Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

Erised (Harry Potter)

The burrow was, per usual, a hive of activity. The Weasleys had opened their home to Hermione, Harry and me so that it would be easier for us to go to King's Cross in the morning. Mrs Weasley was bustling around the house to try and make sure that everyone had everything they needed and I decided that rather than standing in her way it would be better for me to spend some time outside. Besides, it was sunny outside and I could use the fresh air.

Walking out of the burrow my eyes scanned over the garden, looking for some shade. There, under the shade of the tree, was Hermione with a book perched on her lap. I made my way over to her.

"Hey," I said once I was beside her. She looked up at me from the book in her lap.

"Hi," she said, placing a bookmark to mark her place and she closed the book, setting it aside. I sat down cross legged besides her, waiting for her to speak. "How are-"

Her words were cut off as the twins ran past the two of us, identical mischievous smirks etched onto their faces as they let out roars of laughter. They turned back to look over their shoulder to spot the furious look on Ron's face as he followed shortly after them chasing his older brothers around the garden. I laughed as I watched Ron attempt to tackle both of the twins to the ground at the same time. Hermione let out a slight laugh and tried to smother it with her hand when both twins dodged his attempt at a tackle and Ron found himself sprawled across the floor.

At the sound of approaching footsteps I looked away from the twins and towards the sound. Harry headed towards the two of us and I looked up at him, squinting slightly against the glare of the sun. When he was near us I felt the usual butterflies fill my stomach, just like they always did whenever Harry was near. But unfortunately for me, Harry was almost always near.

Harry smiled down at me before sitting down beside us. He tucked his legs underneath him and I took the opportunity to study his smile. It wasn't his regular smile; the one that was innocent and so full of happiness. Instead this one was sly as if being around the twins had finally rubbed off on him.

"Alright," I muttered facing him with a slight sigh, "What do you know?"

"About what?"

"What else?" I asked waving a hand in the direction of the three still brawling Weasley boys.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he protested with an innocent shake of his head.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Harry glanced around slowly as if scanning the area for a threat and then moved closer towards me so that he could lean over to whisper in my ear. I squashed the urge to blush, catching sight of Hermione's knowing smile as she picked up her discarded book to pretend to read. I knew that she was actually listening in to the two of us. Her smile, almost a smirk, could have belonged to Malfoy.

"Well," he whispered quietly, "I might have helped the twins sneak into Ron's room so that they could set up a prank." He pulled back to regain some distance between us.

"Why?"

He shrugged lazily, "I was bored."

I rolled my eyes at him and watched as Hermione stood up, abandoning her pretence of reading her book. She brushed off her trouser and muttered under her breath, "Honestly Ronald."

She let out a sigh and walked over towards the three squabbling boys. The boys caught sight of her approaching figure and froze. It suddenly became eerily quiet as the twins exchanged frightened looks and dropped Ron to the ground. Ron scrambled to his feet and turned to look furiously at the twins. When Hermione had made her way over to the boys, Ron finally noticed her and turned red.