Library, Hogwarts, 9/21/1995, 15:29
Harry was sitting at a table in the library completing the essay they had been assigned during potions earlier that morning. Harry had been having an enjoyable week so far (the potions essay excluded) and was looking forward to the weekend.
After the prank on Umbridge, defence classes had been filled in by a substitute from the ministry. Umbridge had also been avoiding meals in the great hall and Harry had only seen her once in the hallways since the incident on Tuesday.
Harry was pretty sure that this was the calm before the storm. Andromeda had painted a pretty good picture of this woman's character and from what he knew of Umbridge, she would be out for vengeance after such a public humiliation. Either way, Harry's prank had put a stop to students serving detentions with Umbridge, so he considered it a win.
Harry knew Umbridge would be driving herself crazy trying to figure out who had pranked her. Thankfully he had covered his tracks very well and cast just enough suspicion on Pansy to get the staff looking in the wrong direction.
Ironically Pansy Parkinson did not receive detention with Umbridge for her suspected involvement in the prank. Pansy's father was a Wizengamot lord and would have dragged Umbridge over the coals if he had used a blood quill on his daughter. The pureblood families were exempt from that awful form of punishment, which only made Harry angrier at the injustice of the magical world.
Harry was already formulating another prank though not one near as gross, deciding that it was a near thing that no one got an eyeful of Umbridge's bared backside during the flaming fart prank.
Tonks had known it was his doing as soon as he arrived in their training the evening after it happened. He had gotten another light evening of practising the point casting technique as a reward for taking Umbridge down a few pegs.
Harry couldn't help but grin when he thought about Tonks. Training with her was starting to become the high point of his day. The training also gave him something to look forward to on Mondays when he had all of his least favorite classes in the same day.
"You look to be in a good mood," Hannah Abbott said as she took a seat beside him at his table.
"Just excited about tomorrow," Harry shrugged as he pushed thoughts of Tonks out of his mind.
"I am too. Have you decided what we're going to do?" Hannah asked, her eyes lighting up.
"Zonko's and then the lingerie shop," Harry said matter-of-factly as he continued to scratch away on his essay.
"What?" Hannah sputtered, looking at him like he'd lost his mind.
"That's where Ron says you're supposed to take a girl on a first date," Harry said in faux seriousness, trying not to laugh at her reaction.
"You... you can't be serious?" Hannah exclaimed, sounding alarmed.
"Of course I'm not serious," Harry sniggered.
"Oh thank god! Where are we really going?" Hannah exclaimed, her blue eyes boring into his.
"I thought we could walk around a bit and then have lunch at the Lion's Den. Then we may go to Honeyduke's for something sweet after," Harry answered, deciding he had best stop teasing her.
"Oh that sounds much better," Hannah sighed in obvious relief.
"I figured we could keep it simple since we're just getting to know each other," Harry confessed.
"That date sounds perfect though I have another idea for dessert," Hannah said thoughtfully.
"Sure that sounds fine with me," Harry agreed at once.
"But I'm already annoyed with you for messing with me," Hannah said, shooting him a look of faux annoyance.
"The lingerie shop?" Harry questioned.
"Yes, there is no way we are going there," Hannah said flatly.
"Yeah, like I would let you see me in lingerie on our first date," Harry snorted.
"You had better behave on our date, none of this winding me up nonsense," Hannah said flatly, though the corners of her mouth were twitching.
"I will be a perfect gentleman," Harry assured her.
"Good, so what are you working on?" Hannah asked gesturing to the parchment.
"Another one of Snape's ridiculously long essays. This one is on the second part of the strengthening solution," Harry sighed as he looked down at the partially completed essay.
"Oh that one was awful, he set us that in class yesterday," Hannah nodded.
"I can't wait until I can drop that class," Harry confessed as he rolled the essay up, finding talking to the pretty blond much more interesting than writing.
"You should still probably take the class at N.E.W.T level, most of the better jobs require it," Hannah pointed out as she scooted closer to him and unfurled the essay before reading it over.
After a few minutes, she rolled it up and nodded, "your essay is good but it's too succinct. You have already covered all the points of the second stage of brewing and you only have a third of the required length," Hannah pointed out.
"So I should write this like Hermione does and add in tons of useless information to pad it up?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, on an essay this long you don't have much choice," Hannah shrugged.
"Are you any good at potions?" Harry asked as he unrolled the parchment and read back through it.
