Author's Note: I do not own anything.
"You never did tell me what we're doing here," Hermione grinned. Harry smiled at her, holding on to her hand tightly.
"It's a surprise."
"Well, aren't we just full of surprises?"
"You will like this surprise."
He led her past through the branches, and Hermione immediately recognized where they were at. She smiled sadly, remembering the last time they were here and the reason why they were here.
"This place is so beautiful," she remarked, looking at the snow that covered the ground. Harry led her a little further until they made it exactly where their tent had stood so long ago.
"Welcome to the Forest of Dean," he grinned, turning to face her.
"Why are we here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at his actions.
Harry let go of her hand and pulled both of his up to the side of her face, leaning in to find her lips. The kiss was soft, and after a moment he broke away grabbing something out of his pocket as he got down on one knee.
"Hermione, we have been best friends for almost nine years now. We have literally been through hell and back together, and you've never left my side. Even when we were here, unsure of our futures, and falling for one another, you've stayed. We were two best friends who fell in love, and have been happy ever since. You are everything to me, Hermione. Will you marry me?"
She smiled, nodding her head as she did so, "Yes, Harry."
He stood up and found her lips again. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she pulled him in closer, standing up on her tiptoes to reach him. He pulled back and smiled, clearly happy.
"You've made me very happy, Harry. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
His head instantly turned around, and worry grew on his face. He pushed her behind him and immediately grabbed his wand.
"Harry, what's going on?"
"Be quiet for a second," he replied, head darting back and forth.
Hermione heard more twigs snap in the distance, and she became worried. Someone was following them.
"Who's there?" Harry asked, continuing to look around as more twigs broke.
"What a beautiful moment. Makes me sick."
They both turned around and saw two Death Eaters standing there, masks covering their faces and wands at the ready. Harry pulled Hermione behind him and held his wand up, throwing a spell at one of the two Death Eaters.
Spells fired back at them, and Harry pushed Hermione to the ground. A spell hit him clear in the back, and he collapsed on top of her.
"Harry?" she asked, rolling them over to see his face. His eyes were wide and lifeless.
They had killed him.
"No!" she screamed, her lip trembling and her eyes watering. "Harry!"
"Hermione, wake up!"
She distantly heard the voice in the background, and she knew that someone was shaking her. She couldn't seem to wake up. Her eyes felt glued together, and her entire body was shaking.
"Hermione, its Harry. Everything's ok. Wake up."
She opened her eyes and blinked them quickly, adjusting to the light in the room. When they finally adjusted, she saw Harry standing there, staring down at her with concern.
"I didn't mean to wake you," she said, sitting up in her bed.
"You're not the only one with nightmares, you know."
She gave him a small smile and nodded. He moved to the other side of her bed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her in.
"Wanna tell me about it?" he asked, putting his head on top of hers.
"Not right now, ok?"
He nodded, and smiled slightly as she grabbed on to his shirt and hung on to him.
"When you found out that I liked you, why did you want to get together so soon?" she asked, her eyes downcast on the bed.
"What do you mean?"
"It just seems like, well, the moment you heard, you wanted us to get together. Why?"
He gently put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around, staring deep into her eyes as he began to talk.
"When we were in that tent together-alone-I believe a lot of things changed between us, Hermione. It makes me wonder if that's when our feelings started to appear between us. I didn't know about my feelings for you until after you did. When I was with Ginny, things didn't feel right. They didn't feel like they use to.
"For some reason, I couldn't get you out of my head. You were stuck in it for the longest of times. Then, one night, I had a dream about you. I dreamt that you and I had kissed, and that changed everything. My relationship with Ginny changed. I was just as confused as you said you were. It made me wonder if I was developing feelings for you.
"Then, you said that you had feelings for me as well. You cared for me just as much as I cared for you. Maybe that's why I was wanting to date you right away. We already know everything about each other and we live together. Why not try dating? Even if we don't work, we will always stay friends."
"How can you be so sure about that?"
"Have we never been able to recover from something, Hermione?"
"Dating is different than being friends with someone, Harry. You can't just go back to the way things were. That's what happened with Ron and Ginny, and we may never see them again."
Harry grinned, before saying, "You've never really been a risk-taker, Hermione. You've always been cautious. Sometimes in life you have to take risks. You can't get through life without taking risks."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but my cautious self has saved both of our lives several times. Pardon me for being cautious."
"And I love that about you. It's not something that I have a lot of. That's how we balance each other out. You're cautious, and I'm a risk-taker. We make the perfect team, don't we?"
She nodded, smiling.
"Now, since I told you that, will you tell me about your dream?"
"It's awkward," she replied, keeping her head down to avoid looking at him. He grinned again.
"Why is it awkward?"
"Just is."
"Tell me?"
"Fine," she replied. "It was you and me alone. You took me back to the Forest of Dean, where the tent was set up. You asked me to marry you, and I said yes. Then, Death Eaters attacked us, and they-"
She cut off, and looked down again.
"They killed me, didn't they?"
She nodded, and he wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head as he did so. "I'm right here, Hermione. I'm not going anywhere."
