Chapter 1: O Children

"WE THOUGHT YOU HAD A PLAN!"

Harry was sitting outside the tent. He needed some time to think things over.

It had been two days since Ron left. Now that it was Hermione's turn to wear the locket, Harry's anger had diminished. What was left was the pain of a friendship that seemed to have been broken beyond repair.

"His family was like my own family. Mrs. Weasley's Boggart included seeing ME dead too, not only her own children! How could he think I didn't care for his family too?"

But part of Harry was wondering if Ron was right after all. Sure, he knew it wouldn't be easy to find all the Horcruxes. If it was easy, it would have been done long ago. But they had so little clues.

But was this his fault? No. He had given Ron and Hermione all the information that Dumbledore had given to them. That's all they had. So, blame it on Dumbledore, not on him.

Harry could understand that Ron feared for the safety of his family. He himself had often checked the Marauder's Map and felt relieved to see Ginny's name appear on the Map. So she had survived the Death Eater's attack during the wedding of Bill and Fleur, when Harry, Ron and Hermione had to flee.

But was this fear a reason to abandon this mission? According to the Prophecy, Harry was the only one who could bring an end to Tom Riddle. "Tom Riddle..." Harry grinned wryly. Ron was always so scared of the name "Voldemort". Then Hermione repeated that fear of a name increases the fear of a thing itself. It was then that Harry realised that Voldemort was hiding his real name, so it was decided to only call the Dark Lord by his real name.

But anyway... If Ron so feared for his family's safety, then he shouldn't have run away. Instead he should have done all he could to make sure his family could be safe. But here they were, only he and Hermione still on the mission to find the Horcruxes, while Ron had gone home. Just how safe did Ron think his family would be if Harry failed during his mission?

Harry felt his anger rise again, even without the influence of the locket. But without the locket he thankfully knew he had to calm down. His thoughts needed to be steered into a different direction.

So, to eliminate Riddle, he needed to seek and destroy all Horcruxes. But, what then? The Prophecy said he had the Power-The-Dark-Lord knows not. And that power is Love. But what good is Love in this battle? Harry certainly had no desire to kiss Tom Riddle to death. That silly idea was enough to make Harry laugh, even though the laughter was rather hollow.

But still, what is Love, and what is its power? If Harry was honest, he knew very little about Love. Yes, he survived the Killing Curse because of his mother's Love, but he had no memories of his parents, other than his mother's death scream. And the Dursleys never gave him any love.
Hogwarts gave him happiness, but in all honesty, there was very little friendship, let alone love. Yes, he made a few good friends, but for one moment everyone loved the famous Boy-Who-Lived, the next moment everyone thought he was a cheat who sneaked into the Triwizard Tournament for his own glory, or he was the evil Heir of Slytherin who wanted to kill everyone unworthy.

And love... Well, his relationship with Cho was a big failure. And Ginny... While he still cared for Ginny like he cared for the whole Weasley family, Harry had realised that Ginny was not the right girl for him. Perhaps he already knew this when Ginny had that fight with Hermione over the Halfblood Prince's Book - SNAPE's book! Hermione was right to lecture him. What kind of idiot uses a spell he knows nothing about? Had Snape not appeared to heal Draco, Harry would have been a murderer! But Ginny said Hermione should be happy that Harry had something to defend himself. Why did Harry ever listen to that? He could have defended himself with Expelliarmus and it would avoided a lot of trouble.

And then Harry had ended his relationship with Ginny. Indeed, it was for "noble" reasons, but looking back at it, Harry could see it was ridiculous. What made him think Ginny would be save if she was not his girlfriend? She'd still be the sister of his best friend, in a family of "blood traitors". She'd still be a target. But Ginny didn't have that kind of logic, and while she didn't care, she didn't point out Harry was breaking up for silly reasons. She even stated that perhaps the reason she loved him, was that he wouldn't be happy unless he was hunting Voldemort. Well, look at how happy he was now. It made Harry painfully clear that Ginny still only saw him as a hero destined to save the Wizarding World. She saw the Chosen One, not "just Harry". The final straw came when meeting Gabrielle Delacour again. Harry could understand if Ginny would have been jealous of someone closer to their own ages, even though their relationship was formally over. But being jealous of a CHILD? What was she thinking? Even if Gabrielle, like her sister, was part-Veela, this was almost like asking if he was a paedophile! After that, there was no way that Harry would consider dating Ginny again if he somehow survived this war.

Harry heard some soft sobbing coming from the tent. Hermione...

Why did she stay with him? The answer was obvious: Hermione was just as big a target for Riddle as he was. Born from non-magical parents, Riddle and his Death Eaters deemed her unworthy and wanted her dead. Perhaps even more than they wanted him dead.
But was that the only reason why she stayed? She could have left as well. She could have left the country. Riddle only controlled the Wizarding World of Britain. She could have left the country together with her parents and be safe.

Her parents! This thought finally made Harry aware of the sacrifice Hermione had made. Ron was worried about the safety of her parents, but Hermione willingly gave up on her parents to help Harry. She deliberatly made herself an orphan just for him. The murder of his parents were Harry's biggest loss, but Hermione knew what it was like to have loving parents. And she gave up all that just for him, without any guarantee that she'd ever see them again. The realization of this sacrifice made Harry burst into tears.

Hermione... How could he have been so blind for all these years? Sure, when they first met, she seemed like an "insufferable know-it-all". But she was also one of the first to give him information about his father, even when they 'officially' weren't friends yet. It was Hermione who had shown him his father was a Quidditch player too. And already then she had encouraged him when he was nervous about his first match. "You won't make a fool out of yourself. It's in your blood."