"Sure, my mother works for Saint Mungos as a brewer," Hannah admitted as she opened one of the reference books Harry had and flipped through the pages before sliding the open book over to him.
"And your aunt is an eye healer?" Harry nodded as he took the book and scanned the passage on salamander blood.
"My mum's side of the family have been doctors for like the last century. So they chose jobs in the healing arts to carry on the tradition," Hannah explained as Harry began rewriting his essay.
"So you're kind of like me, muggleborn mum who married into an old pureblood family," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, my dad is not very well-liked among the other purebloods because he married mum," Hannah admitted sadly as she took her own homework out.
"Mine wasn't either, I imagine that's why the death eaters were after my parents so bad in the last war," Harry nodded knowing they were targeted long before that horrible prophecy was given.
"Dad had it even worse because we were a sacred twenty-eight family before he married mum," Hannah said, a sour look coming over her face.
"What's the sacred twenty?" Harry asked in confusion.
"It was a list of twenty-eight families that are believed to still be true purebloods," Hannah answered.
"And the Potters aren't on the list?" Harry asked as he continued to write.
"No, but they should have been on that list. Until your father married Lily Evans, the Potter line had been purebloods for three centuries," Hannah explained.
"Oh well, one of my grandfathers must have pissed somebody off," Harry shrugged.
"That's the theory though no one actually knows who authored the paper," Hannah agreed.
"What was the point of this list?" Harry asked.
"To help people find pure blood matches for their children. After the list came out, marriages into families listed were highly sought after," Hannah said as she looked through her Transfiguration book.
"They do realise if they only marry purebloods, they'll go extinct eventually, don't they? I mean there are only so many pureblood families in Britain," Harry said thoughtfully.
"That's what mum says," Hannah nodded.
"Personally I think the whole blood thing is completely ridiculous. I mean, who's to say that today's purebloods weren't yesterday's muggleborns anyway?" Harry asked having wondered this for years.
"True, there are even some that believe that muggleborns are descendants of squibs but the purebloods have been trying to keep that theory from gaining popularity," Hannah admitted.
"Figures," Harry snorted as he opened another reference book to look up the properties of powdered griffin claw.
"Well enough of this, we are starting to sound like a couple of gossiping Slytherins," Hannah giggled.
"We usually discuss politics more than blood status on a daily basis. Though Draco and his ilk find it quite stimulating to drone on about ancestry," A voice from their right corrected.
Harry and Hannah both turned to see Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis standing near their table.
It looked like they had just stepped out of the potions section of the library as Davis was still hidden in the shadows of the tall bookshelves. Both girls were tall though Davis was slightly shorter than Greengrass. Daphne had a more willowy figure, her honey blonde hair was up in a ponytail and her piercing blue eyes were shining with amusement.
Tracy Davis did look very similar to her housemate in facial features, though she was a bit more athletically built than Daphne, with shorter cut dirty blond hair and warm green eyes that put Harry in mind of a pixie for some reason.
"Daphne, you always were an eavesdropper," Hannah sighed in exasperation as she eyed the other two girls warily.
"Then talk quieter, cousin," Daphne smirked as she and Davis took a seat across from them.
"Pleasure to meet you, Potter," Tracy said neutrally as she sat down across from him.
"You too, Davis. It only took a little over four years for you two to introduce yourselves," Harry chuckled before going back to the reference book.
"You haven't given off a welcoming vibe to members of our house in the past," Daphne pointed out.
"Take that up with your PR guy, Malfoy isn't doing your house any favours there," Harry shrugged.
"Touche, I actually came over here because I need that book you're using," Daphne said sounding amused.
"Give me just a second and it's yours," Harry said as he checked the reference page a few more times before writing out the paragraph for the proper stirring procedures and sliding the book to Daphne.
"Thank you, we'll leave you two so you can flirt in peace," Daphne said with a teasing smirk at Hannah as she and Tracy rose to their feet.
"I'd appreciate that, I hate flirting with an audience," Harry said absentmindedly as he continued to write his essay.
"You're alright, Potter," Davis giggled before she and Daphne went to find themselves a table.
"Sorry about them, Daphne's my third cousin and Tracy's my fourth, we usually don't speak much at school," Hannah said as she shot Daphne a look of annoyance.
"Don't worry about it, I don't really have a problem with Slytherins. My guardian was in Slytherin," Harry shrugged.
"You live with the Tonks family, don't you? That was why you were with Auror Tonks that day in the alley," Hannah said in understanding.