Her hand moved over to his heart, and she pulled her face up to meet him. She leaned in and captured her lips with his, making it soft and slow, but still trying to tell Harry how much he really means to her. After a moment she pulled away.
"You promise?"
This time, he pulled her in, giving her a quick kiss before whispering, "I'm right here."
"Hey, Ron."
"Hi, Bill," Ron said, staring out at the wall in front of him.
Bill sat down next to him, staring out at the wall as well. "This looks like a whole lot of fun."
"None what-so-ever," Ron replied, looking down at the floor beneath him.
"So, why are you doing it?" Bill asked.
"Trying to keep my mind off of things, I suppose."
"You and Ginny have been acting strange ever since the two of you returned from the apartment. Did something happen over there?"
Ron shrugged. "More or less."
"Wanna talk?"
"Not really."
"Ok."
Bill got up, heading towards to the kitchen, when Ron said, "Wait."
"Yes?"
"Something did happen, and it's been bothering me ever since."
"What is it?"
Ron sighed, before saying, "I've liked Hermione for a really long time now. During the war, I kissed her. With everything that was going that, we didn't talk about it. After the war, Harry and Ginny started their relationship again, and Hermione decided to start one. When Ginny and I were at the apartment, Hermione told everyone that she didn't have feelings for me, and we broke up."
"Let me guess," Bill said, throwing his head down for a second before pulling it back up. "Hermione likes Harry, and Harry, having found out, decided to break up with Ginny as well."
"I'm not sure," Ron replied, keeping his head down. "I left after Hermione broke up with me. I don't know what happened after that. Ginny and I have kind avoided each other as well."
"Now I understand why you're so upset," Bill said, turning his head to look at his younger brother. "To be honest, we've all been waiting on the day those two would get together."
Ron looked up, surprised at what Bill had said. "What do you mean?"
"Please, Ron, even you have had to believe that there was always something between the two of them."
"I've accused them a couple of times," Ron said. "But they've always assured me that there was nothing between them. Several times they've both said that. Now, one of them admits they like the other, and I have no idea how he feels."
"Are you going to stop being friends with them, because of this?"
Ron sighed, feeling as though he had done that a million times since he returned from the apartment.
"I don't know, Bill. If I did remain friends with them, how awkward would it be that I like and use to date Hermione, while she is with Harry?"
"It would be pretty awkward, I agree. And if you stopped being friends with them?"
"If I stopped," Ron began, running his hands through his hair as he thought about it, "I know that I would miss them like hell. They're my best friends."
"So, you would really be willing to throw away, what, seven years of friendship, because of a girl? A girl, who happens to be another one of your best friends, by the way. Look, I know that I'm not in your situation, nor have I ever been in your situation, but, if I was you, I would really go and talk to Harry and Hermione. There are things that apparently need to be worked out between the four of you, and yes, I'm including Ginny. I hate the fact that my brother and sister got hurt in this deal, but you'll get even more hurt if you don't talk things over."
"Do you really think that it's a good idea to talk to them?"
"I do, Ron. You need to talk to them."
With that, Bill stood up and walked out of the living room. Ron ran his hands through his hair again, wondering what he should do.
Hermione smiled as she cooked lunch, still waiting for Harry to wake up. Both of them had been awake most of the night, and both had slept in relatively late.
She had woken up about a half-hour ago, with her stomach growling and Harry's arms wrapped tightly around her. They had fallen asleep together again, but Hermione didn't complain. She enjoyed waking up next to him.
She was so concerned about getting lunch prepared that she didn't even hear Harry walk up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist.
"Something smells amazing," he said, leaning down to press a kiss against her neck.
"I was hungry, and I'm sure you are too, so I thought I would make some lunch."
"Perfect," he said, moving from behind her to stand on the side of her. She smiled up at him. "So, are we dating now?"
"I don't know, are we?" she grinned, walking up to him and putting a hand on his chest.
"I'm serious, Hermione. Last night, you made it seem like we were. My question to you is this: do you want to start dating?"
She nodded, smiling at him as she did so. "Thank you for being there for me last night, Harry. And I don't just mean the dream." Seeing his confused expression, she continued on. "You put me to bed last night, then you stayed with me after I asked you to. You were there for me every minute of the night. You've been there for me since Halloween of first year, and, I know that, if we did give this a chance, you would be there for me like I would be there for you. I want to give us a chance, Harry."
With that, she put her hand behind his head and brought it down to meet her lips. His hands rested on her waist as he kissed her back. After a moment, their kiss deepened, their tongues battling for control as he lifted her up and sat her on the counter.
"Harry," she moaned as his lips moved to her neck. She felt him grin against her skin and he pulled away, grinning even more when she let out a growl of frustration.
"I have quite the effect on you, don't I?"
"Don't look so smug," she replied, grinning back as her hands ran over his chest. "That's twice you've done that to me now."
"If I recall, you stopped the first time. This is payback."
She growled again and hopped off the counter, stirring the contents of the pot as soon as she was down.
"Lunch is almost ready, Harry."
"Ok. I'm going to shower and get changed. I'll be back."
Hermione nodded, stirring the contents of the pot again as she tried to keep her mind off of Harry in the shower. Just as she thought that he had left, she heard his voice travel into the kitchen.
"Ron?"
