Authors Note: I do not own Harry Potter. All characters (minus the occasional OC that may arise) belong to JK Rowling. This is merely one of my many interpretations of how I would have liked the story to go.

Please R&R! I am already amazed by the response to this story! JYou guys are fabulous! Hopefully I'll be posting again really soon!

Harry had watched Hermione scamper from the library the night before with longing. He had hoped she would have stayed up to spend more time together. He hardly saw her anymore since she had started working at St. Mungo's as a healer. Healers had hectic schedules and he was lucky that she was able to even attend the party much less stay the whole evening. Not to mention his schedule in the auror department left little time to spend with anyone. He was always constanly being sent out for missions or being used to train new recruits as everyone wanted to be trained by 'the savior of our world' or so his boss kept telling him. Harry sat there immersed in thought about how much he missed seeing her everyday like they used to in the Hogwarts days, completely ignoring Ron's tirade about how 'Puddlemere United was truly so much worse than the Chudley Cannons'.

I was going to tell her that the only person I want to talk to is her, Harry had thought to himself. It was the truth though. Ever since they were young, Hermione had been the one Harry would go to with all his troubles. She was his light during all the dark that constantly surrounded him. It's not that Ron wasn't a great friend but he had a bit of a temper and he wasn't always great with empathy to say the least. Of course, it also helped that Hermione grew up as a muggle, which meant she could relate to his life at the Dursley's far better than Ron ever could. She had always been the one person who would go through hell for him. In fact, she was the only one who stood by his side through it all no matter what. She was the most cherished person in his entire world and he really couldn't imagine his life without her in it.

He had known for a while that his feelings for Hermione were far from platonic. When they had spent that year in the tent, Harry watched Hermione go from this self-conscious young girl to this fiery woman who could face anything. Her ability to think on her feet saved his life more than once and her composure in the face of horror amazed him to no end. The defining moment that he was sure that his feelings were a love greater than he'd ever know was when she was being tortured at Malfoy Manor and he was forced to listen from the dungeons. Hearing her scream and being unable to do anything, Harry realized that he would die a hundred times just to take away her pain. He knew he loved her more than himself and when she was finally safe, he could never look at her the same.

While he always had an inkling that his feelings were so much more than friendship, he had put them away for Ron's sake. Especially after the horcrux had revealed to Harry that Ron's greatest fear was losing Hermione to Harry that night in the woods when Ron returned to them. After all that the Weasley's had done for him, he surely could do that much for Ron. The Weasley's were the closest thing he had to a family and he couldn't bear to disappoint them. No matter how much it hurt to watch her go off with Ron in the end, he truly believed he was doing what was best for everyone. So he went and tried to make it work with Ginny like everyone had hoped. Harry sat idly by as Hermione and Ron broke up and he was stuck in a loveless relationship with Ginny. When Ginny finally broke it off, Harry was more relieved than hurt. He finally was free to go after Hermione. But for some reason, he never did. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was a feeling of inadequacy, but he could never get the guts to tell her how he felt.

He had been so close to telling her right then, but Ron just had to barge in and ruin the moment. The way she looked at him though when he was about to tell her was something he had never seen in Hermione's eyes. She looked almost hopeful that he was going to tell her what he had felt for the longest time. She looked almost expectant. He thought he might have been imaging it, but he swore he thought he saw love in her eyes. And not just the brotherly love they had so long tried to claim. Definitely don't feel like she's my sister, that's for sure Harry thought to himself. He shook the thought out of his head as Ron clapped him on the shoulder.

"Earth to Harry… you alright mate? Need another drink?" Ron asked him, returning Harry to the reality around him. Harry shook his head and decided he would deal with his feelings in the morning when he wasn't drunk and emotionally needy. He went to bed that night more confused than he'd ever been.

Now it was morning and Harry could hear Hermione softly descending the stairs to the kitchen. He could always tell her footsteps apart from anyone else. Harry debated with himself whether he should stay upstairs but realized it was silly to even try to avoid his best friend. It's not like she admitted that she had any feelings for him. Nor had she ever. He wasn't going to risk alienating his best friend (and love of his life) over something he could very well be overthinking.

