The Mistaken Connection

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙴𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

A friendly silence encompassed Harry and Hermione as they took a peek around Diagon Alley. They'd converted more than enough money from Gringotts and agreed to end the day at the exit of the alley, but they still had time to enjoy. They waded through the magical crowd and awed at the few buildings under magical construction, crowds gathered to build it. They bounded from place to place, all the while staying on a vague path towards the exit of the alley. When they finally made it, they turned to face one another.

Harry smiled and embraced Hermione before she'd even turned around, giving her little time to react before they were hugging. She laughed into his shoulder and grasped him back, the warmth between them but a pliant friendship. When they reeled back, Harry was tempted to just hug her forever. Hermione was a comfort person to him and he felt no ill feeling about staying by her side for the rest of their lives.

"We should do this again sometime, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, a smile curving the features of her face. "Maybe when you go shopping for school? I still have things to get."

"Of course, consider it done," Harry nodded and grinned. He winked as he added, "Tell Ron to come along next time too." With one last laugh and hug, Hermione ruffled the top of his head before seriousness overtook her expression.

"Just one last thing: please don't worry over Malfoy. I know you would love nothing more than to mull over every little frame of what he and his motley crew said and did today; but could you promise me that you'll put it aside and get some well deserved rest, at least for tonight?"

Harry felt his cheeks heat up at her attentiveness, or at his own obviousness. "I promise to get some sleep tonight," he nodded, appreciative of her concern. "I didn't escape the Dursleys just to bear my schedule the same." This seemed to satisfy his concerned friend. With this, they exchanged heartfelt goodbyes and promises of seeing each other soon. Harry watched Hermione walk back into Diagon Alley, happy that he had gotten to spend the day with her. Hours had passed more rapidly than he'd realized and darkness was a quickly threatening promise. He pressed a cold hand into the soft fluff of his hair, stirring it from its rest, before he turned back and shuffled out of the alley's exit.

"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed seconds after the door slammed behind Harry, smiling like he'd not seen him just hours ago. "It's so late!"

Harry leaned into Sirius's hand as it ruffled through his hair endearingly, an empty voice noting how often people did that in the back of his head. "Yes, I'm sorry. I would've been back sooner but Hermione and I lost track of the time."

Sirius' playful scowl at the mention of Hermione was laughable. Apparently, he liked to pretend he still held a grudge against her from her bad mouthing him in third year. Harry rolled his eyes at the idea, putting it very past his godfather to hold onto a grudge against Hermione. "Next time you see Hermione, tell her I say hello," Remus chimed in from his seat in the living room, a book flapped open in his lap. Harry was shocked by the stark difference just a few hours had caused: before he left, Sirius and Remus couldn't stand to sit within the same air bubble as one another. Now, Remus didn't even nitpick Sirius as he quietly played an American punk-rock band to fill the silence.

"I'll let her know. You guys seem better," he noted as an afterthought, eyes darted downward to portray a sort of nonchalance that he wouldn't consider genuine.

Remus didn't even look up from his book as Sirius wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders to steer him from the room. "Happens more often than you'd think, these kinds of fights. You'll pick at the topic in school, I reckon, but they won't dive in too deep. It makes the teachers a little uncomfortable when dealing with a lot of minors, I guess." That was certainly one of the strangest things Harry'd heard that week, especially since Sirius' face clearly suggested he wasn't explaining further nor giving any other sort of context. Harry decided to play dumb, unmotivated to bring up the topic again.