DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters. They are all owned by J. K. Rowling, the only creative control I have is the plot.
Author's Note: Okay, truth time - this is totally and completely something that I do not agree with, nor would I normally write something like this, I mean ever... But, however, clearly I have been mistaken as here it is, written and published and public and everything... Anyways, the idea came to me one night when I was kind of looped-up on anxiety meds, and I don't think it turned out too bad, so, I decided to post it. Please, review and tell me what you think. I would love to hear what you have to say.
We Will Never Stop
One-Shot
Neville: just moments after he had opened up to Hermione about his feelings towards her – the truth that he had been deeply in love with her since second year; that she had been all he had been able to think about lately, she had ripped her hand from his and took off. Not taking a second glance back.
Harry: he had always loved Hermione, since first meeting her back in first year. He had gone on with the rouse of letting everyone believe that it was a kind of love that two single-children friends developed for each other: to fill the void of that loneliness which all single children are destined to one day have. Harry, Neville and Hermione had always been there for each other: the single children trio, they liked to call themselves. But, Harry had fallen for her in a very different form of love, and it had nothing to do with brothers and sisters, but a completely different kind of affection. He loved her, and he wanted to be with her. So, then why, when he had opened up to her about all of this, had she merely pulled her hands from him, and run quickly off in the other direction, leaving behind all of her books and quills and bottles of ink and even half-finished homework? Sighing, and still not understanding, he had gathered her belongings and handed them off to Ginny, asking for her to make sure Hermione got them back as soon as possible.
Hermione: Her best friends, the two people who had been there for her since first arriving at Hogwarts, the two men who she could trust above all else, had both, on not only the same day but within the same hour had confessed their undying love for her. To make matters so much worse; she had been struggling with her own feelings of the same matter, not only with one of them – but both!
Harry… Oh, Harry… He was always so brave and brotherly; always there when you needed him for dire times, always there to protect and step in when things got really bad. Always there to make you laugh and smile; always there to tell a joke when you're feeling sad or down or out of place.
And Neville, oh, dear, sweet Neville… He was so sensitive and caring, so protective and tender. Always there to wash away the rain on a cloudy day and bring out the sun with his beautiful words and soft smiles: arms to fall into when you're having a really bad day. A person to climb into bed with and be held by until all the nightmares go away, and Harry just as ready to comfort at a moment's notice. Neville to enjoy a bright sunny, warm picnic with under the sun, cuddled up with her head against his stomach. And Harry, to sneak out in the middle of the night and hold her in his arms with her back against his chest as they leaned against one of the old oak trees, watching the night sky grow darker and stare up at the stars…
The truth was, she couldn't loose one of them, and by choosing one of them, she would loose the other forever. The two of them – Harry and Neville together – completed her. And with what they told her, without the other even knowing it, she completed them, too. She had fallen madly in love with Neville first, in her first year at school, for his shyness and kindness and loyalty to his two other friends, and Harry had snuck up on her not long after that – and by the time the three of them reached the age of sixteen, the three of them were completely and totally lost in each other, and didn't even know it.
"Hi," she greeted them timidly in the courtyard, as they sat side-by-side, tossing a small rock back and forth between the two of them. Her breath was taken away at the sight; one of them alone was the most handsome man she had ever seen, but the two of them together… it was a wonder she hadn't dropped dead yet. "I want to start off by apologizing about the other day, to the both of you, and," she added, looking between them and stretching out a hand towards each of them. "Was wondering if we – the three of us – could have a word, some place private. I have some stuff I really need to talk to you about."
Harry and Neville both took a hand into their own, after tossing the rock backwards into an overgrown rosebush.
"I've missed you both so much," she went on. "I need you both to know that. What I did, going four days completely ignoring both of you, it was completely unacceptable, and I want so badly for you to be able to forgive me. I just… I needed time to sort out my thoughts."
"Of course I forgive you 'Mione," Neville said as he took his free hand and placed it against her shoulder. "Everybody has a right to a few days, if you needed to think, then there is really nothing for me – for either of us – to get upset over," he looked down at her with a content smile.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "We've got you back now, so there really isn't anything to complain about," he smiled, leaning his head over and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"There's a place down by the lake," Neville suggested. "It is buried behind a wall of overgrown trees and shrubs and bushes, nobody hardly ever goes there, accept me. Will that work?"
She smiled over at him and nodded. "Yes, Neville, lead the way. It sounds perfect."
"Say, Neville, if you're the only one who ever really goes down there, then why haven't you ever taken any of us?" Harry asked
"Oh I have taken Hermione once or twice," he told him. "But mainly it is the place I go when I like to take some time to myself and just think.
"Here we are," he informed the other two as they followed him into a seemingly completely out-of-sight hideaway. "Will this do, Hermione?" he asked, placing his hands onto his hips and looking over at her and Harry.
"More perfect than I could have possibly hopped for, actually," she smiled. "It's almost too perfect."
"How's that?" Harry asked as he and Neville took a seat beside each other on a fallen log that now suits as bench, leaving just enough space between the two of them for Hermione to sit.
"Because now I really do have to tell you what it is Neville brought us here for me to tell you… If you weren't already sitting down I would ask you to, but, here it goes," the two boys were looking up at her nervously, expectantly.
"I am not really sure if you two know this, but… the reason I ran away so suddenly, from both of you, is because you both confessed your love to me… in the same day," she watched as they exchanged a glance before turning their attention back towards her. "Okay, right, with that said… The reason I ran off so suddenly without word for either of you is because," she clamped her hands over each other, and turned away from them, looking out towards the black lake. "The reason I did it is because…" she turned back to face them. "Is because I am in love with the both of you, too…" silence filled the air between them.
