Coming To Terms
This takes place after the Trio's fifth year. Starts in the summer. I own nothing. J.K. Rowling owns everything, only the plot is mine.
Chapter One
Hermione sat in confusion. A book she had bought for summer reading sat open in front of her, sitting open on the same page for nearly an hour now. Hermione had read the same sentence over and over, comprehending none of it. Her mind had been wandering all over the place. To the impending mission upon them, to the past six years full of adventures she had experienced, and to the new feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. What was this feeling? She had felt it before, over a year ago; with a certain world famous Quidditch seeker. That feeling paled in comparison to what she was feeling now, and that's what confused her so deeply. These feelings shouldn't be overtaking her; she had always had a tight lock upon her emotions. Bottling up emotions had worked for years for her. Hermione was smart, and knew this wasn't healthy, but she wasn't one who liked to wear her heart on her sleeve.
This new emotion wasn't necessarily a new emotion. It was more of who it concerned and the intensity of the emotion. She had had minor crushes on classmates before, usually older ones. But she was just a young girl of 13 or 14 when she had these crushes, which were usually fueled by the good looks of the older boys. They intimidated her with their sully pouts and the fact that they towered over her. As a result, she never acted upon them. The butterflies in her stomach in those days were laughable compared to the god damn dragon breathing flames in her gut now.
She was awoken from her daze by a tapping on her window. Hermione turned her gaze to her window where Hedwig was currently impatiently sitting in the rain. She opened her window, took the letter from Hedwig's leg, and gave her an owl treat before Hedwig settled upon Hermione's bedpost. Hermione hastily opened the letter, and saw Harry's quick scribbling within.
Hermione,
Thanks for writing me. I've been going crazy here at the Dursleys'. Sirius is the only thing on my mind. I've tried to take up other hobbies, but everything seems pointless. Occlumency is the only thing I actually try to get better at. I should've listened to you last year. You were right. You're always right. I should've practiced Occlumency more last year. Voldemort used it as a weapon just like you said he would. If I had just kept him out of my head, Sirius would be alive. It's all my fault. Anyways, enough about me.
How's your summer going? I hope it's going well. Probably have your head stuck in some book like always. Probably counting down the days until we go back to school too, come to think of it. Send me something back whenever you can.
Love,
Harry.
Hermione smiled sadly while reading the first part of the letter. Of course Harry would blame himself. He always did take things the hardest. Typical Harry though. She hated it though. She knew it wasn't his fault, and so did everyone else, but Harry wouldn't listen to any of them. It pained her so much to see him hurting so. Especially when she could see the teardrops dotting the parchment, which looked like they were hastily wiped away, as if not to stop the staining of the paper. Her heart ached for his pain.
She smiled a different kind of smile at the second part of the letter, though. Once again, typical Harry, being modest. Acting like she might not want to send him a letter back. She shook her head at that.
And the last two letters of the letter. He had written them hundreds of times before. But this time, they made Hermione's heart race. What if, by a crazy chance, he had feelings for her? She let her mind wander to fantasies of them kissing, walking down the halls of Hogwarts hand in hand. At the altar, raising kids together…..
She shook her head of these thoughts from her mind. What insane thoughts to have. She was in the middle of a wizarding war. She could think about that if she survived. With a sigh, Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment, and in her neat handwriting, started to write a response to Harry's letter.
Harry,
You can't blame yourself. You know you can't, so stop being foolish and doing that. What you can do now is make sure Sirius' death wasn't in vain. Can you imagine what'd he say if he saw you now? Moping all about because of him. Live to honor him. It pains me to see you like this, so help us both, and get better, okay?
I've been pretty good this summer. Mum and Dad asked what happened at the end of semester, and I gave them the short version of what happened at the Ministry. I can't imagine how they would react to the real news. Not well, I imagine, so I'm not even going to tell them.
Have you heard from Ron at all? He wrote to me last week saying he was worried about you. He said Molly wouldn't shut up about asking you to go and stay at the Burrow, even beg if he had to. You know Molly though.
Anyways, I really look forward to hearing from you again. Don't be afraid to send me a letter, no matter the reason.
Much love,
Hermione.
Hermione read through the letter multiple times before sending Hedwig off with another owl treat. She contemplated the ending for a few moments, wondering what she would say. It was then, with a sigh, that she finally came to terms with this new emotion.
She was in love with Harry Potter.
This idea came into my head earlier tonight and I thought I would put some words to the idea. The writing came out okay, so I thought I would post it and see what kind of feedback I got. Reviews are much appreciated.
