Hey everyone! First, I wanted to say thanks to everyone for all of the reviews! It means a lot to me! Second, I had something brought to my attention, a little plot hole at the end of Chapter 6, where Harry could have tried contacting Hermione instead of waiting an hour and half. I did go back and change it a little bit. What is currently there is just temporary, but still basically what happened. Later this week I'm going to go back and change it further, to make it read and flow better. I will let you guys know when I do that if you want to go back and read it. However, if you don't go back and read it after I update it next, you won't miss much. Thanks again!

Harry was woken up by the sound of someone knocking loudly. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, blinking until everything was focused. Glancing down at his watch, he realized it was three in the morning. With a groan, he pulled himself out of bed and walked towards the door, grumbling to himself. He pulled it open, ready to shout at whoever was making all the noise, but his anger quickly evaporated.

"Hermione?" He looked at her, studying her appearance. Her hair was pulled back sloppily, and she had huge circles under eyes. Her eyes themselves lacked their usual brightness and she was hunched over slightly, clearly exhausted.

She flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest. Dazed and confused, he pulled her inside and held her tightly, shutting the door behind them. He buried his face in her hair, rubbing small, soothing circles on her back. He had no idea how long they stood there, just holding each other. He finally stepped back and looked at her.

"Are you ok?" She nodded and moved into the living room, collapsing on the couch. Harry moved into the room and flicked his wand. A cup of water and a tea bag zoomed around the corner and into his hand. He heated up the water and set the tea bag in, handing it to Hermione. "You look like you need this." She smiled up at him gratefully and took the cup.

"There was an emergency at St. Mungo's. They didn't have enough Healers on hand so they called me in, since I'm close by. The apothecary owner in Hogsmeade, we guess he got distracted or confused because he added an ingredient to a potion at the wrong time. A fairly complicated one too. The potion ended up exploding. It blew up the whole building. It will be all over the papers tomorrow."

He stared at her, his mouth agape, and sat down next to her. "What? Was anyone hurt?"

She nodded and looked down at her hands. "Dozens of people got hit with debris, some got sprayed by the potion and were left with some third degree burns. One man even lost a leg. Luckily he got to the hospital in time so they were able to repair it, for the most part. But, the owner..." She paused, her breath shaky. "He was covered in fourth degree burns. His muscles were burned. It was…he didn't make it, Harry." Her lips trembled and a few tears started to slide down her face.

Harry pulled her close, rubbing her back again. "I'm so sorry, Hermione…" He wiped the tears from her face. "But it's not your fault. I'm sure you did everything you could to help him. Sometimes all you can do is make sure they aren't in pain. I'm sure his family won't blame you for this. They all know that you and the other Healers did your best."

Hermione shook her head, her eyes glistening with tears. "In three years, I've never once lost someone that I was taking care of personally, Harry. I saved so many people. Why couldn't I save him?"

Harry wiped away the tears and kissed her forehead. "Fourth degree burns are horrible, Hermione, especially when someone is completely covered in them. Even with magic it's hard to bring people back from that. Not only do those burns destroy the skin and nerves, but almost everything else. It's damn near impossible to save someone from that." He cupped her face in his hands, brushing some stray hairs away from her face. "You are the smartest and most talented witch I know, Hermione. But even you can't save everyone."

She looked at him, her eyes scanning his face before she pulled away, wiping away the last of her tears and taking a calming breath. "I know, it's just hard to watch people die. I saw enough of that during the war. It's another reason I'm switching to teaching. Less chance of people dying at school."

Harry snorted. "You do remember our school years, right Hermione? We almost died practically every year." Hermione tentatively smiled, and shoved him lightly.

"Yeah, but I entirely blame you. You have a knack for finding trouble wherever you go." Harry pretended to be offended and crossed his arms.

"I don't find trouble. It finds me." Hermione gave a little laugh and snuggled up to him, pulling her legs up onto the couch.

"I'm sorry I missed our date. I tried to have someone contact you, but everyone was too busy."

Harry rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding her gaze. She immediately noticed and raised an eyebrow, sitting up.

"Harry?"

He grinned sheepishly and looked down. "I may have overreacted a bit. I didn't even try to contact you to see if you were ok. I just assumed that either something came up or you didn't want to go out with me. Unfortunately my emotions went into overdrive so I worked myself up, thinking that you didn't like me…" Hermione was silent for a little bit. Harry peaked over at her, hoping she wasn't upset. Instead she gave him a small smile and squeezed his upper arm.

"Harry, for someone as smart as you, you can still be so daft sometimes. Of course I wanted to go out with you! Otherwise I would have said no. Just next time, send a patronus or something before you freak out, ok? Promise?"

Harry nodded, smiling widely. "I promise." He wrapped his arms around her and leaned back, perfectly content. Hermione's fingers were trashing small patterns on his leg. They stared into the fireplace, enjoying the comfortable silence for a while.

"Hey, Harry?" He glanced down at her. "Can I stay here tonight? I'm too tired to go anywhere." He smiled at her and stood up, lifting her into his arms.

"Of course you can, Mione. You're more than welcome to stay here whenever you want, or need."

Hermione giggled as Harry carried her up the stairs. He paused in the hallway, suddenly nervous.

"Er, Hermione? Um, I don't, I mean, um, where do you want to sleep?"

Hermione glanced down the hallway at all the different doors before looking up at him, gazing into his eyes. "It's my last night here before I move to Hogwarts. Can I sleep with you?" She bit her lip and looked down shyly. Harry's face flushed bright red as he smiled goofily.

"Of course you can, Hermione." He carried her into the room and set her down gently. His hand instantly ran through his hair, a nervous habit. He avoided her gaze, trying to remain calm. "There's a bathroom through that door, if you want to go shower or change or something." Hearing no response, he turned his gaze to Hermione and froze.

She was facing away from him, in the middle of undressing. Her shirt was on the floor and was quickly joined by her pants, leaving her in just her bra and knickers. The matching set was pitch black, and it contrasted with her pale, smooth skin perfectly, and they accentuated her natural curves. His eyes travelled down her body, pausing on her bum. All coherent thoughts flew out of his head as he stood there, frozen.

Hermione waved her wand, transforming her clothes into an old shirt and some shorts. She went to grab them and turned so she was facing Harry. His gaze immediately shot up to her chest. His breathing quickened as his eyes soaked in the image of her perfect breasts. He immediately took a mental snapshot and stored the image in his brain for later use.

Hermione cleared her throat, making him jump and look away, coughing. "Er…I just, I'm going to go change…" Hermione smirked as he grabbed some pajamas and ran into the bathroom. He shut the door and leaned against it, breathing heavily. How could he have never seen her before? He had seen her in bikinis, but he had never properly seen just how perfect her body was. He closed his eyes and started to calm his breathing before changing into his pajamas and walking back to the bed.

He paused slightly before climbing in the bed, a smile on his face. Hermione was out cold. She must have fallen asleep as soon as he had gone into the bathroom. He leaned over and kissed her cheek before pulling her against him, wrapping his arms around her. Happier than he had ever been in months, he quickly fell asleep.