A/N I promise this is the last Hermione/Harry scene, I wanted to finish these ones because they were so important to Fates. Also, I'm sorry I went on hiatus.

Scene: Night in the woods between Hermione and Harry. (Not M.)

Harry Potter was done. Absolutely fucking done with Ronald Weasley.

They had been in the wilderness for two months now, ever since that day at the Ministry at the beginning of September. Yaxley had accidently been let into Grimmauld Place. They hadn't been able to stay there anymore.

So they had begun the longest camping trip of life. They had to move every few days. They were short on food, and short on tempers.

Plus, the whole horcrux thing.

They took turns wearing the horcrux they had stolen from the ministry. Slytherin's locket. Harry soon noticed that they were all much more irritable when they were wearing it. Then, there was the lack of food.

Then there were those two combined, and Ronald Fucking Weasley.

They had been best friends for seven years. Seven years he had stood by the redhead through thick and thin. Seven years of inside jokes, chess matches, summer vacation letters, Christmas presents and friendship.

And the bastard had thrown it away in a moment.

He had been so angry. So infuriated. About what? The lack of food? The fact that they weren't staying in five star hotels?

He had said Harry didn't have a plan. He had said that Harry was ruining their chances. He had said so much.

Your parents are dead.

The words echoed through his head.

It had been a week since then. A week since Ron had walked out, leaving them alone, to get rid of Voldemort by themselves. He had abandoned them.

Harry could feel his lack of presence in the air. There was no joy, only sadness and anger in the tent now.

Harry looked over. She hadn't moved all night.

Hermione had barely spoken to him since Ron left. She chose to curl up alone under her covers, her body shaking with silent tears. She wouldn't look him in the eye.

Was she regretting staying?

Ron had offered her a choice. Stay with Harry or leave with him. She had chosen to stay. Ron had run out afterwards. She had fallen on the floor in tears.

Right now, she was sitting at the table, with her knees up to her chest. She was staring forward blankly. She was wrapped in an old shawl, with her hair in a messy bun.

Harry looked at her shamelessly. He felt guilt rip through him. If it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't be on this trip. She wouldn't be stuck scavenging for food. She wouldn't be trapped.

She wouldn't have lost Ron.

Something had been happening between her and Ron for a few years now. Harry had seen it coming a mile away. But, it bothered him. If something concrete had happened between Ron and Hermione, would Harry be permanently shoved to the side?

Would either of them care about him anymore?

Harry's eyes traced Hermione's still profile. She blinked a couple times.

"I can feel you staring at me, Harry," she said, staring forward.

Harry sighed, and stood up. He walked over to the table and sat down.

"It's only because I'm worried about you," he said, running a hand through his messy hair.

Hermione hiccoughed. She wrapped the shawl around her tightly.

"Why does everyone have to leave?" she whispered, turning her head to look at him slightly.

Harry felt his heart contract. Damn it Ron. He moved his chair closer to her.

"Ron isn't worth it, Hermione. He's a lying, bastard, disloyal, scumbag."

Hermione shook her head rapidly, some of the hair coming out of the bun.

"This isn't just about Ron. I mean everyone. Cedric. Sirius. Dumbledore. Mad-eye. Ron. They all left. Sure, in different ways. Ron didn't die. He just walked out the door. But he's as gone as the rest of them. I'm tired of people leaving, Harry. Why can't they all just stay?"

With this, she broke into heart-wrenching sobs.

Harry felt agony rip through him. He reached out towards Hermione. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. He moved to the floor so he could rock her shaking form back and forth.

"Shh, Hermione," he whispered, holding her in his arms.

"It hurts so much," she cried.

"He's not worth it," he said softly, stroking her hair.

"it's not him!" she sobbed. "It's the betrayal. It's the fact that he said he'd stay, and he didn't. It's the fact that he walked out on us. His best friends of seven years. It's the fact that he is now added to a long list of people who just leave."

She sobbed in his arms. Harry had no idea what to say. He wasn't that good with emotions.

But it was Hermione. She was the one he always good with. She was the one he'd do anything for.

She was his best friend. He'd die for her in a moment. He loved her more than anything.

And now, she was in his arms, broken beyond belief.

He could never let her stay this way.