Harry grabbed his glasses from the night stand and wiped them off against his shirt. He got up and went downstairs to see Hermione attempting to reach for a large bowl on the top of the shelf. She was hopping up and down with a determined look on her face that reminded Harry of a small child who is determined not to ask for help. Harry laughed under his breath. Hermione quickly whirled herself around to see Harry desperately trying not to laugh at her. Hermione huffed and sarcastically said "You know, rather than being a prat, you could just help me!"

"Alright alright Mione… whatever happened to that girl power thing you were trying out. I am woman… yeah?" Harry muttered to her with a smile on his face as he reached up and grabbed the bowl for her with ease. "That doesn't apply to you! You're… Harry. You… you help people with things" Hermione muttered nervously looking down at the floor. Harry put the bowl on the counter and saw that she had obviously intended to make pancakes prior to the whole bowl fiasco. "Want some help in here?" Harry asked her as he put on a kettle of water for their morning tea.

Hermione cracked a smile and nodded at him. "Sure… want to whip up the batter while I butter the pan?" she said while busying herself with melting butter in a large frying pan on the stove. Harry hurried and got the batter ready and placed a small amount of the batter in the hot pan. Harry could tell that Hermione was tenser than usual (perhaps she did feel something?) and decided that he had to loosen her up a bit.

"Hey Hermione? Does this look right?' Harry said grinning and pointing into the pan. Hermione walked over to the stove to peer at the pancake when Harry suddenly stuck his finger in the batter and smeared a dollop of the batter onto her nose. Hermione gasped and started laughing "I'll get you for that one Potter!" she exclaimed and dipped her finger into the batter. Harry began to run away as Hermione chased him around the kitchen table. She eventually caught up to him but tripped in her haste, toppling them both to the ground.

Harry rubbed his head and laughed as Hermione smeared the remaining batter left on her finger across his cheek. "Told you I'd get you!" she said laughing. "Couldn't do it without tackling me though, could you Mione? You alright?" Harry said chuckling.

"Only my pride is bruised. You?" Hermione asked him. Harry shook his head and looked at Hermione with a soft grin. Harry began to realize the sheer proximity of the position they were currently in. Hermione was splayed out on top of him and he had his leg wedged in between her legs. If he angled the wrong way, this would get awkward fast. He wished he could though. All he could think of is how badly he wanted to capture her lips in a kiss and snog her senseless right there on the kitchen floor. But he knew better then to keep those thoughts in his head for too long. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon belly dancing he kept repeating in his head to make sure she couldn't sense his rising excitement.

"Harry… I um… I was just wondering. About what you were saying last night…" Hermione began to say. Harry looked at her quickly and stared into her eyes. Hermione began to lean closer to him and her eyes began to flutter closed. All of a sudden, the tea kettle began to whistle loudly. Harry looked up quickly and saw smoke coming from the pancake they had forgotten about. Hermione jumped up quickly and turned off the stove while Harry cast a charm to stop the smoke and get rid of the badly burnt pancake left in the pan. Both of them laughed about their carelessness with Hermione chiding him for distracting her from the task at hand.

Once the situation had been successfully dealt with, Harry went over to Hermione and put his hands on her shoulders. "What were you going to ask me?" Harry said softly, gazing into her eyes. Hermione stared at him for a moment and then looked away with a blush forming on her cheeks. Harry could hear the stairs creaking and suddenly both Ginny and Ron stumbled into the room, clearly hungover from the previous nights escapades.

"Oy what is that smell? What'd you do… let Seamus try to make breakfast?" Ron said with a snort. Ginny stood in the doorway with a knowing smile, looking at Harry's arms draped about Hermione's shoulders. Harry quickly pulled away and went about making pancakes from the remaining batter. Hermione saw Ginny's smirk and went to the refrigerator to grab some milk for the tea. Ginny sauntered up next to Hermione and said "Hermione, you busy today? I was going to visit Diagon Alley to pick up a few things for Victoire's birthday next week. Care to join me?" with a smirk on her face.

