A/N- Hi all, this is another nice little Harry/Hermione one-shot, that I just thought up one night. It's pretty cool if you ask me. It's based off the song 'Stand By You' by the Pretenders. So I hope you like it and R/R! Love ya all!

Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or anything of The Pretenders music. But I in fact do own all the seasons of Dawson's Creek on DvD so SUCK IT! Lol, I'm silly.

Oh, why you look so sad?
Tears are in your eyes
Come on and come to me now

She flowed towards me in a rush of emotion. Light radiated off of her face making the illusion of a halo surrounding her head. She didn't touch me or say a word she just stood there waiting for me to say the first word. Tear stains were obvious on her cheeks and the pain in her eyes was becoming harder to admit by the second.

He really messed her up. Scars covered her heart, and the emotional wounds he left on her might never fully heal. She shuffled a little closer to the point where I could feel her body heat mingle with mine.

Don't be ashamed to cry
Let me see you through
'cause I've seen the dark side too

A whimper escaped her lips as she finally broke down and almost fell into my arms crying. Her sobs were soft and almost inaudible. Hermione was never one for hysterics. We swayed slightly as I adjusted myself to the weight she was applying on my body. I felt her try to recoil, but my hold was strong and I knew she needed it to be.

"I messed up." She whispered to herself more then me. I didn't respond, and I knew I wasn't meant to. No comfort would come from any of my words. Sometimes all you need for comfort is someone to stand with you.

When the night falls on you
You don't know what to do
Nothing you confess
Could make me love you less

"He said he loved me." This time I knew she was talking to me. She managed to rise her head ever so slightly so that her hazel eyes stared into my green ones. A few stray tears still rolled down her cheeks, and her face looked a mess with sadness.

"Did he?" I posed the question hopeful of a statement following it. Instead she yes shook her head yes and buried her face in my chest.

I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you

It took a while to get Hermione calmed down enough to take her back to my apartment. She kept spouting off remedies on how she could feel better as I tried to put her into bed. Typical doctor. But at that moment she wasn't a doctor. She was just a damaged girl, with no cure for a broken heart.

I let her sleep in my guest room as I went to my own separate bedroom. I didn't get any sleep that night. My eyes stayed glued open as if they were waiting for something to happen. In the later parts of the night a muffled sound drew my attention, and told me what I was staying awake for. I slowly crept to Hermione's bedroom only to find her crying. I stayed in her bed that night, and held her the rest of the night.

So if you're mad, get mad
Don't hold it all inside
Come on and talk to me now

Days after that got quiet. She hauled her emotions inside herself until I almost didn't recognize her. Her smile was what got me. The rare times that she did smile I barely recognized the sight. It was like the clichéd train wreck that you couldn't stop, but this train was clearly destroying my best friend.

When I look back I can still feel the hurt of having to see her like that and the hate I felt at Ron for doing that to her. He was a coward. Growing up he always claimed to want fame, but when he got exactly what he wanted he couldn't handle it. So he gave into the sin that comes with the lifestyle. Death found him, and he left the world with only bad memories. He said he loved her, but he never loved anyone but himself.

Hey, what you got to hide?
I get angry too
Well I'm a lot like you

She slowly began to talk as the days went on. Small things like about how hot it had gotten, or how my hair had gotten even messier. It wasn't much, but I had learned to accept anything she gave me at that point. She was slowly beginning to heal, and I couldn't be happier.

All was beginning to look up, until about a month after his death. I had come home to the apartment Hermione and I were becoming accustom to sharing. When I walked inside I thought I had walked straight into chaos. The entire contents of the apartment seemed to be spewed across the floor, and I could make out several pieces of glass on the floor where vases had broken.

I immediately panicked. A wail came for in the hallway and I ran as soon as I recognized it. Hermione was sobbing in the hallway holding herself in the fetal position.

"He didn't love me." She sobbed over and over again rocking herself in grief. "Why didn't he love me Harry?" she turned to me with hopeful eyes a if she thought I would have the answers to make it all better.

"I don't know Hermione." I whispered kneeling down by her. "He didn't seem to love me either." And with that I broke down for the first time since his death. We spent the rest of that night silently holding each other for comfort.

When you're standing at the crossroads
And don't know which path to choose
Let me come along

She stood looking at me with terrified eyes that I had never seen. Her body tensed when I reached out to grab her hands and she pulled away. I sighed, but did not regret. She needed to know, for my mental health and hers. I had told her I loved her. I had told her I loved her three months after the man she thought she loved died. It had been rash, but I was not known to be sensible.

"I…" She paused trying to find the words that would describe what she was feeling. "I have to go." But her muscles didn't move as her brain went into overdrive trying to process what I had told her.

"I don't expect to hear it said back." I told her moving closer forcing her to become uncomfortable. "And I won't for a long time, but I know that somewhere in there you love me to." She stood between the door and I, and her decision could go either way.

'cause even if you're wrong
I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you

"I have to go." She said this time actually moving towards the door. I stood still letting her go past me out of the apartment door. She left in a rush, and I knew well enough then to expect her to turn around.

I didn't get any sleep that night. The tossing and turning kept me awake until the cloudy dawn came. It was raining for the first time in over four weeks, and the rain was hot, and sticky like summer rain should be. I dressed for work, and left the apartment as usual. When I descended the steps to the apartment building I saw her for the first time standing there in the pouring rain just looking at me.

"Why did you do it?!" she yelled at me over the patter of the pouring rain. She stood directly in front of me and did not break eye contact.

"Do what?"

"All of this! Why did you stay? Why did you care? Why do you love a mess like me?" She screamed. Even through the rain I could tell she was crying.

"Because" I explained calmly "I know that if I died today you would be ten times as crushed as you have been." She tried to keep control, but I could see that the tears were coming more rapidly now. She approached quickly and our mouths met in one fleeting breath taking kiss.

And I'll never desert you
I'll stand by you

As human beings we all have flaws. We cry and whine until people become sick of us. We can become dangerous to ourselves and others. But the important thing to remember is that we are all human, and that we all do have flaws. And that maybe all those flaws won't matter if you just have someone to stand by you.