Harry fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, let's just get the textbooks and we can discuss this back at home." Hermione nodded in agreement, and dragged her shocked parents out of the bank. Harry followed closely behind.
They made their way to Flourish & Blott's, where Hermione expertly navigated the huge stacks of books around the store. She practically dove into a large, old stack of books at the back of the store, rummaging around for several minutes before coming up with several books: Mild Mental Meditations, Safely Stowing Secrets: Locking Your Mind, and Intruder Beware: Mental Snares. "These are books to help us learn Occlumency, Harry." She shoved them into his arms, and quickly ran back to another stack of books. After another few minutes, she had picked out Trust and Truth: Know Your Enemies and Detecting Deceit. "And these ones are for Legilimency." She stacked them on top of the ones Harry was already holding, and then rushed off to another part of the store. She was much quicker this time, as this section was neatly organized into shelves. She pulled out Your Inner Animal: The Path to the Animagusand Bring out the Beast . "And we can learn to be Animagi as well! These were the books that Sirius recommended. Is there anything else?"
Harry didn't quite want to carry many more books, but he did have one thing he wanted to read over the summer. "Are there any good books on duelling, Hermione?" So far, in every fight, he had been relying purely on instinct. He knew he would have to actually know what he was doing, even if he couldn't actually practice during the summer.
"Oh, of course!" Once again, Hermione was off like a shot to another corner of the store, and returned with The Dueller's Arsenal I: Fundamentals of Fighting and The Dueller's Arsenal II: Speedy Spellcasting and Cunning Combinations. "That should be enough reading for summer, right, Harry?"
Harry was nearly losing his balance with the stack of texts, and his arms were getting very tired. How did Hermione do this? Lightening charms? But if she had been like this even before discovering she was a witch... well, that explained where she got her exercise. They made their way to the front counter, where Mr. Blotts eyed them curiously while ringing up the books. "Four Galleons and ten Sickles, please." Harry paid for them all, and Hermione shoved the books into Harry's trunk, since hers was full of books already.
After they were done, they went over to Eeylops, where Hedwig was waiting for them. Harry ran inside to quickly buy some own treats, as well as some owl care products like feather wash and a talon file. He immediately gave Hedwig a handful of treats when he got back outside. He asked Hedwig, "Would you rather ride with us in the car, or fly to Hermione's house on your own?" With a dignified hoot in response, Hedwig took off.
Upon exiting Diagon Alley, Hermione's parents led the way to their car, which was a fairly large, comfortable Mercedes. Harry and Hermione jumped into the back seat. Feeling tired from their day of endless activity, they were already asleep before they even left London.
Upon their arrival in Southampton, Mrs. Granger smiled at the pair. The two of them seemed to have gravitated towards each other in their sleep and were leaning across the center seat. Hermione's head was resting on Harry's shoulder. "Dan! Look at this! Aren't they simply adorable?"
Dan Granger would have agreed if, say, Harry was his own son. But Harry wasn't. Harry was a boy his dear little Hermione had brought back home with her. He was a boy she seemed to enjoy holding hands with very much- and he seemed to enjoy it just as much. He couldn't let himself agree that they did, in fact, look absolutely adorable, or else he'd be going easy on Harry, and he certainly couldn't do that.
"Don't wake them... let me get the camera first!" whispered Emma. She dashed into the house, bringing back the camera and clambered quietly into the front seat of the car. Holding the camera right in front of the two children, she snapped a perfect photo. The flash woke the two of them up.
"Mum! What did you do that for?" Hermione cried.
"You two looked so cute! I couldn't resist. I'm adding this one to the photo album for sure." Emma grinned and ran back into the house. Hermione chased after her, leaving Harry staring at Dan.
"Come on, Harry, let's move these trunks inside," said Dan. Harry obediently grabbed the trunks and unloaded them from the car. Dan took Hermione's in, while Harry dragged his own towards the house. Looking around, he could tell he was in a much more affluent neighbourhood than the Dursleys'. The houses were much larger and many of them had well-trimmed hedges surrounding the yards. As he walked up to the front door, he noticed that the Grangers also kept their lawn neatly trimmed and weed-free. Hermione greeted Harry right when he stepped inside.
"Harry! Follow me! I'll show you around!" Hermione led Harry around her house, first pointing out the need-to-know rooms: bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, and the guest room where he would be staying. Right across the hall was Hermione's room. She seemed a little hesitant to show Harry inside, but relented when he gave his promise not to laugh. Harry was unsure of what she could be embarrassed about. As expected, inside her room was her bed, a large desk, several bookshelves full of books, a large, padded basket for Crookshanks to sleep in, and... teddy bears?
Harry was somewhat surprised and relieved to see Hermione's girly side express itself in her room. I wonder if she likes hugging her teddy bears a lot, Harry speculated. Maybe that's why she likes giving hugs so much. He grinned at Hermione. "That's a nice collection of teddy bears you've got there."
Hermione put her hands on her hips, and said with some annoyance, "Harry! You promised you wouldn't laugh!"
Harry replied with a perfectly straight face, "I'm not laughing, Hermione! I like this side of you. I think it's... cute."
"You... do? Really?"
"Yeah. I'm glad you let me know you better, Hermione. It means a lot to me. Can I... hold one of your bears?"
Hermione boggled at the idea of a teenage boy wanting to play with one of her teddy bears. "Um... sure, Harry... but why?"
"Well... I heard a lot about them, but I never had one when I was growing up, so I just wanted to know what it feels like to hold one of them," Harry answered, rather embarrassed.
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