"Yeah," Harry nodded.
"Auror Tonks was a legend in Hufflepuff," Hannah admitted.
"I've heard she was a very good beater," Harry said as he rolled up his completed potions essay.
"She was also part of some secret group according to the older puffs," Hannah said.
"Hmm, I'll have to ask her about that the next time I see her," Harry said right before the bell rang signalling the end of afternoon classes.
"Come on Miss Abbott, I'll escort you to the great hall," Harry offered as he put his stuff in his bag.
"Such a gentleman," Hannah giggled as she hurried to put her stuff away.
"Just trying to get in some practice before our Zonko's date," Harry grinned as he offered her his hand.
Hannah swatted him on the chest playfully before taking his hand and intertwining her fingers through his.
"There will be no Zonko's, Potter," Hannah said firmly.
"Huh, I'm starting to think Ron doesn't know anything about women," Harry muttered in faux shock.
"That's a safe bet," Hannah giggled as they made their way down the hall, getting curious looks from people they passed along the way.
They walked the rest of the way to the hall in comfortable silence, Harry found the feeling of the soft hand he held in his own quite fascinating. This whole experience was completely new to him, he had no idea what he was doing and just hoped he wasn't pushing things too fast. Though judging by the way she was smiling at him ever so often, he must be doing something right.
Soon they entered the hall and parted ways at the house tables, though not before setting tongues wagging when a few of the more observant students noticed them enter the hall.
"I'll see you in the morning," Harry said softly as he released Hannah's hand.
"Okay, I can't wait," Hannah smiled before she sat down next to Susan Bones and they began having a whispered conversation.
Harry took his usual seat at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the teasing smirk Hermione was giving him.
"Yes, Hermione?" Harry sighed knowing she wasn't going to let up.
"Oh I was just wondering what that entrance was all about," Hermione asked innocently as girls all over the hall were whispering to each other
"We were doing homework in the library and I offered to escort her to dinner," Harry shrugged as he filled his plate.
"I meant the hand holding or the angry glare McDonald is giving Hannah," Hermione pointed out as Ron took a seat across from them.
"So did you get that essay for potions done?" Harry asked, not wanting to get into that subject right now.
"I did, I also finished my Transfiguration essay and most of charms," Hermione answered, shooting him a look that said this wasn't over yet.
"I still have to do my Transfiguration but that one is a piece of cake compared to that nightmare of a potions essay," Harry said feigning ignorance.
"That potions essay was pretty excessive," Hermione conceded.
"Oh no, you're going to the other side talking about homework at the dinner table, have you no shame," Ron said with a faux look of horror on his face.
"I have a date tomorrow you wanker. I don't want to have to worry about a mountain of homework and be stuck inside all day Sunday," Harry shrugged.
"I have a date tomorrow too," Ron smirked.
"With who?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Lavender Brown," Ron said looking very pleased with himself.
"Well good on you, but apparently girls don't want to go to Zonko's on a date," Harry pointed out.
"I could have told you that," Hermione huffed.
"Well you're not a normal girl, are you? Just because you don't like something doesn't mean some of the other birds won't," Ron pointed out.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Hermione demanded, her eyes narrowed in irritation at their clueless friend.
"He means you're one of a kind, Hermione," Harry said smoothly, hoping to prevent an argument.
"We both know perfectly well that is not what he meant. It was bound to be something hurtful and insensitive," Hermione exclaimed hotly.
"Yeah, probably but he means well," Harry shrugged.
"I do mean well," Ron agreed, not denying her accusation.
"Maybe I do need to elevate my company," Hermione muttered.
"I am sure the nerd table will have you," Harry said reasonably.
"No, they wouldn't. Apparently, some of them are a bit put out with me for going to Gryffindor," Hermione admitted.
"Then you're stuck with us," Ron smirked.
"I've known that for years, though I had hoped I could civilize the two of you but I am starting to have my doubts," Hermione quipped.
"You can't tame wild stallions," Ron said sagely.
"No, but I can still sell them to the knacker," Hermione muttered.
"You're in a right foul mood, you are," Ron exclaimed, looking at Hermione in alarm.
"Yeah threatening to turn us into glue is a new low, Hermione," Harry agreed in a reproachful tone.
"You've both pushed me to this point," Hermione shrugged as she began to eat her salad.
"So should I take Lavender to Puddifoot's?" Ron asked uncertainly.
