The remainder of Harry's birthday went by rather uneventfully, and he started thinking about his upcoming date with Hermione very soon. What movie should they go to? He did not know which type of movie she would be really interested in, but he had a hunch that she might like a girly movie… something romantic, maybe?

"Hermione?"

It was a few days after Harry's birthday, and with the end of summer getting ever closer, he decided it was better to go sooner rather than later.

"I went to the movie theatre this morning to check what movies they are playing. I didn't really know which one you would prefer, so I took a guess…"

"Oh, Harry, anything you choose is good enough for me! You should not have worried about that. But what movie did you pick?"

"Well, it's called Emma. I didn't know which movie genre you preferred, so as I said, I had to guess… it's supposed to be a romance comedy."

"Oh Harry, that's perfect! I really like romance comedies."

Harry uttered an inner sigh of relief.

"When are we going?"

"Tonight!" Harry responded.

"That's great!" Hermione said, closing the distance and hugging him. "I can't wait!"

She darted outside.

"Me neither…" Harry whispered.

(…)

Their duelling training went really well that day. Harry noticed that both Hermione's and his own spells were getting stronger. He wondered if they should bring back the D.A. once they were back at Hogwarts. With Voldemort's resurrection out in the open now, they might need their Defence lessons more than ever - and Harry really hoped that Dumbledore would manage to find a capable teacher this time around.

Before they knew it, it was time to get ready for the movie night. Harry was the first to take a shower and went to the room afterwards, so he could get into some comfortable clothes while Hermione was in the shower.

It seemed to take quite a long time for Hermione to get ready, however, so he moved downstairs. He found Dudley outside.

"Hey Dud."

"Harry."

"Where are Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia?"

"They are out on some dinner with a guy who wants to invest in Dad's company. They should be back in a few hours, I think."

"Well, then you'll have the house to yourself tonight. Hermione and me are going to the movie theatre."

"Oooooh, are you going out on a date?" Dudley said in a taunting voice, grinning.

"Shut up," Harry said, although he couldn't stop a small grin appearing on his face.

"Well, in any case, have fun. I'm just going to enjoy the good weather out here while it's still light. Might put on a movie myself once it's dark."

Harry nodded.

The two cousins sat together in silence for a while, enjoying the early evening sun. Harry checked his watch… almost 8 PM. The movie started in about half an hour.

"I wonder what's taking her so long?" Harry said.

"That's just how girls are, cousin. They always take loads of time to prepare for this sort of stuff, don't you know that?"

"Well, I don't really have a lot of experience with girls…"

"Do you even have any experience?"

Harry glared at his cousin. "Of course!"

Dudley raised his eyebrows.

"You see, there was this girl that I really liked for the past two years… we kissed last Christmas, but nothing came of it."

Dudley let out a whistle. "What went wrong?"

"Well, I really liked her, but she really struggled with some personal issues… and we kind of grew apart after that. We had one date on Valentine's Day, but that didn't really go well."

"What happened?"

"Well, to start off, she dragged me to this tea shop that made me feel very uncomfortable. Couples everywhere, everyone was kissing, I didn't like it at all. And I also had an appointment with Hermione later that day, so I told this girl that I needed to see Hermione afterwards and that she could come with me if she wanted to. And she did not like that. She didn't like that at all."

Dudley's grin grew even bigger. "You're so stupid."

Harry frowned. "Am I?"

"Yeah. You're so into Hermione, I think you have been for some time. And up until now, I think you've been denial."

"Maybe I was, subconsciously. I don't know…"

The cousins grew silent again. Until, a few minutes later…

"Harry, are you ready to go?"

"Sure, Her-"

Harry had spun around when he heard her voice, but he found it difficult to talk once he saw her.

Hermione's clothes weren't anything out of the ordinary - it was just that she looked so good in them. She wore a black skirt, a grey top and stockings, and a pair of blue ballerinas, the same shade of blue as her Yule Ball dress.

"Everything all right, Harry?" she said with an amused smile.

"Yeah, sure…" Harry said, slowly coming out of his stupor. "Let's go. See you later, Dud."

"Bye guys, have fun!" Dudley said, shooting Harry and Hermione a cheeky grin as he watched them leave.

Once they were out of the front door, Harry offered her his arm, which Hermione gladly took as they made their way towards the movie theatre.

"Are you excited, Hermione?"

Hermione looked at him with a twinkle in her eyes. "Of course! This is going to be so much fun!"

They arrived at the movie theatre about fifteen minutes later and took their seats. They were almost near the back of the room.

"Do you know that this is actually the first time I've been in a movie theatre?" Harry asked.

