A/N: Hello everyone. It has been a long time since I have written on here but that's college life for you. Now that I am done and actually have some time I started coming up with ideas again.

This story will for sure be H/Hr along with soul bonds and powerful Harry. If the ship isn't for you then please don't read. I am a big believer in the idea of a multiverse and I know that somewhere out there a universe exists where Harry and Hermione are the canon. Unfortunately, that didn't happen here (as much as I wish it was that universe) but at least I have fanfiction. :)

Finally, I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters belong to JKR but if she wants to give me the rights to the wonderful world of HP I will be happy to take it off her hands.

Chapter 1: Forgive Me

Harry Potter sighed as he started his third trek around the black lake that day. It already seemed like a long day and it was only slightly after breakfast.

"I should be happy. The Yule Ball is finally over and I don't have to worry about looking like an idiot trying to dance." , thought Harry. "Instead I feel like I'm going to explode." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Harry reflected back on what had brought him to this point.

It had all started with the announcement of the Yule Ball. Harry really did not want to take part in it but since he was a champion he had to attend and he had to have a date. "Overall attending the ball shouldn't have been this bad. I know I have never danced before but it seems like girls know a lot about dancing or at least Parvati did," he thought. Even with this reflection he knew that he had worked himself into a frenzy over the ball and looking back that was the least of his problems.

Once he had accepted the fact that he had to attend the ball he had to face his next challenge: Finding a date. Harry had known instantly that he wanted to ask Cho, but he just never took a chance to actually do it. Finally, when he did ask her it was already too late. "Yes, Cedric had already asked her, but could I really expect people to not ask her? I mean she is very pretty and she plays Quidditch." The slightly annoyed feelings he was having towards Cedric calmed down at this thought. "It isn't Cedric's fault. The only person who is at fault for this is myself." Accepting this as the truth Harry moved on to his next set of thoughts and started the rollercoaster of emotions all over again.

/****Flashback****/

The champions were assembling in the entrance hall and Harry had just caught site of Cho and Cedric together. As annoyance started to flair within him Harry heard Parvati exclaim, "Wow, doesn't she look beautiful!" Whirling around Harry's eyes widened as he looked up to see the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen descending the stairs. He was so stunned that he continued to gape at her before his mind finally caught up to him and he realized the girl was Hermione. "Hermione..." he had struggled to get out as she drew closer to him. She smiled at him upon hearing her name and stopped right next to both him and Parvati. Hermione turned and greeted Parvati with "Parvati you look beautiful in that dress." Parvati shook her head and replied with "Thanks! You look great too. " Smiling Hermione turned to Harry, "and you Mr. Potter look quite dashing tonight as well."

Smiling Harry replied, "You look absolutely gorgeous Hermione." Her cheeks pinked at this and Harry was so transfixed upon her that he didn't notice the slight scowl on Parvati's face. As much as Harry's world had soared at seeing how beautiful Hermione looked it was about to come crashing down. At that moment, Krum decided to come over to get Hermione. It was then that Harry realized that Krum was Hermione's date for the night and the happiness he had felt moments before was replaced by a burning hatred of Krum. Harry's face dropped but no one noticed because at that instant Professor McGonagall told the champions that it was time to enter the hall.

As the night progressed Harry tried to ignore the annoyance that he kept feeling but it was hard. It seemed like no matter which way he looked that fate was trying to piss him off. If he looked one way on the dance floor he saw Cho and Cedric dancing together which annoyed him, but if turned to the opposite direction he saw Hermione and Krum together which annoyed him even more. He knew that he was being unfair to Parvati but he just couldn't stand to do anything besides sit there. When she was asked to dance by the beauxbaton's boy he merely shrugged hoping that now he would be left alone. Unfortunately that was not the case because Ron also seemed to be upset about Krum and Hermione dancing together. Harry wasn't sure why Ron was upset, hell he wasn't even sure why he was upset. Unlike Harry though, Ron was not able to just brood about the things that bothered him and when he finally had the chance to talk to Hermione he went off on her.

"Hey guys how's it going? It such a wonderful night isn't it?" Hermione asked as she made her way over to them with a smile on her face.

"What the hell is wrong with you Hermione?" Ron spat back at her.

The smile dropped from her face. "What are you on about Ronald?"

"You and Vicky waltzing all over the place..." At this point Harry stopped paying attention to their row. He was conflicted on what he was feeling. On one hand he agreed with Ron, he didn't like Hermione waltzing around the room or dirty dancing or any kind of dancing for that matter. On the other hand he wanted to hit Ron because he was yelling at Hermione and she didn't deserve to be treated like that. Even if it was just a verbal confrontation Harry knew that he would always protect Hermione but now his need to protect her felt even greater and he didn't know why. He didn't get to think on this any longer though because Ron's next words shocked him back to reality.

