'The war is over. It's over. There's nothing to worry about,' Harry thought to himself as he wiped the glistening sweat from his forehead. This was the fifth night this week he had dreamed of the final battle-well, not so much dreamed as had blood curling nightmares and awoke in a cold sweat.
"This is getting bloody ridiculous," Harry muttered as he got out of bed.
He shuffled to the door and headed out to get a glass of cold water, putting on a shirt before closing the door quietly so as not to accidentally wake Hermione, who's room was opposite Harry. She had recently gotten into the habit of sleeping with her door slightly ajar, and was easily woken by the slightest of noise. 'Probably still scared,' thought Harry sympathetically as he passed her room.
It has been 2 years since You-Know-Who had fallen at the hands of Harry and the wizarding world rejoiced. Shortly after the trio decided it would be a good idea to move into an apartment together, and start to actually have a life outside of fear of the Dark Lord and Death Eaters. Mind you, it was still dangerous seeing as how there were still quite a few Death Eaters that were never captured, but compared to the trios previous dangerous encounters, it wasn't something they lost sleep over.
Since Voldemorts defeat, the wizarding world had been treating the three friends like gods. Ron, not surprisingly, took a job with the Chudley Cannons as keeper. The Weasley clan no longer had to worry about money since he was finally able to provide for them. He spent most of his time away from home, traveling with the team and enjoying the single batchlor lifestyle; girls, money, etc.. Ron loved the attention and fame that came with his new status of quidditch player and hero.
Harry and Hermione, on the other hand, did not.
Going out in public was a media frenzy and made the pair highly uncomfortable, not to mention annoyed and aggravated. Harry decided to take a job as an auror at the Ministry of Magic, and Hermione at St. Mungo's as a healer. Over the past two years, the pair had become quite close, likely due to the amount of time both spent at home together avoiding the public eye. It was often speculated from the public and even from friends that there was something more between them. The gentle touches, the loving smiles they gave each other, the hand-holding the two were so fond of doing made them look more like a couple than just friends.
As Harry softly walked down the stairs, he was surprised to see the flames from in the fireplace dimly lighting the room at such a late hour, and was even more surprised to see a certain brown-eyed witch curled up on the couch with a book in her hand. Water forgotten, Harry softly walked over to her relaxed form, stopping momentarily to lean against the wall and take in the sight of her.
Hermione was sitting on the love-seat with her legs underneath her, a fleece blanket lightly draped over them. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and Harry noted she was wearing a pair of green pajama bottoms. He has given her them as an old Christmas present that she seemed to love, to his delight, and she wore night-shirt. 'She's so beautiful', Harry thought to himself and smiled as she furrowed her brow and bit at her lip, obviously trying to figure out something complicated in her book. 'And cute', Harry added before quickly scolding himself. 'She's your best friend Potter, you aren't supposed to think things like that about her!'
'He'd been having thoughts like that about Hermione for...quite some time. He noticed more little things about her, like she loved wearing green and if she was in a good mood, she'd hum to herself while going about the flat. She preferred tea over coffee, and loved watching the changing colors of the sky as the sun set on the 60 acre property behind the apartments.
He also had noticed that her body was...perfection, for lack of a better word. Her face was beautiful, nothing in the world could compare to it in Harry's mind. Her body was gorgeous, she was no longer a little girl, but a beautiful woman. Hermione was curvaceous, and well-developed in all the right places that had his body doing things that made him practically run to a cold shower on a number of occasions. Harry longed to hold her in his arms and run his hands all over her amazing, sexy-his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a soft voice call out "Harry?"
He visibly jumped, blushing deep crimson at being caught staring, and dearly hoped the reaction to his livid thoughts wasn't noticeable.
Hermione smiled, completely oblivious to what was taking place in his mind and body, and placed her book down on the stand next to her. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Yeah well, I was just in the neighborhood." Harry smiled and walked over to her, putting his hands seemingly nonchalantly in pockets.
Hermione chuckled and scooted over, motioning for Harry to sit next to her as she sipped her tea. She looked at him and said in a more serious tone, "It's late Harry, what're you doing awake?"
"I was just going to ask you the same thing," Harry sat and put his feet up on the table, stealing some of Hermione's blanket as he realized just how cold it was. Hermione set down her tea and scooted closer to Harry, putting her legs over his lap and her back against the arm of the couch.
"I couldn't sleep. A lot of things on my mind."
"Like?" Harry raised his eyebrows questioningly.
'You', Hermione thought before mentally scolding herself. She had been infatuated with him since before she could remember, and though she hated to admit it, she knew it was more than a little crush she had on Harry. Or a big crush. She loved him. She was completely and utterly in love with him. And it hurt because she knew that his feelings for her weren't returned, nor would they ever be. Hermione had given up on her fantasy of Harry and her being together long ago, but she couldn't help loving him.
