A/N: Fifth in my missing moments series. I swear Harry and Hermione had sex in that tent when Ron left. Or at least came close to it.

To my strictly R/Hr fans: I apologise for this piece of blasphemy. I really do.

"'Thanks for the tea. I'll finish the watch. You get back in the warm.'

She hesitated, but recognised the dismissal. She picked up the book and then walked back past him into the tent, but as she did so, she brushed the top of his head lightly with her hand. He closed his eyes at her touch …" (DH, pg 295, UK edition)

Three Reasons

Hermione started shivering. The cold was seeping through the material of her many layers of clothing despite the fact that she had put Warming Charms on the inside of the tent. Her shivering continued and next thing she knew, Harry's arm was around her shoulders.

'Cold, huh?'

Hermione nodded and curled up against Harry's incredibly warm side.

'I've no idea why,' she said, teeth chattering.

'Have you eaten anything today?'

'No, but neither have you.'

'We still have some pears. You should finish them; you're probably cold because you haven't had any food for awhile.'

Hermione looked up at him.

'I thought we were saving them for an emergency?'

Harry looked down at her.

'This is an emergency. You need to eat.'

'So do you,' Hermione argued.

Harry sighed.

'Split them, then?' he asked.

Hermione nodded.

'Where are they?'

'Outside,' said Harry. 'It's cold enough to act like a refrigerator. I'll get them; hang on.'

He stood and walked out of the tent, armed with Hermione's wand.

'Here,' he said when he returned, the tin in his hands.

Hermione took the can and gave Harry a small smile.

'Thanks,' she whispered.

'You're welcome,' he replied quietly.

Harry sat at the table and pulled out the Marauder's Map.

'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,' he muttered.

Hermione watched him, frozen tin in her hands.

'Are you still angry at me?' she asked quietly.

Harry looked up at her.

'Angry?'

'About your wand,' she whispered.

Harry stood and walked over to her, relieved her of the pears and placed them on the table before gripping her frozen hands in his incredibly warm ones.

'You apologised,' he whispered. 'You apologised and I said it was fine. I'm not angry anymore.'

'You were short with me earlier. I was just wondering if maybe …'

Hermione trailed off and Harry bent down slightly so that they were face to face.

'I'm sorry,' he whispered. 'I was still upset that I didn't have my own wand and that Dumbledore seemed to have shared more with the most evil wizard besides You-Know-Who. I didn't mean to be short with you.'

'I didn't mean to break your wand,' Hermione replied, a small smile on her face.

Harry nodded.

'I know.'

They were quiet for several moments.

'Looking for Ginny?' Hermione asked her hands still in Harry's.

'No. I keep waiting for Ron to show up at Hogwarts,' he said.

Hermione felt her heart sink when Harry mentioned Ron.

'Do you think we'll ever see him again?' she whispered.

Harry was silent for a couple seconds before he replied.

'I don't know.'

Hermione blinked rapidly, trying not to cry; Harry wasn't a fan of tears.

'You really love him,' said Harry.

Hermione looked up at him, the tears escaping her eyes.

'I love you both, you know that, right?'

'But in different ways.'

'Yes. You … you're more of a best friend that I would hate myself to lose. But Ron … Ron is just …'

'The one you've wanted since you were fifteen,' Harry finished for her.

'Thirteen,' she corrected quietly.

Harry did not look surprised, but nodded. Hermione went up on her toes and brushed her lips against his cheek.

'You mean a lot to me, Harry,' she said softly, lacing her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder.

Harry turned his head and Hermione felt him brush his lips against her forehead. Hermione looked up at him and lifted her head slowly, never breaking eye contact. Harry's arms had gone around her waist and he pulled her closer. Hermione went back up on her toes and slowly moved her lips in his direction. Harry responded at once, pulling her even closer, his fingers creeping under her many layers of clothing, brushing the small of her back.

Hermione let off a soft moan and pulled Harry closer, driving her tongue deeper into his mouth. He gripped a few layers of clothing and their mouths were apart only long enough for Harry to remove the layers, leaving her in her button-down shirt. Their mouths met again almost instantly and Hermione ran her hands up and under Harry's tee-shirt, pulling it up.

Harry pulled it off and whipped it to the ground, pulling Hermione close again and running his lips over her neck. She whimpered as her hands snapped to the back of his head, gripping his hair.

'Oh, God,' she moaned.

Harry's hands found the buttons of Hermione's shirt and he started to release said buttons from their holes. Before he could push the shirt off of Hermione's shoulders, Hermione forced his head back to hers and crushed their lips together again. Harry picked her up, still kissing her, and laid her on his bunk, crawling on top of her.

Hermione's fingers threaded through Harry's ebony locks and she rolled her hips up, rubbing them against Harry's. He groaned, breaking their kiss, his head dropping down and his forehead pressing against Hermione's shoulder.

'Wait! Wait,' he panted.

Hermione was gasping for breath, her fingers digging into Harry's back.

'We can't do this,' Harry whispered.

'No,' said Hermione. 'Don't think.'

'No, Hermione; it's not right,' said Harry, lifting his head.

'Give me one reason why,' she whispered.

Harry snorted.

'I can give you three reasons,' he said, 'one for you, one for me, and one for the both of us. For you, Ron, for me, Ginny, and for us, our friendship.'

Hermione sighed.

'You're right,' she murmured. 'What was I thinking?'

'I dunno, but it was interesting,' said Harry, rolling off of her and looking for his shirt. 'Here,' he said, picking up Hermione's layers of sweaters and holding them out to her.

Hermione took them when she had finished buttoning up her shirt. She slid into the sweaters and felt her neck.

'Anything I need to cover?' she asked him.

Harry examined her neck.

'No, I just kissed. I didn't bite,' he said.'

Hermione nodded.

'OK. We need to keep this to ourselves,' she said.

Harry nodded.

'Definitely,' he said. 'We don't want to hurt anyone.'

'Hermione kissed his cheek and hugged him.

'Right,' she whispered. 'Especially not the two people we care about most, right?'

'Right.'

Hermione released Harry and he nodded.

'I'll take watch,' he said.

Hermione smiled.

'I do find you attractive, Harry,' she said.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

'What?'

Hermione smiled.

'You're so clueless, did you know that? I basically told you last year that I found you attractive,' she said.

'When?'

'"It doesn't hurt that you've grown about a foot over the summer",' she quoted.

'I don't remember that,' said Harry, blinking.

'Sixth year, Harry,' she said, smiling.

'Wow,' he said. Harry turned and headed for the tent entrance. 'Hey, Hermione?' he said, turning back around.

'Yeah, Harry?' she said, yawning slightly.

'Few things,' he said. 'First, before you go to sleep like you should, you need to eat those pears. Second, happy belated Christmas. Third, happy New Year, and fourth, happy belated birthday.'

Hermione smiled at him.

'Thanks, Harry,' she said.

And before she could wish the same to him, Harry turned and walked out of the tent. Hermione walked over to the pears and downed them along with some of the juice and then crawled into bed, drifting off into a dream where there was no war and Ron had never left her.

Fin

A/N: I meant for this to be one of those, 'they're both hurting and find comfort in each other' type of story. I hope it was conveyed as such.