A/N: I haven't written a HP fanfic in a while but I was inspired recently. With summer coming up, I won't be as busy so I decided to try to get some writing done. This is a Harry and Hermione story that begins during DH (ignore the epilogue). Then it fast forwards 6 years into the future, with Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione. At the end of the story, there is a quote from the song "Pretending" from the TV show Glee.

Hermione was devastated by Ron's abandonment, but she tried her best to stay focused on finding the horcruxes. Despite her best efforts, one night after too many sleepless nights and overwhelmed with fear, she broke down. It was Harry who came to her and let her cry into his chest for hours. It was Harry who had rocked her gently back and forth and whispered comforting words. She knew that he was just as unsure as she was that Ron would ever return, but she felt comfort in Harry's words of promise. He held her as she fell asleep in his arms.

In the weeks following Ron's departure, she noticed she had gotten much closer to Harry. She leaned on him more now than she had ever done before and he was always there to bring her back to center. After a fearful night of almost being caught by snatchers, Hermione broke down again. They were no closer to finding the other horcruxes and destroying them. She began to feel enveloped in the fear that they would never find them and that this war would never end.

"Harry?" she asked softly as she sat on her bed, her knees drawn to her chest.

"Hm?" he replied softly, not looking at her.

"Do you think we can just stay here forever? Just grow old together? And never look back?" she asked.

He gave her a soft smile before walking over to her side of the room. He sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. She put her head on his shoulder instinctively. He kissed her forehead gently and she quietly began to weep into his chest. He stroked her back as they sat in the quiet. After a while, she pulled away from him.

"Thank you, Harry" she said quietly. She kept her eyes on his chest, embarrassed that she had just lost control of her emotions again. "I don't know what I'd do without you".

He gently placed his right index finger under her chin and lifted her face so their eyes could meet. "Thank you for staying. I know I never would have made it this far without you. I can't imagine my life without you" he said to her. She smiled gently. His eyes searched hers for a moment to make sure that he had comforted her and once he felt satisfied he smiled softly at her again.

Then without even thinking he leaned down, gently closed his eyes and kissed her lips tenderly. Hermione closed her eyes as he kissed her and she realized that she hadn't felt safe like this in a long time. The feeling of his lips brushing against hers made her stomach erupt into butterflies. But just as quickly as it had began, it ended. Harry pulled away from her and quickly searched her eyes for any signs of regret. But all he saw was longing. She longed to be touched, to feel safe, to feel loved… to feel any sense of normalcy.

She reached her arms up and wrapped her hands around his neck before leaning up to kiss him again. This one was soft like the first, but Harry could feel her sense of longing and urgency. She slowly began to deepen the kiss as he pulled her closer. Harry felt a heat in his chest the moment their tongues touched.

As her hands reached his hair, he let a moan escape his mouth. The moan only drove her crazier and she pressed her body against his more tightly. She was breathless but she didn't care. Her heart pounded against her rib cage and she knew that she didn't want this feeling to end.

She just wanted Harry.

And Harry just wanted her.

Hermione woke up the next morning and she could feel his arm protectively draped over her body. She smiled as she remembered the feeling she had gotten from him the night before. She layed in bed a few moments longer, letting her mind wander to last night.

And then it hit her – she felt the guilt flood over her as the image of Ron appeared in her head. She knew that her actions with Harry last night would hurt him. She suddenly felt disgusted with herself – how could she betray him like that? She had reassured him so many times that there was nothing more than friendship between her and Harry, and here she was, laying in his arms. As she closed her eyes to fight back tears she could see an image of an angry and hurt Ginny, which only made Hermione feel worse. Just months prior, she had reassured Ginny that Harry would be hers once the war was over, that he was only distancing himself from her in an effort to protect her. And now she was betraying both of her best friends. And she felt horrible for doing it.

Hermione began to move out of the bed when she felt Harry's grip on her tighten. But she forced her way out of the bed, grabbed her robe from the floor and quickly placed it on. Harry's eyes began to flutter open and he reached onto the side table in search of his glasses. As he placed them on his head, he looked at Hermione confused.

"Everything alright?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah" Hermione lied. She grabbed her wand from her side table and began walking towards the tent opening. "I'm going to look for some breakfast" she said as she avoided his gaze. Before Harry could reply, she walked out of the tent opening.

Did she regret what the kiss they had shared last night? Harry thought. Did I do something to offend her? He thought. Does she regret last night?

Harry pushed the thoughts out of his mind as he got dressed. She returned shortly after with some mushrooms that she had found. She was tense and determined to avoid his gaze. They were in silence for a while as Harry sat at the small kitchen table and tried to read one of the books, but he couldn't focus on the words. Why was she acting like this?

