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Making his way to Tomes and Scrolls, Hogsmead's resident bookshop, Harry found his bushy-haired girlfriend waiting on a bench just outside the store, a small paper bag next to her that bore the shop's name on it. She was roughly a quarter of the way through a decently sized book that Harry couldn't make out the title of. Approaching he sat down next to her, and shifted his voice down an octave. "What's a pretty girl like you doing alone in a place like this?" Harry really didn't think the voice he put on was very good, but the joke would be rather funny.
"If you must know, I am waiting for my boyfriend to get here, now if you would kindly leave me alone so I can… Harry!" She started to say angrily, but stopped as she turned to see his face. The frustrated look quickly gave way to a beaming smile as she wrapped her arms around him. "That was mean Harry."
"I dunno, I think it was pretty funny." Harry laughed, tightening their hug. Hermione was not open with more romantic expressions of affection, but she was quite the hugger. "So you already bought something?"
"Oh, yes. I did some light browsing while waiting for you, just of some sections I didn't think you'd have much interest in. More mundane magics. This is a book on knitting charms, since I've been knitting I thought maybe there might be something to make my life a little easier. It seems like magical knitters just enchant the needles themselves to do the knitting, which is a little disappointing." She said, marking her page with a small ribbon in the book and closing it.
"How so?" Harry asked. Knitting seemed like hard work, and required a lot of dexterity, something he wasn't exactly known for.
"While if you need to do it, having the needles knit for you would probably be better, doing it as a hobby… well it takes the fun out of it. I knit when I just want to busy my hands with something to let something else run through my mind, or just to distract myself for a bit. Not holding the needles though, it takes that away." She said, tucking the book into her bag. "There are a few other charms in the book that seem worthwhile though. Permanent dyeing charms, and how to weave a warming spell into the yarn itself. Even a more advanced one that can seamlessly join multiple yarn strands together."
"Sounds useful, but I don't know anything about knitting." Harry said honestly. He knew knitting was Hermione's side hobby, and he had a few pairs of mittens she had made for him over the past couple years.
"Wouldn't expect you to. Now, do you want to go inside?" Hermione asked standing up from her seat.
"Sure." Harry said, taking her hand and being led into the shop. The smell of ink and parchment flooded his nose immediately on entering, and the air felt noticeably dryer in here, a far cry from the constant wet feeling that Scotland seemed to bring. Shelving units liberally littered the establishment, with many tomes contained within. Harry glanced at some of the categories. Each of the Hogwarts subjects were represented, and Harry was of course drawn to the Defense Against the Dark Arts section, Hermione happily followed as he glanced through the titles.
"Looking for anything in particular Harry?" Hermione asked, thumbing through some of the tomes herself. Her hand was currently on a thicker book labeled 'The Art of Warding: Mastering Defensive Spells and Charms', which she pulled out and gave a cursory glance at the back of.
"Not overly, not exactly like there is an 'anti-mass murderer' spell." Harry said with a laugh. He picked up a book labelled as 'Push and Pull: The Offensive Guide to the Summoning and Banishing Charms' "Hmm, this one looks pretty good." Harry said absentmindedly, reading over the back.
Hermione leaned down to see what he had. "That does seem to fit with how you've been training. Why have you been focusing so much on those spells?" She asked, tilting her head a bit.
"I'm not sure, really. They just kind of feel right to use. Maybe it's just because it lets me control how 'lethal' they are. While Dueling is a sport, it is still basically just fighting with rules, people can and do get hurt. Using the summoning and banishing charms lets me incapacitate people effectively without actively hurting them. Flitwick was telling me that many duelists focus on so many offensively minded spells like the flame-throwing charm that they forget to apply more mundane spells to their repertoire, or fail to learn how to counter them." Harry said, continuing his glance over the back of the book. He kept hold of it, it seemed like good reading material.
"Sounds interesting. I've been really enjoying our lessons with you, you're quite the good teacher. Have you thought about maybe teaching Defense or Charms when you graduate?" Hermione asked.
"Thanks, I'm glad you've been liking them. But no, I hadn't really given any thought into being a teacher. Honestly, I kind of want to be a Curse Breaker." Harry said.
"Oh? Why one of those?" Hermione asked. They'd never really had a conversation about their after-graduation plans, having plenty of time to think about it.
"Well, that obstacle course during my first year, that Quirrell made me run? Well, despite how it ended, it was really fun for me. Thinking on my feet and solving those kinds of problems? It was like… I don't know, I was in my element or something. It felt GOOD to do that. Charlie has told me a bit about what Bill does as a curse breaker, and it sounds really cool. Although it always feels weird planning for a future like that." Harry said, shifting a bit on his feet.
"Oh, why's that?" Hermione asked, leaning over him and getting a look at the back of the book he was reading.