"I wouldn't unless you're just planning on a good snog," Hermione advised.
"Well I certainly wouldn't mind that," Ron muttered as he shot Lavender a glance out of the corner of his eye.
"No, I wouldn't mind that either," Harry agreed as he glanced at Hannah who was still having a whispered conversation with Susan Bones.
"Do you reckon Lav would get mad if took her straight to the teashop?" Ron asked, giving Harry a curious look
"Don't look at me, I'm as new to this as you are. Hermione is the expert on dating," Harry sniggered.
"Not in the mood, Harry," Hermione said warningly.
"You are rather cranky lately, Hermione," Harry said seriously.
"I know, it's these damn O W.L's they are driving me mad with nerves," Hermione admitted.
"Do you want to go get a calming draught, it may help you relax for a bit," Harry offered.
"No, I've already made plans to relax this weekend. All of my homework is complete, so I won't have to worry about anything until Monday," Hermione explained.
"Good, the last thing we need is you stressing yourself out like in our third year," Harry pointed out as he cleared his plate.
"Where are you rushing off to?" Hermione asked in surprise.
"I have to meet with Wendy, I'll catch you both in the common room," Harry said as he grabbed his bag off of the floor.
"Are you ever going to tell us what you two are up to?" Hermione asked for the dozenth time.
"You'll know soon enough," Harry assured them as he stood up.
"Alright, just don't be late or I'll give you detention with Snape," Hermione threatened.
"Geez, that was a horrible thing to say," Ron muttered as he shot Hermione another look of alarm and subtly scooted away from her.
"Later, you two," Harry said as he made his way out of the hall wondering if he could get away with spiking Hermione's drink with a calming draught at breakfast tomorrow.
Harry arrived in the room to see Tonks blasting training dummies with expluso hexes. Oddly the training dummies seemed to almost immediately reform so she could blast them again.
The most concerning thing was the familiar blond pigtails the training dummies were sporting but Harry decided not to comment.
"Evening Romeo," Tonks said when she noticed him watching her.
"Evening Tonks," Harry smiled as he took off his outer robes.
"Today we are going to work on your speed and accuracy," Tonks said as she indicated the training dummies.
"Alright," Harry said as he drew his wand from his holster.
"We're going to start on speed using the dummies, have you ever played wack-a-mole?" Tonks asked as she lowered her wand and looked over at him.
"No, but I understand the concept," Harry said confidently.
"Good, That's pretty much how this will," Work," Tonks beamed and screwed up her face in concentration.
Harry was brought up short as the floor in the centre of their usual duelling room seemed to blur and five two-foot diameter holes appeared in the floor about thirty feet away from him, each spaced about five feet apart.
"When a dummy appears hit it with a stunning spell," Tonks instructed.
As soon as she said that, a human-sized dummy shot out of the hole to the far right. It popped completely out of the hole in the floor in less than a second but by the time Harry fired it had already disappeared into the hole again.
"You have to be quick," Tonks grinned as the one in the middle sprang out of the floor and Harry fired off a stunner barely missing it.
This turned out to be tremendously difficult as the dummies were only exposed for about three seconds before the next one would pop up. It took many attempts before he started to hit them consistently.
Harry started to get into a rhythm after a while and was soon hitting the dummies every time they popped up until the room reformed so the holes were in different places and further away from him.
"Damn, I was just starting to get the hang of that," Harry grumbled as he fired at a dummy and missed.
"This is supposed to quicken your reflexes, you were getting too familiar with that configuration," Tonks shrugged.
"I get it," Harry sighed as he fired at a dummy that popped out of the floor to his right and missed again.
"Try not to fall into a set pattern and stay fluid," Tonks instructed.
The rest of the evening went in this same fashion and Harry was definitely feeling the pull on his magic towards the end of the night.
"We're going to start doing this at least one night a week, the more you use magic the stronger your core will become. These exercises will increase your stamina so you can fight longer before you feel the effects of magical exhaustion," Tonks explained when the warning bell sounded.
"I'm all for less dodging practice," Harry panted out.
"I'm sure you are but if you start slacking off in dodging drills, I will combine the two exercises," Tonks threatened.
"I won't slack off," Harry promised not wanting to think about how that drill would work out.
"Good, you're getting the physical parts down so now we can start working more on your magic," Tonks said as she changed her appearance to look like Wendy.
"So what are you doing tomorrow?" Harry asked curiously as he pulled on his outer robes.
