A/N: This is a one-shot that just popped into my brain when I woke up this morning...maybe I dreamed it! Normally I don't go for Harry/Hermione, but I've also got a thing for people that fall in love with their best friends. ;) Enjoy!
They were studying in the library for yet another exam. This one was History of Magic and although there was lots of dramatic moaning and groaning, it was really just a run-of-the-mill evening. Things had been quiet recently and the problems they faced were absurdly normal...schoolwork, petty arguments, a sprained ankle from Quidditch practice, and of course, romantic troubles.
"Why must we learn this?" Ron thumped his head against the textbook repeatedly. "No one cares about goblin rebellions, no one!"
"You may not care, Ronald, but I think your mother would care if you came home with T in History of Magic," Hermione pointed out.
"Who cares if I only have a troll-like knowledge of goblins, though?" Ron banged his head on his textbook again for added effect.
"I know who might care," Harry said without looking up from his textbook. "I heard Lavender and Parvati discussing boyfriend requirements just the other day."
"Why were you with Lavender and Parvati?" Hermione wanted to know.
"Oh, they were in the Hospital Wing getting some skin thing-a-bob for Padma at the same time Madame Pomfrey was healing my ankle sprain." Here Harry lowered his voice and turned towards Hermione conspiratorially. "Apparently she had a zit so big she wouldn't even come out of her room to get it fixed."
Hermione shivered as she felt Harry's warm breath on her face. It smelled of mint and oranges, a combination of the fruit they had consumed as a snack earlier and the Muggle Winterfresh gum that Harry was addicted to and Hermione dutifully smuggled in from home each summer holiday. She glanced down, distracted by their arms that were laying side by side, not quite touching. She coughed awkwardly, then returned her gaze to his bright green eyes that sparkled with mirth.
"Not that this isn't fascinating, but is there a point in here somewhere? Possibly related to History of Magic? Or even something about Ron's grades?" Gently she closed the gap in between their arms to nudge him and flick her eyes in Ron's direction.
Harry followed her eyes and turned to see Ron, still bumping his head against his book, but now there was more squirming about and muttering involved.
Harry winked at Hermione, then straightened up, their arms losing contact, and cleared his throat.
"Parvati said that while looks and personality were key, she could never date a boy that had less than As in all his classes." Harry stated loudly, then glanced to see if he had gotten Ron's attention.
Indeed, Ron had stopped the flailing about and was now looking at Harry with interest.
"What did Lavender said?" Hermione asked, finally catching on to the plan.
"Oh, she totally agreed," Harry responded, pointedly ignoring Ron and focusing on Hermione. "She also mentioned that she's always had a thing for Quidditch players."
"Why were you eavesdropping, Harry?" Hermione teased. "Hoping for a chance yourself, then?"
Harry smirked. It was such a ridiculous look on his kind and honest face that she could tell he was joking. Probably.
"Well if I was, I've lost my opportunity now," he sighed dramatically. "Lavender said she always wanted to date someone with a lot of siblings...being an only child she missed the big family experience." Harry shook his head slowly in mock sorrow.
Ron, on the other hand, was beaming and then a flash of determination crossed his face.
"I think I need some more reference material about this chapter," he said. "I think I'll just go ask Madame Pince for some help with finding a book or two." He stood up, almost knocking his chair over and hurried towards the front of the library.
"I could help you..." Hermione called after his disappearing form. "Perfect, the one time you actually got him interested in studying and he doesn't even want to study with me," she said bitterly.
The broad smile on Harry's face quickly dissolved. "I'm sorry, Mione...I mean...I didn't think...didn't realize...I guess I'll just call it a night now..." he stumbled over his words.
"Yeah, okay, goodnight then...I guess," Hermione responded confusedly as she watched her other best friend beat a hasty retreat.
Now Hermione took a moment to bang her head against her book. "Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid," she mumbled. Why had she said that? For someone so bright, she certainly felt stupid when it came to some things. She only meant that it would have been nice to study with Enthusiastic Ron instead of Whiny Ron for once. Harry obviously thought she still had feelings for Ron (which she didn't - she hadn't in AGES) and since Hermione was JUST his best friend, he clearly was uncomfortable discussing anything of a romantic nature with her.
"Erm." A familiar-sounding throat cleared itself.
Hermione raised her head from the textbook, feeling her cheek heat up as she forced herself to look at Harry's eyes. To her surprise, they weren't critical or annoyed, but instead they were dancing with laughter.
"What?" she demanded crossly.
"I forgot my book, but clearly you're using it for something much more important."
Hermione opened the book the inside of the front cover, where the words "Harry Potter" were scrawled rather illegibly.
"Oh," she said in a tiny voice, then thrust the book towards him without daring to look into his face again.
To her surprise, Harry didn't grab the book itself, but instead Hermione felt a firm tug at her wrist as Harry pulled her to her feet. She looked at him in shock, but he just smiled crookedly and gently stroked her wrist with his thumb.
"It's not like you need to study anymore for the exam," he chided her. "You were only here to help me and Ron anyway, so don't try to make an excuse about why you need to stay in the library. I know you want to be with Ron, but you know how he gets when he's 'in the zone' and you don't need that right now. If you let me, we could talk about it, and I think I can help, you know, if you let me."
Harry spoke to her quietly, soothingly, as if he was trying to calm a wild animal. At the same time, he had used his other hand to neatly stack all her belonging that were strewn across the library table. Now he released her wrist, which he had been stroking all the while and took the stack of books and shoved it her bag, then shouldered it along with his own. He reached for her hand again and turned as if to lead her out of the library, but she batted him away angrily.
