers, after more than fourteen years of plain friendship.

"Are you ready?" he then asked her, his hand still caressing her hip.

"Yes, we can leave right now if you want. Just let me close the door behind us."

"Give me your hand," Harry then asked her when the door was closed.

"Are we going to Apparate?"

"Of course. The usual way," the green-eyed wizard grinned. "We did it together several times when we were young."

"Yes, I remember," Hermione smiled. "The good old times."

"They weren't always good," Harry retorted while absently caressing her forearm, at the exact place where an unwanted tattoo was supposed to be seen, under the glamour spell that she had to cast every morning. They were supposed not to talk about it since the "incident", like they used to call it, afraid to put another word on it.

Hermione simply nodded, before giving him her hand.

"Let's go, shall we?"

"Your wish is my command, Milady."

"I can get use to this nickname, you know?"

"But you'll always be Hermione to me."

"Just Hermione?" she teased him, trying to hide her smile as much as she could.

"I'm sure that I'll find you other nicknames with time passing by," Harry smiled at her. "But for now, your hand, Milady."

They Apparated in a deserted alley of London, and, to Hermione's surprise, Harry surrounded her waist with his arm in a casual way.

"Is it safe?" Hermione asked, noticing how incongruous her question was.

"No one is going to notice us, just relax. Moreover, it's your birthday, you shouldn't worry about things like that. Just enjoy the moment," he told her before kissing the corner of her lips.

It was a Muggle restaurant, of course, and one of the most famous of London to top it all.

"You didn't do things by halves," Hermione remarked while she sat on her chair.

"I just want you to enjoy the moment," Harry repeated, smiling. "How was your day?"

"Good, as good as it can be at Flourish and Blotts."

"Why are you still working for this man? I mean, you know that I can help you to open your store anytime."

"I know, and you know that I don't want your money," Hermione retorted, her hands on the menu of the restaurant. "I plan to do it one day, but not now. Actually, I have a few options that I need to consider."

"Such as?"

"I guess that you know this guy that I'm working with? Daniel Gathy. I'm sure that you saw him a few times already."

"What about him?" Harry asked, his attention turned to her.

"Well, he asked me to open a shop with him. I don't know what to think about it to be honest. It could be a good idea, but at the same, I don't know him much, so... I have to think about it."

"And you'd prefer to open a shop with a stranger instead of me?" Harry asked, his eyebrow raised.

"It's not what I said," Hermione shook her head. "You're an Auror, Harry, it's your work. You're not a bookseller, far from it. I just don't want you to give me some money to begin my dream, when both of us know that it's not your dream."

"It's my dream to see you happy, Hermione. Well, it's sound exaggerated, and it surely is, but there is a part of truth in this statement. And if helping you to open your store can make you happy, I'd gladly do it."

Hermione nodded, knowing that when Harry had something in mind, it was hard to make him think otherwise.

"It's an idea... I'll think about it, and be sure that you'll be the first one to know what my decision will be."

"I count on you," Harry said before opening the menu.

The evening passed too quickly, and at the end of the dinner, she realised that she hadn't talked about something important in her eyes.

"You didn't tell me about Ginny's departure," she said before ending her glass of white wine.

Harry swallowed hard before doing the same with his own glass.

"It didn't end very well," he admitted. "She left without even giving me the opportunity to tell her that it was really over. I have the feeling that she thinks that a reconciliation is still a possibility."

"Is it?" Hermione couldn't help but ask, despite what Harry just said.

"Of course not," he interjected quickly, looking around to see that the restaurant was almost empty. There was just another couple a few tables from them. "Please, don't doubt my words, Hermione," he continued with a hand over hers. "I mean every word that I've told you since the first time we... since the moment I realised that you were the one, Hermione."

The young woman blinked several times, trying to push back these memories of her discussion with Daniel.

"I don't want you to think that you're just some kind of stopgap, someone that I use to make me feel good when Ginny is not in town. You're definitely more than this," he went on, squeezing her hand into his. "Believe me, Hermione."

"Of course, I believe you," she sighed. "Of course, I do... It's just... It's not an easy situation we're in, you know?"

"I agree. Damn, we weren't supposed to talk about things like that, it's your birthday for Merlin's sake."

"Don't worry about it," Hermione chuckled. "I'm sure that you're going to make up for it tonight..."

"How do you know?" Harry finally smiled before kissing her hand.

"Are you?" she asked, not paying attention to his question.

"Let's leave this place," he muttered, and at the tone of his voice, Hermione knew that the second part of her birthday night would be even better than the first one.

Amortentia? Not Amortentia? Well, I guess that we should wait before knowing the truth behind this. But one thing is sure: Harry loved Ginny once, and it was real.

In the mean time, we are going to read more about Hermione, Harry and James.

Thank you for reading this story. :)

PS: Don't forget that the author of the 300th review can have the one-shot that he/she wants!