Harry and Hermione: Meant to Be

Chapter 1: Good Morning

"Harry? Harry, wake up, Harry!"

Harry woke up with a jolt, sweating. The green flashes had disappeared. He was back in the burrow. He could see Hermione standing over him with a worried look on her face. Next to her was Ron, looking at him a little concerned. Hermione took his hand into hers as she sat down on the side of his bed. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," said Harry, who was wiping the sweat off his forehead. He sat up, reached for his glasses, and slid them on. "Just had a little nightmare. Anyways, when did you get here, Hermione?"

"Last night, you had just fallen asleep when I came in. Anyways, that's not what's important right now. Harry, you keep having these nightmares. Ron says you were muttering in your sleep all night." Hermione said, as she grasped his hand more firmly. Harry looked around at Ron, who nodded in agreement.

"It's true, mate. I woke up almost an hour ago, because you wouldn't stop. You said something about a guest...a caretaker. And a snake, talking to someone. There was Wormtail, too." Ron added, and Hermione grasped Harry's hand even harder. "But, seeing as you've woken up, I'm going back to sleep." With that, Ron fell back in his bed and dozed off.

"Ron! Wake up, you can't go back to sleep now! Your father says we're all going somewhere. Ron, breakfast is ready, come on!" Hermione grabbed Harry's water bottle, which was sitting by his bed, and spilled it over Ron's face.

"Blimey, Hermione, what was that for?" Ron said, sitting up again. "Alright, fine, I'm getting up." He yawned and stood up to go to the showers. After Ron had left the room, Hermione looked back at Harry and sat down next to him again.

"Harry, you've got to find a way to make these nightmares stop. You're losing so much sleep over them."

"Hermione, I'm fine, what's wrong with a couple of dreams?" Harry said. "Anyways, I've got to get up. I can smell Mrs. Weasley's breakfast from all the way up here." He stood up, and Hermione stood up with him. She pulled him in for a hug, and Harry let her, enjoying her warmth. He put his arms around her, and they stood like that for a minute, before Hermione finally pulled away.

"Just be careful, Harry." she said, as she kissed his forehead. She then walked out of the room, and back downstairs. Harry placed his fingers on the spot on which she kissed him, and smiled. Then he picked up his wand, his already packed rucksack, sweatshirt, and now empty water bottle, and walked downstairs, where he refilled the water bottle and brushed his teeth in the bathroom. He then walked into the dining room, where everyone was eating breakfast. 

"Harry, my boy! How good to see you!" Said Mr. Weasley. Harry smiled and greeted him back. Suddenly something hit his back. He turned around, and found Fred patting him on the back. George shook his shoulder violently.

"Hey Harry, good morning!" They both said in unison. 

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Harry replied.

"Usual, you know, working on our puking pastilles." George said. "We've now decreased the reaction time of it, so there's a quicker effect with the orange side, and a quicker recovery with the purple."

"Hey, check it out, we've also made a fake version of your wand." Fred said, pulling out a very convincing replica of Harry's wand. Harry took it, and smiled as he looked it over. It would look exactly like his to anyone else, but Harry noticed a few very minor flaws, as he knew his own wand the best. Nevertheless, he was very impressed.

"You guys are going to make a fortune with these."

After another minute of talking to the Weasleys, Harry took a seat next to Hermione, who smiled at him. They talked for a minute of the upcoming year. Harry couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked. Her face was pleasant and pretty, and her hair looked as cute as ever. Her eyes glistened at him, and he started to feel warmer inside.

Ron came down a few minutes later, still looking very tired. He sat down on the other side of Harry and started to drink some orange juice. "Do you know where we're going?" He asked. 

"Uh, no." Harry said. 

Hermione talked with Ginny for the rest of the time, and she walked out to the living room one she was done. Ginny went up to her room to make sure she had everything her dad asked her to bring. Harry quickly finished his breakfast and walked out the door to the living room. Hermione was sitting on a couch, reading Hogwarts: A History . "Oh, hey Harry. What's up?" She asked as he walked in. Harry walked over and sat down next to her. 

"Reading this again?" he asked, giving a small laugh. She playfully hit him on the head with the book, and kept reading.

"It's a good book, Harry. You should read it sometime."

"Why do I need to read about it when I can just ask you about it? You've read it, like, 20 times."

"Oh, shut up." She said, and hit him again. They sat there and talked for a while, as Harry enjoyed every second of her company. Harry worked up the courage to tell her she had really pretty eyes, and she blushed, putting down the book and thanking him.

Ron finished a while later, and he came into the living room. He and Harry played wizard's chess for a bit until Mr. Weasley yelled, "Time to go!"

Harry pulled on his sweatshirt and shoes, and walked out the door, followed by Hermione and all the Weasleys except for Bill, Charlie, and Percy, who would be apparating later, and Mrs. Weasley, who was not coming. Harry had no idea where they were going to go, but he didn't care. He just wanted to go somewhere interesting. The air was a little chilly, and the sticks and leaves crunched under his feet as they started off.

"Hey dad, where are we going?" Ron yelled as he walked beside Harry.

"Haven't the foggiest, keep up now!" Mr. Weasley yelled back as they kept going. Ron and Harry talked about where Mr. Weasley might take them. Ron thought they were going on a hike, but Harry thought they might be going to some sort of an event. They bet 10 sickles on it, and kept walking. After a couple of minutes, Mr. Weasley stopped by a big tree. 

"Amos, my old friend, how are you?" He said, and hugged a man who was chuckling with joy. Mr. Weasley introduced them to Amos Diggory. A second later, a tall kid wearing a yellow jacket jumped down from the tree. Harry recognized the teen as Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Quidditch team's seeker. Hermione and Ginny giggled, and blushed as they shook Cedric's hand. Harry felt a twinge of jealousy, watching Hermione talk to him.

All of them kept walking, until they came to a clearing. There was a hill there, and on the hill, Harry saw an old boot sitting there. Everyone walked towards it, knelt down, and put a hand on it.

"What are we all doing around a manky old boot?" Harry asked.

"That's not just any manky old boot, mate." Fred said. "That's a portkey."