The rest of the day was spent in mostly silence. They seemed to be avoiding each other, which only made Harry's thoughts intensify. She must be regretting the night before. He knew she must want to leave, but he also knew that she was much too loyal to run away. She promised him that she would stay by his side until the end, and he knew she would never back out of her promise, even if it killed her to stay with him.

"Hermione…?" Harry asked quietly. He waited for her reaction but he didn't get one. "Hermione…?" he repeated.

She turned towards him, but kept her eyes at her hands, which were fidgeting in front of her.

"I'm sorry for last night…" he began quietly.

"Oh, Harry." She said softly.

"I never meant to hurt you."

"Harry…"

"I'm sorry for overstepping my bounds." Harry continued. He was trying to get his words out quickly as if he wouldn't have the strength to say them if he didn't.

"Harry…"

"You are the most brilliant witch I know and I know that I wouldn't be here without you. I never meant to make you feel pressured or forced into… please, I need to know that we can move passed this, that you can forgive me…" Harry pleaded with her. But her eyes remained glued to her hands.

"Harry…"

"Please… I just need to know"

"What have we done?" she said, tears rolling down her cheeks now. It killed Harry to see her like this. He was at a loss of words, and the silence between them grew.
"We betrayed them, Harry. Don't you see? Last night wasn't supposed to happen. We've always known we weren't meant to happen." Hermione said. She was desperately trying to hold back the sobs as the tears streamed faster down her cheeks and landed on the floor.

"Hermione… maybe that isn't how it was meant to be. I don't regret any part of last night." Harry said reassuringly. "Do you?"

"What?" said Hermione looking shocked. She was quiet for a moment before she answered him. "No" she said matter-of- factly.

"But what if you're wrong? Harry… what if this doesn't work?" She asked, meeting his eyes for the first time. "I can't bear the thought of you not in my life. What if… what if it ruins our friendship?" she said. "I just can't handle the thought of losing you".

"You'll never lose me" said Harry. He stood up, walked over to her, and hugged her tightly. She let her hands grip the back of his shirt as she tried to suppress the tears that were overwhelming her.

They stayed in a tight embrace for a long while before finally breaking apart. They made a promise to pretend nothing had ever happened between them. If they lied to themselves long enough, maybe they would soon believe it to be the truth.

**************
Six Years Later…

Hermione was sitting on the dock and looking deeply into the water, deep in thought. She stared down at the water a moment longer, before gently placing her feet into the water. It was definitely a bit colder than she remembered. She shivered slightly as she took in the cool fall air before letting her eyes drift to the lake again.

"Hey" said a voice behind her. She jumped slightly as she was taken away from her thoughts. She turned and was faced with a tall raven hair boy.

"May I sit?" he asked.

She gave him a small nod and he sat down beside her. They sat there in silence for a moment as Hermione looked down at her hands.

"Is this how you pictured things, Harry?" she said quietly.

"What do you mean?" he asked concerned. Hermione only shook her head in response and took in a deep breath. "'Mione, what's wrong?" he asked, studying her face for a sign.

"Are things how you thought they would be?" She didn't move her eyes from her hands. She knew she had to concentrate on them hard to fight back the tears.

"I suppose" he replied quietly. He looked down at his own hands, too ashamed to look at her.

She nodded and then took another deep breath. She quietly stood up to begin the walk back to the Burrow but Harry grabbed her wrist and slowly began to look up at her.

"Please…" she said quietly. She tried her best to fight the tears back, but one escaped her left eye.

"Hermione…" Harry said.

"Please don't." she interrupted.

"No, you need to understand."

"What is there to understand, Harry? I always knew that this day was coming. I knew you always belonged to Ginny. I just… I just…" Her tears were falling more freely now and she used the back of her hand to wipe away the tears. "I didn't know it would hurt this much." She finished.

"Hermione…" Harry began. He hated to see her cry and he hated himself for knowing that he was the reason for it.

"No… really, Harry. I'm happy for you. I really am. You're finally going to get the big family you've always dreamed of. This is what you worked so hard for, this is what you fought for" she finished. She was now taking more rapid breaths as she tried to contain herself.

"You know that's not entirely true" Harry corrected her. Their eyes met for the first time and she could tell that he was pleading with her to understand. "I fought for you. You know that. But we agreed…" his voice broke off.

She nodded somberly. She understood.

"We should get back to the Burrow before anyone gets worried," said Hermione firmly.

Harry knew better than to press her further and he silently followed her to the Burrow.

Once inside, Hermione walked over to Ginny and gave her a hug. She then took Ginny's hand and began admiring the engagement ring on Ginny's left hand.

"It's beautiful, Ginny!" said Hermione, trying her best to sound genuine.

She knew Harry was stealing glances of her as he pretended to care about whatever Ron was saying.

Will we ever say the words we're feeling?
Reach down underneath and tear down all the walls?

Will we ever have our happy ending?
Or will be always be pretending?

Will be always be pretending?

-Pretending by Glee