She longed for him. To see his flaming red hair running toward her, to feel his warm embrace. But she knew there was no hope once they disaperated that morning. She found ways to procrastinate; to try to wait him out. She knew inside that he would not come back. She grasped Harry's hand and willed herself to disaperate. Hermione released his hand as they collided with the cold ground, stumbled to her feet and brushed dirt from her coat, then set off to cast the usual defensive charms, the spells that would inevitably keep him out.
She longed for his companionship, for his caring heart, for his soft lips. Ron had been her emotional rock, but he had failed her. Now, Hermione knew that it was now just Harry and herself left to face Voldemort, to find his horcruxes, to end this paroxysm of constant displeasure of the dreadful task at hand. It was agony tuning to the radio each day, listening for a whisper of a disappearance, murder, kidnapping. Hoping to hope that she did not hear his name... anything but that.
As she climbed into her bunk to shut herself from the world once again, to tune out of reality and into the only place she can see him, she heard a voice. Harry called to her, saying her name, she did not respond; she excused herself from facing him by pretending to be asleep. "Hermi-", he called out as he rounded the corner. Seeing her asleep he did not yell for her again, but instead slowly approached her bunk, leaned down, and planted a soft kiss upon her forehead and muttered a quiet "Goodnight, Hermione".
It was like hot lightning shot down her body, right to her toes. She reached up and grabbed his collar and pulled him in again, for another. "Hermione! What are you doing!" Harry yelled. She released him, shocked, looked down and began to sob. Racking sobs that shook her to the core. He watched her for a moment, and muttered "Oh, Hermione", brushing her hair out of her face. He pulled her into a hug, pulled her close. His hand brushed her chin and pulled it upward. Before she knew what was happening, he was kissing her, and she was kissing back. She went numb. Never before had she been kissed like this. To feel no worry, pain, or longing, this was what she wanted, what she needed. They embraced for seconds… minutes… hours… into the night.