an honest mistake, an alternate universe unrequited love story
warning: use of coarse language

the obvious choice? obviously not!

People, they don't mean a thing to you. They move right through you, just like your breath.
But sometimes, I still think of you. And I just wanted to, just wanted you to know. My old friend...

Hermione grinned from her spot in a comfortable armchair at the sight of her best friend collapsing onto the couch opposite her. She lowered her book into her lap and looked at him with an inquisitive but bright grin still plastered onto her face. When he tilted his head, his glasses were askew and he glowered at her blatant display of happiness.

"Merlin, Hermione. Do you know how stressful Quidditch is?" He complained, his eyebrows furrowed as he slid his hands underneath his chin.

"No, and I don't think I'd like to find out. I've got enough stress studying as it is." She couldn't help but let out a mirthful laugh, hiding her face behind her book and a curtain of unruly hair as she sensed a retaliatory comment from her friend.

"Yeah, well, not enough stress since you're laughing at me. I'm Captain and Seeker this year. Everyone keeps coming up to me and trying to give me ideas for new plays. Quite frankly," Harry said as he shifted into a sitting position, "I told them to 'sod off and wait until I catch the bloody Golden Snitch.' It worked for a couple hours at the best."

Hermione couldn't help it this time; she burst out into laughter. Harry grinned, his frustrations slightly appeased by the sight of his closest friend laughing. It had been a long time since he had been given the opportunity to just sit and talk to her. They had been so busy with classes and their own lives that it was slightly disconcerting, but now that they wee talking, he felt better. At least she wasn't with Ginny; it was difficult for him to start a conversation that both the girls could participate in. They were vastly different with different opinions and different interests; they were unique, but Harry loved them both. Suppressing a tiny sigh at the thoughts on his mind, he turned his emerald gaze to her book.

"What are you reading now?" Harry said, tilting his glasses away from his face and squinting towards her. She lifted her book although she doubted that it'd make a difference whether he could see the title on the front cover or not. "It's a novel," she replied. "A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. My mother got it for me before I left."

He nodded at her. "I think I'm going to go down for a walk. You should leave that pesky novel," he said with a mischievous glance towards the hard covered book, "and come with me. Please," he added. Hermione gave him an exasperated smile before she gazed back at her book, rubbing her eyes idly. Suddenly now that the invitation to go on a walk, just her and Harry, seemed to pale in comparison to the winding plot of a Charles Dickens' novel. They would be alone, the two of them, talking. He had asked her to go out for a walk. It was as good a chance as she'd ever get.

"I'll head up and get my cloak." Harry grinned triumphantly.

Somewhere on the first few steps and the pathway to the Black Lake, Harry had reached for her hand and despite her fervent blush, Hermione had allowed him to grasp it. His hands were calloused and rough from Quidditch, but hers were soft and slightly clammy, her fingertips dried from turning book pages throughout the majority of the evening. She kept her head straight as she took in the appearance of the Grounds at night. The stars were bright and with no lights as far as the horizon, they were bright and visible. She gave herself a few moments to look up at them before focusing back on the trek between them. The edge of the lake seemed to sneak up on the two of them and Hermione wanted to keep holding his hand, but he detached them to sit down at the dock. She sat beside him, but rather than dangle her legs over the edge like he had, she pulled her knees towards her chest and rested her chin atop them. The water rippled gently like a dark, smooth blanket threatening to stretch to the sky and swallow up the stars.

"I, uh," came Harry's awkward start and the brunette turned her head to watch him with a small smile. "I've got something important to tell you."

Hermione felt like a herd of gangly, skeletal Thestrals had stampeded through her stomach. It wasn't butterflies like the common Muggle expression; her stomach knotted painfully and started to hurt. She hadn't realized how much she had waited for a confession from him, how much things would change once he revealed whether or not she was making up these feelings entirely.

"I think I'm in love..." Her mouth opened to interject but he beat her to the punch. "...with Ginny." She turned her head away from him and stared out at the lake, willing herself not to cry. Now was not the time for that. Now was the time to switch from jilted crush to best friend. "And I don't know what to do."

Hermione took a deep, shuddering breath and tried not to be bitter. "How can I help?" Her voice was soothing but she avoided meeting his eyes, hoping that he wouldn't try or that he'd be too consumed with his feelings to notice hers. She avidly tried to mask the rest of her hurt and pain, despite the fact that her heart was screaming, calling out to him. It was too late now, though. He had put her heart on hold—permanently.

"Thank you, Hermione, for being so understanding about this. I mean, you're my best friend and Ginny is your best friend and I just—"

"Nonsense," she interrupted, barely avoiding a sarcastic tone, "It's fine. I'm your best friend," she repeated, hoping it'd shake her back into reality, "I'll help if I can." She was lying. She didn't want to help him be with someone else, but she was his best friend. Perhaps that was why she was in this situation. A phrase she had remembered from her youth reached out and slapped her across the face — this is the friends zone. Her continued silence, Harry assumed, had meant she had nothing else to say and he had patted her gently on the back before leaving her at the lake. She froze there for a long time, her hands wrapped tightly around her knees. She needed to figure out how to move on and behave like she had before, without the ever obvious part where she had been head over heels in love with her best friend.

Especially that part.