"I'm going to see mum and dad, and check in at HQ," Tonks shrugged as they stepped out of the room and began making their way down the hall.
"Oh, I wonder if they've started rebuilding the house yet?" Harry mused out loud.
"That's what I'm wondering as well," Tonks said sounding curious.
"So no Hogsmeade for you, then?" Harry asked, feeling somewhat disappointed.
"No, after you blew Sirius off to go on a date with Abbott, he invited me to come by his place tomorrow," Tonks answered as they made it to the staircase.
"I didn't cancel, I just told him I couldn't meet him until later in the afternoon. He was the one who suggested that I meet up with him another time," Harry corrected.
"Whatever, I'll see you in the morning," Tonks said as she started making her way down the steps.
"Okay, good night, Wendy," Harry called after her before hurrying towards the portrait hole.
"You look awfully sweaty," Hermione commented as soon as he joined her and Ron by the fireplace.
"Spell practice, what did I miss?" Harry asked.
"That McClaggen bloke pinched Katie's bum and then she kneed him in the bits," Ron chuckled happily as he looked up from Quidditch Through the Ages.
"Ouch," Harry muttered as he got comfortable before digging through his school bag.
"Then the creep actually had the nerve to ask me to go to Hogsmeade with him," Hermione huffed, sounding furious.
"That wanker. I can slip him a dose of flaming toad if you like," Harry offered as he searched out the bloke in question and saw him flirting with one of Ginny's friends.
"No, not unless you can make the flames come out of his bits," Hermione said with a vicious gleam in her eyes
"I am sure the twins could make that happen," Harry said, involuntarily shuddering at the mental picture.
"I'll keep that in mind," Hermione said thoughtfully before going back to her book.
"You're bloody scary sometimes," Ron said as he looked at Hermione warily.
Ron was really just stating the obvious as Hermione had always had a vengeful side to her.
Harry took out his Transfiguration homework and spent the rest of the evening making small talk as he wrote out his essay and then began the much easier essay for charms on the drying charm (which was a more advanced version of the hot air charm).
As Harry sat there getting all of his homework caught up, the nerves started building in the pit of his stomach when his mind wandered to his plans for tomorrow. He remembered Sirius' advice and it did help a bit.
Sirius had told him that Hannah had already decided to go on a date with him, which meant that she must be interested in him, to begin with. So Harry didn't have to worry about making her like him, all he had to do was not cock it up and do something to change her opinion.
As silly as the advice sounded, it made a lot of senseand Harry had already decided to just go with the flow tomorrow. Today had proven that he got along pretty well with Hannah, so he really had nothing to worry about.
"Harry mate, you alright?" Ron asked pulling him back to earth.
"Yeah, just thinking about tomorrow," Harry sighed as he rolled up his completed charms essay.
"Yeah I get it, I'm a bit nervous too. I think I'm going to head up to bed," Ron said as he stood up.
"Yeah, might as well," Harry agreed as he started packing his things.
"Hermione already left for prefect patrols, by the way," Ron said.
"I pity the poor bastard she catches out of bounds, in the mood she's in," Harry sniggered.
"Too right, she'll probably assign them detention with Snape to shampoo his hair or give Filch a body wax or something," Ron guffawed.
"Ugh, that mental image will give me nightmares," Harry shuddered as they began climbing the stairs to the boy's dormitories.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Ron muttered apologetically before pushing open the door to the dorm.
They crept into the room as the sounds of their sleeping dorm mates could be heard, Neville in particular was snoring quite loudly.
"Night," Ron whispered before disappearing behind the curtain of his four-poster bed.
Ten minutes later as he crawled into bed, Harry couldn't help but feel both excited and anxious about his date tomorrow. He lay there for a bit going over his plan before he was finally able to drift into a restless sleep.
Hogsmeade, 9/22/1995, 11:29
Harry walked through the shops with Hannah's arm looped through his own. They were window shopping, for the most part, walking past storefronts and seeing if anything caught their interest.
The weather was mild this morning with a light wind blowing through making it just chilly enough to require a light jumper. The sky was overcast today but every so often the clouds would part and the sun would bathe them in its warmth for a few fleeting moments. This had the added effect of making Hannah's hair seem to glow in the light giving her an almost angelic appearance.
"So Harry, can I ask you a question?" Hannah asked as they passed Tomes and Scrolls and caught sight of Hermione leaving the shop with an armload of books.
"Yeah?" Harry asked curiously.
