More Important Than Any Broomstick [Harmione]

6. Secrets

It was now four days after Hermione's talk with the Headmaster, and she was in Hogsmeade. After some persuasion, Hermione had agreed that Harry should sneak to the village under his invisibility cloak so that they could have their first real date. He took his cloak out of his trunk and covered himself with it. He then quietly snuck past Neville, who was sitting in the common room. When he opened the door, Neville looked in that direction and called out, "Who's there?" eventually walking to the door, looking outside, and shutting it.

When Harry arrived near the one-eyed-witch passage, he noticed Snape standing near it so he waited as quietly as possible for about ten minutes until the greasy git left. After that, he had no problem getting into the passage and then on to Honeydukes. Upon coming upstairs (still under the cloak), he found Hermione browsing the sweets looking rather bored. He figured she had been waiting for a while. He snuck up behind her and tapped her shoulder. She turned around and didn't see anyone. She then put her hands forward to feel him. When she felt his chest, she whispered, "Harry, what took you so long?"

He whispered back, "Snape was standing guard at the passage, so I had to wait for him to leave."

"Do you want to buy anything in here?"

"Yes, let's go to a quiet corner so I can get my money out."

After he'd given her his wallet, figuring it was easier than constantly handing her money, he instructed her to get what he wanted, along with something extra for herself for looking so pretty. She blushed at this but did as she instructed, purchasing a box of sugar quills for herself. They then visited several shops, with Harry whispering instructions to her. After about two hours of this, he had her give him his wallet. He then instructed her to go to the Three Broomsticks in a half hour, order two butterbeers, and get a secluded table. As he was walking away, he heard her whisper, "Does this have something to do with Valentine's Day?"

When Harry, now holding a small bag that contained a wrapped item, entered the pub under his cloak, he quickly scanned the room, quickly spotting his girlfriend, who was sitting in a corner table looking around the room impatiently. He quickly made his way to the seat next to her and whispered, "Sorry I'm late, the shop keeper took a longer time to wrap your gift than I expected." The anger dissolved from her face, being replaced by a smile. She whispered, "May I join you under the cloak?"

When they were through at the Three Broomsticks, they made their way to the Shrieking Shack, both of them under the cloak. When they saw Malfoy and his goons, Harry led them to a nearby spot that was hidden and whispered, "Stay here, Hermione," as he pulled the cloak away from her so that it was just covering him.

"But, you'll get caught," she said, wasting her breath as he was too far away to hear her.

He splattered all three of them with mud that seemed to come from nowhere. Malfoy screamed, "Who's there?" just before his pants fell down, causing him to bend over quickly to pull them back up. Crabbe then fell onto Goyle, and they both rolled into Malfoy, who fell with them. Unfortunately, when Malfoy fell, Harry's cloak got caught just enough to reveal Harry's face. Malfoy looked terrified as he exclaimed, "Potter?" just as mud from a completely different direction hit him square in the back of the head, causing the three Slytherins to run away. Once they were gone, Hermione, whose hands were suspiciously full of mud, came out of her hiding space with a worried look on her face. "Harry, you've got to hurry back to the castle before Malfoy finds a teacher!"

Harry pulled his cloak back over his head and ran as fast as he could back to the castle. He left his cloak in the passage and came out, only to be caught by Snape moments later. After being told led to the dungeon and told Malfoy's story, Harry was told to empty his pockets. This revealed a 'spare piece of parchment' that proceeded to insult Snape when he tried to read it. Snape then called Lupin, who took the map and lectured Harry on how irresponsible he had been, causing Harry to feel worse than Snape ever could make him feel. After he'd spoken to Hermione about it, she agreed with Lupin that they had been foolish. He maintained that he needed to go to Hogsmeade, but his prank on Malfoy was a foolish, unnecessary risk, and it had cost him the Marauders' Map. She didn't entirely agree with his reasoning, but decided to retrieve his cloak anyway.