Oh bloody hell Harry thought to himself as he saw her headed his way. As quickly as he could he tried to hide The Half-Blood Prince's book before she would start bickering about it again, but he knew that it was useless because by the look on her face she had seen him reading it again.
"Hello Hermione"
"Harry, I thought you were going to get rid of that book!" she exclaimed taking a seat next to him on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room.
"Don't worry Hermione, I will get rid of it soon, but I feel like I need it a little bit longer to win over Slughorn and get the memory from him," He gave her a quick pat on the shoulder as to calm her down. Upon the slight contact of his hand and her shoulder a tingling sensation surged through Harry like fire running through his body. What is that feeling?
"I'm sorry to keep nagging you so much about this book, but you know how I feel about the Half-Blood Prince"
He nodded his head and looked down at his hands, feeling that if he looked her in the eyes, she may somehow figure out that every time she was around him, his hands would get sweaty and upon her slightest touch she could make him feel so strange, so content.
"Harry, are you okay?"
He looked up to see her throwing him a concerned look, he simply smiled ready to lie and say that everything was okay when a piece of parchment flew into his lap. "What the?" he murmured looking around to see who had thrown it. His eyes rested on a girl sitting in the corner, smiling broadly at him. Shaking his head he turned back to the paper in his lap. Opening it he found a drawing of 2 stick figures holding hands. The girl stick figure was labeled Romilda, while the male was wearing glasses and was labeled Harry. Suddenly Harry froze; he could feel Hermione's warm body leaning over him, trying to look at the drawing over his shoulder.
"Harry be careful with that Romilda girl. I was told that she was talking about how she wanted to slip you a love potion."
"A love potion? But why? I hardly know her..."
"She's in love with your fame, not you Harry."
"Way to burst my ego," he replied faking a hurt expression on his face before letting out a soft chuckle.
"Well, I better be getting to bed. Good Night." Hermione said getting up on her feet, but before marching up the stairs she turned around and gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek. Something which she usually did for the last 6 years, but usually it didn't cause Harry's face to turn to color of Ron and Ginny's hair; usually it didn't cause Harry to get a feeling in his stomach like he had just eaten a deck of exploding snap cards. Thankfully for Harry, Hermione was too tired to notice and was already heading up to the girl's dormitories.
For Merlin's sake, what is happening to me? He thought as he stared at the empty spot on the sofa next to him Could I possibly be in love with Hermione? No! Could I? No? Oh my god! I think I'm in love with Hermione!
He laid down on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling trying to ease his mind and convince himself that he wasn't in love with Hermione. She was a beautiful girl and he was a teenage boy; it was perfectly normal for a boy of his age to feel certain things when he was around such a beautiful girl. It was just hormones, not love. Stupid Hormones. "Good Night Harry," he heard a soft voice call from the bottom of the staircase. He raised his head to see Romilda Vane looking expectantly in his direction. When she caught sight of his face she winked and starting climbing the stairs up to her dormitory.
Harry laid his head back down and resumed his thoughts, If it's just hormones then why don't I get those same feelings around other girls. Romilda for example, would be considered more attractive then Hermione, yet I don't feel anything for her. I don't feel anything for any girl when Hermione is around though. Maybe if I hang out with Romilda, I will feel the same way. That will prove it's not love, just lust. Oh who am I kidding? When Hermione is around, it's as if nothing in the world matters but her. I'm in love with Hermione Granger.
The next couple of weeks were a nightmare for Harry Potter. He was coming to terms with the realization of his feelings for his best friend, and it was nearly impossible to not grab her in his arms and kiss her passionately every time she was around. However, not wanting to lose her friendship, he restrained himself. On the other hand, Hermione was always hugging and touching him, occasionally even kissing his cheek. Of course, she was just being friendly like she had always been, but she didn't realize that her close proximity was torture for Harry. He constantly found himself wishing to be abducted by death eaters and taken away from this misery, but almost instantly he would remind himself that not seeing Hermione again would be the death of him.
On more than one occasion he had thought up of ways to tell Hermione about his feelings, but he couldn't muster up enough courage. The only way to keep sane was by keeping himself as far away as he could. He knew that he couldn't just tell her so after lessons he would now make his way to a solitary tree by the lake, rather than up to the common room where Hermione would surely be doing homework or reading a book.
As it was now costume, Harry walked to the tree by the lake after his last lesson. It was rather relaxing to sit under the tree lazily and enjoy the rest of the sunshine. Sometimes he would even stay here until it was dark and stare at the starry sky. It wasn't astrology or nature that was so beautiful though, it was the fact that he wasn't face to face with misery herself, as he now called Hermione. Upon arriving at the tree he began to make himself comfortable when he heard footsteps behind him.
"Hey Harry, mind if I join you?"
He looked back to find Ginny smiling at him. Smiling back he motioned towards the ground as if conjuring up an invisible chair for her.