And then, after he and Ron had saved her from the troll, she was the most loyal friend anyone could wish for, even when he was too blind to see. Not only when she was trying to talk some sense in him after he nearly murdered Draco. No, she always tried to keep him alive. While he was angry when his Firebolt was confiscated, she had only warned McGonagall to keep him safe. True, there was nothing wrong with the broom, and yes, there was no way Sirius would ever harm Harry. But nobody could have known that beforehand. Maybe it wasn't smart of Hermione to do this behind his back, but it only showed that she would do everything she can to keep Harry alive.

The Triwizard Tournament showed this even more. Ron had abandoned Harry, just like he had done now. And the whole school seemed to believe Harry was a glory seeking cheat. Only Hermione was on his side and trusted him unconditionally.

And how had he rewarded her loyalty? Even though he had appreciated her help, inside he was missing Ron, because Hermione wasn't "fun" enough! As if dying from dragonfire would have been "fun"! Harry now cried tears of shame. How could he forgive Ron everything, when Hermione truly did everything for him? How could Hermione call him her best friend, when he himself always put her in second place over Ron?

Harry looked at the tent, and heard Hermione was still crying. WHAT AM I DOING? Again he was letting Hermione down. I'm supposed to have the power of Love, yet here am I sitting outside and I'm letting my best friend - yes, the one who truly deserves to be called my best friend - cry all alone. No! Not anymore!

Harry went inside the tent. Hermione was sitting on her bed, listening to the radio. Harry heard the beginning of a song, and suddenly he had an idea.

He extended his hand towards Hermione. She looked surprised, but she took Harry's hand anyway. Harry gently caressed Hermione's cheek, wiping away the tears, and then removed the locket that was still around her neck. This moment should not be spoiled by negative emotions.

Harry could not deny he felt nervous. Would his plan work, or would Hermione turn away because she was not in a happy mood? But he had to try. He had to prove that he was worthy of being called Hermione's best friend... and he just wanted to cheer her up. He wanted to be there for her, just like she was always there for him.

He turned the volume of the radio louder and then he led Hermione to the open spot in the middle of the tent. And then, they started to dance. Slowly, at first. Harry wasn't a good dancer, although he had learned some basic moves for the Yule Ball in their fourth year. But what did it matter? There was nobody there to see, and all that mattered was to make Hermione happy. Maybe it was even the better that he was a bad dancer, then. Because the silliness of it all would be funny.

He recognised the voice of Nick Cave. Despite all the abuse he had to endure, the Dursleys did love music. Of course they had never bought any record for him, but it would have been impossible to make sure that Harry never heard any music. But it didn't really matter what song was being played, as long as his plan would work. Harry was glad that it was a song to which they could dance, but also a song with a not too high tempo.

They started carefully, but gradually they could respond to each other's moves. Occasionally they did make some errors, but just like Harry hoped, it only added to the fun. Yes, Harry's plan was working. Hermione's smile returned. Just for one song, nothing else mattered. There was no Tom Riddle, there were no Death Eaters, no Horcruxes, no betrayals, no fear of death waiting around the corner. There was only Harry and Hermione, two best friends who were making each other happy while Nick Cave sang "O Children" in the background.

And as the song was coming to an end, they slowed down while holding each other in a tight hug. Harry was reminded of all the hugs Hermione had given him over the years. Why haven't I noticed this before? There's no one who can give a hug like Hermione can!

The two friends looked each other in the eyes, and finally it was Hermione who broke the silence.

"Thank you, Harry. I really needed this."

Harry laughed, a little sheepishly. "If somebody deserves thanks, it's you, Hermione. Thank you for staying with me."

This surprised Hermione: "Of course I'm staying with you. Why would you think I would leave you?"

Harry just shrugged: "I'm not such a great friend to you..."

"Harry, why do you think that?", interrupted Hermione. "You just showed what a great friend you are!"

"That's because I had just realised that I have not been a good friend." As Hermione didn't say anything, Harry continued:

"Hermione, ever since we met, you have done everything to keep me alive. And how did I thank you for it? By making you second best. It was always Ron who was Number One. Even when he abandoned me in a fit of jealousy, and you were the only one who believed me, I valued his friendship more than yours.

"And now here we are, and Ron is gone again. But you are still here. Like you've always been, even when I was too blind to see it. Yes, I was even too blind to see what you've given up for me...your parents..." Harry needed to swallow and felt tears burning in his eyes again.

"Hermione, the only person who truly deserves to be called "my best friend" is you. Without you, I would have been lost a long time ago already. So, just like you have always done everything you did just for me, I will do all I can do for you and prove I'm worthy to be called your best friend too. And... please forgive me for all the times I have let you down."

Hermione put her arms around Harry again and held him tightly: "There's nothing to forgive, you silly noble boy. You ARE my best friend, even if now you think you are not." Hermione's tears also started to flow again. "We're only humans, and humans make mistakes. Even this know-it-all makes mistakes sometimes.

"I admit, I'm scared too sometimes. This quest... it's just too much to ask from us who are only barely adults. But I swear to you, Harry, I'm not going to leave you all alone with this burden. I'll go with you!"

Harry put his arms around Hermione too and gently kissed her forehead. "Hermione, you are the best friend anyone could wish for." They kept standing there for a while, without speaking, but finding comfort in each other's presence. Neither of them realised it yet, but thanks to Harry's sudden understanding that he needed to show that he indeed had The-Power-The-Dark-Lord-Knows-Not, their friendship had made a change and had turned into something that could never be broken.

Suddenly, a buzzing sound interrupted the silence. Harry looked away from Hermione, and noticed it had just been the alarm clock. "Well," he said with a smile, "I think it's time to start preparing dinner."