Thought about this while watching the scene in HBP.

I do not own Harry Potter or any of its character. They belong to the wonderful J.K Rowling!

Comforting skills

Harry Potter was not good at comforting people, he was already aware of his awful skills. He had even tried a few times, like assuring Cho that everything would be okay while she cried over Cedric's death that day after the DA lesson. However, he didn't know what to say or do whenever he found himself in circumstances like that one, a situation when it was needed to console someone he cared about.

He was not good at comforting people, it was a fact that he was not good with words, but when it came to Hermione, he'd tried the impossible to make her feel better. Not only because Hermione was his best friend and the sight of the sadness in her eyes just broke his heart, but Harry felt he owed her, for all those times she'd found the perfect words to soothe him, for all those times she'd made him smile through his sorrow.

Harry felt it was his duty to make her smile too.

At the same time, Harry selfishly and secretly tried to make her feel better knowing that it made his own day turn into a brighter one. In between everything happening in his complicated and dangerous life, Hermione's happiness would turn the lump stuck in his throat and all his worries that sometimes would keep him awake into nothingness.

Was it wrong? Harry sometimes wondered. To feel that way whenever he saw his best friend smile, was it wrong? To feel jealousy whenever he saw her watching Ron with that look in her dazzling brown eyes or whenever a guy watched her with lust, a guy like Cormac, was it wrong? Harry was completely and irrevocably sure that he loved Hermione, like the best friend she was or even a sister; she meant a big deal to him, but seeing her happy made all this confusing feelings come to the surface, feelings that he strongly tried to deny and were hidden to everyone but himself.

Well, maybe not everyone, Harry thought, the conversation he had recently shared with Ginny and that he had tried to keep in the back of his head, again bothering his troubled mind.

"Hermione is my best friend, Gin, I love her like a sister," he had tiredly told his redhead friend at the Common Room while they silently made their homework, after Ginny had questioned his significantly watchful eyes over Hermione, who was sitting by the fireplace lost in her reading. Harry had never really thought that he would be talking about that subtle topic with Ginny of all people, as he had felt something towards her not so long ago, though he had quickly been over it after he saw she was quiet happy with Dean.

"Harry," Ginny had said just as tiredly, as she had heard that same pitiful answer more than once. "How do you know that your feelings for Hermione are utterly platonic it you don't have a sister to compare that love with?"

Ginny's implications were simple and at the same time they weren't. She was right; he was an only child, so how could he ever know how it felt to care about a sister like he guaranteed he cared for Hermione? He had naively believed that his feelings for Hermione were innocent, just brotherly, like his overprotection or his jealously towards her. However, even though he wanted to tell Hermione whatever he felt for her was there and he couldn't shut it down, he had found himself lost for words and eventually had given up, telling himself that it was way better to keep it in the back of his head and deep inside his heart.

The whole situation was far more complicated than just stand before her and spit it out; there were many things to take in consideration before saying everything aloud: first off, Hermione was his best friend and acknowledge her of his feelings for her would be risky. Even though it could change their relationship for better, Harry couldn't live knowing that he had ruined their friendship if it turned out for worse. Secondly, Harry couldn't risk his friendship with Ron either as he knew that deep down Ron fancied Hermione just like she fancied him, although (Harry didn't know why yet) his best mate had snogged Lavender Brown in front of the whole house.

Harry Potter was not good at comforting people, but the latest show of affection at the Gryffindor party was the reason he had fallowed his best friend after she stormed out of the Common Room and the reason why he walked down the darken corridors of Hogwarts searching for the brown-haired, ready to be there for her at her time of need.

Not long after, he found her sitting by a short staircase, looking solemnly through the large windows and playing with his wand, a few green birds flying around her at its movement. If Hermione heard him coming, Harry didn't know, but she didn't move when Harry stood beside her. He just saw her wiping her tears and looking away so he wouldn't watch her cry, an attempt that failed miserably.

"Avis spell," Hermione whispered looking at the birds, trying to cover her crying. "Just practicing."

Harry didn't know what to say next, so he just murmured what first came to his mind, "They look really good." Way to go, Potter, he thought to himself.

Seeing that his mere presence was not good enough to make his friend feel better (obviously) he sat besides her, taking her hand in his and drawing circles with his thumb. He felt Hermione's heavy breathing and her soft sniffing sounds, before he felt his own heart aching at the sight of Hermione in pain.

"How does it feel, Harry?" Hermione asked after a short silence. He just looked at her, confused. "When you see Dean with Ginny."