"What's up Gin?"
"I was just going to ask you the same thing, what's up with you Harry? It's like you want to detach yourself from all of your friends."
"No, I just enjoy sitting here. It gives me time to think about..." He paused. He couldn't tell Ginny about Hermione. Well he could if he wanted the whole school to know about it with the next 20 minutes. "...Voldemort."
Ginny sighed. "Hermione is right." His stomach gave a little flip at the mention of her name.
"Right about what?"
"That you are a terrible liar," Ginny replied with a smile forming on her lips. She gave him a playful shove and got up to leave. "She's a lucky girl"
"What?"
"Whoever you're moping about."
"I'm not moping about anybody!" He exclaimed jumping to his feet to see her eye to eye. He found that lying when he was angry or at least in panic was a lot easier. Must be from all the practice he's had from lying to teachers about his many adventures.
"Whatever you say Harry," replied Ginny in an amused tone, "I just hope that it's not because Romilda actually slipped you a love potion." She laughed at her own joke and began walking back towards the castle.
"You're wrong!" Harry called after her. Oh my god! Ginny knows. At least she has no clue who it is, he thought to himself while settling back down on the grass. As if a switch had been turned on in Harry's brain, a brilliant plan occurred to him. He knew exactly how he would tell Hermione that he was in love with her; if he was lucky she would end up falling in love with him too. He searched through his book bag to find the book that had already given him so much. Finding the old book, he flipped the pages up until he came across the potion he wanted. Looking over the ingredients, he knew that it shouldn't be too challenging to get them. Professor Slughorn would probably be more than happy to give them to Harry if he lied and said it was for a potion he was working on perfecting. He folded the page in slightly and closed the book. Placing the book in his bag, he got up and sprinted towards the castle. Thank you Half-Blood Prince.
Like Harry had thought, Professor Slughorn was more than happy to give him all the ingredients he needed. He even allowed Harry to use the potions classroom to work on his potion. Three hours later the love potion was done. He carefully placed the cupcakes which had been injected with the love potion atop a silver tray he had gotten from dobby. He smiled and started to head up to the Gryffindor Common room. This is wrong, Harry. You can't do this to Hermione. She will absolutely hate you for it. A little voice inside his head recited, but he chose to ignore it.
"Hermione!" he exclaimed with a false confidence. Why are there so many people here he? At least Ron's not here, otherwise he'd eat the whole batch of cupcakes.
"Harry?"
"I brought you some cupcakes," as he set the tray down and looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to grab one. She didn't. She looked at him questionly
"Why? It's really sweet and all, but it's just unlike you to bring cupcakes at random."
"Well..." Think of something quick "...it's because you were right about the Half-Blood Prince book, and this is my way of saying sorry for being so thick headed." He could tell she still didn't believe him so he grabbed a cupcake and practically put it in her hand.
"Well Hermione, I'm spent. I'm going to bed. Night." He climbed the stairs quickly without giving her a chance to reply. Once he was upstairs, he chanced a look at the common room below, and saw Hermione taking a bite of the cupcake. He smiled and headed straight to bed, knowing that tomorrow would be a long day. He had no idea just how long.
"Harry?" a soft familiar voice woke him up the next morning. He was sure he had heard it before, but couldn't quite pinpoint who it belonged to. He was about to open his eyes when he felt someone climbing on top of him. What the hell?
"Wake up my love." said the voice again. This time Harry could feel the girl's breath close to his face. Her lips were practically touching his. My love? He opened his eyes to catch a pair of brown eyes looking back into his.
"GINNY?" Startled to find his best mate's little sister in his bed on top of him Harry jumped out of bed causing her to fall to ground with a loud 'thump'
"What in the name of Merlin are you doing here?" Realizing that he shared a dormitory with her brother, he cast a quick glance towards his bed, half expecting a curse to be flying his way. Luckily for him, the dormitory was empty.
"Harry, last night I realized that I'm in love with you. I'm madly in love with you. I had to find the way to tell you, otherwise I feel like my life has no meaning if you're not in it." Ginny said as she gracefully got off the floor and made her way back to Harry.
"Ginny what's gotten into you? You're in love with Dean, not me." Harry said stepping back from Ginny who was advancing on him trying to wrap her body around his. Just what I needed. Ginny kept making her way towards Harry, until she had him pinned up against the wall. She wrapped her arms around his neck and before giving him a chance to push her back her lips met his. She tried to kiss him with as much passion as she was feeling but it was like kissing a rock. Paralyzed by the fact that Ginny Weasley was kissing him, Harry stood there for a couple seconds before being able to weasel his way out of her surprisingly strong grip.
