Hermione went to the only place that made her feel safe, the Library. Surprisingly it wasn't damaged in Voldemort's attack of the school. Hermione's head was reeling. She didn't want what she saw to be her future. She had spent the past few years pining after Ron. She couldn't believe that they will have a rocky marriage and end up divorced. It wasn't fair. She grabbed a book from a shelf, not even really paying attention to the title. She sat down at a table and opened the book but her attention was far from the contents.

It was true that Ron and Hermione got off on the wrong foot. He thought of her as a stuck up know-it-all, when all she was trying to do was help him. Yeah, on the train she was a bit rude with the spell that he tried to use to turn Scabbers yellow. But in Charms class, she was legitimately trying to help him with the levitation spell. In fact, if it wasn't for his harsh words after the class, ones he didn't know she heard, they may not have ended up being friends.

No. Her brain told her. If it wasn't for Harry, they wouldn't have been friends. It was Halloween and after hearing the horrible stuff Ron was saying about her, Hermione had went to the girls lavatory to cry and be alone. Professor Quirrell had let a troll in and because she wasn't in the Great Hall when the news was announced, she had no idea. It was Harry's idea to come looking for her. Good thing he did too because the Troll had wandered into the same bathroom that she was in and if it wasn't for Harry and Ron's heroics, she would have died that night. Because of what they did, she had lied for them to protect them from getting in trouble and that started what was their epic friendship.

Just thinking about that one memory seemed to unravel something in her head. Like a drain stopper being pulled. Memories just flooded by like water pouring down the drain. While she and Harry had their arguments, He was always there for her, always believed in her. When they went after the Sorcerer's Stone, It was Harry who trusted her with the Devil's Snare. Ron wouldn't listen, even after Harry and herself repeatedly told him calm down. Harry, who wholeheartedly trusted her when it came to Snape's potions test. Harry who, even when petrified, trusted Hermione's word that the Creature petrifying students was a Basilisk, and that it was using the plumbing to get around school unnoticed. Harry who listened to her and trusted her when they used the time turner to go back in time to save Sirius and Buckbeak. Her thoughts just went on and on.

Hermione was probably the only one that could get through to Harry when he was experiencing things from his scar. His agitated mood, his anger. She's the one of the few that cared enough to try to get him to block all of it out. To not jump into Voldemort's head. She wanted to protect him. She was probably the only one that could stand up to him regarding things and not experience the same backlash as someone else who might have tried. When they were hunting horcruxes and Harry had worn the locket a bit too long, Hermione was the one who demanded he take it off. In the past 7 years, it was Harry with whom she had the best relationship with.

Ron, Hermione sighed as her thoughts turned to him. While Ron was a good guy, to say he didn't have his faults would be a lie. Again, Ron almost got her killed their first year. Ron who yelled at and blame Hermione for Crookshanks going after Scabbers their third year. Scabbers, who was really Peter Pettigrew in animal form, had actually run away because he knew Sirius Black was after him for betraying Harry's parents to Voldemort and getting them killed. Ron who had asked her to the Yule Ball as a last resort because he couldn't get another date. Ron who ruined her time at the Yule Ball because she went with Viktor Krum, who up until that time, Ron idolized. In all fairness, Harry didn't ask you either Something inside her head said to her. Would she have said yes if Harry or Ron had asked her though? She thought to herself. Then even after dancing around each other with their feelings, Ron completely disregarded how she felt and started dating Lavender Brown. Even though she made her jealousy and feelings apparent after, he still continued to date her and flaunt it in front of her.

Her mind settled on one final memory, probably the most painful. It was when Ron left them on their search for horcruxes. While it was true that Ron was wearing the locket during his fight with Harry and since the locket contained a piece of Voldemort's soul it had a negative effect on the wearer after extended use, the whole scene was heartbreaking all the same. It was a mixture of things that caused Ron to explode, not just the locket. During their journey, Ron became jealous of the closeness between Harry and herself. No, Ron has always been jealous of your connection with Harry. There was that nagging voice again. It was stress of wondering if his family was okay. It was the all the traveling, and Ron getting splinched, with getting no further to finding Horcruxes and at the time, no way to destroy them. It just all piled up until Ron exploded. Hermione wondered if she would have done the same if she was in the same situation that he was. Again that little voice in her head was back. You were in a similar situation and you stayed. While she didn't necessarily have to worry about Voldemort going after her family as she had wiped their memories of her and sent them to Australia, she had worn the locket, she was also stressed about not being able to find or destroy the Horcruxes but yet she stayed. But even after begging Ron to stay, he still left. He came back yes, but it caused a little seed of doubt to be planted in her mind. Would Ron run away again when things got hard? Would he come back and be expected to be welcomed with open arms simply for coming back?

If she were to believe that what she saw in Trelawney's crystal ball were any indication, then yes. Maybe she and Ron weren't simply meant to be. Maybe, just maybe, they were completely two different people. Suddenly a thought, one that stopped Hermione to a screeching halt and turned her blood to ice, popped into her head. What if you only fancied Ron because you didn't think you could have the one you really wanted? What if the person that was perfect for you was in front of your face the entire time? What if you fancied Ron because you knew he fancied you and didn't want to hurt his feelings? Or...the little voice in her head asked one final question...you knew that Ginny fancied Harry and didn't want to hurt her feelings? These were all valid questions she thought. There was so many people that assumed that they were already together. Hermione recalled a conversation that she had with Harry when he told her that before Harry and Dumbledore went to that cave to retrieve the fake locket, Dumbledore had assumed because they spent so much time together, they were dating. Harry, of course, had to set the record straight. But it wasn't just Dumbledore. She remembered at time that even Ginny was jealous of their connection and assumed they were dating.

She wondered just for a moment, how Harry felt about her. Did he have romantic feelings for her but never said anything? Or, did he truly feel how he had told others, that it was a brother/sister relationship? Hermione couldn't deny that she admired Harry. How, even after everything he had been through, he still fought for what was right. He may have been reckless at times, charging into things without thinking of the repercussions or having any plan at all, but his heart was always in the right place. How selfless he could be. He essentially died, even for a moment, to protect everyone. Harry had no idea that he would come back from it, but yet he still walked to his death. Hermione thought of how she felt when she saw Hagrid carrying his body back. Believing he was truly dead, something broke inside her and she honestly thought she would never recover. In those few moments, she thought of how dark the world would be without Harry in it. She lost her best friend, the one person who she could talk to about anything, The one person who was always by her side and trusted and believed in her. The feeling she experienced when it was revealed that Harry wasn't dead was indescribable. It was like everything that was ever wrong in the world was suddenly fixed.

Being the 'brightest witch of her age' it didn't take Hermione long to come to the realization that she, in fact, was in love with Harry Potter. If the visions of the future were any indication, they would indeed have a happy life together. Now, she thought, what happens now?