"I…" Harry hesitated. How could he answer that?

"I know. I see the way you look at her, you're my best friend, of course I'd know," she explained, but her wrong guessing made a sad smile appear on his lips. That same statement could have been right a month or even a few weeks before, but now, the pain Hermione was feeling was the same pain Harry felt by watching her cry over another guy.

His thoughts were interrupted by Ron and Lavender, who was hugging Ron by the neck, her high laughter fading once she saw Harry and Hermione over the staircase. Hermione looked away once again trying to hide her crying, but they both knew that the two newcomers were now aware of the tears falling down her checks. Harry buried the sudden need to punch Ron in the nose as he felt Hermione holding his hand strongly.

"Upss…" Lavender said, not as gently as Harry would have expected. But then again, Harry expected a lot of things that never would be. "Guess this room is already taken!" She quickly got out of the room, in which Hermione and Harry had been sitting for long minutes, trying to drag Ron along with her, but failing in her effort and leaving the three friends alone.

"Those are nice birds," Ron triad to compliment, pointing to the small green animals flying around Harry and Hermione. Harry felt that terribly sudden need to punch Ron yet again, but now realized it was harder to contain himself, and he was glad when Hermione stood and ordered the birds to attack Ron, who run off, the flying little animals still behind him. He didn't feel good anymore once Hermione broke down beside him, sobbing silently, her body stiking close to his and finding shelter in his strong arms that would forever be there for her, waiting for her to say the word. She buried her face in Harry's shoulder while he kept drawing circles in her hand, his other arm over her shoulder pulling her close.

"It feels like this," Harry whispered unnecessarily, that lump burning in his throat one more time. Now he needed to vent and say what he really thought, just to see Hermione smiling again.

"I know that it feels like your heart's breaking, 'Mione," he began, kissing the top of her head. "That your throat starts to burn and your heartbeat speeds up, and then your stomach tightens and your lungs close up. I know it feels like the world is going to end, but it's not." Not yet, he said to himself, thinking bitterly about what his not so distant future held for him. Keeping such an awful thought in the back of his head, he focused in cheering Hermione up, that was now his number one priority. He pulled away and made his way towards her face with his hand, freeing her of his side hug, his fingers now lifting her chin up.

With all the carefulness he was capable of, he slowly wiped the new tears falling over her already wet checks. "You might have to meet a few more jerks, quiet like Ron," he continued quietly and his heart skipped a bit when he saw a tiny smile appearing over her soft lips. "But one day, Hermione, I promise that one day you'll find this special guy who will treat you exactly how you deserve to be treated, a guy who thinks that the sun rises and sets with you."

He wished, deep down, that he could be that guy for her one day, not just afraid that she could turn him down, but afraid that he wouldn't make it out alive of the war approaching them quiet fast.

Hermione squeezed his hand, "You think so, Harry?"

The corners of his lips lifted a little bit, and due to their proximity, Hermione was able to perceive it through the darkness. "I know so," he whispered.

Not so long after, both walked through the dark hallways in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room, their arms linked and Hermione's head still resting on Harry's shoulder. They came across a few students who watched the pair with curiosity, but neither of them cared to notice. Once they found the Fat Lady, Hermione said the password and both walked into the room through the portrait.

Inside, the party had died down significantly, though there were still a few people there just talking or having their boyfriend-girlfriend time. They even saw Dean and Ginny sitting by the fireplace and both newcomers were aware when Ginny glanced in their direction and grinned, winking at Harry before turning back to her boyfriend. This seemed odd to Hermione, who had been quiet all the way to the Common Room, thinking and letting sink in the words Harry had shared with her.

"I'm going to bed now," Harry told her when they reached the stairs. "Are you going to be okay?" Hermione nodded and let go of his arm.

While he walked up the stairs, Harry thought of the huge weight that had been lifted off his shoulders. It felt good and even better once Hermione smiled at him, his heart speeding up as he realized he had put that smile there.

But before he could reach the top of the stairs, he heard Hermione's sweet voice saying loud enough for him to hear, "I already did, didn't I?"

Harry turned and was met by Hermione's tender eyes staring back at him. "Did what?" he asked, confused, watching another smile appearing over his best friend's lips.

"Find that special guy," she explained looking at him with adoration, making his breathing go away.

And while Harry watched her slowly coming his way, he couldn't stop the thought that his comforting skills were not that bad after all.

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-Z