She shook her head and replied, "nothing important."
Harry gave her a confused look but let it be. They sat in comfortable silence, Hermione siping her tea, Harry lost in thought. After a few moments Harry turned to look at her, "Mione?"
Hermione glanced at him and smiled. He's so adorable. "Hm?"
"If you ever get scared at night...if you have nightmares, feel free to wake me."
Hermione moved closer to Harry until she was practically sitting on his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shirt. Her hands clung to his body as if her life depended on it and she closed her eyes, trying to keep out the memory of those horrors. Harry held her in his arms, his insides squriming from being in such close contact with the woman he'd been in love with for what seemed like forever. He froze, that thought stopping him in his tracks. Wait...love? Is that what this is? I love Hermione?
"Oh Harry, thank you", Hermione spoke, snapping him out of his musings, her voice muffled against his shirt. It was true, when she wasn't dreaming of a certain raven-haired boy, she had nightmares full of the atrocious things she saw during the final battle and the months leading up to it. It wasn't rare for her to wake up screaming and sob for hours on end.
"Yeah well," Harry said, somewhat awkwardly, "I know how it feels."
Hermione opened her eyes and looked up at him, her arms still around his neck, "Is that why you're awake right now?"
Harry sighed and gave her a small smile, "Yeah. The famous Harry Potter, still having bad dreams about a fight that happened two bloody years ago." He untangled himself from her and stood up, walking to the window near the fireplace with a solemn demenor. He put one hand on the wall and the other in his pocket, gazing out the window at the sky. "I feel so ridiculous."
Hermione watched him go, her body missing his warmth. She ached and hurt for him, knowing how much he beat himself up over these kinds of things, no matter how large or insignificant. She slowly stood and stepped toward his hunched figure. "Don't you dare say that Harry," she said softly, putting her hand on his tense back and rubbing it, earning a small moan from Harry. 'God he drives me crazy' Hermione thought, shaking her head in an attempt to focus on the current problem and not her hormones. "You've experienced things nobody should have to; you've endured things grown men couldn't handle, and at such a young age...," she had to stop, her voice growing thick with emotion and her eyes watering, "but you survived it Harry. And you conquered it and didn't let it defeat you. I have nightmares still, am I ridiculous too?"
Harry shook his head vigorously, "No, never. You aren't capable of it, you're perfec-" he stopped himself, blushing beet red. 'I need to learn to shut up once in a while.'
Hermione smiled and blushed furiously, and moved her body in front of him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Well I have nightmares too, and I'm sure Ron does as well. And probably anyone who was affected by Voldemort and his cronies. It's part of the healing process," she spoke gently, as though speaking to a small child. Her eyes captivated his to where he couldnt turn away. They shone with love and care for him, so much it brought tears to his eyes.
He spoke in a broken voice. "Thank you Hermione," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her, holding her close. She embraced him and ran her fingers through his hair, slowly calming him down. After a few minutes they pulled away, smiling softly at each other. Harry yawned, "It's late, we should probably go to bed."
"We? Well, whatever you want Mr. Potter." Hermione gave him a wicked grin and winked, both of their hearts fluttering, and a certain other thing on Harry's body rising slowly. 'Oh, you have no idea how bad I want.'
He blushed and tried to save himself, "I-I meant...you know what I meant, only if you wanted to...no! No I meant if you just couldn't sleep because of nightmares and..." his voice trailed off.
Hermione giggled and tousled his hair, "you're adorable when you get flustered, I was only joking. 'Kind of.' "Anyway, it is late, we should get some sleep or else we'll be resembling the 'zombie' look tomorrow."
Harry laughed and wrapped his arm around her, walking up the stairs, "my dear, you are not capable of 'zombie'."
She laughed as they stopped in front of her door, "That's very sweet of you Harry, but i'm sure i could give you a right scare. But i won't be today, for I believe this is goodnight."
"Indeed it is Dr. Granger"
"Oh hush you," she said as she lightly smacked his arm, making him chuckle, "well, I had a good time with you tonight," she added, leaning her back against her door.
"I did too," he said grinning, running his hand through his hair. "Can I call you sometime?"
"Anytime" Hermione said grinned back and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Goodnight Harry," she whispered before giving him a last smiling look and going into her bedroom, closing her door softly behind her.
"Goodnight my Love" Harry whispered and sighed before going into his room and pulling off his shirt, preparing for sleep once again. He climbed into bed and turned off the light, placing his glasses on the nightstand before getting under the covers and drifting off to peaceful sleep.
My love? Hermione thought, her heart pounding, her body pressed against her bedroom door. He eyes were saucer-wide and she felt as though she couldn't get enough oxygen to her brain. Did he just say 'my love'?'