Harry lay on his bunk thinking on his past challenges while he waited for sleep to take him, in the other room Hermione sobbed. Her heart was in pieces because of the thoughtless actions of their friend once again, seven years ago was the incident with the troll in the girls bathroom and now Ron, bemoaning the lack of food and the lack of progress in their hunt to end Voldemort once and for all, has said some unforgivable things and then left. There had been countless times over the years that Ron's insensitive nature had caused friction between the friends but this time, this time he had gone too far. He heard the click of the radio being turned on and listened as Hermione attempted to find a station, garbled voices filled the air followed by static and sniffs. Harry got up and walked through to the living room part of the tent. Putting his hand on her shoulder he said 'let me' and he turned the dial until music filled the air. He took the seat across from Hermione and the listened for a while; she was curled in a ball on the couch silent tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Out of all the times he had been injured in his time at Hogwarts, either through playing Quidditch or their escapades nothing hurt him as much as seeing his friend broken like this. It was almost impossible to bear seeing her petrified during their second year; at least there was a cure for that. this was something that he had never had to endure before and each time he saw a fresh tear roll silently down her cheer, his heart broke a little more. He stood up and walked to the radio and found another station, the opening bars to a song floated through the tent. The haunting sound of the piano stirred something in him. He turned to his heartbroken friend and held out his hand as the singer started "I know it's late / I know you're weary / I know your plans don't include me" something about the song seemed right, she looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him to ease her suffering.
"Still here we are / both of us lonely / longing for shelter from all that we see" she took his hand and stood facing him, the boy who has saved her life on countless occasions; the one person that gave everything and took nothing in return, whose own heart had been shattered through the loss of his parents and the loss of Sirius. Here he was offering to somehow put her back together again. He reached for the chain of the Horcrux that hung round her neck, amplifying her feelings of loss.
"Why should we worry / no one will care girl / look at the stars so far away / we've got tonight / who needs tomorrow? / We've got tonight babe / why don't you stay?" Harry took Hermione in his arms and swayed with the music. They danced slowly, each instinctively knowing that the other needed the strength offered in order to heal some of the pain they were feeling. As they slowly spun in time with the music; all thoughts of the past were forgotten, all plans for the future paused, only this moment was important to both of them. The lyrics hauntingly echoed how both Hermione and Harry were feeling. "deep in my soul / I've been so lonely / all of my hopes fading away / I've longed for love like everyone else does / I know I'll keep searching/ even after today" . Hermione put her head on his shoulder, tears giving way to a soft, hopeful smile. Harry rested is head against hers, finding the strength, the unwavering support and unquestioning belief that only she could give him. Above them the stars shone in the autumn sky just a little bit brighter for the two lonely souls that danced in that tent. All too soon the final bars of the song faded out yet they were reluctant to break their embrace. Ron was gone, the future was bleak but in this perfect moment something nothing else was as important to them as the person they were holding.