"What are you gonna do now? Go snuggle up next to Krum and help him figure out the egg? What about Harry? How could you betray him like that?" Ron shouted.

"How dare you! I would never betray Harry. I will always do everything in my power to help him and for your information Krum hasn't talked to me once about the tournament!" she snarled back at him. "The whole point of this damn tournament is to make friends and thats what I am trying to do."

"Yeah well it seems like he wants to be a lot more than friends," said Ron.

Hermione just huffed and stalked off while Ron fell back into his chair and glared at her. Harry had fallen back into his own world though and was immediately bombarded by a number of conflicting emotions. Initially when Ron had talked about Hermione leaving them for Krum he had felt a sense of hurt and panic. "Life without Hermione?" Harry couldn't contemplate what that would be like. Hermione had always been by his side no matter what happened. If she was gone he felt like he would be lost. "She has always been by my side though. Even when everyone else doubted me or thought I was a liar she was always there and her believe in me has never wavered." As soon as this thought struck him he knew that Ron was wrong. Hermione would never leave him or betray him. Seconds later she would confirm his thoughts but Harry didn't really know what to do. He was still so torn over all of the feelings he was having and all he wanted was for the night to end.

As the night started to wind down, Harry felt that it was okay for him to make his escape. Both Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be found so he set off for the staircase leading to Gryffindor tower alone. He silently made his way up to Gryffindor tower trying to keep from thinking about all of the different thoughts and emotions that were going through is mind. As he made his way through the portrait hole the silence was quickly shattered by the argument happening in the common room. Ron and Hermione were still fighting but it seemed like Harry had just caught the tail end of it. Ron threw up his hands and marched up to the boys door. While Hermione turned to him and said "What? Come to complain about Victor and try to ruin my night even more?" Harry opened his mouth to say something but nothing came. After a second Hermione turned and stalked up to the girl's dormitory and slammed the door shut. Harry just hung his head in shame and slowly made his way up to the boy's dormitory.

Yes, it was this rollercoaster night that prevented Harry from getting a lot of sleep and pushed him out onto the grounds to clear his head. At 6 in the morning, after a night of tossing and turning, he gave up on sleep and decided to go flying. The initial sensation of getting on his broom was exhilarating and helped relieve his problems but after a couple minutes of flying they quickly came back. After flying around and trying to deal with his thoughts and feelings for over an hour, Harry finally gave up on flying being a cure. He was so frustrated, upset, annoyed, and ashamed that not even flying could solve his problems. After landing by the black lake he slung his Firebolt over his shoulder and started to walk.

/****End of Flashback ****/

"Why am I so upset about Hermione dancing with Krum? I know I was annoyed at Cedric for being with Cho but that doesn't compare at all to what I am feeling about the Hermione and Krum situation." Harry shook his head. "No, Cho and Cedric don't matter. What about Krum though? I don't really have anything against him, but then again I haven't really interacted with him a lot. Its not like Krum has been overly chatty." Harry thought as he remembered the night the champions were chosen and being in the tent with Krum before the first task. "What about Krum being with Hermione?" As soon as he thought about this images from the previous night came back and all of his emotions flared again. "Am I jealous that Krum got to go to the ball with Hermione?" Harry tried to dismiss this thought, but the more he thought about it the more it made sense. So he turned his thoughts towards his best friend.

"Why would something Hermione has done bother me? Hermione never does anything to bother me that's Ron's job. Hermione is the one that always helps me stay on top of my classes, cheers me on, and keeps me from dying. Okay, there was that incident last year, but yet again she was only doing what she thought she needed to do to save my life." Harry continued to think of all of the things Hermione had done for him and the time they spent together. His mind raced up to the previous night and he again saw her coming down the stairs looking more beautiful than any other girl he had ever seen. "Unlike Ron I have always known that Hermione was a girl. I always knew that she was pretty. I guess I just didn't realize how gorgeous she really was until she was standing right in front of me hitting me over the head with her beauty." Harry felt stupid for not realizing how pretty Hermione was before as he thought about how great she looked his mind drifted and started imaging an alternative Yule Ball. Instead of having a crappy night, Harry was holding Hermione as they danced in front of the whole crowd. Gone were the feelings of terror (at the thought of dancing), frustration, and annoyance. Instead all Harry felt was elation at the thought of holding Hermione in his arms. She was his best friend, the one that had always been by his side, the one that had always helped him, talked to him, cared for him, believed in him, and made him happy. "Hermione" he thought with a smile.

