'You need a haircut, Harry' Hermione suddenly admonished, breaking the evening silence.

Harry glanced over at her. She was tucked up on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her knees, the usual pile of books at her feet.

'Yeah, well, Horcrux and Hallow hunting doesn't leave much time for grooming, funnily enough' he replied.

His tone was light, but she could hear the strain in his voice. Months on the run, spending nearly every hour in the tent had taken its toll on them both. It had been over three weeks since Ron left and whilst she didn't miss his attitude, the atmosphere was always slightly awkward now it was just her and Harry.

She closed her still-immaculate copy of 'Moste Potente Potions' with a bang and stared at Harry with an exasperated expression on her face.

'Do you ever think about the future, Harry?' she asked.

He raised an eyebrow at her, and she saw him glance down at Salazar Slytherin's locket that hung against his chest.

'Seriously, Hermione?' he replied, 'My future is all planned out for me. Kill you-know-who or die. It's pretty straight forward really'.

'That's not what I meant!' she said, tears welling up in her eyes. 'I don't mean the near future. Well, actually, I don't mean the future at all, I, oh, for Merlin's sake!'.

And she promptly burst into tears.

'Hermione?' Harry questioned, looking extremely uncomfortable.

She got up from the couch, wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and started pacing up and down.

'We're so young, Harry!' she spat. 'We should be out going to parties, getting drunk and, and SNOGGING!'.

Harry tried, and failed, to hide his laughter behind a cough.

'Don't laugh at me, Potter!' she shouted pointing her wand at his face with such ferocity that Harry actually flinched.

He took a deep breath, stood up slowly and gently placed his hand over her wand and lowered it to her side.

'Hermione' he said, his tone gentle as he led her back to the couch.

'Don't you think I know how much you have given up to be here with me? You could have gone to Australia with your parents and done as much partying and snogging as you wanted'.

The glint in his eyes broke her anger and she laughed in spite of herself.

'Oh, Harry, I'm sorry' she said, slumping down onto the couch.

'It's ok 'Mione' he replied, pushing the books to one side so that he could sit down. 'But since when is the brightest witch of our age been concerned with parties and snogging? And as for getting drunk, you've never even had anything stronger than a Butterbeer!'

He was right of course. She didn't even know why she said those things. She was just so tired of living this way. She liked to think of herself as tough but there was so much she missed. Bubble baths, a comfortable bed and clean clothes were right at the top of the list. She didn't consider herself a girly-girl like Lavender or Parvati but she often dreamt of how wonderful it would be to get dressed up, put on some make-up and go out with her friends. She thought of Ginny and Luna and her tears threatened to fall again.

'It's just hard to think of what our lives could be, without, him. You know?' she said, quietly.

'Of course I know' Harry replied. 'And you're right, we are young. But that means we have our whole lives ahead of us. Well, you do, anyway.'

The pain in his voice almost broke her heart. She turned to him and grabbed his face with both her hands.

'Listen to me, Harry Potter' she said, her voice trembling. 'You will get through this, we'll find the Horcruxes, we'll find the Hallows and we will defeat you-know-who. Together'.

She felt his eyes staring into hers and heard his ragged breathing over her own pounding heartbeat. Never in all their years as friends had they been this close, this connected. She drew her hands away at once and turned away from him. What on earth had just happened? She hadn't felt like that since, well, never. She loved Ron, even though he had left them, yet her heart had never felt like it would fly right out of her chest like it had then. She turned her head back to him, he hadn't moved.

'Harry, I…' she began.

'I'll make some tea' he said, monotonously, and headed in to the small kitchen.

Hermione put her head in her hands. What was she thinking? Things were uncomfortable enough between them without her emotions getting in the way. When they set out on this fateful journey there had been many things that hadn't even occurred to her. Oh yes, she'd packed the books and the potion ingredients and all the necessities, but she had never once considered what it would be like sharing a tent with two boys. Well, young men, really. Even the simplest things like dressing and going to the bathroom were dreadfully awkward at the beginning. Their bedrooms were separated by a simple curtain and it had felt awfully intimate to be laying there in her bed with them so close. Of course, she had quickly got used to it, she'd had to, but now it was just her and Harry, things felt strange again.

She heard a cough and looked up to find Harry standing right in front of her with two cups of tea. She took one, mumbling her thanks and noticed that he returned to his armchair rather than joining her again on the couch.

'I'm sorry I shouted at you, Harry' she blurted out.

'I'm not' he replied. 'I know it's this damn Horcrux but all I keep thinking about is the prophecy. I know realistically that I'm not alone in this fight but sometimes it just feels like I am'.

'Harry, anyone would feel that way' she said gently. 'You have had so much pressure put upon you, it's a wonder you haven't gone completely barmy!'.

He chuckled then and it felt like things were back to normal.

'Er, Hermione' he said, a faint Malfoy-ish smirk playing around the corners of his mouth. 'What you said before, you know about snogging….'

She felt the heat rising in her cheeks.

'Harry, I didn't mean, erm, I…' she flustered.

Harry burst out laughing.

'I'm sorry 'Mione, I couldn't resist' he said, tears rolling down his face.

Hermione snatched up 'Hogwarts, a History' and buried her head in its pages. After a few seconds she turned it up the right way which only made Harry laugh even more.

'Hermione' Harry pleaded. 'Put the book down. I promise I'll behave'.

She peered over the top of the book and saw that he was actually trying really hard to keep his expression serious. She sighed and added the tome to the pile, folding her arms across her chest.

'You've given me an idea actually' Harry said with a smile.

Hermione noticed how animated his eyes had become, he looked almost excited, something she hadn't seen for a long time.

'I think we should have a party!'

'Yes, sure, Harry' she said, rolling her eyes at him. 'Shall we invite the Minister for Magic?'

'I'm being serious' he replied.

She opened her mouth to speak but he held up his hand to silence her and it was now his turn to pace the floor.

'We've been in this poxy tent for months. We're dirty, hungry, tired and bored. We've found a Horcrux and in a few days we'll be heading to Godric's Hollow. I think, before we go, we should have a night off all the drama and have some fun'.

She looked at him and realised that he was deadly serious.

'But, Harry, we can't! I mean, well, I don't even know what you are talking about'.

'I've got it all planned out, 'Mione' he said, coming to sit next to her on the couch once more.

'We'll use some Polyjuice to go out and get food, decent stuff for a change, and drinks. We'll have dinner, listen to the radio, hell, we'll even get drunk!'.

Hermione giggled, completely caught up in his enthusiasm.

'I could decorate the tent' she said, excitedly. 'Fred and George taught me how when we were back at the Burrow'.

'Perfect' said Harry. 'We'll do it tomorrow'.

Hermione smiled at him and he returned it with a beam that turned her legs to jelly.

'Let's go to bed and get an early start in the morning' said Harry, rising from the couch and heading into his bedroom. 'Night, 'Mione'.

'Night, Harry' she whispered. She extinguished the lights with her wand and went to bed.

She lay there awake for a long time. She heard Harry snoring gently and sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a good day she thought. She'd make damn sure of it.