Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Please note: This is an edited version of the original chapter. I have made a couple of small changes for continuity purposes only. Almost all of the original chapter remains intact as it was originally published.Five and Half Years Later
Harry awoke with a sudden start. He had had the dream again. It was the same dream he had been having for the last five and a half years. The dream came rarely, most often on nights when he came to a decision that took his relationship with woman now lying cradled in his arms to the next level. Harry took the dream as a reminder of how lucky he was, of how things could have been, and as a reminder that he would do whatever it took to protect the woman who had become the most important thing in his life.
It was a few seconds before he realized that it was still dark outside. Moonlight flowed through the opening in the curtains partially bathing the bedroom in a bluish light. He took a deep breath, taking in the sweet aroma of strawberries that flowed from the hair of the woman lying nestled against him. She had taken to using Muggle hair-care products which had proven to be far more effective than their wizarding equivalents at taming her unruly hair. Instead of being big and bushy, as it once had been, her hair was now sleek and stylish, even in the mornings. Although Harry preferred the way her used to be, he did love the way it smelled. He took another deep breath, letting the scent flow into his nose. Harry lifted his head slightly and gazed over the moonlit outline of her cheek. Her skin looked soft and inviting, even in this light. Then his eyes traced the outline of her naked body underneath the bed sheets. He loved how beautiful her figure looked in the moonlight. Five years ago, if anyone would have told Harry Potter that he would one day be romantically involved with Hermione Granger, he would have laughed at such a foolish thought. Now, he could barely picture what his life would be like without her.
Harry had woken up with Hermione in his arms a countless number of times over the past three and half years, and in recent months, he found himself waking up next to her more and more often. He had grown to take great pleasure in waking up this way, to the point that on those few occasions when she did not spend the night, Harry did not sleep well and often woke up empty feeling inside of him. Neither had expected anything like this to happen. They were both destined for other people. The certainty of this fact was never in doubt. Yet, the lives they both thought they should have been leading were never meant to be. Now, they had forged a new life, one that brought them into each other's arms.
There had always been a strong feeling of friendship between them, ever since their first year at school together, and that friendship had continued after the Battle of Hogwarts. At first, they were simply two friends who turned to one another in a time of grief, each drawing strength from the other to help them through a difficult time. However, things went too far. They got too close and made a mistake that could have ended their friendship and very nearly did. Instead, they took their mistake to be nothing more than two people seeking comfort in each other over the loss of the ones they cared so much about. Their friendship continued, albeit different than it had been before. Nothing could restore the friendship to its original state. While their friendship was far from romantic, there was a certain level of intimacy in their relationship that had not been present before. They were closer to each other, and as time went on, they grew even closer, spending greater amounts of their free time together. They began dining together, spending weekend afternoons shopping, and even going to the occasional Muggle movie together. Soon, Harry found that his thoughts were often turning to Hermione and when they would next spend time together. Then, one Saturday night, Harry found himself standing in a deserted alley way, and his lips locked with Hermione's in a passionate kiss. Now, Harry could not help the fact that he was now deeply in love with Hermione Granger and wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with her.
His love for Hermione came with a price, though. Every caress of her soft skin, every whiff of her hair, every kiss, every embrace, and every moment of passion were accompanied by stab of guilt. She had been his best friend's girl, and even though Ron was gone, Harry couldn't help but feel that he was, somehow, betraying his best friend. After that night in the Forrest of Dean when Ron destroyed Slytherin's locket, Harry learned of his friend's fear that Hermione preferred Harry over him. Nothing could have been further from the truth, of course. Even today Harry had some suspicions that Hermione still preferred Ron to him, but he wasn't angry or jealous. He understood the feeling, for he had it himself for Ron's younger sister, Ginny.
Harry had loved Ginny. He still loved her. He would always love her. Harry sometimes wondered if she had not night died on that night at Hogwarts would she now be here instead of Hermione. It was a question he refused to answer, knowing that it pointless to dwell on something that could never be. Deep down, however, Harry knew that the answer was "Yes", and this only made things harder for him. He tried to tell himself time and again that both Ginny and Ron would understand, that they would approve, but there was still that doubt in his mind.
Over time, the feelings of guilt lost some of their strength, but scarcely a day went by where Harry did not feel them. It was on mornings like this, when he woke up much earlier than Hermione and he looked over at the amazing woman lying in his arms and realized how lucky he was to have her in his life, that these feelings of guilt hit their hardest.
Harry closed his eyes, and like so many nights before, his thoughts turned to that night more than five years ago, the night when all of this really began. It had been a night of tremendous joy for the wizarding world. Lord Voldemort's reign of terror had been brought to an end, his Death Eaters were rounded up and imprisoned, and the Dark Lord lay dead on the floor of the Great Hall. The wizarding world had been not only returned to peace but it was the beginning of a new age of reform within the Ministry of Magic. The cost for the victory, though, had been high. Dozens of people were dead and dozens more severely injured. Among the dead were Lupin and Tonks, and with Lupin's death Harry's last direct link to his parents was now gone. Colin Creevey, the boy who had idolized Harry since his second year at Hogwarts, had been killed. After that night, Harry went to as many of their funerals as he could. Everyone of those people, his friends and classmates, had died to help him succeed in killing Voldemort. It was the least that he could do. All of the funerals were difficult, but by far, the hardest funeral for Harry had been the one that saw Ron and Ginny buried next to each other. Harry had blamed himself for their deaths, no matter what they had told him that night.