"Is it true that you quit the quidditch team?" Hannah asked with undisguised interest.
"Yeah I did. Hopefully it's just for this year so I can study for my exams," Harry admitted.
"So Hufflepuff has a shot of winning the cup this year," Hannah smirked.
"Unfortunately no. Ron's little sister is a very good seeker. According to the rest of the team, she's almost as good as me," Harry chuckled, repeating what Ron said every time he asked.
"Figures, I was thinking of trying out for chaser next year," Hannah said as they passed Zonko's and saw Ron leading a bored-looking Lavender out of the shop.
"Are you any good?" Harry asked as they passed a group of giggling fourth-years.
"Yea, I am. I used to help Heidi practice in our third year and she taught me loads about chaser tactics," Hannah replied as she glanced through the window of Gladrags at a sparkly set of dress robes.
"Heidi, as is Heidi Macavoy?" Harry asked remembering that the Tornado's chaser was on the Hufflepuff team two years ago.
"That's her. Did you know that they talked her into doing a swimsuit photo for Comet brooms last summer?" Hannah giggled.
"Would you hold it against me if I told you I have that poster on the wall of my room at the Tonks' place?" Harry asked in slight embarrassment.
"Maybe a little, but you're a teenage boy and you all think with your other heads anyway," Hannah smirked.
"Well back to quidditch, you probably should try out," Harry said, feeling a bit embarrassed by the knowing look she was giving him.
"I'm thinking about it. I mean if Zacharias can play chaser, then anyone can," Hannah said with an unladylike snort.
"That's the spirit," Harry grinned as they passed the teashop.
"What is it you and Wendy McDonald get up to after dinner every evening?" Hannah asked curiously.
"She's helping me study for my defence practical exams at the moment. Since we aren't doing anything useful in class, we're studying on our own," Harry answered, giving Hannah the answer he and Tonks had discussed.
"Susan and I have been doing something similar. Her aunt is head of the DMLE so she has been tutored quite a bit in defence," Hannah admitted.
"I bet she knows lots of the auror standard spells," Harry said as they neared the Lions Den restaurant.
"She does, don't tell anyone but she actually has a copy of their training textbook," Hannah whispered.
"I won't say a word. Are you ready to eat?" Harry asked.
"Yes, I'm starved. What kind of food do they serve here?" Hannah asked as Harry led her toward the restaurant's entrance.
"To be honest, I have no idea. Sirius said they have a bit of everything," Harry shrugged.
"As long as it's not just the same fare they serve everywhere else," Hannah said hopefully.
The restaurant was a lot less crowded than the other shops in the village. The Lion's Den was near the end of the high street on the road leading towards the mountains. It looked like it was built in the same styling as The Three Broomsticks only it was a single-level building.
Over the front entrance was a wooden sign with a painted picture of a rampant lion, written underneath the lion in gold paint were old English-style letters spelling out, Lion's Den.
"This smells promising," Hannah said as Harry held the door open so she could step inside and the smell of delicious food hit them in the face.
Harry's first thought upon entering was that whoever owned this restaurant was a Gryffindor alumnus. The seating area was carpeted in the same scarlet carpet as the Gryffindor common room. There were about twenty four-seater tables and just as many two-seater tables filling the main dining room. The place was immaculately clean and large windows gave the patrons a spectacular view of the mountains in the distance. The walls were panelled in a light honey-coloured wood and there were beautiful landscape paintings on the walls.
"Can I seat you, sir?" A younger man dressed in a smart set of dress robes asked.
"Yes, a table for two, please," Harry said noting that most of the patrons seated at tables looked to be quite a bit older than Hogwarts students.
"Right this way, please," The man said before leading them to a two-seater table near a window where they could see the castle high upon the cliffs.
"This is much nicer than the pub," Hannah gushed as she looked around.
"I thought this would be a better place for a first date than the pub or that frilly teashop," Harry confessed.
"I had expected you to take me to the teashop, Hermione insisted I try their chocolate cake," Hannah said as the waitress arrived with glasses of ice water and menus.
"Did she?" Harry asked, seeing Hermione smirking at him in his mind's eye.
"Yes, she said it was heavenly," Hannah nodded as she perused the menu.
"Do you know what you want?" Harry asked as he found something that he hadn't eaten since the summer.
"I think so, they really do have a large variety," Hannah said sounding impressed.