"Ginny, get out of here NOW," he commanded. He felt bad at the hurt expression that had appeared on her face but knew that he had to stand his ground otherwise Ron and Dean were going to murder him before he could find out if the love potion worked on his beloved Hermione. Reluctantly, she obliged whispering that she would be waiting for him down in the common room as she passed him and out the door. Bloody hell, I swear I don't understand girls. Yesterday Ginny was madly in love with dean, now she's in love with me. He shook his head at the thought of Ginny being in love with him. That girl was like a little sister to him and nothing more, he had figured that he was like a big brother to her as well, but obviously she had never gotten over her crush over him. Shaking the thought of Ginny from his head, he turned to more important issues, Hermione. He quickly got dressed and nervously headed down to the common room, where he knew that Hermione would be waiting. She would always be up earlier than anybody in Gryffindor but she would always end up waiting for Ron and Harry before heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
As soon as he stepped down in the common room, a rose was thrown at him. With his fast seeker reflexes he caught it and looked towards a 7th year girl who was smiling broadly at him and sending him air kisses. Strange. He had barely taken a step when another girl flung herself in his arms, reflexively he caught her.
"What are you doing?" He asked
"Harry, I'm in love with you!" She exclaimed before trying to lean in and kiss him.
What the bloody hell is going on? These girls are getting more bold about their fame seeking ways..
"Uh...I don't even know you." He said as he pushed her away from him. He looked down at the small coffee table where an empty silver tray lay with nothing but crumbs on it. A nightmarish idea dawned on him Oh no, please let me be wrong
"Did you guys by any chance eat the cupcakes that I brought Hermione last night?"
He didn't need to wait for a response; half of the girls in the common room were looking at him with a strange look in their eyes. The look that a hunter (or huntress in this case) would give her prey. He darted out the door and began sprinting as fast he could down towards safety. He ran down the staircases, taking quick glances behind him, only to see a multitude of Gryffindor girls running after him. Much quicker than them, he made it to the Great Hall to find Hermione and Ron sitting at their usual spot having breakfast.
What if Hermione jumps on me and starts seducing me here, like those girls in the common room he thought, but upon reaching him she only gave him a strange look
"You okay Harry? Why are you panting?"
He gave her a puzzled look. The love potion didn't work on Hermione. Why didn't it work on her?
"Mate? You ok?" He heard Ron's muffled voice from across the table; of course it would be like Ron to speak with his mouth full.
A few girls who were sitting at the Gryffindor table had caught sight of him and began walking towards him, with the same look.
"How many girls ate those cupcakes?" He asked more to himself than to Hermione or Ron.
"A lot of them."
"What?"
"They were all in the common room when you gave them to me, so I thought I'd share with them." Hermione responded looking completely bewildered by Harry's strange behavior.
"I need your help!" He said taking Hermione's hand and dragging her out of the Great Hall. Ignoring the tingling sensation that was passing through his body from holding her hand, he sprinted out towards the grounds with a half running half being dragged Hermione behind him.
They finally came to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and without hesitation ran into it. This forest had never looked better before. He would take the Forbidden Forest any day, than a pack of girls on a love potion. They finally came into the forest deep enough to where he felt was safely away from the mad girls. He let go of Hermione and sat down on a tree stump trying to catch his breath, while avoiding Hermione's questioning look. Luckily she too was trying to catch her breath and wasn't able to start interrogating Harry right away.
He glanced at her, and saw the little sunlight that passed through the trees reflecting lightly on her cinnamon brown hair. And her beautiful brown mysterious eyes. He sighed at her beauty before a painful thought hit him, Even with a love potion she won't fall in love with me. The potion worked on everybody else, but her. I knew that she would never fall in love with me. A perfect girl like her needs a perfect bloke. And I'm anything but perfect. With the depressing thoughts running through his head, he buried his face in his hands trying to contain the tears that were surely to follow. Not only of realization that he was in love with someone that would never be able to correspond to those feelings, but out of frustration and annoyance towards himself for being so stupid as to try and give her a love potion.
"Harry!"
Hermione's voice broke Harry's thoughts and he looked up, knowing that it wouldn't take her long to figure out what was going on. At his lack of words she sat down next to him and took his hand in hers. He ignored the electricity surge that ran through his body once more.
"What is going on Harry?"
I tried to slip you a love potion and it backfired
"I don't know," he lied sheepishly
"Don't you dare lie to me, Harry James Potter"
"Hermione, I'm not," he said looking down at his hands trying to avoid her penetrating gaze, which always knew when he was lying.
"Well if you need my help you are going to have to tell me what's going on."
""
"What?"
","
"Harry I can't understand what you're saying. Slow down."
Goodbye Hermione.
"I tried to slip you a love potion and it backfired,"
He saw her freeze and could almost hear her brain working rapidly, when he saw a look of comprehension dawn on her face. She figured out I'm in love with her. The look quickly turned into a different one that he had never seen directed towards him. She hates me. He couldn't stand it, he had to get away. He got up and sprinted deeper and deeper into the forest. He thought he had heard Hermione calling his name twice but he ignored it and just kept running. Running away from Hermione's hatred. Running away from his stupidity at making such a foolish decision.
