Disclaimer: I do not own any content relating to Harry Potter. I am strictly a fan fiction writer and do this only for my own enjoyment. I do not make any money from my writing.
Chapter 6: Fast Friends
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger quickly settled into a routine at Potter manor. Hermione was very excited to begin her private lessons with her new tutors and Harry was happy to help her get caught up. They both enjoyed reading quite a bit and most evenings were spent in the library. Frequently the two teens would trade stories about their lives and interests and quickly got to know one another well. It was surprising how many common interests they both shared. Harry took to showing Hermione around the manor some more and even took some evening strolls around the property.
One evening, several weeks later, Harry found Hermione once again in the library. He quickly learned that this was indeed her favorite room in the house, even more than her own room. He asked if Hermione would follow him to his office on the third floor, which is also where the master bedroom was. Hermione nervously agreed and followed him upstairs. She wondered if he was really taking her to his office, but soon relaxed when they passed by his bedroom and turned into the large workplace.
When Harry entered the office, he stood by the right wall, near a large set of red curtains, emblazoned with the crest of the Potter family. Hermione glanced around the room and noticed the large oak desk, with a few scattered books and parchment on it. The other walls were decorated with paintings of a few witches and wizards, though most of them were fast asleep in their frames. A small fireplace and a few comfortable-looking chairs completed the office. Harry cleared his throat lightly and drew Hermione's attention back to him.
"Uh…Hermione, I would like to umm…introduce you to my, umm…parents", the boy stammered. He saw the confused took on her face but decided to simply wave his wand at the curtains and each one slid in an opposite direction to reveal a large painted portrait of a friendly looking witch and wizard. Unlike the other portraits in the office, the people in this one were quite awake and staring at the teens with warm smiles. "I would like you to meet my parents, James and Lily Potter", the boy said, sounding a little surer of himself again.
Hermione gave a wide smile. "It is lovely to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Potter. I am Hermione Granger, a friend of your son's."
"None of this Mr. and Mrs. Potter nonsense, dear. You may call us James and Lily", Harry's mother corrected her. "We are so happy to have you here. Harry has told us so much about you already, it feels like we have known you for a while now!"
Harry blushed profusely. "I haven't told you too much about her!" he tried to correct his mother.
"Sweetheart, you have spent the last three weeks or so going on and on about the girl. It's a wonder that I don't already know her full medical history or her preference of breakfast jams", the painted witch laughed.
Harry turned visibly redder now and sighed rather loudly. "Anyways…my painted parents here, who obviously still have their sense of humor, wanted to meet you, so I thought I would introduce you."
"Well, it is great to meet Harry's parents", Hermione curtsied and smiled at the portrait.
"I trust you are aware that while we are not Harry's actual parents, we do have their personalities and memories, which is at least a comfort to our son, that he could get to know who his parents were", James said, smiling at the teens.
"I am aware of that. The portraits at Hogwarts would sometimes strike up conversations with me, if I was lonely…" Hermione suddenly trailed off. She looked at her feet and shifted a little nervously.
Sensing the girl's obvious shyness, James and Lily quickly changed the conversation and spent the next hour talking to Harry and Hermione about rather trivial topics. By the end of the hour, the group was laughing and joking with each other. Harry and Hermione finally said goodnight to his parents and made their way back downstairs to do a bit more reading before bedtime.
The next morning was a Friday in early July. The sun was shining brightly outside, and Hermione woke to a pleasant thought. Her parents had given her permission to go shopping with Harry today and she was very excited to get to it! She rushed out of bed and ran to her ensuite to brush her teeth. A few minutes later, the excited girl ran down the stairs and entered the kitchen. Harry was seated at the small table and was nibbling at his breakfast pastry and reading the morning's Daily Prophet. He looked up and greeted Hermoine, before instantly blushing profusely, and staring anywhere but at the girl.
Hermione looked confused and was about to question Harry, when she looked down at herself and realized that in her excitement, she had forgotten to change out of her pajamas. She was clearly not wearing a bra underneath her thin night shirt and a couple of fine points had been clearly visible to Harry. Mortified by her risqué appearance, the girl grabbed her chest and ran out of the kitchen with a hastily uttered squeak in her voice.
