QUICK FIC: Everyone Wants Harry Part 28: Words and Actions (Harry Potter)

Summary: Harry and Susan enjoy the rest of their Hogsmeade date.

The four of them had remained together for a bit, walking around the village and chatting before going to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. By the time they’d finished lunch, Hermione and Hannah didn’t need to check with Harry and Susan on whether they wanted to spend the rest of their Hogsmeade date on their own. Their comfort level with each other was obvious by then, and they’d honestly barely been talking to either of their friends by the end of lunch. Having their friends with them to start had made it easier for them to get comfortable, and Hermione and Hannah were there to provide topics of conversation that helped steer them out of any potential awkward silences as they got to know more about each other. Susan had been watching him plenty over the years, by her own admission, but Harry got to know the beautiful redheaded Hufflepuff girl much better throughout the day, beyond just her physical attractiveness, her kindness, and the feelings for him that she’d been harboring for years without him ever noticing.

Her sweetness had already been apparent, but Harry loved seeing how excited she got when they talked about something that was of interest to her. The shyness went away, and her eyes lit up as she talked about the love of baking her mother passed down to her and memories of recipes they'd made together or told him stories about her aunt’s heroism that had inspired her.

He could tell how much she admired her aunt, and Susan looking at him with much the same look in her eye when they talked about a few of the things he’d taught her and the others in Dumbledore’s Army was a humbling feeling for him. He was used to people treating him differently or looking at him like he was someone special, especially now that he’d beaten Voldemort for good and ended the war. But there was a sincerity in Susan’s eyes that meant so much more to him than the simple hero worship that was more common than ever from so many others now. She knew what true heroism was. She’d grown up with a model example of heroism in her life, and she seemed to hold him in similar regard.

Lunch in The Three Broomsticks was long behind them now, and they were walking around the village hand in hand, ignoring anyone who stared at them or pointed in their direction. They browsed a few shops together, and Harry bought her a few sweets from Honeydukes, but mostly, they just talked and enjoyed each other's company. Harry barely even noticed anyone else in the shops or around the village at this point. He was having far too pleasant a day with Susan, getting to see her true earnest and kind personality shine through once she got over her shyness.

He was enjoying listening to her talk about her family, but she stopped speaking suddenly, cutting off her own story right in the middle of describing how she and her younger brother used to try and sneak into their aunt’s home office and catch her off-guard while she was working at home. Harry took a quick glance around them to make sure that she hadn’t seen something that threw her off. Since he didn’t see anything beyond the usual curious gazes they’d been attracting all day, he wasn’t sure why she’d trailed off mid-story.

“Something wrong, Susan?” he asked gently. “Did the story trigger a bad memory or something?” That would be understandable, given how much her aunt meant to her and how she died.

“No, it’s not that,” Susan said, shaking her head. She blushed slightly. “I just realized I’ve been talking about myself far too much. I’m sorry.”

“You definitely don’t need to apologize for that.” Harry squeezed Susan’s hand, and she turned her head to look at him while biting her lip. He instantly felt a powerful urge to kiss her but resisted it, at least for now. "I like getting to know you better." Prior to today, he hadn't even known that she had a younger brother, a 2nd year in Ravenclaw, who she seemed fiercely protective of.

“Your stories are much more interesting, I’m sure,” Susan said, smiling slightly and looking ahead as they continued to walk through Hogsmeade. “Why would you want to hear about two children playing auror with their aunt when you’d already fought a troll and stopped Professor Quirrell by then.” Susan glanced at him again. “I’ve always been curious about what really happened there. We all heard stories back then, but it was hard to know what was real and what wasn’t.” She laughed. “But I guess that’s always been true with you and all of your adventures.”

“They usually weren’t as cool as the rumors probably made them out to be," Harry said. Fighting a troll by jumping on its back and accidentally sticking your wand up its nose wasn't exactly something out of a storybook, and it was his mum's protection that had really stopped Quirrell in the end. Mostly, he’d stumbled his way through that and made it up as he went along. What would Susan think if he told her as much?

“Were they as strange as the rumors about them?” Susan asked. They were gradually making their way toward the main entrance of the village, walking the path that would take them back to the castle, but Harry found that his steps were slowing, as he wasn’t ready for their date to be over just yet. Susan’s pace slowed to match his, so she may have felt the same way.

“Honestly?” Harry shrugged. “Most of the time, yeah. And even stranger, sometimes.” Susan laughed again. “I can tell you all about them some other time if you want. But personally, I’m glad we didn’t spend the whole afternoon talking about Voldemort, Death Eaters, trolls, or dragons. I was loads more interested in learning about you, Susan.”

“Surely I’m not that interesting,” she said, chuckling somewhat awkwardly as her cheeks went pink again.

“You are,” Harry said. “I’ve had a great time with you today. Thanks for coming with me.”

“Thank you for asking,” she whispered. “I didn’t expect anything to happen when I told you how I felt, other than maybe you letting me down as kindly as you could.” Susan shook her head and exhaled. “I didn’t dare hope that you’d ask me to Hogsmeade when you had so many other girls to choose from—girls with so much more experience to offer.”

"I didn't choose any of them," Harry said. "I wanted to come with you and get to know you better. And I'm glad that I did." Harry pulled them to a stop, turned Susan to face him, and held both of her hands in his. "I don't know where any of this is headed. You know how crazy my personal life is right now." Susan nodded; it had been her who let him know that she and others had been able to hear him going at it with Parvati and Lavender when the silencing charms weren't up on his room in the dorm at night.

“Yes, of course,” Susan said quietly. “You’ll have big decisions to make by the time we take our NEWTs.”

“I will,” he said. “And I’m not going to lie to you and pretend that my mind is made up on who I’m going to propose to by then. I’m not going to tell you I love you, either; it’s way too early to know, and I don’t want to say it unless I mean it.” He tightened his hold on her hands and looked into her eyes, hoping that she could tell that he was trying to be just as sincere with her as she had been with him when she confessed her feelings to him. “But I will tell you that I loved walking around Hogsmeade with you today. I hope today isn’t going to be our last chance to spend time together like this.” Susan immediately shook her head as if assuring him that it wouldn’t be. “But no matter what happens from here, I’m always going to smile when I remember today.”

“So am I,” Susan whispered. They stared into each other’s eyes silently for a few seconds, but the spell was broken when she suddenly laughed and shook her head. “To think Hermione said that you were always better with actions than with words!”

“My words are getting a little better, I hope,” Harry said, grinning at her. “Couldn’t have gone anywhere but up compared to my disaster of a Hogsmeade date with Cho Chang. But I reckon Hermione’s probably still right. I’ve always been better at expressing myself through what I do, rather than what I say.”

Deciding to put the truth in those words, Harry let go of Susan's hands, grabbed her by the waist, and leaned his head in slowly, moving in for a kiss. He gave her time to back away, but her hands instead came up to rest on his shoulders, and her lips met his.

Harry’s 8th year at Hogwarts had been memorable, explicit, and sexually-charged literally from the time he got on the train on September 1st, and it hadn’t settled down at all since. But even with how wild his sex life had been so far this year, sharing a chaste yet passionate kiss with Susan Bones on the way back from Hogsmeade was one of the very best memories he’d made all term.

What happens after Harry and Susan return to the castle? (multiple choice)