"Uh, no I'm not busy. I suppose that sounds nice. I'd love to join you" Hermione said, shooting a look at Ginny that Harry couldn't place. Harry finished making the pancakes and all four of them tucked into breakfast. Once breakfast was finished, Ginny rushed Hermione upstairs to get ready for Diagon Alley while Harry and Ron sat down in the living room to play some Wizard's chess.

Ginny and Hermione emerged about a half hour later. Hermione had obviously been poked and prodded by Ginny in the room. Hermione stood there in a dark black skirt, maroon short sleeved top, and a pair of tall high heel boots that he was sure couldn't possibly belong to her. Her hair had been neatly tamed and make up accented her honey-brown eyes. She looked absolutely gorgeous and Harry could hardly rip his eyes away from her. Ginny had a self-satisfied smile and gave both Ron and Harry a hug before moving to allow Hermione to do the same. Hermione gave Ron a short friendly hug and then paused in front of Harry. She smiled and gave him one of her famous Hermione hugs only ever reserved for him and before he knew it, she had let got and apparated off to Diagon Alley.

Harry stood there with a stupid grin for a minute. "You alright mate? You look like you just drank amortentia or something" Ron said looking at Harry.

"Can I tell you something mate? You can't tell a soul though… I mean it. You have to keep it to yourself" Harry said, looking at Ron seriously.

Ron nodded "Of course Harry… I can keep things to myself. Thanks for the vote of confidence though mate. It's not like we've been best friends for thirteen years or anything…" he said with a laugh. Harry sat on the couch with a sad, exasperated look.

"I'm in love…" Harry started to say. "Holy shite! Really? Is it that girl from work…? Jennifer…no wait… Jessica? She's bloody beautiful. I bet you could get that! She'd so be into you. I've heard she's into the hero types. Maybe you could…?" Ron began to ramble on.

"… with Hermione" Harry finished. Suddenly Ron stopped talking and stared at Harry incredulously. "Wait, are you serious? Like you're actually in love with Hermione? You're serious? Hermione? As in Hermione Granger? Like the one who was just here? Hermione, Hermione?" Ron said shocked. Harry nodded staring into the living room fireplace.

"How long?" Ron asked him. Harry wasn't sure how to respond seeing as Ron used to date Hermione but he figured the truth was always the best option. "Since we were in the tent to be honest. Maybe even longer…definitely longer actually. Maybe always. At least… a very long time now." Harry said regretfully.

"So you watched me fuck up with her even though you were in love with her? You didn't even say anything? You just let me have her even though you loved her too? Wow, I am really sorry mate. I didn't know. I appreciate that you let me have my chance! I did love her, I promise. If I had known…" Ron said quietly.

"No Ron, no. I knew you loved her. That's why I never did anything. Being friends with you both was far more important than some chance at being with her. But now… now it's different. It's just gotten stronger. It's gotten so much harder to sit idly by and watch her be all alone when I could be with her." Harry told him.

"So are you going to tell her?" Ron asked him. "I don't know if I should. What if she doesn't want me? What if it just fucks everything up? I can't lose her just because I have feelings that she reciprocate" Harry said with a downtrodden look.

"You should tell her mate. I'm not a Hermione expert (obviously) but I've seen you two together. There is a reason I was always jealous of the two of you. You two… you just have something that I've never seen. It's like you get each other better than anyone else. You have to tell her Harry. You have to at least give it a shot. You can't just keep on like this and always wonder man. It's not healthy. Plus, if she does feel the same way, you're just torturing yourselves over nothing right?" Ron told Harry seriously.

"And if she doesn't feel the same. What then?" Harry asked. "Then at least you know" Ron said. "I'll think about it" Harry said lost in his thoughts.

Ron and Harry finished their game of wizard's chess and Ron hurried back to the Burrow to do some paperwork for their boss that he'd been putting off. Harry spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the library fighting with himself about whether to tell Hermione how he felt or to keep quiet and just let it all go. By the end of the night, he resigned himself to tell Hermione when the moment was right. He could only hope that when that moment came, she'd love him the way he loved her.