Harry pulled Hermione to her feet. She immediately buried her face in his chest. Harry pulled her face up to look at him. It was tear streaked. Her big, brown eyes were red and puffy.

Harry looked straight down at her. "Listen to me, Hermione. We don't need him. People leave. And sometimes, they never come back. But I'll never do that."

Tears ran down her face. Harry wiped them away.

"I'll never leave you. I promise you that. If you go away, I'll find you, and bring you back. If you're in danger, I'll save you. I'll do anything for you, Hermione. I will stay with you, forever."

Hermione looked up at him with her big, brown eyes.

"You'll never leave?" she said.

"No."

"You'll stay with me?" she whispered.

Harry looked down at her. "Always."

Hermione stared up at him. Her eyes captured his. Tears stopping falling down her face. A slight smile twitched at the corner of her lips. Then, without hesitating, she reached up and placed her lips on his.

Harry froze immediately. His brain tried to process what was happening, but he found he couldn't. Hermione was kissing him. His best friend Hermione was kissing him.

Harry didn't know how to react, and soon found himself returning the kiss. Hermione wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and pulled him close to her.

Harry found his body reacting of its own accord. His arms wrapped around Hermione, pulling her as close as he could. She responded vigorously, deepening their kiss.

Harry couldn't believe what was happening. He was kissing Hermione Granger, his best friend of nearly seven years. This was a situation he never thought he would end up in.

In the back of his mind, a voice was shouting at him, reminding him of the truth of his situation. This was Hermione. This wasn't supposed to be happening. What about Ron? He had liked Hermione for years.

However, Harry ignored these words. He knew it was Hermione. He knew about Ron. But he didn't care. Kissing Hermione in that tent in the middle of winter, Harry Potter had never felt more alive.

Without thinking, he picked Hermione up and put her on the table. He didn't break their kiss.

Hermione responded enthusiastically, wrapping her legs around his waist. Harry couldn't believe the jolt that went through his body.

Every second that it went on, Harry's mind screamed at him. Stop this! This is madness!

Harry ignored it.

Suddenly, Hermione unwrapped her arms from around his neck. Disappointment surged through Harry. However, instead of pulling back, Hermione began unbuttoning his shirt.

Harry froze.

Was this happening? Was this really happening?

Hermione ripped his shirt off of him. Her hands began to roam over his chest. Harry felt shocks of electricity go through him. Without truly thinking, he reached over and pulled off her shirt. Hermione lips moved to his neck and chest.

Harry looked down at his best friend, grasping him desperately. He had seen her wearing basically nothing before, but that was in a platonic, we're hiding in the woods and need to change way. He had never looked at her with desire in his eye. She was beautiful, he realized. All soft curves.

As if Hermione realized what she was doing, she pulled back from Harry as if she had been shocked. She stared up at him, her eyes wide. They stood in the position for nearly a minute, both of them shirtless, staring at each other. Then, without a doubt, Hermione reached up and pulled him back down.

Their lips collided once more.

Harry griped her, holding her against him. In this moment, Harry didn't care about anything else. The horcruxes, Ron, Voldemort, his parents, Sirius, Ginny; all the things that mattered to him disappeared in an instant. There was only Hermione. There was only ever Hermione.

This was the point of no return. They had passed it. There was no turning back. In that tent, the two best friends crossed a line that could never be reserved.

Everything has changed.

A few hours later, Hermione lay in Harry's arms, fast asleep in the bunk. Harry couldn't fall asleep to save his life.

He had slept with Hermione Granger. He had slept with his best friend of seven years. He had slept with the girl his other best friend was in love with.

The memory went through his mind once more, filling him with a bliss like he had never known. She was so beautiful, he mused, staring down at her sleeping state. Harry thought about what the two of them had experienced, mere hours before. He had never been happier.

He looked down at Hermione, and stroked some hair out of her face. He knew he had betrayed Ron and Ginny. He didn't care. The horcruxes didn't matter. Voldemort could stuff it.

Hermione was all that mattered.

