Hermione's day off

I do not own Harry Potter

He has known her to be hard working and bookish but lately it started getting out of hand. Ever since the start of their fourth year, Hermione has come up with a new project to work on, a better life for house elves. Aside from working her poor hide off, Hermione was using her spare time to knit clothes for the little critters she tried to set free. Soon she started getting sleep deprived and irritable. It came to the point that she had a fight with Ron, but Harry broke it up. She also wasn't completely used to knitting yet, so she had bandages all over fingers. Harry appreciated her kindness towards the elves and her hardworking attitude, but it pained him to see her work so hard. So he devised a plan to help her get some relief.

After finishing his homework at the common room one Friday night, Harry put his books away in his room, then returned downstairs. He turned to Hermione's table and his heart broke a little. Hermione fell asleep with her head on the table, leaning over a few pieces of parchment and her quill still in her hand. Beside her on the table lay a ball of yarn with a few needles and a pile of books that sat two feet tall.

"Oh Hermione…" he muttered sadly.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" he said softly, even though he knew she couldn't hear him because she was practically comatose. Harry didn't have the heart to wake her up, so he hurried up to his room and brought down an extra blanket and wrapped it around his best friend's shoulders, tucking her in. He knew she needed a day off otherwise she would crack eventually. He inspected the material she was working on. A two page long essay, in charms and transfiguration, and a three page long paperwork in potions. He knew the potions bit would be difficult but he would do his best. The boy gently, removed the quill from her hand and pulled the parchment from underneath her head. While he was at it, he took the fluffiest cushion he could find in the common room, gently lifted his best friend's head, and placed it on the soft piece of fabric. She hummed softly in her sleep, as if approving the addition of comfort to her position. Then Harry sat down and got to work. He decided to work on transfiguration first. He consulted with her text books ever now and then to check his answers or look for information. Halfway through the first paragraph, Harry knew this would be a long night. Little by little, the common room was relived of its inhabitants, many of them were wondering why Harry was doing Hermione's work for her, but no one pressed to ask questions. By eleven o'clock at night, Harry finished the first page of his first essay. By midnight, he had it done. Three hours later, he finished with charms. By the time he finished with potions, it was eight in the morning. Ron was the first to come downstairs and was shocked to see his friend still doing his friend's homework.

"Blimey, Harry. Have you been sitting there all night?"

Harry who just finished his last essay, on the subject he hated the most, put the quill done and rubbed his eyes.

"I just finished…" he said and sighed audibly. Ron looked at him, seeming slightly perplexed.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"Because Hermione needs some time off. Look at her! She can barely function properly anymore…" countered Harry and gestured towards his sleeping friend. Ron looked at him compassionately.

"It's nice that you care about her so much, but let Hermione do her own work, okay? Not to undervalue your abilities mate, but she would do it much faster than you would."

"Yeah I know. I just couldn't stand to see her overwork herself like this anymore. She's been sleeping like that, since last night."

"So what are you gonna do now that you finished her homework?" asked Ron.

"First I'm gonna get some sleep. Think I'm gonna see if I can ease her up a bit."

Ron shrugged.

"Alright, whatever you say mate. I'm gonna go eat breakfast. You wanna come?"

Harry yawned.

"No you go Ron. I'm gonna go get some rest."

Ron nodded.

"Okay. Sleep well buddy…," he said.

"Thanks." Replied Harry, as he plopped down on one of the couches, and fell straight to sleep. Knowing both had a rough night, the local Gryffindors tried to keep it down while they slept. By the time Hermione woke up, it was noon. She yawned softly and sat up, surprised by blanket around her and the pillow under her head. Then she noticed something. Her papers were missing. On the verge of panic, she searched her side of the table but found nothing. She then saw her quill in the corner of her eye. She looked over to the other side of the table and saw her quill and documents sitting there with the ink still fresh on one of them.

"How did they get all the way there?" she wondered and pulled them towards her. When she looked at the papers her eyes widened in shock.

"It's finished… someone finished my homework for me. But who..." her thoughts were interrupted by loud snoring that came from behind her. She hopped off the chair and walked towards the sofa. On it, lay Harry the boy whom she secretly loved, wiped out on the couch, sound asleep. Touched by his efforts, her eyes teared up a bit.

"Oh Harry, you didn't have to do this for me…" she thought, realizing the poor guy stayed up all night trying to help her. She kneeled down beside him and stroked his hair slightly; he hummed softly at the contact, still not waking up. She giggled at how deeply comatose she was. So she did something she dared to do only in her dreams. She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips. Acting on instinct upon waking up, Harry partially kissed her back as he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw, were Hermione's eyes beaming back at him and he could swear he saw a small blush on her cheeks. He smirked, still groggy from being woken up from his sleep, but didn't seem to mind the kiss.

"Hey Hermione, how'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Like a baby. How about you?"

"The same. I was just about to wake up…"

She smiled.

"Good." She said as he sat up, yawned, and looked at her. They both smiled with blush creeping into their cheeks. Finding the silence a little awkward, Hermione spoke.

"Listen Harry I wanted to thank you for doing my homework for me and trying to make me feel comfortable while sitting by that chair, that was very sweet, even though you didn't have to…"

Harry blinked, still a little tired from his wake up.

"Actually I kinda did…"

"Why do you say that?"

"You were torturing yourself Hermione. It broke my heart to see you work so hard without relief. So I thought I would ask you out…"

"But why do my homework?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't go once you had everything done, so I did it for you."

Hermione's eyes filled with tears, moved by his kindness.

"Oh Harry…" she muttered and threw her arms around him into a tight, warm hug. He wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders, cradling her in his arms.

"I love you Harry, you know that? You're the best person I've ever known and the best friend I could ask for. I feel so happy when I'm around you and feel lucky to have you in my life…" she confessed quickly, fearing the moment and her chance to confess would slip away. Harry motioned to kiss her hair.

"I love you too Hermione… always have… which is one of the reasons I did your homework for you…" he said as her eyes sparkled with tears in their sockets.

"I'm glad…,"she said as he stroked her hair. She lifted her head to face him, their faces drawing near, until their lips met for the first time in their lives. It was an electrifying encounter. They separated for a moment, and then kissed again, more deeply and passionately as they made out slightly on the couch. When they desperately had to breathe for air, they broke apart, with Hermione's head resting in his chest, grabbing onto his shirt, like a teddy bear. Enjoying the peaceful bliss of the situation, they remained silent for a while. Finally, Harry spoke.

"You still want to go out with me?"

She smirked.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Do you want me to buy you a butterbeer?" he asked and she smirked and leaned up kiss him again.

"I'm all yours baby…" she said sweetly as he kissed her again as they got up and left the common room holding hands and left Gryffindor tower as the sun started to set…

The end…

So there's a cute fluffy one I was toying around with for a while. A nice change of pace for the deep, angsty stuff I've been writing lately. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it. Don't forget to review!

Peace out…