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By xxkristeen

No. 1: Friendship (Harry)

Author's Note: I was bored, and I felt like writing Harry fluff. This is one of many drabbles that will come along as I try to get over severe cases of writers' block. Enjoy!

It was Harry's turn to keep watch.

He didn't mind guard duty much; he often used this time to reflect on his life; his past, his present, his future. Tonight he was thinking about his two best friends, his comrades in arms. The chilly night air kept him awake, and he rocked back and forth slightly as he sat at the entrance to the tent he shared with Hermione and Ron with his elbows resting on his knees as he tried to curl into a smaller ball to keep warm.

Harry frequently asked himself why the two stayed with him through everything. Hermione could have gone back to Hogwarts to her studies, where he knew she craved to be. Ron could be safe at the Burrow taking care of his family and living contently in safety; Harry knew for a fact that the Weasley's, though they knew the importance of this 'mission' that they were on, would rather have Ron with them. It was true that Ron and Hermione had been with him since the beginning of it all; they helped him to get to the Philosopher's Stone, and thwart Voldemort's half-baked plan to gain eternal life. During his second year, Hermione had been petrified on her way back from the library looking up important information on the Basilisk, and Ron went down in the Chamber with him. In their third year Hermione and her time-turner saved Sirius and Buckbeak, and Ron's rat Scabbers turned up being the man that betrayed Harry's parents…. Yet still in his fourth year, though Ron had a row with him beforehand, Harry's best friends once again stuck with him through the trials and dangers of the Triwizard Tournament, and helped him try to solve many puzzles. Of course, in their fifth year at Hogwarts, Ron, Hermione and he were as close as ever, and they risked their lives following him into a trap of Voldemort's in the Department of Mysteries. Last year, Ron and Hermione supported Harry through so much, and once again defended Hogwarts and its people from the Dark side.

Harry squinted his bright green eyes in concentration as he mulled over everything. If it weren't for Hermione and Ron, then he'd be dead several times over. Sometimes he found it quite chilling to think of this rather morbid thing, but it was very, very true. He promised himself right then that he'd do anything to protect his friends (not that he wouldn't already), even if it meant dying for them. Harry nodded his head slightly as he told himself this, and made a small grunt.

He had been so submersed in his thoughts that Harry hadn't noticed that Hermione and Ron had seated themselves on either side of him, just sitting and staring off into the woods at the same spot as he. It was only when Hermione draped a large, warm blanket over his, Ron's and her own shoulders, instantly warming them that he realized that he was no longer alone. He looked from Ron to Hermione and slowly grinned before pulling them both into a long hug.

"Uh… thanks?" Ron asked, sounding a bit surprised at Harry's sudden sign of affection. And, really, who could blame him? Harry didn't do things like this often.

"What have you been thinking about, Harry?" Hermione asked, her breath becoming a visible fog as the temperature dropped a degree or so more.

"You guys," Harry replied truthfully. "You've gone through so much…" he added in a mutter, looking down for a moment before squinting back out at the forest. "And I just wanted to say… thanks, for staying with me."

"No problem, mate. We're here for you," Ron said, clasping Harry on the shoulder assuringly.

"And I'm here for you guys too," Harry added, apparently determined to let the two know this.

"Harry, we know," Hermione said kindly, though her tone implied that she thought all of this obvious. Her voice grew softer as she added with a kind smile, "We're with you till the end…"

Ron grinned, "We're the Trio! We're all a part of each other!"

Hermione let out a small giggle and Harry chuckled lightly. He pulled them in closer again, an arm around their shoulders. They were his friends, his surrogate family, and he'd never let them go.