3 A.M.

Written By: Summer Carlisle

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything from within it.

Word Count: 1,635

Setting: July/August-ish right after the trio's seventh year. It isn't HBP or DH compatible.

Rating: PG-13/T

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Drama-ish.

Warnings: None.

Note: I have changed this quite a bit from the original, but I promise this is better.

Hermione shut the door to Harry's room at the burrow as silently as possible. She'd started back to her own room, but stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing Ginny step out of the shadows, her arms crossed.

"What were you doing in Harry's room at three in the morning?" Hermione could see the fire in her eyes despite the darkness of the hall.

"We were just talking," the elder girl replied, trying to step around the redhead.

"Just talking my arse," Ginny muttered, standing resolutely in Hermione's way.

"Forget it, Gin, okay? It doesn't concern you." Hermione was dead tired, not in the mood to deal with the girl's accusations.

"Of course it concerns me!" Ginny hissed, the sound echoing throughout the cramped corridor. "If you think you can go around messing with him, then you-"

"Girls? What are you doing up there?" came Mrs. Weasley's bedraggled voice from the landing just below them.

"Nothing, sorry, we were just heading back to bed." The girls exchanged glances; one suspicious, the other apprehensive, and headed for their respective rooms.

At breakfast, Ginny did not fail to notice the secretive glances Harry and Hermione shared. She wasn't the only one.

"What's up with you two this morning?" Ron asked through a mouthful of bacon.

"You look like you're conspiring," said George. Harry smirked at Hermione, but neither replied.

"Well, I've had enough," Ginny announced loudly, glaring at Hermione before clearing her place and retreating into the kitchen.

"What's got her knickers in a twist?" Fred wondered aloud.

"Perhaps nargles have taken her things," George deduced. Hermione frowned at this, wondering where he would have learned about nargles.

After they ate, Harry, Ron and the twins went off to play a round of two-on-two Quidditch. Hermione and Ginny were on opposite sides of the kitchen, putting away leftovers and washing the dishes, having been asked by Mrs. Weasley to do so.

"Leave Harry alone," Ginny suddenly stated, spinning around with a sudsy serving spoon in her hand, and incidentally flinging soap onto Hermione's shirtfront.

Hermione sighed, grabbed a towel and wiped off her shirt before replying.

"Look, Ginny, I understand that you haven't moved on, and I'm really sorry that you haven't. Thing is, Harry has," she told Ginny, ignoring the hurt that flickered across the redhead's eyes before she covered it up with anger again. Hermione wondered vaguely when she became so uncaring for her friend's feelings. But of course, Ginny was butting into things she didn't understand. Her interference could make everything even more complicated than it already was, and Hermione didn't think she could handle any more.

Ginny slammed the large spoon down on the counter, sending more bubbles flying at Hermione's face. She stormed through the open doorway, blinking back tears of jealousy and anger, cursing under her breath as she left. Sighing again, the brunette flicked her wand to complete all the kitchen work and walked out the back door.

She walked along the garden path, hearing the boys' good-natured yells from the distant clearing where they played. She wondered where Ginny got off, talking to Hermione like she was stealing her boyfriend. Up until now, Ginny had acted as if she was completely over Harry. It wasn't even like Hermione and Harry were in a relationship, their feelings for each other still didn't go past friendship. They had simply found comfort in each other one lonely night.

It had been one in the morning, and Hermione couldn't sleep. Figuring he would be awake as well, she went up to Harry's room, knocking tentatively.

"Yes?" came his clear voice. She'd been right, he hadn't been sleeping. She opened the door, shutting it quietly behind her, and entered the pitch-black room.

"Why's there a sheet over the window?" she inquired, shuffling slowly across the creaky wooden floow as to not trip over anything in the darkness.

"I thought I might sleep better if it were completely dark," he responded. She felt his hand wrap around hers in the blackness and he pulled her down next to him on the bed. "Obviously, it didn't work."

Hermione sighed.

"I couldn't sleep either. I just can't stop thinking about this war. It's been going on for ages now, I wonder if it will ever end." She felt him move to sit up on the edge of the bed next to her and put an arm around her waist.

"It will, Mione, eventually. We just have to get through Voldemort's supporters before we can get to him," Harry whispered, his breath warm against her cheek. "But I promise, it will end. And everyone will be better for it."