"No, I didn't know that. But on the other hand, I can't say I'm surprised…" she said, while squeezing his hand.

The movie started. Harry didn't know when it happened, as he was focused on the big screen in front of him, but he suddenly realized that Hermione's head was resting on his shoulder. When he moved to rest his own head against hers a little while later, he also didn't realize…

(…)

"So Harry, what did you think of it?" Hermione said about two hours later, when they left the movie theatre.

"Very special. Now I understand why everyone loves to go to the movie theatre every once in a while," he said with a smirk. "Are you okay, Hermione?"

"Yeah. I just wish I'd brought a coat or something, because it's a bit cold once the night has fallen…"

"Well, aren't you lucky that I brought a jacket? Here, take it."

Harry unfolded his own jacket and put it over Hermione's shoulders. He put his arm around her.

"Better?"

"Yes, definitely," she said, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Let's go."

A few minutes later, they passed a small park with a pond, which Harry remembered well: he had passed it a few times during his strolls last summer. Hermione started to steer them towards it. Not wanting to go home just yet, Harry followed suit. Once they reached the pond, they sat down on the edge.

"I love parks at night, it has something special…" Hermione said. Harry still had his arm draped around her shoulders.

"Yeah, it's nice. The Hogwarts grounds also have something special at night."

"Agreed. Do you remember when we were riding Buckbeak? I was so scared, but on the other hand, the sights were beautiful…"

"How could I forget… that night was amazing. Maybe our biggest adventure yet."

"It could be. But then again, we've had so many adventures already."

"As long as I can share them with you, I'd like to have a few more," Harry said.

"That's sweet," Hermione answered.

Harry's throat had gone dry again. Hermione's eyes were now piercing his own, and he knew that look. It was the same one when she was determined to find the answer to a particularly difficult question. He inched forward, and she did the same… moments later, their lips touched.

It was unlike anything Harry had experienced before. Sure, he had kissed Cho, but this… nothing in his entire life had felt so right. Or fantastic, for that matter. He didn't know how long they had been kissing when they pulled apart, but something told him it had been quite a long time - and he wanted to do it again.

Hermione grinned at him. The only response Harry could think of was grinning back at her as they both lowered their heads onto the grass, hands intertwined. They broke eye contact for the first time in ages as they looked up towards the moon and the star-filled indigo sky.

"This is the most perfect night ever…" Harry whispered.

"Agreed," Hermione said, squeezing his hand in affirmation. "Let's stay here for a little while longer, I don't want this night to end yet."

"Me neither. But we will get more nights after this one, so don't worry."

Hermione looked over to him with the most brilliant smile he had ever seen. "I love you, Harry."

"I love you too, Hermione."

They fell silent, enjoying each other's company while they stared at the brilliant night sky. For the first time ever, Harry felt like a normal teenage boy. Any thoughts about Voldemort, the prophecy and even Sirius were far away, his mind completely focused on the girl next to him.

"I can't believe we've never done this before," Hermione said.

"What, kissing?"

"No, silly," Hermione giggled. "Just going out on a beautiful night like this, watching the sky. We could have sneaked out of the castle under your invisibility cloak, and since you have the Marauder's Map…"

"My, my. Hermione Granger, wanting to break the rules?"

"I think I already broke one rule. Never fall in love with your best friend."

"Well, I'm glad you broke that one," Harry smirked. "Guess me and Ron finally rubbed off on you after all these years."

"Oh, shut it," Hermione said in a playful tone. Before Harry knew it, she was on top of him and they had started kissing again.

They stayed like that for some time, Harry didn't know how long. All he knew was that suddenly, something changed while they were kissing. Hermione must have felt the same, because they pulled away almost simultaneously.

"What is going on?" Hermione said in a cautious voice. All noise around them had died down. They had been illuminated by the moonlight before, but that light had completely disappeared… in fact, they were now surrounded by total darkness. Both the stars and the moon were gone and the indigo sky had turned pitch black. Even Hermione was barely visible to Harry - the only thing he could clearly see was the bracelet she had given him for his birthday, which was glowing brightly around his wrist.

Harry gulped. He had been in this exact same situation one year ago in the small alley near Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk, which was only a few minutes away. He knew what was coming, especially when he felt the icy cold creeping in.

"Dementors."

Hermione gasped. "Oh no."

Harry turned around, making sure he stood back to back with Hermione, and pointed his wand into the air. "Lumos Maxima!"

An enormous white orb shot out of his wand and filled the park with light. Harry did not care much for the Statute of Secrecy right now - he was not about to let any Dementors catch them by surprise. And if any Muggles were out on the streets nearby, they were in imminent danger. They needed to be able to see them.

