A moment alone

I do not own Harry Potter

He wasn't sure when it happened. At first he saw her as just a friend. They were pretty close and seemed to like each other from the start. But when she was petrified this year, he became very concerned. He didn't understand it at first, but after some time he realized he has feelings for her. Unfortunately for him, he had to face Voldemort in the chamber of secrets before he could tell her and she was still petrified at the time. By the time, he returned, Hermione was still recovering, so he knew now was not the time for confessions of feelings. Soon the end of the year feast arrived and Harry could not find a time to speak to her alone. He tried telling her before going to bed but she was very tired so he postponed it, telling himself he would tell her tomorrow. But alas, he didn't have a private moment to tell her before boarding the train and while on the train. He told himself he would tell her when they arrive at King's Cross. After a long ride they were back in London and it was time to act. Once they got onto the platform, they passed through the barrier and were near the parking lot, where Hermione's parents and the Dursleys waited. Now was the time to act.

"Hermione?" he said nervously. She turned around too face him.

"Yes Harry?"

Harry could feel the words fall down into his stomach. When he saw his friend's cute face smiling at him, he realized he couldn't do it. But he tried anyway. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Hermione, wondering why he was acting so strangely.

"No." Harry thought.

Now is not the time. Not right before the summer begins. He would tell her in the beginning of next term. Hopefully their third year at Hogwarts would be less crazy than the last two. He sighed and smiled. He extended her hand to shake hers.

"Have a great holyday Hermione." He smiled warmly at her.

Hermione suspected he wanted to say something else but didn't know what it is. Nevertheless, she walked towards him and brought him into a hug.

"You too Harry." She said sweetly. He could feel the blush seep into his face.

"Stay in touch okay?" she said and he smiled.

"You now I will." He smiled back as she let go of him and walked to her parents' car. Harry could only grin. What a wonderful way to start the summer, he thought. He walked towards his Aunt and Uncle's car and got into the backseat. He couldn't care less about Vernon's grumbling about Harry's public display of affection, the memory of the hug still fresh in his mind.

The following summer went by slowly for Harry. Too slowly. He couldn't wait to go back to Hogwarts to see Hermione and the rest again. Not once was he tempted to tell her how he felt via letter, but had to repeatedly stop himself, knowing it would be inappropriate. When the dinner with Aunt Marge came, Harry was wound up like a spring. He never missed his friends this much and being stuck with his abusive relatives only made it worse for him. So it wasn't much of a surprise that he had a little 'surge of magic' that made his aunt inflate like a balloon and drift towards central London. While fleeing his Aunt and Uncle's house, he secretly hoped that she float near the Big Ben tower. Maybe the rod on the top would prick her and make her pop and fly all over the place like a real balloon…

So after some drifting Harry made it to the leaky cauldron and stayed there for the rest of the summer. Soon he met Ron and Hermione. He was glad to see them. Yet he still couldn't find a moment alone to speak with her. And so it was, that once again it was time to board the Hogwarts Express on their way to another fruitful and hopefully this time, a peaceful year at Hogwarts.

The trio found a nearly empty cabin at the back end of the train. The only person in it was a sickly man with a dusty old cloak who seemed to be in a deep sleep. Shortly after sitting down, the train departed and they were on their way to their next adventure. Most of the ride was uneventful. Harry and Ron played wizard's chess while Hermione watched, only for Harry to have his sorry hide beaten. When the trolley came Harry got sweets for them. They nibbled on them for a bit and then the boys started a card game while Hermione read Hogwarts a History.

Soon night has fallen on them and the lights turned on. About an hour before arrival, the train came to screeching halt and everything became icy cold. Harry could see a dark figure approach their cabin and open the door. Before he could barely see who or what it was, Harry passed out while hearing a women scream in his head. When he came to, he found himself laying on the cabin floor. Harry's vision was blurry but he could still tell that Ron and Hermione looked frightened and very concerned. Then another voice came.

"Can you sit up?"

Harry looked to his side and saw the sleeping man from before. Harry nodded and pulled himself back into the chair.

"Are you alright Harry?" asked Hermione while putting her hand on his shoulder. He could feel his cheeks redden because of the contact. He nodded.

"Yeah I'm fine." He said. After a short pause he asked

"What was that?"

"A dementor. A most foul creature. One of the guards of Azkaban. He came here looking for Sirius Black." Said the man with the coat. Harry nodded in understanding. The man took out a piece of chocolate and gave it to Harry.