How had he not seen it before? Protecting her against that troll. Crying after her petrification. Going through the experience with the Time Turner. She helped him with the Triwizard Tournement. She looked so beautiful at the Yule Ball. Talking to her about Voldemort, and Cedric. Being jealous of Ron getting to spend the summer before fifth year with her. Things not working with Cho. Siding with her after the Marietta incident. Fearing for her at the Department of Mysteries. Hating Mcglaggen. Not having things truly work with Ginny. Protecting her at the wedding. Being more scared of her leaving than Ron.

Harry had always been alone. He was an orphan, stuck with a family that hated him. He was friendless getting onto that train on September the 1st, 1991. He met Ron, they got along, they became friends. But everything had changed that day he befriended Hermione.

She was his best friend.

The person he went to for advice.

The girl he protected against anything.

She was everything.

So, in that little tent in the forest, with Hermione asleep in his arms, Harry realized he was in love with her.

His bushy-haired bookworm.

Harry thought about his future. Voldemort was all he could see, but for the first time he saw a future after that. After the war. When the dead were counted and the bodies buried.

He saw himself sitting on a sofa with a brunette curled into his side. He saw himself stroking her hair as she giggled. He saw himself with Hermione, happier than he had ever been.

He looked down at her sleeping face. She was breathing steadily, her mouth slightly opened. There was a splash of freckles across her nose that Harry hadn't noticed before.

She was absolutely beautiful.

With that thought in mind, Harry dozed off to sleep.

When he woke up in the morning, it took him a few moments to remember the night prior. Hermione. All of Hermione.

Had that really happened? He wondered. He knew it had.

A brief image of Ron and Ginny appeared in his mind. He pushed them aside. They didn't matter, not right now.

He looked down at his arms. Hermione was no longer in them. He heard movement in the kitchen.

What were they going to say to each other?

Harry knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell her the truth. He had no doubt in his mind that he was in love with Hermione now, he had just been denying it to himself before.

He smiled to himself. She must feel something for him as well. This was Hermione after all, she wasn't the one to just sleep around for fun.

For the first time in a long time, Harry saw a possibility of happiness in his future. Everything had always been dark, Voldemort had been his only constant. But there had always been someone else, and maybe she could be there forever as well.

He got out of bed and threw on some clothes. He headed out to the kitchen, ruffling his hair.

He knew she thought it was endearing.

She was sitting at the table. When he entered, her eyes raised to meet his. A blush appeared on her face, and her eyes popped open. Her hair was in curls around her face.

She opened her mouth a few times, but no words came out.

He stepped forward, and opened his mouth to speak instead. She raised her hand, and gestured for him to stop. He froze, and watched as she took a deep breath before finally speaking.

"Harry," she said. A tingle went up his spine when she said his name. She looked up at him with those beautiful brown eyes he loved so much. "We can't do this. Yesterday was a mistake. It was just a spur of the moment thing that happened between two people who were lonely. It didn't mean anything. This can only happen once. I mean, there's nothing going on between us. It was good for us, for one night. But we can't do that again. We're best friends, not more. It's not like I'm in love with you or anything." She said the last part with a laugh. That laugh alone broke Harry's heart in two.

With every word, he felt like he was being punched in the gut.

She thought it was a mistake.

A mistake. The most wonderful thing that had happened to him in a long time was a mistake.

He wasn't just lonely. It wasn't just spur of the moment.

Nothing with Hermione could ever be just spur of the moment.

It meant everything to him.

He was in love with her.

Regardless of how she felt, he knew his feelings were there to stay.

She looked up at him shyly, waiting for him to respond.

He wanted desperately to tell her. He wanted to scream it from rooftops.

But what good would it do?

She wasn't in love with him or anything.

Ron flashed through his mind. She cared for him. That's why she was crying. That's why she jumped him; she just wanted some comfort, and he was a good enough substitute.

He remembered Ron and Hermione's happiness after they had agreed to go to Slughorn's party together in sixth year, but before the Lavender Brown incident.

They loved each other.

They wanted to be together.

What right did he have to take that away from them?

He forced a smile on to his face. Of all the things he had felt so far, that act was one of the most painful.

"Oh, Hermione," her name set his heart on fire. "You took the words right out of my mouth."

She smiled back, and laughed a bit. He tried to chuckle as well.

They could never know.

Even if it destroyed him.

And in fact, it almost did.

Review and suggest scenes :)