"This isn't about Ron," she hissed. The venom in her voice was clear, yet she still managed to abide by the library's volume protocols. "I'm not some silly hormonal girl that you need to pacify, Harry. The guy who...I mean, the reason for...I just don't like Ron in that way. So you can't just stop worrying about hurting my precious feelings and leave me alone!" Hermione felt a lone tear slip down her cheek.
Harry reached again for her hand. This time she allowed his hand, warm and rough with calluses, to envelop her smaller, ink-stained one. With his other hand he reached up and wiped the tear from her cheek.
"Whatever the problem is, we can solve it together," he whispered.
"I don't think...I just don't think you'd want to...I don't think you'd understand...you can't fix this, Harry," she whispered back miserably.
"Fine," he said quietly. "You don't have to tell me what it is, but I can't stand to see you like this. You're my best friend."
"I know," Hermione sniffed and suddenly the tears began to pour out at an increased pace.
Harry grimaced when he noticed the other students beginning to take notice of the sobbing girl. Swiftly, he lead her out of the library and into the quiet hall. He strode briskly, towing the still-crying Hermione behind him. As he rounding a corner, he saw Draco, Pansy, and their whole Slytherin entourage headed towards them.
"Like we need that right now," Harry muttered and grabbed for the nearest door handle.
All of the sudden, Hermione felt herself yanked in an entirely new direction. Now she was pressed rather firmly against Harry's chest, and a cold wall against her back made it impossible for her to move.
"This has got to be the smallest closet in the history of closets," she whispered muffled against Harry's chest.
"Shh! We're just hiding here temporarily."
"Why are we in here, anyway?"
"Malfoy."
"Malfoy made us get in this closet?" she asked incredulously.
"No. He was coming with all his friends, and I just don't want him to see you like this." Harry whispered.
"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically.
"What? I'm trying to help you out here...and it's not like you're giving me many reasons to," Harry murmured angrily.
"You are the last person I wanted to - I mean, your the reason I'm.." Hermione trailed off.
"Look, I'm sorry I reminded you that Ron has feelings for other girls. I didn't realize you were still so hung up on him."
"It's not Ron I like!" she hissed.
In horror of her accidental confession, Hermione managed to pry her body as far away from Harry's as it would go, then clapped her hand over her mouth. The tears, which had slowed in favor of anger began cascading down her face again and she squeezed her eyes shut as if she could make this whole mess disappear.
Two warm hands grasped her face and gently wiped the tears away.
"Hermione."
The was he said her name made her open her eyes. Harry had said her name thousands of times over the years, but never had it sounded like this before. Before he was exasperated or worried or silly or affectionate or just trying to get her attention. But this...it could only be called longing. Want. Need. Passion.
"Say it again, please," she whispered.
"I'm...sorry?" he asked hesitantly.
"No. My name."
Harry sighed and smiled at her. "Hermione."
Then his face was close, so close, and his lips descended onto hers. His hands moved from her face to tangle themselves in her curly hair. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed into his mouth. He used the moment to coax his tongue into her mouth and the smell of mint and oranges was once again overwhelming. The kiss seemed to go on for ages, soft and sweet, and better than Hermione had ever allowed herself to imagine.
His hands slid down, caressing her shoulders, her waist, her hips. One hand then reached behind her, drawing her nearer to him and as he did she could feel his erection pressing into her. She moaned in delight and clutched him to her, begging him with more and more passionate kisses to take things further. His other hand began to travel back up and slowly slid up inside her shirt until it reached her breast. He massaged it gently, rubbing his fingers lightly over her nipples. She reached around to begin to unbutton his shirt, but the action seemed to snap Harry out of the blissful reverie they had sunken into. Gently, delicately, lovingly, he disentangled himself from her and stared into her brown eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry whispered, returning his hands to her face to rub at the salty trails that still wound down her face.
"You thought I liked Ron," she whispered miserably. "And you kept saying over and over how I'm your best friend."
"I thought that's what you wanted," he smiled at her again. "I never dreamed that you'd feel about me the same way I feel about you."
Hermione leaned forward and kissed him briefly, reassuringly. "Now you know."
She leaned forward as if to reengage in their behavior from moments ago, but Harry backed up as far as the tiny closet would allow and shook his head.
"No," he said, almost trying to convince himself.
"No?" she asked confusedly.
"If we continue this here...I won't be able to stop. And our first time shouldn't be in the tiniest closet known to man."
She blinked, processing this new information. "So we can, just not here?"
"Of course." Harry leaned forward to kiss her, but now Hermione backed away, her head colliding with a dull thud against the back wall.
"Ron," she gasped.
"Ron?" Now it was Harry's turn to look confused.
"Ron is busy studying!" Hermione proclaimed triumphantly. "Your room should be empty!"
Harry stared at her a moment, then smiled deviously at her. "I like the way you think, Granger."
The two hurriedly straightened their clothes, then cautiously exited the closet. As they walked down the hall, hand in hand, Hermione tugged gently on Harry's arm.
"Harry? I know you said our first time shouldn't be in that closet, but do you think we could..." Hermione trailed off hesitantly.
Harry turned to stare at her. She smiled tentatively. He proceeded to drag her towards the Gryffindor dorms at the fastest speed they could possibly manage.