A half an hour later, Hermione once again appeared in the kitchen, this time dressed appropriately. She was still scarlet red with embarrassment and hurriedly busied herself with eating a few pastries. Harry noticed her awkwardness and smiled.
"Well, I guess we could get going to Diagon Alley as soon as we are finished with breakfast. We could also go to Hogsmeade if you want to", Harry said, looking at Hermione eat her pastry.
"Umm…yes, that would be fine. I suppose there are different shops there, so it might be nice to visit those as well." Hermione was trying to maintain her composure, but she was finding it difficult. She let out a large sigh and set down her breakfast and looked at Harry. "I'm sorry for…well, in my haste to go shopping with you this morning, I uh…forgot to dress appropriately. I know you saw me, well…in my pajamas. It's just that I am used to being comfortable in my own house and my parents aren't really bothered by it when I lounge around in my night clothes." She took a breath and looked down at the table.
Harry noticed her discomfort. "It's fine Hermione. I uh, don't want you to ever feel uncomfortable here. This is your home now too, for as long as you want to stay. So, you should feel free to dress however you want to. I'll admit that I am used to running around the house shirtless most of the time, so I can understand your dilemma."
Hermione smiled and looked back up at Harry. "This is silly, Harry. I don't want you to uh, change your habits in your own home just because I am here now. If you want to, uh, remain shirtless, that will be fine by me."
Harry laughed and shook his head. "How about we make it a new rule? Dress however you want in this house, and we will just be ourselves. No need to be so uptight around each other." Harry thought for a moment. "I've really liked becoming friends with you Hermione and I feel closer to you than I have with almost anyone else, save for Sirius maybe. These last few weeks have been some of the best in my life. I finally feel like I have someone my own age to hang out with and learn about. I don't want us to be uncomfortable with each other. I'm hoping that we can become best friends."
"Harry, you already are my best friend! My only friend. I agree that these last weeks have been amazing. I feel like I already know so much about you and I am comfortable around you, so don't worry about that. I know my dad talked to you before he agreed to let me stay here. I found that to be truly embarrassing, actually. But he forgets that I am 14 already and in just a few years I'll be an adult. Don't worry about my dad or making me uncomfortable. You have been a perfect gentleman and I love spending time with you. I agree with the new house rule. Let's just be ourselves around each other."
A little later in the morning, Harry and Hermione casually strolled around the shops in Diagon Alley. The friends managed to make a sizeable dent in their money bags. Hermoine of course stopped in the bookshop first and surprisingly exited after only an hour, with four new books to add to her collection. Harry dragged Hermione into Quality Quidditch Supplies, to browse the store. Harry quickly learned that Hermione was deathly afraid of flying, which saddened him a bit, especially since he had already bought a new broom for her a few weeks ago. Harry did manage to get Hermione to agree to a couple of flying lessons with him when he made a compelling argument about needing to learn how to fly safely in case, she ever had to use a broom.
With the afternoon arriving before long, the friends decided to apparate to Hogsmeade and continue to shop there. The weather was a bit hot, and the crowd was mainly sticking to the interiors of the shops in an attempt to stay cool. Harry and Hermione were both fitted for a couple of new robes. Hermione had even managed to convince Harry that colors besides all black were not necessarily bad. He walked away with a nice grey robe trimmed with black of course, and a forest green robe trimmed with grey accents. Hermione considered this a win.
The two friends ate a light lunch and then browsed Honeyduke's for their favorite sweets. Harry decided that he was shopped out and begged Hermione to go home. She relented and they made it home after a few seconds.
Harry spent the rest of the afternoon with a very nervous Hermione, teaching her the basics of broom flight. He was careful to go at a slow speed and kept their short flights as close to the ground as possible. Harry flew his broom right next to Hermione's, keeping a close eye on her and helping to keep her steady. She blushed slightly when Harry suddenly grabbed her hips to keep her balanced after a gust of wind made her shake. Hermione thought Harry was being very protective of her and she smiled. She was honestly having a hard time keeping her thoughts on flying after that. Her attraction to Harry was becoming harder to ignore the more time that she spent with him.
