Author's Note: Hey guys! This is my first shot at a fanfic, ever. So please, read, review, and be brutal! I appreciate the constructive criticism.
Disclaimer: No matter how much I'd like to own these characters and place mentioned, I don't.

Chapter 1: A Normal Day of Shopping… Or Not

Harry came into Diagon Alley in the morning to look around, see what’s changed since he left Hogwarts, and to visit Fred and George. The only things that were different were the returning of Mr. Ollivander and Florean Fortiscue. Harry stopped in at each place to say how glad he was to have them back in their shops. He also stopped in a few other places to buy other things that he really didn’t need.

He finally came to Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. He went in and found the business to be quite slow, which suited him, just fine. “Hey, Fred,” he said to the closest twin who was restocking the shelves.

“Oh, hey, Harry. Nice to see you,” Fred said as he turned around.

“You too, so how’s business been?”

“It’s been brilliant, really. This is a very rare slow day. Everything gets quite crowded in here close to the beginning of the school year,” Fred answered. He walked back to the counter to alert and oblivious George to Harry’s presence. Fred tapped his twin’s shoulder. George then stuffed a small half-pill in his mouth. “Test of a new product for the Skiving Snackboxes. No name yet, but it’s like sticking invisible earplugs in your ears. The exact opposite of Extendable Ears. They’re excellent for getting rid of the noise of the shop,” Fred explained as George became reacquainted with sound.

“Brilliant to see you, Harry,” George said as he regained all his hearing. “How’ve you been?”

“Great, actually, I got a flat out in London and I’ve got a job as an Auror.”

“But since old Voldy’s gone, it’s been pretty quiet right?” Fred joked. They talked for a while about business and the twin’s products and things of that nature. Then George came up with a new topic.

“So, Harry, you have a girlfriend?” he said. Both the twins then heard him mumble something into his hand. “What’s that mate?”

Harry took a large breath before repeating; “I haven’t had a girlfriend since Ginny.”

“Okay, Fred, pay up,” George said with a smile. “We had a bet going. I said you hadn’t gone out with anyone since her and he said you’d gotten a new girlfriend and were just friends with Gin,” George added as Fred counted out five Galleons into his hand.

“Well, how could I have a new girlfriend when I still have feelings for Ginny?” Harry said, before getting a shocked expression pasted on his face. “Please tell me I didn’t just say that.”

“Don’t worry, mate. We’ve known. We see how you look at her every time you come over,” George said.

“And we can fix it so she’s your girlfriend again,” Fred added. “We came up with this new love potion. It’s a lot stronger and lasts as long as however much you use. All you do is say the name of the person who is giving the potion, you, and give it to Ginny.”

“I can get her back by myself, thanks,” Harry said, looking slightly offended.

“Jeez, mate, it was just an offer,” Fred said.

“I know,” Harry said. “I’m sorry, it’s just I’ve been at my flat for over two weeks without seeing anyone. It makes you forget what it’s like to be around people.”


~*~*~


When Harry got home, he spent hours trying to figure out what he should do. He sat at his kitchen table, trying to eat his untouched breakfast at dinnertime. He paced around his bedroom in confusion. As he thought he could just talk to Ginny on his own, he noticed his hands started shaking at the idea. He started plotting out what he might say and trying it on Hedwig.

“Ginny,” he started. “I’m sorry I ever broke up with you. I want you to know that I still have feelings for you.” He looked at Hedwig who stared back with a blank look. “Ah, you’re right. It’s horrible.” He started just having a normal conversation with his snowy owl. He stopped only when she started hooting, getting hungry. He got her food and sat by her again.

“Owls aren’t really the greatest ones to talk to,” he said, petting Hedwig. “I need to talk to someone who can answer. Someone who knows what they are saying.” Then a thought hit him. “I need to talk to a girl. But I can’t talk to Ginny and Mrs. Weasley would blow it way out of proportion. So who?”

He went through his head, trying to think of all the girls he knew back in school. The only problem was thinking of ones he still kept in touch with. They were limited to the ones he knew closely like Luna and girls from his year. He sat around reciting names and how they could or could not help. There were more cons than pros, though. The whole time, he knew he was forgetting someone, but he couldn’t think of whom. Finally, he realized who it was. He knew she would not only accept the task, but also be perfect for it. He uttered one word in response to his triumph.

“Hermione.”

Author’s Note: I just have t say thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! I really do appreciate it! And to all who are wondering, I will explain the returns of Fortiscue and Ollivander eventually.
Disclaimer: I still don’t happen to own any of this….. except the plot of course.

Chapter 2: Not what it seems

Harry called Hermione up the second he thought of it and asked her to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron the next day around noon. She accepted and didn’t question the urgency in his voice.

The next day, Harry walked into the Leaky Cauldron about an hour before he was supposed to meet Hermione. He ordered a Butterbeer from Tom the barman and found a table in a corner. He drank the Butterbeer while rehearsing what he was going to say to Hermione in his head. He hadn’t realized just how long he was doing it until he heard Hermione approach the table and sit down.