"Here, have some chocolate. It'll make you feel better." He said. Harry smiled and thanked him and took a piece of chocolate. The man then gave some to the other two.

"Are you a new addition to the staff?" asked Hermione, trying to break the silence. Harry could feel himself go warm in the face just from hearing her talk.

"I am. My name is Remus Lupin. I'll be your new defense against the dark arts teacher."

"Pleasure to meet you sir. My name is Hermione Granger and these are my friends Ron Weasley and Harry Potter." She said and gestured to the two of them. Ron simply waved and Harry nodded silently…

Soon afterward, Lupin excused himself out of the room and the trio sat in silence till they arrived at Hogwarts. After the sorting process was done, Harry had a long anticipated feast and stuffed his belly with the finest food Hogwarts could offer. That night he slept like a baby. The next morning he set out to find a time to tell Hermione how he felt about her. But again, he was always cut off by one thing or another. He soon discovered that Hermione had a busier schedule than he did, so he barely had enough time to talk to her. Within a few weeks, Hermione grew increasingly tired and irritable due to lack of sleep. After about a month or two, she seemed clearly exhausted. After returning to the common room one night, the place was rowdy as usual but he could see a mane of brown bushy hair at the corner by one of the tables, and to his surprise, it was n the table. Worrying for her wellbeing, Harry rushed towards her only to find Hermione with her head on her table, sound asleep with her quill still in her hand. Harry didn't have the heart to wake her up, seeing how clearly exhausted she was as of lately. Instead, he gently removed the quill from her hand, silently closed her books and softly placed a blanket on her shoulders and let her be.

When she awoke the next morning she was surprised to find out she slept in the common room and she had a blanket around her shoulders. She smiled sweetly at the gesture, figuring it was Harry who did it. She wanted to thank him for his kindness but he had a Quidditch match this morning and she didn't want to bother him with it before that. So she would wait till the match was over. She felt that a hug or even a kiss on the cheek would be in order…

Sadly for everyone, the Quidditch match did not goas as well as they expected. Aside from playing in a storm, a group of dementors emerged on the stadium and Harry lost consciousness. Luckily for him, he was unaware at the time that he was falling from an altitude of fifty feet. But unluckily for him, he fell so fast, no one could preform a spell to save him in time and Harry fell onto a large puddle and wasn't moving.

"HARRY!" screamed Hermione in fear, fearing the worst. Within seconds, the entire stadium was in mayhem. Someone banished the hooded creatures away, while Dumbledore hurried towards Harry, levitated him into the air and rushed him towards the hospital wing. Hermione ran down the stairs to the ground and went after them, her tears camouflaged by the rain.

Hermione reached the infirmary shortly after they did but was not permitted inside. Hermione stood outside the hospital wing, waiting for someone to let her in to see if Harry was alright. She paced about back and forth. Soon it was lunch time and despite being very hungry she wouldn't want to leave just yet. By the time dinner came and there was still no word, she decided she had to eat and headed towards to the Great Hall. The hall was quitter than usual, as concerns and speculations over Harry's condition brewed. Hermione had to force herself to eat. After she was full, she returned to the hospital wing but she was still not allowed inside. Soon curfew came and she had to return to the tower. But Hermione couldn't sleep that night. She was worried about Harry. What if he was dying? What if he was in critical condition? Would he be okay? Why were they not telling them anything? She had to know. She would take Harry's invisibility cloak and sneak in to check on him but she knew it was pointless if she not allowed in. Sneaking out after hours was risky enough. She didn't want to break into the infirmary, because she was likely to get caught. Still, she had to risk it. She quietly got out of bed, got dressed and walked down the stairs. She walked up to the boys' dormitory to search for the cloak as quietly as she could. Unfortunately, the rummaging wasn't quite enough and woke up Ron.

"Wha… who's there?" he asked.

"It's me Ron." Whispered Hermione.

"Blimey, Hermione. What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise.

"I'm looking for Harry's invisibility cloak. Do you know where it is?"

"No Hermione I don't. But can't you just check on him in the morning?"

"I want to check on him now. I'm worried sick about him."

"I'm sure Harry's gonna be fine Hermione." He tried to reassure her.

"I want to see for myself…" she said and continued to rummage through Harry's stuff. Finally she smiled.

"Found it!" she whispered and darted out the door. Ron simply rolled his eyes and went back to sleep.

