~~~CHAPTER 1~~~ Lots of things had changed since Harry's defeat of Voldemort. It had been six years ago, in Harry's seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Harry was Head Boy, and of course, Hermione was Head Girl. They were sitting in their own private common room, talking about the previous day's events. Harry told Hermione everything he could remember from his duel with Voldemort. Harry stopped talking, and looked up at Hermione with those gorgeously enchanting green eyes, and started to cry. Hermione couldn't help but cry as well. She loved him, and it hurt her to see him in pain. She leaned over and wrapped her arm around him. She kissed his scar, and then she realized his crying had ceased. He looked up at her, with puffy, red eyes, and said something he had never said before. "Mione?" "Yes Harry?" Her heart skipped a beat. "There was a point where I didn't think I was going to make it out alive, and do you know what the first thing I thought was?" "What?" She barely choked out this word, for it appeared she had forgotten to breathe. "I haven't had the chance to tell Hermione Granger how beautiful she is. How gorgeous her deep brown eyes are, especially when they're looking into my own. How flawless her face is, with the most adorable little freckles spread across it. How beautiful her hair is, the way it cascades like a waterfall, just past her shoulders. I haven't told her how much she means to me. How I can't live without her. And how I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with her." Hermione looked at him with tears in her eyes. She started to say something, but he cut her off. "I love you Hermione, and it was my love for you that helped me defeat him." "Harry, I-" "Can I just hold you? I was so afraid I'd never get the chance to." "Yes." She wanted so badly to tell him what she was thinking, but she figured now was not the time. She fell asleep in his arms, and he fell asleep shortly afterwards. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next morning, Harry woke with empty arms. He rushed to Hermione's room, and walked in without knocking. She was lying on her bed crying. Harry walked over to her and put his hand on her back. "Mione, love, what's wrong?" "Oh Harry! Can't you see? I love you!" The words took a minute to sink in. When they finally did, all he could do was smile. "Harry, I love you, but we can't be together!" These words hit his heart like a bolt of lightning. "What are you saying?" "I'm saying that I love you, but I'm not ready for a relationship. And how would Ron react?" "Who cares? It's not Ron's heart that's on the line here!" He felt tears prickling the sides of his eyes, but he fought them back. "Harry, please try to understand." "I can't live without you Hermione, and all I can understand is my love for you." He was sobbing now, as was Hermione. Neither of them spoke for quite some time. Then Harry looked at Hermione. He gave her a longing glance and turned away. He walked to the door and turned around to face her. "I love you Hermione Granger and nothing will ever change that." Then he left. From that day, until the last day of school, they avoided one another. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was their last day at Hogwarts, and Harry sent Hermione an owl. Hermione, I know I may be the last person you'd like to receive an owl from, but will you meet me by the lake at noon? Hope to see you there, Harry She folded the parchment neatly and tucked it into her robes. She bit her lip, and thought to herself, 'I can't do this. I can't hurt him again. But I have to tell him no. We're only children...' She checked the clock in her room. Eleven Fifty-five. 'I have to go.' So, she began her walk to the lake. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Harry checked his watch. Eleven Fifty-nine 'She should be here any minute now. ' He looked around anxiously and then checked his watch again. Twelve o'clock. 'Ah! Any minute!' Hermione began walking down the hill to the lake. 'I can't do this...' She forced herself to take each step. Harry looked up and saw her walking towards him. 'She's so beautiful...' "Hi Harry." Hermione was shaking from nervousness, but she knew she had to stand here and listen to whatever it was he had to say. "Hello Hermione. I suppose you're wondering I asked you to meet me here." "Yes." Harry took a deep breath. "I brought you here to tell you that I still love you, and that it will never change." "Harry-" He cut her off. "But you don't have to say anything. I know you're not ready, and Ron's reaction might be a little too much for you to handle. I just wanted to remind you that I love you and I always will. So when school is over tomorrow, and we've grown up a little, maybe you'll be ready." "Oh Harry..." She felt horrible for telling him no, but she knew it was the right thing to do. They couldn't be together. They were still only children. They didn't even know what they wanted, or who they were. They needed time. "I'm going now, Mione. I'll see you at the feast." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Great Hall was nosier than ever. The decorations were scarlet and gold, in honor of Harry's defeat of Voldemort. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were sitting together, at last. Hermione had forgotten how great it felt to have both of them beside her, even if things with Harry were awkward. She looked at Harry and smiled. He felt his heart skip a beat. Dumbledore stood up and the room went silent. "I regret to announce that this will be the last year for some of you. In you honor, there will be a fireworks display tonight. I have enjoyed your company greatly, and I wish you all the best of luck in everything that you do. And I would like to say thank you to Mr. Harry Potter, for his defeat of Lord Voldemort. In his years here at Hogwarts, he has shown us what it means to be a true Gryffindor. A toast, to Harry Potter!" And, as always, food appeared on the table, and their goblets were filled with pumpkin juice. Everyone, even Draco Malfoy, raised their goblets and said, "To Harry!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As Hermione sat there, next to Hagrid's Hut, watching the fireworks, she noticed a large firework of a stag. She looked at Harry, who was smiling with tears in his eyes, and whispered, "Prongs rides again tonight." Harry turned to her, tears shining down his face. "Indeed he does Mione." "He'd be so proud of you Harry." She smiled at him and he put his arm around her. "Thanks Mione." After the fireworks display was over, the Hogwarts Express arrived. The Trio said goodbye to all the teachers. Harry took quite a while with Dumbledore. Hermione and Ron didn't ask Harry what took so long, because they pretty much knew, when Harry walked out carrying Godric Gryffindor's sword. They made it to the train just in time, and once they got into an empty compartment, they stayed there the entire time. They talked about their first year, with the troll and Fluffy. They talked about the Chamber of Secrets, Professor Lockhart, Sirius, Hagrid, Buckbeak, Viktor Krum, Dobby, Lupin, Snape, Neville's parents, the Malfoys, and everything else that happened to them through the years. Then they moved on to a subject that was a bit cloudy. "So, what do you two plan to do with your lives now?" "Well, honestly Hermione, I haven't put much thought into it. I was planning on going back to the Burrow and sleeping for a while. Then, maybe I'll have something to eat, and then I think I'll annoy Ginny... You know, the usual." Ron and Harry both laughed. "Oh Ron, you git! Can't you be serious?" "Actually, I was being serious." "Well, I was hoping you had better plans for yourself. Harry, how about you?" Harry paused for a moment. He hadn't given it much thought. He just assumed he would figure it out after he got away from the Dursleys. "I don't have any definite plans yet. I'm just worried about getting away from the Dursleys." "I can't say I blame you, mate." "You two are hopeless sometimes!" And then she started to cry. "Hermione, don't cry! You'll make us cry too!" "Yeah, Ron's right. Then we'll have to do horrible things to prove that we're still guys!" The train came to a halt and Hermione looked outside only to find that it was indeed the end of their ride. She had hoped it would never end. They all walked to the barrier of Platform 9 3/4 and took a deep breath. "This is it," Hermione said shakily. "I love you Harry, I love you Ron." She kissed them each on the cheek and walked through the barrier. That was the last time she had seen Harry in person.