Hello again my lovely readers! THIS IS NOT A SEQUEL. I left the original, but after re-reading it, my young and naive self did not actually mean for this story to be sexual. My bad. Instead, I just edited some things and am changing the ending. Before I didn't leave the possibility of a sequel; due to the ending it didn't feel right. However, on this actual innocent version, we shall see.

Harry had always, always, been afraid of storms. He had for as long as he could remember. Maybe it was because the thunder had always rocked his cupboard under the stairs or possibly brought his mind back to the night his parents had been murdered. Either way, he was always terrified. The loud thunder would leave him shaking and the flashes of lighting could bring him to tears. It's not like he had ever told anyone. It was a very childish fear. There were so many things he had gone through and it was highly embarrassing that he was still afraid of something as trivial as a storm. Storms were not his biggest fear; so why bother his friends? Sure, Ron was afraid of spiders and Hermione was afraid of failing. Those were small fears, safe fears. It didn't keep them awake at night. Harry felt like he needed to protect them. He tried to keep them away from the worst of his life and failed. How was it fair to them for him to add another thing to worry about? He had to be strong, tough. This was something he could handle on his own, something he always handled on his own. It was laughable to think that the Dursleys would comfort him. The habit of keeping that particular fear to himself had not died when he went to school. Usually he would pull the hangings around his bed, hide under the covers, and stick his head under the pillow.

Tonight was different. The storm was the loudest he had ever experienced. The lightning was restless and the rain pelted the roof. Everything was magnified across the stone. Of course, it had stormed before, seeing as he lived at the castle for most of the year, for 5 years. However, this was different. No matter how many wards were on the castle, the storm refused to be kept out. The professors advised the students to stay inside, in their dorms and common rooms. In fact, conditions were so bad that classes were canceled for the day. Harry had suffered in silence. Somehow the storm had worsened in the night. It was now one and Harry couldn't take it anymore. He crept out of his bed. Ron, Seamus, and Dean snored softly. Harry couldn't believe the things they could sleep through. Death Eaters could take over the castle and they would still be asleep. Harry crept down the stairs of the 6th year boy's dormitory and made his way to the empty common room. The room was pitch dark; the house-elves had not kept the fire going. The storm mixed in with the dark really freaked Harry out. He had forgotten his wand in his dorm and couldn't find the stairs again. Not like it would do him any good anyway. Lightning flashed, illuminating the room. Thunder boomed directly afterwards, shaking the entire castle. Harry couldn't suppress a whimper. He felt pathetic, shaking like a leaf over a storm. Maybe he could find the couch at the next lightning strike and kip there. Another flash of lighting later, Harry was curled up in ball on the couch. This was ridiculous; he had fought Voldemort, survived the Triwizard Tournament, went back in time. Why on earth did storms affect him like this? Harry refused to cry, but his mask was slipping. At least no one was here to see him like this.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, tentatively. Guess he spoke too soon.

"Hermione, what are you doing up?" Harry inquired, his voice breaking. He mentally winced; so much for hiding things. Maybe she would go away.

"I was watching the storm and heard a noise down here. Are you ok?" Of course Hermione would hear a noise during a storm.

"I'm fine." He thought that sounded convincing. Lightning hit right outside the window and the thunder sounded like a bomb. Harry jumped a foot in the air, falling off the couch.

"Harry James Potter, tell me what's wrong this instant!" If Harry could see her, he knew she would have on her classic death glare.

"Noth-n-nothing." Stuttering was even worse. Hermione rushed to his side at once. The lightning illuminated her face. Her chocolate brown eyes were filled with worry. This was exactly what Harry wanted to avoid.

"You can tell me anything." He could, but it didn't mean he wanted to.

"Just drop it Hermione, please." What he wouldn't give to be huddled under the covers in his own bed. He was dangerous close to his break point.

"You've been acting odd all day. Ever sense the- oh." Hermione's eyes lit up with understanding. It was so obvious that she couldn't believe she didn't think of it before.

"The what?" Harry was on edge. He knew he was caught but that didn't mean he was going to give up.

"When I was little my parents told me that lightning was only search lights for lost angels and thunder was just noise from a good game of cloud bowling. After that, I grew very fond of thunder storms. I would look out the window and found beauty in the chaos. Storms cause destruction, but at the end of every one the sun comes out again."

Hermione smiled and Harry would have if it hadn't been for a nasty clap of thunder. He couldn't stop a single tear from rolling down his face. Hermione threw her arms around him. Harry instantly felt much safer than he ever did alone. He could hear her humming some sort of lullaby and almost smiled. Much like the suddenness of a storm, Hermione's talents could manifest themselves surprisingly.

"Hermione," Harry muttered sleepily, "thank you."

"You don't ever have to thank me, Harry. This is what people do for those they care about." Harry had never thought of it like that. Even after all this time he still wasn't used to having people around that genuinely cared about him. Having friends was still so new to him and he really didn't want to mess it up.

Hermione gently maneuvered Harry so his head was in her lap. Her face lit up with the next lightning strike. Harry was embarrassed to say he closed his eyes and tensed to prepare for thunder. It never came. Instead, he could only hear Hermione softly singing.

"The charms may not keep the storm out, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to hear it. I can at least replace the thunder with something else," Hermione said. She was biting her bottom lip and looked slightly anxious. "I can always replace it with something other than my voice. I just didn't know what else to do."

"No, it's nice," Harry muttered. The events of the day were catching up and he was awfully tired.

"You can sleep now Harry. Everything is going to be okay, I promise." Hermione brushed her lips across his temple and started to stoke his hair. What she was doing was awfully unfair. Harry wanted to tell her so, but instead quickly succumbed to sleep.