Hermione reached the portrait door and put Harry's cloak on. Once in the corridor, she headed for the hospital wing. When she got there, she was glad to find out the door was not locked anymore. At least she would be breaking only one rule tonight…

She paced around the beds until she found him and her heart sank. Harry had a bandage and a cast on his right arm and on his left leg plus on his ribs.

"Oh Harry…" she said softly and approached him sadly. She sat down by his bedside and rubbed his hand gently but he didn't respond. She knew he was in a magical coma. She removed her cloak and put it beside her and spent the next hour rubbing his hand gently. Soon she fell asleep with her head on the mattress.

The next morning, Hermione had to answer to Processor McGonagall on why she slept in the hospital wing. It had cost her twenty points for Gryffindor, but as far as she was concerned, it was worth it. Today was a Sunday so there was no school. After going to eat a brief breakfast and putting Harry's cloak away, Hermione returned to his bedside. She sat by him and held his hand like she did before. It wasn't until almost noon that Harry finally came to. He groaned slightly and opened his eyes. Thrilled, Hermione smiled for joy at him as he slowly woke up. In his blurry vision, he could see her bushy hair and slender form.

"Hermione? He asked groggily.

"Yeah Harry. It's me." She said gently and placed his glasses on his face and she came into focus. He could see a teary smile on her face. She smiled through her tears at him, glad he was awake. Perplexed, Harry asked.

"Hermione, why are you?..."

"Oh Harry…" she cut him off and wrapped her arms around him gently as to not make his ribs worse. She cried as she held him in her arms. Stunned at first, it took Harry a few seconds to react. Then, he wrapped his good arm around Hermione waist and basked in the moment their shared.

"I was so worried about you…" she said through tears of joy and relief.

Harry didn't know what to say. Instead he just smiled and rested his chin on her head and patted her back softly. After a short silence she spoke.

"How do you feel?"

Harry could feel his cheeks turn red. Should he really tell her what he thought? After a moment's thought he spoke.

"Much better now that you're here…" he said honestly. She smiled

"It's so sweet of you to say that Harry."

"But I mean it." He insisted.

"You do?" she asked and looked up at him. He nodded.

"Yeah."

She blinked.

"But what did I do? I'm not a healer. I'm just plain old Hermione…"

He chuckled and shook his head at her in bemusement.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"You're not plain Hermione. You're kind, compassionate, brave, brilliant, and a wonderful friend and if you ask me quite beautiful…" he smiled at her. He could see her cheeks turn red.

"You're just saying that Harry. I'm not really beautiful. Look at me. How can I be beautiful with these big front teeth?"

He shrugged.

"It never bothered me." He admitted. She huffed and tried again.

"Then these dimples on my face. How can that be…?"

"You don't have to ask me how they can be pretty Hermione, because they are pretty. To me they are like a decoration to a wonderful painting…"

Hermione's face was growing increasingly red and she was growing increasingly sparse on excuses to his claims.

"But… look at me… who would want me with this huge mane of hair and this skin, or my silly smile?..."

He smirked at her.

"All these features still made a beautiful girl, last time I saw her…"

By now Hermione was blushing to the roots of her hair. She smiled sheepishly at him.

"Why are you telling me this Harry?"

He smiled, knowing that now was his chance. He inhaled deeply and spoke with confidence.

"Because I love you Hermione. To me you're beautiful just the way you are, regardless of how you look…"

Hermione simply looked at him in shock. She blinked.

"You… you love me?" she asked with hope in her eyes and voice.

"I do." He admitted.

Hermione soon smiled for joy and wrapped her arms around him again and whispered into his ear

"I love you too Harry. Very much…"

He smiled at the reveal.

"I'm glad." He said and they separated. She peered into his green eyes as he gazed into her chocolate brown eyes as they slowly moved closer towards each other as their lips finally made contact for the first kiss of their lives, happy to share it with each other. Harry's placed his hand around her waist as she had hers around his neck, as they kissed lovingly but tenderly. Finally, after five minutes they had to breathe, and so they parted, as Hermione rested her head on his chest as he had his good arm around her waist. They lay there happily basking in the moment as they both slowly drifted to sleep in each other's arms. Butt not before Harry gave his new girlfriend a small peck on her hair before the two were taken away by a blissful nap…

The end…

So there it is…

Hope you guys liked it.

Reviews are most welcome…

Peace out…