Disclaimer: For this story I 'borrowed' the characters and situations that J.K. Rowling created and are owned by her and her publishers. I don't make any money from this and I don't intend any copyright or trademark infringement with it.
Summary: Harry and Hermione dancing together. Just a sweet one-shot. H/Hr. Written Pre-HBP.
Pairing: Harry/Hermione
Rating: PG-13 (just to be safe)
Spoilers: Books 1-5
Author's Note 1: I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed my previous story 'Telling Her'. Your reviews were very encouraging, so thank you for your kind words!
Author's Note 2: This story was written before HBP came out. While I was writing it I found I hadn't used the names of the lead characters portrayed yet, and I set myself the challenge to not use their names at all. It's set at a Ball at Hogwarts. I don't think it matters what Ball it was, or when it took place, I just wanted to write about them dancing together. It's very sweet, I hope you don't mind, I'm just a hopeless romantic sometimes. I hope you like it.
The Dance
They were dancing. He was holding her close, his arms around her waist, hers around his neck. She knew, they had hugged before, of course, but somehow this was different. She had been in love with him for so long, and they had become better and better friends over the years, they knew from each other that they loved each other, but they had never said it was as more than just friends. She knew though, that she loved him as more than a friend. So much more. She loved him with all her heart. She didn't show it in any other way than always being there for him, showing her concern for his well-being, and always helping him whenever he had difficult things to do. And man, were there difficult situations in his life!
Whenever they hugged, their bodies touching, it was always like they showed their friendly affection. There was never an actual tension. A tension that comes along with loving someone so deeply, but being too afraid to show it yet. But now, dancing to a slow song… They weren't even as close as when they hugged. Their bodies only touching lightly and their faces were in front of each other. She looked up into his face and saw him looking down at her. In his eyes shone something that she couldn't quite name, she hadn't seen this look in his eyes before. She wondered, 'Could it be…?'
He had a handsome face. His eyes were bright green, shining from behind his glasses. She had always found the colour of his eyes so beautiful. She had never seen eyes like his, their colour was unique. And his hair, pitch black and messy, like it always was, but she wouldn't want it any other way. It made him him. She had at times imagined him with hair lying flat for a change, and came to the conclusion that it didn't suit him. It was like it would make him another person. And she didn't want him to change. She thought he was perfect the way he was, with his flaws and all. To her they were endearing.
When she thought about it, they weren't even really flaws. It was just… He had so much passion. So much love living inside of him. Because of his love for people, he always went out of his way to make them feel safe. When someone was in danger his love drove him to rescue that person, more often than not risking his own life in doing so. It wasn't that he loved all those people like a friend or even a lover, but it was his general love for people that drove him.
Another flaw, some would say he had, was that he had a quick temper. But whenever he got angry it was because of the injustice done to someone. Again he was driven by his concern for the well-being of people. And he wasn't just like this when it concerned people that were close to him, he was like this with anyone. Even if he wouldn't like the person, even hated them, and he would see them being treated unfairly or disrespectfully, he would stand up for them. His ability to love amazed her.
She wondered if he himself even knew it was love that he was driven by or not. He had grown up not knowing what love was, never being shown love. Yet he had so much of it inside of him. She saw this and she hoped that one day she could teach him, one day she would show him, and one day she would let him see what she saw in him. She hoped that day would truly come to pass.
All these feelings, all these thoughts were swirling through her mind right at this moment. His arms around her lightly, her own arms around him, swaying close together to the music. It was like the world around them dissolved. All that was left was him, her and their feelings, right in this moment. She looked at his face again. His skin, so fair, looked so soft. She longed to stroke her fingers over it. The pink of his lips standing out to the almost white of his skin. She wished she could kiss them.
She noticed they had moved closer still. Their faces were now mere inches apart. She looked into his eyes again and saw that he, too, only had eyes for her at this moment. She was the focus of his attention. His eyes shone with affection, and she marvelled at the thought that it was all for her, and for her alone. She was now sure that what she had seen in his eyes before, what she still saw there now, was love.
They moved closer together still. She felt him draw her to him, and she yielded. She could now feel the strands of his fringe softly caressing her forehead and she closed her eyes for a moment, savouring the feeling. She now knew what was going to happen and she was surprised at how calm she was, because this was her first kiss and she expected to feel a bit anxious. And although her heart was pounding in anticipation, she felt so safe with him. It made her feel so peaceful it was almost overwhelming. She opened her eyes slowly, seeing that he, too, had his eyes almost closed, his long lashes fluttering lightly against his skin. She let her eyelids droop again, savouring every feeling that was coursing through her at this moment.
They moved towards each other as one now, both knowing what was coming, and knowing how they wanted it to happen, slowly. Their noses softly rubbed against each other. She felt his breath on her skin. "I love you," she heard him whisper suddenly and at those words a wave for warmth flowed through her body. And it intensified a moment later when she felt his lips brush hers in a soft kiss. She tilted her head, giving him more access and kissed him back. She revelled in the feeling. Finally her dream was coming true. And it was better than she ever could have imagined. His lips felt so soft against hers… She felt his arm on her back pull her even closer, one of his hands tugging lightly at her hair, eliciting goose bumps on her skin as he deepened the kiss. They opened their mouths to each other at the same time, their tongues meeting. She tightened her arms around his neck, one of her hands disappearing in his hair. It felt silky against her fingers. Deepening the kiss even more, their tongues caressed each other, eliciting small moans from each of them. She was lost. Lost in his kiss. Lost in histouches. Lost in her feelings for him and the feelings he had for her that she could feel in his kiss.
Albus Dumbledore stood at one side of the Great Hall, watching as the boy who was placed under his protection so many years ago, the boy whom he had grown to love like a son, kissed the girl he knew to be the love of his life. Watching the pair of them, out there, in the middle of the dancing crowd, he smiled to himself, his eyes twinkling, pleased that the boy had finally found out what he himself had seen was there all along. It was already a long time ago that he recognised the boy's true feelings for his best friend in the lessons he gave him, when he taught him all about 'the power the Dark Lord knows not'.
They ended the kiss, faces still close together. They rested their foreheads against each other, as they took some time to get their breath back. She hadn't even noticed that they had kept dancing, swaying softly to the music as one. When she had come down a bit from the high the kiss had given her, she whispered to him, "I love you, too."
The End
Author's Note 3: The part with Dumbledore at the end was inspired by Epona's story 'What is it like to fly' (which can be found at Portkey), so the idea wasn't exactly mine.