Confessions of the Boy Who Conquered
There she was, always at her favorite table in the very back of the library. It was no wonder why all the first years stayed clear of that secluded section of the room. As usual she seemed too immersed with the gigantic tome in front of her to notice that he was standing just a few feet shy beside her.
Harry bit down a laugh and continued doing what he discovered himself doing for the past three months now: he gazed at her. It was pathetic really, and none of the blokes in his house let him forget it. It seemed like everyone knew about his unfaltering feelings. All except the object of his affections herself.
The one and only resident bookworm, stickler for rules and the owner of untamable curly hair, Hermione Granger, was probably the most dense person in the world. Who knew that the most intelligent person Hogwarts ever had since Lily Evans was as blind as a bat when it comes to boys?
At that thought, Harry sighed quietly and shook his head. It probably didn't help that he was too much of a chicken to tell her how he really felt. All he could do now was try to leave subtle hints for her to hopefully pick up on. Obviously what he was doing was not working since said girl still has not made any signs that she knew what was going on.
The sound of a heavy book closing broke him out of his stupor. His head shot up towards the book now lying on the table closed, his eyes eventually finding the eyes of the book's owner. One second he was staring into space and now he found himself lost in Hermione's dark chocolate orbs. He noticed a few months ago that the color of her eyes weren't just brown. They not only had mixtures of light and dark brown, but also contained gold flecks in the pupils. They were gorgeous, just like the rest of her.
"Harry?" She asked, her brows furrowed together like they always do when she's worried about something. "You've been staring at me for quite a bit now. Is everything okay?"
Harry's mind searched frantically for something good to say, but nothing popped up, so he settled for something on the safe side.
"O-oh yeah, I was just thinking of asking you for some advice but I don't really know how to go about it." He blushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
Her eyes softened and patted the seat next to her indicating that she wanted him to sit there. "You know you can talk to me about anything, Harry. You're my best friend, I'll help you as best that I can."
Harry slumped a bit when he heard the dreaded "BF" words. That was the kind of "BF" he didn't want to be called. A thought popped into his head and decided that it was now or never. If she wasn't going to get this, then there was absolutely no hope for them.
"So there's this girl." he warily saw Hermione's eyebrows shot up and he swallowed thickly. "I really, really like her. She's smart, pretty, kind and has these little quirks that make me like her even more. Like the fact that she always has a book to read or that she bites the end of her quill when she's stuck on a problem. I think, I think I'm in love with," Harry stopped abruptly when he realized that Hermione had tears glistening in her eyes.
"Hermione, are you okay?" He placed his hands on her cheeks and wiped her tears with his thumb. "Why are you crying?"
She reached up and held his wrists. "This girl, you really like her huh? I'm glad you finally found the girl you've been looking for, Harry. Don't mind my tears. You know me, I tend to get too emotional sometimes." She added with a pitiful giggle.
"You have no idea how glad I am for you. All my life, I just wanted to see you really happy and I can rightly say that I've never seen you smile so much while talking about another person before. One of my boys is all grown up now. If I could only get Ron to confess his feelings for Luna, then I'll be free from you both." Hermione added jokingly.
Harry laughed lightly and removed his hands from her face to hold her hands instead.
"Just promise me one thing." Hermione held his eyes firmly with her own. "Whoever this girl is, don't let her go, okay? Tell her how you feel before someone else sweeps her off her feet. If she's anything like how you described her to be, then there's bound to be a line of guys waiting to get her attention." With that she let go of his hands and stood up to leave.
Harry sat there stunned, before reaching for her waist to stop her from getting any further. "Hermione, wait!" He pulled her back on the bench and gently made her sit down. "You don't even know who she is yet."
"Harry.." she started warily.
"Here me out first. I think you'll like who she is. Please?" Harry gave her his best puppy dog face. Without her answer he continued, "As you might have figured out already, she's someone I really admire as an individual. Despite this though, she also drives me absolutely bonkers sometimes. She always nags me to do my work and tries to mother me when she thinks I'm doing something reckless. I don't even know whether to tear my hair out in frustration or snog her senseless!"
His eyes captured that glazed look again as he carried on "She makes me unbelievably happy, Hermione. Happier than I thought I could ever be. She's it for me. There's no one else out there that I could love more or can make me feel this way. I'm just sad that I only figured this all out when I thought I was going to lose her. Ever since that moment before she almost died, I promised myself that if I come out of this alive, I'll spend the rest of life cherishing her and loving her completely."
It was at that point that Harry knew Hermione realized he was talking about the last battle against Voldemort. Her eyes started getting misty again, but this time she had this brilliant smile that went along with it. Harry took her hand and kissed it. "Hermione Granger, would you do me the honor.." he trailed off.
"Yes?" She said eagerly.
"..of doing my homework for life?" he finished with a grin.
To say Hermione was shocked was an understatement. She immediately got up, smacked Harry at the back of the head and went towards the door. Harry sped in front of her before she even took her second step. He chuckled before putting his hands on either side of her face and planting a passionate kiss on her lips. Everything went in slow motion at that point. It was a kiss both participants never wanted to end, but sadly the lack of oxygen was making it impossible to continue.
Harry pulled back and then gave her a small chaste kiss, almost as an afterthought. "Come to Hogsmeade with me." he said thumbing her cheeks again.
"Is that how the great Harry Potter asks girls out?" she asked teasingly. "Come to think of it, that wasn't even a question. What would you do if I said no?" Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest.
"I would do the first thing the real Harry Potter, and not the Boy Who Lived would do. Probably go sit beside a window and sulk." He said as he rested his chin on top of her head.
She chuckled and said, "Luckily for you, I'm saying yes. So no sulking for you, Mr. Potter." Hermione pulled back slightly, stood on her tippy toes and kissed him.
Harry responded eagerly, "I have a better idea, why don't we stay in your room and make hot, passionate love to each other." he whispered jokingly to her ear.
Hermione blushed deeply, but managed to regain her composure, "Not until the second date." With a smirk playing on her lips, she turned around and sauntered towards the door, leaving a dumbfounded, but very aroused Harry Potter behind her.