Author's note: so they are at Grimmauld place, which has been put under the necessary charms to make it inaccessible by any information Snape may have. In the beginning Ron may seem like a jerk but that's only because he's feeling slightly hurt or whatever. Ginny on the other hand is being slightly childish.
Summary: Harry/Hermione one-shot!! After Dumbledore's death Harry has taken to holing himself up with Buckbeak and there is only one person he is willing to see…
Disclaimer: I own nothing… well, except for the plot which ain't all that great anyway!
It was so peaceful and quiet up here with Buckbeak. No one was going to bother him seeing as though he basically bit their heads off when they attempted to get him to come out. Everyone had tried. Ron, the twins, Mrs. Weasley, Lupin, and Ginny had all tried and failed. Couldn't they see how much he was hurting? His mentor had died and all Harry wanted to do was curl up in a ball. And that's exactly what he had been doing for the past two weeks.
He didn't want to see anyone until the end of the summer when Hermione got back from Greece with her parents. Of all the times her parents had decided to have a family vacation, they had to pick the worst possible one. Not that it was their fault really since no one had even dared to think Dumbledore would die. The idea was so absurd! And even more absurd was the fact that Dumbledore was actually dead.
It still hadn't quite hit home for Harry. He still expected to see twinkling blue eyes in the darkness or a comforting word float from the corners of the room. But for now all he could hear was Buckbeak talons against the floor boards and all he could see was a pair of large golden eagle eyes near the large haystack in the corner. He heard Mrs. Black's screech from down stairs. A few minutes later a soft knock was heard at the door.
"Harry? Are you in there?" That sounded like Hermione but she wasn't due back for over a month.
"Herms don't even bother. He won't see anyone. And if he didn't want to see Ginny I can't see why he would want to see you." A slap could be heard and Harry knew he wasn't dreaming.
"Hermione?" Harry said as he listened closely to the shuffling going on outside the door. His voice was raspy from lack of use.
"Bloody hell, Hermione! You didn't have to slap me!" Harry could practically see Ron's red face.
"Shut up Ronald. Harry? It's me, Hermione. Can I come in?" Harry heard Ron snort on the other side and decided he would have to have a little chat with his best mate when he was feeling up to it.
"Just you. I don't want to see anyone else." Ron's indignant cry could be heard as Hermione shoved him down the stairs and quickly turned back to the door.
"It's okay Harry, you can open the door now." He waved his wand at the handle and the door slowly sung open.
Hermione stepped through the dark door way and Harry instantly felt his breath catch in his throat. Her curly brown hair was pulled away from her face in a cute set of pigtails. She was wearing a pair of form fitting jeans and a long sleeved white shirt. It wasn't showy but it was Hermione. There were two rectangular objects in her pockets which Harry was sure would turn out to be her shrunken suitcases. She had left her vacation early to come and check on him. She hadn't even stopped in her room to put her things down. He stopped observing her when she pulled him into a tight hug.
"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry I couldn't get here sooner. I came as soon as I got Ron's owl." She pulled back to get a good look at him but realized that she couldn't see in the dim light and reached over to turn on the small lamp near the window.
"It's fine Hermione. I'm okay, really." The light flickered on and Hermione gasped. Tears welled up in her eyes and she put one of her hands on Harry's face. He hadn't eaten in weeks and he knew it must be showing. It didn't help that he hadn't slept either. He was bound to have circles under his eyes so black that it made him look like a raccoon. She pulled him close again in a much softer hug.
"Please don't lie to me, Harry. You don't have to pretend that you're not in pain. I won't condemn you for being human. You don't have to hold anything back from me Harry, you know that." Harry nodded his head and let out a deep sigh.
They sat like that for a few minutes before Harry's stomach let out a rather loud complaint. Hermione squeezed him tight before letting him go.
"I'm going to get you something to eat. I'll be back in a few minutes." She kissed his forehead, dangerously close to his scar and left. Harry placed the locking charms back on the door and laid back. He watched the crescent moon and the stars while he waited to hear her soft knock on the door. But it wasn't a knock that alerted him of her presence.
"Let me in that room Hermione!" That voice was distinctly Ginny's and by the sound of the footsteps Ron was not far behind.
"He doesn't want to see anyone, Ginny!" Hermione sounded frustrated.
"Well, you sure look like a person to me. If he won't see me then why does he want to see you?" He heard Ginny try to turn the door handle. Mrs. Weasley's house slippers could be heard moving up the stairs.
"I don't know Ginny. Ask him yourself when he comes out. Thank you for helping me bring the food up, Mrs. Weasley."
"Not a problem dear. Tell Harry we miss him." Harry heard Mrs. Weasley move back down the stairs and Ron seemed to follow her.
"How about I just ask him right now?" The door handle twisted rapidly a few times.
"Ginevra Weasley if you don't move away from that door I will hex you into oblivion. Do you understand me?" Hermione said in a deeper voice than usual. She obviously had her wand out other wise Ginny would have never left but after a few seconds extremely loud stomping could be heard going down the stairs. A soft knock soon followed.