"I just don't know how much longer I can do this. Everyone's dying, Harry, I'm so tired of the death reports…"

"I know, we all are. If we give up now though, they all would have died for nothing. We just have to finish this, then everything can go back to normal," he said his voice soft, reassuring.

"If there ever was a 'normal' with you, Harry Potter," she muttered, allowing herself a rare grin. He squeezed her against his side and ruffled her hair. She felt comfortable, almost carefree, there next to him. It would be so easy to forget the rest of the world and stay like that forever.

Her heart began beating harder, as she thought of how she was sitting on that bed in the dark with him. How she could feel the heat of his body against hers, his fingers tracing patterns on her side. She thought Harry was feeling the same thing; a certain hormonal heat pulsing through her, if the way he suddenly leaned over and kissed her was any indication. Her first thought was not of how this could affect Ron and Ginny, due to their previous relationships with them, though it should have been. No, she didn't have any thoughts at all. She just felt him; his lips against hers, his body slowly pressing closer and closer until he was lying on top of her on the thin mattress, kissing away the worry and the pain.

Ginny slammed the door to her bedroom shut, immediately falling onto her bed and screaming into her pillow. How dare Hermione do this! She had to know how Ginny felt about him! Of all the people, Hermione would have been the last Ginny would have thought of as a backstabbing, boyfriend stealing slag, until now. Ginny didn't go around sexing up Hermione's exes! Of course, Hermione's exes were Krum (who despite his Quidditch prowess was not remotely attractive) and her brother, but that wasn't the point.

Hermione was supposed to be her friend, and being friends meant you didn't go hooking up with each other's exes. Ginny threw the pillow at the wall, intentionally knocking down a framed picture of her and Hermione walking around Hogwarts, arms linked.

"I hate you!" she yelled at the picture before collapsing back on the bed in tears again as Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon, fluttered around her head nervously.

Later that night, Hermione sat up awake, trying to ignore Ginny's sobs from the room above hers. She felt awful for hurting her, but didn't know what to do about it. On the one hand, she understood that Ginny was upset because she still had feelings for Harry. On the other, Ginny couldn't control him, and shouldn't think that she could. She didn't even have any proof anything had happened. Of course, her assumptions had been correct, but Ginny didn't necessarily know that. After several minutes, she heard the door to Ginny's room open. She could make out Ron's voice over his sister's cries, and then it was silent. Wondering what Ron would do if he found out about her and Harry, Hermione pushed all thoughts of the Weasley siblings out of her mind.

She was just pondering whether she would seem like a sex maniac if she went to see Harry again when a knock came at her door. Worried that it would be Ron or one of the other Weasleys, Hermione rolled onto her side and feigned sleep. Her door opened, then closed and she concentrated on taking deep, slow breaths.

"It's just me, Hermione. You don't have to pretend to be sleeping," Harry said, taking a seat next to her as she sat up.

"I thought Ron was going to come in and yell at me," she confessed, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"So you heard him talking to Ginny as well? I would have been here earlier but I had to wait to make sure he wasn't lurking around my doorway," Harry replied, running a hand through his hair.

"Do you think what happened last night was a bad idea? I mean, look at poor Ginny." She was beginning to feel more and more guilty, a knot forming in the very pit of her stomach. Harry winced as they heard Ginny's sobs starting up again. "I know you still care for her."

"Ron's going to kill me," Harry muttered, ignoring Hermione's observation as to his feelings for Ginny. They sat together for many minutes, not talking, just listening as Ron attempted to calm Ginny down and discover what had upset her so. Hermione entwined her fingers with Harry's and sighed heavily, hating what she was about to do.

"We both know this won't go anywhere. It would be better for us, and the Weasleys, if we forgot about last night." She stood up and pulled on an old traveling cloak. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back tomorrow, don't worry. I just need to think," she explained. Harry seemed to be about to say something, but changed his mind, simply nodding instead. She kissed him chastely on the lips, and stepped out the door.

A/N: I took out the old ending that included a random run-in with Malfoy. Trust me, it's better off without it. For now, this is a oneshot. Don't get your hopes up for it to be anything more, though if you want it to be continued, be sure to tell me!