The hours passed and Harry Potter sat in the middle of the forbidden forest, not caring about anything or anyone but Hermione Granger. I could have handled to be the best friend. I could have kept my feelings hidden all my life, but I can't handle being hated by her. He fell asleep thinking about nothing but that look that Hermione had given him, right before he ran away. He fell asleep, having nightmare after nightmare of Hermione laughing merciless at him.
The cool morning wind woke him up the next morning. He woke up startled to find himself in the middle of the forest. Upon first waking up he had hoped that it had all been just a dream, but waking up in the forest meant that it was all real. I wonder if Hermione is worried about me. Maybe she is happy that she got rid of me, after what I did. He slowly began walking back towards the school grounds. After what seemed like hours, he finally was able to catch a glimpse of the castle. Reluctantly, he started to walk up to the castle knowing that the worst was yet to come.
He wasn't even halfway to the castle when a familiar figure was sprinting towards him. Her brown bushy hair, blowing wildly in the wind. She ran straight to him and gave him the hardest push she could muster.
"YOU IDIOT! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THE FOREST!" Screaming at the top of her lungs and punching Harry in the chest after every word.
Harry was taken back. He had expected anything but to have Hermione worried about him. Her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying all night long. Maybe she doesn't hate me, came a hopeful thought.
"Hermione, I'm sorry...about everything. The love potion. My stupidity. Everything. I'm sorry." He began slowly walking back up to the castle, embarrassed with himself for having done the love potion in the first place and because Hermione knew that he was in love with her.
"Quit running away!" Hermione grabbed a hold of his sweater and pulled him back so he was face to face with her once again.
"I can't look you in the face, Hermione. I know you probably hate me right now-"
"-I don't hate you! Don't be stupid, you are my best friend and no matter what stupid stunts you pull, I will always be your friend."
Always be your FRIEND the words echoed in his head. At least she didn't hate him, but a small part of him still had had the futile hope that perhaps she could see him as more than a friend.
"Don't think I'm not mad Harry. What you did was down right wrong. Why would you ever try to give anybody a love potion?"
"I...I...I don't know. I just...just..." it was all out in the open now; he might as well tell her properly how he felt about her. He took a deep breath, "Lately, every time I'm around you I feel like the whole world has stopped. Nothing matters when you are around. Whenever I'm with you I feel happy like I've never felt before. Whenever I'm not around you, I only think about you and what you are doing." Hermione's expression softened at his words but she still said nothing so he continued. "I don't know how it happened, but it did and now my heart and soul belong to you." A tear escaped his eyes. Normally he would be embarrassed, but not right now. He had to get this all off his chest.
"Hermione, I'm sorry for falling in love with you. I know that you will never be able to fall in love with me, but I just want you to know that you are the most amazing girl in this world and that as long as you are happy, then I will be happy too." The tears were now falling freely down Harry's and Hermione's face. He began walking away once more.
"Did you ever stop to think why your love potion didn't work on me?" Hermione called after him. He turned back and looked her in the eye, not knowing what to say. The last thing he wanted to hear was that Hermione could never be in love with him and that's why it hadn't worked so he shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't you find it strange that it worked on everybody else that took it, but me?
"Well yea, but I just figured that-"
"-Harry, the reason why it didn't work is because..." she walked closer to him so that their bodies were only inches apart "...because I'm already in love with you. I didn't act any different then I usually do because for the last 3 years I have been in love with you."
In love with me?
"Please don't play games with me, Hermione. It's extrem-" she put up a hand to stop him talking and leaned in closer. Their lips were practically touching, so Harry closed his eyes and connected his lips to Hermione's.
Her lips were warm, soft. Her lips her heaven. He wrapped his arms around her waist bringing her as close as he could to his trembling body. He had kissed girls before, but never one that he was truly in love with. He was afraid that she would notice how nervous he was, but she was enjoying the moment just as much as he was. It had been 3 years of torture for her. 3 years that all she wanted to do was this. He pulled himself away from her and whispered in here ear, "Hermione, I love you."
"I love you too, Harry."
He wanted to kiss her again but she pulled away from his arms and smacked his shoulder. "Don't you think that I have forgiven you for the love potion yet!"
He smiled, knowing that now that their true feelings were out, he could endure anything. "I will make it up to you, I promise."
"Not just me, but all those girls. Professor McGonagall wasn't too happy when she heard what happened. I have a feeling you will have detentions for the rest of the year."
He looked at her and smiled once more. He gave her a quick peck on the lips, "I don't care. If it brought me and you together, it was worth it."
He reached for her hand and they began walking up towards the castle ready to face the consequences for a love potion gone wrong.