Harry looked around carefully for any signs of black, cloaked figures closing in on him. The cold was intensifying and with Hermione covering his back, he kept peering ahead towards the nearby trees. He heard the rattling breaths. But he still didn't see anything moving...

"Harry!"

He turned around as soon as he heard Hermione's voice. Four Dementors were gliding over the pond, and they were closing in on them quickly. Harry did not hesitate.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Both teenagers had shouted the incantation simultaneously. Harry's familiar stag erupted out of his wand and charged into one of them immediately, but Hermione could only produce a shield form. It deflected one of the incoming Dementors, before the silver stag chased it away. Hermione's silvery shield dissolved and she slumped to the ground, sitting on her knees.

"Hermione!"

Moments later, the small group of Dementors had fled. As Harry's Patronus dissolved, the cold ebbed away, but Harry's amplified Wand-Lighting Charm remained the only light source nearby.

"Are you okay, Hermione?"

"F-fine… I don't understand why I could not make the spell work completely. I did it in the D.A…"

"Don't worry about that. It is way more difficult to produce a corporeal Patronus when you are fighting a real Dementor, let alone a group of them. You could not have known what it was like. And you still did well to produce a shield," Harry said.

"I guess so…" Hermione said. She was still trembling. Harry hugged her.

"Come on," Harry said a moment later. "We have to get back to Privet Drive. Who knows what we will find there, let's hurry."

By the time they got out of the park, the Wand-Lighting Charm had worn off - they were now surrounded by complete darkness again, as all of the streetlights were out.

"Lumos," both Harry and Hermione whispered. Their wand tips ignited.

They made a run for it, still holding hands. Despite the darkness, the coast seemed to be clear in the streets surrounding them. However, the cold came back as soon as they got closer to Privet Drive.

Harry gasped as soon as the sudden wave of icy air hit them. "This can't be good, there have to be more of them somewhere. I don't like the feeling of this…"

They kept running, their wands held high over their heads. The light from the wands illuminated the houses around them.

"Harry, look!"

It was a horrible sight. His aunt and uncle had probably just arrived home, but there they were - out of their car and surrounded by another three Dementors. Aunt Petunia was twitching on the ground, while Uncle Vernon struggled against the icy grasp of one of them - the creature had removed its hood, revealing its hideous face. It seemed to be closing in for the kill.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Harry and Hermione had once again cast the spell at the same time. But this time, it wasn't only a stag that had appeared - Hermione's otter Patronus had joined it. The Dementor holding Uncle Vernon shrieked in agony when the force of both silver animals hit it, making it flee. Its companions decided to do the same thing. Harry and Hermione watched the horrible creatures fly away into the dark skies.

A short while later, the streetlights came back to life. The sky turned back to a nice shade of indigo and was once again filled with a bright moon and numerous stars.

"Aunt Petunia?"

Harry moved towards his aunt carefully. She had stopped moving. He didn't pay attention to Uncle Vernon, who was coughing and gasping for air next to the car.

"Aunt Petunia?" Harry repeated.

Hermione moved next to her and felt her wrist. She looked dead, especially in the pale moonlight.

"She's alive, Harry."

Hermione carefully opened one of Petunia's eyelids. "I don't think she's been Kissed, she looks relatively normal…"

"We have to get help. Come on, let's get them inside, quickly!"

They carried Aunt Petunia inside and carefully put her on the sofa.

"What's going on? The power went out a few minutes ago, everything just turned back on…" Dudley had heard the noise and come downstairs. "Mum?"

"We think she's all right, Dudley, we'll explain later!" Harry said. "Help me first, your dad is still outside."

"Outside?" His face paled when he saw the state Aunt Petunia was in. "What happened here, Harry?"

"Later! Hermione, you see that house over there?" He pointed outside the window, to a house on the corner of Privet Drive and Wisteria Walk. "There's an old woman who lives there, her name is Arabella Figg. She's an Order member. Go over there and talk to her, she can alarm the Order!"

Hermione nodded and ran out of the house. The two cousins followed her outside, grabbed Uncle Vernon by the arms, and guided him inside.

Well, that was quite a chapter, wasn't it? This is my Christmas gift for you Fanfiction readers out there, enjoy the holidays!

I know what you might think, but no: the fact that I chose the movie Emma was merely a coincidence. Although the choice is pretty ironic, given the name of Hermione's real-life actress. Love you Emma Watson! Anyways, I searched for romance movies that were released in July/early August 1996 and this one seemed like a reasonable choice. I never even saw it myself, hence why there weren't any real movie theatre scenes.