Harry froze. "I fancy Hermione. I FANCY HERMIONE." Harry's mind reeled as he tried to come to terms with this revelation. He was torn between what to think. "If I could date her or hold her or kiss her..." Excitement flooded through him at all of those thoughts but particularly the last one. "If I told her though and she didn't feel the same way I could end up pushing her away." Not even the bite he received from the basilisk was able to compare to the pain he felt at this thought. "If I lost her...I don't...I don't know what I would do..." Pinching the bridge of his nose again Harry knew that he needed to decide what to do. After a bit of thought he decided "I am not going to tell her...at least right now. Maybe if I can figure out how she feels I will."

"Harry. Harry. Are you okay?" The beautiful sound of her voice hit his ears. He looked up to see her heading towards him with some toast.

"Yeah Hermione I'm okay. I was just off in my own world for a bit." Harry replied with smile.

"Okay" she smiled back at him as she made her way up next to him. "I noticed you weren't at breakfast so I thought I would bring you some but no one seemed to know where you were. I checked the Quidditch pitch first but you weren't there so I decided to check over here."

"Thanks." He replied while taking the toast she offered him. Even after all of these years it still amazed him how caring she was and how well she knew him. "How did I not realize how wonderful she was earlier." Harry pulled out of his thoughts before he could get too far. Now was not the time to think about that. He needed to apologize for his behavior last night.

"Hermione" Harry started.

"Harry" Hermione said at the same time.

They smiled at each other. "Ladies first" Harry said with a slight bow.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I just wanted to say that I am sorry for yelling at you last night before we went to bed. It wasn't your fault that Ron was being a prat. He had ruined my night and had me so worked up that I just went off. I know you didn't say anything to agree with him but you didn't look like you were having fun at all last night. Plus any time Viktor was brought up you seemed even more bothered so I thought you were siding with Ron."

"Was I that obvious?" Harry thought. Deciding to dwell on it later he decided to make his apology. "Hermione, you don't have to apologize for anything. I understand why you were upset and I'm not mad at you. I am mad at myself for not sticking up for you and at Ron for being such a git. You have every right to go to the ball with whoever you want and I know that you will always be there for me. Can you forgive me?" Harry asked as he stopped and turned to look at her.

Turning to look at him, Hermione replied, "Of course you are forgiven Harry. It wasn't like you started the row and I know you don't like to get involved. Also, I never thought that you would doubt me, but it makes me feel good that you know that I will always be by your side."

"And I will always be there for you Hermione. " Harry replied.

Giving him another dazzling smile she continued on, "So what was wrong last night?"

"I just had a lot of stuff on my mind and with all of the excitement happening I was having a hard time sorting it out." he replied. "I hope she doesn't push for exact details." Before she could ask for details he continued, "After thinking about it all morning though, I think I have a good handle on everything."

"Okay" Hermione replied. "I am just happy that he is happy again. Harry always has to deal with so much crap that he doesn't deserve. He is such a wonderful person and deserves to finally have some happiness." Hermione knew that she would do anything to help make Harry happy. He was her first and best friend. "Harry if there is anything you want to talk about just let me know. You know that you can always talk to me."

"I know Hermione." He replied with a smile. "If there is anything I will be sure to talk to you."

They continued to walk in silence around the lake just enjoying each other's company. With his feelings solved, for the moment, Harry thought what other challenges lay on the horizon.

"Actually Hermione there is something that I would like to talk to you about." said Harry breaking the silence. "She is not going to be happy when I tell her that I haven't worked out the clue, but I think it is better to come clean now."

"What is it Harry?" she asked while turning to look at him.

Harry fidgeted, "Well promise me you won't be mad."

Her eyes narrowed. "Harry..."

"Promise?" he asked again.

"Fine I promise." She said still looking at him suspiciously.

"Well I was wondering if you could help me with my egg? I know I said before that I figured it out but actually Ouch!" he jumped away as she punched him in the shoulder. "You promised you wouldn't be mad."

"I had my fingers crossed you prat!" She said as she raised her arm again.

"Alright alright I give. I'm sorry!" Harry said jumping away.

"Fine" she smirked. "But we are going to get started on this and figure it out. Your not dying on my watch Harry Potter."

"I wouldn't dream of it Hermione" he smiled. "Now, to the library!" With that he started towards the entrance to the school.

Shaking her head at his antics Hermione started after him.

Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think.