The smile blooming on Hermione's face as they made their way over did loopy things to Harry's stomach which had nothing to do with all the strange events of the day. He was still getting used to the reality that Hermione liked him.
"Hey Harry, say something!" Ron said when they got close.
"Why?" he asked, causing the other boy to look disappointed.
"Mr. Snuffle-wampum is just trying to alleviate boredom," Mr. Granger said gesturing to Ron. "We've been waiting a while."
"You didn't have to do that," Harry said embarrassedly, running a hand through his hair to flatten it down.
"That's what I said, but got out-voted," the frizzy-haired dentist said with a shrug, bugging his eyes out a little. "Damn democracy; what we need is an autocratic authoritarian ruler that everyone falls in line with," he said with mock seriousness, drawing a long-suffering look from his daughter he didn't think the man saw.
"So you want to be a goblin?" Lichfield asked. "I know a guy; we can try to make that happen."
Hermione's dad seemed to change his mind.
"Oh, no," he said holding up his hands to ward Lichfield off. "You leave Mr. Grumpypants right where he is."
Lichfield laughed.
"Well," Mr. Weasley said, standing up from his chair. "Now that we can say you're still alive, I think it's safe to go home to Molly. You remember how to use the floo to get back to the Burrow, right?"
"Er - yeah," he answered.
Harry tried to ignore the mounting uncomfortable embarrassment as Mr. Weasley shooed Ron away and out of the bank, overriding his protests with a "You'll understand later."
He walked beside Hermione as the larger group made their slower way out the bank; Mr. Granger took his time tying his shoes and making sure the books were all still in the bag and Lichfield seemed content to wait. The goblins didn't help matters either by only opening one door at a time to let them though.
As they hit a completely deserted Diagon Alley, Harry was surprised to find it was so late; all the shops were closed and it was getting close to dusk. Ron and his dad were already at the far side of the alley about to enter the Leaky Cauldron.
"Well," Lichfield said gruffly, holding onto the bank's door to keep them from closing it. "I just got a whole new mountain of work to get to. I'll see you tomorrow," he told Harry before going back inside.
As the bank's door closed with a heavy thud and locked, Harry stood outside with the Grangers, feeling set up. Hermione's dad didn't make any pretense about it.
"Well, this is where I make a likely excuse and leave you two alone. Bye!" he said with a wave and walked jauntily off down the street towards the Leaky Cauldron.
And just like that the awkwardness was back between them. The adults may have left them alone so they could say goodbye in private but they also put a giant spotlight on them. Hermione fidgeted and shooed a beetle away from her hair as they started down the street.
She spent some time looking at the buildings on her side of the street, and he spent it concentrating on the cobblestones right in front of him, but neither of them were walking quickly or with any sense of purpose. In anything, they were dawdling. Even with it horribly uncomfortable, Harry didn't want it to end. When he chanced a glance over to her, Hermione seemed concerned about something.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Um - Yes, I think so," she said, still looking worried about something.
"Is it about that thing with your dad?"
"No," she said uncomfortably.
"Is it about Dobby?" he asked, hoping she'd say no again. He couldn't go back to the Malfoys, even if they could stop the transfer somehow. No one deserved to be treated like that and from what Lichfield had said freedom would see him miserable or dead, or both.
"Not exactly," Hermione said after a moment. "It's just-," she seemed to struggle for words, "-the new clothes, new shoes, the lawyer, dealing with the goblins-"
"-I thought you liked them," he said.
"Individually, yes, they're all very nice - except for the goblins," she said quickly. "It's just - all together, sometimes I don't know if I'm here with Harry or Harold, and with all this happening with the wizarding world it feels like you're leaving the non-magical world behind. The Dursleys may have treated you like rubbish, but I liked the muggle in you."
Harry stopped walking and felt his stomach plummet. He liked the muggle in her too, how would he feel if this had happened to her instead? Suddenly she'd have new people occupying her time, she'd have the best… books, probably, because he doubted she'd ever get back on a broom or that dresses were her thing, but it just might look like she'd become the hoity-toity princess of everything.
'It'd feel like she was leaving me behind, that she didn't need me anymore,' he thought. But how was he supposed explain all this? He turned to glance at Gringotts, which stood alone and uninviting, looming large over the alley.
"All of it that happened back there today," he gestured to the bank, "that's been my normal for the last two weeks, and everyone wants me to grow up. Barchoke wants me to grow up so I can handle the account, Lichfield wants me to grow up so it'll help him with the case, even I want me to grow up so I can spend more time with you doing all the serious stuff you like," he said anxiously.
"Sometimes, it's just too much," he explained, really only thinking about it now as the words came flying out of his mouth. "I try to spend time with Ron and the others, but even that doesn't feel right - it's like I've forgotten how to relax. I've been so petrified I'll be sent back to the Dursleys that-"