"I have been in love with both of you for a very long time, one a bit longer than the other but the who and when aren't really important, more the both of you and now…
"I have spent hours just thinking and crying and fighting with myself on which one of you I love more than the other, an the answer is… that there isn't an answer. I love you both just the same as the next, and if I had to pick one of you I would loose the other, and if I lost one of you it would kill me, it would absolutely kill me. I can't live without either of you – I need you both – I love you both, and I know…" she looked down. "And I know that after my saying all of this and you hearing all of this you are probably both just going to hate me and never want to see me again, but I… I couldn't go another day with out you knowing."
She could feel tears welling beneath her eyes as she turned away from them; crossing her arms over her chest and biting her bottom lip to fight off a sob. She looked out at the lake, and knew she had really messed up… They would hate her now, be disgusted by her. They would walk away in disgust – the only two men should would ever love – would leave her, and not give her a second thought. They would move on, of course, finding a woman to love that could be solely devoted to him, and not make him share her…
"Hermione," his voice was soft as silk as he whispered to her, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. "Any man would be lucky to have you, and so me, Harry and me, we are the luckiest men."
"It's asking too much," she told him softly, swaying together in his arms.
"Shh," he told her, planting a kiss along her neck. "No… no, it isn't," he kissed her again.
"It wouldn't be fair to either of you," she went on, craning her neck back to look up at him. "Having to share me," she looked away from him. "I am so selfish."
"No, you're not," it was Harry's voice now, and Neville stepped slightly to the side to allow him to wrap his own arms around Hermione, while keeping his own protectively around her. Hermione stood there, two arms around her back, two arms around her stomach, being held lovingly and tenderly by the two men she had grown to love so much. Harry kissed her neck. "You are selfless, and kind. You are beautiful and amazing, the smartest witch who has ever lived. We love you, Hermione, and nothing will ever change the way we feel about you."
"I will never stop loving you," she told him, turning to face him. He leaned his lips towards her, and they kissed. "Or you, Neville," she told him, reaching up to her tiptoes to kiss the taller one. "I love you so much."
"I love you," Neville told her. "Hermione, I am just so madly in love with you… I don't want to stop holding you, ever… I have to be kissing you again, Hermione. I just have to feel your lips on mine."
"Hermione," Harry said, and she turned around in their arms to face them. "Out of all of the millions of times I have imagined kissing you, I never knew it would be so good, so amazing… so perfect. I want you, Hermione; I want and need you forever. Please, please kiss me Hermione. Let me love you."
She smiled, looking back and forth between the two of them. She stretched back up to her toes to kiss Neville, who lifted her from the ground and hugged her tightly against his chest. "Harry," she said between kisses, "I have to kiss Harry, Neville," she breathed heavily. "But I can't stop kissing you, either. I love you so much – I love you both so much…"
As he set her back onto the sand she wrapped a hand around both of her loves' heads, and brought her face in towards both of them, kissing them in a shared three-way kiss. The feeling was euphoric; feeling their lips, both of their lips on hers at the same time was better than any other feeling in the world. Three lips and three tongues danced together in perfect synchrony; none of them fought for dominance.
"Harry," Hermione moaned as the boys pulled their lips away from hers and began kissing along either side of her neck; her arms still wrapped about their heads. "Neville, oh, God, God, I love you both so much… Please never stop this… Promise me we will never loose this."
"The both of us love you too bloody much to ever let you go, Hermione," Neville told her, taking her face between his hands and kissing her deeply. "I love you."
He let her slowly turn from him to look over at Harry, who did the same, cupping her face between his hands. "I love you Hermione, so extremely much, and I will never stop," he leaned into her, kissing her passionately. Neville came up behind Hermione, and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her tightly. He took his hand and pulled away the hair that fell loosely at the back of her neck, exposing her smooth skin. He leaned his lips towards her neck, and kissed her softly, hugging her tighter still.
She continued on kissing Harry, reaching her hand down to her stomach, and tugged at Neville's arm. "Neville," she told him through kisses, "come back."
He smiled before giving her neck on last kiss, and walked back around to her front, where Harry took a step to the side as Neville leaned down and brought his lips back down to hers, his tongue quickly dancing along with the other twos.
"We will always protect you," Neville told her.
"Always be there for you," Harry added, between kisses.
"And always love you," Neville said, kissing her. "Until the day we die."
Neville pulled her face into his hands, and kissed her. Harry, the moment their lips separated, placed her head into his hand, and kissed her softly. Standing on each side of her, the two boys wrapped their arms around her and hugged her tightly, and she hugged them back; her arms wrapped around their shoulders, smiling happily. "I love you so much," she told them as they each kissed a cheek, leaning their foreheads against the sides of her head: Harry, at her left temple, and Neville being quite taller than the other two, atop the right side of her head.
The three of them left, hand-in-hand; hand-in-hand, with Hermione between the two men she loved more than anything in either magical or muggle world, back up to the castle.
As they reached the courtyard they did not separate, but instead, took a seat on the stone bench where Hermione had first found the boys throwing the rock earlier. People looked on, some silently, some gasping in shock or in disgust, but none of the three of them gave a damn, and, instead, the boys took equal turns taking the face of the woman they loved so deeply into their hands, and kissing her passionately.
The end.
