A/N: This is a Harry/Hermione friendship fic. If you're looking for a story where they fall in love and make babies please move along. Or stay and read, just don't be shocked when this doesn't end with the two of them riding off into the sunset, getting married and getting matching rings with HJP inscribed on them.

Disclaimer: J.K Rowling owns Harry Potter among various other possessions.

Harry walked out of the library and found himself to be very confused. With Ron still the hospital wing after his encounter with Norbert and the rest of the school ignoring him, his only other chance of human interaction was Hermione and she was nowhere to be found. Well, she wasn't in the two places Harry had already checked – the common room and the library – so now he was at a complete loss as to where else she might be.

Slowly, Harry began meandering along the corridors of the ancient castle aimlessly, trying to avoid the glares of his fellow students and failing miserably. He had become so used to being liked it was a shock to return to a similar atmosphere to that of his primary school. In fact, he half-expected Dudley to come around the corner, possibly with Malfoy in tow, and start bullying him.

Wincing at the thought of Malfoy and Dudley teaming up, Harry wondered if Malfoy's parents were anything like his aunt and uncle. Did all bullies have similar parents?

Harry stopped in his tracks, causing a fourth year Hufflepuff to walk into him. After they had exchanged apologies, Harry started dashing towards the owlery, feeling incredibly stupid for not realising sooner.

Every Friday, without fail, Hermione would write a letter half the size of one of their textbooks to her parents and send it to them first thing on a Saturday morning using one of the school owls. He had offered Hedwig to her, but she had refused because she would've attracted too much attention to her Muggle neighbours, so she stuck with some of the smaller school owls instead.

Eventually, Harry pushed open the huge door to the owlery and started searching for Hermione, hoping he wasn't too late. As he looked around, he saw most of the owls were asleep or not yet back from the previous night's hunting. Without warning, Hedwig swooped down from one of the higher perches and landed heavily on his left shoulder.

"How're you doing, girl?" he asked softly, stroking her head. "How was Romania, by the way? I've been meaning to ask."

Hedwig gave as soft hoot before launching herself towards the far window and settling on an empty perch above it. Harry smiled at his beloved pet and then noticed that huddled up on the sill of the window Hedwig was sat above was a mass of brown hair and black Hogwarts robes. Wondering why Hermione was sat there doing nothing, Harry gave a nod of thank you to Hedwig and started walking over to her.

It wasn't until he was a couple of feet away that he realised that she was crying.

Having never really had a friend before Hogwarts, Harry was unsure of what to do. Should he leave her alone or should he let her know that he was there? Deciding that it would be quite horrible of him to not at least ask what was wrong, Harry called out to her.

Hermione's head snapped up and her red-rimmed eyes were wide with fear. When she noticed that it was him, Hermione looked relieved although in still in shock.

"Harry!" she gasped, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "S-sorry, I didn't see you. I was just sending a letter."

Harry swallowed and tried to think of something funny to say to try and cheer her up and found himself wishing Ron wasn't in the hospital wing for about the sixth time that day.

"Are, um, are you okay, Hermione?" he asked tentatively, half-hoping she would say she was fine and leave it at that.

Instead, to Harry's dismay, her bottom lip started to tremble. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a shaky breath.

"I'm fine," she said eventually, with a sad smile on her lips. "I'm just being silly."

Harry awkwardly looked down at his trainers and kicked at a small, black feather that was on the floor. "Well, that's good," he mumbled.

Before Hermione, Harry had never met a girl he could stand to be near or one that could stand to be near him. While the boys would chase and hit him at school, the girls would sing ridiculous songs about him or dare each other to kiss him on the cheek. Some days Harry found himself hoping for the beatings.

Hermione was different though. She was a strange mixture of an older sister and another one of the boys. She'd help him with his homework and, when you could drag her away from her own, she could actually be very funny, despite what most people thought.

Now, however, Hermione was displaying typical girl behaviour and Harry had never really had to deal with talking about feelings before. To try and avoid a conversation about why she was upset, Harry tried to talk about something neutral.

"So who were you writing to?" he asked in a voice that was obviously trying to sound casual. He glanced up at her and was disturbed to see fresh tears form in her eyes.

"My parents," she replied in a cracked voice. She was clearly trying to hold it together, for which Harry was very grateful. "I was just telling them about Norbert and our detentions. Hopefully they won't be too angry. I explained how we were just trying to help Hagrid, but I don't know if they will understand."

Harry nodded and Hermione sniffed, looking sadly at her shoes sadly. "I just miss them so much," she whispered.

As soon as the words left her mouth, they both froze. A chill seemed to pass through Harry's body as Hermione's statement hit him. The colour drained from her face as Hermione looked up at Harry, her mouth wide in horror.

"Oh, Harry, I am so sorry," she blurted out. "I – I didn't think."

"It's all right," Harry shrugged. He was surprised to find he wasn't hurt or upset. His parents were always a touchy subject with him since he had seen them in the mirror at Christmas, but he hadn't really been saddened by the experience. If anything it had been nice to finally have proof that they had existed at all.

"No, I shouldn't have been so insensitive," Hermione said with a shake of her head.

"Hermione," sighed Harry, "it's okay to miss your parents. I'm not going to be angry with you because of it."

For a moment, Hermione seemed to search his face for signs of distress. When she didn't find any, she bit her lip and nodded her head.

"Look," Harry said as he sat down beside her, "I didn't know them so I can't miss them. You saw your parents every day for nearly twelve years and now you go months without seeing them. It's completely different."

Again, Hermione watched him, but this time thoughtfully. "I suppose it is," she agreed quietly. "I still feel terrible."

"Well, don't," replied Harry firmly. "You were upset and you weren't thinking straight so I forgive you even though I don't think there is anything to forgive."

Hermione chuckled and turned to face out of the window. Harry followed her gaze and watched the tall trees of the forest sway slightly in the harsh wind.

"You know if you're ever upset or want to talk about anything, I'm here for you, Harry."

Shocked by her statement, Harry glanced at Hermione before looking back at the forest. No one had ever offered him that kind of support before. When he was younger he would've loved someone to talk to, but he was so used to dealing with his troubles by himself he doubted he could ever open up to someone else.

The offer, though redundant, still meant a lot to him. It had been eight months, but Harry was still unused to the idea of having friends who cared about him. He doubted he ever would be.

"Thanks, Hermione," he said softly, unable to look at her.

Together they sat on the cold stone, silently watching the mountains, both lost in their own thoughts until an hour later when Ron burst in, questioning what they were both doing in the drafty owlery and marvelling at how his finger was now back its original colour.

Thanks for reading :)