"Harry, the coast is clear." He waved his wand and let Hermione in. She crossed the room and laid a tray down in front of him before she turned to lock the door. The tray contained what looked like a large bowl of soup, a glass of water, some bread, and a very large salad.
"You can't eat anything too heavy or else you'll throw it all up. Now eat up." Harry ate as Hermione pulled her trunks out of her pockets and returned them to their normal size.
She opened them and pulled out a pair of jeans and a tee shirt that looked far too big for her. She turned around and before Harry knew it his clothes had been changed. It would seem that she had bought him some clothes while on her trip. Harry continued to eat as he watched Hermione set up a blanket on the ground and take out a pillow. Soon enough Harry was finished and feeling much better. Hermione pointed her wand and him and a second later it felt like he'd just had a shower, which was a good thing because he hadn't taken one in about two weeks. Fortunately he did have a tooth brush and toothpaste with him and he had been keeping up with that part of his hygiene.
Harry pushed the empty tray away and laid across the blanket. A few seconds later he felt Hermione next to him. She tucked the pillow under her head and pulled him close to her body. He rested his head on her neck and breathed in her scent.
"Harry, what am I going to do with you?" Harry moved his head down to her chest as she spoke. The soft rumble that emanated from her tiny body was music.
"I don't know Hermione. You'll just have to stay with me all the time to make sure I don't starve myself." He looked up into her eyes to see that she wasn't amused.
"That's not funny Harry. I might not always be here to look after you…" Harry stiffened up.
"Are you going to leave me?" He said in a small voice. Hermione gasped.
"No! I would never leave you intentionally. I'm just saying that we need to face the reality of things. There is a war coming up soon and there is a possibility that one of us may not come back from it. I'm hoping that if I die you won't soon follow after me because of something as trivial as eating habits." Harry looked into her eyes.
"If I was to die in this war would you ever go back to being normal?" Hermione cupped his face in her hands.
"No Harry I don't think I could." Harry nodded and chastely kissed her lips.
"Then don't expect me to." He moved his head back down to rest on her chest as she let out a deep sigh.
"Harry, what are we doing?" Harry thought about it for a few seconds.
"I don't know Hermione. I suppose we're doing what we should have been doing all along. But I suppose that's not possible now." Hermione moved her hands through his hair.
"Why isn't this possible?" Harry shrugged.
"You're with Ron." Hermione's hands stopped moving.
"Who told you that?" she asked in surprise.
"Ron did. He said you got together on the train ride back from school." He heard a small humorless chuckle erupt from Hermione.
"Well, that's just not true now is it? youve been assuming things again. The 'she' he was talking about wasn't me. He didn't ask me out on the train Harry. He asked Luna. She told me all about it in a letter." Harry was perfectly still for a few moments. Then he lifted him self up to hover over her and kissed her.
"So this is okay then?" Hermione grinned.
"Yes it is Mr. Potter. But if you think everyone is going to be happy about this then you are sorely mistaken." Harry frowned slightly.
"I'll assume your talking about Ginny." Hermione nodded.
"She didn't seem very happy with me seeing you at all. You two may be broken up but she doesn't really see it that way." Harry leaned down to kiss her again. A few minutes later they pulled away.
"She'll get over it soon enough. Ginny never really loved me. It was just an infatuation. I happen to know for a fact that she likes Neville." Hermione's eyebrows shot up.
"Really? She does? Why didn't I know about that?" Harry shrugged.
"I guess she never told you. Well, she never really told me either but when your with someone a lot you can kind of tell." Harry rolled over and pulled Hermione on top of him.
"So, what does this make us?" Hermione asked after she had placed her head comfortably on his shoulder. Harry tightened his hold on her.
"I was wondering if you would like to be my girlfriend Hermione, but I can understand…" Harry felt soft finger tips covering his mouth.
"I would like that very much Harry." Hermione replaced her hands with her lips. Quite sometime later they parted and she rested her head back on his shoulder.
"So, what do you think will happen when they find us like this tomorrow morning?" Harry asked. He felt Hermione laugh more than her heard her.
"Well, if it's Ron or the twins they'll congratulate you on getting lucky. If it's Ginny I suspect we will wake up to a bit of unpleasant screaming. And if it's Mrs. Weasley or Professor Lupin we'll be getting 'the talk'." Harry shuttered.
"I hope it's the twins. We won't hear nearly as much grief from them and I can always explain everything to them rationally." Hermione took a deep breath.
"Let's not think about all that right now. Whatever comes tomorrow we will handle tomorrow. For now let's go to sleep. I'm tired and I know you must be exhausted." Harry smiled.
"You're always thinking of others Hermione." She shook her head.
"No Harry, I'm always thinking about you. I'm always worried about you."
"You shouldn't worry so much." Harry pulled the hair ties off of her braids and undid them with his fingers.
"I only worry because I love you." Harry stopped playing with Hermione's hair and lifted her chin to kiss her lips.
"I love you too Hermione." As they settled into sleep Harry drifted away in dreams of the fiery young witch in his arms.
End comments: two in one day! Can you believe it? Well, I hope you like this. I got the inspiration this after noon and I had to write it. leave a review if you feel so inclined.