“Hey Harry,” she said. “What’s up? Is something troubling you?” He then went into his prepared speech, only much faster than intended.

“Yesterday I went to Fred and George’s shop and talked to them for a while and they asked me if I had a girlfriend. I told them the truth: I hadn’t had one since Ginny. Turned out, they had bet on just that. Then I realized that I still really like her. But I have no clue how to tell her that I still do. They somehow knew this and offered me a new love potion they’d concocted. I told them I could do it on my own. Then when I got home, I realized I couldn’t do it alone and I knew you’d be able to help, so I called you,” he said, all in one breath.

“Wow,” Hermione said, her eyes slightly widening. “And here I thought you needed help paying the rent.” She gave a small laugh. “But still, Harry, you’re making this into a much bigger deal than you should. You defeated Voldemort; you can ask Ginny to be your girlfriend again. All you need to do is get her alone and ask her. Simple as that.”

“But it’s not simple as that!” Harry exclaimed. “It’s so much more! Voldemort killed my parents, Cedric, Sirius and so many others and it was my job to kill him. But Ginny is just an innocent girl that deserves so much more than she has. She doesn’t deserve a bloke that’s too afraid to ask her out!” He pointed to himself.

“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself!” Hermione said. “She still likes you, too. Even if she’s tried to forget you by getting new boyfriends, she still likes you! Believe me, I still talk to her and don’t run away every time I see her.”

“Well, it’s not like I can talk to her without doing something stupid and embarrassing myself!” Harry said, taking a rather large gulp of his Butterbeer.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “It’s really not that hard. You’re making a mountain out of a simple mole hill.”

“Sure,” Harry said. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re normally the ‘ask-ie’ not the asker. Do you know how nerve-racking it is to be that asker?”

“I’m glad you know that, Potter,” an angry voice said behind him, as Hermione’s eyes widened. “Now, tell me this isn’t what it looks like.”

Harry whirled around to see a heart-broken Ron, trying his best to keep his pride and dignity by not crying. “What do you mean, mate?”

“I had come here to ask the one girl I like, that you knew about, to be my girlfriend and you go and steal her away! Harry, you knew!” Ron yelled, loud enough for the whole room to hear.

“I didn’t ask her hear to ask her out, I asked her here for advice on asking someone else out,” Harry said.

“That’s just what you want me to think.”

“No, Ron I swear it’s true!” Hermione seemed on the verge of crying. “He really only wanted advice!”

“Right, that’s why you two are in here, huddled in a dark corner, grinning from ear to ear at each other and looking like you’re going to snog?” he asked, raising his voice, even though it was hardly possible.

“Ron, don’t you trust us?” Harry said, desperately.

“Not anymore, mate,” Ron said before turning and running out of the Leaky Cauldron.
That was when all hell broke loose for Hermione. She started to cry hysterically and ramble on about how “If I’d known that he was going to ask me that…” and “I’ve liked him since I knew he was jealous of Krum…” as well as others. Harry offered her his Butterbeer and she finished the half that was left in one swig. Harry, who was incredibly depressed that his best friend had lost all faith in him, went to get a refill on his Butterbeer as well and one for Hermione.

“How on earth could this happen? Thank you, Harry. I mean, I’ve liked him, but I thought he’d get up the courage to ask me. Then he finally does and he finds me here, with you, and he thinks we’re going to snog? I mean, you’re like a brother to me, Harry. How could I go around snogging my brother? That’d be like Ron going around snogging Ginny!” Harry shuddered in mid-sip when he heard this and ended up spilling some Butterbeer on his shirt. Hermione inadvertently cast a spell that took the stain out before continuing. “He didn’t even give me a chance to say that I would be his girlfriend. He doesn’t even trust me enough to believe that I’d go out with him!” There was a pause here where she gulped down another half a mug of Butterbeer. She lay her head on the table before uttering, “Oh, could this day get any worse?”

Harry glanced toward the door of the Leaky Cauldron opening to reveal Draco Malfoy. “Oh it’s about to, ‘Mione.”

“Oh look at the new couple. You two are a couple, right? How could you not be without Weasel here? Oh look, the Mudblood’s crying. This couldn’t be mighty Potter’s fault could it?” Malfoy said as he came over.

“Shove off, Malfoy,” Hermione managed to say. “It’s not Harry’s fault, and if you call me a Mudblood one more time, I’ll punch your face out.”

“Ooh, getting defensive are we?”

“Malfoy, I just realized something. They shouldn’t have let you out of Azkaban until you’d gone mad from your hairline receding. But they let your father out just in time for his burial. How’s your mother taking that anyway?” Harry retorted.

“Never ever bring my mother into this,” Malfoy said before storming out.

“Oh,” Hermione said. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”