That night, Hermione's parents arrived by portkey for their weekly suppertime. The group chatted at the dining room table while Quillby and the other house elves served them fish and chips, one of Hermione's favorite foods.
"Harry took me flying this afternoon", Hermione told her parents, although there was something else in her voice that her mum seemed to catch. Emma gave her daughter an inquisitive look, but Hermione shook her head just slightly.
Robert looked impressed. "Really sweetie? You fly now?" He asked.
"I don't really enjoy it as much as Harry does, but he helped me to learn so I could do it if I had to", Hermione said. Her dad looked at Harry and thanked him for helping his daughter.
After supper, Emma asked Hermione to give her an updated tour of her bedroom, since she hadn't seen it since the first visit. Hermione agreed and the two ladies left the table. Harry and Robert adjourned to the living room and sipped on some whiskey that was served by Quillby. Robert was excited to hear all about flying on a broomstick and what Quidditch was.
As soon as Emma and Hermione entered her bedroom, Emma closed the door. "Ok, spill it" she said, grinning at her daughter.
"Muuuumm", Hermione complained. "Theres nothing to spill!"
"Then why do you look like someone just stole your puppy or something" Emma replied. She knew her daughter all too well. Hermione was definitely hiding something.
The teenage girl flopped face first down onto her large bed and groaned into the pillow. A few moments later, she turned to her side and faced her mum, who sat down on the edge of the bed. Hermione looked to be on the verge of tears. Emma gently rubbed her daughter's arm and waited for the inevitable explanation.
"I…uh. I don't know what umm… what I'm feeling mum." Hermione had a few tears escape her eyes and she wiped them away. "I have never been happier before; these last few weeks have been so amazing! Harry is such a good friend, the kind that I've always wanted. But in the last week or so, whenever I look at him, I'm suddenly torn between seeing him as my new best friend and seeing him as… something else".
Emma nodded her head and continued to rub Hermione's arm soothingly. "I know that feeling sweetie. I had that same one with your dad when we were friends in college. You just seem to have stumbled upon it a lot sooner than I expected. It is normal that you would see Harry as the charming, caring, and selfless boy that he is. I'm so happy that you two have become such fast friends. But you now see those same qualities and can't help wondering if there might be something else there. Am I right?"
Hermione only nodded her head. What her mum said was almost right on the money. She had been seeing Harry as such a kind boy, and so caring about her safety and wellbeing. It didn't help that she found him utterly handsome, even with his unruly hair. "I don't know what to do mum. I don't want to ruin my new friendship with him! It would devastate me to lose the one friend that I have! But I can't stop thinking about him. Even my books aren't helping to distract me anymore!"
"Oh my! That must be aggravating!" Emma giggled.
"Muuuumm, stop! I'm serious!" Hermione groaned. "I don't know what to do anymore! Being here, continuing my education, spending time with Harry. It's all so perfect! But I'm literally going crazy in my mind!"
"Try to slow your mind, Hermione. You tend to overthink things and then stress out when your logical mind can't make sense of your emotions." Emma sat and thought for a minute while continuing to rub Hermione's arm. "Ok…here is what you do, sweetheart. Take each day step-by-step and just be yourself. If you notice any signs from Harry that he might also see you as more than just a friend, try to talk to him about it. But I'll warn you, you'll probably have to be the one to bring up the topic. Boys are notoriously bad at taking hints or initiating conversations that make them a little stressed."
Hermione groaned again but nodded her head. She thought it would be easier to discuss if Harry was the one that brough it up, but then again, she wasn't sure how she would react if he did. Emma and Hermione hugged each other and then collected themselves and went back downstairs to rejoin the guys.
An hour later, the Granger parents said their goodbyes and departed for their own home. Harry told his friend that he planned on getting up early to go for his usual run, so the teens each went to their own rooms to get ready for bed. Hermione got dressed in her pajamas and brushed out her hair. She laid down and extinguished the lights. As she lay in the darkness, her mind went to the conversation that she had had with her mum. She wrestled with what she should do about her feelings towards Harry. Tossing and turning, she struggled with her options. After only an hour, she finally decided on the best course of action. She called her house elf, Bella, into the room and had a brief discussion with her.
Tomorrow will be an interesting day one way or another.