Late Night Confessions in the Broom Closet

Summary: Harry and Hermione end up in a broom closet while hiding from Filch, and some things come out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

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"I still don't know how you talked me into this," she whispered hurriedly.

"I talked you into this? Of course, set all the blame on me, Hermione," Harry retorted.

The two were currently locked in a broom closet together, a very small, tight broom closet. The two friends had decided to go swim in the lake that evening, and of course had forgotten the invisibility cloak, and almost ran into Filch, which brought them to the situation they were in at the moment. Actually if you had asked Hermione, it was Harry's idea, and she was just convinced to join in.

Ron had been off with his new girlfriend, Luna, and the two were currently in the "can't keep their hands off each other" stage of their relationship. Harry and Hermione had actually been quite happy about the redhead getting together with Luna.

"Well it was your idea," Hermione stated.

"Well, you went along with it," he replied.

Hermione huffed, and turned around, so her back was facing him, or at least that's what she meant to do. The closet had been so small, and cluttered with things, that Hermione could only turn to the side, and turn her face away from Harry.

Harry held back a laugh, and just stared at his best friend. He knew she wasn't mad at him, only pretending. Harry looked his best friend up and down, all the while knowing that she knew he was doing it to make her face him again.

In truth, Harry didn't dislike looking at her, and he wasn't only doing it to annoy her. Ever since his sixth year, (they were both currently in their seventh) he had begun to see Hermione in a very different light.

She had grown, and become a very pretty girl. Not that she believed him, or any other person who told her that. Underneath, she was still the shy bookworm that she had always been, and Harry was very happy about that, he only wished that all that time he had been chasing Cho, he had realized what had been in front of him all along.

Then again, he always thought Ron had a thing for her, and he wasn't about to do anything. Luckily, Ron had gotten over his small crush, and moved on to Luna.

"Hermione," Harry called softly. She folded her arms across her chest, pretending she didn't hear him.

"I know you aren't mad," he stated in the same tone.

Hermione was trying hard not to look at Harry. She knew that if she did, she would see his lopsided smile, and crack like an egg. Eventually she gave in and turned to face him, her head tilted to the side.

"And?" she asked.

"That there are worse things than being locked in a broom closet with me," he said.

"You forgot to mention, wet," she added, nodding to their clothing. Harry laughed.

"Alright so there are worse things than being locked in a broom closet with me, completely soaked," he reworded, "I mean it could be with Malfoy."

"You know I think I'd prefer it," Hermione teased.

"I'm hurt Mione," Harry said playfully, "You'd chose Malfoy over me."

"Well, he isn't that bad looking," she commented seriously.

"Hermione," Harry said, in disbelief.

"What?" she asked, trying not to laugh, "You know I think you're better looking, anyways."

Harry smiled, then paused a moment, and looked at his best friend and could have sworn he saw her cheeks redden. "You're not so bad yourself," he replied.

"You don't have to say that, Harry," Hermione stated, looking away.

Harry brought his hand up, and placed it under her chin, making her look at him. "I'm not just saying that Hermione. I happen to think you're very beautiful," Harry said, surprising them both.

Hermione didn't say anything, or rather, she couldn't say anything. All coherent thought was lost, as she gazed into his emerald green eyes. There was something there that she had never noticed before. Before she could ever begin to figure out what it was, Harry's lips came crashing down on hers.

His arm came up around her waist, and the other hand went to her drenched hair. Hermione placed her arms around his neck, bringing him closer to her.

This had not been one of those sweet, gentle kisses you see in all the movies, nor was it one of hope, or desperation. It was just one of pent up emotion needing to be released. The two teenagers didn't want to separate, but lack of oxygen made that impossible.

Pulling away, Harry looked at Hermione, hoping he didn't just make a mistake. He never intended on doing what he had just done, but for lack of better words, it just happened. Harry peered at the girl, and saw that her eyes were still closed. Watching them flutter open, he saw fear, and confusion in her eyes, as well as something he couldn't identify. Harry realized that her eyes probably mirrored that of his own.

"What was that Harry," Hermioen asked softly, looking at him.

"I honestly don't know," he replied.

She turned away slightly, and asked him the one question that she really didn't want to know the answer to. "So what is this then? Just two people snogging because of their attraction to one another and because of the setting, or because of something else?"

Harry made her face him, and cradled her face in his hands. "It is not just because we are in the broom closet," he stated, "nor because we are attracted to one another, at least not just all because of that. He dropped his hands down to his sides, and looked at her. "Hermione, I, um, I havefeelingsforyou," Harry said in a rush.

"What?" Hermione asked him. She knew what he had said, but just wanted him to say it again to make sure she hadn't been imagining things.

"I have feelings for you," he repeated, "other than friendship."

Harry dared to look at his best friend's reaction. To his surprise, she had a smirk on her face.

"Good," she replied. Then Hermione kissed him, and as quickly as she had, she pulled away and said, "Because I do too."

Harry chuckled silently. "So all this time, I've liked you and you've liked me?"

"I suppose so," Hermione stated, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"For the same reasons you didn't tell me," he replied, kissing her softly. She kissed him back with just as much feeling, then suddenly pulled away.

"What?" Harry asked, wondering if he did something wrong.

"What are we going to tell Ron?" Hermione asked, laughing faintly.

"Can we worry about that later?" Harry asked, kissing her again.

Hermione just smiled against his lips and didn't bring up Ron, or anything else the rest of the night.

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Author's Note - A little bit of fluff for you guys. Hope you liked this one-shot. Please review and let me know what you thought.