Harry would have to agree, they had selections of dishes from different countries Italy, France, Spain, and Greece to name a few. There were also local fares like they had at Hogwarts and even some muggle dishes like cheeseburgers, pizza, and spicy fried chicken.
"Can I take your order?" The waitress asked catching both of their attention.
"Yes, I would like a bacon cheeseburger with a side of fries and an Irn-Bru," Hannah said.
"I'll have the same," Harry said surprised Hannah had chosen that before he could.
"I'll have that out shortly," The waitress said before picking up their menus and leaving to fill their order.
"Do you know how rare it is to find muggle food in the wizarding world?" Hannah asked.
"Yeah, me and Tonks would always have to go to Burger King or KFC to get lunch," Harry admitted.
"I always preferred Micky D's myself," Hannah admitted.
"Have you read the Quibbler articles about muggle fast food restaurants?" Harry asked curiously as Jane (the waitress) set two tall glasses of Irn-Bru in front of them.
"Yes, they are hilarious," Hannah giggled.
"My favourite was the origin of Burger King," Harry admitted.
"I liked Pizza the Hut. The pepperoni conspiracy had me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe," Hannah admitted.
"So what are your plans for after Hogwarts?" Harry asked.
"I want to run my own restaurant," Hannah answered before sipping her drink.
"Really, so you like to cook?" Harry asked as their food arrived.
"I love to cook, it's like making a potion except it doesn't taste awful when you're finished," Hannah said before popping a fry into her mouth.
"Apparently you've never eaten Tonks' cooking," Harry sniggered as Harry lifted the massive burger with both hands.
"Can you cook?" Hannah asked before taking a large bite of her burger.
"A bit, I can make pretty much any breakfast food you can imagine," Harry bragged before taking a bite of his own and audibly groaning, the crispy bacon really complimented the burger.
"Good, when I open my restaurant you can cover the morning shift," Hannah smirked in between bites.
"I didn't say I like to cook, I just said I could cook," Harry pointed out.
"I'm sure I could make it worth your while," Hannah said casually before taking another bite of her burger.
"What do you have in mind?" Harry asked curiously.
"Ten per cent discount on anything you order," Hannah offered in faux seriousness.
"It would have to be at least fifty if I have to get up that early," Harry countered as he finished his burger.
"I'd never make any money if you're eating all of my profits," Hannah argued as she finished her own burger and started on her fries.
"Fair point," Harry nodded as he started on his fries.
"What do you want to do after Hogwarts anyway?" Hannah asked.
"To be honest, I hadn't thought on it much," Harry admitted.
"I always saw you as being an auror or something like that," Hannah mused.
"I had considered that, defence against the dark arts was always my best subject and I do have a knack for attracting trouble," Harry conceded.
"But you're not sure," Hannah said shrewdly.
"Let's just say that the first year in the auror corp is rough," Harry said thinking of all the problems Tonks had this summer.
"Are you about ready for that chocolate cake?" Hannah asked hopefully as she finished her drink.
"Sure but you know it's tainted with lust potion," Harry said as he signalled for the check.
"It's actually an amorous potion, not quite as powerful as a lust potion but it should help us relax for our first snog," Hannah said matter-of-factly.
"L-lead the way," Harry stammered as he put some gold on the table and let his date guide him out of the restaurant.
Thirty minutes later, Harry was seated at a tiny table in the cramped teashop as Hannah dug into her slice of chocolate cake while Harry sipped his tea. Hannah was sitting right beside him and her cheeks were starting to flush.
"Do you want to try some?" Hannah asked offering him a bite of cake on the end of her fork.
"O-okay," Harry said as he opened his mouth and she guided the fork in.
Harry would admit it was an excellent cake, the chocolate icing was so rich and smooth and Harry felt his blood race slightly as he swallowed it, the chocolate flavour still lingering on his tongue.
He didn't know which one of them leaned in first but he was soon kissing Hannah while her hands came around the back of his neck to pull him in closer. The kiss was unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life and made his heart speed up.
His hands came up to gently cup her face as she slid into his lap, she tasted like chocolate and her lips felt heavenly soft against his own. soon her tongue ended up rubbing across his and the kiss became much more heated and desperate. They were both trying to kiss the other as long as possible before they had to pull apart to draw breath but eventually they were forced to sparate and draw in greedy lungfuls of air.
'Maybe the teashop is alright after all,' Harry thought when he felt Hannah wiggle in his lap before she pulled him in for another kiss and Harry stopped thinking about anything except the feel of her lips on his.